Boko Haram pls release the girls of GGSS Chibok

               

                                                                                                                                                      Governor Shettima                                                                                                                                

PARENTS of abducted female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State, have said only 40 out of the 234 kidnapped girls escaped and have already joined them in their respective houses in Biu, Gwoza, Damboa and other communities.
  The Parents confirmed this to dispel the rumours making the round that eighty percent of the girls have been rescued. The aggrieved and traumatised parents spoke at the premises of the destroyed school when the governor paid them a sympathy visit.
 During the visit, One of the parents, Malam Shettima Haruna, told the governor that since the incident happened, they have been having sleepless nights as they took courage and entered the forest looking for their daughters, but their search and rescue mission was fruitless. Haruna said:

Your Excellency, we want to seize this opportunity to thank you for the visit and for identifying with us at this sorrowful moment, but the truth of the matter is that only 40 out of about 234 students have so far been rescued, and we want to emphasise that we are not happy with this development. In as much as we continue praying for the safe return of our daughters, we appeal to government and our security operatives to please intensify the search for our missing innocent children

 Amos Chiroma, on the other hand ,who was among the search and rescue team, confirmed that Sambisa forest is the camp ground for the Boko Haram insurgents. He said they saw a lot of strange things in the forest, adding that only prayers and fasting can rescue the remaining abducted girls:

While we were in the bushes of Sambisa with over 200 volunteers who only had cutlasses, bows and arrows and sticks, we came across different make-shift camps suspected to be owned by terrorists, it is unfortunate that we have to withdraw from the rescue and search operation. When we met one Good Samaritan in the forest, he advised that all of us should go back because the camp we were approaching was a death trap set by insurgents. If soldiers were able to join us to the forest, our missing children will be rescued.

Governor Shettima  sympathised with parents of the abducted students then and pledged to deploy all human and material resources towards the safe release of the remaining girls. He even sermonised saying:

"They can burn our physical infrastructure, but they cannot destroy our souls.
We are going to survive and rebuild our lives because truth will always triumph over falsehood,
The abduction of innocent girls is also a trial from God, and we will overcome it soon.
Our hearts go to the parents of the abducted girls, because it is a tragedy that has befallen all of us,
Security agents are working very hard to rescue the girls. Hopefully the girls will be rescued in a very short while"

How short is the short while? There are so many questions begging for answers here? Since the Governor gave that speech till now no more girls have been rescued. The ten or so that escaped did it on their own. They said they went to wash at the stream so they ran away. If the girls could run through the forest, how come our Military personnel cannot run through and flushed out this evil men.?
By the way, why did the principal asked the girls to come back without adequate security? Why didn't they move the WASCE Centre away from Borno State?
Even our President, GOODLUCK JONATHAN promised that all the girls would be rescued shortly too but weeks after, nothing of the such.
Who is responsible for the safety of lives and properties in this Nation? Where are the money for security votes going to?

My heart bleeds as a mother for theses young, innocent girls that are still being kept by these insurgents as slaves to do their bidding and at their mercies.
Please will our government both at the State and Federal level do something please....We are begging for something to be done, an action to be taken please......Enough with promises that are not kept. Stop playing politics with the lives of these girls.

 

EASTER SEASON

THis week was the Holy Week of the passion and crucifixion and this weekend we celebrate the resurrection of our LORD and Saviour  JESUS CHRIST. So thankful that God sent His son to earth to pay for our sins, reconcile us back to God and open the way for us to live in eternity with Him.

The Scripture says in 2 cor 5:21- "For he hath made him to be sin for us , who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

See we can be righteous on our own . Our actions can never be good enough to earn God's acceptance. But righteousness is not about what we do but rather what JESUS did over 2000 years ago. He paid  the price for our sins and shame so that we could have access to God's Throne of Grace. He died so that we could  live. He conquered death, hell, and the grave so that we could have everlasting Life. That is why we are celebrating the Easter season.

Jesus was beaten, bruised and sacrificed for us all.  We didnt  deserve it, we didnt earn it. We can only receive His love and eternal life as a gift. He displayed His indescribable goodness when He gave His life for us.

John 11:25 - "Jesus said unto her i am the resurrection and the life. he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall  he live".

The question is,  are we really living the resurrected life? Have you received this gift of eternal life? God loves you with an everlasting Love. He doesnt want you to live in bondage to sin, pain, depression, fear or addiction.He wants you to be free in Him and live as an overcomer through Christ.  He wants a closer and more personal relationship with you so He can show you His mercy, Love and goodness.

What is EASTER?

E - EVERLASTING

A - ADVANTAGE

S - STRENGHTENED

T - THROUGH

E - ETERNAL

R - RECONCILIATION

Jesus, our Conqueror, has gone before us and explored the grave. He came out the champion of life and He said "Because I live, you will live also.

The substitutional death of Jesus Christ on the cross for mankind saved us all.

May we all experience the power of His resurrection.. AMEN

National Conference

The National Conference was initiated and inaugurated by Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan last month. Almost 500 hundred delegates from all walks of life were selected or nominated to partcipate. So far nothing meaningful has been achieved as there are debating about order of events and schedule. if you ask me, some of the delegates are too old and too crafty to be members.These set of crafty politicians have been in every debates and discussion regarding the way forward for tis nation yet the Country is not making progress. If they see a bit of progress, they introduce religion to set division amongs the people.

 

We all believe that we should all sit down together and discuss what has kept us back, how to plan for the future and how to make that progress that is deseevedly ours given the endowment of this great Country.

 

Apart from these old Politicians who do not mean well for t his nation, we have some young, intelligent ones like tis man who made a Speech That Set Delegates On Fire! Since the commencement of debate on the president’s speech at the national conference, the chairman placed embargo on clapping. However, that embargo was overturned by delegates after a rousing and electrifying speech by a delegate representing the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu from Niger State. His speech got a standing ovation and thunderous round of applause.

Here is the transcript of the speech:

Alh. Nurudeen Lemu, a delegate from the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs

As a delegate, and as a people representing people of faith in God from the Islamic perspective, one thing we believe is that God will protect the community that stands for justice even if they are not Muslims and God will not protect the community that goes contrary to justice even if they call themselves Muslims.

God is not a religious bigot. He is not a male chauvinist. He is not an ethnocentric tribalist. God is not the oppressor of anyone. God is with those who care; those who want for others those things they want for themselves.

One tendency for people who claim to follow a religion is to slide into the position of believing that we are better than the others. We overestimate our virtues and underestimate the goodness in others. The tendency is for us to become spiritually arrogant; to forget that others are people like us.

There is always a tension between representing our religious communities or our ethnic communities and our loyalty to the virtues and values and teachings of our religion even those lofty ideals of our ethnic groups.

It is our prayer that delegates will try and ensure that the spiritual strength we have in us will keep us from not getting angry and not allowing our bitterness from others to make us sail from justice. It is in this vein and as a delegate from the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, we condemn the murder of all Christians, we condemn the murder of all Muslims. Not because they are Christians or Muslims, but because they are human beings – creatures of God.

There is no compulsion in religion. We all own Nigeria. We all belong here. And we all have the right to self-determination. We should respect that right and do unto others what we will do unto ourselves.

There are many other countries that have ethnic and religious diversity far greater than what we have here in Nigeria. But something that distinguishes us from them, be it Singapore, United States, they have been able to respect the rule of law so that any bigot, any nepotic individual who tramples on the right of anyone especially that of the minority, the rule of law will catch up. Satan will only find a hole if there is a crack in that rule of law.

Ever ethnic group is an oppressed minority somewhere. Every group is a religious and ethnic minority somewhere. Every majority or settler is an indigene somewhere. In one way, we are all settlers; we just don’t remember where we came from or why we came.

But ultimately, we are all visitors to this planet, from God we come and to Him we return. As Muslim delegates, we come in brotherhood, as brothers and friends to solve our common problems and not as adversaries.

We come against the exploitation of religion and religious sentiments. We come against stereotyping, stigmatizing and dehumanizing of each other. We come against the use of religion as a political decoy and as a distraction from the critical things that bedevil our nation.

I pray that at the end of this conference, we will all grow in our humanity and respect for each other.

Re: Killer Child Bride_ Wasila Umar

 A CHILD bride forced into marriage in Nigeria has killed the groom and three of his friends with a poisoned meal on Thursday April 10, 2014.

  According to a report from the Assistant Police Superintendent, Musa Magaji Majia, 14-year-old Miss Wasila Umaru was married last week to 35-year-old Umaru Sani.

  Over the weekend, the groom invited a group of friends to celebrate his wedding to the child-bride at his Ungwar Yansoro village, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the northern city of Kano. The little girl not happy with the marriage and not knowing what to do resorted to the last option which is to kill the groom. The teenage girl told the Police that she bought the rat poison at a village market and used it to prepare the last supper, a dish of rice for her husband and his friends. She said she did it because she was forced to marry a man she did not love and who was much older than her.

From the report, the groom and a friend died the same day and two other friends died later in the hospital. Since she confessed to the crime, the Police will probably charge her with culpable homicide.

   This would not have happened if her poor parents had not forcefully married her to the man old enough to be her father. Child marriage is common in northern Nigeria and especially in the mainly Muslim and impoverished North, where the numbers increase in times of drought because a bride price is paid and it means one less mouth to feed.

  Fifty per cent of Nigerian girls living in rural areas are married before they turn 18, according to the U.N. Children’s agency. That’s a lot of child brides in a country that half of the population are teenagers and under 18.

 Child brides often suffer difficult pregnancies because their reproductive organs are not matured to carry the weight of a child. Also the pressure on the pelvis and their womanhood causes the VVF sickness. That is the abnormal passage that leads from one organ or part of the body to another allowing waste uncontrollable. The child bride also suffers from Vulvovaginitis which is coincident inflammation of the vulva and vagina.

 Also, these young girls are much more likely to contract AIDS.

 According to the International Center for Research on Women, the child bride is subjected to domestic violence apart from the numerous diseases.

United Nation and other Organisations in the World classified this  Early and forced marriage as modern-day slavery. These girls are held prisoners in their homes by these so called husbands who treat them as object of labour and most times as personal properties without feelings.


Although the Nigeria’s Child Rights Act prohibits marriage before 18, the  Islamic Shariah law operated in most States in the North and even recently, the members of the National Assembly especially the Senators state otherwise. That notwithstanding, we should all join our voices to condemn this evil in our land.

It been observed that many child brides are divorced because of the medical problems caused by difficult pregnancies. Most of these girls are put out on the street or abandoned in hospitals.


Please say no to Child Brides in your locality and Community. Help save a life and save the Nation. Don't wait for innocent girls like Miss Wasila Umaru to save themseves from the clutches of these paedophiles.

SAY NO TO CHILD BRIDE.

 These girls are still children. Please dont saddle them with responsibilities that  mentally, emotionally and physically they are not ready for. I know what Wasila did is wrong to take another man's life but what the man would have done or has already done to her body and mind is evil too. Please discourage early marriage in Northern Nigeria. Help spread the  protest.

NIS and poor handling of Recruitment Exercise

Saturday, 15th March 2014, will not be forgotten easily by many people in Nigeria and especially in Lagos.

My niece was wedding that day in Ikorodu, a suburb of lagos and we needed to be there early since we had a major role to play. The first was the traditional marriage before the church wedding and my husband was in charge of introducing our family members to the groom family.
We left home by 6.30am since the traditional wedding was to start by 7.30am. You can imagined how shocked we were when we got to stadium and there was no movement. We turned and took Ogunlana Drive to collect Ojuelegba and it was same. The whole of Surulere was blocked and we were just wondering what was going on and how are we going to get out to connect Ikorodu Road. People came out of their vehicles and started asking wht the problem was. We knew the President was not in Lagos( the road is always closed for the Country's President), so what was the problem?
We eventually, took a narrow and terribly bad road to connect the bridge and got out to the .
Ikorodu expressway
Because we didn't get there on time, the traditional wedding had to be kept on hold till we arrived by 9am. The wedding went on successfully even at the Church and the Reception.

 

My niece Mboso and her sweetheart

Why was there so much traffic and chaos in Lagos that day? It was the recruitment exercise for the Nigerian Immigration Service. For only 4500  job opening  in its service, NIS contracted a consultant who advised them that the hapless, unemployed, downtrodden and frustrated graduates in Nigeria should be charged N1000. So each applicant, candidate was to pay processing fee of N1000 Naira. At the last count, the Cconsultant made 710m naira from the applicants.



Mr. ABBA MORO, Minister of Interior
 
There were several centres across the Country like Lagos, Benin, Uyo, Abuja, Port -harcourt etc
In all the centres used that day, the consultant went to sleep after collecting and milking these helpless people because there was no crowd control mechanism put in place. The consultant knew how many applied and how many they extorted money from, for them to have made adequate arrangement but they did not.

For goodness sake, who conducts  written examination or interview in a stadium? How were they going to supervise the written tests? Was it not absurd that  the Minister of Internal Affair agreed to this horrible way of selecting candidates for an  institution that is supposed to be conservative and discreet?

The TRUTH is that the Exercise was a fraud.
The first reason why I said it was a fraud is that the procedure for employment in the Civil Service was not followed. I am working in one of the Federal Government establishment and did not pay for processing fee. The government does not ask for application fee so where did this come from.?
Secondly, the government uses their own personnel for employment procedures and not contract it out to consultant, It is only the private sector that does that not public Service. Nigeria Immigration Service and the Minister of Interior who incidentally handled the recruitment refused to use established organs of Government and departments to carry out the exercise.
Also who conducts examination in a Stadium? The Stadium is an open big place with  no privacy and proper coordination. How do you invigilate an examination where the people are sitting so close and there is so much noise and chaos?.

In view of the security challenge in the country, wouldnt NIS  have screened the applications online to  reduce the number of people that would gather in a particular center at a time?.
Why wasnt the internet portal used for the application closed when they had received at least 10,000 application?

Lastly, the Consultant, DREXEL Technologies Limited, engaged by the Nigerian Immigration Service, is not registered according to the report in the Vanguard Newspapers. It was also gathered from the Labour Ministry that the company is not among the over 700 registered recruiter companies in Nigeria as at March 2014. Why were they engaged when they do not have the capacity to conduct or manage such responsibility?

 DAVID PARADANG, Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service

During the probe ordered by the National Assembly, the Comptroller General revealed that they were not carried along. He stated that the Ministry and the Minister took over the recruitment exercise and handed it over to the consultant to conduct. He also said there was no board meeting to that effect. Another Board member, MUSTAPHA ZAKARIYA, also stated that there was no board meeting or if it was called, he was not invited.  The consultant in his defense, claimed that the money collected was to set up the portal and not for the actual recruitment exercise. Please tell me, is over N700m made from the applicants used for setting up internet portal to fill and download just application forms?

The Human Capital Providers Association of Nigeria, HUCAPAN, the supervisory body for recruiting companies, also disclosed that the Consultant is not their member and all the other companies that passed through the so called Ministerial Tender Board before Drexel are not registered by the Federal Government. Mr. Neye Enemigan, the head of that organisation had this to say:

“The unfortunate death was avoidable. It is something that should not have happened in any civilized country. It is a shame and for me I feel very sad. I express my condolence to the family.  The outsourcing company is not our member. But what is worse is that we have taken pain to investigate and we have found out this outsourcing company is not even registered to recruit. For example, the Minister of Internal Affair, Mr. Abba Moro said that they followed due process and that they shortlisted four companies; Pyrich Global Limited, Bosmos Infotech Limited, Rosebonny Technologies Limited and Drexel Technologies Limited, and that all of them went through the ministerial tenders board.
“We have investigated and found out that all the four companies are not registered to recruit. In other word, the one that got the job, Drexel Technologies Limited is not registered, licenced or authorised by law to engage in that exercise. By Nigerian labour law and to be specific, section 23, 24, 25 and 71 of the Labour Act laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 makes it clear that the Minister of Labour and Productivity, will licence any organisation that is a recruiter. So, if you have not been licenced by the Minister of Labour and Productivity as a recruiter, what you are doing is illegal.
“The company collected according to what the Minister of Internal Affairs said, over N700 million and also by law, no prospective employee is required to pay a Kobo to get a job. You are not required to pay to get form, you are not required to pay for anything. That on its own is also illegal.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR BAGUDU, Chairman senate committee on Interior.
The senate set up an inquiry and held a public hearings on the matter. I hope that it would be done speedily. It was there that a lot was revealed about the sour relationship between the Minister and the officials of  NIS. Even the Minister confessed that he was not in any of the centres as he was at a social function.

Even the candidates got to centres/stadium before the organisers. It was a very poor management of the situation. 
With no proper crowd control and coordination of examination materials, pandemonium and struggle took over and the rest is history. 20 applicants died in the stampede and scores of others were wounded. In the Benin City Centre, a pregnant woman lost her life and that of the unborn child.

The company is quack and the company should be dealt with in accordance with the law. They were to release 201m for the conduct of the exam but they released only 21m. Thank God that the President has ordered that the money paid by the applicants be refunded.

The botched NIS Recruitment Exercise just showed us that the rate of unemployment in this Country is frightening and worrisome. I pray the Government will rise up, create jobs, provide enabling environment, provide infrastructure (electricity, good road, less taxes) and encourage small scale industries

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