The bite of the State of Emergency imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamwa, has started to come down hard as the military authorities have just announced a Dusk to Dawn curfew in Adamawa. This is beside the massive build up of heavy artillery and sophisticated weapons as well as surge in troops in those states.  The statement from the military authorities which was signed by the Public Relations Officer of 23rd Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Yola, Lt. Jaafaru Mohammed Nuhu advised residents of the area to abide by the terms of the curfew.

The statement reads as follows;

“Sequel to the Presidential declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by the President and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan, a 6 pm to 6 am curfew has been imposed on Adamawa state.

“All law abiding citizens are advised to abide by the curfew,”

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bamanga Tukur, has revealed that the declaration of a State of Emergency in some parts of the nation by President Goodluck Jonathan, was part of preemptive measures taken against Boko Haram who were planning to declare their own Islamic state in those areas of Nigeria under their cotrol. It would be recalled that Senator Ahmed Zanna, a Senator representing Borno Central, had revealed just last week that Boko Haram then (last week) controlled 24 out of the 27 Local Government Areas of Borno state. Add a comment

UK to divert 60% of development assistance for Nigeria to North

UNITED Kingdom (UK) government is to triple its assistance to Nigeria but will henceforth channel 60% of such assistance to developing the northern part of the country.

Before arriving at the decision, the government said it observed that the region is home to 42 million people who still live under the national poverty line - 65% of the total across Nigeria.

The decision of the government to focus much of her assistance to the north was confirmed by the British Government Minister for International Development, Lynne Featherstone who visited Kano State on Wednesday to understand development challenges in Northern Nigeria and to review progress on development projects supported by the UK Department for International Development. Add a comment

Jonathan Has Committed Unpardonable Mediocrity With Emergency Rule-Tinubu

It is now abundantly clear that President Jonathan has finally bared his fangs confirming what was widely speculated. By declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, he has intimidated and emasculated the governors of these States. We are witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.

The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events with unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015.

Borno and  Yobe  states have been literally under armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to the 2015  PDP/Jonathan project. Add a comment

Emergency rule, counterproductive – ACN

…Asks National Assembly to reject it

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described the declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States by President Goodluck Jonathan as lacking in original thinking, and therefore asked the National Assembly to reject it.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the use of force was capable of ending the Boko Haram crisis, it would have ended a long time ago.

It said while the President was right in expressing outrage over the mindless killings and wanton destruction by the insurgents, he was wrong in proposing more of the same measures that have failed to yield results.

”If the medicine given to a patient has not cured his or her illness, is it not futile to prescribe more of the same medicine for the patient? If the declaration of a state of emergency in 15 local government areas in four states in 2011 has not curbed the activities of the insurgents, why extend such measure to other areas? If the use of force in the affected states have failed to curtail the activities of the insurgents, why send in more troops? Add a comment

MAIDUGURI/YOLA, Nigeria, May 15 - Nigeria launched a military campaign on Wednesday to flush Islamist militants out of bases in its border areas after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeast.

Nigerian troops moved into the region in large numbers, part of a plan to rout an insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist group that has seized control of significant parts of the region. Add a comment