Monday, March 23, 2015
Nigeria 2015 Presidential election set to be closest contest
Nigeria is bracing for a turbulent few days ahead. The country is due to vote for a new president next weekend. It'll be Nigeria's fifth election since its return to democracy in 1999 - and it's tipped to be the closest contest so far.
Friday, March 20, 2015
President Goodluck Jonathan hopes all Boko Haram captured territories will be retaken in a month
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said he hopes that all territory seized by Islamist militant group Boko Haram will be retaken within a month.
"They are getting weaker and weaker by the day," he told the BBC.
But the president - who faces elections in a week - admitted the response to the insurgents' initial advance in north-east Nigeria had been too slow.
The army has claimed recent victories over Boko Haram in a conflict that has killed thousands since 2012.
Backed by neighbouring countries Chad, Niger and Cameroon, Nigeria's military says it has recaptured 11 of the 14 districts which had been under militant control.
On Thursday, however, Boko Haram attacked the town of Ngala, killing 11 people, after the army said it had retaken it.
President Jonathan's government has been heavily criticised for its failure to end the insurgency.
The government has made similar claims in the past about defeating or driving back Boko Haram within a specific period - but these have not been borne out by events.
The Nigerian insurgents this month pledged their allegiance to Islamic State militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq.
BBC
"They are getting weaker and weaker by the day," he told the BBC.
But the president - who faces elections in a week - admitted the response to the insurgents' initial advance in north-east Nigeria had been too slow.
The army has claimed recent victories over Boko Haram in a conflict that has killed thousands since 2012.
Backed by neighbouring countries Chad, Niger and Cameroon, Nigeria's military says it has recaptured 11 of the 14 districts which had been under militant control.
On Thursday, however, Boko Haram attacked the town of Ngala, killing 11 people, after the army said it had retaken it.
President Jonathan's government has been heavily criticised for its failure to end the insurgency.
The government has made similar claims in the past about defeating or driving back Boko Haram within a specific period - but these have not been borne out by events.
The Nigerian insurgents this month pledged their allegiance to Islamic State militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq.
BBC
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Presidential candidate Buhari says missing kidnapped schoolgirls greatest embarrasment for Nigeria
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Mohammadu Buhari Wednesday tasked the federal government on the over 200 missing girls, saying the ill development was the greatest embarrassment Nigerian has received since independence in 1960.
Buhari also said that his regime in 1983 built refineries that could produce 50,000 to 450,000 barrel of oil per day with money realized from the Nigerian economy without borrowing a dime from external sources.
The candidate who spoke at a town hall meeting on security in Abuja on Wednesday as part of the electioneering campaign said that his party had identified three key areas which had become the core problems starring the country in the face.
His position was a response to questions raised by some participants to the meeting.
According to buhari, the problems were insecurity, destruction of the economy and corruption which he said has become vicious.
He faulted the federal government's approach in fighting the insurgency in the north east in the absence of comprehensive welfare policy or plan for the soldiers in the battle field.
He said that no one should expect any soldier to perform miracles in the battle field when there were no good welfare packages for them and their families.
He said: "I have said that the APC as a party has identified three fundamental problems in this country. You cannot repeat them so often because everybody talk about them. They are insecurity, the destruction of the economy and corruption which has become a vicious.
"The state of insecurity as we said when the election was extended by six weeks is that if the Nigerian government and the military could me not tame Boko Haram for five years, what will they do in six weeks. But I think that some positive moves have been made, but we are still at it.
"The first thing they should have done is to make sure that you have a good plan on the ground to take care of the welfare of the law enforcement agents.
"You can't send someone on an operation for months when his family is living in wants without medical care, no school and no good neighborhood and you want him to serve the country. So, if you get disappointed now that soldiers on road block have started saying "wetin you chop remain" as many of their colleagues were doing many years ago.
Vanguard
Buhari also said that his regime in 1983 built refineries that could produce 50,000 to 450,000 barrel of oil per day with money realized from the Nigerian economy without borrowing a dime from external sources.
The candidate who spoke at a town hall meeting on security in Abuja on Wednesday as part of the electioneering campaign said that his party had identified three key areas which had become the core problems starring the country in the face.
His position was a response to questions raised by some participants to the meeting.
According to buhari, the problems were insecurity, destruction of the economy and corruption which he said has become vicious.
He faulted the federal government's approach in fighting the insurgency in the north east in the absence of comprehensive welfare policy or plan for the soldiers in the battle field.
He said that no one should expect any soldier to perform miracles in the battle field when there were no good welfare packages for them and their families.
He said: "I have said that the APC as a party has identified three fundamental problems in this country. You cannot repeat them so often because everybody talk about them. They are insecurity, the destruction of the economy and corruption which has become a vicious.
"The state of insecurity as we said when the election was extended by six weeks is that if the Nigerian government and the military could me not tame Boko Haram for five years, what will they do in six weeks. But I think that some positive moves have been made, but we are still at it.
"The first thing they should have done is to make sure that you have a good plan on the ground to take care of the welfare of the law enforcement agents.
"You can't send someone on an operation for months when his family is living in wants without medical care, no school and no good neighborhood and you want him to serve the country. So, if you get disappointed now that soldiers on road block have started saying "wetin you chop remain" as many of their colleagues were doing many years ago.
Vanguard
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Video - Schools re-open in Adamawa, Nigeria
Militant group Boko Haram has killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds during a six-year campaign to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria. The insurgency has been a major blow to education in the north east. In Adamawa state however- a territory retaken by the Nigerian military from the control of the militants, are slowly returning to the classroom.
Canada selling most weapons to Nigeria
A report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows a growth in the number of countries supplying arms and weapons to Nigeria and Cameroon to aid their fight against Boko Haram. Canada has been found to be the top seller among those nations.
The report listed Canada as the world’s 13th-biggest arms exporter over the past five years. It was the 14th-biggest weapons exporter in the previous five-year period.
According to the list, Canada facilitated the sale of 40 armoured vehicles to Nigeria in 2013 and 2014. It wasn’t detailed if all came from private companies. Two of those companies were identified as the Streit Group and INKAS.
Founded in Canada in 1992, the Streit Group said it has sold at least 12,000 armoured vehicles worldwide, and just recently, Nigeria bought one of its Spartan armoured vehicles. On the other hand, INKAS, according to Peter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm institute, has sold light armoured patrol vehicles to Nigeria. The vehicles were produced from a plant located right in Nigeria.
While Wezeman did not condone Canada’s shipment of arms and weapons to Nigeria, he told The Globe and Mail, the North American country should at least be sensitive on dealings regarding the matter. He said Canada should ensure it “understands the risks involved in arms exports” and should try to help Nigeria to deal with Boko Haram “in a way that involves the minimum amount of violence needed.”
“Just allowing the supply of weapons is not enough,” he said, noting that it comes with a moral responsibility that the arms should not be used by the Nigerian government other than for the purpose it was bought.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist movement based in north-east Nigeria. It is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. The group had pledged formal allegiance to the ISIS Daesh in March 2015 and has killed over 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014.
IBT
The report listed Canada as the world’s 13th-biggest arms exporter over the past five years. It was the 14th-biggest weapons exporter in the previous five-year period.
According to the list, Canada facilitated the sale of 40 armoured vehicles to Nigeria in 2013 and 2014. It wasn’t detailed if all came from private companies. Two of those companies were identified as the Streit Group and INKAS.
Founded in Canada in 1992, the Streit Group said it has sold at least 12,000 armoured vehicles worldwide, and just recently, Nigeria bought one of its Spartan armoured vehicles. On the other hand, INKAS, according to Peter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm institute, has sold light armoured patrol vehicles to Nigeria. The vehicles were produced from a plant located right in Nigeria.
While Wezeman did not condone Canada’s shipment of arms and weapons to Nigeria, he told The Globe and Mail, the North American country should at least be sensitive on dealings regarding the matter. He said Canada should ensure it “understands the risks involved in arms exports” and should try to help Nigeria to deal with Boko Haram “in a way that involves the minimum amount of violence needed.”
“Just allowing the supply of weapons is not enough,” he said, noting that it comes with a moral responsibility that the arms should not be used by the Nigerian government other than for the purpose it was bought.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist movement based in north-east Nigeria. It is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. The group had pledged formal allegiance to the ISIS Daesh in March 2015 and has killed over 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014.
IBT
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