Elections as military operations
BY all sober reckoning, Professor Attahiru Jega has done quite well in his last two outings as Nigeria’s chief electoral officer and, so, democracy’s chief midwife in our turbulent country. If Ekiti broke the hearts of progressives, of those who believe that “man does not live alone by bread” — in other words, that the gospel of “Man shall live alone for his stomach,” according to Saints Adedibu and Fayose, is perversion itself — Osun offered them consolation. With the hard-fought but clear victory of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the August 9 election, Jega gave hope to a nation pining, panting even, for a sign of change in the still uninspiring effort of governing ourselves sensibly. If against the seemingly unstoppable electoral machine of the ruling party, oiled by its ability to dispense power and privilege, a harried governor from a new collation party still getting to know all of its new members could win re-election, then 2015 might not be all the predicted gloom and doom. Electorally speaking, only, I must be quick to add, for the forces that tear at corporate Nigeria are legion!
Israel orders Gaza truce team back from Cairo
Israel on Tuesday ordered its negotiating team to return immediately from Gaza truce talks with the Palestinians in Cairo after three rockets hit the country’s south, a government official said.
I will never bite anyone again— Suarez
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez said he has received professional help after receiving a four-month ban for biting an opponent for the third time in his career when he clashed with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
Rwanda appeal CAF disqualification
The Rwanda Football Federation on Tuesday appealed against its disqualification from 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for fielding a player with double nationality.
UN announces emergency aid for 500,000 northern Iraqis
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it was poised to mount a massive aid operation for 500,000 Iraqis driven from their homes by jihadist rebels.
NURTW commends FG for dismantling illegal roadblocks
Alhaji Najeem Yasin, the National President, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), on Tuesday commended the Federal Government for dismantling illegal roadblocks on the nation’s highways
Three Gaza rockets hit southern Israel during truce: army
Three rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip struck near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva Tuesday, hours before a ceasefire was due to expire, the military said.
Nigeria faults UK newspaper allegation on war crimes
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had faulted a British Newspaper report that Nigerian government committed war crimes by terrorising some of its citizens in the war against insurgency
Ban Ki-moon calls for accelerated action on MDGS to save lives
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has called for more accelerated action from governments, international organisations and civil society groups on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for sustainable development far beyond 2015.
Saudi top cleric blasts Al-Qaeda, IS as ‘enemy No 1’ of Islam
Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh on Tuesday blasted Al-Qaeda and Islamic State jihadists as “enemy number one” of Islam, in a statement issued in Riyadh.
2015 , Jonathan and NEF’s delusion
I HAVE been at odds trying to rationalise, or otherwise put a value to the recent ultimatum given President Goodluck Jonathan by a group known as Northern Elders Forum (NEF). The group, long-discredited by its often parochial stance on national issues, insists the President must produce the abducted Chibok girls and bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency by the end of October 2014, or be deemed unfit to seek re-election in 2015.
