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Tag: U.S

  • U.S. to the rescue?

    U.S. to the rescue?

    Ominous auguries as America moves to save Nigeria from herself

    This must be the lowest moment in Nigeria’s post-independence (1960) history. Not even the civil war era would compare with the momentous twist last week in the raging war against terror in Nigeria. Last Tuesday, a weary nation received, with mixed feelings, the news that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had acceded to the request by President Barack Obama of the United States of America (U.S.A) to deploy US security experts and equipment to Nigeria to help in locating the school girls abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, about three weeks ago. Up until this point, the entire Nigerian military, security and intelligence community had no inkling as to the location of the over 200 young girls plucked from their dormitory beds in the dead of night on April 14. We cannot even determine the exact number of girls herded away by the terrorists.

    A news release by Dr. Reuben Abati, presidential spokesman intimated that: “President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America in the on-going effort to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, three weeks ago.

    “The offer from President Barack Obama, which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, in a telephone conversation which began at 15:30 today (Tuesday), includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and rescue operation.

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

    Recall that on January 21, 1962, the Federal Government had to abrogate the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Agreement which the departing British colonialists had extracted from the Nigerian authorities in order to keep a hold on the sovereignty of the newly independent state of Nigeria. But Nigerians across all strata had rejected the pact, staging relentless protests for more than one year. At the peak of the defiance, over 3,000 demonstrators had encircled the parliament building in Lagos, forcing the abrogation of the pact.

    Though the circumstances are not quite the same, it is noteworthy that today, 52 years after, a helpless people and a confused government hurriedly accepted, apparently with a sigh of relief, an offer of a foreign military intervention to manage an internal and localised insurrection. Yes, Nigerians want the girls found and returned safely to their homes; they desire that the daily blood fest, involving largely innocent Nigerians be stemmed; they want peace and order to return once again to their dear country, thus even aliens from mars would be welcome if that is what is required. But there are implications and consequences to be mindful of.

    First, the spontaneous embrace of the Americans is a clear admission of failure by the Federal Government; failure of governance, failure of leadership. That a country that prides itself as the ‘giant of Africa’ cannot contain a local insurgency by a band of desert thugs terrorising her in the last five years is, to say the least, worrisome. That a foreign force had to be invited must be a most humbling and humiliating experience both for the military and the entire people of Nigeria. For a military establishment that has performed so spectacularly over and over again in foreign missions, this must represent its moment of catharsis.

    Again Nigeria’s current debacle is symptomatic of an unravelling, failing nation, a fact Nigeria’s leaders have chosen to deny over the years. An underfunded, underequipped and ill-motivated military-cum- security establishment serially out-gunned and out-maneuvered by local insurgents would only signify one thing: decadence. This manner of rot is deep and pervasive in all ramifications of the polity.

    One illustration will suffice: the dreaded Sambisa forest, the abode of the miscreants from where they unleash terror on the rest of the country was once a forest reserve. In that age of reason when institutions still worked, the 23,000 square miles forest was a carefully charted enclave with shelters, tracks and thoroughfares, and manned by forest guards. Had Nigeria not been in rapid recession in the last four decades, Sambisa would have metamorphosed into a global eco-tourism haven complete with nature trails, game reserve, bird watching zones, scientific observatories, airstrips and holiday resorts. Today, it has grown into a jungle, an evil forest, forgotten, forbidden and the nemesis of the nation. Sambisa is the metaphor for a failed Nigeria.

    To drive home the point of the Sambisa metaphor, Mr. Labaran Maku, the Minister of Information, answering questions on CNN on the inability of the military to rescue the girls, told his interviewer that Sambisa was a remote and impregnable forest, suggesting that it is a no-man’s land outside the purview and control of the state. How ironic and how true? In fact, most of the local government areas a little removed from capital cities and towns of Nigeria have become Sambisas in their own right – abandoned, ungoverned and susceptible to insurrection. And we ask: whence is a state failed?

    Yesterday, our fathers protested vehemently against a foreign military overlord, today we crave for foreign military assistance. Of course, we know that as things stand, this is about the only option open to us if really we are desirous of getting the abducted girls back to their respective homes; events of the last five years have shown that we cannot stop the terrorists alone. We can only urge the Nigerian authorities to be alive to their duties and take stock of what has happened so far, with a view to making amends so that we would never have to travel this road again.

  • We won’t take over the military, says U.S.

    We won’t take over the military, says U.S.

    The United States has said that its assistance to rescue the 276 abducted girls is not designed to take over Nigerian military and security agencies.

    It also said its intervention in the rescue operation will begin in a matter of days and not weeks.

    Besides, said the United States, it is not on a unilateral mission because the Federal Government will continue to take the lead in the operation against Boko Haram.

    The US said it would set up an interdisciplinary team at its Embassy in Abuja to coordinate the operations with the Federal Government.

    The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle, met with the National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki on Wednesday to work out the modalities.

    The spokesperson for the US Department of State, Ms Jen Psaki, made the clarifications at a briefing in Washington late Wednesday. She said Nigeria did not accept America’s offer in theory.

    The transcript of the briefing, which was released by the US Embassy in Nigeria, said in part: “Well, I believe the Secretary, from his phone call, feels it wasn’t that they just accepted in theory. They did accept our assistance, and there will need to be a discussion about how to best coordinate moving forward, but that will be happening in the coming days.

    “Yes. Our understanding is the agreement is they’ll be able to do the work that we’ve proposed. Naturally, as a part of that, there’s an assessment period of what the needs are and how we can best assist and the Nigerian Government continues to have the lead. It’s not, of course, a unilateral process we’re conveying here.

    “I wouldn’t characterise it that way. What it is, is we are  obviously, the Nigerian Government has the lead in this effort, and we’re not putting together a unilateral interagency or interdisciplinary team here. We are there to assist and fill in where they have needs. So we need to assess that and determine where they have needs and integrate ours as quickly as possible.

    “Obviously, we have a range of capabilities. We’ve made an offer, of course, to cooperate, and we expect that will be – (cell phone rings) – oh, that’s quite a festive ring – (laughter) – that we expect that things will be proceeding in days, not weeks. But I don’t want to get into, from the podium, an assessment of where we think things stand on that front.

    Psaki gave the details of United States’ assistance.

    She said: “I have a little bit of an update too, so maybe I’ll do this all in one. As we announced yesterday and the Secretary announced, we have offered assistance to the Nigerian Government. President Jonathan accepted our offer of assistance, and we’re moving swiftly to put in place a team at our Embassy in Abuja that can provide military, law enforcement, and information-sharing assistance in support of Nigeria’s efforts to find and free the girls.

    “Our Embassy in Abuja is standing up an interdisciplinary team – this is what we specifically offered – to coordinate with the Nigerian Government. This morning, our ambassador met with the Nigerian national security advisor.

    “AFRICOM will send a team shortly to assess Nigerian needs. Our legal attache has been in touch with Nigerian police.

     “The FBI stands ready to send additional personnel to provide technical and investigatory assistance, including expertise on hostage negotiations, and USAID is working with partners on what we can do to be ready to provide victims assistance.

    “So that all falls into the various categories I mentioned yesterday as a part of a, interdisciplinary team that would have representatives from different government agencies.”

    The spokesperson said additional personnel will arrive in the country in the next few days.

    She added: “I would categorise it as an interdisciplinary team to coordinate with Nigerian authorities. There are military – military is a part of that, and as I mentioned, in addition to, of course, AFRICOM sending a team, we have a broad range of resources within the United States Government we’ll offer.

    “Well, we expect additional personnel to be on the ground arriving in the next few days. Obviously, this is in the interests of the Nigerian Government to accept every aspect of our assistance. They conveyed that they were willing to do that yesterday, and it continues to be in their interest to be as cooperative as possible.

    Asked of the US response to Britain’s plans to help Nigeria, she said: “I don’t have any other specifics. Obviously, we work very closely with the British in a range of these efforts.

    “And I’m certain that our interdisciplinary team that has a range of assets will be coordinating with those that they send, but some of that is still being worked out, given this was just announced yesterday.”

    The State Department spokesperson debunked the allegation that the US had been slow in assisting Nigeria against Boko Haram.

    She said:” I’m not going to do a ranking, but I will tell you that obviously, the fact that we designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation last year and we’ve increased our efforts cooperating on counterterrorism in many parts of Northern Africa, not just Nigeria, tells you what you need to know about our level of concern and our focus on Boko Haram.

    “Well, I think it’s important to note that we have been providing a range of assistance before the announcement yesterday. So that was specifically an interdisciplinary team related to this horrific kidnapping of the young girls in Nigeria.

    “But to date, our counterterrorism assistance to Nigeria because of threats like Boko Haram has focused on information sharing and improving Nigeria’s forensics and investigative capacity.

    “We’ve been working with them to strengthen their criminal justice system, increase confidence in the government by supporting its efforts to hold those responsible for violence accountable.

    “We’ve provided approximately $3 million just last year in law enforcement assistance to Nigeria to help boost up their capacity.

    “So we have been concerned and have provided a range of assistance, and been working closely on counterterrorism efforts long before yesterday. That was just a specific announcement as it related to these recent tragic events.”

  • Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Anger rises as Boko Haram threatens to sell school girls

    Protests in Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar

     

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Falana condemned the arrest of some protesters in Abuja.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • U.S offers to help in search for abducted girls

    U.S offers to help in search for abducted girls

    The United States is prepared to help Nigeria in the search for the 234 girls abducted by the Boko Haram sect from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
    “We have been engaged with the Nigerian government in discussions on what we might do to help support their efforts to find and free these young women,” State Department Spokeswoman, Marie Harf, told reporters on Thursday.
    “We will continue to have those discussions and help in any way we can.”
    The terrorists stormed the school on April 14, packed the teenagers onto trucks and motorcycles before disappearing into a remote area along the border with Cameroon.
    The kidnapping occurred the same day a bomb blast, also blamed on Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the edge of the capital, Abuja, and it marked the first attack on the FCT in two years.
    The abduction has shocked Nigerians long accustomed to hearing about atrocities in an increasingly bloody five-year-old insurgency especially in the Northeast. Boko Haram is now seen as the main security threat to the country.
    Harf did not elaborate on the kind of assistance Washington is offering, but said: “We know Boko Haram is active in the area and we have worked very closely with the Nigerian government to build their capacity to fight this threat.”
    Separately, a group of U.S senators introduced a resolution condemning the abduction and urging U.S government assistance in the rescue effort.
    “The U.S and the international community must work with the Nigerian government to ensure these girls are reunited with their families and deepen efforts to combat the growing threat posed by Boko Haram,” said Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the chairman of the Senate’s African Affairs subcommittee, and one of the resolution’s six sponsors.

     

  • State of osun: Bishops for hire

    State of osun: Bishops for hire

    For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours?

    In his article, ’Osun and Traditional Religion: A Bishop’s Howler’, the erudite scholar, Professor Moses Akinola Makinde, did such a marvellous job of dissembling Bishop Mike Bamidele’s misdirected shibboleths as they concern Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s wide ranging educational reconstruction in the state of Osun that it becomes almost superfluous to weigh in again at all –See P. 73, The Nation on Sunday, February, 2014. However, while Professor Makinde was content with taking only an intellectual view of the Bishop’s convoluted views, I am by far more inclined to see the man’s dirty politics of name-calling. He won’t be the first Bishop in this game since it looks like hiring Bishops –call them Rasputins – by some Southwest politicians has become a fad. The other day, it was Hon Opeyemi Bamidele carrying a nonagenarian retired Bishop on a farewell visit to his erstwhile political leaders, and the reader wins nothing for correctly guessing which Osun politician might have our Bishop on his payroll in the instant case.

    Since I had no previous knowledge of Bishop Bamidele, and in order not to be unduly judgmental, I decided to google-search him. The little I found on him was quite instructive. Left to him, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the devil itself, and, ipso facto, ill-suited to be the number one citizen in the state of Osun. What pointed, unmistakably, to this was his UTube presentation titled: Light Make Different.

    In that short presentation, paganism, which he accuses Aregbesola of encouraging in the state, is presented in the most lurid of terms; it is not only the opposite of light but it is out to kill and destroy. You need not be told that in the Bishop’s thinking, devotees of traditional religion are destined for the hottest part of hell. This, he, therefore, hangs on Aregbesola who, many sensationally allege, is too much of a Muslim, as leading the good people of Osun into. Many readers of this article will be whispering under their breath: ‘touch not my anointed, do my prophet no harm’, but what exactly do you do when an otherwise very articulate Bishop forgets all about comparative religion, a study of which should have enabled him do a helpful comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world’s religions in order to have a deeper understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred and the divine.

    In completely writing off Yoruba traditional religion, a man who many expect to educate and enlighten is busy obfuscating, for what purpose only he knows.

    Let me now tell our Bishop how the Yoruba traditional religion is regarded outside our shores even as our ‘men of God’ choose to be more white than the white man. I document below, two eye witness accounts of events that put a lie to the mindset of the Bishop Makinde’s of this world.

    The first is by U.S-based Bunmi Fatoye-matory who recently wrote as follows on ekitipanupo:

    ‘I and my hubby, a scholar of Yoruba religion, are living in Berlin this year. Berlin, Germany, is the last place I expected to find Yoruba religion and culture, but there it is. We found the Orisa temple, called Candomble by the Brazilians in a very nice neighbourhood in Berlin. It was very elegant and inviting just like it is in Brazil. The founder is a Brazilian priest who has lived in Berlin for a long time. We attended the ceremony for Iyansan, known to us at home as Oya. The crowd was mostly white and some few black Germans and Brazilians. There were songs and dances for each Orisa and that night Osun, Iyansan and Ogun came down to possess the initiates. They danced, they spoke and they offered blessings. The crowd in this place was educated, writers, film makers, anthropologists, etc. many of whom are initiated. They paid obeisance to the gods and we all danced. The officials who address the gods all spoke YORUBA. These were not Yoruba people. I later introduced myself to the Pai de Santo, the priest, and he showered me with that special honour and attention given to me as a Yoruba woman and as a person from the home of Osun, Igede. Since then, I have had several requests from the devotees to be taught Yoruba. Writing further, Mrs Fatoye- Matory said: ‘Folks, in the 21st C., Yoruba religion is becoming a World Religion and the torch bearers are not Yoruba people. Either in Cuba, Brazil, or many cities such as Miami, New York, Berlin, Port of Spain and Lisbon, our gods and goddesses are marching on in spite of the desertion by their children, without the advantages of missionaries or The Book. I met two Danish guys who came from Copenhagen to attend the ceremony. They are initiated even though there is no temple in Denmark yet. Yoruba people – obviously the likes of Bishop Makinde – are spreading Abrahamic Religions around the world; some of them are mutilating their names to get

    rid of the evidence of their families’ ancestral Orisas. Many refuse to teach Yoruba to their children. Europeans and Latin Americans of all races are thirsting for our gods, language and traditions. Only Eledumare knows where this is going. One bit of hope is the response of Diaspora children. Across U.S. Colleges, many of them are interested in connecting to their roots. They are learning the languages of their ancestors and researching the traditions.’

    ‘Yes, indeed, my sister’, interjected Professor Akin Oyebode, a Law Professor of international repute: ‘I recall watching the cultural troupe of Cuba in Moscow in 1967 rendering songs to Obatala, Sango and Yemoja in heavily Spanish-adulterated Yoruba but still somewhat understandable to my humble self. In fact, a former Cuban Ambassador once told me that the Yoruba religion and culture were more authentic in Cuba than Nigeria…So, I’m at one with you on the passion of the African Diaspora for their roots.’Now, has it occurred to our Bishop that the Yoruba culture and language are thriving in as far afield as Brazil, Cuba, Portugal, the West Indies –where there is a town called ‘Beokuta, according to our own WS -, even in the United States of America? Does he know that this ensures the indestructibility of the Yoruba language and culture even where, back at home, our elite no longer like to speak the language to their children because it is considered infradig if their 4-year old does not speak English?

    Has it occurred to Bishop Bamidele that in an age when the Southwest is fervently preaching fiscal federalism and taking it gingerly to the national conference, only agriculture can dwarf tourism as our main source of revenue in Yoruba land? For purposes of whatever may be coming to some of our churches, if any, from the U.S, must we continue to denigrate that which is ours? Probably unknown to the Bishop, many of our states in the region have poured billions into tourism development and both Osun Osogbo and Ikogosi in Ekiti are already showing what a milch cow tourism could become for us.

    And as a passing shot, our reverend gentlemen, not just the Bishop, should either be content with their tithes or remove their cassocks and join partisan politics.

    They will be more than welcome.

  • MEXICO vs NIGERIA: Eagles to hit U.S. March 2

    MEXICO vs NIGERIA: Eagles to hit U.S. March 2

    • As NFF applies for visa date

    Nigeria’s Super Eagles will fly out on March 2 to the United States of America for the international friendly against Mexico billed for the Georgia Dome and AT&T Stadium in Georgia, Atlanta three days later.

    SportingLife understands that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have applied for an appointment date for visas with the U.S. Embassy in Abuja for players and officials.

    “Most probably we should get a February 23 date,” said a top source from the federation.

    For now the secretariat are yet to collect the team’s international passports. “That we should start any moment from now since the list of 23 players invited for the match has been made public,” said the source.

    Players invited from the domestic league will report to the team’s Abuja camp at the end of this month while their foreign based counterparts will fly straight to Atlanta from their respective clubs.

    Next month’s friendly has been arranged to prepare both sides for the World Cup in June in Brazil.

    At this level, the meeting between both countries which is the third has always been a friendly.

    10 months ago, precisely May 31, they clashed at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with scores ending 2-2. The first was at the Estadio Olimpico Benito Juarez in Chihuahua, Mexico on October 2007. It also ended 2-2. The Georgia Dome, one of the largest indoor sporting facilities in the United States, is the primary home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

  • Expert: U.S. to Export Liquefied Natural Gas by 2016

    U.S. energy producers could begin exporting liquefied natural gas within the next five years as they seek ways to combat falling natural gas prices, said energy specialist Loren Scott, president of Loren C. Scott & Associates, at an economic summit Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

    Several companies are already investing billions of dollars to convert import terminals along the Gulf Coast into LNG export facilities, said Scott during his speech at the Rocky Mountain Economic Summit hosted by the Global Interdependence Center and the Bronze Buffalo Club.

    The conference, which took place at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts, included entrepreneurs and top U.S. economists who discussed issues and opportunities relating to the global economy. The event was the fourth-annual gathering founded four years ago by strategic planning and risk-management firm Hyde-Norton Group.

    Scott said he does not believe LNG exports will result in significant price increases.

    “There is going to be some impact on pricing, but I think there is so much supply that we’re talking about maybe a ceiling of about $4 per million BTU,” Scott told IndustryWeek. “We’re not talking about going back up to $10 or $15, which was a real problem for us in the early 2000s.”

    The increased demand from exports could benefit manufacturing as energy and chemical producers invest in new production plants. He cited a proposed $10 billion facility by South African energy giant Sasol Ltd. as an example.

    In April U.S. regulators approved an LNG export facility for Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. The company is investing approximately $4 billion to $5 billion to retrofit facilities in Louisiana for LNG exports, Scott said. The company expects to begin production in 2016, said Scott, whose firm is based in Baton Rouge, La.

    LNG exports could increase even further as technology advances, Scott said. Future plants could be located offshore on a ship that would free LNG exporters from permitting requirements, Scott said.

     

    Culled from AFP

  • ‘U.S. wants Nigeria to win war against terrorism’

    ‘U.S. wants Nigeria to win war against terrorism’

    The United States has said it wants Nigeria to win its war against terrorism, the U.S. Ambassador, Mr James Entwistle, has said.

    Entwistle spoke yesterday in Abuja when he led a delegation from the U.S. to the chief of Defence staff.

    The envoy said he had spoken on the matter when he presented his letter of credence to President Goodluck Jonathan last week.

    He said: “I told President Jonathan that the position of the U.S. government is that the security challenges facing the Northeast be solved. I told the President that the simple message I was conveying was that the U.S. wanted Nigeria to win its war on terrorism.

    “That is the bottom line message that I share with the President and you.

    “The visit of the commander of the U.S. African Command is a follow-up to the meeting of the President Jonathan and U.S President Barack Obama in New York.”

  • U.S hands over warehouses

    Four warehouses belonging to the Federal Medical Stores (FMS), Oshodi, Lagos, which were renovated by the United States Government, were yesterday handed over to the Federal Ministry of Health.

    The renovation has doubled the storage capacity of the warehouses from 10 per cent and will make it easier for the ministry to buy, store, track and distribute medications to health care centres across the country.

    The U.S. Consul General Jeffrey Hawkins and Mission Director of the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), Michael Harvey, led the handover at a two-hour ceremony at the store’s premises to the Permanent Secretary, Amb. Bala S. Sani, who represented the Minister of Health, Prof Chukwu Onyebuchi.

    The U.S government provided over $1 million for the renovation as part of efforts to improve health care in Nigeria through quality medication and medical equipment.

    The renovated warehouses, it was learnt, would minimise fraud and reduce cost and time for transporting life-saving medications and equipment to parts of the country.

    It would also ensure access to safe and effective medications among Nigerians.

    The renovation was in partnership with the U.S government through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tubeculosis and malaria and Ecobank Nigeria Plc.

    It was learnt that the partners contributed about $500,000 to the renovation.

    To the ministry’s workers, Amb. Sani said: “Henceforth, when I come in here, I want to see the store full with drugs. Three days later, if I come, I want to see the drugs half gone and distributed to the right places and when I check back, I want to see the store full with drugs again.”

  • U.S marks Storm Sandy anniversary

    The United States is marking one year since Superstorm Sandy hit the country’s east coast, killing at least 117 people, BBC reports.

    Sandy was the most destructive storm in the U.S since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

    On Monday, historical immigration landmark Ellis Island reopened for the first time since the storm flooded low-lying areas in New York City.

    But many communities are still struggling to rebuild amid complaints emergency funds have failed to reach the hardest-hit.

    As of August, just under a quarter of the $48bn (£30bn) earmarked for rebuilding had been committed to local governments, according to Reuters news agency.

    Federal officials have unveiled plans for a second round of disaster relief amounting to $5bn for five states and New York City, and they pledged that the pace of spending would pick up after a slow start.

    “In year one, we all agreed the aid flowed too slowly,” Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters.