HOW S/AFRICAN MERCENARIES HELPED NIGERIA TO ROUT BOKO HARAM

RECENT successes recorded by the Nigerian Army in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency are not unconnected with the clandestine strides of a group of South African bush warfare experts, hired in secrecy by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government, it has been revealed.
The group, known as Specialised Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP), led by Colonel Eeben Barlow, had, since January, taken charge of the training of elite strike group within the Nigerian Army in a tactic known as “relentless pursuit,” which involved mimicking Boko Haram’s hit-and-run tactics with non-stop assaults.
President Jonathan’s decision to hire STTEP, it was disclosed, was due to government’s failure to either tackle Boko Haram or free the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
This consequently proved decisive in the invasion of strongholds of the Boko Haram insurgents, leading to the freeing of hundreds of girls and women hitherto used by Boko Haram as slaves and wives.

JONATHAN’S MEN THROW OUT JOURNALIST FROM VILLA Punch report

President Goodluck Jonathan’s handlers on Monday walked out a journalist from the Presidential Villa in Abuja, in what could be a new style of intimidating newsmen.
Their first victim is Mr. Ubale Musa, the State House correspondent of German Radio, Deutsche Welle.
Musa’s accreditation tag was withdrawn by security operatives attached to the Presidential Villa.
The embattled journalist was expelled from the Presidential Villa, Abuja, for asking visiting Chadian President, Idriss Derby, a question authorities found to be embarrassing.
Musa had asked the visiting President to explain the relationship between the multinational task force fighting in Lake Chad and the South African mercenaries fighting with them.
Derby simply responded that he had no information concerning mercenaries from South Africa.
Shortly after the visiting President left, Musa was invited by security operatives and his tag was withdrawn.

JONATHAN APPOINTS EMIR SANUSI UNIBEN PRO-CHANCELLOR

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, was on Monday appointed the pro-chancellor of the University of Benin, Edo State.
Speaking at his palace on Monday, after receiving his letter of appointment from the Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, Mr. Sanusi said doing good always has its rewards.
He explained, “I’m saying this because as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria then, I came to the rescue of the university by spending N500 million to construct a bridge yearned for by the university for over 30 years.
“If at that time one told me I would reap the reward of that job almost immediately I would not agree, but today, in Allah’s favour, I’m being appointed the pro-chancellor of the university, something that is telling one that he should always think of being good not only to his close people but to everybody far and near.”
Mr. Sanusi cautioned governments against establishing too many universities. He said what Nigeria needs today is quality education that will herald the much needed development.

Awka President General Chieftaincy Title Tussle Thickens

The Izu-Ozo community heads have called on Anambra state Governor Willie Obiano to intervene as a matter of urgency to restore normalcy to the state capital city president general squabble. 

They alleged the outgoing President General of Awka Development Union of Nigeria (ADUN), Mr. Tony Okechukwu  planning to perceptual himself in office, after serving his constitutional tenure of single term of three years , allegedly  conspiring with the Awka traditional ruler, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, the Eze-Uzu II of Awka   to altercate the constitution in the bid to serve two term in office.

Addressing journalists in Awka,  the secretary of  Izu-Ozo Group in Awka, a group of titled men in Awka, Dr. Aneze Chinwuba said Awka constitution does not provide for tenure elongation, adding that Okechukwu has ceased to be the PG for Awka since March 17, 2015. He said: “Our constitution says that election of new PG must be conducted three months to the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent, but Okechukwu started talking about the election after Awka people had started complaining about the sit tight attitude of the PG.

Chidi Mokeme Buy Wife Brand New Sprot Ranger Jeep

The actor who welcomed a child with his wife a few months ago took to instagram this afternoon to share a photo of the Range Rover Sports Supercharged SUV he bought for her. Chidi wrote;   "You may be treated like the maid, You may be treated like the gardener, You may be treated like the Day Care, You may be treated like the Chauffeur, You may be treated like many things, But One Thing is for sure, You will always be loved! All that I have, All that I am, All that I hope to be, will be incomplete without you! So this is for all the times that I forgot to say Thank you! You and our prince deserve to ride in Style! Very Lovely Chidi

2015 elections: I hope Patience will not divorce me – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan, Sunday,  expressed fears that his wife might divorce him because of his decision to allow the just concluded election go on to its logical conclusion without  interference.

Speaking at a thanksgiving and farewell service in his honour at the Cathedral Church of the Advent Life-Camp, Gwarinpa,  Abuja, President Jonathan cited the case of the former South African Apartheid leader,  F.W de Klerk whose wife divorced him for ending minority rule in South Africa.

President Jonathan who expressed appreciation  to Nigerians for giving him the opportunity to serve at various capacities reiterated his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice in the interest of the Nation.

He said: “I believe there are reasons for everything. Some hard decisions have their own cost. That I have ran the government this way that stabilized certain things,  the electoral process and other things that brought stability into this country. They were very costly decisions which I must be ready to pay for.

SENATE PRESIDENCY: NORTH EAST HOPEFUL, AS TINUBU ‘PENCILS’ AUDU OGBEH FOR SGF

 BARING last minute changes, the South East geopolitical zone might have finally lost the position of Secretary to Government of the Federation to the North Central zone.
Investigation by The Guardian revealed that the plan to move the position away from the South East was thrown up by the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s insistence that the South West should produce the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
It comes as a group of North Central lawmakers have distanced themselves from the purported endorsement of Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On Friday, a statement published in some national dailies under the North Central caucus purportedly endorsed Gbajabiamila with the names of Emmanuel Udende, Chris Adabah, Orker Jev, Mark Gbilah, and Adamu Entonu listed among the members.
But in a statement issued at the weekend in Abuja yesterday, the members whose names were among the 20 elected lawmakers who purportedly signed the endorsement said they were not consulted before the publication was made.
“We want to make it abundantly clear that at no time did we sit to endorse Hon. Gbajabiamila as Speaker. Our names were only added to the list and we didn’t sign the notice.

“We are still awaiting the decision of the APC on zoning of National Assembly leadership positions. Both our constituents and Nigerians should be guided,” the group said.
A member of the one of the committees set up to thrash out the issue of zoning of positions in the APC confided in The Guardian Friday night in Abuja that Tinubu has penciled down a one time National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, to occupy the post of SGF.

PHOTOS: HOW CHINESE BILLIONAIRE TAKES 6,400 STAFF ON HOLIDAY TO PARIS; COSTS HIM ABOUT $50M

Chinese billionaire, Li Jinyuan, the chairman Tiens Group Company, has taken 6,400 of his staff on a 4-day holiday to France which finished with a world-record breaking human chain in Cote D'Azur.

According to Mail Online, Jinyuan, 57, (pictured in white) booked up 140 hotels in Paris where the group visited the Louvre and various cultural sites in one of the world's most famous and revered cities. The huge group of tourists then made their way to the glamorous Cote D'Azur, where they booked 4,760 rooms in 79 four-and five-star hotels in Cannes and Monaco.

It took 147 buses to take the tourists from their hotels to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where Guinness World Record officials where on hand to validate the world's biggest ever human chain.

The 6,400 employees arranged themselves to spell out the phrase 'Tiens' dream is Nice in the Cote d'Azur', to celebrate 20 years of partnership between the Chinese company and the French region.

France is expected to be 33million Euros better off thanks to the all-expenses-paid staff trip.
The group were expected to spend 13million euros in Paris, home of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triomph and The Louvre.   

IS BUHARI READY FOR INTERNET GENERATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, FREE SPEECH?

In your opinion, do you think General Buhari is ready for you people, the internet generation? Can he handle you lot? Do you think he’s ready for social media, free speech and democracy? I ask because I saw an interesting article on Sahara Reporters by a guy named Paul Omoruyi where he asked really important questions regarding the president-elect and new media. Some of what he wrote below...

Buhari’s government had a bad rap sheet for purportedly using military decree (the popular Decree 4) to incarcerate two Guardian Newspaper writers, Ndukar Irabor and Tunde Thompson. Although it appears Nigerians have “forgiven” the General for some of those undemocratic measures of the past, the question now is: can “President Buhari” take the same “social media inferno” that President Jonathan was baked in throughout his presidency? Can President Buhari come to terms with the new social media world? One thing is certain; Nigerians will use social media to caricature him, probe his government and hold him accountable for those he surrounds himself with.

NIGERIANS TOOK JONATHAN’S MEEKNESS FOR WEAKNESS, RESTRAINT FOR LACK OF STRENGTH – OKUPE

The The Senior Special Assistant to the President Jonathan on Public Affairs. Mr Doyin Okupe has again said that Nigerians miss took Jonathan’s meekness for weakness, restraint for lack of strength, reticence for inaction and calmness for indecisiveness.
Okupe made this known on his Facebook post, Sunday after the Thanksgiving and Farewell service in honour of President Jonathan and the First Lady, at the Church of the Advent, Abuja.
His post reads
“A thanksgiving service was held in honour of President Jonathan and his wife. It was a lovely event though quite an emotional one too. I saw eminent men and women dabbed their eyes. I struggled with mine.
This is part of the disengaging ceremonies.