Daily Global News Updates

Polio: Jigawa LG to immunise 80,000

2015-06-06T14:41:00.000+02:00

The Kiyawa Local Government Council of Jigawa State on Friday said it is targeting more than 80,000 children for vaccination against polio in the ongoing immunisation.
The Manager, National Programme on Immunisation in the area, Alhaji Ashiru Mu’azu, said this through the council’s Information Officer, Malam Abdullahi Yakubu, in Kiyawa.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the June round of immunisation exercise would kick off on Saturday in the 27 local government areas of the state.
Yakubu said according to the NPI Manager, the state government has supplied 78,000 doses of Oral Polio Vaccines for the smooth conduct of the exercise.
He said the children would be immunised against polio and other child-killer diseases between June 6 and June 9.
The official said the exercise would be conducted under the supervision of the council chairman and his councillors.
According to him, the council had provided 135 cartons of sweets to woo children to participate in the exercise.

Yakubu further said a Mop Up exercise for non-compliance for last round of the polio would be conducted on Wednesday in some villages.
He said the council had also engaged community and religious leaders to mobilise participation in the exercise and urged parents and guardians to cooperate with the health workers.
According to him, over 75,000 children were immunised in the last round of the exercise in the area conducted in April.

Source:

Nigeria: Senate Presidency - Senators-Elect Reject APC Consensus Candidate

2015-06-06T13:41:00.000+02:00

Following the inability of the All Progressive Congress (APC) nominate a sole candidate to the office of Senate President, a group of Senators -elect on the aegis of Like Minded Senators, has challenged supporters of Senator Ahmed Lawan to make public list of 40 senators they claimed have endorsed their candidate.
The senators reject APC's plot to impose a consensus candidate on Senators insisting that Senators must be allowed to choose their leaders on Tuesday next week.
The group had in a statement in Abuja on Friday signed by its spokesman Hon Dino Melaye ((Kogi state) and Ahmadu Sani Yerima (Zamfara state) debunked such claims as false saying the party has not adopted any candidate as its flag bearer to the office of the president of the Senate.
The statement reads in part:"In view of the controversy on the numbers of the senators supporting Senator Bukola Saraki and Ahmed Lawan for the senate presidency of the 8thsenate, we challenge them in the same manner to publicly exhibit the names and signatories they claim that consist of their supports in the senate.
We equally urged them to consolidate it further by submitting the names of the senators that have passed a resolution endorsing Ahmed Lawan as the next senate president as we, the senators of the like minds did when we submitted the names and signatures of the 34 senators endorsing Senator Saraki on May 24 2015 as the next senate president. "

Recall that on Tuesday this week, the spokesperson of the supporters of Senator Lawan which under the platform of Unity Forum promised to release to the public and indeed the Press Corp of the National Assembly the names and signatures of 40 senators purportedly supporting Ahmed Lawan and George Akume, but as at today, the number has changed to 35 and yet they cannot explain to the public the reason for the delay and change of numbers from 40 to 35
It further noted,"We challenge them to publicly do same by publishing the list and forward same to the National chairman of our great party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun.
As democracy continues to be game of numbers, Senator Bukola Saraki is the President of the 8thSenate."
It further added, "On two occasions, APC as the ruling political party has called for due internal democracy through primary elections, on the same two occasions, they have evaded these primary elections to determine the Senate President of the 8th senate.
Their latest presentation to our National Chairman, that ranking should be a criteria for the selection of the next Senate President is fool hardy to suggest because if Ahmed Lawan is the most ranking senator where then was he when George Akume was selected the minority leader of the senate..
If ranking is the way to go, it should be across party line as Senator David Mark is the most ranking senator so far among the senators of the 8th senate. The inconsistence that they have displayed, only suggest to the fact that they do not have the numbers as they claim."
It also recalled that Senator Ken Nnamani became the senate president, despite the fact that he was not a ranking senator. Ditto, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and others. George Akume when he contested David Mark (Sixth Senate) in 2007 was not a ranking senator when he became the senate minority leader.
"Senators must be allowed to choose their own leaders as impositions will only bring the 'Banana Peel' back to the Senate. We should adhere to the rules of the senate in choosing the next senate president. In so doing, experience, acceptability and merit should be of prime importance.
Imposition, Harassment, Intimidation and Name Dropping as well as threat will not produce the senate president of the 8th senate.

Nigeria

Jonathan Gets Nomination for Nobel
A public policy organisation on African affairs, the Africa Political and Economic Strategic Center (AFRIPOL) has … see more »

Source:

Nigerian troops kill over 120 Boko Haram fighters

2014-09-12T23:29:00.002+02:00

Nigerian troops kill over 120 Boko Haram fighters

Written by Hamza Idris and Ibrahim Sawab, Maiduguri

*Suicide bomber killed, Cameraman killed
*Confiscated rifles, cars taken to Maimalari Barracks.

Nigerian soldiers today recorded what many described as "landslide victory" by killing over 120 Boko Haram insurgents in an encounter in Konduga town.

Konduga, situated 40 kilometers along Bama road is a gateway to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

In the last two weeks, sources said the Boko Haram insurgents have been making frantic efforts to attack the state capital.

A credible security source said the encounter in Konduga lasted between 4am and 12 noon today.

According to him, " This was the happiest outing by troops of the 7 Division in recent times.

"Almost all the terrorists that mobilized for the Konduga attack were killed. Two of them were arrested and the simple fact is that the Boko Haram suffered a major defeat this time around. They came when our men were ready for them.

"All the vehicles they came with were either shelled or confiscated. About six of the vehicles have been taken to the Maimalari Barracks so far and more are on the way.

"Our troops also recovered dozens of rifles and explosives. A suicide bomber was also intercepted and killed.

"A cameraman that they came with them in order to cover their planned attrocity was also killed and the remnant of the camera recovered," he said.

Source:http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/34293-nigerian-troops-kill-over-120-boko-haram-fighters

Akpoborie: Nigeria may not qualify for 2015 Nations Cup

2014-09-12T23:11:00.001+02:00

Akpoborie: Nigeria may not qualify for 2015 Nations Cup

Eagles coach Steven Kashi

A former Nigeria striker Jonathan Akpoborie has blamed the Super Eagles’ lack of zeal to win as the reason for their 0-0 draw against Bafana Bafana on Wednesday.

The former Super Eagles forward also expressed doubts over the Eagles’ chances of booking a place in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
“The outcome was not good enough because we did not play the best of our football and besides the Eagles were not purposeful and aggressive enough,” Akpoborie told Goal.
“We could have secured a win in this game but it’s just painful that our players lacked the desire to win, that was why in the whole of the game, we had just a clear cut chance.”
The former VFB Stuttgart star also pointed out the reasons why the Nigeria national team have looked so ordinary in recent times.
“Since Keshi took over, we are used to just one system where we rely on the speed of our attackers and rely on counter.
“Just like it happened against Congo we had problems, there was no transition between the midfield and the attack. Even from the attack to the defence, it was not really good enough.
“This has been the problem with the team for a very long time but we have just been lucky. Right now, it is really telling on the team.
“As it stands, it will really be difficult to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations because we have bungled away our chances. Congo now top the group with six points with South Africa having four points.”
Akpoborie concluded by saying that the Nigeria Football Federation should take a drastic decision on whether Keshi should continue as the national team coach or get another better hand to lead the team.

Source:http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/sports/34197-akpoborie-nigeria-may-not-qualify-for-2015-nations-cup

‘Boko Haram still in charge in Bama as children, women die of hunger’

2014-09-12T23:08:00.003+02:00

‘Boko Haram still in charge in Bama as children, women die of hunger’

Written by Hamza Idris and Ibrahim Sawab, Maiduguri

The Bama Development Foundation (BADEFO) today said the Federal Government should be sincere in its utterances about happenings in Borno State, stressing that hundreds of women and children that were trapped in Bama town over ten days ago are dying of hunger and stress.

The foundation said dead bodies of youths that were massacred by Boko Haram insurgents have decomposed on the streets because no one could bury them.

Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri, today, Chairman of BADEFO, Mallam Mohammed A. Hassan said the Wednesday’s utterance by Mr. Mike Omeri, the coordinator of the Federal Information Centre to the effect that Nigerian security forces have taken over Bama from the insurgents was not true.

He said hundreds of youths have been killed by the insurgents, many others forced to join the Boko Haram in its fight against the Nigerian state while many others remain trapped in houses where they hid in ceilings.

He said Nigerian security forces are yet to return to Bama after they left on Monday, 1^st Sept, pointing out that the association has evidence to show that the soldiers are still in Konduga town, situated 38 kilometers to Bama from Maiduguri.

“The association condemned in strong terms the war by the dreaded insurgents in recent past which continues without apparent measures to contain the activities of the sect, despite Nigerian military’s relentless efforts.

“Posterity will not forgive us as a community based organization that is always agitating for development within Bama Local Government to sit on the fence watching conflicting reports from both print and electronic media over the unfortunate situation our good people found themselves.

“Since the day of the attack about 11 days ago, Bama, the second largest local government area in Borno State is under the custody and control of the dreaded Boko Haram sect. This is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. As a matter of fact, we are calling on the state and federal government to expedite action towards reclaiming Bama from the hands of terror as those in captivity are under serious trauma, starvation, distressed with serious degree of injuries.

“Eleven days after the incidence, no search and rescue operation (was) conducted, no any damage has been assessed, but we are aware that security and welfare of the people is the fundamental obligation of any meaningful government,” he said.

The association decried the siege on Gwoza, Ngala, Dikwa and some parts of Yobe and Adamawa States.

Source:http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/34190-boko-haram-still-in-charge-in-bama-as-children-women-die-of-hunger

Nigeria National League resumes Wednesday

2014-09-12T23:05:00.002+02:00

Nigeria National League resumes Wednesday

Written by Joshua Odeyemi, Abuja

After ten days of forced break, the Nigeria National League (NNL) will resume next Wednesday.
This followed the decision of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA) to return to work "for the good of the game."
The NRA had earlier withdrawn their services, a situation which led to the suspension of the NNL games for two weeks by the management and board of the league body in the face of the unforeseen circumstances.
But the NRA has in a letter dated September 10, 2014 sent to the NNL informed it of the NRA decision to render their services again hence the resumption of the league actions next week Wednesday, September 17,2014.
However, the NNL has rescheduled some of the matches affected by the suspension of the league even as the league Secretary; Lawrence Katkem has dispatched circulars to the participating clubs and their State Football Associations (SFA) to ensure full compliance of the new development.

NNL WEEK 28 MATCHES
DIVISION A
SPOTLIGHT FC VS KWARA UTD
PLATEAU UTD VS SOKOTO UTD
ADAMAWA UTD VS KOGI UTD
WIKKI TOURISTS FC VS DSS FC
NIGER TORNADOES FC VS MIGHTY JETS
JIGAWA STARS VS NIG. PRISONS
TEAP FC VS RANCH BEES FC
FRSC FC VS SUPREME COURT FC

DIVISION B
3SC VS GABROS FC
GATEWAY UTD VS ABS FC
ABIA COMETS FC VS AKWA STARLET
PRIME FC VS UNICEM ROVERS
BENDEL INSURANCE FC VS REMO STARS
GO-ROUND FC VS COD UTD
MFM FC VS EKITI UTD FC
STATIONARY STORES FC VS FIRST BANK

Source:http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/sports/34299-nigeria-national-league-resumes-wednesday

Jonathan: I didn’t take Sheriff to Chad

2014-09-12T22:56:00.001+02:00

Jonathan: I didn’t take Sheriff to Chad

Written by Isiaka Wakili

From right: Chadian President Idriss Deby, President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Ali Modu sheriff, in Ndjamena on Monday. The Presidency said yesterday Sheriff did not travel to Chad with Jonathan, and that the two met only at the Ndjamena Airport.

The Presidency said yesterday President Goodluck Jonathan did not travel to Chad with Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who is being investigated over alleged Boko Haram links.

Jonathan has been criticised after photos emerged showing him seated in what appeared to be an office together with Sheriff and Chadian President Idris Deby on Monday.
One of the photos also shows Sheriff among members of the presidential entourage at the Ndjamena airport, about to shake hands with Jonathan.
The photos were emailed to journalists and newspaper houses, including Daily Trust, by the State House late Monday. Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati also posted the photos on Twitter.
The President visited Chad for a meeting with Mr. Deby, in continuation of the Federal Government’s efforts towards forging a stronger alliance against terrorism with Nigeria’s neighbours.
In a statement in Abuja yesterday, Abati said Jonathan did not travel with Sheriff and that Sheriff did not participate in any of the discussions the President had with Mr. Deby. “The former Governor’s presence in Chad was certainly not at President Jonathan’s instance and he did not participate in any of the President’s discussions with President Idriss Deby or his other engagements in Ndjamena,” Abati said.
“Those who associate with Senator Sheriff know that he has longstanding interests in Chad and often spends a lot of his time there. He happened to be in Ndjamena at the time of President Jonathan’s visit and joined other Nigerian residents of the Chadian capital in coming to the airport to welcome their President.
“That was the full extent of his participation in the visit and it was also at Ndjamena Airport that the pictures which formed the basis of the bogus allegation of President Jonathan hobnobbing with an ‘accused sponsor of terrorism’ were taken.”
But the assertion that Sheriff met Jonathan only at the airport appeared to be faulted by one of the photos which Abati himself tweeted Monday night showing Sheriff seated with Jonathan and Deby in what appeared to be an office. Deby did not appear in any of the photos that were taken outdoors at the airport.
Sheriff was accused two weeks ago, along with former Chief of Army Staff General Azubuike Ihejirika, of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect. They both denied the allegations which were made by Australian hostage negotiator Stephen Davis.
Abati yesterday criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and “other bigoted critics” who pilloried Jonathan for “hobnobbing” Sheriff because of the Chad trip.
“(The) Presidency wishes to affirm, for the purpose of emphasis, that the former Borno State governor was not on President Jonathan’s delegation to Chad,” he said.
“As can be easily verified from the complete list of members of the Presidential entourage to Chad which was also circulated on Sunday and never changed, Senator Sheriff’s name was not on it. The only other persons on the list were the President’s aides, security personnel and journalists.
“The APC and others who rushed to condemn President Jonathan for a non-existent indiscretion would have found, if they took the least trouble to double-check, that there was absolutely no factual basis for their accusation.”
The names officially given as members of the Presidential entourage for the Chad trip were of National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), Minister of Communications Technology Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed and the Director-General of National Space Research and Development Agency, Prof. Seidu Mohammed.
Abati added that Jonathan was aware of the accusation against Sheriff and would not prejudice the work of security agencies on the matter.
“President Jonathan is fully aware of the allegation made against Senator Sheriff by Stephen Davis. That allegation is already being investigated by the security agencies who will make their findings known to the public in due course,” he said.
“The President assures all Nigerians that he has not willfully taken any action that could prejudice the outcome of that ongoing inquiry.
“He seizes this opportunity to reassure the nation once again of his total commitment to doing all within his powers to bring all identified and verified sponsors of terrorism to justice, and ending the menace of violent extremism in the country.”

Source:http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/34290-jonathan-i-didn-t-take-sheriff-to-chad

Ijaw Elder, Prof Tam David West Blasts Nigerian President, Says He Should Be Removed Immediately

2014-09-07T21:12:00.000+02:00

Ijaw Elder, Prof Tam David West Blasts Nigerian President, Says He Should Be Removed Immediately

Rough transcript:
Anyone that is complacent about the state of affairs in Nigeria is an enemy of Nigeria.
It is a terrible situation. We should be ashamed, the President should be ashamed.
He is commander in chief, he is the Chief executive officer, the number 1 security officer, citizen of Nigeria.
The constitution is clear, the security of the citizens is the primary responsibility of the government. Any government that cannot afford the security and good well being of the people is an absurdity and must not stay there for one minute.

I am not advocating violent overthrow, but the people must rise up. Why some governments are taking Nigeria for granted is because our citizens are followers. They are too complacent. We cannot sustain sustained revolt.
You can change bad government by only two ways: by the bullet or peaceful protest.
Gandhi showed that non violence can win. it is shameful, disgraceful.
I am ashamed Jonathan can show his face in international fora. Over 200 girls abducted for over 3 months… and you (Jonathan) is still talking rubbish.
First he was not even sure, your wife said nothing happened, he said nothing happened, later he changed, he said he knows where they are. If you know where they are, why don’t you bring them? All the army/security in the country cannot bring them.
The President is afraid of Boko Haram. And he said they infiltrated his cabinet. You are not ashamed! If you know they infiltrated his cabinet, why does he not expose them and say so-so is Boko Haram, you are afraid of them. Up til now he has not gone to Chibok, rather he did that cosmetic move to see them, and invited them to Abuja… then he dashed them money. He was exposed… is money life…money is not everything.
They have proved the President is weak. He (the President) can not even go to the site. That will have been a good psychological effect if he visited Chibok for both the parents and world. And they are taking more and more villages. Some Chibok girls escaped… not by the President but by God and their ingenuity. But up till now they are still kidnapping Nigerians, your own ccitizens and you say you are a President. In fact, the Boko Haram matter alone disqualifies Jonathan from seeking a second term, no matter how else he performed and he performed very badly in every other thing. I say this, he has performed very badly. I am an Ijaw man and I say this. I am full blown ijaw, not like other … full blown Ijaw, mother and father.
If an Ijaw man is President, i will be very happy. i said it based on MLK that I had a dream of minority leader of Nigeria. i should be very happy for Jonathan if he was doing well.. I will go to Abuja and embrace him, but if he is doing poorly, I will run away from him like a leper!

Source: : http://newsrescue.com/ijaw-elder-prof-tam-david-west-blasts-nigerian-president-says-removed-immediately/#ixzz3CebrsPLB

The gospel according to the negotiator

2014-09-07T14:51:00.001+02:00

The gospel according to the negotiator

Published on Sunday, 07 September 2014 05:00

Written by Tunde Asaju tundeasaju@yahoo.co.uk

Unknown that I am, I can walk into an overcrowded hall and nobody would even know that a human being has arrived. Lucky me. Imagine Wole Soyinka attempting the feat; or Pius Adesanmi, Okey Ndibe, Nduka Otiono, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and scores of others with full global reckoning. From being a poet of global fame, Niyi Osundare has become lamentor-in-chief of the jeremiad of a country listing with no visible blueprint for salvation. Yet, it is increasingly becoming impossible to ignore the contributions of Olatunji Dare, Farooq Kperogi, Dele Olojede, Ama Ogan, Ladi Abdulazeez in the fields of journalism.

Yet, if one had sought the permission of some of these people, to be classified as citizens of Nigeria, they might have declined. As much as possible, they steer clear of official functions, identifying occasionally with skillful games of chance such as football. Even now the rot has claimed that. For all their global fame and fortune, the home front, rather than be a badge of honour, is a byword and a stain on their lofty achievements and global reckoning.
Every now and then, children of Nigerian origin shatter academic records in faraway lands but the schools that produced their progenitors are a caricature of what they used to be and in some cases, they have been sold off to the highest spiritual 419 or dubious business mogul. Those who helplessly say government has no business in business find it easy to run the same enterprises with success in retirement.
It is increasingly difficult to invite a foreign friend for a visit. There is nothing to showcase. Our capital cities are no different from the evil forest at night without electricity. We are dancing Disco with power generation while pitch darkness envelopes our lives decreasing life expectancy with pollution related ailments. Our economy is suspended on the precarious monoculture of hydrocarbon while even as real nations research into clean energy alternatives. If the oil dries up today; if global demand falls, the entity called Nigeria is finished; it has no alternate economic sustenance plans.
Our roads are pot-holed and where they are fixed at ten times the cost for countries without bitumen, they only last few rains. Our rail transformation is a showcase of the resuscitation of Lugard’s coaches where other nations work with models that favourably compete with the speed of a bullet. Two thirds of our land is arable, but we panic when Thailand threatens to cut off our rice supply over Ebola threats.
Our rulers fly to gurneys in Europe, America and the Middle East to cure headaches and sometimes return as cadavres from hospitals, which employ Nigerians as consultants. We have buried a once-buoyant health care system with greed and lack of planning.
After inheriting the insurrection of Boko Haram, our president urged us to learn to cope with terrorism the same way we have learnt to cope with armed robbery. Then he activated laughable conspiracy theories and went to sleep while our national boundary is gradually yielding to armed religious insurrection. Boko Haram knew how to appeal to kindred spirits while our government waited for London and Paris to invite us to talk to our neighbours on cooperation.
How can our nation purge itself of inferiority complex? Our leaders covet global handshakes and photo-ops but have no sense of responsibility. We were the first African nation to invest in television, but when our ruiners have something important to say to the citizenry, they hire foreign stations to reach them. We became the first country on earth to adopt the unverified transcripts of a foreign broadcast in evidence to do the right thing.
The practice of public relations predates the birth of the nation, but we hired an American firm to launder our shattered image while paying pretenders with titles as government communicators. We have a standing armed force, a defense academy, peace college attracting combatants across the globe. Our forces gallantly fought a grueling civil war to preserve unity; successfully put down civil war in two neighbouring countries; but presently commanders gleefully announce troop tactical manouevre into Cameroon to cover their inefficiency and letdown.
Our latest enrolment in the hall of shame sees our media and gentry falling over each other to report an Australian negotiator, Stephen Davis. Davis made his first millions from the Niger-Delta insurgency and returned to take on Boko Haram. There are no worthy Nigerian negotiators at the Peace College, in our armed forces or among qualified Nigerians abroad. With his pay on the line, and nothing at stake, Davis is stoking the embers of discord and getting the publicity he requires for a foothold in the continent at our expense. We have added something to the mantra of shame – no matter how glaring it is, we need a white man to tell us it is so.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/wakaman/18020-the-gospel-according-to-the-negotiator

Schools to reopen mid-Sept as FG lowers Ebola alert level

2014-09-04T21:20:00.000+02:00

Schools to reopen mid-Sept as FG lowers Ebola alert level

Published on Thursday, 04 September 2014

Written by Isiaka Wakili, Yusha’u A. Ibrahim, Ruby Leo & Judd Leonard Okafor

Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau

Primary and secondary schools are now to resume mid-September, instead of October 13 as earlier directed by the Federal Government because of the Ebola threat.

Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu told State House journalists in Abuja yesterday that the Federal Executive Council decided to reopen the schools mid-September based on experts’ advice and the effective containment of the Ebola virus.
He said the council had directed the Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, to convene an emergency meeting with all state commissioners of education in order to agree on the new resumption date.
Shekarau’s spokesman Sule Ya’u Sule, when contacted, told Daily Trust yesterday that a meeting with state education commissioners would be held tomorrow.
Health Minister Chukwu said 296 persons are currently under surveillance in the country, including 255 in Port Harcourt and 41 in Lagos State, over the Ebola virus disease.
He said only two persons were currently being treated for full blown Ebola disease-the widow of Port Harcourt doctor, Samuel Emenuo, and his sister, both of whom are at isolation centres in Lagos and Port Harcourt respectively.
Chukwu, who put the total number of confirmed Ebola cases in Nigeria at 18 including the index case, explained that 14 were recorded in Lagos and four in Port Harcourt, adding that eight had been managed and discharged while seven had died.
The minister also hinted that the government was considering possible actions on the ECOWAS diplomat, Olu-Ibukun Koye, who transmuted Ebola virus to Port Harcourt.
“He is with us in Lagos, not in isolation because he is not sick anymore, but because of his aberrant behavior we needed to be sure that there is nothing further that can prove risky to society,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chukwu said in a statement from the Federal Health Ministry that another Ebola patient has died in the Port Harcourt isolation ward. This brings the total number of deaths from the virus to seven.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/33552-schools-to-reopen-mid-sept-as-fg-lowers-ebola-alert-level

Make Some Money While Learning With GidiMo Mobile First eLearning Platform

2014-09-04T16:01:00.001+02:00

About

GidiMo is a Robust Mobile First eLearning Platform

GidiMo is a premium mobile learning platform with free-to-download apps for Blackberry, Android, Nokia and J ava-enabled feature phones. GidiMo is often promoted as Africa’s first dedicated mobile learning and personal growth platform. Some might argue that Efiko got there first but, as GidiMo founder, Tunji Adegbesan puts it, “we don’t at all consider ourselves to be doing the same thing”.
Unlike any other mobile learning platform out there, GidiMo is much more than just quizzes and answers. It is a Learning Management System that happens to be mobile; Mobile Learning Management System, if you would. Adegbesan tells us GidiMo is powered by a multi-pluggable and infinitely scalable backend. This enables GidiMo to proffer a variety of paid offerings, including but not limited to:

gidiPrep – Preparation for professional certifications. User can purchase examination scenario preps, job test and professional course practices.
BrainGym – A centre for educational health and fitness with a core focus on FUN LEARNING for individuals of any age or level.
eBooks
gidiChat – A full-fledged messaging platform which forms part of GidiMo’s learning & class toolkit.

Because it runs on a scalable backend, GidiMo is also able to offer custom corporate solutions , as well as very-large number social impact projects.
One particularly high profile custom solution GidiMo has been involved in is a collaboration with Diamond Bank to help improve the dire state of high failure rates in national senior school leaving exams. The collaboration gave birth to the Diamond Bank National Prep Challenge, a gamified approach to examination preparations.

By bringing learning to a platform which students are already comfortable with, they hope to positively engage students preparing for these exams. Students earn accumulated points and are rewarded weekly with N1000 airtime vouchers when they score up to 1000 gidimo points and more. Note that the mode of winnig has been reviewed to the top leading 2500 peoples. To check the list for every week you Click on DNPC LEADERSHIP BOARD
It is worthy of note that the prep questions, which cover over 25 years of WAEC, NECO, JAMB and GCE examinations, are offered to students completely free.

gidimo
is Africa’s first dedicated mobile learning and personal growth platform, produced by Gidi Mobile Ltd, one of Nigeria’s most exciting young startups.

With a large proportion of the 400m Africans below the age of 25 living in environments with severely deficient educational infrastructure, gidimo was born of a desire to help young Africans to “learn, grow, and BE all that they can BE”.

gidimo uses a world-class mobile services platform accessible on any device, anywhere in Africa where a mobile phone signal is present, to provide fun mobile learning and personal growth solutions to young (& young-at-heart) Africans, enabling them to take their personal growth into their own hands.

gidimo contains almost 70,000 (and growing!) preparation & self-test questions in addition to videos, tutorials, and learning material on all aspects of young Africans’ personal and professional lives. Users can also chat, make friends, share images, read news headlines, check flight schedules, view cinema schedules, look up live scores for major worldwide sports and also get lifestyle tips all in one social learning space.

How it works

Usage

gidiPrep is the user’s go-to-guy for examination scenario preps, job test and professional course practices.
It’s packed with a wide range of courses chunked out from different professions and school syllabuses which grind users with the core requirements needed to excel in their different works of life by supplying them with standardized and ready-made practice questions for their daily consumption.

Brain Gym is the center for educational health and fitness with a core focus on FUN LEARNING for individuals of any age or level.
It casts one’s thinking nets into over 200 top choice topics lined up just for the user. From exciting brain boggling questions and puzzles to a variety of questions in fashion, lifestyle and fun filled trivia, Brain Gym brings subliminal learning and education into fun.

Never miss out on anything new! Be in touch with family, friends and loved ones.
gidiChat gets the user right in the mix with friends and others in close circles, helping one communicate on a cool lively and personal level, keeping things fun, hip and attractive enough to stay positively glued… on the go!

gidiLife is a central information hub which spreads its rays on very interesting and surprisingly important areas of life which the user would surely find handy.It’s not just for the movie enthusiasts, travelling individuals, sports fans and news mongers .It keeps you abreast of happenings. Not just in Nigeria but round the world by providing information right at the click of a button… Your mobile lifestyle hub!

To Get more information visit http://gidimo.com/v2-0-out-and-much-more/

Download it http://get.gidimo.com

Source: http://gidimo.com/

5000 PDP members defect to APC in Bauchi

2014-09-03T18:28:00.001+02:00

5000 PDP members defect to APC in Bauchi

Category: Inside politics

Published on Wednesday, 03 September 2014 05:00

Written by Ahmed Mohammed, Bauchi

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Ningi local government area of Bauchi State, Alhaji Audu Abubakar, has finally dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC) with thousands of his supporters.

Abubakar and his supporters were received by the state chairman of the APC, Alhaji Uba Ahmed Nana at the Ningi mini stadium.
Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Abubakar popularly known as A.T said, the decision to dump the PDP followed the failure of the party to consolidate on the gains of democracy in line with their campaign promises.
He said “We regret staying in the PDP for years when it does not have anything to show in the transformation of the state whereas poverty, political and economic impoverishment is the order of the day”.
The former PDP chieftain said his decision to leave the party was informed by the need for urgent change in the political affairs of the country.
Receiving the defectors, the state APC chairman, Alhaji Uba Ahmad Nana, said the defection shows the APC stands a chance of winning the state in 2015.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/politics/33376-5000-pdp-members-defect-to-apc-in-bauchi

Truth about Boko Haram finally out – APC

2014-09-03T18:21:00.001+02:00

Truth about Boko Haram finally out – APC

Category: Lead stories

Published on Wednesday, 03 September 2014 15:00

Written by Balarabe Alkassim

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgency are within the Presidency and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

APC National Chairman Odigie Oyegun made the allegation in Abuja yesterday at a press conference.
He was commenting on the revelation by a hostage negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davies, that a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and a former Chief of Army Staff, retired General Ihejirika, were sponsors of the sect.
Oyegun, who claimed that the APC had long ago advised that the issue of the Boko Haram insurgency should not be politicized, said: “Regrettably, instead of accepting this offer of cooperation, the PDP-led federal government has consistently pointed accusing fingers at our party as sponsors of Boko Haram. They have called us all sorts of derogatory names, but failed to provide any shred of evidence to support their claim.
“They continued to echo the same slander about Gen. Buhari that was started by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati in 2011, and for which he and his cohorts eventually begged to settle out of court and to apologize to the General. Still we waited”, he said.
He urged government to hand over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.
Oyegun said insurgency was politicised as a trump card for Jonathan to get re-elected.
“Gullible, duplicitous and self-serving politicians like Femi Fani-Kayode swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker, and started parroting the glaring lies. PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh, an obvious pawn on the chess board, followed suit, labelling a party that comprises Nigerians of all ethnic and religious hue a Janjaweed and Islamic party. Now he is stewing in his own juice, “he said.
He also alleged that Sheriff was planted in the APC to decimate the party which he said confronted him openly during the merger negotiation.
He also claimed that Chief Tom Ikimi had equally planned to hijack the APC for the Presidency before he was rejected.
“President Jonathan cannot pretend not to know the alleged role that Ali Modu Sheriff has played in the establishment and growth of Boko Haram, yet he never allowed the man to even be questioned by any of the security agencies under his control. All through his time with our party, every time they accused us of sponsoring Boko Haram, on the basis of his presence, we challenged them if they had evidence to arrest any of our members who is suspected to be a sponsor, they never did”, he said.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/33428-truth-about-boko-haram-finally-out-apc

Kwankwaso: Jonathan behaves like Commander-in-Chief of NTA

2014-09-03T13:17:00.000+02:00

Kwankwaso: Jonathan behaves like Commander-in-Chief of NTA

Published on Tuesday, 02 September 2014 05:00

Written by Johnkennedy Uzoma, Owerri

Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan has failed in his responsibility of protecting the nation’s citizens.

He spoke at the 3rd lecture of the Progressive Governors Forum in Owerri, Imo State.
Kwankwaso said Jonathan appears to be more of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) than of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, because of the promotional TV jingles that wrongly compare him with other successful world leaders.
“I find it very insulting to see those who have failed in their primary assignments insulting us on NTA and other televisions, wearing uniform, comparing themselves, pretending to be first class leaders like Barack Obama, like Mandela and other leaders who have protected their people.
“Many of us are beginning to wonder whether we have Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces or Commander-in-Chief of NTA,” Kwankwaso said.
He criticised the president, saying he has failed the nation with his inability to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.
In his remarks, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the nation could not survive another four years of the People’s Democratic Party-led government.
He said the APC remained the only party Nigerians looked up to for a change.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/news/33316-kwankwaso-jonathan-behaves-like-commander-in-chief-of-nta

Lamido: We never endorsed Jonathan

2014-09-03T13:08:00.001+02:00

Lamido: We never endorsed Jonathan

Category: Lead stories

Published on Tuesday, 02 September 2014 05:02

Written by Abdullahi Anako (Dutse) & Habibu Umar Aminu (Katsina)

Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido

.’Communique written before North West PDP meeting’

Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido yesterday disowned the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 election by the North West zonal stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday.
Lamido did not personally attend the zonal meeting in Kaduna, but he was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed Gumel, who led the state’s delegation that comprised party officials and others.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, which was attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo, said the zone decided to call on Jonathan to declare his re-election bid as he had achieved a lot for the North West and the country.
But Lamido yesterday said Jigawa State was not part of the endorsement as the communiqué was prepared even before the meeting was held.
The governor, who spoke in Dutse through the deputy governor, added that the president had also not fulfilled his campaign promises to Jigawa and therefore the state had no basis to support his re-election bid.
“I am here to inform you categorically that the government and people of Jigawa state completely dissociate itself from the purported endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential election. We are not part of it and we don’t support (it) because the communiqué was prepared even before the meeting started,” Deputy Governor Gumel told journalists.
He added that Lamido and Jigawa people remained 100 percent loyal to the PDP, even though they were not party to the call on Jonathan to stand in the 2015 election.
Gumel said in 2011 Jigawa people and government, especially Governor Lamido, supported President Jonathan’s election bid wholeheartedly. Because of this, Lamido was called all sorts of names, he added.
The deputy governor said in spite of that the President never fulfilled all the electoral promises he made to Jigawa.
Gumel said there was therefore no basis for supporting Jonathan in 2015.
Lamido is believed to be preparing to challenge the president in next year’s election, though both of them have yet to publicly declare an aspiration.
Other key zonal stakeholders absent at the Kaduna meeting on Sunday include Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema, House of Representatives speaker Aminu Tambuwal and Education Minister Ibrahim Shekarau.
The Katsina State Government was not forth-coming when contacted yesterday on why Shema did not attend the meeting. The governor media aides Sani Malumfashi, Lawal Matazu and Abdulhamid Danjuma did not reply to text messages sent to them on the matter.
Though Shema was absent in Kaduna, his deputy Garba Faskari and Katsina House of Assembly Speaker Ya’u Umar Gwajo-Gwajo attended the stakeholders’ meeting.
Others who attended include Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Yero, Kebbi State Governor Saidu Dakingari, Sokoto Deputy Governor Mukhtari Shagari, Foreign Affairs Minister Aminu Wali, Environment Minister Laurentia Malam, Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda and PDP National Chairman Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/33317-lamido-we-never-endorsed-jonathan

INEC under pressure to shift Adamawa poll

2014-09-03T13:05:00.000+02:00

INEC under pressure to shift Adamawa poll

Category: Lead stories

Published on Wednesday, 03 September 2014 05:01

Written by Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, Yola & Ibrahim Kabiru Sule (Abuja)

View Comments

Prof. Attahiru Jega

As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) begins preparation for governorship bye-election in Adamawa State, supporters of some aspirants have started canvassing for adjustment of the election timetable.

The election is scheduled to hold on 11 October 2014 and the two leading parties, PDP and APC, have scheduled their primaries for September 6 and 7 respectively.
The PDP had already conducted ward congresses on Monday where it picked delegates who will participate in its primaries next Saturday.
But supporters of some aspirants who are said to have lost out at the Monday congresses are now mounting pressure on the electoral commission to allow for adjustment of the timetable for a repeat of the congresses.
Sources told Daily Trust that the aspirants who have the backing of some party executives at the PDP headquarters in Abuja and some officials in the presidency want INEC to adjust the timetable.
But INEC Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega has reportedly told them that the commission can neither alter nor adjust the timetable, as it is strictly a matter of Nigeria’s constitution and electoral act.
“Some of the aspirants didn’t do well in the Monday congresses. And those of them with supporters at PDP headquarters and presidency are making move to counter that.
“There is a move to see whether the election timetable can be adjusted to enable a repeat of congresses, but so far the INEC chairman has resisted attempts to adjust the timetable,” a source told Daily Trust.
The PDP leadership in the state yesterday said that it had conducted a successful delegates’ election on Monday.
The state secretary Barrister Tahir Shehu told Daily Trust that the team from the national headquarters of the party and eleven of the aspirants and representatives of others had met and accepted the conduct of the election.
He denied claims that the election had been cancelled or rescheduled.
“We had a successful election and it is accepted by the stakeholders,” he said.
The PDP conducted its congresses on Monday as scheduled and reports indicated that the old timers in the party appeared to do well because many old delegates who were close to those aspirants retained their posts.
A group of aspirants who claimed to be the loyal members of the PDP had earlier announced that they would block the new comers from picking the party’s ticket.
The group, made up of Ahmed Ali Gulak (who spoke on their behalf), Alhaji Auwal Tukur, Ag governor Ahmadu Fintiri, Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, Dr Umar Ardo, Senator Halilu Girei, Prof Andrawus Sawa, General Aliyu Kama, Ambassador James Barka and Jerry Kumdisi, had reportedly reached agreement to support anyone of them who wins the ticket.
Some of them had earlier opposed waivers for Malam Nuhu Ribadu, General Buba Marwa and Engineer Markus Gundiri. And challenged the membership of Dr Tukur Modibbo in the party. But they have all been cleared by the party to contest the September 6 primaries.
INEC chairman’s spokesman Kayode Idowu, when contacted, said he did not have information on whether INEC was approached, saying the only information he has was that INEC has not shifted the Adamawa election.
“But whether we have been approached or not, the election will still take place on October 11. You know this is not just an INEC’s thing. It is the provision of the law that says INEC must conduct by-election within specific period.
“I don’t know if we are approached or not. I don’t have that information. All I know is INEC will conduct election in Adamawa on October 11,” he said.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/top-stories/33410-inec-under-pressure-to-shift-adamawa-poll

2014-09-01T11:52:00.001+02:00

Source:

Battle of gladiators in Anambra North

2014-08-30T20:13:00.000+02:00

Home » Politics » Battle of gladiators in Anambra North

Battle of gladiators in Anambra North

Posted by: Nwanosike Onu in Politics 2 days ago

Anambra North Senatorial District is a politically conscious zone. Who represents the district in the Upper Chamber next year? Correspondent NWANOSIKE ONU examines the chances of aspirants at the poll.
The battle line is drawn in Anambra North Senatorial District. Next year, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) will test their strength at the senatorial election.
The senator representing the zone is Mrs. Margery Okadigbo, the widow of the former Senate President, the lateDr. Chuba Okadigbo. She is seeking a fresh term. But, her fate will be decided at the PDP primaries.
Other PDP aspirants include Chief Samuel Ikefuna and former Minister of Aviation Stella Odua. Sources said that Senator Joy Emodi is holding consultations with stakeholders. Her associates said that she is under pressure to enter the race. “She will throw her hat into the ring after the consultations. She is still popular in the zone,” said a source.
Okadigbo faces an uphill task. She has been criticised for non-performance, since she joined the rank of Abuja politicians. Emodi’s ambition also appears to be a threat to her aspiration. Despite the ups and downs of politics, she is still relevant in the district, owing to her pedigree and charisma. Emodi has endeared herself to the people. Although she left the Senate in 2010, she has not gone into oblivion. In fact, many chieftains believe that she deserves compensation for her loyalty to the party.
Since she was booted out by the court, she has been a bit quiet. Before her controversial victory at the senatorial poll, she was the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly matters.
Odua is also a formidable aspirant. She enjoys the sympathy of the President and notable other party leaders. The President reluctantly dropped her from the Federal Executive Council, following the alleged scam in the aviation sector. Thus, her chance is bright.
However, she has some hurdles to cross. The opposition has started to fire arrows at her direction. They said that Odua still has some questions to answer from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the bullet-proof car affair that led to her removal asthe Minister of Aviation. This, according to PDP sources, may deny her the ticket. Besides, she is not well grounded in the politics of the North senatorial zone.
In the APGA, the leading contender is Chief Dubem Obaze. He enjoys a tremendous goodwill from the zone. Many groups have endorsed him. Stakeholders have urged him to publicly declare his ambition.
Senator Alphonsus Obi Igbeke has already declared his intention to vie for the ticket. But, it seems the people want a fresh blood. Some have faulted his ambition, saying when he was a senator, he did not make much impact. The Nation gathered that Igbeke is being propelled to contest by Governor Willie Obiano
According to a source, “Obiano wants to use the platform to challenge former Governor Peter Obi, who is backing former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Dubem Obaze.”
Obaze’s structure is solid. The former commissioner is not leaving anything to chance. A group, the Equity Group, which spearheaded the emergence of Obiano as governor, is mobilising support for him.
The group, which is led by Mr. Tony Ifeanyi, is said to be driven by the principles of equity, justice and fairness. Its members are of the opinion that, since Obiano, who hails from Anambra East Local Government has become the governor, it is only fair that Obaze, who hails from Ogbaru Local Government, should to go for the Senate.
Observers have argued that the pattern of senatorial representation makes it compelling for someone from Ogbaru to be given a chance in 2015. Anambra North has seven local governments, out of the 21 in the state. They are Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Ogbaru and Oyi.
It is only Ogbaru that has not produced a senator since the restoration of civil rule in 1999. Between 1999 and 2003, the late Okadigbo (Oyi/Ayamelum) represented the zone. Between 2003 and 2005, Emma Anosike from Anambra East /West represented the area. Between 2005 and 2010, Emodi from (Onitsha North/South) served as a senator. Igbeke from Anambra East/West occupied the position between 2010 and 2011. From 2011 till date, Mrs. Okadigbo from Oyi/Ayamelum has been representing the zone.
Based on this analysis, some stakeholders have argued that the odds favour Obaze. They pointed out that the former commissioner has the academic credential and experience to serve as a senator. Furthermore, they said that he attracted dividends of democracy to the zone when he served under former Governor Obi.
These, according to the Equity Group, include the construction of the new Onitsha North and Onitsha South Council Headquarters, the renovation of other local government headquarters, provision of classroom blocks, roads construction and provision of over 143 water boreholes.
Political watchers are of the opinion that the race is between the APGA chieftain, Obaze, and Emodi of the PDP. “Every party would naturally want to give its ticket to contestants who are likely to make impact during elections and not those who will be there to make up the numbers”, said a PDP chieftain.
He added: “What Joy Emodi is in the North Senatorial Zone is what Senator Ngige is in the Central Senatorial Zone and both are political heavyweights in Anambra State and it will be difficult for anybody to defeat them in an election.”
The only hurdle for Emodi, for now, is the crisis in the PDP, which is yet to abate.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/battle-of-gladiators-in-anambra-north/

Is APGA going into extinction?

2014-08-30T20:09:00.000+02:00

Is APGA going into extinction?

on August 30, 2014 / in Politics 3:04 am / Comments

By Vincent Ujumadu
THESE are really not good times for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Though the leadership tussle between its National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh and Chief Maxi Okwu, is still at the Supreme Court, members heaved a sigh of relief when the Court of Appeal resolved the tango in favour of Umeh.
However, as Umeh settled down to put the party in a right shape in readiness for the 2015 general elections, there was another internal squabble. This time, four members of the party in the House of Representatives led by Mrs. Uche Ekwunife defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Gov Peter Obi, Late Odumegwu Ojukwu and Victor Umeh

Before the defection, there had been concerns about Ekwunife’s future in APGA since she lost the party’s governorship ticket to Chief Willie Obiano, who eventually won the election last year, with speculations that she might return to PDP, the party on which platform she won her first election to the House of Representatives in 2007.
Why we left APGA –Ekwunife
Ekwunife, who was the leader of the Anambra caucus in the House of Representatives and chairman of the House Committee on Environment, said that they left APGA because of unfair treatment.
While handing over her resignation letter to her Nri Ward APGA chairman, Ekwunife told her supporters: “Political party is only a vehicle towards achieving a political purpose and I am happy I passed through APGA and this is the time for me to change the baton… I want to be in a party where I will have the opportunity to express myself. I had a passion for APGA but something happened that made me to change my mind. I cannot continue to be frustrated because I am in APGA. I am not going to abandon my supporters and I want those who have been associating with me to continue to do so. Everything about politics is local and it is the people at the grassroots that determine how a politician succeeds.
Obi’s surprise move
A few days after the defection of the four lawmakers, immediate past governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, in a surprise move, resigned as the leader and chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT.
Though Obi agreed that he ought to have intervened more aggressively to stop the defecting members, he said he did not actually know on what platform he would have done so, since, according to him, his position as the chairman of BOT and leader of APGA were yet to be ratified. The former governor was made the BoT chairman and party leader at an impressive ceremony in Awka early this year.
Describing the defection of the lawmakers as worrisome, Obi said the development called for a serious reflection, especially with the 2015 general elections drawing near. The former governor said he remains a member of the party and urged APGA members across the country to reflect on the way forward for the party.
Shortly after the defection and Obi’s resignation, APGA, alleged that two prominent members of PDP in Anambra State, who have interests in oil and gas enticed the decamping federal lawmakers and promised them automatic tickets for the 2015 election to destabilize APGA in the state.
President of Initiative for Good Governance, Chief Jude Emecheta, a Governor Willie Obiano support group, warned that any attempt to destabilize APGA in Anambra would not be in the interest of PDP during the 2015 presidential election.
He expressed happiness that Governor Obiano and the party hierarchy were intervening on the issue with a view to resolving the APGA matter amicably. He also said the fact that Obi refused to join PDP to become a minister was because he has integrity and should not be a reason to destabilize APGA.
Did Obi influence the lawmakers’ move?
Obi’s reasons for resigning did not draw more suspicion than his comments that the defecting legislators had the right to personal decisions about their political future or any other endeavour for that matter.
For instance, Umeh alleged that the defection plot was hatched by Obi and his associates, adding that part of the group’s game plan was to go to the presidency to say that APGA was not supporting Jonathan, which he said was not true.
He described those who decamped from APGA as election ticket hunters, noting that whenever they don’t get what they want from a party, they begin to curse that party.
He also said that the reason given by Obi for resigning as the APGA BOT chairman was his new appointment as the South East coordinator of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN.
Umeh said APGA had wanted to inaugurate Obi as a BoT chairman before he left office last March as governor and the party asked him to provide a budget for the special convention to that effect, regretting that the former governor dilly-dallied, apparently because he had made up his mind not to accept the role.
“With all our hearts, we wanted to make him the APGA BoT chairman and leader of our party, but the issue was that because of the leadership crisis being experienced in the party then, he thought that my leadership had come to an end and there was therefore no need to deal with us. However, when we won at the Court of Appeal, he found out that his game plan had failed and he began another move to destabilize the party by engineering our members in the House of Representatives to defect to PDP. Now, after pursuing other things and when he did not succeed, he resigned from the position of BoT chairman which is most unfortunate.The resignation letter he sent to our office was dated August 1, 2014, but he had already been appointed the South East coordinator of TAN and that was why he backdated the resignation letter,” he said.
Umeh said that with Obi’s resignation, all issues will be reserved till the party’s national convention slated for next year to elect new leaders of the party, adding that at that convention, all the outstanding matters in the party would be handled.
Attacks on Obi unwarranted –Obienyem
Obi’s media aide, Mr. Valentinee Obienyem, however, wondered why the former governor’s resignation as APGA BoT chairman and leader should elicit unfair reaction from some people, even when he is still a member of the party.
He said: “Resignation could mean that he is not comfortable being associated with posts yet to be confirmed. It could be that he wants to allow the leaders of APGA to choose a person better than him. It could be that he needed more time for other engagements. In such decisions, what gentlemen do is to respect the person that has done so, recognizing that he acted within his rights. He also said that Obi is not coordinator of TAN as being suggested.
Ogene, Nwogbo insist on APGA
As APGA members were still expressing concern over the defections, two members in the House of Representatives – Afam Ogene (Ogbaru federal constituency) and Emeka Nwogbo (Awka North and South) – said they remain members of APGA. Their statement came after their meeting with Governor Obiano in Awka.
Ogene, at a meeting with his constituents at Atani, the headquarters of Ogbaru Local Council of the state said he has not left the party and debunked rumours that Obi influenced the other legislators to leave APGA for PDP.
He told the people that what happened was that there was a meeting on whether it would be better for all the elected federal lawmakers to contest on the same political party with President Goodluck Jonathan since all the elections for 2015 would be contested on the same day.
According to him, after the meeting, the affected lawmakers also discussed with Governor Obiano. He said because of the issues involved, he has been meeting stakeholders in the constituency, including traditional rulers and the clergy, explaining that it has been decided that they should remain in APGA.
Ogene said he could not have left the party that sent him to the National Assembly without informing them, explaining that he never resigned from APGA in his ward which ought to be the starting point if he was to leave the party.
He said: “I have not left APGA and I remain a committed member of the party. It is the people that sent me to Abuja and there was no way I could have left APGA without informing you. As a representative of the people, there is need for me to explain to those who elected me when an issue of this nature arises. It is you, the party members that will decide if I will go for a second term. What happened was that there was argument that support for President Jonathan will be maximized if we all belong to one political party, but that is not the case now.”
Officials of APGA in the constituency said they were shocked when they read in the media that Ogene was among those who defected, adding that if he had done so his integrity as a politician would have been questioned.
Chairman of Ogene’s Akili Ogidi/Obeagwe ward, Mr. Emeka Odogwu, said it was unfortunate that some people wanted to use Ogene’s name to destabilize APGA in the area.
Also, the member representing Awka North and South, Emeke Nwogbo described the recent defection of four APGA Reps to the PDP as a voyage of convenience.
Describing the defection as unfortunate, the lawmaker regretted that it came at a time the federal lawmakers were expected to join hands with the leadership of the party and the state governor, Obiano to build a united and viable political party with Igbo identity preparatory to the 2015 general elections.
He also urged members of the party to shelve their personal interests and place APGA above all considerations to salvage it from those he described as jobbers, noting that the bickering and personality conflicts could only cause more divisions in the party. The recent happenings have led to observers to speculate on the future of APGA. Will the developments affect the party’s fortunes at forthcoming polls? Only time will tell. For now, the leadership of the party is sounding very optimistic that it would perform better in 2015 than it had done in the previous elections. As Chief Umeh put it, APGA will win in most states in the South East and even beyond in 2015

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/apga-going-extinction/#sthash.6SBFk77Q.dpuf

Is APGA going into extinction?

on August 30, 2014 / in Politics 3:04 am / Comments

Gov Peter Obi, Late Odumegwu Ojukwu and Victor Umeh

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/apga-going-extinction/#sthash.6SBFk77Q.dpuf

Source:

1,000 Igbo corpses await clearance in Lagos mortuaries —Ohanaeze

2014-08-30T20:02:00.001+02:00

Home » Featured » 1,000 Igbo corpses await clearance in Lagos mortuaries —Ohanaeze

Ohanaeze

1,000 Igbo corpses await clearance in Lagos mortuaries —Ohanaeze

Posted by: Innocent Duru in Featured, News 12 hours ago

No fewer than 1,000 corpses of Igbo people are awaiting clearance in various mortuaries in Lagos State, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the state, Chief Fabian Onwughalu, has said.
He blamed the development on the Federal Government’s ban on inter-state movement of corpses in the country.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khairu Al-Hassan, announced the Federal Government‘s decision at a meeting held at African House, Government House, Kano recently.
He said it was part of the means the government is exploiting to curtail the spread of the disease in the country.
Bemoaning the plight of the deceased and their relations, Chief Onwughalu said: ”As I am talking to you now, there are over 1000 dead bodies of Igbo people waiting at various morgues only here in Lagos State for movement to their homeland.
”The ugly development has serious effect on the families of the deceased because in Igbo land, we believe that the moment a late family member is buried, the pains of losing him will gradually fade away. But in a situation where you keep the body of a deceased family member unnecessarily, the pains will be increasing.
“The Federal Government should rescind the decision or decentralise the authority.”
Asked what the body was doing to address the problem, he said: “At the highest level, we believe there are consultations going on. But we are worried that it is taking too long to yield fruits.”
He added that the sole authority vested in the minister to give clearance to bereaved families before they can take their dead relations home is fraught with bottlenecks that cause untold hardship for the people. He described the process as a violation of the Igbo culture.
To enable bereaved families take the corpses of their members home for burial, he advised that “the Federal Government should authorise other government health officers and doctors to issue certificates to bereaved families to enable them carry the remains of their deceased ones home for burial.
“If the authority to issue certificate is decentralised such that federal health centres and teaching hospitals would be able to attend to bereaved families and give them certificates within a short time, it will enable our people to convey the remains of their beloved ones to their ancestral homes in line with the traditions of their people.”

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/1000-igbo-corpses-await-clearance-in-lagos-mortuaries-ohanaeze/

League Suspension Big Distraction For Football Development

2014-08-30T08:35:00.000+02:00

League Suspension Big Distraction For Football Development

By shaku Kigbu

— Aug 30, 2014 | Leave a comment

The suspension of this weekend’s matches in the Nigeria Professional Football League across the country by the League Management Company, following refusal of referees to officiate in the league due to the lingering crisis in Nigeria Football Federation, has been described as huge distraction.
Media Officer of league leaders, Kano Pillars, Idris Malikawa, said the suspension was coming when other leagues had commenced their 2014/2015 seasons.
Malikawa said the suspension will negatively affect the development of the league as it is capable of distracting clubs and players. “This is unfortunate and in the interest of clubs, players and football development, stakeholders should resolve their differences. They should sit down and discuss their problems and settle them.”
He said situation like this affects Nigerian clubs at the continental level. After the LMC issued notice that matches have been suspended, the NFF urged stakeholders to discountenance the statement even though it is not likely that any game will hold.

Source: http://leadership.ng/sports/382519/league-suspension-big-distraction-football-development

Arewa Groups Caution Dokubo Over Unguarded Utterances

2014-08-30T08:32:00.002+02:00

Arewa Groups Caution Dokubo Over Unguarded Utterances

By ISAIAH BENJAMIN

— Aug 30, 2014 |

Two Northern groups, the Arewa Citizens Action for Change (ACAC) and the Arewa Youth Development Foundation (AYDF) have warned Alh Asari Mujahedeen Dokubo to desist from making uncomplimentary remarks against northern leaders, its elders and people.
In a statement signed by the director action and mobilisation of ACAC, Aminu Adam, and the national president of AYDF, Barr Ali Usman,in Kaduna yesterday, the Arewa groups said, “we have observed with great concern the persistent unrestrained verbal attacks on the generality of the people of northern Nigeria and its interests by Ijaw community’s Asari Dokubo.
“Recently, Asari Dokubo, perhaps, emboldened by government’s backing, has graduated to attacking the revered Sultan of Sokoto, the distinguished Emir of Kano and respected leaders like Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida more so, our great politicians in person of Atiku Abubakar and Lawal Kaita.
“We feel obliged to respond to some of his ranting and warn him to desist forthwith from uttering further uncomplimentary remarks against the north, its leaders, elders and people by reminding him that both he and his paymasters do not have monopoly of the apparatus of rascality.
“We are worried that it is only in Nigeria that a person with notoriety for violent incursions on his county’s economic base and glaring show of ignorance should be accorded official cover to wage verbal attacks on statesmen, and people who have made great sacrifices for their country.
“While we join our brothers in the forum for the protection and defence of the integrity of northern elders in urging the northern elders not to respond to utterances by Asari, we still warn him that we are equal to the task of protecting the interest of every northerner and ready to take him on anytime.

Source: http://leadership.ng/news/382486/arewa-groups-caution-dokubo-unguarded-utterances

BOKO HARAM: HOW NEW ‘CALIPHATE’ EMERGED

2014-08-30T08:26:00.000+02:00

BOKO HARAM: HOW NEW ‘CALIPHATE’ EMERGED

Category: Cover stories

Published on Saturday, 30 August 2014 05:02

Written by Hamza Idris, Maiduguri & Kabiru R. Anwar, Yola

The Palace of the Emir of Bama which was torched by the Boko Haram

The declaration of a Caliphate by the leader of Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, with its headquarters in Gwoza town on August 24, may have come as a surprise to many Nigerians, but analysts said the choice of which area to annex was well-thought out and that the signs were apparent right from the beginning.

On Thursday, August 28, three Nigerian fighter jets reportedly dropped more than 20 high calibre bombs on Gwoza town and adjoining villages in Borno State in an apparent move to recapture them from the Boko Haram insurgents. The move came nearly a week after Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, compromised the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
He declared his “Islamic Caliphate” on Sunday, August 24 with its headquarters in Gwoza. Residents of Gwoza are still oblivious of happenings in Gwoza town after the intervention, but many of them, who are now taking refuge in other parts of Borno and Adamawa states, applauded the step taken by the Nigerian government in its attempt to reclaim the town.
“We have seen at least three different fighter jets advancing towards Gwoza and other locations, we hope the desired result has been achieved,” said Mahmuda Mustapha, a fleeing resident who now lives in Madagali, neighbouring Adamawa State.
“Many bombs have been dropped on Gwoza by the fighter jets, we hope they got the targets so that the town would come under the control of Nigerian government,” he added.
Seen by pundits as an “ambitious claim,” sources said Shekau and his adherents strongly believe in their supposed objective - establishing a hard-line Islamic state within Nigerian territory.
“Oh people, I am Abubakar Shekau, here still standing, the leader of Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lid Da’awati wal Jihad in Nigeria, in the country called Nigeria. We don’t believe in the name Nigeria. We are in Islamic Caliphate; we have nothing to do with Nigeria,” Shekau said in a 52 minutes video clip.
Though Boko Haram had seized many towns and villages, especially in Borno and Yobe states in the recent past with the hoisting of their flags, this is the first time the group is announcing the creation of an independent state within the Nigerian territory.
Why Gwoza?
Experts on terrorism believe that Shekau’s choice of Gwoza as the headquarters of his Caliphate is not by accident. Galtima Abubakar, a historian said terrorists take delight in settling in places that have easy entry and exit points, hidings or abodes that would seem impenetrable, access to food, water and other basic needs.
He said because of its numerous strategic advantages, Nigeria’s government had made a “serious blunder” by allowing Gwoza to fall into the hands of Boko Haram.
“Countries that are finding it difficult to contain insurrections by violent groups are those that allow members of such groups to capture safe dwellings, especially mountains. The fight in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other places appears difficult to manage because the insurgents have upper hand in strategic places like mountainous areas,” Abubakar said.
“This is the exact situation now in Gwoza because there are numerous mountains, easy to manoeuvre by the insurgents,” he said.
Gwoza is a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon. The town is located about 135 kilometres south-east of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and covers an area of 2,883 square km and a population of 276,312, according to the 2006 census.
It is dotted with rocks, including the Mandara Mountains, which reportedly served as training abode for the insurgents for a very long time. The mountains are a volcanic range extending about 200 km along the northern part of the Cameroon-Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south (9.3°N 12.8°E) to the north-west of Maroua (Cameroon) in the north (11.0°N 13.9°E).
Another reason why Boko Haram chose to have their “country” in Gwoza, sources said is because of the abundant food resources and vegetation in the area.
“Unlike other parts of Borno State such as Gamboru or Mallam Fatori that are prone to desert, Gwoza’s vegetation is fertile and the insurgents would have unfettered access to food there more than in any other location,” one of the sources said.
“Even if the Nigerian government succeeds in blocking all the channels of food supplies, the tendency is that the insurgents would find their way, at least for some time before they would run out of basic things they need to sustain themselves and hundreds of their captives,” the source added.
Some of the communities that Boko Haram completely or partially destroyed in Borno State include Damboa and many villages there; Bama and many communities around it; Konduga, Mafa, Dikwa, Benisheik, Mainok, Baga along the shores of the Lake Chad, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere.
In fact, of all the 27 local government areas of Borno State, not more than five are yet to be attacked. And of all places attacked by Boko Haram, especially in Borno State, observers believe that Gwoza and hundreds of villages around it are the worst hit.
The attacks, according to experts, were deliberately hatched and perfected to pave way for the establishment of the purported Islamic Caliphate.
Boko Haram insurgents had in the past made many attempts to attack the Emir’s palace in Gwoza but did not succeed. However, following the fierce fight between Nigerian troops and the insurgents, on August 6th, the latter successfully subdued the town, hoisted their flags and started to hold court in the palace.
Within the same period, thousands of people from the town, including their emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Mutapha Idrissa Timta, were forced to flee to the Mandara Mountains. Frightened and bewildered, they stayed atop the mountain for nearly a week before they escaped. The emir is now in Abuja, far away from his domain.
Before then, the father of the present emir, Alhaji Mutapha Idrissa Timta, was brutally killed by Boko Haram insurgents on May 30, while on his way to Gombe with three other emirs.
Late Timta, who ascended the throne as a third class chief in October, 1981 and reigned for 33 years, had consistently called for serious attention from the federal government, pointing out that Gwoza was too strategic to be forgotten by the authorities.
Shortly before he was killed, many village heads and community leaders were killed, and from Bama, it became increasingly dangerous to go to Gwoza as insurgents intensified ambush on travellers almost on daily basis until they succeeded in making the road impassable.
They hoisted their flags with Arabic inscription in places like Ashigashiya, Pulka Chinene and many villages on top and at the foot of the Mandara Mountains.
In April, one month before he was killed, the late emir of Gwoza issued a Save Our Souls press statement in which he lamented the spate of the attacks on his people, while warning of the possibility of Nigeria losing the area to Boko Haram.
“There is an urgent need for the security agents to intensify and change their tactics of operation to stop the mass killings in this area. I am appealing to security agents to intensify patrol on these roads to prevent the attacks. If care is not taken, my people will completely flee the area to neighbouring states and countries for safety,” the monarch had said in part.
The taking over of Gwoza by the insurgents has proved the apprehension of the late monarch.
Muhammad Yunus, another close observer of the workings of Boko Haram, said uprooting them from Gwoza will be a Herculean task: “The reasons are obvious, from Gwoza, it is very easy to sneak in and out of the vast infamous Sambisa forest.”
From the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram sustained attacks on Gwoza until last week when they declared it their Caliphate.
“From Gwoza, it is very easy for them to cross over to Cameroon through the more than 1000 porous borders; from Gwoza, the insurgents would also have access to other countries like Chad, Sudan, and Central African Republic up to Libya,” Yunus said.
“Some of these countries have been torn by crisis and weapons are freely exchanging hands…And this is basically why they (weapons) are flowing into Nigeria like sachet water. We are really in trouble,” he added.
How Shekau plans to sustain Gwoza
Weekly Trust reports that one thing that many people failed to note is that Shekau was short of declaring himself as the Caliph of the purported Gwoza Islamic Caliphate. In his words: “All gratitude goes to Allah who has given victory to our brethren in Gwoza and made her part of the Islamic Caliphate.”
This has elicited thought-provoking analysis by experts that have been watching the modus operandi of the Boko Haram sect.
In Arabic, a caliphate, meaning “succession,” is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – that is “successor” – to Prophet Mohammed. Such states represent a sovereign state of the entire Muslim faithful, ruled by a caliph under Islamic law (Sharia).
Before his latest video, Shekau had released a similar one on July 13, 2014, where though not categorical, he paid glowing tributes and allegiance to leaders of hard-line Islamic groups in other parts of the world, whom he said inspired his violent disposition to the cause he is pursuing.
He also made statements that alluded to his rebellion against the Nigerian government and democracy as well as the position of some Muslim clerics on Western education.
“God is great indeed! We thank Allah; we are inside Nigeria, the country they call Nigeria but as far as we are concerned, we don’t know any country called Nigeria. May Allah curse her!
“To us, we are in the territory of Allah and we practice the religion of Allah and we are in the empire of Islam. Even the Prophet established the first Islamic empire with 70 people. Nothing will therefore stop us from establishing our empire inside Nigeria with 5,000 or 10,000 or 20,000 or a million people. This is Allah’s doing, Allah has given us victory.
“May Allah be pleased with my leaders such as Mullah Omar, the leader of the faithful in Afghanistan; such as Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Mujahedeen…The leader of the faithful in Syria and Iraq, Abi Bakr Al-Baghdadi. May Allah protect you, oh! Caliph, oh! Caliph of Muslims.
“And the leader of the faithful in blessed Yemen. May Allah protect us all, Ash-Sheikh, the endowed, Imam Abi Mus’ab Abdulwadud, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. May the peace and Mercy of Allah be upon you all,” Shekau said.
He described them as Muslim brethren who truly hold on to the religion of Allah and vowed to follow their footsteps.
“I don’t mean those who believe in democracy, I don’t mean those who follow constitution, I don’t mean those who pursue Western education. This is US ideology, this is England’s ideology, this is France’s ideology, and this is China’s ideology. They concealed it from you, they are just deceiving you,” he said.
Few people took note of Shekau’s utterances in the said video of July 13, especially on where he was heading to. Such people were therefore bewildered when Shekau declared Gwoza as the headquarters of his caliphate and no longer part of Nigeria.
“When you put the two videos and the declarations side by side, Shekau was sending a strong message to those that care to listen,” one analyst said.
“I am pretty sure by paying allegiance to them, he (Shekau) is invariably seeking support from Al-Baghadadi, the leader of the ISIS in Iraq and others that he mentioned in the July 13 video clip,” he said.
A cursory look at the event of Monday, August 25 at Gamboru town in the northern part of Borno State also gives credence to Shekau’s urge for territorial conquest.
Besides Gamboru, prominent local government areas such as Dikwa, Mafa, Marte, Abadam, Bama and Damboa, all in Borno State, as well as Gujba and Gulani in Yobe State, are under serious threat from Boko Haram.
Gujba is already in the hands of the sect whose members have taken over and hoisted their flags at the emir’s palace. They are also in control of many villages in Gulani after chasing away the locals and hoisted their flags.
In many villages in all the local government areas mentioned above, the insurgents are freely brandishing their guns, preaching in the open and selling their doctrine to the people.
They have also destroyed many bridges, tactically creating a country within the Nigerian state, especially between Borno, Yobe and Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon.
By their elaborate expansionists approach, the insurgents are gradually making it difficult for Nigerian troops to ship heavy fighting equipment to reclaim the town. Sources said so far, they have cornered over 200 communities and are indirectly holding the people in the affected areas hostage.
Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, a Maiduguri based philanthropist, who has ample knowledge of the Boko Haram, said that the group’s rise to international prominence, albeit negatively is “the price of institutional failure and mutual suspicion” among Nigerian elites.
He said Nigerian elites, especially those in the corridors of power, take everything for granted, a bad precedent which he said has plunged Nigeria into the abyss.
“When the Boko Haram started their campaign, they only had bows, arrows, daggers, sticks, dane-guns and a few Ak47 rifles. Within the time under review, prominent Nigerians and heads of security establishments described them as a few miscreants in an obscured part of Nigeria,” Mustapha said.
“Now look at where we have found ourselves…serious embarrassment across the world because there is nothing more embarrassing in an independent country like Nigeria than a group seen as useless to test the sovereignty of the country with impunity,” he added.
Mustapha said the insinuations that the insurgents have superior weapons were wrong: “Again, the furore that the insurgents have superior weapons is not tenable because they got most of the guns and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) after raiding military formations; they got a fraction of their fighting equipment from neighbouring war-torn countries.”
More towns under threat in Adamawa
Since the capture of Madagali town in Adamawa State a week ago, Boko Haram fighters have continued to hold residents of the larger Madagali area hostage as their area of control continues to expand with the setting up of outposts at Gubla and Bakin Dutse five kilometres to Gulak town.
They are reportedly on active patrol of the area using vans and motorcycles, preventing the remaining residents from fleeing. The insurgents hoisted their flags at the secretariat of Madagali North Development Area Council and the military base in the town.
The chairman of Madagli local government area, James Waltharda, has lamented the loss of Madagali towns and several villages to the insurgents and called on the federal government to step up efforts to curtail their advancement to Gulak town which is the local government headquarters and ensure restoration of security.
Madagali town in Madagali council area lies on the border with Cameroon and Borno State, the heart of Boko Haram insurgency, 20 kilometres from Gwoza, town taken by Boko Haram and thousands of displaced people from Gwoza and Izige are taking refuge there.
Waltharda said the 10, 000 displaced people from Gwoza who lived in a camp in Madagali have fled with the residents.
“The insurgents have invaded Madagali town and have pushed forward in the direction of Gulak. Residents in Madagali town, Gulak and surrounding villages, have deserted their homes but from the reports I got there is no much civilian casualty yet. Six civilians have been killed so far,” he stated.
Many residents in Gulak have fled to other towns while people in Shuwa and Michika live in fear of the advancement of the insurgents.
A soldier, who spoke to our correspondent by telephone, confirmed heavy military deployment to Gulak to prevent the insurgents from capturing the town and areas like Mubi, Michika and Uba.
Residents also reported air strikes on insurgents occupying areas in Limankara and Gwoza, saying they heard multiple explosions when military planes flew over the areas on Thursday.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/weekly/index.php/top-stories/17517-how-boko-haram-s-islamic-caliphate-compromises-nigeria-s-sovereignty

2014-08-30T08:15:00.000+02:00

Australian Negotiator Names Ihejirika, Sheriff as Sponsors of Boko Haram

29 Aug 2014

Font Size: a / A

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Azubuike Ihejirika, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and El-Rufai

Pillories US, UK for not giving Nigeria tangible assistance
Former governor, army chief deny allegation
El-Rufai calls for their prosecution
Camerounian troops shell sect’s camp

Goddy Egene and Zacheaus Somorin with agency report

A Perth-based international adviser, Dr. Stephen Davis, who for four months was involved in negotiations on behalf of the federal government with commanders of Boko Haram for the release of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the sect last April, has named a former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Azubuike Ihejirika, as sponsors of Boko Haram.

Davis, who spoke yesterday in two separate interviews to Arise Television, a THISDAY sister company, also disclosed that a man resident in Abuja whose three nephews had been identified as being behind the Nyanya bus station bomb blast that killed 77 people, was one of the financiers of Boko Haram.

Davis, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday had pointedly alleged that one of the primary sources of funding of the terror group was Nigerian politicians, but failed to disclose their identities until his interview with Arise TV.

But in reaction to the allegation, Ihejirika and Sheriff angrily dismissed the allegation, saying they had nothing to benefit from the sponsorship of Boko Haram.

However, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir el-Rufai, has called for their prosecution and expressed hope that the authorities will take the steps necessary to act on this revelation.

In his interview with Arise TV, Davis said he had been informed by Boko Haram commanders whom he dealt with that there are prominent politicians who have been sources of funding to Boko Haram, adding: “First thing to do is to arrest the former Governor Sheriff. Former Governor Sheriff has been funding this for years. He is satisfied that he will be picked up and he has now switched to the ruling party, PDP, in the hope this will give him protection.

“That guy is really a bad guy and he is known to be corrupt and why the EFCC has not picked him up is anybody’s guess.

“There is a former Chief of Army Staff, who retired in January, rightly sacked by the president, who is another sponsor.

“Then Boko Haram senior commanders said there are three nephews of one man. The three nephews participated in the bombing of the Abuja bus station early this year that killed at least 77 people. These nephews were living with him.

“He has been linked several times to their activities and why that someone, with the interrogation of the nephews who are in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS), doesn’t seem inclined to interrogate these young men to produce concrete evidence against their uncle in whose house they were living in during their activities for Boko Haram.”

The Australian negotiator was emphatic that the people he identified are current sponsors of Boko Haram, adding: “Some of them, I had had information from Boko Haram about three years ago; one of them four years ago.
“One sponsor particularly was providing money and also in one case provided six (Toyota) Hilux vehicles used for suicide bombing.”

Davis said the first thing that should happen in Nigeria is to arrest the sponsors, as this would slow down the fighting dramatically and the military may have a chance of fighting Boko Haram.

He recalled that when he was involved in the release of kidnapped oil workers in the Niger Delta region in 2004, “we found repeatedly that candidates for governorship in any of the 36 states often funded gangs and heavily armed them with AK 47, RPGs.

“And after the elections and the candidates won, they abandon these people who are heavily armed. This is happening in the north, it is not uncommon.

“Yes, I have worked with presidents in the past, one Christian president, one Muslim president. But we are horrified by what is going on today. This is being fuelled by politicians, in my view, who certainly want power in the next elections”.

He was of the view that the problem President Goodluck Jonathan was faced with was the fallout if he arrested the politicians.

“If he (Jonathan) now arrests prominent politicians who may want to certainly take power in the next election, the US, UK and France may cry foul, saying you are arresting people to the advantage of your re-election.

“But the threshold for evidence is very high and I think he will have to keep sufficient evidence to make the Western nations happy before this thing is totally out of hand,” he said.

On how he handled negotiations with Boko Haram to secure the release of the Chibok girls, Davis explained: “There had been kidnapping going on since last year. Apart from the 220 Chibok girls, there are over 300 other children that had been kidnapped from villages and towns.

“The problem we found in getting the girls was that they had other Boko Haram cells outside the ones we were dealing with, so that became a problem.

“President Jonathan had made huge progress with peace discussions over the last two years but as it was leading up to the elections, the sponsors of Boko Haram, the politicians really picked up the tempo and all the discussions – sitting down with leaders of Boko Haram for peace – was sabotaged.

“While I was there in the last four months, President Jonathan gave me full logistical support whenever I required it, whenever I requested for it to continue this work.

“We were able to get four of the Chibok girls out but what we found was that if we were also able to get 20 or 30 of the girls, the guys will go and kidnap another 50 to replace them. So we came to the conclusion that freeing Chibok girls was putting them in more callous situation costing the lives of many other people.

“So what we have been doing since then is keeping an eye on the girls who were able to escape, picking them up and bringing them to safe havens.”

Davis further revealed that the effort to get out 60 girls was botched when another group kidnapped them.
“The president gave me a military jet and a military convoy and ambulance from the local hospital. We were waiting for Boko Haram to bring them from the border with Cameroun.

“We had a call the previous morning that there were some girls, about 60 of them, so we set out with a number of ambulances and we travelled for four-and-a-half hours to reach them… However, the police had offered a very large reward for the girls 24 hours before then.

“So someone connected with the kidnapping of Chibok girls, who had good information about them decided to grab the girls so that they will have the reward.

“The Boko Haram commander who was keeping an eyes on the whole situation told me the details the next day of all that had occurred,” he said.

Davis warned against the use of force to rescue the girls, stating: “Doing a raid on the villages where the girls are will waste their lives. Getting sponsors out of action will certainly lead Boko Haram adrift for a while.

“But they will regroup because ISIS, Al Qaeda will move in because that will give them the leadership they need. But in that period of time, thy will be adrift and there are commanders in Boko Haram who are willing to hand over the girls and will love a peace deal. They would want to demobilise.

“Now, those guys, they have told me clearly that they will not attempt to hand over the girls or hold discussions for peace because the sponsors will get the other guys to kill those who are getting into the peace deal. So without the sponsors, we can’t start a peace deal.”

He said another challenge with dealing with the insurgency stemmed from the fact that Boko Haram camps are on the border, “so they slip back and forth between two countries.

“They go in convoy to attack a town, they stay for an hour or an hour-and-a-half and get out. That is enough time to hit them. However, on their way from town, they may have 40 or 50 girls on board with them and this is not the time to hit them,” he added.

He also questioned the manner of assistance offered by the US, UK and France which had not yielded results.
According to him, “France, UK and the US all agreed in Paris to assist Nigeria, Cameroun and Niger to work on this matter. The US, for example, said they would assist with intelligence.

"Yet, when Boko Haram members leave their camps they travel without interference to a town, they destroy six villages on their way to a particular town, and no one touches them.

“So one wonders if the UK and US are really serious about the matter, and why there has been no collaboration to intercept Boko Haram when they are on their way to these towns.

“For goodness sake, it is arid area, you can see a convey six miles away and these guys travel with 20, 40 or 60 vehicles with armed personnel. There is something going on very wrong in the collaboration that was preached.”

But in reaction to Davis’ allegation, Sheriff said they were baseless. In a text message he sent to Arise TV, he stated: This is absolutely not true. I have absolutely nothing to do with them. Boko Haram existed before I became a governor and they killed my family members and they kidnapped my brothers. This is not true.”

Ihejirika, on the other hand, told THISDAY that the allegation was diversionary, warning that its timing might be a prelude to an attack or an incident that the authorities and securities should preempt.

“This is meant to divert the attention of anyone – the nation, federal government and the international community – who is serious about stopping Boko Haram. If Boko Haram told Davis I am their sponsor, is it not hard to believe?
“Anyway, the only reason they can say so is because they suffered the most casualties when I was in charge. They know who gave them the most trouble; that is why they have resorted to telling lies to divert attention.

“Remember that when we stepped up our counter-terrorism campaign and they recorded several deaths, they changed tactics to make it appear like the military was involved in human rights abuses, which America and others fell for.

“This is diversionary. Why should this come up at this time? Some diversionary issues come up as a prelude to either an attack or an incident that the authorities and security agencies should look out for before it happens. There is history of this as a tactic, so they should watch out,” he warned.

However, el-Rufai, who also spoke to Arise TV, called for Ihejirika and Sheriff’s prosecution, stating: “Many of us have made very open allegations that elements within the government and outside must have been financing and directing the affairs of Boko Haram.

“The revelations by Stephen Davis are only confirming the suspicion that some of us hold and have held since October 2010 when the first bomb exploded in Abuja and that was the beginning of a new trend in terrorism in our country.”

He said right from the onset, the Boko Haram phenomenon pointed to the fact that the ruling party and the government were somehow involved in terrorism.

“It began in October 2010 when the first bomb exploded in Abuja and President Goodluck Jonathan declared that it was not MEND that was responsible for the bombing. Now, how would a president, without security briefing, from investigation, declare that a terrorist group which had claimed responsibility for bombing was not responsible unless he knew who was responsible,” he said.

He also pointed to the fact that the former National Security Adviser (NSA), the late General (Andrew) Azazi had declared that the promises and selection procedure of the party for offices by PDP were responsible for the insurgency.

“We know those who have been linked to the Boko Haram, including a serving senator of the PDP. Today, not one person or official that are connected to the opposition party, APC, has been linked to terrorism. All those that have been arrested and put on trial for terrorism are all members of the ruling PDP.

“So it is disingenuous for the Jonathan administration to point accusing fingers at APC when in fact all the sponsors of terrorism so far named are from the ruling party,” he stated.

El-Rufai predicted that Nigeria would not get a break from Boko Haram for two reasons: “We have an incompetent government that is incapable of doing anything right, in my opinion.

“Secondly, I think the ruling party and the presidency feel that sustaining the insurgency is going to be helpful to them in 2015 elections. As long as the country is getting divided along religious and ethnic lines, Mr. Jonathan thinks that will help him in 2015, which is why desperate efforts are being made by the ruling party to link the APC to the insurgency, to be a Muslim party, to be linked to the Muslim brotherhood and all that.

“It is in the government’s shallow and narrow thinking that sustaining the insurgency until 2015 will be useful to them to win the election. The danger is that as time goes on and Boko Haram gets better resources and better organised, they will become better. And it will become a credible threat to the Nigerian state.

“Now our soldiers cannot fight Boko Haram, they are running into Cameroun. People are saying our soldiers cannot face Boko Haram without better arms and ammunition. This is a government that is interested in returning to power at all cost, even at the cost of killing thousands of people."

He was of the opinion that the international community would not do much to help Nigeria fight the insurgents, stating that this “is a Nigerian problem, we can solve it by ensuring that our army is well motivated to fight the insurgency."

Shortly after the interview, el-Rufai, on his twitter handle, called for the prosecution of Sheriff and Ihejirika, saying: “The kingpins not only finance BH operations but select targets for assassination and execution”.

“Finally, the truth about BH is coming out. Hopefully, the murderers of General Muhammadu Shuwa, the abductors of the Chibok girls, those truly responsible for the Nyanya bombings, and attempted assassination of General Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, will be known.

“We hope the authorities will take the steps necessary to act on this revelation, and thereby discharge their duty to protect us, the citizens of Nigeria. That is just what it is, a hope!” he said.

Meanwhile, the Camerounian army on Wednesday attacked Boko Haram, shelling one of their camps across the border and killing many fighters, a security official said yesterday.

The source told AFP that the army had shelled the camp on Wednesday evening, two days after the jihadist group had seized control of the town of Gamboru Ngala on the Nigerian border with Cameroun.

“It was tanks stationed on the frontier at Fotokol (on Cameroun's side of the border) that shelled the camp on the other side,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.

“Seen from Fotokol this morning, Gamboru looks empty and smells of death,” he added. Nobody knows how many Boko Haram members were killed, but it is obvious that many were,” he added. The shelling was confirmed by a local police officer.

“These were abandoned houses that they have occupied since they entered Gamboru. We think they still control the town, because there are many of them and they didn’t all gather in the same place,” he said.

Calm had returned to Fotokol by Wednesday following days of panic as residents and Nigerian security forces fled there to escape the Boko Haram attack on Gamboru.

After clashes in Gamboru Ngala, Nigeria’s army dismissed suggestions that the soldiers had fled, saying they had been “charging through the borders in a tactical manouevre” and found themselves on Camerounian soil.

Tags: Australian Negotiator, Boko Haram, Featuered, News, Nigeria

Source:thisdaylive.com

Senegal Confirms First Case Of Ebola

2014-08-30T00:53:00.000+02:00

Senegal Confirms First Case Of Ebola The minister told the press today that a male university student from Guinea was the index case. Awa Marie Coll Seck, Senegal's Minister of Health and Social Action, confirmed the country's first case of Ebola on Friday. Encouraging the public to remain calm, the minister stated today that a male University of Conakry student from Guinea was the index case. He allegedly went to L'Hotital De Fann in Dakar, the country's capital, on Tuesday, though doctors did not know that he was infected. Ebola patient being treated by a medical teamEbola patient being treated by a medical team By Wednesday, a disease surveillance team in Guinea alerted authorities that they lost contact with a person who had been under watch after contact with sick persons three weeks prior. They suspected the young man was the missing person, eventally tracking him to the hospital in Dakar. "On the basis of this information, investigations were conducted in accordance with previously established procedures," Seck said. Following the confirmation, he was immediately quarantined, and is said to be in "satisfactory" condition. At this time they do not know how the young man entered the country. Senegal is now the fifth West African country affected by the EVD outbreak. On August 21 the country closed all land borders with Guinea, a preventative measure against the Ebola virus. Source:sahara reporters