We’ll fight Boko Haram with every resource at our disposal —Mark

China, said Nigeria would spare no resources at its disposal in the fight against insurgency in the country.

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A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the entourage of the Senate President reported that Mark stated this at an interactive forum with members of the Nigerian community in Beijing.

“Boko Haram has become a real nuisance and the menace is unacceptable. They have declared war on Nigeria and we will fight them with all the resources at our disposal.

“We will not allow it to go on for too long; government is very serious about it. It is an avoidable distraction and it is something we do not need at this point in our history, when we are trying everything possible to bring development to Nigeria to attract foreign investors.

“So, the message should go out loud and clear to anyone who is either a sponsor or a member of Boko Haram that we will fight them with all resources at our disposal,’’ Mark said.

The Nigerian Charge d’affaires in Beijing, Mr Suleiman Tanko, who welcomed the Senate President on behalf of the Nigerian community, said Nigeria had a large community in China.

“We have 12,000 Nigerians in China; out of this number, 10,000 live in Guangzhou and are largely in trading, because it is a little bit difficult to penetrate the real business system here,’’ Tanko said.

He, however, lamented that it was not easy for Nigerians to establish businesses in China, adding that this was an issue of serious concern to them.

“If any Nigerian tells you that he has a business here, then it means that he is married to a Chinese lady; otherwise it is only merely petty trading that Nigerains are engaged in here,’’ Tanko said.

He appealed to the Senate president to intervene on behalf of Nigerians willing to establish businesses in China, so they could have easier access to facilities.

He expressed regrets that a large majority of Nigerians were staying in the country illegally due to strict visa regime of the country which, he noted, resulted in many of them being jailed.

“We have about 463 Nigerians in various jails. Ninety per cent of the crimes they committed are drug-related, and 90 per cent of them are from only one state in Nigeria,’’ Tanko said.

He said that the Nigerian mission in China was engaging the government of that state to find out how the embassy could intervene.

Tanko also urged Nigerian law enforcement authorities to be more proactive and responsive to ensuring proper screening of intending travellers.

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We’ll march to Chibok naked…

As protests against the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls continue to spread all over the country, Nigerian women, under the aegis of Women Arise Against Terror Group, have threatened to march to Chibok half-naked, if the Federal Government fails to secure the release of the abducted girls, within the next 14 days.

Making the threat on Monday, in Lagos, during a protest march to the Lagos State governor’s office in Alausa, Ikeja, the president of the group, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, stated that it had become imperative for them to join other concerned people all over the globe, to ask for the release of the abducted girls.

She explained that besides going to the governor’s office to present a letter of protest addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, through the governor, the group had lined up several activities meant to put pressure on the Federal Government to expedite action concerning the release of the girls.

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According to her, the protest, which would go on for the next 14 days in other parts of the country, would be rounded off in Chibok, with the women marching half-naked, if the girls were not released before then.

“We came here first to deliver this letter to the governor, to help us pass it to Mr President, because we believe the governor shares some of those ideals. Today, we will be going to Enugu, while we intend to visit other states too. This will go on for the next 14 days and if the girls are not released by then, God forbid, we would be ready to march to Chibok half-naked,” she stated.

Group lauds international community
By Suzy Oruya -Onitsha

The National Coalition for Justice and Equity, on Monday, lauded the international community for its concern over issues in Nigeria, especially on the need to release the abducted schoolgirls, unconditionally.

Speaking through its chairman, Mr Vincent Ezekwueme, the group said, looking at the situation from the positive light; it showed how important and esteemed the country was to the international community and other influential countries.

He urged Nigerians to rise above political and religious sentiments to fight terrorism.

Ezekwueme appealed to the Boko Haram sect to lay down its arms and respect the sanctity of the human life for God and humanity sake, even as it regarded tender schoolgirls, who had not committed any crime by going to school.

Group joins calls for release of girls
By Bola Badmus -Lagos

A non-political group, Jewel of Nigeria (JON), on Monday, joined calls for the Boko Haram insurgents to immediately release the over 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok, Borno State, about three weeks ago.

Director-General of the group, Mr Wale Oso, made the call in a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune.

According to the group, the Boko Haram sect should immediately release the kidnapped schoolgirls to their parents and comfort of their homes, just as it urged the sect “to put themselves in the shoes of the parents of these girls and imagine how it would feel if their children or sisters were cruelly snatched from school and made to endure in horror and terrifying environment they are currently being held.”

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Jonathan off to Congo for consultations on regional security

President Goodluck Jonathan left Abuja, Monday afternoon, for Oyo, in the Republic of Congo, to consult with his Congolese counterpart, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, on the current security situation in West and Central Africa ahead of the meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, which opens in the Congolese town on Wednesday.

President Jonathan, who was accompanied by some of his principal aides and advisers will return to Abuja Tuesday morning.

CBN Spent Only N56 Billion On Varsities, Poly –Sanusi Lamido

Suspended Central Bank Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido, has revealed that he only expended the sum of N56 billion as intervention fund for the provision of infrastructure at 27 universities and six polytechnics across the country.
In his remarks at the Zonal meeting of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU) held at Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST) Sanusi appealed to the federal government that its opinion about him should not stop the on-going projects of CBN at various universities.
He said: “I want to clarify that a lot of numbers have been thrown around that I have spent N160 billion university interventions. I want to tell you that from 2009 to 2013 the total amount disbursed by the CBN on all the contracts at universities,  polytechnics, secondary schools and CBN branches was N56 billion”.
Sanusi clarified that it was an average of N11 billion per annum, noting that CBN has in 2013 alone gave the federal government a dividend of N159 billion and in 2012 it was N80 billion.
According to Sanusi, “if CBN was giving N159 billion  and N80 billion as dividends in two years, what is wrong in undertaking capital projects of N56 billion in five years?”
Sanusi stressed to SSANU and ASUU that “it is important to continue to appeal to the federal government that it should let the projects continue.
He said: “History will judge as all structures are there for all to see.
“Several months ago, ASUU was on strike because federal government did not meet its commitment to developing university education. The federal government came to me as part of its efforts to end ASUU strike, saying that the CBN should give the list of the project it had carried out in Nigerian universities and the deputy should explain to ASUU that CBN as agency of government has ongoing projects at the universities”.