₦airaland Forum

Nice work @OP.

Kada Cinema and Entertainment Plaza and Precious PalmRoyal Hotel in Benin City should make d list

dailyindependentnig.com/2014/10/nigeria-slumps-fifa-rankings/



Super Eagles has dropped five places in
this month’s FIFA Rankings released
on Thursday, dropping out of the top
40 down to 42nd in the world. Ghana
also did not fare better as it dropped
to 35th.

Nigeria ’s drop from last month’s
38th comes after it lost and beat
Sudan in its last two Africa Cup of
Nations qualifiers earlier in the
month.

Super Eagles interim coach, Amodu
Shuaibu, will now have another goal–
to steer Nigeria back up in the
Rankings with the Nations Cup
qualifiers against Congo and South
Africa next month.

Eagles is now the ninth-ranked
African side behind Algeria, Cote
d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Ghana, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Egypt and Senegal.

Its drop comes after losing 1-0 to
Sudan in Khartoum after playing out
a 0-0 draw in South Africa .
Meanwhile, Algeria remains at the
summit of African football with 989
points, which put it in the 15th
position in the world, while Cote
d’Ivoire is second in Africa and
ranked 25th in the world.

Tunisia stays third on the continent
after amassing 780 points, which
places it in the 31st spot in the world.
Germany , Argentina and Colombia
hold the first, second and third spots
in the world respectively as FIFA
World Cup hosts Brazil retained its
sixth spot in the world.
Portugal returned to top 10 with its
two steps upward movement while
Switzerland dropped out of the top 10
to place 12 on the Rankings.

The next ranking will be released on
November 27, 2014.

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/court-sacks-pinnicks-nff/


…NFF appeals

Nigeria is in danger of another FIFA ban
after a court ruled that elections that
ushered in Delta FA chairman Amaju
Pinnick as president of the Nigeria
Football Federation (NFF) last month
were illegal.

World football governing body FIFA
have warned that should anything
hinder the newly-elected NFF executive
committee led by Pinnick from
operating, they will move for an
automatic ban for the country till the
next FIFA congress in May.

On Thursday, Justice Ambrose Allagoa of
the Federal High Court Jos ruled
against the NFF elections in Warri of
September 30 as well as the congress
preceding it because they were against
his orders.

“I have set aside all the proceedings and
decisions of the Warri Extra Ordinary
meeting of the 20th September and the
Elective Congress of 30th September
which were direct contravention of the
orders of this court as granted on the
19th September,” said Justice Allagoa.
“Nobody should foist on the court a
complete case of hopelessness so that
the principles of law and justice can be
upheld. Its not enough to say that the
order of court was wrongly made, no
matter how unorthodox, its subsisting
orders, unless set aside, remains law
and must be respected.
“Defendants in this matter have not filed
any counter affidavits in this court to
contest the facts. There is no motion nor
Memorandum of Appearance. This is a
court of Record. On this note, the court
has no option to protect the integrity
and sanctity of court. Court orders are
not tea party. Nobody is above the law.
Impunity must be stopped.”
Some persons on behalf of Chris Giwa,
who maintained he was elected NFF
president on August 26, took the matter
to the court even though FIFA statutes
forbid football matters to be deliberated
in a civil court.

FIFA did not recognise the election of
Giwa and warned he and his supporters
to vacate the NFF office in Abuja.
In July, Nigeria was suspended briefly
after another Jos court sacked the NFF
then led by Aminu Maigari and the
country’s sports minister appointed a
civil servant to run the federation.
NFF appeals

The executive committee of Nigeria
Football Federation has filed for appeal
against the ruling of the Federal High
Court, Jos Judicial Division of Thursday,
which annulled the NFF elections of
September 30.
The Judge had given the order annulling
the elections despite a preliminary
objection filed by the NFF challenging
the jurisdiction of the court to hear the
case.

NFF 1st Vice President, Seyi
Akinwunmi, said: “We have been
notified of the ruling of the court, which
was made in spite of our filing for a
preliminary objection concerning the
jurisdiction of the court.
“However, our lawyers have gone to
work immediately the order was made.
We are appealing the ruling and also
filing for stay of execution of the order.”

On Thursday, Justice Ambrose Allagoa
of the Federal High Court Jos ruled
against the NFF elections in Warri of
September 30 as well as the congress
preceding it.
“I have set aside all the proceedings and
decisions of the Warri Extra Ordinary
meeting of the 20th September and the
Elective Congress of 30th September
which were direct contravention of the
orders of this court as granted on the
19th September,” said Justice Allagoa.

“Nobody should foist on the court a
complete case of hopelessness so that
the principles of law and justice can be
upheld. Its not enough to say that the
order of court was wrongly made, no
matter how unorthodox, its subsisting
orders, unless set aside, remains law
and must be respected.”

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/36-govs-fight-autonomy-lgs/



By By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—IN a rare show of solidarity,
the two factions of the Nigeria
Governors Forum, NGF, temporarily put
aside their year-long differences,
yesterday, to fight against the National
Assembly proposal granting autonomy
to the country’s local governments.
The two factions, led by Governor
Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and
Jonah Jang of Plateau State, in separate
reactions said the autonomy proposal for
the local government system was out of
sync with the operation of a federal
system.

The two houses of the National
Assembly had adopted the proposal for
autonomy for the local governments as
the third tier of government in the
federation. The move which has been
received with joy among some
stakeholders in the local government
system was, however, opposed by the
two factions of the NGF.

The Jang-led faction of the NGF walked
out from the mainstream faction led by
Governor Amaechi after supporters of
Jang disputed the outcome of the
election which returned Amaechi as
chairman of the governors’ association
last year.

Reacting to the decision of the National
Assembly to grant autonomy to the local
governments, the Amaechi-led faction
speaking through its Director-General,
Asishana Okauru, affirmed that the body
would not change its opposition on the
issue of autonomy for local
governments.

* Amaechi’s NGF

Speaking in a telephone interview with
Vanguard, he said: “The NGF does not
support autonomy for local
governments. The governors are against
it, they have said it and still maintain
that they will not support autonomy for
local governments.
“There is no country in the world that
there are three federating units; there
are only two all over the world. Why
should you say that there must be a
third federating unit in Nigeria?”

According to him, chairman of the
forum, Governor Amaechi aside making
a similar call last year, had at a session
with journalists recently said that the
governors would continue to push
against granting autonomy for the 774
local governments in the country.

* Jang-led NGF

In an unusual concord with the
Amaechi-led forum, the Jang-led NGF in
a statement by its secretary, Earl Osaro
Onaiwu, said: “The NGF under the
leadership of Governor Jonah Jang of
Plateau State has differed with the
NASS over the move to amend the
constitution and grant local
governments full administrative and
financial autonomy.”

The governors in the statement accused
some members of the National Assembly
of using the conference committee to
force through an amendment that was
clearly rejected by the Senate during
the constitution amendment debates and
votes.

Onaiwu in the statement quoted the
governors as saying that “it was
improper in an issue of this magnitude
for the conference committee to
overturn the position of a majority in the
upper house.
“The push for local government
autonomy by the National Assembly was
hasty without first considering the
problems of executive recklessness and
ineffective administration at the local
level.”

The governors thus warned that “the
amendment will lead to the hijack of
some local government administrative
structures by a few powerful individuals
without the oversight the state
government currently provides.”
The forum, however, expressed
confidence that the amendment will be
rejected by a majority of the states
houses of assembly.




Picture:
R-L; Governors Martins Elechi,
Godswill Akapbio, Segun Mimiko;
Deputy Governor Kogi, Yomi
Awoniyi, Governors Jonah Jang, T
Orji and Others after their meeting
recently in Abuja. PHOTO; Sinday
Aghaeze

www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-is-not-broke-okonjo-iweala/


The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi
Okonjo–Iweala, has assured Nigerians
that the economy is growing positively
in spite of the reduction of oil price in
the international market.
Okonjo-Iweala, who stated this on
Tuesday at the 2014 Ministerial
Platform in Abuja, said the nation was
not broke as being speculated in the
media.

She said, “If you look back two years
ago, that title ‘is Nigeria broke’ was
written in a newspaper article, it is like
people are trying to force Nigeria into
brokerage.

“I think since two years, we have
managed to keep things going, let me
explain these; Nigeria is a country that
depends on a stream of income.
“That income is being able to collect
taxes from companies, individuals and
our income is also based on selling a
product and that product you take to
market and you take whatever price a
buyer is willing to pay.”

According to her, government is doing
everything within its power to ensure
economic stability in the country.
She said presently, government had
been budgeting below the existing oil
price to help build buffers in case of
uncertainty.

She said, “We are operating an economy
that depends on a product that
fluctuates with oil price and we don’t
have the right to control the price.
“Just like you have in your own
household, when the quantity diminishes
or the price drops, you remember in
2007 to 2008, the price of oil dropped
from $140 to $38.

“At that time, nobody asked if the
country was broke because we had
saved up $22bn in the Excess Crude
Account and we were able to continue
spending and to stablise the economy.”
The minister said that presently Nigeria
was faced with fluctuations in quantity
and price of oil, adding that it had
affected the amount paid into
government coffers.

She said, “Does that mean that the
country is broke? We still have
resources that we depend on; we still
have the ability to tax.

“Sometimes, things need to be a little
tighter, easier and we just have to
weather it and manage ourselves but
that does not amount to the country
being broke.”

The finance minister said if government
was not able to pay salaries to people
and continue to manage, “then we can
say that the country is broke but we
have not gotten there yet.”

She urged Nigerians to bear with the
nature of the economy, adding that it
was the reason every effort was
challenged to ensure the economy was
diversified.

Commenting on the management of the
fiscal deficit, she said that the Ministry
of Finance would continue to ensure
that it was kept as narrow as possible.
She said that in 2013, the debt to Gross
Domestic Product ration was 1.4 per
cent and 1.03 per cent in 2014 and
projected to be one per cent in 2015
budget. .

She added that borrowing had been on
the decline and external debt stood at
N1.46tr or 14 per cent of the total debt.
The ministry had adopted prudence to
debt management and Nigeria’s debt to
GDP remained one of the lowest in the
world.

surestsam:
.. booked!

Y?

Breaking News: Minister Inaugurates Nigeria Education Website.
Details here:
www.nairaland.com/1958189/breaking-news-minister-education-inaugurates#

SHARE THE NEWS

Richiez, olawalebabs, Fynestboi, Oga Seun

Good News, Nigerians locally and abroad can now walk freely without be suspected of EBOV.


Off topic:

Breaking News: Minister Inaugurates Nigeria Education Website.
Details here:
www.nairaland.com/1958189/breaking-news-minister-education-inaugurates#

SHARE THE NEWS

@OP, I love your objectivity.



Breaking News: Minister Inaugurates Nigeria Education Website.
Details here:
www.nairaland.com/1958189/breaking-news-minister-education-inaugurates#

SHARE THE NEWS

Breaking News: Minister Inaugurates Nigeria Education Website.
www.nairaland.com/1958189/breaking-news-minister-education-inaugurates#

www.punchng.com/news/shekarau-inaugurates-nigeria-education-website/
OCTOBER 20, 2014 BY NAN


The Minister of Education, Malam
Ibrahim Shekarau, on Monday in Abuja
inaugurated the Nigeria Education
Website: www.nigeria-education.org
designed in collaboration with the UK
Department for International
Development.

Shekarau said that the website would
make access to education information
easy and enhance the quality of teaching
and learning in Nigeria.

Represented by Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala,
the Permanent Secretary in the
ministry, the minister said that the
website was a timely tool in gathering
and making information available to
planners and researchers.

He said, ”I anticipate that this valuable
new resource will inform and contribute
to the important work that we are all
doing in securing improved access to
quality education in Nigeria.

”Our future success is not only based on
the quality of our education system but
also on the ability to generate
information about it.

”It is, therefore, noteworthy that the
website covers information on diverse
areas of education, including access,
gender, governance, quality, and
specifically, teachers.”

He appealed to practitioners in the
sector to make appropriate use of the
facility to enrich their work.
The minister also urged all government
agencies to make appropriate use of the
site to facilitate the achievement of their
objectives.
Country Director, Education Data,
Research and Evaluation in Nigeria,
Prof. Oladele Akogun, an initiative of
DFID, said every data concerning
education in Nigeria was on the website.
Akogun said that EDOREN worked with
the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics and
other stakeholders in mobilising data.
According to him, the website provides
a literature review of basic education in
Nigeria and sorts out information state
by state for easy accessibility.
He said, ”It is designed to generate new
evidence and understanding of how best
to support equitable access and improve
learning outcomes for all Nigerian
children through innovation and the
sustainable development of basic
education systems.”
He also said the project was the first of
its kind in Nigeria and addressed a real
need for access to research on education
in Nigeria.

You are right, but I'm skeptical about the idea of appointing a foreign trainer coach.
Perhaps, it will be a better move appoint foreign football administrators to be in charge of NFF at large and that's when the over haul you mentioned can be feasible.

#noforeigncoach. #giveusforeignnffpresident

49cents:
I am excited to hear the news whether true or not!

Nigeria needs a coach with world class experience and exposure and that's very professional with a knack for managing players without nepostism and based on merits..........sadly I don't see this in any Nigerian coach.......the person I feel may have it is Emmanuel Amuneke.......he, as a player, had a mentality and we can see what he made out of the U17 lads.......maybe he can be sharpened under a foreign coach!!!

NFF must also note that the entire football structure needs an overhaul, for Nigeria to become a true contender for the senoir world cup they have to start to be truthful in age-grade competitions, invest heavily in football academies and re-structur the NPFL especially referr-wisee this way the senoir team will be fed by young, motile and trained players who can match any team in the world

I hereby decalre Tuesday 21st of October, 2014 has public holiday to celebrate this new development.

#gbam

Match Details:

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Date: Monday, 20th October
Kick off: 20:00 BST
Venue: The Hawthorns


Team News:

West Brom skipper Chris Brunt
could be fit to face Manchester
United on Monday despite injuring
his groin on international duty.

Forward Victor Anichebe is a doubt with
a hernia problem.
United captain Wayne Rooney is
suspended after his red card against
West Ham.

Ander Herrera, Chris Smalling, Ashley
Young, Phil Jones and Michael Carrick
are training again and could feature, if
they can prove their match fitness.


Match Previews:

"Judge me after three months,"
announced Louis van Gaal when he
arrived at Old Trafford with Brazilian
sand still between his toes from the
World Cup.

Those three months have passed. Only
three competitive games have been won.
As honeymoons go it has been tough; a
large transfer dowry has been badly
needed.

While many observers have indeed
presented their own 'Three-month LVG
report cards', you could argue that a
glance at United's fixture list suggests
the next month will give a much better
indication as to how the Dutchman
should be judged.

After The Hawthorns, three of the next
four assignments for United are against
Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
All three will be judgement days of their
own.

United spent the international break
inside the Premier League top four -
occupying a Champions League
qualifying spot for the first time in more
than a year.

Victory at West Brom would mean a first
away win in the job for Van Gaal, who
has so far travelled to Sunderland, MK
Dons, Burnley and, most recently,
Leicester without success.

The Hawthorns will not be an easy
destination. Alan Irvine's side have only
lost once in their five home fixtures. The
Baggies have won their past two in front
of their own fans, most recently beating
Burnley 4-0.

United fans will remember Saido
Berahino announcing himself at the top
level just over a year ago by scoring in
successive games against Arsenal and at
Old Trafford.

He was barely a month out of his teens
at the time and only managed a further
four league goals by the end of the
campaign.

A year wiser, Berahino has scored more
goals for West Brom this season than all
of his team-mates combined.
It can take time to settle in - sometimes
more than three months - whether you
are a young English striker or an old
Dutch master.


Match Facts:

Head-to-head

•Manchester United have never lost at
West Brom in the Premier League
(W7, D1).

•There has only been one draw in their
past 18 top-flight meetings at The
Hawthorns - the 5-5 draw in May
2013, Sir Alex Ferguson's last game
in charge.

•West Brom have only beaten the Reds
once in the Premier League (D3, L12).

West Brom

•West Brom have only won two of their
previous 18 Premier League matches
on a Monday (D7, L9).

•The Baggies have only lost one of
their five home games this season in
all competitions (W2, D2, L1).

•They are one goal away from
conceding their 500th in the Premier
League.

•Five of Saido Berahino's six goals this
season have come at The Hawthorns.

Manchester United

•Victory at The Hawthorns would see
United win three consecutive league
games for the first time in 2014.
However they are without a win in
their past five away league games -
their worst run since 2001. It is 18
years since they went six away games
without a win in the Premier League.

•Angel Di Maria has been involved in
six goals in his five Premier League
appearances (three goals, three
assists).

•Robin van Persie has scored four
goals, and assisted two, in his past
seven league appearances against
West Brom.

m.ibnlive.com/news/africas-richest-man-offers-help-to-fight-ebola-in-liberia/507426-2.html



Africa's richest man offers help to
fight Ebola in Liberia

IANS | October 20, 2014 09:47 AM

Monrovia: Nigerian billionaire Aliko
Dangote has expressed desire to assist
Liberia in the fight against the spread of
the Ebola virus disease.

Dangote, a Nigerian multi investor and
an industrialist made the commitment in
a telephone conversation with President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Friday,
according to a statement by the Liberian
government on Sunday.

The Nigerian volunteered to assist
Liberia with medical personnel and
other human and material resources
aimed at containing the spread of the
virus, Xinhua reported citing the
statement.

He promised that his charity
organisation, the Dangote Foundation,
will work with the Liberian government
to determine what assistance can be
provided ranging from medical
personnel as well as other professional
healthcare workers.

President Sirleaf thanked Dangote for
the promised assistance and praised the
Nigerian businessman for reaching out
to the government and people of
Liberia.

www.thisdaylive.com/articles/glo-caf-award-to-hold-in-lagos-jan-8/191738/


The Confederation of African Football
(CAF) has ruled that the 2014 Glo-CAF
Awards will take place on Thursday, 8
January, 2015 in Lagos.

The awards gala will see players and
officials who have distinguished
themselves during the year (2014)
receiving honours for their
achievements.

Legends of the game including the
prestigious African Player of the Year
and winners in 15 other categories will
be unveiled during the Gala night.
Other categories are African Player of
The Year (Based in Africa), National
Team of The Year, Club of The Year,
Referee of the Year and Coach of The
Year.

The rest are Most Promising Talent,
Women’s National Team of The Year,
Women’s Player of The Year, African
Legend, CAF Fair Play Award, Youth
Player of the Year and Platinum Award.
Africa’s finest XI will also be revealed on
the night that will be attended by the
crème de la crème of the continent’s
football icons.

There are also two new categories; Goal
of the Year and Save of the Year, to be
decided by votes from the public.
Ivorian and Manchester City midfielder,
Yaya Toure, was decorated African
Player of the Year for the third time at
the last edition held on 9, 2014 in Lagos,
whilst former Ahly and Egypt talisman,
Mohamed Aboutreika, scooped the
Player of the Year (Based in Africa).

This is the third time Lagos will be
hosting the event after 2008 and 2013.
Previous host cities include Abuja
(2005), Accra (2006, 2009, 2011, 2012),
Lome (2007) and Cairo (2010).
Nigerian telecommunication giant,
Globacom, has been sponsoring the
annual awards gala since 2005.

* ‘My contract expired after the World
Cup in Brazil’

Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency reports

The search for a competent expatriate
to take charge of Nigerian football may
have been narrowed down to Dutch
legend, Ruud Gullit even as there were
speculations that former Germany
captain, Lothar Matthaus, was also been
considered.

Although no Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) official was willing to confirm or
deny these speculations, a top football
source at the Glass House in Abuja at
the weekend gave a hint that Gullit may
be the preferred candidate.
Even top football site,

AfricanFootball.com, also reported
yesterday that moves have been made to
sound out Gullit as the country’s new
coach.

With Stephen Keshi’s exit from the
Eagles job he has been handling on a
temporary basis since the expiration of
his contract at the World Cup in Brazil
last summer, the NFF made it clear that
Shaibu Amodu’s appointment was only
for the remaining AFCON 2015 against
Congo and South Africa next month.

“Nigeria’s contacts in Europe are first to
sound out Gullit whether he will be open
to handle the Super Eagles and if he
would be available,” a top source told
AfricanFootball.com

“It will be only after this contact that
other considerations like the duration of
the contract and the personal terms of
Gullit would be tabled.”

The 52-year-old Gullit last coached
Russian club, Terek Grozny in 2011. He
has most recently worked as a TV pundit
for SuperSport and BBC.

He has coached English Premier League
clubs Chelsea and Newcastle United as
well as Dutch side, Feyenoord and Los
Angeles Galaxy in the MLS.
He led Chelsea to win the FA Cup in
1997 and is best remembered for his
“Sexy Football”.

Meanwhile, Keshi has insisted that he
was never sacked from the Eagles job
because he never had a contract for a
second term from the NFF.

He said that he was surprised on how
the news of his disengagement from
Eagles was disseminated as was sacked.

“I am not happy with the way media
people are reporting this to the public,
because I don't understand how you
would fire someone that has no contract.

“My contract expired after the World
Cup in Brazil, and I never made any
effort for my contract to be renewed
because of so many issues on the
ground.

“I have accepted my fate, and I would
move on with my life, but I want to make
it clear that I was never sacked because
I had no contract,” Keshi told
supersport.com

It has been widely reported that Keshi
had revealed that three African
countries have showed interest in him to
be their national team coach, but Keshi
said that he never said such.

“I have never told anybody that three
African countries are looking for me,
and as far as I'm concerned, no nation
has called me for any talk,” he added to
supersport.com.

The Super Eagles must win their next
two games against Congo and South
Africa to have any chance of qualifying
for next year's Africa Cup of Nations,
and Keshi believes Nigeria would qualify
for the championship.

“I know Nigeria would qualify for the
2015 Nations Cup because we have the
players that can do the job, but they
need a lot of encouragement and
support from Nigerians and I wish them
good luck in their next two games,”
Keshi said to supersport.com in Ilorin.


www.thisdaylive.com/articles/gullit-on-nff-radar-as-keshi-denies-he-was-sacked/191745/

redcliff:
I dont understand why you have to beg for frontpage space..if your thread deserves it, it would. Stop being so cheap..damn..

Kindly take a look at my signature, that's the answer you deserve.

Corpers Wee! Waa!
Are u motivated? Motivated, Motivated Sir
Are u good to go? Good to go, go to go Sir.

If this is true, it's really embarrassing and a serious bash on Nigeria.

Chikena!

If this thread is on FP, this should definitely make frong page.

www.nairaland.com/1956084/happy-80th-birthday-gen-yakubu#27273384

Today is Gen Yakubu Gowon's 80th birthday.

Dear Ikenna351, Afam4eva,
OAM4J and Seun.

A thread about Wande Coal birthday was on FP yesterday, I suppose this post should make FP to celebrate the youngest ever african leader.

*Modified:*

Oh! Thanks for your prompt response moderators. And I really appreciate the edit work you did to make this post a much finer work.

Why Ify receives bashes for this statement is really embarrassing. She seems to have a better understanding of what 2face said.
He refers ladies who are desperate for marriage to his friend, what about those who a not desperado?

IfyAwazie:
Then sleep with the ones that are not desperate. Ok better.

Atk1nson:
NL is starting to look like lindaikeji, what's with all dese showbiz topics making fp?

God bless you for this comment. It's better NL keep to it's own identity.

Good on two baba! You did what many so called celeb can't do, which leads to failed marriage.
www.nairaland.com/1954021/why-celebrity-marriages-fail-experts

Good work @OP.

This thread make it interesting if you take a look at this:
www.nairaland.com/1954021/why-celebrity-marriages-fail-experts

Happy 80th Birthday to General Yakubu Gowon

"General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon (born 19 October 1934) was the head of state (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. He took power after one military coup d'état and was overthrown in another. During his rule, the Nigerian government successfully prevented Biafran secession during the 1967–70 Nigerian Civil War."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakubu_Gowon

"General Yakubu Gowon is a man of history. The history of our country, with its its highs and its lows, cannot be written without the pride of place this great man occupies in it. Much like the US President Abraham Lincoln who presided over a fratricidal civil war to keep the union of the United States one, and then had the historical task of leading the charge to bind his nation’s wounds, Yakubu Gowon came to national and global limelight in a time in which Nigeria’s nationhood was forged through the crucible of fire, a time of conflict and war.

With a lesser man, Nigeria’s destiny might have taken the low, atavistic road of revenge, a descent into a permanent version of Dante’s Inferno. But this fine military officer’s vision led him and his country on a different path – that of reconciliation and reconstruction after Nigeria’s three year civil war ended in 1970." Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu (ThisDay Live)

Happy 80th birthday General! Deo Volente, we shall celebrate again at Gowon @90!

Send Your Birthday Wishes To General Yakubu Gown.

nation.com.pk/international/19-Oct-2014/nigeria-to-have-abducted-girls-freed-by-tuesday


ABUJA: Nigeria aims to have secured
the release of 200 girls kidnapped by
Islamist Boko Haram militants by
Tuesday, a senior source at the
presidency told Reuters on Saturday,
although he declined to comment on
where the transfer would take place.

‘I can confirm that FG (the federal
government) is working hard to meet its
own part of the agreement so that the
release of the abductees can by effected
either on Monday or latest Tuesday next
week,’ the source told Reuters by
telephone.

The head of Nigeria’s military, Air Chief
Marshal Alex Badeh, announced on
Friday that authorities had reached a
deal with Boko Haram for a ceasefire
that would enable the release of the
girls, who were kidnapped while taking
exams in a secondary school from the
remote northeastern town of Chibok in
April.

Officials at the presidency and the
military did not immediately respond to
a request for comment. –Reuters

Boko Haram, which conveys messages in
videotaped speeches by a man claiming
to be its leader, Abubakar Shekau, has
also not yet commented on the
ceasefire. Some Nigerians are likely to
greet claims of a ceasefire with
scepticism after five years of violence.

Since the girls’ abduction, Nigeria’s
military has twice claimed to have
rescued some or all of the girls, only to
back-track hours later.

Several rounds of negotiations with
Boko Haram have been attempted in
recent years but they have never
achieved a peace deal, partly because
the group has several different factions.

The group, whose name translates
roughly as ‘Western education is sinful’
has killed thousands of people in its
struggle to carve an Islamic state out of
religiously mixed Nigeria. Moreover,
Suspected Boko Haram militants have
killed several people in two attacks on
Nigerian villages that occurred after a
government announcement of a
ceasefire, security sources and
witnesses said on Saturday.

In the first attack, suspected insurgents
attacked the village of Abadam on
Friday night, killing at least one person
and ransacking homes, while another
attack on the village of Dzur on
Saturday morning left at least eight
people dead.

Nigeria’s armed forces chief, Air Chief
Marshal Alex Badeh, announced on
Friday a deal with Boko Haram for a
ceasefire that would enable the release
of girls whose abduction in the remote
northeastern town of Chibok in April
caused international shock and outrage.

That's none of my business!


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www.nairaland.com/1954021/why-celebrity-marriages-fail-experts