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By Comrade Mahmud Muhammad Borno state It's completely discombobulating to say the least about the Senators representing Borno South and Borno North who were presumed to have spent their youthful life "fighting" corruption and other malicious act in our great land #Borno to now turn to not only supporting but rather aiding and abetting corruption. Yesterday, as a group of the masses enemies (read the Senators or better Sinnators) converged and pass a "Vote of confidence" on the embattled Senate President, Borno Senators (Sen. Muhammed Ali Ndume and Sen. Habu Kyari) were number two (2) and thirty five (35) respectively on the list I saw. I now believe those who say you can't judge a book by its cover. Going by the mien and disposition of this senators, one cannot but wonder whether they possessed or a powerful spell cast on them to warrant there brazen display of insensitivity. Is it the lobby for a "Juicy" Senate Leader and committee Chair

A statement by Colonel Tukur Gusau from the Theater Command of Operation Lafiya Dole therefore urged citizens to avoid drinking water from unverified sources, especially in locations where troops have routed the terrorists. He pointed out that although no human life has been lost as a result of the barbaric action of the fleeing militants, some livestock was killed after drinking water from some poisoned sources. He identified the latest incident of the poisoning of the cattle water ponds as being Kangallam village, along Marte and Abadam axis in Borno State, where a large number of cattle died after drinking water from the ponds. "The action of the terrorists is no doubt aimed at taking their own pound of flesh on the innocent citizen and livestock as a result of the unbearable offensive operations through the combined effort of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force to route them out completely from their enclaves and hide-outs all over the northeast," Col. Gusa

The Taraba state election petition tribunal has nullified the election of Bashir Abba Marafa of PDP Taraba centeral senatorial zone and declare Yusuf A Yusuf of APC as winner of the april 2015 general election and duly elected

It is no longer news on the criticism of a marriage to a young adult of 18 years princess from Adamawa kingdom by the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II. This brought about one of the heated debate on social media. Many termed the criticism as unethical and unworthy to even talk about due to the fact that the marriage is not against any law; Ismalamic, Nigerian or international. The Emir finally opens up to give his first and last reasons for those who cares to read and understand as below. I am sure NC members all have their views and have kept quiet out of (appropriate) deference to our right to make our individual choice. Obviously I do not need to explain anything to anyone in a purely personal matter but a few points are worthy of note: The lady in question is 18 and therefore legally of age to marry under all laws and certainly under Muslim law. She is proceeding for her undergraduate education in the UK in January. She had an A in computer science in her O

According to a press release made available by the Nigeria Army through Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman Acting Director Army Public Relations has made a clear clarification on the warning and accusation made against some people camouflaging under the umbrella of NGOs to undermined the fight against terrorist in the north eastern Nigeria. The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to observations and concerns by well meaning Nigerians especially the Borno Elders Leaders of Thought (BELT) about the misinterpretations of the warning. Therefore, it becomes necessary to clarify to the effect that the statement released yesterday does not refer to the leaders of BELT or majority of the good people and law abiding prominent citizens of Borno State. I neither mention any organization's or individual's name. However, the warning was to inform a specific group of people whose activities are imminical to our collective quest for peace as enumerated in the release. At this poi

**Governor Masari became engrossed in Federal University Dutsin-ma's Saga** It's no longer news that, the issue of several allegations and gross misconducts are the newsworthy subjects circulation all relevant social medias, generally in Katsina Metropolis and Dutsin-ma Local Government in particular. Although, these allegations were known and are believed to be true. But because of selfish interests best known by the past Federal and State administrations, all efforts to address the said issue is in vain. Reputative by Katsina Slogan that "Ta Dikko Dakin Kara, Kunya Gare mu ba Tsoro ba" some groups of Concern Citizens of Katsina State, Concern Indigenes of Dutsin-ma L.G and as well the Katsina State Coalition for Good Governance, teamed up to bring the matter to the deadliest end. Marred by the Nigerian Police's effort in thwarting the teaming groups to hold a Town-Hall meeting scheduled to address these issues to Press and other relevant stakeholders&

The Borno Elders Forum(BEF) wishes to felicitate with all Nigerians on the just concluded Eid-El-Kabir. We equally wish to condole with fellow Nigerians over the demise of some of our Pilgrims at the 2015 Hajj stampede in Makkah. Our sympathies also go to all of us over the unfortunate insurgency which continues to decimate our people with attendant destruction of our society. Within the last four days, this Forum has noted with great concern comments coming from the social media over a critical statement emanating from the Nigerian Military high command. In the said statement, the leaders of the North East, particularly Borno State were accused of not only aiding the Boko Haram insurgency but are also beneficiaries of the horrific carnage. While we recognise and acknowledge with the deepest sense of gratitude the tremendous efforts of the Nigerian armed forces in crushing the insurgency, we wish to state that the statement coming from the Army is a generalised one. T

By Jaafar Jaafar I have made this argument about a year ago when the rumor of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi's marriage to a "minor" raised some dusts. The age of consent varies according to culture and religion, I had argued. I don't know why one would combust energy criticizing cultural practices that are contrary to his religion, culture or warped intuition. Nigeria has two major religions which don't prohibit marriage at the age of 18. The constitution doesn't also prohibit it. Writing about age of consent, Professors Richard Wortley and Stephen Smallbone said girls married very young in European society prior to19th century. "In Medieval and early modern European societies, the age of marriage remained low, with documented cases of brides as young as seven years, although marriages were typically not consummated until the girl reached puberty (Bullough 2004). Shakespeare's Juliet was just 13, and there is no hint in the play that this wa

By Abdullahi Yusuf The efforts of our gallant military in recent times has been acknowledged by all and sundry. We the people of the northeast have seen hell, and that is why we are in support of any measures that can bring an end to these killings and destruction. We cannot afford to have a failure at this point in time, the issue of insecurity is a matter that is of concern to all, and it should be addressed collectively, both the civil populace and the security agencies have a stake in it. The statement from the military yesterday accusing some leaders in Borno of sabotaging the efforts of the military came as a suprise to many. What the people expect is whoever is either directly or indirectly involved in these killings and destruction should be arrested without any delay. We expect action from our gallant soldiers and not accusations or blame games. Borno and indeed Nigeria is above the self serving interest of any individual, and as such no one involved should be spared.

By Ibrahim Wala Garba   I read the warning put across by the Military on the purported claim which says some individuals from Borno and North East in particular are working to reverse the gains made so far.  The most interesting part of the publication, it's the aspect that says " “The unscrupulous individuals and their cohorts were determined to reverse the gains made and scuttle our efforts of achieving the Presidential directive to defeat Boko Haram terrorists within 3 months. They are enlisting the services of some Non-Governmental Organizations in this grand design".  For this statement to come out from the Military at exactly the time we went to North East and Chibok, the coincidence surely called for a response. I was in Chibok and across 5 other states of the North East recently, I went there for a work with some NGOs. After our visit, when we returned back to Abuja, we received a call from a Colonel in the Nigerian Army, whom threatened to writ

A T ADOPTION OF POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA, BUHARI URGES WORLD LEADERS TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE ILLITERACY, HUNGER AND DISEASE BY 2030 President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in New York reaffirmed his Administration's total commitment to the entrenchment of a fully transparent and accountable public revenue management system in Nigeria. Addressing the United Nations Plenary Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, President Buhari said that his administration was taking steps to improve and streamline internal generation of revenue, and to plug all loopholes that have led to illicit capital flight from Nigeria. The President told the gathering that his government was also putting mechanisms in place to prevent oil theft and other criminal practices that are detrimental to Nigeria's economy. Applauding the adoption of the Post-2015 Global Development Agenda, President Buhari said that he was very pleased that world leaders had

The Nigerian Army on Friday raised alarm over plans by “some highly-placed individuals” in the North East, particularly Borno State, to sabotage military operations in the region. A statement by the army spokesman, Sani Usman, said the elite were bent on having the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists prolonged for their selfish interests. Mr. Usman, a colonel, did not however state in clear terms the means through which the notable individuals were undermining the war against terrorism or how they would benefit from the insurgency when prolonged. “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups who hailed from Borno State in particular and North East generally, that there is information of plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in this country. “The unscrupulous individual

According to a press release by  Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel  SANI KUKASHEKA USMAN, troops of 3 Dission with the help of good citizens have discovered Boko Haram Terrorist fuel depot and they were able to dismantle it. Following a tip off by well meaning citizens, troops of 3 Division yesterday swooped over and dismantled a Boko Haram fuel dump located at Ladu Dumbawa ward, Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State. Meanwhile, according to a tweet by the Nigeria Army Twitter handle, over 200 Boko Haram Terrorits surrender. Although media are yet to be brief on this great achievement. It would be recalled that suspected Boko Haram terrorists had abducted 7 persons in Gajabere and took them to the same location. Those kidnapped were 3 local wards heads called LAWANI and their respective deputies, as well as the Chief Imam of the town.  However, through sheer guts and bravery, 3 of them escaped and reported the matter to the security which led

YOUR EXCELLENCY PLEASE TRY POLITICAL DIALOGUE, NEGOTIATE/RECONCILE WITH APC LEADERSHIP OR RESIGN HONORABLY TO AVOID MOVING INTO POLITICAL HARA-KIRI, ECLIPSE OR POLITICAL OBLIVION Sir, I am please and delighted to write to you once again and sincerely advice you to avoid going into political hara-kiri and possible or eventual moving into political eclipse or even political oblivion. I am sure that His Excellency will re-call vividly that I am one of the social media writers that supported and campaigned for your success at the poll during the internal democratic election of Senate leadership. I wrote open letters (at different times) to 109 Senators, Nigeria's Externals political and economic Stakeholders and Nigerians generally. I have said it several times that politics is a game of competing values, interest, ambition, vision and practicality, mediation, dialogue, monopoly, strategy/planing, negotiation/reconciliation, persuasion and is also a game of give and ta

By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu  Believe it or not, I am still in doubt if there is a functioning government in Anambra state. Since the emergence of Chief Willie Obiano as the governor of the state in 2014, the state is yet to witness any sense of direction from the government. Since the exit of Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s administration in 2003, Anambra has been an example to other states in the southeast geopolitical zone. However, the state seems to be going back to dark days of Mbadinuju’s era when only white elephant projects like renovation and decoration of the government house were witnessed. So far, the only difference between Willie Obiano’s government and that of Chinwoke Mbadinuju is that while Obiano deceives the public with the propaganda of prompt salary payment, Dr. Mbadinuju abandoned the civil servants which led to an industrial action that consumed an academic session of secondary schools in the state. However, both administrations share more similarities. While Mba

President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday felicitated with the Muslim faithful on this year's celebration of Eid-el-Kabir and urged Nigerians to make the fear of God the foundation for their lives.  Saraki in a goodwill message to Nigerians, especially the Muslim faithful, to commemorate the Eid-el-Kabir said the Eid-el-Kabir festival symbolised the fear of Allah and the desire of man to always comply with the wish of his creator as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim.  He noted that with fear of Allah, mutual respect and love, "we will tolerate one another, work together and be able to harness our abundant resources as a progressive nation. We cannot achieve much with unnecessary factions and disharmony. What Nigerians need now is to move forward with the present change era".  He also called on all Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love, tolerance and mutual respect adding that these virtues are the panacea to move the nation forw

President Muhammadu Buhar , through his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity Dr Garba Shehu says at Eid-El-Kabir, security and well being of all Nigerians remain his highest priorities. He felicitates with all Nigerians of the Islamic faith as they celebrate this year's Eid-el-Kabir and  also congratulates all Nigerian Muslims who are currently in the Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj. As they join the global Islamic community in celebrating Eid-El-Kabir, President Buhari urges Muslims and other Nigerians to rededicate themselves to a greater acceptance and internalisation of its lessons of piety, faithfulness, dedication, fortitude, obedience, sacrifice and selfless service which are for the benefit of all mankind. The President calls for more patience, fortitude, tolerance, endurance, patriotism and a greater willingness to make personal sacrifices for the good of all as his administration strives to lead the nation towards

By IG Wala  It was in July 2014 that the Administration of former President GEJ set up a Victim Support Fund Committee with Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) as the Chairman of the Committee. The mandate of the committee was to raise N30 billion to help the victims of Boko Haram in the North East. In a quest to achieving the mandate, the committee organized a fundraising, which the sum of N58.79 billion was raised from the organized private sector while the federal government and state governments pledged N20 billion combined to the victim support fund. "In December, 2014, Dr. Sunday Ochoche was appointed as Executive Director of the committee. However, following this appointment, very little has been heard from the committee except that about N250million had been expended on administrative costs towards the 'setting up'of the Victim Support Fund..." Vanguard Newspaper Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja directed the Head of Service of the Fe

By Ajongbolo Ajos Oluwagbenga OmoKele  Whenever I hear of an upcoming or "up-and-coming" comedian, artiste, dancer etc, he or she comes with great prospects. He could sing till "mama calls". She could dance till she starts feeling pain and weakness on her "Achilles heels". He or she could create rib-cracking jokes that could make the "goat forget to eat the yam", thereby disobeying the GoatAndYam theory postulated by an erudite Zoologist. But the upcoming event is not for fun. It is not for paparrazzi. No cracking of jokes. Not even a single "scratching of the wheels by Dj Money". Infact, there will be no red-carpet! In July 2015, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency(NIHSA) had warned Nigerians that 12 states might be affected by floods this year. The agency stressed we should be alert for massive flooding and work towards preventing it or worse still reducing the damaging effect. Niger, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers w

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, pleaded “not guilty” today to multiple charges of fraud brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau. He was thereafter granted bail on self recognition. He faces a 13-count charge bordering on corruption and alleged false declaration of assets. Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal Tuesday morning after failing to appear on Friday and Monday. As the case opened, Mr. Saraki’s lawyers argued that the matter was not a criminal case, and challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal. The prosecution opposed the argument. The tribunal ruled that the matter was criminal and directed Mr. Saraki to go ahead with his plea. “I hold that the trial before the tribunal is purely criminal,” said the chairman of the tribunal. On jurisdiction, the prosecution counsel argued that according to section 2 of the Administration of Justice Act, 2015, the matter could be heard alongside any preliminary objection regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

By  Ajongbolo Ajos Oluwagbenga OmoKele Back in the days in high school under the tutelage of Mrs Alabi, our Geography teacher, we were thoroughly made to understand and possibly "cram" many land and rock formations. Inselbergs, Barchans, Yardangs, Rock Pedestals etc were the "songs on our lips" then. Wake us from our deep sleep, we could mention the features of a Plain, draw a Yardang and describe, without mincing words, a Rock Pedestal. But none of these interests me as the Plateau. Mrs Alabi, with Mr Popoola sometimes, carefully and painstakingly described and explained a Plateau. In her words, Plateau is formed by lava extrusion, volcanic eruption of the molten magma and sometimes erosion by water and maybe glaciers. The plateau is always higher than the normal ground and often has steepy edges and sides. It has its unique weather compared to that of London. There and then, I resolved I was going to visit the Nigerian plateau soon. I could become a

The Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki will appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal tomorrowTuesday 22nd of September 2015. While the Senate President Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, had stated and maintained that he is ready to submit himself to due process of the law on any issue concerning him, he also believes that he has an inalienable right to resort to the same judiciary for protection when he feels his fundamental rights are about to be infringed upon. The Senate President is a law abiding citizen and his absence from tribunal was based on legal advice he received from his counsel that it is not necessary for him to appear before the tribunal at this stage since the jurisdiction of the tribunal and the process of initiating the matter are being challenged before the federal High Court Abuja. Following the adjournment for the determination of the motion on notice and the substantive suit before the Federal High Court to 30th of September and the appeal