Depends on the church!Originally Posted by KingJaja
Depends on the church!
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
FG to set up central military commands in Bayelsa
Bayelsa State is President Jonathan's home state. You can read between the lines.
http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-to-se...ds-in-bayelsa/Federal Government has approved the setting up of central military commands in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
THE PUNCH learnt that the nation’s service chiefs took the decision after assessing the economic importance of the state to the country and the rising activities of cultists and pirates.
Also, there has been a resurgence of violence in the state, with some oil facilities destroyed by militant groups in recent times.
Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson said this on Tuesday when the Chief of the Air Staff, Mohammed Umar, paid him a courtesy visit while inspecting the Nigerian Air Force formations in the state on Tuesday.
Dickson, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. John Jonah, said the Navy would be in the state on Thursday to set up its central command.
Dickson said, “I have been told that the Navy is coming in full force on Thursday to establish its central command. The Army has the biggest headquarters around here. So, all the service chiefs will be fully established here in addition to the Joint Task Force. Bayelsa State will be having more of military presence than many states that are new.”
He said for the state to be secure, government must invest in human development.
Umar said NAF in 2011 reactivated its mobility command with its headquarters in Yenagoa.
He said the headquarters of the mobility command was established in the state because of its strategic importance to the economy of the nation observing that the state provided an “easy reach for the Service to conduct its operations especially within the Niger Delta area”.
He said a parcel of land had been allocated to NAF for the take-off of its command, urging the state government to provide infrastructural assistance to the command.
Umar described the emergence of Dickson as “a huge masterstroke to rescue the state from a yarning precipice”.
He added, “With a campaign theme titled, Restoration 2012, we are convinced that this administration will aptly respond to the yearnings of Bayelsans quickly and urgently address the degrading state of affairs in the state. We are all in agreement that a state like Bayelsa should be at the forefront of development.
“By all means it should be a model state; a state where leadership and governance are accountable, transparent and made to work for the people with the clear aim of being able to guarantee their welfare and progress.”
Ex-Militants Get More Money Than Health Sector: Nigeria's 2012 Budget
Could this be one of the driving forces behind some aspects of Boko Haram? Violence is profitable.
http://www.nairaland.com/894394/ex-m...ore-money-thanThe National Assembly yesterday passed the 2012 Appropriation Act of N4,877,209,156,933 with a startling revelation that President Goodluck Jonathan allocated more money to the ex-Niger Delta Militants than the nation’s critical health sector.
A breakdown of the budget shows that the Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex-militants has a recurrent expenditure of N66,176,411,902 while the entire health sector was allocated N60,920,219,702.
The staggering allocation to the ex-militants is separate from the huge amount also allocated to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, which is to gulp N48,673,424,630. In other words, the ex-militants and NDDC, which ought to create a conducive atmosphere to discourage militancy in the Niger Delta, were cumulatively allocated N114 billion.
The controversial fuel subsidy has the lion share of N888 billion followed by Works which is to gulp N244 billion.
Education, which is another critical sector of the economy, received only N66 billion, while Power was allocated N75 billion.
Transport is to gulp N89 billion and Water Resources N75 billion.
The 2012 budget, which was increased by about N228.3 billion after it was amended by the National Assembly, is predicated on a crude oil benchmark of $72 per barrel and a production output of 2.48 million barrels per day, as well as an exchange rate of N155 to the U.S. dollar.
After the passage of the budget, Senator President David Mark congratulated his colleagues for the quick passage of the budget and enjoined the executive to submit the 2013 budget to the National Assembly “latest by September this year, to enable us consider and pass it before the end of the year
Boko Haram: The Human angle
Two stories illustrate the human toll of the Boko Haram menace and how it appeals to ethnic sentiments.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17369800
http://www.theratshead.blogspot.com/...oko-haram.html
I said this earlier, only a reform of the Nigerian Police will stop Boko Haram. Nobody is listening.
Fear does so much damage to the human soul and spirit. The police and BH have sown so much fear in past year. The world must come to understand just how dire things are becoming in Nigeria.
I cannot believe that Pres. Goodluck Jonathan really thinks that he is winning the war. He has to know better. Such statements only make it harder for the local populous to trust him and hard for the rest of the world to believe just how serious things are becoming in Nigeria.
Chowing,
You don't really expect him to say he isn't winning the War!
Unlike the US, Nigeria is a divided nation and sometimes "he may be an SOB, but at least he is our SOB" takes precedence over competence. Jonathan isn't really very competent but he is just as incompetent as the typical SOB the Northern Muslims tend to throw out to Abuja (Abacha, Babangida, Yar'adua, Atiku etc).
So the Southern Christian population is going to support their man, regardless. And that leaves the Northern 1/3rd of Nigeria sulking.
Secondly, a not too insignificant proportion of Nigeria's population believe that Boko Haram is an attempt by the North to shake up Jonathan pretty badly - so there is some sympathy for him.
Thirdly, Jonathan is actually quite media/technology savvy and he seems to be better at connecting with younger voters (at least in the South and Middle Belt), than most other Nigerian politicians. He has a good feedback mechanism and can change his message appropriately. This is his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/jonathangoodluck
Qaeda group claims kidnap of German in Nigeria
Remember the Boko Haram raid on Kano and the German engineer that was kidnapped shortly after. Is this conclusive evidence of ties between BH and AQIM?
NOUAKCHOTT: Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch said Wednesday it was holding a German engineer kidnapped in Nigeria two months ago, and that it wanted to swap him for a jailed Muslim woman, a private news agency in Mauritania said.
"We inform you that your compatriot Edgar Fritz Raupach is a prisoner of fighters from AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)," the group said in a statement published by the ANI agency, demanding the release of a woman who it said had converted to Islam.
The woman, Felis Lowitz, whose Muslim name was given as Um Seiv Al-Islam-Al-Ansariya, was said to be detained in Germany where she was being "tortured".
A video obtained by ANI and seen by AFP showed Raupach, his hands tied behind his back, surrounded by masked gunmen.
In the video he called on his "parents, friends and German public opinion" to convince Berlin to "bring an end to the torture of our Muslim sister", adding that only her liberation will save his life.
AQIM warned that any attempt to rescue Raupach will lead to his death, as happened in the case of Italian engineer Franco Lamolinara and British colleague Chris McManus, killed earlier this month during a failed rescue bid by Nigerian forces.
Raupach, ANI said, is an engineer who was kidnapped in northern Nigeria on January 25.
Germany has confirmed one of its nationals has been kidnapped in northern Nigeria, and the German construction company Bilfinger Berger has said he is one of their employees.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Int...#ixzz1pn46m3YK
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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