"State of emergency rule cannot remove Governors"

Abdullahi Bego is Special Adviser on Press Affairs and Information to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State. In this interview with newsmen in Damaturu, he discusses what the Yobe State Government is doing to help restore peace, and responded to comments credited to retired General Bamaiyi on emergency rule. Excerpts:

Since the last extension of emergency rule, there has been an escalation of Boko Haram attacks in the affected states. What’s your take on this?
Well, we have opposed the latest extension of emergency rule after having supported it the very first time it was declared back in May 2013. Instead, we had asked for a change in strategy with special emphasis on three planks: Robust equipment and technology support for the military, improved intelligence gathering and capability to penetrate digital communications of insurgents and terrorists and a more robust engagement with the civilian populations of the affected states to further mobilize them on behalf of peace and security.
It is sad that as we speak the hard working military troops and other security agents on the ground in the affected states do not have all the requisite kits and gear they need to subdue the insurgents. Remember that ours is a military which has done wonders in many troubled spots around the world; and they helped to restore peace in places like Liberia and Sierra Leone. They could do even better here at home. I agree that what we face here in the country is an asymmetric warfare. The insurgents do not have known addresses.
Still, there were plenty of missed opportunities when we could have routed and defeated them and brought their senseless violence to an end. I know you guys in the press have followed all the key happenings here in our region. Since the time the civilian population in Damaturu and our other major towns started to use their mobile phones to report to the security agents about the presence of any suspected criminals or insurgents in town, almost all of the insurgents and criminals left town to the bushes fearing the people would expose them. The same thing happened in Borno State with the emergence of ‘civilian JTF’. That was when we started hearing that the insurgents have moved to and are operating from Sambisa Forest.

MR.President Stop using boko-haram as excuse for your incompetence - APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday said the killing of the Emir of Gwoza in Borno State, has put a lie to claims by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration that the Boko Haram is a northern political response to bring down his government.

why we are supporting Mr.President says Dr. Udenta O Udenta

Dr. Udenta O Udenta

                                                                                                                                                                      Dr. Udenta O Udenta, director of public communications and strategy for the pro-Jonathan group, Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), talks about the association and why it believes in Jonathan. Excerpts:

REP TERAB says he wish we had ‘CIVILIAN JTF’ in nigeria army

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                      

Abdurahman Abba Terab represents Bama/ Gamboru Ngala Federal constituency of Borno State. In this interview, Terab speaks on the recent attack on Gamboru, the extension of emergency rule  and why he thinks the ‘Civilian JTF’ vigilantes should be recruited into the Nigerian Army. Excerpts:

You visited Gamboru Ngala just a day after the attack by Boko Haram, can you describe what you saw?
The situation in Gamboru Ngala is a very devastating one. I think it is the worst attack we have recorded so far in the whole of the state and particularly in my constituency, which has been the hotbed of insurgency attacks. But what is most worrisome is the fact that there are pattern that this insurgency has developed and these patterns are in situations whereby the Nigerian army while on their duty posts are asked to vacate their posts for one reason or the other. And particularly worrisome was the case of Gamboru Ngala, where not a single one of them was allowed to stay at their duty posts with the notion that they have gone in search of the Chibok abducted girls on the shores of Lake Chad. And even more pertinent was the fact that the soldiers did not go there alone, they even went with the Civilian JTF, who have taken up the responsibility to defend their communities, especially the Gamboru Ngala community. I was confronted by some Nigerian soldiers who complained about orders given to them before the attack. When I presented my motion on matters of urgent national importance, I queried why the military were asked to vacate their posts saying it must be investigated by the military authorities. Because this pattern is becoming too many.

APC postponed its national convention 14th of june

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has shifted its national convention to the 13th and 14th of June 2014.
The convention had earlier been slated for Saturday, May 24.

Interim national publicity secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a communiqué after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party in Abuja yesterday, gave no reason for the shift but said the party’s leaders have agreed to shift the convention.
There have been speculation that the convention would be postponed as the party leaders were yet to decide on where to zone key positions in the party while no aspirant as at yesterday has obtained nomination forms to contest any position at the convention.

Jonathan assigned confab to fail – Junaid

 

 A Kano State delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, speaks about the conference, among other current national issues. Excerpt:

Would you say you are satisfied with the quality of debate at the National Conference so far?

I was absolutely flabbergasted with the quality of debate at the initial plenary because the entire debate was confined to grandstanding, praising the President to high heavens and praising his speech which everybody knows is nothing but a collection of bits and pieces put together by civil servants, (and) poorly edited for that matter. Having finished that, when those who came because they were nominated by the President

Jonathan’s visit to Chibok is symptomatic - APC

Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described President Goodluck Jonathan’s aborted trip to Chibok as symptomatic of his administration’s policy somersault in the fight against the terror group Boko Haram.

Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement that Jonathan’s action did not come as a surprise to close watchers of his administration.
The party said the administration has since bungled the fight against the sect and exhibited cluelessness in handling the abduction of the over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok.
“As usual, a trip - belated as it were - that could have gone a long way in redeeming the battered global image of the Jonathan administration

Jonathan, PDP are fully committed to ensuring the safe return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees Chief Tony Anenih has said that President Goodluck Jonathan and the party “are fully committed to ensuring the safe return” of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

Anenih in a statement issued in Abuja also called on Nigerians to unite and support the government in the fight against the Boko Haram sect, saying it was imperative for Nigerians to come together

[Breaking News] Senate desides on state of emergency

Senate President, David Mark

The request by President Goodluck Jonathan for a six-month extension of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states is about to put the Senate to the test, writes SUNDAY ABORISADE

Obviously convinced that the insurgency in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe is far from being resolved, President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the National Assembly for another six-month extension of the emergency rule currently in place in the affected states. It, therefore, did not come as a surprise to many when both the Senate and House of Representatives summoned the military high command last Wednesday to speak on the desirability or otherwise of acceding to the request of the Commander-In-Chief.

FG must speak with one voice on Boko Haram – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the federal government to stop making contradictory statements and speak with one voice on issues concerning the ongoing efforts to find and rescue the schools girls abducted by Boko Haram.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the conflicting statements credited to top government officials over the conditions

APC: Forced Conversion Of Chibok Girls To Islam “Totally Unacceptable And Downright Unconstitutional”

                             Continuing in its tradition of speaking out against the activities of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, the main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday faulted the purported conversion to Islam of the Christians among the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the sect exactly a month ago in Chibok, Borno State.

APC described the development as “totally unacceptable and downright unconstitutional”.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, after an emergency meeting on the Boko Haram menace, the opposition party also described as “utterly barbaric”, the action of the girls’ abductors

We won’t apologise to Buhari, says PDP

                                                                                                                                                             National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it stands firmly by its earlier statement that some prominent leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) aided insurgency in the country through their careless utterances.

The party also accused the APC of heating up the polity in its pursuit of power shift by trying to distract President Goodluck Jonathan from his transformation

Boko Haram: It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before South Is Overwhelmed, Says Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has described the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration as a colossal failure to the Nigerian people.

The Nobel Laureate made this assertion while fielding questions as a guest on the BBC’s HardTalk show yesterday.
Prof. Soyinka, who was reacting to questions posed on the over 200 abducted female students of a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, stated that the primary responsibility of any government was to be responsible to its citizens.
When asked about an editorial in a national daily that described Nigeria as a failed state, Soyinka said he has had cause to use that expression himself.
According to him, “I’ve had moments when I feel Nigeria is a failed state but it is not beyond redemption”.
He added: “I must express my feelings

INTERVIEW: Jonathan’s failure gets worse by the day – APC presidential aspirant, Sam Nda Isaiah

Sam Nda Isaiah

Sam Nda Isaiah is a man that has carved a niche for himself in the media industry. Having worked with a number of influential newspapers a period of two decades, the vastly experienced veteran journalist founded his publication, LEADERSHIP Newspaper, which prides itself as Nigeria’s most influential newspaper.
Nda Isaiah, who chairs a host of other companies, has interest in one more thing: he wants to become the country’s president in 2015. Already, he has declared

No girls are missing, Chibok abduction is a scam – Asari Dokubo

Founder of the now rested Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo has described the hullabaloo generated as a result of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls as a scam.
The controversial activist in a terse message posted on his Facebook page some hours ago urged his friends to pass on the message as no girl was kidnapped as claimed