National

What’s next for NEXT

By Olatunji Dare

The boldest and most ambitious experiment in Nigerian journalism since the founding of The Guardian in 1983 ended three weeks ago after a run of nearly three years.

And what a run it was!

Its very name, 234NEXT, signalled a departure from the ho-hum titles of newspapers, not just in Nigeria, but worldwide. The prefix, by the way, is the international dialing code for Nigeria.

234NEXT

(more…)

SURE conceived hastily, no longer workable – Jonathan

Cassava bread President Goodluck JonathanOnce again, as shown by this report on Punch, Nigerians have been unbelievably deceived by President Goodluck Jonathan and his crew. When will we learn never to trust these people? Didn’t we all know SURE was a big lie?

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme promised by his administration was no longer realistic. (more…)

Pillars of Occupy Nigeria Protest – Ogechi Ekeanyanwu

By Ben Ezeamalu, Lagos

The recent furore over the Nigerian federal government’s decision to remove subsidy from oil may have quietened, but the spirit of brotherhood the unpopular act foisted upon the citizenry would be interred in the nation’s history.

On January 1st, Nigerians received an unlikely New Year Day present from an even more unlikely source – the federal government.

The present – an over one hundred percent increase in the pump price of petrol – sparked a wave of protests that gradually spread across the length and breadth of the country.

In Lagos, the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, served as a veritable meeting point for hundreds of thousands who came out to protest government’s high handedness and penchant for corruption. (more…)

The Future of Nigeria’s Dumb Policing

I picked up playing basketball late in my secondary school years and

usually practiced at the nearest court to my house. It was the Police

College basketball court on Independence Way, Kaduna. It was about 2

kilometers from (more…)

The Kaduna case is not suicide bombing, state’s police commissioner says

Deutsch: Politische Karte Nigerias (Bundesstaa...

Govt House, Kaduna

Today, 13thFebruary, 2012, at about 1328 hours, a combined team of security personnel attached to Government House main gate, Kaduna, intercepted a Toyota Corrola Saloon car with Kaduna state official Reg. No. Kaduna KD-06-A 04. The driver drove dangerously in a suspicious manner towards the Government House gate. The security personnel stopped the lone occupant but instead of stopping, he forced himself through the exit gate and found his way into the Government House.

The security agencies thereafter, opened fire and shot the suspect on the leg and the lower abdominal part of his body.

The suspect was later identified as Pastor Isuwa Kiforo (M) of no. 7, Abba Rimi road, Narayi, Kaduna, who is the Director, Finance and Administration, Ministry of Information, Kaduna state.

He was rushed to 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, for treatment, after he was given first aid by a team of medical personnel attached to the Government House.

The vehicle was thoroughly searched in my presence by our anti-bomb disposal experts and nothing incriminating was recovered. In essence, neither weapon nor explosives were found in it. Investigation into the case has commenced.

Bala Magaji Nasarawa, Kaduna state Commissioner of Police.

Why I agreed to serve in President Jonathan’s government – Nuhu Ribadu

Nuhu Ribadu

Nuhu Ribadu accepts PTF job

I was greeted to numerous calls and mail yesterday when the administration announced my name as Chairman of the 21-man Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force.

Given my recent political pedigree, many inquirers naturally wanted to understand what was happening, and whether it was true that I was consulted and whether I would accept the offer. (more…)

MEND announces resumption of attacks in Niger Delta – Press Statement

By Jomo Gbomo

Project Gaia

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has issued a press release detailing new plans to attack oil infrastructures in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria. The statement also outlined plans by the oil militant group to attack South African businesses and Niger Delta indigenes it claimed have betrayed the Niger Delta struggle.

See full text of press release below:

On Saturday the 4th of February at 1930hrs, fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (M.E.N.D) attacked and destroyed the Agip trunk line at brass in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. (more…)