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APGA debunks defection of 22 state chairmen to APC

THE All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Friday debunked the alleged defection of 22 State chairmen of the party to the All Progressives Congress, APC. At a briefing, the National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, refuted the claim by the APC on the defection of its 22 State Chairmen saying it was only five of the State chairmen and five zonal officers of the party that left for APC. Shinkafi, while describing the report as untrue, also accused the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha of mischief by conniving with some fake Chairmen who claimed they have defected in large numbers to the APC. Shinkafi said: “The attention of the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has been drawn to a newspaper publication today (Friday) on the defection of 22 state chairmen of our party to the All Progressives Congress. “For clarity sake, we have to put the records straight that it was only five of the state party chairmen and five zonal officers that defected to APC. The states are Kogi, Niger, Taraba, Lagos and Cross River. “The names of other state chairmen in that list of 22 state chairmen as contained in the report were fake. Since Okorocha became Governor of Imo State, he has never indicted any of our state chairmen.” “The defection of the five chairmen will help the party to move forward because they were dormant while they were in the party. And we have no regret for them defecting to APC. Shinkafi appealed to members of APGA in Imo State to remain calm and loyal to the party leadership as the party was ready to reclaim the state from APC in 2015, as APC was a dead on arrival party in South-east.

700 officers and soldiers from the 2 Division Nigerian Army are on their way to Liberia as contribution to peacekeeping mission

700 officers and soldiers from the 2 Division Nigerian Army are on their way to Liberia as contribution to peacekeeping mission.
This is after a successful completion of intensive Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) at the Nigeria Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC), Jaji, Kaduna State.
*Nigerian soldiers on intervention mission to Mali.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj Gen Tijjani Jibrin said he has monitored the troops’ preparatory activities since they were nominated for deployment to United Mission in Liberia and he is satisfied.
However, Jibrin warned the troops against any situation where they fail to respond decisively in a professional manner in the face of attack, saying the Nigerian Army will not accept such.
Jibrin who was represented by the Chief of Staff, 2 Division, Brig. Gen Johnson Oladende further warned the troops not to involve in trafficking of illicit substances of any kind, such as arms and drugs as these negate UN norms and cultural values of the Liberian people.
The Commandant, Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre, Major General Salihu Uba in his remark said the 700 troops have received adequate levels of mission training and preparations to ensure effective performance in Peace Support Operations in Liberia.
According to Uba, the training is in terms with the Army Headquarters desire to ensure that troops receive the needed robust and theatre-specific Pre-Deployment Training prior to induction into peacekeeping missions.

ASUU STRIKE: 2009 Agreement with FG Has to Be Implemented 'to the Last Letter' - ASUU Insists

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the Benin zone has stated that the strike shall go on, unless the Federal Government returns to the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement signed by both of the parties. The statement has been made after finishing the congress at at the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka. The Union has also condemned the FG of being deaf to the plight of Nigerians by not meeting their demands as contained in the MoU. The above-mentioned statement has been signed by Emmanuel Mordi - the Chairman of DELSU ASUU, Anthony Moye-Emina - Chairman of UNIBEN ASUU, Beke Sese - Chairman of NDU ASUU, Fred Esumeh - Chairman of AAU ASUU and Sunny Ighalo - Coordinator of ASUU in the zone. Sunny Ighalo insisted that the union was not on strike to make fresh demands, and neither was it ready to renegotiate the existing agreement. "We are calling on the government to implement the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement it willingly signed with the union in 2009," he added. This is despite the release of N100 billion by the Federal Government to ease the burdens in the universities. But the Union accused the FG of applying "divide and rule" tactics, by trying to buy in the Committee of Pro-Chancellors and Committee of Vice Chancellors with the latest release of another N30 billion. According to him, "though N500 billion was expected from the government based on Needs Assessment carried out and contained in the MoU of January 2012 for revitalization of the universities, government claimed it distributed N100 billion most of which were promissory notes. ASUU zonal coordinator also noted that parents and students alike, need to understand the stance of the lecturers that it is being directed towards helping in the revitalization of the comatose education system in the country which had almost collapsed. "This struggle, which has now entered its ninth week, is driven by the unshakable resolve of our members to stem the continuing trend with successive governments of Nigeria, to systematically destroy public education through neglect and near total abandonment. "The strike has indeed moved into a critical stage where government is now applying the instrument of intimidation and blackmail and other gimmicks to undermine the struggle," Ighalo said. Gabriel Suswam, the Governor of Benue State, commented on strike on September 5, 2013, Thursday. The Governor revealed that his state's university, Benue State University (BSU), has already received about N950 million from the N100 billion earlier released by government when he confirmed that the Federal Government had on Tuesday released another N30 billion for federal universities in the country.

Jonathan Seeks United Africa without Borders

Nairobi - President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday in Nairobi, called on African leaders to do away with policies that could obstruct intra-African trade and unity of the continent. The President made the call when he addressed a joint news conference with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, at the Kenyan Government House. The News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reports that the joint news briefing took place after a bilateral meeting and the signing of various agreements and Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya and Nigeria. Jonathan reiterated the need for African countries to work together to move the continent forward. He said African countries must go beyond primary production and servicing industries abroad with their raw materials either from forest produce or solid minerals. “We must work hand in hand to add values to what we produce and encourage intra-African trade. “If you go to Europe, trade within the EU nations is about 70 per cent, thereby, telling the rest of the world that they can survive without going outside the EU. “In Asia trade between the Asian countries is about 50 per cent, also telling the world that they can stay alone. “But in Africa, trade between us has dropped to as low as 11 per cent, that is a way of telling the world that we cannot stand alone except the rest of the globe come to assist us in one way or the other,’’ he said. He noted that administrative constraints in term of visa restriction, consular and immigration issues were among factors inhibiting trade and free movement of goods and services within the continent. He said that regional blocs like the East African Economic Community, SADEC and ECOWAS must come up with good policies that will encourage trade and free movement of goods and services. “We are looking forward to the day when the whole of Africa will be an economic bloc where we can move just like the EU arrangements. “That is the only way we can create wealth for our people and we will no longer be talking of poverty alleviation and so on,’’ he said. Jonathan noted that the co-operation between Nigeria and Kenya was critical because of the strategic positions both countries occupy in the continent. “Cooperation between Nigeria and Kenya is critical, because, Nigeria being at the West Coast on the Atlantic Ocean, Kenya at the East Coast on the Indian Ocean. “We believe that if there is a big handshake from the East to the West, Nigeria and Kenya working together we will not only help our two countries but be a platform to liberate Africa. He said his state visit to Kenya was critical to deepen economic ties between the two countries. Kenyatta who spoke in same vein, said the visit of President Jonathan was an indication of a strong brotherly relation between both countries. He said the agreement signed would strengthened the bond between the two countries, increase trade and investments and create better environment for culture and tourism. In a communiqué read by Kenyan Cabinet Secretary on Trade and Foreign Affairs, Mrs Amina Mohammed, she said both leaders agreed to set up a Nigeria-Kenya Bi-national Commission to deepen cooperations. She said to increase trade between both countries, both leaders directed the relevant authorities in their countries to identify measures required to eliminate tariff and non tariff barriers to trade. Mohammed said that the leaders also directed that the relevant authorities of the two countries to expedite the conclusion of an agreement on immigration matters. She said both leaders rededicated themselves to fighting Trans-border crimes, human trafficking, Maritime insecurity and piracy. “The two President condemned the heinous acts being committed by terrorists and criminal gangs including Al-shabaab and Boko Haram. “They also renewed their countries determination to fight terrorism along with the rest of the international community,’’ she said. NAN reports that agreements on Visa Exemption for holders of Diplomatic Passports and MoU on conclusion of agreements on double taxation and the promotion and protection of investments were signed. Also signed were MoU on Agriculture, livestock and fisheries cooperation, MoU on Tourism Cooperation, Trade and Investment cooperation and Oil and Gas Cooperation. Minister of Interior, Comrade Aba Moro told NAN that the agreement signed had addressed the issue of illegal deportation of some Nigerians from Kenya. “The issue of some Nigerians deported was raised. “The two Presidents agreed that the Ministers of Interior of the two countries should further discuss the issues involved and treat cases on their individual merits . “We are further going to explore other avenues with a view to ensuring that justice is seen to be done to these illegally deported Nigerians to forestall further occurrence,’’ he said. NAN reports that earlier at the bi-lateral meeting, President Jonathan had laid a wreath at the Mausoleum of the First President of Kenya, Late Jomo Kenyatta. (NAN)

Say What? China says 400 Million can't speak National Language

More than 400 million Chinese are unable to speak the national language Mandarin, and large numbers in the rest of the country speak it badly, state media said on Thursday as the government launched another push for linguistic unity. China's ruling Communist Party has promoted Mandarin for decades to unite a nation with thousands of often mutually unintelligible dialects and numerous minority languages, but has been hampered by the country's size and lack of investment in education, especially in poor rural areas. Officials have admitted they will probably never get the whole country to be able to speak Mandarin, formally called Putonghua in China, meaning "common tongue", suggesting everyone should be able to speak it. Ministry of Education spokeswoman Xu Mei said that only 70 percent of the country could speak Mandarin, many of them poorly, and the remaining 30 percent or 400 million people could not speak it at all, Xinhua news agency reported. "The country still needs to invest in promoting Mandarin," it quoted her as saying, ahead of an annual campaign to promote Mandarin held every year since 1998. "This year the ministry will focus on the remote countryside and areas inhabited by ethnic minorities," Xu said.