Confusion seems to have crept into the way forward regarding the female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state, who were abducted on April 14 by members of the deadly Boko Haram.
While the special duties minister, Tanimu Turaki said that the government is ready to talk with members of Boko Haram on the terms for the release of the abducted girls, the senate President, David Mark has ruled out the possibility of such negotiation.
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau had said on Monday that the captured girls who have been converted to Islam can be swapped for jailed fighters.
The special duties Minister, who is also the chairman of the Presidential committee on possible negotiation with Boko Haram said that if Shekau is sincere, he should send representatives for talks.
He said that Shekau should send people he trusts to meet the standing committee on reconciliation which he heads, even as Senator Mark said in far away Beijing, China today: “the federal government would never negotiate with terrorists of which Shekau is one, under whatever circumstance.”
According to Mark, negotiating with terrorists will not serve any good purpose but would further give them room to wreak more havoc on both the country and its people.
He noted that the insurgents would not respect any terms of agreement that may be entered into with them because there has been no platform of trust whatsoever.
“Nigeria will not negotiate with the terrorists under any circumstance because you don’t negotiate with criminals which Boko Haram insurgents are.
“We are going to bring the girls back safe and sound for their parents without any negotiation with Boko Haram as every effort towards that, which cannot be disclosed in the public is being made to rescue them.”
The United States has finally deployed manned surveillance aircraft to Nigeria and is sharing satellite imagery with the Nigerian government to find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.
A senior Obama administration official said that the Washington has sent military, law-enforcement and development experts to Nigeria to help search for the missing girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14.
“We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets over Nigeria with the government’s permission,” the U.S. official said.
State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki told a news briefing yesterday that the U.S. was providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support.
She said U.S. teams on the ground “are digging in on the search and coordinating closely with the Nigerian government as well as international partners and allies.”
Two U.S officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was also considering deploying unmanned, drone aircraft to aid the search.
One of the U.S. officials said that the United States had been carrying out the manned surveillance flights “for a few days” but did not elaborate.
Last week, U.S. Undersecretary for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield told Reuters in an interview that Nigeria had requested surveillance and intelligence from the United States.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said he believes the girls are still in Nigeria.
The leader of Boko Haram has offered to release them in exchange for members of its group being detained, according to a video posted on YouTube on Monday.
Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has picked the Delta state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as Governor of the Year 2013. This, according to NAWOJ, is in recognition of his development strides in providing critical infrastructure. A statement signed by both the chairman, Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, and secretary, Uchechukwu Akinobi, the Lagos state chapter of NAWOJ, said that the award is for Uduaghan’s outstanding accomplishment in tackling the multifaceted problems of development in Delta State as well as his commitment to alleviating the sufferings of the ordinary people. “After a painstaking and critical appraisal of all the state governors and the impact of their programmes on the citizenry, we are happy to inform the general public that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has been selected as NAWOJ Governor of the Year.” The association praised Governor Uduaghan for the infrastructural development in the state and the diversification of the state’s economy through the Delta Beyond Oil initiative. It also identified the health system, transportation, scholarship scheme for students, micro- credit scheme that has affected the lives of people in the state, youth empowerment scheme and public viewing centres as areas that set Governor Uduaghan apart as a leader of vision. “His accomplishments since he came to power have given succour to the ordinary people and hope to millions.” the statement said. The award ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2014 at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja ahead of NAWOJ’s delegates’ conference that begins the following day. This is the latest in the series of recognition and awards for Dr. Uduaghan, especially from media practitioners and publishing houses in all parts of the country and beyond. Similar awards had come from the Sun Group of newspapers, Leadership, Vanguard,Nigerian Pilot and Metro Eireann, Republic of Ireland’s leading and only multicultural newspaper.
With some strategies put in place by the government of Nigeria for the development of space technology, Nigerians may join the rest of the world to visit the space in 2025. According to the Head of Space Education Outreach Programme of the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (affiliated to the United Nations), Dr. Omowumi Alabi, who spoke in Lagos at the pre-launch media meeting of the Space Science Clubs in primary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria should be able to join the rest of the world in space by 2050. Alabi, who spoke at MD Nursery and Primary School, New Oko Oba, Abule Egba, Lagos, which is the coordinating centre for the clubs in Lagos State, said that one of the means of achieving space science and technology development is by propagating the message right from the primary school. She said that the launch of the space science clubs is one of the programmes already articulated by the government to achieve the objective. “One of the mandates of the centre is to publicise space science and technology among primary school students. “We are going to be introducing space science to them by reading a story book, Mark goes to the moon, to them. The story is to show the difference between the earth and space.” Alabi noted that it is easier to relate with students via story telling than abstracts, saying that the needed technology would be introduced. According to her, the MD Nursery is being used as the incubation centre for Lagos State because of the willingness of the school to host the others and bear the cost of the launch. She said that the major challenge facing the centre is the paucity of funds, adding: “We are also reaching out to secondary schools and higher institutions through seminars. “But these seminars can only take care of a maximum of four students per school. The clubs will reach more people.” Alaba said that one of the feedbacks they have been getting is that teachers now want to get a better grasp of the issue so that they would know how to relate better with the students. Speaking on why her school decided to bear the cost of the launch of the programme, to which 20 other schools have been invited, the Proprietress of MD Nursery and Primary School, Omolara Adedugbe, said it is a part of the school’s Corporate Social Responsibility. Adedugbe said: “One of the schools we are sponsoring is our adopted public school, New Oko Oba Primary School. “It is our own way of saying that we care and we want to carry those we consider to be the less privileged along because when those of them in the private school leave, they will all still mix in the larger society.” The launch of the space science club in primary schools in Lagos is scheduled for 10am on Tuesday
If there really is a political Boko Haram – aimed at making the country ungovernable for Goodluck Jonathan, preparatory to providing justification to either intimidate him out of power or forcefully removing him from office – with the recent kidnapping of 300 young girls in Nigeria by the terrorist group, they have finally got Jonathan where they want him.
By his incompetent handling of the kidnap, Jonathan has betrayed Nigeria. The Nigerian elite is now the foremost and “biggest” beggars, and betrayers in Africa and the African world. Jonathan and his government have shamed African people by calling attention to themselves as a great and powerful Nigeria and then showing their behind to the world.
As I write, the United States has deployed manned surveillance aircraft over Nigeria and was gathering satellite imagery and sharing with the Nigerian government.
Two decades ago, Nigeria’s military was seen as a force for stability across West Africa. Now it haS been exposed as unable to keep security within its own borders as an Islamist insurgency in the north-east kills thousands.
If the military was as it used to be – a proud institution with a strong disdain for “bloody civilians”, Jonathan would have been in serious trouble by now. I recall that former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s famed fall-out with his then Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma was as a result of the former’s plan to Invite the US military into Nigeria and “exposing national security.”
Until now, it has rejected requests to base Africom, the US military’s African command centre, in the country. It favours funding its own, as yet unsuccessful, unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, programme.
But under the global spotlight, and with delegations from many nations in the capital, Abuja, for the World Economic Forum for Africa last week, it has relented and allowed in foreign security experts and advisers.
In the past, President Jonathan has asked for foreign governments to “support the Nigerian government’s efforts” against Boko Haram – interpreted as a request for money.
All that has changed; Extra aid was not forthcoming then, but it may be now. The US has revealed it is flying manned surveillance missions over Nigeria to try to find more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
Nigeria under Jonathan, has shown the world that you are a white phantom dressed in Black, and undermining all that is great to our Motherland at this critical point in history, said Menelik Harris
A team of about 30 US experts – members of the FBI and defence and state departments – is in Nigeria to help with the search for the kidnapped girls.
“We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets over Nigeria with the government’s permission,” said a senior US administration official.
The BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan in Washington says the types of aircraft deployed have not been revealed, but the US has sophisticated planes that can listen into a wide range of mobile phone and telecommunications traffic.
Will the Nigerian army be happy about this development? Have anyone examined the impact on our national security.
If the goal of this onslaught by Boko Haram is to make Goodluck Jonathan look inept, incompetent and clueless, his enemies has succeeded. If the aim is to make him fumble and take a wrong step, they got their man!
MY FEARS
A lack of investment in training, failure to maintain equipment and dwindling co-operation with Western forces have damaged Nigeria’s armed services.
“The Nigerian military is a shadow of what it’s reputed to have once been,” said James Hall, a retired colonel and former British military attache to Nigeria. “They’ve fallen apart.”
Unlike Nigerian peacekeepers in the 1990s, who were effective in curbing ethnic bloodshed in Sierra Leone and Liberia, those in Mali last year lacked the equipment and training needed to be of much use in the fight against al Qaeda-linked forces, sources involved in that mission say.
Hall said the Nigerian peacekeepers had to buy pick-up trucks and their armour kept breaking down. They spent a lot of time on base or manning checkpoints. Military education is still taken very seriously, he said, but the equipment and the training to use it have been neglected, with radio equipment in particularly short supply.
The process of decline in the military has been gradual, starting when the military seized power in the 1960s. When democracy returned in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler, feared the army too.
“This starvation of the military has occurred since Obasanjo, as part of a strategy to ensure they couldn’t conduct more coups,” Campbell said.
“There is just a kind of hopelessness that is hanging over us,” said a military source.
Under this condition which started under the military regimes and escalated under former president Obasanjo – who seemed to have a deliberate policy of weakening the armed forces, a sense of dejection and hopelessness hangs over the military.
The fear of Niger Delta Militancy: On 08 July 2013, The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Bayelsa State chapter has expressed worry over the state Governor, Seriake Dickson’s position on arms stock pile by oil thieves in the Niger Delta, saying such grave allegation should be investigated immediately as it is capable of sending wrong signals to the world.
The group was responding to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa allegation that oil theft is a threat to national security and responsible for the proliferation of arms in the Niger Delta. The governor said Militants who engage in oil theft, according to him, use the proceeds to finance their operations, recruit members, and buy arms and ammunition.
Oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism has been on the rise in the Niger Delta leading to dwindling revenue by government. Oil majors in the region have shut down or threatened to shut down some of their operations because of the vandal’s activities. The fear is that the Niger Delta militants who are now threatening that the people of the Niger Delta would make the country ungovernable if President Jonathan was not allowed to finish his term, may now be better armed than the nation’s armed forces.
The leader of the outlawed Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujaheeden Asari-Dokubo, is a prominent canvasser of the view that his kinsmen in the oil-rich belt would foment trouble if President Goodluck Jonathan failed to secure a second term ticket in the 2015 presidential election.
He also advised northerners not to seek election into the presidency on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the main opposition political group, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Asari-Dokubo said the people of the Niger Delta would not accept defeat of Jonathan unless in a free and fair contest, adding that the President must be allowed to rule for eight years.
He said: “If it is war the North wants, we are ready for them because Jonathan must complete the mandatory constitutionally allowable two terms of eight years. “At home, we have regrouped and we have put our people at alert.
In less than one hour, the way we would strike, the world will be shocked, he warned. “If anybody does anything against Jonathan, we will retaliate. What we will do will shock the whole world. We will cripple the economy of the country not only in the creeks, but also on the nation’s territorial waters, no vessel will be allowed to enter Nigeria’s territorial waters.
“Let them not try anything. If they abuse Jonathan, there is no problem, he is their President but anything that will affect the interest of the Ijaw people and the interest of the entire people of the Niger Delta will be resisted at any cost.” Asari-Dokubo also vowed that the defeat of Jonathan in a free and fair election would trigger crisis. He said: “Jonathan cannot be defeated, they cannot defeat him, they don’t have the right, every part of the country must have equal stake in the presidency of the country.
“Let them go and sleep in their houses. If they don’t, they are looking for trouble and we are going to give it to them. “It will make better sense if APC picks its presidential candidate from the South- South. With that, there will be no battle for us to fight and it will make it easier for us. Whichever way it goes, it will enable us to continue our right of uninterrupted rule of eight years, which is the minimum constitutional requirement.
“They cannot take that from the South-South and we will not accept it because every part of the country must have equal access to the various institutions of government, especially at the federal level,” he added.
It is clear that Boko Haram fighters has no monopoly of violence
ALLOWING THE WESTERN ARMY INTO NIGERIA
When I watch the international networks these days, I fear for Nigeria. What I see is exactly is the sort of momentum that I saw as develop in such countries as Libya, Syria, Egypt and Ukraine before disastrous western interventions.
An international None Governmental Organization, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has described the conversion of Abducted female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state by their captors, Boko Haram, as coward and sacrilege.
In a statement today, the Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola said: “we reject the purported conversion of the kidnapped girls. It is cowardly, shameful, ridiculous and preposterous. It is sacrilege.”
The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, had released a video yesterday announcing that the abducted girls have been converted to Islam. He also threatened not to release them until some of their members in Nigerian jails are set free.
Professor Akintola said that such conversion does not hold water in Islam because a non-Muslim can only be converted on his or her own free will.
“We have no iota of doubt that the girls ‘converted’ under duress. Such ‘conversion’ is null and void under the Shari’ah. The Glorious Qur’an is very explicit in this regard as it says, “There is no compulsion in religion…” (Laa ikrahun fii ad-diin” (Qur’an 2:256).
The group insisted that the the so called conversion is baseless, unfounded and of no validity whatsoever, adding that “it exists only in the hallucinated imageries of Shekau’s demented mind.”
The group called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to dismiss Shekau’s offer of exchange of Boko Haram prisoners for the kidnapped girls, saying: “a man who orders the invasion and kidnap of innocent young girls is honour-blind. Shame on Boko Haram! Shekau has no modicum of integrity left in his anatomy. He has no intention of honouring this deal. He is trying to buy time. He is digging in.”
MURIC also called on all churches and mosques to pray for the downfall of Boko Haram, adding that this “renegade group is out to defame and distort the true teachings of Islam. Members of Boko Haram are rebellious subjects and enemies of peace. We charge the Nigerian Army to go back to the drawing board and evolve more potent strategies for crushing this renegade group. To crush Boko Haram is a task that must be done.”
Girlfriend of the world’s best footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Miss Irina Shayk posed half nakecondary School, Chibok in Borno state by Bokio Haram over a month ago.
Shayk, 28, is one the latest international celebrity that has joined the campaign for the rescue of the female students whose whereabouts is still shrouded in secrecy.
The super model’s involvement is now stirring up a storm. She wore a selfie posted to her Instagram account, holding up a card reading “#BringBackOurGirls!!!
The Russian beauty who is scheduled to grace the cover of this year’s Sport Illustrated Swimwear Issue has kicked off a controversy, with some fans accusing her of posting the selfie to promote herself while others say her half-naked photo would gain more awareness for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Other international celebs who had earlier joined the campaign include Michelle Obama, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Leona Lewis.
Nigerian government has announced the training of no fewer than 26,000 officers in the Federal Civil Service for effective service delivery under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)’ Public Sector Capacity Building Programme since it was introduced in 2009.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji BukarGoniAji disclosed this when he declared open the 12th batch of the 2014 Specialized Mandatory Training Programme for officers on Salary Grade Levels 08 to 16 in the Federal Civil Service. The occasion was held at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Abuja.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Mohammed Abbas, the Head of Service said that the objective of the training is to build and strengthen the ability of officers to effectively and efficiently deliver service and contribute significantly to the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Nigeria Development Agenda.
Aji said that a total of 450 staff on Grade levels 08 to 16 in the present batch in the Federal Civil Service are undergoing the training exercise, stressing that human capital development will continue to receive the needed impetus by the Federal Government. He called for the collaborative efforts of Donor Agencies and Development Partners in ensuring that the required targets are met.
Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri has faulted the position of the Interior Minister, Abba Moro who yesterday dismissed Boko Haram’s offer to swap the abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, with the sect’s imprisoned members.
In a government statement issued last night in Abuja, Omeri said that Moro’s views did not represent the thinking of the Nigerian Government, adding: “Government is reviewing the content of the video and the accompanying statement issued by the sect.
“Government will continue to explore all options for the release and safe return of our girls back to their homes. An earlier report by a section of the media purported to have been issued by Government is totally false.”
Terror group, Boko Haram tried to open a door on Monday to negotiating the release of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in a video demanding its members be freed from prison.
While Nigeria quickly and publicly rejected the ultimatum, recent history and the level of attention around the case mean a different story might play out behind the scenes.
Jacob Zenn, an expert on Boko Haram with the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, said that officials in Nigeria and Cameroon have a history of negotiating with Boko Haram.
“They have always given back prisoners and given behind the scenes money,” he told NBC News.
Nigerian authorities are believed to be holding hundreds of suspected Boko Haram fighters. The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, demanded their release in the video, which was released through French news agency AFP and which U.S. officials believe is genuine.
“These girls have become Muslims,” Shekau said in the 17-minute recording. “We will never release them until after you release our brethren.”
While countries assisting the search operation — including the U.S and U.K— publicly refuse to negotiate with kidnappers and terrorists, the international outcry over the case of the missing schoolgirls could create too much pressure for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to ignore, paving the way for a negotiated end to the kidnapping rather than a risky and potentially dangerous rescue operation.
“People in the media, schools, the Obamas — all these people are saying bring back the girls, and Abubakar Shekau is saying yes, here you can,” Zenn said. “Boko Haram guys know what’s going on.”
He said he believes there will be backchannel negotiations involving intermediaries.
If a ransom is involved, tribal elders would most likely be used to facilitate any exchange, Zenn said, referring to a group of local leaders trusted by both Boko Haram and the government, used as something of an “escrow system” for ransoms.
“This would be pretty roundly condemned as encouraging Boko Haram and other extremist groups in Nigeria and likely counterproductive in the long run.”
“They’re intermediaries — it’s a well-worn track,” he explained.
However, a deal to secure girls’ freedom could come at an incredibly high price, according to analysts.
In one previous kidnapping case, Boko Haram received more than $3 million, according to Reuters, for the release of a French family kidnapped in northern Cameroon.
The international attention around the missing schoolgirls and reported ransoms in other cases, like that of the French family kidnapped in Cameroon, could see Boko Haram asking for tens of millions of dollars.
“It’s going to mean the release of dozens of Boko Haram murderers, it’s likely going to cost money behind the scenes and Boko Haram will just use that money and deploy any released prisoners to carry out more attacks,” Zenn said. “It’s a win-win for Boko Haram.”
In any case, the political consequences of negotiating with a terrorist organization could stymie any talks before they get underway.
“Although Nigeria has shown a slight willingness to talk with Boko Haram outside of a specific event, this has been very limited and there have been real pressures within Nigeria not to negotiate,” according to Michael Leiter, a counterterrorism analyst for NBC News.
Leiter said that, given the U.S. stance that countries should not negotiate with kidnappers, he believes it is unlikely there will be serious discussions with Boko Haram to release the girls.
“This would be pretty roundly condemned as encouraging Boko Haram and other extremist groups in Nigeria and likely counterproductive in the long run,” he said. “Not to mention making President Jonathan look quite weak.”
On Monday, the Nigerian government said it was mulling “all options.”
“The government of Nigeria is considering all options towards freeing the girls and reuniting them with their parents,” Mike Omeri, director general of the National Orientation Agency, part of the Ministry of Information, told a news conference.
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Confusion seems to have crept into the way forward regarding the female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state, who were abducted on April 14 by members of the deadly Boko Haram.
The United States has finally deployed manned surveillance aircraft to Nigeria and is sharing satellite imagery with the Nigerian government to find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.
A statement signed by both the chairman, Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, and secretary, Uchechukwu Akinobi, the Lagos state chapter of NAWOJ, said that the award is for Uduaghan’s outstanding accomplishment in tackling the multifaceted problems of development in Delta State as well as his commitment to alleviating the sufferings of the ordinary people.
With some strategies put in place by the government of Nigeria for the development of space technology,
Girlfriend of the world’s best footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Miss Irina Shayk posed half nakecondary School, Chibok in Borno state by Bokio Haram over a month ago.
Boko Haram And Its Sponsors Have Gotten President Jonathan Where It Hurts By Ogbuefi Ndigbo