Endorsement : Jonathan thanks S/West, says this is what happens in advance democracies

on september 21, 2014 at 3:10 am

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, in Lagos, expressed gratitude to the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for giving him the right of first refusal to as the party’s sole candidate for the 2015 Presidential election.
President said this at the South West sensitization and unity rally in Lagos.
Addressing party members, who defied the rain to converge at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, Dr Jonathan said “I thank the party for giving me the right of first refusal, that is what happens in advance democracies. It also shows that our democracy is maturing.
There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one who will determine the councillor, local government chairmen, state House of Assembly member, House of Representative member, Senator, governor and even president.
The decision is by the people, for the people and that is why the PDP will continue to new things. The Vice President and I have promised not to disappoint the people; the PDP will continue to do the right thing and we promise you that we will not disappoint you.”
Transformation Agenda on course
Reeling out his administration’s achievements, he said “you will see that the government is moving. The signs are there though we have not reached where we wish to reach but government is focused.
The Transformation Agenda is on course. We will continue to make sure that we create jobs for our youths, the job creation, the VP mention, we are taking it from various angles. In terms of education, we are making sure we improve the quality of education and also enlarge the facilities.”
Speaking further, he said “when we came on board, we noticed that a state in the south west did not have a federal university. We built a federal university there, it is a small university but we will continue to improve it.
We’re improving small and medium industries to create jobs for our people and we are providing soft loans to make sure young men and women are employed. We are promoting youth programmes.
If we continue to create 3.5 million jobs every year in the next few years, we will see that the unemployment rate will continue to drop.”
He, however, urged party members to observe a minute silence for those who lost their lives, recently in a building collapsed, at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos.
Commiserating with those who lost their lives in the collapsed, he said “My first port of call was where a six-storey building collapsed and 80 people where found dead and over 130 people were injured. It was a very sad incident for us and the international community because most of the people who died in that building collapse were non Nigerians. About 65 of them were South Africans. I spoke with the President of South Africa to send our own condolence.”
We’ll recapture South west—Mu’azu
In his remarks, the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu expressed the party’s readiness to take over the South west.
He said “we have lost three states in the south west but we have started recapturing our states starting with Ekiti-State. By the grace of the almighty God, in 2015, we will not only capture our own state that have been taken over by the opposition. As I always tell my friend, governor Raji Fashola that we are coming and indeed, we shall win.”
Speaking further, he said “I want to assure you that the people of South west are totally PDP. Everybody knows that PDP controls the majority of the people and indeed, the majority of the states in the south west and I want to assure you that we are battle ready, election ready come 2015 to take over those states.
I want assure Mr President that your leadership that has been so purposeful, has been so committed that the people of the South west and indeed the people of Nigeria will reward you in the 2015 elections by re electing you as President.
The team you have here, members of the National Working Committee, members of the Board of Trustees, members of NEC and of course, all PDP members are committed to your coming back in 2015. We pray that God will favour us.”
We’ll deliver South west for Jonathan–Fayose
Speaking on behalf of the South west, Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose assured the president of the region’s commitment in securing their votes.
Fayose said “your adoption is all you need to win a second term and it will come with ease.
I have read the ranting of the other people, we cannot allow them to bring bad luck to Nigeria. We expect your name to bring good luck to Nigeria. We want to assure you we will deliver the south west the help of our people. I also want to assure you that results from the South west will be shocking in 2015 “.
Why South west must vote for Jonathan –Akpabio
In his remarks, chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio urged people from the south west to support the President’s second term re-election bid.
Jonathan deserves second term–Obanikoro
Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro explained that the President has done well and therefore deserves a second term to continue with his Transformation Agenda.
Senator Obanikoro said the party in the west has resolved to “work for the re-election of President Jonathan and we are committed in working for him so that he can continue with the good works he has started not only in the south west but in the country.
With all the good things he has done, he deserves a second term.”
Also, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Bode George said “we want to reassure you that all is well in the South west PDP.”

Source: Vanguard

2015: PDP will hold primaries in Lagos, say Shelle, Obanikoro

on september 21, 2014 at 2:59 am
Lagos – The Lagos State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tunji Shelle, said on Saturday that the party would not adopt candidates for the various positions including governorship in the 2015 elections.
He spoke against the backdrop of the party’s adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole candidate for the 2015 presidential poll.
Shelle said the South-West sensitisation rally of the party in Lagos that the President’s emergence as a consensus candidate was different from the situation in Lagos State.
“The President is going for a second term and the party decided to let him continue and finish the good job he is doing.
“In Lagos State it is different. The PDP is not the party in power,therefore, all aspirants must go for primaries as it is the tradition of the party.
“There is no preferred aspirant. The candidate that would emerge would be decided by the party delegates,” he said.
Shelle disclosed that there were nine contenders for the governorship position in the state and hundreds of other aspirants for the various positions. in the party.
Also speaking, Mr Musliu Obanikoro, the Minister of State for Defence and a chieftain of the party, restated the party’s stand that there would not be handpicking of candidates in the state for the elections.
“Jonathan emerged as a consensus candidate because of the need to continue with his transformation agenda. There will still be a national convention of the PDP to endorse him.
“Lagos PDP is known for its transparent democratic process and we will not allow that to die,” he said.
A governorship aspirant, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, also said that if primaries were not held it would be contrary to what the party was known for.
“Fairness and fairplay makes even a looser happy. Having free and fair primaries will remove rancour among aspirants and their supporters.
“Whoever emerges among us must be seen to have emerged fairly. The issue of Mr President emerging as our candidate is understandable based on his excellent job.’’
For Mr Jimi Agbaje, another governorship aspirant, primaries would strengthen the confidence of members in the party’s leadership.
“Democracy cannot survive without a level playing ground,” Agbaje told NAN.
Aspirants of the PDP from across the South-West were seen competing for attention at the rally.
Supporters adorning different attires of their aspirants had a field day dancing round Tafawa Balewa Square, venue of the rally, with banners displaying their preferred aspirants. (NAN)

Mutiny: 12 Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death

The Nigeria Army last Tuesday announced the sentencing of 12 soldiers to death by firing squad for mutiny.  The soldiers had allegedly attempted to kill their commanding officer during a mutiny in May at the Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri. Considering that mutiny is a serious military offence, we cannot but agree that a severe penalty that can deter a recurrence is in order. Several analysts have taken time to copiously comment on the subject but no one appears to be in favour of the judgment of the tribunal.
There is however the subtle caution that civil society should not dabble into military matters. Is such a caution persuasive in these days of pervasive insecurity in our country? How irrelevant is public opinion?
We need to remember that the Nigerian Army is a societal institution run with public funds which can therefore not be an island unto itself. The army was in actual fact set up not for itself but in the public interest. As a result, its activities must be a matter of concern to the entire society for whose sake it exists. Second, although it is true that military law is different from civil law, no law is expected to be unjust. This point is better understood when it is realized that at the end of a military trial, those involved are allowed to take their cases to the civil Court of Appeal if dissatisfied with the decision of the military tribunal. In other words, a military tribunal ought to serve essentially as a court of first instance. Consequently, the argument that we lay men have no business getting involved in military matters is simplistic.
Again, because soldiers are citizens, many of whom require parental consent to enlist in the army, it is unwise to wrap up military matters in a secret garb that can make parents disapprove of their wards serving the national duty of protecting us all. For this reason, it is not enough to set up military tribunals that give judgments without recourse to the circumstances of the offences being tried. Luckily, we have a 2003 case-Yussuf and 21 others versus the Nigerian Army which the learned Senior Advocate, Femi Falana cites as an instructive precedent. In the case, the Court of Appeal quashed the life imprisonment passed on some soldiers who had rioted at the Cairo Airport in Egypt. The court rightly ruled that the offence of mutiny for which the soldiers were tried was instigated by the officers who had diverted the medical allowances which ought to have been paid to the soldiers while receiving medical treatment in Egypt. In other words rather than restricting itself to the charge of mutiny, the court appropriately found and dealt with ‘constructive mutiny’- an offence instigated by the complainants.

The soldiers during thier mutiny tral

Our interest in today’s subject however goes far beyond the issue of technical justice. We are, like every patriot, worried about happenings in our military. The stories about how generally ill-equipped our soldiers have been are obviously a source of public concern more so as it concerns rare citizens who are prepared to pay the supreme sacrifice so that the rest of us may live. Our soldiers have never been known to be cowards. Even when the burden of saving others in Liberia and Sierra Leone was borne by them in the name of ECOMOG, there was hardly any story about mutiny. Today, the situation is different with the international media replete with painful tales of how poorly positioned our soldiers are in the war against insurgency. If our soldiers themselves have refrained from openly revolting, what their kith and kin say now and again is enlightening. The other day, the spouses of our soldiers and their immediate families staged public demonstrations against what they described as the sending of their poorly kitted bread winners to go and die in the warfronts. Who then is holding on to the yearly security budgets that are bigger than those of several ministries combined?
For those of us in the field of communication, the most worrying aspect of the mutiny story is the management of military information. When the story of the mutiny at Maimalari barracks first broke, it was officially dismissed as a rumour. The official statement read as follows: “The rumour making the rounds that Maiduguri is boiling as a result of insurrection by troops is unfounded”.  Although the statement confirmed that some soldiers were ambushed by insurgents, it gave the impression that the soldiers repelled the insurgents killing several of them adding that only 4 soldiers were killed. How come it is 12 soldiers that are now said to have been killed?
The statement for whatever reason also played down the nature of the mutiny by stating that “on evacuation of the remains of the fallen troops, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) addressed the troops who registered their anger about the incident by firing into the air”. If so how come, the soldiers were now tried for attempting to kill the GOC? In other words, which 12 soldiers are now sentenced to death-could it be those who merely fired into the air, or some other soldiers that “rumours” said shot directly at the GOC’s car wounding some of his aides or could it indeed be another group that protested the withdrawal of motorcycles from operating in the barracks?
What sources say angered the now convicted soldiers was the directive that they should return to base in the night after a mission only for Boko Haram to have information on their movement leading to the fatal ambush. Who gave the said directive? Was he put on trial for the resultant untimely deaths? What about the GOC whose life was allegedly attempted by the convicted soldiers?
Where is he? Is the rumour that he has been retired correct? In any case if his leadership role was deemed to be in order why was he transferred after the incident? Unfortunately we were unable to certify if the tribunal considered these posers before arriving at the death sentences.

Source: Vanguard

APC’ll win 2015 presidency despite Jonathan’s endorsement —Buhari

20.Sep.2014 

Former Head of State and presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, has said that  the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest the presidential seat in 2015 will  not make any difference as the All Progressives Congress (APC)  will win overwhelmingly.

Buhari   stated this on Friday, in Sokoto, the Sokoto State capital, while inaugurating projects executed by  the state governor, Aliyu Wammako.

While lauding the governor for embarking on people-oriented programmes, the former head of state, who was on a two-day  visit to the state, said  the endorsement of Jonathan would not make any difference as the  PDP has failed to address problems facing the  masses.

He  lamented the high level of insecurity and crimes  in the country.

“The number of military men deployed to monitor elections in Ekiti State, if deployed to the North East, will end the Boko Haram insurgency. Our Chibok girls are still in captivity,” he  said.

He further added that  APC is a party with clear objectives.

“Our aim and focus is to put a stop to corrupt practices and restore hope to Nigeria,” he said. 

In the meantime, the General Superintendent of Deeper Life Christian Ministry, Pastor Williams Kumuyi, has charged Nigerians to vote wisely and choose visionary leaders for the transformation of the country.

He emphasised the need for the people not to be swayed by financial inducement but elect candidates that are deemed capable of addressing the challenges confronting the country.

Kumuyi gave the charge on Thursday in Osogbo, Osun State, at a press conference heralding his three-day crusade scheduled to hold in the city.

“In 2015, we should cast our votes intelligently. The leaders that have the vision and pedigree to transform our nation should be voted into power at the local, state and federal levels,” he said

Russian jets intercepted off Alaska

Russian fighter jets were intercepted by Canadian and American planes on Wednesday
Six Russian fighter jets were intercepted by American and Canadian planes off the coast of Alaska on Wednesday, US defence officials have confirmed.

They entered what is known as the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), but did not enter US air space.

The planes, two of which were MiG 31 jets, left the area without incident.

Officials said this type of incident was not uncommon, and happens up to 10 times a year.

The ADIZ is a zone of airspace which extends out approximately 200 miles from the coastline and is mainly within international airspace.

US sovereign air space extends 12 nautical miles from land.

Two Alaskan-based F-22 fighter jets and two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian planes in two separate incidents on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

Also on Wednesday, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said two Russian military aircraft had crossed into Swedish air space south of the Baltic Sea island of Oland.

The ministry called it a "serious violation".

Sweden has said it has summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident

APC’ll end Boko Haram in three months —Kwande

21.Sep.2014  
Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, a long-time political associate of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on Atiku’s presidential aspiration and the insecurity in the North-Eastern part of the country.

I find this excerpts an interesting read.

Excerpts:
YOUR political associate and former vice-president has indicated his interest to contest the presidential election for the third time; do you think he will scale through this time around?

As far as we are concerned, it is only now that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is contesting. You cannot compare the situation in which he found himself with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, because he was barred.

But as far as I am concerned, he won the election. Because they stopped him from contesting at that time Obasanjo stopped him; everybody stopped him, but he won. The only thing we wanted to show was that he won, but did not contest. It wasn’t a question of winning the election; it was a question of being himself, based on the constitution of Nigeria. He couldn’t have expected anything more.

The second point is that the situation of Goodluck Jonathan contesting election with Atiku and General Muhammadu Buhari was also not conducive for a vibrant candidate, because we kept on talking about whether it was going to the South or the North; it wasn’t a question of freedom of the people; being able to stand election as we expected it would happen. There was no way for somebody to test his popularity on a level playing field; it was a matter of whether a Southerner or Northerner should contest.

We went on like that under the leadership of the Adamu Ciroma-led committee, of which I was a member, was setup to find out, among the Northerners, who would contest, and that wasn’t resolved until a week or two to the election.

And remember that somebody was on the seat and had every instrument to fight his war, while you are fighting on whether he should stand for election or not. Now, as far as political associates of Atiku are concerned, this time, the former vice-president is going through direct primary to test his popularity and this will be the first time he is going to contest on a level playing field. I can tell you that his chance is bright.

Sir, for quite some time now, the former vice-president has not been pulling enough political weight, especially in his state, Adamawa. In the recent governorship primary election conducted, the All Progressives Congress (APC), aspirant who contested from his camp did not scale through. With such defeat, don’t you think he is gradually losing his political base?

You people go by the publication of opponents; that is the trouble with the Nigerian media. You often position yourself as High Court or Supreme Court judges. We have told you that Atiku made it clear before the election that he wanted justice for himself and for other people. In that case, he said everybody that was interested in contesting the governorship election in Adamawa should go and try his luck. But he has the right to cast a vote and he must have one man in mind, but it doesn’t change anything. He paid for the forms of other contestants and just because one man said he was closer to Atiku and, therefore, Atiku should have selected him and such person lost, does that mean Atiku is losing his political base? Why did they go for election, if Atiku was given the right to select any of the candidates? He has no right to say ‘this is my own’ and what he said was that ‘whoever wins, I will support him’. Why do people judge him on that?

Is your party not worried that in recent times, it has been losing its frontliners to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Chief Tom Ikimi is the latest of such personalities?

How could you have a party like the APC for the generality of Nigeria and you are talking about an individual who said because he wanted to be chairman and was defeated, he is moving out? Do you see that person as a party man and a democrat?  We have been in this game for a very long time; think of Ali Modu Sheriff; is it not enough for Nigerians to see? The PDP that was saying APC was Boko Haram because of people like Sheriff started defending itself of being Boko Haram 24 hours after he joined their party. The PDP is not Boko Haram, but the man they were accusing has joined them; he was even given the privilege of being the only Nigerian to sit with our president and the president of another country.

People have moved from APC to PDP and vice versa and by this, I think it is balanced; it is the electorate that are important. The question is; have they also jumped ship? That is the most important thing.

APC has been accusing the government at the centre of inability to curb the insurgency in the North-Eastern part of the country; does your party have any plan to arrest the pathetic situation, if elected into power in 2015?

We have what it takes to arrest the situation. Single-handedly, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua handled the problem in the Niger-Delta; these were people who had the same orientation with us and we believe if given the chance, insurgency will not last three months.

But as patriotic Nigerians, why don’t you offer the present government the advice you think will solve the problem or you prefer people dying until you form the government in 2015?

Why do you think we did not offer any advice? We went there as Northern Elders Forum; we put in suggestions to the president and he promised to see us in two weeks, but he didn’t see us until after six months. He only saw us when the late Emir of Kano intervened and we went there. I was there; he didn’t take our advice; he has not been listening. He has only been listening to people like (Edwin) Clark. We are waiting for the opportunity, but he hasn’t given us the opportunity to help him.

Has your group exploited other avenues of passing your advice and suggestion across?

Haven’t you published in your newspaper that somebody is saying this man is weak? He should call us or are we the ones to call him? On the pages of newspapers, people said he has failed; he should look for people who said he has failed, so that they can tell him the area he has failed and ask ‘you said I have failed, what do you want me to do.?’

You are staunch member of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Do you think the forum can achieve its aim of the North producing the next president with its house divided?

In the Northern Elders Forum, we are very few and nobody appointed us, but we have the backing of people of Northern Nigeria to speak on their behalf. Whatever we say, we saw them praising us. We are getting stronger on a daily basis.

At a point, we invited the traditional rulers of Northern Nigeria and we discussed with them, but when the government of the day was becoming nervous of this trend, it came up with another group and called it Northern Elders Council to water down NEF. There is no disagreement; we are still there to help Northern Nigeria, but the Presidency was frightened. It should have formed something different, but it wanted to dilute our forum and it called it the same name and said it is council. Where were they when the Northern Elders Forum was formed? It was a repetition to deceive the Northerners; to divide the Northerners so that they can rule the region.

Your party in Plateau State is factionalised; as an elder statesman, what are you doing along with other elders in APC to address the lingering crisis?

You don’t know what is happening; we have our leadership, but if people are deceiving you journalists, that is another thing. You were all there when the winner of the election was declared; we have no opposition.

If somebody is disgruntled and goes out to make noise, we have no choice than to ignore him. Politics is like that; we have no opposition, but we have no office. Our office is under renovation; that is why we are in a temporary office, because the people who lost, but had given us an office are locking us out on a daily basis. If that is the problem in Plateau, it is now solved.

How is your party preparing for 2015 governorship election given the fact that the PDP is well-rooted in the state?

We are set and ready to form the next government in Plateau State; we will surprise the PDP. Forget all the noise they are making, we will surprise them. Can you imagine 20 people from the same family contesting for the same seat? It is going to be easy for us to win, because the present government has made it easy for us to win. It has not performed well; the dichotomy within it is too wide and through its style of governance, they it is making it easy for us to win.

It is making the mistake that anybody who contests on the ticket of PDP will win. So, everybody within the party wants to contest, but the kingmaker said he hasn’t spoken with his divine leader. By definition, he will now appoint one for us; we are waiting.

US, South Africa in cold war with Nigeria •Nigeria buys attack helicopters from •S/Africa sends investigators to Synagogue, intensifies probe of $9.3m arms deal China

THE Nigerian government is querying the continued presence of American security forces in the country more than two months after they promised to assist in rescuing the Chibok girls and stem the tide of terrorism without results.

Indeed, top officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration will be in the United States this weekend to straighten things out on Nigeria’s displeasure with what has been described as the “lack of cooperation” with Nigeria by the American agents who are in the country.

A top security official told Saturday Tribune on Friday that Nigeria was beginning to query the real mission of the American forces in the country.

“These people have been around for more than two months. They made so much noise before coming that they would assist in rescuing the Chibok girls and fight Boko Haram with technology but can you believe it that these people do not share intelligence with Nigeria? They do not relate at all with Nigerian officials. In fact, they have their office in the US Embassy where they process their intelligence.

“The procurement of military equipment is another area where they are frustrating Nigeria. By now, we are supposed to have taken delivery of some of the equipment but unfortunately, they are delaying this with unnecessary bottlenecks in the name of ‘compliance issues.’ Now, Nigeria is being forced to look for succour in the direction of countries in Eastern Europe. We just took delivery of some equipment, including attack helicopters from China which will soon be deployed for operations.

“The $9.3m arms deal that was bungled in South Africa was one of the desperate moves taken by the government to get out of the frustration,” the official told Saturday Tribune.

Nigeria, S’Africa head for diplomatic row
Meanwhile, the twin-issue of an alleged $9.3 million arms deal scandal and the handling of investigation into the tragedy trailing the collapse of building at the Synagogue Church for All Nations church, are reportedly generating tension between Nigeria and South Africa.

A diplomatic source revealed that the brewing disagreement could snowball into a major diplomatic row.

Nigeria and South-Africa have been in and out of frosty relations since the incumbent President, Jacob Zuma assumed office.

His administration’s antagonistic disposition is allegedly due to President Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence, which denied his very close friend in Nigeria, the presidency.

The Nigerian friend is still eyeing the top job and the latest moves by the South-African government are being reportedly perceived in security circle  as deliberate acts to embarrass the Nigerian government and possibly weaken the presidency ahead of 2015 presidential election.

A diplomatic source disclosed that the Nigerian government was shocked by the decision of Pretoria to rush to the media over the arms business, without exploring the usual diplomatic channels with the Nigerian government.

The source further explained that in a normal circumstance, the South African government should have contacted its Nigerian counterpart once those caught with the controversial cash had disclosed that they were executing a contract for the Nigerian security agencies with the active backing of the Jonathan administration.

Saturday Tribune was equally informed that the move by South Africa to criminalise the issue and make the cash movement to appear like money-laundering, confirmed the alleged politics behind the rejection by the South Africa, of diplomatic moves by the Nigerian government, to amicably resolve the issue.

With the issue in public and South Africa allegedly drawing political capital out of it, Saturday Tribune was told that the Nigerian government would have no choice than to react appropriately.

Government officials in Nigeria, especially those in security circle, were also said to have been embarrassed by the undisguised move by Pretoria to allegedly blow the tragedy in Synagogue out of proportion by mentioning casualty figure that did not reflect the realities on ground.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had created doubts around the figure of South African persons killed in the building that collapsed at the church, as announced by Zuma.

Zuma had said the 65 persons he mentioned as killed in the tragedy, was a result of his projection based on the hundreds of South Africans that visited the church at the time the building collapsed.

At the time he was making his claim, the official casualty figure from NEMA which conducted the search and rescue, was 60 for all the nationalitiesW involved.

South Africa also deployed its search and rescue team as well as DNA experts to identify its nationals involved in the tragedy.

The move is being interpreted by Nigerian officials on ground as a vote of no confidence in the Nigerians handling the Synagogue crisis and an alleged further denigration of Jonathan’s administration’s capacity to handle emergencies.

A foreign affairs source noted that the Zuma administration had become particularly hostile since it emerged that Nigeria’s economy might be doing better than South Africa’s, which had reportedly put his administration under pressure from local activists who have continually harassed him for alleged corrupt practices.

The latest move is being read in diplomatic circle as Zuma fighting his own battles against Nigeria, alongside with his friend’s.

Saturday Tribune learnt that Nigeria might in days ahead resort to the same tactic it employed during the yellow fever clearance card which saw the two countries in retaliatory passenger-deporting saga, until South Africa bowed and apologised to Nigeria, though it was first to deport Nigerians over the controversial card.

The then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, called it “eye-for-eye” policy.

The latest brewing crisis could be of greater damage, as revealed by diplomatic sources, if Jonathan’s administration would be going the whole hog as major bilateral trade could be affected.

South African companies are major players in Nigeria’s telecommunications and cable TV sectors, while Nigerian firms have consistently complained of harsh operational climate in South Africa.

South Africa has given an indication that the $9.3m cash is likely to be forfeited to it.

Already North Gauteng High Court in South Africa, has ordered the freezing of the said cash.

Mum was the word at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as none of the officials contacted, consented to saying anything official on the matter.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, was said to be out of the country.

An official who refused to be quoted said South Africa is likely to have an upper hand in the raging crisis even if its objectives are not altruistic, because it has the laws of the land to bank on, in confiscating the disputed cash, which was obviously from the coffers of the Nigerian government.

The official, however, did not rule out a harsher response from Nigeria if necessary.

The Bombardier Challenger 6000 jet that flew the cash into South Africa is originally owned by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, a known ally of President Jonathan.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan, in the bid to expand consultation on the ways to end the current insurgency, has met with about 13 traditional rulers from the northern region.

The delegation was led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, while the meeting was also attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.

The meeting held behind closed doors but the president was said to have assured the monarchs that he was determined to end the insurgency in the north.

He also told them about plans to reverse the attendant economic backwardness in the zone.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting and confirmed that the president assured the delegation that measures were already in place to end the insurgency in the zone.

He said the visit was a follow-up to the emergency meeting of the traditional rulers which also held this week in Kaduna and where they discussed the security situation in their domains.

Maku described the meeting with Jonathan as fruitful and one that underlined the country’s unity and imminent defeat of insurgency and terrorism in the country.

“The meeting went very well; it was a good consultation. The traditional rulers gave their own perspective of what is going on particularly in the north east,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of Sultan, the Estu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, pledged the council’s support to the Federal Government with regard to the war against insurgency.

He said, “We saw how the military actually performed especially in the operation in Konduga. We saw how they were able to repel the insurgents’ advances there. We feel that, yes, such encouragement should be given to the military to allow them to perform well in order to save the situation.

“On the encouragement aspect also, we see certain areas of the economy especially agriculture should be supported. And also we talked about victims, how the victims would also be relieved of their sufferings, and also the internally displaced persons.”

Source:  Nigerian Tribune

Man hangs himself live on Skype while online spectators watched

26 year old Russian man Serger Kirilov (pictured above) wanted to commit suicide and so he went on Skype and announced that he planned to commit suicide and said anyone who wanted to see it could link to him on Skype.

Shockingly, many people linked up to him and watched him hang himself without trying to stop him. One spectator even allegedly said 'a real man would have killed himself more quickly.' Another said 'If a man says he's going to do something, he needs to do it.' Only one person tried to stop him.

Russian police are now trying to trace all the people who watched the suicide through their internet service providers. A Russian police spokesman said 'It is beyond belief that people could watch this as a form of entertainment. We will be investigating everyone who watched this incident, especially those who urged him to carry it out who may be guilty of negligent homicide.'

Sierra Leone starts nationwide Ebola lockdown

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/19/world/africa/sierra-leone-ebola-lockdown/index.html

Pres. Jonathan lacks the experience to lead Nigeria- Atiku Abubakar says

Former Vice President and APC presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar said in an interview with AFP today that President Jonathan lacks the experience to lead Nigeria, saying it's the reason Boko Haram activities has been on the increase.
"This insurgency shouldn’t have lasted even six months. Within weeks, we (Obasanjo and I) crushed it because we did not neglect military training and, of course, we did not lack the leadership and the capacity to take decisions. I told Nigerians that he [Jonathan] did not have the capacity; he didn’t have the experience. He didn’t have anything and yet they gave him the chance, the opportunity. And they can now see the chance and the opportunity they gave him. Of course, I’m more experienced than he is. I believe my capacity cannot be compared with his, in all respect.” he said