Glo Hosts Night with Wole Soyinka, Young Literary Stars

Telecommunication giant, Globacom has announced plans to celebrate the continent’s biggest literary icon and Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka.

In a statement released in Lagos on Thursday, Globacom said an event captioned: ‘A Night with Wole Soyinka and Nigeria’s Young Literary Stars,” will be held in August to honour  Soyinka and some of Nigeria’s young but inspirational literary writers.

The company said the event is being organised to pay tribute to the literary stars for their immense contributions to the study of literature and for putting Nigeria on the world literary map.

It noted that Soyinka had brought honour and glory to Nigeria and the whole of Africa. In addition to celebrating the wordsmith, the event will also provide a platform for lovers of literature, the media and the guests to interact with Soyinka and the young award winning writers, Globacom explained.

During the event, Globacom will also launch a special prize in Literature for undergraduate students across the country tagged: ‘The Glo Literature Prize for Undergraduate Students.’

The telecoms network added that arrangements were being concluded to ensure an evening of intellectual stimulation, glitz, glamour and sublime entertainment for guests.

The evening will also showcase a documentary on the life and times of the Nobel Laureate as well as a reading of his works by the three young literary Nigerian writers.

The writers will in addition share their personal perspective on African literature and the contributions of Prof Soyinka in an interactive exchange. The young writers being honoured on the night are Sefi Atta, Tope Folarin and E.C. Osondu.

Sefi Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1964. She has won several awards including the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, 2005 PEN International David TK Wong Prize and 2003 Red Hen Press Short Story Award.

Tope Folarin who lives and works in Washington, DC., United States, won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for his short story entitled ‘Miracle’ from Transition. He is the recipient of writing fellowships from the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC., and serves on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Tope was educated at Morehouse College, and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Master’s degrees as a Rhodes Scholar.

The last celebrant, E.C. Osondu, won the Caine Prize in 2009 for his story “Waiting.” He has also won the Allen and Nirelle Galso Prize for Fiction, and his story, “A Letter from Home”, was judged one of The Top Ten Stories on the Internet in 2006. His debut short story collection Voice of America was published by Harper Collins in 2010 and Granta Books in 2011. He lives in Rhode Island, USA where he is an Assistant Professor of English at Providence College.

Source: This day

Obama Kicks Off Africa Visit With Reunion With Kenya Relatives

The gesture was aimed at conveying respect for family members after the White House ruled out a separate stop in his grandmother’s remote village of Kogelo.

Barack Obama met briefly with some of his relatives after arriving in Kenya, a gesture aimed at conveying respect for family members after the White House ruled out a separate stop in his grandmother’s remote village of Kogelo.

The meeting, which wasn’t on the president’s official schedule, took place in Nairobi shortly after he landed there for his first visit as president to his late father’s homeland of Kenya.

Air Force One landed in Nairobi at just after 8 p.m. local time. After a formal greeting from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other officials, and Obama’s half-sister, Auma Obama, the U.S. president headed to his hotel. There, he was joined for dinner by about three-dozen relatives, according to the White House.

His step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, 94, and half-sister were among those seated at two long tables inside the restaurant at the Villa Rosa Kempinski.

The U.S. president last visited Kenya in 2006 when he was a junior U.S. senator from Illinois. His wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia accompanied him then, and he did travel to Kogelo to see his grandmother and visit the grave of his father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., whom he barely knew and who died in 1982. The White House ruled out a stop in Kogelo on this visit, given logistical and security constraints.

Obama’s half-brother, Malik Abon’go Obama, said in an interview earlier this month that he missed the days when the two men were closer and that he hoped he’d have the chance to spend time with him when he visited and “sit down and enjoy each other.”

Source: Bloomberg

WORLD BANK GETS ITS FIRST AFRICAN WOMAN VICE PRESIDENT

Nigeria’s Arunma Oteh has been named the new vice president and treasurer for the World Bank.

Oteh who was the director general for Nigeria’s Stock Exchange will now be the first African woman to head up this position.

Her career has been pioneered by many firsts, including being the first Nigerian woman to be accepted into the Harvard Business School MBA project.

She has served on the board of a number of organisations including National Pension Commission (PENCOM) and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.

Her career soared to enviable heights when she became the vice president of the African Development Bank and restored its ratings to ‘AAA’ by Standard and Poor.

She has been defined as the “Iron Lady” in respect of her tough decision-making.

Oteh responds to that saying, “If leading change, being passionate, resilient and decisive about a great course is what makes me an iron lady, then I proudly raise my hand high to that tag.”

Will Egypt ever get its ‘looted’ money back?

For the past few years, a sizable portion of the Egyptian public has been preoccupied with the wealth of former President Hosni Mubarak and his clique. Getting this money back was a major demand of the revolution of Jan. 25, 2011. Since 2011, there has been much talk of efforts to reclaim it, but nothing has materialized. With Mubarak, his sons and several top aides acquitted of several of the charges they had faced after the revolution, hope has started to fade.

The issue sprang back to life in June 2015, with Switzerland extending the freezing of the funds of Mubarak and 31 of his clique until 2017, and the subsequent presidential decree establishing a new committee to look into the matter once more. The National Committee for the Repatriation of Egyptian Money and Assets Abroad was not greeted with the same old enthusiasm, as many wondered if it would be any different from its failed predecessors.

Former Prime Minister Ali Lotfi said several factors contributed to the failure of the previous four governmental committees to reclaim the money. “The lengthy judicial process in Egypt was a major obstacle. The money will only be returned after the verdict against the person who owns it is final,” he said.

“A sentence in the text of the verdict has to clarify that the money of the defendant belongs to the Egyptian state and has to be returned, and this did not happen.” Lotfi added that the state should have hired international lawyers to handle the case. “Instead, millions were spent on committees that did not do anything.”

Lawyer Samir Sabry filed a lawsuit with the Public Funds Prosecution against the previous committees, which he accused of squandering public funds. “The total expenses of those committees has reached half a billion Egyptian pounds, and nothing was achieved,” Sabry wrote in the complaint. “If we go on like this, we will spend the amount we are working to get back.” Sabry also objected to the details of the expenses of such committees not being made public.

Foreign involvement
Moataz Salah al-Din, coordinator of the non-governmental Popular Initiative for the Repatriation of Smuggled Money, said relying on court rulings alone was a mistake. “Egypt should have also addressed relevant countries in the context of the U.N. convention against corruption,” he said, adding that some countries are usually more cooperative than others.

“Switzerland is the most likely to return the money, since Swiss public opinion and several NGOs there are supportive,” he said. “The United States has so far been the most intransigent, as it refused a request by the Egyptian government to freeze the accounts of 103 officials from the Mubarak regime.”

The changes through which Egypt has gone since the revolution, Salah al-Din added, made the success of such committees much harder. “The process was delayed by several regime changes, which also gave an impression to the involved countries that the Egyptian state is not stable enough to handle the smuggled-money file,” he said.

Court rulings
Wahid Abdel Maguid, researcher at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the new committee would never be able to progress in the absence of court rulings. “The formation of the committee is only a bureaucratic step,” he said. “A judicial action is needed, but courts in Egypt are preoccupied with domestic cases.”

Abdel Ghaffar Shokr, deputy chairman of the National Council for Human Rights, agreed that the committee would be useless without court orders. “True, it was a positive step on the part of the president to revive the matter, but the judiciary has to be quick in issuing final verdicts that can be immediately put into force.”

Financial analyst Hani Mahmoud said banks would not return the money without a court ruling. “The country demanding the return of the money has to provide proof that this money was obtained illegally,” he said.

A report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said providing such proof was far-fetched, adding: “Technically, this money is not blood money since it is not obtained through illegal activities in the conventional sense like, for example, drug dealing or arms trade.”

Optimism
Professor of international law Ahmed Refaat said he was optimistic about the new committee, adding that it was different from the others since it allowed reconciliation between the state and those accused of smuggling money abroad. “The accused will make restitution of the looted funds in exchange for dropping charges against them. Egyptian law allows reconciliation in several matters, including currency, tax and customs-related issues,” he said.

“The possibility of reconciliation will save time and huge amounts of money paid for international law firms and travel allowances for the members of the relevant committees.” Refaat said this might be the only realistic means of getting the money back, since traditional legal means might not work, especially with countries whose economy strongly relies on banking.

“If those countries restituted these funds, depositors’ confidence in these banks relying on foreign remittances would be shaken, which would lead to reluctance to deposit funds in these banks and cause the collapse of these countries’ banking systems.”

Buhari will probe Jonathan’s govt only; not Obasanjo’s, others – Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari will not extend his corruption probe beyond the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the presidency has said.
Mr. Buhari, who is currently on official visit to the United States, has consistently vowed to investigate and bring to book, persons who looted the country’s funds.

The president said on Tuesday he will arrest and prosecute past ministers and other officials who stole Nigeria’s oil and diverted government’s money to personal accounts.
But the Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Mr. Buhari, Femi Adesina, said the president will limit his anti-corruption war to the immediate past administration in the country.

He said Mr. Buhari will not waste time in probing the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Sani Abacha and Ibrahim Babangida.

He said even before he was sworn in to office on May 29, the president had categorically stated that he would not extend his corruption probe beyond the Jonathan government.

“If you recall, that was already settled before he got inaugurated as president. He has said he will not waste time digging into the far past,” Mr. Adesina said.
“The far past will includes Obasanjo and others. But the president has said he will not waste time to go that far.”

Before leaving office, Mr. Jonathan had said any probe by the new government would be seen as a “witch hunt” if it fails to go beyond his administration.
Speaking on criticisms over President Buhari’s decision to travel to the U.S. with his son, Yusuf, the presidential spokesperson said Mr. Buhari did not breach any rule. 
He said it was a normal practice for presidents to travel with members of their families, citing the example of American presidents who travel abroad with their wives and children.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with the president travelling with one of his sons. It is an acceptable and standard practice. He could go with up to four members of his family.
“Don’t forget that when former President Bill Clinton visited Nigeria while he was in office, he came with his daughter, Chelsea.
“President Barak Obama travels with his children and so the President of Nigeria can travel out with three or four of his children. Late President Umaru Yar’Adua used to travel with two of his sons and one of his grandchildren,” he said.

Mr. Adesina described the outcome of the president’s official visit to the US as “a roaring success on every side.”
“There are good returns. It is an investment that will yield very handsome returns.”

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PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS NEW SERVICE CHIEFS AND NSA

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS NEW SERVICE CHIEFS AND NSA

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the following appointments:

1. Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin - Chief of Defence Staff;

2. Major-General T.Y. Buratai - Chief of Army Staff

3. Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas - Chief of Naval Staff

4. Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar - Chief of Air Staff

5. Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku  Morgan - Chief of Defence Intelligence

6. Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd.) - National Security Adviser

The new Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Olonishakin (N/6901) hails from Ekiti State. Until his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff today, he was the Head of the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command in Minna, Niger State.

The new Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Buratai hails from Borno State. Until his new appointment today, he was the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force which has its headquarters in Ndjamena. Maj-Gen. Buratai has previously served as Commander of the Nigerian Army's 2nd Brigade in Port Harcourt and Commander of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State.

The new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral  Ibas (NN/0746) hails from Cross River State. He enlisted into the Nigerian Defence Academy as  a member of the 26th Regular Course in 1979 and was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1983.  His previous appointments include: Naval Provost Marshal, Chief Staff Officer, Naval Training Command, Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command and Chief of Logistics, Naval Headquarters. Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Navy Holdings Limited.

The new Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar (NAF/1433) hails from Bauchi State.  His previous appointments include: Chief of Standards and Evaluation, NAF Headquarters; Chief of Defence Communications and Air Officer Commanding, NAF Training Command. Until his new appointment today as Chief of Air Staff, he was the Chief of Administration, NAF Headquarters.

The new Service Chiefs will hold their appointments in an acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate.

President Buhari thanks the outgoing Service Chiefs and National Security Adviser for their services to the nation and wishes them well in their future endeavours.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

July 13, 2015

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari sacks military chiefs

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the army, navy and air force chiefs, his spokesman has told the BBC.
Mr Buhari is expected to announce their replacements soon.
This move does not come as a surprise, as the president has repeatedly criticised the military's inability to defeat Islamist militants Boko Haram.
After losing most of their territory earlier this year, they have recently launched a series of deadly guerrilla attacks, killing more than 250 people.

The new military chiefs will be expected to work closely with neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger as the countries join forces to tackle Boko Haram.
The group has also stepped up attacks on these countries.
At least 12 civilians were killed in Cameroon in a suspected Boko Haram suicide attack on Sunday evening, a military source told the BBC.
Two soldiers also died along with the two bombers when they blew themselves up in Fotokol, near the border with Nigeria.
Chad will be the headquarters of an expanded Nigeria-led regional force of around 7,500 troops.
Its formation has gained momentum since President Buhari took office in May.
On Saturday morning, 15 people died in the main market in Chad's capital, N'Djamena when a man dressed in a burka blew himself up.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.

Source: BBC

Military: Boko Haram Attacks Prison in Niger, 4 Killed

Suspected Boko Haram militants launched an attack on the prison in the southern Niger town of Diffa late on Saturday, military sources said, in an apparent bid to free fellow members of the Nigerian Islamist group held there.

Three of the assailants and one soldier were killed before the attack was repelled, the sources said. Boko Haram also attacked the prison in February.

"When the attack was repelled, the assailants fled, probably back into the town," one military source said. "We are searching for them."

A second military source said the attackers may have been residents of Diffa, as no one had seen them enter the town.

Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Despite losing territory to an offensive by regional militaries this year, Boko Haram has carried out a wave of deadly attacks in Nigeria, Chad and Niger in recent weeks.

The group has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, which has declared an Islamic caliphate in the large parts of Iraq and Syria that it controls.

Source: VOA