Boko Haram: Northern Govs Make Shocking Allegation

The 19 northern states governors have reportedly given another side to the ongoing destructive activities of the Boko Haram terrorists group in the northeastern part of the country. Leadership reports that chairman, Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and governor of Niger State Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, while speaking on Monday in Abuja, at the 7th general assembly of National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria tasked Nigerians. Aliyu reportedly called on Nigerians to carefully look and ascertain if the attacks unleashed on the northeastern states of the country by the Boko Haram sect were not a foreign war against the country. The governor, who made the observation, also stated that insurgency was a social problem that should be addressed from an international perspective rather than domestic. He lamented that the Boko Haram menace had taken graver dimension and urged Nigerian government to look beyond the shores of the country to properly nip the problem in order to be able to come up with a lasting solution. “This may be the time for us to dig deeper to find out what we really have on our hands. Are we truly fighting Boko Haram insurgency, a criminal franchise or indeed a foreign war which we have unfortunately domesticated,” he asked. The NSGF chairman further pleaded with traditional rulers to use their privileged positions and closeness to the people to evolve a holistic plan aimed at restoring the battered cultural and moral values among Nigerians in a bid to ensure continued stability, unity and progress of the nation. “As traditional leaders, you can assist the development process in the society by involving yourselves in areas of education, poverty eradication and fighting illiteracy. You must be bold in upholding and promoting the highest standards of morality in the national interest,” he said. Aliyu also appealed to the traditional rulers to make sure that security and welfare always form the crux of their deliberations. It would be recalled that governor Aliyu, recently explained why the proposed extension of emergency rule in the troubled north eastern part of the country should be granted quickly. The governor while speaking at the Adesoye College Offa, hinted that he had been proactive in sacking Darul Salam sect where some Boko Haram leaders were once encamped in the state in 2010. while the NSGF had earlier called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare war on the Boko Haram terrorist group, whose arms struggle have claimed thousands of lives in the northern part of the country. Meanwhile, on November 13, 2014, the outspoken governor insisted that the country could have been in a better situation with Boko Haram terrorists if the then military administration had taken control when the crisis started about 14 years ago in 1990.

North Korea's internet is down. You go, USA!

If you've been following the Sony, North Korea and the US government saga then you should know what this is about. But let me give a brief summary because I'm about to board a flight. Sony Pictures released a movie called The Interview, a comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.. North Korean didn't find it funny and hacked into Sony's computers, rendering thousands of computers inoperable and forced Sony to take its entire computer network offline. That wasn't enough, they then threatened terror attack on US citizens if Sony doesn't cancel showing the movie, forcing Sony to pull the interview from theaters and losing almost $200m. Then the US govt got involved and told Sony to go ahead and release the movie, that they don't take lightly to threats and promised to retaliate for the attack on Sony. It looks like they've kept their to promise. North Korea is currently offline. Lol "Internet connectivity between North Korea and the outside world is currently suffering one of its worst outages in recent memory, suggesting that the country may be enduring a mass cyber attack a few days after President Obama warned the US would launch a "proportional response" to North Korea's hack against Sony North Korea, which has four official networks connecting the country to the Internet -- all of which route through China -- began experiencing intermittent problems yesterday and today went completely black, according to Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis at Dyn Research in Hanover, New Hampshire." Bloomberg reports. I find this so hilarious! Moral of the story, don't mess with the US. Will be MIA for a few hours... traveling out of the country. See you guys soon!

Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs – Prof. Osinbajo

Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had on Monday, December 22, 2014 entertained questions from Nigerians on Twitter where he addressed several problems which include the sporadic assaults from the Boko Haram terrorist and the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Prof. Osinbajo while responding to questions from some of his followers on twitter stated that the present government has politicized boko haram as he claimed that level of corruption around the defense funds has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped and motivated with necessary arms. “The current administration has politicised boko haram. The corruption around defence funds has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped/motivated. GMB wiped out Maitatsine, another Islamic insurgency in his own administration by sincerely identifying the problem as a challenge to the authority of the state to maintain law and order. The administration took command and funded the military transparently and that’s what we need to do now to end this insurgency. Addressing the rate of unemployment in the country, he said that his administration which shall be lead by Gen Muhammadu Buhari will make unemployment a history as every state shall be supported to create at least 20, 000 jobs in the first quarter shall effect a consistent payment of stipends to Youth Corps member for a year while they seek for job. “We expect every state will be supported to create 20, 000 jobs directly funded. The FG will also match the creation that for every additional job created over 20, 000 mark. FG will pay a stipend to every youth corper for a year while they are looking for employment and in that year will give vocational training. FG will undertake a massive public works programme; this is expected to have multiplier effect of producing hundreds of thousands of jobs. FG will give tax breaks and recognition to employers of labour who provide a certain minimum number of jobs”. Home / EDITOR'S PICK / Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs – Prof. Osinbajo Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs – Prof. Osinbajo Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs – Prof. Osinbajo Posted by: Linda Ikeji's Blog in EDITOR'S PICK 3 hours ago 0 7 Views Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had on Monday, December 22, 2014 entertained questions from Nigerians on Twitter where he addressed several problems which include the sporadic assaults from the Boko Haram terrorist and the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs - Prof. Osinbajo

Prof. Osinbajo while responding to questions from some of his followers on twitter stated that the present government has politicized boko haram as he claimed that level of corruption around the defense funds has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped and motivated with necessary arms. “The current administration has politicised boko haram. The corruption around defence funds has created a situation where soldiers are not well equipped/motivated. GMB wiped out Maitatsine, another Islamic insurgency in his own administration by sincerely identifying the problem as a challenge to the authority of the state to maintain law and order. The administration took command and funded the military transparently and that’s what we need to do now to end this insurgency.

Addressing the rate of unemployment in the country, he said that his administration which shall be lead by Gen Muhammadu Buhari will make unemployment a history as every state shall be supported to create at least 20, 000 jobs in the first quarter shall effect a consistent payment of stipends to Youth Corps member for a year while they seek for job. “We expect every state will be supported to create 20, 000 jobs directly funded. The FG will also match the creation that for every additional job created over 20, 000 mark. FG will pay a stipend to every youth corper for a year while they are looking for employment and in that year will give vocational training. FG will undertake a massive public works programme; this is expected to have multiplier effect of producing hundreds of thousands of jobs. FG will give tax breaks and recognition to employers of labour who provide a certain minimum number of jobs”. Buhari Will End Boko Haram And Generates Jobs - Prof. Osinbajo

Reacting to further question on his twitter handle, he also condemned the system which the current administration is adopting to fight corruption and assuring that APC government will not negotiate tramsparency. “One of the fundamental problems is that there is no consequence for corruption, I think that what everyone will agree to about a Buhari government is that it will not tolerate corruption. If the number one citizen has a clear and uncompromising anti-corruption stand then the anti-corruption policy will work. If the number one and two have a strong stance on anti-corruptrtion then our policy can succeed. In Lagos state, we were able to deal with judicial corruption by dealing with issues of remuneration and a strict policy on consequence in sanctions where judicial personnel are found to be corrupt. That model can be replicated,” he noted.

Vigilantes Vs Boko Haram

Business Week brings an insight into how these vigilante groups operate in one of the most dangerous region in the world. Allahu Akbar!” local Nigerian militiamen known as vigilantes shout as they go into battle against the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram. They chant partly to bewilder the insurgents and partly because they too believe in the Islamic faith and that they have God on their side in a war in northern Nigeria that is pitting Muslim civilians against militants trying to set up an Islamic State-style caliphate. “They become confused about who is saying the slogan, we lie down and hide, and as they approach we then open fire on them,” Tasiu Musa, a 40-year-old father of four in Maiduguri told Business Week. Musa and thousands of other Muslim volunteers like him have taken up arms to defend their towns and cities from Boko Haram, the group whose name roughly translates as “Western education is a sin.” Armed with flintlock muskets and bows and arrows, the militiamen are winning back territory that the army has failed to recapture in the region. Our town is ruined by insurgency, our people are being killed on a daily basis,” said Haruna Ibrahim, another Maiduguri resident. Ibrahim, a 32-year-old bricklayer, said the insurgency has wrecked the local economy and cost him his job. Religion has nothing to do with the militants’ cause, he said. A veteran of battles in the towns of Damboa, Meiha and Gombi near Boko Haram’s stronghold in the Sambisa forest, Ibrahim said the militants rob people, shops and banks. “They relate themselves to Islam and Muslims, but they are killing everyone: Muslims or Christians,” he said. “This will tell you that they are not fighting for Islam — they are on a rampage to acquire wealth and their ideology is not Islamic.” The vigilante groups are acting out of desperation. As Boko Haram expands its attacks in the region in its five-year-old campaign to establish Shariah, or Islamic law Nigeria, leaders like the newly installed Emir of Kano have urged residents to take up arms and fight the militants. Bloomberg reports that the vigilantes’ effectiveness has prompted some states to consider registering and employing them. Adamawa state said last month it had set up a committee to find out the best way to hire hunters and militiamen and will screen about 10,000.

Heroes Of 2014: Wole Soyinka

omiswit.blogspot.com offers you a chance to think and to choose the one and only Nigerian who could be named the most prominent and influential person of the year 2014. Every working day, starting from December 15, we shall introduce 1 of the 10 nominees to you. As soon as we’re done, our virtual ‘elections’ commence! The person who gets most of the votes will be titled omiswit.blogspot.com Internet Person Of The Year. Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright and poet from Yoruba ethnic group. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. Wole Soyinka was the first African to be honoured with this award. The African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre built a writers’ enclave in his honour. This enclave is located in Adeyipo Village, Lagelu Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State. The enclave includes a Writer-in-Residence Programme that enables writers to stay for a period of two, three or six months, engaging in serious creative writing. The well-known writer and activist has overcome a hard health issues during the year. In December 2013 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. However due to the early detection and proper treatment he manages to remain stable. Soyinka stresses the importance of awareness and preventative measures in stopping the disease from progressing. “The important thing is that I am convinced that we have enough funds in this nation to build cancer centres, including research that this nation require. It is very capital intensive, some of it, but there are many ways and treatments for cancer just like there are many kinds of cancer. Even diet forms an important part. Diet is critical,” the Nobel laureate stated. Our editorial team wishes good health to this prominent Nigerian and is sure that he deserves a place in the shortlist for the 2nd annual omiswit.blogspot.com Internet Person Of the Year award.

OAU Female Hostel Razed By Fire

The fire started from an electric spark from a hotplate in one of the rooms in the hostel, according to reports. One of the females hostels, Moremi Hall, at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife in Osun state, was devastated by fire this morning December 18, 2014.

FG Declares Public Holidays For Xmas And New Year

The Federal Government has declared Thursday 25th and Friday 26th of December, 2014 as Public Holidays to mark Christmas and Boxing Day Celebrations. This was contained in a statement today by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Eng. Abubakar Magaji. Similarly, Thursday 1st January, 2015 has been declared a public holiday to mark the New Year, the statement added.

It further stated that the Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba Moro, used the medium to urge all Christian faithful and Nigerians in general to extend the spiritual benefits of Christmas to their daily living and contribute to the development of the nation. “Comrade Abba Moro further urged Nigerians to use the occasion to pray for peace and unity across the country,” the statement said. The minister, the statement added, wished all Nigerians a happy Christmas and prosperous New Year celebrations.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has said it does not dabble into politics in any shade or colouration

Apparently reacting to rumours making round that the General Overseer of the Church Pastor Enoch Adeboye gave his blessings to the vice-presidential ambition of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the RCCG dissociated itself from the report.

Osinbajo, a former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who is said to be Adeboye’s close ally, had been chosen as the running mate of the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on December 17, 2014, Wednesday. Taking to its official twitter handle, the RCCG denied celebrating the emergence of Buhari’s running mate, who pastors its Olive Parish located on Banana Island, Lagos.

Shekau, Releases New Video; Vows To Attack Emir Sanusi Of Kano

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to attack the Emir of Kano, Muhummadu Sanusi II, in retaliation for the Emir’s call on Kano residents and other Nigerians to arm and defend themselves against the terror organization.The Emir had earlier issued a call to arms after a series of deadly attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants in Kano.

Speaking at Kano’s central Mosque in October, the Emir charged the people of Kano to arm and defend themselves against the sect, which is responsible for more than 13,000 deaths. Militants later launched a deadly assault on the Mosque on Friday, November 28, detonating multiple bombs and shooting worshippers to death. Over 100 people died in the attack which was believed targeted at Mr. Sanusi. The Emir, who had travelled out of Nigeria at the time, visited the Mosque on his return, and re-affirmed his vow that the Kano people will not cower in the face of Boko Haram’s threats. In a 19-minute new video first released Saturday, Mr. Shekau did not claim responsibility for the Mosque attack. But he said his group remains prepared to fight and kill anyone who challenges its ideology, and all non-Muslims and “fake” Muslims like the emir. “Before I start talking to my brothers who believed in me and the religion of Allah not the religion of democracy, not that of western education, those who believed in the religion of the Quran not that of the constitution and not religion of the Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Jonathan, Obasanjo, Atiku, Babangida, Obama, Bush, Clinton, but the religion of Allah,” he said. “Now listen to me Emir of Kano. I am talking to you and only you because of your recent utterances. “Let me inform you now that you are late, you are should know that you are only but the King of Kano, King of Central Bank, King of money, you are only Sanusi Lamido,” he said. Mr. Shekau denounced the Emir’s religion as religion based on constitution, idol worship and homosexuality. “Our own government is defined as government of the Allah by the Allah and for the Allah not as you define you own government as the government of the people by the people and for the people,” he said. Mr. Shekau said his group will fight local vigilantes and hunters, who have successfully crushed the advances of its fighters in some parts of Nigeria’s northeast. “Emir of Kano Sanusi you are late, that our triumph is just for a period of time so you said. Even your predecessors who are renowned idol worshipers in Islamic history like ‘Abujahal’ could not succeed fighting Islam. Yes you can say that our success is for a period of time, because you are a king of Bank and a loyal citizen of his country,” Mr. Shekau said. The terrorist leader said his members are ready to be slaughtered and killed so they can rest in heaven. “Because you are made the Emir of Kano that is why you got angry and was calling on the Vigilante groups and hunters to attack us. Let me tell you that the hunters and the vigilante groups will fail and you will also fail,” he said. He condemned all other Islamic sects in the country calling them pagans. He said the Izala, Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya and Shiite Islamic groups are pagans and his group will continue to kill their followers. He also condemned the government Saudi Arabia saying they will all perish in hell. “We will kill you people, we will capture hostages and keep selling some.”

185 women and children reportedly abducted in Borno state

According to a CNN breaking news, 185 women and children were kidnapped by Boko Haram men during a raid on Gumsuri village 20km from Chibok in Borno state on Sunday December 14th. Men were shot, homes were burnt and women taken away. This is the largest rounding up of women and children since the abduction of Chibok girls in April 2014. 32 people including the Chief Imam of the village were killed. Leaders of the opposition vigilante were also killed. Word of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of telecoms towers in the community. Nigerian military are yet to react to this latest attack. But how do these terrorists take 185 people away? They come with many vehicles?

Hon. Gbajabiamila on the fence-jumping fiasco at the House of Assembly

Nike Oshinowo talks to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the man at the center of the fence jumping story at the House of Rep a few weeks ago. They also have a heated-debate about the state of the nation. See pictures from tonight's show at 11pm on AIT

Dieziani Alison-Madueke appointed President of Gas Exporting countries forum

Nigeria's Minister of Petroleum resources, Dieziani Alison-Madueke has been appointed the President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum GECF. Her appointment as president was announced today Dec. 16th at the 16th Ministerial meeting of the forum holding in the Qatari capital of Doha. Only Last month, Nov 27th, she was made the President of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. Madueke was not present at the forum's meeting due to her negotiations with the striking members of NUPENG. She was ably represented by NNPC's Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Dr David Ige and Nigeria's Ambassador to Qatar, Mr Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed.

Come 2015, Who Will Be The Real Loser When Goodluck Jonathan Wins? By Olu Akinmade

In early days in school I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never despaired, no car to take me to school, but I never despaired. These were words that saw an underdog zoologist from Otuoke, Bayelsa State come to notoriety and went on to be elected or selected in his first term as the President and Commander In Chief of Africa’s most populous nation depending on where you are watching from. President Goodluck Jonathan Amidst the carnival that was the 2011 PDP Presidential election campaign train that moved powerfully from state to state, this rhetoric by the PDP Presidential candidate, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, rang through the whole nation at the time as it was oft-repeated in what was an attempt to sound profound and inspirational with a concluding tag line: “Fellow Nigerians, if I could make it, you too can make it!”. A lot of people empathised, some jeered, some were indifferent. It worked! As the majority of the unsuspecting populace lapped it up because they could identify with not having shoes growing up. Indeed we can, in one way or the other, identify with not having shoes growing up with epileptic power supply, lack of potable water, poor healthcare, substandard education, zero infrastructure, Insecurity, etc. So yes, we felt you bro.. But beyond the Fanfare, Empathy, Cynicism and Indifference perhaps the more appropriate question we should have asked, at the time, was whether GEJ had the right shoes to run the present day national race he was being enlisted for. The type of shoes you accessorise your feet with in life is determined by the kind of journey you are about to embark on. If you are going for a jog, you put on a pair of trainers / running shoes; If you are going mountain climbing, you put on appropriate anti-skid climbing gear; If you are relaxing at home, you put on flip flops… To continue not to have shoes means you are not planning on going anywhere and that the country with you! The Christian religious leaders, for obvious selfish interests, were not left behind in this ruse as they played their part in the Muslim/Christian divide and rule adding slogans like “A nominal Christian is better than the best practising Muslim”. Seriously??? The Muslim leaders also encouraged the Muslim faithfuls to go out in their numbers to vote for their anointed candidate. The regional North/South power rotation case was also made powerfully. In all of these canvassing for their candidates, no one was asked to vote for NIGERIA – For what is best for Nigeria. Over the last 4 years of President Jonathan’s lacklustre attempt at leadership, you cannot but come to the conclusion that the ‘lack of shoes’ plagues GEJ in more ways psychological than physical to this day as the lack of shoes appears to have left an indelible scar beyond the visible soles of his feet. In contract law, there is a legal rule called the Nemo Dat rule which in Latin says Nemo dat quod non habet, literally meaning “no one gives what he doesn’t have”. It simply states that the purchase of a possession from someone who has no ownership right to it also denies the purchaser any ownership title. We the Nigerian people have, unfortunately, signed a contract with questionable title. The same is also true that you cannot lead people where you haven’t been yourself. Leadership requires Honesty, Compassion, Conviction, Drive, Courage, Boldness, Vision, Direction, Creative Thinking, Intellectual Perspicacity among other virtues. Sadly, as a people and in our characteristic E-Go-Better attitude we seem to be expecting the impossible virtues from GEJ. I think the time has come when we need to be honest with ourselves and come to terms with, in some cases, our choice and for the most part, what was ‘selected’ for us. I haven't read OBJ's My Watch but I have read some excerpts with People blasting Baba that he has no right to speak on the matter as he 'selected' GEJ for us in the first place. Whilst I know Baba can be as vindictive as the next guy if he doesn't have his way or say, one thing you can never take away from him is his interest for One Nigeria. Baba is a nationalist to the core. Even if OBJ's critics were right in their claim that he lost his right or place to speak, I have never admired Obasanjo's leadership more than now by him showing courage to man up and speak up for Nigeria at a time that it mattered most! When the PDP circus came back to town 4 years ago, I told some of my friends back then that with GEJ in the saddle, we needed to brace ourselves for very little forward movement the next 4 years, if any. 4 years on and it’s that time again. Does Nigeria deserve another 4 years of shoe-less or leg-less leadership? How can a nation lose 8 whole years because a person still does not have shoes? A popular adage of the Yorubas says “Ti a ba bi ni, o ye ka tun ara eni bi” which literally means that no matter the condition of your birth, you need to give yourself a rebirth or be Born-Again in every sense of the word. In more ways than one, like most Nigerians, I did not have shoes growing up but the fact that I grew up without shoes didn’t mean I had to stay without shoes. That lack of whatever essentials I lacked stirred something in me that drove and still drives me to start designing shoes in my mind and If I can’t achieve that I will surround myself with those who can design bright, colourful shoes of the future till we eventually start our own shoe company! The shoes of leadership are developed over time in the valley of experience. Just like George W. Bush, you really know what GEJ is made of in the psychological shoe arena whenever he goes off script. Case in point, when as a Presidential candidate GEJ promised to build airports and universities in every state of the Federation! Then we had a sneak preview of how deep this shoe thing was. Or was it when the President of my beloved country went on national media recently and cited the ownership of private jets as indices of national prosperity. Nna men, This shoe thing is deeper than we thought! I have heard people use words like inept and clueless to describe Mr. President but I think that is quite harsh. The guy simply just doesn’t have it. He did not show up for the class Leadership 101. He has never had it and sadly, is not capable of having what it takes to lead. Looking through his resume, I realise GEJ has never held any position that has placed any significant leadership demand on him until he became President! So little wonder that when it is time to lead or show leadership like in the case of the Chibok girls, GEJ opts to focus on 'Enemies' whilst pertinent matters of the state go unattended. Only in Nigeria! I don’t have anything against President Jonathan as I’m sure he is a nice enough guy. My only issue is he doesn’t have the mettle to get the job done! GEJ cannot effectively run the affairs of a local government yet he's being compared in an ad campaign to doers like Barack Obama, Martin Luther King and Ghandi as 'doing it'! These Anti-Nigeria clowns close their ad with a juvenile at the same time comical line 'Those that are with you are more than those against you. Even on his best day in office this last 4 years, which on reflection I struggle to remember one, you could not expect a ‘Presidential performance’ from Mr. President. So we have a guy at the helm who at best is playing political Ludo with the destinies of millions blagging it every step of the way. This opportunity of a lifetime is one that gives the few opportuned to have it with a shot at carving their names in the Hall of Fame of our nation. Those who can really and truly say: I came, I saw and I conquered. I impacted my generation. I improved the lot of my people. How did we get to a place where we made decision based on shoes and the name ‘Goodluck’? Nigeria is blessed as if not so, I’m surprised at how there is anything left with years of plundered resources. Nigeria is truly blessed but our ‘I better pass my neighbour self-serving attitude’ has eaten so deep into our moral mien that with all that is wrong with us be it subsidy removal, or some other issue, we each look at how it affects us, make the necessary slight adjustment and jog on with no consideration for those who have no wiggle room left for any more adjustments. That is how we have gotten this far as a people – Adjustments and Compromises. Successive Military administrations came and we made Structural Adjustment Programs. Civilian era came and we are still making adjustment hence the political class will foist the likes of GEJ on us because it does not regard the power of the Nigerian people to effect a sustained action for positive change without, before long, adjusting back to the comfort of our adjusted lives. The reality is that, come 2015, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will win the Presidential election into his second term in office and Nigeria will lose yet again! Sadly, there is nothing we can do about it with: The INEC we all pretend to be independent; The PDP political machinery primed and good to go do whatever it takes; The religious and regional propaganda well on the way; The war chest stacked with monetary inducements to sway voters; Hunger fixed for the moment (An olodo of Garri will sway many grassroot voters enough to forget the present hardship). Yes, Jonathan will win in 2015 and Nigeria will lose yet again for another 4 years. The writer of this opinion piece is Olu Akinmade Esq.

Taliban Fighters Kill At Least 120 School Kids In Pakistan | Al Jazeera

At least 126 dead, many children, in raid that Pakistani Taliban says was retaliation for military's offensive

Taliban attacked a military-run school on Tuesday, killing scores of students, because they wanted revenge for the Pakistani military targeting their own families, a spokesman said. Al Jazeera At least 126 people were killed and 122 injured, a provincial official said. "It may rise," said Bahramand Khan, director of information for the Chief Minister's Secretariat. He said more than 100 of the dead were children. It was not immediately clear whether some or all of the children and adults were killed by the gunmen or in the ensuing battle with Pakistani security forces trying to gain control of the building after the early morning attack. About 500 students and teachers were believed to be inside the school at the time of the raid. The school is located on the edge of a military cantonment in Peshawar, but most of the students are civilian. Muhammad Khorasani, spokesmand for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, told Al Jazeera that six suicide bombers were sent to the school with orders to allow the youngest students to leave, but to kill the rest. The attack was in retaliation to an ongoing Pakistan Army operation against the TTP and its allies in the North Waziristan tribal area, Khorasani said. “We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," he said. "We want them to feel the pain.” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and said he was on his way to Peshawar. “This is a national tragedy unleashed by savages. These were my kids,” he said in a statement. The attack began in the morning hours, with an initial blast as the attackers hit the school, followed by a second explosion. Gunmen entering the school — which has students in grades 1 through10 — and shooting at random, said police officer Javed Khan. Outside the school, shooting was initially heard along with one loud bang of unknown origin. Details were sketchy in the unfolding situation and it was unclear what was going on inside and if there were any hostages among the students. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and exchanged fire with the gunmen, said Khan. Small-arms fire was heard throughout the raid as security forces tried to retake the school. Pakistani television showed soldiers surrounding the area and pushing people back. It was not clear whether the soldiers were already on the scene when the violence began or was part of the troops who responded. “We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers,” said Jamshed Khan, a school bus driver. Shaukat Yousafzai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's health minister, said a school function had been going on in the senior section of the school when an explosion went off. There were reports of as many as three explosions. “This is a very saddening event, and these are our children, the children of Pakistan. By killing these children, I am not sure what service these terrorists have done to Islam.” A heavy contingent of security forces arrived at the school shortly after the attack began and launched the rescue operation. The army said in a statement that many hostages had been evacuated but did not say how many. One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that he was with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real. When the shooting started, Jamal, who was shot in the leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds. “Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet,” he said, speaking from his hospital bed. The Pakistani military began Operation Zarb-e-Azb against the TTP and its allies on June 15, and says that it has so far retaken larges areas of territory from the group, killing more than 1,270 people The army is also carrying out a military operation in Khyber Agency, which borders Peshawar, where it says it has killed at least 179 fighters. The Pakistani Taliban have vowed to step up attacks in response to a major army operation against the insurgents in the tribal areas. They have targeted security forces, checkpoints, military bases and airports, but attacks on civilian targets with no logistical significance are relatively rare. Al Jazeera and wire services

Online Poll Finds Nigerians Prefer Amaechi

Online Poll Finds Nigerians Prefer Amaechi As Buhari’s VP Candidate, Over Fashola, Fayemi, Tinubu Seizing an overwhelming 40% of the total vote in an informal poll conducted Friday, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was the public’s choice for running mate to All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. izing an overwhelming 40% of the total vote in an informal poll conducted Friday, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was the public’s choice for running mate to All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

The poll, conducted by SaharaReporters between Friday, December 12 to Saturday, December 13, garnered a total of 7,951 votes. Of these, 3162 respondents voted for Amaechi. Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, another favorite ahead of the party’s decision, received 2138 votes representing 27% of the votes cast. Governor Rotimi Amaechi Sahara Reporters Media Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomole, and former Attorney General of Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osibajo, received 855 votes (11%), 859 votes (10%), and 699 votes (9%) respectively. Former Lagos State Governor and APC national leader Bola Tinubu came in at the bottom of the billing, receiving 238 votes, 3 % of the total vote. The survey, conducted through the online service POLL, does not allow repeat voting. Commenting on the canvass, many respondents said that they selected a candidate from the polls choices based on careful knowledge of the country’s makeup, a strategy many believe the party will follow. “The politico-religious hegemony presently predating our people will demand wisdom in choosing a VP from the South West, should the party decide the South West should have it,” a respondent said, writing further, “since Buhari is a Muslim, wisdom demands that at this time, a Christian Southwesterner should be appropriate.” Despite the overwhelming support for the Amaechi, many disagreed with his proposed candidacy. “Nobody who knows Amaechi's history will vote him especially those living in Rivers State,” a participant wrote, citing failed infrastructure projects under the two-term Rivers State Governor. “Amaechi is synonymous with arrogance, pride and tyranny,” another commented, criticizing Amaechi for his publicized disputes with current President Goodluck Jonathan. Still others pushed for candidates not included in the choices given. Most notable of those pushed for was former Minster of Education, Oby Ezekwesili. “Oby Ezekwesili for VP,” a respondent commented. “It's about time we had two formidable heads at the helm of affairs in Nigeria.” Support poured in from both men and women for “Madam Due Process,” as the former minister and a principal protagonist of the #BringBackOurGirls movement is fondly called. Voters also showed support for Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who has gained popularity steadily since the APC presidential primary last Wednesday based on his oratorial skills which was on display during the party's national convention in Lagos. “Okorocha will make a better VP to Buhari because he has a great charisma,” a participant wrote. “He can do the same thing that Tunde Idiagbon did during 84-85 (sic). Everyone knows that Buhari is not outspoken, he really needs someone like Rochas.” While the party has yet to decide officially on a Vice Presidential candidate, the survey presented a unique opportunity for the public to discuss and analyze the viability of several different candidates for the position.

GTBank Account

Recharging one’s mobile line has never been easier as GTBank Nigeria has rolled out several methods to quickly buy call credit or mobile recharge as it’s often called and get billed from your GTB account. I remember I recently put up an article on this blog where I detailed the step by step procedures involved in recharging your line using the GTB mobile app. This time, it’s been simplified with even simpler options where all you need do is send an SMS or recharge via dialing a shortcode.

Method 1: How To Recharge via GTB SMS It’s quite easy, follow the steps below. 1. Launch the SMS app of your mobile phone and type “Network Amount NUBAN no.“. For instance, if you want to recharge your MTN line with 750 recharge, type “MTN 750 1234567890“. Please type without quotes, and remember that your NUBAN number refers to your GTB account number. 2. Send the SMS to 080766655555. That’s all you need do as your phone would get recharged with your desired airtime as your accounts gets billed accordingly. Method 2: Buying Airtime via GTBank’s Recharge ShortCode This method is easier and yet effective to recharging via GTBank. All you need do is detailed as follows. 1. Dial *737*Amount# and that’s it. For instance, you want a N1,500 recharge, dial *737*1500# from the line used in your GTBank registration. Those are simple right? I hope you love this tutorial. And please do remember to share this post on your social circles.

Here's What Obasanjo Has To Say About General Buhari

"General Muhammadu Buhari is an upright man. Not many people know that his first daughter is married to an Igbo man from Anambra. He exempted Christians from performing duty on Sundays. When his Muslim soldiers asked him to exempt them from duty on Fridays he told them the bible says Christians should rest on the 7th day, the Muslims should show him where the Koran says they should rest on Fridays. As Head of State he slashed the number of Muslims going on pilgrimage by 50%. His driver and cook for the past 10 years plus are Christians yet some uninformed Nigerians say he is a bigot. It is a pity that some people failed to understand that politicians deliberately capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians to paint him black. This they did in order to keep their loot and ensure that he never gets the opportunity to send them to jail.

How many Nigerians would hold appointment in government as Minister of Petroleum, PTF Chairman and Head of State, yet don’t own a house in Abuja or all over Nigeria. He never kept a foreign account. Love him or hate him but you cannot take his integrity away from him.” Hmmm...did Obasanjo really say these good things about Buhari or someone is playing a fast one on us?

2015 Presidential Election: Forces Of Change vs. Forces Of Status Quo By Bayo Oluwasanmi

The nomination of General Muhammadu Buhari as the All Progressive Congress (APC) Party candidate for the 2015 presidential election rang out with traditional fervor and glad thunder of applause. President Goodluck Jonathan is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.

Certainly, the race for Aso Rock has begun. Four years of the Jonathan administration has left us empty-handed. Nigerians have been constricted to a life of disappointment. Disappointment produces despair and despair produces bitterness, and bitterness leads to blindness. The destroyers of our nation and other untouchable big time criminal treasury looters still walk our streets with halo of adoration – a unique feature of Jonathan’s administration in its most brutal, cold-blooded and vicious form. Our youth have been plunged into filthy and stinking life jail of hopelessness with majestic scorn for risk and danger. Yes, call them Nigerian’s angry children, their anger is not congenital. It is a response to the feeling that a real solution is hopelessly distant because of the callousness of the people in power. The Jonathan’s administration gap between promise and fulfilment is distressingly wide. Nigerians are frustrated and angered because extravagant promises made by Mr. Jonathan four years ago are a mockery today. A productive and happy life is not something that you find, it is something that you make. Mr. Jonathan has failed to make life productive and happy for our citizens. The 2015 presidential election will be fought between the forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to preserving the status quo. The election will represent the wounds of despair and disappointment of the collective rage of cries of daily hurt and persistent pain of pulverized Nigerians. The election should serve as a rejection of old way of life – economic coercion, poverty, terrorism, murder, and inhuman contempt – which continues unabated in our country. We must therefore look beyond personal styles, verbal flourishes, and the hysteria of the propaganda machine of the enemies of our republic to sell their revisionist poisoned cocktails to the voters. As we enter the season of campaign silliness, it is appropriate to remind the contenders that Nigerians are sick of false campaign promises. We are tired of rehashing trite campaign slogans and rhetoric as nightly facts but in reality deferred dreams. We have been nauseated by the promotion of thuggery and violence as a way of electing political office holders. The Northerners are dying to return to power. Now, they got their candidate in the person of Buhari. The gloat and the glee by the various Northern political groups which accompanied Buhari’s nomination was immediate and immense. In reaction to Buhari’s nomination, Ibrahim Coomasie said: “I am the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and we have said it before and we are reiterating it that, we are going to support a northern candidate. And since APC has voted a northern candidate, we are going to support him 100 per cent. So, Buhari is our candidate for the 2015 election. If Buhari is elected president, it means the Northerners will once again control the center after a brief hiatus from power. Suffice it to say, the Northerners have held the federal power and purse for 38 years out of 53 years of Nigeria’s independence. It is pertinent to remind the Northerners and Buhari in particular, the meaning of power. Power, properly understood and properly utilized, is the ability to achieve a purpose. It is the tool required to bring about social, political, and economic changes. Power defined in this context, is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. Many Nigerians including my humble self, have criticized Buhari for his selective use of abusive and reckless power when he was the military head of state. General, power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. “Humanity,” Martin Luther King Junior reminds us, “is waiting for something other than blind imitation of the past. We must be hammers shaping a new society rather than anvils molded by the old.” If elected, let’s hope Buhari will shun “blind imitation of the past” and be the “hammer” to shape a new Nigeria and not the “anvil molded by the old.” byolu@aol.com

Buhari Must Tread Cautiously By Ola’ Idowu

The All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari must do well to tread cautiously in his imminent choice of a running mate as the 2015 elections beckon. In choosing a vice-presidential candidate he must not give in to over-ambitious people who want to ride on the people’s revolution to fulfil their personal ambition. All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari must do well to tread cautiously in his imminent choice of a running mate as the 2015 elections beckon. In choosing a vice-presidential candidate he must not give in to over-ambitious people who want to ride on the people’s revolution to fulfil their personal ambition.

Muhammadu Buhari Buhari has come this far only because the masses of Nigerians are disappointed with the high level of corruption bedevilling the country that has made it impossible for any meaningful growth or government policy to sip through to them and transform the country for the better. They are also bitter, a man they gave so much trust to in 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan due to his I grew up with no shoes sob story, has betrayed their trust and allowed corruption to thrive unhindered while poverty deepens in the land. Its for this reason hitherto strange bedfellows who are tired of the lack of progress in the country in the midst of plenty, left their different parties and joined up together to form the APC. Buhari brought in his CPC, the ANPP came on board and the new PDP with about seven defecting governors all merged with the ACN to produce the APC. Thus far it appears to be working, but its only worked this much because of the genuine cry for change from the Nigerian masses. They are supporting Buhari’s candidacy based on his life-long Spartan lifestyle and anti-elitist approach in everything he has done or espoused as his ideas and visions for Nigeria. It would therefore be totally out of place for someone whose lifestyle is a direct opposite to that of Buhari to become his vice-presidential candidate thereby weakening the ticket but with the hope that the masses would still vote for Buhari all the same and they can fulfil their own personal ambition rather than the ambitions of millions of Nigerians to have a better future and a nation with minimal if not totally free corruption. Its on that basis that a name like Bola Tinubu would be a disaster for the Buhari ticket. If the APC believes it can ride on the popularity of Buhari or dissatisfaction of Nigerians with the present situation in terms of governance in the country to achieve a Muslim/Muslim presidency (whatever that means) then the best person to pick the vice-presidential ticket is Lagos state governor ‘Tunde Fashola. Not only has he espoused his views as to the kind of Nigeria he would love to see, he has taken his job as governor of Lagos state seriously and shown characters similar to that of Buhari in terms of frugality, discipline and commitment to duty. It would be taking Nigerians and indeed millions of Christians for a ride if you choose to produce a Muslim/Muslim ticket and the person running on it as vice-president is Tinubu. Not only have lots of Nigerians always suspected he has helped himself massively with the wealth of Lagosians, a recent autobiography by former president Olusegun Obasanjo confirms that much describing Tinubu as the most corrupt governor in Nigeria between 199-2007. Out of the 36 governors between 1999-2007 investigated by Nuhu Ribadu the ex-EFCC boss, our dear Bola Tinubu came bottom of the pile in terms of his massive amount of corruption and treasury looting of Lagos state. One would have thought his paid team of hungered writers would have gone to town with facts and evidences to defend their master and refute Obasanjo’s claims but they are quiet so far. They are only quiet because just like their master they believe they can ride on Buhari’s popularity amongst Nigerians due to his life-long denouncement of corruption and ostentatious living to get their corrupt overlord into Aso-rock as vice-president. Like I said allowing such a name on an anti-corruption ticket would be a disservice to many Nigerians and particularly to Yorubas. No one should use the Yorubas as a bargaining tool for their own personal ambition or fulfillment of a marabout or clairvoyant’s prediction to become vice-president. Yorubas at the moment have no leader or Asiwaju, if they did they would have voted for such Asiwaju’s candidate in Ondo and Ekiti state. What we have are governors in the different states in the South-west who are the de facto leaders of those states. The kind of blinding trust Yorubas gave to the late sage Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo was because of his altruistic leadership style where he did everything for the Yoruba race and not for his personal glory. An Awolowo where he to be alive would never collect money from Jonathan over the heads of Yoruba people to strike a deal with him. What kind of leader would strike a deal with Jonathan on behalf of his own people and then come back four years later and say change Jonathan? Where you sleeping when you made the deal and in any case should you even collect money over the head of your people to strike a deal? That smacks more of a slave master and overlord rather than a leader. Thus Yorubas should not be used as bargaining chips to achieve one man’s personal ambition or fulfil the predictions of his marabouts and spiritualists. Buhari must tread cautiously in selecting his running mate and not leave it to glory hunters to do so for him. He needs to understand that millions of Yorubas due to their sophistication would vote for him anyway even if a Yoruba is not on the ticket as his running mate. It doesn’t matter to them if a Yoruba is vice-president, what matters is that Nigeria is well run and devoid of corruption which would benefit everyone regardless of tribe. Buhari also need to understand that if he wins the presidency in 2015 its not because he is a northerner or the entire north votes for him, but because Nigerians are simply tired of the never ending corruption cycle in the country that seems to keep rolling without abating and they believe Buhari has the courage to deal with it. He shouldn’t be carried away by sentiments in making his final decision and that decision squarely rests on his shoulders. The party may make suggestions but Buhari has the final say and he should be more assertive without sentiments otherwise he begins to make discerning Nigerians doubt his ability to take on the Dogs (vested interests who perpetually keep running around for rackets and scams to defraud Nigeria) and Baboons (powerful forces who forever want to keep the country down and restrict our rights to elect the right leaders). Buhari must be reminded of what he said at the APC primaries that corrupt people cannot end corruption. There is nothing like good or bad corruption. A corrupt person in the PDP is the same as a corrupt person in APC no matter how much good sound-bites that corrupt individual in the APC makes about being a democrat or a progressive, except of course its now allowed to be a democratic or progressive thief, while the conservative thief in the PDP is crucified. A ticket that is anchored on anti-corruption cannot have allegedly the most corrupt governor in Nigeria between 1999-2007 and the richest ex-governor in the history of Nigeria eight years after leaving office due to his dubious 2007 Lagos state pensions bill, as well as many trap doors put on the state’s treasury that lead back into the pocket of one man. A kilometre of road in Lagos state and indeed most APC states are amongst the highest in the world in terms of cost and its meant to be led by progressives or a progressive Asiwaju. Yorubas would vote for Buhari regardless of who is on the ticket, we voted for Jonathan/Sambo in 2011 due to Jonathan’s “I had no shoes sob story” there is no reason we wouldn’t vote for Buhari this time due to his incorruptible nature and we don’t need a “Baba sope” (Master says so) to tell us who to vote for. Yorubas should not be used as a bargaining chip to fulfill one man’s personal ambition whose hands were not clearly shown in terms of his full support to Buhari before the primaries anyway. Its a slippery slope to Aso-rock in 2015 and Buhari has to tread cautiously in everything he does and every support he tries to seek without selling off the trust Nigerians want to repose in him even before he gets into the presidency. Beginning with the choice of his running mate he needs to demonstrate to Nigerians that he would be the one calling the shots when he becomes president and not waiting to retrogressively remove the influence of his current backers whom he doesn’t agree with in terms of principle. Choosing a running mate who is corruption and scandal free on an anti-corruption ticket Buhari wants to campaign on would be the start of the common-sense revolution we all want in Nigeria. Ola’ Idowu is a management consultant and researcher, who writes in from the UK. Email: frenchcoast2@gmail.com

Goodluck Jonathan Is Like Jesus Christ – Doyin Okupe | ChannelsTV

“People do not understand the burden this president is bearing. He’s like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the burden of everybody,” Okupe said while commenting on the state of the nation on Sunrise Daily.

People do not understand the burden this president is bearing. He’s like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the burden of everybody,” Okupe said while commenting on the state of the nation on Sunrise Daily. According to him, the efforts of the government in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency as well as in power were being hindered by external factors, even as the nation gears up for the 2015 elections, which Okupe said would be impossible for Jonathan to lose. Doyin Okupe “I can’t see GEJ losing this election; It’s not possible.” On managing serious challenges in Nigeria and also campaigning for a second term in government, Okupe noted that “the beauty of executive is being able to multitask,” which he said was one quality the President had. However, there have been complaints concerning two major issues – security and power. On electricity, Okupe explained that Nigeria has been “under-powered” for many years, noting that in Ikeja, Lagos State, the electrical infrastructure on ground is about 35 years old. He admitted that “power is a problem”, which was why the government was working to improve generation and distribution, through the power reform. He also noted that the equipment were expensive which had caused the private owners to borrow billions of dollars. “We are not there yet but we are certainly on an irreversible road to better power supply,” he further insisted. Asked why the government did not first work on changing equipment before increasing generation, which also costs money, Okupe said that there was a limit the government could do as power was controlled 100% by the private sector. “In the power situation, we are not there yet. We are definitely on a road that cannot change,” he emphasised, hinting that the government is working on huge dam projects to allow the private owners work effectively on distribution. He also claimed that government efforts were being sabotaged by politicians who sponsor vandals to attack gas pipelines. “We noted that there were 10 NIPP projects which were performing below 50 per cent”, he disclosed, alleging that some persons were making sure they underperformed so as to make the government appear incompetent. He, however, added that the rate of sabotage had reduced in the past year. On the state of security in Nigeria’s North East region, Okupe commended the government’s efforts, noting that all aspects of the war against terror, including funding, administration were being worked upon. “Today, the Nigerian Army is in total and perfect control,” of North East, he added. On the recent comments made by Governor of Borno State, Okupe said the governor “never fails to amaze me”, adding that majority of problems of insurgency was situated in his state but he was travelling to Lagos, London and other nations, to discuss insurgency but failed to meet the President on the matter. Okupe argued that Boko Haram was a “multinational, international insurgency arrangement in Nigeria” as the group had links with ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other international terrorist groups. He also said he did not know about the identity of the sponsors as he was not working with security. He also claimed that there were huge political considerations in the fight against Boko Haram, making an example of General Buhari, who Okupe said had polled over 12 million votes in the North in the last election. Okupe alleged that Buhari had said any attack on Boko Haram was an attack on the North and that Buhari’s recent condemnation of Boko Haram was as a result of his fourth bid to become Nigeria’s president. #BringBackOurGirls Not Time Bound Speaking about the 219 schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity, Okupe said “the issue of Chibok girls was (an) emotion(al) tragedy but it is a tragedy that we must bear with fortitude,” noting that issues such as rape, murder and other atrocities were common in war. “Chibok girls are a major thorn in the flesh of the administration,” he explained, stating that “If it was possible to get them yesterday I know that this government would have done it”. He also called for caution in the rescue mission, noting that “any mistake will lead to their death” and that there’s no time limit for returning the girls alive.

Ugandan Babysitter Who Savagely Beat A Toddler Is Sentenced To Four Years In Prison

A Ugandan maid caught on video beating a toddler has been sentenced to four years in jail by a Chief Magistrate court judge in Kampala.

A Ugandan maid caught on video beating a toddler has been sentenced to four years in jail by a Chief Magistrate court judge in Kampala. Jolly Tumuhiirwe Pled Guilty To Torturing Arnella On Monday 22 year-old, Jolly Tumuhiirwe, pleaded guilty to the crime of assault last week during her appearance before Chief Magistrate Lillian Bucyana. Ms. Tumuhiirwe was captured on CCTV as she tortured 1/12 year old Arnella Kamanzi in her father’s home in Naalya suburb on Kampala in November. The video uploaded by the baby's father went viral and led to global outrage against the barbaric act of the housemaid.

Northern Political Group ACF Reacts Over PVC, Says ‘2015 Critical For Nigeria’s Democratic Survival’

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a political pressure group that in northern Nigeria, which represents on evening in Kaduna reacted on challenges trailing distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) across the country.

The forum said success of 2015 general elections is critical to the democratic survival of Nigeria and voter’s card issue must be treated with utmost sensitivity. In a statement sent to SaharaReporters by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Muhammadu Ibrahim, ACF declared: “INEC should be reminded that the 2015 general election is critical to the democratic survival of Nigeria, therefore, Nigerians expect credible conduct of elections where transparency, justice and fairness shall be the hallmark of the election process, and this must start with transparent distribution of the PVCs. “It is the sole responsibility of INEC to conduct smooth and credible elections where Nigerians shall be free to exercise their civic responsibility by voting credible candidates of their choice without any hindrance. INEC must therefore provide the enabling environment. “Time is running out and there are reports nationwide that the PVC distribution exercise has a lot of hiccups. INEC should be seen to be up and doing in the discharge of its constitutional responsibility in order to gain the confidence of Nigerians in this critical period of elections.” "ACF views with grave concern these inadequacies on the part of INEC in the preparation towards 2015 general elections and calls upon the Commission to seriously re examine its strategy of PVC distribution and registration of new voters and ensure that no eligible Nigerian is disenfranchised in this democratic process. "ACF equally urges the Federal Government to provide necessary funding, support and legislative framework that will enable INEC to conduct a smooth and credible 2015 elections."

NCC Clamps Down On 4 Telecoms Firms

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday clamped down on four telecoms companies for engaging in illegal usage of spectrum frequency. The four operators are Steam Communications, Netcom Africa, SwiftTalk and Multi-dimension Technologies, all located in Lagos. Mr Salisu Abdu, Head of Enforcement Unit of NCC, told newsmen during the enforcement that they were also on the trail of three more operators who were violating regulations in the industry. Abdu said that the operators were operating on the 5.4 gigahertz frequency band, which was not licensed to them by the commission. He said the operation of the telecoms firms was an offence under Section 122 of the Nigerian Communication Act 2003, adding that it was a criminal act to operate without proper licensing by the NCC. According to him, ‎in 2009, NCC came up with a guideline on the deployment of service on the 5.4Ghz band that no operator should operate on it without obtaining necessary licences from NCC. ”In the course of the guideline, we have monitored compliance and we have discovered that we still have some operators operating illegally on the 5.4GHz till 2012. ”We have done a lot of clean-up and we thought the frequency was free of interferences. ”So, after recent monitoring by the Spectrum Administration Department of NCC, about seven operators are now discovered to be operating on the 5.4Ghz band. ”On Tuesday, we visited Steam Communications Company and we found they were operating on the 5.4GHz ‎band, we confiscated their radio equipment and they are currently under investigation,” he said. Abdu said at the end of the investigation, Steam Communications would be prosecuted and fined appropriately. He said that Netcom Africa, Multi-dimension and SwiftTalk were collocating their equipment on a telecom mast belonging to a licensed inter-connect clearing operator. ”Currently, we have removed the power ‎units, which the three tenant companies are using to power their services. ”We have asked them to remove the actual radio equipment from the mast which they are going to hand over to the commission and investigation will be carried out accordingly,” Abdu said. He, however, said that the mast owner, which houses the three telecoms firms on its network was not culpable. Abdu said this was because each operator was licensed separately by the regulator with terms and conditions of their licences clearly stated. ”So, they ought to have complied with all the terms and conditions of their licences and the relationship between the mast owner and the three firms is a different thing entirely. “This is because the mast owner only rented space to the illegal operators,” he said. Abdu warned licensees in the telecoms sector to always comply with their ‎licensing conditions. He said that indulging on illegal operations was capable of creating unnecessary interferences in telecoms service delivery, which ultimately affected consumers. Source: AIT

Cleric Seek Ownership of Religious TV Stations

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has appealed to the Federal Government to remove the restrictions on the setting up of television stations by religious organisations. Cardinal Onaiyekan made the appeal in Abuja on Wednesday at a forum to discuss the future of the Catholic Television Project. In Nigeria, religious groups, by law, are prohibited from owning local television stations. He said the electronic media was an effective tool for evangelism and the spread of the message of peace, which Nigeria needed at this time. “One tool in our hands to propagate the gospel is the use of the catholic television as a medium for teaching and edification,” he emphasised. Nigeria is facing lingering security crises mostly in the north-east. Thousands have been killed and many rendered homeless. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja believes that the Catholic Television would help spread the message of love and peace in this trying time. It is a common opinion of the persons that gathered at the event. The Director of Communications, Reverend Father Patrick Alumuku, said: “In this challenging time many people are turning to the Catholic Church to seek support and answers to the difficulties posed by moral, economic and political problems”. He stressed that the Church was looking to address these issues and further propagate the gospel through the television channel. Source: Channels TV

Jega: 2015 Elections Will Be Difficult to Rig

Nduka Nwosu in New York

INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega has said it would be difficult for politicians to rig the 2015 election, assuring that in spite of the general insecurity in the North-east, no part of the country would be disenfranchised. Jega, who was in the US to monitor the mid-term elections, said in an exclusive interview with THISDAY that all the good things the commission did in 2011 would be repeated in 2015. “We shall be using card readers which we believe will add tremendous integrity to the electoral system. We are using NYSC, lawyers and retired judges. We are bringing more people of integrity. We did biometric registration and we issued permanent voter cards. The idea is to use card readers with electronic chips that will help identify the person who was actually registered,” he said. Jega said politicians would no longer be able to buy cards or use the cards of dead people to vote: “The biometric card reader will add tremendous integrity to the electoral system. We have used eight months to clean up the register, which is one of the best in the African continent. “We are saying that in 2015, if anybody rigs the election, that person will be apprehended and punished. Rigging will not determine the electoral fortunes of anybody. Let me also add that from all perspective, operationally and logistically, we are ready for the 2015 elections from the perspective of the electoral management body and we are working closely with all stake holders to address some of the outstanding challenges. “Security is a major challenge. However, we are working with the security network to ensure that elections are held in every part of Nigeria including the North-east. We implore everyone to come out and register and elect the right people to office. My advice is that all stakeholders should be actively engaged in the process and stop being sarcastic but should work towards ensuring the true choice of the people emerge in 2015. “We have done so many things including cleaning up the register of voters. In 2011, we had barely eight months to clean up the register but now we had four years to do this and we put the four years to good use.” According to the INEC Chairman, the mid-term elections offered him a rich repertoire of experiences which have evolved over 200 years with so much trust and confidence that no one suspects the electoral bodies of compromise. Jega who later held a press conference at the press room of the Nigerian Embassy, said many electoral commissioners from other countries benefited from an exchange of ideas with many of them applauding the great reforms the Nigerian electoral system has undergone since 1999. The INEC boss added: “We have to earn the confidence and trust of voters in our country. Sadly Nigerian politicians suspect everything we do but we have to make it clear we are working towards a transparent electoral system, letting them know we work towards having a level playing field for everybody.” Jega also commented on the bashings he is receiving over the new polling units that favoured the north with more polling units and less for the South: “I feel bad because in Nigerian politics, people bandy all sorts of allegations and when it comes to your territory you have to defend yourself. When I am accused of doing what I did not do, I feel bad but all I need to do is to clarify the issues with additional information. But the mischievous remains unrelenting. I am not a religious bigot. I have conducted myself as chairman of INEC with impartiality and non-partisanship along with other INEC national commissioners. We are working together to deliver the best election for our country. So we refuse to be distracted.” On the accusation by Christian Association of Nigeria President Ayo Oritshejafor that he was disenfranchising Christians, Jega said there was no truth in it. He said he was not favouring one group over the other through the creation of more polling units which he said reflected the actual number of voters in the electoral register. On the complaints of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola on the distribution of Permanent Voter card, Jega stressed that the objective of the electoral body was to produce enough voters’ cards for all the local governments and that if the distribution process had not covered everyone; it only meant the cards were not ready. “Nine local governments in Lagos State were not excluded. We distribute cards that are ready within a time frame. Any cards not distributed are sent to the local government headquarters. It is not possible to exclude anyone based on religion because there are two electoral commissioners from each zone and decisions are taken collectively. I have never taken a decision on my own to the exclusion of these zonal commissioners each of whom holds a sensitive position in the electoral body.” Source: Thisday

Jonathan: Security Challenge Will not Affect 2015 Elections

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria has allayed fears that elections may not hold in some states in Nigeria, giving the assurance that all states, including those in the volatile north-east, will take part in the 2015 elections. The President gave the assurance in Abuja on Thursday morning while delivering his acceptance speech after the Peoples Democratic Party ratified his choice as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2015 election. He was given the party’s ticket after he polled 2,812 ‘YES’ votes to get the needed support from the 3,073 party’s delegates at the National Convention held at the Eagles Square in Abuja, the nation’s capital. President Jonathan had earlier been chosen as the sole candidate of the party, a development that did not go down well with some members of the party who had the intention of vying for the ticket. Stakeholders in Nigeria’s political sector have expressed fears that election may not hold in the volatile north-east that had been under siege. A terrorist group, the Boko Haram, has carried out most of its attacks in the region. The terrorist group demanding for an Islamic State and an end to western education has continued to carry out attacks on schools, villages, towns, churches, mosques and other public places in the region. Six persons were killed on Wednesday in a latest suicide bomb attack on a market in Kano State in north-west Nigeria. In his acceptance speech, President Jonathan accepted the nomination as the PDP presidential candidate, assuring his supporters and Nigerians that he will not let them down. He also announced Vice President Namadi Sambo as his running mate in the election. “The 2015 elections will hold in all the 36 states of the Federation,” he said. He observed that the convention of the PDP that brought him as the presidential candidate was held on Human Rights Day and reiterated that no Nigerian would go on exile for holding contrary views under his administration. The President further enumerated his achievements in the last four years and promised to serve with more humility and firmness when voted into power again. President Jonathan also emphasised that no one’s political ambition was worth the blood of any Nigerian. The PDP’s National Convention was held to also ratify the appointment of its national chairman, Mr Adamu Mu’azu and also fill two other positions in the National Working Committee – National Secretary and National Auditor. Source: Channels TV

EXCLUSIVE: [Unveiled] Obanikoro’s Petition Document

EXCLUSIVE: [Unveiled] Obanikoro’s Petition Document Posted By: Breaking TimesPosted date: December 10, 2014In: Breaking News, Elections, Nation, NewsNo Comments

BREAKING TIMES has exclusively obtained the petition document of Senator Obanikoro which was filed at the National Headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja. The appeal is challenging the outcome of Monday’s gubernatorial primaries and calling for a cancellation and rerun. Below is the two-page document

Two Angels Caught On Camera Flying [VIDEO]

A man caught something strange with his camera, he just found out the shocking truth on close watch.

N3.1bn Subsidy Scam: EFCC Re-Arraigns Mahmud Tukur, Alao, Four Others

EFCC Press Release N3.1bn Subsidy Scam: EFCC Re-Arraigns Mahmud Tukur, Alao, Four Others The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ,on Wednesday December 10, re-arraigned the trio of Mahmud Tukur, Ochonogor Alex, Abdullahi Alao and their companies Eterna Plc, Axenergy, and Star Inspection Services Nigeria Limited on 38-amended count charges bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence and forgery. The accused persons allegedly colluded among themselves and obtained N3,121,393,098 (Three Billion, One Hundred and Twenty One Million, Three Hundred and Ninety Three Thousand, Ninety Eight Naira Only) from the Federal Government under the guise that the money was for the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). One of the charges read that: "You Mahmud Tukur, Ochonogor Alex, Abdullahi Alao, Eterna Plc, Axenergy, and Star Inspection Services Nigeria Limited between October and November, 2011 within the jurisdiction of this honorable court with intent to defraud, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit, obtaining the sum of N1,222,154,152 (One Billion, Two Hundred and Twenty Two Million, One Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Two Naira Only) by false pretense , from the Federal Government of Nigeria purporting the said sum to be subsidy fund by falsely claiming to have imported 13, 701, 569 litres of premium Motor Spirit into Nigeria through the mother vessel MT Valle Di Castiglia and the Daughter vessel MT Deepwater and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(3) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related offences Act 2006." The accused persons pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them. Prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jabobs, SAN, requested a trial date in view of the plea of the accused persons. Counsel to the 1st , 2nd and 4th accused persons as well as counsel to the 3rd and 5th accused persons requested the court to allow the accused persons maintain their bail terms and condition granted earlier by the same court. Justice Akapo allowed the accused persons to continue to enjoy the terms of bail earlier granted them by court and adjourned the matter to March 2 , 3 and 4, 2015 for commencement of trial. Wilson Uwujaren Head, Media & Publicity 10th December, 2014

Buhari Wins APC Presidential Primary, Confronts President Jonathan In February Election

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) today at the All Progressives Congress (APC) convention in Lagos won the presidential primary to carry the party’s flag at the 2015 presidential election to be held on February 15th 2015. The former Head of State grabbed around 5,000 votes to beat former Vice President Atiku, Rabiu Kwankwaso, current Governor of Kano State, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, and Sam Nda-Isaiah, publisher of Leadership newspapers, and to secure the bid.

Earlier yesterday, there were reports that some of the candidates had withdrawn from the race in favour of General Buhari, but they were later dismissed as false. The negotiations are thought to have delayed the start of the convention, which began at the Teslim Balogun Stadium venue hours later than expected. Buhari will square up against incumbent Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan in a crucial election next year. More details to follow.

Toni Payne gets emotional on instagram, says she loved the wrong person

9ice's ex-wife and mother of his first child, TV host and lifestyle writer Toni Payne took to her instagram page this morning to pen down a touching statement to her fans, a few days after she reacted angrily to fans who accused her of cheating on her ex-husband. Toni says she feels bad that she's being accused of something she never did. What she wrote below... The other day I lost my cool when I shud av ignored cos I let people who do not matter get to me. It got me trending in a way I did not like and that for me I can't ignore. Till today, I get an unreasonable amount of hate for something I did not do. I ignore most times but this time I reacted. I've been thru a lot so sometimes I find them hard to ignore, maybe because Iv addressed it to the point that it feels like it will never go away. Iv been called every name in the book, bitch, attn seeker, etc simply because I loved the wrong person but still I held my head high choosing to carry on. I do my best to stay true to who I am and be a good person. Tho sum may deem it weakness, I'm a free spirit and av no problem baring my soul so yes I'll admit, even though I'm strong, it sometimes gets to me. Not because their opinions matter but because I even have to deal with it in the first place and most of the time it feels surreal. I understand that not everyone will like me, so they will use anything they can against me. I probably wouldn't care if it was something I actually did. Then I'll accept that It is what it is. I wish I could explain the feeling of being wrongly accused in that magnitude. It's like a million welts digging deep at your soul, and no one seems to understand you. To some it's funny, to some it's a headline, to me, it's reassurance I have to give my son that a nasty rumor was badly mismanaged. It's the explaining I will be doing in the years to come. It's irritating when it keeps popping up and I have to turn the other cheek but I'm learning each day to always keep my cool. I'm happy and content but also human. Excuse me if I react sometimes to stupidity thrown in my direction.. God gave me a fresh start and for that I should be grateful.. Apologies if I disappointed anyone by clapping back.....I promise next time to try harder to ignore and hopefully this will be the last of it... Xoxo #Osha