President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the newly remodeled Government Girls Secondary School Chibok Local Government Area of Borno state which was hitherto attacked by dreaded Boko Haram sect on Monday.

The new school is now ‘Government Secondary School’ as is mixed with Boys and Girls.

The attack which took place on 14th April, 2014 had left about 276 school girls, mostly Christians being abducted and feried into Sambisa forest, after destruction of properties within the school premises.

Recall that, since then, former President Goodluck Jonathan through his finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iwella visited Chibok in March 2015, where she laid a foundation for rebuilding the school, and not until President Muhammadu Buhari came on board, in which, the Borno State Government under the leadership of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum took over and completed the project this year.

Although, quite a number of the abducted schoolgirls escaped, about 112 of them were in captivity or married off to the terrorists as their whereabouts is still unknown.

Buhari who was represented by Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, said, she was in the state to bring a goodwill message of President Buhari to the people of Borno, especially those in Chibok.

She thanked Borno State Government for single handedly renovated the school.

Government she said, is determined to provide quality of education, especially to the down trodden improve the girl child education.

She noted that the present administration is also determined to root out insurgency in the North-East region and the country as a whole to enable citizens return to normal life.

According to him; “We sympathize with the Chibok community. We know what you are going through. But I want to assure you that we are working day and night to make sure that life returns to normal both in your community and all others affected by terrorism.

“I want to appeal to Chibok leaders and the community to continue give their maximum support to the present administration under the leadership of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum who is ever willing to give girl child education the desire it needs”. The minister stated.

The Chief Host, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum thanked president Buhari for his support and cooperation to the state Government obtained the required funds which led to the completion of all the destroyed structures, and pledged his administration’s commitment to uplifting the education sector in the state.

He prayed God Almighty to rescue the remaining schools Girls and all those still in the captivity of Boko Haram.

“The reconstructed Chibok school have a state of the art classrooms, library and laboratory, computer and ICT Center, a sports arena and a clinic.

“For security, it has a gate house and observation post to be manned by well-equipped security agents.

“This administration promised to rebuild the Government Secondary School in Chibok which was destroyed by terrorists. Today, I am glad that we are all witnessing the official commissioning of the completed befitting projects.

“We want our students to go back to school. We want them to get the education they need to live a decent life. We will support them and we will do everything we can to support their parents and the entire community.

“We will also not forget the Chibok girls. We are working hard to ensure that they return home. As a father, I can feel the pain of the parents. What happened was tragic. But I want you to know that this administration cares. We will not abandon our children. We are with you.
He used the opportunity and commissioned numerous projects executed by the state government to mark his two years anniversary.
The projects executed by Zulum’s administration and lined up for commissioning include, the newly constructed Government Lodges in Chibok and Askira Uba LGA,  Mbabala Technical College also in Chibok, Primary Health Care Centres in Mbalala and Wamdeo in Askira Uba, 200 Housing Units in Chibok town, 20 double classrooms in Damboa, boreholes in Mboa community as well as distribution of palliatives among others.
In her welcome address, the Principal of the school, Hajiya Asabe Ali Kwongla, thanked Governor Zulum for the gesture, and solicited for reequipping of the school laboratory, provision of school bus/Tricycle for any emergency or eventuality and additional teachers to meet the demands of the students.
Our Correspondent report that over 3000 students in Chibok have been unable to return to school since the deadly attack by Boko Haram in the community, but with the reopening of the new edifices, hundreds of students have been enrolled into various classes amidst tight security.

The Federal Government has given condition under which the ban imposed on Twitter will be lifted.

Recall that on Friday, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter for alleged undue interference.

The action of the government had sparked a global outrage.

In a statement, The Diplomatic Missions Of Canada, The European Union (Delegation To Nigeria), The Republic Of Ireland, The United Kingdom And The United States, rejected the action.

“We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.”

“Banning systems of expression is not the answer. These measures inhibit access to information and commerce at precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement read.

At a meeting with the foreign missions on Monday, Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said he invited the diplomats to clarify issues around Twitter ban.

He said, “I felt it’s absolutely right and appropriate to take your comment very seriously and meet with you for us to in our usual friendly way discuss and share opinion with regard to that and clarify certain issues.

“We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing; why we have taken this measure is to stop them to be used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities. We want to use social media for good.”

On when the ban will be lifted, Onyeama said there is no definite timeline but “The condition (for lifting the ban) would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.

“Lives matter; Nigerian lives matter and we have to do everything we can to preserve Nigerian lives. When we feel our goals are threatened, actions need to be taken.”

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has ordered that violators of the Federal Government’s ban on Twitter activities in Nigeria be prosecuted immediately.

Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to swing into action and begin the process of prosecuting Federal Government violators in earnest, according to a statement by his media aide, Umar Gwandu.

Twitter’s operations in Nigeria have been deactivated.

Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has criticsed the Federal Government over the suspension of Twitter Operations in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that on Friday, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, had announced the suspension, saying government took the action over the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

But the development has been rejected by many who highlighted the benefits of the microblogging site.

This was contained in a statement on Saturday which was made available to newsmen , Makinde, however, called for a reversal of the suspension for the “greater good of Nigerians”.

The statement reads; “It has become imperative for me to release a statement regarding the suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government.”

“As leaders, we should go beyond emotional reactions to issues and think about how our actions will affect the people we lead and our international ratings socially and economically.

“Twitter has become the platform for young people and indeed all Nigerians to exercise their fundamental right to express and publish an opinion. They use the platform to complain, argue and give feedback to government and its agencies who in turn, use these to improve policies. This is a fundamental point that should be kept in mind as we debate the necessity of this suspension.

“We should also remember that Twitter has gone beyond a source of communication for many of our hardworking youths in Nigeria. It has become a source of livelihood for many, irrespective of their political affiliations or religious leanings.

“Nigerian youths and digital communications organisations earn a living from being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients.

“Others who may not have physical stores also rely on Twitter to give visibility to their products and services. Furthermore, I believe the Federal Government should be actively interested in how certain policies and action will affect investor confidence.

“I, therefore, use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to reverse this suspension for the greater good of Nigerians.”

The faceoff with Twitter started after the microblogging site deleted a tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari on

Telecommunications companies have blocked access to Twitter in compliance with the Federal Government directives.

Many Twitter users woke up on Saturday to the inability to access the microblogging website.

Recall that on Friday, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had announced the suspension of Twitter operations.

The announcement came after the platform yanked off a tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari on civil war.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said they had started blocking access to Twitter.

The statement reads in bits, “We, The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter.”

“ALTON has conducted a robust assessment of the directive in accordance with internationally accepted principles.

“Based on national interest provisions in the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and within the licence terms under which the industry operates; our members have acted in compliance with the directives of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator.

“We will continue to engage all the relevant authorities and stakeholders and will act as may be further directed by the NCC. We remain committed to supporting the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and upholding the rights of citizens.

“As an industry, we endorse the position of the United Nations that the rights held by people offline must also be protected online. This includes respecting and protecting the rights of all people to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications,” read the statement jointly signed by ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo; and ALTON Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga.

Many Nigerians have opted for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to circumvent the suspension of Twitter.

Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana said that the Federal Governmentwill soon suspend other media houses like CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera.

The lawyer said Nigerians will soon be restricted to watching and listening to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) respectively, adding that the government would soon ban international news networks like CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera.

Professor Wole Soyinka has reacted to Friday’s indefinite suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government.

He made this known in a statement obtained by newsmen stating that, if President Muhammadu Buhari has a problem with Twitter, he should sort it out between them personally, the way ex-president Donald Trump of United States did.

Soyinka said he “Heard the news of Buhari’s ban on Twitter an hour or so after sending off TO SHOCK AND AWE to the print media.  Kindly add my total lack of surprise at this petulant gesture, unbecoming of a democratically elected president.

He argued that “If Buhari has a problem with Twitter, he is advised to sort it out between them personally, the way Donald Trump did, not rope in the right to free expression of the Nigerian citizen as collateral damage.”

Soyinka added that “In any case, this is a technical problem Nigerians should be able to work their way around. The field of free expression remains wide open, free of any dictatorial spasms!”

Describing Buhari’s post on Nigeria’s civil war and threat of crackdown on Biafra agitators deleted by Twitter as unpresidential, Soyinka said “We heard it last during the heydays of Donald Rumsfeld under George Bush – and judge in what condition it has left that part of the world, and beyond.  Rumsfeld’s namesake – a sobering coincidence – also spat the same  gung-ho rhetoric. That Donald once ordered his uniformed forces to ‘go out there’ and ‘dominate the environment’, following civilian protests at extra-judicial killings of blacks by state police. Soon enough, leaving nothing to chance, that Donald II seized on the first opportunity to personally mobilize a mob to ‘dominate’ Capitol Hill, his own seat of government that was clearly slipping from his control.

“Optimists are free to underplay that threat to the much acclaimed democratic beacon. Study that scenario carefully however, and you find it is not a question of: it could never have succeeded. Such surmises are wrong, It COULD HAVE SUCCEEDED, albeit with unpredictable consequences for America and the world.

“And so when the elected head of a democratic state like Nigeria, not perched precariously on the knife edge of power but with a couple more years in the kitty, threatens to ‘shock’ dissidents, we should indeed be shocked out of any complacency. Even if History has been deliberately eliminated from the schools curriculum, Memory suffices to jerk us into a watchful, precautionary alert.

“I hold no brief for those who resort to burning down police stations, slaughter their occupants simply for the crime of earning a measly monthly pittance, torch electoral offices , assassinate politicians in calculated effort to set sections of the country against others in the promotion of their own political goals. These are largely nihilists, psychopaths and/or criminal lords, soul mates of Boko Haram, ISWAP, Da’esh and company, not to be confused with genuine liberators. All over the world, throughout history, elections are denounced, boycotted, and  generally delegitimized without recourse to wanton butchery.

“When, however, a Head of State threatens to ‘shock’ civilian dissidents, to ‘deal with them in the language they understand’, and in a context that conveniently brackets opposition to governance with any bloodthirsting enemies of state, we have to call attention to the precedent language of such a national leader under even more provocative, nation disintegrative circumstances.  What a pity, and what a tragic setting, to discover that this language was accessible all the time to President Buhari, where and when it truly mattered, when it would have been not only appropriate, but deserved and mandatory!

“When Benue was first massively brought under siege, with the massacre of innocent citizens, the destruction of farms, mass displacement followed by alien occupation, Buhari’s language – both as utterance and as what is known as ‘body language’ – was of a totally different temper. It was diffident, conciliatory, even apologetic.  After much internal pressure, he eventually visited the scene of slaughter. His language? Learn to live peacefully with your neighbours. The expected language, rationally and legitimately applied to the aggressors, was exactly what we now hear – ‘I shall shock you. I shall deal with you in the language you understand’. That language was missing at the moment that mattered most. It remained “missing in action” for years until a belated “Shoot at sight” outburst. Too late, and of course, inappropriately phrased.

“The precedent had been set, the genie let out of the bottle, consolidating a culture of impunity that predictably spread its bloody stain all over the nation. Buhari’s recent deployment of  this language is  thus wrongly targeted, and tragically untimely. Even while he was threatening dissidents, an agenda of both secessionism and alien occupation was taking place not too distant from Aso Rock. ISWAP was taking over the already excised territories of Shekau’s Boko Haram, appointing new warlords of the occupational forces, sectioning Nigeria into vassal states and unfurling their replacement flags of domination. Soon, logically, ISWAP’s letters of diplomatic accreditation will be presented in Aso Rock?

“We must however backtrack a little – that is the function of memory. It would be false to suggest that these eggs of impunity are newly laid. They have been incubating in loathsome hatcheries of power and domination for years, even decades, and now the raptors have been hatched and taken wings. The political culture of the devil’s bargain, of denial, evasion,  avoidance of  constitutional mandates, the culture of ‘appeasement of the unappeasable’ – to quote myself – in order to gratify the vested interests of a narrow, power obsessed elite has blossomed. Finally, the chickens have come home to roost.

“The evocation of the Civil War, where millions of civilians perished, is an unworthy emotive ploy that has run its course. In any case – and this has been voiced all too often, and loudly – the nation is already at war, and of a far more potentially devastating dimension than it has ever known. Every single occupant of this nation space called Nigeria has been declared potential casualty, children being pushed to the very battlefront, without a semblance of protective cover. We have betrayed the future. We need no breast beating about past wars. The world has moved on, so have nations. Some, however, prefer to move backwards. The continent is full of these atavists. In Nigeria, powerful cliques of this persuasion still roam the corridors of power We are indeed at war. It does not take the formal declaration  of hostilities, with or without lethal bombardments, for a nation to find itself shell-shocked. The populace of this nation is already in that shell-shocked condition. So, what is there left to shock?

“It is time to think ‘outside the box’. That many, in so doing, find no landing place except dissolution, is not a crime. It is not peculiar to any peoples, and is embedded in the ongoing history of many, and not only on this continent. It is their natural right as free citizens, not slaves of habit and indoctrination. Where disillusion rides high, sentiment tumbles earthwards, and the only question becomes: what can be salvaged?  It thus remains the responsibility of leadership to persuade them, through both discourse and remedial action, that there are other options. Attempted bullying is not a language of discourse, nor the facile ploy of tarring all birds with the same feather.
I shall end on a personal note. It was not intended but, in view of breast thumping rhetoric by one president after the other over military sacrifice –  undeniable, certainly – such recalls should be considered salutary. The heroic exploits of our military in confronting some of the deadliest internal forces of dehumanization deserve their place of honour, not only in history, but in contemporary consciousness.

“However, let not the military fail to take its place centrally in the nation’s ongoing, unavoidable soul searching. And so to an instructive intervention by this ‘bloody civilian’, in what should be an exclusionary portfolio of the keepers of a nation’s mandate for secure existence.”