Boko Haram expanding, chance to stop it is now – UN official

West Africa’s Boko Haram Islamist militant group is expanding and there is only a small window of opportunity to stop it, the top U.N. aid official in Cameroon said on Monday.

Najat Rochdi, U.N. Resident Coordinator in Cameroon, said the group’s strategy was to demonstrate its power by almost daily suicide bombings, often by young girls, while trying to gain territory.

Its offensive was bankrupting Cameroon’s economy and destroying a fragile society, especially influencing the young.

“Boko Haram is giving them a sense, because they are convincing them that it is a sacrifice for the better. So we have to show them that they don’t have to die to have a better life,” Rochdi told Reuters.

There was a chance to do so in Cameroon because Boko Haram recruits were driven by poverty and marginalisation.

“If it was Jihadism, we all know, it’s very difficult to compete with God. But because it’s just about having a voice and empowerment and economic opportunities and believing in a future, that’s something we know how to do.”

Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State group in March and stepped up its suicide bombing campaign, more than tripling Cameroon’s number of displaced people to 158,000.

The group emerged in Nigeria, but it now straddles the borders of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, with numbers estimated at 40,000 and ambitions to set up an oil-rich Islamic state around Lake Chad, Rochdi said.

“We used to have pockets of Boko Haram, it’s definitely expanding. It looks like they are trying to break through inside the country but also towards the borders in the east, the borders with Central African Republic.”

The impact on farming and markets had more than doubled the number of food-insecure people to 2.2 million people, and more than 15 percent of children were acutely malnourished, she said.

The U.N. is trying to counter Boko Haram by re-establishing markets and the jobs that go with them, and getting children back to school. The danger is that Boko Haram could grow and link up with other Islamist groups, potentially triggering a worse refugee crisis in Europe than the one seen this year, Rochdi said.

“Investing in today and reversing the trend is investing in a better security and stability of Europe tomorrow. And tomorrow is really tomorrow, not 2030,” she said. “It’s doable. But it’s really a very small window of opportunity. If you ask me the same question next year, the answer will be no.”

SOURCE:today.ng

Buhari, Osinbajo, Queen Elizabeth, others to attend Ooni of Ife's coronation on December 7th

President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representative Yakubu Dogara, a representative of the Queen of England, the 36 state governors and other top members of the society are expected to attend the coronation & presentation of Staff of Office to the 51st Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.

Addressing a pre-coronation briefing at the palace yesterday November 30th, the monarch’s elder brother, Prince Adegboyega, said invites have been sent to state governors, members of the National Assembly and other dignitaries.

“There will be a coronation carnival round the town today. Tomorrow, there will be artistes’ coronation day. On Thursday, there will be traditional worshippers’ day.

A Jumat service will hold on Friday. Also on that day, there will be a youth carnival and fashion parade. A football match between Ajiroba FC and Shooting Stars of Ibadan is scheduled for Saturday. On Sunday, there will be an interdenominational service at Enuwa Square and inauguration of Ife Resorts. The grand finale is on Monday with the presentation of staff of office.

The programme will be rounded off on December 13 with a thanksgiving service at St. Saviour Anglican Church, Ayegbaju, Ile-Ife.”

The Chairman, Publicity Committee, Biyi Odunlade, said December 7th which is the day of the Installation has been declared a public holiday to allow residents participate in the ceremony.

Suspect in Colorado clinic shooting told he faces murder charge

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - The man accused of killing three people and wounding nine in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs was told he faces charges including first-degree murder during his first court appearance on Monday.

Robert Lewis Dear, 57, appearing by video link from jail, spoke only to tell the judge he had no questions. There was no discussion of the suspect's motives during the brief hearing, and formal charges will be filed at a court appearance scheduled for Dec. 9.

Planned Parenthood has said reports that Dear told investigators "no more baby parts" after his arrest following Friday afternoon's deadly siege showed he was acting on an anti-abortion agenda.

For his court appearance by closed-circuit camera from the jail where he is being held without bond, Dear was flanked by Dan King of the Colorado public defender's office. King defended the Aurora, Colorado, movie massacre gunman, James Holmes.

The rampage blamed on Dear, a native of South Carolina, is believed to have been the first deadly attack on a U.S. abortion provider in six years. The Colorado Springs center has been targeted for protests by anti-abortion activists.

One police officer and two civilians died in the attack, which, according to newly emerging details, began just outside the building, adjacent to a shopping area on the northwest side of Colorado's second-largest city.

Planned Parenthood already was on heightened alert against threats of violence nationwide. Some affiliates said they would review their security measures further.

Source: Yahoonews

10 Ways Tanzania’s New President,John Magufuli Shows How to Lead an African Country

It has been only three weeks since Tanzania elected John Magufuli, the son of a farmer, to take over from Jakaya Kikwete, whose government was scarred by scandals and excesses, and it’s already clear why the can-do, cost-cutting, austere, corruption-hating new leader is known as Iron Fist and the Bulldozer.

There might be tongue-in-cheek celebrations on Twitter – the hashtag is‪#‎WhatWouldMagufuliDo‬ – but Africans across the continent have already started asking on social media if their leaders are paying attention to Magufuli. Someone has already even coined a verb: to “magufulify” (to render or declare action faster and cheaper; to deprive (public officials) of their capacity to enjoy life on taxpayers’ money; to terrorize lazy and corrupt individuals in the society”.

Comparisons are also being drawn to the enigmatic Rwandan president Paul Kagame, whose country is seen as a hope of East Africa, calling the latest actions by Magufuli the “Rwandanisation of Tanzania”. Here are some of the things John Magufuli has done already in less than a month:

1.Soon after his election, Magufuli declared there would be no celebration of Independence Day on 9 December because it would be “shameful” to spend huge sums of money on the celebrations when people were dying of cholera. Instead, the day has been set as a national day of cleanliness, and the money will go toward street-cleaning services. He has said everybody should pick up their tools and clean their backyards.

2.After his first official visit to the Muhimbili Hospital, and seeing the horrible state it was in, he ordered over 200 million shillings marked for “parliament parties” be used to pay for beds for people lying on the floor and sharing beds. A few days later 300 beds were delivered.

3.He dismissed the governing board and got a new team in place, and within days the broken MRI was fixed.

4. He also pared down his inauguration party from $100,000 to $7,000 and sent the extra money to the hospital.

5.Three days into his term, Magufuli announced a ban on all foreign travel by government officials. They have been instructed to instead make regular visits to rural areas to learn and help solve problems facing everyday Tanzanians. All tasks that required officials to travel abroad would instead be done by high commissioners and ambassadors who are already in place.

6.He has restricted all first- and business-class travel to government officials, except the president, vice-president and prime minister.
There will be no more workshops and seminars in expensive hotels when there are so many ministry board rooms available

7.He suspended the Tanzania Revenue Authority’s chief and other officials pending investigations after a visit by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa to the port of Dar es Salaam found 350 containers listed in its books were missing.

8.When he had to travel 600km to Dodoma, from Dar, to officially open parliament last week, he didn’t order a private jet – instead, he chose to drive.

9.At the National Assembly in Dodoma last week he clearly sent out the message that it will not be business as usual under his leadership.

10.He promised to cut public spending, fight corruption and enhance accountability in public service. He said it is time for Tanzanians to walk the talk.

Magufuli reportedly told parliamentary leaders that the people of Tanzania want him to solve their problems and not make speeches.