Nigeria may collapse if... NDIG

Being a Communiqué’ Issued At The End Of An Emergency Meeting Held In Ugheli, Delta State On The 20th Day Of January 2010 @ 12:30 P.M. Nigerian Time.
The NIGER DELTA INTEGRITY GROUP (NDIG) held an emergency meeting at Ugheli, in Delta State on the 20th of January 2010 concerning matters of urgent importance in the Niger Delta Region. At the end of the meeting, the NDIG resolved as follows: 1. That Nigeria stands the risk of a constitutional crisis owing to the prolonged absence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. To prevent this impending crisis, the Group lends it voice to those calling for the immediate swearing-in of the Vice President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (GCON) as acting President. In our view, the lacuna created by the absence of President Yar’Adua will escalate tension, mistrust and unnecessary power tussle, which are inimical to good governance and the rule of law. The Group affirms the corporate existence of Nigeria as an indivisible entity, and holds the view that the stability of Nigeria transcends ethnic, religious and party barriers.

2. That the Federal Government should implement the Post-Amnesty programme in a sustainable and holistic manner without any further delay. The Group strongly believes that the relative peace the Niger Delta People savour now may soon be truncated by the non-implementation of the programme. There are already palpable fears that militancy is likely to rear its ugly head if the tempo of peace is not sustained. The implementation of the Post-Amnesty programme should go simultaneously with the implementation of the 25% derivation funds in our collective push towards an equitable fiscal federalism. The Post-Amnesty Programme should not be politicized.

3. The NDIG calls on the Federal Government to revive all the moribund industries in the Niger Delta Region and Support the establishment of new ones to create employment for the teeming unemployed youths in the Region. With specific reference to Bayelsa State, the Federal Government needs to embark on physical infrastructural projects such as roads because of the huge capital outlay involved coupled with the difficult terrain. The NDIG believes that the slow pace of development in most States of the Niger Delta Region is as a result of lack of Federal presence in terms of industries and infrastructure that can attract foreign investments. In addition, special financial grants be given to Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom States for the huge sums of money spent in the prevention of militant activities from snowballing into full-scale war. The monies spent in paying militants, the Joint Military Task Force and other matters pertaining to conflict resolution could have been committed to development projects.

Ibori moves to strike out London case

As was widely expected, lawyers to James Ibori and his associates in the UK have now moved to strike out the money-laundering charges against associates of the former Delta State governor at the Southwark Crown Court in London. At the first mention today, the judge handling the case gave directives for a full hearing scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week, the 25th and 26th of January 2010. Ibori is asking the judge to quash the charges against his associates and wife because the case against him at the Federal High Court in Asaba has collapsed, and the case in London should follow suit as a consequence. In detailed reports, Saharareporters had revealed how the former Chief Judge of Nigeria, Justice Abdullahi Mustapha, the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Michael Aondokaa as well as a judge of the federal court of appeal, Justice Amina Adamu Augie colluded with Ibori to set up a high court in Asaba paid for by the Delta State government and staffed by Ibori. The judge in the case Justice Mercel Awokulehin was paid $5 million to quash the case. The course of the new motion tallies with the plan of Nigeria’s Attorney General, Aondoakaa and James Ibori, to frustrate all manners of criminal charges brought against Ibori in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. In recent months, Ibori had also hired a British Member of Parliament, Tony Baldry, a lawyer by profession but a politician and businessman with extensive business interests in Africa, to interfere in the case within the British judicial system. In September 2009, Mr. Baldry wrote scathing letters to the office of the Attorney General in the UK excoriating the office for engaging in the trail of Ibori and his associates in London, conveying the impression Ibori is being persecuted, not prosecuted.

No room for evil to breathe in 2010

What a year this is! In fact the exigencies of 2009 never gave Nigerians the time to shut down on the old year and prepare for the new one. From the punch of the economic crunch to the breakdown in service delivery, no fuel, no light, no food and then the dirt being kicked into our eyes by those brewing one controversy after another in a bid to profit from the circumstances created by the health status of our ailing president there was no room for a breather! Don’t even think about enjoying the little time tucked into the Christmas and the New Year holidays. Too much for a people to grapple with; too much for no good course. What impunity on the part of those who dare to visit such torture on our psyche. What cruelty on from those we gave the opportunity to serve us in very high places. Never mind the fact that most of these people were either rigged into such opportunities or were appointed by those who rigged their way to power, we gave them the opportunity because we failed to resist them when they began their evil manifestations from the word go.

Today Nigerians at home and abroad are trooping out to protest the political impasse created by the sick president, I wish we could turn back the hands of the clock to 1993 when the fairest elections we ever had were annulled. Of course there were protests that yielded some great results but how I wish we had the show of agree and solidarity from the larger public that we have today! I also wish I could turn back the hands of the clock to 2006/2007 when Gen Olusegun Obasanjo started scripting this Yar’adua drama that we all have become willy-nilly actors; actors in a tragedy that’s set in our own lives! How in the world has this come to be?

Drama everywhere! Innocent people on a Christmas day flight have a technical fault to thank for the air they still breathe. I’m trying not to get personal on that issue because at that point I begin to wonder who should take the blame for the making of a stray terrorist! I’ll allow discipline schedule that for another day. I will also try not to join deal with the controversial claims to the presence of terrorists in our country. Semantics and sentiments complicate issues and slur judgments.

Nigeria: Use Restraint in Curbing Jos Violence-Investigate Killings and End Discriminatory Policies-HRW

Nigeria should ensure that its security forces use restraint and comply with international standards on the use of force in responding to the latest deadly outbreak of inter-communal violence in the city of Jos, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also investigate and prosecute those responsible for the killing of at least 200 people during the violence, the latest of several deadly outbreaks in Nigeria, and address the underlying causes. This latest violence comes just over a year after Christian and Muslim clashes and the excessive use of force by the security forces responding to the conflict left more than 700 dead in Jos, the capital of Plateau State in central Nigeria.

“This is not the first outbreak of deadly violence in Jos, but the government has shockingly failed to hold anyone accountable,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Enough is enough. Nigeria’s leaders need to tackle the vicious cycle of violence bred by this impunity.”

Clashes between Christian and Muslim mobs reignited in Jos on Sunday morning, January 17, 2010. There are conflicting reports of what triggered the violence. Civil society leaders report that it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home destroyed in the November 2008 violence in a predominately Christian neighborhood. The Plateau State police commissioner, Greg Anyating, said the trigger was an attack by Muslim youth on Christian worshippers in the Nassarawa Gwom district of Jos, an allegation that Muslim leaders deny.

According to credible reports from civil society leaders, and national and international media, the violence was carried out by sectarian mobs armed with guns, bows and arrows, and machetes. Roving gangs are reported to have burned and looted houses, cars, and shops, as well as several churches and mosques. There are also several credible reports that the military and police used excessive force in responding to the violence.

Jos crisis escalates "beyond official control"

Amidst conflicting reports on who or what actually started the latest round of bloodletting in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria, Saharareporters has learnt that the crisis has escalated beyond control and is fast spreading to other areas of the state. An eyewitness report told Saharareporters by e-mail today that the crisis reignited when one Mallam Kabiru Muhammad, whose house was burnt at the beginning of the latest fighting but also destroyed during last year's crisis of November 28 and 29th 2009, went with some bricklayers to rebuild his house. The Christians in the area allegedly stopped him from realizing his plans, telling him no non-indigene would be lowed to renovate his house in the area anymore. Although there no confirmation about exactly who started the physical attacks, our source claims the Christians were responsible, leading the Muslims, who had stockpiled weapons to begin a reprisal attack.

Somali pirate clashes over ransom kill at least six

Intense fighting between Somali pirate gangs over a record ransom amount paid for the release of a Greek oil supertanker has killed at least six people, elders and pirates said.

Three pirates and a civilian were killed in the latest bout of fighting that erupted in the town of Harardhere late Monday, elders and pirates told AFP by phone.

Tension has been high in the central Somali pirate lair since an estimated seven million dollars were dropped by a small plane on Sunday for the release of the VLCC Maran Centaurus.

The Greek-flagged supertanker is a third of a kilometre (300 yards) long and carrying two million barrels of crude oil.

"The situation is calm this morning but there is still tension between the pirates. Three of them, including a senior pirate leader, were killed so far and three others were injured," local elder Moalim Abdalla Hasan told AFP.

"We are trying to mediate between them because they are disturbing our peace. A civilian was killed in the crossfire and the residents are very concerned about this feud," he added.

Hasan Nile, a local grocer who could not open his shop on Tuesday because of the security situation in Harardhere, said the pirate vendetta involved heavy weapons.

Fresh Crisis Spreads In Jos

Despite the calmness, initially experienced yesterday in jos, renewed hostilities occurred at Rikkos, Bauchi ring-road, Ali Kazaurf, Congo Russia and Katako area of Jos this morning. According to our correspondent, with the resumption of hostilities in Jos this morning, Plateau State government in consultation with the state security council, reviewing prevailing situation in Jos metropolis has directed the immediate imposition of a twenty-four hour curfew in Jos and Bukuru. According to a police official, who declined to be identified, said as many as 60 people may have been killed since Sunday when clashes started Police initially imposed a nighttime curfew on Jos on Sunday to ease tensions and prevent a repeat of the November 2008 clashes that killed hundreds of residents. But violence flared up again on Tuesday, forcing the police to extend its curfew. In a statement by commissioner for information and communication, Gregory Yenlong, residents are advised to adhere strictly to the directive. "In view of this situation in town, I hereby declare a 24-hour curfew starting from now," said Gregory Anyating, the state's police commissioner.

As Jos boils: who is the commander-in-chief?

The sheer irresponsibility of a tiny power cabal keeping the country headless for selfish desires has again come to the fore with the bloodletting going on in Jos, Plateau State, without a Commander-In-Chief to take charge and deal with the situation. Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) notes with sadness that a little over a year after the last Jos crisis, another one has taken place, costing destruction of lives and property. It is more worrisome that the government has yet to take any concrete step on the previous crises in the city before the latest one broke.

What is more disturbing is that there is no Commander-In-chief who can even handle the situation effectively as President Umar Yar’adua has been away for 57 days now without handing over the reins of authority to his deputy.

It was the same situation when Farouk Mutallab saga happened and there was no president in Nigeria to talk to the American president.

24 hours after granting favourable ruling, Chief Judge Dan Abutu adjourns cases unfavourable to Yar'Adua

One after the other, the serious legal challenges to the continuation as President of ailing Nigerian leader, Umaru Yar’Adua, were this morning at the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned by the Chief Judge, Dan Abutu. It all happened one day after the same judge heard a bogus case that was hurriedly filed last week, and determined that the Vice-President does not need a formal transfer of power to "act" as President with Yar'Adua incapacitated.

First to be adjourned today was the case filed by the Nigerian Bar Association. It was followed by the case filed by civil rights attorney Bamidele Aturu on behalf of Honourable Farouk. They were both adjourned by one week, until January 22, for judgment.The third case, filed by West Africa Bar Association president, Mr. Femi Falana, was more eventful, as Mr. Abutu found himself booted by the law to the sidelines.

The case was transferred to another judge as the plaintiffs asked the Chief Judge to recuse himself to avoid likely bias in the handling of the case since he has already given a suspicious judgment yesterday in a similar case before him.In his judgment in that matter, which was filed by hitherto unknown litigants only six days earlier on January 7, courtesy of Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, the Chief Judge declared that there is no vacancy in the presidency and as such Goodluck Jonathan can only act in those areas where Yar’Adua has delegated authority to him.

Nigeria House: New York City to sue Nigeria over unpaid real estate taxes

The city has filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan against the Nigerian government, claiming that the African nation failed to pay real estate taxes, officials announced today. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims that the Nigerian government failed to pay taxes for commercial offices and other non-tax exempt spaces in the 22-story building it owns at 828 Second Avenue in Manhattan.
The exact amount is not known because of the refusal of the Nigerian government to supply the city with documentation.As a result, the city is seeking between $4.1 million and upward of $16 million in unpaid taxes, other charges and interest from Nigeria, city officials said.The city provides a tax exemption to all foreign governments for their United Nations Mission and their consulates, officials said.The building -- known as “Nigeria House” -- is used partially for tax-exempt purposes, including as offices for the Nigerian Consulate and the Nigerian Mission to the UN.

Yar’ardua and The BBC hoax

The BBC said President Yar'adua spoke with them via a telephone. Under normal circumstances one would have expected more quality control from the BBC, but no, they chose to place themselves in the middle of a raging civil issue in Nigeria. They forgot that when a bystander pulls a gun in a fight, he is no longer a bystander. He has become an active combatant. I wonder if they wanted us to accept the hoax they perpetrated.

Of course, it is well known that was another hoax by the Yar'adua handlers to hood wink the country into believing that he is recuperating well. Is it not just coincidental that it was on the eve of the civil rights march to the National Assembly? Of course we had been warned 24 hours to the time that they had something for Nigerians and the telephone hoax was it! The question now becomes why did the BBC not insist as a sign of professional etiquette to have a face-to-face interview with the man.

Their inability to secure a sit down interview with the man is a sign that all is not well with Mr. President. Someone tried to pull off an elaborate hoax by pretending to be Mallam Yar'adua. That was not he and this will be the second scam in a month from the PDP. First it was the Oluwole budget and now this. I hope they know they will account for their misdeeds some day soon. As if that was not bad enough, the supposed Mr. President chose to talk to only Northern Nigeria. He supposedly granted an interview to BBC Hausa service alone. In other words, the rest of the country that I want to safely assume supposedly voted for him could go to hell. That means the rest of us who do not understand the Hausa language do not count. That means he is the President of Northern Nigeria and the rest of us are just convenient appendages, yet he will not let go of us to find our own.

Judicial Perfidy: Chief Judge Dan Abutu's "arranged" judgement-Hard Copy attached

Nigeria’s most bizarre judicial charade of the season, Federal High court in Abuja presided over by Chief Judge Dan Abutu endorsed the current vacuum created in the country by the continued absence of 'President' Umaru Musa Yar’Adua from his post. The suit filed late last week (January 7 2010) by Mr. Amobi Nzelu, an Abuja based lawyer acting in conjunction with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mike Aondoakaa, who was personally present in the court, declared that there is no vacuum whatsoever in the discharge of the functions of the President’s office.

The order of the court merely rubber-stamped the status quo ante-the stubborn refusal by ailing Yar'adua to hand over to his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan reportedly fell for the scam this time around!

Corruption up among China government officials

China's anti-corruption watchdog has said that 106,000 officials were found guilty of corruption in 2009, an increase of 2.5% on the year before.

The number of government officials caught embezzling more than one million yuan ($146,000; £91,000) jumped by 19% over the year.

The government says the increase is due to better supervision of the problem.

But corruption is consistently rated the number one concern by Chinese, ahead of pirated goods and pollution.

There is widespread anger at the ostentatious lifestyle enjoyed by some Communist Party officials, police chiefs and bosses of state-owned companies, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing.

With no independent oversight of the ruling communists, corruption has bloomed.

Yar’adua’s health status: The lies, cover up and manipulation continue

Rumors that Umaru Yar’adua, Nigeria’s sickly “president", had died swept through Nigeria and among Nigerians abroad after a hitherto little known website, “American Chronicles,” claimed in a report that the Nigerian “leader” had passed on December 10 2009 at the King Faisal Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The report, which turned to be false, quickly spread amongst Nigerians through the Internet and phone calls. Saharareporters received numerous telephone and email inquiries as to whether we could confirm the report.

The speculation about Yar’adua’s demise came on the heels of another news report carried by Lagos-based newspaper, Next, reports from sources that told the publication that Yar’adua was “brain-dead”.

A source in government in Abuja told Saharareporters that members of Yar’adua’s cabinet could not scramble to come up with a response to the Next story yesterday because Yar’adua’s absence had paralyzed governmental operations, and many ministers had skipped out of town, some of them abroad.

Segun Adeniyi, Yar’adua’s spokesperson, had traveled to watch the African Cup of Nations in Luanda while Information Minister, Dora Akunyili, had gone to Germany “to meet with her doctors and beauticians,” according to a presidency source. Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe was away in Ghana.

Last week, Ahmed Yayale, Secretary to the Federal Government, made what a source described as a “futile trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to assess Yar’adua’s condition.” This source said Yayale spent five days in Jeddah, but was not allowed to see Yar’adua. Our source said that, on his return three nights ago, Yayale voiced private fears to a few confidants that he feared Yar’adua was comatose.

Yayale’s failure to see Yar’adua also further exposed the lies orchestrated by Yar’adua’s handlers that the bed-bound “president” made phone calls to numerous officials, including VP Goodluck Jonathan, House Speaker Dimeji Bankole, and Senate President David Mark. Accounts of the alleged calls were leaked to the Nigerian press by Yar’adua’s Chief Economic adviser, Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi. The hoax was part of Mr. Kurfi’s effort to convince Nigerians that “Yar’adua was now recuperating well and well on his way to work and.”

Mexico opens 2010 with one of its deadliest days

Mexico opened the new year with what could be its most dubious distinction yet in the 3-year-old battle against drug trafficking — 69 murders in one day.

The country resembled a grim, statistical dart board Saturday as law enforcement and media reported the deaths from various regions, including 26 in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, 13 in and aroundMexico City and 10 in the northern city of Chihuahua.

More than 6,500 drug-related killings made 2009 the bloodiest year since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels in late 2006 and deployed 45,000 soldiers to fight organized crime, according to death tallies by San Diego's Trans-Border Institute.

Two weeks into 2010, gang bloodshed is becoming more grotesque as drug lords ramp up their attempts at intimidation. Last week a victim's face was peeled from his skull and sewn onto a soccer ball. On Monday, prosecutors in Culiacan identified the remains of 41-year-old former police officer divided into two separate ice chests.

"You wonder how this will end, and it seems impossible," said Daniel Vega, an architect in the northern city of Monterrey. "I doubt Mexico can override drug use, especially since demand for the drugs, as well as all the money and weapons, come from the United States."

Is president Yar’adua dead?

The Nigerian President Umar Yar’Adua has been away from duty since November 2009. The rumor about his health is as strong as that about his death. In the news, one could see statements such as “The president is sound and fit”; “President Yar’Adua spoke with the Vice-President, Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives.” It is curious that President Yar’Adua could “speak” with those three Nigerian officials and not care to put through a call and speak with President Obama of USA about the recent terrorism event involving a Nigerian, which has made Nigeria to be included in the list of countries of interest to the USA with regard to terrorism.

Will it not be correct to claim that President Yar’Adua, who reportedly “spoke” with the three Nigerians mentioned above, did not know of the efforts by the Nigerian to bomb an airline, and the fallout of the action? Even if he did not know about it, which would be strange for someone who is “alive and well” and able to engage in three phone conversations with three different people on the same day, didn’t any of those three Nigerians raise the issue with him, especially considering the “ultimatum” issued to the American government by the Nigerian legislature? If President Yar’Adua knew about the bomb affair and the resultant inclusion of Nigeria in the ignoble list that has generated a lot of anger among some Nigerians, and yet did not deem it necessary to call up President Obama could this not be interpreted as one more piece of evidence that President Yar’Adua is selfish and only cares about himself, his position, and power? Assuming President Yar’Adua was able to engage in the phone conversations that he reportedly did, and he did not send a single message to Nigerians, especially those who have been “praying” for him (none of the three officials conveyed to Nigerians any goodwill messages from Yar’Adua for the new year) would it not be appalling and buttress the perception that this president has no regard for Nigerians and their feelings?

Nigeria President Yar'Adua budget signature 'forged'

Allies

of Nigeria's ailing president forged his signature on the country's supplementary budget last month, opposition politicians ha

ve

alleged.

They have written to the police asking them to investigate the forgery claims.

The government said President Umaru

Yar'Adua signed the budget despite being treated for a heart condition in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Yar'A

dua has been away for six weeks, fuelling fears of a power vacuum in Africa's most

populous nation.

Doctors say he is suffering from acute pericarditis - inflammation of the lining of the heart. He also has a long-standing

kidney complaint.

In a bid to dispel fevered speculation over Mr Yar'Adua's health, ministers have insisted the president is recovering from treatment.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili said the president had spoken to his colleagues over the telephone on Tuesday.

Several court cases have been launched demanding that power be officially handed to the vice-president.

And one group of activists has even suggested the president should be declared a missing person, and a search party should be sent out.

Nigeria and its hijackers

Nigeria is in danger of entering an unprecedented stage as a hijacked entity. In fact, the polity is in the throes of what ought to be called its proper name, a coup-in-progress. A small but desperate cabal is surreptitiously consolidating its illegitimate power grab. Nigeria has been reduced to Umaru Yar’Adua’s private toy, a plaything reserved for the sole pleasure of the man and his cronies.
As I write, Mr. Yar’Adua (whose self-appellation as servant-leader has become the cruel joke it was designed to be) has been away from Nigeria for more than forty days. Apart from his wife, and a tiny circle of associates, few Nigerians can swear that they know for certain where Yar’Adua is. All we know for sure is that he’s not in Aso Rock, the official residence of the Nigerian president. Most Nigerians imagine, of course, that the man is in a hospital in Saudi Arabia – not because it’s proven fact, but it’s simply the official line. It’s impossible to vouch for any information that comes from a government that’s raised duplicity and deception to the level of art.Forget, for a moment, that Yar’Adua’s “presidency” still reeks – despite the shameful verdict of the Supreme Court – of illegality. Worse, before our very eyes, a cabal hitched to Yar’Adua is usurping the sovereign will of Nigerians. That group is acting in the name of an enfeebled man who (at this writing) has absconded from his post.Michael Aondoakaa, Yar’Adua’s Attorney General, may not be at the center of this usurpation, but he strikes me as chief coordinator of this orchestrated conquest of Nigeria. Yar’Adua’s wife, Turai – who’s perhaps the most ambitious “presidential” spouse in Nigeria’s history – appears to be the chief engineer.It no longer startles Nigerians to hear it said that Aondoakaa is the worst attorney general in his country’s history. Nigeria has had some pretty unimpressive attorney generals, but Aondoakaa stands in a class all his own for mediocrity and crassness. Now he’s adding something even more dangerous and troubling to his resume: a facility for defending the degradation of the Nigerian constitution.

Death Of Innocence

The world, nay Nigerians got a rude re-awakening when the news of the failed attempt to bomb the Delta flight over Detroit filtered through. I remember sitting bolt upright from my bed on that Christmas day. I was savoring a quite Christmas somewhere in Delaware flickering through just the comedy channels and skipping the hard news channels. It was Christmas and I did not want to be bothered. The world can go to hell for all I care. But I was mistaken. The scream from my wife downstairs that I should switch to CNN immediately rattled me. She was not the CNN type.
She was more the Tyra Banks, Oprah and Discovery health type. I knew immediately it had to be big news. Sure it was. A Nigerian youth had just failed in an attempt to blow up a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. 23 year-old Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, who boarded the KLM flight from Lagos Nigeria, has just been arrested after his suicidal attempt to blow up the Delta plane with over 200 passengers failed and resulted in fire gutting his thighs and the seat area where he sat. Thanks to the sharp reflexes of some of the passengers, mother luck and above all God's intervention what I had thought was a beautiful white Christmas would have turned out to be a black Christmas and perhaps one of the worst Christmas days ever recorded.But that was not to be. I spent the entire day glued to the TV. I switched from one channel to another. Grabbed my laptop to monitor developments around the story. I wanted to gulp in as much information as possible. At first, I prayed there was a mistake somewhere and the said chap was not a Nigerian.Infact, I tried to find an explanation for the incident by trying to justify the fire as arising from the attempt of a cigarette addict or knuckle head attempting to have a quick smoke in flight.
However, five hours after the news broke and more information became available, reality dawned on me. With that reality came sadness and an apprehension never experienced before for Nigerians and Nigeria. I was in the USA, working at the Voice of America when September 11, 2001 happened. My office was less than 5 miles away from Pentagon, so it came close home. I covered the aftermath then and continuously for almost 8 years reported on the US led war on terror. From Pakistan, to Iraq, to Afghanistan the terrorists roamed. On the streets of London and other European capitals they planned, plotted and struck. The USA never rested. It worked with other countries to curtail and destroy the terrorists. It became an engaging war and Nigeria was not left out in supporting the USA and the international community in confronting terror.

Declare ‘president’ Yar’adua missing

Worried by the prolonged absence from his presidential functions in Nigeria due to ill-health and the total ignorance by the Nigerian citizens of the whereabouts of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, a call has gone to the National Assembly legislators billed to resume today, to declare the president missing and order a search team to locate precise whereabouts of our president and report back to Nigerians with verifiable video evidence.
Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) a pro-democracy and development focused civil society organization which made the plea to the National Assembly legislators in a statement authorized by its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko averred that the search team to be made up of top government officials, National Assembly leaders and some leaders of the organized civil society including Nigerian Medical Association and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should ensure that when located, the ailing president should respect section 145 of the 1999 constitution by transmitting Presidential power temporarily pending his full recuperation to vice president Goodluck Jonathan to fill the leadership vacuum currently existing in Nigeria occasioned by President Yar’adua’s absence.