The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jonathan

  • President Jonathan and the Yoruba nation

    SIR: Since the reported meeting of our President with some leaders of Yoruba nation including respected monarchs, I have done some hard thinking about our nation and especially the level of fidelity that is demonstrated by our political masters. The innocuous body parading itself or insinuating that it was speaking for the whole Yoruba nation is entitled to its views. But several things were involved or ought to have been considered before that meeting was summoned.

    The Nigeria political arrangements especially sharing of political positions, appointments to the Chiefs and Senior Management Staff of statutory corporations, commissions and boards deserve a second look if not a thorough analysis. Citing of capital projects in each zone or state of the federation needs to be known and analysed. The allocation of the superior or super ministries to each zone or a block of zones needs to be known. In short, the equitable distribution of resources available to the Nigerian nation state should also be on the table. Nigeria as a nation must survive. Although there are few immutables in politics, it is safe to argue that we will all benefit by the wholesomeness and unity of the country.

    Some Nigerians have reacted positively or negatively to the meeting. I refer in particular to Prof. Dare’s comment at the back page of The Nation of December 2. Dare has not been known to flaunt false statistics nor has he been known to tell blatant untruth. However, his reference to Ekiti Obas as leading in numbers with their counterparts from the states of South-West zone is not exactly true. Indeed, more Obas attended from  a neighbouring state. In any case, there is virtually nothing wrong in leaders and Obas of our zone meeting the President of Nigeria.

    While I agree with Prof. Dare that the leaders and the Obas might have been tricked to attend a political forum, I reject in entirety the view that the Obas were indiscreet or they went for what some called stomach infrastructure. Throughout Nigeria, Ekiti Obas stand out in intellect, in commitment to their environment and proud of their thrones. Like many Yoruba, Ekitis don’t pick the crumbs from under the table. We either sit at the table or don’t come near  at all.

    I think what that forum would have told the President plainly is that there is so much imbalance in the distribution of wealth (via contracts), in the allocation of resources, in execution of capital projects and most importantly in the distribution of key political and administrative positions among the various group that constitute our federation. No Yoruba man holds any key Ministry except Akinwumi who vaunts his achievement in the distribution of mobile telephone to farmers but who has done very modestly in the core area of agriculture, notably some marginal increase in rice production and wiping out of middlemen who dominated the fertilizer business. Almost all the economics and the financial ministries, ministry of power, their subsidiaries, corporations, commissions, etc, are headed by people of the South-South and South-East of the geo-political zones. Some have vaguely put the arithmetic as follows: 70 per cent for South-South and South-East block; 25 percent for Northern block and 5 percent for South-West. It is not sufficient for the President to say that ‘he will take care of the West. The innuendo here is loaded and one does not need to interpret this. Some six decades ago, during the days of Azikiwe/Okpara, Sardauna/Balewa, Awolowo/Akintola, any attempt to knit a political arrangement between the then Eastern Region and Western Region was at  the very last moment aborted by our revered Azikiwe. This, he said quite reasonably of course, that Nigeria could not be ruled on the basis of North versus South or vice versa. Although Awolowo wanted close working relationship between the East and the West, he also courted the so-called minorities of the Middle Belt in the North and then Calabar, Ogoja, Rivers (COR) people of the East. Of course  Awolowo’s manoeuvres never materialized while Azikwe/Okpara always forged close relationship with the North, giving birth to uneasy coalition at the centre. This is the arrangement which Dare and others called the ‘mainstreaming’. Nigeria is so complex, the geographical space so large that political mainstreaming may not only be undemocratic, but stiffening if not suffocating.

    Finally, let us appeal to the Federal Government to treat all of us evenly and let the Secretary to the Federal Government in particular learn from our political progenitors.

    • ‘Deji Fasuan, JP, MON

    Ado-Ekiti

  • Jonathan’s aide visits corps members

    The Special Assistant on Students and Youth Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Comrade Jude Imagwe, was the guest at the Plateau State National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Mangu.

    Accompanied by the Plateau State Commissioner for Youth Development, James Bala, and Special Adviser to Governor Jonah Jang on Youth and Students, Adamu Bala, Imagwe said he was on a working visit to the campus to check the wellbeing of the Corps members.

    He was received by a guard of honour, after which the camp officials conducted him round the facility. Some of the places he visited include the kitchen, camp clinic and hostels.

    Imagwe said the focus of the Federal Government was on job creation, stressing that government could not do it alone. He said the Jonathan administration had partnered the private sector to create job for teeming youth population.

    He said the government had created jobs through Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin), Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), and Youth in Agriculture Initiatives, urging the Corps members to tap into the opportunities created by the government to engage themselves in productive venture after service.

    He said: “Our government understands the challenges of the youth, particularly those that are young entrepreneurs. They need to be assisted to startup businesses and become employers of labour.”

    While charging the Corps members to set goals for the lives and embrace entrepreneurship, Imagwe said there was advantage in starting small.

    The state NYSC co-ordinator, Mrs Lios Benjamin Meller, hailed the Corps members for the warm welcome accorded the visitors.

    Yakubu said the state government would to add to the Federal Government’s allowance being paid to the youths, adding that the security of the Corps members remained the priority of the government.

     

  • Soyinka to Jonathan: you’re Nebuchadnezzar

    Soyinka to Jonathan: you’re Nebuchadnezzar

    IG Abba ‘brutish’

    Presidency: Prof. playing the ostrich

    Nigerians have been cast into a furnace, Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka said yesterday.

    With a biblical allusion, the playwright stated his opinion on the state of the nation, likening President Goodluck Jonathan to the Babylonian autocrat, King Nebuchadnezzar.

    He said Nigerians had been cast into a “furnace” in the manner of Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego.

    Unfortunately for the citizens, no divine miracle appears to be at hand for a last-minute rescue, Soyinka said.

    The three biblical characters, in the book of Daniel, were cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to an image made by the despotic king, but they were miraculously rescued.

    Soyinka, at a media briefing at the Freedom Park in Lagos, with the theme: “King Nebuchadnezzar – the reign of impunity”, said Jonathan’s administration had become known for lawlessness.

    “You should easily recall why I opted for King Nebu – the figure that currently sits on the top of our political pile himself evoked it, albeit in a context that virtuously disclaimed any similarities, even tendencies.

    “Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: ‘I am not Nebuchadnezzar’. Perhaps not. One judges leaders on acts, however, not pronouncements, which are often as reliable as electoral promises.

    “King Nebu remains relevant – and not only for leadership. We, the citizens, are beginning to feel the heat. We wake up each morning to a sensation that we have been cast into the furnace together with those who at least committed the crime of dissent or criticism,” he said

    House of Representatives members have been pilloried for scaling the National Assembly’s fence on November 20 when the police shut the gate and teargassed them.

    Soyinka said it was wrong for the media to describe their action as a “show of shame”.  It was rather the lawmakers’ “finest moment”, he said.

    In his view, the police action is like a declaration of war on Nigerians. He criticised Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba for exercising what he called “brutish power”.

    According to the dramatist, it is left for Nigerians to either resist such abuse of power or accept it.

    “The people must decide – whether to submit or resist. We may be no-count plebeians in the sight of the new-born patricians of Aso Rock and their apologists, but must we revert to the Abacharian status of glorified slaves? Of course it is up to any people to decide,” Soyinka said.

    He described security agencies as “praetorian guards” let loose “to teach the rabble their place”.

    “The recent choice of a new leader for the Guard was clearly no accident, and this hitherto unknown enforcer, one Suleiman Abba, has wasted no time in inaugurating a season of brutish power.

    “When a people’s elected emissaries are disenfranchised, cast out like vagrants and resort to scaling fences to engage in their designated functions, the people get the message.

    “However, the choice is always there, and each choice comes at a cost. It is either we pay now, or pay later.

    “This latest action of the supposed guardians of the law against the nation’s lawgivers is an unambiguous declaration of war against the people,” Soyinka said.

    The frontline activist said the legislators were not elected for their athletic prowess, but they were made to perform over and above the call of the Olympics, which, to him, deserves praise.

    “I don’t understand why some media have described their action as a show of shame – this is a very careless, easily misapplied designation.

    “The act of scaling gates and walls to fulfill their duty by the people must be set down as their finest hour. They must be applauded, not derided.

    “If shame belongs anywhere, it belongs to the Inspector-General of Police and his slavish adherence to conspiratorial, illegal, and unconstitutional instructions – to undermine a democratic structure, and one – to make matters worse – convoked in response to an emergency of dire public concern,”

    Soyinka said what sticks to Abba is worse than shame. According to him, it is infamy.

    Such a public servant, Soyinka said, deserves to be pilloried, tried and meted a punishment that is appropriate to treasonable acts, if only to serve as a deterrent to others in positions of responsibility under the law.

    “To demand less is to reduce ourselves below the status of free citizens of a free nation. It means we endorse violence against our representatives, that we are content to submit ourselves to the jackboots of naked force,” he said.

    Soyinka said for this latest act in an escalating series of impunity, the buck stops with President Jonathan, who he said has degraded a system by which he “attained fulfillment”.

    The Professor said Boko Haram could have been dealt with through a national mobilisation of the citizens on an unprecedented scale, even if certain liberties are curtailed.

    But such unity of purpose and sacrifice, he said, would be hard to achieve as the response would be outright rejection because “any such notion would be distrusted and be seen as an act of insincerity, an opportunity to acquire even more powers for citizen enslavement.”

    Soyinka said the time had come for Nigerians to defend themselves. Referring to the female Civilian Joint Task Force member, he said: “Ladi, it would appear, needed no such urging from any direction.

    “It was obvious to her, and others like her, that it was futile to await salvation from a centre that is so self-obsessed with power that it no longer sees even the danger to its very existence. A people must defend itself,” he said.

    On America’s reported refusal to supply Nigeria Cobra Helicopters, Soyinka said the US should stop making a mockery of the country.

    “America should stop laughing at us. Just say you will not supply arms to Nigeria and stop there,” he said.

    Soyinka, however, urged America to overlook the “arithmetic failings” of the Peoples Democratic Party-led government, referring to the “impeachment” of the Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker by seven PDP lawmakers and Jonathan’s endorsement of “losers” in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election.

    He said it was possible that America felt the Nigerian government’s lack of mathematic knowledge meant they could not operate the fighter jets.

  • Senate to get Jonathan’s impeachment notice Dec 16

    Senate to get Jonathan’s impeachment notice Dec 16

    The impeachment plan against President Goodluck Jonathan will be tabled on the floor of the Senate on December 16, a senator said yesterday.

    Senator Alkali Jajere (Yobe South) spoke after the Senate adjourned plenary till December 16 to enable lawmakers attend the primaries of their political parties.

    The senators backing the plan have listed 14 “impeachable offences” against the President.

    But Senator Ayogu Eze said yesterday that Jajere was “day-dreaming” and that the impeachment plan would not see the light of day.

    Senator Sahaabi Yau ( Zamfara North) warned that the Senate could ill-afford the distraction associated with impeachment.

    Jajere, one of the senators to have endorsed the impeachment notice, is number four on the list of 63 senators supporting the plan.

    He said: “I have signed the impeachment notice because there are impeachable offences against President Jonathan.

    “You are my colleagues and being a journalist who practised journalism for 27 years, I know these things are not new.

    “ In 2011, this Senate approved N240billion as subsidy fund but the same government spent N1.7trn, which is a clear breach of the constitution, clear breach of the Appropriation Act.

    “The business of government is to curtail excesses but this government has shown that it is incurably deficient in handling the situations in this country.

    “That government cannot say it wants to continue. The President should have even resigned without waiting for him to be impeached.

    “The duty of the legislature is to act as a check and balance because it is the most important symbol of democracy.

    “If you don’t have the legislature, you don’t have democracy because every other arm of government exists even when there is no democracy. It is only the legislature that makes a democracy, a government.

    “As at last week, 63 of us had signed up for the impeachment. My signature was the fourth but I can confirm to you that we have 63 signatures but after the session today (yesterday),  two people called me and told me that they want to sign.

    “One of them is an APC senator who was away campaigning  because he is contesting the governorship election. The other is a PDP senator.

    “The impeachment issue is not just coming now. It is also a process that started early in the year but there was a hiccup but today, there are issues that have triggered the National Assembly to do what it should do.

    “No matter what the time, it is a three-legged issue. The National Assembly will now have to initiate the process and then, submit that process to the judiciary.

    “The judiciary will form a committee through the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN); the National Assembly will carry out the verification of the committee and conclude the remaining process.

    “The National Assembly will soon conclude our own side and submit the notice to the judiciary.

    “As of today, the required signatures to initiate the impeachment notice had been obtained.

    ”Senate has adjourned to the 16th. By that date, the impeachment notice will be presented on the floor of the senate.

    “Before the end of today, I can assure you that the list will swell up to 70.

    “It is on the impeachment day that we need two-third of the members to carry out the exercise, but we need only one-third, which we already have, to initiate the process.

    “It is just a matter of one day sitting.  We will just push it before the two chambers.

    But Ayogu Eze insisted that there was no impeachment notice in the Senate.

    The Enugu North lawmaker noted that impeachment of Jonathan was only in the imagination of those who were spreading the story.

    Eze said: “There is no impeachment notice in the Senate.

    “It is in the imagination of those who are writing about it and we challenge anybody who thinks that he can impeach the President to meet us on the floor.

    “We challenge anybody who is interested and who thinks he has the vote to impeach the President to meet us on the floor.

    “We don’t want any distraction at this period when the country is going through election and we have serious challenges.

    “If it is a joke, it is a joke carried too far. I have been very present in the chamber since I got here in 2007.

    “If anything is happening in that chamber, I will know but I can tell you, there is nothing like that (impeachment.)

    “What is annoying is that some people sneak around and incite journalists to write falsehood.

    “If they are serious, they should bring it to the floor. It is not something that should be reported in the papers alone, they should bring it to the floor; we are waiting.

    “They are not more than three or four people going about with the impeachment story.

    “To me, Jajere is a story teller. We are waiting for him and his other signatories who are more spirits than human beings in the Senate.

    “And let me put it to him and his other signatories that if they think that they can intimidate the President out of power or PDP out of power they are just day dreaming because the man will contest the 2015 elections and, going by realities on the ground, he will win. So the earlier they realise this, the better for them.”

    Senator Yau described the planned impeachment as not only a distraction but a waste of resources and energy.

    “Maybe some people are doing it underground but nobody has contacted me on the issue.

    “For now it is a rumour. The process is cumbersome, even if there is need for that; how are we going to finish it?”

  • FG not behind Boko Haram – Jonathan

    FG not behind Boko Haram – Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday in Kano berated those insinuating that the Federal Government has a hand in the sponsorship of Boko Haram insurgency, arguing that there is no way a government in power, with all the security agencies apparatus at its disposal can take such a step.

    Jonathan, who spoke through Vice President Namadi Sambo, condoled the Kano State government, the Emir of Kano and people of the state over last Friday’s attack on the Kano central Mosque.

    He called on Nigerians to join hands and fight the war against terrorism, saying the menace will be a thing of the past.

    President Jonathan said, “I want to seize this opportunity to call on people not to listen to rumours as a lot of rumours are going around that it is the government that is doing this. The government can never and never ever kill its own people.

    “I will seize this singular opportunity to call on all Nigerians to be our their brothers’ keepers, to be security conscious and to continue to cooperate with the security agencies so that we will be able to achieve our noble objectives of bringing back peace, tranquility and development to our dear country.

    “Politics should not be part of this business and I must also seize this opportunity to call on those that have been spreading mischievous rumours all over that it is the government that is involved.

    “I want to say it categorically clear that the government is not a party to this and the government is doing everything to arrest this terrorist act. The government is doing everything to ensure that we go back to peace and with this insinuation, I want to draw our attention to the fact that the security operators of this country are headed by Muslims.

    “The National Security Adviser (NSA) of this country is a Muslim – Col. Sambo Dasuki, he is from Sokoto and he is from a Royal House. The Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau is from Zamfara State and he is a Muslim.”

  • Why Jonathan must return to Otuoke in 2015

    SIR: I do not think Nigeria has ever had it this bad. Bomb blasts that used to sound so foreign to us as something that only happens in Iraq, Afghanistan has now become almost a daily occurrence so much so that our newspapers do not consider them worthy to be their screaming headlines anymore. Corrupt persons have become bolder in their debauchery that it seems there is a silent competition to see who or what organisation can loot and plunder the most. Security agencies saddled with the responsibility of protecting Nigerians appear to have become an armed political wing of the ruling party. Nigeria has become akin to a ship sailing directionless with a drunken Captain, rudderless and in a fiery storm.

    That some ordinary Nigerians still support this administration beats me hollow apart from career politicians, those that can be seen as government contractors, those that have benefited and continue to get their daily bread from this administration, big businessmen that policies of the government favour their businesses. On the other hand, we have those who support this administration just because the President is their own, from the Niger Delta area that has long suffered government neglect, never mind that that the lives of the people haven’t improved in any significant way. Poverty is still rife, except perhaps ex-militants that have now become multi-billionaires due to government patronage. Environmental degradation hasn’t ceased either and so to them, it is a good thing that their son is President and he must complete his term.

    This is just one of the mind-set of our people who to me are a big part of the problems bedevilling this country. All sorts of the ridiculous excuses are bandied about on why the President is not performing; that those against him are making him look bad. Then they point to his achievement in revitalizing the railways, rebasing the economy and that we are Africa’s largest economy and refer to the figures the likes of Okonjo-Iweala dishes out almost on a weekly basis about how millions of jobs have been created and millions more to be created due to some phantom government policies. These lies are so bold and in your face that one begins to wonder if these government officials actually live in this same Nigeria or a different one, because the reality on ground is a stark contrast to the picture they have become really good artist at.

    To be fair to President Jonathan, the problems of this country precedes his Presidency. The question is what has he done to stem the tides of maladministration? May be he done his best, maybe his best is not just good enough. He does not possess the capabilities to govern a complex country like Nigeria. He has shown over and over again that he has not the clout, political sagacity and maturity to deal with diverse interests, and issues a president of a country like Nigeria needs to do well.

    His style of leadership has further widened the divide of Nigerians along ethno-religious lines more than any other leader in the history of this nation. Missing funds, missing ships laden with oil are some of the absurdities that have now become commonplace. The insurgency in the north is getting worse with a part of the country already annexed by terrorists.

    Jonathan may in fact be a good man; or at worst a really simple man trying his best to put things right in the best way he can. But almost six years of his presidency has shown that he is just not capable of governing this country. I dare say that he is not fit to spend a day more after May 29, 2015 in the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

     

    • Muizz Kazeem,

    Lagos

  • Youths back Jonathan for second term

    Youths back Jonathan for second term

    Young  business entrepreneurs who were assisted with funding and training under the Federal Government’s  youth empowerment programme have formed campaign group for the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The youths under the auspices of the Nigerian Young Entrepreneurs said over 5,400 have been empowered by the Federal Government under the ‘You-Win Programme.’

    They promised to secure over 2.5 million votes for President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll.

    Speaking in Abuja, the group’s Director of Media, Mr. Bello Muritala, listed some of the programmes being implemented by  President Jonathan to include, the launching of Venture Capital Fund and the provision of N220 billion to support small and medium scale businesses.

    Others include the launching of Nangrooreneur to empower about 750,000 Nigerians in self employment, launching of new Automobile policy and the disbursement of special intervention fund through the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria Agriculture Intervention Fund.

    Bello also praised President Jonathan for promoting the entertainment industry, through the Project Advancing Creativity and Technology (PACT) in collaboration with Nollywood. According to Muritala through the synergy with Nigerian entertainment industry, the sector has been provided with a N3 billion grant to further help the development of the sector.

    In the same vein, Bello said the government has thought the implementation of the Sure-P scheme, been able to engage 320,000 youth’s useful activities.

    He said the group is interested in collaborating with the government to make life better for the people.

    Muritala said: “Out of the system that is good, there are still curtains things that are good that needs to be encouraged. We believe the president has done something good and will need to be supported to do more.

    “After considering all the achievements and the need for continuity to avoid policy somersaults the coordinating committee and over 400,000 of the Nigerian Young Entrepreneurs across the country hereby declare support for the re-election of President Jonathan.

    “We hereby declare our support for the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. We urge him to go ahead with his aspirations and we promise him nothing less than 2.5 million votes through our efforts across Nigeria.”

    Many of the beneficiaries spoke on how the government intervention has impacted on their lives and how their new businesses have grown in the last two years after they got support from You-Win.

  • Niger Delta group threatens shutdown if Jonathan does not win

    A group, Eye of Niger Delta (END), has threatened to shutdown the Niger Delta,  if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected.

    The group said nothing could stop him from wining the  election next year.

    Rising from an emergency meeting  in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the group said it has uncovered plans by some northern leaders to betray President  Jonathan.

    The leader of the group, Comrade Tari Victor Ben, said the Niger Delta  is the key to Nigeria economy, adding that would not take it for granted if the President is not re-elected.

    He said President  Jonathan has made a lot of sacrifice for Nigerians through his transformation agenda, adding that deserves the support of lovers of and democracy.

    He said: “We are in the meeting today to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election campaign, but we are also aware of the scheming by some Northern leaders.  Jonathan represents the Niger Delta region. Of course, without him as the President we will shutdown the region.

    “It is now clear that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a blessing to the nation and the fruit of his transformation agenda is for everyone to see.  His agenda to transform the nation affected all sectors of the economy.   He also opened new federal universities and 124 Almajiri schools.

  • OAU students boo Jonathan, Fayose at Yoruba summit

    OAU students boo Jonathan, Fayose at Yoruba summit

    Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile Ife,yesterday booed President Goodluck Jonathan and his entourage during a visit to  the campus to meet with Yoruba leaders ahead of next year’s   elections.

    The placard-carrying students  protested  the Jonathan Administration’s handling   of education in the country and called for an immediate end to what they called the rot in the sector.

    They were particularly incensed by the security measures put in place for the President’s visit which restricted vehicular movement in and out of the campus.

    In effect  shuttle  buses  which most students ride  between  the main gate and the campus were unable to operate and the  students were thus forced to walk long distances ,some to their exam halls.

    Some of the protesters’  placards read:“We Condemn Jos Killing of Students”; “Students Are Not Chicken”; “Don’t Sell Education As You Sold Electricity”; “We Demand Total Reversal of 2014 Hiked School Fees”; and  “We are Not Responsible For Jonathan’s Ineptitude”.

    The students also blocked  the road leading to the school’s sports centre where a Nigerian Air Force  NAF-280 was waiting to carry the President from the campus.

    They asked him to address them before leaving.

    The students also booed Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State who sought to pacify them.

     The governor had alighted from his car and walked up to the students with a view to addressing them.

    What he got from the students was a snub and shouts of unprintable expletives.

     His security details reading the unfolding drama quickly shoved him  into his car and drove him away from the scene.

    Some traditional rulers also beat a retreat to save themselves from embarrassment by the students.

    Hundreds of  PDP supporters, who had swooped on the OAU campus with different banners to welcome President Jonathan wore long faces.

    Addressing the Yoruba Unity Summit earlier at the Oduduwa Hall of the institution,President Jonathan pledged that he would take proper care of the Yoruba if re-elected in 2015.

    He described the South West as a key part of Nigeria which his administration must work with.

     He also promised   that the recommendations of the recently conducted National Conference would be implemented.

    He said: “the contribution of the Yoruba people to nation building is so enormous to be ignored. So, all parts of the country must work together in love, unity and understanding to overcome all the challenges facing us.”

    Appreciating the elders and the traditional rulers in the Southwest for their support for his government since inception, President Jonathan promised equal treatment for all geopolitical zones in the country.

     Delivering a paper entitled  “Unity of Yoruba Nation,”  former Transport Minister , Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said that  the political progress made by the  President, with  his ascension to the number  one position in the country was not a mistake.

    He assured Jonathan of the support of the Yoruba in 2015, saying the South West would not want to be deprived its position.

    In their goodwill messages,the Orangun of Oke-Ila,Oba Adedokun Abolarin, Chief Olu Falae, Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, Mrs. Mulikat Akande Adeola and Senator Femi Okunrounmu advised Mr. President not to be distracted by comments and actions of some people against his administration.

     In attendance  at the summit were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, academics, captains of industries, and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party among others.

  • Jonathan commiserates with victims of attack

    Jonathan commiserates with victims of attack

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has commiserated with the people and government of Kano State over the heinous attack on the Central Mosque in Kano, yesterday.

    According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President  called on the relief agencies and their medical personnel to deploy every possible effort to assist the injured.

    He also called on the general public to heed the call for donation of blood at the hospitals where the injured were being treated.

    The President also directed the security agencies to launch a full scale investigation into the incident and leave no stone unturned in tracking down and bringing to justice all the agents of terror undermining the rights of citizens to life and dignity.

    The statement added: “The President reaffirms that terrorism in all its forms and manifestation is a despicable and unjustifiable threat to our society.

    “He reiterates the determination of the government to continue to take every step to put an end to the reprehensible acts of all groups and persons involved in terrorism.

    “President Jonathan calls on all Nigerians not to despair in this moment of great trial in our nation’s history but to remain united to confront the common enemy.

    “The President is confident that no terrorist act against fellow citizens will destroy the Nigerian spirit to remain positive, resolute and united in the quest for lasting peace and security in the country.

    “He appeals to all Nigerians to remain vigilant and cooperate actively with our security agencies to win the ongoing war against terror.