Jonathan, three PDP govs meet over ministerial nominees

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday entered into a marathon meeting with three Peoples Democratic Party state governors loyal to him.

The governors include Akwa Ibom’s Godswill Akpabio, Cross River’s Lyel Imoke and Bayelsa’s Seriake Dickson.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, also joined them at the meeting.

The meeting, which was held inside the President’s office came about 24 hours after Jonathan and his loyalists met with four rebel governors – Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State; Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano State;  Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State; and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State-in a bid to restore peace to the already factionalised ruling party.

Ethiopian altitude, pitch can’t stop Eagles – Egwuekwe

Despite concerns ranging from high altitude to a bad pitch at the 35,000-capacity Addis Ababa Stadium, Nigeria defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, says the  Super Eagles “have a big heart” to weather the storm in their first leg final African qualifier for the Brazil 2014 World Cup on Sunday.

While Nigeria are out to achieve a favourable result at an altitude of 2,400m in Addis Ababa, the Eagles also have the rough and bumpy pitch of the stadium and highly fanatical fans to contend with.

The Ethiopia Football Association has also moved the kick-off time from 4pm to 2pm as the North-East Africans try to apply all tactics to emerge victorious in the first leg, but Egwuekwe is confident that won’t pose any problems for the African champions.

Ethiopia players complain

Ethiopia players  are unhappy with the win bonus approved for Sunday’s World Cup playoff against Nigeria, saying it cannot motivate them.

Details of the bonus are still not known, but several of the players insist they deserve more.

“We deserve better than what the government has promised us. It seems we are not appreciated by our government,” said one of the  players.

For the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, the team were reportedly supported by the country’s richest man, Mohammed Al Amoudi.

This comes at a time when the Walya Antelopes are sweating on the fitness of their star striker Getaneh Kebede.

Kebede, who has formed a superb strike force with Saladin Said, is nursing an ankle injury and was rested by his South African club Bidvest Wits on Saturday.

He is therefore a major doubt for Sunday’s showdown.

However, team spirit must have been lifted with the arrival of three of the country’s foreign-based stars.

Dangote to chair World Economic Forum

President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has been appointed a co-chair of next year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Kloster, Switzerland.

The Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, Prof. Klaus Schwab, in a letter inviting the business mogul to co-chair the sitting, said the WEF was of the belief that Dangote’s participation would contribute significantly to the substance of the discussions.

Schwab said in the letter, “The discussions aim to stimulate an unparalleled global dialogue among the relevant leaders from the government, business, academia, civil society and the media.

Air accidents inevitable – Minister of Aviation

Four days after a tragic crash involving an Associated Airline plane killed 14 people in Lagos, Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, on Monday described accidents as God’s will that are  inevitable.

She said notwithstanding this reality, the Federal Government would continue to ensure there were no accidents.

Oduah made the submission while fielding questions from State House correspondents on investigations into the Thursday  Lagos crash, the safety of the nation’s airspace and the suspension of Dana Air’s operations, among other issues.

While reacting to a comment that the latest crash had  made nonsense of  government’s much-talked about reforms in the aviation sector, the minister said, “We do not pray for accidents  but they are inevitable. But we will continue to do everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. But an accident is an act of God.

“Again, we do not speculate on the cause of accidents.  Until  they happen, you cannot  say this is the cause or that is not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is that, in aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries your luggage to the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to you.

I saw policemen kill my dad – Six-year-old girl

A six-year-old girl, Mariam Adeniji, is currently in shock after witnessing the killing of her father, Rafiu Adeniji, who was allegedly shot dead by policemen on Sunday.

The little girl, who spoke to PUNCH Metro while trying to fight back tears, said her father was killed after challenging policemen over an accident along the Mangoro end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

She said, “My daddy was driving home when someone hit his car. He went to see the policemen; they just brought out their guns and shot him. They then ran away.”

Another occupant of the vehicle, Lateef Okesola, who expressed shock at the incident, said it occurred in broad daylight.

He said, “Adeniji, Mariam and I, were all in his Honda car; Adeniji was driving. We were headed towards Agege when we saw a white police patrol vehicle with the inscription, OPS Attack, chasing a commercial bus. So, Rafiu swerved to the side and allowed the vehicle to pass.

Christians protest merger of schools by Aregbesola

Christians in Osun State, especially members of the Osun Baptists Conference, on Monday protested against the attempted merger of Muslim students wearing hijab with the Baptists High School, Iwo, under the new education policy introduced by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Aregbesola last week inaugurated a new education policy in Osun, which the governor said had necessitated re-classification and merger of public schools in the state to reflect the new education system.

The governor, who expressed worry about the protest, however, urged the people to cooperate with the school restructuring, saying the policy was introduced as part of transformation of the education sector by his government.

Aggrieved Christians armed with Holy Bible and Hymn books trooped to the Baptists High School as early as 7:30am and dislodged the students and prevented teachers from entering the school premises.

They said that the merger of the schools, if allowed to succeed, would obliterate the Baptist heritage and that they would not allow hijab-wearing students in a school founded by Christian missionaries.

The Christian protesters defied the presence of armed security operatives and insisted that they would not allow the merger to work.