Breaking news: Another explosion in Kano

31 March, 2013 Local⁠  Reports from Kano say an explosion has occurred around Unguwa Uku along the Zaria Road highway. A resident of the area said the Joint Task Force, JTF, has already arrived the area and cordoned off the explosion site thereby blocking the ever busy highway. He also said casualty figures, if any, cannot be ascertained now because of the restriction of access to the area. Another explosion is also reported around the restive Eastern Bye pass area. Premium Times is unable to confirm the incidents at the moment. Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the JTF, Lazarus Eli, were unsuccessful as his lines were continuously busy. The explosion and subsequent gunshots in Anguwa Uku was a result of a raid by officers of the Joint Task Force, JTF, on a suspected insurgent hide-out, security sources have said. A security source said that the JTF got information of a major operation (suicide bombing) planned for Easter Sunday in Kano and stormed the hideout of the attackers very early in the morning. They reportedly engaged the attackers in a shoot out that lasted nearly two hours. The spokesperson of the JTF, Eli Lazarus, is yet to talk to the media on the raid, though sources said a statement will be released soon.

9 year old commits suicide

30 March, 2013 Local⁠  The mysterious death of a nine-year-old boy, who allegedly committed suicide, has thrown residents of Tundun-Wada, in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, into confusion while law enforcement agents are still battling to unravel the circumstances behind the incident. Family members and other people who live in the same house with the deceased are still wondering why Henry Goodnews, a Primary 1 pupil, would decide to take his own life. Saturday Tribune gathered that the incident occurred at about 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday when the deceased’s parents had both gone out. His body was said to have been found dangling from a rope within the premises by one of the occupants. The incident created a lot of hysteria in the area, with people wondering how the young boy was able to take his own life successfully without anybody seeing him. The position they found the boy was also a source of concern to those who thronged the house to catch a glimpse of the body. Saturday Tribune gathered that the body of the boy was found with a belt wound around his neck. The belt itself was tied to a rope usually used for drying clothes after washing. A bucket of water was also said to have been found beside him, which suggests that perhaps he was about to take his bath before the incident. The mother of the deceased, Madam Hanatu Goodnews, who is yet to recover from the shock occasioned by the death of her first son, said the incident was still like a dream to her. She told Saturday Tribune that the boy was hale and hearty when she left home that day. She said: “I left home that morning to take his younger brother to the hospital. Before I left, I told him to stay at home and do some domestic work that he could handle. I had no premonition that anything would happen to him because he was doing well that particular morning. “At about 12 noon, I was called by my husband that my boy had died. He did not explain the circumstance of his death to me. I therefore abandoned what I was doing and rushed home. On getting home, I saw a lot of people in front of our house. As I approached, they stopped me from entering but I forced myself in, only to discover the boy with a rope around his neck. “My major concern now is how the boy could take his own life by himself and the people in the house did not know. In this house, there has never been a time that people would not be around. There will be at least up to six people at home. How come the boy took his own life and nobody was aware?” A relation of the husband, identified as Bala Goodnews, also asked a similar question. He told Saturday Tribune that they suspected foul play in the whole thing, saying that the way the boy hanged from a rope that, according to him, could not sustain any object, was suspicious. He maintained that there was no way the boy would hang himself in such a manner, considering his strength and age. Bala Goodnews urged the police to probe the incident, saying the way it happened called for thorough investigation. He urged the police to spread their dragnet to ensure that the perpetrators of the dastardly act were brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others. Saturday Tribune gathered that residents of the area where the incident occurred are currently living in fear of arrest by the police. A source close to the house disclosed that all the tenants in the house where the incident occurred, including the landlord of the house who does not even reside there, were interrogated on Wednesday at the ‘A’ Division of the Nigeria Police command, Jos. Some people in the neighborhood are also said to have gone into hiding to avoid arrest. When contacted, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Salawu Adigun, who confirmed the incident, said the police had commenced full investigations, but said he would not make further comments on the issue until investigations were completed.

Patience Jonathan Sick Again, In Europe For Treatment

A source also told SaharaReporters that the First Lady was also contemplating receiving medical treatment from a US hospital. Mrs. Jonathan’s renewed health woes have accounted for her absence from several official events in Abuja and her home state of Bayelsa State over the last few days. A few days ago, Mrs. Jonathan made a quiet exit from Abuja en route to France where she was to allegedly receive some unspecified award. However, a source within the Presidency told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Jonathan’s trip to France was a ploy to enable her to shop for new doctors in Europe for her deteriorating health. A source disclosed that she left France for Spain. The same source disclosed that the First Lady was considering being moved to a US hospital today. However, a source in the US who is close to the First Family told SaharaReporters that he was “not heard from the first lady regarding her trip to the US.” Ayo Osinlu, a spokesman of the First Lady, told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Jonathan was in Europe in order to care for an ailing elderly woman who helped raise the First Lady. He failed to disclose the specific European nation where Mrs. Jonathan’s foster mother is hospitalized. During Mrs. Jonathan’s first extended medical sojourn in Germany, Mr. Osinlu had misled reporters by declaring that the First Lady was merely vacationing abroad after what he described as a series of grueling official functions, including the hosting of a conference of African First Ladies. Mrs. Jonathan was noticeably absent from a Friday church service organized at the presidential villa yesterday as part of Easter celebrations. She was also missing at another key event where  her Africa First Ladies Peace Mission donated relief material to the war-torn country of Mali. An aide of the First Lady reported that a minister, Ms. Jumoke Akinjide, represented Mrs. Jonathan at the event where relief material was donated to Mali. During the church service at the Presidential Villa, President Jonathan was flanked by his elderly mother, Eunice Jonathan, as well as Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and Ndudi Elumelu, a member of the House of Representatives indicted for corruption in power sector projects. Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who has been romantically linked to Mr. Jonathan, wore a large diamond ring at the church service. One of the last times Mrs. Jonathan was seen in public was on her return from an official visit to Cote d’Ivoire on March 2, 2013. She later made a brief visit to Lagos where she attended a dinner organized for Nollywood stars. Afterwards, she was sighted in Paris where she received the “Global Women Leader for Peace Award 2013.” Since receiving the award on March 17, the First Lady has not been seen in any official photos released from the Presidency. Her trip to Paris coincided with her husband’s official visit to Equatorial Guinea. Mr. Jonathan was accompanied on that official visit by two female ministers, Stella Oduah of Aviation and Ms. Diezani of Petroleum. A source in Abuja said Mrs. Jonathan had not been seen in public for close to a week and half, including during a breakfast meeting with the members of the House of Representatives led by Leo Ogor on March 21, 2013. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Jonathan was at the center of an obscene event where she loquaciously celebrated her ostensible “resurrection from the dead” after dying for more than a week. Some 5,000 guests attended the event at the villa which was televised live, with Pastor Oritsejafor presiding. At the event, Mrs. Jonathan claimed to have undergone several surgeries during her medical sojourn in Germany. The extended medical visit, which was first reported by Saharareporters, cost Nigeria close to 5 million Euros in medical expenses. Mrs. Jonathan’s aides had initially passed off her medical trip as a vacation. On her return from Germany, Mrs. Jonathan had also denied ever going for medical treatment. Saharareporters contacted several presidential aides seeking information about Mrs. Jonathan’s whereabouts, but they failed to return our reporters’ phone calls and text messages.

Harry Potter actor dies after surgery

British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday. Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on stage, and received some of his industry's top awards for his role in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys". The portly actor filled the screen as the lascivious Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 film 'Withnail and I'. But younger fans will remember him for his portrayal of a much crueler avuncular figure - Harry Potter's red-faced and bullying uncle Vernon Dursley. Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard and performed with Griffiths in the stage play "Equus", said the veteran performer had encouraged and coached him and helped him get over his nerves. "Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career ... any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said in a statement. Griffiths' agent, Simon Beresford, described him as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors". He said Griffiths died in hospital on Thursday. The actor was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in Yorkshire, northern England, the son of a steelworker. Both his parents were deaf and he learned sign language to communicate with them. After studying drama in Manchester, he worked in radio and theatre, building a reputation as a Shakespearean clown. He reprised his role as teacher Hector in a film of "The History Boys" in 2006. One of his best known roles on television was a cookery-loving detective in "Pie in the Sky". On stage, he was known for his intolerance of mobile phones ringing during performances, and halted plays several times to complain and even eject offending audience members. Nicholas Hytner, director of Britain's National Theatre, said Griffiths' unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends". "Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest," Hytner said in a statement. Griffiths was given an OBE in 2008 and is survived by his wife Heather.

Mandela Has Pneumonia, Breathing ‘Without Difficulty’

30 March, 2013 Foreign⁠  Nelson Mandela was comfortable and breathing without difficulty after being treated for pneumonia, the presidency said Saturday as the anti-apartheid icon spent a third day in hospital. The 94-year-old had fluid drained from his chest which “has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said in a statement. “He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable.” Mandela who was spending his third day in hospital after making “steady progress” for a recurring lung infection, the latest health scare for the nonagenarian anti-apartheid icon. Messages of concern for the ailing 94-year-old, one of the towering figures of modern history, have poured in since his admission late Wednesday and President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman gave an upbeat report on Friday. “He was in good spirits, he had a full breakfast, and the doctors report that he’s making steady progress,” Mac Maharaj told AFP. “He sat up and had his breakfast in bed.” There was no update yet on Saturday from Mandela’s doctors on his condition or details on how long he would remain at the undisclosed hospital, he said. Mandela’s recent health troubles have triggered an outpouring of prayers but have also seen South Africans come to terms with the mortality of the revered Nobel Peace Prize winner. The former president is idolised in his home nation, where he is seen as the architect of South Africa’s peaceful transition from white-minority ruled police state to hope-filled democracy. Nearly 20 years after he came to power in 1994, he remains a unifying symbol in a country still riven by racial tensions and deep inequality. It is the second time this month that he has been admitted to hospital, after spending a night for check-ups on March 9. That followed a nearly three-week hospital stay in December, when Mandela was treated for another lung infection and underwent gallstone surgery. He was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime and has long had problems with his lungs. He has also had treatment for prostate cancer and has suffered stomach ailments. Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told public broadcaster SABC that “Tata (father) is doing well”. “He’s responding very well to treatment,” said Madikizela-Mandela, who attended a Friday church service in Soweto where the congregation prayed for Mandela. But officials said doctors’ reports of Mandela’s steady progress should be taken in context. “Yes, indeed it is good news but we need to be cautious, bear in mind his age,” said presidential spokesman Maharaj, who was a political prisoner with Mandela at Robben Island jail off the coast of Cape Town. – ‘Through him, we are where we are’ – While Mandela’s legacy continues to loom large over South African politics, he has long since exited the political stage and for the large young population he is a figure from another era, serving as president for just one term. He has not appeared in public since South Africa’s football World Cup final in 2010. Labour unrest, high-profile crimes, grinding poverty and corruption scandals have effectively ended the honeymoon enjoyed after Mandela ushered in the “Rainbow Nation” but his decades-long struggle against apartheid resonates. Ajith Deena, who lives near the eastern port city Durban, said Mandela is so beloved because he forgave his apartheid captors and said “‘Let’s go forward together, let’s forget the past and let’s move forward as one nation, one country.’” He will leave South Africa on “a good footing”, Deena said. “It will be a big loss to the country even though he’s not in the public eye. It’s through him that we are where we are.” The name and location of the hospital where Mandela is being treated have not been disclosed to allow his medical team to focus on their work and to shield the family from the intense media interest. In the past he has been hospitalised at a clinic in Pretoria. Away from the public eye, Mandela has grown increasingly frail. His December hospital stay was his longest since he walked free from jail in 1990. English Premier League football club Sunderland is calling its clash Saturday with Manchester United “Nelson Mandela Day”, in honour of the club’s association with Mandela’s charitable foundation.

APOLOGY: I Will Make It Up To You Guys -2Face To Fans

After an angry female fan lashed out at Tuface for doing his wedding in Dubai looks like he has come out to apologize to his fans that he will make it up to them. My fans, am really sorry 4 my wedding venue. I will make it up to you guys. "The main reason why the wedding was at Dubai is because if I fix it in Nigeria, the pastor will definitely ask if anybody knows why this two won’t be joined in holy matrimony and Una sabi how many pikin with dia different mama wey I get nah, all of dem go stand up spoil my show. So na why I put am dia cos they won’t afford the transport and even if they pastor asked, it will be in Arabic and nobody will understand" -2Face Idibia.

Oga At The Top Movie Is Out

Quite similar to the viral ‘Oga at the top’ quote, the movie features popular Nollywood actor, Nkem Owoh, also known as Osuofia. Although the viral quote stopped trending on Twitter after a week of dominance, Nigerians put their creativity to test as they made T-shirts, mugs, songs and jokes about the error made by the Lagos State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Obafaiye Shem, during an interview on Channels Televison. Efforts to reach Osuofia proved futile as his mobile phone was switched off when Saturday Beats tried to reach him. He did not also reply to a text message sent to his phone.

More than a week after the death of Africa’s foremost novelist, Chinua Achebe, his mother’s family said they were not aware of his passing.

Chief Ifeanyi Iloegbunam, a spokesman of the Ilewu family in Umuike Village in Awka, where Achebe’s mother was married from, told Saturday PUNCH on the telephone that though the family was aware of the news of the death of the writer, the formal transmission of the news to the family from Ogidi, Achebe’s hometown, had not been done. Iloegbunam, who said he was out of town, promised to speak more when he returns  to Awka. A paternal niece of Achebe, Mrs. Jane Umeanor, also told Saturday PUNCH that she was not aware if the Achebe family in Ogidi had gone to Awka to inform his mother’s people about the passing of the professor. The President General of Ogidi Union, Dr. Eric Obiako, had told Saturday PUNCH that he would not speak yet on the death until the formal briefing from the family had been done. It was gathered that because Achebe was a title holder in Ogidi, his children would have to first inform the town about the death before any announcement could be made to other people. His children will also need to go to his mother’s family to formally inform them of the death of their father before they would be involved in the burial arrangements. In the meantime, the immediate family of the deceased were still in the United States as at Thursday when Saturday PUNCH visited Ogidi. The head of the Achebe family was said to be resident in Enugu, and had not come home to receive visitors. Both Achebe’s country home and the family home had yet to be opened to mourners. In fact, Chinua Achebe’s house was securely locked and there was no sign of anyone in it. Achebe had once said that it was a twist of fate that he had the accident that paralysed him for the rest of his life at Awka, the hometown of his mother. Meanwhile, the delay by the immediate family of Achebe in formally relaying his death to the appropriate traditional authorities in his hometown, Ogidi is hampering arrangements for his burial. Saturday PUNCH confirmed from the leadership of the Ogidi Development Union and the Anambra State Government on Friday that the immediate family of Achebe, which is still in the United States where he died, has yet to formally transmit his death to the town union and the state government so that they could begin to make arrangements for his burial. The President General of the Ogidi Development Union, Dr. Eric Obiako, told Saturday PUNCH that there was no burial arrangement on the ground. “There is nothing being done yet. The family is yet to brief us, so we cannot go ahead to make any arrangements,” he said. The Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Chief Joemartins Uzodike, told Saturday PUNCH that as soon as the family notifies the state government about the burial plans, the government would take over from there and publish it.

Three Burnt to Death in Ogun Road Accidents

Three persons were killed while ten others sustained injuries in two separate accidents along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. The first crash occurred around Zonal Breweries in Ijako area of Sango Ota at about 7.20 a.m. Three of the victims were burnt beyond recognition while three others were seriously injured. The Sango Ota Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Richard Olutiriko, who confirmed the accident said that it involved a Volkswagen bus with registration number: (LAGOS) XM 587 EKY. He attributed the cause of the accident to speed limit violation by the driver and also explained that the Abeokuta bound bus rammed into the road divider in front of the Zonal Breweries. It somersaulted three times before it went up in flames. The Unit Commander further stated that both the burnt corpses as well as the injured victims had been evacuated to the Ota General Hospital in Sango. The second accident was along the same route but at Wasinmi area in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state. The Itori Unit Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC), Fatai Bakare, confirmed that seven persons were critically injured in the accident which involved a blue coloured Ford bus with registration number: AA 384 TAK and a white MAC truck with registration number (Lagos) KJA 113 XB. The FRSC official explained that eight people were actually involved in the auto crash and attributed the accident to dangerous driving. The injured victims have been taken to the FRSC emergency clinic in Itori for treatment. 

17-Year-Old Spends Eight Years In Jail For ‘Wandering’

It was a moment of joy recently for the mother of a prison inmate that had been awaiting trial since 2005. Mrs. Maria Emmanuel danced and shouted with joy on the court premises of the Lagos High Court, sitting in Igbosere when Justice Deborah Oluwayemi released her son, Paul Samuel. I Five other awaiting trial inmates were also released by the court. They included Fatai Amidu, Adebayo Owuade, Gabriel Samuel, Mike Ofoje and Lawal Karimu. Speaking with Daily Sun, Mrs. Samuel, a police corporal at Egbe Idimu Local Government Area (and whose husband is a retired soldier), said she had tried all efforts to cause her son to be released from prison - all to no avail. She noted that her son was not arraigned since he was arrested at Maryland, Lagos, in 2005 and had been awaiting advice from Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) since then. According to her, she pleaded with her colleagues at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba where her son was first taken but regretted that nobody, including her senior colleagues, was able to help her. "When I went to Alagbon Police Station, no one could help me. They said it is because he was an armed robbery suspect. I did not go to any senior police officer to help me. "These past eight years have been terrible for me. I was fat before but if you now look at me today, you will see that I am thin. I could not eat or sleep; I was worried, thinking and crying even in the office. I was running around for my son's release. "This was compounded by the retirement of my husband from the Nigerian Army due to his legs, which were affected during the January 2002 bomb blast at Ikeja Cantonment in Lagos. He can't work anymore and he has gone to stay in Bayelsa where we hail from. I am the only one struggling for everything," she said. She stated that all her efforts to get her son out of prison were futile until she met a lawyer, Ahmed Kazeem-Adetola from a non-governmental organisation, Prisoners Right Advocacy Initiative. Unable to contain her happiness over the new developments on the court premises, she enthused: "I am so happy. I have not started to dance. I want to praise my God. This is the eighth year that I have been fighting for my son's freedom. I will call my husband to tell him the good news." Her son, who was 17 years old when he was arrested was to be arraigned over a charge for armed robbery in the name of another suspect, who also bears Paul Samuel but who had been arrested in 2010. Fortunately, his lawyer was present in court. His lawyer was able to clarify issues to the court. The court released him on the ground that he had been in prison without trial over the alleged offence of armed robbery for eight years. Reliving the incidents that led to his imprisonment, Paul vowed to be careful about his choice of friends. According to him, all he did was to greet a friend and he ended up in prison. He noted that the 'friend' bailed himself out without looking back to see how he fared. "On a Sunday morning, I was on my way to Maryland when I saw a friend and we greeted. I shook his hands and suddenly, the police came to raid the place and they arrested everyone they saw. They took everyone to Panti. "I could not contact my family to come and bail me out and I didn't have money. Many of those people I was detained with bailed themselves out with money. But those of us that didn't have money were left and they charged us before a magistrate court for robbery. "They dumped us at Kirikiri Prison and later I was transferred to Ikoyi Prisons where I was taken to Maximum Prisons. "It is saddening to know that I was in prison for eight years over a charge of robbery without any trial or anybody showing up as complainant in the case. One of the things I have learnt now is that I will be careful of who I choose to be my friend," he said. However, Paul is hopeful that life after imprisonment would be better because he learnt how to make shoes and sandals in prison. He says he wants to make use of that knowledge and to also organise seminars for people to know how to make shoes. "At least, I learnt how to make leather shoes, slippers and sandals during those eight years. I want to be making shoes and I will be lecturing people on how to make them. "When I was there, as a devout Catholic, I attached myself to the church. That was where I was able to get good food and clothes. Prison food is horrible. It isn't easy to be in that place for eight years without freedom, good food, clothes and even sex!" Reacting to the development, Paul's lawyer, Kazeem-Adetola, noted that the problem of prison congestion stemmed from the Federal Government, Ministry of Justice and the Nigerian police. He said his organisation had been working hard in the past two years for the release of inmates, who had been awaiting trial for many years without trial. "We have filed fundamental human rights applications, press releases, letters to the Inspector-General of Police and the Ministry of Justice but these are not enough. We could try Habeas Corpus but the government, the police and the justice ministry need to sit up and do the right things. "For instance, in this particular case, Paul Samuel's file was mistaken for another's with the same name. If they had done a thorough job, they would have seen that this Paul was arrested in 2005 while the other one was in 2010. "Filing applications takes time and the court may award paltry sums as compensation so we filed an application for 106 inmates and we can safely say today that 90 people have been released. "Filing fundamental rights application may be misconstrued as an avenue to get money, so we have decided not to file such now," he said.

BBC, UK - In our series of letters from Africa, Sola Odunfa in Lagos writes that acclaimed Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who died last week, was a fierce critic of corruption and misrule and would not have welcome the decision to pardon a former state governor.

Achebe would have preferred his beloved country to climb out of the pit of corruption in his lifetime but the gods did not wish it so. He died last week while the Nigerian government was labouring to defend its decision to pardon a convicted thief, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former state governor and ally of President Goodluck Jonathan. Achebe built a strong reputation not only as a literary giant but also as a patriot who felt great pain as his country's politicians thrust daggers of misrule and impunity into its body. He cried through his writings. Imagine then what his agony would have been when he learnt on his sick bed of the latest government action. Some people may now suggest that the shock drained the 82-year-old man and what will to live was left in him. After all, our elders say that a person who lives for too long will see terrible things. I still remember what hurt many Nigerians suffered in the 1990s when the whole world turned against them because of the crass irresponsibility and lawlessness of their rulers. Travelling abroad by air was an embarrassing experience for Nigerians. Wherever we went - even to countries of little consequence - presenting our national passport was a signal to immigration and customs officials to be on alert. 'Voracious predators' The consensus among Nigerians at the time was that the country, under tyrannical military rule, was so corrupt that no Nigerian could, on the surface, be trusted to be earning a clean living - we must all, therefore, be rigorously screened for narcotics and fraudulent intentions when we went abroad. But let's face it - corruption and the drugs trade were rampant. Each successive military government instituted public enquiries which exposed the underbelly of its predecessor in lurid details. The published reports were disgusting enough for foreigners to ridicule and insult Nigerians individually and collectively. The death of Sani Abacha brought Nigeria relief and the hostility from abroad stopped. Corruption did not necessarily stop, though. Rather, new and more voracious predators emerged at all levels of government but, unlike their predecessors, they knew how to eat without smearing oil on their lips and cheeks. In exasperation, then-President Olusegun Obasanjo instituted two anti-corruption agencies to carry out investigations across the country. The effort netted many officials, including former state governors, ministers and bank executives. Two state governors stood out - one of them, James Ibori, was acquitted by a Nigerian court but the same charges were taken to a London court, which convicted and sentenced him to 13 years in prison last year. The second, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was arrested in the UK in 2005 and charged with money-laundering. He jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria, reportedly disguised as a woman - although he denies this detail. He was declared a wanted person in the UK. Because his escape became a national scandal the Nigerian authorities went after him, got him impeached as governor and charged him in court. He pleaded guilty and in 2007 was sentenced to two years in prison. His then deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, took over as state governor. This was the man that Mr Jonathan, now the president, awarded a pardon two weeks ago to national outrage. Achebe's former colleague and friend, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, says the pardon "amounts to encouragement of corruption", though the government defends the decision by saying that the ex-governor had shown remorse and deserved to be pardoned. I wonder what Achebe would say if he were alive. The bad old days seem to be creeping in again for Nigerians. If you would like to comment on Sola Odunfa's opinion, please do so below.

Patience Jonathan Missing At Good Friday Service

While President Jonathan's mother attended the ceremony, his wife, Patience was conspicuously missing. There was no reason given for her absence.  There were other guests though, among whom was Ndudi Elumelu, a former member of the House of Representatives, whose trial for N5.2billion theft of public money collapsed recently at an Abuja High court. And then also, there was Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. 

The flight, which took off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 7:30am, had on board National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Garba Mohammed, and seven other Nigerian journalists who were to attend the Federation of Africa Journalists conference in Morocco. The other journalists include National Secretary, NUJ, Shuaibu Liman, National Treasurer, Fatima Abdulkarim, Mukhtar Gidado, former Vice President, Zone E, Gbenga Onayiga, as well as chairmen of Bauchi and Kogi states chapters of the union. Also on board the flight was a group of Beninois journalists who were billed to attend the same conference. Vanguard gathered that the aircraft, Boeing 737-800, was already an hour into the flight when the pilot noticed failure in one of the engines of the twin-engine aircraft. He was said to have immediately embarked on a return to point of take-off and called for emergency landing. Lagos airport officials who preferred anonymity, said fire tenders and ambulance vehicles were deployed in response to the emergency declared by the pilot. Fire hydrants were reportedly deployed in runway 18R where the pilot was expected to land the aircraft, having shed off fuel. The pilot was, however, said to have landed safely without any injury to passengers and bodily damage to the aircraft. Passengers who had urgent appointments to keep in Morocco reportedly engaged officials of the airline in war of words for deploying an aircraft deemed not airworthy. The intervention of airport officials was said to have prevented what could have been an ugly spectacle at the airport. NUJ President, Garba Mohammed, who thanked God for averting what could have been a major disaster, said the aircraft engines on take-off made some deafening vibrations, which frightened passengers on board. He quoted the Beninois journalists as saying the engines gave a similar sound when they took off in Cotonou yesterday morning en route Lagos. At press time, it was learnt that the airline was making arrangements to check the passengers into an hotel as stipulated by international civil aviation regulations, with a promise to airlift them to their destination today.