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  • IFJ urges media to rethink sterotypes of women in news

    IFJ urges media to rethink sterotypes of women in news

    The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday marked the International Women’s Day by calling on media organisations to help overcome dangerous stereotypes that contribute to discrimination, by rethinking the way they portray women in the media.

    This call follows a series of initiatives undertaken by the IFJ in recent years to campaign for a fair and balanced gender portrayal in the news, recognising the role and responsibility of journalists and the media.
    The IFJ says that the development of guidelines and gender ethical reporting checklists is a starting point to address stereotypes, silence, repression, intimidation (violence) and discrimination. It is now time to take further actions.
    “We recognise that shining a light in places where some do not want their actions to be seen, can be a very dangerous business. However, taking our own responsibilities for ethical gender reporting means to break through dangerous stereotypes, and walls of silence hiding discrimination, violence, and sometimes death,” says Mindy Ran, chair of the IFJ gender council.
    “As well as fair and balanced reporting, our responsibility is also about minimising potential harm to those we interview, recognising that the glare of the media can bring its own danger, and that those seldom heard voices at the edge are as important as those shouting in the middle.”
    In a special newsletter to mark International Women’s Day, the IFJ Gender Council is calling on journalists’ unions and media to reflect on the choices they make in the production of news and to reflect on the negative impact this may have on the public’s perception of women and on women’s lives.
    “Not presenting women’s lives as essential, valuable and worthy of respect, but as simply victims or second class citizens, tells whole new generations that it is ok to do so, when clearly – it is not,” warns Ran.
    As part of its activities leading up to International Women’s Day, the IFJ is also conducting a series of safety trainings for women in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

    ” The IFJ is committed to ensuring that women journalists who report from the front line and other challenging situations learn life-saving skills with a special emphasis on gender mainstreaming,” added Beth Costa, IFJ General Secretary.

  • Jonathan declines amnesty for Boko Haram

    Jonathan declines amnesty for Boko Haram

    …Says ‘We cannot give amnesty to ghosts’ 

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said the call of amnesty for Boko Haram members by some people is out of question, just as he declared that his government cannot grant amnesty for “ghosts.”

    The president, who was in Damaturu for the first time since almost one year of the insurgency in the state, also dismissed insinuations that he does not like the north-eastern part of country.

    President Jonathan met with the stakeholders in a Town Hall Meeting at the Wawa Hall of the government House in Damaturu and said that his visit to the state is to reassure the people of the state that he does not discriminate against any section of the country.

    Speaking on the issue of amnesty, the president said,“Even the media was saying the president was going to Yobe to declare amnesty …… you cannot declare amnesty for ghosts. Boko Haram is still operating as ghosts. You don’t see the person. I am from the Niger Delta and I know the amnesty issue of the Niger Delta. Some of these names you hear- Asari Dokobo, Tom Ateke, I never knew them before.

    “The first time I saw them was when I was a deputy governor and a came to Abuja for with a meeting with ex- president Olusegun Obasanjo at the villa. I never knew them even though I am from Bayelsa State, the hotbed of the militancy then. What I am saying is that in the Niger Delta, if you call them, they will come and tell you their grievances whether rightly or wrongly. They will be there to tell you that this is what we want and this is why we are doing this.

    “But the Boko Haram, you don’t see anybody who says he is a Boko Haram as such you cannot declare amnesty. For you to declare amnesty, you have to be communicating with people. You cannot declare amnesty for people that are operating under a veil so we cannot even discuss the issue of amnesty.

    “Let them come, let us discuss how we solve the problem. If amnesty will solve the problem, no problem about it. We can define what the amnesty is. I say so because even the Niger Delta amnesty was poorly managed with a lot of challenges. If I am not from the Niger Delta, the whole thing would have been disastrous by now because of the way it was poorly managed, “the president said.

     

  • Jonathan signed one-term agreement —Junaid Mohammed

    Jonathan signed one-term agreement —Junaid Mohammed

    A new twist has been introduced to the controversy on the alleged secret  signing of a single tenure term by  President Goodluck Jonathan as a top northern  second republic legislator , Dr. Junaid Mohammed, insists that the document exist.

    Mohammed, who made the disclosure on Monday morning on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said he has sighted the document and that it was signed by the President, some governors and two deputy governors prior to the 2011 elections.

    Niger State Governor, Dr. Aliyu Babangida, had in a radio programme in Kaduna some few weeks ago blown the whistle on the existence of the document while the Presidency debunked the claim, daring anyone in possession of such an agreement to release it to the public.

    But Mohammed said he sighted the original document in the hands of trusted political confidants whom he had known for over 40 years.

    He said: “I am persuaded to say that such an agreement exists and it was signed by some governors, and I think, two deputy governors at the time. I have sighted the document and I got to know this from people whom I have known from 40-50 years that the agreement exists.

     “People are prepared to deny the existence of the paper because of our culture of double talk. We do not need a lower ranked aide of the President to deny it. As far as I am concerned, something of that magnitude should have been cleared by a very senior person at the highest possible level to clarify—someone at the Presidency. Dr. Doyin Okupe is my friend and he did the same thing for Obasanjo until he was fired.”

     The public affairs analyst and former lawmaker, accused Jonathan of lacking the political will to reshuffle the cabinet because of the activities of powerful forces hanging around the corridors of power.

     “There are clearly many powerful forces that are stopping the President from reshuffling the cabinet because there are two women ministers who think they cannot be removed from their posts.

    “The discourse on the 2015 election is premature but it was started by Jonathan. All we’ve had from 2011 to date was slogan. Promises were made and they have not been kept. The promises have been kept aside. You have to blame the President on early talk of 2015 and he is unleashing his attack dogs on the nation.

     “Nobody would believe the tale that the President would not run in 2015. The man is behind it and his body language says a lot. The body language indicates that he would be running. They have started preparing the war chest for 2015. They are pulling money for election through deliberate, half-hearted implementation of annual budgets. They leave no room for anybody to trust them and I, for one, do not trust them, ” Mohammed stated.

     Asked to clarify which party he is associated with , Mohammed said: “I am not  and will not be a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party because the party is fixated to the primordial sentiments of zoning and rotation.

     “I don’t believe that I speak for the North because the leaders of the North who claim to speak for the region are not sincere. That is why they would enter into an agreement with people who cannot keep to the terms of that agreement. Tough luck to them!”

  • Arthouse hosts forum on Whiteman’s Lagos book

    Arthouse hosts forum on Whiteman’s Lagos book

    Poet and  painter Deji Toye will moderate a conversation on Kaye Whiteman’s ‘LAGOS: A Cultural and Historical Companion’ at the Freedom Park (1 Hospital Road, by Broad Street, Lagos) at 4pm  on Thursday, March 7.

    The conversation is part of an arthouse forum, organized by the Committee For Relevant Art(CORA), in honour of Whiteman, who is flying into town to launch the book. A musical show will also be held at the Park’s food court after the conversation to mark the author’s 77the birthday.

    The discussants are Tolu Ogunlesi, poet and journalist, and Toni Kan, poet, short story writer, journalist and publicist, and Femke van Zeiji, a Dutch Journalist who recently relocated to Lagos.

    Whiteman first came to Nigeria in the 60s, but he fell for Lagos when he lived in the city for two years between 2000 and 2002.
    The book’s blurb says  that the author “explores a city that has constantly re-invented itself, from the first settlement on an uninhabited island to the creation of the port in the early years of the twentieth century…. The city’s melting-pot has ferti­lised a unique literary and artistic flowering that is only now beginning to be appreciated by a world that has only seen slums and chaos”.

  • CP’s death paralyses activities in Kwara police command

    Activities were at a standstill at Kwara State Police Command and Police Officers’ Mess in IIorin following the assassination of the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Chinweke Asadu, in Enugu.

    A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who went round Ilorin on Sunday, reports that the command and other police formations were like ghost towns.

    At the command and other formations visited by NAN, officers and men were seen discussing the demise of the police chief.

    Some top police officers in some of the formations and officers’ mess were in tears while others were too dazed to utter a word.

    Some of the officers, who spoke to NAN but refused to give their names, described the death of the commissioner as `a big tragedy’ to the command and the entire police force

    “We have lost a fine gentleman and hardworking officer,’’ they said.

    Asadu was shot on Saturday night at Amorji-Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State by unknown gunmen.

    The late commissioner’s orderly, Mr Aloha Olaniyi, and his driver, Mr Oliver Omeh, who were with him at the time of the incident, sustained bullet wounds.

    The two men are currently receiving treatment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu.

  • 20 Boko Haram members killed in Borno

    Twenty members of the notorious Boko Haram sect were  killed by men of the  Joint Task Force in Borno State, Operation Restore Order on Sunday  in a deadly shot out  in Monguno town.

    The killing of the sect members came just as two top members of the sect, said to be responsible for the detonation of explosive bombs during the visit last week to Maiduguri of governors of the opposition party were arrested.

    The spokesperson of the JTF, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa in a statement on Sunday said: “Information available to the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Order indicated that some Boko Haram Terrorists attempted to attack a Military Barracks at Monguno, Monguno Local Government Area, Borno State at about 5 am today, Sunday 3 March, 2013.
    ” Monguno is about 200 kilometers away from Maiduguri and about two hours drive. The attack was repelled by the FOB’s and JTF troops at the outskirt of the barracks. The encounter led to the death of 20 Boko Haram Terrorists, 3 four wheel vehicles and 8 motor cycles used by the terrorists were destroyed.”

    Items  recovered from the sect members included seven AK47 Rifles, 10 Rocket Propelled Grenade, two RPG Tubes, large quantity of assorted Ammunitions and eight assorted magazines.

  • Kwara Police Commissioner killed in Enugu

    Kwara Police Commissioner killed in Enugu

    Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chinwike Asadu,  has been shot dead by unknown gunmen  while on a private visit to Enugu his home state.

    The police commissioner who was shot at about 9.50 pm Saturday was about entering his house at Amorji-Nike, near the densely populated Abakpa Enugu.

    His police orderly, Aloha Olaniyi and driver, Oliver Omeh, who were with him at the time of the incident sustained serious bullet wounds  and are said to be lying critically at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu.

    The Police Commissioner, who reportedly visited his home in Enugu at the weekend, was driving into his private residence when the assailants who  may have laid an ambush around his residence attacked him and his aides about 100 metres away from his house.

    CP Asadu, according to sources, had a visitor whom he escorted along with his driver and a police orderly posted to guard his residence from Abakpa Police Division, leaving behind the official escort team that came with him from Kwara State Police Command.

    They were returning to the house after dropping the visitor when they suddenly noticed a bus trailing them behind as they branched into his street only for the gunmen to start firing at the vehicle from the rear.

    The gunmen were said to have shot sporadically killing the CP and wounding the two policemen but before they escaped, they reportedly took away the rifle of the orderly whose body was riddled with bullets.

    The orderly was shot on the chest, stomach, hands and leg while the driver was shot on his legs.

    The Police spokesman in the state , Mr. Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the incident.

    He described the attack as very unfortunate.  He said that the CP was on a private visit to his home in Enugu when the incident occurred.

    A police source in Enugu said: “The CP was driving into his personal residence in Amorji Nike after dropping a visitor that night.  He was with a police orderly and his driver at the time of the incident. Just about 100 metres to his house they noticed that a bus was trailing them behind and before they could know what was happening the gunmen opened fire and killed the CP instantly. His orderly and driver were also shot and they were seriously wounded.

    “The gunmen ran away  in their bus before the CP’s escort team that was inside his compound noticed what was happening.  When the escort team and sympathizers rushed to the scene, they met CP Asadu and his orderlies in pool of blood.  They were rushed to the National Orthopaedic Hospital where doctors confirmed the CP dead.  The other two policemen are now on admission at the hospital. ”

    Police spokesman, Amaraizu said the police  would do everything possible to fish out the assailants as investigations into the bizarre incident have already commenced.

    The new Police Commissioner in Enugu State, Mr. Tonye Ebitibituwa, was said to have directed his men to conduct serious manhunt for the gunmen within and outside the state capital in order to track them down.

    Doctors at the National Orthopeadic Hospital, Enugu were yesterday battling to save the two wounded police officers.  The orderly who was seriously battered by bullets, according to doctors, was said to be in a stable condition after the surgeries conducted on him throughout Saturday night.  The driver was also said to be in a stable condition.

    CP Asadu, who was among newly appointed Police Commissioners for various state commands, assumed duty at Kwara State Command recently.

    Last week he embarked on familiarization visit during which he met with  Journalists at the correspondent’s chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists  in Ilorin.

    During the visit, Asadu expressed his desire for a good working relationship with newsmen in the state. According to him, “Kwara State is a state of harmony and my vision is to leave it better than I met it. It is on this note that I decided to pay you gentlemen of the press a courtesy visit, so as to ensure a robust and harmonious working relationship, so that we can work together in fighting crime in the society.

    Asadu who was the 27th Commissioner of Police in the State, urged media professionals and good people of the state to assist the police with useful information that could help transform the society to become a better place to live, and further ensure peaceful business transactions.

    He assured that the state command will continue to combat crimes and criminality among citizens of the state and its environs in order to ensure that the state remained harmonious.

    Asadu also noted that issues of security of lives and property in the state goes beyond the scope of men of the force alone, noting that support is highly needed from the media in the areas of information dissemination and sensitization of the public.

    But barely a week after the officer who is said to be very enthusiastic about policing and the need to eradicate crime in his state of posting was settling down to face the challenge of his new assignment, he decided to visit his Enugu home-state where he met his untimely death in the hands of gunmen in a very bizarre circumstance.

  • Hip hop artiste Damoche buried

    Hip hop artiste Damoche buried

    Hip hop artiste Damino Damoche who was shot dead last Thursday in Lagos has been buried.

    The undergraduate of the Lagos State University, (LASU) who was killed by suspected cultists at the gate of the institution was buried on friday at the Badagry cemetery.

    A candle light procession was held for the deceased on the evening of his burial.

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  • Cross River Governor, Imoke returns

    Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imokto returned to the country on Friday evening after three months stay abroad for undisclosed medical reasons