BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIA - 1960 - 2002

                                    

 1960    October 1.  National Independence.  Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa  becomes

first Nigerian  Prime Minister.  Nigeria join the UN as the 99^th member.

Commonwealth membership is also attained.

1963    October l.  Nigeria  becomes a Republic. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe becomes the first

President.

1966    January 14-15.  First military coup. Balewa and other prominent leaders are

killed.  Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi becomes Head of State on  January. 

1966    July 29.   Second military coup. Ironsi is killed. Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon becomes

Head of State.             Many Easterners in the North are massacred.  Exodus begins to 

the Eastern Region.

1967    May 27  Gowon creates 12 states from the four regions. 

1967    May 30  Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern Region,  declares the Eastern

Region to be the Independent Republic of Biafra.

1967    July 6.  Civil War begins.

1970    January 15.  Biafra surrenders and rejoins  Nigeria.   1.5 million live lost, mainly

to starvation.

1970    December 31   Public Education Edict 1970, published in East Central State of Nigeria, calling for the take over of schools. This was made retroactive to 26 May

            1970.  The  take over, management and ownership of all primary and secondary

            schools.

1972    April 2. Nigeria changes from ‘left-hand-drive’  to ‘right-hand-drive.’ 

The National Stadium is opened.

1973    January l.  Money changes from  the Pound to the Naira. 

1973    May 22.  National Youth Service Corps  is  introduced.

1975    July 29.  Third military Coup. Bloodless coup.   Brig. Murtala Muhammed

replaces Gowon.  Obasanjo becomes Chief of Staff.

1975    October.  A Commission set up to draft a new Constitition and to return Nigeria to

civil rule.

1976   February 3.  Seven states are created, thus  there is a total  of 19.  Announcement

is made that Abuja is proposed as the new Federal Capital.

1976   February 13.  Fourth military coup, led by Col. Dimka.  Murtala  Muhammed is

killed.  Lt. General  Olusegun Obasanjo becomes Head of State on the following

day.

1976   Universal Primary Education, and Operation Feed the Nation are launched.

1977.  January 15 to  February 12. The Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) is held in

Lagos and Kaduna.  

            .

1978   September 12. Ban on political parties is lifted.  The 12 year old state of

emergency is lifted.

1979.   Elections are held for federal representatives and senators.

1979    August 11. Presidential elections.  Shehu Shagari wins.  He will be the first civil

            ruler since  1966.

1979    October 1.  Shehu Shagari  becomes President.  The end of military rule and the

beginning of the Second  Republic.

1980    May.   Religious violence in Zaria. Much  property is destroyed.

1980    December 18-20   Riots in  Kano.  The  Maitatsine sect,  4,177 are killed.

1982    September 29 – October 3. Disturbances in  Kaduna,  Kaduna State.   53 killed

and many churches  are burned.

1982    October 29-30. Further trouble in  Maiduguri,  Borno State,  Maitatsine sects.

118 die.

           

1983   August.  Shehu Shagari re-elected President for second four year term.

1983   December 31,  New Year’s Eve.  Fifth Military Coup,  Major-General Muhammad Buhari becomes Head of State.  Babangida and Abacha are among the coup plotters.

1984    February 27 – March 5.  Disturbance in Yola,  Gongola State.  Maitatsine sect, 

568 die.

1985    April 26-28   Riot in Gombe,  Bauchi State.    Maitatsine sect.   105  die.

1985    August 27.   6^th Military Coup, Chief of Army Staff, Major General

Ibrahim B.Babangida becomes Military President.

1986    7^th Coup, Coup attempt  by General Mamman Vatsa  fails.  Coup plotters are

            executed in March.

1986    March,   Palm Sunday.    Christians and Muslims clash during processions in

Ilorin,  Kwara State.

1986    May.  At the University of Ibadan,  Muslims burn the figure of the Risen Christ at

the Catholic Chapel of the Resurrection.

1986    October 16.    Wole Soyinka is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first

African  writer so honored.

1987    March  5^th and following days.  In Kafanchan, Kaduna State,  Christians and

Muslims clash at the College of Education.  100 Churches and Mosques burned.

1987    March.   Katsina,  Funtua, Zaria, Gussau and Kaduna (Kaduna State). A wave of

religious riots,  many churches are burned and property destroyed,  and many

lives are lost.

1987    June.  An Advisory   Council on Religious Affairs is established,  as a forum for

            improving Christian-Muslim relations.

1987    September.  A Transition to civil rule begins, under Babangida,  as local elections

are scheduled.  Originally intended for 1990, then put off to 1992, and then 1993.

Two more states (Katsina and Akwa-Ibom) are created,  thus 21 total.

1987    December 12.  Local elections are held, but many are declared invalid.

1988.   March 26.  New local elections are held.

1989    The ban on political parties is lifted.  Thirteen parties register, but are rejected.

So two are created by the government for the elections  scheduled for December

8, 1990.

1989    February 6-11,   2^nd Art Fair

1990    April 22. Coup Attempt by Major Gideon Orkah.  42 coup plotters will be

executed on July 27.

1990    November.   Rev.  Reinhard  Bonnke, German evangelist,   speaks in Kaduna,  

500,000 attend.

1991    April     In  Katsina, several lives are lost.  Sh’ite sect  in Katsina led by  Malam

Yahaya Yakubu  stirs up trouble.

            At the end of  April,  in Tafawa Balewa  (Bauchi State)  over 200  lives are

            lost, and property and 20 churches are destroyed.

1991   October   14- 15.  In   Kano, the attempt of the Izala sect to stop Rev. Bonnke

from preaching  becomes violent  Thousands of lives are lost and property destroyed.

1991    Number of States is increased to 30.  

            November 27-29.  Census shows the population to be 88.6. million, less than

expected. 

1991    December 12   President Babangida moves his Presidential office and residence to

Abuja, which now officially becomes the Capital of Nigeria.

1991    December,  elections are held for governors and  state legislatures.

1992    February  6^th  and then  May  15-16     Zango Kataf,   Zaria,  Kaduna State    

Communal clash  becomes a religious clash,  with lives and property destroyed.

1992    July 4.  Elections for National Assembly are held.

            August 7.  Presidential primaries are held, but the government disallows the

results.  New primaries in September are also disallowed.

1993    Funtua  (Katsina State).    Kalakato religious sect assaults a village head.

50 lives are lost and property destroyed.

1993    June 12 Election.  Abiola would win over Tofa.

1993    June 23.  President Babangida nullifies the elections of June 12.

1993    August 26.  President Babangida, on the day before he had promised to hand over

to civilian rule,  steps down and hand power over to the Interim National

Government of  Chief  Ernest Shonekan.

1993    November 17.  Palace coup,  9^th Coup for Nigeria,  as Minister of Defence, Sani 

Abacha becomes  Head of State.  He dissolves all parties and  government

legislatures,  all democratic institutions.

1994   May 21.  A mob kills four men in Ogoniland. Eventually Ken Saro-Wiwa  is

hanged for  allegedly being behind this.

1994   June 12.  M.K.O. Abiola declares himself President but he is arrested one week

later.

1994   June 27.  The Constitutional Conference Committee begins its work. It submits

a report one year later.

1995    Alleged abortive coup attempt.  Forty persons are convicted. Among them,

Obasanjo and  Yar’adua  are imprisoned.  (10^th Coup)

1995    November  10    Ken Saro-Wiwa  and eight others are executed.   He was a writer, 

            and leader of the Ogoni people.

1996    May 11.  Nnamdi Azikwe dies, age 92.  He was the first President of Nigeria.

1996    June 4.   Kudirat Abiola,  age 44,  wife of  Chief Abiola who is in prison,   is

assassinated in Lagos.

1996   October 1   Six more States are created, so there are now  36.

1996   November 7.   ADC plane crashes on way from Port Harcourt to Lagos, near

Lagos.  143 die, including  Claude Ake.

1997.  December 21.   Alleged 11^th attempted coup. Second in Command, Chief of Staff 

Lt. General Oladipo Diya  is arrested.

1998    June    Sani Abacha dies of a  heart attack.   General Abdusalami Abubakar

becomes Head of  State.   He frees Obasanjo from prison, and promises

democracy by  May 29,  1999.

1998.   July 7.  Abiola  dies in prison, while being visited by a delegation from the

            U.S.A. government.

1999   February 27.   Presidential Elections are held, and  Obasanjo is the winner.

1999.   May 20.   Muslim-Christian riots  in Kaduna, for three days,  several hundred

are feared dead.

1999.   May 29.  Obasanjo becomes President.

            Ijaw and Itsekiri fight in Delta Region, over 200 are killed

1999.   July 18    Hausa and Yoruba riot in Shagamu,  over 60 are killed. This leads to 

trouble in Kano  where over 70 are killed.

           August  11.  About 200 are killed as the army intervenes in Taraba State

           October.  Sharia Law in is introduced in Zamfara  State.

           November 25. Yoruba and Hausa clash in Lagos,  about 100 are killed.

2000   February. Riots in  Kaduna over the introduction of  Sharia. Over 400

are killed.

2001   September 7.    Christian-Muslim conflicts  in Jos. Over 500 are killed.

2001   October  12-14   In Kano, there are anti-American riots, because of USA

intervention in Afghanistan.   At least 350 are killed.

            October 12.     19 soldiers are killed  after feuds near Benue and Taraba States.

October  21-22   The massacre of 200 civilians in Benue State by soldiers, in

retaliation for  19 soldiers  who were killed.   No one is held accountable for the

massacre.  President Obasanjo  defends it.

          

2001   December 23.   Attorney General of Nigeria, Bola Ige  is assassinated.

           

2002    January 27.  Army Munitions depot in Lagos explodes, over 1000 die in panic.

2002    May 28.  The findings of the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission

(Oputa  Panel)  are released.

2002    June 23    Three new political parties are  approved by  INEC.

History of Nigeria

Introduction

Nigeria, with an estimated population of 126,635,626 is the largest black nation in the world.  The Federal Republic of Nigeria, as it is officially known, covers an area of 356,669 square miles on the coast of West Africa.  Its borders are contiguous with the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the east, Niger Republic to the north and Benin Republic to the east.  In the northeast, Nigeria has a 54-mile long border with the Republic of Chad, while its Gulf of Guinea coastline stretches for more than 500 miles from Badagry in the west to Calabar in the east, and includes the Bights of Benin and Biafra.  Today, Nigeria is divided administratively into thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja (CIA World Factbook, 2001).

Like Africa as a whole, Nigeria is physically, ethnically, and culturally diverse.  This is partly due to the fact that Nigeria is today inhabited by a large number of tribal groups, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, an estimated 250 of them speaking over four hundred languages, many with dialects.  Muslims and Christians comprise more than 80 percent of the population while the rest are identified with indigenous religions.  However, Nigeria’s greatest diversity is in its people.  These peoples have so much culture and history that it is imperative to chronicle this history as it relates to their current economic and political struggles.  Dating back to the kingdoms and empires of the early seventeenth century, from their involvements in the Atlantic slave trade to its entire merger, this extensive history has blended down to what is currently Nigeria and is thus necessary in order to understand what has become of this once fruitful and promising state.

 History & Evolution

Nigeria only came into being in its present form in the year 1914 when Sir Frederick Lugard, the Royal governor of the protectorates, amalgamated the two protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria.  Sixteen years earlier, Flora Shaw, who later married Lugard, first suggested in an article for The Times that the several British Protectorates on the Niger be known collectively as Nigeria (Crowder, 21).  Basically, the entire Niger-area under British control became Nigeria.

 It was in 1861 that the British first annexed any part of Nigeria as a colony, and attached it successively to West African Settlements, including Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast colony.  The annexing of Lagos, a coastal town and now the largest city in Africa, led to the establishment of a Southern protectorate in Nigeria, and by 1906 both regions were united and designated a British colony.  However, as Michael Crowder in his Story of Nigeria states, “it would be an error to assume that the people of Nigeria had little history before its final boundaries were negotiated by Britain, France and Germany at the turn of the twentieth century.”

In fact, the story of Nigeria as it is known today goes back more than two thousand years.  Within Nigeria’s frontiers were a number of great kingdoms that had evolved complex systems of government independent of contact with Europe.  These included the kingdoms of Ife and Benin, whose art had become recognized as amongst the most accomplished in the world; the Yoruba Empire of Oyo, which had once been the most powerful of the states of the Guinea coast.  In the north, there were the great kingdoms of Kanem-Borno, with a known history of more than a thousand years; the Fulani empire which for the hundred years before its conquest by Britain had ruled most of the savannah of Northern Nigeria.[2]  And finally, there were the city states of the Niger Delta, which had grown in response to European demands for slaves and later palm-oil; as well as the politically decentralized but culturally homogenous Ibo peoples of the Eastern region and the small tribes of the Plateau.  All these state structures grew tremendously through some form of trade, either internally or externally with foreigners.  One of the most profitable of such trades being the trade with Europeans in humans, popularly known as the Atlantic slave trade.

Post-independence

On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Nigeria's government was a coalition of conservative parties: the Nigerian People's Congress (NPC), a party dominated by Northerners,  and also the Southern dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria's maiden Governor-General in 1960. Forming the opposition was the comparatively liberal Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo. The cultural and political differences among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners'), were sharp.

An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroon opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while northern Cameroon chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was now far larger than the southern part. The nation parted with its British legacy in 1963 by declaring itself a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections were held in 1965, the Nigerian National Democratic Party came to power in Nigeria's Western Region.

For detailed information about the History of Nigeria visit the Press Club blog site on www.pispressclub.blogspot.com

President / Head Of State       Duration Of Term

Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa      1960 - 1966

Chief Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe      October 1, 1963 - January 16, 1966

Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi  January 16, 1966 - July 29, 1966

General Yakubu Gowon          August 1, 1966 - July 29, 1975

General Murtala Ramat Mohammed July 29, 1975 - February 13, 1976

General Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Matthew Obasanjo February 13, 1976 - October 1, 1979

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari   October 1, 1979 - December 31, 1983

Major-General Muhammadu Buhari December 31, 1983 - August 27, 1985

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida       August 27, 1985 - August 27, 1993

Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan        August 26, 1993 - November 17, 1993

General Sani Abacha     November 17, 1993 - June 8, 1998

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar (rtd.)       June 9, 1998 - May 29, 1999

General (rtd.) Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Matthew Obasanjo  May 29, 1999 - May 29, 2007

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua 29 May 2007 - 5 May 2010

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan ( Acting President)  9 February 2010 - 6 May 2010

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan   6 May 2010 - Present

Premier Cultural Day Comes up on the 28th of September

The cultural day of Premier International School will be coming up on friday the 28th of September. Both teachers and students are to dress in their native attires on that day to represent their diverse cultures.


Nigerian culture is as multi-ethnic as the people in Nigeria. The people of Nigeria still cherish their traditional languages, music, dance and literature. Nigeria comprises of three large ethnic groups, which are Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani and Igbo. However there are other ethnic groups as well. Thus culture in Nigeria is most positively multi-ethnic.

Culture of Nigeria gives a lot of value to different types of arts, which primarily include ivory carving, grass weaving, wood carving, leather and calabash. Pottery, painting, cloth weaving and glass and metal works.

There are more than 250 languages spoken in Nigeria. English is considered to be the official language. However, it is notable that not more than about 50% of the population are able to speak in English.
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IBB Group Buys Shiroro Plant

Transcorp  yesterday won the bid for the sale of 100 per cent share of Thermal Generation Company at Ugheli with a bid price of $300 million, while Amperion Power Distribution Company emerged the reserved bidder with a bid price of $252 million.
Transcorp and Wood Rock is a  consortium of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, Symbion Power Plc of USA , Medea Development S.A of Luxemburg, PSL Engineering and Control of Nigeria and Thomassen Services and Contracting Company of Oman . Also, CMEC/EURAFRIC Energy which is equally a consortium of  China Machine Engineering Corporation, Eurafic Energy Limited of Nigeria.
British Power International,  First Bank Nigeria Plc and Aetex Solicitors and Arbitrators of Nigeria won the bid for the purchase of 100 per cent shares in Sapele Power plc with a price of $201 million, while JBN- Nestoil Services Limited, comprising Nestoil Plc Nigeria, Julius Berger Investment Limited, Babcock Borsig Steinmuller of Germany, Steag Energy Services of Germany, Quantum Power of Israel and Harith Fund of South Africa emerged the reserved bidder with $106 million which is the reserved bid for the enterprise.
In the case of Geregu  Power plc,  Amperion Power Distribution Limited,  emerged the preferred bidder with a bid price of $128.5 million  for 51 per cent of the company shares. Kainji Power plc (which has a 15 years  concession) was won by   Mainstream Energy Solutions, with a bid price of $50.76 million . Mainstream is a consortium of RusHydro International and RusHydro JSC of Russia, Col.Sani Bello , a Nigerian businessman , Amni International Petroleunm Development Company of Nigeria, NIGELEC of Niger, Pqcqua Energy Limited, Confluence Cable Netwotk Limited, Crust Energy, TAK and Anchorage Holdings (all from Nigeria).
However, North- South Power which has XS Energy Limited of Nigeria, BP Investment Limited, Urban Shelter Limited of Nigeria, Transatlantic Development and Investment Company of USA, China International Water Electric, China Three Gorges Corporation, Niger State Government and Roads Nigeria Plc in the consortium emerged the sole winner for fifteen years concession of Shiroro Power plc with a bid price of $111.7 million.
In his opening remarks on the occasion, Chairman of the Technical Committee of ncp, Mr Atedo Peterside, said that in  December 2010, the NCP advertised for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from prospective core investors interested in acquiring successor thermal generation companies (“Thermal Gencos”) and concessionaires interested in managing the hydro generation companies (“Hydro Gencos”.)
According to him, both  the Thermal  GENCOS and the Hydro GENCOS were  companies created out of the unbundling of NEPA, as required by the Electricity Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005. And by March 4, 2011, the deadline for the submission of Expression of Interest (EOIs), 204 applications were received for the four Thermal Gencos and 67 applications were received for the two Hydro Gencos.
That is, a total of 271.??”Following the evaluation of the applications, 87 applications for the Thermal Gencos and 40 applications for the Hydro Gencos were shortlisted. The shortlisted bidders were requested to pay $20,000 to purchase the Request for Proposals (RFP), have access to the data room and proceed to the next phase of the transaction. At the deadline for the payment of the data room access fees, 56 out of the 87 shortlisted bidders for the Thermal Gencos and 35 out of the 40 shortlisted bidders for the Hydro Gencos had each paid $20, 000.
The shortlisted bidders that paid the sum of $20, 000 are those that the BPE refers to as pre-qualified bidders” he said.??Peterside recalled how Nigerians have craved for better electricity service for three over decades now, giving insufficient allocation of resources to the sector as a reason. “As you all know, for upwards of three decades, Nigerians have been embarrassed and inconvenienced by epileptic and inadequate electricity supply to their homes and businesses. For much of this period, there was an insufficient allocation of resources by the Government to its Power Sector Holding Company (PHCN) which operated like a monopoly producer and distributor and so PHCN could not undertake the required investment expenditure.
Meanwhile, low electricity tariffs also ensured that the consumers could not augment the shortfall in PHCN’s funding needs. These two factors combined to reinforce a LOW EQUILIBRIUM TRAP that ensured that the quantum of electricity generated and delivered to the consumer typically fluctuated between 2,000 and 3,000 mega watts, that is, after adjusting for system losses.?
The fastest way to break out of this Low Equilibrium Trap is to introduce cost-reflective tariffs immediately which will help to restore a healthy value chain that adequately rewards private investors who could come in and invest in well-defined segments of a well-regulated sector”he said. But the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises(BPE), Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa  gave the hope that Nigerians will soon begin to reap the  efforts geared towards improving the electricity supply in the country.
“Today, we begin to reap the efforts of over a decade of reform and privatisation of the Nigerian power sector. A lot has been happening, a lot has been achieved, and a lot more are in the works and the end result will significantly improve the lives of Nigerians.?”In September 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP). The NEPP sets out the policy framework for re-designing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), privatizing and liberalizing entry into the industry, attra

Many Rendered Homeless by Flood in Lokoja

Hundreds of people were yesterday displaced by flood in Lokoja township even as reports said the flood has taken over the Lokoja- Ayangba Road, which is the major link to the southeastern part of the country. Many houses in the affected area have been submerged, forcing many residents to flee their homes. State Commissioner for Works, Mallam Abdullahi Ibrahim, who visited the place yesterday appealed to motorists to look for another route so as to avoid any unforeseen calamity.
He said the state government was making efforts to see that people are relocated to another part of the town.
In a related development, the Kogi State Water Board may shut down the Lokoja water station following the continued threat posed to the facilities by flood as a result of the over flowing of the River Niger.
State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mrs. Hadiza Onotu, stated this yesterday when she paid a visit to the water station.
The Station Manager of the water station, Yu Keem, who conducted the commissioner round the water installation, said the flood is already threatening the pumping machine panel and the bridge, stressing that if not shutdown, the pressure of the flood may cause a greater damage to the whole station.
The commissioner expressed fear over possible epidemic out break should the station be closed down as people may be force to fetch water from untreated sources in the town.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/news/51914.html


Lokoja residents live in fear of crocodiles, snakes

Residents of Lokoja and other nearby riverine communities in Kogi State are now living in fear of attacks from animals and reptiles.
Our correspondent gathered on Monday that since Lokoja and its environs were submerged, the flood dislodged the animals comprising hippopotamuses, crocodiles and snakes among others from their natural habitat.
This is coming as the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolemene described as a “national disaster” the flood which submerged some local government areas of the state.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan was deeply touched by the hardships inflicted on the victims by the flood.
He assured that the Federal Government would address the plights of the victims of the overflow of rivers Niger and Benue.
Onolemene spoke in Lokoja on Monday when he led a Presidential Team to some of the flood ravaged areas.
Though no life has been reportedly lost to attacks from the animals, many residents have raised the alarm that they were no longer safe as they feared that the animals could attack them or their children.
They appealed to the federal and state governments, humanitarian bodies and philanthropists to come to their aid.
One of the residents, Alhaji Ibrahim Adekunle, said they now live in fear of an impending attack from the reptiles.
He said, “We are no longer safe. We are no longer talking about the losses and destruction of our belongings by the flood, we are in constant fear that we may be attacked by reptiles that now occupy areas.
“We are now scared as we see, crocodiles, snakes and even hippopotamus and other dangerous reptiles within our vicinity. The reptiles were washed away from their abode by the flood. We really need the federal and state government as well as organisations and wealthy individuals to assist us in this our predicament.”
Many areas including Lokoja, Ibaji, Ankpa, Kotonkarfe, Dekina, Bassa, Ofu, Kogi, Omala, Ajaokuta, Igalamela were affected by the flood which was said to have been caused by water released from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon and Kainji Dam.
Ibaji Local Government is said to be completely submerged by the flood.
Meanwhile, following the flooding of the Abuja-Lakoja road, the Federal Road Safety Corps has directed stranded travellers to take alternative routes.
The corps said it had blocked the flooded road which has left many motorists and travellers stranded at Lokoja and Okene since last Saturday.
Deputy Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Monday that the commission blocked the road because it had become impassable.
According to him, the water level has continued to rise, thus endangering lives and property.
He advised motorists coming from Lagos, Okene, Lokoja to take Ajaokuta-Ayangba Road, Ankpa -Makurdi Road and Lafia-Akwanga-Abuja Road.
Kazeem directed those coming from the South-East to use Oturkpo- Makurdi road while motorists from Abuja to Lokoja should use Akwanga-Lafia route, Makurdi-Ankpa Road down to Lokoja.
He said, “FRSC blocked the Abuja-Lokoja Road as a result of persistent flooding in the area that has entered the third day and as a result of its concern for the safety of road users plying the route; massive deployment of personnel has been undertaken to enforce the blockade. We seek the cooperation of the motoring public on this highway for safety of lives and property.”
A businessman, Mr. Soji Bamidele, who was stranded at Lokoja, said the road was impassable, adding that some commuters took canoes to cross the flooded portion of the road.
Our correspondent gathered that the flooding also displaced some residents as buildings around the river were submerged.
Kogi State Government was said to have set up camps for the affected residents and provided matresses, blankets and drugs to them.
The Special Assistant (Media and Public Relations) to the governor, Jacob Edi, appealed to the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state, stressing that it could not manage the disaster alone.

N5000 note dead and buried

…As CBN stops controversial currency restructuring.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally halted its plan to introduce N5000 currency note in the country.
The CBN decision came on the heels of the agreement reached between the leadership of the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan at a meeting held in Abuja, as reported in the Daily Sun edition of yesterday.
President Jonathan had agreed with the resolution of both chambers of the National Assembly to put the controversial currency restructuring on hold, saying the approval given for it could be reversed, if it was the wish of Nigerians.
The CBN, in a statement last night, announced it was stopping the exercise in compliance with a presidential directive.
In a statement signed by its Director of Corporate Communications, Ugo Okoroafor, the apex bank said: “For the purposes of more efficient payments and currency management systems, the CBN proposed and obtained the approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, to embark on the currency restructuring exercise, codenamed “Project CURE’ on December 19, 2011.
“The CBN hereby informs the general public that the President, on Thursday, September 20, 2012, directed that further action on the approved restructuring exercise be stopped.
“In full compliance with the provisions of the law, the CBN hereby announces that further action on the said restructuring exercise has been stopped, until such a time Mr. President may direct otherwise.
“It is important to stress that till date, no contract whatsoever, has been awarded by the CBN in connection with the printing and minting of the new currency notes and coins. Consequently, no currency note or coin has been printed or minted under the proposed exercise.
“In line with its mandate, the CBN remains committed to the pursuit of policies and programmes aimed at promoting the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.”
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/n5000-note-dead-and-buried/

Our members of last session

From left to right: Bilkisu, Fatima, Renee, Faith, Chigozirim, Nusaybah, Alhassan, Maryam Kabir, Fanta, Gimba, Nabila.
Sitting: Justin, Maryam Bello, Zainab, Wadada, Zainab, Afiz, Abdul.

Our Interview with the Head of School

During the interview session with the Head of School, sandwiched by Charis Ibeh on the left and Chigozirim Ekeledo on the right

During the interview session with the Head of School, sandwiched by Charis Ibeh on the left and Chigozirim Ekeledo on the right

The Head of School Mrs. Oyetumobi 

                                                     A cross section of the audience

A cross section of the audience

A cross section of the audience