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Mistakes GEJ cannot afford to make now

THE ship of state of Nigeria is adrift for some key reasons.

The Northern elders, elites and political leaders seem to be determined to either intimidate, harass or force GEJ not to run in the 2015 presidential election.

The merger of the ACN, CPC, and others to form the APC, which was the joy of many earlier, have just turned out to be more of a gang up to the disappointment of those who thought our democracy was shaping up.

But following the Chibok incident and the expressed willingness of the international community to assist Nigeria, some of them have seen the need to change their stance. They were blinded all these past four years and did not see the danger of Boko Haram as the nation’s number one enemy. Then they did not seem to care if the country was blown to pieces, aware that they will never be able to beat GEJ in 2015; thus, they told lies to themselves that the failure of Nigeria was only the failure of GEJ.

We cannot trust APC with a leader like Governor Nyako who has called for war against Igbos of the South East on the erroneous premise that GEJ was an Igbo man. Same for General Buhari who threatened that blood would flow if he failed in 2011.These are men who fought to keep Nigeria one, yet they are with Malam El-Rufai who thinks that he will be a better Northern champion by fighting dirty with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN and others who at different fora vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable. Never mind their recent grand standing with the involvement of the civilised world in the Chibok girls matter.

They have succeeded in politicising every aspect of the Nigerian life such that GEJ cannot afford to make certain mistakes if he wants to keep the stability of Nigeria.

First, GEJ must contain the spread of insurgency by restricting it to the North East till it is wiped out. It must not get to the South. Full state of emergency should therefore be proclaimed in the three states of the North East, with the suspension of their legislative houses for the next six months. It will remove any likely sabotage or discouragement, or frustration of the efforts of the international forces now with us. If the State Houses of Assembly were not in synch with their Governors, they would have made it known to the world before now.

Second, all those who have made seditious comments and publications that threatened the unity and stability of this country must be prosecuted no matter how highly placed they may be. The full state of emergency will strip those who are serving Governors of their immunity so as to face the law of the land. Politicians and leaders must be deterred from making incendiary comments capable of undermining the stability of the country. If they are tired of Nigeria and begin to hate us, we should just be tired enough of them to send them to prison. No man should be above the law if we will move forward. Power should go to the systems and structures not individuals.

Third, GEJ must make round the clock electric power available to Nigerians to stimulate production and manufacturing which will create jobs, at all cost. It should be ‘a do or die’ matter to the presidency. Banks must be made to provide initial venture capital for agriculture, producers and manufacturers with lenient and generously low lending rates and conditions. The confusion in the banking sector created by SLS must be cleansed out. Sanity and bankers confidence must be restored. We must stop viewing and treating our bankers as thieves and untrust-worthy persons.

Fourth, GEJ must not allow his advisers to estrange his party from the voters by foisting increased hardship on them few months to elections through poorly timed and thought out policies that the opposition will capitalise on the during campaigns.

Such policies include the motor vehicle policy which will ban or increase the tariff on imported vehicles, the new plates policy and the driver’s license administration. Many motor companies are flooding back to Nigeria, attracted by the generous conditions created by the FG. Most of them have plans to build certain number of vehicles even though their plants and equipment are not here yet. Some are just acquiring land; it will take them a minimum of about 24 months to start production.

Yet government have increased tariffs on imported vehicles and may ban some out rightly in a few weeks or months time. This will only drive the market to our neighboring countries, increase smuggling and put more money into the pocket of Customs men and their contacts, while we groan under increased hardship. This policy should be dropped until we are sure of the quantity of vehicles we can and have produced over a period of time.

These companies seem to be building their factories on the pages of newspapers, positioning for importation for now. While the new number plate is a multi-billion naira scheme to extort money from Nigerians, as they bring no added value to users, the confusion in the issuance of driver’s license is a complete mess. It takes about six months to obtain a driver’s license from Lagos today, providing fertile grounds for fraud and extortion.

Fifth, GEJ cannot afford not to restrict the herdsmen to areas with large expanse of land in the North. This will reduce friction and violence associated with these men. The South, especially the South East, does not have the land, and this should be respected. The herdsmen palaver can be used by enemies to create avoidable schisms in the fragile unity of our country.

Finally, GEJ, must not allow the North, or anyone to make him not give the South East another state and a befitting sea port, not an inland Barges-Port like is being built at Onitsha. A seaport that has direct link and access to the ocean like in Apapa and Igbokoda.This is because the South East will ride with him all the way, and friendship with them is wisdom.

CLEMENT UDEGBE, a legal  practitioner, wrote from  Lagos. SOURCE vanguardngr

Abduction of school girls shows that Muslims are behind Boko Haram – Bishop Wale Oke

Wale Oke, the Presiding Bishop of Sword of the Spirit Ministries has stated that the recent abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls has shown that Emirs, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and Muslim political leaders in the North were behind the Boko Haram insurgents.

He added that the activities of the Boko Haram sect have given Islam a bad name.

The cleric who stated this during a visit to the Vanguard Newspaper said the Sultan and other Islamic leaders in the North should be blamed for the ugly incident.

While frowning at the reported conversion of the girls to Islam, Oke called on Nigerian leaders to stop saying that the criminal activities of the Islamic fundamentalists were political.

“Sultan should stop playing the Ostrich by saying that it is not a religious war.

Northern elders are known to have control over their younger ones. When they call them, they listen to them. Why is it now that their youth suddenly turned deaf ears to their calls.

We are not fools?. “People are playing politics with the blood of Christians. This is Islamic Jihad. Let the Sultan of Sokoto call all Emirs and other Islamic leaders to bring out these Boko Haram boys. Let them stop deceiving Nigerians”

“Governor Shettima said he knows where those Boko Haram insurgents are. Where was he when security agents were combing everywhere for these insurgents? We put all the issues on Boko Haram at the doorstep of the Sultan of Sokoto. Let him know that this is what the church is saying”.

“The position of Christian Association on it has been very clear, that it is a religious war. Emirs should genuinely withdraw their tacit support for Boko Haram”.

According to him, “what we have been made to know over the years is that Islam is a religion of peace, but, how can somebody who is saying Islam is a peaceful religion abduct innocent girls and claim they have been converted to Islam under the nozzle of a gun?

“Certainly, the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents have been to discredit the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, but the sponsors of the group should know that the game is over because Nigerians are no fools.

“When the late President Umar Yar’Adua was in office, the Christians did not destablize his government, how come now that a Christian had not been allowed a breathing space since his assumption of duty in 2011″, Oke queried?

He expressed disappointment with some Northern leaders whom he alleged wanted to show to the world that President Goodluck Jonathan is not capable of governing this nation.

“When the late Umaru Yar’Adua was there as the president, we, Christians supported him and never made the country ungovernable for him. Why are they doing this to our own? They should know that nobody can islamise Nigeria. We won’t accept it,” he added: SOURCE

GEJ cancels planned trip to Chibok, heads to Paris for security summit

President Jonathan has cancelled his planned trip to Chibok, Borno State, the small town where over 200 girls were abducted about a month ago. He was scheduled to visit the place today May 16th but instead is attending the Africa Security Summit which is holding in Paris today.

Gov Obiano’s Campaign for Environmental Sanity

The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, does not conceal the weightiness in steering the affairs of his state; he is not a shirker from his sworn responsibility to lift the state to an enviable status either. The Governor’s multifaceted interests in advancing the state, in addition to the unique promptness of his actions, present a man who rests less to nurture his vision for Anambra to tangible terms. Though Chief Obiano has, from the day of his inauguration, maintained heightened commitment to the ‘four pillar’ thrust of his administration itemized as: ‘aggressive mechanized agriculture, oil and gas, trade and commerce, and industrialization,’ he has personally led crusades to inculcate environment friendliness in Ndi-Anambra; just as he has equally demonstrated absolute commitment to the security of lives and property in the state. The effects of these efforts are recognizable in the reinvigorated life among Ndi-Anambra who, apart from celebrating the minimal crime record in the state, have bought into the Governor’s ‘free the environment of filth’ campaign.

Environment, in its sheer immensity and bountiful accommodation of life, could passably go for the most expansive as well as the most charitable habitation for life on planet earth. Indeed, life cannot be outside the context of an environment, for even a vacuum depicts an environment of emptiness, absence or nothingness. Vast and vague, environment has been in the front burner of issues of grievous concern to organisations and governments across the globe in their advocacy for wholesome life. The challenges of making environment pliable to the demands of humans are as diverse as the particularities of distinctive human habitations and the consciousness of people to the environmental peculiarities they put up with. The economy of the environment in human life is therefore as immense, convoluted and probably as relevant as life itself suggests. And mindful of the interface (more of fluidity) between its socio-geographical pedestals, our target here is the implication of human actions or inactions on the environment in Anambra State.

A few days into the life of his administration, Chief Willie Obiano defied turbulent rainfall to embark on ‘Keep Awka Clean’ exercise. He replicated the environmental discipline campaign shortly after in the metropolitan cities of Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia where he enjoined residents of the state to wake up to the challenges of reviving an environment that has experienced continual depreciation. His persuasion on the subject is apt: ‘Hygienic environment is a sine qua non for pleasant neighbourhoods and good health.’ Governor Obiano’s passion for a wholesome environment, physical and social, conduced to his choice of ‘Kpochapu’ (evacuate, remove completely) as a codename for a joint security group comprising the Police, other arms of Nigeria’s Armed Forces, Civil Defence and other relevant groups. This octopus subset of the State security apparatus enforces the maintenance of a safe, decent and civilized polity. While ‘Operation Kpochapu’ might fundamentally be referencing containment of criminality in the State, the nomenclature which explicitly points at the maintenance of decent neighbourhoods underpins the Governor’s consummate passion to turnaround the environment and the people to a blend of civilised entity.

Anambra State of Nigeria is unfairly burdened with multiple natural ecological constraints. The State has over one thousand active erosion sites whose persistent escalation, particularly during the rains, continues to threaten lives and property of Ndi-Anambra. Conscious of the non-cohesive texture of the soil in many parts of the State which exposes it to malignant erosion, Governor Obiano, in his ‘Save the Environment Campaign,’ stresses the imminent danger a harassed environment poses to its abusers. He encourages individuals and groups to duly dispose refuse at designated points to avoid blockage of the water channels and the consequent erosion. In response to the Governor’s message, it is now common to see people de-silting the drains that run through their neighbourhoods, and properly disposing refuse at designated spots from where the appropriate Government Agency promptly evacuates same.

Anambra State leaves nobody in doubt about the difficulties its governance poses; the enviable constellation of stellar intelligentsia it boasts of regardless. This privilege, in addition to the significant value of the wealthy and ‘know-some’ people (who, indeed, might know very little) has ensured a clog in administering the state. It is therefore not strange to see people, particularly the rich, encroach on public land in erecting private structures, with the haughty mindset that ‘nothing will happen’. At times these structures are placed on water or other service lines, or even on deliberate green parks reserved for public use. As Governor Obiano superintended the demolition of such illegal structures at Onitsha and its environs, he admonished perpetrators of such illegality, and sternly warned that his administration ‘will not tolerate flagrant violation of the law and encroachment on government property by anybody, irrespective of social status.’

Again, in furtherance of Chief Obiano’s passion for safe and decent environment, the Anambra State Government has ordered an immediate removal of immobile vehicles along major roads in the state; it has also ordered the removal of random posters and billboards which deplete the aesthetic dispositions of the cities. Given Governor Obiano’s compulsive persuasion on the primacy of well groomed, decent and safe environment in the attainment of great health and pleasant life, and upon Ndi-Anambra’s warm reception of the noble counsel encapsulated in ‘Operation Kpochapu’, Anambra State is surely on course to the haulage of laurels in environmental friendliness.

Okechukwu Anarado writes from Adazi-Nnukwu.

Britain offers extra military help to Nigeria to protect schools

A protest outside the Nigerian embassy in London: David Cameron rejected a suggestion that the authorities had failed to lift a finger to help find the girls. Photograph: Michael Tubi/Demotix/Corbis

Britain is offering to step up its military assistance to Nigeria by sending surveillance aircraft and an intelligence team to help the authorities track down the kidnapped schoolgirls.

As he rejected claims that the Nigerian government had failed to do enough to help find the missing girls, David Cameron said Britain should be willing to offer help across a range of fronts to help protect schools in the country.

The prime minister told MPs: "I can announce that we have offered Nigeria further assistance in terms of surveillance aircraft and a military team to embed with the Nigerian army in their HQ and a team to work with the US experts to analyse information on the girls' location.

"This was an act of pure evil. The world is coming together not just to condemn it but to do everything we can to help the Nigerians find these young girls."

Downing Street sources indicated that the British surveillance aircraft would not be drones. The military team would work with their Nigerian counterparts at the country's military HQ to help co-ordinate and analyse intelligence.

The prime minister rejected a suggestion by Tom Clarke, the former Labour minister, who said the Nigerian authorities had failed to lift a finger to help find the schoolgirls. A group of about 130 of the kidnapped girls appeared earlier this week on a video released by the terror groupBoko Haram.

Clarke, who is a respected expert on international development, asked the prime minister: "While I welcome the efforts to rescue the schoolgirls in Nigeria, will the prime minister agree that the Nigerian government hasn't lifted a finger to protect its own citizens in the north as they were attacked by Boko Haram?"

Cameron replied: "I don't think his description of the Nigerian government is entirely fair. They do face a very vicious terrorist organisation in terms of Boko Haram.

"They are investing in and training their armed forces in counter-terrorism abilities. We have worked with them on that and we are willing to do more work with them on that, particularly if we can make sure proper processes are in place for dealing with human rights issues."

But the PM said Britain should be prepared to provide more than military assistance. He said: "We should help across a broad range of areas – not just counter-terrorism, surveillance and helping them find these people but also working with the global fund promoted by [Gordon Brown] in terms of protecting more schools." SOURCE

Car built by Nigerian students passes international evaluation -

Nigeria has recorded a major feat in automotive technology innovation with a car called “Tuke-Tuke’`, produced by students of the University of Benin.

The car has passed international technical evaluation in Rotterdam, Netherlands, a statement said.

The statement was signed by the Media Manager of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Mr Precious Okolobo on Thursday in Abuja.

Tuke-Tuke

It said that the car was now qualified to race at the 2014 Eco Marathon in Netherlands with cars from 25 countries, mostly advanced countries.

It said that the SPDC Joint Venture (JV) was sponsoring University of Benin and University of Lagos to the event in Dutch city of Rotterdam from May 15 to May 18.

The statement said that the marathon would start on Friday with an opening ceremony and the cars would race for the winning price on Saturday, May 17.

According to the statement, the two Nigerian universities are participating in the 2014 edition of Shell Eco-marathon Europe, the first teams from Sub-Saharan to enter the global event.

It said that the car built by students from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) was still undergoing thorough technical evaluation and its results would be announced on Friday.

The company was optimistic that the UNILAG car would also do well, the statement said.

“Shell Eco-marathon challenges student teams from around the world to design, build and test ultra-energy efficient vehicles. The winners are the teams that go the furthest using the least amount of energy.

“The events spark debate about the future of mobility and inspire young engineers to push the boundaries of fuel efficiency.

“All cars are expected to pass a strict technical inspection to check that they are fit for purpose and safe before they are allowed to race,” the statement said.

It said that students from the Ahmadu Bello University, University of Lagos and University of Benin attended Shell Eco-marathon Europe as observers of the 2013 edition on SPDC JV sponsorship.

Undergraduates from Uniben work relentlessly to design, build and test an energy-efficient car called “Tuketuke” that will compete at Shell Ecomarathon
Take from Eco-tuketuke facebook page

“Since then, the students from Lagos and Benin have successfully built cars that are being sent to Rotterdam this week in line with the main objective of Shell Eco-marathon.

“The objective was to challenge students from around the world to design, build and race fuel-efficient vehicles,’’ it said.

The statement said that the judges would be looking to reward the cars that would drive farthest with the least amount of fuel.

According to the statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mr Ben Van Beurden, commended Nigerian students for the innovation.

“We have been doing this for over 30 years. It started in France and it has gone all around the world. It is fantastic to see the scale that we have now.

“The energy, the enthusiasm and the innovation that has taken place, and the fact that we have a Nigerian team here participating is an incredibly milestone,” Beurden said. (NAN) SOURCE

Boko Haram members burn their university certificates:

Shehu Sani is a Nigerian civil rights activist, playwright and author. He is president of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria and has negotiated with Boko Haram in the past.

Shehu Sani in this write up  speaks on the abducted girls and the insurgents.

Until the abduction of more than 200 girls at the Government Girls Secondary School in rural Chibok, Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency received scant attention in the global media, which gave it brief airtime when the insurgents exploded their bombs or torched a school.

However, the mass abduction has brought the world’s attention to the callous and unceasing violence that has become routine in northern Nigeria over the last three years.

Shehu Sani

The area has suffered more than three decades of religious violence between Muslims and Christians.

But since Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a 2009 security crackdown — along with hundreds of his followers — the militant Islamist group has stepped up its attacks.

Boko Haram militants have killed clerics, bombed churches and mosques and assassinated politicians and government officials.

When the militants attack churches, their aim is to start a sectarian war that will engulf the country; when they attack mosques, their aim is to exterminate Muslims they consider collaborators.

In the last three years, the Nigerian Government has opted for the use of force to exterminate the insurgents, rather than diminish the activities of the group — and it has become more daring and audacious in its attacks.

Despite the allocation of 25% of the annual budget to defense and security, the government has been unable to crush and contain the insurgency. The group has taken on and demoralized the rank and file of the Nigerian army and police.

Boko Haram has launched deadly raids on military garrisons and police and secret intelligence offices to free their detained members. The use of force against the group has only led to allegations of a chain of rights abuses with the justification that it is a war on terror.

Nigeria’s Human Rights Commission last year accused the military of arbitrary killings, torture and rape in its campaign, while the military has described reports of civilian casualties as “grossly exaggerated.”

Our constitutional freedom has been formally suppressed by the authorities on the grounds of national emergency. The strategy of collective punishment, arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention and killing raids by the security forces has alienated the civil populace and turned them into victims. In the war against Boko Haram, civilians have become victims of both the military and the militants.

Meeting with Boko Haram

I mooted the idea of dialogue with the insurgents as a new option towards ending the insurgency and restoring peace to my bewildered and beleaguered nation. In September 2011, I facilitated talks with the insurgents and the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo — then chairman of Nigeria’s ruling party.

The first surprise in the encounter was that the representatives of the terror group spoke fluent English. The bigger surprise was when some of the insurgents revealed that they had university degrees. It is a prerequisite for new Boko Haram members to burn their university certificates or any paper identification that links them secular schools.

In the meeting, they justified their violence on the grounds that it was the Nigerian Government that had forced them to take up arms. They said that before they trod the path of violence, they first tried to take the path of peace.

They even showed us copies of a petition they wrote to the government complaining about the harassment and intimidation of their sect members by security forces before they picked up arms.

They showed us photographs of followers and relatives they said had been killed by the police in cold blood, even before the insurgency began and threatened more attacks until they “avenge the injustices done to them.”

They expressed anger at the way people criticized and condemned them when they launched attacks but kept mute when Boko Haram members were killed, their homes demolished and their wives and children arrested by the security forces.

We took their grievances to the government and advised the government to follow through, but hawks within the corridors of power discouraged the president from taking our advice.

The second effort at dialogue involved a northern Islamic cleric and head of the Nigeria sharia council. The talks were facilitated by a freelance journalist who was later threatened by those opposed to dialogue.

This second round of dialogue took place in the last quarter of 2012.

Boko Haram accused the government of leaking the details of the talks to the media for political reasons. One of the group’s conditions for talks had been that only their outcome be made public.

We were close to achieving a ceasefire but again hawks, security and defense contractors in the corridors of power sabotaged our efforts.

I have never met the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau but I declined to meet him on two occasions when I got his invitation to interview him. I declined because I realized that the government was not interested in my approach.

‘Preventable and avoidable’

The abduction of the girls in Chibok is one of many abductions over the last three years.

If the Nigerian authorities took lessons from earlier attacks on schools by the insurgents, the Chibok abductions couldn’t have happened. The Chibok abduction was a preventable and avoidable tragedy.

When the militants abduct boys, they use them as conscripts and girls as cooks and hostages. I cannot confirm if they used abducted girls as sex slaves — the leadership of the group denied such reports when we asked them, but abducted women who were later freed give credence to such claims.

Each day the Chibok girls spend in captivity keeps the moral flag of my country at half mast.

The #BringBackOurGirls protest and the interest shown by President Obama and other world leaders and celebrities like Alicia Keys and Angelina Jolie has kept the spirits of Chibok mothers high and the Nigerian Government on its toes.

When we were children, we used to forecast that one day the Sambisa forest in Borno state would become a game reserve which would attract foreign tourists and foreign currencies. Today it is attracting foreign interest for negative reasons.

The Chibok girls must be freed but not by the use of force except when other options fail. The schoolgirls are now innocent hostages in the hands of soulless gunmen.

We don’t want the body of the girls to be brought back home, we want them back home alive.

Political future

The use of force could turn out to be tragic. Experience has shown that attempts in the past to free hostages from the insurgents through the use of force has deadly consequences.

French hostages were freed in Nigeria through negotiations but a British and Italian hostage were killed in Sokoto when UK forces went to free them.

We can get the Chibok girls back home and we must.

I was delighted to learn that the special team sent by the U.S. and UK also included experts in hostage negotiation. I strongly believe that Islamic clerics in northern Nigeria and some of the top ranking insurgents currently in detention can be used to open a channel of communication with the leadership of the sect in order to secure the release of the Chibok girls.

There are those who say that the option of negotiating to free the hostages will embolden the terrorists, I have never been a hostage but I have been a political prisoner who spent many years in prison during our struggle against military dictatorship in Nigeria in the 1990s.

Those who experience captivity appreciate freedom the most.

The situation we find ourselves in is a tough moment in our history, but I believe we shall overcome it.

Many Nigerians believe that the way the Chibok issue is resolved will determine the political future of Nigeria.

Taken from CNN;  SOURCE

President Jonathan To Leave For France

President Jonathan and Mr. Mark Simmonds at the Presidential Villa in Abuja today

President Goodluck Jonathan said today he is looking forward to this weekend’s summit on the Boko Haram insurgency which is being hosted by France.  

Welcoming to the Presidential Villa the British Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr. Mark Simmonds, Mr. Jonathan reiterated Nigeria’s appreciation of the support being given by Britain and other countries in the efforts to locate and rescue the schoolgirls abducted by the militants in Chibok.  

According to a government press statement, Mr. Jonathan told Mr. Simmonds his government will also welcome international support for Nigeria’s plans for the socio-economic rehabilitation of the North-Eastern States after the Boko Haram insurgency has been substantially curtailed.

The Boko Haram summit was first mooted by the French President François Hollande last Sunday.

“With Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, I have proposed to hold a meeting with the countries bordering Nigeria,” Mr. Hollande said during a visit Baku, Azerbaijan.  

His aides told the press that the leaders of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger might attend the summit, and also that Britain, the European Union and the United States were likely to be represented.  The discussion will focus on how Nigeria and relevant countries can strengthen and intensify collaboration against Boko Haram and other criminal organizations.

Mr. Jonathan told Mr. Simmonds:  “If we all collaborate more, it will easier to eradicate Boko Haram and terrorism.”

Mr. Simmonds reassured President Jonathan of Britain’s commitment to giving Nigeria the assistance required to find and safely rescue the abducted girls.

“We are keen to support Nigeria in every possible way and help you overcome present challenges,” he declared.

The press statement said Mr. Jonathan also on Wednesday received solidarity calls from the Prime Minister of Algeria, Abdelmallek Sallel and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, and later received the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Representative in West Africa, Ambassador Saidi Jinit.

Mr. Jonathan told Ambassador Jinit that the Federal Government will welcome help from the United Nations for the coordination of  a planned victims support programme and a Victims Support Fund.

One month today following the abduction of the girls, it is unclear how much progress is being made in the search for them.  The Nigerian government does not offer any briefings to the public or to the parents of the girls. SOURCE

Shettima said that the State of emergency is useless,

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima said yesterday that the state of emergency declared in his state along with Yobe and Adamawa because of the Boko Haram insurgency is “useless”.

He is unbothered by the extension which President Goodluck Jonathan is requesting the support of the National Assembly for.

To him, the state of emergency which has been in place in the last one year has been largely ineffective in addressing the security challenges in the Northeast. The proposed extension has already been rejected by the Yobe and Adamawa state governments.

Speaking in an interview aired on the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored in Kaduna, Shettima accused the military of being ineffective in carrying out their responsibility. He recalled that during the Boko Haram attack on Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, it was the civilian JTF that confronted the terrorists and not soldiers.

The governor expressed regret over the worsening condition of life in his state which he described as bad. He said residents were wallowing in poverty because the insurgents had made it impossible for businesses to thrive and had rendered farming impossible.

He said: “This state of emergency is useless; these wicked people had a field day when they annexed Giwa Barracks; the civilian JTF confronted them; many of them died.”

The governor said he was willing to sacrifice his life, if need be, for peace to be restored in his state. He said rather than be afraid of an extension of the state of emergency, his major concern was to rescue the girls from Chibok.

He said: “This state of emergency is nonsense; our major concern is to find our Chibok girls alive,I can sacrifice my life for that, wallahi, wallahi (I swear by Allah).”

Shettima dismissed claims in some quarters that the state government was not cooperating with the military and wondered if the Civilian JTF members descended from heaven. He said at Nganzai, 34 civilian JTF men were killed and 50 were killed in Munguno.

President Goodluck Jonathan To Visit Chibok Town In Borno State Friday

Some security personnel have arrived in Maiduguri, the state capital of Borno, late today, and more are expected to arrive later tonight, Thursday evening. The arrival of federal security officers in the state capital, has not gone unnoticed. The federal personnel is usually linked to the presidential security detail, and it has caused quite a stir even outside Maiduguri. Their arrival has sparked rumors among local residents, civic leaders, and elected officials of possible actions to be taken in the coming days.
SaharaReporters has learned that President Goodluck Jonathan will visit with the families of the abducted schoolgirls on Friday, in a highly publicized appearance. The appearance of the so-called ‘advance men’ has drawn attention to the sometimes-mysterious movements of a president who has come under fire, and increased scrutiny, since the April 14th kidnapping.
It is Jonathan’s first visit to Borno state after 31 days of the abduction of nearly 300 school students, all female, in a story that has captured world attention.
The Boko Haram, in a daring late night raid on the small village, kidnapped over 200 girls at the Government Girls Secondary School, in Chibok last month. The kidnapping, which has drawn the attention of the international community, has placed unwanted focus on Jonathan’s beleaguered leadership.

Ini Edo offered scholarship to study Law at National Open University

She made the announcement on her instagram page this afternoon. Congrats to her!