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Tag: Jonathan

  • ‘Jonathan’s campaign strategy mocks Chibok girls’ parents’

    ‘Jonathan’s campaign strategy mocks Chibok girls’ parents’

    The#BringBackOur Girls (BBOG) protesters have said President Goodluck Jonathan’s new campaign slogan, #BringBackGoodluck2015, does not only show his inhumanity, but also mocks the grieving Chibok girls’ parents.

    They said it was unfair for the President to mock the parents “because he does not know what will happen to him tomorrow.”

    The protesters said government tried to stop their advocacy through intimidation, “which will not work because we shall stand firm until the schoolgirls, who were abducted 146 days ago at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok are rescued.”

    The group’s leader, Aisha Yusufu, spoke yesterday in Abuja during a protest.

    She said although the nation was at ‘war’ with the Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, the President did not deem it fit to address the citizens over the ‘war’.

    Her words: “I think their plan is to mock us, to mock the campaign. But the only thing they have succeeded in doing is to show their inhumanity. They don’t have a sense of empathy.

    “This is a campaign for people in pains. No matter how highly-placed, how important somebody is, you are not above God. Anything can happen to you. We don’t know what can happen tomorrow. Those who are laughing at somebody grieving today do not know what will be their portion tomorrow. Only God knows tomorrow. This is why you should never mock another person.

    “We were supposed to meet at the Unity Fountain, but we changed our venue at the last minute for security reason.

    “This intimidation will not stop us. We will not give up. We will not stop until the girls are rescued.”

  • Truth Jonathan’s fans won’t tell him

    If there was any doubt about the circle of sycophancy that surrounds President Goodluck Jonathan, which may eventually strangulate him like a noose, the reported secret remarks by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (popularly abbreviated as Alams), a former governor of Bayelsa State, present sufficient evidence that he lives in a gilded cage. The background is this: Alams, in an interview with New Telegraph,spoke about the discord between Jonathan and Rotimi Amaechi, the Rivers State governor, which culminated in Amaechi’s exit from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Alams, ostensibly playing the role of peacemaker, came up with his own solution to the problem, saying that Amaechi who is now a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) should “retrace his steps, beg President Goodluck Jonathan and return to PDP.” Alamieyeseigha’s words: “I think there is no problem between Amaechi and Jonathan. I think Amaechi should be humble enough to go to the President and say ‘I am sorry’, because he has no place to go. A child that is not respectful will also not deserve respect from anyone. I have spoken to both of them.”

    He continued: “Jonathan has no issues. The President of Nigeria is very powerful. I even told Amaechi that the first entity you cannot fight is Almighty God and the second entity is the government (President Jonathan). No matter how you interpret it, nobody can fight the government (Jonathan) successfully…Rivers State will never be surrendered to the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    It is easy to see that his choice of words reflects nauseating obsequiousness, which he is perfectly entitled to; and this is understandable given that he owes Jonathan, who was his deputy in his gubernatorial years, a huge debt of gratitude for his rehabilitation. Hardball remembers that Alams was convicted of money laundering and corruption and got a two-year jail sentence, but was later pardoned by Jonathan who controversially used his presidential powers to apparently wash him clean. Against this backdrop, Alams may be pardoned for imagining that Jonathan is invincible; but that is exactly what it is – imagined invincibility. Furthermore, it was the height of childishness for Alams to liken Amaechi to a child. Now, listen to Amaechi’s reply through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor: “It is true that Amaechi does not have any personal issue with the President. And yes, when Alamieyeseigha came to the governor to discuss this issue, he said there was not much problem between the president and the governor, but he was not bold enough to say in that interview what he told the governor the problem was.”

    So, what was the problem as Alams saw it? Iyofor’s statement said: “He told Amaechi that he cannot understand why Mr. President cannot rein in, control or manage his wife. For him to say something else is, indeed, most cowardly and timid.”

    It should be considered charitable that Alams was described as “cowardly and timid”. Perhaps it would be useful to do a word search for a less generous description for a man who exhibits such two-faced and double—tongued character. With creatures like Alams around Jonathan, who will speak truth to power?

  • Jonathan appoints Presidential panel to study 2014 National Conference report

    Jonathan appoints Presidential panel to study 2014 National Conference report

    President Goodluck  Jonathan  yesterday constituted  a Presidential Committee to study and draw up  Implementation Strategy for the 2014 National Conference report.

    Jonathan  received the final report of the National Conference headed by Justice Idris Kutigi,last month.

    The committee which is headed by the  by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke ,is to start work immediately.

    Other committee members,according  to  the Assistant Director (Press) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Oise D. Johnson, are:Transport Minister  Idris A. Umar; Mallam  Bashir Yuguda, Minister of State for Finance;Aviation Minister  Osita Chidoka; Olajumoke Akinjide, Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory;Works Minister  Mike Onolememen.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation,Chief  Anyim Pius Anyim, will  serve as secretary of the committee.

    It is mandated study the Report of the 2014 National Conference,  articulate the recommendations therein, develop appropriate strategies for its implementation, and  advise Government on all matters necessary for the effective implementation of the Report.

  • Ekiti PDP women back Jonathan for second term

    Ekiti PDP women back Jonathan for second term

    Ekiti Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Women Coalition 2015’  has urged the party to field President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for next year’s election.

    At a rally in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, the group also asked the President to declare his re-election bid in the national interest.

    PDP women leaders from the Southwest witnessed the rally, which was addressed by the leader of the group, Mrs. Bolajoko Oriire Olapeju.

    She said: “ The efforts of President Jonathan since he assumed office in 2010 proved that he eminently deserves a second term and he deserves our support.”

    Olapeju described the group as “a pressure group driven by the desire to join the teeming groups to support the re-election of President Jonathan in flying PDP’s flag in the 2015 general election.”

    Urging women to support the President, she said the number one citizen has appointed more women into the Federal Executive Council (FEC) more than his predecessors.

    She said: “The good works of the President are felt all over the country, in spite of the activities of enemies of progress.”

    Olapeju added: “We are in Ekiti to enlist your support in this crusade to ensure victory for our President and our great party.”

    Also speaking, the group’s leader in Ekiti, Mrs Modupe Orubuloye, said women delegates had come from 16 councils to drum support for the President’s bid.

    She said: “They are resolute in their support for another term for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.”

    Olapeju said the group’s activities cut across party lines because “President Jonathan’s good works cut across party lines and he has impacted positively on all and sundry.”

    She added: “Women must not be deceived and they must not allow  themselves to be deceived because the President has done very well for Nigerians and the Nigerian women.”

     

  • Jonathan to open Ijaw youths’ summit

    Jonathan to open Ijaw youths’ summit

    President Goodluck Jonathan will open the maiden Ijaw Youth Council World Summit on September 9 at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Warri, Delta State.

    The summit, with the theme: Partnering for Prosperity and Sustainable Development, will end on September 11.

    Over 1,000 delegates, including youths, government officials, community and religious leaders and other stakeholders from the Niger Delta will attend the event.

    The summit is a platform for the government, communities and organisations to address the various challenges facing the youths of the Niger Delta. These include high unemployment rate, lack of prospect and youth restiveness.

  • 2015: ‘Only Obiano, Umeh can deliver Anambra to Jonathan’

    •’Obi’s not JJJ Southeast coordinator’

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Join Jonathan Journey (JJJ), has said only Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, the All Progressives Grand alliance (APGA) National Chairman Victor Umeh and the group can deliver Anambra State to President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.

    But the group denied the rumour that former Governor Peter Obi had been appointed the President’s campaign coordinator for the Southeast.

    The group’s Chairman Ben Obi addressed reporters yesterday at the JJJ office in Amawbia.

    He said that some people had been boasting that they would deliver for the President Jonathan in Anambra and other Southeast states.

    But Obi said only Obiano had the capacity to ensure the President’s victory in the state.

    He explained that altough the President inaugurated an evaluation and screening committee, Obi’s supposed appointment as the region’s campaign coordinator was unfounded.

    Ben Obi said: “APGA is not just a political party but a movement in Anambra and indeed, Southeast. Soon, we are going to launch JJJ in Imo, Abia and other states in the zone.

    “We have been getting calls from other parts of the country, such as Borno, Sokoto and Zamfara to launch the group, after its successful inauguration in Awka, the Anambra State capital, last Saturday.”

    The group also said Jonathan had done well for Ndigbo, adding that he should be supported for another term.

    It listed the major projects the President had given the Southeast as the Second Niger Bridge and Enugu International Airport, among others.

  • Jonathan’s anger over Ebola stigmatisation

    President Goodluck Jonathan might have lost his cool on Wednesday last week over the misplaced consequences of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) on Nigerians who travel to foreign countries.

    The disease was brought into Nigeria by the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer.

    Jonathan did not hesitate to caution countries stigmatising Nigerians over the disease, which many international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations (UN) had praised Nigeria for adequately containing it.

    The occasion for President Jonathan to criticise the countries that maltreat and pick on Nigerians over the disease presented itself when a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. David Navarro, visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

    He condemned the trend of discrimination and stigmatisation of Nigerians who travel abroad at the meeting with Navarro, who had visited the countries that are worst hit by Ebola, including Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, before coming to Nigeria.

    The President particularly denounced the discriminatory actions which forced Nigeria’s team to the Youth Olympics in China to abandon its participation at the championship.

    None of such Nigerian quarantined and tested in the countries involved, as at last week, tested positive to the disease.

    The National Sports Commission (NSC) mid-last month announced the pulling out of the country’s contingent from the Youth Olympics billed for Nanjing, China.

    According to the Director-General of NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, Nigerian athletes, who were already in China perfecting strategies for the games, were treated like lepers by the organisers of the championship.

    The Nigerian athletes, who were billed to feature in wrestling, beach volleyball and athletics, he said, were not only quarantined by the organisers due to the news of Ebola virus in Nigeria, but they were also barred from training ahead of the competition alongside athletes from other countries.

    Most of the Nigerian officials for the championship, he added, were also denied visa before the competition started.

    A Nigerian in India was quarantined and admitted at Jogeshwari’s Civic-run Trauma Centre in Mumbai Hospital last month after the airport authorities were informed that the man complained of having fever.

    The 32-year-old Nigerian had returned to India via a connecting Emirates airlines flight from Nigeria.

    After the necessary tests and monitoring, it was discovered that the Nigerian didn’t exhibit any symptoms of the deadly Ebola disease.

    Another Nigerian was quarantined in Hong Kong, China for showing Ebola-like symptoms during a trip from Lagos via Dubai to Hong Kong in early August.

    He was vomiting and suffering from diarrhea when he arrived at Hong Kong.

    After admission in a hospital in China, the man tested negative to the deadly Ebola virus.

    A 30-year-old Nigerian woman was also quarantined in Germany in August when she showed symptoms similar to that of the deadly Ebola disease.

    The woman, who fainted shortly after returning from Nigeria, was immediately hospitalised by the German health authorities to prevent Ebola virus disease in the country.

    A Nigerian specialist, Mojeed Olayinka Agoro, who is a Production Assistant at Dung Quat Oil Refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, Vietnam was also quarantined for Ebola monitoring in Vietnam after arriving from Nigeria early last month.

    A medical examination carried out on him later showed that he was in a normal health condition.

    To confirm the test results and for the incubation period of two to 21 days to elapse, Agoro was isolated at home and self-monitored his health under professional instructions from the Provincial Preventive Health Centre, with assistance from the refinery’s health unit.

    Besides Agoro, two other Nigerians who arrived in Vietnam last month were also isolated for monitoring for signs of the deadly virus.

    The two Nigerians, who flew to Vietnam on Flight QR961 of Qatar Airways that left Nigeria on August 18 and arrived in the Tan Son Nhat International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, were having fever.

    The two Nigerians were taken by health workers to the Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Diseases Hospital for medical examination in isolated conditions. They were expected to stay for 21 days for monitoring for signs of Ebola infection.

    Nigerian students were also not left out in the new trend as three university students were examined by Vietnamese health experts after returning to Vietnam from Nigeria.

    From tests carried out on them, it was confirmed that they had not been infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

    It was also reported that some Air France crew had to boycott flights to Nigeria for fear of contracting the disease.

    The company was said to have given its staff freedom to choose whether or not to fly to Conakry, Freetown and Lagos after British Airways and Emirates were said to have suspended flights to the region.

    One Air France union, SNGAF had, last month, launched a petition calling for the “immediate end to flights to countries hit by the Ebola virus.

    Sophie Gorins, the Secretary-General of the SNPNC, which represents cabin crew, was quoted as saying: “We know that our jobs put us at risk, but they are measured risks. This is completely out of control and the information is not the same from one day to the next.”

    Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, noted that it was wrong for people from other countries to threaten to boycott Nigeria and that Nigeria rather should be the one to stop people from coming to Nigeria as the virus was first brought into the country by a Liberian-American visitor, the late Patrick Sawyer.

  • APC to Nigerians: hold Jonathan responsible if Ebola spreads

    APC to Nigerians: hold Jonathan responsible if Ebola spreads

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Nigerians to hold President Goodluck Jonathan responsible, if the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) spreads further.

    The party noted that the President failed to stop on Saturday a rally in his support in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, despite the warnings from individuals and groups.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said never before had a President sabotaged his administration’s policy and endangered the lives of his compatriots as Dr Jonathan had done over the EVD.

    It said the President, who declared a national emergency on Ebola and advised against large gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus, was the first to flout the advice by failing to stop the rally organised by the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) in Port Harcourt, a few days after the virus was detected in the city.

    This, APC said, happened when contact-tracing was going on to find those who might have had contact with the doctor, who had the disease.

    It said: “On the altar of political desperation, President Jonathan put the lives of Nigerians in danger. To realise his ambition for re-election, President Jonathan has shown he is ready to sacrifice as many lives of Nigerians as possible. There goes the President’s statement that his political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. This President simply says what he does not mean.

    “As we said in our statement on August 28, calling on President Jonathan to halt the TAN rallies, especially the one in Port Harcourt, could anyone guarantee that none of those who have had contact with the doctor who died of the disease would attend the rally? That is why we are calling on Nigerians to hold the President responsible, if Ebola spreads more than it has in the country.”

    The party noted that after it called for a halt to the TAN rallies, others, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and frontline lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, in a clearly patriotic duty, issued similar calls.

    The party said: “In fact, the APC in Rivers described such a rally, most appropriately, as a ‘firing squad against the people’. But because he will rather be re-elected than give a damn over the safety of the same people who voted him into office; because he will rather transmogrify than transform, President Jonathan ignored all the calls and allowed the rally to hold. This is an unprecedented act of political

    desperation.”

    APC stressed that for those who might try to spin the issue by saying the President had no control over the organisers of the rally, they should be asked who the rallies will benefit, whose top officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, have been attending the rallies and what is the source of the funding of the gatherings.

    It said: “The TAN rallies are government-sanctioned. The TAN rallies are the Jonathan administration’s cunning way of beating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ban on campaigns for next year’s general elections. The TAN rallies highlight the impunity of the Jonathan administration. President Jonathan is the sole beneficiary. He can stop the rallies today, if only he wants to put the nation’s interest above his personal interest.”

  • Northwest PDP leaders endorse Jonathan for 2015

    Northwest PDP leaders endorse Jonathan for 2015

    •Lamido, Shema absent
    •Jonathan/Shema poster floods venue

    Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Northwest geo-political zone yesterday endorsed the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 election.

    They affirmed their support at a meeting attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo in Kaduna.

    Party Chairman Adamu Mu’azu, National Organising Secretary Abubakar Mustapha, Zonal Chairman Amb. Adamu Kazaure, Senator Magoro and Sokoto State Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shagari, all attended the meeting.

    The Northwest comprising seven states Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Jigawa states has the largest population of voters among the six geo-political zones.

    Yesterday’s meeting is believed to be the zone’s response to the ongoing activities orchestrated around President Jonathan’s undisguised but yet to declared bid for re-election.

    The PDP through the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Transformation Ambassador of Nigeria (TAN) has been holding rallies in geo-political zones in support of the President’s candidature.

    The rallies have been held in the Southeast, Southwest and Southsouth zones.

    Governors in the Northwest zone attended are ex-Capt. Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Ibrahim Shema (Katsina).

    House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal also did not attaend.

    Though absent, posters of Jonathan/Shema for President/Vice President in 2015 flooded the venue, leading speculation to the rumour that some forces within the party were rooting for dropping of Sambo from the ticket.

    Speaking on behalf of the governors from the zone, Kebbi State Governor Usman Dankingari, the governors would ensure that they deliver the zone which he described as the most sophisticated ad most populous in terms of voting size in the country to President Jonathan.

    National Chairman Mu’azu said the party which is as “constant as the northern star”, remain a party to beat and urged members in the zone to remain united so as to deliver the zone in 2015.

    A communique issued at the end of the meeting read by Ambassador Aminu Wali, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the president had done a lot to deserve a second term.

    He said the region would remain grateful to the Jonathan administration, especially in terms of infrastructural upliftment, good governance and the promotion of democracy.

    “Several beneficial projects have been sited in the northwest for the rapid socio-economic transformation of the region.”

    The communiqué added: “Having carefully considered the steady and stable progress of our nation under the able leadership of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the stakeholders of the PDP in the northwest zone, having in mind the monumental strides attained by this administration, have resolved to endorse Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to declare for president in the forthcoming 2015 elections so as to continue the good work he started in nation building. We ask for nothing less.

    “Consequently, we respectfully call on the National  Chairman of our party to convey this resolution and unanimous declaration of the entire leadership and membership of the PDP in the Northwest zone to His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to surrender  himself for the continued service to the nation.”

  • Jonathan for anti-terrorism meeting in Kenya

    Jonathan for anti-terrorism meeting in Kenya

    President Goodluck Jonathan will travel to Nairobi today for a meeting of the African Union’s (AU’s) Peace and Security Council, which will begin tomorrow in the Kenyan capital.

    A statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the meeting is a follow-up to talks by President Jonathan and other African leaders at Pretoria, South Africa, in May, on joint action against terrorism.

    Tomorrow’s meeting toorrow will consider the report of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Africa.

    “Deliberations at the Nairobi summit and the adoption of the African Chairperson’s Report by President Jonathan, President Uhuru Kenyatta (of Kenya) and other participating Heads of State are expected lead to more collaborative actions by Nigeria and other African countries to rid the continent of acts of terrorism and violent extremism,” the statement said.