Customs warehouse in Ikeja raised down by fire

Nigerian customs service warehouse lost billions of naira due to a fire outbreak. The fire started at 11pm on Friday night April 22nd and burnt into the next day April 23rd. According to a source who witnessed part of the incident, the cause of the fire was an electrical issue from a class room located on the top floor of the warehouse for training officers.

The source said it started from a computer that wasn't switched off properly and sank the decking into the warehouse which caused the fire and caused the loss of billions of naira in goods that were seized by customs.

Fire service operators were at the scene but couldn't control the situation due to inadequate water supply.

Fortunately, all gallons of groundnut oil which would have escalated the fire, rice, soap, clothes and some many other items, had previously been moved to IDPs within the last week.

I handed over a Nigeria that produced Africa's richest man – GEJ

Former President Jonathan has listed as one of his government's achievement, the emergence of a Nigerian, Aliko Dangote as Africa's Richest Man. Jonathan stated this while speaking to Friends of Africa Coalition at the office of the Mayor of the City of Newark in New Jersey on Thursday April 21

"I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of cement.
In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa. These are but a few of the parameters that illustrate some of the economic transformations we engineered during my term in office. This was made possible by the fact that there was a stable political leadership in Nigeria that did not have to pander to any other constituency except the electorate who brought me to power. And these actions have a contagious effect.”

Suicide bomber kills himself after a failed attack in Borno

 A male suicide bomber died after a failed attempt to attack Ummarari community in Borno state this morning. According to a statement from the Nigerian Army, the suicide attack was foiled by the vigilant Troops of 7 Division Garrison Forward Operation Base (FOB) and the Civilian JTF. Graphic pics after the cut...

The suicide bomber detonated the strapped Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vest on his body, thus killing himself instantly when he was forced to halt based on suspicion that he was carrying suicide bombing material. No other casualty other than the suspected suicide bomber. Very graphic photos of the suicide bomber after the cut...

'I will be king of Nigeria if I win the FA Cup' - Watford striker Odion Ighalo

Super Eagles of Nigeria and Watford FC of England striker Odion Ighalo has bragged that he will be dubbed 'king of Nigeria' if he wins the F.A Cup.

Watford alongside Everton, Man U, and Crystal Palace are in the semi- finals of the English F.A Cup with Watford's game to be played on Sunday, and Ighalo says winning the F.A cup will be an illustrious end to the season after rejecting a £10m move to China last year.

 

''I chose my dream first before money,” 

“Though I am not rich, I am blessed,” Ighalo, a devout Christian, says. “I know in the future I can make more money if I do well so I keep cool. I want to prove myself.'' Ighalo told The Telegraph UK.

“I believe in God and I prayed when I faced that situation. I am happy that I turned it down and it’s really helped me grow as a person. Yes, it was big money. A lot of money. But I want to keep going in my career. This is a dream come true so to leave the Premier League and go to China was not the right thing.

“And I know I can earn good money here if I prove myself. Maybe other offers will come, maybe with even more money but I have four more years of contract here after this season and I am happy. I’m improving. When I joined Watford I thought they had what it takes to get promoted to the Premier League. That’s why I joined. I wanted that opportunity.”

“If I win the FA Cup then I will be going back like a king! King of Nigeria!,” 

“The fans want it and we want it.

“This is a big competition here in England. Now we are safe in the Premier League and although we want to do better this semi-final is a very big thing. It’s a chance for people to have a look at us and understand how we have done.

“Not every team in the Premier League can win it but they can win the FA Cup. No-one gave Watford a chance of being where we are today but we are there now and it’s possible for us to win and go to the final.”

He added: “As a footballer it is all the more special because it is played at Wembley, a great stadium, the great stadium of English football and one that I have not played in before. So that means a lot.

“The fans are happy also because they can say they will have a team in the Premier League next season and they have this semi-final.

“If we play the way we can play we will be able to give them a final to look forward to as well. It would be a dream come true.” 

“I watched the finals – I remember big teams like Manchester United and Chelsea playing at Wembley so it means a lot to me to have the chance to get to a final,” Ighalo says. “And I’ve never played in a cup final before, not at any level, not even as a boy, never.”

Ozil “Amazed” By Iwobi’s Arsenal Progress

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has admitted that he has been left “amazed” by the impact of Alex Iwobi at Arsenal since breaking into the first team.
The Super Eagles star has earned plenty of new admirers since breaking into the Arsenal first-team this season as Arsene Wenger’s team fight for a top four finish and Champions League qualification.
Iwobi has been a regular starter in the Gunners side in recent weeks, with the 19-year-old having scored two goals and made two assists in 14 games in all competitions for the north London club this season.
And Ozil, who has been getting used to lining up alongside Iwobi in midfield, admits that he has been thoroughly impressed by the Nigeria international’s impact.
“Alex Iwobi has amazed me with the way he’s performed for the first team recently,” Ozil told Arsenal Magazine.
“When I consider his age and that he’s come through at a club like Arsenal, I think he’s on a good path.
“He and other youngsters prove themselves in training, they are good on the ball.”
Both Ozil and Iwobi will be hoping to feature when Arsenal take on Sunderland in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Hiddink Expects Hazard Back For Bournemouth, Terry Still Out

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink on Friday confirmed that midfielder Eden Hazard could make his return to the side that take on Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
The playmaker has been sidelined for six weeks with a hip injury but Hiddink at his press conference on Friday revealed that the Belgian could play some part when they face the Cherries.
"He'll travel, it's not for the whole game, I think," Hiddink said.
"He's available. He was training very alive and that's a good signal."
Hiddink then added that captain John Terry will travel with the team to the Vitality Stadium for the match but is not yet fit to play.
"I like people to be with the team. John is very committed. He was annoyed about his injury and desperately wants to be with the team," Hiddink added.
Asked whether Terry who has not played for Chelsea since March 19 due to Archilles and hamstring problems needs to play to persuade incoming coach, Antonio Conte, to hand him a new contract, Hiddink admits that could help the 35-year-old's situation.
"It might be important as well. But its not a stress situation for both," he said.
Chelsea are in 10th place with 44 points while Bournemouth are 13th with 41 points.

WAEC to stop amendment on certificates in 2017

The West African Examinations Council says it will stop amending the date of birth and other entries on the certificate of candidates from January 1, 2017.

The council, therefore, advised candidates to take advantage of the opportunity to review their entries while registering for the West African Senior Secondary School Examination on the council’s portal or obtain affidavits from the courts of law.

In a statement on Thursday, the council’s Public Affairs Officer in Nigeria, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, said the development was part of measures to curb examination malpractice.

 He added that all requests for amendment of any information on bio-data could only be considered during and after registration.

“We have observed with chagrin the volume of requests for amendments by candidates as well as the fact that it could be an opening for examination malpractice hence the need to stop the ugly trend. Moreover, where a candidate detects any error in his/her date of birth after the certificate has been printed, he/she will be advised to obtain an affidavit from a court of law as a support to the certificate.

“The council has included in its registration portal, a secondary opportunity for candidates to confirm the correctness of all their entries in the date of birth box. In addition, all requests received prior to the above-stated effective date will be treated on their merit,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has urged school owners to prepare their pupils ahead of external examinations to reduce the incidence of malpractice and the attendant sanctions.

    The council sanctioned no fewer than 30 secondary schools in the state over their alleged involvement in examination malpractice during the 2015 May/June WASSCE.

Speaking at the Living Stone College, Ogba, during a tour of schools in the on-going WASSCE, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Olabisi Ariyo, said the state government had sent out officials to pay unscheduled visits to schools during the examination.

She added that the move was to reduce examination malpractice to the barest minimum.

 “I urge all school owners to maintain a good standard of education by grooming their pupils properly before the examination rather than resort to helping them to cheat. Quality education that will ingrain in the leaders of tomorrow, the virtues of hard-work, self-confidence, truthfulness is the desire of the state government,” she said.

Ariyo also promised that the state government would support all initiatives to prevent a recurrence of the last year ugly incidence.

FG must punish Zakzaky, he wanted to start a sect deadlier than Boko Haram – Brother

Malam Sani Yakubu, the elder brother of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Shiite movement, has called for thorough probe of activities of the sect.
Speaking with Daily Trust, he recalled how the group began its activities.
“The Shiites have spent about 30 years conducting their activities. They are the first religious group that introduced the ideology of Boko Haram in Nigeria. In the 1980s, under the leadership of Ibrahim (Zakzaky), they made many students drop out of school.
“Many graduates were made to destroy their certificates and many workers were made to leave service all in the pretence that Western education and working in the civil service are same as worshipping another God than Allah. It was later in their development that they realised their mistake and began to enrol in schools, civil service and even military, police and other professions that are related to government.”
On his relationship with Zakzaky, Malam Yakubu said it used to be cordial until “we realised that he was deep into the creed of Shiite.
“I particularly ceased to relate with him. I took that stand after all efforts to make him realise the danger of what he was doing failed. I and our elder brother did our best, but he ignored us.
“When Ibrahim graduated from School of Arabic and Islamic Studies (SAS) Kano, he started writing letters to different countries especially China and Iran. He developed interest in relating with China largely because China had revolutionalised her economy through agriculture and moved her people out of hunger.
“Iran was responding to his letters by sending their books to him; trying to lure him into their creed of Shiite. Because of that, he turned his attention to Iran, especially after the Ayatollah’s revolution in 1979. They started having meetings in England every year, before they moved their meetings to Iran. When Iran attained certain level of development, he sometimes travelled there twice in a year.
“When we saw that, we decided to start counselling him, particularly with our teachers, Malam Sani Abdulqadir and Malam Usman Maccido. This is because even at that time we know that Shia is not Islam. Based on that, we sat him down to tell him the implication of what he was doing. He kept saying that he was not into Shi’a that he was only into struggle for revival of Islam.
“This started in early 1980s. When we realised that he would not listen, largely because it involves a lot of money, we left him alone. But our elder brother, Malam Abdulqadir Yakubu, did not stop counselling him. In fact, about a week or so before their clash with the Army, our elder brother wrote him. In the letter, he told him that what they were doing is not part of Islam.”
Malam Yakubu said the fate that recently befell the Shiites was the outcome of their sins and their confrontation with Allah.
“It is even good for them, particularly their leader, for him to repent. Another issue about them is that they don’t respect authority; be it the police, military, judges, Islamic scholars and even traditional rulers.
“They don’t listen to anybody provided one is not a Shiite. What happened to them should serve as a warning for them to repent. They brought it upon themselves. Anyone among Muslims who is sad with what happened to the Shiites is a hypocrite.
“The way I ceased my relationship with him, it is the same for my wives and children. There is nothing that is linking my family with his. He doesn’t have my mobile number and I don’t have his. Even on the road, we don’t greet one another.
“My appeal to the government is to undertake a thorough investigation on Ibrahim and other arrested Shiites. If they are found guilty, they should be made to face the wrath of the law.
“From my understanding, the Shiites under Ibrahim wanted to take over the government because all their activities were towards that. If they fail to overtake government, their intention was to form a militia, to run a powerful, parallel government.
“Their intention was to amass weapons and have trained personnel to enable them attack anyone they wish, especially those that are not in their good books. Unfortunately for them, Allah descended on them. We were even lucky that they have not amassed much weapons from Iran, otherwise their uprising would have been much more devastating than that of Boko Haram.
“If you can remember, some years back, the government intercepted their weapons in Lagos, but the matter strangely died. The weapons were from Iran and there is no-one in Nigeria that Iran would give weapons to, except the Shiites. This is why we understood that the weapons were meant for them.”

Fayose’s letter to Chinese govt

Permit me to react to the letter written by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State to the Chinese Government seeking the stoppage of the S2bn loan being sought by the Federal Government as reported by The PUNCH newspaper of Friday, April 15, 2016:

This is unthinkable for a person of Fayose to write on behalf of Nigerians to rubbish the government at the centre simply because he wants to be popular or to debase the party in power. No nation is an island without depending on another. No Nigerian is against the negotiation the Federal Government is making with the Chinese government save the saboteurs pulling down the government of the All Progressives Congress.

 Where was Fayose when the Peoples Democratic Party was dolling our money to the party stalwarts? Instead of pulling Nigeria down, he should proffer solutions to move Nigeria forward or better still, should go and think on how to survive the allegations surrounding his election by the PDP that is about swallowing him any moment from now.

Buhari has no intention of making Nigerians suffer – Bovi

Bovi & Red Carpet host Matilda Duncan

Popular comedian, Bovi Ugboma, better known by his stage name Bovi, has pleaded with Nigerians to be patient and allow the Buhari-led government implement its plans and agenda for the country.
He said there hadn’t been any government Nigerians didn’t have to groan about.
The rib cracker spoke with newsmen at the ongoing Nigerian Entertainment Conference in Lagos state.
According to him, “I think they need time. Every government has issues like this when they are just starting out. There are always strong and weak points of setting up government.
“There is no government we’ve had that people don’t complain in Nigeria so it is all part of democracy.
“I believe they really deserve to be given time.
“I don’t think anyone goes into government with the sole intention to make his people suffer,” the father of two added.

Federal government to fund youths in Agriculture with $300m

As a way of bridging the funding challenge in the agriculture sector, the Federal Government has announced plans to invest $300 million to fund youths in the sector, adding that 20 per cent of an initial grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with the Islamic Bank is to be channeled to support the development of women and youth in Agriculture at a total cost of N100m annually for a five year period.
This was disclosed yesterday by the Minister of state for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri while fielding questions from newsmen at a media briefing to declare open the Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment, ENABLE, conference in Abuja.
He stated that the Federal Government will support the youths by investing $300m to fund them in agriculture so as to cut down the nation’s food import bill which stands at over N20 billion.
Lokpobiri, who noted that the programme will be replicated across all the nations 109 Senatorial zones with the ultimate aim of empowering the Nigerian youth and bringing down the nation’s food import bill, lamented that Nigeria had become a dumping ground for all manner of poisonous foods including poultry pumped and preserved with formaldehyde.
“We cannot continue to import food at this time. With Nigeria being the highest producer of Cassava and the high demand for ethanol, the federal government is in the process of acquiring 18-20 cassava processing plants from China,” he said.
Lamenting that N6m worth of rice is imported daily with over 20 million eggs following the 100mtonnes deficit suffered by Nigeria in egg production, the Minister assured that the federal government was set to unfold a roadmap for the development of agriculture in the weeks ahead.

DPR seals eight filling stations, recovers diverted PMS in Adamawa, Taraba

The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) has sealed eight filling stations in Adamawa and Taraba states and recovered 190, 000 litres of petroleum products diverted by a major marketer in the two states.
DPR’s Operations Controller for the states, Mr. Sunday Musa Akem, told journalists yesterday in Numan, Adamawa State, that he was at A Salisu Nigeria Limited filling station to monitor the sale of the recovered products, alleging that it was notorious for diversion of products allocated to it.
He said that at six different times between December last year and this month, the station diverted 190,000 litres of PMS, which was recovered and sold to motorists at the approved pump price.
Akem said the station was caught by DPR officials selling PMS at N2000 per litre and has been fined N200 per litre, adding that other stiff measures would be taken against it before been allowed to lift the products in future.
This, he said, is to serve as a warning to other marketers sabotaging government policies and to ensure that PMS is available to the public.

The Truth About Money Transfers and the Presidential Campaign Funds

‘The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it lose and it will defend itself’- St. Augustine.
For the last few weeks I have been the subject of absurd and outlandish headline stories in various newspapers who have accused me of being a fraudster and who have claimed that funds were transferred into my bank account by the former National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki and by the Governor of the Central Bank Bank of Nigeria.
They have also claimed that I used public funds for the Presidential campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The attempt to tarnish my name, paint me as a common criminal and convict me of wrongdoing in the court of public opinion without even hearing my side of the story is petty, shameful and nauseating.
It is also a reflection of the desperation of those that seek to pull me down and destroy me simply because my opposition to this government has been unrelenting.
In January 2015 I was appointed as the Director of Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Director-General of the Campaign Organisation was Senator Ahmadu Alli and the Deputy Director-Generals were Alhaji Ibrahim Turaki SAN (north) and Governor Peter Obi (south).
Chief Tony Anenih, an elderstatesman and one of the most distinguished and reverred leaders in our country, was the Presidential Advisor to the Campaign Organisation.
There were at least 10 other Directors and Directorates apart from me and mine including the Directorate of Mobilisation which was led by the respected Professor Jerry Gana and the Directorate of Administration which was led by Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo. There were also zonal and state Directors of the Presidential Campaign Organisation in all the zones and states of the country.
All these names that I have mentioned including all the other Directors whose names I have not mentioned are, as far as I am aware, men and women of immense integrity and good character and they have mostly been either Ministers of the Federal Republic or state Governors at one time or the other in our history. It was an honor to serve alongside such people and I have absolutely no regrets about doing so.
Yet given the fact that I was not the only Director in the Campaign Organisation and in view of the fact that all the Directors and zonal and state Directors got their funds from the same source and account as I did, one wonders why only I and three others should be singled out for this reprehensible treatment and these false allegations.
I chose to remain silent on the issue up until now simply because the allegations have not been officially made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or anyone else but the newspapers keep citing their sources “inside the EFCC” as their basis for these shameful allegations.
Mr. Josef Goebbels, Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s Information Minister when Germany was in the terrible grip of the Nazi party, said that once a lie is repeated enough times it becomes truth to those who are continuously subjected to it. This is especially so if it goes unchallenged.
I cannot sit by silently as my name is dragged through the mud in this way and I am convicted in the court of public opinion. This has happened to me once before and it took me seven years to clear my name. It will not happen to me again.
Consequently I am constrained to take this opportunity to state the facts of this matter, set the record straight and await my traducers and accusers to make their next move. It is indeed time to challenge those that are making these allegations and to kill the lie.
The fact that my bank account was frozen on the orders of the EFCC two weeks ago without any explanation is proof of the fact that I am being targeted and that those that seek to have their wicked way with me are about to pounce.
Given this it is important that all the relevant facts are put before the world before I am subjected to the Dasuki treatment, put away indefinitely and not given the opportunity to defend myself before the public. Meanwhile, in their usual manner, after this is done the EFCC will then flood the media with all manner of lies about my so-called atrocities which only exist in the figment of their imagination.
The allegation of fraud and the receipt of public funds from the National.Security Advisors Office and Central Bank into my bank account is false.
These allegations are baseless, wicked, shameful and irresponsible. It is not true that ANY money was paid into my account by or from the National Security Advisor’s Office, the Central Bank of Nigeria or any other government agency or institution last year or at any other time.
As the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation I was asked to submit a budget for my Directorate by Chief Tony Anenih, the Presidential Advisor to the Presidential Campaign Organisation and Mrs. Nenadi Usman, the Director of Finance.
My team and I prepared the budget and it was approved.
Rather than collect cash, for security reasons and the purposes of accountability I was advised by the Director of Finance to open a bank account for this purpose, which I did.
The funds were paid into that account in installments at the beginning of last year by the Director of Finance and each deposit was authorized and approved by the Presidential Advisor to the PCO, Chief Tony Anenih. The account that they used to transfer the money to me was a private company account which was owned or under the control of the Director of Finance.
It was the same company and account that was used to send money to all the other Directors of the PCO and the Zonal Directors, State Directors and all our PDP governorship and legislative candidates during the various campaigns.
I made a point of asking what the source of the funds in this account were and I was told by the Director of Finance that the funds were sourced from private individuals and private companies who opted to support and fund President Jonathan’s campaign. She told me that no money was paid into her company from any government official, account or agency. This she told me in the prescence of witnesses and I believed her.
I was told that there was a fundraising event held by our party (PDP) which took place in early January 2015 in which billions of naira was raised specifically for the Presidential campaign. I believed this to be true and I had no reason to doubt it.
Our funds were given to us by the President who was the leader of our party through the Director of Finance of the PCO and we were not in a position to inquire into the sources of funding of the party’s campaign. Indeed, it was not our responsibility to do so.
Once I got these clarifications and confirmation I agreed to receive the funds into my bank account and use them for their stated purpose.
The transfers were made and I used the funds to carry out all our operations during the course of the presidential campaign.
It was an aggressive and well-run campaign and we gave our opponents a very hard time indeed. It was also very expensive and we barely had the resources that we really needed but we did an effective job with the little we were given.
The whole nation, including our friends and our enemies, can bear witness to that and they saw the excellent quality of our work. Hardly anyone can dispute this yet some fail to appreciate the fact that such a strong showing costs a lot of money. Media and publicity campaigns cannot be run on goodwill alone: you need cash and plenty of it.
During the course of the election and after its conclusion I submitted detailed accounts of our expenses and evidence of our work to the Director of Finance of the PCO for onward transmission to the Director-General of the PCO and ultimately President Jonathan himself about how the money was spent and they were satisfied.
Given the fact that these were not public funds the only legal body that can inquire into our expenditure of campaign funds is President Goodluck Jonathan who set up the PCO.
I was commended for my efforts by him and I can proudly say that my Directorate did not owe any individual, service provider, organisation or media outfit that provided any services to us one kobo at the close of the campaign.
All our debts were paid and obligations met during and just after the election. The suggestion that there was any fraud in any of this or that I colluded and conspired with others to use government money to run a campaign is false and very insulting.
The suggestion that the money was some kind of “cash bonanza” or “bazaar” as has been reported by the leading pro-government newspaper in the country today is childish and absurd.
If that had been the case I doubt that I would have been foolish enough to open a bank account to receive government funds or “bazaar funds” as this would have been easily traced.
If I had anything to hide or if I was doing anything wrong I would have insisted on collecting cash for my operations which would have been far easier to conceal.
The fact that the EFCC gained access to my bank account and leaked details of it to the media including my inflows is not only a gross violation of my privacy but it is also unlawful.
I was a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ten years ago and I was a key official in the Presidency thirteen years ago. I had the honour and privilege of serving my country in these two capacities when the father of our nation, President Olusegun Obasanjo, was our President. Consequently I am familiar with the workings and importance of accountability, due diligence and due process.
This is why I was very careful with how we managed our resources at the Directorate and why I appointed a seasoned civil servant who retired from the civil service with commendation at the Director level as my Director of Finance in my Directorate.
I was also mindful of the fact that I had to be very careful with the management of funds that were put under my care given the fact that I had been wrongly accused and viciously persecuted by the Yar’adua administration and the Farida Waziri-led EFCC with trumped up and baseless criminal charges for the previous seven years.
That whole ordeal almost ruined my life and my career but God was with me throughout and He delivered me from their evil because I had done nothing wrong. On 1st July 2015 I was acquitted by a duly constituted court of law of all those charges and I give God the glory for that.
Yet the struggle continues. I am appalled at the behavior of the EFCC in this latest matter but I am not surprised because they have had it in for me for many years.
Their almost obsessive interest in me and their motivation to destroy me is essentially political and partly personal and this has always been so. In short, just as was the case seven years ago, they are being used by the powers that be and by forces that are far above them. To that extent I sympathise with them.
Yet if this is an attempt to intimidate, silence or distract me they shall fail because I am not a coward and I do not fear them or those that sent them to torment me.
And neither will I sit by idly and watch them trying to destroy me again. Their allegations are malicious and self-serving and there is no substance or truth in them. We did not run the Presidential Campaign Organization or my Directorate with paper or hot air: we ran them with money. There is no crime in that.
A substantial portion of that money was paid by my Directorate directly to the media for rallies, television, radio and newspaper adverts and jingles together with many other services rendered and we have all the records and documents to prove it. As stated earlier those records have been duly submitted to the relevant quarters and they commended us for our work.
I did not run the Directorate alone and I had at least 10 Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors and Sub-Directors, who were all also appointed by President Jonathan, working under me.  I was responsible for the funding of each and every one of their various operations. Our entire team was dedicated and we all worked very hard because we believed passionately in our candidate and our party.
I have yet to hear of any Presidential Campaign Organization anywhere in the world that was run without any money and that was funded with just goodwill.
I might add that we spent far less money than the APC and the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organization because they had access to massive amounts of state government funds and they used those funds effectively. For every million naira we spent they spent ten.
They even contracted the services of a famous American media consultant (the same one that President Obama used in 2008) and paid him ten million U.S. dollars for his counsel and advice. They had fleets of cars and buses whilst my Directorate was not even given one vehicle to get our people around.
The official jeep that was meant to have been given to us for our operations during the campaign was high jacked and it never arrived.
We were forced to use our own personal vehicles and we were glad to do so. Yet the other side had everything that money could buy. They even chartered numerous private jets throughout the campaign to get around the country. Where did they get all their funding from? Why is the EFCC not leaking stories or talking about that?
Instead of using the EFCC to try to rubbish me and my colleagues and smear our good names, those that are in power today should tell us where they got their campaign funds from and how much of it came from the Governments of Lagos and Rivers state.
The two people that headed those two state governments then are now both Federal Ministers today. One of them, who was the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, was specifically indicted by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry for using millions of dollars of state government funds to run the Buhari campaign yet nothing happened and his reward was to be appointed as a Minister.
Again what about the 5 billion naira cash that was flown down to Port Harcourt in Rivers state from Abuja in chartered plane a couple of days before the re-run election that took place on March 19th 2016. Where did they get that amount of cash from and what was its purpose and source?
What has the EFCC said or leaked about that? It appears that there is one law for those that are in power today and another for those that are not. Why persecute the innocent and leave the guilty? Was it a crime to fight and lose an election?
If Jonathan had not been a gentleman and if he had insisted on remaining in power at all costs or challenging the outcome of the election in court would we have the peace that we are enjoying in our country today?
Have those that are behind all this nonsense forgotten all that so soon or is it that they are just drunk with power and they are on a mission of revenge? If that is the case are they then worthy of the power that God has given them and should He not take it away from them before it is too late and they set the country on fire?
If there was any wrongdoing can the EFCC honestly put their hands on their chest and say that those of us that were asked to do a job and given money to do that job knew anything about it?
Were we the ones that sourced the funds and were we expected to launch our own private investigation into where the funds came from before accepting to receive and use them for the job we were asked to do?
In their heart of hearts they know that the answer to the two questions are both in the negative. Instead of going after the right people they wish to use the situation to embarrass and shame those of us that they see as the President’s political enemies and critics just to further defame, malign and humiliate us and destroy our future and careers.
This is vindictive, petty and wicked and, as long as the Lord is on the throne,  it will not stand. It is a very dangerous precedent and I sincerely hope that all stakeholders take note of the implications of what is brewing and going on.
It would be a very dangerous thing and utterly counter-productive for this government to open a can of worms and try to implicate innocent men and women who were simply doing their job and who knew nothing about any wrong-doing or illicit and illegal transactions or bank transfers of public funds from or to government accounts.
I wish to remind them that they will not be in power forever. Sooner or later the tables will turn and they themselves will be subjected to the malicious lies, false allegations, smear campaigns, injustice, brutality and persecution that they are presently subjecting others to.  It is only a question of time.
Now let the Ancient of Days and He who never sleeps or slumbers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, judge between this government and all those innocent men and women that they are demonising and persecuting and that they seek to torment and destroy.
As long as Jesus is on the throne and our hands are clean, no matter how long it takes, we shall prevail and ultimately they will pay a heavy price for their malice, injustice and wickedness.
These are facts and readers can be rest assured that I will say nothing different to this if and when I am formally asked by anyone or any agency. When the EFCC begin to leak their falsehood and sallacious allegations to their agents in the media kindly take note of the fact that, as usual, they will be telling tall tales and they will be lying.
Now I challenge them to do their worse. I have no fear of them or of those who have sent them to do this dirty job. May God judge them all and may He reward them for their wickedness.

Army kills 35 insurgents, rescues 198 hostages

The authorities of the Nigerian Army say troops in the Northeast in different clearance operation of the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents, have killed 35 members of the sect and rescued a total of 198 people held hostage by the group and caught suspected Boko Haram recruiters with N.6 million. A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the acting Director Army Public Relations (Ag.DAPR) Col. Sani Usman said the insurgents were captured in some of the raids or/and fighting patrols carried out by Troops of the 7 Division “that resulted in the killing of so many suspected Boko Haram terrorists, arrests and rescue of persons, as well as recovery of arms and ammunitions.” On Thursday, troops of the 21 Brigade operating in collaboration with civilian JTF cleared the remnants of the insurgents at Bulari, Tori 1, 2 and 3, “10 terrorists were killed and one was captured alive. Unfortunately, 2 Civilian JTF accompanying the troops lost their lives. The troops rescued 7 civilians and recovered a Volkswagen Golf car, 15 bicycles and various bags of foodstuff”. Also troops of the 22 Brigade intercepted 26 persons coming towards Adah village, in Ngala local government area of Borno state, mostly women and children, who said they had escaped from boko haram captivity as they (insurgents) fled towards the Lake Chad general area.
Similarly, troops of 26 Task Force Brigade stationed in Gwoza also intercepted 8 suspected Boko Haram terrorists, trying to enter Gwoza town.
Though they claimed to be farmers coming from Shiadawey, Takwala and Amdaga Madachi villages respectively, known terrorists hideouts, but investigations showed that they were terrorists on a recruitment drive. “This was made manifest when the sum of Six Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand (N637, 000.00k) Naira was discovered on Abdullahi Yakubu who was identified by another escapee/suspected Boko Haram terrorist as having trading links with the terrorists while the others were confirmed to have participated in carrying out various terrorists acts for the Boko Haram terrorists group”.
Special Fighting Forces attached to 25 Task Force Brigade Damboa, at a checkpoint, arrested a suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Abubakar Bello and 6 other suspects carrying 28 gallons of “Turkey” brand of vegetable oil, 8 bags of flour, 130 crates of soft drinks and 2 bags of sugar. In addition, 5 mobile telephone handsets, 1 external hard drive and 5 flash drives, 2 national identity cards and the sum of Seventy Thousand Naira (N70, 000.00k) only were recovered from him. Investigations revealed that the terrorists now dilute the vegetable oil with other substances to produce diesel to power their generators. The troops of 254 Task Force Battalion in conjunction with vigilantes and Borno Youths Empowerment Scheme (BOYES), also carried out clearance operations at Mufurundi, Kaleri, Masemari, Bego, Bale, Gadzama and Gagantilo villages along Damboa-Bale-Gwoza road.  They also rescued 157 persons held hostage by the terrorists. One Ibrahim Bute aged 67 years, of Gobara village was arrested by the troops on suspicion of being a Boko Haram kingpin.

Fulani herdsmen invade Taraba communities again

The desire of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba state, to make the state one of the most peaceful states in the country, has continued to face obstacles, following the incessant terrorist attacks communities by alleged suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Apart from the wanton destruction of lives and property which occurred two weeks ago in Gashaka local government councils, residents of Bali and Donga councils are presently counting their losses as a result of the attacks unleashed on them yesterday by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
As at the time of filing this report, 13 persons have been reportedly killed in separate attacks in the aforementioned local government councils by heavily armed gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
Confirming the attacks, the Tiv Central leader in Taraba, Chief Zaki David Gbaa, told The Guardian that two people were killed in Bornon Kurku around Kungana area while others were killed in Anchogo and Tortondo villages of Bali local government.
An eyewitness, who claimed to have escaped by the skin of his teeth, revealed that incessant attacks on communities in the area, has made ” a lot of us to flee the areas.”
It should be noted that these latest attacks are coming barely a week after suspected Fulani herdsmen over ran several communities in Gashaka and Bali local government areas, killing 44 people.
The Tiv central leader further observed that several persons sustained various degrees of injuries and ” many houses burnt down by the gunmen whom we believed are the Fulani herdsmen.”
He felt dejected that the attacks have forced the displaced people whom according to him are managing to return to their homes to flee to the nearby states of Benue and ” some local governments within this state.”
He passionately admonished the state government to mobilise the task force earlier set up by government to supervise the return of IDPs to go back to work to prevent the killing of innocent people.
According to him “The land belonging to the IDPs have been sold out by the local chiefs to strange Fulani herdsmen and any attempt for them to return is being resisted by the attackers who are now claiming ownership of the farmlands.”
Confirming the attacks the state Police Public Relations Officer, Joseph Kwaji said two Tiv farmers were attacked and killed while sleeping by suspected Fulani herdsmen in a village in Bali.
Also speaking on the Donga attack, Police spokesperson agreed that the two Fulani men were robbers and were killed around Igo village after the Fulanis mobilised and attack the village and burnt some houses, but no life was lost.
He noted that the command was leaving no stone unturned in tracking down the perpetrators stating that reasonable numbers of policemen had been deployed to the area to calm the situation.

Bishop’s 10th ordination anniversary celebration unites Edo APC, PDP

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih; Edo State PDP Chairman, Mr. Dan Orbih; and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, at the 10th Episcopal Ordination anniversary celebration of Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze at St Paul Catholic Church, Benin City…yesterday.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state yesterday set politics aside, as top gladiators of both parties stormed the St Paul’s Catholic Church, Benin City, to honor Most Rev. Dr Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop of Benin Catholic Archdiocese on his 10th Episcopal ordination anniversary celebration.
The APC was led by the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and had Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Deputy Governor Pius Odubu, Mr.Anselm Ojezua, Edo State APC Chairman, among others in the church while the PDP was led by the party’s former BOT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih and had Mr. Dan Orbih, Edo State PDP Chairman, Chief Tom Ikimi among others in the church.
The sitting arrangement was mixed as politics was completely set aside. The Governor sat next to Anenih who sat next to Orbih who sat next to Odigie-Oyegun. The political rivals exchanged pleasantries and complimentaries.
Oshiomhole, who was Special Guest, called on Catholic Bishops and other clergy to continue to pray for Nigerian leaders so that their decisions and actions would reflect the teachings of Christ and induce greater advantage for Nigerians. He said: “Allow me to say, that we in government need more of your prayers. I wish to use this privilege of being here to appeal to Catholic Bishops to continue to pray for Nigeria as you have always done, and in particular ask God in His infinite mercy and powers to touch our hearts, as public officers who are entrusted with the resources of our great country, that we may always remember that the privileges we exercise, the powers we purport to possess, is not of our merit but of the grace of our Lord, and in exercising those powers, that we may do so in a way that reflects the teachings of Christ, so that Nigeria and Nigerians shall benefit from the decisions we take every minute, every hour, every day, every year.”

NLC, TUC blame fuel queues on Kachikwu’s dual roles

…IPMAN to visit depots
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, Ayuba Wabba, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Bobboi Kaigama, said the appointment of Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as both Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, as well as Group General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as being responsible for the perennial fuel queues prevailing in most parts of the country.
Speaking in Abuja recently at a roundtable conference, the labour union leaders said the concentration of power and appointment of one person to these two sensitive offices is depriving the sector of adequate attention from the chief executive.
They two argued that the GMD’s supervisory role of the companies under the corporation has been left unattended to fully, as Kachikwu shuttles between the two offices.
In addition, they noted that the dual role has also consolidated the roles of the chairman of the NNPC Board and that of the management in one man, which is affecting the smooth operation of the system.
Wabba said: “There is no doubt that having one person as both the GMD of the NNPC and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources is depriving the NNPC the full attention it need to surmount the fuel queues.
“We have seen over the past three months that the queues have refused to go away, despite all the assurance of the minister.
“It is almost the end of April and the queues are not reducing in places in like Lagos and Port Harcourt, while the prices have ranged between N150 and N300 per litre.
“We believe that a GMD will have more time for the technical matters, while the minister will concentrate his energies on tackling the political and other issues that have to do with do with forex challenges.

…You’ve lost focus, US, UK members reply IPOB

HE crisis in the Indig­enous People of Biafra (IPOB) degenerated yes­terday, as, its Government/ Media Representative, Chinedu Asuzu berated two of the organisation’s chief­tains- Mr Clifford Iroanya and Emma Mmezu, accus­ing them of having lost the organisation’s traditional values and as such should be disregarded. Chinedu was reacting to a statement credited to the duo resident in the United States of America and the United Kingdom respec­tively. The two had report­edly accused the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of Elders of Indig­enous People of Biafra, Dr Dozie Ikedife, as a ‘stooge’ of the ruling APC govern­ment under President Mu­hammadu Buhari.
But, the group’s spokes­man said the statement was unfortunate and lacked logic. His words: “Ours is a respected and responsible group. Dr Ikedife is among the courageous elders in Igboland that was instru­mental to the Biafra legal suit against Nigerian Gov­ernment .This is verifiable with Suit
No FHC/OW/ CS/192/2013.It is also on record that Clifford Iroanya and his cohorts wrote Nige­rian Government to discon­tinue this celebrated court case as they believe in vio­lence to achieve Biafra. But that is not possible.
On the issue of Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB being a global giant, Chinedu ex­plained that the IPOB is not a group, but a people scattered all over the world demanding a separate exis­tence from Nigeria. He told the press that the Nigerian Government knew the real people behind the Biafran struggle were men of prov­en integrity.
In the same vein, the Chief Editor of Biafra Voice International, UK, Com­rade Nnabuike Nnadede, said that the Biafran agita­tors were lucky to have a leader such as Dr Ikedife, Ikenga Nnewi. The media chief advised all Biafrans to come under the author­ity of the Supreme Coun­cil of Elders of Indigenous People of Biafra, to be taken serious by the international community, “rather than join noise makers and peo­ple who are frustrated, de­jected and jobless, seeking relevance…”
Meanwhile, an octoge­narian and pro-Biafra ac­tivist, Sir R.O.Okereke, has made a fresh call for an­other dimension to actual­ize the self-determination dream of the more than 15 states in Nigeria to be known as the United States of Biafra.
Okereke, who spoke in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Lo­cal Government Area of Anambra State, said that the general elections of 2015 in which the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) won in 20 and a half states and the Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP), 15 and a half clearly indicated that those in the PDP states should come together by way of diplomacy and present to the United Na­tions, European Union and African Union their choice of government and interim officers for early approval and take off period.

If Jonathan were to be in power today, Nigerians would’ve stoned him –Ex-Gov Adebayo

.It’s unfortunate that we have Fayose as Ekiti governor
Otunba Niyi Adebayo is a former governor of Ekiti state and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. In this interview with CHARLES ADEGBITE, he has some harsh words for former President Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose. Excerpts:
IN the history of Nigeria, you are the first among the sons of former governors to become a governor, and the only one among all sons of regional governors, how do you feel with this status?
I think that must have been changed now because I believe Colonel Sani Bello (rtd.) was once a military governor in the North and his son is a governor now in Niger State.
Col. Sani Bello (retd) was the military governor of Kano State between 1975 and 1978 whereas, your fa­ther was the military gover­nor of Western Region be­tween 1966 and 1971. You also became the governor of Ekiti State between 1999 and 2003 whereas Bello’s son just became the gover­nor of Niger State last year?
Okay. I agree with you, because I am the first among all the sons of former governors. I found myself in a unique position for emerging as a governor after my father had served as a governor. To a large ex­tent, that ambition was spurred out of the fact that my father had been a governor previously. I mean, I was growing up at the time my fa­ther was governor in the West. And that made me feel that I had to put myself in the position to provide services to my people. That, to a large extent led to my interest in politics. I went for it. and to God be the glory, I emerged as the first civilian governor of Ekiti State.
Some people said they expected you to be very ar­rogant or not as cool-head­ed and gentle as you are, because you are the son of a retired Major General and lawyer. What actually is the secret behind your calm nature?
To a large extent, you know that in traditional Yoruba house­holds, it is the mother that brings up the children. My mother was, very active in bringing us up. She had four boys and she was very, very tough on us. We had a tough mother and a tough father. And they trained us well. The fact that we were privileged did not mean that we were special. It only meant that we were lucky. We were brought up not to believe that there was anything special about us. And we grew up in the household whereby we couldn’t call the staff who were older than us by their names. We were asked to always add the prefix like Mr. this and Mr. that or Sergeant this and Sergeant that. We never called them by their first name because we were brought up to respect those who are older than us; and to have feelings for those who are younger than us. So, to a large extent the way I am is as a result of my upbringing.
You were 8 years old at the time your father be­came the governor of old Western Region in 1966, what was life like in Gov­ernment House at the time. Can you recall your experi­ence during the Nigerian civil war?
I didn’t actually live in Govern­ment House. I used to spend my holidays in Government House because I lived in Lagos with my mother. I used to spend my holidays in Government House in Ibadan. As a result of the war sit­uation at the time, what my father did was that he had a separate quarters, just outside of the Gov­ernment House, for us ‑‑which we used as children quarters; so that it will be isolated from the main government house. This was because there was always a fear, especially when there was incursion to Ore (in present Ondo State).
So there was a fear that there may be an invasion of Govern­ment House. And it had to do with the Agbekoya crisis. So there was that fear. For that reason, we were kept in the quarters just out­side the Government House. But we spent all our days in Govern­ment House and all that. But it was a normal upbringing. The advantage that we had was that because government had all sorts of sporting facilities, tennis court, and all sorts of things, we were able to enjoy ourselves.
Did you have the fear that history could repeat itself looking at the way Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi was as­sassinated along with Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi in 1966, espe­cially when the Nigeria civil war started few months af­ter your father succeeded Fajuyi as governor?
You have to remember that we were very young then. We didn’t have such strong political senti­ment at the time.
But what was your experi­ence like as a young…?
(Cuts in) It was exciting period. It was an exciting period. It was something different from what we were used to. You know, we grew up in barracks. So we had privileged upbringing; because we grew up in the barracks. The barracks we lived in when we were growing up were the army barracks in Yaba. And the Euro­peans, the British officers were still there. So we mixed with the children of the British officers, with all sorts of facilities there. So it was a privileged upbringing.
And transiting from there to the Government House was just a mere extension of privilege we were used to.
What actually happened that led to your not being given ministerial appoint­ment by Buhari; was it that you were not interested or the whole thing was a kind of political game?
You know the position of the minister is at the discretion of the president. The president told Dr. Kayode Fayemi to be a minister and he has my full support in that wise.
But what actually hap­pened, looking at the roles you’ve played during the election?
I can assure you that the presi­dent has a role that he will like me to play and I will be playing that role.
You are a chieftain of the APC, what roles are you playing in the party cur­rently?
You know that I am a leading member of the party. I’m one of the national leaders of the party. and I remain one of the national leaders of the party. I’m oppor­tune to propagate the politics and principles of the party. And in Eki­ti, I play a leading role in making sure that the party does well. And I’m playing a leading role to en­sure that we get the party together so that whenever we have elec­tion in the state, we will be able to wrest power from the PDP; which we believe has cheated us out of power in the state.
Being the first executive governor of the state, how do you feel that the man oc­cupying the governor’s seat was able to drive your par­ty out of power in all elec­tions in the state, thus mak­ing PDP to take full charge of Ekiti today?
You see, ordinarily, I try as much as possible not to talk about Governor Fayose. However, he is a young man that I do not un­derstand at all. The first time he was governor, he left office under circumstances that were not so good. Under the umbrella of the PDP then, he was impeached and driven away. .
He found his way back into office. When he came back, he swore heaven and earth that he was a changed person and that he was going to do well this time. He said that he was going to do all manner of things. And when some people approached me and told me that was what the man said; I said I do not think it is in his character to behave the way he claimed he would behave. The way he is behaving now has proved me right.
I think it is his greatest problem. I really do not understand. I think when he wakes up in the morning I don’t know what gets into his head and makes him make such statements and behaves the way he does. It is unfortunate that we have somebody like him at the helm of affairs. But I believe that when God is ready, the right thing will be done.
Nigeria is facing a turbu­lent period, looking at the state of the economy. What or who would you say is re­sponsible for this?
Without a doubt it was as a re­sult of the mis-governance by the PDP. I mean, all the revelations that are coming out have shown that so,e people misgoverned Ni­geria. The way they were taking money and spending it on frivoli­ties, sharing the national wealth among themselves show the ir­responsibility of that government.
You mean, it is the out­bome of many years of mis­management of Nigeria?
Yes! By the PDP especially in the last six years. During the ten­ure of President Jonathan oil was selling at over $100 per barrel; but we have nothing to show for that money. It is always difficult to jus­tify the fund. I mean by now our foreign exchange reserves should be in hundreds in billions of dol­lars. But today, we cannot speak of having that kind of money in our reserves.
You know our refineries are not working, nothing is working. We have bad roads; the roads are not in good shape. I mean, it’s unfor­tunate; very unfortunate.
But luckily for Nigeria; I al­ways say to the people, God knows what He was doing when people turned against Jonathan and voted for Buhari.
And Jonathan too was smart to concede defeat because if Jona­than had remained at the helm of affairs, by now people would have started stoning him on the street.
The only reasons people are patient now is because they have realised that there is a major prob­lem. They also realized that we have a president who is commit­ted to correcting the problems of Nigeria. That is why people are being patient. And I’m using this opportunity to urge people to con­tinue to exercise patience because we have a president who has the love of Nigeria at heart. Some­body who abhors corruption, and is prepared and determined to make sure that Nigeria is well governed.
Looking at the revela­tions that came out when the anti corruption war by Buhari began late last year, what do you think would have happened if the PDP had not been voted out of power?
If he (Buhari) had not won, they would have tried to cover it up. The problem we have now is that the country is broke. They have run this country aground.. If they had won election, where would they get the money to run the country? By now, the problem would have persisted and people would have realized what is going on and they would have kicked against the government.
So, we should thank God for the people of Nigeria who voted for Buhari. The people actually realized what was going on and decided that enough is enough.
We gathered that there are underground moves by some APC and PDP mem­bers in the Senate to pres­ent the Senate President, Saraki and former Akwa Ibom governor, Senator Akpabio as PDP presiden­tial and vice presidential candidates respectively in 2019. What do you have to say on this?
I think in the first place people who make such allegation are trying to create problems within the APC. I think it is wrong for people to believe that those who came from PDP to join us in forming the APC were people who came just to get rid of Jonathan. I think that is very wrong from my experience and my interaction with these people I believe strongly that they believed strongly in the party we have built together. They are strong members of the APC. They believe strongly in APC.They believe in what we were able to build and they want us to continue to make the building stronger.
So, I think all these allegations of 2019 and the likes; in politics every person is looking for his own advantage and opposition parties are looking for ways to create problems to the ruling par­ty and I think this is one of these attempts.
Yes, there were issues at the be­ginning of the administration on the leadership of National Assem­bly but in a normal party, there is crisis resolution within the party to enable us to resolve these is­sues and to have peace
Looking at the whole situ­ation in the country, what do you have to say and what is your impression and what is your advice to Nige­rians?
Well, my advice is that we should all be patient, Nigeria is definitely going to improve. I have no doubt in my mind about that.
Yes, we have economic prob­lem at the moment but Mr. Presi­dent is working day and night to fit things back.
People should be patient and we can continue to pray to God to give our president good health, so that he can carry out his valuable objectives.

Some of the IDPs are orphaned children and they don't know where they came from - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration has begun the process of putting together comprehensive data on all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Nigerian refugees with a view to speeding up their resettlement.

The President stated this while receiving the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Samantha Power, at the Presidential Villa, on Thursday, April 21. 

President Buhari said that the compilation of reliable data on the IDPs and refugees was being handled by designated Federal Government agencies, the military and other security agencies.

"We have frightening indices of the number of people and the situation in the IDP camps across the country. And in spite of the government’s efforts and the hospitality of individuals and organizations, the situation needs better handling.

"A large segment of the IDPs are mostly women and children. Some of the children are orphaned and don’t know where they came from.

"Now we are working on getting a comprehensive data of all the people in the camps so that the government and NGOs will be properly briefed on where and how to support them," he said.

The President said that IDPs, who were into farming before they were displaced by the Boko Haram, will be mobilized and assisted by the Ministry of Agriculture to return to their farms.

Ambassador Power commended the Federal Government for always being the first and highest responder to the IDPs in various camps in the country.
Power, who had earlier visited Nigerian refugees in Cameroun, said the situation in the camps could be improved with more information on the number of people in the camps and their areas of need.

Source: Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)

Boko Haram now strap bombs on birds to carry out suicide attacks- Army

The general officer commanding (GOC), 7 division of the Nigerian army, Maiduguri, Lamidi Adeosun, says Boko Haram members have resorted to using birds to carry out their suicide attacks. Lamidi said this while  speaking to American diplomats and security officials at the headquarters of the multinational joint task force MNJTF in Chad on Wednesday April 20th. According to Independent UK, Lamidi said;

“One picture showed a bird with an explosive strapped on its back, demonstrating a lot of ingenuity,”.

 Lamidi also disclosed that his unit had received intelligence that ISIS members were being embedded into Boko Haram but that the Nigerian sect had not satisfied requirements for greater operational co-ordination.

Super Eagles Coaching Job Thrown Open

The Technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) rose from its meeting in Abuja on Wednesday to among other decisions throw open to all candidates the vacant Super Eagles head coach position.

The committee wants the best candidate irrespective of nationality to be hired to lead Eagles in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers starting in October.
The interview for the Eagles post will be before the June 24 draw for World Cup qualifiers.

“After the friendly matches (vs Mali and Luxembourg), and before the 2018 FIFA World Cup group phase draw, the technical committee will initiate the process for the selection of a substantive technical crew for the Super Eagles, with a head coach,” said part of the communiqué from the meeting.

“A small team of eminently –qualified persons with the required pedigree will take charge of the process, and the best candidate would be selected, irrespective of whether he is indigenous or expatriate.”
Meanwhile, former Flying Eagles Coach, John Obuh, has called on Super Eagles players and all and sundry to get behind newly appointed interim senior national team handlers.

The NFF announced on Wednesday that the quartet of Salisu Ibrahim, Alloy Agu, Imama Amakapabo and Kennedy Boboye will work with the NFF Technical Director, Shaibu Amodu for next month’s friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg.

Thus, Obuh who led the Flying Eagles to Colombia 2011 and Turkey 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cups while saluting the choice of the tacticians by the NFF, he also called on the Super Eagles players and all stakeholders to back them towards succeeding.

“It is a very omen for Nigeria football. We should not forget that Imama is topping the league and Boboye is coming from behind, they are all doing well,” Obuh told Goal.com
“As long as they have a good coordination from Amodu Shaibu which I believe they will get, I am very impressed they will succeed.

“It is not all about what the coaches will tell the players or what the players are going to do, it also involves everybody, I mean the fans, the managers and sponsors of the team.
“We have a lot of down falling of our football system and we must put hands together to be able to resolve it.

“I just pray that the players are not going to be political or join sides on what is going on. The coaches too need to concentrate and do their beats to ensure their inputs are felt after the friendly games.

“And for the stakeholders in Nigeria football, they should wake up and let us solve our problems together.”

The Kwara United gaffer also bares his mind on whether the country should settle for an indigenous coach or an expatriate as Eagles’ permanent coach.
“It all depends on the supports. Either is good enough but all depends of the kind of support they get,” he continued.

“Whatever the NFF thinks they can give to the foreign coach, if they give the indigenous coaches that would be very nice.

“The colour of skin deceives us a lot, we might have given the local coaches time to proof their worth, but have we given them the wherewithal to succeed? All I know is that no foreign coach would accept the kind of treatment meted out to our local coaches.

“For now, I would advice we stick with our indigenous coaches till everything is stabilized because as it stand, no one is talking about our financial capability to hire an expatriate,” he concluded.