Federal government not doing enough to end insurgency - ASUU!

The Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria (ASUU) recently blasted the federal government over its slow action on the spate of insecurity in the country.

ASUU in a state of the nation address in Abuja, said the government was not doing enough to end the situation, hence it is losing grip of the situation as the insurgents consistently remain bold.

National President of ASUU, Nasir Fagge, said the more the government claims to have tried to curb the insurgency, the more it grows and expands to other frontiers.

“These approach must include socio-economic development and education, crucially the pursuit of a humanistic socio-economic development with the goal of fulfilling the needs of the people, society’s control of the commanding height of the economy,” he said.

ASUU also suggested that government should approach governance with the concept of egalitarianism, and abandon the philosophy of governance “that treats Nigeria as if it were a jungle.”

The ASUU President said Nigerians ought to realise that the issue of Boko Haram is a complex Nigerian problem and not a Northern problem.

Reacting to the recent protest by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), where police personnel used teargas and water to disperse the protesters in Abuja last week, he said such action would not be tolerated in Nigeria as there is no law proscribing peaceful protests.

The union also described the ongoing National Conference as dubious in intent as it is not capable of making substantial progress in obtaining the goal of doing away with structures of domination.

President Goodluck Jonathan accepts help from the U.S on finding missing girls!

According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday accepted a definite offer from the United States government to locate and rescue the abducted schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, in Abuja.

The statement said that the offer from President Barack Obama was conveyed to Jonathan by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, in a telephone conversation which began at 15.30 hours on Tuesday.

It said the assistance included the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets in collaboration with their Nigerian counterparts for the search and rescue operation.

“Mr. Kerry assured President Jonathan that the United States is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end,” the statement said.

It said President Jonathan thanked Kerry for the telephone call and for the assistance.

The statement, however, said that the president had told Kerry that Nigeria’s security agencies, who were already working at full capacity to find and rescue the abducted girls, would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.

It further said that the president also met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted girls.

The statement also said that the president received updates on the ongoing search and rescue effort, and gave approval for recommended further actions. 

Prominent blogger arrested in Vietnam for posting ‘bad content’!

Reorts has it that a prominent blogger was arrested in Vietnam. it was gathered that he was accused of disseminating anti-state articles in the communist country’s latest crackdown on online dissent, Police said Tuesday.

57 year old Nguyen Huu Vinh, popularly known as Anh Ba Sam, was arrested in Hanoi on Monday for posting articles “with bad content and incorrect information that reduces prestige and trust in state agencies,” the ministry of public security said in a statement.

Police also arrested Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, 33, who was accused of the same offence, the statement added, without giving details of her alleged role. 

Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. Lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention. 

According to Reporters Without Borders, Vietnam has detained at least 34 bloggers. Only China has put more bloggers behind bars.

Vinh, a former Policeman, founded the well known political and social blog ‘Ba Sam’ in 2007 — initially to store articles for his own reference.

The blog then became a news aggregator with links to major stories in state-run newspapers as well as blog posts from activists.

The blog has frequently appeared under different web addresses to avoid constant hacking attacks.

It was not clear if Vinh still ran the blog at the time of his arrest on Monday.

Together with some other blogs, Ba Sam has also been a rallying point for Vietnamese demonstrators staging anti-China protests, mostly in Hanoi, in a longstanding dispute over sovereignty of the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly island groups.

In April, authorities freed three well known dissidents including French trained Cu Huy Ha Vu and Nguyen Tien Trung, who were serving long jail terms for similar anti-state charges.

kim rocks in denim look!

A new twit from Kim revealed that she sure had fun during her recent trip to Paris with her friend Super star Serena Williams.



Her twit below:
"I was only in Paris for a quick 24 hours, but made sure to squeeze in time with my friend Serena Williams who is training there. We went to all of our favorite spots and it was great catching up! Also, I’m loving this denim on denim look. I used pale pink shoes to offset the blue. I’m wearing a Balmain denim shirt, mother jeans and Guiseppe heels. A short but sweet trip".

8 more girl abducted in Nigeria!

According to reports, suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight girls from a village near one of their strongholds in northeastern Nigeria overnight, police and residents said on Tuesday.

The abduction of the girls, aged 12 to 15, follows the kidnapping of more than 200 other schoolgirls by the Islamist militant group last month.

Lazarus Musa, a resident of the village of Warabe, told Reuters that armed men had opened fire during the raid.

"They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army color. They started shooting in our village," Musa said by telephone from the village in the hilly Gwoza area, Boko Haram's main base.

A police source, who could not be named, said the girls were taken away on trucks, along with looted livestock and food.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened in a video released to the media on Monday to sell the girls abducted from a secondary school on April 14 "on the market".

The kidnappings by the Islamists, who say they are fighting for an Islamic state in Nigeria, have shocked a country long inured to the violence around the northeast.

"Many people tried to run behind the mountain but when they heard gun shots, they came back," Musa said. "The Boko Haram men were entering houses, ordering people out of their houses."

Boko Haram, the main security threat to Africa's leading energy producer, is growing bolder and appears better armed than ever. April's mass kidnapping occurred on the day a bomb blast, also claimed by Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the edge of Abuja, the first attack on the capital in two years.

Another bomb in roughly the same place killed 19 people last week, all events that have embarrassed the government before a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on Africa in Abuja from May 7-9.

The military's inability to find the girls in three weeks, has led to protests in the northeast, Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital. More are expected on Tuesday in Abuja, just as delegates will be collecting their badges to allow them entry to the hotel where the forum will take place.

Kim and Kanye West now legally man and wife?!

Earlier this week, rumor has it that Kim Kardashian and kanye West would tie the knot before they actually wed in Paris.

Well, if the information reaching us is anything to go by, the rumore could just be true!

The couple reportedly got their marriage license, and there was apparently a little somethin’ extra that took place in California!

Roving Informant wish them a happy married life and we hope they stay married.

Borno Governor’s wife explains absence at meeting with Patience Jonathan!

Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima, said on Monday that her inability to attend Sunday’s meeting with the wife of the president, Patience Jonathan, over the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, was not to disrespect the office of the First Lady.

This is contained in a statement signed by her spokesperson, Aisha Hassan, released to journalists in Maiduguri.

The statement said that the governor’s wife was represented at the meeting to enable her prepare for a scheduled visit to Chibok on Monday to meet with parents of the abducted girls and give them moral support.

It said that the governor’s wife had high respect for the first lady as the mother of the nation.

“Mrs. Shettima had actually travelled to Abuja all the way from Maiduguri on 28th of April, and on the evening of that day, she met the First Lady at the Villa and took two hours to brief her on the schoolgirls abduction as well as her (Mrs. Shettima) personal efforts and that of her husband, Governor Shettima towards the freedom of the girls.

”Some wives of service chiefs and National women leader of the PDP, Kema Chikwe, were present when the governor’s wife met with the First Lady.

”The First Lady appreciated the efforts of the Governor’s wife and was consoling her on noticing how depressed she was,” the statement said.

It said that before the April 28 meeting with the first lady, Mrs. Shettima held a meeting with coalition of women groups that included stakeholders of Chibok, officials of the National Council of Women Societies, wives of security chiefs in Borno State and the Christian Association of Nigeria.

The statement said that the meeting also had in attendance representatives of the Federation of Muslim Women of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Association of Christian Widows, Association of Muslim Widows, the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), selected female professionals that included university lecturers, political appointees and the principal of the attacked school.

It said that a copy of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting was communicated to the first lady.

”The fact of the matter is that Hajiya Nana Shettima is right now in Chibok, she has met with parents of the abducted schoolgirls to offer support to them.

”Some of the parents have been discovered to have health challenges that will be immediately addressed.

”Mrs. Shettima left today (Monday) for Chibok after she was finally given a security clearance that was delayed since last week for operational reasons.

”The Governor’s wife has the highest respect for the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, and couldn’t have done anything to disrespect her.

”The First Lady and her confidants can bear testimony to how respectful and obedient the governor’s wife has been to her in the last three years and how she promptly attends to all events related to the First Lady however inconvenient.

”The Governor’s wife regards the First Lady as a mother given her age and position as mother of the nation,” the statement said.

source:News Agency of Nigeria