Buhari accused of fanning Boko Haram terror scare

The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has again blamed the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for insurgency and the violence ravaging some northern states.
The ruling party said no amount of “blackmail” and “wild allegations” against President Goodluck Jonathan could exonerate the APC from insurgency.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said alleged inciting utterances of APC leaders, including Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, fueled the problem

According to the PDP, by going to the international media recently to distance themselves from complicity and in turning round to blame the PDP, the APC was asking Nigerians to forget the statements by their leaders that promoted insurgency in the country.

The party observed that whereas a statesmanly statement from a person of General Buhari’s age and status could have helped douse the tension in the land, the APC flag bearer chose incendiary remarks, which emboldened insurgents.

“Nigerians have not forgotten the spontaneous violence and mayhem on innocent citizens following inciting statements by Buhari and other APC leaders then in the defunct CPC, upon losing the 2011 presidential election,” PDP stated.

“The APC leaders have so far left no Nigerian in doubt of their party’s violent disposition as General Buhari in May 2012, remorselessly stated that ‘the monkey and baboon will be soaked in blood’ should he lose the 2015 presidential election.”
PDP said Nigerians had also read and heard other ricocheting calls for violence and threats of parallel government from other leaders of the opposition.

“These are not just mere slips but incontrovertible snips from the agenda of the APC to sustain insurgency and set the stage for carnage after they lose in the 2015 general elections.”

Thousands have died and over 1 million people displaced following the terror waged by the Boko Haram sect.

"Why We Can't Defeat Boko Haram"-Army Commander And Family Threatened Over Letter to Jonathan

An army commander, who wrote a comprehensive letter to President Goodluck Jonathan exposing the rot and high level corruption militating against a successful campaign against Boko Haram insurgents, is now under threat. Lieutenant Colonel A. Wende of the 103 Battalion, who is currently serving in “Operation Zamani Lafiya” in Konduga, wrote the letter detailing the challenges confronting the army in trying to crush Boko Haram, including within the army leadership.

SaharaReporters learnt that the army authorities have threatened to court-martial Lt. Col Wende if he does not openly denounce the letter.  On grounds of principle, the officer has so far refused to renounce the letter.

In the letter, the army commander made several damning allegations against his superiors including pinpointing how the General Officer commanding the 7th Battalion in Maiduguri was diverting over 600 bags of rice meant for the troops.

Lt. Col. Wende went as far as revealing that Nigerian army generals, including the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Minimah, do not go anywhere near the battlefronts.

He further disclosed that over 70% of army commanders are facing court martial proceedings instituted by the Nigerian army leadership.

In view of these facts being indisputable, and unable to frighten Lt. Col Wende with threats of a court martial, General Minimah on Monday tried to dismiss the letter as fake and as having been written by people he claimed are affiliated with Boko Haram.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters has also learned that the army’s Defence headquarters has since last week quietly began to investigate the Acting GOC of 7th Division, perhaps in connection with the allege diversion of the 600 bags of rice.

In order to assist the public to understand the severity and importance of Lt. Col. Wende’s letter, we hereby publish the unredacted copy of his letter to President Jonathan in full.

Insurgents kill Yobe council chief, cleric, release inmates

Witnesses recount how Bauchi, Gombe explosions occurred

• Military imposes four days ban on vehicles movement in Borno

AUTHORITIES of General Hospital, Geidam, Yobe State Tuesday confirmed that the bodies of the Head of Council’s Works Department, Mohammed Abacha and the Imam of Zamfara mosque were among those brought to the morgue.

   An attendant at the Accident and Emergency Unit (AEU) of the hospital disclosed that some of the bodies could not be identified because of high degree burns and mutilation.

   “I can’t exactly give you the number of bodies in our morgue, but security men brought in many bodies in two Hilux patrol vehicles on Monday morning,” said the attendant yesterday.

   Bukar Musa, a Geidam resident also told The Guardian that the insurgents freed also 17 prison inmates before torching the prison building located near the emir’s place.

   Speaking on the jailbreak, the state Police Commissioner, Markus Danladi said: “The soldiers stationed near the emir’s palace where the prison is located were overpowered by the gunmen.”

   And in Bauchi State, more dead bodies have been discovered this morning from the scene of the bomb explosion that rocked Bauchi Central Market Monday, where over 70 shops were destroyed, including a new generation bank located inside the market.

   Speaking to The Guardian in his office yesterday, the Chairman, Traders and Artisans Association, Central Market Bauchi, Alhaji Adamu Musa Noma, said that the suspects were two men and one female wearing mobile police uniform.

   He said their female counterpart was wearing plain clothes and pretended to be a normal customer.

   “They even bought bags and clothes in the market. But when the market was about to close for the day one of them made a phone call and just after the call the bomb exploded.”

   Noma explained that when the bomb exploded there was confusion because the second gate of the market was already closed and many people were trapped inside.

   Likewise, Secretary of the Red Cross in Gombe State, Alhaji Abubakar Yakubu, who was at the scene of the blast that happened in the state told reporters that he personally carried 20 dead bodies and 18 injured persons after the blast.

   Another witness stated that a lady accompanied to the park by an unidentified male left her handbag in the vehicle and went out to escort the man. As she was being expected to return to the vehicle, the explosion occurred.

   Meanwhile, the 7 Division of Nigerian Army in consultation with Borno State government and other security agencies have banned all forms of vehicular movement in the state from 6.pm, Wednesday, December 24, 2014 to 7.am Sunday, December 28, 2014.

   The ban was necessitated by security reports indicating; “concerted efforts by Boko Haram terrorists to unleash mayhem on some parts of Borno State, particularly Maiduguri metropolis during the Christmas celebration.”

   This was contained in a statement by the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, made available to newsmen yesterday.

   Usman in the statement however said that, “This directive excludes those on essential services such as medical staff, fire services and the media, duly authorized by their establishments. The measure becomes necessary in order to further safeguard lives and property of law-abiding citizens in the state.”

Tears for the world’s children

THE tragic events around the world  in 2014 have clearly made nonsense of the expectation that being the most vulnerable group in a given society, children deserve protection at all times. For children have been the worst hit by the ravages of multi-faceted violence in different parts of the world in the outgoing year. This is a tragedy that should tug at the conscience of humanity and one that must stop. While the world was less attentive to their plight, children in their millions were being killed in their classrooms or in bed, raped, kidnapped, orphaned, tortured, recruited into terrorism and even sold as slaves.  

   At home the bleak fate of children in Nigeria is symptomatic  of the gory  lot of their counterparts in other parts of  the world. Over 200 children were  kidnapped by terrorists in the north-eastern part of Nigeria and up till this moment, almost a year after, forlorn is the hope of their rescue.  Equally revolting is the unceasing and unabashed  enslavement of women with its attendant  sex slavery by  the Islamic State  in Iraq  and Syria.

   The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appropriately captured this grim reality in its recent review of the lot of children in 2014. The world’s leading advocate for children with strong presence in 190 countries stressed the gravity of the situation when it posited that “never in recent memory have so many  children been subjected to such unspeakable  brutality.” It is most unfortunate that children’s lives were blighted by  different experiences in 2014, a year in which the 25th anniversary of  the Convention on the Rights of the Child was celebrated to mark the progress made for them globally.

    The figure of children who suffered various forms of violence is mind-boggling. The UNICEF put it at as many as 15 million.  Throughout the year, they were caught up  in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the state of Palestine, Syria and Ukraine.  Hundreds of children were kidnapped from their schools or on their way to school. Tens of thousands have been recruited or used by armed forces and groups. In the Central African Republic, 2.3 million children were affected  by the conflict in that country,  about 10,000  children were  believed to have been recruited  by armed groups  and  more than 430 were killed and maimed, three times as many as in 2013.    In Gaza , 54,000 children were left homeless as a result of the 50-day conflict during the summer that also saw 538 killed and more than 3,370 injured.

   In Syria, more than 7.3 million children were affected by the civil war there including 1.7 million who are now child refugees. At least there were 35 attacks on schools in the  first nine months of the year, which killed 105  children and injured nearly 300 others.  In Iraq, an estimated 2.7 million children were  affected by conflict and at least 700 were said to have been maimed, killed or even executed.  In countries like Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen,  many young lives have been lost to protracted crises.  

   Even  children who did not directly suffer from violence were not  spared the calamities of the year. In South Sudan, for instance, an estimated  235,000 children under the age of five  suffered  from severe malnutrition. Almost 750,000 children were displaced and more than 320,000 live as refugees. New threat to children’s wellbeing  was  posed by  the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia  and Sierra Leone  which led to thousands of children being orphaned or leaving school.

   A condemnable danger posed by this year’s crises apart from their direct, tragic consequences is that the future of those  children who were not killed like others is bleak. An unsavoury  corollary of this is that even if the violence that claimed the lives of many children is checked, those children who are alive have been scarred for life. There is urgent need  for governments across the world to sincerely  consider how children have fared  in the outgoing year  and take  decisive steps to break the horrendous cycle of misery in which they are now caught.  Nations should put in place or strengthen existing laws that mete out appropriate sanctions to abusers of children through rape, abduction and recruitment as child soldiers.  This is the path that may  lead to  assuaging  the sad memories of the subjection of children to horror and despair in 2014.

Nollywood legends honour Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan was yesterday decorated as Grand Patriarch of Nollywood for supporting the industry where over 200 people have been trained with 76 film producers accessing grants for projects.

They said television stations’ penchant for cheap Mexican soap operas and other foreign films was borne out of greed and attempt to kill the industry and erase jobs.

This is even as President Jonathan described actors and actresses as the greatest ambassadors of the country. He said before now, Nigerian football teams, especially the Super Eagles, were the ones bringing glory to the nation, but of late the team had been fumbling, but the Nollywood stars have remained consistent in their craft and bringing glory to the nation.

Jonathan stated this when the Legends of Nollywood, led by Mr. Paul Obazele and Zack Orji, took a delegation to the Presidential Villa, Abuja when Jonathan was decorated with the award.

He said, “there are so many good stories about you (Nollywood stars). For us who by divine providence and your own will, made us to be here this time, you are our pride, you are our stars.

“In fact, you are the greatest ambassadors of this country. This is because the Nollywood family has really helped to bring good image to this country.

“Before now, we were known for soccer. After some time, we started fumbling. Today, we are on top, the next day, we are down. Since Nollywood came on board, you have been quite steady and you have been bringing good image to this country,” he said.

The President likened the Nollywood success to the biblical story of creation where God made a pronouncement that there should be light and there was light. He said the industry was created from a humble beginning when people did not expect any spectacular thing to a very formidable body, being the second in the world.

President Jonathan expressed delight that the commercials of the industry have now become integral party of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The President said he remained committed to giving government support to the industry. While describing the award plaque given to him as precious, he said it would be one of the items in the Presidential Museum he would establish after leaving office.

Earlier, Obazele said the group gave Jonathan the award because of the support he had been giving the industry since his days as deputy governor of Bayelsa State.

He said no Nigerian president has ever given the motion industry such support, adding that by his actions and support, he has walked the talk, leading to great dividends for the sector.

“No government has shown special interest in our industry like yours,” he said.

Obazele said: “Mr. President as we induct you in to the Nollywood Hall of Fame, we want to draw your attention to the fact that things have gone from bad to worst in the motion picture in the country most especially the television stations.

“I make bold to say that television no longer excites unlike the days of old when we had locally produced great soap operas like Village Headmaster, After the Sun, Mirror in the Sun, Basi and company, our television stations have sacrificed this great programme on the altar of greed. Most of our television stations now pay more attention to foreign soap operas and contents than they pay to locally produced programmes. They prefer to buy cheap Maxican soap operas instead of commissioning local programmes or local contents. Even when they pretend to buy local programmes, they either acquire these local projects at a ridiculous amount and they charge exorbitant airtime that independent producers find it difficult to cope.

“We call for the faithful implemention of the various broadcast codes that enables television and cable stations to commission programmes or scout for very good programmes that can showcase on their stations. We believe that way they will be encouraging the development and the growth of the industry and contributing to employment generation”, he said.

How to lose the presidential election four times (1) -Femi Aribisala

If anybody would like to be a serial loser of the presidential election in Nigeria, here is a list of what he needs to do; according to the blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari.

If one were to decode the guiding principle of Muhammadu Buhari's presidential ambitions, it would be this: "If at first you don't succeed, don't give up until you have failed three more times on the trot." Nigerians don't want Muhammadu Buhari to be our president. We have said this repeatedly since 1999. But Buhari simply refuses to take "No" for an answer. When is he finally going to get the message that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians don't want him?

Buhari is the last of yesterday's men who insist that a country of 170 million people must continue to rely on the leadership of the same old and failed generation. Nigerians have already put paid to the presumptions of Olusegun Obasanjo; who wanted a fourth term; Ibrahim Babangida; who stepped aside and wanted to step back in; and Atiku Abubakar, who runs a marathon for the presidency. Buhari is the last of these recalcitrant dinosaurs. The one good thing about the coming presidential election is that it is likely to provide Nigerians with a final definitive opportunity to send him permanently into retirement.

Buhari's repeated failure to secure a national mandate provides a textbook case of how not to run for the presidency in a plural country like Nigeria. This is a compendium of some of the reasons why the Nigerian presidency will forever elude men like Buhari, inspire of all the song and dance that attends their candidacies. If anybody would like to be a serial loser of the presidential election in Nigeria, here is a list of what he needs to do; according to the blueprint of Muhammadu Buhari.

Be an enemy of democracy

Claim you are anti-corruption but steal the presidency of the entire country through an illegal and fraudulent military coup. Claim you are a democrat after you overthrew a democratically elected government in 1983 and made yourself Head of State without the consent of the people of Nigeria. As military Head of State, refuse to entertain any plan for a return to civilian rule. Tell Nigerians that anyone who discusses a return to civil rule would be arrested.

Overthrow a government, but be more against the opposition than the government in power. Establish manhunts for key politicians in the length and breadth of the country. Nevertheless, allow key elements of the ruling NPN to escape out of the country, including party chairman, Richard Akinloye; legal counsel, Richard Akinjide; and Minister of Transport, Umaru Dikko. Allow the Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, to escape abroad, even after he had mistakenly returned to the country and was arrested and jailed.

Violate human rights

Promulgate the infamous Decree 2 that makes even the reporting of the truth a punishable offence. Use it to imprison Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo, two journalists from the South, for reporting stories that were factually true. Then tell Nigerian journalists: "It does not matter whether the story reported was true or not, if my regime does not like it, the writer would go to jail."

Try Nigerian civilians in military tribunals as opposed to regular courts of law in violation of internationally acceptable legal norms. Create a secret police, the National Security Organization (NSO) for the first time in Nigeria's history under infamous Lawal Rafindadi to harass and imprison without trial Nigerian citizens in clear violation of their human rights.

Publicly murder three Nigerians; Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26): two from the South-West and one from the South East, under the dubious Decree 20 for drug-related offences. Ignore the fact that, at the time they committed their crimes, their offences were not punishable by the death sentences.

Nevertheless, maliciously backdate the death-sentence with illegal retroactive decrees that violate every international norm of due process and human rights just in order to kill these three hapless young men. In spite of widespread international condemnation for this, refuse to show any remorse or contrition or to apologise for this judicial murder till date.

When asked to appear before the Justice Oputa "Truth and Reconciliation Panel" in order to answer for a litany of abuses of power and violation of human rights while in power as Nigeria's military Head of State, refuse to appear showing your contempt for Nigerians.

Discriminate against the South

Balance a Northern Fulani Head of State with another Northern Fulani deputy. Conduct a coup d'état, ostensibly to overthrow a corrupt Nigerian government. However, be so ethnically chauvinistic that you put Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the vice-president who took none of the decisions under lock-and-key in jail in Kirikiri because he is Igbo and Christian. At the same time, put Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the president who was the person in charge under house arrest in a palatial mansion in Ikoyi, Lagos because he happens to be the same as you: Fulani and Muslim.

Make Northern politicians sacred cows and untouchable. Fail to arrest and prosecute none of the prominent Hausa/Fulani politicians who were the principal actors in the government you overthrew; including Adamu Ciroma, Suleiman Takuma, Aliu Gusau, Lawal Kaita, Barkin Zuwo, Shehu Kangiwa and Awwal Ibrahim.

At the same time, jail Southern politicians, including Bisi Onabanjo, Ambrose Alli, Lateef Jakande, Jim Nwobodo, and others on trumped up charges that could not be substantiated in any court of law. Try octogenarian Michael Ajasin of the South-West before a tribunal. When he is discharged and acquitted; try him again. When he is discharged and acquitted again, try him a third time. When he is discharged and acquitted yet again, keep him in indefinite detention without just cause.

Maltreat Southern leaders

Send a team of soldiers to ransack the Park Lane, Apapa residence of elder Southern statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Give no reason whatsoever for this blatant violation of the old man's privacy. Seize his international passport for no just cause. Later, try to pull the wool over the eyes of the Yorubas by choosing a man married to Awolowo's grand-daughter as your vice-presidential running-mate.

Lock Emeka Ojukwu, an Igbo man from the South, in prison in Kirikiri with the politicians of the Second Republic, in spite of the fact that he committed no crime and held no public office in the Second Republic. Moreover, after Ojukwu returned to Nigeria after 13 years of exile, he received a full pardon from the president of Nigeria for his activities as leader of the secessionist government of Biafra. Provide Nigerians with no explanation whatsoever for the exact offence that led to Ojukwu's arrest and incarceration.

Get booted out of office by your own clique in the army. Have your colleague, Ibrahim Babangida, give this testimony about you: "regrettably it turned out that (he) was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions only served to aggravate the attitudes."

Corrupt practices

Prohibit the importation of naira into the country during a much ballyhooed currency exchange program. Then contravene your own policy by having your ADC, Colonel Mustapha Jokolo, allow his father, the Emir of Gwandu from the North, to smuggle into the country through Muritala Muhammed International Airport 53 suitcases which the then Area Administrator of the Lagos Airport Customs Command, Atiku Abubakar, was not allowed to search.

At the same time, sentence Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a Yoruba man from the South-West, to 20 months in jail for being in possession of foreign-exchange he had legitimately procured for the upkeep of his band on a foreign trip. Because Fela mocked you in his songs for being unable to address the problems of Nigeria, declare to Nigerians that: "I decided to deal with this Fela problem once and for all." Face public embarrassment because the judge who pronounced the sentence on Fela later confessed that he was ordered to jail him.

Disregard for Nigeria's secularity

As military Head of State, contravene the country's secularity by having Nigeria apply to join the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC). The application finally came through in 1986 and divided the country acrimoniously along Muslim/Christian lines.

Tell Muslims not to vote for Christians. Reveal to Nigerians that you are a religious bigot by declaring in Kaduna in 2001 that: "I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country." Say this, in spite of the fact that declaring some states as sharia states is in clear violation of the secularity of Nigeria's federalism, as contained in section 10 of the Constitution of Nigeria

Anti-corruption contradictions

Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader; nevertheless, agree to serve under Sani Abacha, one of the most corrupt Heads-of-State ever in the history of Nigeria. On the 10th anniversary of General Abacha's demise, tell incredulous Nigerians that Abacha did not steal anything while he was Nigeria's Head of State. Describe all the allegations of looting the treasury leveled against Abacha as "baseless." Maintain that: "ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts."

Hold this position in spite of the millions of dollars of Abacha's loot recovered from banks around the world, and in spite of the fact that the Abacha's family signed a formal agreement to return over $1 billion to the Nigerian government.

As chairman of the juiciest portfolio of all under Sanni Abacha's government; the Petroleum Trust Fund with a budget of 181 billion naira between 1994 and 1999, fail woefully to curb the rampant corruption in the organisation. When in 2000, President Obasanjo set up an Interim Management Committee to look into the affairs of the PTF under the chairmanship of Haroun Adamu, it was discovered that over 25 billion naira was stolen under your watch.

Claim to be an anti-corruption crusader, but Group Captain Usman Jibrin, a board member of PTF, resigned from the organization in protest over the blatant irregularities in your appointment of consultants.

Apple Watch, Windows 10:

NEW YORK — Last year right around this time, everyone wondered if or when Apple would finally unveil a long-rumored smart watch and what bearing it might have on the market for wearable computers.

The "if" went away in September when the company finally showcased early versions of Apple Watch.

As I anticipate the stories likely to dominate the personal tech scene in the New Year, the question of "when" in 2015 the Apple Watch clocks in remains a mystery. It's also unknown how high above the entry-level $350 price some premium versions of the watch might command.

I'll be mildly surprised if the availability date slips well past the first quarter of the year, but (forgive the pun) time will tell.

Aside from the timing, there are these key questions: Will Apple Watch be the catalyst to make smart watches specifically and wearables more generally go mainstream? Can Apple solve one of the major bugaboos afflicting most of the early timepieces already out there, notably the challenge of battery life?

I may be dead wrong, but I do expect the first batch of Apple Watches to generate the kind of buzz we so often see when a new Apple product arrives — with sales that will far exceed anything we've seen in the wearable category so far. But I'll also temper that prediction with this: version 1.0 of the Apple Watch will be just that, a version 1.0 product. In other words, it might be sexy, have enormous promise, but it also will be saddled with a few growing pains.

A 'WEARABLE' WORLD?

Either way, expect the barrage of new wearable devices to continue in 2015 from all the usual tech suspects, with a particular emphasis on products and services that cater to the health and fitness market.