₦airaland Forum

Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja on Saturday on an official working visit to the United States of America, on the invitation of President Donald Trump



According to Adesina, the meeting is to discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries.

He said the meeting would also advance shared priorities, such as: promoting economic growth, fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security.

“The meeting will further deepen the US-Nigeria relationship as the United States considers Nigeria’s economic growth, security and leadership in Africa to be critical aspects of their strategic partnership.

“Later in the day, President Buhari will meet with a group of business persons in agriculture and agro-processing, dairy and animal husbandry,’’ he added.

He said that ahead of the visit by the President, meetings had been scheduled on April 26 and 27, between senior Nigerian Government officials and executives of major US companies in the areas of agriculture, aviation and transportation.

He said that in the area of aviation, the Nigerian officials would be meeting with Boeing, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, on the National Carrier Project.

The presidential aide said: “On agriculture, they will meet with large equipment manufacturers with focus on harvesting and post harvesting equipment.

“In the area of transportation, the officials will meet with the GE-led consortium for the implementation of the interim phase of the narrow gauge rail concession.

“In the interim phase, a substantive concession agreement will be negotiated and finalized to provide the consortium the opportunity to invest an estimated $2bn, to modernize the rail line from Lagos to Kano (Western Line) and from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri (Eastern Line).

“During the meeting, the concession framework and the interim phase framework agreements are expected to be signed.’’

He further disclosed that Nigerian officials would also meet with US-EXIM Bank and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to explore competitive financing arrangements.

It is noteworthy that in 2017, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the United States Department of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote and encourage commercial and investment ties between Nigeria and the United States.

This is with initial focus on infrastructure, agriculture, digital economy, investment and regulatory reforms.(NAN)

https://www-vanguardngr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2018/04/president-buhari-leaves-for-us-saturday-holds-talks-with-trump-others

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Resume Work On Owerri-Aba, Owerri-PH Roads – Fashola Orders Contractors
By David Oputah

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BEVERLY HILLS, October 10, (THEWILL) – Respite is in sight for commuters that ply the both trunk A roads, as

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has directed the contractors handling the Owerri/Aba and Owerri/Port Harcourt roads to return to site immediately.

This was disclosed by the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, after he hosted the Minister on Tuesday at the Government House.

According to the Governor, the contractors have been given a marching order to ensure that the roads are completed without further delay.

“The Honourable Minister for Works, Housing and Power is in Imo State for a short meeting,” he stated.

“I have made my concern known to him as regards the neglect in the State, especially with regard to the Aba-Owerri road and Port-Harcourt-Owerri road.

“And currently, it appears to me that the Minister has done a lot on his part to ensure the completion of those roads”.

“The Minister has also informed me that he has called the contractors concerned to see me immediately with a view to completing the Aba – Owerri road project and Owerri – Port-Harcourt Road projects.

“We also talked about the issues of power in the State. He has indicated the interest of his Ministry to ensure a stable power supply. We have also discussed about the Federal Housing project which he promised that the issue of land will soon be resolved.”

The Minister, while briefing Journalists at the end of the meeting with the Governor, said “We came in for our monthly Power meeting. Some of the issues we discussed were the expansion and distribution network of some of our communities like Nebo, New Heaven, Onitsha, Aba, among others on the power quality and service experience.

“We have grown the generation capacity from 2,696 MW in 2015 to 7,000 MW in September this year. Transmission has also improved from 5,000 – 6,900.

“We now have a new problem and that is our production capacity has exceeded the distribution company’s wholesale power. So, power currently put on the grid is 4,600MW, Compare that with what we had 3years ago, we have essentially doubled it, but we can do more.

“These monthly meetings help us to do local diagnosis to what’s happening in this local Disco. To what is happening in this local communities. Some of these things I have spoken here, I have also addressed the community issues across the country, communities that host power stations without power. We are solving them one after the other.

“The governor has also brought my attention to Egbema Power Plant and its challenges. We inform your Excellency that we make progress month by month.

“We expect that your power experience should be better and how to extend services to places like Nnewi, Ihiala and Okija which are parts of the Enugu distribution franchise. We can’t discuss power in these areas without the inter-state geo-metric power issue. And how to solve it.”

https://thewillnigeria.com/news/resume-work-on-owerri-aba-owerri-ph-roads-fashola-orders-contractors/

The Nigerian government has resorted to chopping down trees lining the streets of its capital to thwart black market money changers, one of a range of unorthodox measures it is deploying to defend its weakening currency.

On an August morning in Abuja, a labourer who said he was hired by the city government cut branches from a towering tree with a chainsaw. Nearby other workers hacked away at smaller trees with machetes.

Asked what they were doing, one, who did not want his name published, replied: “The government does not want the trees because people are doing illegal work under them”.

The man was referring to money changers from the north of the country who rest under the shade of the trees and sell US dollars, British pounds, and even Saudi riyals to customers hungry for hard currency.

Another worker who gave his name as Alex said: “People change dollars on the road here and it’s not supposed to be like that. People are supposed to go to the banks to do transactions”.

But a series of central bank decrees issued this summer has instead increasingly restricted how Nigerians can use their banks, seemingly encouraging black market activity. For example, money changers in Abuja say the new rule barring Nigerians from depositing hard currency into banks only boosts unofficial trade.

The naira, still reeling from an oil price of less than $50 a barrel and political uncertainty in the run-up to this year’s elections, has lost a fifth of its value in the past year and has been devalued twice. In import-dependent Nigeria, demand for dollars remains high yet the fall in the price of crude has cut the flow of currency as income from oil exports has dwindled.

The central bank’s new controls, combined with its contentious move in June to restrict imports of critical goods such as rice and rubber, has hit foreign investor confidence in the administration of new president Muhammadu Buhari, who remains without a cabinet more than two months since his inauguration.


On August 11 the central bank lowered the ATM withdrawal limit, cutting the maximum naira limit by more than half, to 60,000 naira ($301) a day. Those with “domiciliary accounts” which are denominated in foreign currency can now take out only $300 a day. Earlier this month, the central bank banned Nigerians from depositing US dollars into their domiciliary accounts, angering people who had children at school abroad and had to pay school fees in foreign currency.

“Anything to strengthen the naira is important, but personally I need to transfer money to my family abroad, that’s why I opened a domiciliary account,” said a man in a suit after withdrawing the maximum daily amount of naira from a cash machine in the wealthy district of Ikoyi in Lagos. He did not want his name to be published. “In Nigeria we need these accounts because many of us work in foreign currency.”

At another row of cash machines at a nearby bank, 36-year-old car importer Babatunde Gbanga said the “liquidity challenges” and the new restrictions were hurting his business because he relied on being able to send and receive foreign currency from abroad.

The naira was in a “crisis situation” partly because of high demand for dollars, said Kunle Ezun, treasury researcher for Ecobank in Lagos. “In trying to control the FX market, the central bank is starving the money market of liquidity.”

Bank governor Godwin Emefiele has defended his policies, arguing that the measures are intended to stop speculation, decrease illicit financial flows and defend the naira. Mr Emefiele told the Financial Times this month he thought the naira was still appropriately priced, despite the spread between official and black market rates, and said his policies would help prepare Nigeria for a possible interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve later this year.

Still, many economists disagree. Given that oil prices will remain low, the central bank’s naira policy raises the risk of more controls and even import bans, all of which could undermine growth, said Yvonne Mhango, Africa economist at Renaissance Capital.



https://www.ft.com/content/a83e54d0-425c-11e5-9abe-5b335da3a90e

buhari

The Nigerian Army has raised an army battalion that would be deployed in troubled Gambia to forcefully remove President Yahya Jammeh from power if he fails to step down on January 19, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.

The battalion, christened ECOMOG NIBATT 1, was drawn from the Army’s 19th Battalion based in Okitipupa, Ondo State, military insiders have told PREMIUM TIMES.

Personnel were also drawn from other formations and units across the country due to shortage of men at 19 Battalion which has a significant chunk of its troops deployed for internal security task force, Operation Delta Safe.

This newspaper learnt that the Army Headquarters has instructed the nominated officers and men, put at over 800, to immediately report at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, for a crashed course on counter terrorism and counter insurgency.

Our sources said Army Headquarters has also instructed the Army directorates of policy and plans; finance; and logistics to ready funds, arms, ammunition and other logistics for the operation.

The Armoured Corps is also working hard to ready armoured vehicles needed for the task, officials said.

There were suggestions by some of our sources that the Nigerian Air Force and the Navy might deploy men and equipment for the operation as well.

Top military officers said the Nigerian Battalion would be deployed in The Gambia anytime after January 19 if President Jammeh makes real his threat not to step down after the expiration of his tenure.

“This is an emergency operation, but we are ready,” one officer said. “The Nigerian Army is a strong, professional fighting force battle ready at anytime. We are so well structured that we can deploy at the touch of a button.

“We did it in Liberian, Sierra Leone and elsewhere. And Jammeh should know that we are not a joking force. Once we get the all clear from ECOWAS, the AU and the UN to move in, we can pick him up.”

The regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had on December 23 put standby military forces on alert.

The ECOWAS Commission President, Marcel de Souza, said Senegal, The Gambia’s only territorial neighbour, would lead any military operation in the country.

Other West African countries will be mandated to provide troops as well, Mr. De Souza reportedly said.

Mr. Jammeh lost the December 1 2016 Gambia presidential election to opposition candidate, Adama Barrow.

He initially accepted defeat and congratulated Mr. Barrow but changed his mind and decided to challenge the outcome of the election.

He also vowed not to hand over to the winner as expected on January 19.

On Thursday, Mr. Jammeh said he would not step down before a Supreme Court decision on the disputed election, the BBC reported.

The President, the report said, insisted his cabinet and the National Assembly would remain in place until the Supreme Court rules on his party’s petition.

There is currently shortage of judges in the country to sit on the matter.

The case can only be heard in May if Nigeria agrees to supply judges to the Supreme Court.

West African leaders, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, the chief mediator, are travelling to Gambia on Friday to persuade Mr. Jammeh to accept an “honourable exit plan”.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/220259-exclusive-nigeria-raises-troops-gambia-ready-remove-yahya-jammeh.html

Funny people everywhere

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Funny people everywhere

Good one

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Federal Republic of Boko Haram

Buhari

Buhari

Buhari

Naval fighters trapped in Baga Fish Dam

Army, Navy commanders flee to Monguno

Thousands flee to Maiduguri


Despite denials by the Nigerian military, Boko Haram fighters seized Baga, Doron-Baga, Kross Kawwa, Bunduran, Kekeno and Kukawa towns of Borno State after three days of fierce battles from Wednesday to Friday last week, Daily Trust learnt from impeccable military and political sources in Maiduguri yesterday.




All six towns are major population centres in Kukawa local government area of northern Borno. There are currently no Nigerian or Multinational forces in the areas, Daily Trust learnt from multiple sources last night.

The insurgents, driving in a convoy of more than ten fighter vehicles, used the main road from Kros Kawwa to launch coordinated attacks on Wednesday last week, December 26. They overrun the Multinational ‎forces’ headquarters, a naval fighting base and a Marine Police base in some of the attacked areas, the sources said.

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The insurgents first attacked a base of the multinational forces located in Mile Four (an area outside Baga town) at about 4pm and the military responded. Fighting took place till midnight after which the insurgents took control of the military base while our soldiers retreated. Commander of the multinational force, whose name was given as Brigadier General Hassan, was said to have escaped at night to a police base in Baga town alongside some of his men. The following day, Thursday, the Nigerian military deployed fighter jets between 6 to 7am, bombing the multinational forces base hoping to prevent Boko Haram from carting away weapons in case they didn’t do that the previous night. ‎The insurgents, said multiple sources, then attacked Mile Three, where the Navy had a fighting base, close to the military. The Navy was said to have put up stiff resistance but eventually lost control on Thursday. A commander of the base whose name was given as Air Commodore Degel escaped to Monguno.

On Friday, the insurgents moved to another naval base located about three kilometers north of Baga in an area popularly called Fish Dam on shores of the Lake Chad, through which imports and exports take place between Nigerians and Chadians. The naval fighters weresafeguarding Nigerian waterways which the insurgents occasionally attempted to usein order to attack communities. The insurgents took over the base after a fight, it was learned. About 40 naval fighters escaped on a ship and local boats through portions of Lake Chad to a village called Kaiga in the Republic of Chad, where they were received by Chadian authorities.

The navy fighters, sources said, tried to escape with weapons into the lake even though the insurgents may have had their hands on some. The insurgents entered Baga town and attacked a marine police station on Thursday. They however spared residents, saying they were after military and civilian JTF fighters. The insurgents gave civilians the choice to stay or to freely leave the town. Majority of residents numbering about 2,000 trekked sixty kilometres to Monguno using bush paths. Commander of the Multinational forces and members of the civilian JTF were said to have joined the residents, whose knowledge of the terrain helped the party to reach Monguno.

Daily Trust learnt that only a trailer driver was killed by the insurgents when he was seen carrying soldiers who jumped into the truck in an attempt to escape. It was not clear what happened to the soldiers.

Sources added that the insurgents were also in Doron-Baga where hundreds of residents fled through the lake on local boats. ‎The residents are said to be taking refuge in a border village under the control of Chadian authorities. On Friday, the insurgents made attempts to takeover the army’s 8th Brigade in Monguno town but the military repelled them. The insurgents however overran an army base in Kekeno (a town in Kukawa local government area), our sources said. The sources said the insurgents are currently in control of the six major towns in Kukawa making them in full control of the local government area with water ways accessing Chad. It was gathered that weak old men and women are currently trapped in the six towns even though majority have freely left.

Daily Trust reporters in Maiduguri said yesterday that of the tensof thousands of the residents of the fishing and farming communities that fled out of Doro and Baga, thousands still missing in the bush between Baga and Maiduguri. Thousands who made it to Maiduguri by both trekking and motor commuting have gathered adjacent to the popular Baga Road Market, Maiduguri, over the last couple of days, sleeping in the open, partly waiting for the possible arrival of their missing relations.

A Borno State Civilian JTF leader in Borno State told Daily Trust yesterday, “As I am talking to you now, you cannot find 300 residents in Baga and Doro and other communities put together.” He added, “Soldiers themselves fled from the Kukawa LGA communities (including Baga and Doro) to Monguno on Friday, but a military reinforcement was quickly mobilised there between Saturday and Sunday. While thousands have found their way to Maiduguri from Baga and Doro and surrounding communities, my members have reliably reported to me that no fewer than two thousand fled to Yobe State through through Damasak and Gaidam.

“The Divisional Police State at Baga is empty as the DPO and his men there fled because an insurgent happened to be arrested by the police and his fellow insurgents had vowed to get him out at whatever cost.This is the much I can tell you. Security there is very fragile and, if there are people there at all, they may not be up to 500 as at today (Sunday),” he said.

Since Saturday, the usually vehicle-packed space adjacent to Baga Road Market, Maiduguri has been heavily crowded by the fleers. Some of them recounted their ordeal to Daily Trust.”As I am speaking to you now, thousands of our returnees, including my father and mother and many of my family members and friends, are still missing in the bush between Lake Chad and Maiduguri,” Muhammad Bukar from Kangarwa near Baga said.

“The insurgents invaded our town on Wednesday,” Garba Adam of Doron Baga said. “When they came, they told us not to fear, that the town had now become part of Daula [Islamic State], and that whoever wished to stay as a resident of the Daula could do so and whoever wished to leave could also do so.So on Thursday, we left the town.Residents fled in different directions.”

Borno State Government, which was celebrating the rebuilding of communities and return of IDPs to the seized towns in Kukawa, has now been forced to establish new camps for displaced persons. The State Emergency Management Agency and humanitarian workers are engaged in settling displaced persons in camps with medical and food supplies. Displaced persons had earlier been resettled in 14 of the 20 local government areas once controled by Boko Haram. Over 30,000 homes, hospitals, water installations, schools and palaces of traditional rulers were rebuild before displaced persons returned.

The UN and other international development agencies were initially against the return of displaced persons until the Nigerian military gave assurances. Apart from Kukawa, 13 other local government areas where displaced persons returned are under the military even though there are reports of fears in areas like Bama, Ngala and Mobbar LGAs which were hitherto occupied as well.



Shettima hosts emergency security confab today

Due to the deteriorating security situation in northern Borno, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State will today host ‎an emergency extraordinary security meeting in Maiduguri ‎to be attended by heads of security establishments, leadership of the Civilian JTF and hunters, traditional rulers and Borno elders. The state’s three Senators, 10 House of Reps and 28 state assembly members, selected chairmen and commissioners from local government areas affected by recent attacks, leadership of the University of Maiduguri and selected tertiary institutions, chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria Bar Association, Nigerian Union of Journalists, National Council of Women Societies and Nigeria Legion in Borno State are also expected to attend.

The governor’s spokesman Isa Gusau, who announced this in a statement issued on Friday, said the meeting will hold at 4pm during which participants will review the situation in view of recent developments, make suggestions and come up with a resolution that will be delivered to President Buhari by a delegation.

The state government and other institutions concerned by aspects of the resolutions will take necessary and immediate actions to implement them, the statement said.

Gusau recalled in the statement that Governor Kashim Shettima has on different occasions, including in recent weeks, met with President Muhammadu Buhari and other security stakeholders over matters of security in Borno State and the President has regularly proved his empathy, commitment and determination to end the Boko Haram crisis in order to create enabling environment for the aggressive rebuilding of destroyed communities, rehabilitation and resettlement of victims which the Borno government has been doing since 2015.‎


https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/boko-haram-seizes-6-borno-towns.html

Na soo

Buhari

There are few things more dangerous than a mixture of power, arrogance and incompetence.

Buhari rises to the highest level of incompetence.

I've been told that I'm incompetent, socially retarded, maladjusted. I still know that I couldn't function in reality. Daura is a good place for me.

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.

George Bernard Shaw

People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.

Solitude can be used well by very few people. They who do must have a knowledge of the world to see the foolishness of it, and enough virtue to despise all the vanity.

The Nigerian Army on Friday night in Abuja hosted President Muhammadu Buhari to Guards Brigade Regimental Dinner and presented to him the captured Boko Haram flag.
The flag was handed over to the President by the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor.
Operatives of the Operation Lafiya Dole operating in the North East had ‎‎successfully captured ‎the‎ “Camp Zero”, ‎the strongest enclave of Boko Haram terrorists sect, in the Sambisa Forest on Sunday.
The Boko Haram flag and a Quran believed to belong to the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, were recovered by the military.
Irabor had disclosed that ‎about 1,240 suspected Boko Haram terrorists were arrested during a mop-up operation by troops inside the Sambisa forest.
While receiving the flag, President Buhari challenged the army forces on the need to continue to ensure the survival of Nigeria as a geopolitical entity despite what he described as “political madness” being exhibited in some parts of the country.
According to him, it is duty bound for the army to ensure the sustenance of peaceful co-existence among the over 250 ethnic groups across the country..

.https://theeagleonline.com.ng/amp/nigerian-army-presents-captured-boko-haram-flag-to-president-buhari/

Lai

Na woo

Ok o

Ok oo

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has described the age and health of President Muhammadu Buhari as superb for governance

He said the two indices and experience of the President could not be found on those who were eyeing the presidential seat in the 2019 general elections.

Speaking with journalists in Awka, Anambra State, the minister said when Malaysia was in trouble politically and economically, it had to beckon on a 93-year-old, Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, to lead it as a prime minister.

Reminded that Buhari seemed to be fatigued by age and ailments, Ngige said, “That man (Buhari) you see there is healthier than 80 per cent of Nigerians.”

“I’m a medical doctor; I can tell you authoritatively that he is healthier than most people who see his health as an issue.”

“He sits for over eight hours during our executive meetings. While some of us would be going for tea break to stretch our legs, Mr President would sit on his seat continuously, drinking only water.

“I can tell you authoritatively as a medical doctor of over three decades standing that Mr President is physically and mentally healthy. He is healthier than 80 per cent of Nigerians.”

Punch reports that Ngige who also spoke on the allegations of marginalization of the Igbo by the APC government, said Ndigbo were the architect of their doom.

He asked the Igbo to shun primordial sentiments and expand their political horizons by thinking positively and reaching out.

He said the trouble with the Igbo was that they were always self-effacing.

Ngige said, “There’s nothing that is being shared by the Buhari government that is not equitably done. Buhari has five flagship projects; Lagos-Ibadan to Ilorin Mambila Power Plants; Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway; Second Niger Bridge and East West roads.

“You can see how it was shared. So, how are you(Igbo) left out, why are you crying marginalization, why are you crying wolf when there is none and it is this mentality that I’m telling you people that you have to come out from.”

“So, all I’m saying in effect is that you (Igbo) must do political engineering; that’s the Igbo of the South-East and the step to take forward is to support a Buhari presidency for 2019/2023 and vote for it with all their strengths. By so doing, they will not be left out in the power-sharing that will come thereafter like was done at this period.”

http://www.barristerng.com/buhari-healthier-than-80-of-nigerians-ngige/