Video - Sahara Reporters founder Omoyele Sowore says President Goodluck Jonathan is the worst Nigerian President

Omoyele Sowore is the publisher of New York-based Sahara Reporters, known for its hard-hitting reporting that is keeping Nigeria's government officials, individuals and corporations on their toes.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger gives opinion on why Nigeria under achieved in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has said lack of solidarity and poor administration, are the reasons why Nigeria and other African teams performed below par at the 2014 World Cup.

The Super Eagles began their tournament with a drab goalless draw against Iran, before narrowly beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in the second. Although they lost 3-2 to Argentina in their final Group F game, the African champions squeezed through to the second round, where they were eliminated by France.

Wenger argued it was never a matter of the quality of the Nigerian players, but off-field problems worked against them.

“I don’t think it’s purely down to quality. I think it comes down to organizational problems before the World Cup and during the World Cup,” Wenger told Daily Mirror.

“I think what hurts football fans both in Cameroon and Nigeria – two big footballing nations – was not that their countries did not reach the quarter-finals, it was the fact that both teams had no solidarity and they had problems that were exposed all over the world before the competition and that’s the main reason,” the Arsenal manager said in probable reference to the bonus crisis that rocked both the Super Eagles and the Indomitable Lions.

“Football is difficult enough when you are united but if you are not united at that stage then you have no chance.”

The Frenchman however singled out the Desert Warriors of Algeria for praise, despite the fact they were eliminated in the second round by eventual winners Germany.

He said: “I would still like to give some credit to Algeria. They played so well and at some points they even made Germany look average, and they were the only country who could do that. I would have liked to have seen more from the African countries.”

Daily Post

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Video - Boko Haram release video mocking plea for kidnapped schoolgirls release

Boko Haram issued a new video Sunday mocking the social media campaign that highlighted the plight of the 223 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamists in north-east Nigeria.

In a broadcast apparently marking the girls’ third month in captivity, Abubakar Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, said they would not be freed until the government released the “army” of the group’s fighters held in Nigerian jails.

Shekau also claimed responsibility for three bombings last month and voiced support for Islamic State, the extremists who have seized much of northern Iraq.

The video served as a direct snub to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl and women’s rights campaigner who arrived in Nigerian capital, Abuja, over the weekend to voice support for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Ms Yousafzai, 17, who moved to Britain after being shot by the Taliban, met parents of the missing girls yesterday and was also expected to hold talks with Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president.

As she did so, serious doubts emerged about the girls’ chances of ever being rescued. In briefings with The Daily Telegraph over the weekend, Western diplomats said that, despite international publicity, the efforts to find the hostages were little further on than they were in May, when Britain, America and France began to help. With neither a prisoner swap or a rescue considered likely, there was little real prospect of any “breakthrough” in the foreseeable future, they said.

One diplomat said: “It is hard to see this being resolved either by a rescue or a prisoner swap deal, although that is also true for a lot of other girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in recent months and years, who are now bush wives. What may happen is that from time to time, some may seize a chance to escape, or a deal may be done with one particular local faction that is holding some of the hostages. Over the course of a few months or years they may begin to reappear.”

The diplomats’ gloomy assessment is likely to dismay the girls’ families, whose hopes of being reunited with them have been sustained largely by the scale of the international response. On Sunday, Malala, described the girls as “sisters” and said she was going to “speak up for them until they are released”.

Diplomats say the reality is that even if the girls could be located – which is hard, given that the area being searched is “twice the size of Belgium” – it would be impossible to mount a rescue without Boko Haram killing a large number first.

National Post

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Malala Yousafzai travels to Nigeria to plea for the release of kidnapped schoolgirls

In an unremarkable conference room in an unremarkable international hotel in Abuja, an extraordinary group of people gathered.

Twelve of them were the parents of girls who were kidnapped three months ago by militant group Boko Haram.

The two others were Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani woman just turned 17, and her father Ziauddin.

Malala, thoughtful and self-possessed, explained that she had made the journey to Nigeria from Birmingham in England, where she lives at present, because she regarded the kidnapped girls as her sisters.

"I am going to stand up for them," she said.

Monday has been designated by the United Nations as Malala Day. She has just turned 17, and she decided that she must mark it by coming to Nigeria and appealing for the release of the kidnapped girls and the right of all children here to an education.

'Because we're poor?'
Nigeria, though it recently became the leading economy in Africa, has one of the world's worst records for education. More than 10 million children aged between 6 and 11 - 42% - are not in school. There is a shortage of more than 200,000 primary school teachers.

Malala believes that there is a clear link between poor education and the political violence which the extreme Islamist Boko Haram movement has brought to Nigeria. "If you improve the one, you discourage the other," she has said.

Ziauddin Yousafzai started to explain to the parents how Malala had been shot in the head by a Taliban hitman in Pakistan two years ago, and almost killed. But he couldn't get the words out, and broke down in tears. The 12 Nigerian parents, as they listened to him, wept openly too.

The parents share a powerful feeling that in spite of their loss, they have been shut out and ignored. The government hasn't talked to them at any stage. It hasn't even shown them much sign of sympathy.

Rebecca Samwell, a Christian, said they had heard rumours that some of the girls had been rescued; her missing daughter Sarah is 17, like Malala. "We simply aren't told what the truth is."

One of the fathers, Malla Abu, asked: "Is it because we're poor country people that the government isn't doing anything? Suppose these were the daughters of someone important; would they still be in the forest after 90 days?"

Deadlock and despair
In the hotel grounds, Malala met five girls who were kidnapped with the others in the town of Chibok, but managed to escape by jumping out of the trucks which were taking them to captivity in the Sambisa forest, more than 200 miles (320km) away.

Had any of the five girls been interviewed by the Nigerian army for information they might have about their Boko Haram captors? No, they said.

Government officials deny they have been lackadaisical about investigating the kidnappings, and insist that everything is being done to trace the girls and get them back.

But after 90 days it is hard to see what success the authorities have had.

Mike Omeri, the co-ordinator of the government's anti-terror campaign, insists that they know where the girls are and that they are safe.

But the families are deeply worried by Boko Haram threats to marry the girls off to the movement's fighters, against their will. Some are afraid their daughters have been raped.

There seems to be a total stalemate. Boko Haram says it will free the girls in exchange for the release of Boko Haram prisoners from Nigerian jails.

At different times, various figures in the Nigerian government seem to have considered an exchange, but the army, and perhaps Western governments, are opposed to the idea.

The weakness of the Nigerian army in the country's north-east makes it hard to think that the girls can be rescued.

Faced with this deadlock, the parents are close to despair.

In the hotel in Abuja, Malala's father Ziauddin ended the meeting with the parents by saying a prayer:

"O God, accept our tears, accept the tears of these fathers and mothers. O God, empower us to bring the girls back."

And the parents, Christian and Muslim, joined together in saying "Amen".

BBC

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Wole Soyinka turns 80 today

Nigeria's literary icon Wole Soyinka turned 80 on Sunday, with friends and foes alike paying tribute to the first African to win the Nobel literature prize.

Dozens of literary and artistic events have been staged across the country over 80 days leading up to the birthday of the poet, novelist, playwright and social activist, whose works often satirised Nigeria's society and harshly criticised corrupt and inept leaders.

But such is Soyinka's popularity and stature that many of the targets of his criticism put aside past differences to honour the man who, with his trademark white afro and matching bushy goatee, is a beloved figure in Africa's most populous nation.

President Goodluck Jonathan praised his ardent critic in a statement on Saturday, hailing Soyinka's "life-long dedication and indefatigable commitment to using his acclaimed genius and talents, not only in the service of the arts, but also for the promotion of democracy, good governance and respect for human rights in Nigeria, Africa and beyond".

Former dictator General Yakubu Gowon, who jailed Soyinka for some two years during Nigeria's 1967-70 civil war, paid respect by attending a lecture in Soyinka's hometown of Abeokuta on Friday.

Soyinka, who looks several decades younger than his age, sprang to his feet and warmly embraced his former jailer as soon as he entered the lecture hall, sparking applause from the audience.

"I have come to Abeokuta for the sake of this particular man, to honour him," said Gowon, who imprisoned the writer on suspicion of support for his rival in the 1967 standoff that eventually led Nigeria to a 30-month civil war in which an estimated one million people died, mostly of disease and starvation.

The birthday events honouring Soyinka are due to culminate on Monday with a visit to his secluded forest residence in Abeokuta, the capital of southwestern Ogun State, and a presentation of one of his plays.

- 'God's gift' -

Born into an Anglican family on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Soyinka cut his literary teeth in the 1950s at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria's premier university, where he studied English literature. He also studied literature at the University of Leeds.

The poet, novelist and playwright has around 30 published works to his name, most of which satirise Nigerian society and which have made him a darling of the critics.

"Soyinka, a literary giant, is God's gift to Nigeria in particular, Africa and the world at large. His style is inimitable," Dare Ademola, a literary critic, told AFP.
Chima Anyadike, head of the English department at the Obafemi Awolowo University where Soyinka last taught in Nigeria, said: "Soyinka is a great writer of his time."

In announcing his Nobel in 1986, the Swedish Academy praised Soyinka for "your versatile writings (in which) you have been able to synthesise a very rich heritage from your own country, ancient myths and old traditions, with literary legacies and traditions of European culture".

It also hailed him for "your own genuine and impressive creativity as an artist, a master of language, and your commitment as a dramatist and writer of poetry and prose to problems of general and deep significance for man, modern or ancient".

A harsh critic of military, corrupt or inept governments, Soyinka fled Nigeria during the regime of General Sani Abacha in the 1990s when the government hounded critics including journalists and academics.

A hunter, connoisseur of wines and notoriously private, Soyinka hasn't let his advanced age dull his social activism. In January 2012, he joined activists in street protests against President Jonathan after the government hiked the pump price of fuel.

AFP

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The Canonisation Of Terror