The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Tuesday, donated the sum of N50 million to victims of last week’s terror attack on an Abuja- Kaduna passenger train.
At least eight persons died and more than 30 others injured after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the terrorists on the train went off a few minutes into the trip on March 28.
Tinubu, who is eyeing the APC presidential ticket for next year’s election, made the donation when paid a condolence visit to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, at the Government House.
He was accompanied on the trip by the former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, ex- Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and Senator Abu Ibrahim.
The former Lagos State governor appealed to wealthy Nigerians to support the Kaduna State government in addressing the humanitarian crises created by bandits in the state.
Tinubu said: “Everybody should be concerned about the attacks going on in Kaduna State which have claimed hundreds of lives and properties in recent times.
“Killing of innocent Nigerians by bandits is no longer acceptable and must stop.”
In his remark, El-Rufai thanked the APC chieftain for showing solidarity with the people of state over the recent attack by cancelling his 70th birthday colloquium in honour of the victims.
Nigeria failed to qualify for a seventh World Cup after it played 1: 1 draw with west African archival Ghana.
The Black Stars of Ghana held the three-time African champions to a goalless draw in Kumasi on Friday March 25, as their away goal in Abuja meant they advanced to Qatar.
The Ghanaian took the lead through Arsenal’s man Thomas Partey in the 10th minute. Nigeria drew level shortly after, after the video assistant referee (VAR) awarded a penalty in the 19th minute after Ademola Lookman was brought down by Dennis Odoi.
Super Eagles Captain William Troost-Ekong stepped up to make it 1-1 sending the Ghanaian goalkeeper the wrong way. Fans watched on at different viewing centers hoping desperately for a second goal which never came.
Adedeji Akande is social media executive he says “ Starting from the first leg of this match, the Nigerian super eagles have not been so that impressive with the way they played ”. He added “ When you look at the first half at some point, they were trying to catch up but then it is still very disappointing ”.
Michael Owobamirin, an audio production expert, blamed wrong substitution for the team’s performance. He says “ I think the coach made a mistake by not substituting some players on time, because some players were tired and were not giving their best in the game ”. “ I think he brought the wrong players during the game ”.
He also bemoaned the inability of the Super Eagles to turn all their possession into at least an additional goal to seal off the game. “ It was so sad we could not win and qualify for the world cup, all we just needed to do was to score two goals, in fact one more goal. We had 45 minutes to do that but we could not do it, he says.”
Qatar 2022
As the game went on the much-needed goal never came, this led to the Black Stars qualification on the away goal rule. Nigeria has failed to qualify for the world cup for the second time, the first time was for the 2006 FIFA world cup in Germany which was won by the Italian national team popularly called the Azzurri. The Super Eagle’s failure to book a place in Qatar 2022 was a shock disappointment for football fans.
Musa Ibrahim who is an assistant manager, Upscale Quarters in Lagos summed up his disappointment: “ I feel very disappointed that we did not qualify for the world cup 2022 in Qatar, I feel very saddened .”
A Super Eagles fan Lawson Ebeh questioned the player’s lack of commitment “ I am so disappointed with the way the super eagles of Nigeria played in Abuja, they did not give their best. They were just slow, Osimhen was the only player that gave his all.”
Ebeh stated that “ Now we are not going to the world, how will I watch the world cup without Nigeria being represented, it is of no use, I am so disheartened about the result of the match ”.
Ghana along with Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia will be African representatives in Qatar.
The West Africans will make their fourth appearance on the World Cup stage, a first since 2014 while the Super Eagles will have to wait for their seventh appearance perhaps in 2026 when the world cup will be hosted by Canada; Mexico and the United States.
Four days after the Kaduna-Abuja train bombing, the Nigerian Air Force attack jet, on Wednesday, reportedly killed no fewer than 34 terrorists in a forest between Kaduna and Niger states.
Military sources said those eliminated were allegedly behind the violence.
A source said: “Upon receiving credible information that at about 2:00p.m on March 30, 2022, about 70 terrorists on 40 motorcycles and some on foot, were sighted moving towards Akilibu-Sarkin Pawa Road, near Mangoro Village.
The air component of Operation Thunder Strike swiftly scrambled an aircraft to intercept and neutralise the terrorists.
Similarly, troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), under Operation Lake Sanity (OPLS) in the North East, eliminated dozens of insurgents in the Lake Chad region.
The rebels were slaughtered during a clearance operation in the area bordering Chad, Cameroun, Nigeria and Niger.
A counter-terrorism expert, Zagazola Makama, yesterday, in Maiduguri, stated that the exercise was to rout the remnants of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents from the fringes of the Lake and Basin.
According to him, the counter-terrorism operations are yielding positive results to restore peace in the Lake Chad region.
He said during the March 28 joint operations, 21 women and 20 children were rescued by the troops.
Besides, he added that the communities of Cemente, Bagadaza, Zanari and Wulgo in Ngala council area of Borno State were also cleared of terrorists during the expedition.
On the incessant attacks, he said: “There were two encounters with the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists at the Zanari hideouts,” stating that the twin attack was decisively dealt with.
He noted that this forced some of the outlaws to flee with gunshot wounds towards Lake Chad.
Items recovered included two gun trucks, 18 motorcycles, while 22 bicycles were destroyed.
Other weapons got back comprised two rocket-propelled grenade tubes, three rocket-propelled grenade bombs, an NBST gun, two machine guns, three GPMG belts and a rifle magazine with 600 rounds of ammunition.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the situation in Ukraine. He also urged India to extend political support in the United Nations Security Council. “Spoke with Prime Minister @narendramodi. Informed of the course of Ukraine repulsing Russian aggression. More than 100,000 invaders are on our land. They insidiously fire on
residential buildings. Urged India to give us political support in UN Security Council. Stop the aggressor together!” he said in a tweet.
Ukraine’s health minister said Saturday that 198 civilians, including three children, have been killed so far by Russian forces attacking the pro-Western country.
“Unfortunately, according to operative data, at the hands of the invaders we have 198 dead, including 3 children, 1,115 wounded, including 33 children,” Health Minister Viktor Lyashko wrote on Facebook.
Ukrainian soldiers repulsed a Russian attack in the capital, the military said early Saturday, only hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow would attempt to take Kyiv before dawn in the conflict that is now escalating every hour.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion on Thursday that has killed dozens of people, forced more than 50,000 to flee Ukraine in just 48 hours and sparked fears of a new Cold War in Europe.
India is ‘deeply disturbed’ by recent turn of developments in Ukraine, said India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Urging that all efforts be made for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities, he said no solution could ever be arrived at the cost of human lives.
Speaking at the UNSC meeting on Ukraine, Tirumurti said India was also deeply concerned about the welfare and security of the Indian community, including a large number of Indian students in Ukraine. “Contemporary global order has been built on UN Charter, international law and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. We agreed to the Russian Federation’s President’s proposal. Currently, the parties are debating the location and timing of the negotiation process during these hours. The sooner negotiations begin, the better the chances of returning to normalcy,” he said.
Russia, as expected, vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that deplored “in the strongest terms” the country’s “aggression” against Ukraine and demanded the immediate withdrawal of its troops. Eleven of the council’s 15 members voted for the motion, which was co-written by the United States and Albania. China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained.
The resolution was always doomed to fail because of Moscow’s veto power as a permanent member of the council. However the debate offered member nations an opportunity to voice condemnation of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale offensive against Russia’s neighbor.
“Let me make one thing clear,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote. “Russia, you can veto this resolution, but you cannot veto our voices, you cannot veto the truth, you cannot veto our principles, you cannot veto the Ukrainian people.”
The wording of the draft text put before the Security Council was watered down in the hours before the vote to gain more support. The word “condemns” was replaced by “deplores” and a reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows members to take military action to restore peace, was deleted.
The resolution reaffirmed the sovereignty of Ukraine and called for Russia to “immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine.” Ultimately, more than 70 countries co-sponsored the resolution.
“Make no mistake, Russia is isolated. It has no support for the invasion of Ukraine,” said Britain’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward. Before the vote, Thomas-Greenfield described Russia’s attack as “so bold, so brazen, that it threatens our international system as we know it.
“We have a solemn obligation to not look away… At the very minimum, we have an obligation to object,” she said. “Vote yes if you believe Russia should be held to account for its actions. Vote no or abstain if you do not uphold the charter and align yourselves with the aggressive and unprovoked actions of Russia.”
Moscow’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, denounced the resolution as “anti-Russian and anti-Ukrainian.” “It is difficult for us to compete with the US in terms of the number of invasions carried out. You are in no position to moralize,” he said.
Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya led the council chamber in a moment of silence, asking members to “pray for peace.” He also told Nebenzia to “pray for salvation.” “Russia is keen on continuing it’s Nazi-style course of action,” said Kyslytsya, whose speech was widely applauded by members.
Earlier, he had posed with a Ukrainian flag and European ambassadors under Picasso’s Guernica tapestry which hangs outside the entrance to the council chamber. Explaining his country’s abstention, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun referenced NATO expansion, saying “Russia’s legitimate security aspirations should be given attention and addressed properly.”
After the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Soldiers need to return to their barracks.”
“Leaders need to turn to the path of dialogue and peace,” he pleaded.
Russia, which currently holds the rotating Security Council presidency, will likely face another vote on a similar resolution before the wider UN General Assembly which is formed of all 193 member countries.
Moscow does not have a veto there and the resolution could be passed by a substantial margin, although it would be non-binding.
The General Assembly held a similar vote in 2014 condemning Russia’s seizure of Crimea, which obtained 100 votes in support.
Moscow had earlier vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning its actions in Crimea. Thirteen countries supported it with China abstaining.
Mimi’s blog 