Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Video - Is negotiating with Boko Haram an option?
The Nigerian government is yet to categorically state whether it would deploy the use of amnesty in securing the release of the kidnapped schoolgirls from Boko haram and ultimately resolve the insurgency. There had been reports that President Goodluck Jonathan had tabled an amnesty offer to the insurgents but the government has come out to deny this.
Related stories: Video - President Goodluck Jonathan declares 'total war' on Boko Haram
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Nigeria release squad list for the 2014 Football World Cup
Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Gombe United), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Vincent Enyeama (Lille)
Defenders: Efe Ambrose (Celtic), Elderson Echiejile (Monaco), Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars), Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor), Kenneth Omeruo (Middlesbrough), Juwon Oshaniwa (Ashdod), Joseph Yobo (Norwich City)
Midfielders: Ramon Azeez (Almeira), Reuben Gabriel (Waasland-Beveren), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio), Michael Uchebo (Cercle Brugge)
Forwards: Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United), Michael Babatunde (Volyn Lutsk), Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Uche Nwofor (Heerenveen), Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City)
Defenders: Efe Ambrose (Celtic), Elderson Echiejile (Monaco), Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars), Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor), Kenneth Omeruo (Middlesbrough), Juwon Oshaniwa (Ashdod), Joseph Yobo (Norwich City)
Midfielders: Ramon Azeez (Almeira), Reuben Gabriel (Waasland-Beveren), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio), Michael Uchebo (Cercle Brugge)
Forwards: Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United), Michael Babatunde (Volyn Lutsk), Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Uche Nwofor (Heerenveen), Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City)
Monday, June 2, 2014
Nigerian government bans public protests for plight of kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigerian police have banned public protests in the capital Abuja for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls seized by Islamist militants in April.
Abuja police commissioner Joseph Mbu said the rallies were "now posing a serious security threat".
Nigeria has seen almost daily rallies calling for the government to take firmer action to rescue the girls.
Boko Haram militants snatched the girls from the remote Chibok village near the Cameroon border on 14 April.
In a statement, Mr Mbu said that public protests had "degenerated" and were now a security threat.
He was also quoted by the state-run Agency of Nigeria as saying that "dangerous elements" could join the demonstrations.
Nigeria's government has been facing growing pressure both at home and abroad to do more to tackle the group and bring about the girls' release.
A deal for the release of some of the abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria was close to being secured when the Nigerian government called it off late last month, the BBC has learned.
Some of the girls were set to be freed in exchange for imprisoned Islamist militants, reports the BBC's Will Ross.
Thousands of people have died since Boko Haram began a violent campaign against the Nigerian government in 2009 and in the subsequent security crackdown.
The girls, who were mainly Christian, were taken from their school in Chibok, in north-eastern Borno state and are thought to be held in a remote forested area of the state, close to the border with Chad and Cameroon.
Last month, Boko Haram released a video of some of the girls. The footage was interspersed with militants explaining that the girls had "converted" to Islam.
The UK, the US, China and France are among the countries to have sent teams of experts and equipment to help to locate them.
BBC
Related stories: Nigerian military claims to have found location of kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Abuja police commissioner Joseph Mbu said the rallies were "now posing a serious security threat".
Nigeria has seen almost daily rallies calling for the government to take firmer action to rescue the girls.
Boko Haram militants snatched the girls from the remote Chibok village near the Cameroon border on 14 April.
In a statement, Mr Mbu said that public protests had "degenerated" and were now a security threat.
He was also quoted by the state-run Agency of Nigeria as saying that "dangerous elements" could join the demonstrations.
Nigeria's government has been facing growing pressure both at home and abroad to do more to tackle the group and bring about the girls' release.
A deal for the release of some of the abducted schoolgirls in Nigeria was close to being secured when the Nigerian government called it off late last month, the BBC has learned.
Some of the girls were set to be freed in exchange for imprisoned Islamist militants, reports the BBC's Will Ross.
Thousands of people have died since Boko Haram began a violent campaign against the Nigerian government in 2009 and in the subsequent security crackdown.
The girls, who were mainly Christian, were taken from their school in Chibok, in north-eastern Borno state and are thought to be held in a remote forested area of the state, close to the border with Chad and Cameroon.
Last month, Boko Haram released a video of some of the girls. The footage was interspersed with militants explaining that the girls had "converted" to Islam.
The UK, the US, China and France are among the countries to have sent teams of experts and equipment to help to locate them.
BBC
Related stories: Nigerian military claims to have found location of kidnapped schoolgirls
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Video - Iroko TV - Nigeria's fast growing online movie distribution service
Nigeria's movie industry has witnessed a meteoric rise over the past twenty years. The industry is now worth 5.1 billion dollars, following Nigeria's rebasing. Nollywood has a huge global-following, especially in Africa. But one startup, is changing the face of Nollywood with its online distribution service.
Related stories: Nollywood: most prolific movie machine
Video - Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan wants to transcend Nollywood
Chimamanda Adichie opposes western intervention in tackling Boko Haram
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the prize-winning Nigerian writer, has said she opposes Western military intervention against Boko Haram, the rebel group from the north of the country that recently kidnapped, and is still holding captive, more than 200 girls.She said that while Boko Haram’s actions had forced members of her own family to flee the area, a foreign attack on her homeland would be counterproductive. “Now we have American drones helping us in this forest and even the French have sent in people – shouldn’t they be fixing their own economy?” she said.
“We can solve our own damn problems,” she added.
At the same time Adichie, speaking at the Hay Festival, welcomed the social media campaign Bring Back Our Girls that has drawn the support of many in the US, including Michelle Obama. She pointed out that the Twitter hashtag #bringbackourgirls was started in Nigeria and not, as has been claimed, in America. “It was very much a grassroots social media Nigerian campaign. The fact that westerners are sharing in something started locally is fine with me.
“I recognise that the campaign made a difference. People paid attention and then the [Nigerian] government had to sit up a little bit.”
Adichie argued that local knowledge would be more useful in finding the girls than US drones. “I’m sure that there are hunters in that area who know that forest very well. Why haven’t they been used? Why aren’t we depending on them?
“What we need is a better equipped military, a better trained military: we don’t need Americans to send people in.” Stopping herself at this point, she joked: “This is my Nigerian nationalist rant”.
Adichie was speaking about her latest novel Americanah, which explores the experience of two Nigerian immigrants – one in America and one in Britain. The author, who grew up in Nigeria, said that when she moved to the country to study she adopted an American accent to try to fit in better. “When I went to the US, I remember feeling a sense of dislocation. It was ostensibly an English-speaking country, but I couldn’t understand what people were saying.”
After an American lady in the audience asked a question, Adichie assured her that she could only tease the country because she had so much affection for the place. “It’s like a rich uncle who doesn’t remember my name but gives me pocket money,” she said to audience laughter.
The Telegraph
Related stories: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Chimamanda Adichie's Americanah tops BBC top 10 books of 2013
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