Welcome to Comrade Olabisi's Blog: May 2014

Friday 30 May 2014

Wenger signs contract extension.....

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has signed a new three-year extension to his current contract, taking his tenure at the club to May 2017.
Wenger has been with Arsenal for 17 years, making him the longest-serving and most successful manager in the history of the club.
He is the longest-serving current manager in English football, has won eight major trophies and has qualified for the Champions League for 17 consecutive years, a record equalled only by Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Wenger, who has now taken charge of 1,010 Arsenal matches, said: “I want to stay and to continue to develop the team and the club. We are entering a very exciting period. We have a strong squad, financial stability and huge support around the world. We are all determined to bring more success to this club.
“The club has always shown faith in me and I'm very grateful for that. We have gone through fantastic periods and also periods where we have had to stick together. Every time when that togetherness was tested

The next even hold 2015
The 2014 Kaduna entertainment award this year came with a big surprise as young and new actor, Ibrahim Daddy, beat known stars of Kannywood to clinch the top award.
The award ceremony which took place early Sunday, saw the turnout of celebrities who came to witness the yearly award celebrations.
Ibrahim Daddy, with the film “AUTA” was nominated alongside Adam Zango and Yakubu Mohammed for the Best Actor Award.

The indigenous Nigerian attire is now a must-wear for every occasion.
The latest fashion craze among young Nigerian women is the iro and buba, a style trend that previously they would rather not be caught dead in.

The indigenous Nigerian attire is now a must-wear for every occasion; from weddings to the red carpet.
“It can be worn for almost occasion; like for church, weddings, casual outings and almost anywhere. It is also comfortable for our weather,” said Ada Ezike, a fashion aficionado.
The iro and buba, pronounced “ee-ro and boo-bah,” has been part of the West African culture for a very long time. It was mostly worn by the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria but has since spread far into other ethnic groups.

Clarion Chukwurah won the ‘best actress in a leading role’ for her role in Emem Isong’s ‘Apaye’,
Veteran Nollywood actresses, Clarion Chukwurah and Patience Ozokwor, emerged the biggest winners of the night at the Just concluded 2014 African Movie Academy Awards, AMAA.
The 2014 AMAA, which was the 10th edition of the awards, was held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, on Saturday, May 24.
While Clarion Chukwurah won the ‘best actress in a leading role’ for her role in Emem Isong’s ‘Apaye’, Patience Ozokwor won “Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in “After The Proposal”.
Receiving her award, Clarion Chukwurah, mother of video director, Clarence Peters, dedicated the award to Nigeria.

Niger Delta militants

The group says it is prepared to help restore peace to Niger Delta.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, has demanded the release of Henry and Charles Okah from detention as a condition for dialogue with the Nigerian government.
Henry Okah, a leader of the militant group, is serving a 24-year term in South Africa, in connection with the 2010 Independence Day bombing in Abuja that killed more than a dozen people.
His brother, Charles, is also facing trial over alleged involvement in the attack. He is currently under detention.
In a letter addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, Friday, MEND also demanded the suspension of court proceedings, dropping of all charges, and presidential pardon to all its awaiting trial and convicted members.
“Our attention was drawn to your olive branch where you said ‘Our doors remain open to them, (aggrieved armed groups) for dialogue and reconciliation if they renounce terrorism (armed struggle) and embrace peace.’ As Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States said ‘Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace,’” Jomo Gbomo, MEND’s Spokesperson, said, referring to President Jonathan’s Democracy Day speech on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Scene of Boko Haram attack in Nigeria

The Emir of Uba survived the attack.
The Emir of Gwoza, Idrissa Timta, is feared dead after armed men abducted him and a colleague early Friday, local officials said.
Suspected Boko Haram militants attacked and abducted the traditional ruler, and his colleague, the Emir of Uba, Ismaila Mamza on Friday morning.
The two leaders were travelling to Gombe State for the funeral of the of the Emir of Gombe, Shehu Abubakar, who died on Tuesday evening at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, where he was undergoing treatment for cancer.
After being attacked and abducted, the two emirs who were riding in the same car, tried to escape by fleeing into the bush, officials say.
The Emir of Uba survived the attack, and was later found in the bush by soldiers who had fought the assailants.
It is not clear whether it was the insurgents who killed the emir or security personnel who tried to repel the attackers.

Some parents of the abducted girls discuss on what to present to the visiting presidential panel at GSS Chibok

The trip was the first by senior government civilian officials
A presidential fact-finding committee on the abduction of over 250 female students from their hostel at Government Secondary School Chibok, on April 14, finally visited the town Thursday, a week after suspending the trip.
The trip was the first by senior civilian officials since the abduction seven weeks ago. Military commanders had visited the town in April.
A planned visit by President Goodluck Jonathan was suspended abruptly amid security concerns.
The chairman of the presidential committee, Ibrahim Sabo, who led a three man entourage to Chibok Thursday, said the panel was in the town to sympathise with the parents and to assure them that even though his team was received amidst wailing by some of mothers of the abducted girls, the parents will rejoice soon.

Presidency Confirms Location Of Abducted Chibok Girls

Dr Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, on Thursday, guaranteed the nation and the international community that very soon, the nation’s security forces would secure the release of the abducted Chibok girls and reunite them with their parents. Dr Okupe gave the assurance in an interview with CNN, monitored in Abuja, where he confirmed that the location of the Chibok school girls that were taken captive by members of the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram has been located by the country’s security operatives.

President Jonathan Drives Made-In-Nigeria Nissan SUV --Photos

President Jonathan Drives Made-In-Nigeria Nissan SUV –Photos

President Goodluck Jonathan has become one of the first persons to drive Nigeria’s locally manufactured vehicles.
This piece of information was made public on Thursday, 29 May, 2014, by Reno Omokri, the Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media.
Mr Omokri went on his official twitter page and shared a picture of the president sitting on the driver’s side of a Nissan Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV.
It could be recalled that on 15 May, 2014, the Federal Government announced plans for massive production of locally manufactured vehicles in Nigeria from June.

At Last Jonathan Ready To Grant Amnesty To Boko Haram Members

Information coming out from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, suggests that the Federal Government has indicated its willingness to grant amnesty for the Boko Haram insurgents. This piece of information was made public on Thursday, 29 May, 2014, by the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, while speaking at a programme to mark the nation’s Democracy Day titled ‘A day with young leaders of Nigeria’.
According to the minister, President Goodluck Jonathan has given approval for the members of the Boko Haram sect to be given amnesty as soon as the terrorists lay down their arms.
The Nation reports that Mr Haruna also added that series of programmes are in the pipeline for members of the sect as soon as they embrace the federal government’s gesture.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has also declared amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect. Series of integration programmes have been lined up for the members of the sect who would surrender their arms and embrace peace.”

Why Governor Amosun Weeps Inside Ogun Prison

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun on Thursday wept at the pitiable sight of inmates at Oba prison in Abeokuta, Ogun State, western Nigeria. Vanguard reports that the governor, who had earlier granted amnesty to 15 inmates at Ibara prison also in Abeokuta, could not hold back his emotions at Oba prison after witnessing what he called the “inhuman condition” to which the inmates were subjected.
It was gathered that Amosun was informed that majority of the 492 prisoners on awaiting trial list at the prison had spent between four and seven years in jail.
He ordered immediate medical attention for the inmates with critical medical conditions and directed that others should be taken to the hospital.
While making a speech at the prison, Amosun stated that the prison services was under the control of the Federal Government, adding that it would be irresponsible of any leader to neglect the conditions of prison inmates.

Boko Haram: Ugandan President, Museveni, mocks Nigeria over foreign military assistance

President Museveni says he would be prepared to hang than hand over the security of his country to the United Nations
Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, has mocked the Nigerian military over its failure to contain the extremist sect, Boko Haram, saying he would be prepared to “hang” than surrender his country’s security to foreigners as Nigeria and other troubled African nations have done.
Mr. Museveni said the failure of the governments of Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, to protect their people and instead opt for foreign assistance amounts to a vote of no confidence.
“I have never called the United Nations to guard your security. Me, Yoweri Museveni to say that I have failed to protect my people and I call in the UN….I would rather hang myself,” Mr. Museveni was quoted by the country’s state-owned newspaper, New Vision, as saying.
He added: “We prioritized national security by developing a strong army otherwise our Uganda would be like DRC, South Sudan, Somalia or Nigeria where militias have disappeared with school children. It would be a vote of no confidence to our country and citizens if we can’t guarantee our security, what kind of persons would we be?”

ASUP Strike Update: ASUP And The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)

With some polytechnics pulling out of the almost 10-month-old strike, the struggle by Academic Staff of Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) to ensure that their demands are met by the Federal Government before they return to classrooms may be suffering a setback . On Wednesday this week, the Hussaini Adamu Federal Polytechnic, Kazaure in Jigawa State, pulled out of the strike after its congress. Last month, the Federal Polytechnic, Kebbi, also suspended the strike. And yesterday, the Federal Polytechnic Bida, did likewise.
According to the Chairman of the union in Jigawa, Comrade Sa’idu Abdullahi, in a communiqué issued after the emergency congress, said the suspension was to allow students complete the disrupted second semester of 2012/2013 academic session.

List of Attacks Carried Out By Fearless Boko Haram Sect Since 2011

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday urged those who have been protesting the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, to henceforth direct their protest to the Boko Haram terrorists and not the government. The President also urged the protesters to learn from citizens of other countries who do not blame their governments for any terrorist act.
He has however admitted publicly for the first time that his administration was currently consulting with some stakeholders with a view to exploring what he called alternative methods of resolving the present crisis.
Jonathan made the disclosure in a speech delivered on his behalf by the Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, to a team of #BringBackOurGirls campaigners, led by a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwezili.

2015 Election; No Second Term For GEJ- The Nation

It is just as well that President Goodluck Jonathan has not formally announced that he will be seeking re-election next year. He should not. In fact, he should go one step further and declare, today, in the manner of former U.S. President William Sherman, that he will not be a candidate for the 2015 presidential election; that if nominated, he will decline, and that if elected, he will refuse to serve.

U.N. Security Council Slaps Boko Haram ---CNN News

(CNN) — The U.N. Security Council approved sanctions Thursday against Nigeria’s Boko Haram. It added the terrorist group to the United Nation’s 1267 sanctions list, a list of al Qaeda-linked organizations subject to arms embargoes, travel bans and asset freezes.
“Today, the Security Council took an important step in support of the government of Nigeria’s efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities,” said Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“By adding Boko Haram to the U.N.’s 1267 sanctions list, the Security Council has helped to close off important avenues of funding, travel and weapons to Boko Haram, and shown global unity against their savage actions,” she added.
Nigeria had asked the United Nations to make the move as attacks in Africa’s most populous nation appear to be escalating, spreading beyond Boko Haram’s hotbed in the rural northeast.
Twin blasts killed at least 118 people Tuesday at a market in the central city of Jos.
The explosions went off 20 to 30 minutes apart, sparking an inferno that sent crowds running and screaming, covered in blood.

(CNN) — A large part of northern and central Nigeria is now at the mercy of intensified attacks by Boko Haram, and the group seems to be embarking on a new phase of its campaign against the Nigerian state — piling further pressure on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. The last four days have seen devastating bomb attacks in Jos, in central Nigeria, as well as a suicide bombing in Kano – the largest city in the north. Two more villages in the state of Borno, Boko Haram’s stronghold in the northeast, came under attack, with at least 30 civilians killed. There have also been two bomb attacks in the federal capital, Abuja, in the last five weeks.
What alarms analysts is the way Boko Haram and its supporters are able to carry out multiple attacks on targets far apart, all within days of each other. Jos and Kano are more than 300 miles from Borno.
The double car-bomb attack against a market in Jos on Tuesday, which killed 118 people, according to the National Emergency Management Agency, is typical of its strategy beyond Borno: to strike soft targets in places where sectarian tensions are already high, with massive force. The use of two bombs some 30 minutes apart copied an al Qaeda tactic.

A 54-year-old radio journalist, Pius-Junior Opute ,(a.k. a .OPJ), who was allegedly caught peeing in a drainage and resisting arrest, on Tuesday appeared before a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.
The accused, who lives at 41, Adeba St., Lakowe, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State, is facing a two-count charge of urinating in a drainage and resisting arrest.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Daniel Ighodalo, told the court that the offences were committed on May 12 at about 8.00 p.m. at Marwa Bus Stop, Lekki.
Ighodalo said that OPJ, a staff member of Wazobia 95.1 FM, was caught urinating at
Marwa Bus Stop, Lekki.
Opute resisted arrest and obstructed a free flow of traffic around the Lekki Toll Plaza, he added.
Ighodalo said the offences contravened Sections 117 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 and Chapter E5, (9e) of the Environmental Sanitation Law of Lagos State ,2011.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Magistrate, Mrs Olaitan Ajayi, granted the accused bail in the sum of N20, 000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case to June 18 for further hearing.(NAN

Thursday 22 May 2014

This Man Is The World’s Poorest President, But The Reason Why He’s Poor Will Surprise You.

You might not believe it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything in this world, it would be more people like this!

This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on other things in life instead.

Why Anti-Bomb Squad Officers Are Digging For More Victims In Jos Bombs Blast

IN JOS, Nigeria Rescue workers confirmed More dead and dozens wounded above 118 people that have died…
JOS, Nigeria (AP) — Police anti-bomb squad officers on Wednesday today dug into a crater left by one of two bombs that exploded in a bustling marketplace and bus station in a central Nigerian city as people searched for missing loved ones after the horrific attack that left at least 118 people dead. Most victims are women and children vendors from the market, said Mohammed Abdulsalam of the National Emergency Management Agency.
Rescuers are waiting for earthmovers to demolish buildings weakened by the blast and move heavy debris so that they can safely search for more bodies, he said.
“We expect to find more bodies in the rubble,” Abdulsalam said.

The Abducted Girls Are Being Divided Into Small Groups--US

►US troops deploy to Chad in hunt for Nigerian girls.
►President Barack Obama says the U.S. has deployed 80 military personnel to Chad to help locate the more than 200 girls kidnapped in Nigeria. ►Obama has sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and to the Senate notifying lawmakers about the steps underway to assist in the return of the abducted girls.
Obama says the service members will help with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria. He says the force will stay in Chad until its support is no longer necessary. Chad shares a portion of its western border with northeastern Nigeria.
The girls were kidnapped last month by an Islamic extremist group known as Boko Haram.
The Nigerian government and military’s failure to curtail the 5-year-old Islamic uprising led by Boko Haram, highlighted by the April 15 abduction of the schoolgirls and lack of progress in rescuing them more than a month later, has caused national and international outrage.

State Creation in South West: Fresh Disagreements Among Prominent Yorubas

IBADAN—FRESH disagreements have arisen among some prominent Yorubas over state creation in the South West. Delegates at the on-going national conference from the zone were said to have endorsed the creation of only Ijebu State from the zone.
A statement by Chief Wole Akinwande and Mr Jare Ajayi on behalf of the Oyo State stakeholders on states’ creation, yesterday, stated that by virtue of various demographic indicators, Oyo State was the most deserving to be split into states.

Henceforth, NYSC Members Will Not Collect Their Mobilisation Call-Up Letter Their School.....

Starting from 2014 Batch B, prospective National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, members will henceforth collect their
mobilisation call-up letters for orientation online. The exercise is aimed at alleviating prospective corps’ members from traveling from their states of domicile after
graduation to their schools in order to collect the call-up letters.
Director-Genera l, DG, of the NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, gave the hint yesterday, during the pre-mobilisation seminar in preparation for 2014 Batch B in Enugu.
Oluwumi said: “It is for automation for mobilisation process for NYSC. The mobilisation process will be done through automation that a graduate from a school in Sokoto, for example, would not have to go to Sokoto to collect his call-up letter. All that will be done online.”

All Passengers Burnt To Death In An Accident On Lagos- Benin Express: See PHOTOS

According to an eye witness who sent in these pictures to us, said: “A tanker had accident with Young shall grow bus now at ore, they were coming from lagos and the bus got burnt and all the passengers died” more photos and details later.

Dora Akunyili Broke Down During The On-Going National Conference.....

According to a report on Saharareporters, one-time Minister of Information and former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mrs Dora Akunyili is in a serious health crisis after her medical condition deteriorated during the on-going national conference. A family friend had told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Akunyili was diagnosed with cancer and stated that she had spent several months in the US receiving treatment. And now, that Mrs. Akunyili’s condition worsened a few days ago, prompting her hospitalization at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja.
SaharaReporters called Mrs. Akunyili’s mobile telephone twice yesterday. During the first call, a female voice passed on our call to her but she abruptly hung up. During a subsequent call, the female voice said Mrs. Akunyili was sleeping, but refused to disclose her condition or specific location.
Several reports say Mrs. Akunyili had been flown to India for a round of medical treatment. However, two members of the National Conference said the former minister was hospitalized in Abuja. One of the delegates revealed that Mrs. Akunyili had not been at the confab for several weeks after she made a public address at one of the plenaries at the confab.
Last month, Mrs. Akunyili tried to douse public concerns about her health status by issuing a statement to say her doctors gave her the nod to attend the conference. She has not updated her Facebook page for a while now.

BREAKING: Boko Haram releases video showing kidnapped Chibok Girls

Mr. Shekau said he would release the girls only if Boko Haram prisoners held nationwide are released.
The Boko Haram has released a video purportedly showing the kidnapped Chibok girls.
The video shows Abubakar Shekau, the fugitive Boko Haram leader, and over 100 girls wearing hijab.
In the video, shown on BBC, Mr. Shekau claimed the girls had become Muslims.
The girls could be seen in the video wearing the full length black and ash-coloured hijab with only their faces showing, and reciting Quranic verses.
Mr. Shekau said he would release the girls only if Boko Haram prisoners held nationwide are released.
The over 200 girls were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on April 14.
Details later…

BREAKING: Sanusi floors Nigerian Government as court rules against FRCN

The Judge said the FRCN’s posturing shows that they are prejudiced.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has barred the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN, from investigating Lamido Sanusi, the suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice John Tsoho said that although the FRCN is saddled with ensuring good governance in financial matters, their posturing shows that they are already prejudiced.
The judge countered the FRCN’s argument that their recommendation to the presidency was merely advisory. He said it was obvious that they had already decided Mr. Sanusi’s fate, even before their investigation.
“The language of the briefing note (transmitted by the FRCN to the presidency) conveys a sense of the defendant desperately goading the presidency to deal with the plaintiff,” Judge Tsoho said.
“The plaintiff submitting himself for investigation (by FRCN) is like the cockroach finding itself in the midst of fowls. Such a cockroach cannot be innocent,” he added.
Details later…

Sunday 11 May 2014

Wenger on the win, the season and fourth...

Arsène Wenger spoke to the media after his side rounded off their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Norwich City.
Read a transcript of what he had to say below:
on Ramsey's goal…
It was a great goal and a convincing win for us. We wanted to finish the job well and not concede. We have won 11 games away from home, I think it's the best in the Premier League and it was our 17th clean sheet - that is remarkable as well. We just wanted to finish the season well and we did it in a serious way so it's a good basis to prepare for the FA Cup final next Saturday.
on Jenkinson's first goal for Arsenal…
I'm happy for him because he's a remarkable player and boy as well. He could share that with our fans so it's great for him.

EPL Player Of The Year: See What Mourinho Is Saying

LONDON – Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is an unworthy choice as this season’s Premier League player of the year.
“Luis Suarez is a very good player. They’re not voting for a player who has no quality,” Mourinho said, in comments carried by several British newspapers on Sunday.
“(But) the profile of player who wins the player of the year is not the profile of player who used to win in English football 10, eight, six years ago.”
Suarez was banned for 10 matches after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last season, but has returned to become the country’s outstanding player, scoring 31 league goals to inspire Liverpool’s title challenge.
He was subsequently elected player of the year by both the Professional Footballers’ Association and the Football Writers’ Association.

In an interview with the Guardian’s Sid Lowe, Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata spoke about his experience with former boss Jose Mourinho and his first few months at Old Trafford.
“I told him [he was my idol] when I arrived,” Mata spoke about Manchester United’s interim manager Ryan Giggs. “And he said to me, joking: ‘I’m really happy you’re here … but I’m a bit sad too. Now I’m only the second best left-footer here’.”
“The first days at a new club are always a bit strange but when you have someone like Ryan saying that it eases things,” he added. “And it really helped that David de Gea was here. He’d been sending messages all week: ‘What’s happening?’ ‘When are you coming?’”
When asked about his departure from Chelsea, Mata admitted that it was a complicated week for him.
“It was a long week. Mentally, it was complicated. It was hard to leave Chelsea and I’ll always be grateful, but at the same time I was joining a great club. I spent virtually the whole time at home with my family, trying to stay calm, waiting, watching time pass, watching films and series, checking the phone. I went to the gym to make sure I didn’t lose shape, because I hardly trained,” he added.

The pictures being circulated to illustrate the claims in the story are not related to the situation in Nigeria.
There has been no arrest or operation by any foreign military or security allies in the ongoing efforts to rescue the abducted girls or the conduct of the ongoing counter terrorist campaign in Nigeria as reported by national dailies today and currently being circulated online. Contrary to the reports and the pictures being circulated to illustrate the claims, there has been no incident or record as reported. The pictures being circulated to illustrate the claims in the story are not related to the situation in Nigeria as they were taken from scenes in other countries.
Indeed, no troop of the American Marines has so far been deployed in any part of Nigeria as is being circulated in certain media.
International coalition is quite appropriate in handling terrorism being a trans-border and global crime. The public will be duly briefed on the areas of collaboration with allied forces in the mission to bring back our girls as the need arises. There is therefore no need to engage in misleading speculations while the mission is in progress.
CHRIS OLUKOLADE
Major General
Director Defence Information/Coordinator

Welcome to world famous Chibok, home of over 250 abducted schoolgirls....

Road to Chibok

Chibok has no access road, and residents had long feared militant may attack cars slowed by the dilapidated road
Before the heinous attack of Monday the April 14, in which over 250 secondary schools girls were taken captives by Boko Haram militants, only a handful of Nigerians outside of Borno State knew or ever heard of Chibok, a small town in the northeast state.
But three weeks after the raid that shocked the world, Chibok, a laidback town southeast of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, has lost all of its seeming solitude and now sits at the centre of a growing global spotlight, catapulted there by an atrocious crime the world has risen to condemn.
As attention focuses on the abducted girls, it has also helped frame the narrative of a town and its people so deprived and tucked far off, almost from the Nigerian civilisation.
According to the 2006 population census, Chibok Local Government Area has a population of 66,105 people spread across an area of about 1,350 km².
For a start, there is no road access to Chibok- no single asphalted road in the entire local council area. Traveling to Chibok is like groping in the dark, drivers often say, as they and other commuters often have to meander through contoured earth-road that could best be described as footpath or cattle route.

Finance Finister Okonjo-Iweala says the stories have been the same.
Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, slipped up Friday in a rare media gaffe, telling a reporter for American television, ABC, she was tired speaking about the abduction of more than 276 school girls in Chibok, Borno State.
“I’m tired of the same stories,” the minister said after being cornered by the reporter for an unplanned interview at the World Economic Forum meeting in Abuja.
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala explained she was not competent to speak on the issue since she was not the government spokesperson.
But it seemed the minister soon realized her mistake and promptly agreed to make some explanations on the government’s effort at dealing with the abductions.
The reporter had asked about Amnesty International’s report that the Nigerian military received advance warning and yet failed to stop Boko Haram from taking the girls April 14 from their dormitories.

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Goodluck Jonathan

CIA director says U.S. doing “everything we can” to rescue missing Chibok girls

The United Kingdom stands ready to respond to any request by President Goodluck Jonathan to help rescue 276 girls abducted from a school in Chibok, Borno State, Prime Minister David Cameron said, and signalled a request for troops may also be considered.
Mr. Cameron said it was unlikely the Nigerian government will request for British troops, but said he had given Mr. Jonathan a blank cheque for any request that will be considered.
“I rang the Nigerian president to offer anything that would be helpful and we agreed to send out a team that includes some counter-terrorism and intelligence experts to work alongside the bigger American team that’s going out there,” he told the BBC One programme”. “We stand ready to do anything more that the Nigerians would want.”

The insurgent group also reportedly abducted a police officer’s wife and two children.
Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram terror group in the early hours of Saturday blew up a bridge that links Borno and Adamawa states during an attack on Limankara, a village in Borno State, witnesses and security operatives said.
The gunmen also reportedly abducted the family of a police officer, including his wife and two children; before virtually destroying the village.
The incident, according to council officials in Madagali Local Government Area, caused over 3000 persons to flee the village into neighboring communities.
Madagali, PREMIUM TIMES learnt is officially in Adamawa State but borders Borno.
The police spokesperson for Adamawa, Othman Abubakar, however, explained that Limankara police station was not within the Adamawa police jurisdiction, but within Borno.
Mr. Abubakar said he had not been briefed on the Madagali/ Limankara attack.

The Committee on Devolution of Power after an extensive debate on Tuesday could not reach an agreement on the twin issues of derivation principle and resource control, at the on-going National Conference in Abuja.

The Committee which sat in a closed session for four hours during the morning session resumed deliberations after lunch break and sat for another three hours listening to opinions of each of the members.

It was the second day these issues were considered by the Committee co-chaired by former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, and the former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie.

Also mentioned in the course of the debate was the demand by delegates from the north for the reintroduction of the on-shore off-shore oil dichotomy which implies that oil produced within certain nautical miles off the seashore should not enjoy derivation principle.

Friday 30 May 2014

Friday 23 May 2014

Thursday 22 May 2014

Monday 12 May 2014

Sunday 11 May 2014