Babachir Lawal’s Expository On Osinbajo That Has Broken The Internet


I have tried to resist the temptation of joining in on the VP discourse first because he was one of my only two bosses while I was SGF, secondly because like me, he is a Christian and a pastor to boot. Thirdly, I had visualized the matter as a Yoruba ethical and moral issue that is best handled by the Yorubas themselves; a sorte of “Gambari kill Fulani no case”.

Let us make no mistake about it: the man has gift of the garb. The man can talk! And he carries along everywhere in his hands, an iPad to convey the impression that he is a modern man, a tech-servy man. And to crown it all he wears an Awo cap. Besides, who earth does not know that he is an Awo in-law?
The truth is that the man is a cunning pretender with ungodly ambitions.

But in deciding to challenge Tinubu in a presidential dwell, the devil has Osinbajo finally trapped. The devil has exposed him to failure, shame and redicule. The devil is extracting his price. And it is going to be a very high price on him.

The PDP press call him the “the poster boy” of the Buhari government. But they refuse to tell him that posters last only until the next heavy rain.

Let me tell a little-known story as far back as 2010. As the 2011 election season was approaching, the then CPC reached out to ACN with a view to working out a sorte of merger or alliance for the pending 2011 election. After a series of meetings between the leadership of the parties, it became apparent that the chemistry was not right at that level because the desired results were not forthcoming. So one of my friends, also a Buhari loyalist and I sat down to review the situation in light of the fact that time was running out. That friend of mine is still alive and serving in the presidency.

To our minds then, the main issue was the challenges of a moslem-moslem ticket especially as Buhari was at the time considered a “no-no” in the christian communities. In order to address this challenge, my friend and I approached Tinubu with a proposal that he should nominate a “loyal” Christian as running mate to Buhari. We emphasized the word “loyal” because Buhari had earlier indicated that he will only seek for one term and no more. Therefore the proposed VP too should be one that would agree to serve for only one term and then clear the way for Tinubu to run for the Presidency. Tinubu agreed to consider this proposal and gave us a date to return for his decision after consultations.

On our return on the date promised, he gave us the name of Prof Osinbajo. I was aghast because I had prayed and hoped that he will nominate either his wife or my friend Kayode Fayemi both of whom we know to be very young, brilliant, hardworking christians from large denominations. All through the night we tried to dissuade Tinubu from this choice but he stuck to his guns insisting that he can trust even his own life to this man, Osinbajo. Besides, he consistently argued that it will not be decent and proper to nominate his wife especially if he was to seek to be President immediately after her own tenure.

In the end ofcourse, another person was preferred by Buhari. CPC then we proceeded to lose the 2011 election. But when another opportunity came up in 2015, Tinubu had no hesitation in renominating Osinbajo to the post. Now this is the same Tinubu that Osinbajo’s hatchet men are denigrating with his ardent concurrence. “There is God woh”.

Surely it is the devil that has tricked Osinbajo into doing this most inglorious act of our time that will number him among the most ungrateful serial betrayers of all time. The consequence of this wicked exposure of his blind ambition will follow him and many generations of his children long after he must of gone. Such a pity!

Mark my words, Nigerians are yet to know the reasons why the President took away all the Social Investment Programs from his office and handed them over to a little known woman that had no prior working experience. And we are yet to know the reasons why he is no more assigned serious duties since the president’s recovery from illness. All these and more will begin to come out after 29th May, 2023. Then the true understanding of who this man truly is will come. Then, he will be left standing; alone, a pariah as if naked in a market place (with no more trader moni).

Kai! Satan is wicked.

When Judas Ischariot behaved similarly, he went and hanged himself. Still, that extreme act of remose could not absolve him from history’s most severe judgement. Was Judas also physically challenged hieght wise? But so was Zachaeus and he was no betrayer.

O God, have mercy on my former oga for he does not know what he is doing. It is pride, greed and ingratitude that has overtaken him. Also please, God forgive those who have nudged him on to this evil, ignoble course due to their own self interest. Dear God it is not too late for him to recant. You are a God of second chance.



If he does recant and repent who knows we might be able to persuade the president to send him to the Hague as replacement to his former Boss Teslim. Or even to the United Nations as Nigeria’s Permanent Rep. These are the places where his “dogon turanci” might serve him well and where he can enjoy his “trader moni” unmolested instead of wasting it on delegates that will not vote for him anyway.

Kai! Satan is truly very wicked and him don trap my boss.
BD LAWAL

HOW TO WORSHIP THE NIGERIAN GOD

By Elnathan John

The Nigerian god is one. It may have many different manifestations, but it is essentially different sides of the same coin. Sometimes, adherents of the different sides may fight and kill each other. But Nigerians essentially follow the Nigerian god.

This article is for all those who want to become better worshipers. If you are a new or prospective convert, God will bless you for choosing the Nigerian god. This is just how you must worship him.

First, you must understand that being a worshiper has nothing to do with character, good works or righteousness. So the fact that you choose to open every meeting with multiple prayers does not mean that you intend to do what is right. The opening prayer is important. Nothing can work without it. If you are gathered to discuss how to inflate contracts, begin with an opening prayer or two. If you are gathered to discuss how to rig elections, begin with a prayer. The Nigerian god appreciates communication.

When you sneak away from your wife to call your girlfriend in the bathroom, and she asks if you will come this weekend, you must say—in addition to “Yes”—“By God’s grace” or “God willing”. It doesn’t matter the language you use. Just add it. The Nigerian god likes to be consulted before you do anything, including a trip to Obudu to see your lover.

When worshipping the Nigerian god, be loud. No, the Nigerian god is not hard of hearing. It is just that he appreciates your loud fervour, like he appreciates loud raucous music. The Nigerian god doesn’t care if you have neighbours and neither should you. When you are worshipping in your house, make sure the neighbours can’t sleep. Use loud speakers even if you are only two in the building. Anyone who complains must be evil. God will judge such a person.

This is how the Nigerian god judges people who are your enemies- evil people who want to spoil your hustle; like your colleagues who don’t want your promotion; like your single old aunties who secretly don’t want you to marry that rich handsome man (who you haven’t met yet); like all your neighbours who are stopping you from getting pregnant: He violently consumes them by fire. He returns all their evil plans back to sender. So when making requests about all your enemies, do not pray that they be forgiven or that they change. Pray that the Nigerian god kills them off with such violent finality that there is nothing left of them.

Attribute everything to the Nigerian god. So, if you diverted funds from public projects and are able to afford that Phantom, when people say you have a nice car, say, “Na God”. If someone asks what the secret of all your wealth is, say, “God has been good to me”. By this you mean the Nigerian god who gave you the uncommon wisdom to re-appropriate public funds.

Consult the Nigerian god when you don’t feel like working. The Nigerian god understands that we live in a harsh climate where it is hard to do any real work. So, if you have no clue how to be in charge and things start collapsing, ask people to pray to God and ask for his intervention.

The Nigerian god loves elections and politics. When you have bribed people to get the Party nomination, used thugs to steal and stuff ballot boxes, intimidated people into either sitting at home or voting for you, lied about everything from your assets to your age, and you eventually, (through God’s grace), win the elections, you must begin by declaring that your success is the wish of God and that the other candidate should accept this will of God. It is not your fault whom the Nigerian god chooses to reward with political success. How can mere mortals complain?

The Nigerian god does not tolerate disrespect. If someone insults your religion, you must look for anyone like them and kill them. Doesn’t matter what you use—sticks, machetes, grenade launchers, IED’s, AK47’s. If the person who insults your religion is online and you can't locate them, feel free to threaten to kill them. Like we say in Nigeria: "at all-at all na im bad pass". Something is better than nothing at all.

The Nigerian god performs signs and wonders. He does everything from cure HIV to High BP. And the Nigerian god is creative: he can teach a person who was born blind the difference between blue and green when the man of god asks, and he can teach a person born deaf instant English. As a worshipper you must let him deliver you because every case of sickness is caused by evil demons and not infections. Every case of barrenness is caused by witches and has no scientific explanation. So instead of hospital, visit agents of the Nigerian god. But the Nigerian god does not cure corruption. Do not attempt to mock him.

If you worship the Nigerian god, you are under no obligation to be nice or kind to people who are not worshippers. They deserve no courtesy.

The Nigerian god is also online. As a worshipper, you are not obliged to be good or decent on Facebook or Twitter all week except on Friday and Sunday, both of which the Nigerian god marks as holy. So you may forward obscene photos, insult people, forward lewd jokes on all days except the holy days. On those holy days, whichever applies to you, put up statuses saying how much you are crazy about God.
These days, the Nigerian god also permits tweets and Facebook updates like: "Now in Church" or "This guy in front of me needs to stop dozing" when performing acts of worship.

In all, the Nigerian god is very kind and accommodating. He gives glory and riches and private jets. And if you worship him well, he will immensely bless your hustle.

Former President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has said that a two party-system remains the best for the country in the circumstance the country found itself in the current political dispensation. He issues this statement to disown the earlier statement credited to him to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari should not contest in 2019. PRNigeria has in the past issued statements on behalf of the Former President. Please read below the full text of the authentic statement signed by Former President Ibrahim Babangida today: MY COUNSEL TO THE NATION–BY GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA, GCFR My attention has been drawn to a press statement on the State of the nation with a particular reference to 2019 general elections and beyond. Let me categorically state that as a former President and Statesman, I have unfettered access and channel of communication with the highest authorities in the country without necessary going public with a sensational statement. Therefore, the views expressed in the alleged statement are not mine but that of the writer. However, with due respect to individual opinion and constitutional rights, it is worrisome that Political events and civil unrest in many parts of the country have raised many questions on the governance and unity of our great nation. Indeed 2018 has been inundated with political clamours and hot debates over the corporate existence of this country. Many of contributions, including constructive criticisms and engagements, have shown greater concerns for the corporate existence of Nigeria beyond 2019 general elections. It will be recalled that in my recent message on this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day, I specifically expressed the dire need for proactive measures to stop farmers/herders clashes in the middle belt as well as Cattle rustling, armed robbery, Kidnapping, gangsterism and Cultism in other parts of the country. Our security agencies have to step up surveillance with more efforts on intelligence gathering towards ensuring maximum security of life and property. Recent happenings and utterances by political gladiators are alarming and not in the interest of common man that is already overstretched and apparently living from hand to mouth due to precarious economic conditions. Despite all these challenges, I am optimistic that the political actors will play within the ambits of political norms and decorum to ameliorate the problems facing our society now. I am a realist that believes in all issues in a democratic atmosphere are sincerely discussed and resolved in the spirit of give-and-take. Since after my military years that metamorphosed to being the only Military President in the history of Nigeria and my civilian life, I always have one clear objective that freedom can only be achieved through democracy. Some people find this freedom as an avenue for eroding democracy by antics of hate speeches under the guise of religion, tribal or self-imposed mentorship. This trend of pitching political class and the people against one another is unhealthy and must be discouraged by all and sundry. The clamour for re-alignment of governance in the country as we are approaching the 2019 election year is a welcome development only if the agitations are genuinely channelled through appropriate channels of law and order and the observance of the supremacy of the Constitution. Therefore, any attempt outside this circle of democratic tenets is deceptive and divisive idea capable of plunging our political journey into disarray. Our present political parties and their structures need parameter pillars that will make them stronger with unique ideologies. However, our present political parties need surgical operations that will align them into a reasonable number. I have been an advocate of a two-party system but in our present reality in Nigeria, our political parties can fuse into a strong political association or party that can form a formidable opposition to a ruling party. As students of history, we are aware that many advanced democracies have two distinct ideological political parties, with a handful of smaller political groupings that serve as buffer whenever any of the known political parties derailed or became unpopular. I still believe in a two-party system as the best option for Nigeria. It is high time that we engage in constructive dialogue on national issues in order to have a political solution to our myriad of problems. It is sad that Nigeria had its fair share of conflicts, and we cannot continue to fall back to those dark years of bloodshed. As a people, now is the time to come together to address all Communal conflicts and criminality under any guise so as to unite the country in line with the vision of our founding fathers so that we can forge ahead in the task of building a more prosperous nation. SIGNED: GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA GCFR, FORMER MILITARY PRESIDENT & COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES. 1 UPHILL DRIVE, MINNA.

Read more at: https://prnigeria.com/national/ibb-advocates-two-party-system/

The mysterious white man captured by Nigerian soldiers during last week’s storming of Boko Haram’s headquarters in the Sambisa Forest is a Frenchman and he specializes in repairing and unlocking armoured personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment, Daily Trust learnt from authoritative military sources yesterday. The white man’s identity is being concealed by the Federal Government and military authorities for diplomatic reasons, the sources also said.

Defence Headquarters has been silent on the development since the news broke last Friday, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari announced that   Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the Sambisa forest, Borno State had been overrun by troops. Soldiers who took part in the operation told our correspondent yesterday that a white man was actually arrested in the Sambisa forest and that he has been providing “credible information” to military authorities. A source said, “He was arrested along the Bama axis of the Sambisa forest and agreed to give vital information provided he would be spared. I learnt that he is from France but authorities do not want to make his real identity known for diplomatic reasons…They  don’t want to jeopardize the success recorded.” Although some sources only said the captured white man is “from Western Europe,” Daily Trust learnt that he is actually a Frenchman. All Nigeria’s neighbours in the North East, namely Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad are French speaking. 

The French embassy in Nigeria did not respond to email and text message sent to it for comment yesterday.

How top officers led Sambisa offensive  

The one month long military offensive that led to the capture of Sambisa Forest last Thursday was led by “the best hands” in the Nigerian Army and Air Force, sources close to the operation told Daily Trust yesterday. Before the renewed offensive to reclaim the dreaded forest where Boko Haram fighters held sway since 2013, officers between the ranks of Lieutenants, Captains and Majors normally led operations, sources said. This time around, more senior officers led the operation on all fronts during the final onslaught. It was gathered that the officers, besides various trainings they obtained at home, have been trained abroad and had participated in serious military operations.

The 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) vast Sambisa Forest had been the nightmare of the Nigerian security forces, including their foreign allies, who provided various security reports over the years. It was gathered that some of the fighting troops were mobilized with light rocket propelled grenades [RPGs], weapons they did not use previously.  The light RPGs, according to one of our sources, could be carried on by soldiers on their shoulders for long distances because of their light weight and were used against far flung targets.

“With the exception of one major of the Nigerian Army, all the commanding officers that led the 4,200 troops into the Sambisa Forest are of the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel,” a soldier who participated in the operation said. He said “the Bama axis was led by a Colonel who viciously decimated many Boko Haram fighters. Together with his troops, he captured Alafa 1, 11 and 111 in the Sambisa Forest and freed over 1,000 people. He also captured nearly 500 suspects, mostly men who are being interrogated for having links with the Boko Haram.” 

According to him, “some of the suspects are claiming that they were forcefully conscripted into the violent group while others have admitted that they belong to the group.” Another source said the Konduga/Aulari axis of the Sambisa Forest was captured by a daring army Major. “This Major is one of the heroes in the Nigerian Army. He was very close to the late Lieutenant Colonel Abu Ali of blessed memory. He knows the Sambisa Forest very well and was therefore directed to approach the forest through the infamous Gate One,” the source said. He added, “The Ngurosoye axis of the Sambisa Forest was led by a Lieutenant Colonel who is also a fearless and versatile officer. His 151 Battalion is known as Blocking Force. His troops recovered many AK47 rifles of fleeing Boko Haram insurgents and they also freed many women and children.” 

The real operation

Sources said during the planning to re-take Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Tukur Buratai frequented Maiduguri almost on daily basis. “Sometimes he passed the night there (in Maiduguri) and sometimes he went back to Abuja. He personally commanded the general operation,” an officer who craved for anonymity said. He said radar with monitors was mounted at the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army and everything, including troop movement; logistics, ground operation and aerial reconnaissance both day and night were closely monitored with precision. 

He said, “The close monitoring from Maiduguri helped a great deal in reducing mistakes. This gave the troops the confidence to relentlessly march on during operations. The fact that the mine detectors deployed to the Sambisa forest also demobilized all the bombs planted by the insurgents gave our troops added impetus. The mine detectors normally detonated most of the IEDs with ease and also cleared the terrain for armoured vehicles to move freely.” 

The source that added some Boko Haram commanders and foot soldiers who were arrested long ago and “de-radicalized” were also imbedded in the operation. “The repentant insurgents, some members of the civilian JTF and local vigilantes know the Sambisa Forest very well, far better than the maps we used in the operation and therefore, they assisted greatly in helping us to locate hideouts. Also, sophisticated fighter jets and drones that have capacity to monitor things as far as away as 600 meters were deployed to the Sambisa forest and worked day and night,” he said.

The fall of ‘Camp Zero’

A military officer told our correspondent that this was not the first time attempt made to capture “Camp Zero” in Sambisa Forest where the factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau used as his hide out on different occasions. “This is the second time Camp Zero is taken. The first was during the JTF (Joint Task Force) in June 2013 before it (JTF) was disbanded and the area was lost completely,” the officer said.

He said despite the success recorded, there is worry among the military high command because some of the things expected to be recovered at the building were not found. “It is likely they (Boko Haram) are somewhere because they moved away with their equipment and prized possessions, including the Chibok girls in possession of Shekau group,” he said.

He said there were other dreaded cells that have been deserted by the Boko Haram terrorists, such as the ones in Kareto and Gudumbali at the height of offensive last year and another one in Kukawa which was reclaimed this year. It was learnt that while some of the Chibok girls and other captives are with the Shekau camp, many of them are with the Mamman Nur faction, led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, son of the group’s late Mohammed Yusuf. They are suspected to be held in cells in northern Borno State.

“Camp Zero has for a long time been an objective for our troops but it is not the end of Sambisa in the true sense of the crisis. Boko Haram terrorists have been trained in the art of war, so it is likely they moved away for tactical reasons,” he said. The source said the COAS, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole as well as the GOCs of the army’s 3, 7 and 8 Divisions and other key Army Headquarters officers held a marathon meeting on December 24 and continued meeting yesterday on the operations in the North East. “They had a break on the 25th because of Christmas and they went to open the roads from Maiduguri to Damasak and to Baga. Their main concern in the meeting is the disappearance of Boko Haram leaders with their equipment and lack of trace of the Chibok girls,” the officer said. Sources said beside the equipment found there, Boko Haram fighters had raided many workshops and laboratories in schools around the Sambisa Forest in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and had fabricated fighting equipment and chemicals with the facilities they carted away. 

There is controversy as to how Camp Zero actually looked like. While some soldiers that participated in the operation said it has two underground buildings and tunnels as well as hardware and equipment for the training of the disbanded National Guards, some officers told our correspondent that the place was actually inherited from the Sambisa Game Reserve.

“The National Guard were to train there but were never there. A team went to inspect the place in the 80s but the movement and training did not hold. The solid structure there belonged to the forest management authority,” he said.


Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/sambisa-captured-frenchman-repairs-apcs/177947.html#Sk8bEh4x8fKHj1J4.99

The mysterious white man captured by Nigerian soldiers during last week’s storming of Boko Haram’s headquarters in the Sambisa Forest is a Frenchman and he specializes in repairing and unlocking armoured personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment, Daily Trust learnt from authoritative military sources yesterday. The white man’s identity is being concealed by the Federal Government and military authorities for diplomatic reasons, the sources also said.

Defence Headquarters has been silent on the development since the news broke last Friday, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari announced that   Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the Sambisa forest, Borno State had been overrun by troops. Soldiers who took part in the operation told our correspondent yesterday that a white man was actually arrested in the Sambisa forest and that he has been providing “credible information” to military authorities. A source said, “He was arrested along the Bama axis of the Sambisa forest and agreed to give vital information provided he would be spared. I learnt that he is from France but authorities do not want to make his real identity known for diplomatic reasons…They  don’t want to jeopardize the success recorded.” Although some sources only said the captured white man is “from Western Europe,” Daily Trust learnt that he is actually a Frenchman. All Nigeria’s neighbours in the North East, namely Cameroon, Niger Republic and Chad are French speaking. 

The French embassy in Nigeria did not respond to email and text message sent to it for comment yesterday.

How top officers led Sambisa offensive  

The one month long military offensive that led to the capture of Sambisa Forest last Thursday was led by “the best hands” in the Nigerian Army and Air Force, sources close to the operation told Daily Trust yesterday. Before the renewed offensive to reclaim the dreaded forest where Boko Haram fighters held sway since 2013, officers between the ranks of Lieutenants, Captains and Majors normally led operations, sources said. This time around, more senior officers led the operation on all fronts during the final onslaught. It was gathered that the officers, besides various trainings they obtained at home, have been trained abroad and had participated in serious military operations.

The 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) vast Sambisa Forest had been the nightmare of the Nigerian security forces, including their foreign allies, who provided various security reports over the years. It was gathered that some of the fighting troops were mobilized with light rocket propelled grenades [RPGs], weapons they did not use previously.  The light RPGs, according to one of our sources, could be carried on by soldiers on their shoulders for long distances because of their light weight and were used against far flung targets.

“With the exception of one major of the Nigerian Army, all the commanding officers that led the 4,200 troops into the Sambisa Forest are of the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel,” a soldier who participated in the operation said. He said “the Bama axis was led by a Colonel who viciously decimated many Boko Haram fighters. Together with his troops, he captured Alafa 1, 11 and 111 in the Sambisa Forest and freed over 1,000 people. He also captured nearly 500 suspects, mostly men who are being interrogated for having links with the Boko Haram.” 

According to him, “some of the suspects are claiming that they were forcefully conscripted into the violent group while others have admitted that they belong to the group.” Another source said the Konduga/Aulari axis of the Sambisa Forest was captured by a daring army Major. “This Major is one of the heroes in the Nigerian Army. He was very close to the late Lieutenant Colonel Abu Ali of blessed memory. He knows the Sambisa Forest very well and was therefore directed to approach the forest through the infamous Gate One,” the source said. He added, “The Ngurosoye axis of the Sambisa Forest was led by a Lieutenant Colonel who is also a fearless and versatile officer. His 151 Battalion is known as Blocking Force. His troops recovered many AK47 rifles of fleeing Boko Haram insurgents and they also freed many women and children.” 

The real operation

Sources said during the planning to re-take Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Tukur Buratai frequented Maiduguri almost on daily basis. “Sometimes he passed the night there (in Maiduguri) and sometimes he went back to Abuja. He personally commanded the general operation,” an officer who craved for anonymity said. He said radar with monitors was mounted at the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army and everything, including troop movement; logistics, ground operation and aerial reconnaissance both day and night were closely monitored with precision. 

He said, “The close monitoring from Maiduguri helped a great deal in reducing mistakes. This gave the troops the confidence to relentlessly march on during operations. The fact that the mine detectors deployed to the Sambisa forest also demobilized all the bombs planted by the insurgents gave our troops added impetus. The mine detectors normally detonated most of the IEDs with ease and also cleared the terrain for armoured vehicles to move freely.” 

The source that added some Boko Haram commanders and foot soldiers who were arrested long ago and “de-radicalized” were also imbedded in the operation. “The repentant insurgents, some members of the civilian JTF and local vigilantes know the Sambisa Forest very well, far better than the maps we used in the operation and therefore, they assisted greatly in helping us to locate hideouts. Also, sophisticated fighter jets and drones that have capacity to monitor things as far as away as 600 meters were deployed to the Sambisa forest and worked day and night,” he said.

The fall of ‘Camp Zero’

A military officer told our correspondent that this was not the first time attempt made to capture “Camp Zero” in Sambisa Forest where the factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau used as his hide out on different occasions. “This is the second time Camp Zero is taken. The first was during the JTF (Joint Task Force) in June 2013 before it (JTF) was disbanded and the area was lost completely,” the officer said.

He said despite the success recorded, there is worry among the military high command because some of the things expected to be recovered at the building were not found. “It is likely they (Boko Haram) are somewhere because they moved away with their equipment and prized possessions, including the Chibok girls in possession of Shekau group,” he said.

He said there were other dreaded cells that have been deserted by the Boko Haram terrorists, such as the ones in Kareto and Gudumbali at the height of offensive last year and another one in Kukawa which was reclaimed this year. It was learnt that while some of the Chibok girls and other captives are with the Shekau camp, many of them are with the Mamman Nur faction, led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, son of the group’s late Mohammed Yusuf. They are suspected to be held in cells in northern Borno State.

“Camp Zero has for a long time been an objective for our troops but it is not the end of Sambisa in the true sense of the crisis. Boko Haram terrorists have been trained in the art of war, so it is likely they moved away for tactical reasons,” he said. The source said the COAS, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole as well as the GOCs of the army’s 3, 7 and 8 Divisions and other key Army Headquarters officers held a marathon meeting on December 24 and continued meeting yesterday on the operations in the North East. “They had a break on the 25th because of Christmas and they went to open the roads from Maiduguri to Damasak and to Baga. Their main concern in the meeting is the disappearance of Boko Haram leaders with their equipment and lack of trace of the Chibok girls,” the officer said. Sources said beside the equipment found there, Boko Haram fighters had raided many workshops and laboratories in schools around the Sambisa Forest in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and had fabricated fighting equipment and chemicals with the facilities they carted away. 

There is controversy as to how Camp Zero actually looked like. While some soldiers that participated in the operation said it has two underground buildings and tunnels as well as hardware and equipment for the training of the disbanded National Guards, some officers told our correspondent that the place was actually inherited from the Sambisa Game Reserve.

“The National Guard were to train there but were never there. A team went to inspect the place in the 80s but the movement and training did not hold. The solid structure there belonged to the forest management authority,” he said.


Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/sambisa-captured-frenchman-repairs-apcs/177947.html#Sk8bEh4x8fKHj1J4.99

  Boko Haram Finally Crushed - Buhari 

No fewer than 4,200 officers of the Nigerian Army, Air Force and other special forces took part in the operation to uproot the Boko Haram terrorists from their Sambisa Forest bastion, some officers close to the operations told our correspondent yesterday.

President Muhammadu Buahari, yesterday broke the news of the capture of Boko Haram’s last stronghold in a goodwill message to soldiers of the Operation Lafiya Dole over the victory.

Buhari said he had received the long-awaited and most gratifying news of the final crushing of Boko Haram terrorists in their last enclave in Sambisa Forest.

The president said he was delighted at the news and was most proud of the gallant troops of the Nigerian Army.

“I want to use this opportunity to commend the determination, courage and resilience of troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole at finally entering and crushing the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents at ‘Camp Zero’, which is located deep within the heart of Sambisa Forest. 

“I was told by the Chief of Army Staff that the camp fell at 1:35pm on Thursday, December 22, and that the terrorists were on the run and no longer have a place to hide,” the president disclosed.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that in the build-up to the operation to storm Sambisa, the United States donated five mine detecting armoured vehicles to the Nigerian Armed Forces, which enabled the military to clear “thousands of improvised explosive devices” that laced the vast Sambisa Forest.

Other powers like Germany also contributed “vital information and logistics” that led to the capture of the forest, sources said.

“The operation to took over Sambisa Forest did not start overnight,” one of the sources said.

Among other places, the Sambisa Forest had been used as fortress by the leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau and members of the Shura (Supreme Council) since 2003, after they were dislodged from Maiduguri and environs, shortly after the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

The source, a sniper, who returned to Maiduguri from the fringes of the liberated forest on Friday, said while hundreds of Boko Haram fighters were killed during the offensive that began about a month ago, many others were captured alive while attempting to flee.

He said: “A ‘white man’ was also arrested in the forest. “The man is under custody and providing positive information.

“Hundreds of Boko Haram captives, including men, women and children have been freed and taken to safety.

“All I can tell you is that no big Boko Haram commander is alive in the Sambisa; we are in control of the forest.

“It took months of planning and mapping because of the size, difficult weather and other factors in the Sambisa Forest.”

The source told our correspondent that one of the major factors that delayed the takeover of the insurgents’ hideout was the thousands of people, including those living in villages around the vast forest that were being held as human shield by the Boko Haram leaders.

How the operation was carried out

It was gathered that the 4,200 troops were deployed to the Sambisa Forest through various fronts, including Ngurosoye, Konduga/Aulari, Bama, Fulka and Damboa.

“The 151 Battalion of the Nigerian Army advanced into Sambisa through the Banki-Darul Jamal axis, the 27 Battalion advanced through Mafa, the 152 Battalion advanced through Pulka, while the 222 Battalion approached the dreaded forest through the Maiduguri axis,” another soldier, who participated in the operation, said.

He said the operation was carried out day and night.

“When mine detectors cleared the way, troops moved in to confront the insurgents, who were equally well armed with sophisticated fighting equipment.

“Luckily, we always had an edge over them at night because there were fighter jets with night vision devices that were deployed. And whenever the insurgents attempted to flee, there were booby-traps in all the exit points, and we caught or killed them like chickens,” he said.

The infamous ‘Camp Zero’

The political class, the military high command and the Nigerian soldiers celebrated the capture of the infamous ‘Camp Zero’ at the heart of the Sambisa forest.

Our source said though the ‘Camp Zero’ comprised a cluster of dreaded camps and cells, the strongest and most fortified of all of them was a huge structure with underground cells and armory built for the disbanded National Guards in the 1980s.

“The building has about two layers of underground buildings. It was actually built by the military government in the 1980s for the training of the National Guards. Unfortunately, the place was left like that after the National Guards were disbanded.

“Therefore, after they were forced out of Maiduguri, the Boko Haram found the place as an excellent fortress because everything was there, including water, tunnels for escape and fertile land for farming,” a soldier familiar with the terrain, said.

The National Guard was established by a decree in 1989 by a former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, to combat crime and terrorism.

The Sambisa Forest stretches across six states in the North-East and North-West parts of Nigeria, including Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa and some parts of Kano state.

It got its name from the village of Sambisa in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, which shares borders with the Republic of Cameroon.

In his message, President Buhari urged the troops to maintain the tempo by pursuing the terrorists and bringing them to justice.

He also called on all Nigerians to cooperate and support the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies by providing useful information that would expose all the terrorists hiding among the populace.

The president said further efforts should be intensified to locate and free the remaining Chibok schoolgirls still in captivity, praying: “May God be with them.”

He congratulated and commended “the able leadership of the Nigerian Army in particular, and indeed, that of the Armed Forces in general, for making this possible.”

Buhari added: “This, no doubt, will go a long way in improving the security situation, not only in the North-East, but the country in general.  But we must not let our guards down.

“Once more, congratulations to our troops and all, who, in one way or another, contributed to this most commendable and momentous effort. May the Almighty continue to be with you.

“I wish you a Merry Christmas and a most rewarding and peaceful Year 2017 ahead.”

Buhari’s statement did not say anything about the fate of the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who is suspected to be directing the activities of the group from his hideout in the 60,000square-kilometre forest.

The Nigerian security forces had, on many occasions in the past, claimed to have killed Shekau, who subsequently appeared in videos debunking such claims.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/how-military-captued-sambisa/177589.html#RlhjITdfuKt2VxVt.99

Many tales have been told about the people who swelled the ranks of the Boko Haram terrorist group as its heartless foot soldiers and commanders and fought its cause, but little has been heard from the fathers, husbands, brothers or sisters of these once dreaded sect members about the orgy of violence that their loved ones have orchestrated. Our reporter traces some of these families to Maiduguri and Damaturu and tells their stories.
Fatima Mohammed, 25, showed no regrets as she coherently recounted the moment she tricked her Boko Haram husband into the net of the men of the Joint Military Task Force, code named Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, three years ago and watched him killed.
As long as she remembers the reason for her action, she would never regret exposing him, she said, smiling as she narrated the startling story to Daily Trust on Sunday.
Fatima is one of the thousands of residents of the North-East with horrible stories to tell about how their children, husbands or siblings joined the Boko Haram.
After the killing of her husband, the mother-of-two relocated to Maiduguri to live with her sister.
Her husband’s name was Mohammed Mustapha, she said, recalling that they had been married for only two years before he subscribed to the Boko Haram ideology and joined the group.
They were based in Bama, the second biggest town in Borno State and one of the territories that once fell under Boko Haram control.
The young mother had no clue her husband was involved with the group, which violent campaigns were already decimating lives and communities in the North-East, especially in Borno, until the family relocated to Banki town, near the border with Cameroon.
“It was at Banki that I noticed that he had joined the Boko Haram terrorists and was already relating well with them,” she said.
Her suspicion was confirmed when Mustapha started coming home with weapons, encouraging her to find way out of the marriage.
“I began seeing him come home with a gun. That unsettled me and my trust for him ceased. Since then, I began praying for the opportunity to end the marriage. That was how I lived with him for about three more years, confused over what to do,” she recounted.
Amina had a bitter personal experience with the violent Boko Haram sect.
She had lost family members in one of the group’s attacks and was not ready to cohabit with someone indirectly connected with the killing of her loved ones as a husband. According to her, an opportunity came her way with the formation of the vigilante outfit, the Civilian JTF in parts of Borno, to assist the security forces in the campaign against the insurgents.
“That sounded the best opportunity I was waiting for. I sought his (my husband’s) permission to travel to Bama. I actually intended travelling to Maiduguri, but I dared not tell him so, because he might suspect I was up to something.
“He enquired what I was travelling to do in Bama and I said I wanted to visit my relatives and that my mother was ill. He granted me the permission, warning that I should not exceed one day there. I promised him that God willing, I would not exceed one day.
“Instead of Bama, I left for Maiduguri where I summoned the courage to describe the conduct of my husband to the members of the JTF and they confirmed to me that he was a Boko Haram member. So I promised them that God willing I would pull him by the hand and deliver him to them,” she said.
Immediately she returned to Banki, Fatima began plotting ways to convince her husband to go with her to Maiduguri.
“I counseled him to surmount whatever fear he had. I consistently tried to convince him that nothing adverse would happen to him. He trusted me and always believed whatever I told him. He, therefore, said: ‘Okay, is that true? Are you sure you are telling me the truth? I hope you are mindful of your love for me?’ I said, ‘yes, there would not be any adverse consequence if you renounce and surrender. I love you. I came with you to Banki because of my love for you.’ So he agreed to go with me to Maiduguri.
“It was a Wednesday. Already, I had plotted with the men of the Civilian JTF. Immediately we arrived the planned location in Maiduguri, the members of the Civilian JTF grabbed him and dragged him to the military.
“After he was handed over to the soldiers, he lifted his head and gave me a stern look. I noticed that he looked at me thrice without uttering a word, apparently aggrieved that I had betrayed him. One of the soldiers thumbed up for me. Already, members of the Civilian JTF were congratulating me for the feat. Right before me, he was shot dead by the soldiers.
“I then heaved a sigh of relief and satisfaction. The insurgents are useless. Before the formation of the Civilian JTF, they had killed my father, my two elder brothers, my uncle and a cousin. I don’t see any reason whatsoever for preferring a terrorist husband to these relatives. You can marry another husband if one dies, but you cannot get another father if the only one you have dies. This is why I felt placated when he was killed before me. I performed ablution and prostrated in expression of gratitude to my Creator for enabling me to achieve vengeance,” she said.
She said her two children were now living with relatives in different parts of the country and dismissed fears that they could face stigmatization on account of their father.
Not far from the palace of the Shehun Borno, 67-year-old Alhaji Mustapha Muhammad Ali and his family were taking refuge in the house of his relation.
The merchant moved his family there after an attack on Bama town by the Boko Haram militants. In spite of their plight, the father still has reason to cheer at the memory of what became the fate of his child, Babagana.
About two years ago, he dragged his son to the military and had him shot for being a member of Boko Haram.
“I am not missing him,” he said about the boy. “I have 14 other children alive; nine males and five females. Although we were sacked from Bama for over a year now, I am now at peace. I still remember that apart from me, about five of my neighbours at Bama also surrendered their insurgent children to the soldiers to be killed. We all knew that if we allowed them to live, they would not spare us one day.”
For him, it was a matter of time before his son came after him, because Boko Haram insurgents were known to kill their parents.
“When we heard that the Civilian JTF had been formed in Maiduguri and these completely worthless children were being killed, I caught my son and dragged him before the soldiers. I handed him over to them and they shot him dead before me. I had to do so before he killed me as most of his fellow insurgents did to their parents and close relatives. We heard that to secure an enviable profile among the insurgents, you have to kill your father or sleep with your mother.
Alhaji Muhammad linked the reason Boko Haram succeeded in recruiting young people to “poor upbringing”. “Most of them grew up without education and discipline,” he said.
His son, Babagana, was recruited in Banki, Alhaji Muhammad explained. “Babagana was recruited into Boko Haram at a village called Banki, on the Nigeria/Cameroon border, at the age 12 without my knowledge. If I had an inkling that he was making moves to join them, I would have stopped him by whatever means. I later got to know that he had been recruited.
“When he came to Bama, I examined his attitude very closely to confirm what I heard about him. When I confirmed it, I told him that I did not trust him anymore. He replied insolently that it was their (Boko Haram insurgents) way of life and they would not renounce it; that they wanted to carry out jihad to annihilate the infidels.
“When he told me all these without any trepidation, I concluded that I should no longer tolerate him. So I caught him and dragged him before the soldiers because he might not spare me, his father, one day. I don’t regret getting him killed,“ he said.
The displaced businessman recalled that the insurgents made life a hell for them and prayed no such calamity was visited upon them again.
“It is appalling to see our own children killing us and sacking us from our abodes. The boys made away with seven cars from my house at the peak of their horrendous atrocities on us. I cannot say if they were led to my house by my son,” he said.
Mohammed Mustapha, who appears to be in his late 40s, is the guardian of Ibrahim, the boy he said he would live to regret having as his ward. Ibrahim joined the Boko Haram terror group at Banki, where he went to further his Qur’anic studies.
He has been killed by the Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole soldiers.
Mustapha, a thriving Bama trader before Boko Haram insurgents sacked the town, told the story of his terrorist ward: “We are cousins. When our fathers died, he was entrusted to me as his guardian. He was progressing in his studies at a Qur’anic school in Bama when he came one day and told me he was going to Banki to continue his studies.
“Not long after he relocated to Banki, I received information from several sources that my ward had joined Boko Haram. I resolved to set out for Banki to confirm what I had been hearing about him. Before embarking on the journey, however, I went to notify his mother and consult her on the appropriate move to take, because she knew he had relocated to Banki.
“The mother allayed my fears, saying that her son had not gone wayward. I rested my case and took leave of her.
“While going along a street at Bama, I saw him. I caught him immediately and dragged him to the boys of the civilian JTF in our ward and told them that I had been hearing nasty stories about him and I wanted them to investigate him properly. In the course of their investigation, the civilian JTF boys discovered that he had friends with whom he had been roaming the streets.
“So they combed the streets in search of the friends. They eventually got two. In the course of investigating them, they all confessed being members of Boko Haram.
“Before the end of the investigation, the naughty boy escaped and fled to Banki. He was pursued there and, luckily, he was caught and brought back to Bama.
“It was resolved that he would be put under observation for two months; but not long after, information came to me that he had been caught with a gun. I was asked if I could do anything to show he had no links to insurgency. I replied: “What will I do with him? Our parents have died. Of what use will a worthless boy, a terrorist, be to us?’ I disowned him, and he was killed by the soldiers.
“Our fathers and uncles died and left behind about 50 of us. All but this boy are righteous and disciplined. None of us his kinsmen ever exerted any influence on him as to drive him out to join the terrorists. So, none among us, let me repeat, none among us his kinsmen, is aggrieved and pained over the fate that had befallen him. In fact, we all jubilated.
“You know, whenever they enter the town, the first people they kill are their parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives. So, if he had not been killed, we would have been the first set of people he would kill whenever he entered Bama. We were all happy that he was killed.
“When they sacked us from Bama, the Boko Haram boys in our ward killed my three uncles. They were old, so they had no energy to flee. So, while we all fled, they remained behind and the bad boys who had flooded the streets of the town killed them. Since no man was left in the town, our women performed their funeral rites.”
To be continued next week.

I have been amused, reading a number of jokes concerning the frequency of the President, Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips.
Questions have been raised about why so many visits, and what are the benefits Nigeria is getting?
I will make it clear from the beginning that the critic is entitled to his and her opinion and nothing said here is intended to silence him or her.
Criticism goes with the territory and as it is often said in a wisecrack, if you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.
President Muhammadu Buhari came into office under the mantra of change. While Nigerians are yearning for change, you need someone who will set up the infrastructure, both at home and abroad for it. President Buhari is busy doing that.
The change is manifest in where he visits and what he does.
In the delegations accompanying him abroad, President Buhari has slashed the numbers, bringing them down to a tolerable or the bearable minimum.
He went to the United Nations General Assembly in September with an unbelievable 32 officials in his delegation. These included his cook, his doctor and luggage officer.
His predecessor in office went to the same meeting with 150 officials and family members the year before.
Wherever they are given government accommodation and feeding, members of President Buhari’s entourage receive reduced allowances, thereby saving the government some money.
In public diplomacy, experts say that it is better conducted through face-to-face interaction than through third parties. This is even moreso at the level of heads of state. To do by it by proxy is to miss the effect of fostering strong interpersonal relations between leaders, by which nations benefit.
President Buhari has so far visited Germany, South Africa, USA, Niger, Tchad, Cameroon, Benin, Ghana, South Africa, India, Iran and Malta, where we are presently for the Commonwealth Summit. Mostly, these were due to either the United Nations, EU, African Union or energy and security-related summits. They were mostly undertaken to attend specific meetings, not State Visits. Looking at these assignments, the trips are inescapable for the President. What would Nigerians say of their leader when see the array of world leaders assemble, as they would shortly be doing discussing climate change in Paris on Monday and their own President is missing from the table?
Those of us who were around under Abacha read all the taunts about him being a sit-at-home leader. Abacha was despised for not representing his country abroad.
President Buhari’s foreign visits have been marked by punishing schedules. They are always business-like and results-oriented.
All trips have been marked by tight schedules. Meeting after meeting, happening back-to-back morning, afternoon and evening. The President has had to travel overnight for some of these meetings.
The visit by any president to another country is the highest act in international relations.
It sends out a message that that county is important to the visitor.
It is not like your usual vacation abroad. Official discussions involving political leaders, the military, the diplomats and at times, business people are held at multi- track levels. In foreign policy you stand on a quick sand of events and you slip up if take a rest or lose focus. Governments also know that their achievements at home will be meaningless if they cannot project them abroad. Who or where are the foreign investors,whose hand you are seeking if you can’t travel meet them? Will they come if they don’t know about the country? President Buhari demonstrated a keen understanding of these when in the first week of his taking the office, he brought together foreign policy and all three cardinal objectives of his administration-security,economy and war on corruption- by embarking on visits to neighboring countries.
In our recent history, much of the West had ignored Nigeria under the corrupt PDP administration for many years, which warranted the country’s tilt towards some Asian countries.
As a consequence, this country has suffered past isolation of various types, including the denial of access to the arms-purchase market.
As a member of the then Standing Committee of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, I remember being in a delegation that visited the Aso Rock Villa, to beg the government at that time not the execute the writer and activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
At the meeting with the Number Two man in that government, Major-General Oladipo Diya, he announced to everyone’s shock and disbelief that Ken had been executed. “Honestly,” he muted, “I think he has been executed about two days ago.”
What followed that pronouncement was a global outrage.
The then Foreign Affairs Minister, Arch. Tom Ikimi representing Nigeria at the Commonwealth meeting in New Zealand, shattered the feelings of the leaders of those countries when he announced to them that he had not been briefed about the executions and begged for time to talk to the leaders back in Nigeria.
Nigeria faced an imminent expulsion from the group and would have been so sacked but for the intervention of the then President of South Africa, late Nelson Mandela.
In place of this extreme form of sanction, a suspension and and a barrage of sanctions followed and remained in place until an appreciable remorse was was shown and progress made towards the return to democracy by Nigeria.
Throughout that period of time, it was difficult being a Nigerian in the international space.
As council members of the UN Human Rights Commission, Africans would caucus in Geneva without us Nigerians. Like lepers, we were shunned wherever we showed up.
I mentioned this short narrative to illustrate two things: one, for a country to do the right things all the time and two, you don’t know the joy being a part of international gatherings until you suffer the pain of exclusion from them.
Short of begging the world, there was nothing that the Abacha government didn’t do to be taken back into the Commonwealth.
And it is against this background that I felt the need to pen this opinion in the hope of bringing better understanding to fellow countrymen and women on the current subject matter.
There is no reason to be angry with anyone criticizing President Buhari for traveling abroad. In politics, even if President Buhari were to bring with him a suitcase full of cash and a pot gold each time he returned from a trip, someone will criticize him, saying that the journey is wasteful.
The PDP will kick, knowing that they got 16 years and did nothing with it. Those who didn’t do much during their term of governance will find it instructive to fault whatever the President is doing.
If President Buhari is successful as a leader, the PDP will be history.
My own point here is that he is doing a great job and the fruits are here, and many more will soon come. He is working to strengthen diplomatic relations, trade and the security of our nation. He holds serious meetings with serious investors and has fetched us investments in the range of billions of US Dollars.
Now, countries such as France, UK, The U.S are supporting Nigeria with intelligence, weapons and training for our military against Boko Haram and the economic saboteurs in the Delta region.
President Buhari will definitely make Nigeria great,what the PDP fooled us for 16 years.
All heads of countries around the world now take Nigeria seriously. His foreign trips are for business, security of the country and bilateral contacts- contacts that get actualized by follow-ups and the love and support a leader enjoys at home and abroad.
Today the world is in a warm embrace of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerians should be proud of the attention, love and admiration, importance, respect and investment he is bringing to Nigeria. These trips are not for enjoyment.
Lastly, to answer those who ask all the time, what is he bringing back home?
We are not a country of beggars. It is good if something is in the bag as the leader comes home from a trip.
Culturally, we never return home from a trip without a souvenir for everyone left at home. Yes it is good he declares something upon his return.
But the most important task for the President at this time is to reset the image of Nigeria abroad, given the damage it sustained over many years in the past.
So far, in fairness, the President has projected a large image of Nigeria and of himself which should be a matter of pride for all our citizens. Marketing of Brand Nigeria can never be more important than currently it is.
The President is doing a great job for the nation. He needs to be supported.
Written by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, SSAP (Media and Publicity)

BREAKING NEWS: Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has declared Sen. Aisha winner!

https:///3TFxd4LLyL

WisdomFlakes:
Interesting, must be where FFK gets his fix

I see the closeness.. Asorock nd Jamaica

Firstly he has to resign as President forthwith and undertake to stay out of Nigerian politics for the next ten years and confine himself to fishing in Otuoke.

I must commend President Goodluck Jonathan for removing Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as National Chairman of the PDP and finally dumping him. It really is good riddance to bad rubbish because that man was a disaster to his party. PDP itself is bad enough but to have a self-conceited and vainglorious ancient dinosaur who is completely fixed in his ways, who believes that anyone and everyone below the age of 60 is still a ”young” man or woman and who sees the world from the prism and mindset of a 1960′s Viet Nam war veteran that is still suffering from post-war traumatic syndrome was a disaster waiting to happen.

This was a man that drove goodwill away from his party in the same way that shelltox drives away mosquitoes from a bedroom. As long as Tukur was in charge the continued demise of the PDP was guaranteed. He was not only a scourge to the ruling party but he was also a beautiful, eager and willing undertaker to it’s long lost glory and a tremendous source of comfort and joy to those of us in the opposition APC. We shall miss him sorely and I must confess that he did a great job for us whilst he lasted. May he enjoy his forced and long-overdue retirement from public office and partisan politics and may he live long enough to see the PDP defeated and an APC President sworn in in 2015.

I also commend the President for removing and reshuffling a large number of his key commanders in the military a couple of weeks ago and then retiring no less than three of his four Service Chiefs just the other day (16th January 2014) and appointing new ones. This was the right and proper thing to do after the precious lives of no less than 7000 innocent Nigerian citizens were cut short by Boko Haram in the war against terror in the last three years. It was also the expedient and responsible thing to do given the fact that no less than 200 of our gallant soldiers were killed in one battle alone against Boko Haram (and later buried in mass graves) just a few months ago simply because they ran out of bullets and after a whole army barracks was burnt down to the ground and the family members of military personnel were slaughtered, again by Boko Haram, just a few weeks ago. Something had to give and heads had to roll simply because we were not making any headway in the war against terror and instead we were suffering heavy casualties and embarrassing losses.

Yet despite the fact that both moves were commendable they will change nothing because they are both too little and too late. The PDP will continue to sink because it is a political party that has lost it’s bearing and it’s soul and it has mortgaged it’s conscience. It has also lost the source and strength of it’s inspiration and moral authority in the distinguished person of President Olusegun Obasanjo who really was the glue that bound the party together and kept it going against all odds. Though Obasanjo remains in the PDP he has also wisely opted out of participating in its affairs. This is a manifestation of his disgust with the President and the former National Chairman and he has now become the official ”navigator” of the newly emerging power in the field of Nigerian politics which is known as the APC. Frankly speaking the PDP has become a party that is beyond redemption and the removal of Tukur cannot change that. I say this because no sensible person will go back to a stinking carcass simply because the head of the dead animal has been cut off and thrown away. A carcass remains a carcass whether you cut off it’s head, legs or any other part of it’s body or not. Whichever way, it remains as dead as a dodo and it only awaits a formal burial. The truth is that the vultures are already feeding fat on the rotting and decaying cadavar of the PDP and whether anyone likes to hear it or not the truth is that that party can never be whole again. As I said eight months ago it is a party that has been rejected by God and whose leaders are suffering God’s judgement for their unjust, gluttonous, wicked, foul and evil ways.

In the same way I have to say that no matter how commendable and honourable in intention the recent changes in our military High Command may be they will achieve nothing either and, in practical terms, they will serve absolutely no purpose. This is because the morale of the army is very low due to the massive losses that they have recorded in the war against Boko Haram and because they have a Commander in Chief who does not care about their welfare, does not ”give a damn” about their fortunes and does not have the guts to lead and inspire them with strength and courage. Worst still he has refused to arm and equip them properly or give them a free hand to fight and prosecute the war against terror with the ruthless precision and decisive resolve that is required. They say that if an army of sheep is led by a lion it will win every battle. In the same vein they also say that if an army of lions is led by a sheep it cannot win any battle. The latter is the case in Nigeria. In our military we have an army of lions who are well-trained, professional, strong, courageous, ready to go and capable of doing anything that is required of them as long as they are properly led, well-armed, well-equipped, well-motivated, well-supplied, adequately encouraged, thoroughly inspired and well-supported.

However that same army of noble and courageous lions is led by a sheep who, by his own words, has told the world that he is not a lion, he is not a warrior, he is not a fighter and that he is not a king. If anyone has any doubts about that permit me to refer you to my essay titled ”A President Without Balls” and the two updated versions of the same essay titled ”The Gutless Eunuch and Spirit of the Jagaban” and ”The Gutless Eunuch and the Lion King” respectively. They can all be found on my website-www.femifanikayode.org or you can just google them. To have such a man as Commander-in-Chief actually encourages and tempts the enemy to attack us because weakness and a reluctance to lock horns and engage and to be strong, forceful and decisive when provoked or attacked always attracts aggression. As long as such a weak and uninspiring man remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces please be ready for more casualties and more losses regardless of how lion-like, courageous or professional our soldiers may be.

However there is hope. If Goodluck Jonathan wants his fortunes and the fortunes of his party to change and if he wants peace to return to our shores he simply has to do twelve things. Firstly he has to resign as President forthwith and undertake to stay out of Nigerian politics for the next ten years and confine himself to fishing in Otuoke. Secondly, if he cannot step down, he must give a public undertaking to the Nigerian people that he will not run for re-election in 2015 and tell them that if he changes his mind and decides to do so at the last minute they should stone him. Thirdly he must go and prostrate flat on the floor with his face touching the ground before seven of the most respected and distinguished men in this country and tell them that he is very sorry for the mess he has created and he must refuse to get up until they swear by the Holy Bible or Holy Koran that they have truly forgiven him for destroying our country. Those men are President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, General TY Danjuma, General Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Fourthly he must write an open letter of apology to the 36 Governors of the Federation, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice of the Federation for his manipulative ways and the gross incompetence and ineptitude that he has displayed whilst running the affairs of this country over the last three years.

Fifthly he must write a letter of condolence and pay a token fee of compensation as restitution to the families of every single one of the 7000 innocent Nigerians that have been killed by Boko Haram in the last three years. Sixthly he must take off the kid gloves, stop interfering and give the military the green light to use all necessary means to prosecute the war against Boko Haram and he must win that war. Seventhly he must dismantle the death squads and the group of deadly snippers that he has allegedly commissioned to create havoc and he must tear up the list of one thousand opposition figures that he has been accused of drawing up for elimination by Obasanjo and others. Eighthly he must remove one Esho Jinadu who is better known as Mr. Buruji Kashamu (a rather strange name that does not have it’s origins in Yorubaland but instead sounds like a low quality brand of Indian tea) as the leader of the PDP in the south-west and honour the demand of the American Courts and the ruling of the Nigerian Federal High Court and Court of Appeal by extraditing him to the United States of America to answer serious charges of drug smuggling in that country forthwith. Ninthly he must direct his Ijaw supremacist kinsmen to desist from threatening the lives of other Nigerians that oppose his government and who keep threatening brimstone and fire and the dismemberment of Nigeria if he is not allowed to come back in 2015,

Tenthly he must undertake to stop serving kai kai at the Presidential Villa and he must dispense with the services of one Mama Brandy, a well-known Ijaw ”prayer warrior” and spiritualist. Eleventhly he must pull down every satanic alter that may have been erected in the Presidency and consecrate and re-dedicate the whole place to the Living God. And twelfthly he must give a public undertaking that the other four Presidents that run this country with him and that act as his ”Co-Presidents” will also step down with him forthwith or, if he insists on staying till 2015, give an undertaking that he will fire them with immediate effect and bar them from playing any role whatsover in the running of the affairs of our country from now on. Those four co-Presidents are, in order of seniority, 1. Dame Patience Jonathan (the First Lady) 2. Allison Dizeani Madueke (the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources) 3. Stella Oduah (the not so Hon. Minister of Aviation) and 4. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (the Hon. Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister). President Goodluck Jonathan, even though he is the public face of the small cabal of co-Presidents that presently rules Nigeria and even though he is the one that was given a lawful mandate from the Nigerian people in 2011 to lead our country, comes a distant fifth in the pecking order. He is co-President number 5 and woe betide him if he crosses the line and tries to challenge the position or usurp the duties of any of his four seniors. That is the sordid and degenerate level that our country has been reduced to by this little man from Otuoke.

Yet it is not too late. If our President can find the courage to take these twelve steps, peace will return to Nigeria immediately and our people will once again have hope. The problem that we have in our country today is not an ageing former Party National Chairman called Bamanga Tukur who has lost touch with reality, who never knew how to play the game and who did not know when to call it quits. And neither was it a set of tired and exhausted army commanders and Service Chiefs who did their best but who received no real and tangible support or encouragement from their Commander-in-Chief in the field of battle. The problem that we have is the President himself- a President who prides himself on his own weakness and incompetence and whose love of false prophets and strange women knows no bounds and has no end. A President who is as confused and as clueless as the comic character called Chancey Gardner in the celebrated 1970′s Peter Seller’s Hollywood blockbuster titled ”Being There”.

A President who does not understand the meaning of the word ”class” or ”honesty” and who breaks his own word consistently. A President who has abdicated his responsibilities, destroyed his own political party, divided his own country, alienated his own friends, humiliated his own mentor, abandoned his own people, brought ridicule to his own faith, cowers before his own officials, betrays his own governors, scorns the international community and breaks his solemn oath to protect and defend the Nigerian people. A President who does not even have the nerve or the guts to call to order any of the numerous Jezebels that control him. He is the problem we have in our country today and until he resigns, is impeached or is voted out of power nothing will change and Nigeria will continue to go from bad to worse. That is what you get when you vote for a man who never wore shoes to school.

May God deliver our country."
BY: FEMI FANI-KAYODE

Firstly he has to resign as President forthwith and undertake to stay out of Nigerian politics for the next ten years and confine himself to fishing in Otuoke.

I must commend President Goodluck Jonathan for removing Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as National Chairman of the PDP and finally dumping him. It really is good riddance to bad rubbish because that man was a disaster to his party. PDP itself is bad enough but to have a self-conceited and vainglorious ancient dinosaur who is completely fixed in his ways, who believes that anyone and everyone below the age of 60 is still a ”young” man or woman and who sees the world from the prism and mindset of a 1960′s Viet Nam war veteran that is still suffering from post-war traumatic syndrome was a disaster waiting to happen.

This was a man that drove goodwill away from his party in the same way that shelltox drives away mosquitoes from a bedroom. As long as Tukur was in charge the continued demise of the PDP was guaranteed. He was not only a scourge to the ruling party but he was also a beautiful, eager and willing undertaker to it’s long lost glory and a tremendous source of comfort and joy to those of us in the opposition APC. We shall miss him sorely and I must confess that he did a great job for us whilst he lasted. May he enjoy his forced and long-overdue retirement from public office and partisan politics and may he live long enough to see the PDP defeated and an APC President sworn in in 2015.

I also commend the President for removing and reshuffling a large number of his key commanders in the military a couple of weeks ago and then retiring no less than three of his four Service Chiefs just the other day (16th January 2014) and appointing new ones. This was the right and proper thing to do after the precious lives of no less than 7000 innocent Nigerian citizens were cut short by Boko Haram in the war against terror in the last three years. It was also the expedient and responsible thing to do given the fact that no less than 200 of our gallant soldiers were killed in one battle alone against Boko Haram (and later buried in mass graves) just a few months ago simply because they ran out of bullets and after a whole army barracks was burnt down to the ground and the family members of military personnel were slaughtered, again by Boko Haram, just a few weeks ago. Something had to give and heads had to roll simply because we were not making any headway in the war against terror and instead we were suffering heavy casualties and embarrassing losses.

Yet despite the fact that both moves were commendable they will change nothing because they are both too little and too late. The PDP will continue to sink because it is a political party that has lost it’s bearing and it’s soul and it has mortgaged it’s conscience. It has also lost the source and strength of it’s inspiration and moral authority in the distinguished person of President Olusegun Obasanjo who really was the glue that bound the party together and kept it going against all odds. Though Obasanjo remains in the PDP he has also wisely opted out of participating in its affairs. This is a manifestation of his disgust with the President and the former National Chairman and he has now become the official ”navigator” of the newly emerging power in the field of Nigerian politics which is known as the APC. Frankly speaking the PDP has become a party that is beyond redemption and the removal of Tukur cannot change that. I say this because no sensible person will go back to a stinking carcass simply because the head of the dead animal has been cut off and thrown away. A carcass remains a carcass whether you cut off it’s head, legs or any other part of it’s body or not. Whichever way, it remains as dead as a dodo and it only awaits a formal burial. The truth is that the vultures are already feeding fat on the rotting and decaying cadavar of the PDP and whether anyone likes to hear it or not the truth is that that party can never be whole again. As I said eight months ago it is a party that has been rejected by God and whose leaders are suffering God’s judgement for their unjust, gluttonous, wicked, foul and evil ways.

In the same way I have to say that no matter how commendable and honourable in intention the recent changes in our military High Command may be they will achieve nothing either and, in practical terms, they will serve absolutely no purpose. This is because the morale of the army is very low due to the massive losses that they have recorded in the war against Boko Haram and because they have a Commander in Chief who does not care about their welfare, does not ”give a damn” about their fortunes and does not have the guts to lead and inspire them with strength and courage. Worst still he has refused to arm and equip them properly or give them a free hand to fight and prosecute the war against terror with the ruthless precision and decisive resolve that is required. They say that if an army of sheep is led by a lion it will win every battle. In the same vein they also say that if an army of lions is led by a sheep it cannot win any battle. The latter is the case in Nigeria. In our military we have an army of lions who are well-trained, professional, strong, courageous, ready to go and capable of doing anything that is required of them as long as they are properly led, well-armed, well-equipped, well-motivated, well-supplied, adequately encouraged, thoroughly inspired and well-supported.

However that same army of noble and courageous lions is led by a sheep who, by his own words, has told the world that he is not a lion, he is not a warrior, he is not a fighter and that he is not a king. If anyone has any doubts about that permit me to refer you to my essay titled ”A President Without Balls” and the two updated versions of the same essay titled ”The Gutless Eunuch and Spirit of the Jagaban” and ”The Gutless Eunuch and the Lion King” respectively. They can all be found on my website-www.femifanikayode.org or you can just google them. To have such a man as Commander-in-Chief actually encourages and tempts the enemy to attack us because weakness and a reluctance to lock horns and engage and to be strong, forceful and decisive when provoked or attacked always attracts aggression. As long as such a weak and uninspiring man remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces please be ready for more casualties and more losses regardless of how lion-like, courageous or professional our soldiers may be.

However there is hope. If Goodluck Jonathan wants his fortunes and the fortunes of his party to change and if he wants peace to return to our shores he simply has to do twelve things. Firstly he has to resign as President forthwith and undertake to stay out of Nigerian politics for the next ten years and confine himself to fishing in Otuoke. Secondly, if he cannot step down, he must give a public undertaking to the Nigerian people that he will not run for re-election in 2015 and tell them that if he changes his mind and decides to do so at the last minute they should stone him. Thirdly he must go and prostrate flat on the floor with his face touching the ground before seven of the most respected and distinguished men in this country and tell them that he is very sorry for the mess he has created and he must refuse to get up until they swear by the Holy Bible or Holy Koran that they have truly forgiven him for destroying our country. Those men are President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, General TY Danjuma, General Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Fourthly he must write an open letter of apology to the 36 Governors of the Federation, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice of the Federation for his manipulative ways and the gross incompetence and ineptitude that he has displayed whilst running the affairs of this country over the last three years.

Fifthly he must write a letter of condolence and pay a token fee of compensation as restitution to the families of every single one of the 7000 innocent Nigerians that have been killed by Boko Haram in the last three years. Sixthly he must take off the kid gloves, stop interfering and give the military the green light to use all necessary means to prosecute the war against Boko Haram and he must win that war. Seventhly he must dismantle the death squads and the group of deadly snippers that he has allegedly commissioned to create havoc and he must tear up the list of one thousand opposition figures that he has been accused of drawing up for elimination by Obasanjo and others. Eighthly he must remove one Esho Jinadu who is better known as Mr. Buruji Kashamu (a rather strange name that does not have it’s origins in Yorubaland but instead sounds like a low quality brand of Indian tea) as the leader of the PDP in the south-west and honour the demand of the American Courts and the ruling of the Nigerian Federal High Court and Court of Appeal by extraditing him to the United States of America to answer serious charges of drug smuggling in that country forthwith. Ninthly he must direct his Ijaw supremacist kinsmen to desist from threatening the lives of other Nigerians that oppose his government and who keep threatening brimstone and fire and the dismemberment of Nigeria if he is not allowed to come back in 2015,

Tenthly he must undertake to stop serving kai kai at the Presidential Villa and he must dispense with the services of one Mama Brandy, a well-known Ijaw ”prayer warrior” and spiritualist. Eleventhly he must pull down every satanic alter that may have been erected in the Presidency and consecrate and re-dedicate the whole place to the Living God. And twelfthly he must give a public undertaking that the other four Presidents that run this country with him and that act as his ”Co-Presidents” will also step down with him forthwith or, if he insists on staying till 2015, give an undertaking that he will fire them with immediate effect and bar them from playing any role whatsover in the running of the affairs of our country from now on. Those four co-Presidents are, in order of seniority, 1. Dame Patience Jonathan (the First Lady) 2. Allison Dizeani Madueke (the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources) 3. Stella Oduah (the not so Hon. Minister of Aviation) and 4. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (the Hon. Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister). President Goodluck Jonathan, even though he is the public face of the small cabal of co-Presidents that presently rules Nigeria and even though he is the one that was given a lawful mandate from the Nigerian people in 2011 to lead our country, comes a distant fifth in the pecking order. He is co-President number 5 and woe betide him if he crosses the line and tries to challenge the position or usurp the duties of any of his four seniors. That is the sordid and degenerate level that our country has been reduced to by this little man from Otuoke.

Yet it is not too late. If our President can find the courage to take these twelve steps, peace will return to Nigeria immediately and our people will once again have hope. The problem that we have in our country today is not an ageing former Party National Chairman called Bamanga Tukur who has lost touch with reality, who never knew how to play the game and who did not know when to call it quits. And neither was it a set of tired and exhausted army commanders and Service Chiefs who did their best but who received no real and tangible support or encouragement from their Commander-in-Chief in the field of battle. The problem that we have is the President himself- a President who prides himself on his own weakness and incompetence and whose love of false prophets and strange women knows no bounds and has no end. A President who is as confused and as clueless as the comic character called Chancey Gardner in the celebrated 1970′s Peter Seller’s Hollywood blockbuster titled ”Being There”.

A President who does not understand the meaning of the word ”class” or ”honesty” and who breaks his own word consistently. A President who has abdicated his responsibilities, destroyed his own political party, divided his own country, alienated his own friends, humiliated his own mentor, abandoned his own people, brought ridicule to his own faith, cowers before his own officials, betrays his own governors, scorns the international community and breaks his solemn oath to protect and defend the Nigerian people. A President who does not even have the nerve or the guts to call to order any of the numerous Jezebels that control him. He is the problem we have in our country today and until he resigns, is impeached or is voted out of power nothing will change and Nigeria will continue to go from bad to worse. That is what you get when you vote for a man who never wore shoes to school.

May God deliver our country."
BY: FEMI FANI-KAYODE

Nigeria's President Jonathan's Achievements 2010-2014
Do you agree?

Jonathan, The Best In Nigeria During His Term As President:
1. Petrol from N65 to N97 - in most other places over N120
2. Kerosene from 50 naira to 120 and above i.e (unofficial price).
3. Garri from N150 to N260 per measure
4. Sugar/flour/beans/ all from N180 to N350 per measure
5. Electricity charge from N1,250 to N4000 per month and yet no light
6. Scarcity of money but abundantly available for groups campaigning for TAN etc
7. Killings from few individuals to whole communities being wiped out
8. Police/military roadblocks from 1 per 40km to 2 per 3km
9. Crude oil illegal bunkering from 10,000 barrels to 100,000 barrels stolen per day
10. Industrial strikes by many organisations
11. Sack of few workers to thousands of workers
12. WASSCE from 40% failure to over 70% failure
13. Trust, love and unity among citizens from much to zero
14. Stealing in billions of Naira to billions of DOLLARS or TRILLIONS of naira
15. Budget implementation from 40% to less than 20% Per year
16. Roads from potholes to huge craters and cut-offs
17. Economy from worse to greatest in Africa on paper, but the masses from poor to poorest
18. Politicians defect from one party to the other in an unusual fashion and soldiers also defect to other countries
19. Transport fares on both air and road networks have shot the roof
20. Bribe takings from only police to soldiers inclusive
21. ATM charges from zero to N65 per transaction
22. New English phrase called 'Tactical Manoeuvre' when soldiers are deliberately dispatched with low grade weapons to be killed by a well armed "Boko Haram"
23. Bribery scandal
24. Police pension scam
25. Oduahgate
26. Bart Nnaji NEPA scandal
27. Allison jet scanda
28. Oritsejafor $10 million gun scandal
29. Subsidy scam of N2.6 trillion
30. Immigration deaths scandal
31. Missing $20-130 billion from NNPC
32. Handling boko haram with kid gloves
33. Election delegate bribe
34. Sheriff/Ihejirika case, etc.
35. Increase in taxes and austerity
36. 16 is greater than 19 in democracy
37. 7 Ekiti legislators out of 26 impeach the speaker
38. IGP usurping CJN's duties and deciding that Tambuwal no longer speaker
39. Arming and conceding territory to Boko Haram
40. Locking out House of Reps members and teargassing them.
Please vote him come 2015.

Senators elected on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party,PDP are currently involved in a battle with President Goodluck Jonathan and their party leadership.
According to THE SUN, the senators have resolved to shut down the economy and move against President Jonathan as they have started compiling alleged impeachable offences against him.
A PDP lawmaker who spoke to the press anonymously said the interest of the lawmakers was not been protected by the party. He said, "The party did not protect us during last Saturday’s ward congresses. We have decided that there will be no sitting; there will be no legislative business. Jonathan has lost the Senate. He has left us at the mercy of governors to treat us anyhow and they have removed everybody from the congress.
"We are not doing the jobs of the governors yet, they want to decide for us how to do our own jobs and all of them are saying we are not coming back! What kind of nonsense is that?
"So, we decided we will shut down government and let us all know what is happening. There is nothing else to lose. Every morning, we will show up and adjourn. The PDP senators are dissatisfied about what is happening in our party. Once we get into plenary, we will adjourn and as we do that, we will do solidarity with Tambuwal. We may even commence his impeachment. Since we are going down, we are going to go down with him. Let us all go down except he makes a U-turn and treats us the same way he is treating PDP governors right now. If he is giving them automatic tickets, then, every PDP senator that wants to return to the Senate must be given automatic tickets.”
SOURCE: nigerianbulleti n.com

by Toyin Dawodu
Americans have a saying: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
That saying is absolutely true. Research teams at both Harvard University and MIT confirm humans automatically make snap judgments about others within three seconds of meeting them. We judge not only their level of danger and friendliness, we also try to determine their level of education, affluence, influence and value to us as connections – all in 2.8 seconds. These conclusions that we reach in under three seconds serve as the foundation on which we base our opinions of others. These are first impressions and try as you will, it’s hard to get someone to change his mind about a first impression.
President Goodluck Jonathan
So then, I will ask you this: Since assuming his post as president in 2010, what impression has Goodluck Jonathan made on you? I would say he seized his opportunity to rule, had his chance, and blew it. In four years, he has never been able to push his way past being ineffective, so he’s out. I hope Nigerians are smart enough to show him the door out of Aso Rock. And even if PDP were to nominate him, Nigerians should wholeheartedly reject Jonathan’s candidacy for one simple reason: He can’t do the job.
Now, before any of you Jonathan supporters and political handlers out there get bent out of shape and start attacking me, let me make it clear that I am not anti-Jonathan. Neither am I a supporter of the opposing party. I am a registered Nigerian voter who is concerned about the fate of Nigeria, its status as a nation and its future as a viable, economically strong country.
I believe in Nigerians. I believe in the power one Nigerian has to change our country for the better. I gladly support several candidates who I know have plans to run for different offices in 2015. One will run as PDP and another may run as APC. I support these candidates because I know first-hand of their character and I’m hoping each of them will be able to maintain their character and integrity throughout their terms in office. I have yet to make a decision on a presidential candidate. But after four years of Jonathan's administration, one thing is very clear to me: Jonathan is not the leader Nigerian needs. I fear four more years of his presidency will delay progress another four years or more and we can’t afford to delay our own progress any longer.
Believe it or not, Jonathan never set out to become Nigeria's Head of State. He didn’t have a plan in place for the country. He made us no promises! It’s a wonder Nigerians elected him to office. If you remember, he posted a quote on Facebook when he ran for office in 2010 that read: “I do not want to win your affections by giving you promises of things I would do in the future which others before me have given and which have largely been unfulfilled.” The sentiment is romantic, but it says nothing.
Nothing of his desire to strengthen the economy
Nothing of his strategy for finally powering Nigeria so that every business and household has working electricity.
Nothing of his plan to subdue and blot out rebel forces and make punishments for anti-Nigeria terrorism swift and severe.
Since we elected to the nation’s highest office a man without a plan, Nigerians should not be surprised that power generation has now dropped from 5,000 megawatts in 2010 to 2,500 megawatts today. These are figures told to the media by Jonathan’s very own Minister of Power, Professor Nebo. But, I’m sure Nigerians can bear witness to this fact without having to read it in the newspapers. Of course, the Honorable Minister is quick to give the usual excuses, "Sabotage, vandalism, lack of gas,” but I think we’ve had enough excuses.
We are not naïve enough to continue to accept vandalism as a legitimate reason for not being able to power Nigerian homes and businesses. So, no, Mr. President, we do not want four more years of your excuses and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants presidency.
We may like Jonathan as a public figure or a celebrity personality. Who doesn’t like Jonathan? But the question we need to ask ourselves is: Did Jonathan deliver? A better question is, can he ever deliver? If the answer is “No,” we need to send him back to his village for permanent retirement.
Jonathan’s so-called Road Map to Power Nigeria failed miserably, denying Nigerians a fundamental convenience of civilized life – uninterrupted electricity. I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Nnaji, Jonathan’s former Chairman of this “road map” in September 2010. The President himself urged me to meet with the professor. Jonathan was quite excited about the plan I developed to build 4,000 megawatts of distributed power in Nigeria, but my plan could not come to fruition because the Chairman and I did not see eye to eye on Nigeria’s power plan.
I reviewed the Chairman’s power plan, but there was one important flaw – it wouldn’t deliver electricity to Nigerians for a decade or more. I didn’t have to convince the Chairman of the flaw in his plan. He already knew, but insisted his mandate did not allow him to tweak the road map and focus on what is feasible and achievable. So now, it’s four years later and we have access to half as much power as we did when Jonathan took office.
I will admit that I had high hopes for the President. He was a fresh face and he seemed like a good man. Fueled by my meeting with his handlers and Jonathan’s vague statements before he took office, I did my best to warn Nigerians about the trouble ahead, to no avail. I don’t doubt that Jonathan is a good man. He’s just not a good president.
Well, friends, another election is upon us. If we are not careful, we will forget the failures of the past four years and mortgage the futures of our children by electing a winning smile and great personality to an office that requires a grueling work ethic and smart strategies. What will the next four years hold for us if Jonathan is reelected? I don’t know. As long as Jonathan is in office, Nigeria will remain in darkness. If we are smart, we will reject Jonathan this time around and find a candidate who is equipped to strengthen Nigeria.
What will your decision be?

Hypocrisy is when you say that Buhari (GMB) is too old at 70 and you keep calling Awolowo and Zik your heros. Whereas, Awo and Zik contested for Presidency in 1983 when they were both 74 and 77
respectively!
Hypocrisy is when you say the youths are better than the old.... Whereas the youths were responsible for the wars we had and are still having in Nigeria... Ojukwu and Gowon in 1967..... Asari, Tompolo, Shekau in today's Nigeria.
Youth doesn't connote soundness of mind and old doesn't mean you're senile. GEJ became Deputy Governor in his 40s, Obasanjo first Presidency was in his 40s, IBB ruled Nigeria in his 40s.....
Look at NANS today, will you be comfortable if GEJ handover to NANS Executive? There are good youths and good old ones..... Age doesn't take your brains away, neither is youthfulness a guarantee for mental fertility!
It is still this Buhari, yes that incorruptible Administrator. Yes, that Petroleum Minister who constructed our refineries.... That Head of State that started War Against Indiscipline that has been reduced to Environmental Sanitation today... Yes that man that paid Nigeria's huge debt but didn't borrow..... Yes it is still Buhari, handsome man with pointed nose.....
A chief of army staff who went after the Chadian invaders and outran them, captured them and recovered all and put the fear of Nigeria in the minds of all her neighbours ......
Buhari the PTF Chairman whose
performance, no one has ever come close to...... A public officer with cleanest Record, most outstanding performance......
Frank and Bold, Tactical and Prudent. A renowned enemy of Corruption.....Lover of Nigeria .......
It is still this same Buhari that says 'Here I am, send me'..... An ideal man for 2015. We need a change!"

According to several of our sources, the Jonathan administration plans to contend that the task of writing a new constitution should be resolved before Nigeria is subjected to another potentially volatile general elections.
by Sahara ReportersOct 14, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria is not interested in running for reelection in February 2015. Instead, Mr. Jonathan and his most trusted associates are surreptitiously plotting to build a consensus for a two-year tenure elongation for the president and other public office holders across the country.
SaharaReporters first learned about this presidential design two months ago. Our investigations since then reveal that Mr. Jonathan and his most trusted associates have been working underground to sell the plan to some lawmakers, governors, and political office holders tagged “key stakeholders.”
Our investigation indicates that the president and his trusted allies are still playing the card close to their chests, ensuring that they sound out only those political actors deemed likely to be sympathetic to the plan. One strategy, according to one source, is to seek support from governors who are already in their second and terminal term as well as senators and members of the House of Representatives who may be vulnerable to challenge in an election. Among the political personalities identified as tacitly backing the elongation plan are Senate President David Mark, Governors Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, and Segun Mimiko of Ondo, former minister Kema Chikwe, the chairman of the PDP’s board of trustees, Tony Anenih, and Ijaw political figure, Edwin Clark. At various times, both Mr. Mark and Governor Elechi have insinuated that the 2015 elections may not hold, hinting at severe security challenges.
Sources who spoke to us on the plan included several legislators in Abuja and aides to two PDP governors. They disclosed that President Jonathan intends to defend the politically explosive scheme on two grounds.
One is that a general extension of tenure, for a minimum of eighteen months, would be necessary to enable Mr. Jonathan to shepherd the creation of a new constitution. This argument rests on the need for Nigeria to fashion a constitution that incorporates some of the important recommendations of the national confab convoked by President Jonathan and chaired by retired Chief Justice Idris Kutigi.
According to several of our sources, the Jonathan administration plans to contend that the task of writing a new constitution should be resolved before Nigeria is subjected to another potentially volatile general elections.
“We should not see this as a matter of Mr. President trying to stay longer in power. The fact of the matter is that we should address the constitutional issues first before talking about another election,” said a source who is a confidant of Governor Elechi.
The source added that the sheer task of going through the voluminous report submitted by the national confab on August 21, 2014 would require “almost a year of hard work.” According to him, it would be politically suicidal for Nigeria to go through another election and transition on the basis of the current constitution “which most Nigerians are dissatisfied with.” He added: “If elections happen next year and President Jonathan wins, he may no longer feel the need to push for constitutional reforms. If another person wins, then that new president may not make a new constitution a priority. That means that this country will be back to square one. It will also mean that all the efforts we made in the confab would be in vain.”
President Jonathan’s other argument for tenure elongation is that he needs about two years more in office to stabilize Nigeria by finally handling the security crisis posed by Boko Haram. A few sources disclosed that the president intends to make a strong case to potential critics in the US and European Union that the situation in Nigeria’s northeast zone is so dangerous that it would be impossible to hold elections in the area. He would pledge to devote the extra time in office to a decisive plan aimed at dislodging Boko Haram from all parts of Nigeria. Mr. Jonathan is expected to cite the recent string of successes by the Nigerian military against insurgents as proof that he has a formula for defeating Boko Haram.
Nigeria’s political calendar sets aside next February 2015 for the next set of elections, but President Jonathan has not formally declared his intention to run. Our investigations revealed that the president’s silence is deliberate, part of his strategy for pursuing tenure elongation. Mr. Jonathan is reluctant to ratchet up the rhetoric of elections because he wants more time to quietly fine-tune and sell the option of a two-year tenure elongation.
Opponents of any form of tenure elongation contend that President Jonathan wants to avoid an election because he is scared of losing to the opposition. “He has had six years to fix the security problems and also advance a new constitution, but failed,” said an Abuja-based activist. The activist added; “President Jonathan may also be afraid of a possible constitutional crisis. The Nigerian constitution forbids anyone running more than two terms in office. The president has been sworn in twice already, once to complete the tenure of [the] late President Umaru Yar’Adua and then as substantive president in 2011. There is likely to be a legal challenge seeking clarification on whether he can run and possibly rule Nigeria again.”
A source at the Presidency stated that Mr. Jonathan had sounded out some members of national confab about the idea of the body declaring that he should be given extra time to complete a constitutional process, but the response was not encouraging. “Those who were consulted in the confab felt that any talk of elongation would have divided the confab. So they asked us to try alternative ways.” Our investigation also revealed that the Presidency considered the idea of using the Boko Haram insurgency as a pretext to declare a state of war, thereby shelving elections. That plan also fell apart.
Mr. Jonathan’s current approach is to send his associates to approach potentially sympathetic senators and members of the House of Representatives with the proposal of a new constitution as justification for tenure elongation. Our investigation disclosed that the latest approach has met with mixed reactions.
Several senators who spoke anonymously with SaharaReporters disclosed that Mr. Jonathan’s emissaries spoke about postponing the elections for two years in the interest of “Nigeria’s unity.” The sources said legislators who are most likely to lose elections seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of elongation. Two senators also admitted that the president’s associates are likely to win over some legislators because of their ability to offer hefty sums to bribe those willing to support the elongation agenda.
A political adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he had heard speculations about extending the tenure, but said he had no independent confirmation of it. However, he stated that Mr. Jonathan must be scared of running in an election in which most northern voters will be against him along with a significant number of southerners voters disenchanted by the president’s non-performance.
He said that Mr. Jonathan’s electoral fortunes would be precarious in all the northern states because of the divisive nature of the president’s governance style.
“Apart from Benue and Plateau states and a section of Southern Kaduna Christians, the president has little chance of campaigning let alone winning in the north,” said one of the critics of tenure elongation.
A strong opposition also looms in the southwest, except in Ondo state where Governor Olusegun Mimiko might help sway voters. But Mr. Mimiko’s electoral boost may have fizzled with the governor’s mismanagement of state resources that has led to the non-payment of workers salaries for at least four months.
Mr. Jonathan will likely win easily in the five eastern states as well as the Niger Delta zone, but votes from the two areas would be insufficient to steer him back to Aso Rock. Besides, the enthusiastic welcome received in Imo State over the weekend by Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of state and opposition presidential aspirant, suggest that some parts of the southeast may not wholly back Mr. Jonathan.
The president also faces considerable political threat in Rivers State. Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s opposition to Jonathan’s candidacy suggests that the electoral victory figures cannot simply be written.
Several political sources, activists and pundits who spoke to us predicted that Mr. Jonathan’s tenure elongation plan would be doomed in the same way that other such plans, hatched by retired General Ibrahim Babangida, late maximum dictator, Sanni Abacha and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, also collapsed

Being in a long queue, hoping to use an ATM service can be very frustrating at times. Thanks to these characters who make it annoying.
1. The guy that counts money before leaving the ATM for others. As if if the money short, ATM go complete am for am?
2. The dude that knows he does not have a kobo in his account, but hopes for a miracle. After wasting everyone’s’ time,’ insufficient balance’ will chase him away!
3. The guy that multiplies the cue just to check his balance. You will be left wondering whether he does not receive alerts.
4. The guy that acts as if the world will end today. He goes to the Atm and you think he wants to withdraw his whole life savings. At a point people will start begging him to remain some cash in the ATM.
5. The dude that quarrels with the ATM. Even though the machine is prompting him that his pin is incorrect or card has expired. U will still him complaining or screaming at the ATM. ‘Jeez! I used this card just this morning! Which kyn bank be this?
6. that man/woman that just goes there an stand for almost 20minutes… When you go closer you discover the machine asked ‘do you wish to proceed? Yes or No? And the olodo just did not press anything.
7. The instructor. Leaves the cue to go and instruct another only to be the next person. Too annoying

WHO IS AFRAID OF BUHARI?
I write this because of millions of Nigerians who are below 30 and who constitute a significant chunk of our
voting population.
This is the ICT generation that is largely
ignorant about the events of the Buhari era (1983-85) and so can be
misinformed and misled by needless propaganda. I have sat with many in the under-30 bracket and those slightly above who only have faint recollections of the Buhari era and the level of ignorance about that era is amazing.

Before being MILITARY Head of State, Buhari had been Governor of one of the Northern States (under Obasanjo’s
Military government) as well as Minister for Petroleum. He later served as Chairman of PTF under Abacha.

Please consider the following unassailable facts:
He birthed and supervised the establishment of our existing refineries.
There was no religious crisis while he was Head of State. It started under his successor IBB!
�
In his time as Head of State he reduced inflation from 23% to 4%, by fiscal discipline and a homegrown economic
team (not achieved under any other era, even military).
�
JJ Rawlings of Ghana took over 2yrs before him, and killed all the corrupt leaders, while Buhari only sentenced
the corrupt leaders here to prison.
�
Under his watch as PTF Chairman, what he did in road construction in that short period hasn't been matched by
12yrs of the PDP.
�
Hospitals and universities around the
country never witnessed as much benefits as they got from the PTF from any government after or before his time.
�
Despite serving in senior capacity in the oil sector, first as Minister for Petroleum and then Petroleum Trust Fund, Buhari has no petrol station, much less a rig, refinery or an oil block
like so many of our leaders.
�
He could have retired into nauseating opulence like an IBB or Danjuma or even OBJ but didn't.
�

Instead of hobnobbing with the high and mighty, he has cast his lot with the ordinary man most of who follow him out of hope and belief in his values.

People who know him have said of him... "All I need from Buhari is his
word, I can take it to the bank".

�He is the only politician in the North
today who fills rallies without renting a crowd. The Kaduna rally of 2nd March is eloquent proof!

He refused to collect an allowance while serving as Chairman of the PTF because he said since he was already drawing a pension from government, his conscience would not allow him to draw another salary from the purse of the same government.
�
He is the only former head of state that does not own property or land in Abuja .
�

Every attempt to rubbish him through probes in time past eneded up vindicating him!
�

The man who was asked by OBJ to take over the running of PTF before it was scrapped with the aim of probing and indicting Buhari, was the one who ended up being prosecuted for misappropriating $100m of PTF funds! Buhari again, was vindicated
�

He has OPENLY challenged those who accuse him of religious fundamentalism to come out and show proof. No one has till today, taken up the challenge. His
personal driver of many years is a Christian from Plateau State !
�

His government initiated the War Against Indiscipline that has made environmental cleanliness, queuing up,
not urinating by the roadside etc
features of our national life even till today.

Does it then surprise you why corrupt people would be spreading such heinous rumours about Buhari?
He is a threat to them and they know what he is capable of doing to corruption and corrupt people when he comes into office! So shine your eyes and make the right decision.

If honesty and
probity are the things you want for Nigeria, now is the time to choose right. When you cast your vote for BUHARI, you would have cast one vote for a honest man.

By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

In 1983, some Chadian soldiers invaded some communities in Nigeria. Chad had been in a prolonged civil war and its soldiers were known to be ruthless.

Nigerian armed forces were under the simple going but honest President Alhaji Shehu Shagari as its Commander-in-Chief and the COAS or CDS was Wushishi (forgive my memory). The then GOC of the 3rd Division in Jos under whose command the Northeast fall was Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari. Surely, northerners dominated the top command positions in the military then.

Without hesitation, the GOC in Jos was given the signal to flush out the Chadians. But on his own, the stern Buhari was determined to, in addition, teach them a lesson they will never forget.

In a twinkle, Buhari mobilized his soldiers and personally led them in the field. Within few days Nigerian soldiers not only got the Chadians to flee but they chased the latter right into Chad. Buhari couldn't stop. It took quite some effort to get the soldier in him to pull the brakes. Later, he will claim that he didn't know that he was already deep into Chad.

Buhari the GOC had an excellent relationship with his soldiers. He never allowed superiors to oppress their juniors or edit their allowances. He was riding a 504 saloon car and lived in a simple bungalow along Bauchi road adjacent to the Unijos Main Campus. When he was appointed the head of state after the coup, his soldiers in the barracks went wild in happiness. He bade them farewell, not knowing that it will be forever.

Well the Chadians never dared encroaching into Nigeria again. Buhari has permanently imprinted a lesson in them: Nigeria is mighty and no rat should dare step in its foot. The success was possible because the military chiefs and officers then were truly Nigerian. They believed in their hearts, not in their words only, that that the territorial integrity of this nation is not for bargain, its military must be strong and well catered for, and money was not their goal.

When the Maitatsine riots resurfaced in the Northeast during his regime, Buhari was the C-in-C and the story of how they were crushed ended in the burial of that sect forever.

No insurgency in Northern Nigeria surfaced again until when Obasanjo came to power. Like a joke, a group calling itself Nigerian Taliban surfaced in Yobe state. It engaged the police and the authorities in fights using guns and explosives. It was unbelievable. They were overcome but not wiped out. They had the chance to shift their base to Maiduguri and get patronised by the governors of Yobe and Borno states who gave them positions in government as a strategy of appeasement.

But the group couldn't be appeased. It continued to organise itself and train for a showdown to the full knowledge of the authorities in Abuja and at the dismay of the then SSS Director, Gadzama, who was from Borno and knew the risk his community and the nation at large would face in future.

When I raised this point at a conference in Kano, one of the former governors involved tried to discredit me, something I immediately objected to. These are facts, hard facts. Obasanjo as the C-in-C didn't do enough. By the time Yar'adua made an attempt to suppress the group extrajudicially, it was too late and, he too, didn't live a year longer than Muhammad Yusuf.

The death of Yaradua was a loss for the nation and its military. He gave the Niger Deltan terrorists a choice between war and peace. They chose peace. He sacked the then Chief of Defence Staff then, Andrew Azazi, for his involvement in arming the Niger Deltans and playing the fifth columnist in the fight against them. An army investigation report warned the nation of the existence of politicians from that region who nurse secessionist ambitions and who could become leaders of the country one day. A probe into their activities and level of
involvement in the arms theft, the report said, was necessary to avoid putting our national security at risk. Yar'adua, unfortunately, didn't institute the probe that would have seen Jonathan impeached. And he died, shortly and sadly. Thus, those fears expressed in the COAS office report in the theft of armoury from Kaduna and Jaji depots became real.

Jonathan, a Niger Deltan, became President. He returned Azazi as his National Security adviser and with that a different course was charted for the military.

Now, Nigerians have seen what a different calibre of leader Jonathan is. Also, the world has witnessed the mettle of the people - from the former Eastern region - he has chosen to lead the military and fight the insurgency. Their estimation in the eyes of the world is very low. Never in our history has a Nigerian president been so much a subject of ridicule by world leaders and press. Never in the history of our military has it performed so disastrously bad in the protection of the Nigerian citizen and became a subject of international disdain and contempt to the extent that the Americans said they will not share intelligence with it. How could they do so when they knew among our military are sponsors of Boko Haram, as Stephen Davies recently disclosed. (And believe me I have not seen a soldier in Ihejirika because he instantly became rattled by the disclosure, failed to put even a faint defence but resorted to blaming the president and Elrufai for underfunding the military.)

From Ihejirika to Minimah, various international and local media reports have shown our soldiers as neglected, ill-equipped, underpaid and many of them sadistic - taking delight in torturing Nigerians and killing them - as we have seen in the reported massacres of Baga and the latest slaughter video which the authorities said they are still investigating.

The Nigerian military is certainly witnessing its lowest moments. Soldiers are deserting it, as the authorities themselves confessed, and in moments of attack on civilians, they are seen running along with civilians for their dear lives. In one or two occasions, they fled to Cameroon in their hundreds where they were disarmed, packed into schools and escorted, like women and children, back to Nigeria. They arrived Mubi looking haggard, hungry and in need of help. Even in the battles that saw the fall of towns like Gwoza, Banki, Gamboru, Izge, Damboa, Bama, Gulak, Michika and Bazza, our soldiers were seen outrunning civilians for safety as their officers outrun civilian elites in building posh houses and riding the latest brands of cars.

What a depressing moment for every true Nigerian! What a moment of truth for our military! It is not a time for denial or pride, as a diplomat put it last week, because there is nothing to deny and nothing to be proud of when bandits earlier described as "ghosts" by the President can now capture large towns and keep them, one after another, and get our soldiers fleeing.

The Chadian soldiers that we could easily liquidate in 1983 today, in contrast, stand with their shoulders high. Three weeks ago, when Boko Haram abducted some 85 Nigerians and moved them across to a forest in Chad, Chadian soldiers instantly located them, fought them gallantly and freed the hostages, handing them back to Nigeria. Chad, for God's sake! Our Chibok girks and other abductees on Nigeria continue to languish in the hands of Boko Haram for my months now, awaiting for a rescue that will never come. Their government tells them: "You see, we can't rescue you because we don't want to see you harmed. You're safer there." What an excuse!

Cameroon too has been defeating the insurgents at every encounter, sometimes even crossing the border to assist Nigerian soldiers as it was reported in Ngala two weeks ago. Even yesterday, they routed the insurgents at a border town where they killed more than 100 of the latter.

Nigeria, where are the GOCs like Buhari, the chiefs like Wushishi, and Presidents like Shagari? Where are your courageous commanders like Shagaya and Malu who as true Nigerians earned us respect in Liberia and Sierra Leone?

The present GOC of the same 3 DIV, Zaruwa, must prove his mettle to Nigerians. His hometown, Bazza, is in the hands of Boko Haram, and so is Michika and Gulak. We want to see the reinvention of Buhari, Malu or Shagaya in him. Incidentally, the Chief of Defence Staff, Barde, is from neighbouring Mubi, a town that is half-deserted as it awaits its turn in the invasion tsunami of Boko Haram. Its people have been fleeing to Yola in their thousands. He too, we want to see a Wushishi reinvented in him. Let us see in the duo the reinvention of the ancient, legendary Margi warrior. We hope, but only hope can we afford, that the C-in-C and the COAS will give them all the support they need.

The comparison between yesterday and today for the Nigerian President and his military is truly odious. Nigerian leaders and indeed its military need to take a long, hard look at themselves. What went wrong and who are responsible for this state of shame? If we are serious, heads must roll. We also need a different set of leaders and commanders that are truly Nigerians in their past and future.

The spokeman for the Nigerians military, Olukolade, said Nigerians should not be discouraged with these setbacks and lose hope in the military. But, sincerely, where can we find the courage, where can we see the hope?

I- Attende(A) The(T) Best(B) University(U) !! ... 2010 ALUMNI!

If u are getting married to a man that grew up in Enugu, just make up ur mind to respect urself by not trying to fight ur husband for womanizing bcuz it is a life style in the city that over 65% of married men in the city could not avoid. Why? Bcuz it's a city with men that are less busy doing nothing. If u want men who are busy on daily bases and retire back to adore u as a wife try the Omatas at Nkwonnewi or Onitsha main-market. If u doubt ask Her Exellency Clara Chime and some other married ladies in Enugu. Little did she (Clara) knew about the life in the city that a tree most bear the fruit it's known for and got married to the No 1 citizen of the state.

A young beautful lady at the age of 27 got married to a divorced man with children in his 50s without bothering to enquire about this man's life style and why he divorced. This is where personal interests other than true love came into play. Probably, Clara came to enjoy Power, Money and Sex but at the end she is now crying for prison break. Not long after She assumed power as the first lady, she began to give government officials who were not under her office directives here and there including LGA chairmen, collecting money to anoint some politicians for political positions, fight and collecting official cars of female politicians in the state whom she believed to have intimacy with the Governor, of which His exellency saw as insult and decided to cut back the excessive power she was abusing. As a result, money and sex were equally deprived, the business of the day seem to have yielded no profit and she went Kolo which gave the governor more ground to restrict her movement.

The Governor could have let her go since they are now married without sex for 4 yrs (imagine how frustrating), starving one person of sex while he is busy catching them young and at the same time afraid of another marriage scandal especially while in office as the governor. Her excellency, being wise enough blew up the hot pot through a human right Lawyer (for more information consult Femi Falana's chamber) to enable her bargain for her future after Gov. Chime's dispensation. This moves has made Governor to call for an emergency meeting of the families concern to negotiate and possiblly bargain for pay off after his tenurn to calm the media and pretend as if all is well.

In conclusion, Ladies- money answerth all things but most times cannot give u fulfillment in Life and if u are getting married to Enugu brougth up just be willing to share or run to God. Men- beauty attracts but cannot keep her, character keeps her. if u cannot do without others make it a top secret to save ur home, there is no hard man/woman when it comes to hurting one's feeling and cheating in marriage. if money is everything, Clara Chime could have been one of the happiest married women of her time. And if beauty is everything Gov. Chime could have not been looking for anything else in the skirt even as such is enough for him to resign as a Governor if it is in a developed society.

A total of 3, 335 dead bodies were deposited by the military in only one hospital in Borno State in the first six months of this year, Associated Press news agency has said in a report. AP said in the report that the figure was contained in a hospital list seen by it.
The report was coming just few days after Amnesty International released a report, saying over 950 detainees have died in military detention within six months early this year.
Sunday Trust could not reach the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier Chris Olukolade, yesterday for his reaction.
In its report, AP said mortuary records from a single Nigerian hospital show the number of detainees who died in military custody more than tripled in June, the first month of a state of emergency in the troubled northeast region, shedding stark light on Nigeria’s escalating war with militants,.
Overall, the records obtained by The Associated Press for the nine months from October 5 to July 5 indicate that the military is killing thousands in its crackdown on the uprising in northeast Nigeria.
The records cover just one hospital, Sani Abacha Specialist Teaching Hospital in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, the movement fighting to uproot Western cultural influences from a country shared almost equally by Muslims and Christians.
In the 30 days before the state of emergency was declared on May 14, 380 bodies were delivered to the hospital by the military. In the 30 days after, the number was 1,321.
For the whole of June, the number was 1,795, making it the worst month in the records seen by the AP, which has also witnessed many of the bodies being delivered to the hospital in military ambulances, escorted by armored cars.
The figure is much larger than the estimated number of Boko Haram fighters.
Nigerian government and military officials have refused to comment, and it’s impossible to know how many of the dead had Boko Haram connections. But Nigerian law stipulates that even under a state of emergency, detainees are supposed to be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours and to have access to lawyers and family members.
A pastor said he was held at Maiduguri’s Giwa Military Barracks after he and four other people were arrested because weapons were found hidden in the shoe factory where he works.
He described hundreds of naked people crammed into a cell meant for a couple of dozen. Once a day, he said, a soldier would throw a loaf of moistened bread into the cell to be brawled over. Some died of torture, he said.
He told the AP he was freed with the intervention of a Christian group, and his jailers’ recognizing his prayers for salvation as Christian. He requested anonymity fearing military retaliation. Amnesty International reported this week that hundreds are dying in detention: some taken from the cells and shot, some dying of suffocation or starvation.
The London-based human rights group said “credible information” from a senior Nigerian army officer indicated more than 950 people have been killed in the first six months of this year. The mortuary records seen by the AP list 3,335 bodies in that period, in just one hospital.
That figure alone is about nine times greater than the 400 civilians killed in Boko Haram attacks in the same period, according to an AP count of reported incidents.
However, Boko Haram has also done much to alienate public opinion. Fighters suspected of belonging to it have gunned down dozens of schoolchildren, some as they sat at their desks writing exams, and burned alive boarding school students locked into dormitories that were set ablaze.
The name Boko Haram roughly means “Western education is forbidden.”
The group has also killed many more Muslims than Christians. In August, it gunned down 47 worshippers in a mosque. Last month it captured a muezzin, made him issue the pre-dawn summons to prayer and then killed at least seven elderly men who answered the call.
Local and international human rights groups say the troops deployed to combat Boko Haram are notorious for their excesses and have draconian powers to raid homes and detain people. They see a danger of a backlash from a poor population that feels marginalized and remote from the political center of Nigeria and its president, Goodluck Jonathan.
The religions co-exist peacefully in the rest of Nigeria although fundamentalism, fueled by poverty and marginalization, has been growing among Christians and Muslims in the north.
Just days after the emergency was declared, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted “deep concern over credible allegations of gross human rights violations by Nigerian security forces.” And in September, when he met Jonathan at the U.N., President Barack Obama “underscored the importance of countering terrorism via a comprehensive approach that creates economic opportunity and protects human rights,” according to a State Department official.
On Thursday Nigeria was elected to a two-year seat on the U.N. Security Council. According to presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, President Jonathan believes it is “a glowing expression of support and encouragement for Nigeria’s active participation in the promotion of peace, security and political stability in Africa and other parts of the world.”
www.sundaytrust.com

Afam4eva: I was hoping they would remain to give the league some color but they only have themselves to blame for this. I hope they come back as soon as possible and not remain in the lower division like Insurance of Benin...My Enugu Rangers remains the only team never to be relegated in the history of the Nigerian premier league.

Noooo... Gombe United has never been relegated too... Check your records

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN — Against the background of incessant kidnappings and other violent crimes in Edo State, members of various cult groups in the state came together in Benin, weekend, in a move they said was to tackle insecurity in the state.
However, the cult groups during their summit with the themeInteractive Peace Summit: Strategy for Social Cohesion, which held at the Sand Beach Resorts, Benin, expressed dissatisfaction with threats posed to Edo and other neighboring states due to the activities of kidnappers, armed robbery gangs and other criminal activities. They resolved to tackle them.
Represented
Some of the cult groups represented by at the summit included Green Circuit (Maphites), Norsemen (Vikings), , Eiye Confraternity, Family Fraternity of Nigeria and Avarian Organisation of Nigeria.
Also in attendance were representatives of Governor Adams Oshiomhole; the Iyase (traditional Prime Minister) of BeninKingdom, Chief Sam Igbe; representatives of the Edo State Commissioner of Police and that of AIG Zone 5 Benin and representatives of the Director, Department of State Services.
Others were representatives of the Commandant of Civil Defence and Security Corps, Edo State Neighbourhood Watch Council and the OC, SIB, AIG Zone 5.
Chairman of the Consolidated Forum, Donald Edeo-ghon, while acknowledging the damage done by activities of the group, however expressed hope that the coalition of the groups would help in checking crime in the state.

He said: “If you remember, for over two decades, inter-group conflicts, which often resulted in violent and fatal crises, were the attributes of EdoState communities.
“Innocent lives and property of inestimable worth are destroyed on a whim.
“Armed robbery, kidnapping, thuggery and sundry social vices rose to unprecedented levels; it became dangerous to reside and function legitimately in EdoState and in particular, Benin.
“The situation looked bad, but then came the platform of Rainbow Consolidated Forum with a template for all seasons.”
Chief Igbe expressed joy at what he witnessed and called on the groups not to disappoint, saying “you know I am going to brief the Oba on what I have witnessed here today.”
www.vanguardngr.com

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Chief Bisi Akande, yesterday said Nigeria is now in a state of nearpermanent trauma.
He also said the philosophy behind the APC is to bring the countryback from the brink of collapse.
Akande, in an address at a meeting of the leaders and elders of the party at Sheraton Hotels, Abuja, said the APC would represent the aspirations of all Nigerians.
He announced that the party’s membership registration would lastfor one week.
In Anambra State, lasted only three days.
Akande said:” It is common knowledge that our country has for many years now been confronted by fundamental, daunting and multi-dimensional challenges. This is clearly indicated by the recurring crises that bedevil its social fabric, political processes, structure of governance, and indeed, its economic and developmental processes.
“The result is that the nation and its citizenry continue to exist in a state of near permanent trauma.
“In its over 50 years of Independence, Nigeria has suffered seven military coups, resulting in 28 years of military rule, the tragedy of a civil war, 12 constitutions, and a little over 20 yearsof civil democratic rule.
“Added to these are countless incidents of religious, ethnic, political and civil unrests, leading to the loss of millions of innocent lives.
“Trapped in a vicious cycle of political crises, social upheavals andeconomic under-development, Nigeria has become, not only one of the most unstable countries in the world, it is also, regrettably,one of the poorest despite its huge human and material resource endowments.”
Akande said the APC emerged to address the challenges confronting the nation.
He added: “Confronting these issues in a single-minded manner is the raison de’tre for the formation of the APC.”
The APC chairman listed seven challenges confronting the nation, which he said could broadly categorised as follows:
•The challenge of National Unity and Integration;
• Perennial threats to Security, Law and Order;
•Ensuring rapid economic growth with equity (People Centered Economic Management);
•Protecting and consolidating Nigeria’s emerging democratic tradition; and
•Prioritising Human Development in Health, in Education – particularly intensification of mass women education, and Employment opportunities for all our youths.
The others are: *instituting a sustainable management of the environment; and that
•Nigeria assumes its proper place in world affairs commensuratewith its size and status as the leading black nation in the world.
The APC chairman unfolded the party’s programme for youths.
He said : “A large part of the APC’s agenda in particular will centre on the Nigerian youth. It is common knowledge that Nigeria’s current population is now constituted in such a manner that, if not carefully handled, would, pose the biggest challenge that this country has confronted.
“According to many reliable reports, nearly two-thirds of the over 160 million citizens of Nigeria are youth, meaning people below the age of 35 years. Unfortunately, the process of governance in Nigeria, for all practical purposes, remains impervious to the aspirations of this category of Nigerians.
“ Consequently, no priority is assigned to education, job creation, entrepreneurship skills, and vocational training that would have turned our youth into truly productive citizens. We in the APC see engagement with the youth on the above as a strategic imperative.
At the ceremony were Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Governors Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), ex-Governors Olusegun Osoba; John Odigie Oyegun; Niyi Adebayo; Ibrahim Shekarau; ex-Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Gandi; and Senator Chris Ngige.
Others are 165 members of the National Assembly, ex-National Chairman of ANPP Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, ex-Speaker Aminu Bello Masari, Senator Ahmed Yerima, ex-Governor Modu Ali Sheriff, Prince Tony Momoh, acting National Secretary of APC Tijjani Tumsa; ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Chief Tom Ikimi, former National Chairman of ACN Audu Ogbeh, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, ex-Minister of FCT Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and ex-Military Administrator of Lagos State Gen. Buba Marwa.
Also there were ex-National Secretary of the ACN, Senator Lawal Shuaibu; ex-Minister of FCT Udo Akpanudohedohe, Senator Annie Okonkwo, National Publicity Secretary of CNPP Comrade Osita Okechukwu, Senator Ibrahim Lawan, Senator George Akume, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Hajiya Hannatu Musawa,Barrister Ismaila Kano, Prince Marshal Okafor, ex- National Secretary of ANPP George Moghalu, Minority Whip of the Houseof Representatives Samson Osagie, Deputy Minority Leader of the House Suleiman Kawu, spokesman of the youth Ismaila Kano, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye and Festus Keyamo
Source, thenation

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and key oppositionfigure in his capacity as Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has accused President Jonathan of playing politics across religious and ethnic lines. He also accused the current leadership of the country of stealing, womanizing and being drunkards.
His words: “It is the political strategy of Jonathan to always use ethnicity and religion whenever there is a problem.
“Whenever there is a big issue about excess crude account or subsidy issue, they bring this issue of ethnicity and religion. But I have not lost hope because I know that Nigerians can see through their pranks and their game and will vote them out in the next election. The challenge for the next president is to build trust among the various ethnic groups so that Nigeria can walk towards one direction.
“This country has gone through one Civil War; I don’t know of any country that can survive two civil wars and those that are stealing crude oil; buying and stockpiling arms should know it is not the number of arms you have that decides who wins a war.
“I know that Nigeria will survive these bad and incompetent leaders,who steal during the day and drink and womanise at night instead ofworking for the Nigerian people.
“The PDP has evolved from a party that is trying to be democraticin its practices and to have decency in its governance to one that has become a danger to the people of Nigeria and the only person they are afraid of, who is their nightmare, is Gen. Buhari.
“So, anytime Buhari makes a statement or does anything, the PDP machine will be at work to twist whatever he says in other to destroy his character and give the impression that he is a religious and ethnic zealot.

“The truth is that the PDP is scared of Buhari`s integrity and his track record of doing the right thing and ensuring that people are brought to justice when they break the law. They are scared of that day when he will become President because they are afraid that he will call them and ask them the source of their unexplainable wealth.”

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CPC PRESS RELEASE by Rotimi Fashakin

African Union (formerly Organization of African Unity) was founded in 1963 with 30 members. Nigeria, as a foundation member, has always played an active part in the regional organization’s activities. It was in the 70’s that the Military regimes declared Africa as the center piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Nigeria always used the AU platform to project its African-ness in word and deed! This was why ordinary Nigerians, nay the whole world, had expected Nigeria to use the 50th anniversary celebration of the African Union held last Saturday, the 25th May, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as the big stage to make a huge impact. Unfortunately, this expectation was dashed by the inimitable sloppiness of the Jonathan presidency!

The Nation’s President, Dr Good-luck Jonathan, spurned the slot allocated to him to articulate his contribution to the regional discourse. He did not attend and no representative was sent to deliver Nigeria’s message. In ordinary administrative appraisal of the action, it was not just irresponsible but gross dereliction of executive duties. In diplomatic circles, the President’s action literally rubbished the labours of Nigeria’s past heroes and heroines who had been known for standing up to be counted on the African continent. As citizens, we still relish the diplomatic pressure Nigeria put on the white supremacists of the then Apartheid South Africa in ensuring the dismantling of that execrable villainy!

As usual, the motley of spin doctors, in the Nation’s presidency, has continued to adduce various implausible reasons for the President’s below-par demeanour. Whatever obfuscation of facts being peddled around cannot detract from the hard fact that the President was flummoxed by the victory of Governor Rotimi Amaechi at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election, which revealed the bilious discontent thereafter!

We recall that in October, 2011, the President missed a session at the Commonwealth Summit in Australia for the same laissez-faire attitude that has become the hall-mark of the Jonathan administration. In the late 80’s, the vice-president in a Military regime was made to step down because he missed a National celebration.

As a Party, we view with grave concern this nonchalance of our President and its portent for Nigeria’s image. As an irreducible minimum, the citizens of this Nation deserve an unreserved apology from the President for the National disgrace and embarrassment his action had caused.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Rotimi Fashakin

By SaharaReporters, New York
Several governors from two of Nigeria’s geo-political zones have told SaharaReporters how Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State reemerged as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum in a highly dramatic and widely watched election earlier today.
Mr. Amaechi’s reelection has rattled President Goodluck Jonathan who, one Presidency source disclosed, called Governors Godswill Akpabio, Peter Obi, Segun Mimiko and Jonah Jang from Ethiopia and charged them to do everything within their power to ensnare the outcome in controversy in order to delegitimize the results.
The four pro-Jonathan governors subsequently released a document claiming that 19 governors voted for Mr. Jang. The document did not state when the so-called voting was conducted. At a press conference called by Mr.Akpabio and attended by Governor Jang, the latter did not utter a word about his purported victory. Instead, Mr. Jang was glum and had a blank, vacant look.
Earlier today, Saharareporters broke the news about Governor Amaechi's victory.
A Presidency source told SaharaReporters that,before traveling to Ethiopia, President Jonathan had collected the signatures of 19 governors, including the governor of Yobe, with the aim of wresting the Governors’ Forum post from Mr. Amaechi. But at today's meeting where the election took place, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe was conspicuously absent. One of the governors told SaharaReporters that the Yobe governor decided not to attend the meeting because he detests Mr. Jang's sectarian fanaticism.
Our sources, who detailed the coalition that handed Mr. Amaechi a victory, told Saharareporters that 19 governors voted for the Rivers governor who has been locked in a major political dispute with Mr. Jonathan. The pro-Amaechi governors were those of Imo, Ekiti, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Adamawa, Borno,Osun, Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Kwara Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara and Sokoto. Mr. Amaechi also voted for himself, securing reelection.
Our sources disclosed that the governors of Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Taraba, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, Kebbi, Katsina, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Kaduna and four others voted for Mr. Jang, the president’s candidate.
Our sources painted a portrait of some dramatic developments ahead of today’s voting. SaharaReporters learned that the pro-Jonathan group adopted Governor Jang as their consensus candidate following a decisionby a few Northern governors and some members of the PDP’s Governors Forum to picka flag bearer outside of Governors Ibrahim Shema of Katsina and Isah Yuguda of Bauchi. The Jonathan group believed that Mr. Jang would seem less contentious. They also tipped Governor Mimiko of Ondo as Mr. Jang’s side kick in the hope of swaying some governors from the South-West.
Two governors disclosed that the anti-Amaechigroup also suggested using “consensus” rather than an election to determine the leader of the forum. “They hoped the ‘consensus’ method would make it possible forthem to swing the votes in their favor,” said one governor, adding that most governors insisted on voting.
One of the governors disclosed that Mr. Jonathan’s camp came to today’s meeting confident that they would prevail, since the president had obtained signatures from several governors in advance. But the president’s gubernatorial opponents said they knew Mr. Jang would be vanquished as the election, which was conducted by the secretariat of the Governors’ Forum, began. The forum’s director-general, Ashishana Okauru, was the presiding officer at the election with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State serving as the returning officer. Pro-Amaechi governors said they were certain of their candidate’s victory since the election was conducted via a secret ballot. “It was free and fair, so we knew that Chibuike [Amaechi] would win,” said one of the governors from thesouth-west.
After the voting, Governor Uduaghan announced the results, declaring Mr. Amaechi victorious. “All 35 governors present cast their vote and the tally was 19-16 in favor of Governor Amaechi,” one of the governors said.He dismissed Mr. Akpabio’s list of 19 governorsfor Mr. Jang, laughing that the Akpabio group even included the name of the Yobe governor who was not present at today’s vote.
It remained unclear whether the Presidency would succeed in pressuring Mr. Uduaghan to back away from the results he collated and announced at the governors’ parley.
One of the pro-Amaechi governors told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jang’s candidacy was“technically flawed, but we allowed him to run for the sake of peace.” According to him, observance of the forum’s constitution would mean that the picking of nomination forms ought to have ended by midnight on May 23, 2013. He claimed that Governor Jang only sentin a letter indicating his interest in the race around 3 p.m. on May 24, 2013. “It was a breach of our constitution, but Governor Amaechi and some of us decided not to push for Jang’s disqualification,” said the governor.
Another governor told Saharareporters that he suspects Mr. Jonathan would now be hell bent on destroying or dividing the Governors Forum. “He will see the result of today’s election as a vote of no confidence on his leadership,” said the governor, from one of theNorthern states. He added: “All I know is [the] majority of governors don’t want the Presidency to be telling us what to do. We were elected just as Mr. President was elected.Let him lead the nation with good leadership effort and allow do the same in our state.”
The source added that Mr. Jonathan and his political associates would likely interpret the loss by Mr. Jang to Governor Amaechi as an indication that the president may lose the PDP’s primary elections to be the party’s flag bearer. “But it is his good governance that will make the party pick him again, not whether heforces Governor Jang to be our chairman,” saidthe source.
Several governors who spoke to us today said Governors Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Segun Mimiko of Ondo, Peter Obi of Anambra and Jonah Jang of Plateau of were out to do the president’s bidding at all cost. They accused the governors of seeking to polarize the Governors’ Forum in order to advance President Jonathan’s agenda of neutralizing Governor Amaechi.
“These colleagues are key to President Goodluck Jonathan’s plan to turn Nigeria into Ivory Coast if he does not win in 2015,” said one source