Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has been virtually grounded Thursday as wife of the President, Patience Jonathan pooled women from all over the federation to drum support for her husband’s 2015 ambition which is yet to be officially announced.

As state machinery was fully deployed it initially seemed like a siege as military and police patrol vehicles acted as forerunners to pave the way for the massive motorcade that followed behind, even as helicopters hovered in the skies.

Vehicular movement was halted for a while in different areas of the city as supporters of the President’s second term bid were drove past in lorries amid chants, choruses and dances.

Security agents manned strategic areas of the road during the parade
Each of the lorries bore the name of a state in the country and occupiers, men and women, wore uniform attires to depict the region they come from.

The carnival – like parade was massive and nothing short of a campaign as the posters that stuck on the body of the lorries testified.

Some of them read: “2015: Nasarawa Women Support Jonathan. Carry Go!”, “Imo women thank our gender friendly President”, “Abia women are solidly behind you our President. Ride on! God is with you, for you shall triumph”.

The event, which was a source of entertainment and amusement for some Nigerians who stood by the street corners to observe, drove fear into others who curiously asked “please what’s happening?”
As they stood to watch the rich display of culture and music, residents of Abuja analysed the cost implication of the jamboree and reflected on the on-going strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities which remains unresolved.

One youth observed that “they say they don’t have money to pay ASUU but see all the money they are wasting.”

“This Goodluck Jonathan administration is just wasteful and Nigerians are complacent. See these women dancing and singing here when their children have been at home for almost two months now,” said an even more upset young man.

Also, the rally tagged “Celebrating Women, Peace and Development” affected work in the city as government offices operated with few or no women, many of whom formed the crowd at the Eagle Square while others saw the event as a licence to rest at home.

The motorcade terminated at the Eagles Square amid the rendering of songs by Onyeka Onwenuand other musicians.

The first lady is expected to address the women at the Square later.

A closed-door meeting between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU on Tuesday in Abuja ended in a deadlock.

And there are indications that union’s strike action might be prolonged  as minister of finance,Ngozi  – Iweala declared that federal government does not have the resources to meet ASUU’sdemands.

Following the stalemate in negotiations yesterday, the governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, who is chairman of the Universities Needs Assessment Committee, told newsmen that both parties had rescheduled their negotiations for August 19.

Suswan, who is the negotiator for the federal government, said that tremendous progress had been made in the negotiations.

He said that this was mainly on the NEEDs Assessment and Earned Allowance issues raised by ASUUand expressed optimism that the issues would soon be resolved going by the progress made so far.

“Well the meeting continues next week Monday. We made some progress; we had very fruitful discussion with ASUU. We have agreed we are to meet again on Monday at about three o’clock. When we meet again we will be able to arrive at some decisions,” he said.

Suswam assured that the federal government was making effort to resolve the crises in the education sector as it has introduced some new faces in the negotiating team, including the minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the director-general of the Budget Office, BrightOkogu.

“Now that finance minister is coming, we are getting close to resolving it because the strike is about settling some debts and also intervening in the universities and so she is here and she also contributed,” he added.

However, Suswam’s optimism is not shared by Okonjo – Iweala who at disclosed at another ceremony in Minna Tuesday that the government did not have the money to meet the lecturers demands.

The minister said this in her keynote address at the opening ceremony of this year’s National Council on Finance and Economic Development, NACOFED, in Minna, Niger State, with the theme “Restructuring Nigeria’s Finances”

She stated that federal government cannot meet the N92 billion in extra allowances demanded byASUU contending that less emphasis should be placed on recurrent expenditure, especially salaries and allowances of workers in order to adequately and urgently develop other sectors.

“At present, ASUU wants government to pay N92 billion in extra allowances over and above their salaries. Though we are in discussion with them, the problem is that the resources to take care of the demands are simply not there,” Iweala said.

She also stated that ASUU’s demand will drastically affect provision of infrastructure in the universities.

Okonjo-Iweala posited that the country was still suffering from the impact of the wage increase in 2010, adding that by the time other demands are added, the recurrent budget will be getting higher, thus leaving virtually nothing for capital projects.

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“Do we want to get to a stage when virtually all the monies and resources we earn are being used to pay salaries and allowances for public servants, who make up a minute percentage of the country’s population?” she asked.

“People are supportive when there is agitation to increase salaries, pensions among others. But on the other hand, people also turn around to say the recurrent budget is too high and there is no way you can have it both ways and so we have to make specific choices in this country.” she reasoned.

ASUU began indefinite strike on July 1, 2013 over the full implementation of a 2009 agreement and a 2011 memorandum of understanding they had with the government on various issues ranging from university autonomy, to funding, and lecturers’ remuneration.

Egypt’s security forces have stormed two protest camps occupied by supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, killing at least 30 of them.

Armoured bulldozers moved deep into the main camp outside the eastern Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and another protest camp at Nahda Square, pulling down all the tents used as shelter by the protesters.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll but witnesses said they saw at least 40 bodies, while the Muslim Brotherhood claim that hundreds died.

The health ministry said 13 people were killed near Rabaa during the crackdown, including five police and eight civilians.

The operation, which suggested that the powerful military had lost patience with persistent protests that were crippling parts of the capital and slowing the political process, began just after dawn with helicopters hovering over the camps.

The protesters, among them women and children, fled Rabaa for safety as the sound of gunfire and clouds of black smoke rose into the air.

The government issued a statement saying security forces had showed the “utmost degree of self-restraint”, reflected in low casualties compared to the number of people “and the volume of weapons and violence directed against the security forces”.

At least 20 were shot in the legs as television pictures showed security forces shooting from nearby rooftops.

“Tear gas (canisters) were falling from the sky like rain. There are no ambulances inside. They closed every entrance. There are women and children in there. God help them. This is a siege, a military attack on a civilian protest camp,” said protester Khaled Ahmed, 20, a university student wearing a hard hat with tears streaming down his face.

The 17-year-old daughter of leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed el-Beltagy was among the dead. Asmaa al-Beltagy was shot in the back and chest, her brother said.

The operation came after international efforts failed to mediate an end to the political standoff between Mursi’s supporters and the army-backed government which took power after his ouster on July 3.

Meanwhile, there were also reports of violence in other parts of Egypt.

State news agency Mena says three churches were attacked in central Egypt, one in the city ofSohag with a large number of Coptic Christian residents.

Security sources quoted by Reuters news agency reported clashes between security forces andMorsi supporters in Assiut and Minya cities.

Morsi supporters are reported to have blocked roads in the northern city of Alexandria.

Hundreds are said to have gathered outside the governor’s office in Aswan in the south and the interior ministry said a mopping-up operation in the streets surrounding Nahda Square was under way.

Egypt has been engulfed by political and economic turmoil since a 2011 uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule by ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State, says it has killed  Momodu Bama, the second top leader of the deadly Boko Haram sect.

JFT spokesman, Sagir Musa, said Bama was killed alongside his father, Abatcha Flatari, a spiritual leader of the sect in charge of indoctrinating child foot soldiers who were in most cases abducted.

He said the incident took place during an counter on August 4, when members of the sect attacked the Mobile police base in the state.

Musa said that before this time, a bounty of N25 million had been placed on Bama.

The JTF explained that the delay in breaking the news about the deaths was because they wanted to be sure they had got the right targets in order not to misinform the public.

Momodu Bama was an indigene of Bama town in Bama local government area of Borno State and a member of the Boko Haram Shurra committee, the decision making or highest body of the sect.

The JTF also described Bama was one of the most vicious and heartless killers in the group with penchant for slaughtering his victims.

Egypt’s interim Vice President and Nobel Peace Laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei, has resigned from his post after deadly clashes Wednesday that killed an estimated150 people across the country.

In a resignation letter to Interim President Adly Mansour, ElBaradei said that “the beneficiaries of what happened today are those who call for violence, terrorism and the most extreme groups,” he said.

He added: “It has become difficult for me to continue bearing responsibility for decisions that I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear. I cannot bear the responsibility for one drop of blood.”

Sources have said that Egypt’s two deputy prime ministers, Hossam Eissa  Ziad Bahaa El-Din, might also both offer their resignations as well.

The country’s security forces stormed two protest camps occupied by supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, killing dozens of them.

Armoured bulldozers moved deep into the main camp outside the eastern Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and another protest camp at Nahda Square, pulling down all the tents used as shelter by the protesters.

The leftist group, the Egyptian Popular Current, led by ex-presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahi, holds the Muslim Brotherhood responsible for Wednesday’s violence on the grounds that the Islamist group has “chosen a standoff scenario with the state.”

“We reject the Brotherhood’s attempt to enlarge the circle of violence in Cairo and thegovernorates, as well as their targeting of churches and police stations,” said the group’s statement, released on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s army-backed government has declared a state of emergency and clamped a curfew on large parts of the country.

The curfew has been imposed on 12 out of 27 governorates – Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Suez,Ismailia, Assiut, Sohag, Beni Suef, Minya, Beheira, South Sinai, and North Sinai.

It will last for a month and those who do not abide by the curfew will be imprisoned, according to a government statement.

Cairo’s underground metro will be closed from 7pm Wednesday due to the curfew, an official told Egyptian television. It will reopen Thursday morning at 6am when the curfew is lifted.

The US has condemned the violent crackdown on protesters and strongly opposed the declaration of a state of emergency.

White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, urged Egypt’s military leaders to respect the basic human rights of the Egyptian people.

Earnest said the violence will only make it more difficult for the parties involved to return to the path of peace and democracy.

The Coptic Orthodox Church has also condemned the continued attacks on churches  and Christian properties on Wednesday.

In a statement, the church called on the Egyptian armed forces to help the police in maintaining security.

Unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents have killed at least 60 people after attacking three communities in BornoState.

The offence of these communities, it was gathered, is divulging information about the Boko Haram sect to security agencies which has led to the arrest and death of some sect members.

The gunmen chose Saturday and Sunday to carry out a bloody “revenge” on residents of Ngom, Maisarmari and Mailari communities in Konduga and Mafa local government areas of the state.

The attack was both massive and gruesome as the attackers used less of bullets and more of knives with which they slashed the throats of their victims after tying their hands to their backs.

Residents believe that the new tactics was employed so as not to attract the attention of security agents.

A politician from the area, who confirmed the death of 12 villagers in Ngom, a village 20 kilometres east of Maiduguri the state capital, said he learnt of another attack in Konduga were 40 persons were shot dead.

A Joint Task Force, JTF, source confirmed that 12 persons were killed at Ngom, while 19 others had their throats slit in surrounding villages on Sunday by unknown gunmen clad in military uniform.

The JTF source said the killing made the task force condone off the road leading to Dikwa for several hours.

As a result of the absence of telephone network for over two months, the villagers could not get across to security agents early enough and by the time the JTF arrived the village, the gunmen had fled in their vehicles and motorcycles.

Many others were injured in the attack.

An official at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, who spoke anonymously to journalists, confirmed that 26 persons who were brought to the hospital on Sunday are currently at the hospital receiving treatment from gunshots and other kinds of wounds.

Nigeria’s minister of power, Chinedu Nebo said on Monday that thevandalisation of gas pipelines responsible for the loss of about 1,600 megawatts of electricity, has political undertone.

Nebo said this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of joint meeting of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC and National Council on Privatisation, NCP.

“It is important to note that with regard to the busting of gas pipelines and vandalism of the pipelines that bring gas to the generating plants, it is not any significant in commercial value…and may be essentially politically motivated just to cause damage to the entire country and to Nigerians,” the minister stated.

He said the total value of copper stolen by the vandals did not amount up to N10,000 but that the action knocked off about one million people from power supply and cost N27 million to repair.

Nebo also noted that water level in Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydro power plants “are quiet low right now”, which is partly responsible for the power drop.

He said the low water level of the dams was responsible for a loss of about 460 megawatts of electricity from the total 1,600 loss.

“We are hoping with the help of nature, it will come on board very shortly so that the 460 Mega Watts already lost because of water level will be recovered,” he said.

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Speaking in same vein, Gabriel Suswam, governor of Benue State said the consistent vandalism of the gas pipelines was an act of sabotage and urged government to intensify efforts to ensuring that those responsible for the act are brought to book.

“The efforts and the huge amount of money being expended  by government to ensure Nigerians enjoy constant supply of electricity is being sabotaged by some unknown individuals whose motivation is actually not known to anybody,” he said.

The meeting, presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo and had in attendance governors Suswam, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Theodore Orji of AbiaState.

The Lagos State government has challenged the acquittal of HamzaAl-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan over the murder of KudiratAbiola at the Supreme Court.

The Lagos State attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, told newsmen on Tuesday that the appeals against the judgments were filed on Aug. 12.

He said he believes that there are good grounds of appeals against the judgment of the appellate court which should be considered by the apex court.

“I can report that we have appealed the judgments; one in respect of Al-Mustapha and the other in respect of Shofolahan. Both have been studied closely and we came to the conclusion that there are good grounds for appeals and we have since filed all the necessary papers,” he said.

He added that the contest of the judgments at the Supreme Court will end all speculations on the matter.

Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha and Shofolahan, an aide to the lateKudirat, were set free by the Court of Appeal in Lagos on July 12 in two separate judgments, upturning the judgment of Justice MojisolaDada of a Lagos High Court which sentenced them to death by hanging on January 30, 2012.

A total of 76 former child soldiers who had been enrolled by armed groups have reunited with their family members in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC in the second half of 2013.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, said that it had supported the reunification of former child soldiers with their families in both South Kivu and North Kivu.

During the same period, ICRC also visited over 120 former child soldiers who reunited with their families to ensure that they had been well integrated into their communities.

Annick Bouvier, a communication officer for ICRC in DR Congo, said the organisation was holding talks with armed groups to help save the children serving in their ranks.

“In spite of our message, the recruitment of children by the armed groups still remains a phenomenon that we witness in DR Congo,” she said, noting that there is still much work to do.

“The ultimate goal of our efforts is to ensure that the International Humanitarian Law is respected in eastern DR Congo,” she added.

The Red Cross has expressed concern that children remain the most vulnerable group during the armed conflict in DR Congo.

During the war, children are frequently snatched from their families by rebel groups to become soldiers. Millions of civilians have died to date, roughly half of whom are children under five years old.

The UN believes that 15-30% of all newly-recruited combatants in the DRC army are less than 18 years old.

One of the reasons the army and the rebels use child soldiers is that the enemy hesitates to kill children. Therefore, the number of recruits remains high as fewer of them are lost in battle.

In the DRC, child soldiers are forced to commit the most atrocious acts of murder, acts which mentally scar them for life and female child soldiers are frequently used as sexual slaves by the commanders.

Amnesty International reports that, as a 15-year-old soldier, ‘Kalami’ was made to ‘kill a family, to cut up their bodies and eat them’. He goes on to say “my life is lost. I have nothing to live for’.

The DRC has ratified a number of international treaties which protect the rights of children. In 2001, for example, they ratified UN Security Council Resolution 1341, which called for ‘an end to the recruitment of child soldiers to ensure their … demobilisation, return and rehabilitation’.

However, in spite of the expected protection from the law, the children continue to be recruited by armed forces or rebel groups in eastern parts of the country.

The Borno State government has announced a compensation ofN250,000 to each of the families of those gruesomely murdered by members of the Boko Haram sect over the weekend.

Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, said this when he made a condolence tour to the area on Tuesday.

Shettima also donated N5 million and four vehicles to boost the activities of the youth vigilante group otherwise known as the Civilian JTF.

Those who lost houses in the incident are to get between N100,000 and up to N400,000 donations in cash.

The governor explained that the cash donation was part of measures to cushion the pain and hardship faced by family members of the deceased.

Shettima has also set up a committee headed by the member representing the area in the House of Assembly, Ali Dalori, to assess the situation and advise the government on ways to further strengthen security in the area, as well as properly distribute the compensation sums.

Meanwhile, some survivors of the attack have continued to recount their experiences.

They told journalists during the governor’s visit that they were surrounded by unknown gunmen who opened fire on them during their early morning prayers at various mosques.

The villagers said 52 dead bodies were recovered at the end of the attack of which 47 were identified as members of the village, while the remaining five were members of sect.

Another 26 persons are said to be critically injured and receiving treatment in a Maiduguri hospital.

The villagers also claimed that the gunmen had some women on their team who actively participated in the attack, burning down houses while the men did the brutal job of slaughtering the hapless villagers.