Jonathan: Boko Haram wants to topple government

PM News
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said Islamist group Boko Haram was seeking to destabilise the government and had continually changed its targets in an effort to do so.

“Terrorists all over the world have one common agenda: destabilising government,” he said during a question-and-answer session on national television before describing how the group had moved from targeting local rivals to government institutions and now churches.

Jonathan, who has come under heavy criticism in recent days over spiralling violence in the country’s north, described how the group had moved from targeting local rivals to government institutions and now churches.

He said earlier waves of attacks had not brought down the government, leading the group to target churches in Africa’s most populous nation, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

“Attacking churches is to instigate religious crisis,” Jonathan said. “They believe that when they attack a church, Christian youths will revolt against Muslim youths. They don’t care about who dies in the process.

“If it doesn’t work, the same Boko Haram will start attacking mosques to instigate Muslim youths to attack Christians. So they change their tactics.”

Jonathan however pledged that Nigeria would halt the violence. He said the government was open to dialogue if Boko Haram figures identified themselves and made clear demands.

The television appearance, in which the president took questions from a panel of journalists before fielding phone-in questions from ordinary Nigerians, featured some of his clearest statements yet on the Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed hundreds since 2009.

Most of his public comments have been limited to assurances that the violence will soon end, and the country’s main Christian body this week in a rare move directly and harshly criticised him over his response to the insurgency.

According to him, security is a global challenge now and most parts of the world are grappling with the problem and Nigeria is not an exception.

He said his government was prepared to dialogue with members of the sect and make them useful citizens, but expressed worries that they are “faceless.”

He appealed to Nigerians who have been able to contact the sect members to help inform them that government meant well and was ready for dialogue.

Jonathan denied that government was arresting children of Boko Haram members, but said some criminals also have their wives as criminals thus justifying why the security agents sometimes had to arrest wives of Boko Haram members.

The President, who also defended his trip to Brazil, said he had to continue to work for the progress of the country even in the face of such challenges, saying other presidents have always advised him not to stop the running of government because of Boko Haram insurgency.

He added that Boko Haram cannot stop the government from running as those in government would continue to travel for the progress of the country whether they struck or not.

The President, while reacting to insinuations that he was slow with his fight against corruption, said he was happy with the current EFCC and ICPC chairmen as they have consistently proven that they are up to the task.

Emphasising his trust for the current EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, Jonathan said he was the brain behind most of the successes recorded by Nuhu Ribadu as head of the anti-corruption agency.

He also said Lamorde investigated him as the Governor of Bayelsa State and as a result, he could vouch for him.

On the controversy surrounding his refusal to publicly declare his assets, the president said he places such issues as matters of principles, adding that he had warned his predecessor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, not to allow the government start an issue by publishing their assets.

He said the country was dear to him and his cabinet, adding that he directed one of his Ministers, Olusegun Aganga, to contract a foreign firm to audit the NNPC, saying if he had something to hide or he wanted to protect someone, he would not do that.

He also justified his resolve to sanitise the oil sector with the appointment of Nuhu Ribadu to head a committee in the sector.

He absolved the presidency of any role in the sting operation that nailed Farouk Lawan in the alleged bribery case, adding that it was the journalists who broke the news of Farouk Lawan’s alleged involvement in the scam.

He said Nigerians have now taken to criticising him for every single thing that happens in the country.

He pleaded with Nigerians to give the administration some time, adding that this was the reason the government is encouraging the private sector to invest in electricity.

He said though there is high unemployment in the country, there is hope since the economy is growing. “We are happy the economy is growing and we would do our best to ensure that it grows.”

He said his government was planning to employ over 70,000 in its short term plan to reduce unemployment adding that his government believed in the growing of entrepreneurs.

On whether he will contest in 2015, he said it was too early to start talking about 2015 when had just spent one year in office.

President Jonathan said his relationship with the National Assembly was cordial, adding that he had no issues with being invited by the National Assembly.

He said he wished he could address the nation more often on the floor of the National Assembly as is the case in other countries.

On the Unilag name change, he said what he did was right, being the visitor to the university, adding that some people are fanatical about names.

He also decried the large scale crude oil theft going on the Niger Delta and vowed that it would be stopped.

Additional reports by Eromosele Ebhomele

Nigeria: U.S.$3 Million Bribery Scandal - Constituents Move to Recall Farouk Lawan

Embattled member of the House of Representatives Hon. Farouk Lawan is facing a fresh battle from his constituents over his alleged involvement in the $3 million bribery scandal rocking the House: some of his constituents are plotting to initiate his recall from the House.

The lawmaker was released on bail yesterday after two days of incarceration by the Nigeria Police Force over his involvement in the bribery scandal.

However, investigations by LEADERSHIP SUNDAY in the lawmaker's constituency of Shanono/Bagwai federal constituency of Kano State showed that some of his constituents had already commenced the compilation of signatures for onward transmission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the representative's recall.

LEADERSHIP SUNDAY investigations also revealed why the leadership of the House of Representatives 'sacrificed' the embattled lawmaker during their emergency session on Friday.

Hon. Lawan was removed as the chairman of the ad-hoc committee on the petroleum subsidy and chairman, House Committee on Education.

It was learnt that the leadership of the House took that decision because Hon. Lawan failed to confide in them nor did he carry the members of his committee along all through his transactions in the alleged scandal.

"Hon. Lawan did not carry any of his colleagues along in what transpired. We cannot vouch for him. We are not even sure whether he is with us or with the executive arm of government. Let him sort himself out. The credibility of the whole House cannot be called into question because of the alleged act of one member," a source in the House said.

This is even as politicians in the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)are taking full advantage of Lawan's travails and are seeking signatories from his Shanono/Bagwai federal constituency for a petition to begin the process of his recall.

Some of the politicians who spoke with our correspondent in Kano said that Farouk's action has portrayed Kano State in bad light, even though it has been one of the leading progressive states that has been advancing the cause of the common man in the area of politics for a very long time.

A former House of Representatives aspirant of the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] for Fagge constituency in the last general election, Shuaibu Abubakar Fagge, condemned the action of the lawmaker and hailed the action of the legislators that suspended him from the chairmanship of the committee, saying that what the House did was "in order, proper and followed the due process of the law".

Abubakar, however, subscribed to the commencement of recall process of the lawmaker to allow easy flow of investigation into the matter since, according to him, Farouk's action has exposed how PDP has been thriving on illegality and giving democracy a bad name.

"Farouk should be recalled, then prosecuted in order to face the consequence of his action," Abubakar said.

He called for a thorough probe into the bribery scandal because, "Nigerians will love to see how the lawmaker that has been presenting himself as leader of the Integrity Group will stoop so low to demand for a bribe. Let the whole truth come out and everyone involved in the bribery scandal identified and their names made public," he said.

According to him, the law is very clear that whoever is facing serious allegation of fraudulent practice has to give way and allow the law to take its course. "That's why I hailed what the House did by first suspending him from the chairmanship position he held, now he should be prosecuted," he added.

Secretary of the ANPP, Alhaji Rabi'u Bako said that Farouk's action has demonstrated how PDP has been responsible for corrupt practices in the country since the return of democracy in the country in 1999.

"It is evident that Farouk did not win the last election. That has been the case with him in all the elections he contested in the past. He'd not win, but he would be declared winner through illegal means. Now he has sown a seed and is reaping the fruits of what he sowed," Bako said.

The ANPP scribe, wanted immediate recall of the lawmaker, while the INEC holds a fresh election to fill in the vacant position, as the police arrange for his prosecution before a court of law for him to defend himself before the court.

However, Alhaji Ali Kakako Commander, one of the PDP leaders in Bagwai, said that the lawmaker is on his own, as far as the allegation of bribery is concerned, since his people did not send him to the House to promote illegality.

Commander said that even though Lawan has been outspoken in the House, his constituency has suffered a great deal since there had been no dividend of democracy in the area in the last 13 years.

"We have not started feeling his impact as our representative from this local government. He has only been good to himself and he has been accused of corrupt practice, so let him defend himself. When you talk of quality representative one can say he is good, but with what happened now, I think he was just a self-serving man," he said.

Meanwhile, the embattled lawmaker was yesterday released from police custody after two days in detention over his role in the $3million bribery scandal that engulfed the ad-hoc committee that investigated the fuel subsidy regime which he chaired.

He was granted bail yesterday afternoon after meeting bail conditions imposed by the police. The lawmaker, however, is to report at the police station on a daily basis while the investigation lasted.

Deputy force public relations officer, CSP Frank Mba, confirmed his release in a telephone chat with our correspondent. He said that the lawmaker may be prosecuted, depending on the outcome of their investigation. He refused to disclose the bail conditions.
SOURCE: Leadership Nigeria/All Africa

NIGERIA: Bigots, Hooligans To Test Polish Image At Euro 2012

When John Godson first arrived in Poland from Nigeria 20 years ago, he was spat on in the street and, like many African immigrants at the time, beaten up simply for being black.

Now a member of parliament, Godson says his fellow Poles have changed for the better and complains some media reports in the run-up to the Euro 2012 soccer championships, which start on Friday, may mislead visiting fans into fearing rampant racism.

He dismissed as "one-sided" a British TV film documenting racist and anti-Semitic abuse and violence at stadiums in co-hosts Poland and Ukraine which received far more coverage in Poland, most of it hostile or defensive, than it had in Britain.

"I was really saddened," Godson told Reuters. "It ... does not reflect my own experience," he added, arguing the BBC had failed to reflect progress against intolerance that Poland has made since it emerged in 1990 from a half century of repressive domination by first Nazi Germany and then Soviet Communists.

"It is not that people are racist, they simply have not been exposed to other cultures," said Godson, a university teacher who is among just a couple of thousand Poles of African descent.

"As Poles get to know other people, this is getting steadily better, although we still have some way to go."

Racist abuse by Polish crowds has been a concern for black players and for Euro 2012 tournament organizers. Michel Platini, head of European soccer's governing body UEFA, said on Wednesday referees could halt matches if it occurred, though he questioned whether there was more racism in Poland than his native France.

ANTI-SEMITISM

Less familiar at west European stadiums are the anti-Semitic chanting and displays by far-right groups which organizations like the Warsaw-based East Europe Monitoring Centre say are also common in Poland and which Godson said needed tackling.

"Anti-Semitism is still a problem," he said. "There are jokes about Jews. It not an institutionalized thing but it is something that is definitely present in our society.

"We have clearly not done enough in analyzing what we see happening in the stadiums."

Home to more than three million Jews on the eve of World War Two and the Holocaust largely perpetrated on Polish soil, Poland now has a Jewish community numbering in the thousands. Both its postwar Communist rulers and Roman Catholic clergy who opposed them faced accusations of encouraging anti-Semitic sentiment.

Today, the word "Jew" is still heard as a term of abuse by non-Jewish Poles against each other, not only in stadiums.

The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League, which has praised efforts by democratic Polish leaders, found in a survey this year of European countries that nearly half of Poles still held anti-Semitic views - fewer than in Hungary or Spain, but double or more the level it recorded in Germany, France or Britain.

SOCCER VIOLENCE

The furious response from officials to last week's BBC documentary about its soccer hooligans was indicative of how sensitive Poland is to any blemish on its image as a thriving, open society within the European Union, an image that hosting Euro 2012 is meant to enhance.

Anxious to protect the benefits in tourism, trade and international prestige that spending 20 billion euros ($25 billion) on stadiums, transport and other infrastructure might bring, Poland's government is also anxious to clamp down not just on verbal abuse but violence around soccer.

A year ago, pitched battles that drew in not just fans and police but also players and journalists marred the national cup final and prompted Prime Minister Donald Tusk to promise a clampdown during his successful parliamentary election campaign.

Police have arrested suspected ringleaders among hard-core supporters groups and have invested in an already heavily armed riot squad. Ticket prices that are high by local standards may keep some Polish hooligans out of the stadiums. But the presence of rival foreign fans around the games could mean trouble.

Next week, the national team plays a first-round match against historic adversary Russia, a tie that Wojciech Wisniewski, a prominent member of the fan club for leading Polish team Legia Warsaw, sees as a flashpoint: "The Russians are loud, they are provocative," he said. "It depends how the authorities approach it, but it is definitely a problem."

Many see the roots of soccer violence and the xenophobia that goes with it in Poland's relative poverty compared to its western EU neighbors. Despite resisting the global economic downturn better than most - it is the only EU state to record consistent growth since 2008 - Poland remains the bloc's fifth poorest. Per capita annual income is less than 10,000 euros.

"In the West, the dominant reaction to the economic crisis is a turn to the left, as we are seeing for example in Greece," said Michal Bilewicz, who studies prejudice at Warsaw University. "In Poland or Hungary, our way of dealing with material hardship is to blame someone 'foreign'.

"For this reason the right is gaining support and the left is struggling to reach voters."

Godson, however, points to reasons for hope in his election to parliament last year in Lodz - a city where most people rarely see a non-European face and where the intense rivalry between fans of the two main soccer clubs is famously marked by anti-Semitic taunts, even though few Jews now live there.

"Race was not an issue in my election," Godson said.

"People voted for me because I was a good councilor and they could see that I had a strong community conscience and was prepared to help people," he added.

"Poland is a very friendly, hospitable place. I feel more at home here than I do in the West."

(Additional reporting by Adrian Krajewski, Anna Rychert and Chris Borowski; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
SOURCE: Fox News

NIGERIA: News Desk, Wednesday, May 23, 2012

DAILY TIMES: Ijebu Residents Cry Over Erosion

MONEY WEB: Tiger Brands has been blazing an acquisitive trail into Africa

THIS DAY: NSE Seeks CBN’s Intervention on Dividend Payment

THIS DAY: For UNILORIN 44, it’s Still Cry for Justice

THE BOTTOM LINE: Environmental Justice Fair Fights Against Harmful E-Waste

THIS DAY: House Summons Nnaji , NERC over Planned Hike in Electricity Tariff

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Insecurity: Jonathan In Crucial Meeting With Sultan, CAN Leaders

THIS DAY: Immigration to Repatriate 45 Chinese Nationals

THIS DAY: Again, JNI, CAN Trade Blame over Bomb Attacks

LEADERSHIP NIGERIA: Nigerian Embassy In US Denies Laundering Allegation

FOCUS NEWS AGENCY: Blast damages houses in northern Nigerian city

Nigeria: Robbers Kill DPO, Five Policemen, Two Soldiers. Three Civilians

The Ughelli-Asaba Expressway in Delta State was turned to a no-go-area on Monday as armed robbers massacred the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in-charge of Abraka Police Station, Abraka, Ethiope-East Local Government Area of the state, five other policemen, two soldiers and three civilians.

READ FULL STORY

Nigeria President Unlikely To Risk Oil Graft Crackdown

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is coming under pressure to prosecute top officials implicated in a $6.8 billion fuel subsidy fraud, but many of the suspects are allies he is unlikely to go after if wants to keep his power base intact.
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NIGERIA: NFF To Name Under-17 Tournament After Yekini

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, on Saturday said the NFF would name the Under-17 tournament after the late Super Eagles’ striker, Rasheed Yekini. Speaking during Yekini’s fidau prayer at Ira, Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Maigari who later left for an official engagement at Abuja and was subsequently represented by NFF First Vice President, Chief Mike Umeh, also donated N500,000 to the immediate family of the deceased.
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Nigeria: Secret Prisons

RELATED ARTICLE: ITA OKO ISLAND, Nigeria (AP) — The prison, cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs this island outside Lagos, never officially existed in records, though critics of Nigeria's military rulers were locked up here decades ago in harsh conditions.

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In this photograph, documents and keys from a broken desk are seen on Ita Oka Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria. Ita Oko Island in Nigeria holds a prison that never officially existed in records though it housed critics of the nation's military rule. It now sits in ruins as a haunting reminder of past abuses of power, yet Africa's most populous nation still plans to open another classified facility to hold and interrogate members of a radical Islamist sect. Image: Jon Gambrell/AP

In this photo, an abandoned water storage tank is seen at the former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria. The prison is cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs this island outside of Nigeria's largest city, but it never officially existed although many critics of the nation's military rule were kept here. Ita Oko Island allowed Nigeria's military governments to have opponents disappear into the swamps of the Lekki Lagoon at a camp accessible only by boat and helicopter. Date: May, 11, 2012. Image: Sunday Alamba/AP

In this photo taken Tuesday, May, 8. 2012, showing the remains of a burnt down part of a former prison known as Tekunle on Ita Oko Island outside of Lagos, Nigeria. The prison is cut out of the dense jungle that engulfs this island outside of Nigeria's largest city, but it never officially existed although many critics of the nation's military rule were kept here. Ita Oko Island allowed Nigeria's military governments to have opponents disappear into the swamps of the Lekki Lagoon at a camp accessible only by boat and helicopter.

Ghana Seizes Arms Consignment Bound For Nigeria

By Agency Reports - Punch Newspapers

A major amount of arms and ammunition, allegedly bound for Nigeria, was seized by the Ghana police in Accra on Tuesday.

The arms and ammunition, including hordes of AAA cartridges, 10 pomp-action guns and 20 double-barreled guns, were found in a false compartment under the flour plate of the carrier truck.

Addressing the media on Tuesday evening, Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rose Atinga Bio, said she had received a call from an informant around 15:00 GMT (4.00pm Nigerian time) that a truck was off loading what could be smuggled goods in a house at Achimota, a suburb of the capital.

The operation, which could be a major break-through for the police into the modus operandi of arms smugglers in the region, led to the arrest three Ghanaians and two Nigerians.

“Upon reaching there, my men only saw an empty truck branded in coca-cola trade-mark on the compound,” she told the media.

But upon scrutiny, the policemen realised that the flour plate had just been welded at some specific points, raising their suspicion that there could be something unusual under the plate.

The police team ordered the driver to open the compartment and large caches of arms and ammunition were seen concealed under the flour plate.

Bio said Kwadwo Baffoe, a Ghanaian, claimed ownership of the cargo, while two other Ghanaians, Kofi Aboagye and Kwasi Nkrumah, had also been apprehended.

In addition, two Nigerians, Sandy Eze from Anambra State and Amosu Taiwo from Ogun State, were also arrested, the police officer said.

The owner admitted to the police that the arms were being transported to Nigeria in the truck with registration number XA 761-YAB.

“This is the first of its kind since 2009 when I took charge of the region. We are very much alert, especially because this year is an election year, and so we will protect the nation with the force at our disposal,” said Bio.

Pulitzer Winner's Nigeria Newspaper Stops Printing

By John Gambrell, Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian newspaper run by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist stopped publication Sunday after 2½ years of muckracking and sometimes controversial coverage of Africa's most populous nation, the publisher said.

NEXT newspaper, printed in Lagos, did not appear on newsstands this weekend. Publisher Dele Olojede, a former foreign editor for New York's Newsday, said NEXT was "losing a lot of money" and decided to stop its print edition to reevaluate its finances.

Olojede said it was possible the newspaper could begin publishing again. However, the newspaper's advertising dwindled in recent months, forcing it from publishing six days a week to only on Sunday.

The newspaper's crusading political stance also hurt ad sales, as the salutatory advertisements heaping praise on politicians and the country's elite that fill other publications never made it into its editions.

"In this environment, where the government still occupies a disproportionally and distortionately large role in the economy, it has a ripple effect — said or unsaid," Olojede told The Associated Press. "The result is we've had a very tough time getting business."

He added: "We have to rethink our strategy and see how we can outsmart the system that seems so stuck against us."

NEXT began publishing its print edition in January 2009, focusing on government corruption in oil-rich Nigeria, a nation of 150 million. Its columnists, editorials and reporting set it apart from other Nigerian newspapers, where journalists often accept cash payments from interview subjects or "brown envelope" bribes slipped into briefing materials at news conferences.

The newspaper reached the zenith of its influence when it published an anonymously sourced story claiming late President Umaru Yar'Adua was "seriously brain damaged" and unable to govern while receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. The government attacked the newspaper. However, Yar'Adua never returned to power and died May 5, 2010.

The newspaper also published the U.S. diplomatic cables related to Nigeria obtained by WikiLeaks, causing another stir in the country.

Olojede, who won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2005 while at Newsday, said he hoped NEXT at least would continue to publish stories on its website.

"It's been an extraordinary adventure for us, really. We're going to stick with it and keep poking around to see if we can make a dent in the very many problems of this country," he said. "The country definitely needs, like oxygen, an independent and honest press. ... The country is not going to go anywhere if money can just determine what the public knows or doesn't know."