Thisday Tell:

Abiola’s son opens up: I asked Obasanjo to honour my father •Even in death MKO has many enemies •President Buhari is a special person •Jonathan had good intention by honouring MKO •How Abacha sent news of mum’s death to dad in prison BY CHARLES KUMOLU, Deputy Features Editor ALHAJI Jamiu Abiola, son of the late presumed winner of June 12 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, in this interview, speaks on the honour bestowed on his father, untold stories of his incarceration and his father’s enemies among others. Jamiu, who is the third child of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, also spoke on the roles of certain actors in the June 12 saga. Before the latest immortalisation of his father, he had authored two books on Abiola’s mandate, The Stolen Presidency and The President Who Never Ruled. Excerpts: You wrote a book, The President Who Never Ruled about your late father, Chief MKO Abiola a few years ago. Today, the award of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR

VP attacks President, quits ruling party Malawi’s vice president Saulos Chilima publicly attacked the corruption of the president’s government on Tuesday and announced his resignation from the ruling party, leaving the door open for a presidential run. Chilima was handpicked by President Peter Mutharika to run alongside him in the 2014 elections on the Democratic People’s Party ticket. His dramatic decision to quit the DPP has exposed a widening rift in the ruling party, which has come under heavy criticism for alleged corruption.  “Despite all the sacrifices that our forefathers made, our nation remains one of the poorest. Nepotism, cronyism and corruption are rampant and only those connected continue to benefit,” he said at a media conference in Lilongwe. “We must give this country a new lease of life. We must clean this country. We must drain the swamp.” Chilima’s shock move comes as calls have mounted from within the DPP for him to challenge 79-year-old Mutharika, w

Cameroun extends barrier along Nigerian border The  Cameroonian  Defence Forces are crediting the construction of a trench along the country’s border with Nigeria with significantly improving the security situation in the country’s Far North region. Work on the trench began in October 2016, when an experimental 20 km long section was dug between Guiwess and Tilde, a colonel in the Rapid Intervention Battalions (BIR) told Jane’s . With the soundness of the concept confirmed, a second 10 km section was dug in early 2017 before the rainy season stopped work. More extensive digging began when the dry season returned in September 2017 and the length of the trench increased to 120 km by late April, according to the BIR colonel. The plan is to eventually extend it further southwards to reach a length of 213 km. There is no need to extend it further north as the El Beid River, which runs along the border to Lake Chad, forms a natural  barrier . Designed to prevent armed militants, espe

Fani Kayode Reacts To Buhari’s Declaration Of June 12 As Democracy Day Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation has reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration of June 12 as Democracy day. Buhari in a press release , also announced that MKO Abiola, winner of the annulled election, will be posthumously awarded the highest honour in the land, GCFR. In various reactions, some Nigerians wondered if the change meant the President would not hand over on May 29, 2019. Others felt Buhari was trying to appeal to the South West, ahead of next year’s elections. However, Fani Kayode on his Twitter page commended Buhari, describing the new date as great news. He wrote “I commend @MBuhari for announcing June 12th as our new Democracy Day. “This is long overdue and I am pleasantly surprised. I also commend him for honoring Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12th 1993 presidential election, with the posthumous award of GCON. This is great news!” x

Nigerian Government scraps HND certificate, makes new rules for polytechnics Nigerian Government has scrapped Award of HND Certificates by Polytechnics. The decision was reached at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday where the approval of a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s tertiary education system was made. In effect, the award of HND will be limited to only the students currently admitted for the programmes. Also, all the programmes currently being run by polytechnics, which are not technology-based, and which are about 70 per cent, will be scrapped. Under the new rule, the polytechnics will now become campuses of the proximate universities with the Vice Chancellors of those universities appointing provosts for the polytechnics, subject to the ratification of the Universities Councils. The polytechnics will now be limited to award of the National Diploma (ND) while those desirous of further education will be awarded the Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) by

How Nigerian Army Massacred 150 Pro Biafra Activists & Hurriedly Declared Them Terrorists Using Python Dance II As A Cover To Escape Accountability (1) (Intersociety Nigeria: 4 th  June 2018)- The combined authorities of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force are responsible for killing of no fewer than 456 defenseless and unarmed citizens of the country in 2017 alone. The killings included jet-bombing of no fewer than 236 Christian IDPs at Rann IDP camp in Kale-Balge LGA of Borno State on 17 th  January 2017. There were also no fewer than 20 supporters of Biafra Indigenous People, shot and killed by soldiers at pro Trump Rally in Port Harcourt on 20 th January 2017; no fewer than 50 rural Christians bombed to death in Numan, Adamawa State on 4 th December 2017; and no fewer than 150 mainly supporters of Biafra Indigenous People killed on 12 th , 13 th  and 14 th  of September 2017 in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia (105 deaths), Isiala-Ngwa(20 deaths) and Aba (25 deaths). Over 10

Nine people were killed in three suicide bombings in southeastern Niger near the border with Nigeria, a local official said on Tuesday. The attacks occurred late Monday in the regional capital of Diffa, a frequent target of the Boko Haram jihadist group, the official, who asked not to be identified, told AFP. He said, “two young women and a man” blew themselves up in different parts of the city, adding that an Islamic school in a busy area was one of the targets. “For the moment there are nine dead, and many wounded,” he said. Security forces have cordoned off the sites and are carrying out search operations throughout the city, a security source said. According to accounts on social media, three explosions were heard at around 10 p.m. on Monday in Diffa Koura, an old district of the city. The attacks came as Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou arrived Paris for an official visit on Monday. He is to proceed to Brussels on Tuesday. Diffa region, since February 2015, has s

The Date for the End of the World REVEALED!!! Courtesy of Pixabay There have been a multitude of end-of-the-world predictions concocted throughout my lifetime. Too many to count in fact. The latest comes from this crackpot named Mathieu Jean-Marc Rodrigue, who claims that according to the Bible, June 24, 2018 will be that fateful day. Somehow or another, if you do some calculations based on crop prices, a passage from the book of Revelations (yes, with an “s”), and some other nonsense that I can’t quite follow, you’ll come up with this date. Because of this hocus-pocus, I wanted to take a moment to set the record straight. The end of the world won’t happen on June 24—not according to my calculations anyway. Here’s what I’ve come up with. First, if we assume Jesus died in 33 AD, it is then safe to say that we can take that number and multiply it by 66, the total number of books in the Protestant canon. What we get is 2,178. Now, if we then take the current price of wheat per bushel ($

 Army arrest Biafran Leader in Bakkasi Nigerian Soldiers on Tuesday arrested  leader  of the Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL) in Bakassi, Cross River State. BNYL Secretariat  condemned the action of the Niegrian Army in the arrest of its members, including the Chief of Staff of the Organization, Mr Linus Essien, in Bakassi. The BNYL Secretariat narrated that the members were on their way to Anambra State to participate in the 51st anniversary of the Declaration of Biafra holding this Wednesday, May 30, 2018. National Leader of BNYL, Princewill Richard, said that the information of the arrest was received at about 7.00pm on Tuesday. Princewill Richard wondered how an event that was not held in Bakassi would become a threat to security agencies in the area. “They have been threatening us on phone since we made public our intention to participate in the Biafra memorial day; that is act of kidnapping, a criminal act, so to say,” the  BNYL National Leader declared. He, therefore, called