Joshua King's Free Press

  Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has asked the sitting president to probe him and leave his ex-ministers alone. This is coming on the intent of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission to probe former education minister Oby Ezekwesili. The ex president spoke at the thanksgiving service held for the former minister who turned 50 recently. In his words:  “I have always said this, whatever you want to blame in my government, blame me, don’t blame any of those people who assisted me. If there is any credit to dispense we share it. “But for anything you want to say is wrong, I was the one in charge and I was in charge.” http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/04/28/leave-former-ministers-alone-probe-me-instead-obasanjo-challenges-jonathan/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter As admirable as the ex-president’s declarations are, his offer for self probe will only serve as a shield to his loyalists and 'over-amplify' our corruption profile. Going by th

Senator Maina Lawan a former governor of Borno State disagrees with the number released by various sources in the Baga massacre. The initial number reported by the media stood at 185. The Red Cross maintained there were 187 dead. The Army high command in contrast put the casualty figure at over 30 including terrorists and a soldier. The Senator puts his figure at 228 higher than previously reported by the Red Cross and reporters. The senator expressed worries that the community will descend into an epidemic state if aid and relief materials reaching the survivors were not hastened up with. He described the situation in Baga as a humanitarian crisis while disagreeing with the figures released thus far.  The senator appears to be in a better position to make these declarations as he says he spent two days in the ravaged community. TRIVIALIZATION OF THE ISSUE You will recall that the president had dragged his foot on reacting to the killings. When he did, he chose to triv

For those hoping that the amnesty committee inaugurated yesterday would bring relief to Nigeria’s troubled north, that hope is taking a turn for the worse. There is not going to be peace in Nigeria’s north in the immediate future at least unless something more efficient than setting up a committee and offer of amnesty is on the agenda. But why is immediate peace threatened? Why is more danger looming? Another Islamic sect, an off-shoot of the dreaded Boko Haram has managed to gain recognition with the international media. Named Ansaru, its spokesman and leader Abu Nasir had an interview with the New York Times. The group however, is opposed to killing of Nigerians and prefers kidnapping to such violence. It does not have anything against killing foreigners and is suspected to be responsible for kidnappings of foreign construction workers in the north. He spoke of his training with Al Qaeda and their convictions.   http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/world/africa/in-nigeria-a

Like a new born baby, a new term has entered our national lexicon: mobile number portability. And suddenly, the media is awash with commercials offering number portability. GSM network operators are poised to begin intense competition with one another for quality service and subscriber loyalty. Nigerians are more than ever before faced with new choices. Stick with your network operator or switch to a better one. Is that really the case? Or is it simply a question of switch to just another, any other? The four GSM companies in Nigeria have all rolled out adverts offering number portability service to receive new customers. MTN boasts its wide coverage and signal strength. Airtel Nigeria prides itself on its customer care service ranked top in the country while also offering the Airtel talk feature. Globacom is not left out with its low tariff plans and mobile internet. Last and not least is Etisalat with its many bonuses and freebies. No one network offers everything all at