Wednesday 23 August 2017

Rooney quality under-valued, says Lineker

Wayne Rooney’s true worth as a player has not been properly appreciated, according to England football great Gary Lineker.
        Wayne Rooney has signed a             two-year deal with Everton

Rooney has looked rejuvenated since returning to Everton, the club that nurtured his talent when he was a teenager, after becoming an unhappy-looking peripheral figure at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho.
The 31-year-old has scored in both his league appearances for Everton — including Monday’s against Manchester City when he joined Alan Shearer as the only players to score 200 Premier League goals — and has garnered support for a recall to the England squad which will be named on Thursday.
Lineker — who also starred for both Everton and England — said Rooney should figure among the top 10 in British football’s hall of fame.
“He probably is,” Lineker said, referring to whether Rooney is under-appreciated.
“He’d be (one of Britain’s) top 10 ever — he’s had a marvellous career.
“He’s been a great player for English football.”
Lineker, who scored 48 times in his 80 international appearances, said Rooney had too often during his international career carried the burden of being the national side’s only world-class player.
“England went through a time of being bereft of world-class talent — it was just him,” said the 56-year-old, who also starred for Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur.
“He’s gone to play in tournaments, sometimes not fully fit, sometimes fit, in a team that’s not really good enough, and he’s suffered a little bit from that.”
Lineker, who like Rooney also failed to land a major global trophy with England, said it was a case of what might have been if Rooney had stayed fit at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Rooney had scored four times in the tournament before he broke a bone in his foot.
“Those of us who remember his early career — he was phenomenal,” said Lineker.
“He did it in Portugal. We might have gone on to win that one if he hadn’t (got injured), we were looking so good.”
Lineker also attributes Rooney’s lack of recognition to partisan football fans.
“Everyone gets a bit under-appreciated because we are a judgemental society but it’s also very tribal, football — if he’s playing for Manchester United, automatically a lot of people would dislike him,” said Lineker.

Boko Haram jihadists kill 6 Borno villagers

Boko Haram jihadists killed six men in a village in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday in what appeared to be a targeted reprisal attack, a militia fighting the group told AFP.

Boko Haram member
Nine Boko Haram fighters are suspected of entering Kijimatari, a village in northeast Borno state, at around 2 am (0100 GMT), breaking into the homes of six men including the village chief before slitting their throats.
“The attackers evaded a nearby military checkpoint by entering the village through bush paths,” said Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force.
“The chief of the village was among the victims and it was clear the victims were deliberately targeted.”
Local resident Kulo Musa said that while the attackers had carried guns, they “chose to use knives” to avoid alerting soldiers manning a nearby checkpoint.
Musa said the killings were a reprisal for the arrest of two Boko Haram members who moved into the village claiming to have been displaced from their homes by the jihadists two months earlier.
“We believe the attackers suspected the six people they killed of tipping off the military which led to the arrest of the two Boko Haram fighters,” he said.
Nigerian troops re-took the nearby garrison town of Monguno and surrounding villages in February 2015, after losing it to Boko Haram for three weeks during which time the group ransacked the town’s military base and burnt homes.
Despite the liberation of Monguno and the reopening of the 135 kilometre highway (85 miles) that links it to the regional capital Maiduguri, sporadic attacks by Boko Haram continue.
Boko Haram’s bloody eight-year armed insurgency aimed at establishing a hardline Islamic state has killed at least 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.6 million.
The violence has also spilt into Nigeria’s neighbours — Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Hate speech: Northern youth coalition advocates peace, reconciliation confab

ABUJA —THE Federal government has been charged to convoke a Peace and Reconciliation Conference that cuts across all ethnic divides in the country to douse the mounting tension generated by hate speeches and secessionist movements.
The call  was made by a coalition of Northern Youths from the 19 Northern states at a peace meeting of major youth formations in the 19 Northern states, NGOs and Oil and Solid Mineral Producing Areas Landlords’ Association of Nigeria, OMPALAN Northern Youths held in Kaduna, weekend.
The coalition noted with concern the spate of hate speeches and secessionists’ rhetorics with the unsavory impacts on the national unity and called on the three arms of government to present a common front to help protect the sovereignty of Nigeria.
The group maintained that the political class must reason with them on the need to save the country from impending doom by acting fast to salvage the already worsening situation.
‘‘The political leadership of Nigeria should as a matter of urgency organize a peace and reconciliation conference cutting across Nigeria’s ethno-religious divide aimed at dousing mounting tension generated by hate speeches and secessionists rhetorics,’’ they said.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, delegates resolved as follows: that Nigerians should work collaboratively to move the country forward; that hate speeches should henceforth cease while tolerance and patriotism should be encouraged; that the call for President Buhari’s resignation was made in bad faith especially since Mr. President has formally handed over power to his Vice to continue the machinery of government.
The communiqué reads in parts: that the Igbos are free to live in the north and continue their legitimate business; that we condemn in unequivocal language the attempt by disgruntled Nigerians to break the Country; that we support the ongoing war against corruption; that we join Nigerians of goodwill to pray for the quick recovery of our President so that he can continue the war against graft and strengthen our security forces to fight against insurgency to a logical conclusion; that we support the communique issued by the National Delegates Conference of OMPALAN held in Portharcourt; that the National Conference on Peace and Security sponsored by OMPALAN early September, 2017 is a credible program that brings Nigerians from the 6 geopolitical zones to support the rule of law; that the leaders of the South East should embrace the peace meeting held in Zaria between our respected leader Prof Ango Abdullahi of the Northern Elders Forum and Bishop Udo Azogu of OMPALAN and that all northern youths should support the OMPALAN initiative and vision for one united and sovereign Nigeria in which every citizen shall have the inalienable right to live and do business in any part of the Country without fear of molestation.
The meeting which also comprised leaders of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF; the Arewa Youth Development, AYD; Unity and Peace Awareness Initiative and UPAI was an interactive meeting meant to appraise the security situation of the country and was sponsored by OMPALAN in the 19 northern states.
The communiqué was signed by Daniel Auta and Vaten Amadu for Unity and Peace Awareness Initiative; Hassan Ismail and Imran Abubakar for Arewa Youth Development; Umar Makeri and Abdullahi Usman for Arewa Youth Consultative Forum and
Dr. Markus Nacheson, Gaddafi Illiyasu Tagwaye and Itstifanus Sunday for OMPALAN Northern Youth Executive.
Ealier in his keynote address at the conference, the Chairman, BoT of OMPALAN, Bishop Udo Azogu warned Federal government against repeating mistakes of Jonathan’s administration in the implementation of the amnesty package, in which trillions of naira were spent without achieving lasting peace.
He said the minister State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachukwu is heading in the same flawed direction and called embark on wider consultation, including the militant groups to achieve lasting peace.
‘‘Government must act circumspectively and must not throw caution to the wind if it is really focused on removing the fragile peace process in the volatile region from limbo. Rather, Government should consult widely with major stakeholders in the embattled region including militant organizations to douse tension and achieve holistic peace.
‘‘Nigerians in sensitive positions in Government who lack the experience to move oil and gas producing areas forward should resign to avoid truncating the hard-earned peace process in the turbulent region.
‘‘Recall that OMPALAN faulted the way the last administration handled the Federal Government amnesty package that cost trillions of Naira of tax payers money.
Our organization believes that every citizen of this great country has a duty to support the effort of Government in addressing security challenges in Nigeria.
‘‘No government in the world can effectively address internal security challenges without the active collaboration of its citizens. It is in this vein that OMPALAN is organizing a national conference on peace and security in Portharcourt early September.’’
According to him, the peace and security conference shall involve stakeholders from a wide spectrum of human, intellectual and spiritual endeavors including the security – all working interactively to enthrone the rule of law in all parts of the Country.

Saturday 19 August 2017

English Premier League week 2 fixtures





Police nab 5 persons for allegedly impersonating as Journalists

The Nigeria Police Force on Friday announced the arrest of five persons who had allegedly specialised in impersonating as Journalists to gain access to important occasions so as to steal from important personalities.
A statement signed by Mr Jimoh Moshood, the Force’s spokesman, said that those arrested included the gang leader, one Musa Auwalu, 43, from Kano, Kolawole Akinbode, 50, from Ogun and Umar Abba, 53, from Adamawa.
Also arrested was Abdullahi Muhammed, 55, from Bauchi, and Muhammad Sale, 60, from Kano.
The statement said that the suspects were arrested in Ogun, Edo, Abuja and Kano.
Moshood listed items recovered from the suspects to include 13 cell phones, fake Journalist identity cards purportedly issued by non-existing media outfits, and a house in Kano built by Auwalu.
“The Inspector-General’s Intelligence Response Team trailed and arrested the suspects after complaints of stolen phones from important personalities, who attended a wedding in Abeokuta, Ogun on July 8.
“The house built by Auwalu in Kano, with proceeds of such thefts, has been identified,” he said.
Moshood said that the suspects had confessed to the crime and also admitted to the various roles they played in the commission of such crimes over time,” he said.
The spokesman said that the suspects had also confessed that they specialised in impersonating as Journalists to gain access into venues of important occasions to steal.
“Investigation is being intensified to arrest other suspects still at large. All the suspects will be arraigned on completion of investigation,” he said.

Ndigbo laud Osinbajo on hate speech, but…

The Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, has commended Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, for condemning hate speeches across the country, saying however, that such speeches were inspired by hate actions like deliberate exclusion of tribes from governance.
ECA also, said that Nigeria had been crawling sluggishly “like a rickety vehicle simply because we refuse to restructure,” to save the country, while there was still time.
It therefore, asked the Federal Government to tame hate actions like the killing and raping of women and farmers across the country by Fulani herdsmen to restore sanity and restore the current slide into anarchy.
The Secretary of ECA, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko made this known in a statement in Enugu yesterday.
Ugochukwu-Uko who is also the founder of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, and deputy secretary-Igbo Leaders of Thought, ILT, said that the Federal Government must stop the “brigandage and savagery of herdsmen, the threat to lives and properties of compatriots’ residents in the North” made it easier for hatred to dwell in and fester “ in the minds of Nigerians.
The statement read, “The open condemnation of hate speech of any sort by the Acting President is very commendable and signals a positive attempt by the government to rein in subversive and inciting elements in our midst in the hope of arresting the current slide into anarchy.
“We support the acting President on this. However, hate actions that inspire hate speeches, must also be tamed in order to restore sanity in the land.
Hate actions, such as the brigandage and savagery of herdsmen, the threat to lives and properties of compatriots’ resident in the North, only makes it easier for hatred to dwell and fester in our hearts, regardless whether the indwelling hatred is verbalised or not. Indwelling hatred is as potent as, if not more dangerous than verbalised hate speeches.
“Destroying people farms with uninvited cattle, and resorting to raping and beheading the villagers when they complain, clearly inspires anger and resentment, which graduates into bitterness and burning desire for separation and secession, especially when the marauding herdsmen never gets prosecuted.
“Again, mindlessly defending and protecting antagonists from one’s region, also inspires distrust and suspicions, which leads to disrespect for the government. A good example of regrettable faux pax on the part of government happened last week, when a top government official suddenly reduced himself to spokesperson of the attention-seeking rabble rousers who issued quit notice to easterners resident in the North with a subtle threat to harm them and their properties at the expiration of the ultimatum.
“To the utter shock of Nigerians, this top government official suddenly claimed the adult-youths were misquoted. To the horror of the general public, these quit notice givers have since given more interviews since the statement by this top official without corroborating his strange defence.
“They have spoken publicly in the media over a dozen times, not once did they claim they were misquoted. Where they misquoted in the sense that they did not actually issue the quit notice?
“Where they misquoted that the viral videos of their press conference was cloned? How exactly where they misquoted? When top government officials embarrass both themselves and the government of the day by publicly taking sides with agents of destruction, it makes it very difficult for citizens to trust, let alone respect government.
“These intervention and partial positions by government inspires doubts, suspicions and resentments which breed hatred and bitterness in the land.
Addressing the issues of hate speeches, without taming hate actions and suspicious partisanship on the side of government, might not save the ongoing slide to mayhem, which is principally inspired by those who are afraid of restructuring Nigeria.
“Which actually bring us to the real meat of the matter.“ Even primary school children are aware that the current tension in the country is only festering and growing, because some people are opposed to saving Nigeria through a peaceful restructuring of the polity from the unwieldy unitary format to a functional fiscal federalism and regional structure.
“Everybody knows Nigerian is not working and will never work well if we do not restructure. Everybody knows that those opposing restructuring are the ones inspiring the agitations for secession, as the oppressed masses who bear the brunt of the inequalities and iniquities of this dysfunctional and unitary Nigeria will continue to agitate until justice and equity is enthroned through a restructuring of the polity along the lines of true fiscal federalism and regional autonomy, thereby opening up the country to real growth and development by creating a level playing field for all and also giving all sections a sense of belonging.
“There are no hate speeches in Ghana, because injustice and oppression are not part of the cultural, social and political life of Ghana, unlike Nigeria where some people believe they are born to rule others perpetually.
“The entire security architecture in Ghana is not dominated by one region while another region is deliberately excluded. Hate actions, such as deliberate exclusion of a section inspires fears and bitterness which in turn leads to desires to secede on the part of the oppressed regions. It is difficult to address hate speeches without addressing the hate actions that inspires hate speeches.
“Our country is crawling like a rickety vehicle simply because we refuse to restructure and save Nigeria, while there is still time.
“Hunger, anger, mistrust, bitterness, loss of faith and desire to secede which rule the land today can only be solved through a peaceful, consensual restructuring of the polity and reconstruction of Nigeria by giving ourselves a new people’s constitution.
“Those opposing restructuring are erroneously of the view that threatening to attack, kill, destroy and seize properties of easterners domiciled in northern Nigeria by issuing them quit notices, spreading hate messages through social media and composing genocides songs will starve off the quest to restructure Nigeria.
“Truth is: Nigeria will die if Nigeria is not consensually redesigned into a truly federal entity, where fiscal federalism and regional autonomy reigns. No amount of quit notices and hate songs will save this unworkable unitary Nigeria.
Beautiful speeches condemning hate speeches will not achieve much as long as hate actions and deep seated desires to oppress and dominate others thrives in our hearts.
“Alhaji Maitama Sule, the great patriot and statesman was right when he advised somebody to wit: Only equity and justice guarantees peace and stability, nothing else.
“Mr. Acting president should dutifully consult with his boss and set up an eminent elders committee that would set the stage for a constituent assembly that will design a new people’s constitution that will be affirmed at a referendum. A new constitution modelled after 1963 republican constitution.
“Only an early return to fiscal federalism and regional autonomy can save Nigeria now. Hate speeches which was promoted by the political class during the 2015 election campaign season has grown into a cancer that can only be solved through an early restructuring of the polity.
“In conclusion, the childish ploy by those opposing restructuring, to blackmail easterners resident in the North by threatening their lives and properties through quit notices and hate songs in other to stop the quest to restructure Nigeria, is both childish and dangerous.
Their hope and belief that a repeat of the 1966 pogrom will leave their region habitable after the attack on easterners, shows a clear lack of true perceptions of realities. Nigerians must be restructured or Nigeria will die.
“Meanwhile, nobody from the East is interested in continuous participation in activities of this unitary Nigeria, including voting in elections. We have completely lost interest in Unitary Nigeria.”

Mourinho believes Martial will come good

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has backed Anthony Martial to make a positive impact this season after the French forward failed to earn his trust last term.
                Anthony Martial

United’s top scorer in his first season, Martial was used only sparingly in Mourinho’s maiden campaign, but came off the bench to score in last weekend’s 4-0 win over West Ham United.
United’s reported interest in Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic now appears dead in the water, but Mourinho suggested he had been looking to sign a wing-back, rather than a winger to compete with Martial.
“I have faith in him,” Mourinho told reporters ahead of Saturday’s trip to Swansea City. “Probably the player I was looking for wasn’t a pure winger, because I have pure wingers.
“Probably the player I was looking for was a player that allows me to play with three at the back and have a wing-back.
“As a pure attacking player, Anthony is a good player. I believe he’s one of the players who is going to have a better season this season than the previous season.
“I look at some of my players and I’m sure that some of them will be better this season than they were last season, and Anthony is that for sure.”
France international Martial, 21, scored 17 goals in all competitions following his 2015 move from Monaco, but found the net only four times in 18 league starts last season.
Mourinho believes he can benefit from two important factors: playing alongside new striker Romelu Lukaku and getting a taste of Champions League football, after United’s qualification for the group phase.
“I think Romelu is a good player to play with,” Mourinho said during a press conference at United’s Carrington training base west of Manchester on Friday.
“OK, a striker lives on numbers and it was because of Romelu’s numbers that we paid so much to have him.
“But a striker is not just numbers. It is the way he plays, the solutions he gives, the way he makes others play. I think he’s a good player to play with.”
He added: “People like Marcus (Rashford), Martial, (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan, to have that target man to play with is very good.
“We are in the Champions League, so it is the first time for Rashford to play Champions League. Anthony had a bit with Monaco and with us, I think.
“(Jesse) Lingard a few matches, but not much more than that. Romelu is a first-time. I don’t think he played Champion League with Chelsea and, if it was, it was a couple of matches.
“So I think for them the Champions League can also be a great experience.”
Despite their eye-catching win on the opening Premier League weekend, Mourinho is adamant that his team should not be considered the favourites to win the title.
Instead, he believes that his former club Chelsea, the defending champions, are the team to beat.
That is despite suggestions Antonio Conte’s side have not strengthened during a transfer window that saw them lose midfielder Nemanja Matic to United.
“When people say, for example, Chelsea lost an important midfield player, if you lose one but you buy (Tiemoue) Bakayoko and (Danny) Drinkwater, for example, what’s the problem?” said Mourinho.
Chelsea signed Bakayoko from Monaco in a £40 million ($51.4 million, 43.8 million euros) deal and have been linked with Leicester City man Drinkwater.
“The problem is when you sell and you don’t buy,” Mourinho added. “When you sell and you keep buying, what’s the problem? You are probably even stronger.”

‘When they called Jonathan “incompetent”,”weak”, “gutless”, “clueless” it was not hate speech’

In reaction to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s promise to treat what he described as “hate speech” as terrorism Mr. Jackson Ude the publisher of Pointblank News said the following.
“APC thrived on hate speech between 2014-2015. Today that seed they sowed is haunting them. They now say it’s terrorism! Don’t be deceived. APC came to power by hate speeches, divided Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines, sowed seeds of discord and blamed PDP!
How apt and how courageous Mr. Ude’s assertion is. I could not have put it better myself.
President Muhammadu Buhari, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, National Chairman Chief John Odigie Oyegun and all the other leaders of the APC are indeed a bunch of self-serving deceivers and self-seeking hypocrites.
Worst of all they are the architects of terror and the fathers of hate!
Permit me to send a strong word and warning to them from here: YOURS ARE THE WAYS OF BULLIES AND FASCISTS! WE CANNOT BE INTIMIDATED BY YOUR PENDING LEGISLATION OR YOUR PUERILE BARRACK-ROOM TACTICS AND NEITHER SHALL WE BE SILENCED. YOU CAME TO POWER BY HATE AND YOU WILL LEAVE IT WITH HATE!
When they rejected the notion that all Nigerians were born equal under one God it was not described as hate speech.
When they propounded the theory and engendered the philosophy that some Nigerians are more equal than others it was not described as hate speech.
When they called those that believe in restructuring “opporunists” and “political jobbers” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called those that believe in exercising their right of self-determinaion and that are struggling and fighting for equal rights, equal opportunities and the liberation and emancipation of their people “treasonous criminals”, “evil secessionists”, “irresponsible souls” and “godless rebels” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) “a bunch of criminals and looters” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called President Goodluck Jonathan “incompetent”, “weak”, “gutless” and “clueless” it was not described as hate speech.
When they described him as a “drunken sailor”, a “drunken fisherman”, a “kindergarten President” and insulted members of his family it was not described as hate speech.
When they called us “wailing wailers” it was not hate speech. When they called us “PDPigs” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called us “baboons and dogs” and their wives called us “hyenas and jackals” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called us “cold-blooded murderers” and described us as “thieves and rogues” it was not described as hate speech.
When they encouraged and clapped for a foreign leader who described our people and our nation as “fantastically corrupt” it was not described as hate speech.
When they demonised our leaders and called First Lady Patience Jonathan an “ugly and illiterate hippopotamus” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called President Obasanjo and President Yar’adua “incompetent jokers and treacherous thieves” who “stole all the money that they were given for the power sector” and who were part of a “cabal of kleptomaniacs” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state a “murderer, cultist and gangster” who “has no character” and a “cutlass-wielding butcher and thief” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state a “loud-mouthed and illetrate gutter-snipe” and a “low-life danfo driver” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called the National Chairman of our great party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, an “unfit, sick and dying invalid” and called the PDP itself a “nest of killers and vipers” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called Senator Iyiola Omosore the “killer of Bola Ige” and they called the Igbo people the “5 per cent that would not receive favour” it was not described as hate speech.
When they threatened the Igbo with genocide and gave them a quit notuce to leave the north it was not described as hate speech.
When they sang cold-blooded and chilling songs calling for the extermination of the entire Igbo race it was not described as hate speech.
When they said “an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north” and when they said that it was their intention to “spread sharia into every part if the federation” it was not described as hate speech.
When they openly referred to Christians as “pagans”, “arne” and “unbelievers” and when they called Muslims that are in the PDP and that supported Jonathan “heretics and infidels” it was not described as hate speech.
When they said that the killing of every Fulani person during the war against terror by the Nigerian Armed Forces was “a debt that would be later repaid” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called Shiite Muslims “lecherous souls, wife-swappers, animals, idol-worshippers and blasphemers” that were “not worthy of life” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called the Yoruba “cowardly and treacherous”, the Igbo “greedy and ungrateful” , the Niger Deltans “oil bats and filthy scum” and Middle Belters “slaves and minions” it was not described as hate speech.
When they said if it took “the slaughtering of 20 million Niger Deltans” to bring peace to Nigeria and to secure the flow of oil it should be done it was not described as hate speech.
When they called the poor and suffering masses of the core north “almajiris” and claimed that they were destined by God not to go to school, not to receive an education and not to live a better quality life it was not described as hate speech.
When they boasted that that same poor northern masses were condemned by God to live as unworthy paupers and beggars and to suffer and wallow in ignorance and poverty for the rest of their lives it was not described as hate speech.
When some misguided elites, religious bigots, ethnic supremacists and modern-day nazis claim that they were “born to rule” and that the rest of us are nothing but “servants, field-hands and serfs” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called yours truly a “hate-filled ethnic supremacist and racist”, a “spoilt child”, a “religious bigot”, a “Christian extremist”, an “intellectual fraud”, a “depraved and orgy-loving sodomite”, a “seducer and destroyer of women”, an “incestous peadophile”, a “common criminal”, a “gangster, murderer and assasin”, a “hired gun”, a “rottweiller” and an “insane drug addict” it was not described as hate speech.
When they called other PDP and opposition leaders “ritualists”, “cultists”, “killers”, “evil”, “cursed”, “beasts”, “scum”, “thieves”, “rogues”, “haters”, “filthy dreamers” and “cancerous vermin” it was not described as hate speech.
When they claimed that Jonathan was responsible for the death of Dora Akunliyi and that he should “get on his knees” and “crawl and beg Nigerians for forgiveness” it was not described as hate speech.
When they say that those that called on Buhari to “resume or resign” are a bunch of “jobless and idle youths” it was not described as hate speech.
I could go on and on.
Is there any shameful, disgusting, undeserved and malevolent label or any insulting adjective and bestial nomenclature that the APC and their friends have not employed or applied to those that have gallantly opposed their tyranny and hegemony?
Is there any sickening lie that they have not told about their perceived enemies and detractors?
Is there any life that they have not sought to scar, endanger and threaten? Is there any family that they have not used their associates in the media to malign and to incite the Nigerian people against?
Is there any slander, libel, fabrication, disinformation, misinformation, misrepresentation and hateful and destructive lie that they have not indulged in?
We know and hear all these things and we laugh them to scorn. It is like water off a duck’s back and it takes nothing whatsoever from us because Nigerians know the truth and they are far wiser than these professional APC haters and agents of destruction think.
The fact of the matter is that lions pay no heed when goats bleat and when cattle murmur. Dragons lose no sleep when the cock begins to crow and tigers do not concern themselves with the insults and opinions of sheep.
Whichever way they want to play it, whatever they do and whatever they say the APC will continue to get as good as they dished out to others over the last four years.
We are not intimidated by their threats of labelling us as terrorists and their crude attempt to intimidate and silence us.
This is because resisting tyranny and evil is a divine obligation. We shall continue to call a spade a spade and a tyrant a tyrant no matter what they say or do and we are prepared to pay whatever price may come with it. We cannot be muzzled and we shall not be silenced.
To the faithful and true I say the following: we must shed our fears and we must never forget that the Lord is with us.
We must never forget that even though they may have today, we have tomorrow.
We must be focused, we must be strong and we must be bold knowing that we serve a God who is mighty in battle and who never fails.
He is the El Shaddai and the Elohim. He is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
He is the Lord of Hosts, the God of the Armies of Israel and the Ancient of Days.
He is our shield, our glory and the lifter of our heads. He is awesome in battle and His banner over us is love.
With Him, victory is ours and our enemies shall be brought to heel and crushed under our feet like the desert sand.
We lift our swords in the name of Jehova Perazim, we raise our shields in the name of Jehova Elyon and we march forth into battle in the name of Yahweh, the Lord of the Universe, knowing that glory, honor and victory and the blessings of the Most High God await us!
His precious love and faithfulness, from whom none can separate us, shall overcome the malice and overwhelm the evil of the architects of terror and the fathers of hate.

Knife attacker in Russian city wounds 8, shot by police

A knife attacker stabbed eight people on the street in Russia’s far northern city of Surgut before being shot by police, investigators said Saturday.
The attacker “carried out attacks on passers-by, causing stab wounds to eight,” Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes said, adding that armed police then “liquidated” the attacker.

Thursday 17 August 2017

Nigeria may sink if attacks on IPOB members continue – Groups

Two Igbo groups, the Igbo Peoples Congress, and the Igbo Aborigines, have warned the Nigerian Army and security agents to stop killing pro-Biafran agitators, who are not armed or obstructing public peace.
The warning came on the heels of recent shootings and killings of some pro-Biafran members in Ekwulobia, Anambra State.
Meanwhile, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has condemned Wednesday’s clash between members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and security operatives at Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area, saying the alleged invasion of a peaceful and non-violence gathering of IPOB members was a primitive act.
        IPOB members on solidarity                     march for Trump

According to Igbo Peoples Congress and the Igbo Aborigenes in a statement, “the killing of more than 150 pro-Biafran agitators by Nigerian security agents as reported by the Amnesty International is still fresh in our mind.
“The Ezu River killings by SARS operatives at Awkuzu in Anambra State is also still fresh in our psyche. The quit notice by misled Arewa youths and the ongoing hate song in the north are still endangering the polity and yet these overzealous soldiers and other security agents are not bothered by all these challenges.”
They called on the International Court of Justice at The Hague to take note and bring to justice the killer soldiers and their commanders who also murdered more than one thousand Shiite followers in Zaria some months ago.
The groups insisted that all Nigerians have the right to peaceful agitations, including even secession where marriages are not working.
The groups lambasted the security agents for harassing the ‘Return or Resign” protesters in Abuja and the attack on them by some misled Arewa youths.
Slam Sultan over comments on restructuring
In a similar vein, the groups  slammed the Sultan of Sokoto over his comments that what Nigeria needs is the restructuring of the dams in the country and not restructuring  of Nigeria.
They expressed shock at this position of the Sultan who hitherto was lamenting the culture of impunity in Nigeria, wondering why the Sultan reached this bizzare conclusion when he knows that Nigeria, as it is currently run, is an unjust polity.
The groups noted that the Sultan may either have been misquoted or if he really made such comments , then it is one of the greatest anti-progressive statements of the century.
They called on the Sultan whom Nigerians look up to to be dispassionate on national issues to explain what he means by restructuring of dams in Nigeria.
“What has Dams and Agriculture got to do with our unjust polity?” they queried.
“The Sultan needs to clarify these issues so that the confidence Nigerians have in him will not be tainted,” they noted.
The spokesmen of the groups, Pastor Okey Colbert and Chidi Obisike finally noted that Nigeria can never make any head way until it is restuctured.
IPOB, Police Ekwulobia clash primitive –MASSOB
A statement by the MASSOB leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, regretted that Nigeria’s security operatives were still operating in an uncultured manner full of religious and tribal sentiments.
His statement read: “This overzealousness of Nigerian army and police against the non-violenct and armless Biafra agitators speaks volume of rejection, subjection, marginalisation and annihilation plan of Nigerian security agencies against the industrious people of Biafra.
“The wicked and violent activities of Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram against the Christian Middle Beltans and people of Biafra have not been challenged by Hausa-Fulani dominated Nigeria security agencies.
“This hypocritical and bias of Nigeria security agencies are being monitored and recorded by the international organisations for human rights abuses for reckoning at the appropriate time.”
Groups warn against re-arrest of Kanu
Meantime, three other Igbo groups have warned against any plan to re-arrest the leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, saying such action will spell doom for the country.
The group said the action of the coalition of Arewa youths, who gave the Igbo in the north quit notice, was more offensive than the activities of the IPOB seeking peaceful actualisation of Biafra.
The groups, World Igbo Youth Movement; Igbo Students’ Forum and Igbo Diaspora Women Professionals, said they would not fold their hands and see Igbo being driven out of the north where they made huge investments.
A joint statement signed by Mazi Alex Okemiri for the World Igbo Youth Council; Prof. Helen Ogbonna for Igbo in Diaspora Women Professionals and Comrade Obi Izuo for Igbo Students’ Forum, said: “We caution that Nigeria may cease to exist if Nnamdi Kanu is re-arrested. This may also be the fate of the country if the planned October 1 massacre is carried out against Ndigbo living in the north.”
Meanwhile, the groups have urged Ndigbo to vie for the presidency of the country in 2019, saying it is their constitutional right to do that, insisting that there was no going back on the Igbo presidency project in 2019.

IYC cautions Nnamdi Kanu over Clark

Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has said they hold the ace to the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra, cautioning the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to be mindful of his utterances against Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark.
IYC, led by Mr. Oweilaemi Pereotubo, who gave the warning to IPOB leader, Kanu, while addressing journalists in Warri, Delta State, reiterated that it was naive and callous for someone to address Chief Clark as a slave, knowing full well that Clark was only cautioning Kanu not to further marginalise the Igbo in the scheme of things by boycotting the November governorship election in Anambra State.
Pereotubo said though Clark calls for the re-arrest of Kanu, he was only giving wise counsel for Kanu to stop the move of trying to deny the political rights of the Anambra State people.
He said: “We, the Ijaw, have what it takes to liberate ourselves and do not need help from IPOB.”
Pereotubo asked Kanu to study the history of the Civil War, noting that “it was one single Ijaw man, Major Jasper Adaka Boro, that stopped the invading Biafran soldiers from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and chased them back.”
He urged Kanu to know the geography of the South-East and exert his effort in liberating the Igbo.

Army ambushes Boko Haram terrorists, 10 killed (photos)

The army laid an ambush for Boko Haram terrorist in Borno - 10 of them were killed in the night attack - Some bicycles and other items were recovered from the terrorists The Nigerian Army in furtherance of its operation against Boko Haram terrorists launched an ambush that resulted in the death of 10 terrorists. In a statement by Col Timothy Antigha who is the deputy director of Public Relations of 8 Task Force Division on Wednesday, August 16, he said the attack took place in Maza village in Marte, Borno State. He said the terrorists fell into the ambush and 10 of them were neutralised while their bicycles were recovered.
Some of the items recovered from Boko Haram terrorists. Credit: Facebook

  In continuation of ongoing efforts to deny terrorists freedom of action in it's Area of Responsibility, troops of 8 Task Force Division have neutralized 10 terrorists in Maza village in Marte Local Government Areas of Borno State. The terrorists fell into an ambush laid by troops at about 9pm last night, as they attempted to sneak back into their swampy hideouts in the Lake Chad.
Bicycles used by Boko Haram terrorists confiscated by the army. Credit: Facebook

 Items recovered from the terrorists include 10 bicycles, 11 carts containing food items and 2 cows. In a related development, troops also recovered 50 cows abandoned by fleeing terrorists, during clearance operations conducted in Danari and Mowo villages in Monguno Local Government Area.
A cow seized from terrorists in Borno. Credit: Facebook

 It should be noted that as the noose continue to tighten on Boko Haram terrorists, couple with the wet season, they have resorted to the use of bicycles and charts as means of transportation. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army launched a new mobile strike team while its count down eighteen days to capture Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group dead or alive. Ibrahim Attahiru, theatre commander major general on Tuesday, August 15, said the outfit is made up of specially selected forces with mixed equipment to succeed in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists. Attahiru also disclosed that almost two thousand soldiers were trained to enhance operational efficiency in the theatre. Ibrahim Attahiru, theatre commander major general urged Nigerians to cooperate with the army so as to succeed in the fight against against the insurgent.

Wednesday 16 August 2017

BREAKING: Police uncover human parts in church, arrest 77-year-old pastor, 3 others in Ogun state

Police have uncovered human parts in a church in Ogun state - The police also arrested a pastor and three others over the discovery - The state police commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu added that a 43-year-old herbalist, Haruna Afolabi, was among the suspects. Men of Ogun state police command have arrested a pastor and three other suspects in connection with the discovery of suspected human parts buried inside a church in Ota. Vanguard reports that the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, who paraded the cleric Wednesday August 16 in Ota, said the arrested 77-year-old prophet, Samuel Babatunde, is the founder of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Itedo Isinmi Ayo Parish, Egan Road in Iyana-Iyesi area of Ota.  NAIJ.com gathered that the police boss who conducted newsmen round the Church premises said the discovery followed the arrest on Saturday of a suspected serial kidnapper, Jeremiah Adeola. The arrested pastor Samuel Babatunde, the founder of Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ota, Ogun state.

 According to Iliyasu , Adeola, 32, specialised in kidnapping children and had already confessed that the prophet of the white garment church was the receiver of the abducted children. The Police Commissioner added that a 43-year-old herbalist, Haruna Afolabi, was among the suspects, who allegedly buried the human parts at the entrance of the church. The entrance of the Pastor Samuel Babatunde's church where human parts were allegedly buried.

 Photo: New Telegraph He said: “Operatives attached to the police Area Command in Ota on Sunday received technical intelligence about Adeola and eventually apprehended him.  “On the strength of the intelligence, detectives from Ota Area Command were detailed to effect the arrest of the suspect; and at about 10:20am of the date, their efforts paid off when the said Jeremiah Adeola was promptly arrested.

Tuesday 15 August 2017

What Buhari said about the 'Return or Resign' protest against him - Adesina

Femi Adesina was in London recently to see his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari - Adesina said he does not know who handles the medical bills of the president - He explained that the rating of President Buhari will be more positive before his tenure ends in 2019 The special adviser to Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has said revealed what he saw of the ailing president when he joined a delegation to London recently. Adesina confirmed that President Buhari was, indeed, smart and showed that he was truly ready to make his six-hour trip back to Nigeria. Speaking during a programme on Channels Television late Monday, August, 14, Adesina also said those asking the president to return with his doctors rather than remain in London are only expressing their opinions.  “The president I saw was sharp, he was smart, he was lucid. The president I saw was like his old self, almost completely mended. “But then, like we said in the statement we issued which is what he said to us in the first place, he would come when his doctors say it’s time to go,” Adesina said during the programme monitored by NAIJ.com. He said the president told them he had followed events since leaving the country on May 7. According to him, Buhari also spoke about the current protest by a group asking him to resign. He said the president thinks the protest is just part of democracy and that the participants are exercising their rights. Asked if Buhari is not troubled that he is outside Nigeria treating himself instead of being in his country, Adesina said: “The fact that he is in London and is taking treatment there for a while shows his belief that you procure treatment from wherever you can get it. “It is a man who is alive that continues to lead his family, lead his church, lead his mosque or lead a nation.” He also stated that he really does not know who is responsible for Buhari’s treatment in London. “I do not know who is paying (for his treatment), but as a president, he has a right to be treated by the country,” he said.  Concerning the alleged low rating of the Buhari administration currently, Adesina said such would change positively before the end of the tenure in 2019. He noted that things had gone very bad in the country before Buhari emerged as president adding that two years was not enough to redeem a country brought to shambles by a 16-year rule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). NAIJ.com reported recently that President Muhammadu Buhari sent his greetings to Nigerians informing them that he would soon be home from London. The report quoted the president as saying so when received a delegation from his government led by Lai Mohammed, the information and culture minister. The others on the delegation include Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu, Lauretta Onochie and Abike Dabiri.

Okorocha warns Ndigbo to beware of Nnamdi Kanu

Rochas Okorocha has called on Ndigbo to turn their backs on pro-Biafra agitator, Nnamdi Kanu - Okorocha said the Igbo community is being deceived that Kanu can give them Biafra - He likened Kanu's agitation to the civil war era and said the South-East where deceived to think they have enough army to fight Nigeria The governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha has urged the Igbos to turn their back to the agitation for Biafra by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Okorocha also called on the traditional, religious and political leaders of the region to speak out against Kanu to avoid being led to war unprepared by the utterances of the IPOB leader. The Nation reports that Okorocha, who made this statement at the presentation of staff of office and Certificate of recognition to traditional rulers, said there are 5 million Igbos living across the country and there would be no less than N3 trillion loss of properties if there should be a war forcing the Igbos to move back to the South East region.  He said: “On IPOB, the cloud is gathering, nobody is talking, even our traditional rulers, pastors and leaders. This is bad for our people. If you will remember vividly that few years ago, during the civil War, it was a similar story.  "That was how it all started. At that time, we believed that the Ohafia warriors would be able to fight and disseminate the North. “Now we are being deceived that IPOB will drive away Nigeria and give us Biafra. Even our Pastors, men of God and some leaders in the rural areas, nobody is speaking out against this action and the song of war is coming gradually like a desert encroachment. "We fought the war and it was believed that the Igbos would learn from it but they still went ahead and developing the resources of other regions. “There are five million Igbo living outside the shores of Igbo region. Any form of war will cause the Igbos over three trillion naira loss in properties and assets. "No sane person will spread the message of division and war because it does not benefit the Igbo in any way. I urge you traditional rulers to speak against it and educate your people on the true state of things. Igbo need to build bridge of unity across the nation."  Meanwhile, NAIJ.com earlier reported that Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd), Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, stated that Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has violated his bail conditions. According to reports, Dambazau made his comments on Friday August 11 while speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The minister stressed that upon resumption of Kanu’s trial, the court would decide to what extent the IPOB leader violated the conditions given to him by the Federal High Court, and what next steps to take.

Monday 14 August 2017

Pro-Buhari Protest: It’s not our tradition to hire crowds – Presidency replies critics

Abuja – The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Sen. Babafemi Ojudu, has dismissed the assertion that the presidency sponsored the group of Nigerians that embarked on solidarity protests across the country in support of the President Muhammdu Buhari-led government.

Members of Centre for Civil Society and Justice and other support Group protesting in support of President Muhammed Buhari at Unity Fountain Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.
Ojudu stated this while fielding questions from State House correspondents shortly after addressing the pro-President Buhari protesters at the Federal Secretariat/Supreme Court Junction of main entrance of the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday.
He said that the presidency was not in the habit of hiring people for protest marches, saying that all those who participated in the pro-Buhari protest were die-hard supporters of the president.
““I was working in my office when I was called to go and receive them, just the way we also received the BringBackOurGirls’ protesters last time.
“”This presidency does not give money to anybody. This is not our tradition, is not our culture to buy protest or induce people to do any.
““You will be surprised the day President Buhari is coming back to see the millions of people that will go to the airport to welcome him,’’ he said.
Ojudu dismissed the insinuation that the presidency deliberately shunned the coalition of civil society organisations demanding that Buhari “resumes duty or resigns.
The presidential aide, however, expressed the readiness of the presidency to talk to the coalition if they indicated interest to do so.
He said: “”If they decide to talk to us we talk to them. This group has a special message for the acting president and they wrote to us that they were coming and we received them.
““Those ones never informed us of anything. They were just doing their own protests and that was it.’’
Speaking while addressing the pro-Buhari protesters, Ojudu alerted Nigerians on the activities of some elements that had ganged up against the President Buhari-led administration.
He, therefore, charged the pro-Buhari protesters to join hands with other well meaning Nigerians to stand up against those elements who are bent on frustrating the ongoing developmental efforts of the federal government.
“”President Buhari stands for anti-corruption. Buhari is not selfish, is not fighting for himself and the elements who are selfish; who are greedy and corrupt they are standing up and are coming together against him.
`”You have to mobilise and educate people across Nigeria to stand up against these people.’’
Ojudu, however, challenged members of the pro-Buhari group on the need to conduct themselves peacefully and shun any act capable of causing social unrest.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters, who were in their hundreds, presented a letter of solidarity to the acting President through Ojudu.
The pro-Buhari protesters, who came from different states of the federation, had earlier stormed the Unity Fountain, Abuja, singing solidarity songs in support of President Buhari.

Gunmen attack UN base in Mali’s Timbuktu with machine guns

Dakar – Gunmen attack
ed a UN peacekeeping base in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu on Monday, the peacekeeping mission said, adding that it had deployed a rapid response force with helicopters to the scene.

                   File Photo

“An attack has been launched against one of our camps in Timbuktu (by) unknown men with machine guns,” Radhia Achouri, a spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping mission, said by telephone.
“Sporadic gunfire was continuing, she said.
NAN reports that on June 1, several French soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, when a military compound in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu came under attack by mortar fire.
The Timbuktu compound houses soldiers from the UN mission, the Malian army and France’s Operation Barkhane.
Several mortar shells were fired into the base but only one exploded near the French soliders, said Anthony Fouchard, FRANCE 24’s Mali correspondent. S
oldiers immediately deployed to pursue the assailants.
Security sources initially said that between five and seven troops were wounded. Swedish defense forces later told AP that four soldiers “from another nation” had been wounded.
The soldier who was seriously wounded is undergoing surgery at the scene while arrangements are being made for a medical evacuation.
France launched operations in Mali in January 2013 to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants who seized much of the north of the country the year before.
It has since deployed more than 4,500 soldiers across the Sahel region to hunt down Islamist militants.
The UN later deployed a peacekeeping force of more than 11,000 troops to the struggling West African state.

Car smashes into pizza restaurant east of Paris, girl dead

A car smashed into a pizza restaurant east of Paris late Monday, killing an eight-year-old girl and badly injuring six other people, the police said, adding that the driver had been arrested.
Investigators believe the act was “deliberate… but apparently has no connection with a terrorist act,” the public prosecutor’s office in the town of Meaux said.
France has suffered a string of terror-related attacks, including the use of cars as weapons.
On August 9, six soldiers were injured after they were hit by a rented BMW in a western Paris suburb.
The suspect, a 36-year-old Algerian man, was later shot and wounded after a dramatic motorway chase.

Strange foam-like substance falls instead of rain in Enugu state

FIB came across pictures shared by a Facebook user who has been left confused by a strange foam-like substance falling instead of rain in Enugu state. According to a post shared by the Facebook user identified as Francis Obumneme Oha, they experienced something different from the usual when foam-like water fell instead of rain recently. The young man who sounded really baffled while taking the photos, said he was even afraid as he had put his leg into the water. He referred to it as 'a mysterious flood with foam' and also as 'something else...natural detergent'. Sharing the post, he wrote: "Serious rain in Enugu now,with mysterious detergent foam. Almost entered my room. This is first of its kind.

What Goodluck Jonathan said at Saturday’s PDP convention

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday in Abuja announced that the Peoples Democratic Party had returned from limbo and would reclaim power in 2019.
Jonathan asserted this in his address at the party’s a special national convention read the full speech
It is my honour and privilege to address you on this auspicious occasion of the non-elective convention of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
former Preident Goodluck Jonathan State during the Non-Elective National Convention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party at the Eagle Square, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida
2. Let me start by paying tributes to the founding fathers of our great party and all others who had laboured so hard over these past months to restore peace and tranquillity in our party. The PDP like every successful human organization has gone through a momentous time in the last one and half years.
3. As a party that heralded Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the PDP had become so accustomed to success in its 16 years in power that the first time our fortunes changed at the polls, it was obvious that the party would suffer the aftershocks of the loss. It was in deed a most trying period for us as a political party.
4. However, it is not an experience that is peculiar to us. This is because all over the world, any party that loses election at the centre as we did will, first of all, struggle to hold together, before regaining its composure to effectively present the strong voice of the opposition, and resume the contestation to return to office.
5. But we thank God that the worst is over for our party. It is to his grace that we were able to emerge from this unsavoury experience, from which some political parties in other emerging democracies hardly recover, to become even stronger, within a short period of time.
6. The PDP is in deed back to reclaim its prime position as the party to lead Nigeria to greatness. As a human institution, we cannot claim perfection, but obviously as a political party, our accomplishments as at 2015, far outweigh our shortfalls.
7. Our giant developmental strides are there for all Nigerians to see. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that PDP has indeed proved to be a party of vision and accomplishments.
8. As I said when I addressed our members in April during the stakeholders’ forum which I convened; the 2011, 2015 general elections and other polls conducted by our administration were accepted globally to have met the international standards for free, fair and transparent elections. There is no gainsaying the fact that our disposition in freely handing over power to the opposition, after the 2015 polls, helped to deepen our democracy and project our country as one of the world’s stable democracies.
9. This wouldn’t have been possible if our Government did not reform the electoral and political process, by giving the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the autonomy it requires, to enable it to conduct free and fair elections.
10. On the economic front, we provided focused leadership, through institutional and sectoral reforms which impacted positively on the fundamentals for growth, especially in the last four years of our time in power. The effect was that we tamed inflation at a single digit, maintained price stability, grew the economy to become the largest in Africa with a GDP of over half a trillion US dollars, and the number one foreign direct investment destination on the continent.
11. I learnt that some people said that if PDP had remained in power beyond 2015, the economy would have performed worse. This couldn’t have been the case, because we had a sound economic team in place, managing the economy. Let us not forget that the great floods of 2012 was a major calamity that damaged homes and farmlands on the plains of River Niger and Benue. But despite the devastating effect of this natural disaster, there was no food shortages or arbitrary increase in prices, because of what we were able to accomplish with our Agriculture Transformation Agenda, which considerably boosted food production.
12. If we say that we rekindled hope in our people and regained international goodwill, it is because we pursued a number of policies and programmes that were not only richly rewarding for our people, but were also being copied by many countries across the globe, a few of which I will mention here.
13. We can all recall that our agricultural transformation agenda rapidly transformed key agricultural value chains, boosted local production, and created a new generation of young commercial farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs we proudly identified as Nagropreneurs. One very remarkable achievements of the reform we introduced was that it ended decades of fertiliser sector corruption through electronic wallet system. Since then, its success has continued to resonate outside our shores. The programme is not only being scaled up by the African Development Bank but is already being replicated in close to 20 African countries.
14. In fact, three days ago, my attention was drawn to The Guardian newspaper publication about a contract that has just been awarded to a Nigerian IT solutions firm, Cellulant, to export the e-wallet system which we conceived, to Afghanistan. This is in deed, a good development for our country.
15. I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock in Afghanistan, which contracted them in their bid to establish a market-based input distribution technology, might have been inspired by our own experience, in successfully deploying the e-wallet technology to increase food production.
16. In the same vein, Our Youth Enterprises with Innovation (YouWin) designed to turn thousands of youths into entrepreneurs and employers of labour, has been endorsed by the World Bank for replication in
other developing countries.
17. The ECOWAS Commission has since expressed interest in partnering with Nigeria with a view to establishing an automotive policy for the subregion, in line with our administration’s auto industry development policy, which led to the establishment of many vehicle assembly plants, including indigenous companies.
18. Our approach to fighting corruption may not have plugged all the leaks in the system; in fact, no nation has ever been successful in eradicating the cankerworm of corruption.
19. But we went about it in a sustainable and measurable manner, by, among other measures, creating institutional tools like bank verification number (BVN), the treasury single account (TSA) designed to block leakages, as well as the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS), which eliminated tens of thousands of ghost workers, during our time.
20. I have just pointed out these few programmes, out of our other numerous great achievements in such sectors as roads infrastructure, rail services, communications, public financial management and social services, for you to know that our records, as members of Nigeria’s biggest party, still speak for us and we should be proud of them.
21. We should always celebrate the fact that the PDP introduced key policies that improved governance, enhanced welfare, boosted and stabilized the economy of our great country, and above all, gave our people hope.
22. In closing, I wish to remind all of us that as politicians, we are bound to have differences. It is important we manage our differences responsibly, with an eye on the divine role of the PDP to lead Nigeria to greatness. Let us rededicate ourselves to playing by the rules.
23. Let us all ensure that the PDP is renewed in vigour to deliver on its divine responsibility to Nigerians. Let us forget the grievances of the past, and look to the future with confidence and optimism.
24. While I congratulate all delegates to this convention, I urge you to go back to your respective constituencies to promote the ideals of our great party. Let it be known that our party has been born anew, committed to the best ideals of democracy.
25. Let it be known, in all nooks and crannies of our country, that the PDP is back to claim its rightful place in the affairs of the nation. As we have always done, we are ready to return Nigeria to the path of unity, peace and prosperity.
26. I congratulate the Caretaker Committee, our relentless Governors, the Board of Trustees, National Assembly caucuses, former Governors, the ex Ministers’ Forum, our teeming youths and women for your steadfastness and dogged contributions to the sustenance of this great party.
27. My appreciation also goes to all PDP members and supporters, both at home and in the Diaspora.
28. I thank the Convention Planning Committee for putting this August event together. I also congratulate all delegates for the successful trip to the convention.
29. Finally, I wish you all successful deliberations at this convention. May God return you all back home safely.

‘I’m no criminal!’ Costa blasts Chelsea

Out-of-favour Chelsea striker Diego Costa has launched an angry broadside against both the club and manager Antonio Conte, accusing them of treating him like a “criminal”.

Costa, 28, has been informed by Conte that he has no future at the club and having been frozen out of the first-team squad, the Brazil-born Spain international has gone home to Brazil.
He says Chelsea “want to sell me to China”, but has reiterated his desire to return to former club Atletico Madrid, who are under a transfer ban until January.
“I am waiting for Chelsea to set me free. I didn’t want to leave. I was happy. When the manager does not want you, you have to go,” Costa said in an interview published in Monday’s Daily Mail.
“In January, things happened with the coach. I was on the brink of renewing my contract and they put the brakes on it. I suspect the manager was behind it. He asked for that to happen.
“They gave me a week extra off, but since then it’s fines all the way. They want me training with the reserves. I am not going to do that. I am not a criminal and I am not in the wrong here.
“So, if they need to fine me, let them fine me.”
Costa was particularly scathing in his criticism of Conte, who led Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
“I respect him as a great coach. He has done a good job and I can see that. But as a person — no,” said Costa, who was speaking in his hometown of Lagarto in northeastern Brazil.
“He is not a coach who is very close with his players. He is very distant. He doesn’t possess charisma.”
Faced with Atletico’s inability to recruit players, Costa said he would rather spend a year not playing than join another club.
“My desire is to go to Atletico,” he said. “I have rejected other offers. They want to sell me to China or other teams. If I’m off, I’m going to the club I want to go to, not the club that’s paying the most.
“I am open to being a year in Brazil without playing, even if Chelsea fine me for a year and don’t pay me. I’ll come back stronger. If I was in the wrong, I’d go back now and do as they say.”
Chelsea opened their title defence in disastrous fashion on Saturday, losing 3-2 at home to Burnley, with Costa’s replacement Alvaro Morata coming off the bench to score.

Breaking: ASUU begins indefinite strike

Rising from a National Executive Council, NEC meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, held in University of Abuja at the weekend, ASUU National President Comrade Biodun Ogunyemi has declared a nationwide strike to commence today.
According to Ogunyemi in a document titled, “Strike Bulletin No.1”, the strike is to be a total, comprehensive and indefinite action whereby no form of academic activities, including teaching, attendance of any meeting, conduct and supervision of any examination at any level, supervision of project or thesis at any level should take place at any of the nation’s universities.
In the bulletin signed by Ogunyemi, it was recalled that ASUU had to embark on a six month strike between July and December 2013 and the strike was suspended when government signed an MoU with the union.
“Of all the items contained in the MoU, only the N200b out of a total of N1.3tr of the Public Universities Revitalisation (Needs Assessment) fund was released,. The union also embarked on a one week warning strike in November 2016 to press for the implementation of 2013 MoU. However government did not implement the understanding reach between the union and Federal Government base on the intervention by the leadership of Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Stating further, Ogunyemi said “The union has also met with the 2009 Agreement Implementation Monitoring Committee, IMC, and had written several letters press releases and communiqués on the outstanding issues to no avail. The National Executive Council, NEC, of ASUU then met at the University of Abuja on August 12, 2017 to consider the result of a referendum from all branches in a bid to ascertain ways of convincing government to implement outstanding aspects of the 2009 and the MoU of 2013”.
Ogunyemi listed the outstanding issues with the Federal Government to include: payment of fractions/non-payment of salaries; non-payment of earned academic allowances, non releases of operational license of NUPEMCO; non implementation of the provisions of the 2014 pension reform act with respect to retired professors and their salaries, removal of universities staff schools from funding by government and funds for the revitalisation of public universities.

Anambra election has nothing to do with Biafra actualization - MASSOB, BIM

- MASSOB in Anambra North insists nothing and nobody will stop the gubernatorial election in the state - The group said it is in total support of its leader and original founder, Ralph Uwazurike - They also insist that holding the Anambra election will have no negative effect on the agitation for Biafra The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) Anambra north, have said nothing will stop the November 2017 election in the state. In an interview with Vanguard, leader of MASSOB-BIM in Anambra North Zone, Chief Vincent Iloh said the group is planning to host its founder, Ralph Uwazurike who would be visiting the state to talk to the people on the need to vote in the coming election.  He said: “Chief Uwazurike chose the day 13, September because of its significance to the struggle for actualization of Biafra. "It will interest you to know that it was the day MASSOB was born, in 1999, we will also celebrate the day in Onitsha, as all Biafrans from different states of South East, South South and Middle Belt and those residing in other parts of the federation to celebrate the day.” “He will also tell the people and residents of the state that the governorship election will hold in Anambra state on November 18, 2017, because it has nothing to do with Biafra actualization agitation."  Meanwhile, NAIJ.com earlier reported that MASSOB and BIM have accused Nnamdi Kanu of planning to force the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Anambra state. The two pro-Biafran groups in a statement on Thursday, August 10, warned that the call by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra for a boycott of the Anambra state governorship election was intended to push the government to declare emergency rule in the state, Punch reports. The groups also called on the leadership of the IPOB to stop disturbing the south-east zone with its activities, adding that Kanu and IPOB do not have programmes that would lead to the emancipation of the southeast region.

ASUU decides on strike today

ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will today take a final decision on whether it will proceed on strike over unresolved issues with the Federal Government or not.
Unconfirmed report had it that the union met yesterday at an undisclosed venue to take decision on the looming strike.
But when Vanguard sought confirmation of the meeting from the National President of the union, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi last night, he simply invited our Correspondent to attend a press briefing at Labour House today.
But information had it that Chairmen of state chapters of the union met in Abuja, with the national leadership where they collated and reviewed the results of the referendum they conducted in their separate chapters.
The chairmen whom majority of them had approved a nationwide strike, deliberated alongside the National Executive Council, NEC the duration the strike would last.
Recall that the NEC had met at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi on the 22nd and 23rd July, 2017, and deliberated extensively on issues arising from the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement, the 2013 MoU and other related issues and decided to conduct a referendum at the branch congresses on the next line of action.
According to a letter signed by the union’s National President Prof. Ogunyemi, the issues at stake included payment of fractions/non-payment of salaries; non-payment of earned academic allowances, non-release of operational licence of NUPENCO, retired professors and their salaries, university staff schools, and funds for the revitalisation of public universities

Sunday 13 August 2017

More alive than ever, says Neymar after scoring debut

Neymar wasted no time in making an impact on the field for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring on his debut in a 3-0 win at Guingamp on Sunday and declaring himself to be “feeling more alive than ever”.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar looks on during the French L1 football match Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) vs En Avant Guingamp (EAG) at the Roudourou stadium in Guingamp on August 13, 2017. / AFP PHOTO

The Brazilian world record signing was handed a start by coach Unai Emery for the game in Brittany, two days after international clearance came through for his 222 million-euro ($261 million) switch from Barcelona.
The 25-year-old, at home in PSG’s all yellow change kit, played a part in the own goal scored by Jordan Ikoko that gave the away side the lead early in the second half.
He then set up the second goal for Edinson Cavani with a superb pass in behind the Guingamp defence before completing a comfortable victory with his team’s third goal eight minutes from the end as PSG made it two wins from two to start the French season.
“People think that leaving Barça is to die, but no, it’s the opposite,” Neymar told reporters.
“I’m more alive than ever. I play, I’m very happy, and football is the same. Only the country, the city and the team change, but football is the same.”
Despite the many distractions of the last couple of weeks, including trips to China, Portugal and the French Riviera and glitzy presentations to the media and PSG fans, Neymar lasted the full 90 minutes.
He had taken the place of Javier Pastore in the Paris side in the only change from last week’s 2-0 win over Amiens, completing a 350 million-euro front three with fellow South Americans Cavani and Angel Di Maria.
Neymar was one of four Brazilians in the PSG line-up, not including Brazil-born Italy midfielder Thiago Motta, for the game played before a sell-out crowd at the 18,000-capacity Stade du Roudourou.
Guingamp, a sleepy little town 500 kilometres west of Paris with a population of barely 7,000, may have been a slightly incongruous setting for such an occasion but the match was broadcast live in more than 180 countries according to his new club.
That was a sign of the interest generated worldwide by Neymar’s transfer, which Qatar-owned PSG hope will help them conquer Europe after so far coming up short in the Champions League in recent seasons.
– ‘Quality players’ –
Emery’s side are also desperate to regain the French crown after losing out to Monaco last season.
“I’m very happy. The main thing was to win. The team played well and I played well,” Neymar, speaking in Spanish, told Canal Plus, after the match.
“We are trying to improve all the time and we’ll get to know each other better yet, but it is easy to play with players of such quality.
“It is always very important to score, not just in the first game. I am very calm. This is a very big challenge for me as a person, but we have a great team and the season has just started.”
Neymar, playing mainly as an inside left, threatened sporadically in the opening stages before his cross in the 35th minute found compatriot Marquinhos, who headed against the woodwork.
He then watched as a Cavani free-kick was tipped over by Karl-Johan Johnsson as the first half ended goalless.
But PSG needed just seven minutes of the second half to get the breakthrough with Neymar involved in the build-up as Ikoko — a former PSG player — tried to play the ball back to Johnsson and succeeded only in passing it into his own net.
Neymar then released Cavani with a delightful pass as the Uruguayan slotted home the second goal just after the hour mark.
All that was missing was a goal of his own and that arrived eight minutes from the end as Neymar finished from close range following a Cavani cutback.
PSG are second in the fledgling table, behind Lyon on goal difference. They are one of five teams to have maximum points after two games.

Ronaldo sent-off, as Real roll over Barcelona

Real Madrid made light of a red card for Cristiano Ronaldo to deal a further blow to Barcelona by winning 3-1 in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.

  Portugal’s forward Cristiano      Ronaldo vies with Mexico’s    defender Diego Reyes during the    2017 Confederations Cup group A  football match between Portugal  and Mexico at the Kazan Arena in  Kazan on June 18, 2017. / AFP  PHOTO /

Ronaldo, only introduced as a second-half substitute, was shown two quickfire yellow cards after blasting Madrid into a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to go.
However, Real extended their advantage with 10 men thanks to a sumptuous late strike from Marco Asensio.
Earlier, Lionel Messi’s penalty had cancelled out Gerard Pique’s own goal as Barca failed to get the early season boost they needed after losing Brazilian star Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee.
The sides will meet again in Madrid for the second-leg on Wednesday.
Without Neymar, Barca struggled to find their rhythm going forward as Gerard Deulofeu failed to impress in the role alongside Messi and Luis Suarez up front.
Suarez had the hosts’ best effort of a timid opening half when his driven low volley was collected at the second attempt by Keylor Navas.
At the other end Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s only serious save of the first period came when Gareth Bale’s effort from Isco’s dangerous cross was turned over.
Madrid immediately upped a gear at the start of the second period and were rewarded with the opening goal in a manner that would have delighted most Real fans.
Pique is often Madrid’s chief aggravator, but the Spanish international was left embarrassed as he turned Marcelo’s delivery past the helpless Ter Stegen into his own net.
Only an incredible goal line clearance from Jordi Alba then prevented Dani Carvajal from doubling Madrid’s advantage seconds later as the game began to open up.
Ronaldo had been kept in reserve by Zinedine Zidane having missed most of pre-season after his participation in the Confederations Cup with Portugal, but was finally introduced for an action-packed cameo appearance on the hour mark.
With Mateo Kovacic also replaced by Asensio, Messi was given more licence to create and led Barca back into the game as Sergio Busquets somehow blazed over from close range before Messi stung the palms of Keylor Navas.
The Argentine eventually got on the scoresheet from the penalty spot after Navas was adjudged to have brought down Suarez inside the area 13 minutes from time.
However, Madrid took just three minutes to retake the lead in stunning fashion as Ronaldo cut inside Pique before curling into the top corner.
The World Player of the Year was booked for taking off his shirt in celebration.
And that was to prove very costly just two minutes later when he saw a second yellow card for diving as he went down under a challenge from Samuel Umtiti inside the area.
However, rather than offer Barca route back into the tie, Madrid all but assured they will lift the Super Cup for a 10th time when Asensio blasted into the top corner from the edge of the box as the game entered stoppage time.

Evans gives valuable confession as police make more arrests

Police investigation led to the arrest of some of Evans' accomplices - The notorious kidnapper revealed how he plotted his operation - Police advised citizens to be security conscious so as not to fall prey to kidnappers Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike popularly known has Evans has provided valuable information to security operatives that had led to the arrest of more suspected kidnap kingpins. The Nation reports that investigation also showed that Evans’ criminal syndicate extended to South Africa and that he had a fake Ghanaian passport. Mr. Moshood Jimoh who is a police spokesperson revealed that Evans’ confession has led to the arrest of bigger kingpins who are living larger than him.  He said: “You may recall that a Federal High Court granted us a three month remand warrant for Evans. We are just into the second month now and before the expiration of the third month, it is expected that we should be taking him to court. “The little time is to ensure that we conduct a thorough and detailed investigation. “This is somebody that committed crimes across several states and even went outside Nigeria. “You may recall that he illegally acquired a Ghanaian passport with a Ghanaian name but with his passport photograph. “He was also fingered for involvement in other crimes in South Africa and other places. So we need a little time to properly round things up and ensure that he is properly prosecuted because Nigerians will not be happy if we lose such a case in court on the basis of technical matters.” The police spokesperson also revealed that relatives of former victims have also been arrested as they were the ones that provided information to Evans that allowed him carry out his kidnap. He advised Nigerians to be security conscious so as to avoid being preys to kidnappers. He said: : “He (Evans) did things with lots of such people and we have lots of suspects who had collaborated with him in one way or the other; we even have other prime suspects apart from those that were arrested with him and paraded. “In the course of this investigation we have other prime suspects including people who broke away from Evans’ gang to start their own gang – they left Evans to go and do a similar (kidnapping) business. “Some of the suspects we later picked after detectives’ interactions with Evans are even living larger than Evans. “We are going to ensure that we don’t make things public until we gather all our evidence towards securing a conviction in court. “I won’t give you figures but they are many suspects; there are a lot of accomplices, lots of former gang members and lots of other people that have in one way or the other facilitated the offences committed by Evans and others. “There is a special group of criminal suspects that are referred to as ‘catchers’; in criminal syndicates, they are the people that identify targets and give information about innocent, law-abiding people and more of such suspects are being rounded up. “Part of our investigation reveals that Evans himself jogs round the estate where he lives every morning and uses that opportunity to assess information on those potential victims that have what they describe as ‘kidnap value’. “It was after his arrest that some of his surprised neighbours realized that it was this man that used to jog around; that is why security-consciousness necessitates that every citizen should be alert and see things beyond their noses now. “Sometimes, it is easy to jeopardise your security by being a good Samaritan through acts like offering someone a lift in your car because there are persons who can take advantage of your kind or welcoming nature.  “All citizens equally need to know where potential help can come from in security emergency situations like where police or other security people are located, the right telephone numbers to call and so on. “The Inspector-General of Police is taking the battle to criminals but maximum security is achieved through the alertness of everybody in the interest of everybody and such attitude goes a long way to prevent many people from becoming victims of criminality.” Meanwhile, A NAIJ.com reader sent in the story of a suspected child kidnapper who was apprehended after a little girl he had tried to kidnap earlier, identified him. According to reports, this man was caught after his attempt to kidnap a child from the Bafarawa 500 Housing Estate in Sokoto state, was foiled by a former victim who identified him. The young man who reports claim specialized in kidnapping children and putting his victims up for sale, had attempted to kidnap his identifier (a little girl) some time prior to his apprehension, and that proved to be his undoing

Rooney quality under-valued, says Lineker

Wayne Rooney’s true worth as a player has not been properly appreciated, according to England football great Gary Lineker.         Wayne ...