ledge to Rescue Chibok Girls

•  Consoles parents, says FG has reached out to captors for their release

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday encouraged the parents of the remaining female pupils of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State who were abducted on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram insurgents not to lose hope, saying as a parent, “I feel what you feel”.

Buhari in a message he personally signed in commemoration of the third year anniversary of the abduction of the schoolgirls on Friday, further encouraged the parents to keep faith with the federal government in its continuous negotiations for their release, pointing out that the government was “willing to bend over backwards” to secure their freedom.

He disclosed that the government had reached out to the girls’ captors through local and international intermediaries, adding that the government was ready to do everything within its power to secure the release of the girls.

He also said he had faith in God that in no distant time, the current efforts of the government for the girls’ release would yield the desired results and appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, organisations and the international community to bear in mind that “as a government, we are unrelenting on the issue of the safe return of our children”.

Buhari, who recalled the release of 21 of the 276 girls abducted last year through negotiations, added that the government was doing everything within its powers to integrate the released girls into the society while it is also “in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed”.

He said having demonstrated their competence in the war against terrorism, he was sure that the intelligence and security forces were not only capable but also committed to the task of finding and bringing back the Chibok girls and other victims of Boko Haram insurgents.
“On the Chibok girls, we have had reason to celebrate the return of twenty-four of them and thousands of other Nigerians who were forcibly abducted by the terrorists.

“As a parent, I am eternally grateful to God that some of the girls were found alive and have been reunited with their families. Government is doing all within its powers to reintegrate the freed girls to normal life.
“Furthermore, government is in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed.

“My special appreciation goes to the parents and families that have endured three years of agony and waiting for the return of their children. I feel what you feel. Your children are my children.

“On this solemn occasion, my appeal is that we must not lose hope on the return of our remaining schoolgirls. Our intelligence and security forces, who have aptly demonstrated their competence are very much equal to the task and absolutely committed to the efforts to find and return the schoolgirls and others abducted by Boko Haram.

“I also thank Lake Chad Basin countries, friendly nations and international partners who at various points in the last three years have offered their support for Nigeria.

“Like I have repeatedly said, the federal government is willing to bend over backwards to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls.

“We have reached out to their captors, through local and international intermediaries, and we are ever ready to do everything within our means to ensure the safe release of all the girls,” Buhari said.
Two hundred and seventy six girls were abducted from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, leading to global outrage over their kidnapping.

Within days, 57 were able to escape captivity while two more who had become mothers, escaped separately last year. The federal government was also able to secure the release of 21 other girls in 2016 with the assistance of the Swiss government and the International Red Cross.
One hundred and ninety six girls remain in captivity

Read More »

Awakening The Giant

Willie Eleje-Abili

 Willie Eleje-Abili dreams big for Ebonyi State

When my mind was made up to make this public, it was in the twilight of my middle age. I therefore, obviously had in retrospect, a dream that is supposed to be a prospect. It would appear therefore that the unfolding account of my dream for Ebonyi State is that of a world I would like to leave behind for those coming after me tomorrow and not that which I would have hoped to live myself yesterday. There were two kings with notable dreams in Holy Bible. One is King Nebuchadinezza of Babylon, the other King Pharoah of Egypt. Nebuchadinezza had a bad dream, in fact, he had no dream at all, for he had forgotten the dream he had. Daniel had to dream and interpreted the dream for him. Pharoah had a good dream. Joseph had to interprete and showed him how to bring his dream to full effect. This he did with a blue print of Strategic Grains Reserve, known as Silos. It was a dream that got Joseph out of prison, into which a dream got him. While Daniel had companions, namely Shedrach Meshach and Abednego, Joseph was a recluse to the world from prison at which he was head. Having no friends or enemies, as it were, therefore, he could govern without fear or favour. Pharoah was fascinated by his sophistication, such that he decreed that only in the throne shall he be higher than Joseph. In other words, Pharoah remained the King, while Joseph the son of Israel became the Prime Minister. A Joseph is therefore, a busy civilian prime minister, that can work behind the scenes, representing the back-bone of a skeletal authoritarian structure and configuration of power, of a reigning king, around which the body and organs of state-ship are built, with gopher, meant for an ark or a water-bed. Emerging from relative reclusion, writing my ‘Scriptural Paraphrases and Illustrations in Ehugbo Dialect’(SPIED), during which I succumbed to the lure of a treacherous terrain of lexicography, I am out here solo, not alone, with a dream of a preferred future for my people. But, the dreamer is never taken seriously, just as a prophet is known, except in his home town. Many of those that saw tomorrow either lived ahead or behind their time. Around the mid 1970’s, some of us saw for instance, flyovers with side-railings and streetlights in Lagos. With time, many of those infrastructure disappeared, some of which transmutated into akara-frying laddles. Was it that Mobolaji Johnson lived ahead of his time? Probably not, for the 70’s only represented vestiges of a fading post-colonial culture. Did Fashola live behind his time? Probably yes, for the values of common good of state, that he left behind, might have endured in a society with more consideration of own-self. So, per-adventure they emerge at pre-mature seasons of statehood, the leader is usually misunderstood by society and in some cases outrightly dismissed as out of their minds. I believe, that so treated or even maltreated, were great inventors, philosophers and poets of all times. Worse still for the philosopher, he is usually a solo-man and like his father, David, a social fugitive or in the case Daniel, an economic refugee. But, so be it, if only they served the purpose of humanity at some point in history. Let’s not condemn, but pray for those in authority, for God puts them there in his infinite wisdom for a purpose. But, I have a dream, for we for instance go all made-over, to sing as nursery rymes, the hues and cries of our world political masters, at United Nations and other ‘neighbourhood’, meetings when a smoke of fire, billows from our own kitchen-cabinet.

The head is like husband to the Ship of State, his wife. If the Man can paint a fascinating picture of a preferred future, his Date, would disembark from a Grand-Prix vehicle, to take a long walk hand- in- hand with him, to freedom and eldorado. But, as we know, the length of that walk is for a certain distance of time as defined by the law of courting, which is customary and not constitutional, after which they shall part to meet no more. That time-distance, is only about one and half yearss of governance and two and half of politicking, totaling four, in the first instance. It is my belief therefore, that it should be better to take some key things and deliver them, than to try doing it all at once and end up doing little or nothing at all. Like in all calculations, in the beginning, all things being equal, the vehicle and distance of way and means of arrival at the end with time, is usually more important than the end that is arrived at last. So, if the Date should be watchful enough of the steps taken towards his dream, by her Man, she is prepared to wait till the end on his marks.

The  Motive-power unit of the vehicle, then, is the Man, which is the Head, of the She-Cargo Unit, his Date. So, while, the principles define a walk hand in helping hand of his Date. Man-date would then appear to be the power of the head to determine the direction and speed of the van and ship of state. Direction would depend on the vision of his head on the bed, in a dream, how far ahead he can see, while speed would depend on his rev-anew of the van internally generated heat as a prerogative of his intercourse as giver to ship, his bride and not on his receiver-ships of state, from mother nations breast-milk, the fura-dated mother by the head, their fatherland, rather than exercise some fiscal independence as a man, who should depend on dowry-meant for his fiancée, the finance  of  his help in hand of the head which is his own date, of which he is fond, fund, as in fare of ship as affairs of state, taste bud-gets in the tongue of the head, as flame of fire of van, a rev-anew. Budget is therefore a cardinal principle of the motives of the dream of the head, decapitated in projections and forecasted as superscription on coins or notes of cash of wealth of the king and Lord of land and labour that deliver interest of state in cash flows as water-currents, currency cycles of ecologic and nomic systems, the water-systems of free democratic enter-price of the ship of state, the affair.

What then are the intentions of my dream? I believe that, if motive power is the means, given to she-cargo, as energy, with rails and roads seen on the way to be delivered in the first instance, every other thing would fall around if given a 2nd administrative tenure of our next four years. So, the additional grace of four, would enable us work farther afield together. What do I mean by these then, they are subject to questions and answers, but let me conclude with a brief on the vision of my dream:

I see a grand but not grandiose urban area, where we shall try to demonstrate in modeling spaces that Abakiliki can be transformed from a ‘brown town’ to a reserved urban municipality with expansive dedicated parks and streets named after iconic figures befitting of an international city, for inspiration of our youths and in the overall interest of our country. In this wise, I see a mini Champ-Ellyses style autobahn heralding the new city from off Enugu-Abakiliki expressway. …I see a strategic partnership for an international standard of hoteling. I see our modern city infrastructure completely secure and full-tamper-proof. We shall explore five-star partnership with Mossad Aliyah Bet. I see a Tse tse fly conservation belt against pastoral herdsmen incursion and a well-trained equipped and mobilisable ‘Special Militia Volunteer Force’. Our state is blessed with a youthful population and youth is energy which cannot exist in a vacuum. I see a strategic business unit of the federation, with opportunities for economic prosperity and social inclusion, leaving little or no energy for negative channelisation. I see potable water resources, community health dispensaries and health education. I see opportunity in our relative challenge of arable land, internal capacity and IGR, through Public-Private Partnership, fiscal intervention policy programming, comparative advantage in inter/intra-competition and complementarity, in the resourcefulness of our people and in a visionary leadership. I see uninterruptible solar and wind incremental energy. I see a superb inter/intra-network of roads and rail, with emphasis in opening up strategic opportunities in Ogoja-Cameroun axis and seamless interface between our senatorial districts. I see ‘Aladin Hall Literary Schorlarship College, to be headed by a Principal Visiting Expert…

Dear ladies and fellow Grand Ebo-Knights. As things begin to unfold, I see the name, ‘Grand Ebonyi Metropolitan State’, taking on our dear state. I see a giant awakened from slumber to a new day, I see jubilation and marvelous hallows of God’s name…

Read More »

SON trains workers, stakeholders in vehicle inspection, standards

                                           

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON)  has begun the training of its workers and other stakeholders in vehicle inspection and compliance with standards.

The Director-General, SON, Mr Osita Aboloma, was represented by Mr Dauda Yakubu, regional coordinator, North West, at the training.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the two-day event holding in Sokoto, drew particpants from the 19  northern states.

They included personnel of the organisation, vehicle inspection officers, security agencies, transport unions and other related stakeholders.

Speaking at the ceremony, its director-general said the training was to acquaint the participants with the minimum requurements for insoection and testing procedures.

“ These include causes of rejection of motor vehicle, trailer and semi trailer in relations to their safe operations on the road.

“ It also requires the regulatory authorities with mandate to conduct and administer a system of periodic road vehicle inspection and testing to do so in compliance with standard.

Read More »

US and Russia ties may be at an all-time low admits by Donald Trump

Defending US' missile strike on a Syrian airbase, Donald Trump same he had little question that the choice was right and was with success dead.

US President Donald Trump same that the relations between United States ANd Russia area unit "may be at an incomparable  low" because the 2 countries aren't obtaining in conjunction with one another.

The Russian government had condemned the missile strikes by the US Government on a Syrian airbase. Donald Trump, however, defended his call and same, "I have completely little question that we have a tendency to did the proper thing".

Despite the turbulence in relationship between the 2 countries, each have united to figure conjointly on the Syrian conflict.

HERE IS ALL you would like to grasp concerning WHAT United States AND RUSSIA SAID:

• Donald Trump's remark concerning "all-time low" ties between United States and Russia came once United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was rumored by Xinhua press association as language that United States and Russia have reached a coffee purpose in their relations.
• The Russian government failed to mince words to condemn the United States missile strike at a Syrian airbase and referred to as it Washington's move "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".
• Donald Trump defended his call to launch fifty nine missiles at the Syrian airbase in response to last week's chemical attack within the rebel-held city of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib, that killed quite eighty individuals.
• "It cannot be a worst sight. And it should not be allowed. that is a butcher," Donald Trump same. "So, I felt we have a tendency to had to try and do one thing concerning it. I actually have completely little question we have a tendency to did the proper factor. And it had been terribly, terribly with success done," the United States President same at a joint conference with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.
• On whether or not Russia had previous data concerning Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, Donald Trump same it's "possible" however "unlikely" that Russia had better-known ahead of Syria's decide to launch a chemical weapons attack on its own voters.
• "I grasp they are doing investigations into that right away. i'd wish to assume that they did not grasp, however actually they may have. They were there. therefore we'll resolve," Donald Trump same.
• Despite the tensions between the 2 countries, each Russia and therefore the United States united to fight terrorism and continue discussions on Syrian conflict settlement.
• Despite the tensions between the 2 countries, each Russia and therefore the United States united to fight terrorism and continue discussions on Syrian conflict settlement.
• "With all the prevailing issues, each objective and unnaturally created ones, we have a tendency to still have quite an few prospects for joint work. Russia is hospitable dialogues with the United States in numerous areas, and not solely to dialogues however conjointly to joint actions," Sergei Lavrov was quoted as language by Xinhua press association.
• "With all the prevailing issues, each objective and unnaturally created ones, we have a tendency to still have quite an few prospects for joint work. Russia is hospitable dialogues with the United States in numerous areas, and not solely to dialogues however conjointly to joint actions," Sergei Lavrov was quoted as language by Xinhua press association.
• Russia had earlier vetoed a international organization resolution tight the Syrian government collaborate with AN investigation of the suspected chemical attack, language that Russian capital had systematically expressed its "categorical disagreement" with the draft resolution, that diode to more criticism from the West as well as the United States.

Read More »