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Washington (AFP) - The United States has deployed 80

Washington (AFP) - The United States has deployed 80
military personnel to Chad to help regional efforts to
rescue more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in
neighboring Nigeria, President Barack Obama said
Wednesday.
"These personnel will support the operation of
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for
missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding
area," Obama said in a letter to Congress.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-troops-deploy-chad-hunt-
nigerian-
girls-193003567.html;_ylt=AwrBEiRQAH1T.hEAwsvQtDMD

Michelle Obama joins other dignitaries to celebrate Merrilyn Akpapuna, a Nigerian girl

The United States First Lady Michelle Obama joins other
dignitaries to celebrate Merrilyn Akpapuna, a Nigerian
girl that emerged the best graduating student at the
Dillard University, New Orleans, CHARLES ABAH reports
Like a giant masquerade in the market place, all eyes
were on 20-year-old Nigerian, Merrilyn Akpapuna, two
Saturdays ago at the Dillard University, New Orleans,
United States.
The Psychology graduate not only obtained the highest
academic honour Summa cumlaude (first class), she
also emerged the best graduating student in the ivory
tower. As the institution’s valedictorian, she was on the
same podium with the wife of the President, Michelle
Obama, during its convocation.
Interestingly, three other Nigerians joined Akpapuna in
the league of the best graduating students at the
university. The three salutatorians are Victor Ogburie,
Stephen Igwe, and Emole Anyadimgba. They also made
a first class in their chosen disciplines.
Besides, Akpapuna won two other awards for highest
academic achievements for the College of Arts and
Sciences and College of General Studies.
In an online interview with our correspondent, the
youngster says her success in the 155-year-old ivory
tower was not without some challenges.
She notes, “When I first got to Dillard, I had to learn the
differences in the spelling of certain words and adjust to
a new metric system. These constituted challenges but I
was able to overcome them by putting in extra time to
study. I also faced some difficulties due to the difference
in the education system. In Nigeria, the teaching system
follows the British pattern, which is different from the
system in the United States.
“However, despite these challenges, my cumulative
grade point average is 4.0/4.0. In other words, I made
an A in every course I took during my four years study in
the university.”
But her stay in the US and particularly in the university
was not all about academic work. She participated not
just in student politics but also in other activities that
affected humanity positively.
She adds, “My stay in the university was not all about
studying. I took time out for my social life and made a
great effort to ensure that my spiritual life did not
suffer. I was also a student activist and a leader. I was
the President of the African World Network Organisation
and Lead Fellow of the Melton Foundation.
“At Dillard also, some of my awards and recognitions
include the Daniel C. Thompson/Samuel Dubois Cook
Honours Programme, Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honour
Society, Dean’s List of Scholars, 1st Place for
exceptional work in Algebra Relay, National Institute of
Science, Beta Kappa Chi Honour Society, Alpha Kappa
Mu national Honour Society, and Psi Chi National
Honour Society.”
Again, for the youngster, her Dillard accomplishment is
not just by a mere stroke of fortune. Excellence seems
to be her middle name. Indeed, following her success at
the Management Education Training, Ikeja where she
took tutorials on Scholastic Aptitude Test, she received
full scholarship to study in the university.
Before then, the third daughter of a dental surgeon,
Emmanuel Akpapuna, had excelled in the West African
Secondary School Certificate Examination, coming tops
of her class at the Reagan Memorial Baptist Girls
Secondary School, Yaba, Lagos.
The Delta State-born psychologist enthuses, “Upon
graduating from secondary school, I took SAT classes in
Management Education Training in Ikeja. I decided to
come to the United States after I had received full
scholarship offer for my tuition, room and board. In fact,
I had scholarship all my four years in college.”
But being a female student, did she experience any case
of intimate harassment from her lecturers and fellow
students? Akpapuna, who says she wants to proceed
immediately to the Western Michigan University for her
graduate programme, says there was nothing of sort.
“Men did not disturb me on campus and no lecturer ever
asked me for intimate favours. Again, let me tell you, the
factors that brought about my success would have
remained the same even in Nigeria. So, I believe I would
have excelled in the same way if I had stayed in
Nigeria,” she says.
Advising younger Nigerians who might want to follow
her footsteps, she says, “Be ambitious and go for what
you want and do not let anything stop you. Realise that
there is time for everything. Set priorities and live by
them.”
Appraising the case of the Chibok pupils abducted by
the Boko Haram, Akpapuna describes the insurgents’
action as crazy.
“So, imagine 276 girls being abducted from a school in
the city you’re living. How crazy is that? How is it that
even after all this time, the government is still not able
to make a concrete and accurate public declaration of
what is being done to find the girls? This is very sad.
Nigeria is my home but I would be just as enraged if
this happened in any other part of the world.
“The terrorist organisation holding these girls has been
committing several horrifying acts, especially in the
Northern part of Nigeria, and nothing major has been
done to stop them. These acts by the Boko Haram have
been done to ostensibly stop western education, which
is said to oppose Islamic tradition.
“We may not be able to physically save these girls but
what we can do is talk. Our voice is our power and if
everyone is talking about this, we increase the likelihood
that something will be done about it,” she adds.
For 27-year-old Emole, who also obtained a first class
with a cumulative grade point average of 4.0, the Dillard
authorities also provided him full scholarship throughout
his stay in the university.
According to the Computer Science graduate, he
balanced his schooling with extra-curricular activities
and participation in collegiate organisations such as the
Rotaract Club and National Society of Black Engineers.
He adds, “I served in various leadership roles in the
organisations, and through these student organisations,
I learnt about community service and have been
afforded the opportunity to participate in many
community service projects. I also participated in some
undergraduate research projects, which I presented to
the school during my undergraduate research
competition. I emerged the first place.”
On why he chose to study Computer Science in the US
instead of Nigeria, Emole says there is no way one can
compare the academic environments of the two
countries.
He says, “Nigerian universities offer Computer Science
but it cannot be compared to what obtains in American
universities, which is why I decided to come to the
United States. Again, I came to the US on the platform
of a scholarship that covered my tuition, room and
board.”
The US First Lady, during the convocation, urged the
226 graduands of the university to contribute to
producing future geniuses.
“Imagine the impact you will make. You have no
excuses to stand on the sidelines. Education is still the
key to real and lasting freedom. It is up to us to
cultivate that hunger for education in those coming after
us.
“We got here today because of so many people who
toiled and sweated and bled and died for us; people
who never dreamt of getting a college education for
themselves but who worked and saved and sacrificed so
that we could be here today. We owe them. We owe
them. And the only way to pay back that debt is by
making those same kinds of sacrifices and investments
for the next generation,” Obama, who received an
honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the university,
said.

5 nations to contribute 5 battallion to fight Boko Haram

Abuja - Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and
Chad will contribute one battalion of troops each to
the international force set up to combat Boko Haram
and other insurgent groups.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, made this known when he
briefed newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
Abati spoke on more measures taken to strengthen fight
against terrorism in the sub-region.
He said the decision to contribute the additional five
battalion of troop to the international force was reached
at the regional Summit on Security held in Paris, France,
last Saturday.
The summit was convened by President Francois
Hollande of France to fashion ways to deal with the
Boko Haram terrorist group.
Abati said that France, United States of America and
the United Kingdom would extend technical assistance
to assist the international force set up to patrol the five
nations’ border areas.
“Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region will
continue to cooperate and coordinate efforts to combat
the Boko Haram menace.
“The countries will come together to put in place an
effective border management regime.
“No effort will be spared to stop the proliferation of
small arms and light weapons and the supply of arms
and equipment made available to terrorists,’’ he said.
Abati noted that Jonathan considered the measures very
useful aspects of the concerted international effort to
combat terrorism and put an end to the Boko Haram
menace.
He also said that the president had directed relevant
government agencies to ensure enhanced
implementation of relief programmes in the areas
affected by Boko Haram atrocities.
The media adviser said the president specifically
directed National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) to intensify ongoing relief assistance
programmes in partnership with donor agencies.
He said NEMA should ensure rapid deployment of relief
assistance to the affected local government areas and
communities.
The relief assistance, according to the president, will
include, the provision of food, medical, basic relief
commodities, and conditional cash transfer programmes
for affected households.
The president, he said, also directed the assessment of
the extent of damage to public and private
infrastructure, amongst others.
Abati said Jonathan assured that every necessary
measure would be taken to find the school girls
abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from Government
Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno, on April 14.
He added that the president reiterated his
administration’s determination to ensure the safety and
security of schools in Borno and other parts of the
country.
Abati said Jonathan further assured that government
would provide counselling services to any affected
students to enable them return to school and continue
with their academic work.
He said the president assured that the Federal
Government would rebuild the Chibok School and fortify
security in other schools.
“In collaboration with the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy
on Education, former British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown and the private sector, the government will
launch the `Safe Schools Initiative.
“This will address security issues, rebuild the destroyed
schools and provide equipment and materials,’’ Abati
quoted the president as saying.
He said Jonathan expressed appreciation to the
international community on the efforts at assisting on
security situation in Nigeria and in particular the
regional summit hosted by Hollande. (NAN)

Jos Bomb Blasts Death Toll At Least 118 – NEMA

LAGOS (AFP) – At least 118 people were killed in a car
bomb attack in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the
country’s relief agency said on Tuesday, warning that
the death toll could rise further.
“The exact figure of the dead bodies recovered as of
now is 118,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, coordinator for
the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in
the city, told AFP.
He added that “more bodies may be in the debris” of
buildings which collapsed due to the intensity of the
blasts.
Fifty-six people were injured in the twin blasts, said
Abdulsalam. The military said that improvised explosive
devices were hidden inside a truck and a minibus and
went off within 20 minutes of each other.
Chris Olakpe, the police commissioner of Plateau state
of which Jos is the capital, told reporters earlier that 46
people were killed and 45 others were injured.
He maintained later: “We are saying 46. That’s the
number we have in the morgues. But we are not ruling
out more bodies.”
Plateau state lies in the so-called Middle Belt of Nigeria,
where the largely Christian south meets the mainly
Muslim north, and has been the scene of long-standing
ethnic and sectarian conflict for years.
It has also been hit by Boko Haram militants, who have
been waging an insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast since
2009.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Losses Case Against Removal

The technically removed CBN governor has lost his bid
challenging his removal by the President.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ruled that it
lacked jurisdiction to entertain a suit filed by Mallam
Lamido Sanusi challenging his suspension as the
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, by President
Goodluck Jonathan on February 20.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole held in his judgment that the
matter was labour and employment -related and
therefore ordered it to be transferred to the National
Industrial Court.
The judge also said the plaintiff was at liberty to
challenge his decision at the Court of Appeal.
He added that he deliberately refrained from deciding
the case on its merit so as not to make any
prejudicial pronouncements before the matter gets to
the Industrial Court.
The judge held that, in line with Sections 251(1) and
254(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, the proper court, where Sanusi
ought to have instituted the suit, was the NIC.
Sanusi had through his counsel, Mr. Kola Awodein
(SAN), sued Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the
Federation and the police, asking the court to declare
his suspension by the President null and void.
But the court upheld the objection of the President and
the AGF to the suit, declaring that the court lacked
jurisdiction to hear the suit. Check

Three explosions rocked the city of Jos in central Nigeria

Three explosions rocked the city of Jos in
central Nigeria on Tuesday, two local journalists said.
The blasts caused casualties, but it was not
immediately clear how many.
A journalist on the scene of the first explosion called it
"massive." People were screaming and running, some
covered in blood. Some had to be carried away, the
journalist said.
The first blast was a bomb detonated at the Terminus
market, where food and clothes are sold, the journalists
said. The second blast was at the same
market and could have been a bomb or gas
canister ignited by the first bomb.
The third explosion was at Abuja market,
which sells shoes, the journalists said.
When CNN tried to speak with a nurse at a
local hospital by phone, she was unable to
hear because of victims' cries and screams.
Late Sunday, a bomb in the northern
Nigerian city of Kano killed at least four
people, according to local police.
The blast occurred at a busy intersection in
a predominantly Christian area of the city
and left several cars burning, Kano police
spokesman Rabilu Ringim said. It was not
immediately clear who was responsible for
the attack, the spokesman said.
Terrorism in Nigeria has been in the spotlight
recently since more than 200 schoolgirls
were kidnapped by the militant group Boko
Haram.
The terror group abducted 276 girls on April 14 from a
boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria.
Dozens escaped, but more than 200 girls are still
missing.