Ghana name Under-20 World Cup squad

Ghana coach Sellas Tetteh has released a list of 21 players to form his squad for the upcoming U-20 World Cup tournament in New Zealand.

Joseph Owusu Bempah, who led the team at the 2015 African Youth Championship (AFC) in Senegal earlier this year, has been included as captain.

Also in is Manchester City's Yaw Yeboah, voted the AFC's best player.

Ghana are in Group B of the 30 May to 20 June tournament, alongside Argentina, Austria and Panama.

The Black Satellites are the only African nations to have lifted the trophy.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: Kwame Baah (Heart of Lions), Siedu Muntawakilu (Hearts of Oak), Lawrence Ati-Zigi (Red Bull Salzburg)

Defenders: Kingsley Fobi (Right to Dream), Owusu Bempah (Hearts of Oak), Joseph Aidoo (Inter Allies), Joseph Adjei (Wa All Stars), Emmanuel Ntim (Valenciennes), Patrick Asmah (BA United), Patrick Kpozo (Inter Allies)

Midfielders: Asiedu Attobrah (New Edubiase), Godfred Donsah (Calgliari), Kofi Yeboah (Wa All Stars), Prosper Kasim (Inter Allies), David Atanga (Red Bull Salzburg), Yaw Yeboah (Man City), Clifford Aboagye (Granada), Osei Barnes (Paios Ferriera)

Strikers: Benjamin Tetteh (Tudu Mighty Jets), Emmanuel Boateng (Rio Ave), Samuel Tetteh (WAFA)

FT

Flying Eagles (AlHassan, Saviour, Matthew, Usman) 4-1 Freiburg U23

THE FULL LIST



Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo (MFM FC); Dele Alampasu (Football College Academy); Olorunleke Ojo (Giwa FC)



Defenders: Musa Muhammed (FC Heart Academy); Mustapha Abdullahi (Spotlight FC); Zaharaddeen Bello (Dabo Babes Academy); Wilfred Ndidi (KRC Genk, Belgium); Izu Omego (Apapa Golden Stars); Chidiebere Nwakali (Manchester City, England)



Midfielders: Akinjide Idowu (Nigeria Young Academy); Ifeanyi Ifeanyi (Water FC); Kingsley Sokari (Enyimba FC); Ifeanyi Mathew (El-Kanemi Warriors); Musa Yahaya (Tottenham FC, England); Bernard Bulbwa (Esperance ST, Tunisia); Godwin Saviour (FC Sports)



Forwards: Taiwo Awoniyi (Imperial Academy); Chidera Ezeh (FC Porto, Portugal); Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Success Isaac (Granada FC, Spain)

81. Many southern Africans have indigenous and pre-colonial words for ‘gun’. Scholars have generally been reluctant to investigate or explain this fact.

82. Evidence discovered in 1978 showed that East Africans were making steel for more than 1,500 years: “Assistant Professor of Anthropology Peter Schmidt and Professor of Engineering Donald H. Avery have found as long as 2,000 years ago Africans living on the western shores of Lake Victoria had produced carbon steel in preheated forced draft furnaces, a method that was technologically more sophisticated than any developed in Europe until the mid-nineteenth century.”

83. Ruins of a 300 BC astronomical observatory was found at Namoratunga in Kenya. Africans were mapping the movements of stars such as Triangulum, Aldebaran, Bellatrix, Central Orion, etcetera, as well as the moon, in order to create a lunar calendar of 354 days.

84. Autopsies and caesarean operations were routinely and effectively carried out by surgeons in pre-colonial Uganda. The surgeons routinely used antiseptics, anaesthetics and cautery iron. Commenting on a Ugandan caesarean operation that appeared in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1884, one author wrote: “The whole conduct of the operation … suggests a skilled long-practiced surgical team at work conducting a well-tried and familiar operation with smooth efficiency.”

85. Sudan in the mediaeval period had churches, cathedrals, monasteries and castles. Their ruins still exist today.

86. The mediaeval Nubian Kingdoms kept archives. From the site of Qasr Ibrim legal texts, documents and correspondence were discovered. An archaeologist informs us that: “On the site are preserved thousands of documents in Meroitic, Latin, Greek, Coptic, Old Nubian, Arabic and Turkish.”

87. Glass windows existed in mediaeval Sudan. Archaeologists found evidence of window glass at the Sudanese cities of Old Dongola and Hambukol.

88. Bling culture existed in the mediaeval Sudan. Archaeologists found an individual buried at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in the city of Old Dongola. He was clad in an extremely elaborate garb consisting of costly textiles of various fabrics including gold thread. At the city of Soba East, there were individuals buried in fine clothing, including items with golden thread.
Great Zimbabwe Walls
89. Style and fashion existed in mediaeval Sudan. A dignitary at Jebel Adda in the late thirteenth century AD was interned with a long coat of red and yellow patterned damask folded over his body. Underneath, he wore plain cotton trousers

of long and baggy cut. A pair of red leather slippers with turned up toes lay at the foot of the coffin. The body was wrapped in enormous pieces of gold brocaded striped silk.

90. Sudan in the ninth century AD had housing complexes with bath rooms and piped water. An archaeologist wrote that Old Dongola, the capital of Makuria, had: “a[n] … eighth to … ninth century housing complex. The houses discovered here differ in their hitherto unencountered spatial layout as well as their functional programme (water supply installation, bathroom with heating system) and interiors decorated with murals.”

91. In 619 AD, the Nubians sent a gift of a giraffe to the Persians.92. The East Coast, from Somalia to Mozambique, has ruins of well over 50 towns and cities. They flourished from the ninth to the sixteenth centuries AD.93. Chinese records of the fifteenth century AD note that Mogadishu had houses of “four or five storeys high”.

94. Gedi, near the coast of Kenya, is one of the East African ghost towns. Its ruins, dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, include the city walls, the palace, private houses, the Great Mosque, seven smaller mosques, and three pillar tombs.

95. The ruined mosque in the Kenyan city of Gedi had a water purifier made of limestone for recycling water.

96. The palace in the Kenyan city of Gedi contains evidence of piped water controlled by taps. In addition it had bathrooms and indoor toilets.

97. A visitor in 1331 AD considered the Tanzanian city of Kilwa to be of world class. He wrote that it was the “principal city on the coast the greater part of whose inhabitants are Zanj of very black complexion.” Later on he says that: “Kilwa is one of the most beautiful and well-constructed cities in the world. The whole of it is elegantly built.”

98. Bling culture existed in early Tanzania. A Portuguese chronicler of the sixteenth century wrote that: “[T]hey are finely clad in many rich garments of gold and silk and cotton, and the women as well; also with much gold and silver chains and bracelets, which they wear on their legs and arms, and many jewelled earrings in their ears”.

99. In 1961 a British archaeologist, found the ruins of Husuni Kubwa, the royal palace of the Tanzanian city of Kilwa. It had over a hundred rooms, including a reception hall, galleries, courtyards, terraces and an octagonal swimming pool.

100. In 1414 the Kenyan city of Malindi sent ambassadors to China carrying a gift that created a sensation at the Imperial Court. It was, of course, a giraffe.

76. Dr Albert Churchward, author of Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man, pointed out that writing was found in one of the stone built ruins: “Lt.-Col. E. L. de Cordes … who was in South Africa for three years, informed the writer that in o

ne of the ‘Ruins’ there is a ‘stone-chamber,’ with a vast quantity of Papyri, covered with old Egyptian hieroglyphics. A Boer hunter discovered this, and a large quantity was used to light a fire with, and yet still a larger quantity remained there now.”

77. On bling culture, one seventeenth century visitor to southern African empire of Monomotapa, that ruled over this vast region, wrote that: “The people dress in various ways: at court of the Kings their grandees wear cloths of rich silk, damask, satin, gold and silk cloth; these are three widths of satin, each width four covados [2.64m], each sewn to the next, sometimes with gold lace in between, trimmed on two sides, like a carpet, with a gold and silk fringe, sewn in place with a two fingers’ wide ribbon, woven with gold roses on silk.”

78. Southern Africans mined gold on an epic scale. One modern writer tells us that: “The estimated amount of gold ore mined from the entire region by the ancients was staggering, exceeding 43 million tons. The ore yielded nearly 700 tons of pure gold which today would be valued at over $­­­­­­7.5 billion.”

79. Apparently the Monomotapan royal palace at Mount Fura had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. An eighteenth century geography book provided the following data: “The inside consists of a great variety of sumptuous apartments, spacious and lofty halls, all adorned with a magnificent cotton tapestry, the manufacture of the country. The floors, cielings [sic], beams and rafters are all either gilt or plated with gold curiously wrought, as are also the chairs of state, tables, benches &c. The candle-sticks and branches are made of ivory inlaid with gold, and hang from the cieling by chains of the same metal, or of silver gilt.”

80. Monomotapa had a social welfare system. Antonio Bocarro, a Portuguese contemporary, informs us that the Emperor: “shows great charity to the blind and maimed, for these are called the king’s poor, and have land and revenues for their subsistence, and when they wish to pass through the kingdoms, wherever they come food and drinks are given to them at the public cost as long as they remain there, and when they leave that place to go to another they are provided with what is necessary for their journey, and a guide, and some one to carry their wallet to the next village. In every place where they come there is the same obligation.”

71. Lalibela is not the only place in Ethiopia to have such wonders. A cotemporary archaeologist reports research that was conducted in the region in the early 1970’s when: “startling numbers of churches built in caves or partially or completely cut from the living rock were revealed not only in Tigre and Lalibela but as far south as Addis Ababa. Soon at least 1,500 were known. At least as many more probably await revelation.”

72. In 1209 AD Emperor Lalibela of Ethiopia sent an embassy to Cairo bringing the sultan unusual gifts including an elephant, a hyena, a zebra, and a giraffe.

73. In Southern Africa, there are at least 600 stone built ruins in the regions of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. These ruins are called Mazimbabwe in Shona, the Bantu language of the builders, and means great revered house and “signifies court”.

74. The Great Zimbabwe was the largest of these ruins. It consists of 12 clusters of buildings, spread over 3 square miles. Its outer walls were made from 100,000 tons of granite bricks. In the fourteenth century, the city housed 18,000 people, comparable in size to that of London of the same period.

75. Bling culture existed in this region. At the time of our last visit, the Horniman Museum in London had exhibits of headrests with the caption: “Headrests have been used in Africa since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. Remains of some headrests, once covered in gold foil, have been found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe and burial sites like Mapungubwe dating to the twelfth century after Christ.”

68. The Ethiopian script of the 4th century AD influenced the writing script of Armenia. A Russian historian noted that: “Soon after its creation, the Ethiopic vocalised script began to influence the scripts of Armenia and Georgia. D. A. Olderogge suggested that Mesrop Mashtotz used the vocalised Ethiopic script when he invented the Armenian alphabet.”

69. “In the first half of the first millennium CE,” says a modern scholar, Ethiopia “was ranked as one of the world’s greatest empires”. A Persian cleric of the third century AD identified it as the third most important state in the world after Persia and Rome.

70. Ethiopia has 11 underground mediaeval churches built by being carved out of the ground. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD, Roha became the new capital of the Ethiopians. Conceived as a New Jerusalem by its founder, Emperor Lalibela (c.1150-1230), it contains 11 churches, all carved out of the rock of the mountains by hammer and chisel. All of the temples werecarved to a depth of 11 metres or so below ground level. The largest is the House of the Redeemer, a staggering 33.7 metres long, 23.7 metres wide and 11.5 metres deep.

62. The Nigerian city of Surame flourished in the sixteenth century. Even in ruin it was an impressive sight, built on a horizontal vertical grid. A modern scholar describes it thus: “The walls of Surame are about 10 miles in circumference and include many large bastions or walled suburbs running out at right angles to the main wall. The large compound at Kanta is still visible in the centre, with ruins of many buildings, one of which is said to have been two-storied. The striking feature of the walls and whole ruins is the extensive use of stone and tsokuwa (laterite gravel) or very hard red building mud, evidently brought from a distance. There is a big mound of this near the north gate about 8 feet in height. The walls show regular courses of masonry to a height of 20 feet and more in several places. The best preserved portion is that known as sirati (the bridge) a little north of the eastern gate … The main city walls here appear to have provided a very strongly guarded entrance about 30 feet wide.’

63. The Nigerian city of Kano in 1851 produced an estimated 10 million pairs of sandals and 5 million hides each year for export.

64. In 1246 AD Dunama II of Kanem-Borno exchanged embassies with Al-Mustansir, the king of Tunis. He sent the North African court a costly present, which apparently included a giraffe. An old chronicle noted that the rare animal “created a sensation in Tunis”.

65. By the third century BC the city of Carthage on the coast of Tunisia was opulent and impressive. It had a population of 700,000 and may even have approached a million. Lining both sides of three streets were rows of tall houses six storeys high.

66. The Ethiopian city of Axum has a series of 7 giant obelisks that date from perhaps 300 BC to 300 AD. They have details carved into them that represent windows and doorways of several storeys. The largest obelisk, now fallen, is in fact “the largest monolith ever made anywhere in the world”. It is 108 feet long, weighs a staggering 500 tons, and represents a thirteen-storey building.

67. Ethiopia minted its own coins over 1,500 years ago. One scholar wrote that: “Almost no other contemporary state anywhere in the world could issue in gold, a statement of sovereignty achieved only by Rome, Persia, and the Kushan kingdom in northern India at the time.''

58. In Nigeria, the royal palace in the city of Kano dates back to the fifteenth century. Begun by Muhammad Rumfa (ruled 1463-99) it has gradually evolved over generations into a very imposing complex. A colonial report of the city from 1902, described it as “a network of buildings covering an area of 33 acres and surrounded by a wall 20 to 30 feet high outside and 15 feet inside … in itself no mean citadel”.

59. A sixteenth century traveller visited the central African civilisation of Kanem-Borno and commented that the emperor’s cavalry had golden “stirrups, spurs, bits and buckles.” Even the ruler’s dogs had “chains of the finest gold”.

60. One of the government positions in mediaeval Kanem-Borno was Astronomer Royal.

61. Ngazargamu, the capital city of Kanem-Borno, became one of the largest cities in the seventeenth century world. By 1658 AD, the metropolis, according to an architectural scholar housed “about quarter of a million people”. It had 660 streets. Many were wide and unbending, reflective of town planning.

54. In the mid-nineteenth century, William Clarke, an English visitor to Nigeria, remarked that: “As good an article of cloth can be woven by the Yoruba weavers as by any people … in durability, their cloths far excel the prints and home-spuns of Manchester.

55. The recently discovered 9th century Nigerian city of Eredo was found to be surrounded by a wall that was 100 miles long and seventy feet high in places. The internal area was a staggering 400 square miles.

56. On the subject of cloth, Kongolese textiles were also distinguished. Various European writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries wrote of the delicate crafts of the peoples living in eastern Kongo and adjacent regions who manufactured damasks, sarcenets, satins, taffeta, cloth of tissue and velvet. Professor DeGraft-Johnson made the curious observation that: “Their brocades, both high and low, were far more valuable than the Italian.”

57. On Kongolese metallurgy of the Middle Ages, one modern scholar wrote that: “There is no doubting … the existence of an expert metallurgical art in the ancient Kongo … The Bakongo were aware of the toxicity of lead vapours. They devised preventative and curative methods, both pharmacological (massive doses of pawpaw and palm oil) and mechanical (exerting of pressure to free the digestive tract), for combating lead poisoning.”

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Many people have a misconception that Africa has no history, however, studies into history and archeological records has proven that Africa has more rich and great history than what the old historians tried to make us believe. A careful reading of the information below compiled by Dr Robin Walkin makes it abundantly clear that African has an unequal history in the world.

1. The human race is of African origin. The oldest known skeletal remains of anatomically modern humans (or homo sapiens) were excavated at sites in East Africa. Human remains were discovered at Omo in Ethiopia that were dated at 195,000 years old, the oldest known in the world.

2. Skeletons of pre-humans have been found in Africa that date back between 4 and 5 million years. The oldest known ancestral type of humanity is thought to have been the australopithecus ramidus, who lived at least 4.4 million years ago.

3. Africans were the first to organise fishing expeditions 90,000 years ago. At Katanda, a region in northeastern Zaïre (now Congo), was recovered a finely wrought series of harpoon points, all elaborately polished and barbed. Also uncovered was a tool, equally well crafted, believed to be a dagger. The discoveries suggested the existence of an early aquatic or fishing based culture.

4. Africans were the first to engage in mining 43,000 years ago. In 1964 a hematite mine was found in Swaziland at Bomvu Ridge in the Ngwenya mountain range. Ultimately 300,000 artefacts were recovered including thousands of stone-made mining tools. Adrian Boshier, one of the archaeologists on the site, dated the mine to a staggering 43,200 years old.

5. Africans pioneered basic arithmetic 25,000 years ago. The Ishango bone is a tool handle with notches carved into it found in the Ishango region of Zaïre (now called Congo) near Lake Edward. The bone tool was originally thought to have been over 8,000 years old, but a more sensitive recent dating has given dates of 25,000 years old. On the tool are 3 rows of notches. Row 1 shows three notches carved next to six, four carved next to eight, ten carved next to two fives and finally a seven. The 3 and 6, 4 and 8, and 10 and 5, represent the process of doubling. Row 2 shows eleven notches carved next to twenty-one notches, and nineteen notches carved next to nine notches. This represents 10 + 1, 20 + 1, 20 – 1 and 10 – 1. Finally, Row 3 shows eleven notches, thirteen notches, seventeen notches and nineteen notches. 11, 13, 17 and 19 are the prime numbers between 10 and 20.

6. Africans cultivated crops 12,000 years ago, the first known advances in agriculture. Professor Fred Wendorf discovered that people in Egypt’s Western Desert cultivated crops of barley, capers, chick-peas, dates, legumes, lentils and wheat. Their ancient tools were also recovered. There were grindstones, milling stones, cutting blades, hide scrapers, engraving burins, and mortars and pestles.

7. Africans mummified their dead 9,000 years ago. A mummified infant was found under the Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter in south western Libya. The infant was buried in the foetal position and was mummified using a very sophisticated technique that must have taken hundreds of years to evolve. The technique predates the earliest mummies known in Ancient Egypt by at least 1,000 years. Carbon dating is controversial but the mummy may date from 7438 (±220) BC.

8. Africans carved the world’s first colossal sculpture 7,000 or more years ago. The Great Sphinx of Giza was fashioned with the head of a man combined with the body of a lion. A key and important question raised by this monument was: How old is it? In October 1991 Professor Robert Schoch, a geologist from Boston University, demonstrated that the Sphinx was sculpted between 5000 BC and 7000 BC, dates that he considered conservative.

9. On the 1 March 1979, the New York Times carried an article on its front page also page sixteen that was entitled Nubian Monarchy called Oldest. In this article we were assured that: “Evidence of the oldest recognizable monarchy in human history, preceding the rise of the earliest Egyptian kings by several generations, has been discovered in artifacts from ancient Nubia” (i.e. the territory of the northern Sudan and the southern portion of modern Egypt.)

10. The ancient Egyptians had the same type of tropically adapted skeletal proportions as modern Black Africans. A 2003 paper appeared in American Journal of Physical Anthropology by Dr Sonia Zakrzewski entitled Variation in Ancient Egyptian Stature and Body Proportions where she states that: “The raw values in Table 6 suggest that Egyptians had the ‘super-Negroid’ body plan described by Robins (1983). The values for the brachial and crural indices show that the distal segments of each limb are longer relative to the proximal segments than in many ‘African’ populations.”

11. The ancient Egyptians had Afro combs. One writer tells us that the Egyptians “manufactured a very striking range of combs in ivory: the shape of these is distinctly African and is like the combs used even today by Africans and those of African descent.”

12. The Funerary Complex in the ancient Egyptian city of Saqqara is the oldest building that tourists regularly visit today. An outer wall, now mostly in ruins, surrounded the whole structure. Through the entrance are a series of columns, the first stone-built columns known to historians. The North House also has ornamental columns built into the walls that have papyrus-like capitals. Also inside the complex is the Ceremonial Court, made of limestone blocks that have been quarried and then shaped. In the centre of the complex is the Step Pyramid, the first of 90 Egyptian pyramids.

13. The first Great Pyramid of Giza, the most extraordinary building in history, was a staggering 481 feet tall – the equivalent of a 40-storey building. It was made of 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite, some weighing 100 tons.

14. The ancient Egyptian city of Kahun was the world’s first planned city. Rectangular and walled, the city was divided into two parts. One part housed the wealthier inhabitants – the scribes, officials and foremen. The other part housed the ordinary people. The streets of the western section in particular, were straight, laid out on a grid, and crossed each other at right angles. A stone gutter, over half a metre wide, ran down the centre of every street.

15. Egyptian mansions were discovered in Kahun – each boasting 70 rooms, divided into four sections or quarters. There was a master’s quarter, quarters for women and servants, quarters for offices and finally, quarters for granaries, each facing a central courtyard. The master’s quarters had an open court with a stone water tank for bathing. Surrounding this was a colonnade.

16 The Labyrinth in the Egyptian city of Hawara with its massive layout, multiple courtyards, chambers and halls, was the very largest building in antiquity. Boasting three thousand rooms, 1,500 of them were above ground and the other 1,500 were underground.

17. Toilets and sewerage systems existed in ancient Egypt. One of the pharaohs built a city now known as Amarna. An American urban planner noted that: “Great importance was attached to cleanliness in Amarna as in other Egyptian cities. Toilets and sewers were in use to dispose waste. Soap was made for washing the body.Perfumes and essences were popular against body odour. A solution of natron was used to keep insects from houses … Amarna may have been the first planned ‘garden city’.”

18. Sudan has more pyramids than any other country on earth – even more than Egypt. There are at least 223 pyramids in the Sudanese cities of Al Kurru, Nuri, Gebel Barkal and Meroë. They are generally 20 to 30 metres high and steep sided.

19. The Sudanese city of Meroë is rich in surviving monuments. Becoming the capital of the Kushite Empire between 590 BC until AD 350, there are 84 pyramids in this city alone, many built with their own miniature temple. In addition, there are ruins of a bath house sharing affinities with those of the Romans. Its central feature is a large pool approached by a flight of steps with waterspouts decorated with lion heads.

20. Bling culture has a long and interesting history. Gold was used to decorate ancient Sudanese temples. One writer reported that: “Recent excavations at Meroe and Mussawwarat es-Sufra revealed temples with walls and statues covered with gold leaf”.

21. In around 300 BC, the Sudanese invented a writing script that had twenty-three letters of which four were vowels and there was also a word divider. Hundreds of ancient texts have survived that were in this script. Some are on display in the British Museum.

22. In central Nigeria, West Africa’s oldest civilisation flourished between 1000 BC and 300 BC. Discovered in 1928, the ancient culture was called the Nok Civilisation, named after the village in which the early artefacts were discovered. Two modern scholars, declare that “[a]fter calibration, the period of Nok art spans from 1000 BC until 300 BC”. The site itself is much older going back as early as 4580 or 4290 BC.

23. West Africans built in stone by 1100 BC. In the Tichitt-Walata region of Mauritania, archaeologists have found “large stone masonry villages” that date back to 1100 BC. The villages consisted of roughly circular compounds connected by “well-defined streets”.

24. By 250 BC, the foundations of West Africa’s oldest cities were established such as Old Djenné in Mali.

25. Kumbi Saleh, the capital of Ancient Ghana, flourished from 300 to 1240 AD. Located in modern day Mauritania, archaeological excavations have revealed houses, almost habitable today, for want of renovation and several storeys high. They had underground rooms, staircases and connecting halls. Some had nine rooms. One part of the city alone is estimated to have housed 30,000 people.

26. West Africa had walled towns and cities in the pre-colonial period. Winwood Reade, an English historian visited West Africa in the nineteenth century and commented that: “There are … thousands of large walled cities resembling those of Europe in the Middle Ages, or of ancient Greece.”

27. Lord Lugard, an English official, estimated in 1904 that there were 170 walled towns still in existence in the whole of just the Kano province of northern Nigeria.

28. Cheques are not quite as new an invention as we were led to believe. In the tenth century, an Arab geographer, Ibn Haukal, visited a fringe region of Ancient Ghana. Writing in 951 AD, he told of a cheque for 42,000 golden dinars written to a merchant in the city of Audoghast by his partner in Sidjilmessa.

29. Ibn Haukal, writing in 951 AD, informs us that the King of Ghana was “the richest king on the face of the earth” whose pre-eminence was due to the quantity of gold nuggets that had been amassed by the himself and by his predecessors.

30. The Nigerian city of Ile-Ife was paved in 1000 AD on the orders of a female ruler with decorations that originated in Ancient America. Naturally, no-one wants to explain how this took place approximately 500 years before the time of Christopher Columbus!

31. West Africa had bling culture in 1067 AD. One source mentions that when the Emperor of Ghana gives audience to his people: “he sits in a pavilion around which stand his horses caparisoned in cloth of gold: behind him stand ten pages holding shields and gold-mounted swords: and on his right hand are the sons of the princes of his empire, splendidly clad and with gold plaited into their hair … The gate of the chamber is guarded by dogs of an excellent breed … they wear collars of gold and silver.”

32. Glass windows existed at that time. The residence of the Ghanaian Emperor in 1116 AD was: “A well-built castle, thoroughly fortified, decorated inside with sculptures and pictures, and having glass windows.”

33. The Grand Mosque in the Malian city of Djenné, described as “the largest adobe [clay] building in the world”, was first raised in 1204 AD. It was built on a square plan where each side is 56 metres in length. It has three large towers on one side, each with projecting wooden buttresses.

34. One of the great achievements of the Yoruba was their urban culture. “By the year A.D. 1300,” says a modern scholar, “the Yoruba people built numerous walled cities surrounded by farms”. The cities were Owu, Oyo, Ijebu, Ijesa, Ketu, Popo, Egba, Sabe, Dassa, Egbado, Igbomina, the sixteen Ekiti principalities, Owo and Ondo.

35. Yoruba metal art of the mediaeval period was of world class. One scholar wrote that Yoruba art “would stand comparison with anything which Ancient Egypt, Classical Greece and Rome, or Renaissance Europe had to offer.”

36. In the Malian city of Gao stands the Mausoleum of Askia the Great, a weird sixteenth century edifice that resembles a step pyramid.

37. Thousands of mediaeval tumuli have been found across West Africa. Nearly 7,000 were discovered in north-west Senegal alone spread over nearly 1,500 sites. They were probably built between 1000 and 1300 AD.

38. Excavations at the Malian city of Gao carried out by Cambridge University revealed glass windows. One of the finds was entitled: “Fragments of alabaster window surrounds and a piece of pink window glass, Gao 10th – 14th century.”

39. In 1999 the BBC produced a television series entitled Millennium. The programme devoted to the fourteenth century opens with the following disclosure: “In the fourteenth century, the century of the scythe, natural disasters threatened civilisations with extinction. The Black Death kills more people in Europe, Asia and North Africa than any catastrophe has before. Civilisations which avoid the plague thrive. In West Africa the Empire of Mali becomes the richest in the world.”

40. Malian sailors got to America in 1311 AD, 181 years before Columbus. An Egyptian scholar, Ibn Fadl Al-Umari, published on this sometime around 1342. In the tenth chapter of his book, there is an account of two large maritime voyages ordered by the predecessor of Mansa Musa, a king who inherited the Malian throne in 1312. This mariner king is not named by Al-Umari, but modern writers identify him as Mansa Abubakari II.

41. On a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 AD, a Malian ruler, Mansa Musa, brought so much money with him that his visit resulted in the collapse of gold prices in Egypt and Arabia. It took twelve years for the economies of the region to normalise.

42. West African gold mining took place on a vast scale. One modern writer said that: “It is estimated that the total amount of gold mined in West Africa up to 1500 was 3,500 tons, worth more than $­­­­30 billion in today’s market.”

42. West African gold mining took place on a vast scale. One modern writer said that: “It is estimated that the total amount of gold mined in West Africa up to 1500 was 3,500 tons, worth more than $­­­­30 billion in today’s market.”

43. The old Malian capital of Niani had a 14th century building called the Hall of Audience. It was an surmounted by a dome, adorned with arabesques of striking colours. The windows of an upper floor were plated with wood and framed in silver; those of a lower floor were plated with wood, framed in gold.

44. Mali in the 14th century was highly urbanised. Sergio Domian, an Italian art and architecture scholar, wrote the following about this period: “Thus was laid the foundation of an urban civilisation. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated”.

45. The Malian city of Timbuktu had a 14th century population of 115,000 – 5 times larger than mediaeval London. Mansa Musa, built the Djinguerebere Mosque in the fourteenth century. There was the University Mosque in which 25,000 students studied and the Oratory of Sidi Yayia. There were over 150 Koran schools in which 20,000 children were instructed. London, by contrast, had a total 14th century population of 20,000 people.

46. National Geographic recently described Timbuktu as the Paris of the mediaeval world, on account of its intellectual culture. According to Professor Henry Louis Gates, 25,000 university students studied there.

46. National Geographic recently described Timbuktu as the Paris of the mediaeval world, on account of its intellectual culture. According to Professor Henry Louis Gates, 25,000 university students studied there.

47. Many old West African families have private library collections that go back hundreds of years. The Mauritanian cities of Chinguetti and Oudane have a total of 3,450 hand written mediaeval books. There may be another 6,000 books still surviving in the other city of Walata. Some date back to the 8th century AD. There are 11,000 books in private collections in Niger. Finally, in Timbuktu, Mali, there are about 700,000 surviving books.

48. A collection of one thousand six hundred books was considered a small library for a West African scholar of the 16th century. Professor Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu is recorded as saying that he had the smallest library of any of his friends – he had only 1600 volumes.

49. Concerning these old manuscripts, Michael Palin, in his TV series Sahara, said the imam of Timbuktu “has a collection of scientific texts that clearly show the planets circling the sun. They date back hundreds of years … Its convincing evidence that the scholars of Timbuktu knew a lot more than their counterparts in Europe. In the fifteenth century in Timbuktu the mathematicians knew about the rotation of the planets, knew about the details of the eclipse, they knew things which we had to wait for 150 almost 200 years to know in Europe when Galileo and Copernicus came up with these same calculations and were given a very hard time for it.”

50. The Songhai Empire of 16th century West Africa had a government position called Minister for Etiquette and Protocol.

51. The mediaeval Nigerian city of Benin was built to “a scale comparable with the Great Wall of China”. There was a vast system of defensive walling totalling 10,000 miles in all. Even before the full extent of the city walling had become apparent the Guinness Book of Records carried an entry in the 1974 edition that described the city as: “The largest earthworks in the world carried out prior to the mechanical era.”

52. Benin art of the Middle Ages was of the highest quality. An official of the Berlin Museum für Völkerkunde once stated that: “These works from Benin are equal to the very finest examples of European casting technique. Benvenuto Cellini could not have cast them better, nor could anyone else before or after him … Technically, these bronzes represent the very highest possible achievement.”

53. Winwood Reade described his visit to the Ashanti Royal Palace of Kumasi in 1874: “We went to the king’s palace, which consists of many courtyards, each surrounded with alcoves and verandahs, and having two gates or doors, so that each yard was a thoroughfare …But the part of the palace fronting the street was a stone house, Moorish in its style … with a flat roof and a parapet, and suites of apartments on the first floor. It was built by Fanti masons many years ago. The rooms upstairs remind me of Wardour Street. Each was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in many languages, Bohemian glass, clocks, silver plate, old furniture, Persian rugs, Kidderminster carpets, pictures and engravings, numberless chests and coffers. A sword bearing the inscription From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashantee. A copy of the Times, 17 October 1843. With these were many specimens of Moorish and Ashanti handicraft.”

Feb 11,2015

Members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly are set to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Martin Elechi, sources in Abakalili, the state capital, informed PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday.

PREMIUM TIMES also gathered that lawmakers loyal to the state deputy governor, Dave Umahi, are hatching the plot and they are presently locked in a meeting at the residence of the Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku.

“That is what they normally do these days, they first gather at the residence of the speaker, take a decision and drive in convoy to the Assembly complex,” said a source that preferred anonymity because he was not permitted to speak on the matter.

Mr. Umahi has been engaged in a political battle with his principal, Governor Elechi, since the PDP primary election last year.

The governor supported former Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, to replace him, but Mr. Umahi defeated Mr. Chukwu reportedly with the support of first lady, Patience Jonathan.

A fallout of the primary forced some lawmakers loyal to Mr. Elechi to defect to the Labour Party.

Another insider with knowledge of the impeachment plot, Wednesday, said members loyal to the Deputy Governor have perfected plans to first of all declare the seat of members who defected to the Labour Party vacant.

Among those who defected to LP include the Deputy Speaker, Blaise Orji.

We also gathered that a large consignment of Police Officers had cordoned off the House of Assembly complex along Nkaliki road preparatory to the sitting.

An armored personal carrier was also stationed in front of the complex.

Meanwhile, the defected lawmakers are also said to be meeting at a different location and will address a press conference any moment from now.

A member of the Assembly who spoke to our reporter in confidence said the planned action to declare the seats of the members vacant will be subjudice because a suit relating to the defection and matters that followed is already before a court.

“They defected because there was crisis in the PDP and moreover they have gone to an Abuja High court to determine if there was crisis in the PDP in the state”.

“The constitution provides for legislators to defect if there is a crisis in their party, so any move to declare their seats vacant will be subjudice and contempt of court,” he said.

The PDP in the state imploded following the acrimonious primaries it conducted last year leading to over 70 per cent of the members of the party defecting to the Labour Party.

Among those who defected apart from the lawmakers include, Local government Chairpersons, Commissioners, Development Centre Coordinators and many other top government officials.

Source:http://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/176616-ebonyi-assembly-set-commence-impeachment-proceedings-governor-elechi.html

Feb 11,2015

A human rights activist, lawyer and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Titiloye Charles, filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Akure, the Ondo state capital, over the postponement of Nigeria’s general elections. The defendants in the case are the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, and INEC.

The elections, which were originally scheduled for February, have been moved to March and April.

In a statement sent to a correspondent of SaharaReporters in Akure, the plaintiff disclosed that he was asking the court to declare the INEC chairman’s decision to postpone the general elections from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 respectively as null, void and unconstitutional.

Mr. Charles further urged the court to declare that Mr. Jega compromised INEC’s independence and neutrality by acting and relying on a letter from the National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, who is a political appointee and aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mr. Dasuki, a retired military officer, had proposed the postponement of the elections.

The lawyer said he would want the Federal High Court to interpret section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act and declare that INEC can only postpone election in areas where it is impossible to hold election based on a security situation that is cogent and verifiable.

He maintained that Mr. Jega and INEC wrongfully interpreted and relied on this section to postpone elections throughout Nigeria when only 14 local governments in the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa were affected by the alleged unfavorable security situation.

The activist asked the court to declare that INEC is duty bound to verify and ascertain all allegations of security breaches or unsuitability of conduct of election before postponing elections in any part of Nigeria, instead of merely relying on letters or correspondence from persons or authorities that are not under its supervision and control.

He urged the Federal High Court to perpetually restrain all the defendants, jointly and severally, from further relying on unverified correspondence written by persons and authorities outside INEC. He also asked the court to restrain the electoral commission and its officials from taking any other steps unknown to Nigeria’s Electoral Act or constitution.

Mr. Charles argued in his statement of claim that the monitoring of elections is the constitutional duty of the police, the Directorate of Security Services and Civil Defense, adding that these agencies have structures throughout Nigeria and are always available to undertake security tasks in Nigeria irrespective of military operation taking place in 14 local government areas in northeastern Nigeria.

He argued that, based on section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act, Mr. Jega and INEC can only postpone elections in the affected local governments and not the entire country, adding that the local governments embroiled in Islamist violence in the northeast of Nigeria were not up to 3 percent of the country.

Source: http:///13hwQf

Feb 10,2015

Suspected members of Boko Haram kidnapped 20 people from a bus in northern Cameroon, then executed 12 of them, a security source and resident said Monday.

The kidnapping occurred on Sunday and all of the survivors have since been released, said a resident, on condition of anonymity, whose wife was among those abducted. An official from a local NGO also confirmed the incident.

According to the security source, who is based in the region, the victims were travelling in a bus stormed by alleged Boko Haram members.

“The bus was coming from Koza and was travelling to Mora,” the source said, referring to two towns in the country’s extreme north near the Nigerian border.


Source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/boko-haram-kidnaps-20-people-cameroon-executes-12/

Jan 24,2015


Nigeria international defender Azubuike Egwuekwe has joined Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.

The lanky defender signed with the Israeli club on Friday after having completed his medical tests.

Egwuekwe only arrived in Israel on Friday to join the Red Demons for an undisclosed fee.

“Nigerian Egwuekwe Azubuike landed in Israel and signed after passing medical tests earlier this week,” the official website of Hapoel Tel Aviv announced with an accompanying picture of Egwuekwe in the club shirt.

Egwuekwe, who made his international debut for Nigeria in 2012, and has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.He was called up to Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

He was selected for Nigeria’s squad at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named to Nigeria’s squad for the 2014 African Nations Championship.

Egwuekwe has been assigned the squad number three jersey by the Tel Aviv club.

Source:http://footballlive.ng/footballnews/9ja-news/transferegwuekwe-joins-hapoel-tel-aviv/

The Presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, has promised to restructure the Nigeria Army and Police, if elected.

Mr. Buhari made the promise on Thursday in Gusau at the inauguration of his campaign.

He said that his plan, if materialised, would boost the efforts of the two security institutions to battle insurgency with renewed vigour.

Mr. Buhari said that the need to restructure the army and police became necessary because the enemies had become more and highly sophisticated in the use of weapons.

“Our Army and Police will be highly equipped with all the required weapons, educated and uneducated youths will be employed through different programmes that will be created by our administration.

“We will rebuild our educational system and employ youths not on sentiment and god-fatherism.

We will as well find ways of restrengthening the country’s economy,” he said.

He called on the youth to remain vigilant but maintain peace during and after the elections so as to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the country.

The chieftains of the party, including its National Chairman, John Oyegun, and Yemi Osinbajo, Mr. Buhari’s running mate, attended the occasion.

Others were Kawu Baraje, Zamfara Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara, and Senator representing Zamfara-West, Ahmad Yarima, among others.

Source:http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/175463-buhari-pledges-restructure-army-police-elected.html

Congrats Asisat!

African Woman Footballer of the Year Asisat Oshoala has joined Liverpool Ladies.

The FA Women's Super League champions fended off the challenge of rivals Chelsea to secure the service of the 20-year-old Nigerian international.

"Liverpool Ladies are delighted to annnounce the signing of recently crowned African Women's Player of the Year, Asisat Oshoala," Liverpool stated on their official website.

Oshoala has described joining the Liverpool Ladies as "absolutely fantastic."

The striker, who joins from Rivers Angels, recognises that she has pitched tent with "a massive club" that can help her take her game to the next level.

"Since I began my football career I have always dreamt of being a professional footballer, so to be able to join the reigning Women's Super League champions is absolutely fantastic.

"Liverpool Ladies are a massive club, who have some fantastic players who I believe can help to develop my game to the next level. It was also a big incentive to be able to play in the UEFA Women's Champions League, which is a huge competition and one I'm confident we can do well in," Oshoala told liverpoolfc.com.

Oshoala is currently regarded as Nigeria's biggest football talent in the women's game after claiming the most valuable player and top scorer's awards at last year's Fifa Under-20 Women's World Cup.


Source:http://www.supersport.com/football/nigeria/news/150123/Liverpool_snap_up_Oshoala

Jan 23,2015

Mr Timothy Odah, Ebonyi Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, says the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has risen to N1 billion monthly, from the previous figure of N150 million.

Odah, who is also the Chairman, Commissioners for Finance Forum, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Odah said the improvement was as a result of economic measures adopted by the state government in order to reduce dependence on the monthly revenue from the Federation Account.

“Today, Ebonyi has three rice mills and the milled rice is in high demand. We never thought that something made in Nigeria will attract such high demand.

We also have an international market which has 7070 stores; and we generate a lot of revenue by renting them out to international and local businesses.

“Ebonyi is doing well in terms of generating its own power supply. We have brought the General Electric from the United States and it will soon generate electricity for the state.

“We may not be able to use all of it, so we plan to transfer the remaining to the National Grid and get a commission,” he said.

Odah expressed concern over the financial difficulties some states are facing due to the dwindling oil revenue.

“It’s a pathetic situation. But the fact remains that the clarion call has always been made. We have been sounding the warning telling states to prepare.

“We have been calling on the need for diversification. That we should go towards alternative forms of revenue generation instead of depending on the dwindling oil revenue.

“It is time for oil to stop being a key determinant of our budget from local to federal levels,’’ he said.



Odah also said that apart from government, every individual had a role to play in boosting the country’s economy.

“As a whole, Nigerians should learn to patronise made-in-Nigeria products. Nigerian rice, Nigerian oats and leave foreign chicken alone.

“Palm wine is good. It should be bottled. Also Nigerian food has better taste; we should eat more of it. Stop looking for Chinese and other continental dishes,” he said.

According to Odah, doing this may seem small, “but it will translate to a lot of jobs and better living, which is the end game of diversification.’’ (NAN).

Source:http://leadership.ng/breaking-news/406079/ebonyi-igr-hits-n1bn-monthlycommissioner

Jan 22,2015

Stephen Ukandu

Abia State government has raised the alarm that some opposition political parties in the state “go from house to house in parts of the state to buy permanent voter cards from people for cloning purposes.”

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chef Anthony Agbazuere, who raised the alarm at a press briefing in Umuahia, expressed shock that some political parties were engaging in anti-democratic activities in their desperation to get to power.

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to investigate the matter while urging Abians to resist the temptation of selling their PVCs for monetary gains.

His words: “Your voter card is your power, anyone offering you money to buy your card wants to rob you of your voting right and must be resisted.”

He, therefore, warned perpetrators of such heinous act to desist or be prosecuted, adding that security agents have already been put on alert.

On the outcome of the state’s executive council meeting, Agbazuere said arrangements were in top gear for the ground breaking ceremony of the proposed Abia airport project.

He said the peace meeting with the necessary stakeholders and host communities had almost been completed.

Agbazuere said the airport project was very dear to Governor Theodore Orji, and that his administration was working seriously toward its actualization .

He noted that, although the project might not be fully completed before the exit of the governor in May, the next administration would give it the needed attention considering its economic importance to the state.

Source:http://www.punchng.com/news/opposition-buying-pvc-for-cloning-abia/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

This is so saddening.

Jan 22,2015


The Liberian government said 2,800 Ebola bodies have so far been cremated following the outbreak of the deadly virus.

Head of the National Ebola Burial Team, Ciatta Bishop, said this on Thursday, in Monrovia, that the cremation and burial teams collected over 2,800 bodies across the country during the process for burial and cremation.

The Ebola team was set up in August 2014, when the virus overwhelmed the country due to lack of coordination and facilities to dispose of the Ebola dead.

She also said no infection or death occurred among those cremating or burying Ebola bodies during the fight against the virus.

“Even though they were stigmatised and rejected by some communities and families, they actually stood up and held on to defending their country,” she said.

Health authorities in the country say the drastic reduction in the number of cases and 12 of the 15 counties not reporting cases for a long time is an indication the virus is about to be defeated.

The WHO data showed that in Liberia alone, 3,496 people had died from the virus in the latest outbreak.

However, it said in its update released, the case incidence had declined to low levels in the country.

Source:http://www.punchng.com/news/liberia-cremates-2800-ebola-bodies/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Mohammed Ahmad

Jan 20,2015

Unknown assailants on Monday slaughtered the daughter of Musa Illu, the Director General of Governor Umaru Al – Makura’s campaign organization.

Mr. Illu’s daughter, Amina Suleiman, was seven months pregnant.

Mr. Illu’s younger brother, Namairo Babai, told PREMIUM TIMES that late Amina was found in the pool of her blood with her neck cut and a knife in her stomach.

Mr. Babai said that late Amina was killed in her home in faraway Katsina State when her husband, Suleiman Mohammed, was on his way to Zaria for his doctorate degree programme.

“Her husband was on his way to ABU Zaria. After the weekend when he tried calling but couldn’t get her, he sent someone to check just to be told that she was slaughtered and in poll of her blood”.

Mr. Babai added that late Amina who got married two years ago will be buried by 4 p.m. on Tuesday in her husband’s home town in Katsina State.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the family compound along Shendam road, Lafia, Nasarawa, sympathizers and family members were seen consoling the father of Musa Illu who was weeping.

Among the first callers was the state’s first lady, Salamatu Tanko Almakura.

Source:http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/175282-assailants-murder-pregnant-daughter-gov-almakuras-campaign-manager.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Jan 19,2015.


The Nigeria Union of Teachers, Akwa Ibom State Chapter, has begun an indefinite strike over non-payment of teachers’ salaries in the state.

The teachers, who began the strike on Monday, said they would not go back to classes until the state government fulfilled the agreement it reached with them in concrete terms.

The circular, which was signed by the Union’s Secretary, Dr. Mike Ike-Ene, authorising the industrial action, was made available to newsmen in Uyo on Monday.

Marked NUT/AKSW/SWEC.13/Vol./70, the circular indicated that the union proceeded on the strike following the breach of agreement earlier reached between the Akwa Ibom State Government and the union.

“The teachers of Akwa Ibom State have resolved that failure to address all the issues already negotiated and agreement reached in concrete terms will not make the teachers to report for work,” statement added.

The circular, however, decried the non-payment of promotion arrears since 2009 to date to members in primary schools by the state government.

All appeals by the union to make State Universal Basic Education to clear the backlog of the arrears of promotion owed primary school teachers in the state have proved abortive.

“Teachers in the primary schools system have not been paid their leave grants since 2012,” the union alleged.

The union in the circular also alleged that pensions and gratuities due to the primary school teachers in the state and their 2014 December salaries had not been paid.

Source:http://www.punchng.com/news/akwa-ibom-teachers-begin-indefinite-strike/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Ekele Peter Agbo.

Jan15,2015

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has assured that General Muhammadu Buhari will initiate policies and programmes that will impact positively on the lives of youths and women when he is voted into office in the February 14 presidential election.

A statement from the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the campaign organisation said the APC manifesto contained several innovations and legislative proposals that would promote the manpower development and social participation of women and youths in the country.

The statement, signed by Mallam Garba Shehu on Thursday, said: “Drawing extensively from the information contained in the APC’s manifesto, a federal government under the leadership of Buhari promises to offer women and youths in Nigeria a new deal.

“We are firmly committed to the value that women are the backbone of the Nigerian society, especially in our rural communities. Therefore, issues that matter to the average Nigerian woman cut across the spectrum of policy areas, such as agriculture – where they predominate as farmers and farm labour – to health and education, where their concern for their children are paramount.

“Our policy position for woman takes into cognisance the fact that in spite of several rights outlined in the 1999 Constitution, many women do not enjoy the same freedom as men, particularly in the fields of education, economic empowerment and political participation.”

According to the statement, “No society can progress where half of its population suffers systemic discrimination. An APC government will seek to end all forms of gender discrimination in both public and private sectors, in education, employment and housing and also protect equal property and inheritance rights.”

The statement further explains the core policy objectives of the APC for women and youths to include, “improving anti-discriminatory legislation and instituting merit-based affirmative action in employment; injecting gender as a component of federal character and appointing a Minister for Women and Gender in the Office of the President; enforcing legal protection for the fundamental rights of the girl-child in all areas of religious, social and economic life.”

Other policy concerns according to the statement include, “providing women with greater legal protection from domestic violence and sexual harassment; empowering the Police with specialist training on handling of domestic violence issues; strengthening coordination between women and youths’ agencies at state and federal levels cutting across ethnic and religious barriers.”

Other policy initiatives that a Buhari administration will enthrone include “improving and strengthening support for women and youths’ participation in all sectors of the economy through training and skill acquisition; develop innovative ways of encouraging women and youths participation; encouraging local governments to combat female adult illiteracy with education programmes in local languages and provide incentives for the private sector to support these initiatives.

Source:http://leadership.ng/news/402103/buhari-strikes-deal-youths-women

Obinna Ogbonnaya.

Jan 14,2015.

48 hours after the Ebonyi State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were attacked by unknown persons, another set of suspected hoodlums in the late hours of yesterday attacked the Labour Party campaign office in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital with an object suspected to be improvised explosive device (IED).

The APC incident closely followed the destruction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) office and the homes of the party’s supporters in Ohaukwu local government, by gunmen said to be wearing police uniform.

The device, according to workers at the party office, which belongs to the Labour Party gubernatorial running mate and chairman Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, was discovered early in the morning when they came to work.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “We came to work this morning and noticed smoke coming from the back of the building. We went closer and discovered that the walls had been charred by a mild fire from a paint bucket they used in making the explosive. From what we saw, we suspect that it would have been more deadly if the explosive materials inside the paint bucket had caught the fire.

“We thank God it didn’t happen as they planned it. If that had happened, the building would have been damaged or even burnt down”.

When LEADERSHIP visited the scene, security personnel from the state police headquarters had cordoned off the area.

It was gathered that the bomb squad had earlier visited the area and carted away the materials inside the bucket suspected to be deadly.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Chris Anyanwu expressed worry over the incessant use of incendiary device to attack Political Party campaign offices by some mischief makers adding that the miscreants perpetrating the act usually hauled the device into the premises of their target at night, when most of the staff had closed for the day.

According to him; “ it would be recalled that just yesterday, I addressed the press on the attack of APC and INEC office by some mischief makers. It is regrettable that this mischief makers with the

intention of heating up the polity has resorted to acts capable of causing panic among the public. After their attempt to attack APC and INEC office failed, the went to the campaign office of Labour Party and hauled the device into the office which charred some part of the wall”.

ASP Anyanwu therefore warn such miscreants to desist from such acts or face their Waterloo and urged all law abiding citizens of the state to go about their normal business.

Source:http://leadership.ng/news/401712/another-bomb-scare-ebonyi

They actually attacked Kolafata Army Base this morning killing a soldier(Onana Balla) in the process but chased away later on.All seems calm now.

Jan 12,2015.



Two female suicide bombers yesterday blew themselves up at a Yobe market after detonating bombs wired to their bodies, killing no fewer than 10 persons. The girls were said to be about 17-years-old.

The blasts, which occurred at about 3:12pm along Muhammed Idriss Way, were most likely targeted at sellers of second-hand handsets who usually display their goods at GSM Village (Kasuwar Jakwal).

A businessman, Muhammed Audu Hassan, who survived the blasts, said he counted five corpses.

“I was inside the GSM village market when I heard the first blast around 3:12pm, so I tried to run and minutes later there was a second blast. The first blast was near GSM Village that leads Muhammed Idriss Way while the second occurred by the road side,” said Hassan.

Another witness, Bashir Isa, who spoke to our correspondent on phone, said that he saw several corpses shortly after many others had been evacuated to nearby hospital.

Another resident, Auwal Bukar, said that many victims were taken to the general hospital Potiskum.

“We were at the general hospital to see a patient when we saw many ambulances bringing in victims of the blast. Over 20 people were brought, some dead, 43 injured,” he said.

A source at the Potiskum Division Police confirmed that policemen and some soldiers were still busy conveying victims from the scene to the hospital.


Source:http://leadership.ng/news/401257/female-suicide-bombers-strike-kill-10-yobe-market

RIP Madam.

Jan 12,2015.

Chibuzo Ukaibe.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied claims that it is involved in a cover-up for the All Progressives Council (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, over his certificate saga.

It noted that the election commission does not have the constitutional powers to disqualify any candidate sent to it by the political parties.

INEC, while responding to the allegation raised by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the electoral commission is covering up for Buhari over the certificate issue told the ruling party to go to court if it feels so aggrieved.

The director of Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaigns, Chief Femi Fani Kayode, had on Saturday accused INEC of covering up Buhari over his failure to submit his certificate and credentials.

He said “INEC erred in law by publishing the name of a candidate without receiving the personal particulars of the candidate within seven days of receiving his nomination forms as indicated in section 31(3).”

But the director of Voters Education and Publicity in INEC, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi faulted the position of PDP with regards to the role of the commission in the certificate saga noting that INEC has no constitutional powers to disqualify any candidate presented to it by the political parties.

He said “In line with section 31 of the Electoral Act, the commission has no powers to disqualify any candidate whose name was submitted to INEC. This is the power of the law and it is expected that a political party in the calibre of the PDP should know this aspect of the provision of the law.

“If the PDP is strong on this matter, it knows what to do. Take him to court and that is the only option.

Source:http://leadership.ng/news/401239/buharis-certificate-go-court-inec-tells-pdp

Jan 12,2015


Early this month, Boko Haram insurgents attacked Baga town, a fishing community along the banks of Lake Chad, about 250 kilometres from Maiduguri. They succeeded in dislodging the combined troops of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which comprises mainly troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger. Again last week fighting was reported in Baga, with heavy casualties and the wanton destruction of property. The battle, which raged on throughout the day, saw a well-coordinated attack by the insurgent group, which reportedly came in a large convoy of armoured personnel carriers and Toyota Hilux trucks, some armed with high calibre machine guns and a significant amount of improvised explosive devices.

According to eyewitnesses, some of the insurgents were obviously foreigners, as they could not understand our local languages. This is indication that they could be from other terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Al Qaeda or El-Shabab. They destroyed the two MNJTF barracks. The soldiers, who were overwhelmed by the superior fire power of the enemy forces, had to pull out in disarray. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and hundreds of civilians were killed also, most as they were trying to flee the battle zone.

According to the chief of defence staff, as a result of the incident, the Republic of Niger and Chad have withdrawn their troops from Baga. He, however, maintained that the two countries are still members of the MNJTF.

The fall of Baga is a great tragedy and a terrible setback in the war against insurgency. If Boko Haram could overrun an MNJTF base, the threat to the entire sub region is real and huge and must be well articulated and understood by all the leaders of the region. In our opinion, it is not strategic for Niger and Chad to withdraw its forces, because this is a regional challenge that needs be met head on. Already, Nigeria and now Cameroon are fighting a relentless war against Boko Haram. Cameroon is reported to have ordered the recruitment of 20,000 soldiers. Nigeria should follow suit, and the proper equipping of the soldiers must not be compromised.

We have recently witnessed the ruthless gains of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ISIL within a short period and today, they occupy substantial parts of both Iraq and Syria. Since they share a common fanatical ideology with Boko Haram, the possibility of close cooperation between the groups is high, further increasing the threat to Nigeria.

For the past five years, this nation has been fighting an atrocious war against insurgency and from all indications, we are not winning. The federal government must wake up; things are beyond what we can remain in denial about. It’s time to think and act, otherwise there will be no Nigeria to govern.


Source:http://leadership.ng/opinions/401185/takeover-baga-boko-haram

Donatus Nadi

Jan 12,2015.

Following the robust land administration policy of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, the state government has realised the sum of N608,689,414.32 as internally generated revenue (IGR) from the sector in 2014.

This marks a remarkable achievement as against the sum of N448,020,842.68 realised in 2013 and a total shift from what the state has realised from the same sector prior to the commencement of the Nasarawa Geographic Information System by AlMakura’s administration.

Records made available to LEADERSHIP show that prior to his assumption of office in 2011, the state Ministry of Lands and Survey realised the sums of N41,374,362.25 and N53,739,195.00 for the year 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Since the massive investment by the Al-Makura led administration in 2012 the Nasarawa State Ministry of Lands , Survey and Urban Development has been in the forefront as one of the big earners of revenue for Nasarawa State.

The ministry also broke its own record by realising the sum of N136,109,247.17 as revenue for the month of December, 2014, beating its own best records of generating the sum of N86,942,934.77 for the month of October 2014, and February 2014 when it generated the sum of N75, 338, 045,15.

Source:http://leadership.ng/news/401290/nasarawa-land-policy-generates-n600m-igr-2014