DRAMA AS MINISTER BRIEFS DIPLOMATS ON INSURGENCY

 by Romoke W. Ahmad

Alhaji Kabiru Turaki

Minister of Special Duties and the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolutions of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Kabiru Turaki, yesterday engaged reporters in hot exchanges on whether the committee has made contact with Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

Turaki parried questions on Shekau after he had earlier said at a meeting with the diplomatic community that the committee is currently “critically dialoguing” with the leadership of the sect.
He said while briefing the diplomats at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja that with the way the dialogue with the sect was going, a ceasefire is likely to be reached within the two months extension granted the committee.
Turaki later became evasive and visibly angered when journalists, after the meeting, sought to know if the committee is really discussing with Shekau who has been identified as leader of the sect. He responded thus: “I have responded to it severally. We can’t go on and be speaking on the same issue everyday now. Much as I want to be speaking with press, you yourselves must be mature in the way you do things. I speak on something today, I speak on it tomorrow and next tomorrow and you want me to speak on it again. There must be decorum. You as stakeholders, what are you doing as stakeholders to solve the problems?”
He lamented that the articles in the media have not encouraged dialogue and that the media has not contributed towards resolving the issues.
When asked to explain why attacks have continued despite assurances from the committee that it will soon reach a ceasefire, the minister insisted he would no longer comment. He said, “This is a mute issue now. We have addressed it severally. I don’t want to comment on this issue again. Is there any country in the world where the issue of terrorism has been solved within the establishment of committee?  There is none, take even the case of Northern Ireland where the agreement of ceasefire has been written more than two decades ago, is the issue of terrorism not still there?”

DailyTrust

2015 Elections: 10 Governors Threaten To Dump PDP

A major setback to the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan is looming, as no fewer than 10 governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have served notice of their intention to leave the party ahead of the 2015 election.

The governors, according to competent sources, have already communicated their decision to jump ship, to President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the leader of the PDP.

It remained unclear, however, at press time if the aggrieved governors were moving over to the newly-registered All Progressives Congress, APC, or working to float their own party with a view to presenting one of their colleagues as a presidential candidate in the next election.

But Vanguard gathered authoritatively that the five governors of Sokoto, Niger, Adamawa, Kano and Jigawa, were among those ready to dump the party. An impeccable source told Vanguard that the five governors communicated their threat to quit the party to President Jonathan when he summoned them for a peace parley last week.

It was learnt that the Rivers State Governor, who was also at the Villa penultimate Friday for talks with the President, confirmed to the President that he was aware of the threat by his colleagues to jettison PDP as a result of the way he, Amaechi was being treated by the Presidency and the party.

The source explained that the meeting between Amaechi and the President was facilitated by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd)who reasoned that the escalating political crisis in Rivers State and the raging security challenges in the North, if not checked could trigger a national upheaval.

“It is true that the NSA’s office facilitated the meeting, which enabled Amaechi to meet with the President last Friday but there was a snag because the governor refused to open up to Jonathan on his grievances with the party and the Presidency,” a governor familiar with the meeting, said.

“What he told the President was that he was not fighting for himself and that there were other governors who were angry over the way he (Amaechi) was being humiliated and harassed by forces close to the Presidency for no just cause.

Naij

Aliyu, Lamido, Others Have Secret Agenda –Presidency

The Presidency on Thursday accused the five northern governors currently on consultation visits to elder statesmen across the country of harbouring a secret agenda.

It said the agenda of the governors – Aliyu Babangida (Niger); Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – was beyond the professed desire to resolve the crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the People Democratic Party.

“These governors have their own agenda. They have already set the agenda long before now. They are just using the Rivers State scenario as an excuse. Whatever the agenda is, they know and God knows, but this continued move and perambulation show that there are things they are not telling us,” Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told journalists in Abuja.

Okupe said it would be wrong for Nigerians to assume that Aliyu and his brother governors from the north were concerned with the happenings in Rivers State.

He said the governors would have ended their consultations after they met with President Goodluck Jonathan last week if indeed the issue of the crisis in Rivers and the desire to restore peace to the PDP were the governors’ aim.

The President’s aide said the governors were merely interested in the 2015 elections though he said the odds still favoured Jonathan.

The governors had had a series of meetings with ex-dictators Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar; and ex-Presidents Shehu Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo.

They also met with Jonathan and reportedly demanded from the President the removal of the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as a precondition for peace in the party.

They were said to be planning to meet other leaders like Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Lt.-Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (retd.)

Tukur had on Wednesday disowned a statement by his media aide, Oliver Okpala, in which the PDP chairman castigated Aliyu and  the other governors for asking for his removal.

In the denied statement, Tukur  had reportedly described the governors’ demand as unguarded and asked them to desist from acts which he said were capable of truncating the nation’s democracy.

Though The PUNCH learnt that the PDP boss had ratified the Okpala’s statement before jetting out of the country on Tuesday, a denial by another of his aide, Ahmed Gara Gombe, said Tukur did not approve the statement.

Gombe’s statement read in part, “As a matter of fact, the National Chairman is happy that the governors are indeed helping his reconciliation efforts, particularly their meeting with the President (Jonathan) which (Rivers State Governor Rotimi) Amaechi’s face-off with the President was the main issue and substantial progress was made by the governors and the President in fence- mending.”

But Okupe insisted that the governors were not truthful in their words, adding that what they had in mind was not what they were “telling the Nigerian public.”

He said, “There is no unrest in Rivers State; nobody is burning any house in Rivers State. Commuters, traders and businessmen are going about their business in Rivers State. the governor is junketing abroad or rather having a good time. All this talk is just in the imagination of those who want to stoke the fire that does not exist. There is no problem in Rivers State.

“It does not really matter; it is a free country, you can move around, you can consult around, you can do whatever you want, provided you stay within the law. What you are seeing is politics. Like the President said, ‘this is 2015 live.’”

He said none of the governors had the courage to leave the PDP though he said there were enough reasons for many of them to leave the party.

Okupe said, “It is becoming obvious to dissidents within the PDP that there is nowhere else to go, that is why you hear everybody saying we are not leaving the PDP.

“There is nowhere else to go. So, it is better to fight and fight inside; it is better to present your case and let it be sorted inside. What you are seeing is clear-cut announcements by those who are ….I don’t want to call them dissidents, but those who are not very happy with the way situations in the party are.

“They are telling the world; they are telling the  people who care to listen that ‘yes our party may have its problems, may have its faults, may have its inadequacies, but there is no alternative than to be inside’.

“There are more than enough reasons for people to leave, but you know, you don’t leave a winning platform politically; it is politically suicidal to do so. None of these governors, as you can see for yourself, is prepared to move.

“What they are trying to do is to move around and ensure that they are heard and at least maybe some of their demands are met, but nobody is going anywhere, because the PDP is still the real party to beat.”

The governors’ anger notwithstanding, Okupe said the President would still win the 2015 presidential election if he decided to run.

He said, “President Jonathan has not decided and has not told anybody that he is running, that is the truth. If he decides to run, nobody can beat him, it’s not possible.

“The calculations are in his favour, the odds are in his favour, the national supports are in his favour, the performance index is in his favour.”

On the registration of the All Progressives Congress by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Okupe said it was a good omen and commended the President for being a statesman.

Naij

As APC Chieftains Visit Minna: APC’s Emergence A Good Devt – IBB

By: Abu Nmodu, Chibuzo Ukaibe, Mohammed Ismail, GEORGE OKOJIE on August 2, 2013 - 3:49am

inShare1

Former Military President General Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida has stated that the emergency of All Progressive Congress (APC) will bring about vibrant political activities and give the people an alternatives choose even as he insisted that votes must count in 2015.

Barely 24 hours the APC was registered some of the chieftains yesterday stormed the residence of the former military president where they entered into a closed door meeting that lasted for about two hours.

IBB stated his position on the APC registration yesterday while speaking to journalists in his residence in Minna after receiving the board members of the National Examination Council NECO.

IBB stated that the emergence of APC has further confirmed his strong believe on two parties system which would provide an equally strong avenue for people to make choice.

He said, “I think we have a lot of time now we will see vibrant political activities,  political parties will like to sell their products, perhaps you should keep on insisting the votes should count also and allow the people to vote their choice and should have only one vote”.

When asked whether votes have not been counting in Nigeria in the previous elections he said “No, I never said so I only said that insist that votes should count”.

Babangida stated further that “I have been and I will continue to be a strong believer of two parties system, I told you that, maybe as PDP itself said we now have a strong and vibrant political associations, you have the choice, you either take this or that”.

“I hope that the public will see it as an opportunity, that the party should try to talk to us the ordinary people, what they intend to do for us and for the country”, he added.

Asked on what the emergence of APC portends for the future of PDP, he tactically answered, “you see as a person who God did not give the power to predict the future I wait for God to see,” but when pressed further to draw inferences from previous political development he said, “No, I think it is a good development”.

Meanwhile at about 12:30PM yesterday the Interim Deputy National Chairman of the newly registered APC and Former Speaker AminuMasari as well as Former Minister of Federal Capital Territory and interim Assistant National Secretary Nasir El-Rufai stormed the residence of the Former Military President.

The  duo accompanied by Senator NasirNasif saw  Masari driving into the residence in Dark Toyota Jeep with registration number CV 324 RSH and El-rufai in JJC 99 AJ Lagos Number of a BMW series.

Immediately they arrived they were ushered straight to a conference hall in the right wing of IBB residence where they held a meeting behind closed door for almost two hours but none of them was ready to talk to the press on their mission to the hill top residence of the Former Military President.

A source close to the meeting however told LEADERSHIP that the mission was part of the strategy by the chieftains of the newly registered party whom they considered as political asset in the north into the newly registered APC to strengthen the party in the zone.

2015: We welcome APC but it won’t last- Presidency

But the Senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, yesterday applauded the successful registration of the APC saying, however, if President Goodluck Jonathan decides to run for in 2015, the odds are in his favour to win.

Addressing journalists when he visited the PDP headquarters, Okupe also said it would be political suicide for any aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to leave the party just as he accused the aggrieved five northern governors of cashing in on the crisis in Rivers State to carry out their long nursed agenda.

Speaking on the APC registration, Okupe said, “for us it is a good thing, a great development. I don’t know whether the opposition is credible enough, I cannot attest to that, but at least you know, what we have is that we’ve political parties that have been inept previously that have been extremely weaken and of no serious political importance before now have come together under one umbrella with an attempt to challenge the status quo . We will see how far they can go.”

On the prospects of 2015, he said President Jonathan has not decided and has not told anybody, that is the truth. If he decides to run, nobody can beat him, it’s not possible. The calculations are in his favour, the odds are in his favour, the national supports are in his favour, the performance index is in his favour

Reacting to a question on the aggrieved governors of the party especially from he north, he said “It’s becoming obvious to decedents within the PDP that there is nowhere else to go, that is why you hear everybody saying we are not leaving the PDP. There is nowhere else to go. So, is better to fight and fight inside, is better to present your case and let it be sorted inside.

“What you are seeing is clear cut announcements by those who are ….i don’t want to call them decedent, but those who are not very happy with the way situations in the party are. They are telling the world, they are telling people who care to listen that yes our party may have its problems, may have its faults, may have its inadequacies, but there is no alternative than to be inside.

“There are more than enough reasons for people to leave, but you know, you don’t leave a winning platform politically, is politically suicidal. You hear something 20 governors, 40 governors will join us, these are empty boast and things that do not hold water.

“ None of these governors as you can see for yourself is prepare to move. What they are trying to do is to move around and ensure that they are heard and at least maybe some of their demands are met, but nobody is going anywhere, because PDP is still the real party to beat.”

APC to embark on massive membership drive - Duhu

Also the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) has concluded plans to embark on massive membership drive and enlightenment, Alhaji Umar Duhu, the National Vice Chairman, North East, has said.

Duhu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Yola that the party, ``which is the much awaited platform and alternative for selfless service, wants its presence to be felt at all levels’’.

``You know, Nigerians were so enthusiastic about APC being registered; so we have to match our words with actions by reaching out to them.

``We want to establish structures across the country beyond ward level. We want to be the first party to have structures at unit level,” Duhu said.

Duhu, a former State Chairman of defunct ANPP in Adamawa, said that ANPP recently received about 300,000 new members in the state, ``who are now automatic members of APC’’.

He said the party was confident of its chances in the 2015 general elections.

Duhu said that the party was in talks with some governors, who are interested in becoming members of the APC.

``As at today, many governors are in talks with us. From the number I have now, we have at least 23 governors coming to APC.

``I am assuring the party members, particularly those that are just coming in, of equal opportunities,’’ Duhu said.

APC to wage war on corruption – Scribe

Also the National Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), AlhajiTijaniTumsah, said the party would fight corruption with a view to eliminating it from the polity.

Tumsah made the promise during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

He said the transformation of the country could not be realised without an uncompromised decision to eradicate corruption.

The national secretary said the APC had the required human resource to take Nigeria to a greater height.

``APC has the human resource to turn Nigeria’s economy around through provision of regular power supply, creation of jobs, promotion of investment and industrialisation.’’

According to him, APC is going to put the country back on track for effective utilisation of resources.

Tumsah, who decried insecurity and level of poverty in the country, said the party was determined to put smiles on the faces of the downtrodden.

He called on Nigerians to support the party’s programmes for a united and prosperous country.

He said there was no other country Nigerians could call their own hence the need for collective responsibility to transforme it

Tumsah commended INEC for living up to its responsibilities by registering APC, and promised that the party would abide by the Electoral Act.

‘23 PDP Governors will soon defect TO APC’

In a related development, the National Vice Chairman North East of the newly registered All

 Progressive Congress, (APC) Alhaji Umar Duhu has confirmed that 23 PDP  Governors are on their way to join APC.

 He said the party has gone into high level discussion with the 23  Governors who are dissatisfied with the leadership style of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Duhu said following the frustrations expressed by 5 PDP Governors the  President call them to a meeting where they told him point blank that they are in talks with an alternative political platform because of the fact that they have lost confidence in the way President Goodluck Jonathan is steering the ship of the Nation which is responsible for the drift we are seeing in Nigeria. “The aggrieved Governors have told  President Goodluck Jonathan point blank that they are rooting for an

alternative political platform through which they can continue their political pursuits since it is becoming crystal clear by the day that they will not get a fair deal in the PDP”.

He said with the current development, the victory of the Party, has become a fait accompli come 2015 as people were fed up with the PDP whom in the past 14 years only promote a reign of impunity and anarchy in the country. “The victory of the PDP is a forgone issue as both its

members who are treated badly and the masses are fed up with the reign of impunity it has wrought on the polity which is responsible for the sorry state that the country has found itself into since the advent of our democracy 14 years ago”.

Duhu disclosed that over 300,000 members of the PDP in Adamawa State have joined the ANPP and all of them will be accommodated into the fold of the newly registered party without any form of discrimination which is aimed at entrenching confidence within the party fold. “I can tell you that we have received so many decampees from the PDP fold into ANPP and we shall soon join the APC in block. The interesting thing is that we are not placing any condition on anybody who decided  to be with us”.

He said unlike other political parties whose structures stops at the ward level; APC is going further into establishing structures at the polling units which will encourage massive participation of the local people into politics so as to carry everybody along in the democratization process. “We are going to ensure the entrenchment of our structures as far as the polling units which will ensure massive participation of our people at the grass root in other to make them genuine stakeholders of our democratization process.

“With the development, the issue of zero votes at the polling units will be forgone because you can’t have party executives at the polling unit and still record zero votes, the approach will also checkmate the rigging machine of the PDP at those levels”, he said.

 He debunked insinuations by Mr. Daniel Richard which says that the party is slanted in favor of identified sentiments saying that Richard is a spent force in the party as he has never made his intention to contest for any part position in ANPP but only to promote primordial sentiments.

We can’t afford to disappoint Nigerians – Gov Shettima

Amidst celebrations over the registration of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has reminded leaders and members that Nigerians have very high expectations from the newly formed party and as such the party must strive exceptionally hard to show that it has a difference that will quickly convince Nigerians that quality of governance will be greatly improved to better the lives of all Nigerians regardless of their ethno-religious and socio-political affiliations.                       

   Speaking through Isa Gusau, his special adviser on communications, in a congratulatory statement issued yesterday, Governor Shettima noted that with the calibre of credible political leaders, highly respected technocrats, academics, successful captains of industry, rights activists and policy gurus associated with the APC, Nigerians expect an immediate indication that the party is coming up with something new to turn the fortunes of the country for the good of all Nigerians and as such, leaders and members must now begin to think critically ahead of the formal interactions with Nigerians.                            

  “I am very optimistic that our party has very patriotic, credible and competent Nigerians who are selflessly ready to work for the quick re-invention of Nigeria for all Nigerians, we have highly respectable people and this is why Nigerians have very high expectations from the APC, we must then get to work immediately as a family, to think out of the box, to bring something new and concrete that is capable of making the difference. Nigerians have so much demands but the demands are just about basic things that are very achievable, we do not need rocket science to provide things as basic as portable water, sound education, quality healthcare, jobs, security, roads, electricity and other very basic essentials of human existence that are no longer in the demand lists of other countries with less our human and material resources. Nigerians have confidence in us and we just cannot afford to let them down and indeed let ourselves down.

The registration of the APC is therefore both a thing of joy and a challenge to us as progressives because we have now gotten a major tool to use in championing the course that we have regularly advocated for as individuals and as a group, Nigerians will definitely scrutinise what we will on the table to look out for fresh dimensions to problems solving. I join in congratulating all Nigerians especially the leaders, members and supporters of our great party, the APC who worked tirelessly to create an alternative platform to deepen our democratic process; I congratulate the INEC for once again, earning the confidence of Nigerians and reaffirming our abiding fate in the electoral process, I congratulate all progressives who share that desperate crave for a better Nigeria through legitimate means that the APC provides.

I also importantly join in thanking the media for very fair but deserved publicity accorded to the APC and for regularly monitoring every step of the way, leading to the party’s registration as lawfully desired by the party’s actors and promoters. I pray that peace returns to every part of Nigeria in no distant time and I do solemnly pray that Nigeria recovers and grows steadily to become the real giant that we so wish for us, the African continent and indeed the world,” Shettima said as quoted by Gusau.

Fashola hoists APC flag in Lagos

Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola yesterdayhoisted the flag of the newly registered APC at the state party secretariat located in the Ogba area of the state.

The governor, who was at the secretariat with his deputy and State Executive members to rejoice with other party leaders over Wednesday’s registration of APC by INEC, called for sacrifice to ensure the success of the party.

Fashola described the registration of APC as historic, adding that the party would ensure progressive transformation of the country.

He explained that the country is heading towards a two-party state at the centre with other registered parties playing a supporting role at the state and local government levels.

According to him, the day of impunity in government is gradually coming to an end, saying that performance would be the major determinant in the next election.

The governor had earlier flagged off the Keep Our Environment Campaign Award with a charge to residents of the state to take ownership of infrastructure provided by the government.

Fashola at the event organized by the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP) urged those living in blighted areas to transformed them through the agency. He said the awards were instituted to encourage cleanliness in their areas.

The governor assured that the 1008 housing units being built by the state government at Ijora Badia will be occupied by the original dwellers of the slum settlement.

He said cleanliness of the environment is the first defence against falling ill and premature death, adding that the advocacy is geared towards keeping people away from the hospitals.

Hired to lie

I have often wondered why President Goodluck Jonathan’s special assistants and special advisers serve a diet of regular lies to the nation. When it is obvious to everyone that the sky is blue, the president’s special assistants and special advisers often argue clumsily that the sky is red. This implies they are the only human beings equipped with divine powers to see what the rest of the nation cannot observe.

In their job as information managers, special assistants and special advisers have struggled and failed in their attempts to deny or embellish facts, in their determination to lie to the public and in their eagerness to mislead the nation and the press about the president’s failure to act in situations that call for urgent presidential intervention. In their bizarre attempts to delude the nation, the president’s assistants and advisers have attracted public scorn.

Ever since fracas broke out in the Rivers State House of Assembly during which a minority of lawmakers tried but failed to overwhelm the majority, the Presidency has struggled to put a positive spin on the event, such as the argument that everything was all right in Rivers State. Are the president’s assistants and special advisers hired to lie or to engage truthfully with the Nigerian people?

If Rivers State is calm and peaceful, if there was no problem in the state House of Assembly, the National Assembly would not have voted last week to take over the legislative tasks of the state House of Assembly. National Assembly leaders said they took the decision to halt the instability in the state House of Assembly. But Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Jonathan said on Wednesday last week (24 July 2013) that there was no crisis in Rivers State. That was an odd remark, even when video evidence of the brawl in the House of Assembly has circulated widely in the public sphere.

Okupe’s position is not surprising. He is widely admired in Aso Rock because of his persuasive but weird ability to see the colour green and argue it is grey. Okupe wants everyone to believe there’s no problem in the Rivers State House of Assembly. It is difficult to understand Okupe’s twisted logic. At the press conference last week, he said: “Insinuations and statements, suggesting that Rivers State is on fire are grossly unfounded. So far, as is evident to every discerning observer of political developments, the state is calm and peaceful. Residents of the state continue to go about their various businesses, religious, social and political activities under peaceful atmosphere.”

Okupe argued that if there was instability in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi would not have travelled to the UK on official assignment. That’s Okupe’s evidence that everything is all right in Rivers State. Again, Okupe cited the situation in Ogun State in 2010 to support his argument that a scuffle in a state House of Assembly is no more than what it is – mere fisticuffs. His words: “We recall that in Ogun State in 2010 after series of sustained fracas and attempts at impeachment and counter impeachment, the Inspector General of Police locked up the House of Assembly for several months. In all that time, nobody in the whole country suggested that the situation was a threat to our nascent democracy and no state governor went on any solidarity visit.”

This is not exactly correct. The crisis in Rivers State is not analogous to the volatile situation in the Ogun State House of Assembly three years ago.

In trying to deflect criticisms directed at the president and his wife, the president’s special assistants choose to present untruthful accounts because they lack special skills required to engage directly and truthfully with an increasingly cynical audience. They fail to understand they can tell the truth, unadulterated truth, and still perform effectively in their job and remain loyal to the president and his wife who hired them.

Presidential assistants and special advisers in Nigeria tend to convey the impression they were hired to lie on behalf of the president 24 hours a day. This is why Doyin Okupe would call a press conference to argue gracelessly that the anarchy the nation witnessed in the Rivers State House of Assembly did not constitute a threat to democracy and national security.

In many parts of the world, the ability to lie liberally is not, and has never been, the key criterion for appointment as a presidential adviser or special assistant. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. It seems you cannot be appointed into those positions in Aso Rock if you have no track record of lying in the public arena. It is a shame indeed because those who hold these positions are respected in other cultures.

The job of a special assistant or special adviser is seen by some people as particularly difficult in our society in which many people are distrustful of government officials. This makes it exceptionally difficult to get the public to believe the government’s storyline. We do not trust our politicians. And this is for very good reasons. When you deal with a political class that consistently lies to the people, the basis of mutual trust no longer exists.

In circumstances in which the citizens perceive political leaders as remarkably dishonest and corrupt, formal clarifications by government officials are likely to be viewed as mere propaganda. This is, perhaps, why previous presidential assistants and special advisers argue that information management at the Presidency is no less an easy task as the religious campaign to convert unbelievers.

Nevertheless, the most awkward case of blatant deceit occurred when the president’s wife, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, travelled overseas secretly for medical treatment in 2012. Her media assistant, Ayo Osinlu, denied repeatedly that Mrs Jonathan was ill and had travelled overseas for medical attention. He said dishonestly in August last year without batting his eyelids: “If you look at her itinerary in August, you will be wondering how she was able to accomplish that. In the course of this week, she will be back home. But remember, it all depends on her plans.”

This lie was blown open at a special thanksgiving church service held at the Presidential Villa on Sunday, 17 February 2013, when Mrs. Jonathan narrated how a devastating illness nearly took her life last year. She revealed she underwent nine surgeries in four weeks and was “dead” for seven days before God rescued her from the cold hands of death in an overseas medical facility. Clearly, her narrative did not match the official lies told by the Presidency during her absence. While she was receiving treatment overseas, the Presidency lied repeatedly to the nation that Mrs. Jonathan was holidaying in an undisclosed overseas country, following her excess workload during the 2011 presidential election and the stress of hosting the African First Ladies’ Summit in Abuja.

It would seem that lying comes easily to media assistants, presidential assistants and special advisers. In his media chat on Sunday, 18 November 2012, Jonathan denied that the government had entered into negotiations with Boko Haram to end the bloodshed in the north. He said the government could not negotiate with an organisation that lacked a public face. However, one of his special advisers had told the nation weeks before the media chat that the government had started small scale negotiations with Boko Haram.

Again, Jonathan said during the media chat that his government had not revoked the electricity contract awarded to Manitoba, a Canadian company. But, days before the media address, the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity said the contract had been cancelled.

Some types of lies cannot be constructed and served to a sceptical audience that has since lost faith in the government. The Presidency must not treat Nigerians like a group of pre-school kids. You cannot feed the Nigerian people with false information clearly intended to mislead.

TheSun

Heartburn: An Early Warning Sign of These 4 Cancers

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WARNING: Whether you suffer from frequent or merely occasional bouts of heartburn, you could be at increased risk for four specific types of potentially deadly cancers. 

That’s because heartburn, affecting an estimated 25 million Americans daily, has a dark side very few people know about.

Contrary to popular belief, heartburn should not be considered an isolated symptom, and certainly not a normal part of aging. Rather, heartburn may indicate that something very serious — even potentially life-threatening — could be developing in your gastrointestinal or GI tract.

In fact, heartburn may foretell one of the most aggressive cancers known, one that takes over 15,000 lives yearly and jumps radically in frequency in those over the age of 50.

And yet another type of cancer that displays heartburn as a major symptom is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.



As you can see, when it comes to digestive ills such as heartburn, the stakes are high. So Newsmax Health recently created a video, Heartburn: An Early Sign of These 4 Cancers. This special presentation details four separate, aggressive cancers with heartburn as a major symptom.

In the video, you’ll discover how too much stomach acid does not cause heartburn, and why common prescription and over-the-counter drugs may actually make heartburn worse rather than better.

Plus, you’ll receive must-know information, advice, and simple strategies from leading medical experts to help prevent or even reverse this potentially dangerous condition. Not only can you rid yourself of that burning pain in your chest, but you can also improve your health in general, and of course, lower your risk for these four deadly types of cancer.

Editor’s Note: For a limited time, Newsmax Health is making the video presentationHeartburn: An Early Sign of These 4 Cancers available at no charge. Click here to discover the truth about the dangers of heartburn.

Newsmax

APC to Embark on Massive Membership Drive - Duhu

The newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) has concluded plans to embark on massive membership drive and enlightenment, Alhaji Umar Duhu, the National Vice Chairman, North East, has said.

Duhu told newsmen on Thursday in Yola that the party, ``which is the much awaited platform and alternative for selfless service, wants its presence to be felt at all levels''.

``You know, Nigerians were so enthusiastic about APC being registered; so we have to match our words with actions by reaching out to them.

``We want to establish structures across the country beyond ward level. We want to be the first party to have structures at unit level,” Duhu said.

Duhu, a former State Chairman of defunct ANPP in Adamawa, said that ANPP recently received about 300,000 new members in the state, ``who are now automatic members of APC''.

He said the party was confident of its chances in the 2015 general elections.

Duhu said that the party was in talks with some governors, who are interested in becoming members of the APC.

``As at today, many governors are in talks with us. From the number I have now, we have at least 23 governors coming to APC.

``I am assuring the party members, particularly those that are just coming in, of equal opportunities,'' Duhu said. 

ionigeria.com