Presidency berates promoters of amnesty for Boko Haram

The Presidency on Monday hit back at the proponents of amnesty for the Boko Haram sect, saying they were politicising the issue.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

President Goodluck Jonathan had, during a visit to Yobe State a few weeks ago, said the Federal Government could not grant amnesty to the militant Islamic sect.

He had said, “We cannot declare amnesty for Boko Haram because we cannot declare amnesty for ghosts. You cannot liken Boko Haram to what happened in the Niger Delta.”

Before the President made the statement, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, had urged the Federal Government to grant Boko Haram total amnesty.

Some prominent Nigerians, including a former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and an ex-Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, faulted the President.

Ribadu spoke on Saturday on Liberty FM, Kaduna.

He said, “Jonathan was wrong to have said that he will not grant amnesty to Boko Haram; he should not fail to protect the people and when people call saying ‘we are tired; we are down’ even if it means to dialogue and have a solution to the whole process, he should opt for such.”

But Okupe, in a statement on Monday said the proponents of the call should learn from how the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta was brokered.

According to him, proponents of amnesty for Boko Haram should initiate contacts with its leaders and convince them to dialogue with government.

Okupe said Jonathan had nothing to gain from the prolongation of the wanton destruction of life and property by members of the sect.

He said leaders of thought in the affected states should prevail on the leadership of the sect to abandon “their destructive pursuit and embrace dialogue”, like the militants in the Niger Delta did before amnesty was granted.

Police debunk headless bodies’ broadcast

The Ogun State Police Command has debunked rumour that headless bodies of three suspected female students were dumped in an area in Ijebu Ode on Monday.

A message circulated via BlackBerry about the incident caused confusion in the town.

It reads, “Three headless bodies suspected to be that of females were thrown off a Range Rover Sport Jeep at Ijebu Ode-Ibadan Road just now.

“One is fair in complexion with University of Lagos identity card (Yetunde Ajao) inside her bag. The second is an Olabisi Onabanjo University student, Oyindamola Esan, also fair in complexion and tall.

“The last one is short, plump and dark with no identity. Please kindly notify their families and friends if you know them before the bodies are run over by vehicles.”

But the spokesperson for the state police command, Muyiwa Adejobi, told our correspondent that the rumours were mischievous and simply untrue.

“When I heard about it, I alerted our men who went there but saw nothing and got no report of such thing in the area,” Adejobi said.

It was also learnt that many residents of the town, who read the broadcast, abandoned their activities and went to Ijebu Ode-Ibadan Road in search of the corpses.

One of them, Tolu Olaleye, said, “We have been here for the past three hours searching all the bushes, but we are yet to see anything. People have turned this road to tourist centre.”

A visit to UNILAG by PUNCH Metro showed that there was no student in its database with the name of Yetunde Ajao.

A source said school officials had cross referenced the institution’s data with the name without success.

The source said, “We also received the message about the headless bodies of three girls, one of which was believed to be a student of UNILAG. We checked all our digital records but the name Yetunde Ajao did not come up.”

2015: PDP moves to appease aggrieved govs • Anenih embarks on fence-mending tour of states

ALARMED by the possibility of disintegration, the Peoples Democratic Party leaders have decided to come down from their high horse and beg the aggrieved governors of the party, The PUNCH learnt on Monday.

The governors’ mass boycott of the party’s peace meeting and celebration of the first anniversary of its National Working Committee, chaired by Alhaji Bamagar Tukur, on Sunday, had apparently sent jitters through the leadership hence the decision to appease the state chief executives.

Both the party’s new Chairman of Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, and Tukur as well as other party members were said to have been shocked by the governors’ absence at the meeting already planned to showcase the success of the PDP’s peace tour across the country.

The mass boycott, curiously, came on the heels of speculations that many PDP governors were already making moves to defect to the yet-to-be-registered opposition coalition party, the All Progressives Congress.

The APC is an arrangement spearheaded by four opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance – with a manifesto to wrest power from the PDP, come 2015.

Out of the 23 PDP governors, only two – Cross River’s Godswill Akpabio and Kogi’s Idris Wada – attended the peace meeting while a handful sent their deputies to the event presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo in Abuja.

Both Tukur and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio, on Monday offered an explanation for the absence of the governors at the peace meeting.

While Akpabio said his colleagues stayed away due to poor publicity, Tukur said the governors were absent “because they were part of the reconciliation meetings in their respective zones, and had made useful contributions during the visit by the National Working Committee members, a reason it was never compelling for them to be in Abuja.”

The Akpabiop-led governors’ forum was formed recently in Abuja at the height of animosity between the Nigerian Governors’ Forum under the leadership of Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s aide on political matters, Ahmed Gulak, in justifying the setting up of the PDP Governors’ Forum said the NGF under Amaechi was being run like a “trade union.”

Already, Anenih, our correspondents learnt, had commenced a panic tour of the states governed by the party with a view to appeasing the governors that had been threatened earlier by both Jonathan and Tukur.

The Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the party, Sen. Walid Jibrin, said, “Our chairman of BoT is already visiting the states to discuss with the governors and I know that his discussion is yielding fruitful results. He will visit all the governors and have one-on-one discussion with them. The governors are with us.”

A source at the national headquarters of the party told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Monday that the governors were becoming more emboldened and that their actions could lead to the disintegration of the PDP.

He said the outcome of the nationwide Reconciliation and Consolidation Tour by the leadership of the party had further shown that the party needed to move fast to prevent the opposition from capitalising on the “huge wedge that is now openly shown to all as a result of what happened during the tour.”

The source, who is a member of the party’s NWC, said that it was amazing that most of the governors refused to be part of the reconciliatory meeting in their zones.

He said, “Imagine, in the whole of North-Central Zone, no single governor was on ground to receive us, even when they knew that the tour was being led by our national chairman.

“While some of them were benevolent to send their deputies to represent them, there were those who even sent deputy speakers of their Houses of Assembly.

“That is very bad. Even in North-East, only two governors attended the meeting. Yet, the governors know that this is the zone of the chairman.

“While we were holding the meeting, we have it on good authority that one of the governors from the zone was busy inaugurating some projects in his state.

“In South-South Zone, some governors even left us in the hall and walked away. The party is in crisis; we don’t need to pretend any longer.”

It was learnt that the Presidency and the party had thought that the plan to dislodge the governors of their powers by threatening to start e-registration of members would make the governors shift their opposition to the leadership of the party.

Apart from this, the setting up of the rival PDP Governors’ Forum, with the aim of polarising the NGF, has also not been able to break the ranks of the governors as expected by the Presidency and the party.

Explaining the PDP governors’ absence at the Abuja meeting, Tukur told journalists at his residence on Monday that some of the governors were not in Nigeria on Sunday. He said others contacted the party that they would not be able to be in Abuja for the rally, adducing different reasons.

He said, “We were in the South-East zone and the governors turned out. When we visited the South-South, Governors Uduaghan, Akpabio and Amaechi came to welcome us and made useful suggestions.

“Indeed, the Rivers State governor spoke to us on behalf of all the PDP governors. Bayelsa State governor, I reckoned, was busy with a special task, while the same story of success trailed our visit to the North.”

He stressed that the reconciliation meetings across the zones and Abuja were meant for members, most especially those who were estranged, and not necessarily for state governors, who he said, had played their parts meaningfully in the party’s reconciliation agenda at the zonal level.

“I think the media should not join the pseudo-democrats, the demagogues and the treachery fellows who always love to reap from chaos and crises. This is why we require the media support in our desire to re-invent politics and recreate Nigeria,” he said.

Tukur said the PDP would not succumb to blackmail coming from those he described as virulent opponents of the party, most especially on their desire to paint a picture of a PDP being at war with itself.

He stressed that the PDP had always been in agreement with its members and all its governors, as evident by the encouraging outcome of the reconciliation tours across the federation.

Asked what the party gained from the tours, he said the PDP had realised that imposition of candidates during elections had been the cause of misunderstanding within its ranks and that this would be corrected during subsequent elections.

Akpabio, after a closed-door meeting with Jonathan in Abuja on Monday, told State House correspondents that it would be unfair to blame any governor who did not attend because they were not aware.

He said, “There is really no crisis in the PDP. The one year anniversary that was celebrated by the NWC at the International Conference Centre yesterday (Sunday) was not well publicised. Many governors were not aware of that ceremony.

“I got to know about the ceremony just a night before the event. I had a visit of the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, and he asked me if I will be at the conference centre on Sunday and I asked him for what and he said grand finale of the zonal meeting of the national chairman and I said I wasn’t aware of it.

“I hosted the Super Eagles in my state on Saturday and I felt let me struggle to represent the governors of the PDP who definitely were not aware. I know that if there was no single governor there, the next thing Nigerians will say is that the governors boycotted.

“I think it was a slightly rushed affair, it was not well publicised. I don’t blame any state governor that was not there. I was even surprised that the governor of Kogi State managed to be there. Clearly speaking, we cannot blame any state governors, it wasn’t a boycott.”

Akpabio also disclosed that contrary to the belief that some PDP governors would abandon the party, they were the ones currently wooing their colleagues in opposition parties to join them.

He said the PDP governors had already set up what he called a tactical committee saddled with the responsibility of luring opposition parties’ governors into their fold.

He said, “The thing is that even now, the opposition is rattled. You can see the barrage of attacks against the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum. That is a sign that the opposition is rattled.

“For instance, we made a paltry donation of a million naira to a state to help delegates and you made it an issue. They set up panels on television and radio stations to discuss the issue.

“If you translate the money, it will come to less than N2,000 per person. If a delegate appears at a function that the party leader does not buy lunch, or give money for transport. So it is something that we are leaving the main issue and going into trivial issues.”

Confirmed: Mikel Obi Is NOT Getting Married To Model Sandra Okugbue!

Rather he is actually annoyed at the wedding rumors.
Here's what Mikel Obi told KickOffNigeria.com today when he was asked about him getting married to model Sandra Okugbue.

"I don't understand where this is coming from! I know her. We're friends, but we haven't spoken in a long time and definitely not about marriage."

CityPeople had actually written that Mikel and Sandra's traditional introduction will hold this Sunday March 31 in Onitsha at Sandra's family home.
That the couple met about three years ago during one of Mikel's visit to Nigeria and Sandra has now become a live-in-lover of the Chelsea midfielder in his UK home.

Akpabio denies rigging election, claims he was misunderstood

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, late Sunday struggled to explain away an indicting video where he brazenly admitted to manipulating his party’s senatorial primaries that produced Aloysius Etok, a serving senator.
Mr. Akpabio said he personally “used my hand” to strike off the name of the winner of the nomination, replacing same with Mr. Etok’s name. He spoke during the controversial Good Governance Tour to Akwa Ibom state two weeks ago.
Mr. Akpabio later backtracked in the lengthy footage after his attention was drawn by an aide to the consequences of his comments. The governor said the he only mobilized support for Mr. Etok to win since his region, a minority in the senatorial district, had not produced a senator since independence.
The video, published by PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, sparked outrage with many calling for sanctions against the governor.
The Akwa Ibom Government blamed the media and “mischief makers” for the governor’s gaffe in a statement issued late Sunday. The state’s Information Commissioner, Anieka Umanah, said Mr. Akpabio was misunderstood, and emphasized the governor’s subsequent attempt at clarifying the comments.
“Contrary to false impression making the rounds that Senator Aloysius Etok, representing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District was imposed on the people of the area by Governor Godswill Akpabio, it has been explained that the choice of the Senator was the outcome of due political process,” a statement by Idris Mabadeje, an Information Officer, said.
Mr. Umanah is quoted by the statement as claiming that Mr. Akpabio “was misunderstood in a video post on some websites and in the social media.”
“Chief Akpabio has never, and would never engage in the rigging of election at any level,” he said, assuring that “Governor Akpabio is a true democrat who will always support and promote efforts geared towards deepening Nigeria’s fledgling democracy.”
Mr. Akpabio has been at the centre of multiple “donation” scandals involving his well-known profligate use of state funds for indiscreet purposes.
Despite clear evidences exposing the governor in the past, the state government’s reactions and those of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which has been a key beneficiary of the governor’s largesse, have been to dismiss the attacks as political; occasioned by Mr. Akpabio’s recent emergence as the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.
The state government and the party said the wave of media disclosures on the governor are sponsored by the opposition parties and some disgruntled PDP members.
But amid the claims, there have been no letup in the governor’s extravagance. Mr. Akpabio himself told journalists in Uyo over the weekend that the attacks will not deter him from his habits. He followed that pledge up with cash gifts to the Super Eagles who played a World Cup qualifier in Calabar on Saturday.
This time though, as if subtly reflecting his acknowledgement of the criticisms, the donations appeared fair and not characteristically outlandish. Each player at the Nations Cup got N1 million while Coach Stephen Keshi received N2 million. Assistant Coaches got N500 thousand each

Mikel Obi set to wed Delta Soap beauty queen, Sandra Okagbue

                                          
According to City People, Nigeria International Star, Mikel Obi is set to wed Sandra Okagbue who is a Delta Soap beauty queen. See report below:

“The two love birds who have been dating for almost 3 years now have decided to seal the relationship. Their introduction comes up next Sunday March 31 at Sandra’s family home in Onitsha. This development will definitely not come as a surprise to most of their friends. This is because their romance has grown stronger by the day that Sandra has been a live-in-lover of the Chelsea midfielder in his UK home.

They met about three years ago during one of Mikel’s visit to Nigeria and they’ve been together ever since. According to family sources, Mikel Obi is so in love with Sandra that he has invested millions to settle her family, most especially the family’s residence located at Ajao Estate, which had Mikel’s financial blessing.

Francis Meets Benedict: First Recorded Meeting Of Two Popes

In yet another first, Pope Francis had a lunch meeting with his predecessor, Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI. There is no public record of two popes ever meeting in history. At least, it is the first time in 600 years that Saturday afternoon’s meeting has taken place.
Pope Francis was flown by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo, the residence of the Pope Emeritus for a private lunch.
Pope Francis succeeded Benedict on March 13 after the latter resigned due to failing health.
They have spoken by telephone since Francis was elected but this is their first face-to-face meeting.
The only other time that a meeting like Saturdays could have happened was in 1294, after the resignation of Celestine V after 5 months as pope. But his successor, Boniface VIII who was elected days later, imprisoned Celestine who eventually died within a year. There is no record of their meeting in person during this period
The two men on Saturday held each other in a warm embrace after the helicopter landed. They subsequently prayed together and held a 45 minutes talk. Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Lombardi described the discussion as “family like.”
During the prayer, Fr. Lombardi told reporters, Pope Benedict turned over the position of the kneeler before the altar, which is traditionally a position of honour, to Pope Francis but he declined saying: “We are brothers, we pray together.”
Pope Francis presented Benedict a gift of a painting he said reminded him of Benedict’s gifts to the Church.

Biochemistry graduate impersonates doctor, opens pharmacy

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a jobless graduate of Biochemistry for allegedly operating a pharmacy as well as administering medical treatment to patients.

It was learnt that the suspect, Kenneth Ogbonna, was arrested by policemen attached to the Area E Command, FESTAC.

According to police authorities, the suspect, who goes by the pseudonym, doctor, is a third-class graduate of Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto.

The police also alleged that the suspect owned an illegal pharmacy at 4C, Marwa Road, Ijegun Market, Satellite Town.

It was learnt that trouble started for the suspect after lodging a sick friend in a hotel and was administering drugs and injections to him.

A senior police officer, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said, “The suspect was treating one Nelson Ibenezim. He had kept him (Ibenezim) in the hotel for about four days before he was finally arrested.

“At the hotel, we noticed that the victim was placed on drip. We also saw marks of needle on him which means the suspect had been injecting him with drugs.

“We then went to the pharmacy he operates where we discovered medical equipment even though the suspect is not a doctor. We learnt he treats people on a daily basis at that same hotel which he has been using for about three years now.

We are also interrogating some employees at the hotel because we have a strong feeling that they conspired with the suspect to carry out the illegitimate business.

But the suspect said he graduated with a third class from the university which had made it difficult for him to get a decent job.

He said, “I intended studying medicine at the university but when I did not get good grades, I was transferred to Biochemistry Department where I finished with a third class. I graduated in 2000 and when I could not make ends meet, I decided to open a pharmacy.

“The person that was found in the hotel is my friend. He had malaria and I was treating him. I know the appropriate drugs to use and there is no way I would have killed him.”

When contacted on the telephone, the spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the story but added that she had no details.

Terrorism funding: Govs, embassies’ accounts under surveillance

 

Security agencies in collaboration with banks and other financial institutions in the country are monitoring accounts belonging to foreign embassies, politically exposed persons and other high net worth individuals.

Investigations by The PUNCH’s showed such accounts were those that could be used to launder money and finance terrorism.

It was gathered that security agencies categorised politically exposed persons as individuals entrusted with prominent public offices in Nigeria or foreign embassies and officials as well as people associated with them.

They also include former heads of state; state governors; local government chairmen , senior government, and political party officials and their family members.

Also being monitored are accounts of former governors, ex- local government chairmen, ex-senior government officials and their counterparts in the judiciary.

Investigations showed that the monitoring system was activated in late 2012 as part of security strategies to cut off the sources of funding for terrorism and other criminal enterprises in the country.

It was learnt on Sunday that the monitoring strategy was based on the Central Bank of Nigeria risk-based supervision framework.

Security sources told one of our correspondents that certain embassies or foreign consulate accounts which posed a higher risk in the areas of terrorism funding were getting special attention from officials.

It was learnt that the officials were expected to file reports on their monthly transactions with the CBN and appropriate security agency(cies) for analysis and action.

The banks are said to ‘redflag’ accounts where substantial currency transactions take place, particularly if it was owned by countries that have been designated as higher risk . Such countries include Iran, Mauritania, Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and other nations associated with violent Islamic groups.

Some Nigerians involved in terror-related activities are believed to have been trained in Yemen, Pakistan, Mali, Mauritania and others.

One of the security sources said on Sunday that, “Banks are expected to redflag accounts belonging to certain embassies or politically exposed persons like governors especially if the account activity is not consistent with the purpose of the account.

“Ongoing monitoring of embassy and foreign consulate account relationships is critical to ensuring that the account relationships are being used as expected.”

It was learnt that security agencies had identified prepaid credit/debit cards as a source of criminal funding based on the fact that some card holders use false identification and also load cash from illicit sources onto their cards.

According to our source, such card holders usually send transfer funds to their accomplices inside or outside the country for criminal activities.

Investigations indicated that prepaid cards were being used as illegal cash transfer point by criminal-minded individuals on account of the anonymity of the cardholder, fictitious cardholder information, easy cash access of the card and the huge volume of funds that could be transacted on the card.

The fact that credit card can easily be used and reloaded from any geographical point that has an ATM machine, makes it the preferred tool for money laundering ,it was gathered.

It was also learnt that each bank was required to submit the financial transactions of at least 50 of its most active customers who must include PEPs, private investment companies, Non-Governmental Organisations, consulate accounts, brokers, and anyone with access to government assets.

The State Security Service, police and immigration are also investigating the nationals of some countries tagged “nations sponsoring terrorism.”

When contacted, Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, denied knowledge of such accounts being placed on surveillance.

He said, “This is news to me, I am hearing it for the first time from you.”

The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said the police were doing everything possible to check terrorism, stressing that the Force was deploying every necessary strategy to check crimes in the country.

“I won’t say the police are working with banks to monitor every bank accounts, but we are actively deploying our strategies in checking terrorism by cutting off their sources of funding,” he stated.

SUNDAY PUNCH had earlier reported that security agents were on the trail of three different foreign-sponsored terror cells in the country.

A senior security official had identified the sponsors of the terror cells as being resident in Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The terror cells were similar to the Iranian cell uncovered by the State Security Service last month.

The SSS had also paraded a leader of an Islamic sect, Abdullahi Berende, and two others said to be members of the Iranian terror cell gathering information about Israelis and Americans living in Nigeria.

Fifty-year-old Berende, Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewunmi, were said to be working for Iranian terrorists planning to attack Americans and Israelis in the country. A third suspect, Bunyamin Yusuf, is said to be at large.

But Iran denied the allegations by Nigeria that it had trained militants arrested in Nigeria on planning attacks on US and Israeli targets in the country.

Deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said such allegations were “made up as the result of the ill will of the enemies of the two countries’ good relations.”

“Iran and Nigeria have friendly and close relations, and despite the vast efforts of the two countries’ enemies in recent years, relations and co-operations have always improved,” he said.

Akpabio admits rigging primary election

 

Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has confessed to manipulating the result of a 2007 Peoples Democratic Party senatorial primary election in the state by single-handedly replacing the winner with the name of his preferred candidate.

Akpabio, who is also the PDP Governors Forum chairman, made the confession when a delegation of the National Good Governance Tour visited the state on March 9.

The tour, which was recorded with a video camera, was led by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku. The video which went viral on Sunday was as of 8.47pm viewable on premiumtimes.com, the website of an online Nigerian news portal, Premium Times.

The governor made the confession while defending his claim of being fair to the people of Ini and Ikono.

He was responding to a question that he had not impacted the lives of the people of the two communities, especially in the area of roads, schools and other public infrastructure.

The communities form part of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. Akpabio said he struck out the name of the person who won the PDP primary election and replaced it with Aloysius Etuk.

Etuk went ahead to win the senatorial election. He remains a serving senator having won a reelection in 2011.

The governor said, “The people of Ikono and Ini (Local Government Areas) from 1960 have never produced a Senator.

“I used my own hand to strike out the name of the person who has won before, and I said it is important for me to give that region a Senator in 2007, and I produced Senator Aloysius Etuk for you; that’s where he comes from.”

Etuk, who was in attendance at the town hall meeting, confirmed the claim when Akpabio asked him to stand up and “take a bow”.

The governor’s confession shocked many in attendance.

The governor, who was later hinted of the implication of his claim then sought to further clarify it.

He said, “So, I must say that I thank all of you, including the members of the National Assembly led by Senator Aloysius Etok. And when I said that I made Aloy(sius Etok) to become a senator in 2007, I need to explain it so that you don’t think that I wrote his name and he became a senator.

“During the primaries of the PDP, we zoned the Senate seat to his federal constituency. And from the federal constituency, he came first in the primaries. That happened in the PDP. So we said since he was the first among the people who came from his federal constituency for the primaries, then he must be the one to become the senator.”

Ribadu faults Jonathan, wants amnesty for Boko Haram

A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has warned that the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to grant amnesty to terror group, Boko Haram, can plunge the country into another civil war.

Ribadu, who was the presidential candidate for the Action Congress of Nigeria in the 2011 presidential election, spoke on Liberty FM in Kaduna on Saturday.

He urged the President to grant amnesty to the violent Islamist sect for peace to return to the country, saying he (Jonathan) should not claim that the sect members were ghosts.

He argued that with the way things were happening in the country, if nothing was done, “Nigerians will lose Nigeria to a civil war.”

Advising Nigerians against voting for a leader they can not trust, he told Jonathan to “hearken to the voice of the people.”

Ribadu said, “Jonathan was wrong to have said he will not grant amnesty to Boko Haram; he should not fail to protect the people and when people call saying we are tired, we are down; even if it means to dialogue and have an solution to the whole process, he should opt for such.

“You cannot say they are faceless because faceless people do not do things like this. Faceless people cannot be responsible and daily you see them on Facebook. Faceless people cannot be in your custody; ghosts cannot be people that are in the community, people who at a point wanted to dialogue.”

The former EFCC chairman added that a war could be averted “if we come together forgetting about sentiments, about differences and working towards unity and saving the resources of this country because it is only through that that we will be able to achieve peace.”

Ribadu added that the presidential pardon granted former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and others showed that Jonathan was insensitive to the plight of the Nigerian masses.

According to him, it was worrisome for a government that knew nothing about the case to pardon the former governor who was convicted for looting public funds. He argued that the action was a big setback for the fight against corruption in the country.

He said, “The pardon granted Alamieyeseigha and Shettima Bulama by the President is a tragic development. A very unfair action against Nigerians because corruption is our biggest problem and any step taken against the direction of reversing it is a negative development in our own country.

“Our leaders are very insensitive to the ordinary people and very unfair to Nigeria. If you take selfish interest before the interest of the people, personally, as a person who did the work of fighting corruption, they were my own cases and they were extremely very important to me.

“They were the first set of convictions that we recorded and they were significant because they were the first set of cases of convictions in Nigeria since independence. We have never had a governor or a Chief Executive Officer of a bank being convicted for a crime.”

Meanwhile, a coalition of Northern civil society groups, led by Mallam Shehu Sani, also faulted the pardon granted Alamieyeseigha, saying it had made nonsense of the anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Government.

The coalition argued that the pardon granted the late Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, former Chief of General Staff , Gen. Oladipo Diya and the late Gen.Abdulkareem Adisa was just to give creditability to the exercise.

It said, “What we know very well is that pardon for Alamieyeseigha is unpopular, and President Jonathan has demonstrated over the years to be rewarding corruption and aiding and abetting it.”

Kenya free kick shocked me – Enyeama

Super Eagles captain Vincent Enyeama has admitted that he had no clue to the Kenyan free-kick that beat him on Saturday in the World Cup qualifying match played in Calabar. Francis Kahata put Kenya ahead with a curling free kick that left the best goalkeeper of South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations stranded. And in reaction to the goal Enyeama said he was taken aback by the style of the player.

He said, “It was one of the best free-kicks I have ever seen. Truly I never expected such a kick from a Kenyan; that’s the kind of shot you expect to get from a Brazilian, South Americans. But you saw what happened; the ball curled very well into that angle. I was surprised by his skill. One of the best free-kicks I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of free-kicks but not a top corner like that.

“It was a perfect kick into the right corner.”

The goal shook the Eagles bench and left fans at the UJ Esuene Stadium wondering how the match would end.

Nigeria, crowned African Nations Cup champions just last month, needed a dramatic late equaliser to rescue a 1-1 home draw with bottom team Kenya whom fans had expected would be blown away. At the end the fans had to pray for an equaliser all through.

Substitute Nnamdi Oduamadi, who plays for Italian second-tier club Varese, scored three minutes into stoppage time to save the Nigerians from an embarrassing defeat. The match was Nigeria’s first since their success at the Nations Cup.

It was the second draw in three games for Nigeria who have five points, level with Malawi at the top of the group.

Namibia have three points from three matches and Kenya are bottom on two points.

Tuface, Annie SEAL ROMANCE WITH 24-HOUR wedding in dubai

It’s confirmed. Tuface and his long time lover, Annie Macaulay, are exchanging their marriage vows today at the prestigious Jumeirah Beach Hotel, a five star resort centre in Dubai.

According to the information made available on the singer’s website, 2faceonline.com, guests will witness a 24-hour wedding activities between 1am on Saturday and 12am UAE time on Sunday.

However, only about 250 guests made up of family, friends and business associates will witness the wedding, which preparation is said to have gulped millions of naira.

Tuface, Annie and their daughter Isabella left Nigeria via Emirates Airline on Monday alongside his brother, Hyacinth, their father and Tuface’s personal assistant.

The wedding planner got into Dubai on Tuesday morning to set things in motion.

Saturday Beats gathered that Emirates is the ‘official airline’ for the wedding as it conveyed most of the guests to Dubai. The singer has the support of his millionaire friend, Ayiri Emami, and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio.

A source close to the couple said that Tuface sent a letter of invitation to the governor of his home state, Benue, Chief Gabriel Suswam. The source, however, said he was not privy to the nature of support the African Queen crooner received from his state governor.

Interestingly, Nigerian-born UK designer, Yemi Osunkoya aka Yemi Kosibah, has come out to deny having anything to do with Annie’s dress.

Reports (not Saturday PUNCH) had said the couple paid Kosibah £7,000 for Annie’s wedding dress. But the designer took to Twitter to rebut the claim.

“Thank goodness for Google Alerts. Just seen some false information about me/Kosibah that could have damaged my brand. Please get your facts right. I have not made Annie’s dress,” he tweeted.

Annie also debunked the €7,000 Kosibah wedding gown tale on Twitter. She noted that she did not tell anyone that her wedding dress was made by Kosibah. She tweeted, “KOSIBAH did NOT make my wedding dress! Would appreciate it if bloggers and the press get their facts right before publishing anything! A very talented young lady did!”

It was also reported that Tuface’s groom’s men would be his close pals, Larry Gaga, Faze, Sound Sultan, Hyacinth Idibia, D’banj and Tony Tetuila.

When contacted on Wednesday night, Tetuila confirmed that he would be at the wedding. He, however, told Saturday Beats that he was not sure if he would be leaving for Dubai on Thursday or Friday. When the singer was asked if he is part of the groomsmen, he replied, “That’s what he (Tuface) said. I cannot make myself a groomsman.”

Kano bombing may have caused his death – Soyinka, Clark

 

Veteran writers and Achebe’s compatriots, Prof. Wole Soyinka and J.P. Clark, have linked his death to the bomb attacks that occurred in Kano on Monday.

In a joint statement they issued on Friday, entitled “On the Passing of Chinua Achebe,” they noted that his death might have been hastened by the shock from the violence that those they described as Achebe’s people suffered during the attacks.

The statement read, “For us, the loss of Chinua Achebe is, above all else, intensely personal. We have lost a brother, a colleague, a trailblazer and a doughty fighter.

“Of the ‘pioneer quartet’ of contemporary Nigerian literature, two voices have been silenced – one, of the poet Christopher Okigbo, and now, the novelist Chinua Achebe.

“It is perhaps difficult for outsiders of that intimate circle to appreciate this sense of depletion, but we take consolation in the young generation of writers to whom the baton has been passed, those who have already creatively ensured that there is no break in the continuum of the literary vocation.

“We need to stress this at a critical time of Nigerian history, where the forces of darkness appear to overshadow the illumination of existence that literature represents.

“These are forces that arrogantly pride themselves implacable and brutal enemies of what Chinua and his pen represented, not merely for the African continent, but for humanity.

“Indeed, we cannot help wondering if the recent insensate massacre of Chinua’s people in Kano, only a few days ago, hastened the fatal undermining of that resilient will that had sustained him so many years after his crippling accident.”

Achebe and politics

 

When the news of Prof. Chinua Achebe’s death broke on Friday morning, many people needed to confirm it. It wasn’t because they felt he was immortal, but because the thematic thrust of his latest and last literary gift to the world, his civil war memoir – There Was a Country: A personal history of Biafra –would only have been taken up by a warrior ready to deflate his arrows on the war front.

Achebe, 82, played a critical role in establishing post-colonial African literature. His seminal novel, Things Fall Apart, often cited as the most read book in modern African literature, has been read by students all over the world and translated into 50 languages worldwide.

His death on Thursday night is a big blow to the Ndigbo. The death of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in 2011 had left the Igbo with fewer voices that can rally them together. Although Achebe was not known to dabble in partisan politics, he was the voice for not only his people, but the African continent. Also, his death has depleted the rank of older generation Nigerian writers.

But then, the Iroko of African literature had been nursing ailing health for some time. He was involved in an accident that left him partially disabled in 1990.

In spite of that the Ogidi, Anambra State-born writer, had been in the news of recent.

The novel, There Was a Country: A personal history of Biafra, released into the literary market late last year, stirred the hornet’s nest. Achebe, (born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe) and known as the Onwa Ndigbo, in his characteristic easy-to-understand style, had dug into the civil war era and come up with a literature that some claimed could cause disaffection in the polity. In the war memoir, he accused among others, wartime Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, and the then Finance Minister, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, of carrying out genocide against the Igbo.

Of course, this drew the ire of a number of Nigerians. Many of them slammed the renowned author, chief among them, a former commissioner for works, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, who flayed Achebe for reopening old wounds.

He said, “I feel a bit disappointed at the statement credited to one of Nigeria’s leading literary lights and, indeed, one of Africa’s leading lights, Prof. Chinua Achebe. I am quite disappointed about the book alleged to have been written by him about a subject in which I played a leading role on the federal side.

“The allegation about Chief Obafemi Awolowo starving the Igbo-speaking Nigerians is totally false. Chief Awolowo was not actively involved in the peace talks.”

However, Achebe’s compatriot and brother in the literary world, the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, backed Achebe. Soyinka, in an interview published in The Telegraph of London, said the Igbo were victims of genocide during the three-year civil war. He justified the secession bid and described Biafrans as a people who had been abused.

He said, “Of course I used my weapon, which was writing, to express my disapproval of the (Biafran) civil war into which we were about to enter. These were people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of its own.”

Of course, this would not be the first time Achebe’s work would stir controversy. His first novel which made him popular worldwide, Things Fall Apart, was written to rebut the portrayal of Africa as a dark continent inhabited by cultureless people in Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. In Things Fall Apart, which could be described as the great Nigerian novel, Achebe painted a true account of a traditional African society with its culture, traditions and laws. His other works, No Longer at Ease, Arrows of God and many others explored the African life. He was also the conscience of his society as can be gleaned from his works.

Apart from Achebe’s great literary achievement, he would be remembered as a man of character, who refused not one, but two national honours because he was not at peace with governance in Nigeria.

He had persistently reminded those in authorities that they had abdicated their duties and slammed them for instituting and sustaining corruption.

He protested the policies of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, by rejecting the two national honours they offered him in 2004 and 2011 respectively.

The Jonathan administration in 2011, offered him Nigeria’s third highest honour, The Commander of the Federal Republic.

In his rejection statement, Achebe noted, “The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed, let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore regretfully decline the offer again.”

In 2004, Achebe had stated in a letter to President Obasanjo, “I write this letter with a very heavy heart. For some time now, I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency.

“Forty three years ago, at the first anniversary of Nigeria’s independence I was given the first Nigerian National Trophy for Literature. In 1979, I received two further honours – the Nigerian National Order of Merit and the Order of the Federal Republic – and in 1999 the first National Creativity Award.

“I accepted all these honours fully aware that Nigeria was not perfect; but I had a strong belief that we would outgrow our shortcomings under leaders committed to uniting our diverse peoples. Nigeria’s condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honour awarded me in the 2004 Honours List.

“Twenty-seven years ago, I wrote a pamphlet called ‘Trouble in Nigeria’, which was about corruption. Today, matters are worse because they have been allowed to get worse.”

Achebe, however, had won the inaugural edition of the Nigerian National Merit Award in the mid-1980s. In 1982, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Kent. In 1992, he became the first living author to be represented in the Everyman’s Library collection published by Alfred A. Knopf.

He has been called “the father of modern African writing” and many books and essays have been written about his work in the past 50 years.

According to Wikipedia, Achebe was the recipient of over 30 honorary degrees from universities in England, Scotland, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States, including Dartmouth College, Harvard, and Brown University.

He has been awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize; an Honorary Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1982); a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002); the Nigerian National Order of Merit (Nigeria’s highest honour for academic work); and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. The Man Booker International Prize 2007 and the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize are two of the more recent accolades Achebe has received.

Prof. Robert Gibson once said that the Nigerian author “is now revered as Master by the younger generation of African writers and it is to him they regularly turn for counsel and inspiration.”

Many writers of succeeding generations regard his works as having paved the way for their efforts. Even outside of Africa, his impact resonates strongly in literary circles.

Novelist Margaret Atwood called him “a magical writer – one of the greatest of the twentieth century”. Poet Maya Angelou lauded Things Fall Apart as a book wherein “all readers meet their brothers, sisters, parents and friends and themselves along Nigerian roads”.

Nelson Mandela, recalling his time as a political prisoner, once referred to Achebe as a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down.”

Sambo Convoy In Auto Crash, Two Supporters Feared Dead

The convoy of the Vice President Namadi Sambo was involved in an auto crash in Kaduna Friday, just as two people were feared dead.
His spokesperson, Umar Sani, said the bus involved in the crash belonged to PDP supporters, who came to receive the vice president ahead of the peace and reconciliation meeting of the party involving northwest zone.
According to eyewitness account, the victims of the accident were taken to 44 Military Hospital for medical attention.
Sani confirmed the death of two of the PDP supporters, while the four other persons involved in the crash were receiving treatment in the hospital at the expense of the Kaduna State government

Breaking:Two Explosions Rock Kano

Two explosions have been reported in different locations in the troubled city of Kano early on Saturday.
Details are still sketchy. A reporter based in Kano who declined to be named said that the first explosion happened at Hotoro area, close to the NNPC Mega station.
“We are yet to get details of the explosion, but sources around the area said that the explosion was from a car who refused to stop for search at a military stop and search point,” he said.
He said the military patrol team subsequently pursued the car and later engaged the occupants in an exchange of gun fire.
“The car was actually loaded with explosives which was detonated as a result of the heavy gunfire” he added.
The other explosion reportedly occurred at Tishama neighbourhood along the Eastern Bye-Pass Road.
Details about the second explosion is still sketchy. Residents said it was also followed by sporadic gunshots.
The Joint Task Force and the police in Kano were not reachable for comments.
Kano, the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria have recently become a priority target for attacks by suicide bombers, and gunmen believed to be members of the terrorist Boko Haram sect.

Aki Finally Steps Out With His Wife, Nneoma

Nearly two years after their talk of the town wedding, Nollywood super star Chinedu Ikedieze famously known as Aki and his amiable wife Nneoma, wowed many, especially his teeming fans with what could be described as their first public appearance.
The rare public appearance was at Bovi’s Man on Fire Comedy Show, which held recently on the Island. Photographers spotted the love struck couple walking in hand in hand at the Eko Hotels venue of the comedy show that was hugely attended. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Ikedieze played the perfect Romeo and Juliet in the full glare of the public as they didn’t leave each other’s sight throughout the period the show lasted.
The couple’s public display of affection for each was very obvious on the red carpet with Aki pampering and treating his jewel like the real queen that she is. The famous entertainer was swathed in a blue denim atop a white shirt that equally complemented his black pair of shoes. While his sweetheart, opted for a knee length white knicker on a flowery gray top that fitted her sexy shape. From the look of things at the venue, it was obvious the couple thoroughly enjoyed themselves while the show lasted. Meanwhile, what many thought was a mirage became reality in late 2011 when the actor wedded Nneoma, his angel of over two years.
The much talked about nuptial climaxed with a star- studded and glamorous wedding reception in Lagos, after a traditional union that earlier held in Mbaino,Imo State .