The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Paul Biya

  • Buhari, Biya to strategise against Boko Haram in Yaoundé

    Buhari, Biya to strategise against Boko Haram in Yaoundé

    The Cameroonian Minister of Communication, Issa Bakary, said on Tuesday that security issues are expected to domination talks as Paul Biya hosts his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari on a two-day State Visit.

    According to Bakary, Buhari and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, will also discuss other issues that will boost the two countries ‘brotherly relationship’.

    He said the visit would afford the two leaders the opportunity to map out strategies to defeat militants, Boko Haram who have been wrecking havoc in the parts of the two nations.

    “The visit follows the continuing attacks on both countries by Boko Haram,’’ he said.

    Bakary also said the visit became necessary as the insurgents, having been defeated frontally, have changed their attack strategy, including suicide bombings.

    He called on all Cameroonians and the people of far north region in particular, to increase their vigilance and spare no effort in collaborating with local authorities and security forces.

    He also said there was the need to share information on how to identify positions of Boko Haram and their accomplices.

  • Boko Haram: Buhari to visit Cameroon after Ramadan

    Boko Haram: Buhari to visit Cameroon after Ramadan

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday accepted an invitation from President Paul Biya to visit Cameroon at his earliest convenience for talks on the intensification of cooperation between Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the war against Boko Haram and terrorism.

    Receiving the invitation from Mr. Sadi Rene Emmanuel, the Cameroonian Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, President Buhari said he will visit Cameroon for the high-level talks after the end of the Ramadan fast.

    Buhari, who said he was putting his experience as a former soldier to good use in the war against Boko Haram, re-emphasized that greater regional and international cooperation was needed to end the sect’s atrocities.

    The President, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, commended the efforts of all regional governments, including Cameroon to support Nigeria in the war against Boko Haram.

    But he called for even greater collaboration among the nations.

    He said: “I am happy that the President has sent you. As you must have observed, I was in Niger and Chad over this issue. I planned to be in Cameroon afterwards, but I received an invitation to attend the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Germany.

    “I had to attend the meeting because Boko Haram has been internationalized and it was part of the discussions there,” he told Mr. Emmanuel.

    The Special Envoy assured President Buhari of the Cameroonian leader’s “fraternity, sympathy and brotherly commitment” to working with Nigeria to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

    “Together, we will reinforce our efforts,  eradicate the scourge of terrorism and look forward to better things,’’ he stated

     

  • Boko Haram: Chad to send military contingent to Cameroon

    Boko Haram: Chad to send military contingent to Cameroon

    Chad will send a large number of troops to neighbouring Cameroon to help fight increasing incursions from Boko Haram sect attacking from Nigeria, the Central African nation’s president said on Thursday.

    The announcement by President Paul Biya did not specify how many troops Chad will send, but comes a day after the Chadian government said it will actively help Cameroon fight Boko Haram militants.

    Chad President Idriss Deby Itno “has decided to send a large contingent of Chadian armed forces to help the Cameroonian Armed Forces facing repeated attacks from the Boko Haram sect,” Reuters quoted Biya as saying in a statement posted on the Presidency’s website.

    Biya has called for international military help to fight the sect that has seized swathes of northern Nigeria and is threatening neighbours who share borders with the northeastern zones occupied by the group.

    Boko Haram, which aims to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria, has stepped up attacks in the region as Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, prepares for a crucial February 14 presidential election.

    The sect has also carried out a number of attacks and raids across the border in northern Cameroon, prompting the government to deploy thousands of troops including special forces.
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  • Nigeria’s next presidential election

    SIR: Can Nigeria get it right in the next presidential election? Good political leadership translates to development in any country. And, politics is a component of democracy through which our leaders emerge. Periodic election is central to the sustenance of democratic governance and culture in any country. It offers the hoi polloi and other people in a country the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice. In countries where the votes of the electorate count, bad leaders are voted out, and good ones voted in, during elections.

    The development of a country is a function of the leadership obtainable in that country. No country can grow above the visions and abilities of its leaders. African countries are underdeveloped because visionless and selfish leaders are controlling political powers, there. And, they will push for constitutional amendments, which will guarantee them limitless terms in office. Africa is teeming with this species of political despots. Think about Paul Biya of Cameroun; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; and the deposed Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

    President Good Jonathan has declared his interest to run for the President after keeping us in suspense for a long time as to his next political move. The months leading to his declaration of interest were filled with intense and frenzied political activities orchestrated by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria. Their sycophantic expression and demonstration of support for Jonathan’s candidature bears striking resemblance to Daniel Kanu’s Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha.

    President Jonathan is the favourite to win the 2015 presidential election irrespective of his unimpressive and unflattering leadership score-card and go-slow attitude to issues of leadership. Although his rhetoric and anecdotes of personal privation will not sway our support to him, he will use the incumbency power to tilt the odds into his favour. He will most probably  sweep the votes in the South-east and South-south. In the South-west, he will keenly battle for the votes with APC. And, there is no monolithic north anymore. So, given this scenario, Jonathan’s foot soldiers and campaigners can make inroads into the core-north.

    But, the absence of a strong political opposition in Nigeria will aid the re-emergence of Jonathan as president.

    APC’s presidential candidate in the 2015 presidential election will determine how far the party will go in the next presidential poll. Rtd General Buhari as well as Atiku Abubakar has picked the APC forms for the presidential election. Rabiu Kwakwanso is battling to become the APC’s standard bearer in the 2015 presidential election, too. Buhari, an old political war horse, seems to be ahead of other politicians fighting for the APC presidential ticket.

    The fact is, Nigeria is without a formidable, credible, and vibrant opposition party. The opposition parties should present pragmatic economic and educational polices as alternatives to the government’s ones. And, they should field candidates for elective posts who are with proven probity, integrity, patriotism, vision, and leadership qualities. Nigeria is practising multi-party system only in name. Some smaller parties may have been collapsed into PDP.  Is APGA an appendage of PDP? Nigeria is tending towards a one party state. The boast by a PDP chieftain that PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years is gradually becoming a reality. To contest a presidential election in Nigeria on the ticket of PDP has become a guarantee of success. Where are the opposition parties?

     

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi,

    Anambra State

  • 27 Boko Haram hostages freed in Cameroon

    At least 27 hostages, including 10 Chinese workers, held by suspected Boko Haram militants in Cameroon have been released, the country’s president has said.

    Also freed was the wife of Cameroon’s Vice-Prime Minister, Amadou Ali.

    President Paul Biya said the hostages, seized in May and July close to the Nigeria border, were safe.

    Boko Haram is seeking to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria but its fighters often cross the long and porous border with Cameroon, the BBC reports.

    Many Nigerian civilians in border towns have fled to Cameroon to escape Boko Haram attacks, which have been stepped up in recent months.

    In July, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2,800-strong regional force to tackle Boko Haram militants.

    Cameroon has reinforced its troops in its northern regions.

    President Biya said in a statement on state radio: “The 27 hostages kidnapped on May 16, 2014, at Waza and on July 27, 2014, at Kolofata were given this night to Cameroonian authorities.

    “10 Chinese, the wife of the Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali, the Lamido (a local religious leader) of Kolofata, and the members of their families kidnapped with them are safe.”

    No details were given on the circumstances of the release or whether a ransom was paid.

    In July, Cameroon said Mr. Ali’s wife and maid were abducted in “a savage attack” on his home in Kolofata by Boko Haram militants.

    Mr. Ali managed to escape to a neighbouring town.

     

  • Cameroun, Chad to battle Boko Haram

    Cameroun, Chad to battle Boko Haram

    The presidents of Cameroon and Chad met Thursday to map out ways to combat the Boko Haram sect, which has extended its violence from Nigeria to its neighbors.

    Presidents Paul Biya and Idriss Deby were also to examine security reports that some weapons used by Boko Haram came from Libya through Chad.

    The two leaders said they were meeting to fine-tune plans and reiterate the commitments they made in Paris on May 17 to wage war against Boko Haram.

    Col. Didier Badjeck, spokesperson for Cameroon’s military, said the two governments were committed more than ever to fight Boko Haram alongside Nigerian forces.

    “We cannot be indifferent when our brothers and sisters live in permanent fear from those who have taken upon themselves to use violence on everyone instead of a spiritual rearmament they claim to bring,” he said.

    Nyambelle Elvis, a Chadian expert on security issues, said the presidents of Chad and Cameroon had agreed to allow their forces to cross into the territories of each country in pursuit of terrorists and armed groups.

    He said there are accords that authorize security forces from the two countries to pursue “havoc wreakers” up to 30 kilometers from the border.

    He added it was therefore necessary to reinforce that measure and increase mixed patrols in the border area.

    Elvis cited intelligence reports that Boko Haram has received sophisticated weapons from the Middle East and the Maghreb through Sudan and Chad to Nigeria and Cameroon.

    According to him, weapons also came in from Libya and training of Boko Haram members took place in Mali when Islamist militants controlled the north of that country.

  • Suspected Boko Haram rebels attack Chinese plant in Cameroon

    Suspected Boko Haram rebels attack Chinese plant in Cameroon

    Suspected members of  Boko Haram  on Friday night attacked a Chinese plant in northern Cameroon near the town of Waza.

    One person was injured in the attack while 10 others are yet to be accounted for.

    Waza is 20 kilometres from the Nigerian border close to the Sambisa forest, the fortress of the Islamist sect.

    The governor of Far North Province, Augustine Fonka Awa who confirmed the attack, gave no details.

    Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Chinese officials as saying unidentified assailants  attacked the camp of a Chinese enterprise operating in Cameroon , injuring one person and leaving 10 unaccounted for.

    Boko Haram has staged several attacks in northern Cameroon. Last month, it attacked a police post, killing two people. The rebels kidnapped a French family in February 2013.

    West African leaders including Cameroun’s Paul Biya met yesterday  in Paris  to try to improve cooperation in their fight against Boko Haram.