₦airaland Forum

Reptyle: Oh! By the way, can Abati tell us if the other foreign ministers that spoke for their Presidents at the AU event did so because their principals were also attending "side meetings" during the plenary. How important were these side meetings that the President would cede a scheduled speech to an aide while he attends a side meeting?

Incidentally, these are the kinds of questions that the Abati I used to know would ask in his popular weekend column in the Guardian Newspaper.

Is there something about working for the Nigerian establishment that diminishes ones ability to reason intelligently and ask vital questions?

A high ranking customs officer allegedly aided the importations of weapons for Boko Haram.

Soldiers have arrested a serving senior official of the Nigeria Customs Service in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital for allegedly assisting Boko Haram insurgents to import arms into the country, both security and non-military sources revealed to PREMIUM TIMES.

The officer, who is a native of one of the states in the volatile Northeast Nigeria, found himself in trouble when soldiers intercepted a vehicle cleared to enter the country through a border post under his command.

Some military sources who confirmed the incident to reporters in Maiduguri said the Customs officer was exposed when the driver of the truck carrying the illegal arms mentioned his name ‘as the Oga that allowed him to enter the country with the arms’.

The sources said the customs officer was also linked with several arms importation, an act that probably made him very rich, to buy his numerous landed property and posh cars.

The news of the incident, which had been downplayed by the security agencies in Maiduguri, however, became the talk of the town after it broke open this week.

A Borno civil servant told Journalists at the Government House, Maiduguri, that government officials know about the arrest of the officer.

“It is no longer a hidden news that he was arrested in connection with helping Boko Haram to bring in arms. A security source also told me that the senior officer manned the border post each time the truck conveying arms was about coming into Maiduguri. He would simply tell his boys to let it pass that it has been cleared from above,” said the civil servant who did not want his name published for security reasons.

Sources also said several military uniforms and guns were also recovered from the Maiduguri home of the arrested customs officer after a team of soldiers visited the building last week.

Journalists could not get across to the spokesmen of the various security outfits in Maiduguri, including the JTF spokesman, Sagir Musa, due to the grounding of telecommunication network which has lasted for almost two weeks since the emergency rule declaration.

No matter the cost, the excesses of extremist group, Boko Haram, must stop, President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed in a new resolve that comes two weeks into a broad military campaign to root out the militants in three northeast states.

“The excesses of Boko Haram must stop. That is the decision of this present government now. It must stop, whatever it will cost the government, it must stop,” Mr. Jonathan said in an interview with journalists on the sideline of the 21st ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Africa Union holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The president said his administration would not fold its arms and watch the violent Islamic group continue to kill innocent citizens.

The President who noted that terrorism was a global problem with the United States and United Kingdom and other countries having their shares, said his administration was working to ensure it is contained with immediate, medium and long term strategies.

Mr. Jonathan said under the short term, military intervention was compulsory since a lot of weapons found their ways into the country because of the Libya crisis and it was important for the weapons to be mopped up.

“For the short term, of course, there must be military intervention, we must beef up security, we must change the security architecture to make sure that we detect that something is about to happen before it happens so that we will be able to stop it,” he said.

“We have stopped a number of incidents in the country. It is just that the few that happened affect life and whenever life is affected, you will not even think that somebody is doing anything.”

The president said the need to “go all out to make sure that we seize these weapons” informed the recent declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. “We must comb the whole place to seize all these weapons and so on.”

“A lot of free weapons come in because of the Libya crisis. We must seize them. They are illegal weapons and must be seized and you cannot do that without declaring a state of emergency to enable the military enter any house, whether it is a residential building, it is a church, a mosque, a shrine, anywhere, hotel, anything that we suspect. We will be able to enter and seize these weapons.

He said in the medium term, the government will concentrate more on education as the part of the country where there is prevalence of Boko Haram activities has the highest rate of school dropout.

As part of that plan, the federal government will intervene to improve education in those areas although the Constitution puts the issue of basic education under the watch of state and local governments.

He enumerated creating economic environment as another approach adopted by government, so that individuals would be able to fend for themselves.

“We are doing that in terms of our own agriculture programme. We are doing that in what we call community services, local roads, renovation of health centres, primary schools and so on. A number of men and women are involved; road rehabilitation, clearing of roads and so on.

“So, we are also encouraging young people to be on their own through YouWin. The fairly enlightened ones who think they have some businesses to do will submit a proposal to a neutral body and if they select you, we give you grant, not loan. That alone is helping.

“The idea is that if you can set up micro and small businesses, that if one youth that benefit can employ five others that means by the time you give to 1000 and something to multiply by five on the average and the results are quite promising. And we are doing robustly in agriculture.

“That is why we are encouraging more of irrigation because like in the northern part of the country, where you have vast land for farming, incidentally it is savannah area where water is not that common compared to the south. So, we must irrigate to provide water and have farm settlements.

“Because some of the interviews they get from people who have been involved and were arrested, they didn’t even know. They just tell them stories and they are just carried away. Coupled with the fact that some of them are sub adults and they don’t have means of survival and their parents themselves cannot take care of them. So, they become very susceptible to mischievous characters who can just provide them little food and use them to kill people.”

The President also said the threat posed by the Islamic sect to the country and the sub region could be more devastating if the government had not moved fast.

He said Nigeria was becoming difficult for the militants to operate, as some of the sect members recently moved into Niger Republic with suicide attacks in two places simultaneously leading to the death of about 20 Nigerien soldiers.

“Niger Republic had been relatively calm although they have been noticing the movement because it is a general area from Mali, Niger, Chad to Nigeria, but because Nigeria is fairly big, we now said ‘no, this must stop,’ Mr. Jonathan said.

“They are now moving, Central Africa, North Africa, West Africa; East Africa is not also safe. Even in Ethiopia here, there were a lot of terrorist activities before but it is now coming down. Same with Somalia. So, it is only southern Africa that is relatively peaceful in terms of terror.

“It is a serious business. That it why all presidents and heads of government on this continent must come together to fight, otherwise, they will create more problems especially for countries that cannot contain them.

“Luckily, Nigeria is fairly rugged, fairly robust. So, we can confront it and we are confronting it now because we can no longer watch people being killed and it must stop.”

awodman: Jonathan Urges end to Africa's self inflicted conflicts

The president said Nigeria would remain a strong supporter of Pan-Africanism.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday called on African leaders to declare an end to self-inflicted wars and conflicts to usher in an era of transformation, peace, stability and sustainable development.

In his contribution to the debate on Pan-Africanism and
African Renaissance presented by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, in Addis Ababa, Mr. Jonathan
urged the leaders to rededicate themselves to ensuring
delivery of democratic values to the peoples of Africa.

“The message today is, Africa must declare an end to the
era of self-inflicted wars, conflicts and usher in an era of
transformation, peace, stability and sustainable
development. For too long, Africa has been the victim of
external domination, exploitation and manipulation; Africa
must rediscover itself.

“In this regard, we must first take definite steps to
implement all the frameworks aimed at curtailing
proliferation of small arms and light weapons on our
continent. These are weapons used in the prosecution of
deadly conflicts, acts of terror, arm robbery, piracy and all
sort of crimes.”

Mr. Jonathan said with Africa free, leaders must commit
themselves to deepening democracy and the rule of law to allow for democracy to flourish.

“We must end the culture of abuse of power and impunity; we must embrace the culture of acceptability, equity and justice; we must respect the wishes of our people when they express them democratically, freely and openly. ƒσя Pan-Africanism to endure and African Renaissance to occur, a peaceful Africa must learn some lessons from its ancient past as the cradle of human civilization,” he said.

He said in the past 50 years, the world has moved very
fast, driven by high level technology and sciences and that “Africa must be part of that movement.”

The president said Nigeria would remain a strong supporter of Pan-Africanism, its ideals and objectives as championed by the union. He said Nigeria would continue to be in the vanguard of the collective effort aimed at realizing the continent’s dream as Africa remains the central focus of the country’s foreign policy.

Various AU member states took turns to contribute to the
debate.

The 50th Anniversary celebration is expected to kick off
after the debate.

Source:premiumtimesng.com/news/136204-jonathan-urges-end-to-africas-self-inflicted-conflicts.html

Cholison: I want to reiterate my earlier information about Ajaokuta and Itakpe. As for my source, I will keep it to my chest. For your information I am an active player in the Steel sector, particularly Ajaokuta having worked for over twenty years in the plant during its construction and earning my pension for life from he organisation. What I speak and desire is the good of the organisation and not just criticism. Next time you desire clarification on issues of do not hide your identity and make yourself faceless.

otokx: Are you sure is Alakahia & not Elekahia? its been over 4 days since we last saw NEPA in UNIPORT, ALUU & CHOBA yet bill of 1600 has just been paid to NEPA.

xule20: Light jus came nw as I was reading dis topic afta blackout for 30hrs...location alakahia(uniport)

xule20: Oga sir der is lite nw in alakahia(uniport) I dnt kn abt choba nd aluu yet......wish y'al a great weekend

otokx: Still no light at UNIPORT and ALUU.

awodman: Governors Forum Election Crisis: Jang holds
inaugural meeting as NGF Chairman

The Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, who claimed he was the duly elected Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), has thanked his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him to serve them as the leader of
NGF and pledged to work for the interest of the Forum and country.

Governor Jang made these remarks while addressing the media after an inaugural meeting of which he presided as the Chairman.

In a communiqué signed by Governor Jang and his Deputy, the Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, they vowed to unite members of the NGF, and work for the unity of the country.

According to the communiqué, the Forum restated
“its commitment to continue being a platform for peer review, productive and collaborative engagement with all levels of governments.

The Forum also resolved to continue to encourage
and collaborate with President Goodluck Jonathan
to restore peace and security in the country and to
secure a befitting permanent secretariat outside
any Governor’s Lodge and thanked all Nigerians for
their support while promising not to let them down.
Addressing the media, the Deputy Chairman of the
Northern Governors’ Forum, Gabriel Suswam said in
an earlier meeting of the Forum presided over by
Babangida Aliyu, they had unanimously adopted
Governor Jang as the consensus Chairman and
they stood by that decision.

In the same vein, the Chairman of the South-East
Governors’ Forum, Peter Obi, and the Chairman of
the South-South Governors’ Forum and Governor of
Cross River State, Liyel Imoke also announced the
decision of the Governors in their zone to support
the leadership of Governor Jang.

Fielding questions from newsmen, Governor
Suswam described as fraudulent the process that
purportedly produced Governor Chibuike Amaechi
and said even in a village council election, an out-
going Chairman cannot preside over his own
election.

He said it was in acceptance of the leadership of
Governor Jang that 18 Governors turned up for the
inaugural meeting despite the less than 12-hour
notice and expressed optimism that the next
meeting would bring more Governors to the fold.

In attendance at the meeting were the Governors of
Plateau, Kogi, Benue, Enugu, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Abia
and Ondo. Others were the Governors of Katsina,
Kaduna, Delta, Anambra, Taraba, Cross River, Akwa
Ibom, Bayelsa Gombe and Kwara States.

playmode: The rant of a low IQ vermin who celebrates failure.Just re -read your comment and realize how childish and intellectually barren you are.Just like your corrupt boss Jonathan you can't answer simple questions so you turn to cartoonist retort.I dare you to take me on in an intellectual debate regarding Jonathan.Let us see if your brain will not explode when i hit you with cold facts.



Another generic username created by the same guy.Jeez dude you will go crazy one day with all these manipulations.You post with one username then reply yourself with another username. Typical ngbeke style of magomago.Come debate if you get liver.

billante: The dude is seriously bitter....allow him to pour out his venom before he collapse....surely someone stole his food or his dad hit him with some terrible lashes so he is looking for where to unleash his venom, pls allow him or we have murder in our hands

very funny guy

playmode: Shut up,you snake! Who do you think you are deceiving Do you think we do not know that you are one of the so called 40 man laptop squad who keeps registering new usernames and posting like different people but remain the same group of people.

Now let me ask you ,what has Jonathan been looking at since he became President ,why is it now that his tenure is almost over that he is commissioning stuff.No one is fooled ,they have not even constructed the dam.It is a smokes screen as usual to fool gullible Nigerians.

We are a nation that need at least 100,000Mw to be fully lit but instead we are building small power plants which can not sustain more than a few states at a time. Jonathan is a failure and a thief. Just recently he tried to steal $21 million from the coffer through the Isreali Internet Spying deal.

Instead of spying on Nigerians why does he not use that money to build a brand new functioning hospital for Nigerians especially in Lagos which is the most populous state? Why?

Don't worry we are watching you and it is just a matter of time.All of you will shit brick when we revolt.You may think your identity is hidden but i assure that we are determined and we will get each and everyone of you who have committed treason against this country.Change is coming and it won't be peaceful ,do not say i did not give you fair warning.

I am not one of this tribalistic buffoons who fight everyday over ndigbo nonsese ,odua nonsesne or aboki nonsense.I am a Nigeria who cares about Nigerians and will lay down my life to destroy the rotten donkeys in Nigeria who are continuing to loot this nation dry.Death to politicians!

With all the money we are making why can he build a mega dam at the base of river Niger like the chinese. The democratic republic of congo that makes way less than we make in Nigeria is about build the world biggest dam ,the Grand Ina dam which will generate a whooping 39,000MW. Why is Jonathan not building something similar at the base of river Niger which can easily accommodate a similar or bigger dam.Jonathan is nothing but a failed President,he is corrupt and a very heartless man.He will meet his waterloo shortly ,we are fed up with all the lies,the looting and all the antics.

Look at Gaddafi a great leader in his own right.He spent $30 billion and built the great reservoir ensuring that his people have constant supply of clean water for life. Gaddafi also paid US$ 300 million out of the $400 million required to build and launch the African satellite which greatly reduced our phone bills today.Without him ,we still have been paying European companies $500 million a year just to make calls.Yes he was brutal but he took care of his people ,Jonathan will never be able to do 2% of what gadaffi did for his people.

homesteady: They've started renovating the area!! They've repaired the roads leading to the steel mill!! I can actually see this dream coming to pass!! GEJ has plans for Nigeria!!

kenx1: Don't get me wrong!! Wat I'm driving @ is der r other sources of power we can invest on.....puting all eggs n one basket is quite dangerous

awodman: 10,000MW Dec 2013 target still realisable

The federal government has disclosed that it will hand over 15 of the successfully privatised successor companies heaved off the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to their winning investors by the end of July 2013.

It explained that the final relinquishment of the companies which has been delayed by the lingering issues relating to settlement of severance benefits of workers of the various companies of PHCN has been scheduled for July following its conclusion of negotiations with members of PHCN labour unions.

Minister of State for Power, Hajia Zainab Kuchi stated this
tHURSday in Abuja while denying media reports that she
had projected an increase in nationwide power generation
and distribution by 6000 megawatts (MW) within the same July 2013.

Kuchi in her remarks, gave clear timelines for the eventual handing over of the various PHCN assets to investors who have variously paid the initial mandatory 25 per cent part payment for the value of the assets; she however did not disclose if the remaining 75 per cent payment has been made by the investors.

The various PHCN assets that had been successfully sold
by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) include 10
distribution companies (Ikeja, Eko, Enugu, Port Harcourt,
Ibadan, Yola, Jos, Abuja, Benin and Kano) and five
generation companies (Shiroro hydro plant, Ughelli thermal plant, Sapele power plant, Kainji hydro plant and Geregu power plant); privatisation of Afam generating plant and Kaduna distribution company are yet to be consummated for reasons relating to alleged manipulation.

“We are finalising on labour, the labour is what is standing between us and the handing over and all the issues that were there had been addressed. We are about to begin payment, as soon as the payments are finalised by June ending, we will definitely be handing over to the successor companies by the end of July; that is the projection we have here and that is the stance of the BPE which has a timeline which was created with the labour issues in mind,” Kuchi said.

While giving further details on the handover timeline, she
stated that: “We have taken over all the problems and
addressed all the issues, the funding is there for the
payment of labour and all we are doing is data
computation and as soon as we are done with that the
handing over will be done.”

She also denied making claims that the successor
companies could not be handed over to the investors for
such reasons relating to their bad shapes, adding that the preferred bidders are aware of the status of the companies while various milestones have been achieved in the privatisation exercise.

Speaking on the status of power generation in the country, the minister said: “Right now we are generating up to 7,000 megawatts but the wheeling power is what we are trying to increase the capacity and we have explained before that this is because of the rot that that sector has suffered; the infrastructure is down and we have been doing a lot of work on it.

“The Niger Delta Power Holding Company is trying so hard in so many instances for the transmission company with the NIPP projects which we have about 10 (transmission projects) that are going to be commissioned.

“So, with all these and the additional funding that we have got from the AfDB and the Euro bond that government just finalised, when these processes and the actual infrastructure that we need to add are in place, come December 2014, we see the possibility of wheeling 10,000 megawatts because we have up to 7,000 megawatts now.”

She alleged that she was quoted out of context on power
generation when she honoured the invitation of the Senate Committee on Power, saying that what she meant was that government will sustain the current power generation capacity, while taking on the challenges of transmission and gas supplies before the end of 2013 through improved funding of needed infrastructure.