The Next Phase of Boko Haram Terrorism – Wole Soyinka

Boko Haram is completely political. But with the toxic element of religion infused into it, it gives them the leg to ally with international terrorist bodies based on religion, who are only too happy to be of assistance.

Let me begin by reminding everyone that Boko Haram has a very long history, whether you describe Boko Haram as an army of the discontent, or even as some people grotesquely try to suggest, “revolutionaries,” or you describe them as, legitimately, this time, as marginalised or feeling marginalised.

Shall We Now Not beg for our lives? (2)

By: Olusesan Ogunyooye (@sesansoulmate)

I struggle each day to agree that this nation is a not failed state. I hate to think our democracy is “A Clueless Government; run by Boko Haram, for the poor people”. I sorrow at the thought that Nigeria; the ‘giant’ of Africa, now appears big for nothing in global perspective. I cannot but agree that life in this country is now brutish, nasty and short; and the only hope is Ola Rotimi’s “Hope of the Living Dead”? 

Yoruba says; “if your mother’s concubine is powerful than your father, you must call him daddy”. This is the ugly reality in Nigeria today. If Boko Haram is bigger, powerful and more ambitious than our government; then, shall we now not beg for our lives?

Today, Nigerians are like the proverbial monkey who strives not to be shamed; and once we are disgraced; we should strive not to die. If we strive not to be shamed as a people, and Boko Haram has made us dance naked in the market: shall we now beg not to die?

For me, all hopes that this government will save us are lost, all their options are exhausted and the government is ran, de facto, from the jungles of the northern states. If you think I’m cynical, have you heard the president speak lately? Did you hear him resolve to Psalm 91 as the panacea out of this national harvest of death? I am not against prayers, but I know even King David, the Psalmist, did not write Psalm 91 as a miraculous wand of protection.

NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM: Lest We Forget

Air Force Outside Gallery: Relic of one of the air crafts during the war. Below it is the famous Biafran Baby, according to the curator, that 'bird' almost changed the course of the war in favour of Biafra.

Its brown rusted roofs, punctuated by few corrugated aluminium roofs, are washed each morning by the rain of dews. The ray of sun that sweeps the city at midday wrings wild fragrances from its towering bushes. And at night, the castanet music of the crickets, the croaking symphony of the frogs and the beautiful glimmers from the fire-flies lull its inhabitants to sleep. This is Ebite –Amafor, the countryside in Umuahia, Abia state that houses the National War Museum.

If you were not around during the civil war, you might never be able to imagine the horrendous effects of a war that tore the fabrics of this nation to shreds. This is because those who wrote it in the textbooks and those telling the stories can hardly capture the true picture with mere words.

The closest attempt to represent the Nigeria’s Civil War in print is the work of the award-winning Chimanmanda Adiche in her Half of a Yellow Sun. But the poor reading culture has damaging impact on Adiche’s efforts to document history in fiction. Hence, we all forget in a hurry.

OPERATION FEED THE EMPEROR

I am the highest paid Nigerian in public office
Yet you must feed me.
Feed me
Feed my dogs
Feed the fishes in my Village 
Wet my grass
And pay for my concubines.

I have sucked your blood with the straw of your vein
I have eaten your flesh like cassava bread
I have fed your bones to the dogs that live in this rock. 

I ride on elephant
You walk on bare foot.
I sleep on water bed
You have no roof over your head.

Yet you must feed me
I am the emperor of this land
A czar
Commander in Thief of the Corrupt forces
I am a cabal. 

Yet you must feed me
Feed me for doing nothing
Feed me for mortgaging your future
Feed me for killing this land.

You either feed me or I *Boko Harass you! 

Tukur, Oyinlola’s power tussle divides PDP

All is not well within the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party as the   Chairman of the party, Dr. Bamaga Tukur, and  Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, are  reportedly on warpath.

Our correspondent learnt  that  Oyinlola, in some memos, accused some Tukur’s aides  of working against  the party.

BRIBERY SCANDAL: 'MY Image was Doctored' - Lawan

Hon. Farouk Lawan

CHAIRMAN of the House of  Representatives Committee on the probe of fuel subsidy mismanagement, Mr. Farouk Lawan, said on Sunday that the video purportedly showing him receiving a bribe from an oil marketer was  doctored.

The Lawan committee, which discovered that subsidy thieves had stolen N1.7trn from government coffers as a direct consequence of malpractices in the oil sector, had been embroiled in bribery scandal since last week.

Fuel Subsidy Probe: How I Bribed Law Makers, By Otedola

Femi Otedola

 The full details of the $3 million bribery scandal involving members of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Fuel Subsidy probe were revealed yesterday, as one of the major actors in the scandal has opened up on what transpired.

In an exclusive interview with THISDAY, chairman, Zenon Petroleum & Gas Ltd, Mr. Femi Otedola, who hitherto was suspected of being behind the $3 million bribery scandal, blew the lid on what transpired and how chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Farouk Lawan, and the secretary of the committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, had collected $620,000 from him in a sting operation masterminded by the security agencies.

DANA Crash Probe: Trust Me, Jonathan Begs Nigerians

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to trust him, saying that firm decisions would be taken over the Dana Air plane crash in Lagos on Sunday, just as he set up a 10-man presidential administrative and technical committee to investigate the remote cause of the crash which claimed over 200 lives.

President Jonathan said he had directed that the fullest possible investigation be conducted into the remote and immediate causes of the Dana crash.

London 2012 Olympics to Stream Live on YouTube.

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it will live stream the London 2012 Olympic Games in 64 territories on the IOC’s channel on YouTube http://youtube.com/olympic.

During the Olympics Games (July 27 to August 12), sports fans in these 64 territories across Asia and Africa will be able to enjoy live coverage of the events as well as highlight clips on this digital platform — free-of-charge. Viewers from these territories will be able to watch the streams on the IOC’s YouTube channel, accessible online or Internet enabled devices like smart devices/mobile phones and other YouTube-enabled devices.

DANA CRASH: The Unusual Love Story A Couple

 

 

One of the most tragic stories from the ill-fated flight Dana Air 992 that crashed in Lagos on Sunday revolves around Maimuna Anyene, a Connecticut-based Nigerian woman, who died along with her husband, sister, her four kids, two cousins and her mother, Mrs. Mijindadi.

Ms. Anyene, who is being mourned by friends, relatives and colleagues around the world, was described by several sources as having a boisterous laughter, a happy spirit and an infectiously cheerful disposition.

One of the late woman’s spirits closest friends captured her spirits. “When Maimuna laughed, she was always loud, joyful, and even crazy in the good sense. She laughed spontaneously and excitedly. It was a full-of-life kind of laughter that seemed to come from deep within her belly. She laughed without inhibitions. She was pretty and had cute dimples that made her round face memorable.”