News

Eight months after Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 school girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, with more than 200 of them still in captivity, the terrorists have again abducted another 191 people including women, girls and boys from Gumsuri community near Chibok.

The terrorists also killed 32 people in an attack last Sunday.

According to an account by two local government officials and a witness, a convoy of gunmen stormed Gumsuri in Borno State on Sunday, throwing petrol bombs into buildings and leaving much of the village destroyed.

32 killed in Gumsuri

The officials, who put the death toll at 32, said the local government established the number of those abducted by contacting families, ward heads and clerics.

A vigilante leader based in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, Usman Kakani, told AFP that fighters who were in Gumsuri during the attack provided a figure of 191 abducted, including women, girls and boys.

Gumsuri is about 70 kilometres south of Maiduguri and falls on the road that leads to Chibok. Details of the Gumsuri attack took four days to emerge because the mobile phone network in the region has completely collapsed and many roads are impassable.

Those who fled the village said it was too dangerous to head directly to Maiduguri. Instead, they travelled hundreds of kilometres in the opposite direction to connect with the main road that leads to the state capital.

Mukhtar Buba, a resident who fled to Maiduguri, also confirmed that women and children were taken. “After killing our youths, the insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” he said.

The military and police were not immediately available to comment.

Witnesses said the hostages were taken away in trucks towards the Sambisa Forest, a notorious rebel stronghold, where the Chibok girls were also reportedly taken before being divided into smaller groups.

Vigilantes defend Gumsuri

Vigilantes, who have the military’s backing, had defended Gumsuri against waves of previous insurgents’ attacks but were ultimately overpowered on Sunday, according to the council officials.

The military has reportedly left much of the front-line fighting to vigilantes and hunters who have inferior weapons and almost no training.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election in February 14 polls, had pledged that the Chibok attack would mark the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria, but violence has escalated since. His Senior Special Assistant on Pubic Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe had last Monday cautioned the media against counting the days of the Chibok girls’ abduction.

The insurgents have carried out a series of abductions this year, boosting their supply of child fighters, and young women who have reportedly been used as sex slaves.

Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for the Gumsuri attack, but multiple sources in the village blamed the extremists whose five-year uprising has killed more than 13,000 people and forced more than 1.5 million others from their homes.

The North East has been the epicentre of the conflict, but unrest has also spread into neighbouring Cameroon, where the military claimed to have killed 116 insurgents while repelling a Wednesday attack on an army base in the border town of Amchide.

The defence ministry in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, said Wednesday’s raid in the town of Amchide, near the border with Nigeria was carried out by several hundred Islamists who ambushed a column of military vehicles with explosives and simultaneously attacked the army base.

Cameroonian troops retaliated instantly, the ministry said, killing 116 insurgents while one soldier has been confirmed dead and another missing near the border with Nigeria on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

“The response of our forces was swift and appropriate. The attack was repulsed and the attackers neutralized,” defence ministry representative, Didier Badjeck, announced, cited by the news agency.

The country’s official reaffirmed the number of Boko Haram members killed and announced another attack that took place overnight. The number of victims currently remains unknown.

Nigeria has seen an upsurge in violence since April linked to the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. The insurgency has left more than 13,000 dead and 1.5 million displaced people since 2009.

Timeline of killings since April

*April 14: 276 young girls were abducted from their school by Boko Haram gunmen in Chibok, a remote community of Borno State. Fifty-seven of the girls managed to flee, while 219 are still being held.

*April 14: At least 75 people died in a bomb blast in a packed bus station on the outskirts of Abuja — the deadliest attack yet in the city. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for it.

*May 5: Boko Haram gunmen razed the town of Gamboru Ngala in Borno State, killing at least 300 people.

*May 20: Twin car bombings in Jos, blamed on Boko Haram, killing at least 118.

*June 3: Heavily armed gunmen raided four northeastern villages in Borno State, with local leaders putting the death toll as high as 400-500.

*July 23: Two blasts rocked Kaduna city killing at least 42.

*August 24: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed he has made the town of Gwoza in Borno State part of an Islamic caliphate.

*October 18: Around 60 women and young girls were abducted around Chibok, according to witnesses. On October 25-26, 30 adolescents were kidnapped in the village of Mafa in Borno State.

*October 31: Shekau said the 219 abducted schoolgirls have been converted to Islam and married off, ruling out talks with the authorities on a ceasefire.

*November 9: Shekau said that he has created a caliphate in the more than 20 northeastern towns conquered by the insurgents.

*November 10: A suicide attack killed at least 58 people at a boys school in Potiskum in Yobe State.

*November 28: Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers at the Kano Central Mosque. At least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded.

*December 1: More than 150 people, including 44 police and security troops, died in a Boko Haram raid on Damaturu, Yobe State.

News

 A Federal High Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, has held that prisoners in Nigerian prisons have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.

Justice Mohammed Lima, who made the ruling in a suit by Victor Emenuwe, Onome Inaye, Kabiru Abu, Osagie Iyekepolor, Modugu Odion (for and on behalf of inmates of Nigeria Prisons), against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Controller-General of Nigeria Prisons Service, also directed the defendants to ensure that the applicants were not disenfranchised.

The plaintiffs had, in the suit, asked the court to determine “whether, having regards to the provisions of section 25 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended in 2011, and section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, the plaintiffs are not entitled to be registered as voters by INEC.”

They had also prayed the court to determine, whether having regard to the provisions of Section 77 (2) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, the plaintiffs were not entitled to cast their votes at any election in the country.

They had also asked the court to determine whether the failure of INEC to make registration and voting provisions for the inmates in the custody of Nigerian prisons does not constitute an infringement on their rights as citizens of Nigeria as enshrined in section 14 (1) (2) (a) (b), section 17 (2) (a), section 24 (b), (c), section 39 of the 1999 constitution and Article 13 (1) and Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

In his judgment, Justice Lima, said: “Act by INEC to deny inmates the right to vote is unconstitutional, illegal, irregular, unlawful, null and void and of no effect whatsoever. The defendants do not have the constitutional right to deny the claimants their voting rights.

“Being an inmate is not an offence that impedes their registration and voting right under section 24 of the Electoral Act; and that the exclusion of inmates in elections conducted in Nigeria is illegal and ultra vires.”

Entertainment

THE third edition of Legends of Nollywood Awards, initiated and organised by Nollywood actor, Paul Obazele held on the 6th of December 2014 at the National Theatre in Igammu area. The award was created to honour founding fathers and mothers of the Nigerian movie industry.

In attendance where legendary names like Sadiq Daba, Mrs Taiwo Ajayi Lycet, Nkem Owoh, Tony Akposheri, Franca Brown, Zack Orji, Nobert Young, Larry Koldsweat, Ejiro Okurame, Emeka Ike, Henrietta Kosoko and a host of other celebrities and media personalities.

At the award, WG Spoke with some of the veterans concerning the award and here are what they said:

Sadiq Daba

What do you think about the event?

I think it’s one of the brightest ideas I’ve seen so far. Most awards that I’ve read about or have attended, it’s almost all repetitive. It’s either you go and lobby to get an award or somebody likes your face or you’re friends with someone and they give you an award, not because you’ve worked that hard, not because your work speaks for you but somehow, you find yourself on their list.  Here, Paul is saying there are people who were there, why don’t we celebrate them? Why don’t we look for them?

Nkem Owoh

I’m particularly happy that somebody thought out this event to recognize, even though they say celebrate legends, to me it is to recognize legends. It is good in this country for people to recognize there are people who started something, moved it to a certain degree before others could take over. If you recognize them, it is most appreciable so I’m happy with the organizers, Paul Obazele and his team. It would give the people who are coming behind hope that whatever they are doing, sometime in the future they would be recognized

Taiwo Ajai Lycet

I think we should have more of these kinds of occasions to draw attention to the fact that showbiz is not a place where people come to waste their time; it’s a place where you lay down a foundation. It’s an industry where a lot of people have eyes on you and it’s important to be of exemplary character. If this sort of occasion happens regularly, then everybody would really appreciate the responsibility of them being in the industry.

Larry Koldsweat

My opinion is very straight; you celebrate the living not when they are dead. Most times, people we celebrate are people that have died and we carry one stick to go and give to their family. When they are alive we don’t celebrate them, it’s not it. It may not be too perfect or too fantastic but for the mere fact that some people were remembered today, it’s a milestone in their lives

News

Operatives of the Awkunanaw Division of Enugu State Police Command have smashed a notorious armed robbery and car snatching syndicate, which had allegedly been terrorizing motorists and residents of Enugu metropolis and its environs.

The gang’s kingpin, identified as one Onovo, had been on the wanted list of the command for heinous crimes perpetrated by his men in recent times.

According to Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, “the gang leader met his waterloo on December 16 at 8p.m., when the suspect in the company of his other gang members, having snatched an ash-coloured Passat car around Mount Street, off Agbani Road, Enugu, confronted the operatives who were already on their trail.

“On sighting the operatives, the gang opened fire on their vehicle and in the ensuing gun battle, one of them was gunned down while other members of the gang, believed to have sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries, escaped and abandoned the snatched car.

“The deceased kingpin, Onovo, had been terrorizing the lives of innocent citizens of Achara Layout of Uwani, One Day axis of Awkunanaw and Ikirike axis of the state and its environs.

“Recovered from the gang were two English cut-to-size pump action guns, a locally-made double-barrelled pistol and some phones.

“Meanwhile, full scale investigations have commenced with a view to arresting his gang members, just as the command is appealing to members of the public and hospital operators for useful and timely information on any one with suspected bullet wounds for necessary action.”

News

Justice Jide Falola of an Osun State High Court sitting in Okuku has sentenced two robbers to death for stealing fowls.

The convicts, Olowookere Segun and Morakinyo Sunday, were found guilty of forcefully breaking into the house of one Mr. Balogun Tope, a police officer attached to Divisional Police headquarters, Okuku, in April 2010 and carting away some of his belongings.

The convicts were charged with conspiracy, robbery and stealing contrary to Section 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of Robbery and Firearm (Special Provisions) Act, cap R 11 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Section (390)(1) Criminal Code Law, Cap 34, Laws of Osun State, 2002.

The prosecution team, led by the state Solicitor-General, Mrs Abiola Adewemimo, called six witnesses and tendered several exhibits during the prosecution.

The prosecution told the court that on November 13, 2010, men were sighted around Balogun’s home armed with cutlass and a dane gun, and that while two of them were arrested, others escaped.

The convicts were said to have confessed that they stole the complainant’s fowls, adding that they had been in his house before to steal.

Adewemimo said: “They also stated that they had earlier robbed Alhaja Umani Oyewo in her house and stole broilers, eggs and kegs of vegetable oil from the house.”

In his judgment, Justice Falola convicted them on only three counts: to death for conspiracy; life sentence for robbery, and three years imprisonment for stealing.

Justice Falola recommended that the governor can decide to commute the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment, considering the convicts’ ages.

News

The construction of 2nd Niger Bridge through a Public Private Partnership involving Julius Berger -NSIA Consortium and tolling the Igbo people for 25 years thereafter is another 419 on the Biafran Igbo citizens of South East Nigeria. According to the terms of this fraudulent business, the project is a Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer (DFBOT) model to cost N117 Billion naira with the Federal Government contributing a paltry N30 billion naira while the consortium will raise the rest of the funds and thereafter hold the Igbo people to ransom by collecting a 25 year toll tax for raising the rest of the funds offshore.

President Jonathan speaking at the ground breaking ceremony at Onitsha in March 2014 said that “as part of our administration’s Transformation Agenda in the road sector, we have set out to construct two very important new bridges, across our Nation’s two great rivers – the River Niger and River Benue.These are the Loko-Oweto Bridge linking Nasarawa and Benue States,which is progressing satisfactorily, and this 2nd Niger Bridge, connecting Anambra and Delta States.” It is worthy to note that the other bridges are being constructed by Jonathan regime without any PPP and without any toll tax on the people of Benue and Nasarrawa States.

This means that all President Ebele Jonathan can do for the Igbos since they gave him unprecedented support since 2010 is to contribute only N30 billion naira while some Shylock consortium raises the rest of the money and milks the Igbo nation for 25 years.
Experts have told me that the bridge is not supposed to cost anything above N50 billion , going by Nigerian standard of cost inflation, including the 11 km access roads. However, this contract cost was doubled overnight to N117 billion naira to justify the financial heist on Ndigbo. The fraudulent construction will cost N117 billion for a 1.5 km bridge while the 1.3 km Lekki-Ikoyi suspension Bridge cost only N29 billion naira. Thus the thieves jerked the cost of constructing the 2nd Niger bridge to 4 times the actual cost just to justify the rape on the over grateful Igbo nation.

Informed sources within Ohanaeze and among Igbo leaders and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) have continued to echo that this 2nd Niger Bridge business venture is actually between Julius Berger, Ebele Jonathan and Peter Obi and that Mr Peter Obi’s 2nd Niger Bridge business venture will yield at least N12 billion naira annually. Reliable sources have revealed that whenever the bridge is finished, all heavy duty vehicles will pay N1000 toll fee while cars and mini buses will pay N500 naira. Tricycles will pay N200 while cyclists will pay N100 naira each time they pass through the bridge.

This criminal toll gate will yield the corrupt business consortium and their secret sponsors about N1 billion monthly. This means that in 4 years, the thieves would have recovered N50 billion which is the actual over-exaggerated cost of constructing (going by the Federal Ministry of Works Corrupt Standard). Going by the Governor Fashola Run Lagos State standard, the bridge will not cost anything above N30 billion naira and thieves will take about two years plus to recover their investments and the rest 22 years will be excess profit.
The financial interpretation of this criminality is that for 25 years with static revenue of N12 billion annually (ignoring the tendencies to increase the toll fee after 2 years) , the thieves will make N300 billion naira turnover with 250 billion naira as profit. This means that their investment is recouped within 4 years and the rest 21 years is profit. If the cost of such offshore long term cost is factored, usually 2.5 -5% per annum, and its future value for 25 years is factored, it cannot get any anywhere near N60 billion naira and yet the financial bandits are bandying N117 billion naira as cost of constructing the bridge.
The implication is that some politicians within the presidency and Anambra State Govt House have done 419 on the Igbo nation and we are all smiling like charmed drunks. If the entire Igbo nation is charmed, I am not. God will definitely disgrace the thieves that want to put the Igbo race into a slavish bondage of paying through the nose for a Niger Bridge when all the rest of Nigeria, from Benue to Kogi , Calabar to Lagos,Maidugeri to Sokoto and all over Nigeria has bridges, dams, silos, roads etc built with Federal Government money while the defeated Biafran Igbos of South East will have theirs built and tolled for 25 years.

For all the support Ndigbo gave Ebele Azikkiwe Jonathan since 2010, a PPP modeled 2nd Niger Bridge is far worse that what Awolowo did when Ojukwu released him from Calabar prison and he promised to declare Oduduwa Republic, but chickened out at the deceptive offer of Gowon. This time around, this disappointment is not from a Soyinka nor Obasajo nor Tinubu, rather it is under the supervision of “our cousin” Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, and our former Chairman, Board of Trustees of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) ‘Igbo Party” Peter Obi and world acclaimed Igbo Economist Okonjo Iwuala whose economic wisdom failed to notice the injustice and criminality in this transaction.

Condemning the fraud called 2nd Niger Bridge, former governor of Anambra State and serving senator, Dr Chris Ngige said that “The first is that the bridge is being built on a Public Private Partnership(PPP) deal, with overseas financiers. For that reason, the cost of the bridge suffered double inflation, both from the Nigeria end and the financiers who alleged cost of fund.

“The bridge, which should have cost N70 billion is now to cost N114 billion, that was why I told the South-East Senate Caucus that I was not going to be a part of it”. Ngige even got it wrong-the bridge should have cost between N30-N50 billion naira, and factoring cost of funds it should be t around N40-N60 Billion if PPP should be used.

Ohanaeze and all Igbo leaders should condemn this enslavement of Ndigbo through this over-bloated and fraudulent construction of a bridge and must demand immediately the cancellation of this PPP Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer model .

Jonathan led Government should takeover the responsibility for the full construction of that bridge, and settle off the fraudulent consortium. This fraudulent 419 2nd Niger Bridge should be revised for a full scale Federal Government Built arrangement before another scandal erupts.
Obinna Akukwe
profetobinna2@yahoo.com

News

A town planner who worked for influential Nigeria preacher TB Joshua told an inquest Thursday that the building which collapsed at Joshua’s church, killing 116 people, did not have planning approval.
Bisi Adedire, who served as a consultant for Joshua, said that lack of approval did not mean the building was unsound but told the coroner that he warned church officials they were ignoring regulations.

“I told the church they have contravened the law in a way by building without approval but they said they could regularise it,” he told the inquest into the causes of the deadly accident.

Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet, has claimed the collapse in September may have been sabotage and has on three occasions ignored summonses to testify.

His followers include influential politicians and business people in Africa and around the world and his loyalists have suggested the collapse is part of a conspiracy to undermine him.

Adedire stressed that having planning approval does not guarantee the quality of a building and argued the church’s failure to follow protocol was an administrative issue which likely had nothing to do with the collapse.

Lagos officials have said others buildings at Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations compound were shoddily built.

Rafiq Arogunjo, of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), again dismissed a theory advanced by Joshua and his supporters about aerial sabotage.

Church loyalists have claimed that a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft, which had been flying nearby, was responsible for the collapse.

“The aircraft was no longer in flight when the building collapsed,” Arogunjo said.

“I don’t see any nexus between the aircraft and the collapse. I think the investigators should look into the structural integrity of the building.”

Politics

 The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, has said that the choice for the 2015 presidential election is crystal clear, noting that, it is either Nigerians vote good luck or back luck.

Okupe while speaking at an event organised to unveil the candidate of President Goodluck Jonathan held at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, said,” There are two candidates for next year’s election, it is between Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. The choice in this election is crystal clear, it is either good luck or bad luck.” We are not there yet but we will get there very soon.”

“People say I am a Goodluck Jonathan fanatic and it is true. I stand for and work for what I believe. I have worked for two presidents and I speak because I believe in what I say. I do not wish to denigrate anybody. This Goodluck Jonathan is the very best that we have seen.

“There is no offense to compare ourselves with Goodluck Jonathan. The man Goodluck Jonathan bears a lot of burden, he keeps quiet, he is focused and does not talk anyhow so that Nigeria will remain one. There are members of the opposition that are deaf. It is not by coincidence that every good thing is happening in Nigeria,” he said.

Chairman, Northern Elders Council (NEC), Tanko Yakassai, said the Northern region of Nigeria will overwhelmingly vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election scheduled to hold on February, 14 2015.

Yakassai, who listed some of the giant strides of President Jonathan also commended the ruling PDP for giving the president a return ticket to fly the party’s in the presidential election.

He also commended the president for retaining Vice- President Namadi Sambo despite intense pressures from many quarters that he should be dropped.

“I am happy to know that President Goodluck Jonathan was endorsed by his party, the PDP, as its presidential candidate. I also want to congratulate his party, the PDP for introducing the method of right of first refusal to Nigeria and I hope other political parties will adopt this measure to prevent any form of rancour in political parties. This is the type of politics that we are looking for in this country, politics of ideas and programme,” he said.

Speaking on the Boko Haram issue and the government’s efforts to successfully tackle insurgency in the country, he said the claim in some quarters that Boko Haram was created by some elements to destabilise Jonathan’s administration or is being sponsored by the President to perpetuate himself in office is erroneous, adding that, Boko Haram has been in Nigeria since 2002.

“That the Boko Haram was created to frustrate Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and that his administration was sponsoring Boko Haram, both impressions are wrong. Boko Haram came to the Nigerian scene way back in 2002, this was three years after President Obasanjo was sworn in 1999. That was the time Boko Haram started. The federal government has nothing to do with Boko Haram and no government will encourage insurgency against itself. Anyone who is saying that Boko Haram is created to destabilize Jonathan or is being sponsored by Jonathan is erroneous and wrong,” said Yakassai.

On Sambo’s endorsement as running mate, he said, “We, the North, are so grateful that he decided to retain Architect Namadi Sambo as his running mate. In the last five years, we have not heard of any rancour or disagreement between the President and his Vice. I hope that the President will ensure that he executes the recommendations of the National Conference especially the rotation of power so that each geo-political zone will have the opportunity of producing the president of this country.”

Chairman of the occasion and Second Republic Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Richard Akinjide (SAN) expressed optimism that President Goodluck Jonathan will emerge victorious in the 2015 presidential election.

“We are assembled here today to launch President Goodluck Jonathan, who is definitely going to be the next president of Nigeria. I have toured the whole country, after a fair assessment,I can boldly say that our candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan will be the next president of the country. I am going to make a prediction and that prediction is definitely going to come to pass. That prediction is we will win.”

Former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the PDP, Chief Olabode George while speaking on the need for Nigerians to vote for Jonathan’s second terms, said,”this man had the nerves that there was need for us to discuss the Nigerian project, he was not afraid to to allow us to discuss the Nigerian project and proferring solutions to them. If for any reason, he deserves our vote.

“He has also promised to execute the recommendations of the conference. The conference accepted that we have a State Police, devolution of powers and that local government should be given a special status.”

“We then set and recommended that there would no longer be immunity for governors. President Jonathan, in his magnanimity, allowed us to do at the conference, we now concluded that that document will be the new beginning of Nigeria. Why would we short changed the South South? Let us make sure that we actualise this on February 14, 2015 and you know that day is a special day, which is Valentine’s Day. Because today is a day of history, we are launching the candidate, Goodluck Jonathan,” he averred.

Speaking further, he said “anybody who wants to rule Nigeria, must have patience, we need that kind of man to take us to higher heights. It is also time we win Lagos State. Let me also advise those that lost during the governorship primaries, some will win, some will lose, there is time for everything.”

Senator Florence Ita-Giwa said “I have nothing much to say but that Nigeria believes in President Goodluck Jonathan. I always say to myself that what President Jonathan has faced has been unfair despite all the challenges. If other presidents have enjoyed two terms, Jonathan must also enjoy his two terms.”

Guest speaker at the event, Professor Dupe Olatunbosun said “I have looked at the presidential candidates of the two political parties (PDP and APC) and I intend to compare the two of presidential candidates because they have both served as presidents of this country.”

Olatubosun commended President Jonathan’s administration for his achievements in all sectors of the country.

“Despite all the challenges we are facing, Nigeria’s economy has improved to become the number one economy in Africa, but the problem I have is that the wealth of this country is still in the hands of some few. I see a lot to be done. Corruption needs to be combated in all fronts in our society.”

“During the Goodluck administration, the Freedom of Information bill was passed. We all know that when Buhari was Head of State of this country, he did not have the challenges president Jonathan had,” Olatubosun said.

Politics

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday urged Nigerians not to see themselves as “Northern” or “Southern” citizens, but as people and a race bound by the same history and constitution.

Mr. Jonathan stated this in Abuja at the annual National Migration Dialogue organised by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and internally Displaced Persons.

The Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, who represented the President, called for an end to the classification of Nigerians as “indigenes” or “non-indigenes” of any particular state.

“We must insist that in relating among ourselves as a nation, there are no Northern or Southern citizens neither are there citizens of any particular state in the East or in the West,” Mr. Sambo said on behalf of the President.

“We are citizens of Nigeria, a people and a race bound by the same history and constitution,” he said. “We must continue to insist and uphold our constitution that guarantees the right of all Nigerians to live anywhere in Nigeria without any fear of economic, political, religious, or social exclusion.”

“Our ethnic diversity, ideally, should be a source of strength, not weakness; a country where people freely profess and practice their respective religious beliefs anywhere within our national boundaries, without any fear of discrimination. The future I see is of a nation where people are no longer identified by their ethnic or religious affiliation but by the very virtue of their Citizenship as Nigerians,” the president said.

According to him, the Nigerian Constitution and the recommendations of the recently concluded National Conference guarantee the right of every Nigerian to reside anywhere in the country without discrimination.

While acknowledging the role migration plays in national development, the president noted that the country has the highest volume of international migrants, and the largest remittances in sub-Saharan Africa worth $20.76 billion in 2013.

He, therefore, stressed that Nigeria, while aiming to mitigate the negative impact of migration, would continually to deploy strategies to encourage Nigerians in the Diaspora to invest remittances in social infrastructure, human capital development and other activities.

He stated that his administration had made it a cardinal principle that Nigerians must be treated humanely and with dignity in any country of their residence.

On internally displaced persons, the President said he had directed that victims must be given due care and maintenance without any form of social exclusion.

Mr. Jonathan expressed the hope that the national migration dialogue would help shape Nigeria’s national migratory orientation.

In her remarks, the Federal Commissioner for Refugees, Hadiza Kangiwa, noted that Nigeria was the first country in ECOWAS sub-region to institute the dialogue.

She said the dialogue was conceived as a strategy for mainstreaming migration into the post development agenda, and was also a derivation of the draft National Migration Policy document.

According to her, the objective of the dialogue is to provide a platform for debating the impact and linkages between migration and development thereby shaping Nigeria’s national migratory linkages.

She said the dialogue would also provide opportunity for reviewing the various operational challenges at the implementation level.

The participants at the dialogue were drawn from the 36 States of the federation and international development partners such as the International Organisation for Migration.

Business World

Nigeria Breaks World Record: Becomes the first Country to Builds World’s Largest Bottle Tree.

Nigeria’s leading brewer, Nigerian Breweries has unveiled the World’s largest-bottle tree made with a mind-boggling 8,000 bottles.

The Star bottle tree, situated at the Star Beer Village on the Bar Beach Stretch, Victoria Island, Lagos, was officially unveiled last night, Wednesday, December 17, 2014, as the largest tree in the World.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Walter Drenth said: ‘This is another achievement by Nigerian Breweries Plc, which has become a forerunner in creativity and innovation over the years, The Star Bottle Tree is a first-of-its-kind in Nigeria and the enormous size is perhaps a first-of-its-kind in the World.’ The Star Bottle Tree set out to break the current World Record of 1,000 beer bottles held by the Chinese city of Shanghai.