The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Chibok

  • Pupils protest in Ebonyi

    Pupils protest in Ebonyi

    Scores of pupils of Great Minds Academy, Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, marched yesterday on major streets to protest the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram sect.

    They urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene and ensure the release of the girls.

    The pupils, aged between four and 10 years, marched from the school’s permanent site on Olisaemeke Street through the Abakaliki Township Stadium to the Government House.

    During the procession, which lasted for over 30 minutes, some of the school children shed tears while others wore gloomy faces.

    Some clerics, parents and teachers also joined the children in the procession.

    Some of them told our reporter that they suspended academic activities to pray, fast and march round the state capital for God’s urgent intervention.

    They said Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity were fellow school children.

    One of the students, Miss Idika Oluchi said: “We are saddened that our fellow school children were taken away by some disgruntled elements and kept in the bush for more than 19 days now.

    “We are more saddened to hear yesterday (Monday) that two of the girls are dead. We had to declare a two-day fasting and prayer to seek for God’s intervention.

    “We are no longer comfortable sitting down in our classes, receiving studies while other children are in the bush. We don’t know their faith, but we are trusting God to urgently intervene.

    “As long as the Federal Government and the security agents are doing their best, we are optimistic that God will resolve the issue, since children have waded in.”

    The school’s proprietor, Mr. Chris Nwadigo, described the action of Boko Haram as unfortunate.

    In a sermon, Evangelist Ephraim Ononye urged the Federal Government to rescue the girls.

    The cleric noted that the Boko Haram insurgency was no longer a religious but a political matter.

    He said the nation’s problem was no longer limited to just insecurity but also insincerity, greed and the absence of piety.

    Ononye hailed the pupils for declaring prayer and fasting for the Chibok girls.

     

     

  • Security agencies have failed us, says NGO

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project (SAP), has expressed disappointment over the inability of security agencies to foil the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, and the Nyanya bombings.

    The group spoke during a mass protest to the Lagos State Governor’s Office in Alausa, Ikeja.

    SAP Coordinator, Mrs Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade, described last week’s Nyanya explosion as the result of security agencies’ failure, especially the security officers who mounted road block on the route.

    She said: “It is now evidently clear that our security agencies are bereft of the technical know-how of modern intelligence gathering. This is why bombings and other crimes are perpetrated with the culprits smiling away, leaving hundreds of their victims in pains. …There are the agonies by the family members, relatives, friends and colleagues of those who have died.

    “No doubt, the recent bombings in Nyanya, in the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the abduction of over 200 girls from a secondary in Chibok, Borno State, have shown that the efforts of the security agencies are not working effectively. The fight against terrorism has not curbed the insurgency in Nigeria and such huge security challenge cannot be allowed to continue.”

     

  • Lagos Assembly urges Fed Govt to seek global support

    Lagos Assembly urges Fed Govt to seek global support

    The Lagos State House of Assembly has urged the Federal Government to own up on its helplessness in combating the Boko Haram insurgency and seek international help to end the sect’s menace.

    Members of the Assembly spoke yesterday at plenary.

    They noted that concerted global assistance would enable the government to free the over 200 girls in Boko Haram’s detention and reduce terrorism in the country.

    Moving a motion condemning the capture and detention of the schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, the Assembly urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the military to fast-track the safe return of the girls to their parents.

    During last Sunday’s media chat, Dr Jonathan, in response to a question on the likely location of the Boko Haram sect, said: “I don’t know where they are… There is no confirmation of the location of the schoolgirls. You are a journalist; you know more than me.”

    The lawmaker representing Eti-Osa II, Gblohan Yishawu, noted that the answer fell short of the expectations from the President of any country.

    The lawmaker said it showed the helplessness of the Jonathan administration to resolve the security crisis.

    For those still in doubt, Yishawu said: “Nigeria is at war and in need of urgent action by the government.”

    Apparently saddened by the case of the missing schoolgirls, another lawmaker Omowunmi Olatunji-Edet said it was unfortunate that Nigerian leaders were only talking and trading blames over the matter.

    The lawmaker said most of the nation’s leaders were not taking concrete action to ensure the release of the innocent girls.

    She said: “It is no longer a question of declaring a state of emergency. Ours is a failed state and we cannot continue like this. It is time we called a spade by its name. We are better off calling on the international community to come to our aide.”

    Chief Whip Rasak Balogun agreed with his colleagues’ submission on the need to take immediate action to rescue the schoolgirls.

    He said the insecurity embarrassment had demystified Nigeria’s status as the giant of Africa.

    Balogun sympathised with parents of the captured girls, adding: “The Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government did not promise Nigeria anything on assuming power in 2011.”

    The lawmaker urged Nigerians to take their destiny in their hands as 2015 elections draw nearer.

     

  • Anglican to govt: Rescue the girls

    The Diocese of the Kwara Anglican Communion has urged the federal and Borno State governments to rescue the over 200 schoolgirls abducted from a secondary school in Chibok.

    The church appealed to both governments to provide tight security for schools, particularly in the Northeast.

    The synod of the church at its 14th session, presided over by the diocesan Bishop Olusegun Adeyemi in Ilorin, the state capital, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the nation’s security challenges.

    In a communiqué at the end of the session the “synod notes with concern the activities of the Boko Haram sect and the general insecurity in the land and calls of President Goodluck Jonathan to stem the unacceptable security challenges, and Nigerian must be more proactive in intelligent gathering and reporting”.

    The communiqué added: “The synod is alarmed by the abduction and kidnapping of about 200 girls from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.

    “Synod appeals to our politicians to conduct responsible campaigns and conduct themselves with the fear of God as we approach the 2015 general elections. It appeals to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair to all political parties in the interest of the continued survival of Nigeria as a united entity.

    “Synod prays that God will grant the country’s leaders the wisdom to direct it on the path of righteousness so that everyone can realise their full potentials. This will make life better for the poor and the downtrodden.

    “Synod notes with concern the jumbo pay for political office holders and appeals to the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to look into ways of effecting a downward review to forestall future agitations and labour unrests and their attendant negative effects on the country.”

     

    “The synod notes that the ongoing national conference is a welcome development and a golden opportunity to sort out areas of conflict in our continued existence as a nation in search of truce federalism and enjoins delegates to be selfless, patriot and fair in resolving issues.”

    On the state government, the synod “notes the commendable efforts of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in keeping the state together and prays that God grants him the wisdom to heed the cries of the Christian community in order to achieve a lasting peace.

    “The synod notes the constant conflicts, with frequent loss of lives, between Fulani herdsmen and farmers and calls on governments at all levels to create grazing areas integrated with nomadic schools and constant supply of portable water.”

  • US to deploy troops to rescue abducted girls

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday accepted the offer of President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama, to assist Nigerian troops towards rescuing the abducted 234 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State.

    Disclosing this to State House correspondents, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said that Jonathan accepted the offer through phone call conversation with United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry.

    The statement reads: “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Tuesday welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America in the ongoing effort to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok three weeks ago.”

    “The offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry in a telephone conversation which began at 15.30 Hours today, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and rescue operation.”

    “Mr. Kerry assured President Jonathan that the United States’ is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end.”

    “Thanking Mr. Kerry for the call and offer of further assistance, President Jonathan told him that Nigeria’s security agencies who were already working at full capacity to find and rescue the abducted girls would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.”

    He also disclosed that President Jonathan after speaking with the United States Secretary of State met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted girls.

    At the meeting, he said that the President received updates on the ongoing search and rescue effort and gave approval for recommended further actions.

  • Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Protests in Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar

     

    The global outrage over the abduction of the Chibok girls is growing, with protests yesterday in Lagos, Calabar and Abeokuta.

    The girls were snatched away from their hostels on April 15 by the fundamentalist sect Boko Haram, which threatened yesterday to sell them.

    The leader of the militant group, Abubakar Shekau, in a video made available to the media, said: “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.”

    Shekau added that the abduction had caused outrage “because we are holding people [as] slaves”.

    “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women,” he continued, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language.

    Boko Haram is a terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to United States (U.S.) officials. Its name means “Western education is sin.” In his nearly hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for Western education to end.

    “Girls, you should go and get married,” he said.

    Barely a few hours after Boko Haram admitted custody of the 276 (police figure) abducted school girls, security agencies and chiefs met yesterday to analyse the video clip purportedly released by Shekau.

    Troops were ordered to go ahead with their search for the girls.

    Also, troops have been mobilised to Sambisa Forest and identifiable border towns in Chad and Cameroon where the girls may have been kept by Boko Haram.

    A top security source, last night, said: “Security agencies got the video clip very early in the day and all military chiefs have been analysing it.

    “While we have some technical reservations with the video clip, the security agencies and their leaders resolved that the search and rescue operations for the girls by the troops should continue.

    “The immediate conclusion of the military and security agencies was that the video might have been released by the sect to drive fear into Nigerians and divert attention in order to relocate the girls into safe passage.

    “Although we suspect the video message as an element of propaganda, we will not ignore it in any manner.”

    The source said the video clip would not stop the operations for the rescue of the girls.

    Said the source: “As I am talking to you, troops have been ordered to continue with the search and rescue operations for the abducted girls.

    “Also, troops have been deployed in Sambisa Forest and strategic border towns with Chad and Cameroon.

    “The troops have been asked to block all likely passage channels through which the girls could be relocated elsewhere.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “All security agencies in neighbouring countries are already collaborating with us to locate the whereabouts of these girls.

    “Foreign intelligence agencies are also surveying movements in and out of some suspected terrorist enclaves in some countries.

    “I think we are closer to a global search for the girls because many countries are sharing intelligence information with Nigeria.”

    In Lagos thousands of women marched on  Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office  to call for the girls’ release.

    In the protest, organised by Women for Peace and Justice in Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, were various civil society coalition groups, accompanied by their male counterparts, including rights activists-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).

    They were dressed in red. The protest began at about 9am at Allen Roundabout, Awolowo.

    The protesters were armed with placards some of which read: “Bring back our girls”; “Our future leaders are missing, bring them back”; “Chad, Cameroon and Niger, stop enabling criminals”; “We want our girls back alive”; “Save innocent girls”; “Enough is Enough”; “234 girls, Haba!”; and “FGN, free the Chibok Girls”; among others.

    There was a traffic gridlock on Obafemi Awolowo Way as the protesters marched on, singing and demanding the girls’ release.

    Speaking on behalf of the protesters, former Attorney General of Lagos State Justice Wonu Folami (rtd) said the protesters were at the State House to express their grievances over the abduction of the girls.

    She said: “Our children have been brutally murdered. Over 200 girls are kidnapped; this is very sad, that nothing is being done about it. It is sad that the government does not even know the number of girls that are missing.

    “We want security to be redoubled immediately. We want them back alive and without them, there can be no tomorrow. Fashola should double his effort to provide security in Lagos State as there are insinuations that they might strike here.”

    Falana said: “We demand on the part of the government immediate rescue operation of these girls so that that they can join their parents. We urge the Lagos State government to help convey this message to the Federal Government. Until these girls are released, we cannot give the government any pass mark. We want the government to re-double its efforts so that these girls can be returned to their parents. We call on the government to deploy all military forces in Nigeria to collaborate with the international organisations and countries that have gone through this before to ensure the freedom of these abducted girls.

    Falana condemned the arrest of some protesters in Abuja.

    Receiving the protesters, Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said the state government would work with the Federal Government to ensure the girls’ release, adding that it is disheartening to hear that 234 girls were kidnapped.

    “We are pained, as mothers, for this to be happening to our girls. We will do our best to ensure that they are released. All of us should pray and fast for the release of these children because we believe God can do it.

    “From tomorrow, Lagosians can observe three days fasting and prayer for the release of these girls. We need divine intervention. Let us lend our voices to God to release these children,” she said.

    Speaking for the protesters, Aisha Oyebode, wife of frontline lawyer-businessman Gbenga Oyebode, said the essence of the protest was that the women wanted the girls returned unharmed.

    She said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that they were rescued and brought back home immediately.

    “The longer it takes to rescue our girls, the greater the dangers they are exposed to. The lack of action is unacceptable, the growing insecurity is worrisome and we as Nigerians demand an immediate and complete end to the politicisation of insecurity in this country,” Mrs Oyebode, daughter of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, said.

    In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s wife, Bola, and Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s wife, Olufunso, joined hundreds of women to march over the girls’ abduction.

    The protest, which began around 8am at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto,took the women through IBB Boulevard and terminated at the Ogun State House of Assembly complex, the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, where Mrs Amosun presented their protest letter to Speaker Suraj Adekunbi for delivery to the National Assembly.

    They also marched on Amosun’s office, demanding action from the Federal Government as well as  unconditional and safe release of the girls.

    Mrs Amosun, who spoke on behalf of the women,  presented a letter to the governor for delivery to President Jonathan, pleading with him to help set the innocent girls free.

    Also participating in the protest march are the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, members of the  International Federation of Women Lawyers, trader, artisans, among others.

    The women, who deplored the abduction of the girls and likely pains they could be passing through, displayed  placards bearing various inscriptions: “Kidnapped school girls must be found”; “Our girls are not sex machine”; “Bring back our girls”, “Haba! this is barbaric in the 21st century”, and “Let all our women rise to save our girls”.

    At the Ogun Assembly complex, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi, who addressed the lawmakers, called on the states and National Assembly members to take action towards freeing the girls.

    Mrs. Sonubi also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to help release the girls.

    Thousands of secondary schools girls in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, protested yesterday to demand unconditional release of the abducted Chibok girls.

    The girls, dressed in black, from various secondary schools, marched through major streets in Calabar, with placards that read: “Bring back our little sisters”, “Our girls are future mothers, free our daughters”, “Dialogue is the best option, not kidnapping of girls”, “Why use women as tools for negotiation”; “We need a safe and secure Nigeria, not abduction of girls” and “Free our girls, stop bombing and let’s talk”; among others.

    They were joined in the protest by members of the National Association of Cross River Students (NACRISS), Civil Society and Non-Governmental organisations in the state.

    Some of the pupils said they were concerned about the plight of the abducted girls whose fate remains unknown.

    They urged the Federal Government to ensure the release of the girls urgently.

    “The victims and their parents should be saved the trauma they are passing through. These innocent girls should not be made sacrificial lambs.

    “Today, it is students of Chibok Secondary School, tomorrow some other persons may be affected,” one of the Mary said.

    The co-ordinator, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (a civil society organisation), Comrade James Ibor who also participated in the protest march, said the safety of lives and property should be given priority by the government.

    Comrade Ibor said: “The government must not abdicate its responsibility of guaranteeing the security of lives and property.”

    Comrade Nse Paulinus, National Coordinator of Democratic Action League, praised the pupils for embarking on the protest.

    “These are the friends of the girls in captivity. The government should listen to their cry and ensure the kidnapped girls are released safely,” he said.

    The Deputy Coordinator of Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), a Calabar non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mrs. Ndodoye Basey-Obongha also called for the unconditional release of the abducted girls.

    “We join our voices with the parents of the affected girls and all other well-meaning Nigerians to urge the Boko Haram sect to immediately release the abducted girls in the interest of humanity,” she said.

  • Rising global outrage over abducted Chibok girls

    Rising global outrage over abducted Chibok girls

    It started as a local matter. Now, the abduction of over 200 girls by Boko Haram members in Chibok, Borno State has become an international affair. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau yesterday released a video admitting his group kidnapped the girls. His admission came weeks after the girls’ April 14 kidnapping, with the country not closer to finding them, thus triggering complaints.

    On Twitter, there is a globally trending hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. On Sunday, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the Nigerian High Commission in London, chanting, “Bring them back!” and “Not for sale!” Crowds from Los Angeles to London rallied Saturday as well.

    “Access to education is a basic right and an unconscionable reason to target innocent girls,” former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote Sunday on Twitter. “We must stand up to terrorism. #BringBackOurGirls.”

    South African President Jacob Zuma said yesterday: “We call on the African Union and the international community to rally behind our sister nation, Nigeria, as it battles a recent spate of terrorism attacks. We condemn terrorism in every shape or form and from whichever quarter it comes from.”

    The United States is sharing intelligence with Nigeria to help in the search, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the situation.

    “We are sharing intelligence that may be relevant to this situation. You are going to see a focus on this in all three channels of government: diplomatic, intelligence and military,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

    The scale of the attack is worrisome because it shows the “brazen” lengths Boko Haram will go to and suggests a planning and logistics capability for a large-scale operation, the official said. It is not the first time the group has attacked defenceless schoolchildren.

    Last week, United States’ Attorney-General Eric Holder asked U.S. intelligence agencies to prepare a report for him on the kidnapping, as well as an assessment of Boko Haram, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. The assessment could help the Department of Justice seek indictments or curtail funding sources for the group. The FBI had several ongoing investigations into Boko Haram leadership.

    The U.S. military is not planning to send troops but will assist with intelligence-sharing and perhaps could help Nigerian forces plan a rescue mission, under existing military cooperation agreements, a second U.S. official with knowledge of the situation said.

    The United States could offer satellite imagery and electronic intelligence such as communications intercepts. U.S. Africa Command has long been helping Nigerian forces improve their training and operations to counter Boko Haram militants.

    President Barack Obama is being briefed on the attack, and pressure is mounting worldwide for the government to act. Speaking during a visit to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States “will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes and to hold the perpetrators to justice.”

    Frida Ghitis, a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review, in a piece for the CNN, said the global community has not done enough to help find the girls.

    Ghitis’s piece reads: “ If i t had happened anywhere else, this would be the world’s biggest story.

    “More than 230 girls disappeared, captured by members of a brutal terrorist group in the dead of night. Their parents are desperate and anguished, angry that their government is not doing enough. The rest of the world is paying little attention.

    “The tragedy is unfolding in Nigeria, where members of the ultra-radical Islamist group Boko Haram grabbed the girls, most believed to be between 16 and 18, from their dormitories in the middle of the night in mid-April and took them deep into the jungle. A few dozen of the students managed to escape and tell their story. The others have vanished. (Roughly 200 girls remain missing.)

    “The latest reports from people living in the forest say Boko Haram fighters are sharing the girls, conducting mass marriages, selling them each for $12. One community elder explained the practice as “a medieval kind of slavery.”

    “While much of the world has been consumed with other stories, notably the missing Malaysian plane, the relatives of the kidnapped girls in the small town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria have struggled for weeks with no resources to help them. The Nigerian government allayed international concerns when it reported — incorrectly — that it had rescued most of the girls. But the girls were still in captivity. Their parents raised money to arrange private expeditions into the jungle. They found villagers who had seen the hostages with heavily armed men.

    “Relatives are holding street protests to demand more help from the government. With a social media push, including a Twitter #BringBackOurGirls campaign, they are seeking help anywhere they can find it.

    “Nigerians demand government do more to save abducted girls

    It’s hard to imagine a more compelling, dramatic, heartbreaking story. And this is not a one-off event. This tragedy is driven by forces that will grow stronger and deadlier if the captors manage to succeed.

    “I think of these girls as trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. Their mothers and fathers try to dig them out with their bare hands, while the men who brought down the building vow to blow up others. Everyone else walks by, with barely a second glance.

    “Perhaps this story sounds remote. But at its heart it is a version of the same conflict that drives the fighting in other parts of the world. These young girls, eager for an education, are caught in the crossfire of the war between Islamic radicalism and modernity. It’s the Nigerian version of the same dispute that brought 9/11.”

    to the United States.”

     

    ; that brought killings to European, Asian and Middle Eastern cities; the same ideological battle that destroyed the lives of millions of people in Afghanistan; that drives many of the fighters in Syria and elsewhere.

    “In Nigeria, the dispute includes uniquely local factors, but the objectives of Boko Haram sound eerily familiar.

    “Boko Haram wants to impose its strict interpretation of Sharia — Islamic law. It operates mostly in the northern part of Nigeria, a country divided between a Muslim-majority north and a Christian-majority south. Islamic rule is its larger objective, but its top priority, judging from the group’s name, explains why it has gone after girls going to school.

    “Boko Haram, in the local Hausa language, means roughly “Western education is sin.”

    “But women are just the beginning, and Boko Haram goes about its goals not only by kidnapping, but also by slaughtering men and women of all ages and of any religion.

    “These militants view a modern education as an affront, no matter who receives it. In February, they burst into a student dormitory in the northern state of Yobe, where teenage boys were sleeping after a day of classes. They killed about 30 boys, shooting some, hacking others in their beds, slitting the throats of the ones trying to flee. In July, also in Yobe state, they shot 20 students and their teacher.

    “The gruesome attacks are not restricted to remote areas. A few weeks ago, a bus bombing in the capital of Abuja killed more than 75 people. Boko Haram took responsibility. It was the deadliest terrorist act in the city’s history.

    “Boko Haram has killed thousands of people since 2009 and has caused a humanitarian crisis with a “devastating impact,” causing nearly 300,000 to flee their homes, according to Human Rights Watch.

    “Nigeria is a resource-rich nation whose people live in grinding poverty. It is also plagued with endemic corruption. That triple combination — poverty, corruption and resource-wealth — creates fertile ground for strife and extremism. And the instability in Nigeria sends tremors through a fragile region. Boko Haram keeps hideouts and bases along the border with neighboring countries Cameroon and Chad.

    “This is an international crisis that requires international help. Is there anything anyone can do? Most definitely.

    “First, it is urgent that the plight of these girls and their families gain the prominence it so clearly deserves.

    “Global attention will lead to offers for help, to press for action. Just as the intense focus on the missing Malaysian plane and the lost South Korean ferry prompted other nations to extend a hand, a focus on this ongoing tragedy would have the same effect.

    “Nigeria’s government, with a decidedly mixed record on its response to Boko Haram, will find it difficult to look away if world leaders offer assistance in finding and rescuing the kidnapped girls from Chibok, and another 25 girls also kidnapped by Boko Haram in the town of Konduga a few weeks earlier.

    “This is an important story, a wrenching human drama, even if it happened in a part of the world where news coverage is very difficult compared with places such as Malaysia, South Korea or Australia.

    “The plight of the Nigerian girls should remain in our thoughts, at the forefront of news coverage and on the agenda of world leaders.”

  • Police, group trade blames over detained Chibok woman protester

    Police, group trade blames over detained Chibok woman protester

    The police and a group of women protesters, Bring Back Our Girls Movement (BBOGM), have been traded blames over the alleged detention of a woman protester, Mrs. Naomi Mutah by the police.

    Mutah was one of the women under the platform of the Chibok Community  in Abuja who on Sunday joined others to protest the abduction of the over 200 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State on April 15.

    A statement yesterday by the media representative of the BBOGM, Mr. Rotimi Olawale, said Mrs. Mutah was arrested and detained at the Asokoro police station at 3.20 am, on the orders of the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

    The statement said: “We were notified at 6am by Mr Tsambido Hosea, the leader of the Chibok Community resident in Abuja, that Mrs. Naomi Mutah had been detained at the Asokoro Police Station at the instance of the First Lady following a meeting she had attended at the Presidential Villa with the president’s wife.

    “Mrs Saratu Angus, who accompanied Mrs. Naomi Mutah to the meeting, and was also taken to the Asokoro police station, was released at 3.30am.

    “Our lawyer was informed that neither the Divisional Police Officer, Crime Prevention Officer nor Investigating Police Officer was available to attend to us. Subsequently, we identified the DPO who responded that he had more pressing issues to handle.

    “To the utter dismay of her husband, the Chibok community members and some of our members, some officials arrived at 11am, 8 hours after her detention, claiming to be from the Presidency and took her away with the DPO to the office of the Inspector General of Police. They prevented anyone from accompany her.”

    Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba however denied the group’s claims. In a text message to our correspondent yesterday, Mba stated that the claim was false.

  • Borno students declare May 7 lecture-free day

    Borno students declare May 7 lecture-free day

    HERE will be no lecture tomorrow in Borno State schools.

    The Borno Students and Youths Alliance said the lecture-free day should be spent to pray for the safe return of the abducted Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok girls.

    The spokesperson of the group, Miss Fatima Maliki, at a news conference in Maiduguri, said the prayer would allow them reflect over the situation, which she described, as “unfortunate”.

    “We are pleading with students all over the country, especially those at the tertiary institutions, to observe Wednesday as lecture-free day to enable them pray for safe return of the abducted students.

    “We also plan to use the day for soul searching and reflections over continued killings by Boko Haram insurgents in the country,’’ she said.

    She appealed for understanding from authorities at the institutions for the success of the event.

    “We are pleading for understanding from lecturers and other stakeholders to enable the plan succeed,’’ she said.

    Maliki also said that the group would stage a mass procession of youths on May 23 in Maiduguri, if the military failed to rescue the girls.

    The spokesperson threatened to mobilise students from all parts of the country and members of National Youths Council to embark on a sit-in demonstration at the Ramat Square, Maiduguri.

    She said: “We are going to remain at the square until the students are rescued. We are passionately appealing to the Federal Government to strive towards bringing back the abducted students.

    “They are our sisters and colleagues, after 21 days of their abduction, we do not know their condition of health, we do not know their whereabouts.’’

  • Economic summitry: Getting back to basics

    Economic summitry: Getting back to basics

    If conferences ever developed a continent or helped solve its most pressing problems, Africa would be one of the most developed continents and its problems would long have been solved.

    At bilateral, multi-lateral, regional and continental levels, one conference or another is being  staged at any given moment, with some of the most knowledgeable experts and policy-makers participating.

    They are staging yet another conference, the  World Economic Forum on Africa, in Abuja this week, from Wednesday through Friday, with the bombed-out remains of Nyanya  still smouldering and a full accounting of the casualties yet to be rendered.  They are staging  while the authorities are yet to summon the will and the resolve to locate, to say nothing of rescuing, more than 100 female students abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State.

    They have not disclosed the cost of the conference, but it won’t be cheap. They are shutting down Abuja for three days, not on account of what the elusive Boko Haram might do, they say, but to ensure that the visiting political officials and, most especially, all those irritable and disobliging investors, would not be incommoded in the least by the gridlock that often paralyses vehicular traffic in the city.

    There is no need to worry about the loss to productivity during the shutdown.  The new rebased economy that will be a major talking point in President Goodluck Jonathan’s opening address and a theme that Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will insinuate into every aspect of the proceedings can easily absorb it.

    A communiqué bristling with diplomatic gobbledygook will be issued at the end of the conference. Grand intentions will be proclaimed and affirmed, and ringing resolutions will be passed. Another Plan of Action will be formulated to replace previous plans of action.

    But the problems will remain, and in some cases grow more intractable. Rarely are the agreements reached at these conferences followed up and followed through.  Several years later, the same officials and experts convene at another venue to make the same proclamations and pass the same resolutions.

    I was reminded of this unproductive summitry the other day when I stumbled upon the notes  I had taken at the Conference on Africa on the Eve of the 21st Century held in Maputo, Mozambique, from September 9-11, which had in attendance some 65 senior political figures, policy-makers and academics from 31 African countries.

    The deliberations were prefaced by a background paper detailing where Africa stood in the scheme of things on the eve of a new millennium. The profile was sobering, grim even.

    One-half of the continent’s estimated population of 720 million subsisted on less than one U.S. dollar a day. Africa’s children were the most likely, in comparison with children in other parts of the world, to die before age 5, and its adults least likely to live beyond age 50.

    On the average, Africans were more malnourished, less educated and more likely to succumb to fatal diseases.  Of the 24 countries at the bottom of the United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Index – the so-called Misery Index – 22 were to be found in Africa.

    Africa had the highest population growth rate in the world; at an annual rate of 2.61 per cent, it was set to reach 1.05 billion by 2010 and double 25 years later.  But in most African countries, economic growth lagged behind population growth. More than 50 per cent of African youths under age 30 were unemployed.  Where physical infrastructure existed, it                was in disrepair.

    In the face of the growing population, agricultural production was declining as a result of wars and conflict which made farming hazardous, if not impossible, and also as a result of environmental degradation.

    Africa accounted for 12 per cent of the world’s population but only 2.4 per cent of global GNP, and more than one-half of this figure was contributed by South Africa and Nigeria. Africa continued to be almost entirely an exporter of raw materials.  It also accounted for only two per cent of global telephone density.

    In the health sector, the picture was just as grim. Malaria continued to send some 2.7 million Africans to premature deaths every year. Some 14 million Africans, constituting more than 50 per cent of the total number of HIV- positive persons, most of them children, were to be found in Africa. One in 13 women in Africa died during pregnancy or childbirth, compared to one in 3,200 in Europe and one in 35 in Asia.  More than 60 per cent of drugs sold across the counter in Africa were fake and quite possibly harmful.

    Despite all the talk about economic cooperation and regional integration, intra-African trade accounted for only 7.5 per cent of the continent’s total. Capital accumulation and saving rates stood at less than one half of Asia’s 30 per cent and fell considerably short of the level required to attain and sustain a rate of growth that would have any significant impact on the economy.

    And all his was happening as the flow of private capital into emerging markets had almost entire bypassed Africa.

    The commitment to regional integration was weak. With the exception of Senegal, no African country could boast of having a ministry of regional integration or a designated agency with sufficient authority to deal with the subject.

    African heads of government – and their wives — were well integrated, but not the people, not the infrastructure, not the economic operators and not the markets.

    Very little seems to have changed in the 14 years that have passed since the Maputo Conference. Inter-regional trade has ticked up, accounting for between 10 and 13 per cent of Africa’s trade. This figure probably does not take into account trade in the informal sector which, judging from the commercial traffic from Nigeria to ECOWAS countries as well as Cameroun and going so far south as Zaire, is considerable. Still, it is puny compared with comparable figures in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

    Africa’s telephone density has grown dramatically since the introduction of GSM phones. The continent’s emerging markets are being touted as hot destinations for foreign capital, but that is more hype than actuality.

    During his first term, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed to his cabinet a minister for regional integration. I can claim some responsibility for that appointment. Drawing on the Maputo Conference, I had sent him a memo urging him to give practical effect to his well-known commitment to regional integration by making it the subject of a cabinet-level appointment.  To rule myself out of contention, I recommended that the appointee should be bilingual in English and French.

    Unfortunately, the position – and the appointee — did not survive Obasanjo’s first term.

    One of the key resolutions of the Maputo Conference bears re-stating. The time had come,  it said, to try a new approach to tackling the problems of the continent.  That approach would emphasise the integration of production and infrastructure and include business and economic operators as well as social formations, not just heads of state and their wives and top officials.

    A good starting point, the Conference said, would be to streamline and rationalise some 40 existing intergovernmental organisations performing tasks related to integration.

    More than two decades after the Beninois statesman and former Minister of Information, Professor Albert Tévoédjrè proposed un jour sans frontières(a day without borders) as a first step toward giving concrete expression to the movement of goods and persons in the ECOWAS region, it has remained that: a proposal.

    The World Economic Forum on Africa will most likely take a global perspective on the African condition.  But it will do well to consider the internal dimensions as well and urge a return to basics.