AirAsia Flight 8501- Rescuers Pull Bodies and Wreckage Off Coast Of Borneo!

Relatives of the ill fated AirAsia plane that plunged into the sea Sunday, wept profuriously as rescuers pulled three bodies and wreckage off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday.

Based on the plane's last known coordinates, the aircraft probably crashed into the water and "is at the bottom of the sea," Indonesia search-and-rescue chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said. 

AirAsia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320-200 that carried 162 people, disappeared Sunday after seeking permission to climb above threatening clouds.

How I Was Offered To Boko - Haram: Story Of A 13 Year-Old Suicide Bomber!

The female suicide bomber, arrested after a failed attempt to detonate bomb wrapped on her, recently gave an account on how  she was handed over to suspected Boko Haram jihadists, by her father.

The who 13-year-old, identified as Zahharau Babangida, told journalists at the Kano Police Headquarters, that she and the other girls were trained in a bush by heavily armed men who had indoctrinated her and others to carry out mass killings. 

According to her, the men threatened to bury them alive if they turned down the mission.

Six persons, including the two of her associates, reportedly died in the attack at Kano's Kwari textile market, while seven others were injured, police said at the time.

Zahharau, a native of Damaturu in Yobe State, said she and her family lived in Kano for years before she and her mother were handed over to men in the bush by her father, to people whom she described as being of different tribes and races, including both black and Arabs. She said these men constantly preached to her and the other girls about suicide missions.

When the trainers thought they girls were ready for the job, the other young girls were reportedly sent to Kano directly from the training location, while Zahharau and two of the girls were dropped at Kwari market by their guide who left them there.

Her story below:

"I was in the bush when the people some who looks like Arabs and some huge black men told me that did I know what is suicide mission, that is one killing himself? I said no I don't know, they explained it to me and said that if I did plus reciting Sura Albakara I will straight go to Paradise," Zahharau narrated.

"I declined and told them I will not do it, they now told me that they would dig a hole and bury me alive because that is what they do to all women who refuse to adhere to their demands, and they said they meant what they said, I now complied,".

"When we entered the market one among the three of us said, 'ok let's detonate the bombs but we should separate ourselves," she narrated. "I still refused to follow them but because I was close to them when they blew up themselves I was injured and I quickly came to the road where I got Keke (tricycle used for transportation) and asked him to take me to Dawanau (where she lived with her family).

Narrating in Hausa language, Zahharau stated that when she arrived at Dawanau, she located her house but said her female neighbours refused to accommodate her because their husbands were not at home.

She continued to bleed from her wounds, a condition which prompted the man who rode her on Keke, to asked if there was anybody to take her to hospital.

"I was now taken to the hospital... and after arriving there the doctors were treating me when the Keke man quickly came in and asked me who was the owner of the bomb in his Keke, I said I owned it. That was how security personnel were invited and I was taken away. She said.

Confirming the incident, Kano Police Commissioner, Aderele Shinaba, alongside the Director State Security Service, SSS, Bassey Itang, said the girls arrived at the busy market pretending to be buyers of textile materials before detonating their explosives. Although he did not say what has happened to the girls's father, he noted that the arrest of the teenager with one of her guides, now in police custody, was a great success because it led the police to other findings.

Pope Francis Urges World peace!

Pope Francis, in his Christmas message to tens of thousands of people on St Peter's Square, and million others who watched from across the globe, condemned the activities of Islamic State(IS) fighters in Syria and Irag, and the Boko - haram insurgent group in Nigeria, for indiscriminate killings of people they believe not to share their ideologies.

"I ask him, the savior of the world, to look upon our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria, who for too long now have suffered the effects of ongoing conflict, and who, together with those belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, are suffering a brutal persecution," he said.

May Christ the Savior give peace to Nigeria, where more blood is being shed and too many people are unjustly deprived of their possessions, held as hostages or killed,” he said. He noted African countries dealing with an increase in Islamic militancy and those fighting the Ebola virus outbreak. 

“Truly there are so many tears this Christmas,” he lamented.

He also spoke on "contemporary Herods," with blood on their hands, referring to the Biblical king who ordered children to be killed because he saw Jesus as a threat to his reign.

"May Christmas bring them hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons, exiles and refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and from the whole world," he prayed.

The Papal urged for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, as he condemned Taliban attacks in Pakistan.

2014 Christmas Decorations From Around The World!

See photos of 2014 Xmas decorations from around the world:

Merry Christmas To Our Esteemed Readers!

Here is wishing you, our most esteemed readers, the very best at Christmas, and always.....

Stay highly blessed and may your lives remain beautiful

Warm regards from.....

Roving Informant Crew.

A Review of Some Policies Of The GEJ Led Administration!

As the race for the office of the first citizen of Nigeria approach its climax, we review some policies that notably characterized the incumbent administration, with the hope of re-evaluation for relevant changes where necessary.

Firstly, we take a look at the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE P) program, its feasibility and full implementation: 

Under the SURE P program, the total subsidy receivable annually was estimated at over $1 trillion, based on an average crude price of $90 initially (now $60 per barrel). A part of this fund is expected to go to the Federal, State, Local governments, and the Federation accounts.

Some SURE P projects includes: Social safety, Niger – delta development project, road infrastructure projects, urban mass transit, vocational training, list of rail projects, standard bridges, state irrigation projects, hydro power projects, improving existing local refineries capacity, and building new ones. etc.

Remarkably, Christopher Kolade was appointed chairman of this program, but humbly resigned when the integrity of the program came under questioning, a situation he could not put up with.

Between 2012 and 2013, It was reported that SURE-P Board spent over N178 billion on four major roads and two bridges across the country, these are the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, and the Kano roads. Other roads reportedly contracted were the Maiduguri road, the Enugu - Onitsha road, and Benin, Shagamu, Ore road. The two bridges expected to be constructed are Second Niger Bridge and the Oweto Bridge, linking Benue and Nasarawa States, all of which are being constructed mostly with SURE-P funds.

It is of interest to note here that these SURE P projects are a replicate of what the government should provide for the masses under normal circumstances. 

Yet, in spite of Fuel subsidy savings, implementation of many SURE P projects across the nation, as proposed, is a million dollar question that members of the committee should answer, as one might need a magnifying glass to see some of the amenities the committee lay claim to. 

One noticeable thing on some of these SURE P sites are  signs, and perhaps a tractor or other instrument on these locations for months ( to indicate the contractors are at work). 

Yet people die every day on our major roads, mostly due to bad spots on some of the federal roads, most of the public hospitals lack adequate facilities, well trained medical personnel, and stuffed with out dated drugs, supplied by contractors with no medical background. Most rural communities are currently cut off from the outside world, as there is no access road or bridge to link them up. 

The refinery project was not speared as information made available by the Federal Ministry of 
Finance revealed that research and analysis show that even if all the country’s refineries 'in the country' were to operate at full capacity, there would still be a petrol supply gap of 15 million litres per day. Therefore, importation WILL remain inevitable until additional refining capacities are built through the on-going Greenfield Refinery Project,  adding that discussions were engaged in, with prospective investors who are willing to provide Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to build additional refineries in the country to ensure domestic self sufficiency and the export of refined petroleum products within the next few years.

An 18 September, 2012 edition of This Day Newspaper reported that following the corporation’s inability to meet the May 13, 2011 date, the CSCEC had extended the MoU by one year. The renewal of the MoU was contained in a memo dated May 13, 2012 addressed to the then  Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC, Mr. Austeen Oniwon.

The memo signed by the company’s Vice President Overseas Operations, Yu Zhend, noted that the extension was granted based on NNPC’s assurance that feasibility studies for the three refineries would be carried out in July 2011.

The one paragraph memo reportedly read: “Further to your request to extend the May 13, 2010 MoU between the NNPC and CSCEC for one year, we have held discussions with our board and advised Detailed Feasibility Studies (DFS) will be ready in July. Although our board would have preferred a three months extension (because of the need to commence loan negotiations, we accept your request to renew the MoU till May 13, 2012.” 

The rest of the subsidy embezzlement saga is best known by Nigerians.

All we hear in the dailies are figures of amount supposedly spent on invisible projects, amounts thought a far cry compared to pictures we see of some of these constructed facilities.

However, vocational trainings conducted and SMEs support, are SURE P nationwide programs that remain feasible, and worth commending, as many Nigerians have benefited from it.

Never the less, one is forced to ask, are representatives of the civil society, and the rest SURE P committee members up on their feet about this challenge, or are they getting payed for just lodging in five star hotels in Abuja?

Are Nigerians supposed to, as usual swallow this bitter pill, better still watch helplessly as the administration blame factors for not enabling them fulfill their promises. Someone has got to take responsibility for this.

If the SURE P program is not working, who is to be blamed, if not the President? 

If they is no electricity in the country, who is to be blamed, if not the President? 

When contractors are not keeping up to their delivery promises, who do we blame, if not the President?

The present administration seems to blame everybody, for everything, but themselves. There is need for President Goodluck Jonathan to start taking responsibility for these actions, because the masses believed in, and voted him into power, he is supposed to be in-charge, not some committee members or contractors. The onus is on him to conduct investigations, sack those found wanting, and appoint credible people in their place.

Nigeria and The Challenges of Insecurity: Boko – Haram abducted over 200 girls from a school hostel in Chibok, Bornu state, they are still killing and abducting people (mostly women) in Northern Nigeria, who should take the blame, if not the President; not a state governor in a state of emergency situation, take a clue from the Obasanjo administration, where a military administrator was appointed to manage a similar situation in Plateau state. 

On the recent sentencing of military men for mutiny, who do we really blame for their actions? How do you expect the military to fight insurgents armed to the teeth with some of the latest ammunition, with very light bullet vests and AK 47 guns, most of which are held together with cell tapes?

Mr. President, a situation where ex-militants are contracted to take over the defense and security of a nation, by purchasing weapons and armory for the nation’s Army and Navy is totally not accepted anywhere in the world.

On Power Distribution: In the history of Nigeria, no one ethnic group has wielded the four powers of economic, political, commerce and intelligentsia.

During the Shagari administration, while the North had the political power, the economic and intelligentsia powers rested in the West, they were the opposition, they dominantly criticized the government, and the East had Commerce.

When Olusegun Obasanjo came into power, the West had the political, economic and intelligentsia, but Obasanjo balanced this situation by empowering his vice president. Atiku was in-charge of the economy, which enabled him dish it out, to gain control of the governors, a leverage he used to fight the Obasanjo's second term agenda. The Jim Ovias and Tony Elumelus, all from the South were empowered to run the economy, during this era, so many big names from the Niger-Delta region rose up in the oil sector. 

Although it is viewed as an unwritten constitution, distribution of power is a norm which was believed to be embraced by all, and put into consideration in administrations over the years.



When the present administration got into power by divine Hand, the nation woke up to discover that all the powers were concentrated in one region. 

Areas of the constitution where even ex-military presidents dared to thread, the present administration seems to have threaded, without thinking of its future implications on Niger–Deltans.

After the present administration, what will the South be remembered for, where does the hope for a future ‘Niger-delta’ President rest, in the hands of ex – militants and guns? Come on, this region which is blessed with men and women of high intellect, is definitely more than what it is currently being reduced to.

If a leader uses his intelligence to better improve the nation, it is okay, but when this intelligence is used for ambitions where the sovereignty of the nation, and well being of a good number of the masses does not fit into, then it is subject to be questioned.

Celebrating Women Who Make A Difference!

One can not help but notice the smiles, even laughter on the faces of commuters, as they drove past her, passers-by stop to stare at her.

She razzmatazzed all with her moves,  as she controls the traffic. 

She is the traffic warden at  Agnes junction, Yaba - lagos.

Lagos Church Reaches Out At Xmas (2)!

Adults were not left out of the House On The Rock, Christmas benevolent out reach....



....as each individual that was present at the Anglican Primary School, Araloya - Lagos Island, on Saturday, 20 December; went home with packages for the yuletide. 

 

More photos below:

They all went home spiritually and substantially blessed.

Lagos Church Reaches Out At Xmas (1)!

Children at the Lagos Island area of Lagos State, were recently treated to an unexpected yuletide benevolent party, organized by the House On The Rock Church -  Lagos.

The event, which was replicated simultaneously by different teams at Makoko- Yaba area, and Ijesha, took place at the Anglican Primary School, Araloya - Lagos Island, on Saturday, 20 December.

It is one of the many projects, embarked on by the church to reach out to the less privileged in the society. 

Children were treated to Fun...

and an xmas gift pack for each child...

More photos of the Children's section below:

Please see the concluding part of this event on the next story....

  

 

  

Martial Court Sentences 54 Nigerian Soldiers To Death!

In a martial court judgment that lasted about 8 hours, and presided over by Brig-Gen Musa Yusuf at the army headquarters, garrisson, Abuja, 54 Nigerian soldiers were on Wednesday sentenced to death, after they were found guilty of mutiny and refusal to compact Boko- Haram insurgents.

Information revealed that the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the Army 7 Division where they were attached on August 4, 2014 at the Mulai Primary School Camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State, while five others were discharged and acquitted.

Corporal Andrew Ogwulekwu and 59 other military officers were slammed with two count charges including: criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny, and count two, refusal to carry out an order to face Boko Haram insurgents.

The charge sheet disclosed that the soldiers on trial had refused the orders of their commanding officer to advance on an operation to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State from Boko Haram terrorist.

The condemned soldiers are to die by firing squad.

Nigerian Government Condemns Repatriation Of Nigerian Students By The Sudanese Authority!

Despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) formal declaration that Nigeria is free of the Ebola Virus Disease after 42 days without any new case of the virus in October, the nation appears to be battling a more serious challenge of stigmatization, than the virus itself; as about 30 Nigerians were on Thursday, December 11, repatriated by the Sudanese government over suspicions of being infected by the Ebola Virus Disease.

An action that has been condemned by  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to report, spokesman of the ministry, Mr. Ogbole Ode, confirmed that  26 of the 30 affected Nigerians were students who had travelled to Nigeria on holidays and were returning to Khartoun after their holidays in Nigeria.

"The repatriation is erroneous because the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Nigeria Ebola-free since October 20 after 42-day observation period without recording any case of Ebola.

"It is unfortunate that Sudan, a supposedly friendly African nation, which has cordial relations with Nigeria, will act this way," he said.

Stating that  the ministry was committed to the country's foreign policy of promoting and protecting the interests of Nigerians living or traveling abroad, Ode added that following the intervention of the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoun, 13 of the affected students, who had not left Khartoun, were allowed entry.

Kendall Jenner Graces Vogue's Cover In Cropped Jackets, As Khylie Shares Spotlight On Splash!

Kendalla  is one model that has continued to show great prospect in the fashion industry, 



Whether she is working Giorgio Armani, Prada, or Michael Kors, the fast raising super model seems to  be in control of every look and poise.

 Khylie also shared the spotlight with Kendall in a separate shoot for Splash.

Celebrating Women Who Changed The World - Rosa Parks!

Rosa Parks became a household name when her refusal to give up her seat to a white man on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery Alabama, led to a civil movement, that beget the most significant civil rights legislation of American history.  



Although the petite 42-year-old (at the time of the incident) played down her role in the struggle, through peaceful and dignified campaign, she became one of the most well respected figures in the civil rights movements.

Roving Informant salutes that courage!

Paul Adefarasin Blasts Corrupt Public Officers, calls On Nigerian Youths To excercise Their Civic Duty by Registering To Vote!

"Nothing will make me more eternally glad, than to see change". 

These were the words of Paul Adefarasin, the Senior Pastor of House On The Rock Church (HORT), during the annual thanks-given, which also commemorates the 20th anniversary celebration service of the Church on Sunday, 14 December, 2014.

The outspoken cleric/ social reformer speared no stone upturned, when he out-rightly condemned some noxious practices of corrupt politicians and public office holders, in his speech at the event, which held at the Rock Cathedral in Lagos.

He further called on Nigerian youths especially, to step up to what is constitutionally required of them, and register in order to ensure that individuals of impeccable characters are voted into public offices, come 2015.  "a country should not be ruled by the worse, it should be served by the best" he said.

Adefarasin emphasized on the need for qualitative education, stressing that as long as the country does not have a good educational structure, we will continue to have un-enlightened minds deliberating over the affairs of the nation.

He revealed that proceeds from the thanksgiving will go to various benevolent organizations like the orphanage, old people's homes, and several fields for the development of the society.

Pictures of the Thanksgiving celebration below:

The cleric rounded off his speech by urging Nigerian youths to be part of the solution to the challenges that plagued the nation, and not part of the problem.