German President Pledges $50 Million To Fight Boko Haram

German President, Joachim Gauck, has pledged $50 million to fight Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Mr Gauck made the pledge after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The German President commiserated with Nigerians on the recent attacks by the Boko Haram in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps and promised to do all it can to ensure that the IDPs are returned to their homes and rehabilitated.

During a visit to Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, Mr Gauck had pledged that Germany would assist Nigeria with the technical know-how to successfully fight terrorism, Channel News reported.

The German President, however, called for good governance and development if Nigeria must conquer terrorism on the long term.

President Buhari met with President Gauck a day after he returned from his 6-day vacation in London.

The Nigerian President returned to the country on Wednesday night and was received at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja by top government officials.

Nigerian Army To Partner With EFCC In Curbing Oil Theft And Pipe-line Vandalism

Nigeria Army with EFCC officials at PH Zonal Office during a courtesy visit

Brig Gen S. O. Olabanji, Commander, 2 Brigade Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has said that the Economic and Financial

Crimes Commission, EFCC, remains pivotal in the military’s efforts to check oil theft and pipe-line vandalism in the country.

He also pledged the army’s support to the EFCC in carrying out the onerous task of sanitizing the oil industry.

He gave the assurance during a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s zonal office in Port Harcourt on February 10, 2016.

Noting that oil theft contributed to the sabotage of the Nigerian economy, he said, “I am aware that part of the mandates of the EFCC is to prosecute any person or group that is involved in any form of economic sabotage.”

He stated that the Nigerian Army would assist the EFCC in the area of information gathering.

“There should be a synergy of government agencies in Port Harcourt, particularly the South-south zone so that we can find a lasting solution to the issue of oil theft, and tackle the issue of vandalism,” he said.

On his part, the Zonal Head, Ishaq Salihu, appreciated the Brigade Commander for his kind words, and promises.

“Your presence will go a long way in not only solidifying an already existing relationship between the EFCC and the Nigerian Army, but will go a long way in the joint fight against oil theft/bunkering,” he said.

He added that the agency had hope and confidence in the Army to partner the agency in the fight against the menace of pipeline vandalism, oil theft and other economic and financial crimes.

With NTA

Court nullifies Nyako’s impeachment

Murtala Nyako

The Court of Appeal on Thursday declared null and void the impeachment of the former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako.

The court sitting in Yola ruled that the July 15, 2014 impeachment of the former governor was not constitutional.

Nyako was impeached on allegations of corruption by 17 out 25 members of Adamawa State House of Assembly after a panel set up to investigate allegations submitted a report which indicted him.

The judges on Thursday unanimously held that Nyako was not given fair trial and that his rights were violated by the state assembly.

They noted that the House proceeded to impeach the former governor in spite of a subsisting court order against such move.

Though the court rule that Nyako be accorded all rights dues to him, including the payment of his entitlements, it however rejected his appeal to be returned as governor of the state.

With The Guardian

Minister Seeks Special Funding For Public Media for Anti-Terror Campaign

Minister of Information and Culture At #Budget2016 Defence

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has advocated a special funding arrangement for public media organizations to enable them to scale up their sensitization campaign against insurgency in the North-East.

The Minister made the call on Wednesday at the National Assembly, during an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, preparatory to the 2016 budget defence.

While responding to the sentiment expressed by a member of the Committee, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, on the effective utilisation of the public media in the fight against insurgency in the North- East, Alhaji Mohammed said his ministry had already mounted a robust public sensitization campaign on the insurgency, with the active participation of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, but noted that the public media needed to be retooled to enhance its ability to drive the campaign.

“I must say that FRCN, NTA and VON, they have given me their schedules, at times we get as many as 16 slots within an hour to propagate these things. But I must admit that we have constraints. The FRCN in particular does not have the reach it used to have before and this is not surprising because for years, we have neglected the maintenance of the FRCN.

“VON is even worse because when the new station was built about two years ago, we were told that we need about N600 million annually to maintain it but what did we get? N120 million when they give us anything at all. So we have been cannibalizing and trying to make the best out of a bad situation,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed disclosed that the public media organs were directed to itemize the necessary requirements needed to prosecute the public sensitization campaign against the insurgency in order for the people to take ownership of the war and be security conscious.

“Let NTA, FRCN, VON, if only for the sake of the war in the North-East, tell us what they need to be able to prosecute this war. It’s going to be huge no doubt, but there is no way NTA, FRCN or VON will be able to meet this obligation when we have broken down transmitters and antennas,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed also stressed the crucial role of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in the campaign against insurgency and value re-reorientation.

“We see the NOA as a veritable vehicle not just in the war against insurgency but on all the wars against every ill including the war against corruption. We are working on this renewed campaign, which is going to be a much improved campaign on war against indiscipline, which we have tagged “Change Begins With Me”.

”This campaign will address all ills but this time around, we are not just targeting those at the top, they would have to lead by example but it’s going to be a bottom-up kind of campaign,” he said.

In his contribution, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Eyinnaya Abaribe, suggested to the Executive Arm of Government to prepare and present an amended budget to capture all the necessary requirements of the public media organs to ensure success in the sensitization campaign against insurgency.

OAU students protest, ask EFCC to probe VC

Nigerian students under the aegis of Alliance of Nigerian Students Against Neo-Liberal Attacks on Thursday staged a public protest in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, and called on anti- graft agencies to arrest and prosecute the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, for allegedly mismanaging the university’s resources. 

The Coordinator of the ANSA, Wole Olubanji, who led scores of students to stage the protest also asked the university to reinstate the students union leaders suspended for seeking better welfare for the students. 

The protesting students said many petitions had been written against the vice chancellor, saying they had enough evidence to back their allegations against him.

Olubanji said, “We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly, EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau to probe Prof. Bamitale Omole’s administration. 

“Prof. Omole administration has earned over N30bn from subventions, more than N1.5bn from school fees, billions of naira from ore-degree program besides funds received from special agencies such as World Bank, TETFUND etc and money from internal sources including  donations from corporate bodies. ”

Despite the fund, the students said their hostels were in very poor condition; the lecture rooms were over crowded  and epileptic power supply was the order of the day. 

With The PUNCH