President Jonathan Sets Up Amnesty Panel For Boko Haram

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday approved the setting up of a committee to consider the issue of granting amnesty to members of Boko Haram and other insurgent groups in the northern part of the country, according to a competent Presidency source.

The decision was reached at a three-hour meeting of the National Security and Defence Council presided over by the president at the State House. Read More

“I Am Struggling To Build My Village House” – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said he is struggling to build his house in his Otuoke village, Bayelsa State.

He said he might give out the house before he dies if he found out that his children are not ready to live in the village.

Jonathan spoke in Lagos at a fund-raiser for St. Stephens Anglican Deanery and Youth Development Centre, Otuoke.

He said, “We are all mortal beings, we are all biological specimen so we will all die but when we die, what will we be remembered for, what will we leave behind?

“I use to tell people that even the house I am struggling to build in the village, these days in this global age, how am I sure that my children will even stay in my root. They want to go to West Indies, they want to go to Latin America.

“So, I was even joking with people that if I look at the behaviour of my children and if I don’t see any of them that will patronise the village, I will donate my house before I die.”

The President urged wealthy Nigerians to make meaningful contributions to the development of poor communities in the country in order to better the lives of the youth and empower them to make useful contributions towards national development.

He said the project for the St. Stephens Anglican Deanery and Youth Development Centre was dear to him because he wanted to make sure that the younger generation passed through a better system of education different from the one he experienced while growing up.

“I feel the only thing I can do is to make sure that from nursery school to primary and secondary school, there should be a standard educational facility and youth programme, so that it gives opportunity for the younger ones to grow. Even if we die in the next 100 years, people will remember that those before them have something for them,” he said.

Present at the occasion were Chairman of Visafone, Jim Ovia; Chairman Capital oil, Chief Ifeanyi Uba; Chairman of A-Z Oil, Chika Okafor, Chairman Arik Air, Joseph Arumemi–Ikhide, Oba Otudeko and Tony Elumelu.

Also present were Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo, ministers, senators, members of the House of Representatives and prominent indigenes of Otuoke.
Culled from Punch

Tony Anenih Elected Chairman of PDP’s BoT

Chief Anenih, 73, was elected after a meeting of the board, which began at about 8.45pm, Monday night and ended at about 12.45am Tuesday morning.

His emergence was by consensus following a long drawn meeting of all the members of the board presided by President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential villa. Read More

Did Nduka Obaigbena Use Bayela State’s Poverty Alleviation Funds To Invite Jay Z and Beyonce To Nigeria???

Wow!!! I just came across this report which claims that when Nduka Obaigbena of This Day invited Jay Z and Beyonce to Nigeria, he actually did that with Bayelsa State’s anti-poverty funds.

Here’s how Sahara Reporters reported it Read More

A Message From Mr President

This was written on his Facebook page few hours ago.  Please read;

Dear friends on Facebook,

The determination of this administration to create wealth in Nigeria and for Nigerians has led us to focus our investment drive towards attracting Foreign Direct Investments in manufacturing and the service sector to ensure that jobs are created. And this drive is not an exercise in futility as Nigeria is becoming the preferred destination for FDI. Just last week, General Electric announced a decision to invest $1 billion in setting up a manufacturing plant to support power generation and oil production. Their plant, to be situated in Calabar, will provide jobs for thousands with multiplier effect for tens of thousands more and will make Nigeria a hub for power equipment in the region. The end result of this investment is that Nigeria’s power generating infrastructure will be expanded meaning more power for Nigerians which translates to even more jobs. Read More

Watch President Goodluck Jonathan’s Interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN

In case you missed the interview that transpired between CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and President GEJ last night, here’s the video Read More

EFCC Arrests Former CBN Governor Charles Soludo

According to Sahara Reporters,

Saharareporters just learnt that officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission this afternoon arrested immediate past Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo in connection with the Australian polymer banknotes bribery scam. Read More

FG To Procure 10 million Handsets Worth N60billion For Farmers

As part of its efforts to modernise agriculture, the Federal Government has said it has concluded arrangements to empower 10 million farmers in the rural areas across the country with cell phones. Read More

President GEJ’s New Year Message To Nigerians

Full Text of the President Jonathan’s New Year’s message

Fellow Nigerians, Read More

Putin Signs Anti – US Adoption Bill

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law controversial parliamentary legislation, banning the adoption of
Russian children by American families, the Kremlin has said.

The law, considered a retaliation for a US law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky, will come into force on January 1, the Kremlin said on Friday.

The highly contentious law was easily passed by both houses of parliament and is widely seen as the strongest piece of anti-Western legislation considered during Putin’s 13-year rule.

On Thursday Putin accused the United States of “acting brazenly and arrogantly” by allegedly refusing Russian officials access to adopted children who were reported to be harmed by their new US families.

In the past 20 years, Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children, according to the US State Department.

In criticising the proposed law, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell says “it is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations.”
Bargaining chip

Critics of the bill say Russian orphanages are woefully overcrowded and the fate of vulnerable children should not be used as a bargaining chip in a bilateral feud.

“These children are not even offered to foreigners until they get a certain number of [adoption] refusals from Russians,” said Sigayeva, a neatly styled brunette who heads the New Hope Christian Services Adoption Agency.

“These are children with complicated diagnoses, really complicated. They are very ill children.”

But Putin rejected the argument of those who believe the law limits the opportunities of children who would struggle if they remain in Russia.

“There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here,” said Putin.

“And what? Are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?”

He also cited Israel as an example of a country that does not send its children abroad despite domestic concerns about the security situation there.

The Israelis “always fight for their national identity”, said Putin. “They form a single fist and fight for their language and their culture.”

US families adopted an estimated 1,500 Russian children last year and are the number one foreign destination of the country’s orphans.

A presidential adviser on children’s rights said on Wednesday that 46 pending US adoptions may be abandoned when the law enters into force in January 1.

More than 650,000 children are considered orphans in Russia – though some were rejected by their parents or taken from dysfunctional homes.

Of that total, 110,000 lived in state institutions in 2011, according to the Ministry of Science and Education.

Culled from Al Jazeera