There are indications that top military personnel who launched the coup in the central African nation earlier in the week have been arrested and others have been forced on the run by loyalist troops even as the United States issued Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza a stern warning against running for a third term.
General Godefroid Niyombare, who led the coup was reported to have offered to give himself up.
The dramatic end to the coup attempt ended 48 hours of uncertainty over who controlled the small, landlocked and impoverished nation, which has been gripped by a political crisis over Nkurunziza’s controversial bid to run again for the presidency.
But the US said that such move for third term would exacerbate the country’s instability and threaten international aid, adding there was potential for further violence after Nkurunziza returned to the country.
According to Jeff Rathke, a State Department spokesman: “The US position is that President Nkurunziza should not stand for a third term.”
The president’s decision to run “has and will continue to exacerbate instability in the country,” Rathke warned, only a day after he had stressed that Washington still regarded Nkurunziza as the legitimate president.
“This threatens the viability of the Burundian government, and it increases the risk of violence and instability that can threaten donor support.”
Rathke renewed calls on all sides to exercise restraint, after the State Department late Thursday ordered the families of all US government staff to leave the country.
Amid continuing uncertainty, the US embassy was closed today even as Rathke warned anyone thinking of any revenge attacks that “the world is watching and that they should be held accountable.”
Washington could slap visa bans on anyone seen as responsible for such violence. [myad]
Nigeria’s largest cement producer, Dangote Cement has announced a gross profit of N74.7 billion for the three months ended 31st March 2015, indicating an increase of 10.5 percent over N67.63 billion recorded in the same period in 2014.
According to the cement giant’s unaudited results for first quarter of 2015, revenues rose by 10.8 to ₦114.7billion compared to N103.57 billion in the corresponding in 2014. The improvement in the first results was buoyed by with maiden contributions from non-Nigerian factories
Net profit was up 44.1 percent to ₦68.6 billion in contrast to N47.62 billion in 2014 while earnings per share grew by 45.7 percent to ₦4.09.
Group cement sales volumes was up by 3.4 percent to 3.8 million tonnes driven by contributions from South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon and new lines in Nigeria. The margins from Nigeria increased by new pricing, improved gas supply and more use of coal. Dangote Cement Plants are now operational in Zambia and Ethiopia. The new plants are expected to impact positively on the financials of the cement giants.
Speaking on the first quarter results, Chief Executive officer, Dangote Cement, Mr. Onne van der Weijde, said: “Our African projects are now beginning to deliver revenue growth for the Group and even at this early stage we are seeing good potential in all the countries into which we are expanding.
Senegal has made an excellent start, Cameroon is poised for a strong entry into an exciting growth market and Sephaku Cement is clearly shaking up the South African market as the first new entrant in many years.”
“Although sales fell in Nigeria, we improved both revenues and margins thanks to pricing actions in December following the collapse of the oil price and currency devaluation. We are making a significant investment to improve our logistical capabilities and I am pleased to report a much more favorable fuel supply in the first quarter of 2015.”
“We have invested for growth in Africa and each new factory that opens will generate good returns for shareholders as we deliver on our promise to become Africa’s leading cement company.”
Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with three plants in Nigeria and recently opened factories in South Africa, Senegal and Cameroon. It is a fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer with production capacity of 29 million tonnes in Nigeria at the end of 2014.
The Cement Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.25 million tonnes capacity across four lines. The Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12 million tonnes. The Gboko plant in Benue state has 4 million tonnes capacity.
It would be recalled that Dangote Cement’s plants in Senegal and Cameroon were inaugurated in January when they began production and the company’s premium 42.5 grade was launched into the markets in the two countries.
The Ethiopia and Zambia plants have also began production as the company inches close to its determination to clock 40 million mtpa before the end of 2015. [myad]
Social media platforms have changed the face of journalism as almost everyone with an active Internet computer or smart phone charges into news reporting on the World Wide Web.
It is undeniable that the social media has helped shrink the world further into a global village. The relative selling point of social media comes with the instant interactiveness it offers account holders on its different platforms. Remarkable also is that the social media has carved a niche for itself as news and information dissemination vehicles, which it discharges in an instant, to a mass of global audience in real time. While all these have impacted the face of present day journalism and reportage, it has equally posed a huge challenge to traditional media platforms, given that the social community shares in a flash, news stories, information, images and videos which the traditional media offer with a great deal of time lag. Timeliness is of essence in news reporting, and the one-up in this regard is not for the old media.
Today, there is a litany of social media platforms, that include, Facebook, Whatsapp, 2go, Wechat, Badoo, Twitter, Instagram, Twoo, Myspace, Linkedin, Friendster, Classmates, Meetup, Mylife, Flexster, Blackplanet, Netlog, Xing and a myriad of strictly dating sites. More than half of the world’s total population is hooked on these media networks for just about anything. Dating sites such as ‘Match’ boasts of 35 million subscribers, ‘Plentyoffish’ 23 million, ‘Zoosk’ 11.5 million, ‘Okcupied’ 11.1 million, ‘Eharmony’ 7.1 million, ‘Christianmingle’ 5.5 million, while monthly active users of Facebook is officially put at 1.23 billion people. Apart from the dating sites, all other social media platforms play a role in reshaping the face of journalism.
Speaking on the impact of the social media on present day reportage, a former reporter, now a media consultant, Julie Chollom, said: “I see the advent of the social media as an advantage to the news world. In my days, reporting was difficult because you have to be on the spot to report some stories, but now with a click, you can get all the information you need. So, I believe it is good”. As an interactive platforms, the social media she says, “Gives the reader easy accessibility and an opportunity to make their contributions. It also has a way of integrating us. But it has its own disadvantage which young people might not see or agree with”, she disclosed.
Unlike how it has been with the age-long reading of newspapers, watching television or listening to radio, many people have come to an untimely death or suffered different types of harm or losses following their interactions with other social media users.
“If you look at a site like Facebook and the rest, it gives you room to find and connect with anyone and this has exposed families to dangers. Some have even lost their lives to these connections. It has also affected bondings that existed in families because children no longer stay closer to their parents, they will rather be chatting up with friends through the medium”, Chollom said.
Social media journalism has also leveraged licentiousness. While it crawls with nudity and porn, predators such as pedophiles and other anti-social elements inundate the platforms with information that make vulnerable young people fall prey to their antics and devices. “Another thing I notice with the social media is that, most people don’t have privacy anymore”, she observed.
Mercy Nimzim, a reporter with a broadcast states that, “The social media helps me a lot to know what is happening and where it is taking place. I also get foreign news through it. Today, we now know personal details on our stars and prominent people in the society. I love it because it has made my job easier”.
Lucy Daniel, a practising journalist said, “Whether we like it or not, the social media has changed the way we report and it has also helped to enlighten people on their society. I know that it will get to a stage where people will stop buying newspapers or even listen to news broadcasts because they will have all they need at their fingertips. I am just afraid that it will make some of us lose our jobs”, she feared.
Haruna Abdullahi, who works for an online publication said, “I love the social media because it keeps me abreast of what is happening all over the world. But as with all things of life, it has its own negative side and I also believe it can never take the place of the real old fashion hard news coverage and reportage. The social media connect us to our long lost friends. It gives us easy and quick access to information and allows us to chat with friends and families. The social media can also manipulate people. It can be used to incite or create havoc by evil minded people. It easily manipulates people into thinking in a certain way on a given matter. A good example is the way Islamic culture is being perceived by people because of the social media. Islam is now being regarded as a religion that breeds terrorism because of the negative influence of the social media”, he said.
Indeed, no rule applies on the social media journalism by members of the online community. No one bothers with balance or fairness. It is where fictions are elevated as facts, without scruples. Everything just goes.
“The social media does not balance its reports unlike the old fashion newspaper and TV that will get both sides of the report before dishing it out. I agree that It has now made us to see the real world as it is, and make some of us more knowledgeable but it is becoming a big time consumer, making young people lazy. It has also led to breakdown in families and marriages. The social media is being used to report sensationalism that appeals to emotions, instead of reporting facts”, Abdullahi said.
This is the new trend that online journalism or what is now popularly known as the socia media has brought on the pen profession. Analysts are of the views that regulation needs to be enforced on its usage.
I love the social media because you can also react to news and event unlike the stagnant news you get from TV and newspaper.” (Culled from Leadership.ng). [myad]
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic And Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) have made it clear to the incoming lawmakers that they can only be friends if they refrain from corruption in their legislative business.
The anti-graft bodies asked the lawmakers to beware of areas such as contract award and soliciting appointments into public offices for their constituency members.
Chairmen of the ICPC and the EFCC, Ekpo Nta and Ibrahim Lamorde respectively, spoke to the lawmakers at the induction certificate course organized for newly elected lawmakers from the Houses of Assembly, in Abuja.
Nta said that lobbying and recommendations from legislators on contract awards and public office appointments constitute abuse of public office for private gain, adding that they should leave award of contracts and appointments for the executive as it was their statutory duties to which there are laws guiding the conduct.
Nta made it clear that he was not at the retreat to threatening them, but to intimate the incoming lawmakers on some areas they need to be careful with while performing their duties, considering the many requests and much pressure that will come from members of their constituencies.
“What I’m saying is that I’m giving you an advice now. If you take that advise, we will remain friends, but if you don’t take that advise and do things which under the law are not correct, we will now have to invite you to come and address us on petitions we have received in respect of an infraction.
“As members of the National Assembly, you will be under very severe pressure to undermine all the provisions of the laudable laws you have passed or will pass.
“Your constituencies will remind you constantly that you are here through their votes and that in return, you must fund all their future marriages, naming ceremonies, burials, provision of scholarships, potable water and electricity, jobs in selected government offices either as your PA or full time employment.
“All the roads leading to your communities must be tarred, and if already tarred provided with street lights, sponsor medical treatments abroad or locally. How do you intend to fund all these activities? The answer is yours to provide. How you can avoid all these? Hold all the agencies that should provide social services strictly accountable by demanding accountability and openness”, he urged.
Nta did not mix words on the position of ICPC, if any one of them is suspected of any corruption offence, he said; “it is the position of the law that the lawmakers themselves made and made certain Acts punishable under the law and we are not the one who will punish.
“We simply present the facts to the court that this is what has happened in this instance, and the court will decide whether we were right or they were right in doing it.
On his part, Lamorde said the EFCC might not wait for petition to take step against any public official including the lawmaker if it noticed that they were living above their means.
Represented by Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Osita Nwajah at the event, he said that the commission is empowered to do so by virtue of section 7 of the establishment Act.
According to him, it will be easy for the EFCC to move into such a situation without petitions since the income of legislators is no secret. [myad]
A staff of the Imo State Polytechnic, Mr. Ukaegbu N. Ogidi has taken Rector of the Institution, Rev. Fr. Wence Madu, to the priests of the dreaded Okija Shrine in Anambra State, complaining of injustice, in the crisis that has engulfed the institution for some time now.
An invitation letter, which was allegedly sent to Rev. Fr. Madu, was signed by Ukaegbu N. Ogidi, who wrote that any respondent coming to Ogwugwu Okija must come with clean hands.
He warned the Cleric cum Administrator that “Ogwugwu kills only those whose hands are not clean, especially those who committed evil against their fellow human beings at work places, churches, mosques, markets and other public places.”
According to the letter, Rev. Fr. Madu knew about the issue at stake, “but, turned around to conspire and deal with an innocent person.”
The letter told the Rector that he “should feel free to reverse the injustice with your conspirators and collaborators against the complainants to avoid coming to Ogwugwu and other unpleasant consequences.”
The custodians of the shrine also told the Rector that he should on arrival, look for the Chief Priest for briefing and other formalities.
“But where you fail to come because of any reason, we shall come to your residence or office. The truth must be uncovered at all cost,” the letter warned.
When newsmen called at the Rector’s office to confirm if he really received such an invitation, someone who claimed to be a staff at the office said that Rev Fr. Madu was not around. [myad]
An unidentified female lunatic has given birth to a set of male and female twins through the assistance of a good Nigerian at the busy Eku Junction in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
The lunatic, a regular face in the area, was said to usually ask for alms and sleeps at any available shelter within the area.
Beatrice Ejeta, a staff of Shepherd Care International Orphanage, while narrating the delivery process said she was at home when the proprietor of the orphanage called her attention to the fact that a female lunatic was in labour at the Eku junction.
“I was initially worried if she would cooperate with us. But when I made a ‘come’ sign with my hand, she responded.
“With the assistance of some female shop owners around the junction, we were able to hold her still and I coordinated the delivery, with the male twin coming out leg first.
“We were delighted when the first baby came out, thinking that was all and released our grip on her only for us to notice that as she trekked to a nearby junction, another baby was coming out.
“Immediately, we ran back to her and delivered her of the second child which was a girl.”
Sources in the area said the babies, upon delivery, where taken to Eku Baptist Government Hospital even as nobody has claimed responsibility for her pregnancy.
Confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer of Eku Baptist Government Hospital, Sagay Tuoyo, said the hospital is well equipped with facilities to handle the babies. [myad]
The Edo State Governor, comrade Adams Oshiomhole who lost his first wife, Clara, to cancer in 2010 has finally settled with his long time girlfriend and Ethiopian model, Iara Fortes. The wedding held today 15th of May 2015.
The colourful ceremony took place at the Etsako West Local government Council Marriage registry, Auchi.
However, the reception is to take place at the Oshiomhole’s country home in Iyambo.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron has met first face-to-face with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promising to devolve more powers to Scotland
The meeting came a week after the last week’s general election, in which the Conservatives won an unexpected majority across the UK. The party was left with only one MP in Scotland however, with Ms Sturgeon’s SNP party taking all but three of the country’s 59 constituencies.
Prime Minister Cameron promised to review his party’s plans to give Holyrood powers over welfare and ensure they were in line with the Smith Commission’s findings. The Commission is a cross party review set up by the Prime Minister in the wake of the close independence referendum result. It published its recommendations in November.
Holyrood’s Devolution Committee said yesterday that the current plans to transfer more power north failed to meet both “the spirit or the substance” of the Smith Agreement.
Cameron said his government would “make sure it really is Smith” adding: “We’re going to look again at welfare and make sure the clauses reflect what that agreement was.”
“The First Minister wants to send some proposals for me to look at and I’m happy to examine proposals, there’s going to be a debate, of course there will be a debate.
“I don’t rule out making other changes if sensible suggestions are made.”
While Cameron appears open to considering further powers for Scotland, he said he did not believe a second independence referendum was “remotely on the cards”.
He spoke out after a senior source within the SNP was reported to have said it would be prepared to push ahead with plans for such a vote without the permission of the Prime Minister if necessary.
But the Conservative leader said: “I don’t think this is remotely on the cards, I tend to take at face value what Alex Salmond says on the record, rather than off the record.
“On the record, he said that this was a once-in-a-generation, potentially a once-in-a-lifetime, opportunity and I’m sticking with that.”
He spoke to journalists after having talks with Ms Sturgeon at her official residence of Bute House in Edinburgh.
Ms Sturgeon said the meeting was constructive and businesslike, adding: “Two things of significance were agreed at the meeting,” she said.
“Firstly, there was a commitment from the Prime Minister that the legislation that they will shortly introduce to the Westminster parliament to implement the proposals of the Smith Commission will implement those proposals in full.
“We had a report of a Scottish Parliament committee yesterday which said that where they have got to thus far doesn’t fully implement the Smith Commission proposals.
“So, there is a commitment to do that, and we will make sure that happens.
“Secondly, I have said we will put forward proposals for devolution further than the Smith Commission proposals.
“The Prime Minister has said they would consider those proposals.
“I am not going to put words in his mouth and say he has agreed any specific proposals, but there is an agreement to look at that and there will be a meeting with Deputy First Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland to take that discussion forward.
“I want Scotland to have full fiscal autonomy, David Cameron doesn’t, but what we said in our manifesto was that there were priority powers over and above the Smith Commission that we wanted to see devolved.
“So, what we are talking about are business taxes and employment legislation, the minimum wage and more powers over welfare.”
Ms Sturgeon said she still advocates full fiscal autonomy despite the oil price crash which would leave Scotland with a large deficit.
“I recognise that even if there was an agreement to move to full fiscal autonomy, which there is not, that would take time to do,” she said.
“As a priority, I want to get our hands on the levers that really matter as quickly as possible.”
Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, who was also at the meeting, said today that the Scottish National Party will consider putting plans for another independence referendum in its election manifesto for Holyrood next year.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I said to him on the phone last Friday and I have said it to him again today, he has a choice to make about how he responds to how Scotland voted last week.
“He can act as if it is business as usual and nothing has changed, and people will draw their own conclusions from that.
“They will think that Westminster isn’t capable of listening or responding.
“Or he can prove that Westminster does listen, it does respond, it can deliver a better deal for Scotland.”
Cameron said he had had a “very positive meeting” with the SNP leader.
“I’ve always said I believe in the respect agenda, and I think coming to Scotland just over a week after the election result is the right thing to do,” he stated.
He confirmed he would meet his election pledge to include a bill on more powers for Holyrood in his first Queen’s Speech.
The Conservative leader said: “I made a commitment before the election, if I was the Prime Minister I would implement the Smith Commission report in full by introducing a Scotland Bill in the first Queen’s Speech and I can confirm that is exactly what I will do.
“It was an agreement made in Scotland for Scotland by the Scottish parties and I’ll make sure we implement every aspect of it.
“That will build a Scottish Parliament that doesn’t just look after the vital issues of health and education and those devolved matters, but it will give real power over taxation and spending, so if Scotland wants to take different decisions about how much money to spend, what taxes to raise, it will be able to do so, and I think that’s the right future for Scotland.”
The Scottish Parliament is already due to get some power over income tax in April 2016, as a result of changes to the devolution settlement made by the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
But the Smith Commission called for far greater powers over income tax to be handed over, along with some control over benefits and welfare north of the border.
Cameron stressed however that he did not support SNP demands for full fiscal autonomy, which would make the Scottish Parliament responsible for raising all the money it spends.
He said: “I don’t support full fiscal autonomy. I put it like this – Scotland has voted to stay part of the United Kingdom and I’m delighted about that. I think there are two potential futures, the future I would offer and I think many others would offer is a much stronger Scottish Parliament with these tax and spending powers and with the extra powers Smith talks about, but also with the solidarity of the United Kingdom.
“I want people in Scotland to know that the whole of the United Kingdom stands behind your pensions, stands behind unemployment benefit, will stand behind Scotland if it has a difficult year, if the oil price goes down.
“That’s what I believe in, the solidarity union as well as the United Kingdom that’s about defence and foreign affairs and all the institutions we have built together.
“I think the option of full fiscal autonomy is not a good option for Scotland inside the United Kingdom, I think it would land Scottish taxpayers with £7 billion of extra taxes or Scottish people with £7 billion of extra cuts.”
He continued: “I believe in the solidarity that’s at the heart of our United Kingdom.
“So it’s an honest disagreement between the First Minister and me about this, but we will deliver the stronger Scottish Parliament, be in no doubt about it.”
Cameron also said his Tory majority government had a mandate to press ahead with plans to withdraw from the Human Rights Act and to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Both these could put his Westminster government on a collision course with the SNP administration at Holyrood.
Ms Sturgeon has said repealing the Human Rights Act is an “appalling thing to be doing” and has argued that Scotland should not be taken out of the EU against its wishes, even if a majority across the UK supports such a move.
On the issue of a European referendum Cameron said: “We put forward in a manifesto the clearest possible pledge of a renegotiation and an in/out referendum by the end of 2017.
“That manifesto has now been backed at a UK wide general election so I believe I have a mandate for that, rather in the same way that the SNP felt they had a mandate for their referendum.
“They didn’t give Orkney and Shetland an opt out, or the Borders an opt out, so this is a UK pledge, it will be delivered for the UK and it will be debated and discussed in Parliament after we publish the Queens Speech.”
He also insisted the Tories had made a “very clear manifesto promise” to scrap the Human Rights Act and establish a British Bill of Rights in its place and now had a “mandate for that promise”.
Cameron said: “Some people interpret this promise as being against human rights. It isn’t, it’s to have a British Bill of Rights written into UK law so these things can be adjudicated in British courts.”
He conceded there would have to be talks between Westminster and the Scottish and Welsh assemblies about how this would work, and stated: “There are some great complexities here but I’m sure it’s not beyond the wit of clever people to make this work.” [myad]
File photo: University of Abuja Students demontrating
Students of the University of Abuja have clashed with the office of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed as they barricaded the entrance and exit gates to the Minister’s office for over two hours. This was even as the representative of the minister, Nosike Ogbuenyi described the students action as lawless, advising them to desist from lawless acts like blocking of gates, The protesting students, led by the Chairman of the University of Abuja Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Friday Adayi, today, laid siege to the FCT Administration Secretariat between 12 and 2 Pm, insisting that the government must purchase a vehicle for their association immediately to enable them attend their various conventions. They also demanded for development of University of Abuja’s Unity Park and an immediate end to the water supply challenges at the university’s mini campus. “The FCT Administration should also furnish the common room of the NANS Chairman,” the students stated. Selected leaders of the students later met with FCT officials led by the FCT Education Secretary, Alhaji Kabir Usman who promised to look into their demands: “despite the obvious fact that most of them were either untenable or should have been pursued through the Federal Ministry of Education which administers the University of Abuja.” The Secretary announced that the request by the students for a vehicle was receiving attention and would be granted if funds become available. However, the Special Assistant on media to the FCT minister, Nosike Ogbuenyi condemned the action of the students, particularly the disruption of activities at the secretariat and their attempt to compel the government to fulfill their requests, which he said were not statutory responsibilities of the FCTA. “The point should be stressed that it is not part of FCTA’s official responsibility to furnish the NANS Chairman’s common room at the University of Abuja or to provide internal infrastructure in Federal universities. Similarly, government action on the kind of demands made by the students is discretionary and dependent on resource availability. “Nonetheless, the FCTA cherishes robust relationship with NANS even though it frowns at any attempt to hold it to ransom by students over welfare and logistics demands by individuals or groups.” Ogbuenyi said that the FCT Administration, through its Water Board, has provided potable and wholesome water to the residents of the Federal Capital Territory including Gwagwalada through the recently commissioned Lower Usuma Dam Phases III & IV Water Treatment Plants and that therefore, it is the duty of individuals, institutions and corporate organizations to undertake water reticulation in their areas of abode.
A group of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in Adamawa State under the banner of PDP Aggrieved Aspirants Forum, has threatened to sue the party for allegedly failing to refund the money they paid for nomination forms. Addressing newsmen today in Yola the chairman of the group, Liazaru Eliada-Gugu, said the party advertised for various elective positions but failed to conduct the primaries. Eliada-Gugu who was a senatorial aspirant in the just concluded election, said the aspirants bought forms to contest the primary election but since the party did not conduct any, it was only natural that the money for the forms be refunded to them. “We have made our request known to the leadership of our party both at the state and national level. They have promised to address the issue but up till now they have not done anything,” he stated. He said the national chairman of the party agreed to do something about it when they met with him but after several weeks of waiting without response they had no option than to go to court.
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