Security: Jonathan lacks political will, says Afenifere

BY DAYO JOHNSON
AKURE—THE Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, yesterday expressed concern over the state of the nation and asked President Goodluck Jonathan to deal with the myriads of problems threatening the continued existence of Nigeria with “a strong political will irrespective of whose ox is gored.”
In a statement by its leader, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, in Akure, the group said it was disturbed “and constrained to call your attention to the situation for a quick redress before anarchy takes over and the state machinery grinds to a halt.”

Negetive forces at work
Fasoranti who said there were negative forces threatening to frustrate the objective of trying to lay a solid foundation for a successful administration of President Jonathan, however blamed President for not demonstrating the political will to tackle the problems.
Afenifere listed the negative tendencies to included Boko Haram activities such as suicide bombing in parts of the country and strikes by organized labour and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
It said other problems confronting the country, included the Justices Katisna Alu and Ayo Salami crisis rocking the nation’s judicial system, natural disasters like flood, carnage on the roads and the killings in Jos.
Harvest of bad governance
According to the group these problems were harvest of bad governance, saying “these are just too many negative side of the scoreboard. They should be reversed and all of us with goodwill in this country should rise up to the occasion, but with you dictating the pace.
“Our concern is that such attempts at disintegration and undermining development and progress are parts of the challenges to be expected, we are worried that they are not being met or addressed with serious attention they deserve. For instance, we wonder if all these can be happening without the security agencies having inkling.”
Slams FG over Boko Haram
The group slammed the Federal government for allowing “the Boko Haram to take the initiative. Henceforth, we should not blow hot and cold and occasionally let out vital information of our strategy and the likes for them to work upon and forestall us.
They have so far been dictating the pace and taking the initiative thus beating the government to the game. Criminals are now having the upper hand as any success normally recorded encourages them to plan for and execute more dastardly action. No, All these have to stop.
“Terrorism is a statement that something is wrong and there is the need to quickly go down to its root cause, proffer some solutions and deal with the situation with a strong political will, irrespective of whose ox is gored. More than any other time, these events call for a national dialogue on how Nigeria should continue to exist. You just have to demonstrate political will for Nigeria to continue to exit. That was the mandate Nigerians gave you in April 2011 to do less will be a shame, ” the statement added.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/security-jonathan-lacks-political-will-says-afenifere/

Independence: FG declares Oct 3 public holiday

BY VICTORIA OJEME
ABUJA—The Federal Government has announced Monday, October 3, as public holiday to mark Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary, a statement from the Ministry of Interior said Monday.
The statement signed by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji S.B Ozigis, on behalf of the Minister, also wished all Nigerians a blissful independence anniversary celebration.
It quoteACd President. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as urging all Nigerians to continue to fervently pray for enduring peace and progress in the country.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/independence-fg-declares-oct-3-public-holiday/

Amosun swears in first female Chief Judge

ABEOKUTA—Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Monday, called on the Bar, Media, Civil Society Organisations, religious bodies and other stakeholders to rise in the defence of a strong and virile judiciary that will stand the test of time.
The governor who spoke while swearing-in the first female Chief Judge of the State, Justice Olatokunbo  Olopade, charged the new Chief Judge “to provide the right kind of leadership for the State Judiciary and come up with innovative ways of improving the delivery and administration of justice in the state
Amosun who used the occasion to explain that the state had no intention of taking over any school but to ensure that every child in the state had access to education.
, reminded the new Chief Judge, her that “as the very first female Chief Judge of Ogun State, she has become a pioneer and an ambassador to a segment of our population that she cannot afford to disappoint.”
According to the governor, but for the action of the government, about 23,000 children would not have been able to resume school this term.
Amosun told Justice Olopade had inherited from other renowned legal practitioners and jurists a tradition of eminence which she must sustain.
The governor commended the meritorious service of the former Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Oluremi Jacobs, to the state and promised to strengthen the independence of the third arm of the government in the interest of the citizens.
Governor Amosun expressed concern over the recent happenings in the Judiciary at the highest level, saying that they had “far-reaching implications on the confidence of the average Nigerian in our judiciary.”
The government, according to the governor, did not increase tax payable by the civil servants “even by one per cent”. “What we have done is to ensure that everybody in the state complies with the PAYE law, which is a federal statute.”
He explained that workers were not paying the right tax under the previous administration because the latter was not paying the salaries of workers in full.
“Now that we pay in full, even above the National Minimum Wage, it is imperative for all of us to pay our tax in line with the law,” he said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/amosun-swears-in-first-female-chief-judge/

Rep seeks N800bn lifeline for federal roads

By LEKE ADESERI, South-West Regional Editor
LAGOS—Federal House of Representatives has started addressing the terrible state of federal roads nationwide.
Towards this end, Speaker of the House, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, has referred a  motion on the important issue to the House Committee on Works for proper harmonisation and report back to it.
Kick-starting the debate on the need for the House to address the sufferings of Nigerians who use the roads,  Hon. Sunday Steve Karimi, representing Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State, made a case for a Special Intervention Fund in a motion of urgent national importance moved on the floor of the chamber last Wednesday.
He said there must be an urgent move for the creation of an N800 billion Special Intervention Fund to be injected into the reconstruction, expansion and maintenance of the roads, as a way out of the terrible road situation in the country.


He said: “The special fund will be managed by a Special Task Force to be instituted by the President of the Federal Republic.”
The lawmaker lamented the inability of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency,FERMA, to adequately address the challenges posed by the enormity of work the agency is saddled with all over the country.
He said the condition of the roads have gone beyond the palliative measures being embarked upon by FERMA as the roads need total re-construction with full expansion.
“The House notes with concern, the continuous and the embarrassing rate at which the network of roads linking all parts of the country have turned today. This trend has assumed a dimension, which to my mind, this chamber can no longer continue to ignore and I believe we must rise up to this challenge as representatives of our people.
“In many parts of the country today, normal business activities have been completely crippled.
There are daily avoidable deaths on these roads owing to their present state”, Karimi said as he noted that most budgetary allocation for road building, rehabilitation and maintenance, are usually less than thirty percent utilized yearly and most times the fund are returned to the Federal purse as unspent while the funds are never rolled over to the road projects in the subsequent road budgeting.
“The House is also worried that the present zero budgeting, being practiced by the Federal Government, is not in any way helping road construction and rehabilitation in Nigeria, more so that there have not been an alternative funding  outside Government provisions. One is also worried that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme has not yielded the much expected desired result till date.
“The House should mandate the President to create a special intervention fund of N800 billion to be managed by a special task force, working in liaising with the Federal Ministry of Works. The intervention fund will be a rolling fund, specifically for the roads.
“ The Special Task Force will be a creation of the Presidency and should be adequately equipped with engineers and consultants, to act within a limited period of time and will be devoid of bureaucratic bottleneck. The task force will immediately set in motion the process to create ‘quick win’ road projects”, Hon. Karimi said.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6890267152832711033#editor/target=post;postID=1121830170557788073

Troubling news from Africa

Dan Simpson

Now there are pirates to the west and unrest in the south

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

By Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Africa appears to be in the process of throwing up two new alarming problems, one of them piracy on the west coast, to add to that already rampant on the east coast, and generational fracturing within South Africa's ruling party.

A third disturbing problem is that the approach to Africa by the administration of President Barack Obama is becoming increasingly dominated by the U.S. military, in the form of the U.S. Africa Command, created in 2008 during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

AFRICOM's latest maneuver, undoubtedly part of an effort to prevent Defense Department budget cuts in upcoming cost-trimming exercises, has been the claim of its commander, Gen. Carter F. Ham, that al-Qaida seeks to coordinate its efforts in Africa. Gen. Ham's contention is at variance with analysis of other observers. They see the pieces of al-Qaida acting increasingly independently of each other.

Gen. Ham says that the Shabab in Somalia in East Africa, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in North Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria present a threat to the United States as they work to coordinate their activities. He cited no evidence to support his contention.

A quick glance at the map to see the distances between the three organizations' areas of operation, the different characters of their memberships and their greatly varying objectives make Mr. Ham's claim, at best, in need of documentation and, at worst, an indication that he is making his own Africa policy, independent of the rest of the U.S. government.

The piracy problem off the west coast of Africa revealed itself most recently in the hijacking this month of a Cyprus-flagged vessel that was transferring Nigerian oil to a Norwegian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of the small West African state of Benin. It was reported by the International Maritime Bureau as the 19th act of piracy in the gulf this year, as opposed to none last year. Thus, it is a new problem.

Some 10 countries on Africa's west coast, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, export significant quantities of oil, so the risk of more piracy there is high.

Piracy on Africa's east coast, in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, has run nearly out of control in recent years, in spite of the deployment of naval vessels from the United States and many other countries. The reasons are, first, the huge area to be patrolled and, second, the fact that Somalia, which extends 1,700 miles along the coast, has not had a functioning government since 1991.

There is a similarly large area to patrol in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa, but the governments along the coast are more or less functioning, even though most of them have meager if any naval forces. Sketchy law and order in Nigeria is the major issue at the moment.

The Nigerian government has a hard time controlling what happens to its own oil on its own territory, particularly in the Niger River delta where there is serious resistance to central government authority. Its efforts to rein in this problem on land may be one reason for the rise in piracy off West Africa.

Given the number of West African oil-producing states that have a large stake in secure passage of their oil, it seems reasonable to expect them to work together on the problem, even if that means contracting with foreign mercenary firms to patrol the area.

The U.S. Navy should in no case become involved. A large number of American and other nations' ships have been unable to end or even reduce east coast piracy much. Such deployments are very expensive and the United States cannot afford them at this point. Secondly, African oil-producing nations have the resources to tackle the problem without U.S. involvement.

There might be a temptation on the part of some Americans -- including the Defense Department -- to see the U.S. Navy today as somehow like the British Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries as it tried to suppress the Atlantic slave trade. This isn't that. It's protection of oil, with no humanitarian aspect.

We also should get over any idea that we are the British Empire of our times. Think, $15 trillion in national debt. Think, government divided to the point of impotence. Think, rusted American bridges, potholed roads and understaffed schools.

The other new and troubling African problem is that increasingly sharp battles are under way inside South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress.

Since the advent of majority rule in South Africa in 1994, the ANC has until recently maintained power by retaining the distinction between the country's whites and Africans, correctly contrasting the old apartheid days and the new majority-rule epoch. Recent scrapping between Julius Malema, the head of the ANC youth wing, a Sotho-speaker, and South African President Jacob Zuma, a Zulu, in which Mr. Malema has gotten into trouble for appearing to urge violence against the still-economically privileged white minority, raises the specter of increasing antagonism against whites and splits among South Africa's black majority.

These are disquieting developments in what has been a fairly clean model of transition to majority rule in a key country that remains the locomotive that pulls the economic train in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dan Simpson, a former U.S. ambassador, is a Post-Gazette associate editor (dsimpson@post-gazette.com, 412 263-1976).

First published on September 21, 2011 at 12:00 am

post-gazette.com/pg/11264/1176224-374-0.stm#ixzz1Ybxyv4NZ

Nigeria to establish World class Cement Plant next year

By Favour Nnabugwu
Nigeria will next year establish a world class cement plant, Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga has said. Aganga told journalists in Abuja weekend during an interactive session with Commissioners of Commerce and Industry in the country that the establishment of the cement plant would not only create job opportunity for the Nigeria teeming youths, but would as well strengthen  the nation’s economy.
The minister though emphasized on closer collaboration with other ministries and relevant agencies, said this will fast track the transformational agenda of Mr. President on the nation’s development.
In his words: “I want to emphasis here that rather than being jack of all trade, we must focus on areas where we have comparative advantage and develop them to  world’s level. About 95 per cent limestone is used in cement production and this we have in abundance in this country. That is why the Federal Government is doing everything possible to ensure that come next year, Nigeria will establish the largest cement plant in the whole world.”

He also said Nigeria has comparative advantage in the area of iron ore for mining, coal, gold, oil and gas, and of course, agricultural and agro allied products.
While emphasizing  the need for collaboration among the three tiers of the government, Aganga enjoined relevant agencies and parastatals to work together with the ministry to achieve this feat.
“Mining is one area the world economic leaders are making it big right now. My ministry is already collaborating with Japan and other countries abroad in ensuring that our iron ore minerals are adequately explored. We are working with the ministry of agriculture, mineral resources and others in ensuring that within the shortest time, Nigeria will be great producers of all these resources.
“I have said this before and I can make bold to say it again that we can not achieve this great feat alone. That is the essence of this meeting where we will put heads together to ensure that things work out.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/nigeria-to-establish-world-class-cement-plant-next-year/

London 2012 Olympics: Minister wants Egbunike on a long term contract

By Tony Ubani, Maputo
Sports Minister, Yussuf  Suleiman has given his consent to hire ex-international, Innocent Egbunike on a long term contract that would see him revive and rekindle Nigeria’s athletic prowess of old.
Egbunike was brought to Maputo, Mozambique to assess the performance of athletics and do an appraisal to the National Sports Commission which in turn would assess him through his works to see if he merits being contracted to be part of the technical heads to tinker athletics for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Athletics redeemed Nigeria and accounted for 10 gold medals that lifted Team Nigeria from its 8th position in the medals table. But the times returned by the athletes were no where near what those who would run at the Olympics return.

The great Egbunike who excited souls with his run alongside Chidi Imoh, Sunday Uti, Henry Amike, Olapade Adenikan, Moses Ugbusien, Mary Onyali,  Tina Iheagwam, Falilat Ogunkoya, Yussuf Ali, Henry Amike among others in the days that athletics almost competed with football  in terms of  popularity is expected to turn in his report in Abuja.
Chef de mission to the 10th All Africa Games held in Maputo, Yakmut Alhassan said that they held useful meetings with Egbunike and expect him to submit his appraisal of the Games to them.
“The Minister, DG and myself held meetings with Egbunike. I must inform you that the Minister is of the opinion that he should be engaged in a long time contract that will give him chance to revive the sport and bring back the lost glory days of athletics”, Yakmut said.
“We want the best for the country and that is why we brought him. We expect him to submit his appraisal for the Games and then other things will follow”, he noted.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/london-2012-olympics-minister-wants-egbunike-on-a-long-term-contract/

Blame Boko Haram on judicial corruption – NBA

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday, insisted that the root cause for the Boko Haram menace was the inability of the judiciary to provide authentic, credible and realistic justice to Nigerians.
The association in an address it presented before the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher in Abuja, equally maintained that, “there is a growing perception backed up by empirical evidence that justice is purchasable and it has been purchased on several occasions in Nigeria”, adding that “no wonder why assassination, unresolved killings and terrorism are on the rise.”
While tasking the new CJN to redeem the battered image of the judiciary with a view to regaining the confidence of Nigerians on its integrity, the NBA, observed that Justice Musdapher, took over the mantle of leadership of the judicial sector, “at a time when the credibility and image of the justice delivery system has been severely dented.”

Reading the speech at a special court session held at the Supreme Court yesterday to herald a fresh legal year, the National President of the NBA, Chief Joseph Daudu, SAN, said the legal body would soon submit to the CJN, a comprehensive blueprint on the way ahead for the justice sector in Nigeria, adding that “the attainment of justice in its purest and undiluted form is what humanity and the good people of Nigeria demand and deserve.”
He said: “If for any reason, any sector of the justice delivery system is found wanting, then, urgent steps must be taken to redress the problem, where the reforms or restorative steps are successful, history and posterity will not forget whoever the leader of the reform process is.
“The events that led us to this point are known to all. Leaving the issues that are sub-judice, there are question marks on the ability of the judicial system to deliver justice rooted in the universal principles of the Rule of Law and constitutionalism.
“Several factors of which the most dominant is corruption have been identified as the bane of progress in the Nigerian judicial system. It is clear that all is not well.
“We are however of the view that your lordship must be given a clear unhindered opportunity to, at least, lay the foundation for change and reform.”
“That your lordship has until July next year to engineer this transformation is not a disadvantage but is indeed a positive sign. The advantage is that a reform agenda that has progressed beyond the stage of conceptualisation confronts your lordship.
“The judiciary is not only the last hope of the common man: it is the only hope of all men and women, rich or poor who are bound by a common destiny. Modern democratic society as we know it today will cease to exist where confidence is lost in the justice system. No one wants to return to those dark days of autocracy and dictatorship.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/blame-boko-haram-on-judicial-corruption-nba/

WHO to certify Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

THE World Health Organisation, WHO, and other international agencies have concluded plans to certify Nigerian Pharmacuetical manufacturers so that it can embrace global standards and best practices.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, the Chairman, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, PMGMAN, Mr. Bunmi Oloapa said many positive developments have occurred in the sector.

This, he said, include the recent commissioning of two new factories by Juhel Nigeria Limited in Awka, Anambra State and May & Baker Pharma centre in Ogun state.

He said Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Health has secured technical assistance from WHO/UNITAD towards attaining WHO pre-qualification.

Eight Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers are benefitting in the first phase. This was a major breakthrough which will facilitate the process of attaining international certifications for Nigerian companies.

Apart from WHO/UNUITAD, Olaopa said technical assistance from other partners such as West African Health \organisation, WAHO, and United Nations Development Organisation, UNIDO, are expected.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/who-to-certify-nigerian-pharmaceutical-manufacturers/

Why The Terrorists Are Winning In Nigeria -TheNEWS

Posted: September 18, 2011 - 14:45

Posted by siteadmin

caption: National Security Adviser, Andrew Owoeye Azazi

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja

 Mutual suspicion and lack of cooperation among the intelligence agencies are reasons for Nigeria’s failure to curb activities of terrorists.

With two successful suicide bomb attacks on high profile targets in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, members of the Yusufiya Islamic sect, popularly known as Boko Haram, cannot be accused of exhibiting unnecessary chutzpah when talking about their deadly feats. Indeed, if the group’s sole intention is to demonstrate its capability, it could not have chosen better targets than those it has launched attacks on so far. Louis Edet House, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, where the group first demonstrated its ability to carry out suicide attacks, on 16 June 2011, is the headquarters of the Nigeria Police. The building straddles the Three Arms Zone where Aso Presidential Villa, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court are located.
The topmost echelon of the law enforcement agency have their offices in the multi-storey building and Hafiz Ringim, the Inspector-General of Police, who was the prime target of the attack, barely escaped being killed by the suicide bomber. But about a dozen others were not so lucky. The United Nations building, Area 10 Abuja, on which the group launched another successful suicide attack on 26 August, was considered one of the most secured premises in the FCT, with its elaborate regime of screening visitors. The building is just a stone’s throw from the heavily fortified embassy of the United States of America. “Of course, our objective is to place Nigeria in a difficult situation and even destabilise it and replace it with Sharia. Whether we will conduct such Islamic government or not is a different issue,” one Abu Qaqa, who claimed to be a deputy to Abu Zaid, the spokesman of the group, told an Abuja-based newspaper. “The UN represents unbelief and they support the Nigerian government whom we are fighting. Attacking the UN is like a process of cleansing, just like what Allah says in Surah Tauba 9 Verse 14,” the spokesperson told the newspaper. Boko Haram gave the same reason for the attack on the global body in interviews with some foreign radio stations immediately after the blast which claimed 23 lives.
The sect, also known as Jama’atu Ahl-Sunnati Lil Da’awati wal Jihad, had earlier exclusively given the details and photograph of the suicide bomber used in the bombing of the Police Headquarters to the publication. Qaqa said the attack on the UN was carried out with a stolen Honda, driven overnight from Maiduguri to the federal capital by one Mohammed, a 27-year-old panel beater popularly known as Abul Barra within the sect. He claimed the bomber had bribed his way through the numerous checkpoints mounted by different security agencies to get to Abuja. “There is a large number of our brothers, all eager to carry out suicide missions because of the abundant reward that awaits the person. So, we decided to introduce balloting to avoid disharmony among us, and Abul was lucky to be chosen to carry out the attack,” the spokesperson, who claimed that there are hundreds of trained suicide bombers waiting to carry out similar missions at different targets, said.
Terence Mc-Culley, the American Ambassador to Nigeria, was quoted by The New York Times as describing the attack on the UN building by the sect as a “paradigm shift”, adding that “it suggests Boko Haram has upped its game, if you will. It seems to show it wishes to expand its scope beyond the domestic.” When asked if the strongly fortified US embassy located in the same vicinity could be a target, the Ambassador said: “It would be foolish to consider that we are not a possible target as well.” Boko Haram had indeed listed the US embassy, the National Assembly and the Aso Rock presidential villa as its prime targets for future attacks.
The successful bombing of the UN has especially spawned concerns in diplomatic circles as many of the Ambassadors rue the fact that Nigeria may have joined the league of terrorist countries. Thus, many of the diplomatic missions have embarked of feverish review of their security arrangements. For one, unlike before when they relied on private security guards, most of the diplomatic missions in Abuja now have well-kitted police officers in their premises. Some of the embassies, led by the United Kingdom, are also implementing new security measures, especially relating to access to their premises. President Goodluck Jonathan tried to allay such fears when he received Park Young-Kuk, the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in his office last Wednesday. The President told the Ambassador that relevant authorities are working hard to check the activities of terrorists in the country, and assured diplomats and other foreigners living in Nigeria that government would not relent in its efforts in this regard. He added that terrorist activities were strange to Nigeria, and so posed immediate challenges to the security agencies. The Police and Olugbenga Ashiru, the Nigeria Minister of Foreign Affairs, had also assured the diplomats of their safety. But the anxiety is not limited to the diplomatic corps.
As many Nigerians feverishly condemned the terrorist act in as strong a language as possible, they also did not hold back in censuring the security agencies for the lapses that enable the sect to carry out the act. Not a few believe that the security agencies have been sleeping on their watch even as terrorists take over the nation, with bomb attacks becoming a regular affair in some areas of the country. The attacks have since 2010 become so routine that it takes a hit on a major target now to be on the front page of national newspapers. While government officials led by the President and the heads of the various security agencies have consistently said they are “on top of the situation”, a phrase usually accompanied with assertions of determination to “bring the culprits to book”, after any successful attack, there is nothing to justify that they are living up to that promise. Rather, it is members of the militant sect that have demonstrated, time and time again, their ability to strike at any location and target of their choice at any given time. The attack on the Force Headquarters for instance, occurred less than 48 hours after the Inspector-General of Police promised to eradicate members of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri. The Police had promised hell for the group and its members immediately after the attack, even as they promised to unravel the brains behind the bomb blast that resulted in the death of about 10 people. But there was no tangible evidence that the Police lived up to this promise, as what was subsequently witnessed was an intense deterioration of the security situation in Maiduguri especially, and some areas of Bauchi State where the group is also active. In the months of May, June and July, for instance, bomb blasts were virtually a daily occurrence in Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State, resulting in deaths of scores of people.
There were also bomb attacks in parts of Bauchi State and a series of explosions in Suleja, a suburb of Abuja where scores of people were killed in the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on the eve of the April presidential election. As a result of the deterioration in the security situation, the Federal Government, some months ago drafted over 3000 men of the Nigerian Army to parts of Borno State where members of the sect are very active, to support Police efforts. But rather than alleviate it, the security situation worsened as a result of attacks and counter-attacks between men of the military task force and suspected members of the Boko Haram sect. Even with the presence of the Joint Task Force, not less than 60 lives were lost to bomb attacks attributed to the fundamentalist sect in a space of three weeks between June and July. Operations of the Task Force have also been riddled with allegations of violations of human rights. Soldiers have been accused of descending on the people living in Maiduguri, ransacking their houses, assaulting or arresting the occupants on the excuse of searching for members of the sect, especially immediately after the group successfully carries out an attack. Some residents have also complained of being assaulted on the road by soldiers.
In a press release signed by Aminu Sani, its chairman, the Borno State branch of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, demanded the investigation of alleged cases of human rights abuses and punishment of security personnel found to have carried out such acts, while asserting that “security challenges require intelligence operations not over-militarisation of the society, massive, indiscriminate and arbitrary arrest without justification.”
On the other hand, the Task Force authorities have also accused some residents of Maiduguri of accommodating and allowing members of the group to use their houses as escape routes after any attack. Concerned by the general sense of insecurity in the country, principally precipitated by the indiscriminately planted improvised explosive devices and gun attacks by members of Boko Haram, the Senate had last June summoned the Inspector-General of Police and other security chiefs to brief it on measures being taken to tackle the problem. This was after the successful suicide attack on the Police Headquarters. Security chiefs present at the three-hour closed-door meeting with the senators included General Owoye Azazi (retd), the National Security Adviser; Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Pentirin, Chief of Defence Staff; Hafiz Ringim, and Ita Ekpeyong, Director-General of SSS. The security chiefs took turns to brief the lawmakers on what they were doing to tackle the security challenge posed by the dissident Islamic sect. “At the end of the day, I can say with certainty that the security chiefs have assured Nigerians that they are on top of the situation and that these challenges, particularly, the challenge of Boko Haram, will be curtailed sooner than later,” Victor Ndoma-Egba, the Senate Leader, who spoke to journalists after the meeting said of the impression members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly got from the briefings by the security chiefs. It however seems as if the security chiefs have gone to sleep after their meeting with the lawmakers. This is because, in spite of their assurance, the fundamentalist sect has continued with its campaign of killing and maiming, using improvised explosives and gun attacks, especially on officials of the security agencies.
The inaction of the agencies culminated in the attack on the UN building on 26 August. “We are, however, deeply worried at the growing spate of bombings in Nigeria and the apparent inability of the Nigerian security agencies to effectively handle the situation,” the Trade Union Congress, TUC, said in a statement in which it also condemned the attack on the global body. “This attack is a wake-up call on the Nigerian government to take security matters much more seriously,” said the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. However, five days after the attack on the UN building, the SSS released a statement indicating that it had prior information that an attack by the fundamentalist group was in the offing in the FCT.
In the statement signed by Marilyn Ogar, its spokesperson, the intelligence agency disclosed that it received information on 18 August that members of the dissident sect were planning their second attack on a location in Abuja. The security agency, in the statement identified and declared wanted one Mamman Nur, who it said has links with global terrorist group, al-Qaeda, as the brain behind the attack. “Investigation has revealed that one Mamman Nur, a notorious Boko Haram element with al-Qaeda links who returned recently from Somalia, working in concert with two suspects masterminded the attack on the United Nations building in Abuja,” SSS said in the statement. The agency identified the car used for the attack as a Honda car with registration number AV38NSR, purchased on 3 September 2002 and registered on 3 December 2002. The agency said it swiftly moved into action to stop the attack and efforts of its officers led to the arrest of two men – Babagana Ismail Kwaljima and Babagan Mali – who the agency said had ties to Boko Haram and were planning the attack. The security agency however did not state how it arrived at the conclusion that they took part in the attack plot. In the absence of such information, the claims of SSS have been met with disbelief in some quarters. “If the SSS said they have the information, who did they shared it with?” queried a security source. “If the SSS cannot use the information to prevent the attack, of what use is it for them to go public with it now?” he added. Azazi, the National Security Adviser, who is supposed to coordinate all security issues in the country, also told a national newspaper that he was not aware of such information. Even the Boko Haram sect has disputed some of the claims of the SSS.
The fundamentalist group told the Abuja-based newspaper referred to earlier in this story, that contrary to assertions by the intelligence agency, the attack on the UN building was directed by one Abubakar Sheku, who it described as the leader of the sect. Qaqa admitted that the two men in the custody of the SSS are members of the sect, and that Nur who was declared wanted has always been part of the various actions carried out by the group. “We planned the attack under the command of our leader, Abubakar Shekau, so why declare Nur wanted now when in actual fact he has been part and parcel of all what we have been doing from day one? Are we not all wanted ever since? Nobody was arrested in connection to this particular attack. If they have arrested some of our members, it is a different thing, but this attack was planned like every other attack,” he said. He however agreed with the SSS that members of the group are in alliance with the global terrorist organisation, al-Qeada. The attack on the UN building, he said, was carried out to impress the al-Qaeda of the seriousness of the Boko Haram sect. “Our relationship with al-Qeada is very strong. In fact, our leader, and his team were in Mecca for the lesser Hajj to consolidate on that relationship. And we carried out the attack on the UN building when he was about to go into a meeting with al-Qeada leadership in order to consolidate our position.” This is not the first that the sect will be contradicting the position of the intelligence agency. Boko Haram had similarly dismissed claims by the SSS that it arrested about 100 of its members in the aftermath of the attack on the Police Headquarters.
Last Tuesday, SSS in a statement also announced that it had recorded a breakthrough in uncovering the brains behind the series of bomb blasts in Suleja, Niger State, with the arrest of six men who it described as members of the militant Islamic sect and discovery of a factory where bombs used in the attacks were assembled. The agency said it has established that the arrested men were behind the attacks and will soon arraign them in court for the crime. But critics have argued that it is not the job of the SSS to arrest and parade suspects. Rather, the job of the agency should be to gather intelligence that can be used to prevent such attacks. Worse still, there have been little efforts seen towards prosecuting the various suspects the intelligence agency claimed it had arrested. “Did they not say after the bombing of the police headquarters that they arrested some Boko Haram members? Where are they? Which courts were they prosecuted? These people are reducing governance to a child’s play. They are making us a joke to the whole world. Is this how a serious government should respond to this kind of national embarrassment, national carnage?” an enraged General Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, asked.
There have been subtle insinuations, however, that the retired military officer is either sponsoring the group or the group is sympathetic to him. Though no government official has yet come out to level this charge against Buhari, it was gathered that some leaders of the security agencies are pointing accusing fingers at him based on some statements he made just before the 2011 presidential election in which he emerged as runner-up to President Jonathan. Investigation by this magazine however revealed that one of the major hindrances to the effectiveness of the security agencies is mutual suspicion and infighting among the leadership.
Former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida had in 1986 through Decree 19, dissolved the octopus National Security Organisation NSO, replacing it with three separate entities under the Office of the Co-ordinator of National Security: State Security Service, SSS – responsible for domestic intelligence; National Intelligence Agency, NIA – responsible for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations and; Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA – responsible for military intelligence. These are in addition to the Nigerian Police. Activities of the various intelligence agencies are supposed to be coordinated by the National Security Adviser, NSA. The various agencies are also supposed to share intelligence among one another and coordinate their responses to such intelligence. But, it was gathered, this has not been possible as a result of undue rivalry and quest for “personal glory” at the topmost levels of the agencies. The lack of teamwork, said a source, was responsible for the failure of the agencies to prevent the UN building attack, though information about the plan was received nine days before it was carried out. Azazi confirmed this when he denied receiving any report that Boko Haram was set to attack the UN building in an interview with The Guradian: “I did not receive a specific report. Ask the SSS. There was nothing like that… Critics should be able to produce evidence that such a report was received.”
The newspaper had also in another report indicated how 14 reports prepared under the leadership of Afakriya Gadzama as Director-General of the SSS which detailed activities of Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the Boko Haram sect killed in Police custody in 2009, were neglected by former IG Mike Okiro. The newspaper reported that one of the 14 untreated reports contained a series of intelligence and dossier on Malam Yusuf. Though Ogbonna Onovo, Okiro’s successor, inherited the reports, it was doubtful if he did anything about it until the 2009 uprising of the group which set off the present crisis in Maiduguri.

Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar, former NSA, had also, in 2009, reportedly issued a strongly worded query to the Director-General of NIA, Ambassador E.O. Oladeji, over the failure of his office to share information it had on Umar Farouk Mutallab, a Nigerian currently in the custody of the US security agencies, on allegations of trying to bring down an America-bound aircraft with a bomb. “From all indications, it seemed that your Agency had prior knowledge of a report, said to have been made by Alhaji Umar Mutallab about the tendencies of his son, Umar Farouk, towards radicalisation, which was manifested in the incident leading to his arrest in the U.S.
“It is really unfortunate and sad that knowledge of such an important intelligence issue could not be brought to the attention of this office, or the weekly Intelligence Community Committee Meeting (ICCM). It was this failure that led to the unfortunate incident we are grappling with now,” the ex-NSA said in the query titled: “Alleged Involvement of Umar Farouk Mutallab in an Attempt to Bomb a U.S. Airliner.”
Mukhtar added: “The report if circulated within the ICC would have alerted the Security Agencies at our Travel Control Points (TCPs) to take appropriate required action that would have led to his arrest, before boarding the KLM flight from Nigeria, thereby pre-empting the sad incident.” The lack of cooperation and mutual suspicion among the heads of the intelligence agencies however transcends the sharing of information.
This magazine learnt that another source of friction between them is the control of the budget allocated for specific projects designed to enhance national security. It was gathered that some of the leaders of the security agencies were not happy when the funds for installation of CCTV cameras around Abuja were given to the IG in the aftermath of the bombing at Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja in December last year. There are also allegations that the present NSA is relying too much on the military, hence the hasty deployment of soldiers to the streets in response to bomb attacks.
Sources, however, indicated that the Azazi’s predecessor as NSA cannot be absolved of blame. It was gathered that the the issue of al-Qaeda affiliated cells in the North-East part of the country was pointed out to former President Olusegun Obasanjo as far back as 2006. It was noted for instance that Boko Haram, termed the “Nigerian Taliban”, had been operating in the clear since 2005 when General Aliyu Gusau (retd.) was NSA. The former president was said to have in turn asked Gusau to investigate the issue. But Gusau, according to reports, told Obasanjo that no such group existed in the country.
It was gathered that the same issue of Taliban presence in Nigeria was raised with the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in July 2007. “Goodluck Jonathan became President of Nigeria upon the death of Umaru Yar’Adua in May 2010. Former NSA Aliyu Mohammed Gusau was once again made National Security Adviser. Gusau could not possibly have missed the threat of Boko Haram. If his security operatives failed to raise the matter in their reports then the public statements released by Boko Haram and printed verbatim in Nigeria’s national newspapers should have raised questions from the NSA, if not alarm,” said Steven Davis, a public commentator. “The handling of the Boko Haram matter while Gusau was NSA resulted in a dramatic escalation in the conflict to the stage that it threatened the nation’s security,” he added.
Recent information from leaked diplomatic cables published by Wikilealks also indicated how traditional rulers from the Northern part of the country ensure that those arrested for being members of the Boko Haram sect in 2007 were not prosecuted. The traditional rulers, it was indicated, had piled pressure on the intelligence agencies to get the suspects released to them on the excuse that they were going to change their orientation.
Beyond the blame game, analysts said, what is need is a radical overhaul of the Nigerian security agencies. “First, we need to prioritise intelligence gathering, processing and utilisation in our security operations. Two, rather than see this as an avenue to make money, security agencies must intensify joint operations rather than solo efforts. Three, political leadership must not give the impression that impunity is the rule, rather than the exception on this matter,” Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Ekiti State, said of the measures needed to tackle the problem. “There are too many free spaces in Nigeria, with over 1,500 unpoliced border entries that serve as veritable sources of nefarious external operatives with internal collaborators,” Fayemi added. President Jonathan had also said his administration is embarking on the redesign of the Nigerian security architecture in response to the new security challenge.
Last Tuesday, the President also convened a special National Council of State meeting to discuss the various security problems the country is facing. The National Council of State is a statutory body whose membership comprises the President, Vice-President, former Heads of State, Governors of the 36 states, former Chief Justices of Nigeria, the incumbent CJN, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the NSA.
While briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, the NSA, with unusual candour agreed that the nation’s security forces were not prepared for the challenges they are being confronted with now. “The problem is that we were not as a nation prepared for this new level of terrorism,” he said. He was however quick to add that the various agencies are reviewing their operations and fashioning new tactics, following the Boko Haram bombings and killings, while warning that “the security challenges are here to stay.” He added that “to solve crime, sometimes, you need a national identity database; we are trying to put that together. We are talking of putting up a strategy on protection of critical national infrastructure.”
He also agreed that there was need for the security agencies to improve their working relationship as well as their interface with the general public. “We agree on the use of technology and you don’t acquire those things overnight. Issues like registration of SIM card are properly effected; we talked about border control, how to help the Immigration to make sure that there is proper border control; we talked of security in maritime environment. Those issues were addressed,” Azazi said of some of the key points agreed upon at the meeting.
However, some analysts have argued that there is little the country can achieve until the constitution is amended to allow for the setting up of State Police. In the same vein, it has been argued that the problem of Boko Haram cannot be solved until the socio-economic conditions that gave rise to it are addressed. “I think we’d like to see Nigeria take a more holistic approach,” said McCulley. He added that the way the uprising of the Boko Haram sect was put down in 2009 may have resulted in the present escalation. The American Ambassador therefore suggested that the government “address the grievances” of the northern population on economic and social matters as a way of tackling the problem of the militant group.
The 29 August killings in Jos was another sign of the failure of intelligence. Critics wondered why the federal government’s intelligence network did not foresee and pre-empt the attacks by fighters from the Christian and Muslim sides.
According to a critic in Jos, the attacks always follow the same pattern: assailants creep in at night, using the same weapons.
While it is good to deploy military to Jos and other scenes of crime, this fire brigade show of force has consistently failed as was the case with Bauchi. Therefore, analysts want a proactive approach to finding solution to the crisis in Jos and other epicenters of fracas.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/why-terrorists-are-winning-nigeria-thenews

‘Jonathan may be Nigeria’s last president’

Northern Killings: After 20 yrs  research, Rev Thompson declares: Jonathan may be  Nigeria’s last president
Reverend Oladimeji (Ladi)P. Thompson, founder and Senior Pastor of Lagos-based Living Waters Unlimited Church has, for over 20 years, followed the activities of terror groups in the North. He is also the international co-ordinator of Macedonian Initiative, a non-government, non-denominational organization established to provide succour to Christians persecuted because of their belief in Jesus Christ.
Immediately after the UN House bombing, our SAM EYOBOKA and UDUMA KALU approached him for his comment and the answer is that Boko Haram may break up Nigeria. Excerpts:
You said since 2000 you have a clear vision…
First of all, my warning was to the church leadership . I moved on to the secular world and I found out that it’s going to be difficult, so I did not go there any more. But the truth is that Goodluck Jonathan may be the last president of Nigeria. When I was saying this, they sounded very far fetched to believe.

Reverend Oladimeji (Ladi) P. Thompson

What is helping Nigeria right now is that the people who sponsor what is supposed to happen in Nigeria have been kept busy themselves for now. People like Muammar Gaddafi who used to come to Kano unannounced and unofficially regularly; there are different axis all over the world who are involved in what is happening in Nigeria. For example, the UN House in Abuja was not the handiwork of Boko Haram.
You may say what do I mean? One, there is nothing like Boko Haram. The word Boko Haram is a word created by the Western Media to explain Yusufua Maiduguri. Yusufua is just one out of 26 radical groups that are operating within Nigeria.
The western press, to make it readable to the western world, created the word, Boko Haram. Haram means forbidden and Boko is corruption of book. They have not burnt any university. They have not killed any professor, nor harassed any institution of higher learning.
What they are out for is very simple. Number one, not to Islamise but an Islamic Nigeria, a Nigeria where there is no plurality of religions, but one religion; a Nigeria in which women will be oppressed always, a Nigeria in which they will eradicate democracy. They have scored success in many nations of the world before our own. You only need to go and do research and you will find out.
Uthman dan Fodio and Shehu of Borno
Nigeria’s problem started since 1955 or 1956. It is an ancient problem. The problem with Nigeria’s own is that before the global resurgence of terror, Nigeria had an ancient streak that started in 1774 when Uthman dan Fodio entered Maiduguri. He was lecturing in Islam doing very nice and quiet and the Hausa people embraced him and were happy with him because he was teaching their children.
They didn’t know that he was radicalising their children at the same time. While he was radicalising the people at that time, nobody knew. He even instructed one guy called Yoeofa, the son of the king in Islamic way. When Yoeofa was being taught by Uthman dan Fodio, he said dan Fodio was a good and nice teacher, but dan Fodio noticed that the taxes were high; that they were not purists.
The predominant Islamic force in Nigeria then was the remnant of Kanem Borno Empire. You will find out that the Shehu of Borno, who was actually supposed to be the spiritual leader of Islam in Nigeria, was displaced by dan Fodio because dan Fodio in 1804 declared a Jihad.
It was tough then and they were coming towards South. There were three things that stopped dan Fodio. Number one, El Kanemi, a Borno man who said, ‘I am a Muslim but I don’t understand this religion that involves killing of Muslims as well.’ And have you noticed that they have also started throwing bombs in mosques in Nigeria? El Kanemi rose and he was able to put a stop to the advance of Uthman dan Fodio.
Secondly, the arrival of the British and they had what they called Maxim gun, and in 1903 or 1904 Sokoto and Kano fell. There was armed resistance and in 1906 there was an uprising in Mali which arose just like bin Ladin’s but it didn’t last long. The British decimated it. They were able to kill a few British nationals. All the emirs had waited then, saying if he (the Malian) succeeds we will join him, but when they saw the British crushing him, they went underground.
Thirdly, Ilorin was taken but the Jihadists couldn’t advance further because of the forest belt. They have an advantage of cavalry; when they were coming to South, they had an advantage of horses but when they hit the forest belt, their horses couldn’t proceed. That is why you find that Ogbomoso, Osogbo, that buffer zone is where the rivers spread and the violence was not heavy.
Jihad under colonial rule
The truth is that during the colonial years, the British made one mistake in which they used indirect rule. Lugard personally promised them that he would not allow the Mauguzawas to be introduced to Christianity. Majority of people in northern Nigeria, when the British came, were not Muslims. They were animists and the Mauguzawas, who automatically, because of indirect rule were recognised as Muslims. It is an ancient creed, a very smart creed—very difficult to detect. War can go on even in peace time.
They shifted to consolidate under the British rule; smiling at the British while consolidating their code for the whole of Northern Nigeria. The moment the British wanted to leave, because they appeared nice to , the British made a miscalculation which is what is destroying them till today. What the British did was to devise a formula and hand over power to Northern Nigeria and create a political formula by which Northern Nigeria ordinarily should forget about one Nigeria.
Jonathan, Yar’Adua and Northern power blocs
This last time, whether by the name of Goodluck and by the pattern of his life that was disrupted, for the first time in Nigeria, we had about four or five presidential candidates from the northern part of Nigeria and they couldn’t agree on one.
Had they agreed on one, all these things would not have happened. Olusegun Obasanjo came because of the pacification of the South West and after him, the North could have held on to power for ever, but immediately, it shifted back to the North. You know what happened to Yar’Adua. The late Yar’Adua was the Mutewani Katsina (holder of the Emirate’s treasury).
The Emirate and an Ancient Dream
What Nigerians don’t know is that there is an existence underneath the Federal Government structure in which an ancient dream is kept alive by a core of radicals who teach their children why they should not see Nigeria as one. And because it is not a formalized education, it’s not written down anywhere.
It’s difficult to detect but they tell their children that southerners should always come to pay obeisance. ‘We are their rulers and there is only one religion’. You find that when Yar’Adua was in Katsina state, he was a devout Muslim to the core. There is a radical call from Katsina because it is the centre of learning; they’re purists.
When he was to become president, I was alarmed because I knew what his sentiments were, but somehow he did not last long and Goodluck stepped in. Goodluck should not have become president this time around but for the fact that northerners could not agree on a consensus candidate. If they had agreed on the formula left for them by the British colonial heritage, there would have been no argument.
Sheik Gumi, Islamic Banking and Jonathan
In 1955 ‘or 1956, in the Hajj Camp in Saudi Arabia, the Nigerian flag was burnt because the flag had a Star of David on it. One of the contributors of what you are seeing today was late Sheik Gumi, a clever man who never denied where he was going. If you remember, he was the one who declared that over his dead body would there be a Christian ruler in Nigeria.
That was just a tip of the iceberg. One of his boys who converted from Islam in those days, they put fatwa on him. He had to escape to Kano and the Federal Government used all state apparatuses to hunt for him. They beat him till they felt he was dead, but the Christians later found out that he still had life and he later escaped to Ghana. All these sentiments have been there but we are the ones who close our eyes and pretend as if they were not there. There is a radical cult at the centre.
Islamic banking we are talking about today, Gumi was part of it. So, all the noise that people are making at the last moment is pattern of what they have been doing because there is a pattern in which it will work.
Christians in Northern Nigeria
Ask people like Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola, His Eminence Sunday Mbang and those who had headed CAN, they will tell you how many young girls were kidnapped annually in the North. Your children can’t go to schools; it is either you fake their names to a Muslim name or there is no promotion.
Progression of the Ancient Dream
All these things have been there and we pretend as if we don’t see them. But they are there, well established in all those states. The movement behind it is a very intelligent; they are slow in their tactics and facts. The progression in Nigeria was that by the time they have swept through the Northern states and consolidated the North…the normal thing is that you push non-Muslims away from the city centres. So most northern cities today that have any sizeable Christian number are divided into two. Why? Because there is a time to come when they will launch an attack unless the Christians agree to live under a status where they become a third class citizen. This issue is not only in Nigeria; it is a global thing.
Islamisation of Nigeria
Nigeria has done about 65 per cent, it only has about 35 per cent to go. People are only shouting Plateau State but I pity Plateau State young men because they are falling into a trap till now.
Foreigners on Plateau
Plateau State people think they are doing something but they are wasting their energy by responding with vigilante groups. I have seen a lot of foreigners who are coming into Nigeria with their own silly theory when they don’t understand what is going on here. Last week, I was in a place where one of these British consultants was talking on how Plateau indigenes were just killing Muslims. They are only managing information in which the international press is looking at Plateau as blood-thirsty people. And Nigerians know that they are the most peaceful people in Nigeria, ordinarily.
Camps in South South, South East
This same thing has entered Makurdi in Benue State and it is coming down South. Whether you like it or not, there are camps and places where people are being trained in the South South and we now have more Igbo Muslims in Nigeria than we have ever had in this country. Why? They have quietly entered through sponsorships, spending money. There is one school in Afikpo where people are offered scholarships and given free food. As soon as you adopt the Islamic religion, you will be sent out of the country to radicalise you more. In the South South, there are militants milling around in the name of petty traders.
The truth is that they have taken advantage of everything and that is a weakness for us. While we were sleeping, when we didn’t know a lot about these people …
Islam in Bauchi
Look at the Bauchi nurses in 2001 who were sacked because they refused to wear hijab. What I am saying is that a medical doctor, S.Y Sabo, who was in charge of Federal Medical Centre, Azare, knew that he was not just a medical doctor but also there to establish something. You can duplicate this in all the places.
Do you remember what happened to Gideon Akaluka on the streets of Kano? Is it normal to parade the head of a fellow human being on the stick and dance round town jubilating? And since all these things happened, has anybody been convicted in Nigeria? You want to know why? It is because Nigerian institutions are riddled with spies and wolves who believe in that future; and the truth is that Nigerian leadership doesn’t have the moral courage to face up to the fact that from the police force to intelligence services, to education, to sports, the institutions are filled with people who are fighting the war quietly.
Including the Judiciary?
If you are talking about the judiciary, let me ask? Which rule of law is the uppermost in Nigeria? Nigeria has the British law that we inherited. Then we have the Common Law, the Customary Law and the Sharia Law. Which one is uppermost in Nigeria? If the Nigeria Constitution is uppermost, a former governor in Nigeria married a 13-year- old girl. He paid $100,000 for her, smuggled her into Nigeria from Egypt. According to the laws of Nigeria, is that a crime or not? Will you agree to live in a country where a full grown serving senator can marry a 13-year old girl? We all sat down to watch what would happen when some people came up to say that it was an Islamic affair, a religious affair and not a democratic issue. What happened to the case eventually? So what has been proven now?
Nigeria’s mistakes
Now, what are the mistakes we are making? This thing is creeping in and because of the ancient one that started earlier and the emergence of the international one ,they are now woven together. About six or seven years ago, in 2001, a bomb exploded in a church in Lalanto in Jos. Bomb making literature had been coming to Nigeria for more than 10 years. It’s just that initially ,it was blowing off their own hands and legs and it was being explained away. But gradually, they have mastered it now. Before, the problem was how they would co-ordinate the activities of 26 Islamic sects with each one having its own leader and different ideas but western countries have solved the problem for them, by creating the name Boko Haram. Unlike before when an individual sect had its own ideology, now Boko Haram has created an umbrella through which they all work. By being stupid and playing into the hands of the western media, they made our case worse. So they are now making more progress and even bolder than they could get before.
The reason why Uthman dan Fodio was able to overthrow Hausa kings was because there was a lot of corruption in the Hausa Kingdoms. There was a lot of oppression and poverty. There was no home for majority of them. There was no hope for the future then.
There is little hope for the future now. A house full of intellectuals, deceive themselves that there is a future. And that is why the average intellectual does not have the reality on what Nigerian life really is. Many Nigerians youths are crossing deserts on foot to escape Nigerian life. That is a pointer for you on what life looks like in the country.
Is the invitation to foreigners to assist us a true way out of the problem?
We have to be very careful. Immediately the UN House was bombed, Nigeria ceded its authority and it was not right for Nigeria to cede its authority. A lot of countries have similar problems and many of them are looking up to Nigeria to see how she would solve the problem to help their own countries. Now, in Nigeria a lot of intelligent strategies have just been just bullshit, they are unwise. At every step, we bring in our soldiers to level (destroy) towns.
Ordinary Boko Haram with 1.6 million members held Nigeria Army and Police Force for almost three weeks. Nigerian youths are impoverished, education is gone, and we are the second highest in the world’s infant mortality, maternal maternity, second highest in the world. It is a curse for you to be pregnant in Nigeria, that is what it means. It is better for you to go to Ghana or Cotonou, next door and have your children than to have them in Nigeria.
In all indices by which you measure a state, Nigeria cannot score pass mark in any area. Human life value is very low. A woman was butchered by soldiers in Gombe, till today no compensation. The governor, Danjuma Goje made it impossible for the case to be tried in the state. It was all by collusion. If you like, let’s keep deceiving ourselves here that things are well. The infiltration is already noticeable in Calabar, in South East and in these areas we have the problem of tribal divide. No consensus. The youths, almost 75 or 80 per cent of the country, are impoverished, they are disenfranchised, and they have no inheritance. The people who stole their inheritance, their great grand fathers are still alive—all the generals who are arguing against each other. The monies their grandchildren should spend they stole.
Outside Assistance, CAN Chairman
This one has an agenda and a motive. They are schooled somewhere, well funded locally and internationally. Unfortunately for us, the international funders right now are busy but once things are settled in the Middle East, more funding will come back to Nigeria. When the president of CAN called for the arrest of that general, uninformed ignorant people whose children may be slaughtered in future decried the position of the CAN president. As a special adviser to the CAN president, I can tell you that he has more information in his hands than he is allowed to speak to the public.
But whether you like it or not across all the northern states, the number of people killed in order to bring Jonathan Goodluck to power is maximum casualty figure we have never seen in Nigeria before. He rode him on a lot of bloodshed. The pattern of the killing even before the result was announced, the killing had started in the genera’s name. When the CAN president called for his arrest, he was not joking. It is just that the government lacked the moral courage to do what is right. They incited people. It was pre-planned, pre-medicated obviously and if you look at the target of the killing, as usual, you cannot say it was political. Even if you bring them out for political reason they will still do what they want to do. Isioma Daniel (who was your colleague) when she made a comment on Miss World, which buildings were burnt? Most of them were churches. What has a journalist’s comment on Miss World to do with maiming and killing of people. We are pretending as if this thing is not there but it is mopping up.
UN building bombing and Boko Haram
It was assumed that it is al Qaeda that bombed the UN building. It is more in consonance with al Qaeda. What Nigeria should have done is to first of all examine the explosives used and the methodology of the explosion—because every device has its own signature—and check it maybe it is in consonance with the more primitive ones that they mixed with internet instructions. The truth is that it is not the handiwork of Boko Haram. If we continue to call them Boko Haram, we are uniting 25 to 26 Islamic sects. We are encouraging their unity and helping the foreigners who are funding them to make their work fast. We should break away from calling them Boko Haram and the Nigerian Press must stand up to wage a war against their western counterparts, accusing them of neo-colonialism. If they can create an Islamic battlefront in Nigeria, they will come in from all around the world and Nigeria will fracture and the world will go on, just like Sudan for many years. Their vision is global. There are lots of radical preachers all over the county, they will teach freely for years and nobody ever disturbs them. They are protected by their governors and commissioners of police.
Do you think that it is in the interest of the west to create chaos in Nigeria?
If you are having problem in your country and the people causing problem in your country can move away from your country to another side, would it be in the interest of your own county to encourage the people of that country to learn their mistakes and turn their own land to a fertile ground. They will sell ammunition to both sides. Look at Libya, what is happening is a very interesting scenario. But my fear is the compromise of Nigerian interest. My own insistence is that whatever is going to happen to us, whatever co-operation we are going to have international with anybody; we don’t want Nigeria to be represented by bananas who will just throw away the national interest without even knowing what they are doing.
What do you mean?
Look at the UN Building bombing. The place has now been sequestered. Our inadequate facilities, our security systems, obviously, are highly unprepared for this kind of thing and they have yielded it to foreign government. Before you call in foreign assistance, you must think properly and think well. Because of the absence of enough intelligence to handle the problem we are now surrendering, but we should surrender with caution, because one or two moves like this, Nigeria will become the worst of. What makes you think that the nation’s security apparatus is not infiltrated? I will like you to go and supply me the list of Nigerian national security advisers from independence. If you can give me that list, let us sit down and scrutinise the lives of every one of them, their utterances in private, not in public; their business interests, their links all over the world. Someone put Nigeria in OIC single handedly. Are there not radicals in Nigeria who have been walking free simply because the orders come from above that nobody should arrest them? Who are the people supporting this no-arrest order? You better let people know what we are up against.
You think President Jonathan is incapable of handling this?
A farmer does not depend on good clock to bring about good harvest and food for us to eat. If a tailor depends on good luck to sew your cloth, when you are looking for a shirt you will end up with a dress. If a farmer does not look for good luck to give us to feed the nation, and a tailor does not depend on good luck to sew cloth, when it comes to certain matters good luck has its limitation. Instead, wise planning and intelligent thinking is what is needed. It’s not true that IGP is incompetent as people have been saying. We have a situation where the IG himself is more or less a junior to some of the commissioners of Police serving under him. Remember that some people stayed behind with the intent of helping him, are all of them loyal to him? Do we know where the loyalty of some of them lies? Is it possible for him to have as free hand with the kind of command he’s asked to handle? Is he given a free hand? The moment you politicize anything that had to do with security, you have fractured the chain of command. So, whereas, he may be a very competent officer but the structure he was asked to perform with may not help him.
Is that not enough reason to resign as people are calling on him to do?

You will have to interview him on that. Is it easy to resign? If he is your uncle will you ask him to resign?

What is the way forward out of the current logjam?
The leadership must first of all find the moral courage to understand the reason why we are prone to these things more other countries; to face the problem, diagnose it and call it by its real name so it can treat it. If leadership does not do that we are going to slide to the morass faster. That is one. Number two; this new problem, in other countries nobody is relying on old methodologies. In some countries, they call a new kind of war, because there is no text book answer. As I speak right now, all over the world, intelligence experts are just writing the text books to match this menace of terrorism, because it is a resurgence that has not be seen in many centuries. So, coming up with military intelligence to come and answer this problem is a waste of everybody’s time; coming up with DIGs to come and answer this, is a waste of everybody’s time. What we need is leadership with innovative thinking; people who can think out of the box; who understand the cultural, religious, political and the radical aspects of what we are talking about here; people who know how to recognize the different phases and to handle all the phases with equanimity. I give you an example; one of the things that making this thing spread faster is the lack of a consensus in Nigeria. The Chinese Constitution is about 2,000 words; the American is about 4,400 words but the Nigeria Constitution is in excesses of 74,000 words. Nigeria has never had a real constitution. What we call a constitution is not representative of the Nigerian people. There is no common agreement. The best country that Nigeria to align with right and it is going to be done with utmost wisdom, is USA—the only country that has had the same kind of history and experience and was successful to a point. They were also colonized by the British. Every offer that was given to Nigeria as we transited to independence was also offered the Americans but they rejected all. All the problems in the Nigerian foundation can find solution in the American history. There is something called the American declaration of independence, Nigeria does not have the equivalent of it. What is written there is very simple but very powerful, and you can build the country on it: “…All men are created equal before God and everybody is entitled to the pursuit of happiness….”
That is why you see that nobody jokes with liberty in the US. If you have 10 heads, everybody is equal. Three revolutions were fought by the Americans, all based on the original agreement. In Nigeria, is there any such document that says we are all equal and that everybody is entitled to the basics of life? We do not know the power of such words. America was able to overcome its colonial experience and build their nation properly. Nigeria is yet to that. We must work with America with caution, but there is a lot we can learn from them.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/jonathan-may-be-nigeria%e2%80%99s-last-president/

Man survives attack by ‘assassins’ sent by wife

By Ifeanyi Okolie
For 43-year-old Vincent Omeje, this was not what he bargained for when he tied the knots with his wife, Chidera twelve years ago. The Nsukka, Enugu State- born trader was attacked by five armed men who stormed his apartment at No. 10, Awka-Etiti Street, Comfort Obot, Kirikiri, Lagos and gave him a beaten of his life. In fact, his attackers left him to die from serious injuries he sustained thereafter.

He was however lucky as his they left him when they thought he was dead. Shockingly, the man who led the five armed attackers to his home, was the younger brother to his wife, and he allegedly ordered his goons to snuff life out of his in-law.
Narrating his ordeal to Crime Guard from his hospital bed, Mr. Omeje said; “It started early this month when I returned from a trip to Abuja and when I got home, I discovered that my wife had allowed her siblings into our home and they were not ready to leave any sooner.
After waiting for some days for them to pack and leave back to their homes, I realized that they were not even ready to go. So, I was left with no other option than to ask them to leave.


Vincent Omeje



But that wasn’t quite easy, my wife and her sisters started raining all manners of abuses and profanities on me. Their father also called in from the village threatening to deal with me even if I ran to Nsukka, my home town. I sent my in-laws away because they didn’t tell me before coming to my house and it was improper for them to jump into my house with out my consent.

But while I was still dealing with these issues, my wife’s younger brother, Ogechi Erigbue, called and asked how he could see me. I told him I was on my way home and he should meet me there if he wants to see me.
When I got home, he called again, I told him I was home and he could come. Then he came and sat in the sitting room and when I met him and I asked what he wanted, surprisingly, he told me to my face that he was sent by his parents and siblings to deal with me.
Before I could ask what their reason was, about five men jumped into my apartment and immediately one of them holding a machete struck it at my face and I slumped on the ground, and blood was gushing out furiously from my face.”
Continuing he said; “These people did not stop at that, they kept on hitting me with the machete all over my body and my little daughter who was the only one at home was crying seriously.
When they continued with the beating, even while I was on the ground, I pretended as if I was dead and I laid still. They felt satisfied and ran away. When I was sure they had gone, I crawled out of my apartment and started shouting for help. Some neighbors who heard my voice ran out and offered some assistance.

CP-Akali

First they took me to the police station, where I made my report and later on, they brought me to the hospital.

And while in the hospital, I was told that my wife came to check if I was still alive and she went home and called her brother, informing him that I was still alive and he should leave the state immediately.

I was also told that she had changed all the keys in our shop where we sell food stuffs and she also hired vehicle to park away all our properties from my house. However, the Police at Kirikiri swung into action and succeeded in arresting her.
They also were able to stop them from making use of the towing van she intended using to remove my car. This is not the first time I have been attacked by either my wife or her siblings. We have been married for over 12 years and we have three children.
But my wife and her siblings have always wanted me dead because of the progress in our business. I am sure she had planned to eliminate me so that she and her siblings will take over all our properties. All her siblings have no means of livelihood
. They all depend solely on her. Even my brother in-law who led the attackers into my house also does not have a job. Sincerely, I was tired of all this and I needed to put a stop to it. That alone has made them attack me severally”.
Meanwhile, police sources at the kirikiri station, told Crime Guard that they have arrested the wife, Chidera Omeje.
According to sources, “we started trailing her after we got the report. We went to her shop and discovered that she had locked it with a new key and we also learnt that she was trying to park out of the house with her properties and the husband’s car. We laid siege around the house and succeeded in arresting her.”

4 policemen accused of stealing N5m from Bureau de Change operator

Ikeja – A Bureau de Change operator  at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Alhaji Isiaka Tahir, on Friday accused four police men of  stealing his 20,000 pounds (about N5million).
Tahir in Lagos on Friday, said the incident happened on Thursday  while the  police men were from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
He said  his employee was stopped by a team of  RRS personnel  at about 11.00 a.m at the access gate of the domestic wing of the airport.
Tahir, whose  office is at the Hajj Camp, said he gave the employee the 20,000 pounds to deposit in his (Tahir) account at the Allen Avenue branch of  AfriBank,.
“On his way to the bank, I put a call through to him that he should return back to the office for me to add additional 450 pounds.

“The boy made a U-turn at the access gate and some RRS men stopped him and demanded why he was riding a motorcycle without a number plate,’’ he said.
According to Tahir, his employee explained that the motorcycle was newly brought and  it was the first time it was being taken out.
He further said: “ They refused and demanded to know the owner of the motorcycle.
“ All this happened in the presence of the airport traffic policemen at the access gate and they even intervened and told the RRS men to allow the boy to go.
“ At that point, the RRS men demanded for money from the boy.
“ While  the  boy was trying to  give them, they forcefully took the motorcycle and the errand money  from my employee and rode it toward  the Oshodi axis of the airport.’’
Tahir said he went  to the Hajj Camp Police Station in company with  a policeman at the scene of the incident to report the case.
Tahir said the RRS personnel were sighted  in the process of  lodging another  complaint at the Beesam Police Station inside the airport.
“We pursued and caught up with them, but unfortunately, by the time we checked the compact safe  of  the motorcycle, the money could no longer be found,’’ Tahir said.
Tahir recalled that police personnel  had severally  waylaid Bureau de Change operators and disposed them of  their funds.
The Lagos State Commander of  the RRS, CSP Hakeem Odumosu,  expressed dismay at the incident, describing it as “ unfortunate. ’’
Odumosu, who said  the RRS  had  no jurisdiction within the  airport’s  environs, promised  that the matter would be investigated.
He said:  “What were they doing at the airport? It’s wrong for them to operate within the environment, but they can pass through the area.
“I can’t specifically confirm this allegation  now until we have carried  out our investigation into the matter. ’’
Also speaking on the matter, Mrs  Bisi Dawodu,  a Deputy Commissioner of  Police attached to  Beesam Police Station, confirmed the detention of  the RRS  personnel.
She said   investigation into the matter was still on. (NAN)

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/4-policemen-accused-of-stealing-n5m-from-bureau-de-change-operator/

15 die of gastro-enteritis in Sokoto

BY ABDALAH EL-KUREBE
Sokoto – Fifteen people have so far died as a result of an oubreak of gastro-enteritis in six villages in Wurno Local Government of Sokoto State in the last 20 days.
Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Shehu Chacho who revealed this in an interview told Vanguard that the local government council had spent about N1.3 million on procurement of assorted drugs and water treatment chemicals for use in the affected areas.
Chacho said that the affected villages included Tungar-Dankawu, Ruga, Kagara, Mahici, Lahodu and Gidan-Bango.
According to him, about 336 cases were reported in the villages before the situation was brought under control. He added that the state government as well as Doctors Without Borders (Medicines Sans Frontiers –MSF) complemented efforts in bringing the situation under control.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/15-die-of-gastro-enteritis-in-sokoto/

Cholera: 11 dead out of 947 cases -Oyo Govt

BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN-OYO State Government Wednesday said the total number of suspected cholera cases so far reported was 947 with 11 dead, saying Oyo North Senatorial District had the largest number of victims.
This came as the immediate past governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala accused the government of negligence over the cholera epidemic ravaging the state for about six weeks.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Bosun Oladele and the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Lateef Olopoeniyan, who made the clarification, explained that to curtail the spread the government fumigated all the affected areas and sent intravenous fluid to affected persons.

The commissioner for health said, “”Available data to the State Ministry of Health indicated that there are only 947 cases of suspected cholera that reported between June and September 2011 throughout the state. Out of this number, 67 per cent of the cases were from Oyo North Senatorial district, 27.7 per cent from Oyo South and 5.49 per cent from Oyo Central.”
Giving breakdown of the victims, he said the epidemic was more severe in Saki West where 359 cases were reported, 280 in all 11 local government areas in Ibadan land, 252 in Irepo and Ibarapa North 17 cases.
According to him, government had taken about four measures to ensure that the epidemic did not wreck further havoc, saying the steps include containment, case management, prevention and support system.
Meantime, former governor Akala speaking through his spokesperson, Prince Dotun Oyelade accused the government of negligence.
In a statement he said the flood disaster merely compounded the epidemic and he asked the government to concentrate on this emerging health hazard instead of dissipating energy on its cover-up.
The former governor said institutions including the University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH) voiced out their concern, saying “government is glossing over the issue.”
He alleged that that Ajimobi’s much-touted Free Health Mission was meaningless “when thousands of our people have fallen victims with many unrecorded deaths while government pretends it is nothing unusual. Let the Governor publicly encourage cholera victims to report to designated hospitals for free care today and he will be shocked that he has another crisis in his hands. The UCH, Ibadan, Adeoyo, Ring Road etc are awash with desperate cholera patients, let the government put in place an emergency plan instead of looking the other way”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/cholera-11-dead-out-of-947-cases-oyo-govt/

Pupil sues teacher for N500m

By Gabriel Enogholase
BENIN—A 10-year-old primary four pupil of Okhoro Primary School, Okhoro, Benin, Edo State (names withheld) has instituted a N500 million suit against her teacher, Mrs. Mercy Iyobosa, before a Federal High Court, Benin, for allegedly beating her with a broom, which caused blindness in her left eye, over failure of a Mathematics test.
Joined as defendants in the suit are Edo State Universal Basic Education Commission, SUBEB; Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEB, Edo State Government, and Egor Local Government Education Board.

The pupil is praying the court to declare that the accusation of witchcraft and flogging/beating with a big cane and then a broom by her class teacher for failing a Mathematics test amoun-ted to physical, emotional abuse, maltreatment, punishment, cruelty, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.
She is further contending that the action of her class teacher has grossly violated her fundamental right to respect for the dignity of her  person as guaranteed by Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, among others.
She also wants the court to hold that the blinding of her left eye by her teacher, after the beating, while acting as an agent/servant of the other defendants, amounted to physical, emotional abuse, maltreat-ment, punishment, cruelty, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and consequently a violation of her fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ACT, and Section 11 of the Child’s Rights Act, 2003.
She is claming N100 million jointly and severally against the defendants as general and exemplary damages/compensation for the excruciating pains, suffering, slander, humilia-tion, inhuman and degrading treatment and discomfort she suffered.
She is also demanding an additional N400 million jointly and severally against the defendants as general and or exemplary damages/compensation for unlawful and unconstitutional blin-ding and eternal loss of her left eye, future pains, inconveniences and suffering.
The pupil wants the court to award another N175,000 jointly and severally against the defendants as special damages for the medical and other expenses that she has incurred.
since the incident.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/pupil-sues-teacher-for-n500m-over-loss-of-eye/

Kano workers on strike over minimum wage

Kano- Government activities in Kano State were paralysed Monday following an indefinite strike embarked upon by workers over the non payment of the new minimum wage.
The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, on September 9, directed all employees of the state to embark on an indefinite strike on Monday over the non implementation of the new National Minimum Wage law by the government.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, found that workers at Audu Bako Secretariat complex failed to come to work as its gates were locked.

The complex is occupied by some ministries.
Similarly, Gidan Murtala, where the ministries of Water Resources and Education are located, was empty as only few junior workers were seen outside the gate discussing.
Representatives of labour leaders were also seen going round government ministries and agencies to ensure that all workers complied with the directive to stay at home.
NAN also observed that most of the commercial banks in the state also remained closed while the few that operated offered skeletal services.
Meanwhile, the state government invited the labour leaders for a meeting, scheduled to hold at 2p.m on Monday at the Government House, Kano.
A source said the Head of Service and some senior government officials are expected to handle discussions.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/kano-workers-on-strike-over-minimum-wage/