Nigeria News Forum

  Ask me who's Nigeria's best president ever, and I will gladly tell you Yar’Adua . The man was good. He lived a simple and honest life. Served his home state for 8 years and Nigeria for 2+ years. He did not buy private jets, did not establish a private university, did not build a private estate, did not loot money and stash it in a foreign account, did not build a private radio/tv station, did not build a private hotel/shopping mall, and did not oppress his opponents. He obeyed the rule of law . On assuming office, he publicly declared his assets. He initiated electoral reforms and gave the judiciary a free hand to do its job. In his days, the ruling party lost several states to opposition via court judgments, and the good man kept his cool. He brought peace to the Niger-Delta via amnesty . He created the Ministry of the Niger-Delta and granted scholarships to thousands of former militants in different universities abroad. He was learned, he spoke coherently, and acted resp...

  The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari has been fair to  all Nigerians irrespective of  their ethnicity or religion since he came to office. It said this was demonstrated by the composition of President Buhari’s cabinet as well as his administration’s policies and programmes. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu, said this in a statement yesterday while reacting to the London Telegraph’s article titled: “Children Face Death by Starvation in Northern Nigeria” published on August 30. The presidential aide said the claims that Buhari’s government was targeting Christians and the opposition were without foundation. According to him, to suggest that Buhari’s government is deepening Muslim-Christian division is not only untrue, but also plays into the hands of Boko Haram who wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines.   Shehu noted that the fight against insurgency was a key priority of the ...

The Nigerian government has started paying ex-militants in the Niger Delta region, the   BBC is reporting . The organization cited a Bloomberg News report quoting the amnesty program’s spokesman, Piriye Kirayamo, as saying  "Payments of stipends to the ex-militants resumed this Monday. The payments are done directly from the CBN [Central Bank of Nigeria] to their bank accounts.” He added that "The payment also includes tuition for those studying abroad." Respectable publicantions like the economist had warned the government against bribing militants noting that it didn’t work in the past.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has presented food and non-food items to the military for onward distribution to 800 repented Boko Haram terrorists.  The government had instituted a Programme tagged: "Operation Safe Corridor" to de-radicalize, rehabilitate and re-integrate repentant terrorists as part of measures to fast track peace process in the North east.  The spokesman of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sani Datti, said in a statement on Tuesday that the items were presented to the military by the Agency's Director General,  Muhammad Sani Sidi in Gombe. He quoted the NEMA boss as saying that “The initiative, which is in line with international best practices allowed those engaged in the fighting to voluntarily surrender and embrace peace so that they undergo rehabilitation’’.   He said NEMA would play its role in the programme by providing regular support of food and non-food items for the repentant terroris...

Police detectives from the Delta State Command have quizzed a bishop of a new generation church in Warri over allegation of sponsoring the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers. Report gathered that the bishop (name withheld), hails from Ogbinbiri community of Egbema (Ijaw) Kingdom in the Warri North Council Area of the state and is the presiding bishop of the New Salvation Zion Church of Christ at Igbodu area of the city. Security sources said the church leader was invited for interrogation following two petitions alleging that he was funding the militant group. The interrogation was conducted at the Warri Area Command of the Delta State Police Command. It was learnt that the clergyman was interrogated from 8am to about 8pm last week Wednesday before he was allowed to go and ordered to report the following day for further questioning. A close relative of the suspected clergyman confirmed the development It was gathered that the petitions also alleged that the cleric wa...

THE Federal Government  explained yesterday why it has refused to enter into dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers who has continuously bombed pipelines in the region even as the militants  vowed not to beg government for negotiation. The Federal Government gave the explanation  a day after the Avengers blew up three more trunk lines in Bayelsa and Rivers. Meanwhile, residents of over 75 riverine communities Delta state have cried out over the pollution of their environment and environment by the activities of the Avengers and other militant groups. Avengers are economic warriors Giving reason why the Federal Government was not holding talks with the Niger Delta Avengers  on how to put an end to the bombing of pipelines, Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said that they are not freedom fighters but economic warriors who are fighting for their own private pockets. Professor Osinbajo who delivered the second foundation lecture of Elizade Universit...