Early Gossips

- 05:29

This Dog Can Count and Solve Simple Maths Questions, simply amazing

Dogs are man’s best friends. You probably don’t remember the first time you heard that statement. But you believed it. Why shouldn’t you? I...

- 04:39

President Buhari’s Intinerary at the UN General Assembly meeting today

Special Advicer to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, earlier today put up President Buhari’s itinerary at the United Natio...

- 04:19

Emefiele Says the Nation is in Recession because we didn’t plan for the future

Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, say not saving for the raining day, lack of diversification and global crisis combined to bring abou...

Borno state was Boko Haram’s major theatre of despair. The terrorist group was able to operate a wack-a-mole strategy in the area- attacking the region and withdrawing across the border.

It soon gained confidence to extend its activities to other states in the northeast of the country. And began taking territories.

A few days ago, Governor Kashim Shettima said in an interview with NAN that the state capital, Maiduguri, is more secure than Abuja and Lagos. Saying that the Nigerian army’s push against Boko Haram paid off.

“Maiduguri is more secured than even Lagos or Abuja. There are 2 million people living in Maiduguri. We celebrated Sallah without any incident. By the grace of God, we are poised for a great change. Believe me, in the next couple of months, you will see changes in the fortunes of the people of the state,” he said.

The Nigerian army, on its part, earlier said they had technically defeated Boko Haram.

Part of the premise the governor based his conclusion on is that they “celebrated Sallah without any incident”. And overtime Nigerians have known the group to strike during festive periods. Seeing that there was no incident, the technical defeat is resounding.

So the statement by the governor reflects a huge leap for the state. But won’t this be an overkill considering that Lagos has not experienced insurgency or any major upheaval and Abuja also hasn’t, in recent times?

A look through the timeline shows the extent of insecurity that bedeviled Borno state.

Boko Haram’s activities in the state began in 2009.

In 2013, former President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in northeast Nigeria part of the country (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe) due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the region. Twelve areas of Maiduguri were Boko Haram strongholds at the time.

And in April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 219 secondary school girls from Chibok.

In July 2104, the Governor said “176 teachers had been killed and 900 schools destroyed [by the terrorists] since 2011.”

Boko Haram’s reign of terror is a dark period in the Country’s history and the communities affected are still reeling from their losses. The after effect led to over 3.3 million internally displaced persons and cases of malnutrition and poor management in the IDP camps.

The Nigerian army reclaimed territories from the insurgents. And the people of Konduga in Bornu State, for instance, returned to their community earlier in September after fleeing two years ago.

With the Governor’s statement, we can now put the Nigerian army’s victory in proper perspective. The people can return to their communities. And these communities have to rebuild from ground up.

Baari Mustapha, one of Konduga returnees puts the position of the returnees best “We plead with our leaders to have pity on the poor ones going back to their homes; because we are today as naked as a new born baby”.

- 01:14

Governor Shettima says Maiduguri is more secure than Abuja and Lagos. What’s next?

Borno state was Boko Haram’s major theatre of despair. The terrorist group was able to operate a wack-a-mole strategy in the area- attacking...

- 05:31

Watch this cute boy show off his girlfriend

A video shared on Twitter shows a little boy show off his girlfriend while on a school bus. The clip garnered over 15,000 retweets and 20,0...

- 05:11

Governor Nyesom Wike recalls suspended cabinet members, Head of Service

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers has announced the recall of the four suspended commissioners, the Head of Service and the Special Adviser on La...

CABINET RETREAT—From left: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udoma and Minister for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, at the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on the economy at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

Alarmed by the dwindling fortunes of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, brainstormed with his key ministers and financial experts from the public and private sectors, to find ways of fixing the troubled economy. The President, who has repeatedly assured Nigerians of his resolve to turn around the economy, has come under immense pressure to take far-reaching measures to quicken the recovery of the economy. The retreat, which was packaged by the Budget and National Planning Ministry, in conjunction with the Finance Ministry, is seen as one of the early steps to proffer solutions to the beleaguered economy and prioritise areas for the 2017 budget. The retreat had as its theme: Building Inter-ministerial Synergy for Effective Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria. Declaring open the retreat, President Buhari said the nation required what he called ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking to get out of the economic doldrums. Buhari said: “The challenges we face in the current recession require ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, to deploy strategies that involve engaging meaningfully with the private sector to raise the level of private sector investment in the economy as a whole. “We are confident that the level of private investment will grow as we are determined to make it easier to do business in Nigeria by the reforms we are introducing under the auspices of the Presidential Committee on Ease of Doing Business.”

Determination He stressed the determination of the government to explore possible ways of turning the current challenges into opportunities for the country, especially the nation’s vibrant youths on whose shoulders lie the future of the nation. “This is why we have embarked on measures and actions that will open up the opportunities we have seen in the power, housing, agriculture, mining, trade and investment; Information Communication Technology, ICT, tourism, transport and other sectors. “I wish to reassure the teeming youths that this government would remain steadfast in its effort to ensure greater progress and prosperity for you. While government is taking the lead in the task of repositioning our economy for change, we cannot achieve this completely by ourselves. “We will need, and we ask for the support and cooperation of the private sector, domestic and foreign, state and local governments, the National Assembly and the Judiciary as well as all well-meaning Nigerians in this important task. We are confident that working together, we shall succeed,” Buhari assured. Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, explained that the retreat was timely as it was deliberately arranged as part of government’s preparations for the 2017 budget, apparently to avoid the problems noticed in the previous budgets. Udoma said: “We want to make sure that as a cabinet, we have synergy and we look at the priorities for the government for the 2017 budget and make sure that in the light of the current economic situation, the budget is well structured to take us back on the path of growth.” The minister said with proper synergy between the ministers and their respective agencies, it would be possible for the cabinet to speak with one voice regarding the 2017 budget. Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, expressed government’s sympathy with Nigerians over the down turn in the economy but was quick to add that the administration was more serious in its intention and resolve to turn it around. Adeosun said it was obvious, from the beginning, that the nation would run into economic crisis due to plummeting revenue. She said: “We sympathise with the people of Nigeria but what is more serious is our intentions, our resolve and plans to turn it around. We had said it before that we knew we were going to go into a very difficult period. “We have not anticipated the impact of the much awaited crisis, which of course is built on our revenue that is down significantly. “We have a credible plan and that plan is based on the need to invest in our infrastructure and each of the experts spoke on that, saying clearly that it was the only solution for Nigeria to take us out of this situation and we are working on that.” Syndicate groups The retreat later broke into six syndicate groups, with ministers and permanent secretaries divided among the groups to examine the economy and suggest the way forward.

From left, Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi; Information Minister, Lai Mohammed and the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachiukwu during the 2016 Cabinet Retreat on the Economy at the State House Conference Centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida 15/09/2016

Papers presented at the retreat include: “Weaning the Nigerian economy out of oil dependence,” by Dr Obadiah Mailafia; “Fiscal and Trade Policy options to get the economy out of recession,” by Dr Ayo Teriba; “Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy options to get the economy out of recession,” by Mr. Bismarck Rewane and “How to grow output and productivity in the real sector,” by Mr. Bode Agusto. According to documents from the Budget Ministry, the key expectations of the 2017 budget will focus on reviving the economy and will emphasise on actions to return the country to sustainable growth, keep a cap on recurrent expenditure and focus on capital expenditure, especially infrastructure. According to the document, the ultimate target is the attainment of strong, inclusive growth.

- 04:41

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Early Gossips

This Dog Can Count and Solve Simple Maths Questions, simply amazing

President Buhari’s Intinerary at the UN General Assembly meeting today

Emefiele Says the Nation is in Recession because we didn’t plan for the future

Governor Shettima says Maiduguri is more secure than Abuja and Lagos. What’s next?

Watch this cute boy show off his girlfriend

Governor Nyesom Wike recalls suspended cabinet members, Head of Service

Buhari begs Nigerians for support, cooperation as ministers gear up to fight recession

Patience Jonathan says those presented in court by the EFCC are not company representatives

Lagos State Government gives 1 million Naira Seed Fund to Bio-Gas Startup

Meme: Remember when they thought they had you

The Nigerian Navy says it will continue its drive against militants in the Niger Delta region

PDP tells Buhari to Return the Nation to the State it was Before he Resumed Office

Exclusive: Instagram’s new feature allows celebs restrict comments on their posts and Wizkid tried it

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