Nigeria will overcome challenges, says Adeboye

General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has assured Nigerians that the country will overcome all the current security challenges including terrorism, unemployment, economic turbulence as well as the prediction of the collapse of the nation before 2015. Speaking at the church’s National Headquarters in Ebute-Meta, Lagos where he conducted a worship service themed: “A Sure House”, the man of God said rather than being troubled over these challenges, Nigerians should move closer to God, who has the ultimate solution to every challenge of life. Pastor Adeboye who was represented by his Special Assistant on Administration and Personnel, Pastor Johnson Odesola said that since human efforts have failed to restore hope and peace in the country, it is crucial to seek divine intervention to numerous challenges confronting the country. In his words: “The prayer that a new Nigeria will emerge by our father in the Lord is a prophetic word regardless of whatever the nation is going through now. You will recall that Elisah prayed and prophesied in the midst of uncertainty and we see the result. We trust God that history will repeat itself in Nigeria too. Nigerians should shun all forms of unrighteousness, move closer to God with their heart and not with mouth and diligently seek the face of God in prayer”. He emphasized the need for those in positions of authority to seek the face of God in everything they are doing while also admonishing the followers to adhere to the basic truth and biblical doctrines. Speaking on the growing housing deficit in the country, Pastor Odesola said effective policies should be developed to address this as it is done in other parts of the world, adding that provision of affordable houses can address several social challenges in the country.

2015: Why We Will Fight For Buhari With Our Life – APC Governors, Senators Declare

He may have run for Nigeria’s presidency in the past without success, but the massive turnout of people on the declaration of his intent to run for the same office on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in 2015 on Wednesday may just be an indication that the former Head of Head, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari may get the shot right this time. Read the account of a seemingly historic declaration. There were flurry of tributes on Buhari. From Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state to Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Others included Governors Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state and Tanko al-Makura of Nasarawa state. Among senior party officials at the venue were the National Vice Chairman, Northeast, Pastor David Lawal and the National Secretary Mai Mala. Senate Minority Leader and former governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume led the National Assembly delegation that included several senators and members of the House of Representatives. Also remarkable by their presence were the younger brother of late President Umaru Yar‘Adua, Col. Abdulaziz Yar‘Adua and a former member of the House of Representatives and immediate past board member of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Zilani Ibrahim. We will fight with our life — Ameachi: Change is in the air. Do you agree? And I can tell you why I say that change is in the air. In the past when the progressives had this kind of gathering, you would not see too many Governors. Today, APC can boast of 14 Governors. There is change in the air. The governors in APC are determined to work together for this change. In all our meetings, we insist that whoever emerges as the Party’s candidate, all of us will work to deliver APC. You know that our dear GMB is one of the aspirants. And you know he is a material you don’t have in the other party. If they say they have a material like this, they should show us somebody who is anti-corruption like Buhari. One person. So, APC provides an alternative for the country. We are tested and we will never disappoint Nigeria. For us as APC, we will line up behind the party. Go back home now and get your voters cards. We will punish these people. Rivers state is not in their hands. Lagos state is not in their hands. Kano State is not in their hands. So, tell me where we are going? They are banking on using security against us. We shall teach them lesson. We will fight with our body, with our lives because there must be change this time. And I have said it again and again, there is no aspirant in APC that is not better than the aspirants in PDP. What we must do is not only to vote for the aspirants in support, we must also take the voters card so that when we finish nominating our candidate here, we will line behind that candidate and ensure that we will vote out Jonathan. If we see the money they are stealing, there will be light. Won’t there be light? Mr. President said to us on live television: I am the most abused president in 2012. He said by 2013, there will be so much power in Nigeria; that Nigeria will be dancing for me on the street. Are you dancing? Do you have power? Buhari is an asset to Nigeria and APC — Chief Audu Ogbe, former national chairman of PDP and APC chieftain: Governor Ameachi, Senator Akume were discussing the crisis of the youth. We must find you jobs. We have to get you jobs. It is an oath before God Almighty, we must get you jobs. Now, it is my burden and responsibility to tell you about this man called General Mohammed Buhari. I will be very brief but the story is long and you should know why it is Buhari. People ask you, why him? I will tell you why. He was born in 1941 in Katsina. He went to the military college in Zaria then went to England. He came back as a second lieutenant. And then began his career as a soldier. I did not say all the details but here is a man who has held such responsible positions that today we see he is a very solid asset to Nigeria and to this party. They have described him in the following words: they said he was an only pebble in the beach. That was a comment by a white man who was in school with him. Another one went ahead describing Buhari as a gentleman, soft spoken soldier who persevered, preserved the ethics of the profession. He was always careful with his language. He will smile at every joke and will never do anything to rock the boat. We are here and by the grace of God, muslims and Christians, we shall be here together. Because we believe and he does, that Almighty God is big enough to accommodate Muslims, Christians, Hindus even pagans. God in His infinite mercy brought us together and our business is to work together for the growth of our country and the future of Nigeria. Why Buhari? We are here because we know he is as cool as cucumber, as deep as the ocean, as quiet as a philosopher. He is not a noisy man. He is not brash. And is it because he has money? No. He saw money but did not take it. He had power but did not abuse it. Why are we gathered? What is the mystery about General Buhari? Why does he turn out such a crowd each time he appears? Here is a man of unusual character and why does he want to contest now? Because there comes a time in the history of a country when extra ordinary man has to be called upon to meet extra ordinary circumstance. Nigeria is in serious trouble. Make no mistakes. There is terrorism in North East. There is corruption at a level no body has ever imagined in this country’s history and you all know. But everything is being covered in heavy propaganda. The man says elders can’t go to sleep when the house is on fire. So, he wants to come out, restore the place and move on. And I want to say that this party appreciates other contestants. We send our greetings to Atiku Abubakar. We send our greetings to Kwamkwaso. We send our greetings to Sam Nda-Isaiah. Let each one of them have a chance. We are practicing internal democracy at the finest point. And we want to say all of you who are here, we send our greetings of sympathy to the north east, to the governors there who are members of our party. May the Almighty God bring Boko Haram to an end. We send our greeting to the Chibok parents. We believe that one day, they will be reunited to their children even though those children have seen a lot of trauma. We commend the #BringBackOurGirls Movement led by members of this party. We thank them for their commitment to Nigeria because they remain the only living evidence that Nigeria has a conscience. We hear that the federal government wants to take them to court. Let the court room be large enough to accommodate all of us because they are doing the right thing. Buhari not in the race for himself — Timipre Sylva, former Governor of Bayelsa State: Buhari is not in this race for himself. He is in this race because of us, the younger people. We are very happy that he has decided to come out of retirement to help us stabilise this country so that you and I, the younger ones, can carry on with the development of this great nation. And people even say General Buhari is too old. To them, I will only quote the words of the former president of America, late President Ronald Regan. We are not going to make age an issue in this campaign because we do not want to be accused of taking advantage of the inexperience of our opponent. Gen. Buhari brings experience to this campaign. He brings integrity to this campaign. He brings transparency to this campaign and that is why all of us must join hands to support him to be the president for us because he is the man of the people today, he will be president of the people come February, 2015. Senator Mamora: There is a wind of change. The wind of change is blowing. Come 2015, we shall have APC government installed in Abuja. Can we go on with the insecurity in the country? Can we go on with youth unemployment in the country? Can we go on with the subversion of the rule of law in the country? Can we go on with no power supply? Can we go on with economic degradation and deprivation? Therefore, we need that change and the time has come. Everyone of us is involved and we have to work to achieve that success. Senator George Akume: As Governor Silva said, age is not a barrier. It is the idea that is important. Now, we have Boko Haram. No jobs. Is that what you want? APC is a great party richly endowed with best human resources you can get anywhere in the world.

ALARM! Fresh Crisis Erupts In #Osun Between Ife, Modakeke

ALARM! Fresh Crisis Erupts In #Osun Between Ife, Modakeke Fresh crisis is brewing between the people of Ile-Ife and Modakeke in Osun State over the alleged refusal of the former to allow the latter return to their farmlands located in Ife domain. It was reliably gathered that the looming crisis was aggravated by the results of the last governorship election in the state, which returned Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to office for a second term. It would be recalled that the Modakeke/Ife communal clash which claimed several lives and property worth several million of Naira broke out in 1997, following the creation of Ife-East Local Government Area and the location of the new council’s headquarters. The communal clash lasted for about five years until the intervention of the Presidency under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, when the crisis subsided in 2001. However, since then, the people of Modakeke were not allowed to return to their farmlands reportedly owned by the people of Ife, who were said to be demanding, among other things, royalties on the farmlands. All the while, the people of Modakeke, who are predominantly farmers, have not been allowed to return to the farmland until the last governorship election. During the campaign, the candidates especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, promised to come to their aide by appealing to Ife elders and traditional chiefs to allow the Modakeke people to return to their farmlands on the condition that they would vote for him en masse. But the result of the last governorship election did not go as expected by the Ife and PDP, a situation which indirectly aggravated the animosity between the people of the two towns as more than 90% of the votes cast in Modakeke were in favour of Aregbesola. The development, however, prompted Ife to be pointing accusing fingers at Modakeke as betrayers, a situation which has resulted in the fresh disagreements between the two communities. When our correspondent visited the area especially along Oyere Road, Alapata, Amokegun and Oyolowa, on Thursday, it was discovered that the people had taken up arms and blocked all roads leading to the areas. They also turned away motorists plying the areas and shooting indiscriminately into the air. It was also discovered that bonfires were made on the road leading to the area while the people of the two towns hid in nearby bush to watch the situation. When contacted on phone, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubakar Marafa, through the command’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro (DSP), confirmed the development. She said the command had swiftly responded and beefed up security in the area, adding that the situation was under control.

ISIS training pilots to fly fighter jets Iraqi

Pilots who have joined ISIS in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, an activist group monitoring the war said Friday, saying it was the first time that the militant group had taken to the air. The group has been flying the planes over the captured Al-Jarrah Syrian military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing witnesses in Syria’s northern Aleppo province. “They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” he said. “People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back.” It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military. The countryside east of Aleppo city is one of the main bases of ISIS in Syria. The group has seized tracts of territory in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Source DAILYSTAR.COM.LB

Ebola: UN launches urgent appeal for donations

Ban Ki-moon has launched another urgent appeal for funds to help fight Ebola after a United Nations drive for donations fell short of its target. The UN chief said a $1bn trust fund he launched in September has received just $100,000 (£62,000) so far. He joins a growing chorus of world leaders criticising the global effort to tackle the Ebola outbreak. The disease has killed about 4,500 people so far, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Donors have given almost $400m (£250m) to other UN agencies and aid organisations directly but the UN trust fund, intended to act as a flexible spending reserve, has itself only received pledges of just $20m (£12m). Of those countries that have pledged money to the trust fund, only Colombia has paid, giving $100,000 (£62,000). The UN special envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, said the fund was intended to offer “flexibility in responding to a crisis which every day brings new challenges”. “It allows the areas of greatest need to be identified and funds to be directed accordingly,” he added. Ban said it was time for the countries “who really have capacity” to provide financial and other logistical support. Similar calls have been made in recent days by US President Barack Obama, UK PM David Cameron, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has told the BBC he was “bitterly disappointed” with the international community’s response. “If the crisis had hit some other region it probably would have been handled very differently,” he said in an interview with BBC Newsnight. “In fact when you look at the evolution of the crisis, the international community really woke up when the disease got to America and Europe.” The World Health Organisation has said it is “ramping up” efforts to prevent Ebola spreading beyond the three countries most affected by the deadly virus. WHO official Isabelle Nuttall said 15 African countries are being prioritised for help in prevention and protection, with the four countries directly bordering the affected areas – Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal – getting the most attention. Meanwhile, President Obama has given the go-ahead for US military reservists to be deployed to West Africa if needed. They would join the 4,000 American troops already being sent to the region. The president also said he was open to appointing someone to head the Ebola response in the US, a so- called czar. Obama’s senior health advisors have met scathing criticism after two nurses became infected at a Texas hospital by a patient who later died. US officials now believe one of the nurses, Amber Vinson, may have been sick and contagious for four days and flown on two flights before being diagnosed with the disease. Disease control specialists are being sent to Ohio to help monitor people she came into contact when she flew there from Dallas last week.