The Federal Government has approved the re-opening of the Maiduguri International Airport for commercial activities following security improvement in recent times, Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, has revealed.
The airport was closed over 18 months ago following persistent attacks of the state by Boko Haram fighters.
“It is interesting to announce that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu, has confirmed to me that the Federal Government had issued a directive for the re-opening of the Maiduguri International Airport for commercial activities," he told newsmen yesterday.
“In fact, the Chief of Air Staff told me that the Nigerian Air Space Management Agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, were already directed to work out modalities for the resumption of flight operations in the airport,” he added.
Nigerian Bulletin
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Nigeria moves military Headquarters to Maiduguri
Nigeria's military has begun moving its headquarters to the northern town of Maiduguri, it says, close to the centre of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.
The move would "add impetus and renewed vigour" to the fight against terrorism, a military statement said.
A military advance team began work in Maiduguri on Monday, the statement said, as part of plans to move the command and control centre from Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari took office last month, vowing to beat Boko Haram.
He announced that the military would move its headquarters to Maiduguri, in the north-eastern state of Borno, in his inaugural speech on 29 May.
The aim is to centralise operations close to the action, cut bureaucracy and speed up decision-making.
The policy and administrative arms of the military have been accused of being detached from the reality of the soldiers on the frontline.
For example, the complaints from troops about their inadequate supplies of equipment and poor welfare were often denied, downplayed or ignored by the authorities. This led to disgruntlement among soldiers, with some refusing to fight and even shooting at their own commanding officer.
However the relocation has not gone down well with some top military men, who have viewed it as merely a symbolic or even populist move, possibly driven by a desire to be distinctively different from the previous administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
There are also concerns it could further complicate existing operations on the ground.
BBC
The move would "add impetus and renewed vigour" to the fight against terrorism, a military statement said.
A military advance team began work in Maiduguri on Monday, the statement said, as part of plans to move the command and control centre from Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari took office last month, vowing to beat Boko Haram.
He announced that the military would move its headquarters to Maiduguri, in the north-eastern state of Borno, in his inaugural speech on 29 May.
The aim is to centralise operations close to the action, cut bureaucracy and speed up decision-making.
The policy and administrative arms of the military have been accused of being detached from the reality of the soldiers on the frontline.
For example, the complaints from troops about their inadequate supplies of equipment and poor welfare were often denied, downplayed or ignored by the authorities. This led to disgruntlement among soldiers, with some refusing to fight and even shooting at their own commanding officer.
However the relocation has not gone down well with some top military men, who have viewed it as merely a symbolic or even populist move, possibly driven by a desire to be distinctively different from the previous administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
There are also concerns it could further complicate existing operations on the ground.
BBC
Nigeria draws with Sweden 3-3 in Women's World Cup
Francisca Ordega scored a late equaliser for Nigeria to earn a 3-3 draw with Sweden in their Group D Women’s World Cup opener on Monday, signalling that Africa will make an impact during the month-long tournament.
A day after Germany crushed the Ivory Coast 10-0, Nigeria restored African pride with an all-out attacking style that won over the fans and shocked the fifth-ranked Swedes.
With Sweden hanging on for the win, Ordega ran onto a perfect pass from Ngozi Okobi and confidently fired the ball past the goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl in the 87th minute.
Nigeria had Sweden on the back foot for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 down at half-time after an own goal by Desire Oparanozie and a tap-in from Nilla Fischer, both scores coming from Sweden corners and the product of sloppy defending.
But the speedy Nigerians continued to press forward in the second half and were rewarded for their enterprise as they scored twice in a three-minute burst from forwards Okobi and Asisat Oshoala, who out-muscled Fischer for the ball at the top of the penalty area and then kept calm to score.
The Swedes were quick to respond, regaining the lead when substitute Linda Sembrant kneed a cross past Nigeria’s goalkeeper Precious Dede before Ordega levelled.
The Guardian
A day after Germany crushed the Ivory Coast 10-0, Nigeria restored African pride with an all-out attacking style that won over the fans and shocked the fifth-ranked Swedes.
With Sweden hanging on for the win, Ordega ran onto a perfect pass from Ngozi Okobi and confidently fired the ball past the goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl in the 87th minute.
Nigeria had Sweden on the back foot for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 down at half-time after an own goal by Desire Oparanozie and a tap-in from Nilla Fischer, both scores coming from Sweden corners and the product of sloppy defending.
But the speedy Nigerians continued to press forward in the second half and were rewarded for their enterprise as they scored twice in a three-minute burst from forwards Okobi and Asisat Oshoala, who out-muscled Fischer for the ball at the top of the penalty area and then kept calm to score.
The Swedes were quick to respond, regaining the lead when substitute Linda Sembrant kneed a cross past Nigeria’s goalkeeper Precious Dede before Ordega levelled.
The Guardian
Monday, June 8, 2015
Video - Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari steps up fight against Boko Haram
President Muhammadu Buhari continues his efforts to stamp out Boko Haram militants. He recently concluded a trip to neighbouring Niger and Chad, where he met with the Presidents Idriss Deby and Mohammed Yusuf. But with the group launching fresh attacks, CCTV's Deji Badmus finds out just how much work there's still left to do.
Asia's fastest man Femi Ogunode
Ogunode on June 4 broke the Asian record of the men’s 100m at the Asian Athletics Championships as he ran a time of 9.91secs to lower his previously held record of 9.93 secs.
Speaking on his latest achievement, Ogunode, who was virtually frustrated out of Nigeria to the Middle East, stated on his Facebook fan page that he has all the reasons to celebrate his rise to fame and stardom.
“When God gives you a reason to celebrate why won’t you……. I celebrate my victory after winning Gold and breaking the Asian record” the 24-year old said on Saturday as he again reflected on his awesome performance.
Interestingly, Ogunode who is now the fastest man in the world’s most populous continent started out as a boxer before switching to football and finally athletics in 2006.
Sadly, while Nigeria’s fortunes in men’s athletic is dwindling by the day on the home front and officials are doling out millions to recruit rejected America-based athletes who have failed to make any meaningful impact , the feat of Ogunode means that Nigerian men now own the record in the 100m’s men event in three top continents’ of the world.
Olusoji Fasuba with a time of 9.85secs remains Africa’s fastest man ever while Portugal’s Francis Obikwelu holds the European record with his time of 9.86secs.
Ogunode in a recent interview with Qatar’s first English sports weekly magazine, DohaStadiumPlus, took the lid off why he dumped Nigeria for Qatar and was equally unequivocal that he is happy he took the calculated risk which has now turned out to be one of his best decisions.
“I wanted to compete in the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria. I ran in the Mobil Track and Field race, the Nigerian qualification event for it. I made the cut, but they dropped me without any explanation.
“A year later, I qualified for the biennial IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, as the best age-group sprinter in Nigeria. Subsequently, I also made it to the senior side for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“But due to politics within the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), they dropped me from the squad for Poland, pacifying me by saying I would get my chance in China. I agreed, as I always wanted to compete in the Olympics. But just two weeks prior to the Games, I found out I was out of the team. I felt powerless against the AFN’s internal games.
“It was then that I received an e-mail asking whether I was interested to do trials in Qatar. I wrote back saying I was, but that I didn’t have money to make the trip. They requested a copy of my passport and soon, I was attending trials in Doha. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life,” he concluded.
A peep into Ogunode’s biography reveals that his maiden competition as an athlete was at the Obafemi Awolowo U-18 Championship in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he won gold in 100m and 200m in the same year he started running – 2006.
As stated on his personal website, based on his performance at the U-18 Championship. Ogunode was invited to participate in the 2006 ExxonMobil Track & Field Championship (Nigeria’s test event for the 2007 All African Games held in Algiers, Algeria), where he won the 5th place, although he didn’t qualify to participate at Algiers.
Undaunted by this, he continued with his trainings and his determination to succeed made him to become Nigeria’s no.1 junior athlete in 2008, a position that automatically qualified him for both the World Junior Championship and the Beijing Olympics, both of which he was denied attendance due to politicking within the athletics administration.
Ogunode moved to Qatar in October 2009 and began international competition the following year.
From then it has been an upward swing for Nigeria-born Qatar star. At the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, he took two gold medals, winning over 200m and 400 metres with personal bests of 20.43 seconds and 45.12 seconds, respectively.
This made him only the second athlete in the Games history to have won both events at the same competition. He also became the Asian champion in 200 metres, at Kobe, Japan. He equalled the Championship record – 20.41sec – en route to gold. At the ongoing 2015 Asian championship, Ogunode won three gold medals – 100m, 200m and 4x100m.
Hoping that Nigeria will get it right someday, Yusuf Ali the national record holder in Long Jump and the former Technical Director for the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, told PREMIUM TIMES that the country really needs to invest more in its youth athlete to bring the country back to full reckoning.
“The sad thing is that we are not investing enough in our youth athletes, imagine the Super Eagles can take a chattered flight to go and play a friendly in South Africa and we say we don’t have money to buy tickets for our youth to attend a competition they have worked and trained hard for., It does not speak well of us as a country ” Ali said as he reflected on the incidences that clouded Nigeria’s participation at the last Africa Youth Athletics Championships in Mauritius where the country was forced to present a lean squad which even missed the opening day of events owing to paucity of funds.
Ali said he feared the worse for Nigerian athletics if more concerted effort is not put in place to ‘catch them young’ and also invest in the youth.
“In this country we don’t even have the base, the base for track and field is like 6,000 athletes will start and at the end you will pick like 5 or 6 of them in the end that will be good. But now when you have a base of like 1,000 and you are now not even attending to them as you should then there is no future. I think that is one thing we should address. The base for track and field is very difficult, for football; anybody can just wake up and starting kicking any round object, it is very difficult in track and field, interest has to build very early.”
Premium Times
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