Muawuya Zakariah Adam Gombe

Governor Sule Lamido IBB: No Going Back on Zoning North Central Lawmakers Say ‘NO’ to Jonathan A new dimension was introduced to the 2011 presidential contest at the weekend when the governors of Jigawa, Adamawa and Sokoto, met in Sokoto and came up with a resolution to form a group that will halt the growing divide in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the zoning principle of the party. Sunday Trust gathered last night that only the three governors: Malam Sule Lamido, Admiral Murtala Nyako, and Alhaji Magatakarda Wamakko, were at the meeting. Our reporter gathered that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was supposed to be at the meeting, but it was not clear why he was not in attendance. A source close to one of the governors told Sunday Trust that though Governors Lamido and Nyako went to Sokoto in the pretext of paying a solidarity visit to their counterpart, over the floods that devastated Sokoto communities, the main objective was to discuss issues rela...

Women Politicians Those who had seen her at close range in 1993 when she sought the presidency under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) which was won eventually by late Chief Moshood Olawale Kashimawo Abiola are unanimous that she has changed considerably. However, they can only point at her age to prove their position. But Dr Sarah Jubril has not lost her agility or candour. In fact, she still exudes the vivacity and dexterity she had 1993 when she dared venture into shark-infested political waters, hitherto regarded as the exclusive preserve of men. She lost even before the race began but unlike the case with most women, she did not recoil into oblivion. She charged into the frontline when the whistle was blown again in 1998 as one of the aspirants under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but was won then by Olusegun Obasanjo. Since then, Mama Sarah has remained a constant player in Nigeria’s political scene, contesting for the topmost posit...

President Goodluck Jonathan - Says It Was Terrorists, Not MEND - IBB, Atiku, Saraki, Others Call for Probe - Death Toll Rises to 12, 101 Affected P resident Goodluck Jonathan revealed yesterday that he knows “the person” behind the bomb attacks that marred the October 1 Golden Jubilee celebration last Friday, reiterating his vow that the person(s) will be brought to book. The president’s remark came at a time when prominent Nigerians, including former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Kwara State Governor, Dr Bukola Saraki, former Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Chief Solomon Lar, among others, have called for a probe of the disaster to ensure culprits are punished. President Jonathan who spoke at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament international colloquium marking the 50th Independence anniversary of African countries yesterday in Abuja, dismissed a press release by a group claiming ...

ONE of the criteria that qualified former military heads of state, Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Abdulsalami Abubakar to be among the 50 distinguished achievers for the Golden Jubilee Presidential Awards is because they voluntarily handed over power to a democratically elected governments in 1979 and 1999, respectively, President Goodluck Jonathan, has said. Jonathan gave the explanation, Thursday night, at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja during the conferment of distinguished achievements awards to 50 Nigerians in response to protests that trailed the exclusion of some former military heads of state like Murtala Ramat Mohammed, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and the head of the Interim National Government, Chief Earnest Shonekan. Jonathan said that the process of selecting the 50 awardees for the honours was rigorous and competitive, noting that the five former Heads of State who were selected for the award was because of their individual, peculiar...

Victim of the Blast Oladele (not real name), a photographer, was working the streets taking pictures of the extensive celebrations of Nigeria’s fifty years of independence. It was about 10: 45 and the streets were packed by crowds of people from all walks of life and he even bumped into a friend he had not seen for some time. Due to light rain falling, they both agreed to run some distance to where Oladele’s friend had parked his car so they would exchange phone numbers. But a deafening sound rent the air, followed by vibrations and flame. People began to scream and car alarms went off, blaring. “I fell down,” Oladele said and after that, everything became a blur. “People began to run towards the area where the explosion happened to help others who had fallen,” he told Weekly Trust. One person was found dead. And that was when the second explosion happened. Oladele said the second one affected more cars and people because of the rush towards the initial bomb site. “I saw a couple o...

Governor Ibrahim Shekarau In this interview, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State speaks on a number of issues affecting his party, including the party’s convention, Bashir Tofa’s presidential declaration and emergence of Dr Ogbonnaya Onu as ANPP national chairman as against his preferred choice, Mr Harry Akande. Excerpts: You have not been heard since the election of new national leaders of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) at its Abuja convention last month. How would you describe the event? My comment on the convention of the ANPP held in Abuja is that so far so good; it is a very clear indication that the party is on its path towards reconsolidating itself; it is conveying a message of maturity; it is conveying a message of oneness as a family. There is nothing wrong when there are vacancies in a given democratic system and people come out to aspire. Most people thought we will be at the convention and there will be crisis and some were even thinking that the party ...

Friday, 01 October 2010 01:46 A lokacin da Sarauniyar Ingila Elizabeth ta Biyu ta ziyarci garin Kaduna tare da maigidanta a shekarar 1956 , abincin gargajiya Sardaunan Sakkwato kuma Firimiyan Jihar Arewa na lokacin, Sa Ahmadu Bello ya shirya musu liyafa da shi, maimakon abincin Turawa irin nasu. Odilan Sardauna a lokacin, Alhaji Sani One Minute shi ne ya bayyana wa Aminiya haka a yayin da take tattaunawa da shi dangane da cikar Najeriya shekara 50 da samun ‘yancin kai. Alhaji Sani One Minute ya ce, bayan an tashi daga filin sukuwa inda aka shirya wa Sarauniya gagarumar daba, sai aka wuce gidan gwamnati da ke kan hanyar Kawo inda ofishin Firimiya yake nan ne aka shirya abincin da za su ci a wannan ranar, kuma abincin da aka baje ba na Turawa ba ne irin su salad da sauransu. Abinci ne na gargajiya irin su masa da sinasir da fankasau da Tuwo da miya da sauran abincin gargajiya irin na Hausawa. Kuma ba a kan tebur aka shirya abincin ba, kamar yadda Turawa suke yi, an shirya shi...

Friday, 01 October 2010 03:57 Kasar da a yau ake kira Najeriya hadakar wasu tsofafffin dauloli ne da suka rayu a matsayin kasashe mabambanta masu zaman kansu shekaru aru-aru kafin zuwan Turawan mulkin mallaka. Duk da irin dimbin matsalolin da kasar take shiga ta fita, bisa lura da cewa hadakar kasashe ne suka tayar da Najeriya, tilas mu fito mu yi murna, mu yi godiya ga Allah, mu yi shagali da shagulgula ganin cewa mun shafe rabin karni wato shekara hamsin muna zaune a matsayin kasa daya. Tarihi ya nuna cewa mutanen farko da ake jin an fara samu a kasar nan, wadda ita ce kasa mafi yawan jama’a a Nahiyar Afirka, su ne mutanen Nok da ke yankin Karamar Hukumar Jaba ta Jihar Kaduna ta yanzu. Tarihi ya nuna cewa shekara dubu biyu da suka gabata ’yan kabilar Nok sun yi suna wajen sarrafa karafa suna kera wasu manyan kayayyakin kawa. Sannan yankunan Benuwai da ke Arewa ta Tsakiya da Kalaba da ke Kudu maso Kudu ana kyautata zaton su ne tushen kabilar Bantu da suka yi hijira suka bazu...

Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar says he was not at the Eagle Square, venue of the 50th independence anniversary celebration in Abuja last Friday because he was not invited to the occasion. Atiku who spoke with newsmen in Jos yesterday at the national preaching and appeal fund launch for N139,300,000 by the Jamaatu Izalatil Bdi’ah wa Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) said even as a former vice president, he could not gate-crash into the occasion unless he was invited. “Of course I could not go unless I was invited”, he said when asked if as a former vice president he still needed a formal invitation to attend the independence anniversary. Atiku at the launch commended the JIBWIS for trying to renovate some of the burnt schools in Jos, stressing the need for quality education. He said that was why he personally made several commitments to the development of education in the country by setting up schools to the university level. He denoted N20 million an...