The governments of China and Botswana on Friday signed an agreement of sending the 14th Chinese medical team to Botswana.
Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Zheng Zhuqiang and Botswana’s Minister of Health Dorcas Makgato-Malesu signed the agreement in Gaborone, capital of Botswana.
According to the agreement, the 14th medical team will have 46 members including 30 doctors, 10 nurses and 6 staff.
Makgato-Malesu thanked Chinese government’s assistance in Botswana’s health development since the first medical team was sent in 1981.
She said because of China’s support, Botswana has seen great development in providing health services to locals.
Besides sending professional medical members, Chinese government also donated health equipment and gave supports on human resources training.
Zheng Zhuqiang said health area has long been one of the top priorities in China’s assistance to Botswana. Alongside sending medical teams, China is also exploring possibility of sending short-term medical experts to Botswana. and China is willing to join hands with Botswana to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various areas including health sector.
The first Chinese medical team started work in Botswana in 1981 with 13 members, while the number has increased to the current 46. Up to now 13 Chinese medical teams and 373 team members have served in Botswana.

12:13

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for more US help in fighting Boko Haram, as the Islamists struck again on Saturday and called for a boycott of upcoming general elections.

Jonathan, for the first time, claimed direct links between the Sunni radicals who have been waging a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

He told the Wall Street Journal in an interview: “Are they (the United States) not fighting ISIS? Why can’t they come to Nigeria?

“They are our friends. If Nigeria has a problem, then I expect the US to come and assist us.”

But Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said there are no plans to send US troops to Nigeria.

“I can tell you that there are no plans as I speak here to send unilaterally, to send or to add US troops into Nigeria. There are no US troops operating in Nigeria,” he told reporters.

Kirby said the United States was in the early phases of helping establish a multi-national task force of African nations to help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram.

Jonathan’s comments were published as hundreds of Islamist fighters invaded the northeastern city of Gombe, firing heavy guns and throwing leaflets calling for locals to shun the elections.

The attack, which began at about 9:00 am (0800 GMT), saw residents flee and the authorities impose a 24-hour lock-down in the city, which Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted.

Boko Haram has opened up two new fronts in its campaign to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, pushing into neighbouring Niger last week and for the first time on Friday, Chad.

It has also increased the frequency and intensity of its attacks on northern Cameroon. The increasing regional threat has led to the deployment of troops from all three countries, reflecting security fears.

Jonathan and his government have long sought to portray, the insurgency as being fuelled by outside forces and he has previously called Boko Haram “Al-Qaeda in west Africa”.

Critics have interpreted his attempt to blame foreigners for the violence that has left more than 13,000 dead and displaced more than one million since 2009 as a diversion from national failings.

Boko Haram, which loosely translates from the Hausa language widely spoken in northern Nigeria as “Western education is forbidden”, started out in 2002 as a largely peaceful Islamist movement.

But it has been transformed in the last six years from a rag-tag group of guerrilla fighters into a conventional army, seizing territory and dozens of towns in three northeast Nigerian states.

The group has generally not been thought to have any direct operational links with overseas jihadis, although some fighters may have received training from Al-Qaeda-linked militants in north Africa.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has previously mentioned IS group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in videos but has not pledged allegiance to the outfit.

The Nigerian group’s tactics of extreme violence and mass casualty hit-and-run raids, bombings and suicide attacks also predated those carried out by the IS group.

But Jonathan told the US newspaper that Nigeria had intelligence reports that Boko Haram was receiving “training and funds” from IS militants.

Any direct US military intervention would constitute a marked shift in Nigeria’s attitude towards the conflict. It has repeatedly insisted that it can take on the militants alone.

The United States has provided surveillance and intelligence specialists, as well as aerial drones, to help in the high-profile hunt for 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last April.

But bilateral ties have since been fraught over Washington’s refusal to provide military hardware because of concerns about human rights abuses in the Nigerian army.

The latest attack in Gombe, south of Boko Haram’s centre of operations, coincided with the original date for presidential elections, at which Jonathan is seeking a second four-year term.

The vote was postponed last Saturday after the electoral commission was advised that regional forces needed more time to tackle the insurgents and would not be able to provide security on polling day.

But the six-week deadline to effectively secure and stabilise the northeast and allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence to vote has been seen as unrealistic.

Jonathan on Friday maintained that postponing the elections until March 28 would give the security agencies time to “clean up” the three states worst hit by the insurgency for voting to take place.

12:12

Following assurances by the Federal Government that it would battle the Boko Haram insurgency to a standstill in six weeks, the #BringBackOurGirls coalition on Saturday in Abuja launched a six-week countdown to the rescue of the 219 Chibok school girls in Boko Haram captivity and an end to terrorism in the country.

The group said the launch date marked 10 months since the abduction of 276 Chibok girls from their school dormitory by the terrorist group.

The BBOG spokesman, Rotimi Olawale, in a statement said the movement has, over the past months, sustained its advocacy, including daily sit-outs in Abuja and regular sit-outs in Lagos and Ibadan as well as several other protests held across the world.

It noted that assurances by the FG that the girls would be rescued alive very soon and reports in the media that some of the girls were sighted as recent as November last year, offers a ray of hope that if urgent actions were taken, the girls would be rescued alive.

The group insisted that it would continue to pursue its singular purpose of ensuring the safe returns of the chibok girls and all other abducted Nigerians by the deadly sect.

According to the BBOG, the countdown will help them monitor the activities of the multinational forces toward the eradication of the insurgents and the rescue of the Chibok girls from their captors.

12:12

 Stunning Presenter Stephanie Coker covers the 77th issue of Exquisite Magazine features. The presenter of popular youth video request show 'Street Request at MTV Africa and her new show Hook me up Steph, is in love, loving life and in control of her life.
Other interesting editorials in this issue includes  a new column etiquette finesse with Janet and Manspective, which talks about "what he thinks of your number"

This is a must have issue.

05:46

A former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will perform better than President Jonathan if given the power to rule. Obasanjo made this statement during an interview with the Financial Times at the launch of his autobiography titled My Watch in Nairobi, Kenya.

“The circumstances he (Buhari) will be working under if he wins the elections are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that. He is smart enough. He is educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?,” he said.

He went further saying he was confident that the General would be able to effectively tackle insecurity and corruption.


On fighting against Boko Haram, Obasanjo believes Buhari will be the best candidate for that. He went further on saying.  President Jonathan betrayed the armed forces by allowing corruption to undermine their operations.

“It is a question of leadership – political and military. I think you need to ask Jonathan how he let the army get to this extent. Many things went wrong: recruitment went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation was not there; corruption was deeply ingrained; and welfare was bad,” he said.

He also added that it saddens him the rate at which the nation’s resources were dwindling. He said when he left office, Nigeria had $45bn in its reserve but the resources had been depleted by more than half despite the increase in oil prices.

05:11

South Africa’s parliament descended into chaos as
opposition members of parliament were removed by
force after disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s annual
address, an unprecedented sign of discontent at his
administration.
The president’s first State of the Nation speech since
his re-election last May had been billed as an
opportunity to highlight the achievements of the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) and its plans for the
year ahead.
But he received a hostile reception from MPs from the
leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by former
ANC youth leader Julius Malema, who started to
challenge him about corruption allegations.
Zuma had barely begun speaking on Thursday when EFF
members began interrupting, demanding to ask the
president about when he would repay part of a $23m
state-funded security upgrade of his rural home.
A clearly angry Speaker, Baleka Mbete, warned several
EFF members to sit down before ordering that they be
removed by security officers, prompting a brief brawl
in which several people were injured, witnesses said.
“We have seen that we are part of a police state,”
Malema, whose T-shirt was torn in the fracas, told
reporters after being bundled out of parliament.
MPs from the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA)
also left the chamber.
Zuma then delivered his speech to claps and cheers of
support from ANC politicians as he highlighted the
strides South Africa has made since the end of white-
minority rule two decades ago.

23:29

A former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi,
has said that some soldiers are ready to testify in
support of the leaked audio file on how chieftains of
the Peoples Democratic Party connived with the military
to rig the June 21, 2014 governorship election in
Ekiti.
The audio file released by Sahara Reporters, an
online medium, detailed how the then PDP candidate,
now Governor Ayodele Fayose; former Minister of
State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro; Senator
Iyiola Omisore; Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Jelili
Adesiyan and the military allegedly rigged the poll.
Fayemi, who spoke on a live programme, “APC Change
Hour”, on an Akure, Ondo State-based Adaba 88.9
FM , monitored in Ado Ekiti on Thursday said the
postponement of the 2015 general elections was not
about security but about a secret plot to rig the
polls.
He said, “We are taking every step to ensure this
does not go unpunished. There are many soldiers
willing to testify.
“There are many Captain Sagir Kolis who are willing to
give evidence in the court of law. I am just appealing
to all Nigerians to be patient as events unfold.”
He said the All Progressives Congress would resist
militarisation of the election based on a judgment of a
Federal High Court, Sokoto, which ruled against the
use of soldiers for electoral duties.
“We in the APC will not allow the use of the military
to oversee the conduct of the elections because we
know and we are aware that they have sown fake police
uniforms, they have sown fake army uniforms but we
will not allow them,” he said.
On his defeat in the June election in Ekiti, Fayemi said
the APC that had three senators, six members of the
House of Representatives, 25 House of Assembly
members, council chairmen and councillors could not
lose so scandalously, saying “the latest revelations
had proved the fact that the poll was rigged.”
He said, “Fayose is a desperate man, he is more
desperate than (President Goodluck) Jonathan. He is
one of the apostles of interim government. Gen.
Momoh is a victim; he wants promotion.
“He believes that all his atrocities will come to hunt
him; the judges that were beaten, the legislature that
was sacked and the civil servants that were harassed.
“They are now using the military to rig elections and
Nigerians must be vigilant. It is when the situation
cannot be handled by the police that you call in the
military.
“If you hear what Captain Koli said, he said they were
given instructions (to rig Ekiti polls). Chris Uba, who
is not a military officer, was giving order to military
officers.
“It was soldiers that drove vehicles that conveyed PDP
members to arrest APC members. Our members were
arrested and they were not released until the election
was over.”
On why he conceded victory a day after the poll,
Fayemi said there was a “grand plan” from Abuja to kill
as much people as possible after the election should
there be any demonstration or protest against the
result.
Speaking on alleged plot to remove the Independent
National Electoral Commission’s chairman, Prof.
Attahiru Jega, Fayemi urged Nigerians to hold Jonathan
by his words that Jega would not be removed.
The former governor also urged Nigerians to use their
votes to flush out what he called “an incompetent
government” during this year’s general elections,
saying Nigerians needed to be vigilant in the days
ahead to ensure that nobody tampered with their
votes.

23:23

The new Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone
2, Joseph Mbu, has warned that his men will arrest
any governor or politician with unruly attitude during
the forthcoming elections.
Mbu said this on Thursday in Abeokuta, Ogun State,
during his official visit to the Ogun State police
command headquarters, Eleweran.
He ordered the men of the command, who would be on
electoral duty, to arrest promptly anyone caught with
arms near the voting centres.
He said, “I am here to encourage, support and advice
you because we have a critical part to play in the
forthcoming elections.
“Our actions and activities will go a long way to
decide on this election, so, I have come to tell you
that we must remain impartial in ensuring free, fair,
peaceful and violent-free polls.
“As far as the law is concerned, we are not going to
respect anybody and whoever is coming to the booth
should vote and leave peacefully.
“Anyone who comes there to campaign even if it is the
chief executive of the state, a constable at that
polling booth would stop him.”
Mbu, who debunked the notion that he was sent to the
zone to do an hatchet job in the forthcoming
elections, said he had been commissioner in Oyo, Ekiti
and Rivers states as well as in the Federal Capital
Territory. He said his current posting as the Assistant
Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 7, was
not in any way different from his previous assignments.
He said, “I am here to make sure everywhere is calm; I
am not here at Zone 2 only for elections. The Zone
2 must not just fail during the elections. I am here to
make sure everything goes on peacefully, but the
police will arrest anybody that commits any electoral
offences.
“Anybody found with arms would be arrested by the
police and anyone that cannot be arrested; we will
recover the arms by force.
“No politician or any of their followers must shoot at
any policeman; if you shoot at any policeman, my
policemen would shoot back in self defence.
“Our duty is to make sure that the elections are
conducted freely, fairly and peacefully and violence-
free. There must be a code of conduct that you have
to uphold to make sure that we actualise our goals.”

23:21

The main market in Biu, the largest town in the
southern part of troubled Borno State, was attacked
on Thursday with a bomb detonated by a female
member of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
The blast led to the death of five persons, including
the female bomber who was believed to belong to the
terror group that planted the bomb at the market.
The incident also left 10 other persons injured and
caused panic in the town, which witnessed such an
incidence for the first time.
According to one of the traders who claimed to have
witnessed the incidence, Ibrahim Shaffa, the female
suicide bomber was caught trying to set up the
explosive device very close to the market at about
3.30pm on Thursday.
He said, “The youth and traders around the area, who
are not aware of what the woman was trying to do
only accosted her and told her to carry what she
dropped. It was during the argument that the explosive
device detonated and killed five persons, including the
woman.”
Shaffa added that 10 other persons were injured in
the explosion, stressing that they had been taken to
the Biu General Hospital for treatment.
He revealed that security agents visited the market
almost immediately after the explosion to ascertain the
level of destruction.
“They have restored normalcy to the area and the
initially apprehensive traders have started going about
their normal activities again,” he said.
A medical doctor at the hospital, who spoke
anonymously to one of our correspondents, confirmed
that 10 persons were brought to the hospital with
varying degrees of injury.
He said, “I cannot however confirm the number of
those that died in the incidence as they were not
brought here, but I learnt that they were five, including
the woman who was trying to plant the bomb.”
Attempts to get the Public Relations Officer of police
in the state, Gideon Jibrin to comment on the blast,
were unsuccessful as calls put through to his mobile
telephone did not go through.
Meanwhile, the Nigerien Army on Thursday said that its
soldiers had killed 260 Boko Haram fighters between
February 6 and February 13.
The spokesperson for the Nigerien Military, Col.
Moustapha Ledru, who disclosed this on Thursday,
added that troops also arrested some fighters of the
sect and seized some of their weapons. He did not
give details of how many of the fighters were arrested
and the quantum of weapons seized.
Niger had launched attacks on Boko Haram after the
sect’s fighters attacked some villages in the Diffa
region of the country late last month.
Ledru was quoted by some online publications to have
said that the cross-border attacks would continue until
the Boko Haram fighters were defeated. He urged
Nigeriens living in border towns with Nigeria not to
panic, adding that the military had taken steps to
establish peace and secure the people.
In a related development, the Federal Government on
Thursday raised the alarm that the Boko Haram sect
may have started recruiting and training new recruits.
The Coordinator of the National Information Centre on
the War against Terrorism, Mr. Mike Omeri, raised the
alarm at a press briefing in Abuja, citing intelligence
reports.
Omeri said, “In the general effort to contain acts of
insurgency in the North-East and secure the entire
area for the forthcoming general elections, the centre
wishes to alert the general public on very recent
intelligence reports which indicate a considerable
movement of Boko Haram recruits from such locations
as Geidam, Mairi and Dupcha (all in Borno State) to
training camps within the general area.
“Previous major attacks by insurgents, including the
siege to Bama and Monguno military bases, were
preceded by such massing up of fighters in training
camps within the proposed targets.
“This recent development which points to the same
direction has also been alluded to by the Boko Haram
group in its recent boast about having a 30,000 to
50,000-strong force to disrupt elections in
Maiduguri.”
Omeri, however, assured that the Nigerian military
forces had fully mobilised and deployed against the
insurgents whom he claimed were being chased and
roundly subdued.

23:20

According to a report by Sahara Reporters, the Nigerian military authorities are moving female soldiers based in various army formations in Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State to Abuja as the army anticipates a massive attack on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by Boko Haram.

The sources said there was heightened apprehension about an impending attack, hence the decision to reassign female soldiers to Nigeria’s capital. The military action also stemmed from the death of five female soldiers and the abduction of another four by Boko Haram militants when they attacked a military base in Baga a few weeks ago.
Following recent intelligence indicating that Boko Haram militants were strategizing on a fierce offensive to capture Maiduguri before the February 14 elections, the army moved more than 70 female soldiers last week.

One of our sources revealed that 146 more female soldiers had been moved to Maiduguri airport, where they are awaiting airlift to Abuja. The source said that all the female soldiers were supposed to have left by 10 a.m. on Thursday, but added that the military did not have a large enough aircraft to take their entire luggage.

The security sources also told SaharaReporters that Maimalari Barracks, home to the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, is the only military base left standing in Borno State. Maimalari was described as the only military formation capable of withstanding a major attack from Boko Haram militants. One source said that Nigerian military intelligence had received information that Islamist militants were regrouping in areas around Maiduguri in preparation for a major offensive against the city. 

The Islamist fighters’ attempt to take over the state capital last week was foiled, with Nigerian troops and civilian vigilante members collaborating to kill more than 100 terrorists. However, the militants successfully overran Monguno Barrack, killing and injuring many soldiers.

12:33