MKO Abiola's daughter, Hafsat Abiola, has Endorsed Buhari

Hafsat Abiola, daughter of M.K.O Abiola has endorsed the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. In an article written by Hafsat, she stated categorically that: “I endorse General Muhammadu Buhari fully and without reservation.” Below is the full text of Hafsat Abiola's piece:

“Dear Nigerians,
Saturday is D-Day. It is a moment of joy that Nigeria has again been given an opportunity to stand on its feet. In this, I see clear evidence of God’s love for us. But we must now do our part. Let money not blind us to the task that is ours to do for the wealth that can be ours is far greater than any that our friends might offer us to induce our support for their candidate.
Over the last few days I have had the opportunity to meet with the foreign minister of the Netherlands and later to speak to members of his staff. They sought my opinion on the rape of girls and women by Boko Haram. Is rape being used as a weapon of war as is the situation in Congo?, they wondered. 

What can be done to address this problem?, they asked. Perhaps it was wrong of me but I had already moved ahead of the particular challenges of abductions, poor education and healthcare, corruption, and other symptoms of failure in our society. I was already in the future where our country was being governed by a leader I could trust. A leader who spoke with a simple sincerity and integrity and had the will to match his words with actions. I looked at them and told them that Nigeria will soon be able to address its challenges because our actions in the coming days would place us under a leadership capable of tackling our problems from their roots, once and for all.
I trust in you, the people of Nigeria, because my father trusted you. I trust that in spite of all the money that has been given to some of our leaders over the last few weeks, in spite of all the lies some have been peddling, that you understand what is at stake for Nigeria. It is no less than the fate of 170 million people. Only sincere and effective leadership can secure our country and secure for us a tomorrow worthy of the sacrifices of our heroes, worthy of our ambitions for our children. 

 

I know that things are rough. I know that the incomes in most households cannot meet the burden of your needs and that some of you are sorely tempted to just take care of yourself and your nuclear family. But even if you individually are connected and can access the spoils being divided through the bankrupt system that has been used by Nigeria’s government, can that be said for all those you care about? Can that be said for the majority of Nigerians? By now we should understand that we will do best individually when we look out for everyone collectively.
In reaction to this letter, some will tell you that I am only being partisan but let me ask you if, since 1999, I have ever publicly endorsed a candidate? The truth is that my parents sacrificed everything, including their lives that Nigeria may work. It is not working and cannot so long as some hold the whole country to ransom. 

What our president must do is to transform a system, not simply replace the few benefiting from it with a different group of chosen few. A true transformation may mean that the few will not be as rich but the majority will no longer be poor. So let us take a stand so that Nigeria is no longer for sale. No one can buy what we will not sell at the market. When we refuse to sell our country to the highest bidder, we will also be protecting our legitimate aspirations to live in dignity, security and prosperity.
Today the world celebrates Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore for moving a small island country in Asia from third world to first. But imagine if the people of Singapore had never given him a chance to lead them. Would the world even know that the country existed today, talk less of recognising it as one of the world’s success stories? That is the task before you on Saturday. Everything depends on you.
One last message for President Jonathan. Thank you for your efforts to lead Nigeria. Should the results of the elections not favour you, please be aware that a smooth handover would still secure you a place among the giants of Nigeria. The curses that surround those that stood in the way of the peoples’ mandate on June 12 will never be yours should you lose and yet demonstrate the exemplary leadership that others failed to show then. Do not doubt that your name can yet be written in gold.
So in closing, to avoid any confusion, let me say clearly: in the 2015 presidential elections, I endorse General Muhammadu Buhari fully and without reservation. In 1993 my father promised Nigerians that if given the presidential mandate, our people would say farewell to poverty. We know that because the elections were annulled, he could not fulfil that promise. Sadly, that promise remains unfulfilled till today. It is my honest conviction based on a disinterested assessment that General Buhari is our best chance of seeing that promise fulfilled.
Thank you all for reading this.”

Gridlock as residents arrive in Ilorin for elections

There was heavy vehicular movement around the Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, on Thursday evening as residents, who registered in the state, arrived from across the country to cast their votes.

Our correspondent, who toured the Garri Alimi, ‎Oja Oba, Alore and Sobi areas of the the state capital, noticed large number of people who had travelled from other parts of the country to the state capital.

The returnees said they had come from the south-western and northern parts of the country to ‎exercise their vote for their candidates at home.

Some of them, who spoke with our correspondents, gave reasons why they decided to travel home for the polls despite the inconveniences.

 

Lateef Adebayo said he regretted not participating in the 2011 general elections, adding that he came home this time to vote for his choice of candidates to avoid blaming himself later.

He said, “I did not vote in the last elections and I believe there are thousands of Nigerians, who have such non-challant attitude like me. Recently, it occurred to me that why do I blame bad governments when I did not vote. May be, they would not have been voted into power if I and others like me had come to vote.

“In fact, I came home last month too to collect‎ my PVC.”

 

Yusufu Idris, a tailor in Ondo State, said‎ he was convinced to some extent that his vote would count going by the arrangements put in place by the Independence National Electoral Commission.

 

He said, “I have a feeling that with the use of PVC and card reader, rigging will be very difficult. That is what pushed me to leave my work and travel all the way from Akure with my wife to vote because we registered here in 2011. I believe my vote will count this time around.”

Forty-three-year-old Amudalat Adeshina said‎ she and her husband hailed from Ilorin but live in Minna, Niger State.

 

She added they usually come home every two months to visit their son and daughter, who school in the University of Ilorin.

Mr. Gbadeyan Joseph, a resident of Sango, said the zeal with which his friends in Abuja disc‎ussed elections, prompted him to come home in February to collect his PVC.

 

“‎I work as a mechanical engineer with a company in Abuja. I have been living there for two years now. Most of my friends said they would rather go home to vote and mobilise others to do so rather than transfer their registration to Abuja. I think Nigerians are becoming wiser by the day and more people are willing to vote their conscience irrespective of monetary inducement from politicians,” he said.

 

A commercial driver, Abiodun ‎Jimoh, also shared a similar view with Joseph’s colleagues, saying he had come to Ilorin from Alapa, in the Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State to mobilise his relatives to vote.

Graphic: Mob beats mentally ill woman to death for burning the Koran in Afghanistan

A mob in Afghanistan, punched, kicked, stoned, and beat a woman to death and then set her body on fire and threw it into a muddy river in Kabul yesterday Thursday March 19th for burning pages of Islam's holy book near the Shah-e Doh Shamshira shrine and mosque and it was all caught on tape.

The woman was later identified as 27 year old Farkhunda. Her parents later told police that she suffered from mental illness for many years and that she had not meant to burn Islam's holy book

The head of Kabul's criminal police General Farid Afzali told AFP: "A woman burned a copy of the Koran in the Shahi Doshamshira neighbourhood. She was killed. The woman's body was then thrown into the Kabul Rive"

A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior later confirmed that four suspects have so far been arrested in connection with the killing.

9 Bayelsa women burnt to death in car accident

About 20 women from Bayelsa State were on Friday Feb. 13th burnt to death in multiple vehicle accident after visiting the first lady Dame Patience Jonathan.

According to the The Nation, the accident occurred at Ahoada, in Rivers State and involved a Toyota Sienna car, an SUV and a bus with the inscription, Peoples Democratic Party Women Initiative.

A security source put the number of burnt victims at 20 adding that all the occupants of the bus perished.

The source who spoke in confidence said: “The affected women were traveling in the bus which went up in flames. They were burnt to ashes. Only one of the women was rescued.”

It was learnt that the women paid a solidarity visit to the first lady in Okirika where they spent two days.

The Bayelsa State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Vincent Jack confirmed the accident.

He, however, said only nine persons burnt to death, two died without being burnt while many others were rushed to Madonna clinic in the area.

He explained that the accident occurred when the tyre of the Toyota Sienna burst and rammed into the bus carrying the women.

He said the SUV also rammed into the bus in confusion, a situation that made the bus to go up in flames.

Source: The Nation

Covenant University To Reduce Tuition Soon

The Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Prof. Charles Ayo, has hinted that the school may likely reduce its tuition fees in a bid to accommodate more students who will want to benefit from the quality education it offers.

Addressing a news conference on Friday over the school’s recent Webometrics ranking as the first in Nigeria and West Africa and the 15th in Africa, he said even though there is no actual date for the likely review yet, the initiative would make admission into the school more affordable and competitive.

He explained that apart from the fact the Chancellor of the school, Dr. David Oyedepo, had already thought about it, the school management also had plans to increase its internally generated revenue so as to augment its income, which would make the review easy.

He said, “Going by the thinking of the proprietor and chancellor, the commission is thinking of reducing the fees with a view to allowing more people to be able to benefit from the quality education that we have here, but it’s going to be highly competitive.

This may affect us because we would need to work more on our IGR, but we are up to the task. The beauty of it all is to be able to leave it open to all, however, we are mindful of our carrying capacity, which will only engender stiff competition before anybody would be able to get admission.

“By the next academic session, the university will be going into production of certain items and looking at our projection on the adventure, we are going to be raking in billions, which will supplement our income and with that, we can be sure that the fees would be reducing gradually, which also shows that education venture is not necessarily about profit-making but about service to humanity.”

The vice-chancellor explained that with the recently released Webometrics Ranking of February 10, 2015, “Covenant University is now the first among all the universities in Nigeria and West Africa and the 15th in Africa.

“Last year, we were the second in Nigeria and 25th in Africa, but now we have improved greatly, and this is because we came in with a view to introducing a change, which was a clear departure from what others do, therefore, this feat and many others do not really come as a surprise to us.”
Webometrics Ranking is the ranking of about 2,500 institutions in the world based on their web presence, impact, presence, openness and excellence.

It will be recalled that Redeemers University, which is owned by the Redeemed Christian Church Of God led by Pastor E. A. Adeboye, is in the news for a disciplinary measure which is widely considered excessive in the manner it allegedly punished 22 of the students.
According to an unconfirmed report, the 22 students were said to have not attended church services

Russia still deploying heavy arms in Ukraine -US

The United States charged Friday that Russia was continuing to deploy heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, before a ceasefire agreed this week goes into effect.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States had received reports of heavy weapons being moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia over the past few days, and more apparently on the way.

“This is clearly not in the spirit of this week’s agreement,” Psaki told reporters.

She said the Russian military had deployed large amounts of artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems and was using it to shell Ukrainian positions.

“We are confident that these are Russian military, not separatist systems,” she said, adding that Russian troops along the border were preparing a large shipment of supplies to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

At least 27 civilians and soldiers were reported to have been killed in the surge of fighting since the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed Thursday on a ceasefire that is to go into effect on Sunday.

The fragile agreement was seen as the best hope of ending the conflict, which has killed at least 5,480 people and ratcheted East-West tensions to highs not seen since the Cold War, but skepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous peace plan.

“All parties must show complete restraint in the run up to the Sunday cease-fire, including an immediate halt to the Russian and separatist assault on the Debaltseve and other Ukrainian towns,” Psaki said.

Six inmates take hostages in Taiwan

SIX inmates at a prison in Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung are demanding a getaway on Wednesday after taking the warden and chief guard hostage, Taiwanese media reported.
The men are apparently disgruntled about how the prison is run, including inmates’ NT$200 (S$8.61) monthly allowance, as well as the release of former President Chen Shui-bian on medical parole last month, United Daily News reported after interviewing the apparent ringleader of the six men by telephone at about 7pm.
“It’s so unfair,” Cheng Li-teh, a 46-year-old hardened criminal said to be a member of the notorious United Bamboo Gang, was quoted by UDN as saying. “How come Chen Shui-bian could be released just because he has problems urinating? Other inmates who are bed-ridden or wheelchair-bound don’t get the same privilege.”
The six first took a military serviceman and a staff member at the Kaohsiung Prison hostage at about 4:30pm, Central News Agency (CNA) cited justice ministry deputy minister Chen Ming-tang as telling Taiwan media, before warden Chen Shih-chih and chief guard Wang Shih-tsang volunteered to take the place of the two hostages.
Deputy minister Chen said the kidnappers had fired shots into air apparently as a warning, but no one was hurt.
The inmates are demanding that the authorities provide them with a car and that they be allowed to leave through the prison’s side door, reports said. Negotiations with police led by Kaohsiung police chief Chen Chia-chin are still on going as of 7pm.
The hostage takers are armed with four rifles, six guns and more than 200 rounds of ammunition from the prison’s armoury which they had broken into, deputy minister Chen said at the press conference.
Four of the inmates were jailed for drug-related crimes, while the other two were convicted of robbery and murder respectively, reports said. They were serving sentences ranging from 25 years to life imprisonment.
Large numbers of armed police wearing bullet-proof vest have entered the prison complex, CNA reported. Several fire engines have also been deployed to the facility and are now parked at its gates, it said.
The authorities have also asked the inmates’ relatives to come to the prison, in hopes that they could persuade the men to not commit harm.
According to deputy minister Chen, the inmates said they were trying to break out of jail as they had been unhappy with prison management.
They first obtained permission to leave their cells on the pretext of seeking medical treatment, before charging their way to the visitation room where they took the initial two hostages.

Fresh cholera cases reported in Rivers

Two new cases of cholera have been reported in Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers.

Prof. Alice Nte, a pediatrician at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, made the disclosure on Saturday in Port Harcourt in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

She called on the government and relevant organisations to provide potable water and good public toilets to alleviate the plight of residents in the area.

Nte said, “Our challenge in this locality is the absence of potable water and proper sewage system.
“Cholera may spread faster in this terrain because of our traditional occupation, feeding habit, and defecation.

“In the riverside area, we defecate in the river, fish in the same river, eat of the various sea foods from the same water body.”

Nte explained that contaminated faeces eaten by sea foods and consumed by humans would further hasten the spread of cholera in the area.

She said potable water had been provided to some communities in Andoni Local Government Area following the first outbreak of the disease that claimed 20 lives early this year.
Nte urged the government to speedily replicate such project in Ikuru town and other riverside communities to contain further spread and possible deaths from the disease.

She advised residents of the area to boil their water before drinking.
She urged the people to wash their hands regularly with soap and water and maintain high sanitary habit to contain the spread of the disease.