On 29th July 2016 CNN reported that "the Nigerian government is preparing troops for a crackdown in the Niger Delta if peace talks fail".
This is sad and ominous. As United States Senator Ted Cruz once said "the light of truth is stronger than the terror of darkness".
It follows that the biggest mistake that the Buhari administtation can possibly make is to attempt to "crack down" on the Niger Delta and kill innocent civilians.
If this ever happens, for whatever reason, it will set off a chain of events that will lead to the end of Nigeria as we know it.
Nigeria will disintegrate before Buhari's very eyes if any more innocent blood is shed and if the towns, creeks and villages of the oil-producing states are shelled and reduced to rubble.
The cause of the people of the Niger Delta, and indeed that of the Igbo people of the eastern states, is just and their struggles and aspirations are legitimate and reasonable.
Self-detetmination is a right. It is a concept and principle that is universally accepted and that has the backing of international law.
You do not threaten and bomb those that seek to exercise that right: you treat them with respect, decency and decorum and attempt to persuade them to stay.
This is a point that is lost on President Buhari and those around him. The Avengers are not Boko Haram: taking them on in the field of battle would be a monuemental error.
Arepo and Ibafo community in panic as people suddenly become worried after hearing gunshot and hovering of helicopters above their roof.
It was learnt that there was a serious exchange of gunfire between militants and military men inside the creek, people were advised to stay indoors as the militant now hide inside people’s compound to escape the military men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMiLrfimnw
The wife of the president, Hajia Aisha Buhari, has said that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State cannot hide under the cover of immunity to avoid prosecution from several alleged criminal offences.
Her position is contained in her statement of claims filed before an FCT High Court in the defamation suit challenging Governor Fayose’s allegation linking her with the Harliburton bribery scandal in the United States.
Fayose’s counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), had in a reply to Mrs Buhari’s pre-action notice on July 8, stated that under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, no civil or criminal action may be brought against the governor while in office, advising her to wait till 2018.
But in the statement filed by her counsel, Ismaila Alasa and Mary Ekpere Eta, the president’s wife cited criminal charges on the murder of one Tunde Omojola, diversion of N1.2bn state funds in 2004 and the invasion of the Ekiti High Court with thugs who allegedly beat up a judge in 2014 as some of the governor’s ‘indiscretions’.
“The first defendant (Fayose) is a well-known coward who is scared of facing the consequences of his numerous indiscretions and sheer acts of criminality by timidly hiding under the cloak of immunity to want to evade prosecution,” she averred.
Meanwhile, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi has approved the service of the court papers to Fayose and his two aides- his chief press secretary, Idowu Adelusi and his special adviser on New Media, Lere Olayinka at the Government House, Ado Ekiti as the legal dispute proceeded in the week.
The judge directed service of the processes on the defendants by DHL courier service and publication in an online media platform.
Aisha Buhari, who has lined up 205 witnesses against Fayose, is seeking N5bn as damages over the statements.
Fayose had in a media session on June 20, alleged that one Aisha Buhari, who allegedly transferred $170, 000 to USA congressman, William Jefferson, who was convicted in November 2009 over the bribery scandal, was the president’s wife.
Full hearing is expected to commence after the court’s vacation.
Following the crash of the naira, Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote group, has dropped off the list of the 100 richest people in the world.
Dangote was the 51st richest man in the world as at March 2016, but he had dropped to 101 as at the start of business on Monday.
Dangote, who owns the second largest sugar-refinery in the world, remains richer than Donald Trump, American billionaire presidential candidate, and Oprah Winfrey, US TV personality, who dubs as the second richest black woman in the world.
Dangote is now worth $11.1 billion, while Trump and Oprah are estimated at $4.5 billion and $3.1 billion, respectively.
The fall in the naira, as against the dollar, from about 198 to about 300, has eroded about a quarter of Dangote’s wealth, as he commits to investing heavily in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria.
At the launch of the new foreign exchange regime on June 23, 2016, Dangote fell from 46 on the world billionaire list to 71, and has continued in that manner with the naira plunge.
According to Bloomberg billionaires, Dangote, who was worth $15.4 billion (N3.05 trillion) in March, is now worth $11.1 billion (N3.3 trillion) —richer in naira, but poorer in dollars.
The launch of Dangote refinery, the biggest greenfield refinery in the world, billed for 2018/2019 is expected to propel him into top 20 by 2019.
Dangote Cement, one of Dangote’s major investments in Nigeria, is the biggest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, by market capitalisation, and the biggest cement producer in sub-saharan Africa.
The company however missed out of the 100 biggest companies in the world, according to Fortune 500.
The Nigerian government has announced the deportation of three South Koreans from the country over alleged immigration offences.
The three persons, according to a statement by the spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration Service, Ekpedeme King, were removed from Africa’s most populous country on July 20.
They remained ineligible to enter the country for 10 years.
Read full press release announcing the deportation below.
FEDERAL GOVT DEPORTS 3 KOREANS
The Federal Government of Nigeria had on the 20th of July, 2016 deported three (3) South Koreans namely Lee Yoo Song, Lee Byeung Woo and Moon Een Soo for Immigration related offences. The Hon. Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahaman Dambazau (Rtd) in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 45(2) and (3) and 44( 1e) of the Immigration Act 2015 signed the Deportation Order.
With the deportation order in force, the three (3) Koreans will not be eligible to enter Nigeria again through any port in the next ten years.
Without prejudice to the Foreign Investment Drive of Government, the Comptroller – General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede, wishes to use this opportunity to caution all expatriates and their employers in Nigeria to respect the laws of the country as the Nigeria Immigration Service is determined to implement all aspect of immigration laws in the public interest.
However expatriates resident in Nigeria with correct documentation are assured of the protection of their rights and dignity.
Ekpedeme King
(Deputy Comptroller of Immigration)
Service Public Relations Officer
26th July, 2016.
