Looting Of Public Funds Under President Jonathan Worse Than Abacha Era, All Progressives Congress Alleges

March 23, 2014

The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is gradually making the infamous administration of late General Sani Abacha a saint, going by what it called the looting spree that is currently going on.
The party cautioned that unless immediate measures are taken to halt the rising tide of corruption under the Jonathan administration and the government takes concrete measures to reverse the trend, the nation is facing serious financial crisis of large magnitude.
In a statement in Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Interim Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the party said: “Going by the rate of looting currently going on at the centre, Nigerians should not be surprised if the present administration completely runs the economy aground before leaving office after the 2015 elections.
“With no trace of the whopping sum of $29B which the NNPC–which has become a conduit pipe and the ATM Card of key actors of this administration–as it has not been remitted to the Federation Account; with no trace of the N24B Police Pension Fund and the inability of the Head of Service of the Federation to count for N340M, the fuel subsidy scam revealed by the defunct Farouk Lawan’s Committee, the non-remittance of billions of Naira that accrued to NLNG Bonny to the Federation account from 2004 till date that has badly affected all critical sectors of the Nigerian economy and constitute an economic crime; N10b allegedly wasted by Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-Madueke for maintenance of an aircraft, a Challenger 850 Aircraft and its crew in the last two years while millions of Nigerians go about without employment or means of livelihood, the nation is doomed.
“These looting sprees continued while we are inundated on daily basis of scarce national resources, and public finance is shrinking in the face of ever increasing national needs such as roads, health, education and power. In recent times, most states of the federation have been facing acute shortage of allocations due to the dwindling national revenue which has reduced the quality of governance and deprived Nigerians of dividends of democracy.”
The party asked Nigerians to rise and fight corruption, adding that they should not continue to watch while their common patrimony is being looted with impunity on daily basis.
APC Rivers however commended the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) for the strong position it took against the country’s worsening corruption situation during its Third Retreat held last week in Lagos. It described the retreat as an eye opener and that it demonstrated how a visionary and patriotic pressure group should conduct itself. “The issues of corruption, the menace of insecurity and unemployment ravaging our nation were put in the front burner by the NGF and solutions proffered to them. Unfortunately, we have an inept administration at the centre which will not likely to consider these revolutionary strategies advocated during the retreat.”

Obama Distance Himself From Me Because Of My Stand On M’East-Jimmy Carter

Greenbarge Reporters

March 23, 2014

Former President of the United States of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter has said that President Barack Obama is the first president that has never solicited advice from him since he left office.
Carter told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that President Bill Clinton consulted him, the same way President George W. Bush and H.W. Bush and even Ronald Reagan did, adding that they used to call on him to when they wanted to go into sensitive areas.
Carter told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell that it is difficult to explain with “complete candor” why he and Obama do not have a closer relationship, but thinks it has something to do with his center at Emory University.
He believes the Carter Center’s views of equal treatment when it comes to the Middle East’s countries may have caused tension between him and Obama.
“I think the problem was that—in dealing with the issue of peace in between Israel and Egypt—the Carter Center has taken a very strong and public position of equal treatment between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
“And I think this was a sensitive area in which the president didn’t want to be involved.”
Carter also said that he left the Southern Baptist Convention last year after it passed rules at its annual meeting “to require that women be subservient to their husbands, and women could no longer serve as a pastoral priest or as a deacon.”
The former president had been part of the SBC for years before he left the church, serving as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for six decades, reports The Huffington Post.
Carter also commented on the problem of sexual abuse in the military and on the nation’s college and university campuses.
“Presidents of universities and colleges and commanding officers don’t want to admit that under their leadership, sexual abuse is taking place, so rapists prevail,” Carter said.
Carter also commented on the situation in Ukraine. In 1980, he banned U.S. athletes from participating in the Moscow Olympics after the then-Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, and said where the Ukraine is concerned, “there has to be a concerted international prohibition against Putin going any further than Crimea.”
Carter also discussed, shortly, the scandal concerning the National Security Agency and its surveillance practices.
“I have felt that my own communications were probably monitored,” said Carter, adding: “when I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write the letter myself, put it in the mailbox and mail it… I believe if I send an email it will be monitored.”
Carter’s interview was done just days before the release of his new book, “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power.”

Immigration Recruitment Tragedy: Consultants Let Abba Moro Down, Family Opens Up

Greenbarge Reporters

March 23, 2014

Family of the embattled minister of Interior, Abba Moro, has blamed unnamed consultants for the tragedy that defined the recently conducted nation-wide aptitude test for over 500,000 Nigerians who were diserious of taking jobs with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). About 19 people died and many others sustained various degrees of injury at different centres across the country.
In a statement today, signed by Major Agbo (Abba Moro’e nephew), the minister’s family said that while it is not in a hurry to indict the consultancy firm that handled the exercise in order not to preempt the investigative panel already in place, in interim it would condemn the shoddy and clumsy fashion with which the exercise was conducted.
The famy insisted that if the consultancy firm had done its job properly, it would have carried proper online screening of the applicants with the aim of pruning down the size that would have been invited for the screening exercise, having in mind the existing vacancies.
It admitted however that as the head of the ministry, the task of overseeing the conduct of the exercise rested strictly with the Minister through the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, but what happened at the field did not reflect the numerous assurances received by the minister from the consultants that all was going on smoothly.
The statement is reproduced full here:
“The family of the Honourable Minister of Interior have watched the events that followed the stampede occasioned by the recent screening exercise into the NIS which led to the death of about 19 applicants across the federation and hereby makes the following comments:
1. That we strongly share this moment of grief and pains with the immediate families of all those who lost their lives during the ill-fated recruitment exercise and beg Almighty God to comfort all parents, brothers, uncles and siblings of the the deceased applicants while asking Him to give them eternal test in His bossom.
2. That the Honourable Minister has gone down in history as one of the best local government chairmen Benue state in particular and the country in general has had, having served as ALGON chairman in Benue and having received numerous awards as best serving local government chairman in the federation in the past.
3. That the Honourable Minister has over time, been known as a man of integrity, honesty, dedication to duty, thoroughness, commitment and we are still at a loss as to what probably may have gone wrong with this exercise.
4. That we urge all Nigerians to please exercise patience to enable the investigation panel come out with findings as to what really went wrong, the findings will be useful to us as country to avert reoccurrence in future.
5. We know that no words, no matter how solemn, coming from the family will be enough to atone for these loss suffered by the immediate families of the deceased applicants but will still beg for the understanding of Nigerians to enable the ministry carry out proper investigation into this tragedy and tell Nigerians what really went wrong.
6. We do not want to be in a hurry to indict the consultancy firm that handled the exercise in order not to preempt the investigative panel already in place but will at the interim condemn the shoddy and clumsy fashion with which the exercise was conducted.
7. That if the consultancy firm had done its job properly, it would have carried proper online screening of the applicants with the aim to prune down the size that would be invited for the screening exercise having in mind the existing vacancies.
8. That as the Head of the ministry, the task of overseeing the conduct of the exercise rested strictly with the Minister through the CG of NIS, what happened at the field did not reflect the numerous assurances received by the Honourable Minister from the consultants that all was going on smoothly.
9. We thank the Federal Government for coming up with some form of palliatives ranging from employment opportunities for immediate family members of deceased people as well as automatic employment for all injured applicants across the federation even though we are aware that, that cannot bring back to life, all those who died in the tragedy.
10. That the Honourable Minister is a member of the family and known seriously for his respect for sanctity of lives of people and cannot in anyway, celebrate the death of any human being as being insinuated in some quarters, but will however show respect for the opinions of individuals who have painted him in different light other than what we know about him.
11. We are worried that this singular incidence, though unintended appears to be overwhelming the numerous positive achievements our son has recorded in the ministry since his assumption of duty as minister.
12. Once again we plead for the understanding of all those who lost their dear ones in this incidence to show understanding as God knows better what has happened; our heart, as a family is with you and we strongly believe that God Almighty will comfort you during this period of grief, we are with you in prayers now and always. God bless Nigeria.
Signed:
Major Agbo
(Abba Moro’s Nephew) for the Family.”

Greenbarge Reporters, Is One

Greenbarge Reporters

March 23, 2014

The Greenbarge Reporters New Logo

How time flies!
Today, your favourite online medium, Greenbarge Reporters, is a year old, having operated for full 12 months circle. It was hosted on Friday, 23 March 2013.
The professional Journalists who floated the online, led by a veteran newspaper Journalist/Editor for over 30 years, outlined the principles guiding the medium right from the inception. Such principles are founded on Truth at all times and in all things; Fairness to all sides to an issue; Accuracy in judgment of news source; Precision in presentation and Hate Towards None.
In running Greenbarge Reporters for 12 months, we have tried as we could, to religiously observe the tenets and principles guiding the noble profession of journalism one of which is “if you are not sure (of the facts) leave out.” We have even gone ahead to add a motto of building a hate-free-world. Of course, as human institution, we can’t claim perfection, but we have remained undaunted that when some of our colleagues are loosing their heads and hearts trying to beat one another to stories, we have kept ours slightly above the maddening crowd. In other words, we had, on many occasions, sacrificed prompt and hasty publication of news items in favour of Truth, so much that sometimes, our committed readers would ask, where were we when such things were happening?
Yes, we agree that in keeping to Truth irrespective of who it affects or hurts, we may lose some readers; we may annoy others, but in the long run, we believe that ours would be defined by and honored with such Truth. And while we are not worried that the pursuit and sustenance of Truth is slowing the rapid growth of Greenbarge as we would have desired, we are not losing sleeps, knowing very well that when the chips are down and as we keep to the track, we would etch ourselves positively, in the minds of those who have always been confused with the news, presented as half truth or no truth, in form of breaking news. In other words, while others may be strong on breaking news because of their wide reach or spread; while yet others may be strong on prompt delivery of the published news because of their mastery of the technology just so that they would not be branded as being late in publishing, we aspire to be strong and be well-known for Truth because that is the beauty of life, bitter and slower as it may sometimes appear!
Which is why a year after, we have changed our motto from Building A Hate-Free World to Truth Is Our Honour. That is to say that when in search of Truth on any emerging national and international issue, Greenbarge Reporters will continue to be your best bet to get it.
You will notice that, from today and as a harbinger of the good things to come, we have changed Greenbarge Reporters Site’s platform to a more beautiful, professional and modern one. This is done in our desire to keep on satisfying our readers not just in the beautiful, well edited news presentation; not only in celebrating Truth and abhourring make-belief or half-truth in order to feel belong, but in eye-catching aesthetics, with international flavour.
In observing our first anniversary, we must not fail to acknowledge the support and patronage of our faithful readers, most of who are young, agile, dynamic and futuristic, and the older ones that have refused to give in to the effect of age as they remain standing and competing with the dynamism of the youth. They are well spread across the world and mostly concentrated in most parts of Africa, America, Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland and many more. We are also indebted to some of our colleagues who have identified with us and are taking us along as we try to survive the challenges involved in this kind of business of news dissemination.
We wish to seize this once-in-a-while opportunity to invite you to join us in raising up tumblers to toast to Greenbarge Reporters at one. We also invite you to subscribe to Greenbarge Reporters newsletter enmass, and to like it on Face Book as well as interact on other social network such as twitter, etc.
Thank you all for being there for us.

Nigerian Christians Threaten To Boycott 2016 National Census If Religion Is Not Included

Greenbarge Reporters

March 22, 2014

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has threatened that Christians would boycott the 2016 population census and subsequent exercises if there is no provision for religion in the questionnaire.
In a statement today in Abuja, CAN General Secretary, Dr. Musa Asake said that the inclusion of religion in the census questionnaire is necessary to establish which religion has more adherents than the others in the country.
He was reacting the claim by the umbrella body of Nigerian Muslims, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), that the process of selecting delegates to the National Conference was not done with fair representation and will affect the credibility of its outcome.
Asake said: “the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), read with consternation the provocative and inciting statements by the Secretary General of the Jama’atul Nasril Islam, (JNI) Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu at a press conference in Kaduna recently.
“At a press conference, the JNI Secretary General claimed that the process of selecting participants to the National Conference was not done with fair representation which will affect the credibility of its outcome. That Muslems were cheated in the process in spite of having the largest population as revealed by many international agencies. Democracy, he said, is a game of numbers but it has not being respected, because Muslems constitute the majority in the country, Christians, who by all acceptable records are not more than 40% of the country’s population ironically constitutes 62% of the total delegates.” According to him, they find it disrespectful to Muslems that of the twenty delegates of the Federal Government, only six are Muslems, no Muslem is deemed fit to make the delegates of the Nigerian economic summit.”
CAN condemned what it called “the unprovoked defamation of Nigeria Christians by the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam (JNI) through its Secretary General.
“To assume or suggest, as it were, that Muslims are more than Christians in Nigeria as the basis for his argument when no census anchored on religion has been carried out is logically faulty. When and how are these figures by the international agencies arrived at? Which of the international agencies have census figures that Nigerians do not have? Has there been any census by international agencies in Nigeria? To put forward a suggestion or theories like this one by Dr. Khalid, for others to consider should have been well thought out.
“In this case, the JNI Secretary General goofed, having put out insensible arguments and thoughts.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is therefore challenging the Secretary General of the JNI to make it public the source of his population figures which shows that Christians in this country are 40%?
“If JNI at this point does not respond to this population issue, and produce their claimed sources, CAN will use alternative means to ascertain the fact of their publication, for we cannot continue to allow people like the JNI be making reckless and false statements, bringing division among Christians and Muslims, when we are busy working hard to see we live together in peace and harmony.
“The body of rules, ideas, principles and techniques that applies to subjects like census figures must be those matched by empirical evidences. Dr. Khalid’s ideas, thoughts and beliefs about the 40% Christian population and 62% of delegates being Christians are therefore mere speculation and conjectures to buy in the idea of a region’s reluctance to attend the conference. It is another way of using religion to shoot down the conference.
“CAN may need to remind JNI of the argument and refusal of Muslims to include religion during the last census in Nigeria. We appeal to JNI not to use religion as a basis for their reservations about the National Conference. We believe the conference will do Nigeria a lot of good. “Meanwhile, the JNI Secretary General should come out with the figures that make the Muslim population to be more than that of Christians as we in CAN will boycott future census in Nigeria beginning with the 2016 exercise if they do not include religion. Enough is Enough!”

Hillary Clinton Distances Herself From Obama’s Foreign Policies

Greenbarge Reporters

March 22, 2014

Just over a year after leaving her job as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has offered views on foreign policy that analysts said seem part of an effort to distance herself from the Obama administration as she prepares a possible 2016 White House run.
In appearances this month, Clinton struck a hawkish tone on issues including Iran and Russia, even while expressing broad support for the work done by Obama and her successor as secretary of state, John Kerry.
Clinton said in New York that she was “personally skeptical” of Iran’s commitment to reaching a comprehensive agreement on its nuclear program.
“I’ve seen their behavior over (the) years,” she said, saying that if the diplomatic track failed, “every other option does remain on the table.”
Just two weeks earlier, Clinton was forced to backtrack after she drew parallels between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler at a closed-door fundraiser. In comments leaked to the media by a local reporter who attended the event, Clinton said Putin’s justifications for his actions in the Crimean region were akin to moves Hitler made in the years before World War Two.
“I’m not making a comparison, certainly, but I am recommending that we can perhaps learn from this tactic that has been used before,” she said the next day at an event in Los Angeles.
As secretary of state, Clinton was a key player in a U.S. effort to reset relations with Russia, a policy that critics say now appears to be a glaring failure.
Clinton’s recent rhetoric on Iran and Russia is part of a renewed focus on foreign policy for the former first lady and New York senator, who is widely considered the Democratic presidential front-runner in 2016 if she chooses to run.
She has been giving speeches across the country since leaving the State Department, but Wednesday’s address was her first on-the-record event in recent months focused solely on international relations.
“Secretary Clinton is distancing herself a bit on foreign policy matters from the administration recently,” said John Hudak, a Brookings Institution fellow and expert on presidential campaigns.
“This is a pretty standard practice for anyone looking to succeed the sitting president, even within the same party.
“It’s one of the first steps for her to say, ‘We’re not the same candidate,'” he said.
Clinton’s office did not respond to questions about the issue.
Creating space between her position and Obama’s is a “smart move,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic strategist who worked for the 1996 presidential re-election campaign of Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton.
“The present administration is in a no-win situation with Russia, with Syria and in the Middle East,” Sheinkopf said before Clinton’s New York speech.
“Making a distance from them can only help.”
During her four-year tenure in the State Department, Clinton helped lead the charge on imposing strong sanctions on Iran, which she mentioned in her New York speech to a pro-Israel audience-including several Democratic lawmakers-at an American Jewish Congress dinner honoring her.
In late January, Clinton sent a letter to Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, calling herself a “longtime advocate for crippling sanctions against Iran,” but urging that Congress should not impose new sanctions during negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
She said that like Obama, she had no illusions about the ease or likelihood of reaching a permanent deal with Iran following an interim agreement reached under Kerry.
“Yet I have no doubt that this is the time to give our diplomacy the space to work,” a stance she reaffirmed on Wednesday.
Republicans have promised to make Clinton’s State Department record an issue if she runs for the White House, focusing on the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed.
The Republican National Committee has condemned Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi assault, suggesting in a recent research note that “Benghazi is still the defining moment of Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.”
Some political analysts see her toughening rhetoric as more than a campaign tactic, and fitting with her foreign policy statements before joining the Obama administration. They said that could broaden her appeal to voters if she chooses to run, a decision she has said will not come until the end of this year.
Clinton, while a senator, voted in 2002 for a resolution authorizing U.S. military action against Iraq, a position that hurt her with liberal primary voters in her losing battle with Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
“Making a credible and forceful case for America’s place in the world – that’s the kind of thing she’s likely to say and continue to say,” said Josh Block, a former Clinton administration official and now an executive at the Israel Project in Washington.
“Those are messages that will resonate with Democrats and independents, as well as some Republicans.”

Jonathan Holds Private Meeting With Pope Francis In Vatican

Greenbarge Reporters

March 22, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan today, today, held a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The meeting was believed to have centred on the promotion of inter-faith dialogue in Nigeria and other parts of the world to foster greater global peace and security.
Speaking to journalists after his private meeting with Pope Francis, President Jonathan said that the promotion of inter-faith dialogue is a cause to which the Pontiff is very committed.
The President said that his administration is already working in close collaboration with Cardinal John Onaiyekan who was “the team leader” for the effort to strengthen inter-faith dialogue in Nigeria, assured the Pope of his administration’s continued commitment to the promotion of religious harmony and the peaceful co-existence of people of all faiths.
He also assured the Pope that his administration will continue to work diligently to alleviate poverty in Nigeria through more inclusive economic growth and development.
President Jonathan who noted that Pope Francis has always taken a keen interest in Nigeria, said that the Pope promised to visit the country.
The Pope, President Jonathan said, also assured him that he would continue to pray for God to bless the country and its people.
“My coming to see the Pope was to discuss issues, especially that of inter-faith dialogue which the Vatican has been promoting.
“Also the Pope has been advocating that the world should do more to eradicate poverty and make sure that the ordinary people of this world are in a position to live more decent lives. The Pope is very dedicated to poverty alleviation and I also interfaced with him on how we can collaborate more with the Vatican on what we are already doing in this regard back home.”
Before leaving the Vatican, President Jonathan also conferred with the Secretary of State, Monsignor Pietro Parolin.
He had received Nigeria’s Vatican-based Cardinal Francis Arinze earlier in the day at the St. Regis Hotel in Rome.

Premier Shocker: Chelsea Pounds Arsenal 6 -0

Greenbarge Reporters

March 22, 2014

Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong this afternoon in Arsenal’s visit to Stamford Bridge that ended in an unbelievable 6-0 rout by Chelsea.
Of course, fumbling referee Andre Marriner will have his fair share of the headlines for his hilarious/bizarre/terrible decision to send Gibbs off instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain. But more importantly this defeat surely heralds the end of Arsenal’s slim Premier League title hopes, as the Gunners, who dominated the top of the table for long, have now been pushed to the third position after Liverpool. Chelsea meanwhile march on with their biggest ever win over Arsenal which has helped them to consolidate their grip on the top spot.
The goals started coming quite early in the one-sided game. The following highlights adapted from a The Telegraph match report summarise the story:
•5th min: GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal (Eto’o). Arsenal again give the ball away cheaply and Schurrle is the man to profit. His pass to Eto’o is slightly behind the Chelsea striker but he cuts back inside and curls the ball beautifully with his left foot from the edge of the box past a despairing Szczesny dive.
•7th min: GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal (Schurrle). Yet AGAIN Arsenal lose the ball on the halfway line and it is worked forward to Schurrle down the right. The German advances and, with Eto’o dragging the defenders away with his decoy run, is able to pick his spot, driving a low shot low across Szczesny into the same corner that the Cameroonian found just moments earlier.
•16th min: RED CARD AND PENALTY! (Gibbs). Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear… Hazard has a shot from 8 yards out and Oxlade-Chamberlain, trying to head the ball wide, instead flings his hand at it and flicks it past the post. But WAIT A MINUTE!!! Referee Andre Marriner has sent the wrong man off!!!! He’s sent Gibbs off instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain. Erm…
•17th min: GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (Hazard). Easy as you like, straight down the middle and no problem for Hazard who makes it three for Chelsea.
•42nd min: GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Arsenal (Oscar). And the camera pans to a disconsolate Wenger. Poor man. Great play from Schurrle who brings the ball down just inside the Arsenal half and knocks it into the path of Torres. The Chelsea substitute drives into the visitors’ box before unselfishly deciding to cut the ball inside to Oscar who is able to lift the ball over Szczesny from four yards out.
•66th min: GOAL! Chelsea 5-0 Arsenal (Oscar). It’s slightly harsh on Arsenal because they have been the better side since the break but the Chelsea fans are holding all five fingers in the air now. Oscar doesn’t get hold of his shot from just inside the Arsenal penalty area but the ball bounces in front of Szczesny, who has a bit of a nightmare failing to prevent it from bobbling into the net.
•71st GOAL! Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal (Salah). His first Chelsea goal! The Egyptian beats the offside trap and has as long as he wants to pick his spot as he latches onto a Matic throughball and bears down on the Arsenal goal. He selects the near post and Szczesny has no chance.

Nigeria’s Flamingoes Book Quarter Final, Send Colombia Packing

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2014

Nigeria’s Flamingoes have qualified for the quarter finals of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup tournament in Costa Rica, after coming from behind to beat Colombia 2-1.

Nigeria had earlier beaten China in their first group game by the same margin.

Needing all three points to stay alive in Group D, Colombia burst out of the blocks with a third minute goal as Angie Rodriguez looped a header from a perfect Nancy Acosta cross over the head of stranded goalkeeper Onyinyechukwu OkekeNigeria drew level just past the midway point of the opening half with Joy Bokiri curling in a perfectly flighted free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, FIFA.com reports.

Nigeria took the lead for the first time approaching the hour mark as some sloppy marking from a corner allowed the tall figure of Uchenna Kanu to nod the ball in unchallenged at the back post.

Midfielder Ihuoma Onyebuchi then rattled the Colombia crossbar with a first time strike from distance with the South Americans increasingly on the back foot.

Colombia goalkeeper Monica Florez memorably pulled off four successive blocks during one almighty goalmouth scramble as they desperately hung on.

The win leaves Nigeria sharing top spot with Mexico, while Colombia will now tackle China PR with each seeking their maiden points of the competition. Both Nigeria and Mexico automatically qualified from their group.

President Jonathan Reduces Abba Moro’s Authority

Greenbarge Reporters

March 20, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan may have shown the nation’s minister of Interior, Abba Moro an omen of what to expect soon as he removed his authority of conducting further recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Immigration Service. Abba Moro bungled the exercise last week Saturday in which about 520,000 Nigerians participated out of which about 20 died and several other injured as a result of stampede.
An obviously angry President, at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting today at the Presidential Villa, canceled the last week recruitment exercise and constituted a committee to reschedule the exercise nationwide. The special committee is being headed by the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
Jonathan announced some form of compensations for the victims of the Saturday’s recruitment mishaps, which is that each of the family of those who died in the stampede will present three young people, one of which must be a woman for automatic employment in the next exercise. Also, all those who were injured would get automatic employment to be made available through the President.
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who briefed State House correspondents after the Cabinet meeting said that the President also took certain measures which he announced to Federal Executive Council.
“The first is that the Immigration recruitment exercise has been completely cancelled and he has directed that a new exercise will be conducted by a special committee under the chairmanship of the Chairman Civil Service Commission to conduct the recruitment exercise to fill the vacancies of the Nigerian Immigration Service.
“Other members of the committee as announced by the President are the Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service, representatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Comptroller General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Comptroller General of ‎Prisons Service, Director General State Security Service (SSS) and the Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
“This committee will proceed to conduct the exercise to fill the vacancies in the Nigerian Immigration Service. The President also directed that for the families of those who lost their dear ones, three spaces be provided for three young people one of which must be a woman in the new recruitment exercise‎.
“Also, all those who were injured in the cause of the exercise across the country will be given automatic recruitment into the service.
“The FEC in sending condolences to the families of the deceased and also in sending special wishes to those who are injured and still undergoing treatment ‎in hospitals in parts of the country, expressed total regrets that this tragedy took place at all.
“We are parents and we know what this means to those who have had the opportunity to train their children and are waiting for the opportunity for these children to now take their place and help their families, only to lose them under this very difficult circumstances that took place on Saturday.
“We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that this kind of tragedy does not repeat itself in this country.
“The President has also directed that as soon as he returns from his trip abroad he will meet the families of the deceased to express his personal condolences to them over the sad tragedy that took place on Saturday.
“He instructed all MDAs never to embark on exercise of this nature in recruiting people into the public service because what happened could have been avoided. So Mr. President directed that no one outside the armed forces and the police who usually ‎recruit people through exercise that no other MDA is allowed to embark on this kind of exercise that we witnessed on Saturday.
“Council noted that it is regrettable that this took place at a time that every effort was being made by government to increase spaces available for employment. For example last year, we were able to get 1.6 million employed in the various sectors of the economy and the public service. However, this incident that took place is so painful and we will not want to see in this country young job seekers losing their lives in the process of seeking for job after school training.”
“We assure the nation today that every step will be taken to look into the various lapses in recruitment exercises into the public service to ensure that all those who are qualified get access to employment without going through this kind of experience.”

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