Someone From PDP Will Take Over From Buhari, Says Jonathan

Former  President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed his belief that a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

He stated this at his residence in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, when members of the Sule Lamido National Campaign Council visited him on Saturday 

According to the sun,the former President described Lamido as “highly courageous”, and urged the presidential candidate to use his resources to unify the country, if elected.

He said: “Sule, you are somebody that is highly courageous, zealous, committed and experienced. You can perform wonderfully well, and I believe the next president that will take over from Buhari, God willing, will be from PDP and the task for him is to unify the country because Nigeria is now divided more than ever.

“In 2011, it was too difficult for a northern governor to speak about Buhari, but Sule you made a lot of meaningful political statements that really captured the minds of Nigerians and PDP supporters and you really sold the party to the people.

“I am always happy to listen to you, because you know the history of Nigeria’s politics. When I was Vice-President and later President, I went round Jigawa State to commission a lot of developmental projects. Jigawa witnessed a lot of wonders under your administration.

“I know you are somebody who believes in the unity and sanctity of one Nigeria and your political history, philosophy and ideology are all about leftism and humanism, not capitalism; I wish you well in all your consultations and campaign.”

In his response, Lamido, who expressed his intention to contest for the presidency on the PDP platform, thanked Jonathan for the support and expressed his determination to develop the nation if elected.

Breaking: Adeosun departs Nigeria to UK

The former minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has on Saturday left Nigeria to UK. Her associates who confirmed the story said ‘She most likely is in the UK by now’

Recall that Adeosun resigned yesterday following opprobrium that surrounded her forged National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, Certificate.

Details later...

How my preaching against tithes rendered me poor, jobless – Freeze cries out

Controversial On-Air Personality (OAP), Daddy Freeze has cried out over his poor financial status since he began to preach against payment of tithes in churches.

Freeze writing on his Twitter Page said that his campaign against tithe has crumbled his finances and affected his career.

According to him, since his ‘Free The Sheeple’ movement began, he had lost businesses, clients and opportunities.

The staunch ‘church’ critic said, ‘‘From my experience with these people who stop at nothing, if you dare speak out against the lies many of them are telling, you are in for a lot.

”They fought me on every realm. I lost every business client, I used to MC a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 events monthly and I used to charge more than a million Naira per event. I haven’t MCed in 2 years.

”They went as far as trying to get me sacked from work so I can be without much of a ‘crown’ and ‘frozen’.

”All I do now is teach the Bible from home online and in my weakness, his great strength prevails. My egbon, I pray that the river of truth that is flowing from your mouth NEVER ceases and in the weakness of whatever persecution may come, God’s strength in you will prevail.”

Source: Daily post.  

The Ambassador of Nigeria in Doha, Qatar, Amb. Abdullahi Wase is dead.

The Ambassador of Nigeria in Doha, Qatar, Amb. Abdullahi Wase is dead.

A statement in Abuja on Saturday by the spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tope Elias-Fatile, said Wase, a non-career ambassador from Plateau State, had been sick for a while until his death on Friday night.

The late envoy would be buried in Doha at 7.00pm (local time) today.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, received the news of his death with shock and prayed that God grant his family and the nation the fortitude to bear the great loss,” the statement added.

Source: Daily Trust.

BIBLICAL TRADITIONS OF IGBOS BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME TO AFRICA

IGBO 101. By Nwanyikaibeya Yaro

1. NSO NWANYI
In Igboland women live apart from their husbands and neither cook for them or enter their husband's quarters when they are in their period. They are seen as unclean. Even up till today such practice is still applicable in some parts of Igboland especially by the traditionalists. Before a woman can enter the palace of Obi of Onitsha, she will be asked if she is in her period, if yes, she will be asked to stay out.

Leviticus 15: 19-20
When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean, anyone who touches her or anything she has sat on becomes unclean.

2. ANA OBI
An Igbo man's ancestral heritage, called “Ana Obi” is not sellable, elders will not permit this. If this is somehow done due to the influence of the West the person is considered a fool and is ostracized by the community.

1 king 21:3
I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors, and the Lord forbid that I should sell it, said Naboth.

3. IKUCHI NWANYI
Igbos have practiced the taking of a late brother's wife into marriage after she had been widowed until the white men came. Now it is rarely done but except in very rural villages.

Deuteronomy 25:5
A widow of a dead man is not to be married outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her.

4. IGBA ODIBO
In Igboland, there is a unique form of apprenticeship in which either a male family member or a community member will spend six(6) years (usually in their teens to their adulthood) working for another family. And on the seventh year, the head of the host household, who is usually the older man who brought the apprentice into his household, will establish (Igbo: idu) the apprentice
by either setting up a business for him or giving money or tools by which to make a living.

Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay you anything.

5. IRI JI OFUO
In Igboland , the yam is very important as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Igbo: Iri Ji) which are held for the harvesting of the yam. New Yam festival (Igbo: Iri ji) is celebrated annually to secure a good harvest of the staple crop. In the olden days it is an abomination for one to eat a new harvest before the festival. It's a tradition that you give the gods of the land first as a thanksgiving.

Deuteronomy 16:9
Count 7 weeks from the time that you begin to harvest the crops, and celebrate the harvest festival to honor the lord your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you. Celebrate in the Lord's presence together with your children, servants, foreigners. Be sure that you obey my command, said the Lord.

6. IBE UGWU
In Igboland it's a tradition that the male children are circumcised on the 8th day. This tradition is still practiced till date.

Leviticus 12:3
On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.

7. OMUGWO
In Igboland, there is a practice known as "ile omugwo ". After a woman has given birth to a child, a very close and experienced relative of hers, in most cases her mother is required by tradition to come spend time with her and her husband. During which she is to do all the work of the wife, while the new mom's only assignment to the baby will be to breastfeed. This goes on for a month or more. In the Igbo old tradition, at this time, the new mom lives apart from her husband, would not cook or enter his quarters.

Leviticus 12:1-4
For seven days after a woman gives birth, she is ritually unclean as she is during her monthly period. It will be 33 days until she is ritually clean from the loss of blood; she is not to touch anything that is holy.

Merkel Melts Down After Thousands Of Germans Protest Violent Migrants

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was heckled as she condemned thousands of right-wing protesters in eastern Germany, who took to the streats after the deadly stabbing of a 22-year-old German man at the hands of two Afghan nationals in the town of Chemnitz.

The German chancellor was heckled during a lively Bundestag debate by the head of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD), Alexander Gauland, who accused her of dividing Germany with her immigration policy, endangering peace and spreading fake news by supporting controversial evidence that far-right protesters were hounding foreigners through the streets. –Guardian

Merkel shot back, acknowledging the anger felt over the stabbing – however she said that “there is no excuse or explanation for rabble-rousing, in some cases the use of violence, Nazi slogans, hostility towards people who look different, to the owner of a Jewish restaurant, attacking police.”

She also responded to comments made by the head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maaßen, who criticized her spokesman for characterizing the anti-immigrant protesters as “hunting” immigrants.

Gauland accused Merkel of “spreading fake news when your spokesman spoke of ‘Hetzjagd’ (hunting),” adding “The truth is, there was no hunting down of people in Chemnitz.”

Merkel shot back: “Abstract rows about ‘Hetzjagd’ are not helpful.”

Gauland came under fire for his comments;

In an interruption to Gauland, allowed under the rules of Bundestag discourse, Martin Schulz, the former leader of the Social Democrats, referred to him as “belonging to the dungheap of German history” over what he saw as the AfD’s contribution to the spread of anti-immigrant sentiment. –Guardian

Meanwhile, Maaßen faced questioning Wednesday by Germany’s interior affairs committee over public remarks he gave to a newspaper in which he questioned the veracity of a video which allegedly depicts protesters chasing foreigners. A police report from the night in question emerged on Wednesday, claiming that “right-wing extremists” did in fact chase foreigners through the streests.

According to the document, leaked to an investigative journalism program, several officers on scene during the protest reported witnessing an increasing number of hooligans arriving in the city. At approximately 9:42 p.m., officers reported that “masked persons (right-wing) are looking for foreigners,” and that at 9:47 p.m. “20 to 30 masked persons armed with stones” were reported to be “heading towards Brühl, to the Schalom restaurant.”

As referred to by Merkel in her speech, the Jewish restaurant was attacked, a window was smashed and its owner, Uwe Dziuballa, was injured after being hit by a stone. Masked men shouted at him: “Clear out of Germany, you Jew-pig.”

The programme, Frontal 21, revealed that one of the men in the video at the centre of the controversy had worked as a security guard at a refugee shelter in Chemnitz, but that his employer, Securitas, had sacked him with immediate effect after his identity was made known to the company. The man is said to be appealing his dismissal.

On Wednesday, Wolfgang Schäuble, the president of the Bundestag, appeared on national radio to defend Merkel’s decision in the summer of 2015 to allow nearly 1 million refugees into Germany – denying that it had been a mistake, and insisting that Germany had responded to an urgent humanitarian crisis by accepting refugees who needed help.

“But what we didn’t manage well enough was to prevent the impression the whole world was under: that now everyone, anywhere, who was living somewhere worse than Germany, could come. That’s what you always have to consider in politics, the impact of your communication,” he said.

Source: The Duran

Obama Expresses Regret Over Libya

President Barack Obama of the United States of America has said his “worst mistake” in his presidency was not planning for the aftermath of Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster.

Obama was reflecting on his time in office on Fox News when he dropped the bombshell. Though he expressed regret over failing to plan for Libya after Gaddafi, he said the intervention was “the right thing to do”.

Speaking to Fox News anchor, Chris Wallace who had asked what Obama’s worst mistake was, he said, “Probably failing to plan for the day after, what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."

This is not the first time Obama has opened up about his regrets regarding Libya. Speaking in an interview for the Atlantic, he said the U.S had planned to avoid a long-term military commitment in Libya as it was not at the core of U.S interests. He said his government had worked to get a UN mandate and built a coalition to prevent other countries from piggy-backing on U.S efforts. He regrettably then admitted that after all the meticulous efforts Libya was a mess. The magazine went as far as claiming that he calls it a “shit-show” in private.

Since the Libya intervention, the country has degenerated into the hub of anarchical politics. It is now ruled by rival militias trying to ascend to power yet the Islamic State is moving in. As it stands, Libya has two governments, one in Tripoli and the UN backed leadership domiciled in Torbuk. The leader of the UN backed unity government arrived earlier this month in Tripoli to begin garnering support for his government. The country, (like most Middle East countries the West has moved into for military reasons) is a monumental failure. Who is to blame? Obama has an answer, “When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong, there is room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya’s proximity, being invested in the follow-up.

He essentially pinned a considerable amount of blame on British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French President, Nicolas Sakorzy. He said Cameron stopped paying attention and got “distracted by a range of other things”. Obama accused Sakorzy of wanting to trumpet the flights he was taking in the air campaign and bragging. Sakorzy was out to prove a point and he forgot the bigger picture.

Meanwhile, the Tripoli authorities announced they were ceding power to the UN backed government to “preserve the higher interests of the country and prevent bloodshed and divisions” in Libya.

We inform you that we are ceasing the activities entrusted to us as an executive power,” read the statement they released. The National Salvation Government led by Khalifa Ghweil said the Tripoli prime minister, his deputies and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside. Libya’s two warring factions have run the country from Tripoli and Tobruk after a militia alliance installed its authority over the capital, forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the remote east. The UN backed government sailed into Tripoli after their rivals closed down Tripoli’s airspace. Prime Minister designate, Fayez al-Sarraj and his six officials arrived quietly by boat in Libya from Tunisia. Their security bureau then threatened to send a list of 17 problematic figures to Interpol for “supporting terrorism” and impeding democratic transition. The Tripoli authorities have now capitulated having ceded power and the transition looks reasonably peaceful.
The Italian Foreign Minister, Paolo Gentiloni met the Libyan premier, Sarraj, describing the unity government as a game-changer. It is the first high-level visit by a Western official since 2014. The World Bank has held talks with Tunisia on ways to structure priorities. The diplomat said foreign embassies would be reopened in the capital in the near future. Sarraj has his work cut out for him but with foreign support, it is going to be a burden shared. General David Rodriguez, the commander of the United States military Africa Command recently said intelligence estimates the number of ISIS fighters in Libya is around four to six thousand which is probably double the number 12 to 18 months back. Sarraj will have to deal with this and human-traffickers who have made Libya their hub.

It is some consolation that the West seems to be back in the confines of reason again with Paolo Gentiloni asserting, “We can co-operate but cannot decide for the Libyans.”

Source: The African Exponent