Shake Up in Army

BURATAI APPOINTS NEW GOC'S.

•As 12 SENIOR OFFICERS SENT TO ASCON, BADAGRY.

The Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai has appointed new General Officers Commanding the Divisions of the Nigerian Army and other new Principal Staff Officers to run the affairs of Nigerian Army Headquarters.

In what is seen as a massive shake up, Buratai also appointed new Corps Commanders, Special Task Forces Commanders, a new Commander for the Multi-national Joint Task Force to tackle Boko Haram, new Brigade Commanders as well as new Defence Advisers in Nigeria’s foreign missions abroad.

Maj Gen T Y Buratai, Chief of Army Staff

The new General Officers Commanding are Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, GOC ‘1’ Division, Kaduna. He was formerly the Deputy Commandant of the National Defence College, Abuja; Major General L.C. Ilo is the new GOS 2 Division, Ibadan. He replaces Major General SM Muazu who is appointed Commander, Infantry Corps, Jaji; Major General H. Umaru is the new GOC 3 Armoured Division, Jos.

Others are Major General M.A Koleoso, new Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Minna. He takes over from the new Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Olonishakin. He was formerly Director of Administration at Defence Headquarters; Major General H. Edet, new GOC 81 Division, Lagos. He was formerly the Commandant, Nigerian Army Training Center (NATRAC), Kotangora; Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru firmerly the Brigade Commander, 13 Brigade, Calabar is the Acting GOC, 82 Division, Enugu. He takes over from Major General S. Yusuf who is redeployed to Defence Headquarters as Chief of Training and Operations.

Among the new Principal Staff Officers at Army headquarters are Major General F.O. Alli, formerly the GOC 3 Division, Jos, now the Chief of Training and Operations (CTOP) at Army Headquarters; Major General Ogunewe, formerly the Defence Adviser New York, is the new Chief of Policy and Plans; Major General Christopher Jemitola is the new Commander, Corp of Signal Headquarters, Laos; Brigadier General A.T Hamman is the new Provost Marshall, Nigerian Army; Brigadier General A.H. Sahad is the new Director of Defence Intelligence (DMI).

The new Commander of the Multi-national Joint Task Force with headquarters in Njamena, Chad is Major General Ilyasu Abbah. He was formerly the Military Secretary (Army). He takes over fromthe Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai.

Major General L.W. Wiwa, formerly the Director of Military Intelligence, is the Deputy Commandant at the Armed Force Resettlement Center, Oshodi; Major General PAT Akem, formerly the Provost Marshall is the new Director of Administration at Army headquarters; Major General B.T. Ndiomu, formerly Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, is posted to Jaji as Director, Simulation Center; the new Commander of the Special Military Task Force (STF) Jos, is Major Genera C.O Udeh.

Brigadier Genera S.M Bello, formerly Brigade Commander 34 Brigade Owerri, is posted to Army headquarters as Director of Operations; Brigadier General O. Ofoche is the new Brigade Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade; Brigadier General A.O Olabanji is the new Brigade Commander, 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt; Brigadier General AM Dikko is the Acting Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, Abuja. He was formerly Commander, 31 Brigade, Minna;

A new Acting Director of Defence Information has also been appointed. He is Colonel Rabe Abubakar. He was at one time, Commandant of the Nigerian Army Information School, Bonny Camp, Lagos. He is to take over from Major General Chris Olukolade, formerly the DDI.

At the Defence headquarters, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, formerly Commander of the Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, Yenagoa is the new Chief of Logistics, Major General M.T. Ibrahim is the new Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

The 12 senior officers who are to proceed on a one year course to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) include former GOC’s, former PSO’s, former Commandants of Training Institutions and former Corp’s Commanders.

Uncle Sam: A book launch, day of honour at 80

MR. Sam Amuka, the widely acclaimed doyen of Nigerian journalism, easily comes across as a man who is contented to remain in the shadows of his prodigious achievements. But Uncle Sam, as he is fondly called, certainly will have nowhere to hide tomorrow, Thursday, July 30 when leading media professionals and industry chiefs gather to celebrate and honour him with a book launch and lecture on the future of journalism.
The Vanguard Newspapers publisher and life patron of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, will be the focus of attention at the event holding at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The book published by Diamond Publications Limited, and titled, Voices from Within: Essays in Nigerian Journalism in Honour of Sam Amuka (2nd Edition), is considered a befitting climax to the outpouring of tributes to commemorate his 80th birthday, which was marked last June. With journalism practice and how to efficiently apply it for greater impact in society as its primary focus, the book features 22 experienced contributors who were selected for their commitment to the continued growth of the media. It is a sequel to an earlier edition published in 2005.

Roll call of contributors

The roll call of contributors include Mr. Frank Aigbogun, publisher, BusinessDay; Mr. Debo Adesina, Editor-in-Chief, The Guardian; Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, columnist, Leadership; Mrs. Tinu Odugbemi, former National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, chairperson, Lagos State; Mallam Mohammed Haruna, columnist, Daily Trust and The Nation; Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye, provost, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ; Mr. Jibade Fasina-Thomas, pioneer editor of Sunday Punch; Mr. Godwin Agbroko (deceased), former Editorial Page Editor, Thisday; Mr. Ebun Aleshinloye, editorial cartoonist; Mr. Tam Fiofori, photojournalist and author; Mr. Ted Iwere, publisher, Business Dispatch and Mr. Stanley Egbochuku, publisher, Manufacturing Today.

Others are Mr. Tony Iyare, editor-in-chief, The Gleaner Online and former SSA Media to Edo State Governor; Mr. Ben Lawrence, former managing editor, Daily Times and columnist, Tell magazine; Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, GM and Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard; Mr. Mideno Bayagbon, editor, Vanguard; Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, former editor, Sunday Vanguard; Mr. Muyiwa Adetiba, pioneer editor of Vanguard; Mr. Tunde Fagbenle, columnist, Sunday Punch; Mallam Ish’aq Moddibo Kawu, columnist, Vanguard; Mr. Kenny Adamson, editorial cartoonist and Mr. Lanre Idowu, CEO, Diamond Publications, who also is the editor of the book.

The lecture entitled, Today’s Newsroom, Tomorrow’s Newspaper: How to Survive and Thrive in the Internet Age, which is a complement to the book launch in celebrating Uncle Sam, will be delivered by Mr Ted Iwere. Given the huge popularity Uncle Sam enjoys within and outside the media, the two-pronged event is expected to draw a significant crowd of admirers and well-wishers many of who will use the opportunity to express their appreciation of his remarkable contribution to the evolution of journalism in Nigeria and the world at large.

Ooni of Ife dies at 85

THE Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade is dead. He was 85 years old.

The revered Oba died in St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London at about 7.30 p.m. last night.

Both palace sources and close associates of the leading Yoruba Oba said he was rushed to London on Friday before he passed on last night.

Oba Sijuwade ascended the throne in 1980 at the age of 50.

Sijuwade was born on January 1, 1930 in Ile-Ife to the Ogboru ruling house, grandson of the Ooni Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I.

He studied at Abeokuta Grammar School and Oduduwa College in  Ile-Ife and worked for three years in his father’s business, then for two years with the  Nigerian Tribune, before attending  Northampton College  in the United Kingdom to study business management.

By the age of 30 he was a manager in Leventis, a Greek-Nigerian conglomerate. In 1963 he became Sales Director of the state-owned National Motor in Lagos. After spotting a business opportunity during a 1964 visit to the Soviet Union, he formed a company to distribute Soviet-built vehicles and equipment in Nigeria, which became the nucleus of a widespread business empire.

He also invested in real estate in his home town of Ile-Ife. By the time Sijuwade was crowned Ooni in 1980 he had become a wealthy man.

Sijuwade is a Christian. In November 2009 he attended the annual general meeting of the  Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria accompanied by 17 other traditional rulers. He declared that he a was full member of the church, and said all the monarchs, who accompanied him would now become members.  At his birthday celebration two months later, the Primate of the Anglican Communion described Sijuwade as “a humble monarch, who has the fear of God at heart.”

When Sijuwade became Ooni of Ife in December 1980 he inherited an ongoing dispute over supremacy between the  obas  of  Yorubaland. In 1967 a crisis had been resolved when Chief  Obafemi Awolowo  was chosen as the leader of the Yoruba. In 1976 the Governor of Oyo State, General  David Jemibewon, had decreed that the Ooni of Ife would be the permanent chairman of the State Council of Obas and Chiefs. Other Obas led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba  Lamidi Adeyemi  said the position should rotate. The dispute calmed down when  Osun State  was carved out of Oyo State in August 1991.

In January 2009 Sijuwade was quoted as saying that Oba Adeyemi was ruling a dead empire (the  Oyo Empire, which collapsed in 1793).[7]  Adeyemi responded by citing “absurdities” in Sijuwade’s statements and saying the Ooni “is not in tune with his own history”.[8]  Adeyemi, Permanent Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, was conspicuously absent from a meeting of Yoruba leaders in April 2010.[6]

Towards the end of 2009 a more local dispute between the Ooni, the Awujale of Ijebuland and the Alake of Egbaland was finally resolved. Sijuwade traced the dispute back to a falling out between  Obafemi Awolowoand  Ladoke Akintola  during the  Nigerian First Republic, which had led to a division between the traditional rulers. He noted that the traditional rulers were an important unifying force in the country during the illness of President  Umaru Yar’Adua.[9]

In February 2009, Sijuwade helped mediate in a dispute over land ownership between the communities of Ife and  Modakeke, resolved in part through the elevation

of the Ogunsua of Modakeke as an Oba.[10]  The new Oba, Francis Adedoyin, would be under the headship of Sijuwade.[11]  Oba Okunade Sijuwade died on July 28th, 2015, after a brief illness at the ripe age of 85 years

Bizarre! 10-year-old boy buried alive in Enugu

• A shocking revelation has been uncovered in Enugu State following the alleged discovery of a ten-year old boy buried alive as a sacrifice by suspected occult men.
  The gory incident took place at Ngwo community in the State during a just concluded three-day fasting and prayer crusade organized to cleanse the community of evil.
  We gathered that the little boy was allegedly abducted along Independence Layout axis of Enugu State and buried alive by unknown occultists in the community as sacrifice.
  However, by divine intervention, the leaders of the community invited a fire-brand Catholic priest, the Reverend Father Modestus Chilaka all the way from Abia State to assist in cleansing the land.
  Fortunately, it was during the prayer session led by the priest  that the boy jerked back to life from the grave after the priest had prophesied boy used as a sacrifice.
  As at the time of this report, it was not ascertained whether the boy had reunited with the parents or his whereabouts.
  State police command’s spokesman, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu told our reporter that “I am not aware of the incident but I will nose around. May be it happened and it was not reporter. I will get back to know if I have the details”, he stated.
  However, the traditional ruler of Ogwugwu Ebenebe 1 of Ameke Ngwo, Igwe Jerome Okolo  said, “I was here and I saw a small boy who was buried alive as a sacrifice; the priest said there was such thing happening and they have buried a boy for rituals. He prophesied and said he will go there and rescue him. He went and they rescued the boy and brought him to this ground and everybody saw him”.

Gombe Bomb blast: Pregnant woman delivers pre-matured baby

A pregnant woman receiving treatment at Gombe Specialist Hospital Gombe as a result of the twin bomb blasts in Dadin/Kowa Motor Park, has been delivered of a pre-mature male baby.
The Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Reuben Ardo, who disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Gombe, said that the woman was delivered through a Cesarean Section (CS).
Ardo said that the woman was still in the hospital receiving treatment, while the baby was put in an incubator.
“We noticed that the pregnant woman’s baby was going through stress, so, we took her to the theater for an emergency surgery to save the lives of both baby and mother.
“The mother is currently at the hospital receiving treatment, while the baby is in the incubator at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH) Gombe.
``From the information we got, the woman was coming back home from the church, when she met the unfortunate incident,’’ he said.
Ardo further said that since the blast, they treated and discharged 56 victims, 15 on admission, 15 bodies deposited at the mortuary, while six were referred to FTH because of their serious bleeding cases, for the attention of experts.
“One has a chest injury, the other one has head injury, one was with multiple injuries and he was bleeding from everywhere, They need specialist attention,’’ he said.
When contacted, the Deputy Director, Public Relations, FTH, Malam Haruna Abdulrasheed, confirmed that the baby was in the hospital.
He said that they recorded 21 dead bodies, 36 on admission and nine who were treated and discharged.
On Wednesday night, a twin bomb blast exploded at Dadin/Kowa and Dukku Motor Parks in Gombe.

NASS crisis: Leadership tussle is shameful — Emir

THE Emir of Lafia Alhaji Mustapha Agwai II has described as unfortunate the leadership crisis rocking the two chambers of the National Assembly, describing it as shameful.

The monarch also chastised members of the National Assembly for allegedly allowing personal interest and ambition to becloud the their sense of nationality and told them to learn how to consider the overall interest of the country before their individual interest.

The Emir who was speaking when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara paid him a condolence visit in Nasarawa reminded the lawmakers that it was God who gives power to people.

According to him, "Nigerians are watching events in the National Assembly with keen interest which is why leaders must put their personal national interest over and above individual interest."

He said he strongly believe that God made Dogara Speaker because he has the capacity to lead saying, “God will never have made you Speaker if you do not have the capacity to lead the House.

The Emir said Nigerians toiled, sacrificing their comforts in order to effect leadership change in the country with lots of expectations but that the crisis over leadership positions is both disheartening and unfortunate.

He said, “The things we are seeing happening in the two chambers of the National Assembly are not encouraging,”

Continuing he said, people sacrificed even their lives for the present crop of leaders to be elected with the expectation that they will deliver on the mandates given to them and provide good leadership.

He said it will be disappointing if fail to learn from history and provide solutions to the many problems bedeviling the country.

“Recent events in the National Assembly are shameful. When will the crisis and struggle for power be over? People can’t wait anymore for change to take place.

“You have asked us to pray for peace in our land and for all leaders, we are also appealing to you our leaders to put your individual ambitions and interests aside because it is God who gives power to people.”

Speaking earlier, Dogara called on the Emir not to relent in praying to God over the security challenges bedeviling the country especially the North East region.

He said God will not send angels from heaven to solve Nigeria’s problems which is why the people must intensify prayers for God to guide the present crop of leaders.

The Speaker in company of other lawmakers were in Lafia to condole with Hon. Abubakar Sarki Dahiru representing Lafia/Obi Federal Constituency over the death of his father.

Buratai, MNJTF Head of Mission meet over Boko Haram

•As Osinbajo clarifies that insurgents targeting VIPs houses, not VP's house

The Head of Mission, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and Executive Secretary, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Engineer Sanusi Abdullahi, yesterday, held talks with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on ways to end the Boko Haram insurgency.

Meantime, The presidency has denied saying that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo raised alarm that Boko haram was targeting his house, saying that the statement was made in error.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande in a statement to correct the error said that the Vice President was meant to say that the insurgents were now targeting the house of Very Important Persons, VIPs.

The statement read in parts" A press briefing note circulated today by the Secretariat of the National Economic Council, NEC, contains a typo on the very last line

of the last paragraph.

That paragraph should read “The Vice President also disclosed that security reports has it that scavengers are now being prepared by insurgents to dump refuse laden with bombs in the houses of VIPs.”

The last line erroneously says “in the house of the Vice President.”

However, according to a statement by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman Engr. Abdullahi assured that his commission would partner with the Nigerian military on the strategies towards making Boko Haram terrorism a thing of the past.

The Head of Mission who commended the Nigerian Army’s efforts in the ongoing fight against the insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country, reiterating the need for the Nigerian Army in particular and the nation in general to fulfill its obligations toward ending the insurgency.

He emphasized that the operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force will be aimed at supporting the Nigerian military to bring peace to the Sub-Region.

Responding, the COAS, Maj- Gen. Buratai expressed appreciation for his support and cooperation during his brief stay as Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force to the Head of mission.

It will be recalled that before his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai was the Force Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force where the Executive Secretary was the Head of Mission.

Present during the visit were senior officers of the Army Headquarters, Major General Mohammed Tasiu Ibrahim, Chief of Army Standard and Evaluation, Major General Alani

Gafar Okunlola, Acting Chief of Operations and Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsami, Acting Director of Operations.