I Am Not Desperate To Continue In Office, Says President Jonathan

March 20, 2015

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he is not desperate to be re-elected in the March 28 election to continue as President.

According to the President, politicians who are interested in occupying any elective position either at state or federal level should not to be desperate.

President Jonathan who spoke at the public launching of a book, “The People’s Choice: The story of President Goodluck Jonathan written” by Rev. Fr. Charles Imokhai today in Lagos said: “my second message is to all of us, especially those of us who are politicians, that for all of us who want to serve, we should ‎be ready to serve but we should not be desperate to serve our people.

“Sometimes, people ask me that Mr. President, from what we read and what we see, we see you still smiling and unruffled.

“Yes, nothing will really ruffle me because I am willing and ready to serve but I am not desperate to serve. That is what keeps me going.

“All of us who want to hold offices from the least, a counselor of a ward or a chairman of a council, a member of the state House of Assembly or member of House of Representatives, Senate, Governor or the President, if all of us are always ready and willing to serve our people but we are not desperate in that our mission, then of course Nigeria will be a better place for all of us.”

The President said that while the book being presented provided an account that is close to being accurate, most of the things written about him were inaccurate.

He however promised that he would write the most accurate one after leaving office.

“My dream is that one day, a product of Almajiri school will stand here as a President of this country.”

[myad]

4 Suicide Bombers Kill 142 In Yemen Mosques

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

Four suicide bombers today in Yemen, capital of Sanaa, blew themselves up in two mosques during Friday prayers killing at least 142 people.

Both mosques are known to be used mainly by supporters of the Shiite Muslim Houthi group which has seized control of the government.

The Islamic State group, an al Qaeda offshoot of Sunni extremists, claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to an online statement by the group.

The four bombers attacked the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques during midday Friday prayers, traditionally the most crowded time of the week, according to state news agency Saba.

The Shiite rebel-owned Al-Masirah TV channel said area hospitals were urging citizens to donate blood. It also reported that a fifth suicide bomb attack on another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold.

At the Badr mosque, militia guards caught the first bomber while searching worshippers at the entrance and he detonated his device there. Amid the ensuing panic, a second bomber entered the mosque and blew himself up in the crowd, Saba agency said.

[myad]

Netanyahu Wins, Peace Loses

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

Benjamin Netanyahu has probably retained power in Israel as his Likud party won 29 seats in Parliament while the center-left Zionist Union had 24 seats. The Likud Party is likely to form a coalition to put together a 61-seat majority.

Netanyahu said there would be no Palestinian state under his watch, a Palestinian must condition for any agreement. This hardline position is tacitly endorsed by the U.S. Congress. In short, Netanyahu has won and the possibility of a Israel-Palestine peace agreement has lost.

Under Netanyahu, we can expect more Israeli settlements. Consider that since 1967, settlements are now home to at least 541,000 Israelis, 341,000 in the West Bank and 200,000 in east Jerusalem. This represents about 4 percent of the Israeli electorate. Israel is slowly nibbling in small increments the territory claimed for a Palestinian state — death by a thousand cuts.

The slim hope for a Palestinian state lies with the United Nations. In addition, the International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary examination over alleged crimes committed “in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014.”

In the meantime, I would expect violence to escalate between the Palestinians and the Israelis. [myad]

Thank You Sir, For Supporting My Husband, Buhari’s Wife Greets Atiku

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

Wife of General Muhammadu Buhari, Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hajiya A’isha Buhari took time off to pay respect to former Vice President and chieftain of APC, Atiku Atiku Abubakar when she ran into him at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja today, Friday, 20. [myad]

UNICEF Challenges Online Publishers To Create Space For Children On Their Platforms

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

Members of Guild Of Corporate Online Publishers At the Event

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has challenged Online Publishers to create space in their platforms for issues concerning children.
Rising from a two-day dialogue with members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Enugu today, UNICEF emphasised that issues affecting children across Nigeria and the world are so crucial that they could not be kept in the dark for long.
Describing children as the vulnerable part of the society, the UNICEF’s Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku who coordinated the dialogue, regretted that voices of children have been shut out from media because they are seen as not important.
He said that the shutting out of the voices of the children has been one of the discrimination which the UN General Assembly’s Convention on the Right of the Child is out to correct.
Njoku was however happy that with the dialogue, things would change in favour of the children, even as the Online Publishers requested the UNICEF to participate by supplying relevant news materials on children for them.
The dialogue was addressed by among other academics, the Head of Department of Mass Communications of the University of Lagos, Associate Professor Abigail Ogwezzy Ndisika. She made it clear that the future development of any society is determined and shaped by the kind of children such society breed.
GOCOP was led to the dialogue by its President, Mr. Malachy Agbo who publishes The Citizen Online.

[myad]

Japan Grants UNICEF N750 Million For Victims Of Boko Haram, Others In Nigeria’s North East

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

The Government of Japan has granted the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the sum of US $3.4 Million (N750 million) for Integrated Provision of Life-Saving Emergency Interventions for Vulnerable Populations in the north east of Nigeria.
The grant, according to UNICEF in a statement today, will be used for interventions focused on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict affected populations in the north east of Nigeria in the sectors of Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health, Nutrition, Child Protection and Education.
The conflict in the north east of Nigeria, especially in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa has caused large scale human suffering for the populations in the areas especially children and women.
The conflict has triggered major population movements and the number of IDPs in the north east has almost doubled in less than a year, from an estimated 647,000 in May 2014 to what International Office of Migration reports is now around 1.2 million. Children make up about 56 per cent of those who have been internally displaced, with over half of them being five-years or younger.
The Officer in charge UNICEF in Nigeria, Mr. Samuel Momanyi said: “this grant is timely and will further boost the work UNICEF is doing in the northeast. It will make a significant lifesaving contribution to alleviate the suffering of the affected populations in the northeast especially children and women.”
Since 2000, the Government of Japan has been a major donor to UNICEF supporting interventions in child survival, prevention of infectious diseases in children and emergency interventions in Nigeria, through the UNICEF/Federal Government of Nigeria Programme of Cooperation.

[myad]

Over 2 Billion People Have No Access To Toilets, 1 Billion Defecate In Open – UNICEF

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has come out with startling revelation that there are 2.5 billion people worldwide that still do not have adequate toilets and that among them one billion defecate in the open.
It said that about 70 million people are without access to safe water while over 110 million people are without access to improved sanitation.
In a statement from UNICEF, announced also that 2.3 billion people have gained access to improved sources of drinking water since 1990, adding that Nigeria is currently not on-track with regard to its attainment of Water and Sanitation targets.
“As a result, the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the percentage of the global population without access was met in 2010. In the case of Sanitation, nearly
“The poor bear the greatest brunt of this lack of access to water and sanitation. For women and girls, collecting water cuts into time they can spend caring for families and studying. In insecure areas, it also puts them at risk of violence and attack. UNICEF estimates that in Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking to collect water. For children, lack of access to safe water can be tragic. On average, nearly 1,000 of them die globally every day from diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, or poor hygiene.”
UNICEF said that this year’s theme on World Water Day, which falls on 22nd March, is “Water and Sustainable Development,” saying that the theme aptly encapsulates the overarching role of water in peoples lives, be it for human consumption, food production, for health, for power generation, for industry and for the sustenance of nature as a whole, without which life would not exist.
“This year’s theme highlights the importance of water to our existence and emphasizes the need to look at the holistic development of the water sector, reduce water wastage and prevent contamination of this increasingly scarce resources. “Everyone, be it the government, the civil society, international development partners and the citizens including children have a critical role to play in ensuring that water is sustainably used and is available for generations to come” said Kannan Nadar, Chief, Water and Sanitation, UNICEF.
“UNICEF has been working with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources as well as the state governments to promote use of sustainable approaches and technologies for water abstraction and use.
“In the last two years nearly 2.5 million people gained access to safe water in rural areas through UNICEF support that also included funding from EU and UKAid.
UNICEF- supported ‘WASH in Schools’ programming has also brought safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to thousands of school children in Nigeria.”

[myad]

Jonathan Congratulates Netanyahu For Electoral Victory In Israel

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

File Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu and Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his electoral victory in Tuesday’s general elections in Israel.
In a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity today, President Jonathan
Reminded Netanyahu that strife and crisis in the Middle East remained matters of great concern to the international community, and called on him and his team as well as other countries in the Middle-East to rededicate themselves to achieving lasting peace in the region through peaceful negotiations.
The President assured Netanyahu that he will continue to count on the cooperation and support of the Israeli government under Netanyahu’s leadership as Nigeria strives to overcome the challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and sustainable development.
He said that he looked forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu to further strengthen the existing cordial and mutually-beneficial relations between Nigeria and Israel.
Jonathan wished Netanyahu a very successful new term in office and prayed to God to grant him the wisdom, courage and strength he requires to lead the people of Israel into greater peace, security and prosperity.

[myad]

Teneo Intelligence Predicts Buhari’s Win, Says Entrenched Interests’ll Not Easily Concede victory

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

APC Presidential Candidate, Muhammadu-Buhari

Teneo Intelligence an international rating agency has again predicted that the Presidential candidate of opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari will win the March 28 election, but that the election result will be contested no matter what.
Teneo Intelligence in a note out today by Analyst Manji Cheto, who thinks the former military leader and challenger has “an edge,” said that “a last-minute upset by the incumbent president remains a possibility.”
Cheto adds: “President Goodluck Jonathan is banking on recent reports of the ‘successful’ counterinsurgency offensive against Boko Haram to help turn the tide on his battered reputation.
However, the momentum of Jonathan’s rival Muhammadu Buhari of the main opposition All Progressive Congress continues to grow. Despite the absence of reliable polling data in Nigeria, the most important signal that he could unseat the president is the change in the voting trend this time round. Buhari’s support in the north (his home region) appears to be unwavering – he has consistently defeated his rivals there in the past three election cycles. This support is only likely to increase thanks to a growing anti-Jonathan sentiment in the region … Buhari’s strong momentum represents a serious threat to many powerful business and political interests that have benefitted from the incumbent People’s Democratic Party’s 16-year political dominance. Consequently, entrenched interests will not easily concede a Buhari victory.”
Eurasia Group last week cited polls and trends that indicate Buhari could have a 60% chance of winning, depending on how a considerable tranche of uncommitted voters leans.
But the Barron’s Emerging Markets Daily readers has reacted saying: “Nigeria’s Buhari Could Win, Disrupting Oil.”
Boko Haram is a force to reckon with no matter who wins: African nations headed by Chad are seeking United Nations approval for a joint force to combat the Islamic terrorist group in Nigeria. Boko Haram recently declared allegiance to ISIS, the Middle East terror group.
Nigeria relies on oil revenue, and the severe decline in oil prices over the past year – the international Brent oil price is down another 2.9% today to $54.28 per barrel — has combined with civil unrest to push investor sentiment lower. The Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF (NGE) is down 2% today, down 21% year to date, and off by nearly 39% over the past 12 months. The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) has turned in a flat performance so far this year, the Market Vectors Africa Index ETF (AFK) is down 6%.

[myad]

I Will Surely Win, President Jonathan Insists

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2015

President Goodluck Jonathan has made it categorical that he will “surely” win the 2015 presidential election which will hold on March 28.
Speaking in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), President Jonathan said categorically: “I’ll surely win.”
The election is generally expected to be very tough, with many analysts concluding that Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), would win.
The postponement of the election from the original February 14 date was attributed to the fear of losing by Jonathan, but the president told the BBC he is confident of winning the election.
He also spoke on the Boko Haram insurgents, admitting for the first time that they were initially underrated by the government.
But now he said, they are getting weaker and all territories under their control would be retaken within a month.
“They are getting weaker and weaker by the day. I’m very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover the old territories that hitherto have been in their (Boko Haram’s) hands.”
While admitting that the authorities had “under-estimated” the militants, he also reiterated that the military lacked the resources to fight them until now.
President Jonathan said that newly acquired military equipment, as well as co-operation with neighbouring countries, had helped push the insurgents out.
On the Chibok girls, he said he was hopeful they are still alive and some of them may be at the Sambisa forest.
This is even as the nation’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah had said earlier in the week that there were no traces of the girls yet in all the towns and villages retaken from Boko Haram.

[myad]

1...2,2412,2422,243...2,492 Page 2,242 of 2,492