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Tag: frustrated

  • Mikel frustrated at missing friendly matches

    Super Eagles’ captain John Mikel Obi has expressed sadness over missing the two international friendly games between Nigeria and Poland in Wroclaw last Friday and tonight’s game against Serbia inside the Hive Stadium.

    Mikel wrote on his Instagram page on Monday afternoon that: ”Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be on the field for our game against Serbia tomorrow (today).  I am sad, and frustrated, but giving my full support to the team for another WIN!???????? #SoarSuperEagles”.

    Obi Mikel has confirmed that he will not be available for selection in Friday night’s pre-World Cup friendly between Nigeria and Serbia at the Hive Stadium due to ‘circumstances beyond his control’.

    The official word from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is that Mikel is absent as he has been working hard at renewing his work permit in China, where he plays for Tianjin Teda. Manager Gernot Rohr confirmed post-match after the victory over Poland that he has invited Porto loanee Mikel Agu to join the team in London due to absence of the former Chelsea ace.

    The Tianjin Teda number ten last wore the Super Eagles’ jersey in their 4-2 win over Argentina in an international friendly in Krasnodar last November.

  • How Boko Haram frustrated our bid to swap Chibok girls — FG

    How Boko Haram frustrated our bid to swap Chibok girls — FG

    •’We’ve had talks with sect thrice’

    The Federal Government yesterday gave a detailed account of efforts made by the Buhari administration since its inception to have the over 200 Chibok girls released from the Boko Haram captivity.

    These included three negotiations with the terror sect between July and December 2015  all of which were frustrated by the sect.

    The girls were abducted in April 2014 when Boko Haram fighters stormed the school  and carried the girls into captivity.

    Information and Culture  Minister Lai Mohammed, speaking  at a press conference in Abuja against the backdrop  of recent criticism of  alleged government inaction by the #BringBackOurGirls group, said government had demonstrated in practical terms its determination to have the girls   freed only to run into a dead end at every point.

    He said thrice did government negotiate with the sect  on how to swap the abducted  Chibok girls for  some commanders of the insurgents and thrice was it frustrated.

    He said  the talks broke down because of cracks within Boko Haram and some difficult demands made by the sect.

    The  demands included the release of their  fighters arrested by law enforcement agencies, especially those  involved in major terrorist acts and experts in the manufacture of locally assembled explosives.

    But the minister said government has  not foreclosed negotiation because of its desire  to secure the release of the girls.

    Going down the memory lane, Mohammed  said that the Jonathan administration, during  whose tenure the girls were kidnapped, failed to save them because of competing interests and unnecessary rivalries  before the May 29, 2015 handover to Buhari.

    He said that following leads from some international bodies and countries, relevant security agencies were able to strike a chord which opened the way for talks between  the Buhari administration and  Boko Haram.

    He was, however, silent on the leaders of Boko Haram who the Federal Government discussed with in order “not to jeopardize negotiation.”

    The efforts were coordinated by the Department of State Security Services (DSS) in conjunction with other intelligence agencies, he said.

    His words: “Precisely on  July 17, 2015, the DSS opened the negotiation process with the group holding the Chibok girls. However, in return for the release of some of these girls, the group also made some demands.

    “These included the release of some of their fighters arrested, including some involved in major terrorist actions, resulting in several fatalities, and others who were experts in manufacture of locally assembled explosives.

    “This was difficult to accept, but appropriate security agencies had to again inform Mr. President of these demands, and its viewed implications. Again, Mr. President gave his assent, believing that the overall release of these girls remains paramount and sacrosanct.

    “Meanwhile, following the above development, government and the security agencies had sufficient leverage to work out the modalities of the swap.

    “These included creating the safe haven, or necessary place of swap and working out the logistic details. Based on this, the DSS availed other critical sister agencies of this new situation. “Immediately, the Nigerian Army and the Air Force sent some specialists to commence a detailed arrangement for the swap. This was during the last week of July 2015 and 1st week of August 2015.

    “The officers representing the various agencies worked out the logistic details, such as the number of persons to be swapped i.e. number of girls and detainees to be exchanged, the vehicles and aircraft, as well as safeguards, i.e. safety of the persons, including the location of the swap.

    “When it was finally agreed by all parties, Mr. President was again informed that the preparations were concluded, and the first step for the swap would commence on August 1, 2015. Mr. President robustly gave his approval.

    “On August 4, 2015, the persons who were to be part of the swap arrangements and all others involved in the operation were transported to Maiduguri, Borno State. This team, with the lead facilitator, continued the contact with the group holding the Chibok girls.

    “The service was able to further prove to the group its sincerity, as it established communication contact between it and its detained members. All things were in place for the swap which was mutually agreed. Expectations were high.

    “Unfortunately, after more than two weeks of negotiation and bargains, the group, just at the dying moments, issued new set of demands, never bargained for or discussed by the group before the movement to Maiduguri. All this while, the security agencies waited patiently. This development stalled what would have been the first release process of the Chibok girls.

    “It may be important to note that in spite of this setback, the government and the security agencies have not relented in the bid to ensure that the Chibok girls are released safely.

    “By the month of November, precisely November 13, 2015, another fresh negotiation process with the group was initiated. This time, there was the need to discuss a fresh component in other to avoid issues that had stalled the former arrangement.

    “There were, however, some problems that many may not discern, but should be expected in this kind of situation.

    “Some critical persons within the group, who played such vital role in August, 2015, were discovered to be dead during combat action or as a result of the emerging rift amongst members of the group then. These two factors delayed the process. In spite of these, negotiation continued on new modalities.

    “By November 30, 2015, it was becoming glaring that the division amongst the group was more profound. This affected the swap process.

    “By December 10, 2015, another negotiation process was in place, but this failed to achieve results because of the varying demands by the group.”

    Mohammed said the Federal Government has not given up on the release of the girls.

    He added: “The security agencies since the beginning of 2016 have not only remained committed, but have also taken the lead to resolve the Chibok girls’ issue.

    “In spite of the current division amongst members of the terrorist group, which has seriously affected efforts to release the girls, renewed efforts have commenced using our trusted assets and facilitators. However, this job requires diligence and ability to deal with a group that can easily change its demands without notice.

    “Officers and men have sacrificed their time and energy, and some have already paid the supreme price since the abduction of the Chibok girls, fighting for the safe release of the girls.

    “Many friendly countries and organizations have equally been very forthcoming in providing their human and technological resources to assist in the process. They are still doing so. We cannot as a nation ignore these sacrifices.

    “The government and its security agencies remain committed to ensuring that the Chibok girls are safely released in fulfilment of the presidential mandate.”

    The minister appealed to the parents of the Chibok girls and Nigerians to have trust in the government on its ability to secure their release.

    He added: “Government appreciates the resilience of Nigerians in the fight against insurgency and terrorism and will continue to call on fellow Nigerians to hold that much is ahead and therefore support Mr. president’s resolve on this matter.”

    He had some words for the  parents and relatives of the Chibok girls too.

    He said: “We are with you; we feel your pains and shall not relent until we succeed in bringing home our girls and every other citizen abducted by the group. It is important to appeal to all those who have shown concern in resolving this matter to continue to trust the efforts of government to deal with the situation.”

    The minister, however, explained why and how past efforts to free the Chibok girls failed.

    He said:” Members of the public may recall that when the present administration came on board, Mr. President pledged to Nigerians to ensure the security of lives and property of every Nigerian, provide employment for the nation’s teeming youths and fight corruption.

    “Since that time, the security agencies have been saddled with the responsibility of dealing with the threat of terrorism which has ravaged most parts of the Northern region.

    “You will also recall that from the physical destruction of communities and strategic institutions, the terrorist elements also engaged in abduction of women and children in the affected parts. Most painful was the abduction of the school girls in Chibok at the twilight of the past administration in 2014.

    “When Mr. President assumed leadership of this country, he immediately directed security agencies to urgently fashion out strategies to trace, locate and ensure the safe and successful release of the Chibok girls. This was the mandate given to security agencies.

    “Gentlemen, it was consequent upon this directive that the security agencies, comprising of the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Navy, Police and the DSS, commenced action in June 2015.

    “To this effect also, the DSS established a special tactical unit to review the gamut of actions so far carried out to secure the release of the Chibok girls, establish why the action has recorded no success as it were and to present a roadmap for possible success.

    “ In this process, the DSS and the other security agencies observed the following:

    1. Many persons or groups posing as negotiators actually had no veritable intelligence or the reach to facilitate the release of the Chibok girls;
    2. The efforts were clouded by persons with very partisan interests and whose main objective was solely to score cheap political points. It was obvious their approach had no relevance to the release of the girls;
    3. Some informants or persons volunteering to be negotiators or facilitators saw and treated the girls’ fate and indeed the situation as a conduit to enrich themselves, thus making the whole thing a pecuniary venture; and
    4. As a result of the conflicting and partisan interests, issues were muddled up to the extent that reasonable and fruitful leads either failed or simply came too late for any useful action.

    “It was, therefore, found that in the midst of these strong competing interests and unnecessary rivalries, nothing was achieved before the 2015 hand-over date. It was based on these that the security agencies set out to work for the release of the girls.

    “First, there was the need to identify those with relevant intelligence on the groups holding the girls, as well as establish sources of contact in touch with the group.

    “This exercise was found not to be an easy task. On those holding the Chibok girls, there was also a high level of mistrust, as they too found many approaches or groups claiming to be in touch with them as false or unreliable.

    “In this new bid, many offers ranging from credible, not credible to outright off-mark information came to the government. Some international bodies and countries also provided leads. It was out of this that relevant security agencies were able to strike a chord.

    “By the third week of July 2015, a contact group was in touch with credible assets who had the reach and who attested to the fact that some of the Chibok girls were alive. Mr. President was then briefed of these assets and intelligence and he gave his assent for further negotiations on the Chibok girls.”

  • ASUU to Nigerians: don’t get frustrated by shift

    ASUU to Nigerians: don’t get frustrated by shift

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to the citizens not to be frustrated by the polls’ shift, but to ensure they collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    Its President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, in a phone interview, urged Nigerians to ensure they use the polls to usher in new leaders that are interested in the people and the nation’s development.

    Dr. Fagge noted that the challenge before Nigerians is how to ensure the emergence of a leadership with focus on the people and the nation’s institutions.

    The 1999 Constitution, according to him, is not the solution to Nigeria’s problems.

    He added that a new government should give the country a people-friendly constitution, which will not encourage people to steal, but guarantee equitable distribution of wealth and income.

    The ASUU president noted that this was necessary since insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria were the results of denial of people’s rights.

    Also yesterday, the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator of ASUU and Chairman of University of Ibadan chapter, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, said hiding under security ruse would not help pro-election postponement forces to frustrate the genuine efforts of Nigerians seeking change.

    He urged Nigerians not to agonise, but organise towards ensuring that the new set of leaders that will emerge in the country are those with genuine interest for the masses.

     

    “The decision is a serious setback for Nigerian democracy. But we should remain steadfast. This is time-buying game. It will not work. Let us organise and not agonise,” he said.

  • Medical education and frustrated young graduates

    Some years ago during the Obasanjo administration, he was told that there were no positions in hospitals particularly teaching hospitals for medical graduates to do the compulsory one year requirement as house men without which their training will not be complete. If their training is not complete, they will not be able to practice medicine and they will not be able to serve in the NYSC. The president gave an executive order expanding the training positions in teaching hospitals.

    Around this time also a delegation of The Historical Society of Nigeria intimated the president that History had been muscled out of primary and secondary schools curricula and that no country can develop without a point of reference in the past. Furthermore it was pointed out to him that some of the anti-social behaviour noticeable in our youth and adults is a manifestation of the disconnect between the leadership and the follower-ship and between the present and the past. He was told that without solid grounding and connection with the past the present will be disjointed and the future will be uncertain.

    The president was persuaded and he issued an executive order restoring the teaching of history to the appropriate levels in the educational ladder. Unfortunately the presidential executive order was obeyed in the breach! The ministry of education simply put one huddle or the other in its way of implementation.

    The issue that is very critical right now is that of young people completing five or six-year medical programme in a university and having no where to finish their education as house officers. I would never have known about the existence of this problem but for the fact that my colleagues have children graduating and frantically searching for non-existent places in hospitals. I have had to join friends in this frantic search sometimes successfully but failing abjectly some other times. When my daughter finished her medical programme abroad, she did not have her dad around to run around looking for friendly CMDs.

    This is a problem that needed not to have arisen in the first place if we plan seriously in this country. The Nigerian Medical and Dental Council must share in the blame. Whenever it gave approval for establishment of medical schools, it ought to impose quotas on each approved medical school. All medical schools ab initio should be required to indicate where graduates would spend the stipulated one year of housemanship after graduating. The hospitals need not all be teaching hospitals. All specialist hospitals and some good private and general hospitals should be encouraged and funded to take in house officers. There may be need for caution in all and sundry starting medical schools. If we are not careful mushrooming private universities may catch the virus of starting medical schools for profit.

    Now that we know we have this problem the president of our country should issue an executive order immediately and not tomorrow asking the various hospitals afore mentioned to get cracking and solve the problem. Definitely there will be need for special appropriation to be made through the National Assembly and Senate. This problem must be permanently rested and terminated.

    As a professor who knows the challenges facing young people, I cannot fold my hands simply because it is not really my problem. It is everybody’s problem. There will come  a time in this country when old people like me will be challenged by young people for messing up the country if we can not plan well for the future. As leaders, we have become very insensitive to problems of the youth. There seems to be a total disconnect between the people and the leadership. The same disconnect manifests in the way we run the NYSC. Suddenly young people are being fleeced by asking them to pay N5,000 to access the NYSC website to register or get their states of posting ! Yet these young people are giving free service for their country. The same insensitivity led to young people stampeding after paying N1,000 to a private company recruiting immigration officers. Some died in the process including pregnant women. The illegality of the whole thing became clear when the Controller- General of Immigration Department said he knew nothing about the so-called recruitment. A job for the public service commission was firmed out to a powerfully connected company leading to the death of young Nigerians. Up till today no one was held accountable and punished.

    Young people are posted and put in harms way in states where it is generally known there is no security. A few years ago, parents were called to receive the corpses of their children brutally murdered in Plateau and Bauchi states during break-down of law and order. One of the governors of the states had the temerity to say the murder of youth corps members was an act of God. Lord have mercy! If God were man, He would have struck down this erring governor with thunder!

    James Baldwin wrote a book in the 1960s entitled the FIRE NEXT TIME to demonstrate pent-up anger among the youth particularly the black youth if their problems were not addressed. His prophesy came true when young Blacks during the Lyndon Baines Johnson’s presidency started rioting and burning down American cities. Johnson responded by passing a comprehensive Civil Rights Act and embarked on building what he called the Great Society. To his eternal glory, he laid the foundation of what has now been described as an American Century. We should not wait until we have the equivalent of an Arab Spring or a revolt by our youth before embarking on youth-friendly policies at all levels of governments in Nigeria. If we do not do something positive to help the young people of Nigeria, we may all be swept off in the violence and blind fury that are bound to accompany youth frustration, disenchantment, discouragement and disappointment with the status quo.

  • ‘2015 poll: Jonathan is frustrated, desperate’

    ‘2015 poll: Jonathan is frustrated, desperate’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) described yesterday the use of foul language at President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaigns as a sign of desperation and frustration.

    Its National Secretary, Mallam Mala Buni, said the party would democratically defend its votes in next month’s elections, contrary to insinuations that it would use other means.

    The party, he added, is committed to a violence-free poll.

    Speaking on his party’s position on the next month’s elections with reporters in Abuja, Buni said: “That (foul language) tells you the President’s desperation. He knows certainly he is losing the election. You see for somebody to say Gen. Muhammadu Buhari represents darkness and President Jonathan represents light, maybe he is not in Nigeria.

    “As a sitting President or a ruling party, what is expected of the PDP or Jonathan is to enumerate their achievements. When we are talking of Nigeria now, our number one priority is a consensus that we need security. We need to secure the environment first; we need to secure the country first before any other thing.

    “It is all out of desperation. It is frustration because if you don’t have anything to say, you will mount the podium to say things that are not having any direct link with the people you are talking to.

    “For somebody who fails to secure the environment or his own territory, will he be considered to be representing light? And will somebody who everybody knows has a track record of integrity be representing darkness? That comes only from a party like the PDP.

    “They should have buried themselves in shame. All these things that they are saying are giving us more followers because everybody knows they are not telling the truth.

    “What we expected will be their driving force or drive the process of their campaign would have been their achievements.

    “You can now see out of desperation and emptiness, they don’t have anything to offer than attacking our candidate, Gen. Buhari, or attacking APC. So, you can now see the desperation. And that tells you they know they are losing the election.

  • ‘APC frustrated by Nigeria’s success’

    ‘APC frustrated by Nigeria’s success’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday lambasted the APC for what it called yet another failed attempt to discredit the PDP-led Federal Government and relegate its efforts in the containment of the Ebola Virus Disease.

    PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement said the APC is frustrated and unhappy because Nigerians are happy with the PDP-led Federal Government for “the speed and energy with which it tackled the scourge and brought it under control.”

    “We know that the APC prefers that the Ebola scourge continued unabated in Nigeria so as to have what to blame the PDP-led government for. Now that it has been contained, the APC is frustrated because the people are happy with President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP-led Federal Government for the proactive manner with which the disease was confronted and overcame”, the party said.

    The PDP insisted that the national success recorded on Ebola was because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to politicise the issue but took the bull by the horns through an aggressive multi-sectoral approach for treatment, awareness and control to the admiration of all Nigerians and the international community.

    “The PDP makes bold to state that the multi-sectoral approach deployed by the Federal Government with the concerted collaboration of the Federal Ministries of Health, Aviation, Information, Education, Transport and other relevant agencies such as the Nigerian Immigration Service for intensive screening, quarantine and treatment efforts as well as the massive awareness which ended the spread of the disease and resulted in its containment in our country.

    “We are also amused by the contradictions in the APC’s statement in which it also commended the roles played by the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu in the containment effort. We ask, is the minister not appointed and supervised by President Goodluck Jonathan? Is he not of the PDP? Or is the APC now trying to appropriate him?

    “Apart from concerted collaborations using the Federal Ministry of Health, it is on record that President Jonathan released N200 million each to Lagos and Rivers States to help in fighting the disease, including improvement of health facilities and public enlightenment across board.

    “The President acknowledged the Nigerian Spirit which made the citizens to put their religious, political and ethnic differences aside in fighting this common enemy. This includes PDP national officers who personally and collectively engaged in various activities in containing the scourge including creating awareness through the #EBOLAIceBucketChallenge and personal financial donations while the

    APC was busy seeking political capital out of the unfortunate situation.

    “However, what the APC must understand is that Nigerians and indeed the international community are happy with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration on the rapid response and eventual containment of the Ebola Virus Disease, and no amount of propaganda and blackmail will take this away”, the PDP said.

  • We are economically frustrated, Ogoni people tell Amnesty International

    The people of Bodo in Ogoni, Rivers State, have urged Amnesty International to get justice for them.

    They said the spillage of oil in their community from facilities owned by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has destroyed the people’s means os survival.

    The people spoke at the community’s market square, where they gathered to welcome officials of Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) .

    Officials of the organisations visited oil spillage sites and lamented the level of damage, describing it as inhuman.

    Speaking on behalf of the community, the Chairman of Bodo Council of Chiefs and Elders, Mr. Mene Kogbara said the people of Bodo had no future because the water where they fish, their farmland and economic trees and activities had been pdestroyed by oil spillage.

    Kogbara said: “Bodo community has no hope, especially when the damage done by Shell has not constituted a discussion at any level of government, not to talk of considering the people for any form of humanitarian assistance.

    “We thank Amnesty International for visiting our community and inspecting oil spillage sites, which have attracted international concern and reactions.

    “We are giving you our total support in the cause of this struggle to force Shell to pay compensation to the community.

    “You have shown that Bodo is in your heart by personally coming to see the realities of the suffering of our people.

    Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Mr. Salil Shetty said: “We are here to give you all the necessary support and we have decided to fight for you.”