Ukraine-Russia Row Over Who 'Shot Down' Plane

Moscow has hit back after the Kiev government claimed pro-Russian separatists shot down a passenger plane, killing all 298 people on board, including 173 Dutch and nine Britons.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at an altitude of 33,000ft (10,000m) when contact was lost on Thursday afternoon in eastern Ukraine close to the border with Russia.
It came down near the village of Grabovo, Donetsk in an area where Ukrainian forces have been fighting the rebels.
An adviser to Kiev's interior ministry said the Boeing 777 was hit by a Buk ground-to-air missile and its president Petro Poroshenko called it an "act of terrorism".
But the Russian defence ministry reportedly pointed the finger at its neighbour, saying it picked up radar activity from a Ukrainian Buk missile system south of Donetsk when the airliner came down.
Sky's Katie Stallard said: "That doesn't correlate with the geography. This was a plane flying over territory that the Ukrainian government would perceive as friendly. Territory that they control.
"It is a slightly counterintuitive suggestion that they would perceive that aircraft as a threat when it is heading away from their friendly airspace and towards the Russian border."
Separatist leader Alexander Borodai said Ukrainian government forces were responsible, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility."
However, a US official said Washington strongly suspected it was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels.
And the Ukrainian security council said no missiles had been fired from the armouries of its armed forces.

Among the British victims were 49-year-old Glenn Thomas , a media officer at the World Health Organisation, who was described as a "wonderful person and a great professional".

Two Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who were travelling to see their football team play in New Zealand, also died, according to reports.
The cockpit and one of the turbines were over half a mile apart, and residents said the tail was six miles away, indicating the aircraft most likely broke up before hitting the ground.
Many of the bodies strewn across the fields were largely intact – some of them were still strapped into their plane seats. People who live in the area have described seeing bodies falling through the sky.
Pro-Russian separatists said they found one of the "black box" recorders and rescue workers have recovered a second flight recorder.

Malaysian plane MH17 'shot down' with 295 on board

A passenger plane with 295 people on board has been shot down over eastern Ukraine.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 10km (6.2 miles) when it was shot down, Russia's Interfax reported.

The Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry quoted by the news agency said.

MH17 was shot down as it flew through or near airspace deemed unsuitable for passenger jets, according to media reports (Reuters)

There were 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. Among the victims were three infants. Britain has joined the US and other countries in calling for an international probe into the disaster. US President Barack Obama has said it should be "prompt, full, credible and unimpeded".
US Vice-President Joe Biden said the jet appeared to have been deliberately "blown out of the sky".
Stallard said Igor Strelkov, the commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, appeared to have boasted about the incident on social media.
In one deleted message recovered by Sky News, he allegedly wrote: "We warned you not to fly over our sky."
Ukraine's security service also released what it claimed was a recording of an intercepted phone call between two Russian military intelligence officers, discussing the downing of the plane.
Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370, has said the route taken by flight MH17 had been declared safe by civil aviation authorities.

:: Malaysia Airlines has set up an emergency line for worried relatives: 00 6 037 884 1234.

Jason Biggs Slammed For Malaysian Airlines Jokes

The Hollywood Reporter 

When a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 295 people went down over Ukraine on Thursday, it marked the second tragedy involving the airline in just a few months.

In March, another Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. That plane still has not been found.

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In light of these incidents, American Pie star Jason Biggs, now appearing in Netflix’sOrange Is the New Black, took to Twitter to make the following joke about the airline, and soon found himself on the receiving end of several hate-filled tweets.

Anyone wanna buy my Malaysian Airlines frequent flier miles?

— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

Biggs tried to clarify his feelings about the crash, also tweeting the following:

In all seriousness, tho- HOW DO YOU MISTAKENLY SHOOT DOWN A COMMERCIAL PLANE?! Ugh.

— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

It’s saddest for the victims and their families, obviously. But Malaysia Airlines is apparently a GREAT airline. Gonna be tough to recover.

— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

But the damage had been done. Users condemned his remarks and Biggs went on a bit of a Twitter rant defending himself.

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“Hey all you ‘too soon’ a**holes- it’s a f—ing joke. You don’t have to think it’s funny, or even be on my twitter page at all,” he wrote.

He also tweeted the following:

The idea that I wouldnt have any empathy 4 the victims or their families because I make a joke is absolutely ridiculous. U know that, right?

— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

Truly- you losers are literally trying to find sh*t to get angry about. Channel your issues elsewhere.

— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

And he condemned TMZ for associating him with the crash.

Hey @tmz - well done on posting my face next to the wreckage of the plane- you might almost think I actually shot it down!
— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) July 17, 2014

He also retweeted some users who defended his comments, including one praising his ability to keep a sense of humor amidst tragedy and one wondering why people are upset since he “didn’t joke about the deaths,” he “joked about not wanting to fly on that airline.”

Thursday evening, Biggs issued an apology in a series of tweets:

"1). Hey all- ok, so- I am deleting my previous tweets. People were offended, and that was not my intent. Sorry to those of you that were."

"2). This is obviously a horrible tragedy, and everyone-including myself- is sad and angry about it. Sending positive thoughts to the…"

”3). victims and their families. P.S. No one is making me send these tweets- I simply understand that my comments might have come off…”

"4). as insensitive and ill-timed. For that, I apologize."

Netflix declined to comment on Biggs’ tweets. Biggs’ rep has not yet responded to The Hollywood Reporter

Eight-year-old fetes orphans, pleads for Chibok girls’ release

by Temitayo Famutimi

Abducted Chibok girls

A pupil of Kingslight Group of Schools, Lagos, Boluwatife Ijabodede, on Saturday celebrated her birthday with orphans at the Compassionate Orphanage in the state.

Eight-year-old Ijabodede, who came in company with members of her immediate family members to the orphanage, said more needed to be done by well-meaning Nigerians to support the plight of orphans and the downtrodden in the society.

She stated that she was pleased to spend her wonderful moments with the orphans and put smiles on their faces but expressed sadness over the continued incarceration of the Chibok girls.

Ijabodede said, “Spending the first of my next 365 days on earth with my dear brothers and sisters here in this orphanage makes me feel very happy. I admire you all so much and that is why I have come to celebrate my special day with you.

“They say children are the leaders of tomorrow but the question I ask is that would tomorrow ever come. Why must our friends in Chibok be kidnapped?

“I know we all are not happy about what is happening to them. Let us pray that our friends are found very soon so that they can be free again and go to school like us.”

Assisted by her mum, Iyabo, the young musician who has eight singles to her credit also donated food items, and other daily need materials to the orphanage.

Manager, Compassionate Orphanage, Patricia Muzan, was full of praises for the pupil and her family for identifying with the children at the orphanage.

According to her, the support of members of the general public to support the social, material, educational and psychological needs of the children in the orphanage was quite paramount.

She stated that the orphanage would be looking forward to more support from members of the society in the area of medical services, payment of school fees and the feeding of the children in the orphanage.

She said, “I appreciate the little girl and her family for taking the initiative to fete the children as we only witness this kind of celebration during the festive season.

“The memories of the birthday celebration will linger on for many weeks to come. But, on a general note, gestures like this are welcomed from the general public as orphanages as you know face a lot of challenges ranging from feeding, payment medical bills and quite importantly, their school fees.”

Israel starts Gaza ground offensive

by bbc

The Israeli military has begun a ground offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, stepping up its 10-day-old military operation.
It said it was in response to continued militant rocket fire and to strike a “significant blow to Hamas”, which controls Gaza.
Hamas said Israel would pay a high price for the ground offensive.
There had been a five-hour humanitarian truce on Thursday, but exchanges of fire resumed when it ended.
Gaza’s health ministry says 247 Palestinians have died since since the Israeli operation began on 8 July. It says more than three quarters of them were civilians.
One Israeli has died as a result of rocket fire from Gaza and several have been injured.
At least five Palestinians were killed on Thursday evening after the start of the ground offensive began, Palestinian authorities said.
They included a five-month-old in the town of Rafah, medical officials told AFP news agency.
Israel withdrew ground troops from the Gaza strip in September 2005, and last mounted a major ground operation in 2009.

Jonathan rubbishing governance– Aregbesola

by Tunde Odesola

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola
| credits: File copy

Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, comments on the forthcoming Osun governorship election. Excerpt.

Your administration has been severely criticised for your educational policies which include provision of same school uniforms for all students and the merging of schools.

We are saying we want to change a new set of Nigerians that will not harbour the weaknesses which our generation harbours. We want to create a new man on which society will be borne and you can’t do it on what is presently here. That is why I said people should visit our mega school in Ejigbo and see what is there. It is named after the best literary icon Africa has produced (Wole Soyinka). It is a worthy investment in education. The idea is you cannot get education and still come out and be the same man. That is how education is supposed to be. Education is supposed to refine you and make you the man or woman you must be. Our high schools are being constructed to accommodate 36,000 students because each of the high schools will accommodate about 3,000 students though the recommendation of UNESCO is that a school must have a maximum of a thousand students. So, what do we now have? We have three schools in one. We will have a school on one side and then we’ll have school A, B, C with three principals and one coordinating principal.

Are you afraid that you might lose the oncoming election going by the fact that Ekiti just fell to the Peoples Democratic Party?

I don’t even think of it and that is the interesting thing. In the first instance, I resolved to be very conscious of a democratic norm. And what is the democratic norm? It was expressed in a statement I issued after the Ekiti election. I said a genuine democrat must be willing and ready to embrace the state. I will accept the result of the election provided the election is transparent, credible, free and fair. So it is not about you, it is about the quality of the electoral process, once the quality is good, whatever the people say, because they are the ultimate decider of who represents them or governs them. I said democratic choices are expected to be correct, good and right but it is not always that the choice is good, correct and right but human beings are forever in democracy for themselves and in choosing who governs them.

Are you worried of losing the election?

Even before I assumed this office, I prepared so well for the office to the extent that I should not be working presently the way I am still working. A commentator said something about me. He said I am one of the few politicians that from day one, I designed my campaign. From the very first day I entered this office, I started my campaign. How many governors walk the streets with their citizens? I’ve been doing that since my first month in office. How many governors create an interactive forum in Nigeria? I was the first governor to devote close to 10-12 hours of continuous engagement with the citizenry on a quarterly basis. How many governors create the opportunity for community meeting where the governor sits and all the stakeholders in the community comment on the government, tells you what you want to hear, tells you want you don’t want to hear, asks you pointedly questions about their lives. We did that in every federal constituency. Every month I take a walk round every community, it is carnival-like. There is no household, including those of the PDP and other political parties that our programmes have not reached, none. I feed 300,000 pupils every school day at the cost of N3.6bn a year. I have been doing it since 2012 so I have spent clearly N10.3bn on that.

Why is your administration having conflicts with civil servants, commercial motorcyclists, and students of higher institutions?

It is impossible for humans to exist without conflicts. Yoruba say even the tongue and mouth fight. The teeth sometime bite the tongue. Please for goodness sake, a sociologist who is a human scientist, will not therefore base his assessment of any sector on where there is disagreements. Let us look at the good that has been done because that is how you must situate your relationship though that you have done well does not mean that some people will not just like you. What should concern you are not those who are opposed to you. What we are doing is to ensure that this section of people that you have mentioned don’t have any basis at all to be opposed to us.

But there was a protest against your administration by students last year.

We met a condition here where students were given N3,000 as bursary and they were not even getting the bursary on time and it was full of scam. Some people would come and negotiate and collect the money and nobody would get it. They brought it to me to sign and I said why would I have to sign N3, 000 for anybody? It’s best you don’t give this bursary or we give it meaningfully. We raised the money to N10, 000 flat. For medical students and law students, we raised it to N20,000. For students in Law School, we made it N100,000. There was a clamour for the reduction of school fees and we reduced it and we have been investing in developing the institutions as hard up as we are, more than any other administration has done in the history of this state. Yes, we are having challenges with the lecturers but it is not peculiar to us. The demands of these lecturers are such that you just have to bear it. I will not say more than that now because it is sensitive. ‘Okada riders’ do not have a problem with us. They may want us to do things for them as we have done to other groups. There is no part of this state where we have not constructed a link road. Roads with drainage, concrete, with stone base, with thick asphaltic covers. Motorists and motorcyclists are enjoying the use of these roads.

Many see the various construction works your administration is doing as cosmetic and unnecessary.

I have two challenges that motivate me: The mass poverty and the hopelessness of the black man. So, I was so determined to get to where I am today because I wanted to make my own little contribution to change those terrible things. Part of what I have started to do is to build roads. We need to lift up our spirits. No city was built in heaven and brought back to earth, they were built by human beings. Are they more brilliant than us? When Maktoum started the construction of Dubai, he was not older than me. He was 40 something while I am 57. So, if people in other parts of the world are using their God-given abilities to change their landscape. What stops us from developing ours? Six years ago, I visited Dubai, a semi-desert. Such a nation that was an arid land 15 years ago is now a place that everybody wants to be.

Why are you in conflict with workers?

As for civil servants, before my advent, they did not know salaries could be paid before the end of the month. Before December 2010, salaries were not being paid before the end of the month for seven and a half years. Nobody even knew it was possible to pay before the end of the month. I resumed office on November 27 and salaries had not been paid and no one expected salaries to be paid. Anyway, by December 3, I paid November salary. Before the end of the year, which ends at December 25, I paid 10 per cent of basic salaries as 13th month salary. I paid December salary before the end of the year.

Since that day, up till December 2013, I paid salaries on or before the 25th of every month but as of January 2014, we ran into problems which we explained to everybody six months ahead. In July of 2013, the Federal Government came up with a story that 400,000 barrels of crude oil were being stolen every day. When we first heard we did not know that a problem was coming. Instead of collecting N4.6bn as allocation, they gave us N2.6bn, 40 per cent was gone. We thought it would be temporary because after that month, the Federal Government said only 20,000 barrels was being lost per day. When the oil being lost reduced from 400,000 to 20,000 per day, should we still expect a 40 per cent cut? From that July till now, the maximum allocation this state has ever received is N3.2bn which was in November 2013.

Now ask me, how was I able to cope till December? I had been managing the money such that 10 per cent of allocations and generated money was put in reserve which was also a buildup to my refusal to form a cabinet for 10 months. I saved the money that I should have paid to commissioners for 10 months. Whereas my income fell to N2.6bn at the lowest and N3.2bn at the highest for a month, my statutory expenditures, these are expenditures that I have no control over once you’ve agreed on it. An example of such expenditure is salary and pensions and it costs N3.6bn every month. I don’t have power over it; I cannot say I am not paying it. Between July and December last year, I augmented our income with N5.4bn all in the hope that this thing would go. It has not gone till now. It is even worse. Before, when you get the allocation, you cash it on the 15th of the following month and that is why they were paying salaries on the 15th of every month before we came. But now, because they want to squeeze the opposition government, they are also squeezing themselves. Nobody gets allocation before the 25th of the following month.

In your manifesto, you promised that you’ll create a market environment that would make people buy goods in Osogbo for the prices they are sold in Lagos. This has not come to pass.

By the sixth month of being in power, I got a deal from a Chinese company to give me five locomotives without paying a kobo. I had this programme then of transporting goods, farm produce from here to Lagos free of charge. I also transported finished products from Lagos to here and it is still there so as to turn this place into a hub for people to come from the hinterland and buy things because once you remove the cost of transportation, goods would sell here at the price of Lagos. I stayed in front of the President’s Office in Abuja for close to three hours in the night just to get the President’s approval to use the rail. By 3am the President came and said ‘Governor of Osun you are here.’ What was I requesting? Allow the use of your tracks. Once you allow it, the Chinese people are ready to give me the five locomotives. I can’t bring the locomotives in here if I can’t use the railway. I went back and they said write another letter which I did. I am telling you what is painful to me. I am not talking about my achievements now but how totally insensitive some of us are to these critical issues. These are issues that I can’t even understand. It is not about whether you are in All Progressives Congress or Peoples Democratic Party. Your mandate is to improve the lives of the people and when you get to office, you must shun partisanship.

@punchng.com

Invest in education check terrorism – Gillard tells FG

by BBC

The international community will be asked for $3.5bn next month to help provide access to education for some of the world’s poorest children.

The Global Partnership for Education is holding a “replenishment” summit in Brussels on 25 June, where it will ask world leaders to provide funds for another four years.

It has become one of the most influential international education organisations – channelling billions of dollars from more than 20 donor countries to support education systems in 59 developing countries.

Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and now chairwoman of the GPE, will be pressing the message that it is enlightened self-interest to invest in education.

Her “hard-headed argument” will be that anyone who is serious about wanting to promote economic growth and to tackle extremism should start by building classrooms and training teachers.

There are still tens of millions of children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, who do not have any access to primary school education.

And reports from UNESCO show hundreds of millions more who have an education of such poor quality that they leave school more or less illiterate.

Nigerian schoolgirls

“In some ways the argument for getting every child into school speaks for itself, but in our crowded, noisy world, even things that should be obvious have to be spoken for and advocated,” says Ms Gillard.

“It is inconceivable that countries will work their way out of poverty without their populations becoming educated,” she told BBC News, on a visit to London to lobby support from Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Ms Gillard says the abductions of schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants should act as an alarm bell for the threat of extremism and also a catalyst for protecting education.

That it is “the subject of such dedicated assault by terrorists and extremists” shows the potency and importance of education in such communities, she says.

“They obviously believe education is powerful, so powerful that they want to deny it to those girls.

“This truly shocking circumstance in Nigeria has focused world attention on something that is happening more broadly, that education is under attack.

“I hope it not only galvanises the world to come to the aid of the schoolgirls in Nigeria, but it galvanises the world to make sure that the power of education is extended to children even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

But why should taxpayers in London, Amsterdam or Madrid believe that this fundraising will really deliver?

It is 24 years since the international community first promised that every child should have a primary education – and the next deadline of 2015 will almost certainly be missed.

It’s not donor governments saying here’s a big load of cash. We require developing countries to increase their spending”

Ms Gillard argues that the GPE approach can really make a difference.

It is about long-term systemic change rather than well-intentioned but short-lived projects, she says.

“Everyone has heard the horror stories – such as the generous donor who sent computers to schools in a developing country where there’s no electricity supply or no way of servicing them to keep them working.”

And crucially the GPE requires recipient countries to commit to increasing their own investment in education to 20 per cent of government spending.

This responds to the concern that donors are being asked to contribute for shortfalls in basic schooling in countries that seem to have no shortages for their own wealthy elites.

Ms Gillard says: “Developing country governments have to step up – it’s an integral part of our model.

“It’s not donor governments saying here’s a big load of cash. We require developing countries to increase their spending and to sign up to plans to which they can be held accountable.”

-BBC.

Jonathan tasks Aregbesola, Omisore others on peaceful poll

by Femi Makinde

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress; the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and other candidates participating in the governorship election in Osun State to ensure that the August 9 election is devoid of violence.

The President, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi, said this in Osogbo on Thursday.

The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs organised a workshop for political parties in the state to sensitise them on the need to ensure that the election was peaceful and credible.

Obi said, “Osun State, all eyes are on you to address the tense political atmosphere and eschew politics of infamy. I, therefore, urge all participants at this workshop to rededicate themselves to the advancement of peaceful conduct during the coming governorship election and in subsequent elections.

“Since all political parties are signatories to the Revised Political Parties Code of Conduct which commits all political parties to peaceful conduct at all times before, during and after elections; it is the duty of politicians and political stakeholders to ensure compliance with this code.

“But we all know that more than the law, it is the personal commitment of political parties and candidates that can create the kind of peaceful atmosphere for the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent election that we all desire as a nation.”

He also charged the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that the election was free, fair and credible in order to win the confidence of the people.

“Those with constitutionally allotted and specified roles in electioneering and electoral roles should be able to carry out their duties without blemishes for the electorate to have confidence in the result proffered and accept that the election has been free and fair and the elected person is the choice of the majority,” he added.

The Vice President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Issa Aremu, in a keynote address delivered at the workshop, said the establishment of an electoral offences commission to prosecute anybody caught committing electoral fraud would curb election rigging in Nigeria.

@punchng.com

India school boycotted after rape of six-year-old student

by bbc

Indian parents have begun a boycott of a Bangalore school after claims emerged that a six-year-old student had been raped by two staff members.
The parents, who staged a protest on Thursday, have asked the school to step up security for students.
The alleged assault happened on July 2 but her parents discovered it only a few days ago after she complained of stomach ache and was taken to hospital.
Police have registered a case, but they are yet to make any arrests.
The girl was allegedly raped by a security guard and a gym teacher, but as there are multiple guards and gym instructors in the school, police say they are trying to identify the guilty, BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi reports from Bangalore.
As news of the incident became public, hundreds of parents gathered outside the school on Thursday.
Now the parents say they will stop sending their children to the school until they have assurances about better security for the students.
“We have told the management that we do not think it is safe to send our children to school until it concedes our demands on the security of our children in writing,” one parent, Anita Makharia, told BBC Hindi.
Another parent , Mayank Kumar, who sends both his daughters to the school, said: “Right from the beginning, the school has been in a denial mode.
“First, when the police reached the school, they said, it was a case of theft. Then, we got to know about the incident from the newspapers that it was rape.”
Pradeep Anand said parents were not willing to send their children to school “until the management restores the confidence that the students will be safe during their time there”.
School chairman Rustom Kerawala has offered his “sincere apologies” to the parents and promised “full co-operation” with the police investigation.
Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.
The crime sparked outrage and forced the government to introduce tougher anti-rape laws, including the death penalty.
But the law appears to have failed to act as a deterrent. Statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau for 2013 show one rape was reported every 21 minutes.

Ozil donates World Cup bonus to children

by Agency Reporter

Ozil

After helping Germany lift the World Cup midfilder Mesut Ozil has captured the hearts of Brazilian youngsters, after revealing he has donated around £350,000 of his personal winnings to 23 children’s surgeries in the South American country, Telegraph.co.uk reports.

The Arsenal playmaker confirmed the news on his Facebook page, and wrote, “Prior to the World Cup I supported the surgery of eleven sick children. Since the victory of the World Cup is not only due to 11 players but to our whole team, I will now raise the number to 23. This is my personal thank-you for the hospitality of the people of Brazil. #Bigshoe#Brasil2014.”

His donation sparked confusion on social media sites, with many claiming that his earnings were to be sent to the children of Gaza to aid their recent plight.

Reports had claimed that the 25-year-old German international, who is of Turkish descent and is a practicing Muslim, donated the money to the children of Gaza.

GolTV posted a picture of a dirty Real Madrid Ozil jersey on Facebook, and added a caption that Özil would be giving his World Cup winnings to Gaza after “a child was assassinated wearing his jersey.”

The rumours, which started to circulate on Twitter on July 11, led to his represenative, Roland Eitel, to deny them.

“The claim that Mesut donated money to Gaza is not true,” he said. “Maybe in the future, who knows? He donated money to causes in Brazil and he is now on holiday.”

Each member of Germany’s squad received £240,000 for defeating Argentina at the Maracana and Ozil’s donation is part of the BigShoe project – whose goal is to help underprivileged children with medical needs.

Aregbesola has mismanaged Osun –Omisore

by Tunde Odesola

Senator Iyiola Omisore
| credits: en.wikipedia.org

In this interview, the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, speaks on the murder of a former Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, among other issues. TUNDE ODESOLA reports.

Are you sure you are going to win this coming governorship election in Osun?

Of course, yes! I mean the indices are there for all to see; the decaying infrastructure, the disrupted education system, the religious bigotry, infrastructural inconveniences, societal malaise, impoverishment of our people.

But anywhere Governor Aregbesola goes, he’s always followed by a crowd of admirers, indicating that he’s still popular among the citizenry.

If you go, they will follow you too.

What are the things you think he (Aregbesola) has done wrongly?

Well, like Baba Awolowo would say, when you criticise, you should provide better alternatives. One, on the issue of education, he has taken a wrong step completely. What he has done is against the tenets of education, it is against the culture of the Yoruba and it is against our integrity too as freeborn Yoruba people. Lumping students from Islam-based faith schools with students of Christianity-based faith schools together and expecting one religion to supersede the other is wrong. This is an invitation to chaos. Having the same uniform for all students is not our culture. It is wrong for children to walk about 10 kilometres to school in the morning; you are going to have dropouts.

How would you reconstruct all the schools that were pulled down in the merger and construction of mega schools?

That’s the price we have to pay for bad leadership. You have to carry the mess but we will try and comfort our people more.

How come you are always associated with political violence?

This is the game plan of the APC. They know my political potential and worth and they know that the only way to downplay my political influence is to give me a bad name. This campaign of calumny against my name and person has been going on for a very long time. But we didn’t realise this for a very long time. Over time, people we have been interacting with, who have met us one-on-one, have had cause to apologise for holding wrong assumptions against my person. They often would say, “So this is Omisore? We are sorry for holding a wrong opinion about you. Many have begged God to forgive them for peddling falsehood against us. I had initially felt that we are all practising politics and had expected everybody to be fair but I was wrong. The APC brought down its propaganda machinery to give me a bad name because they are afraid of my political potential. But they cannot succeed because the people have known the truth. They said Omisore didn’t go to school, that he’s an illiterate; how can an illiterate bag a PhD? Can you imagine somebody, who is an illiterate, saying a PhD holder never went to school?

As an altar boy while growing up, one would think you would prefer a life of clergy to the life of politics you’ve chosen.

Being a Catholic and having attended Catholic schools while growing up and having been exposed to the Catholic way of life – I’ve always been exposed to reverend fathers, reverend sisters – hence I served as altar boy for so many years when I was growing up. Initially I thought of becoming a reverend father but along the line my parents prevailed on me that I shouldn’t be a reverend father for obvious reasons.

It is a widely held belief that you bought your acquittal from the Ige murder charge at a price.

It is unfortunate that Nigerians of these days, especially among the APC, when judgement is not given in their favour, will bring in propaganda. But if you understand the perception of the trial, the judgement was even that we have no business in court. There was a police report, which says Omisore didn’t have any business with Chief Bola Ige’s death. But the leadership of the Alliance for Democracy in the South-West just said just go to court. The issue of acquittal doesn’t even arise at all.

Is it morally right for you to contest election while you were behind bars, standing trial for murder?

The Nigerian Constitution is very clear over eligibility to contest election. Many people have cases in court for 10 – 15 years and they move about freely while they attend to their court cases. The only difference was that I was being detained. The constitution is very clear that every accused person remains innocent until the contrary is proved in court, so basically, that doesn’t debar me from all my rights. It was on that strength that I contested election. I was eligible to contest. At no point was I indicted of any electoral offence that would have worked against me from contesting any election. As it was said in the Senate at that time, some senators had cases in court and they were coming from home, some cases take several years. Some cases just keep you behind bars for obvious political reasons.

Is it right of you to receive a VIP treatment in prison while standing trial for murder?

Well, I don’t know what you mean by VIP treatment but all these I’ve heard from the rumour mill too. Some people said I was living in Premier Hotel. Anybody that says I received VIP treatment in prison, I just pray that God should send such a person to prison so that the person too can have VIP treatment. The prison condition was so harsh. I’ve never seen such in my life before. We were living in a cubicle in a cell, the toilet was where we ate and we drank. Some of our colleagues would be defecating early in the morning when you were sleeping and you will be hearing as hot shit jets through their anuses making ‘parapapapapa’ sound. Some of them will be shouting ‘mo fe yagbe, mo fe yagbe, mo fe yagbe oo!!! – meaning, I want to defecate ooo. And they will shit in the open. It was so humiliating and very bad. You will see very big cockroaches and very big rats. In fact, my prayer that time was for God to prevent fire outbreak from the prison because the warders would lock you up at night and go away. That was my prayer everyday at night before I slept because if there was a fire incident, we would all just perish. I’ve already sued the Oyo State government for malicious prosecution, I charged them N20bn and up till today, we are still court.

Did you kill Bola Ige?

I did not kill Bola Ige at all. I can’t kill anybody, anyway, not to talk of Chief Bola Ige. Chief Bola Ige was my leader. He was like an uncle in-law to me. At no time did I consider that idea. I’m sure Chief Bola Ige today in his grave will be cursing those people who used his name to punish us. When I spoke with Sir Dele Ige (Bola Ige’s brother) before he died, I told him if Uncle Bola was alive, he would have moved against those kind of things. If Uncle Bola was Uncle Dele Ige, by the time you’re telling lies against me, Uncle Bola would have moved against it and say, “No, don’t tell lies against Iyiola o.” But Uncle Dele didn’t do so because of the pressure here and there. And of course, the agenda of Chief Bisi Akande and Alhaji Lam Adesina was just to win re-election. Baba Alayande came to meet us in prison, Pa Adewale Thompson came to meet us too and they said it was bad enough that Bola Ige died but how can you now punish young innocent people? They said Bola Ige was their younger brother and that they didn’t want him dead but that how could you put innocent people in the gallows? My belief is that the AD was covering the real cause of Bola Ige’s death. They know Bola Ige’s killer but in order to let that person escape, they use other people to cover up in order to divert people’s attention.

Did you instigate the removal of his cap at the palace of the Ooni of Ife?

No, how could I? I wasn’t there when his cap was removed. When his cap was removed I was with the Kabiyesi Ooni. I was the one that even called on State Security Service officials around to look for his cap. At that time, the Afenifere was already polarised. They had thugs everywhere and they had factions everywhere.

I don’t know where that (removal of cap) might have come from. At that point, there were divisions in Afenifere basically and so I don’t know who must have caused these crises. But at the point of removing Chief Bola Ige’s cap, I was not present. I was not there at all. But Uncle Bola Ige came to meet me, I was the one that even came out with the Ooni to say they should go and look for his cap.

Did they find the cap?

Of course, they found the cap immediately. He got his cap before he left. Uncle Bola was even thanking me after and we took photographs with the Ooni before he left.

Don’t you think that the governor as an engineer would have his reasons for the ongoing constructions in the state?

He’s an engineer of his own level; he’s not my kind of engineer.

Are you different from him?

Yes, of course. I’m very, very different from him in engineering practice.

In what ways?

He’s a technician. He knows he’s a technician.

Are you saying someone who studied engineering and graduated from a Nigerian tertiary institution is not worthy to be called an engineer?

OND or HND, which one does he have from The Polytechnic, Ibadan? Ok, he has HND. HND graduates, like BSc graduates, go through a process before they can become engineers; they have COREN exams to pass. He attempted a few times, he failed. If he’s an engineer let him tell the world his COREN number.

Do you have a COREN number?

Of course, I do. I’m a chartered engineer, I’m a senior engineer. I’m even a council member of COREN.

Did you fail him in COREN exam as a council member?

Maybe the examination department of COREN failed him when he didn’t measure up to standard.

So, he doesn’t have the right to call himself an engineer?

No, he cannot. It’s illegal. It’s impersonation. When you have HND or BSc in Accountancy, you have to write ICAN exam. The same thing applies to engineering.

People say you don’t prostrate before the Ooni because you’re higher than him in the occult realm. Is this true?

All these are things that make one laugh because as a Yoruba son, you prostrate yourself before elders not only the Ooni. Elders prostrate before the Ooni, so your own prostration should be double. All these are fabrications against my person. I prostrate myself before anybody that’s older than me as a sign of respect. It is unthinkable. It’s unbelievable. Prostrating before the Ooni doesn’t take anything away from me. Even when I was a deputy governor, I used to prostrate myself before Chief Akande, ask him, he will tell you, I prostrated myself before Pa Adesanya and all the elders in the AD.

@punchng.com

FIFA ban: Nigeria beats deadline

by Jude Owuamanam

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
| credits: File copy

A Jos High court on Thursday vacated an order which restrained the Nigeria Football Federation from functioning pending the hearing of a suit challenging the validity of the Aminu Maigari-led Nigeria Football Federation.

Nigeria has therefore   met FIFA’s conditions to avoid being   banned   after   the Maigari board was reinstated following the ruling. The board was sacked on July 6 by the NFF Congress.

FIFA had suspended Nigeria for government interference in the activities of the NFF.

The world football body had demanded the withdrawal of the (court) case as well as the reinstatement of the sacked board to enable the country to avoid being banned.

A July 17 deadline was given to reverse the decision.

Justice Philomena Lot of the High Court had last Friday issued the injunction, pending the hearing of the suit filed by the proprietor Nembe Football Club, Mrs. Ebiakpo Baribote.

The vacation of the order followed a withdrawal of the suit, which had led to the suspension of Nigeria from all football-related activists by FIFA.

The withdrawal of the suit was said to have been sequel to appeals made to the plaintiff in the interest of the country.

At a sitting of the court on Thursday, Justice Lot vacated the order following a motion filed to that effect by the counsel for the plaintiff, Mr. Habila Ardzard.

Ardzard, who spoke to our correspondent at the end of the sitting, said his client had to listen to pleas by some Nigerians so that the country would not be banned.

He said, “My client as a patriotic Nigerian read the mood of FIFA and more so there is a female World Cup coming up soon as she would not like the country’s interests to be jeopardised by her action.”

Jeremiah Useni escapes assassination attempt

by Jude Owuamanam

Jeremiah Useni

A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni, on Wednesday escaped an attempt on his life when some unknown gunmen attacked his Langtang home, in Langtang North Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Our correspondent gathered that no fewer than 48 bullet holes were inflicted on the walls of the house as the gunmen tried to gain entrance into the house.

Fortunately Useni, who is a delegate to the National Conference, was not at home at the time of the attack.

While one version said the attack was carried out by some gunmen, another said that it was caused by some rival youths who engaged themselves in a duel in front of the house.

It was further gathered that the heavy armed men suspected to be assassins came into the compound between 2am and 3am surrounded the building and started shooting sporadically.

The timely arrival of security men in the area was said to have prevented the gunmen from razing the house to the ground.

One eyewitness in Langtang said that the youths on hearing the gunshots rushed to the scene but were dispersed by the Task Force commander in charge of Langtang .

The witness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that some of the youths who rushed to the scene were manhandled by security men.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Abu Emmanuel, who confirmed the incident, said that nobody was killed in the attack. He also said that no arrest had been made.

Malaysia jet crash: Ukraine rebels to allow access to site

by bbc

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are to give international investigators access to the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines jet.
The rebels vowed to secure the site and allow the recovery of bodies, the Organisation for the Security and Co-operation in Europe said.
The plane, carrying 298 people, crashed in rebel-held territory on Thursday.
The two sides in Ukraine’s civil conflict have accused each other of shooting the jet down with a missile.
The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.
Malaysia Airlines said flight MH17 was carrying at least 154 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 12 Indonesians and nine Britons.
Other passengers came from Germany, Belgium, the Philippines and Canada. The dead include world-renowned Dutch researcher Joep Lange who was among a number of passengers en route to an international AIDS conference in Australia.
It is the second disaster suffered by Malaysia Airlines this year. Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Malaysia to China in March and has still not been found.
In a statement, the OSCE said the separatists had agreed to “close off the site of the catastrophe and allow local authorities to start preparations for the recovery of bodies”.
The rebels would also provide “safe access” to international investigators and OSCE monitors and co-operate with Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine has declared the area a no-fly zone, while other airlines have announced they are now setting flight paths to avoid eastern Ukraine.
Describing the disaster as a “tragic day” in a “tragic year”, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak earlier said the investigation “must not be hindered in any way”.
The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on the disaster on Friday morning in New York.
US and Ukrainian officials said they believed the plane had been brought down by a missile.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called it an “act of terrorism”.
Ukrainian authorities have released what they say are intercepted phone conversations that proved the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the Ukraine government for restarting military operations in the area, where it is trying to regain control from pro-Russian rebels.
“The country in whose airspace this happened bears responsibility for it,” he said.
Separatist leader Alexander Borodai accused the Ukrainian government of downing the airliner.
Ukraine’s defence ministry issued a statement saying there were no air force jets in the area and no surface-to-air systems being used against the rebels.
Ukraine has accused Russia’s military of supplying advanced missiles to the rebels.
Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian officials blamed the Russian air force for shooting down one of its ground attack jets on Wednesday, and a transport plane on Monday.

Nasarawa House lists 16 offences against Al-Makura

by Umar Muhammed

Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura

NASARAWA State lawmakers on Thursday proceeded with their moves to remove the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura, by levelling against him 16 charges bordering on alleged official gross misconduct.

The charges by the state House of Assembly include missing local government joint account funds between June 2011 and April 2012; and from January to July, 2013.

The impeachment notice said the alleged offences amounted to gross violation of section 162 (7 and 8) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

The impeachment notice was signed by 20 out of the 24 members of the assembly.

Al-Makura alleged offences, according to the House, also include misappropriation/misapplication of funds in local government joint account and local government SURE-P Fund as well as transfer of local government Sure-P Fund to a fixed deposit account.

The governor is also being accused of spending N13, 205,000 on his wife’s trips to Abuja.

Unlike the case of the impeached ex-Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Al-Makura’s accusers had been facing stiff opposition by groups in the state.

The protests commenced on Wednesday by some youths in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, continued on Thursday with angry youths in their thousands setting on fire a house said to belong to a man from the Eggon tribe in the state.

Al-Makura is of Gwandera ethnic extraction, which is one of the smallest ethnic groups in the state.

The house that was razed was said to have on its walls several campaign posters of the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who is an Eggon man.

Two persons were said to have been killed during the Thursday protest.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ismaila Numaan, confirmed the protests and the burning of the house but he said he was not aware that two persons died.

The police spokesman said the building was set ablaze in the early hours of Thursday.

Also on Thursday, a coalition of women groups comprising the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, Christian Association of Nigeria, Women Wing and Women of Nasarawa State, Mothers of Nasarawa State and Women for Change, Nasarawa State, protested the impeachment moves against the governor.

Coordinator of the women groups, Hajiya Hajara Danyaro, slammed the Nasarawa lawmakers’ action.

Danyaro said that women in the state voted for the lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and voted governor Al-Makura on the platform of All the Progressives Congress and that the action of the legislators was uncalled for.

Danyaro accused the PDP of masterminding the impeachment move. She said the impeachment move coincided with the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday to inaugurate Ola Rice Farm at Rukubi in the Doma Local Government Area of the state.

The APC had on Wednesday similarly accused Jonathan of being behind the removal of Nyako, saying the removal of the Adamawa governor was part of the President’s ‘desperate’ plan to win re-election in 2015.

In a quick response, however, the Presidency same Wednesday denied having hands in the removal of Nyako and described the opposition party’s accusations as lacking in substance.

Coordinator of the Nasarawa women accused the Presidency of stealing over N18bn and described lawmakers in the state as ‘‘armed robbers.’’

The women, who took their protest from the Lafia City Hall to the Government House, said allegation of gross misconduct was more glaring in the Aso Rock Villa and urged the Presidency not to meddle in the affairs of the state and to avoid causing an uprising in the state.

A former member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mary Nwogulu, condemned the action of the House, which she described as embarrassing.

According to her, Al-Makura has done a lot for the people of the state and wondered why the lawmakers could plot evil against the governor.

She appealed to the lawmakers to have a rethink and shelve the impeachment move in the interest of peace, unity and development in the state.

Also, the people of Doma Central, Doma South, Wamba and Akwanga West and Akwanga North and Keana and Kokona East said they had commenced the process to recall their members over the moves to sack Al-Makura.

The people in a report monitored on the state radio, Nasarawa Broadcasting Service, said they had commenced collation of signatories from constituents in the named areas to be forwarded to INEC for verification.

But the state lawmakers on Thursday said they could not be intimidated by anybody and that they would proceed with the impeachment process.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Security, Mr. Baba Ibaku, told The PUNCH in Lafia that the impeachment procedure remained on course.

“We are on course and he (the governor) will be served the impeachment notice through the media today (Thursday),” Ibaku said.

He said the major issue contained in the impeachment notice should be discussed rather than dwelling on unimportant issues.

The lawmaker advised the governor to come out and clear himself of allegations of financial misappropriation and abuse of public service.

There have been protests in the Keffi, Karu and Lafia local government areas of the state as some youths show their anger against the move of the House to serve a notice of impeachment on Al-Makura.

Ismiala confirmed the protests but he said that the police had dismissed the protesters.

He added that the police had embarked on patrol in areas where protesters took to the street. Ismaila cautioned the people of the state against being lawless.

A member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Tanko Tunga, said that not all lawmakers in the House were given the notice of impeachment.

Tunga, in an interview with journalists in Lafia on Thursday, said that all members of the House ought to be given the impeachment notice.

The lawmaker, who is representing Tunga constituency on the platform of the APC, said that anything that would prevent Al-Makura from coming back in 2015 would be a sin.

He described the attitude of his colleagues who were pushing for impeachment of the governor as brazen.

“My people are of the opinion that anybody trying to remove the man from office is a sinner,” Tunga stated.

@punchng.com

Oyinlola has refused to work with us –PDP

by Allwell Okpi

Olagunsoye Oyinlola
| credits: File copy

Leaders of the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party have said a former governor of the state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has refused to work with them as they prepare for the August 9 governorship election in the state.

The Publicity Secretary of Osun PDP, Mr. Bola Ajao, told our correspondent that Oyinlola said he would not participate in the PDP’s campaigns for its governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, because of his suspension as national secretary.

Ajao said the party had gone ahead with its campaigns without Oyinlola and some of his loyalists. He, however, expressed optimism that the party would merge victorious in the forthcoming election.

“According to him (Oyinlola), he is not participating in what we are doing because he was suspended by the national leadership of the party. He claims he is still the national secretary of the PDP but since there is a substantive national secretary, he is waiting for court ruling,” Ajao said.

The Osun PDP spokesperson refuted insinuations that the recent expulsion of six leaders of the party would affect the party’s chances in the election.

Ajao said those who were expelled should have been expelled some months ago when they were suspended for anti-party activities.

He added that the expelled members, some of whom have joined the All Progressives Congress, had no electoral value and that their expulsion would not affect the PDP.

He said, “Sometime ago, they were involved in a number of anti-party activities, they were suspended and because we did not want to wield the big stick anyhow, some members of the party prevailed on the party leadership not to expel them. Some of them wrote letters of apology, and they were readmitted into the party.

“In the case of the expelled members, they were suspended until we found them incorrigible, and we saw that they were not retracing their steps. We had to expel them. One of them was the secretary of the party and one was a personal assistant to Oyinlola. We were threading softly but it got to a point that it was decided that they had to be given the red card.

“There will certainly be no repercussion at all. They are featherweights, they are of no electoral consequence. We kept them until we realised that it was not good to keep enemies within the fold. It was better we expelled them. We are certain that they will not be of any value to the APC.”

Reject Jonathan’s $1bn loan request, Falana tells N’Assembly

by Olusola Fabiyi, Adelani Adepegba, Everest Amaefule and Ade Adesomoju

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana(SAN)
| credits: File copy

A National Conference delegate, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has asked the National Assembly to reject the request made by President Goodluck Jonathan, asking for the Assembly’s approval for a $1bn loan to aid the war against the Islamic sects, Boko Haram.

Falana said the President must explain what he had been doing with the budgets made for defence in the past few years.

He said, “The request made by President Jonathan for approval of the Senate for a loan of $1 bn to fight the menace of the Boko Haram sect should be rejected in its entirety. Between 2010 and 2013 over N3tn was budgeted for defence.

“Under the Appropriation Bill signed into law on May 23 this year, 20 per cent of the entire federal budget i.e. the sum of N968.127bn out of N4.962tn was earmarked for defence. The Senate should find out what happened to the defence budget in the middle of the year to warrant a supplementary budget of N160bn.”

Similarly, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Alli, said the request by the President had created a state of uncertainty as he had yet to be fully aware of all the parameters for the request.

He urged the National Assembly to be sure there was a need for it before approving it.

He said, “I am sure they should be sure that there is a need for it before they will approve it. One does not possess all the parameters for asking for the loan, so one is a bit in a quandary. One does not have all the factors that have been considered.

“But one wants to believe that the National Assembly will be given all the facts to do the correct thing.”

A security consultant, Ben Okezia, faulted the request by Jonathan, saying the Army already had a budget which was being used to fund its counter-terrorism campaign in the North-East.

According to him, the government should not attempt to hoodwink Nigerians. He said the number of Boko Haram insurgents were not up to 2000 and that not all of them were armed.

He therefore cautioned the National Assembly against approving the loan request, saying the government was not sending everyone in the Army to fight against Boko Haram and as such there was no need for the loan.

Okezie said, “What does he (Jonathan) want to buy with $1bn? Are they saying all the soldiers in the Army are going to fight against Boko Haram? The money is for 2015 elections.”

They know that APC will match them money for money.

But the Coordinator of National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, said the Federal Government would not spare resources to bring back the schoolgirls abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.

Omeri was responding to a question from a journalist on whether the resources of the Federal Government had depleted in the fight against terrorism such that it now needed to borrow $1bn to prosecute the war.

The NUC coordinator said, “Even the United States goes for this kind of facility. For any country involved in such military expedition, not just the Boko Haram issue, but engaged in a number of military exercises, its stock will deplete. Every country must restock to reinforce its capability.

“That is not to say that the resource of Nigeria has finished and therefore we needed to go for loan. It is not cash that will be given to Nigeria. It is a long term facility.

“It is country-to-country kind of process because what the government is looking for is the approval of the National Assembly so that the President can negotiate for arms to consolidate, to reinforce the stock the armed forces have and to guarantee that we will win the war against insurgency and we have an effective and capable assets to prosecute any unforeseen issue. This happens to all countries. It is not exclusive to Nigeria.”

He added, “Once the country is engaged in any kind of activity of this nature, it sure will lead to depletion of resources. So, I don’t think the loan is because the resources are depleted. For the amount so far spent, I am not in a position to say so.

“We are still prosecuting the war. So, it will be preposterous to begin to calculate cost. Don’t forget, our citizens have been abducted. And so whatever we need to do that we must do to get our citizens back, we will do it. The country will do it.”

Jonathan had on Wednesday forwarded a letter to the National Assembly, asking the lawmakers to urgently approve a $1bn external loan for the Federal Government to confront the Boko Haram insurgency.

@punchng.com

2015: Don’t declare now, PDP govs caution Jonathan

by Olusola Fabiyi

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised to tarry a little, before attempting to declare his second term ambition.

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, stated this at a meeting they had with the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday night.

Though the governors   were in support of the President’s bid for re-election, they said the nation’s mood was not ripe for such a declaration.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday showed that the meeting considered the plight of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and security challenges facing the country.

It was learnt that based on these two major issues, the governors asked the President to study the mood of the nation more before considering an open declaration for re-election.

Two of the governors, who were at the meeting and spoke with our correspondent separately, said that the President was advised to either visit Chibok or in the alternative, allow the parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls visit him at the Presidential Villa.

One of them said, “The meeting was a painstaking one. We considered so many things. We talked about so many issues. While it was true we spoke about how to reposition the party and the gains we are making across the country ahead of the 2015 general elections, we also considered the probability of when the President could make his open declaration.

“Some of my colleagues argued that the time was ripe, but others felt that the mood of the country and even the international community are not favourable.

“We argued that if the President declares now, it will be seen as being politically bad and not in the best interest of the nation and that it could be termed as being against the spirit of fatherhood.”

He said based on this, the President was “advised to meet with the parents of the girls, even if some are going to see it as coming a bit late. It is better done now instead of allowing it go into history that the President did not visit or invite them for a meeting.”

Apart from this, another governor said that the meeting also noticed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had yet to release the guidelines for the election.

“We know that the campaigns are for him and part of efforts to strengthen the image of the government and that of the President. The position does not have this opportunity,” he added.

@punchng.com