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12166301491?profile=originalPresident Goodluck Ebele Jonathan yesterday made history when he ordered that henceforth, females interested in becoming combatant officers for the Nigerian armed forces should be admitted into the Nigeria Defence Academy.

Minister of Defence, Adetokumbo Kayode who made the disclosure at a media briefing in Abuja, said, though the issue had been under consideration by the military high command for sometime, President Jonathan took the decision to start it immediately because it is the right thing adding that "Other countries in Africa are already doing it and they are not better than us".
Photos: Are of US Female Soldier Lavena Johnson who was Raped/Murdered in the barracks in strange circumstances.Will The "Men" who beat their wives in the 9ja Army allow this to become a norm instead of a "killing" ground of our women ? 

We remember the allegation that the 9ja Army fathered upto a whopping 250,000 kids during the Liberian conflict !



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"Presently, we have female armoured tank drivers, female Para-troopers, Jumpers, and so on. We will follow international best practices in this regards. We want to have strong, virile armed forces devoid of discrimination".

Expatiating on the new directive, the minister said, "As you are all aware, the Nigerian Armed forces had always had opening for female officers. However, these have always been limited to non combat duties thereby limiting their career path irrespective of their competence or skill".

"To redress this obvious anomaly and in line with conviction of the President that every Nigerian irrespective of Gender or any affiliation should be given equal opportunity to excel in his or her chosen field of life, Mr. President has directed the immediate enlistment and training of female regular combatant commission officers into the Nigerian armed forces".

"The training of the female regular combatant cadets along with their male counterparts will be at the NDA, Kaduna where they will pass out with a degree in a chosen academic field and a regular combatant commission into the Nigerian Armed forces".

The minister continued, "As you might already know, we have various types of commission in the armed forces namely; Regular Combatant Commission, Short Service Combatant Commission, Direct Regular Commission, Direct Short Service and Executive Commission. Of all these types of commissions, it is only the Regular Combatant Commission that can give an officer the opportunity to aspire to head any of the services or rise to become the Chief of Defence staff".

"It is in this consideration that the Presidential directive was given in other to provide the female officers the same opportunity of rising to the pinnacle of their profession. This directive is also aimed at providing women, career opportunities that would allow them to compete with their male counterparts for the highest offices in the military".12166302064?profile=original

"The female regular combatant officers will therefore have the opportunity, as their male counterparts, to command major units of the army, fly fighter jets of the Airforce and to be seamen officers who could command a combat going vessel of the Nigerian Navy", the minister said..

Reacting to a question, he said, “there will be no discrimination with regard to training. The same standard will be applied to both male and female intakes. There will no gender issues involved as it will be strictly be in compliance with NDA statutes”.

 

LaVena Johnson (July 27, 1985 - July 19, 2005) was a Private First Class in the United States Army whose death, officially ruled a suicide, has attracted international attention amid claims she was raped and murdered. She was the first female soldier from Missouri to die in Iraq.


Johnson's death was officially ruled a suicide by the Department of Defense. However, her father became suspicious when he saw her body in the funeral home and decided to investigate. The Army initially refused to release information, but did so under the Freedom of Information Act after Representative William Lacy Clay, Jr. raised questions about it at the congressional hearings over Pat Tillman's death.[3]
The autopsy report and photographs revealed Johnson had a broken nose, black eye, loose teeth, burns from a corrosive chemical on her genitals, and a gunshot wound that seemed inconsistent with suicide. Several reporters have suspected that the chemical burns were to destroy DNA evidence of a rape

 

Previously:

Amnesty International Report on 9gerian (sic) Soldiers

 

women despoiled by police and army

"Disturbing trends of despoil and sexual violence against women and girls at the hands of police and security forces" have been revealed in Nigeria. Some security forces act as if they were entitled to despoil local women, and they are sure never to face justice.

"There were three men. I have pain even today… they used my daughter too. She is 12 years old… They also despoiled my sister. Another man despoiled a woman who was 4 months pregnant and she lost the child…they were military men. Everyone in the village saw them, they didn't hide, they didn't care. I didn't tell the police because I fear them."

This is one of the testimonies presented at a press conference in Lagos, Nigeria, today by the human rights group Amnesty International. The testimony is part of a report on sexual abuse of women by Nigerian security forces, which according to Amnesty could almost be termed systematic.

despoil by police and security forces is endemic in Nigeria as is the abject failure of the Nigerian authorities to bring perpetrators to justice, the human rights group said at the press conference. They called on Nigeria's federal and State authorities to urgently overhaul the legal and social systems that tolerate widespread despoil and sexual violence against women and girls across the country.

Amnesty launched the report "Nigeria: despoil - the silent weapon", which draws upon the testimony of survivors and "identifies disturbing trends of despoil and sexual violence against women and girls at the hands of police and security forces." The report argues that these acts are compounded and encouraged by failures at every level of the judicial system and persist because of consistent failure by the state to tackle the abuse of women and girls by the police and security forces.

Whether abused by police, security forces or in their homes and community, the report outlines the enormous difficulties faced by women and girls who are despoiled or sexually abused in Nigeria.

"The harsh reality is that if you are a woman or a girl in Nigeria who has suffered the terrible experience of being despoiled, your suffering is likely to be met with intimidation by the police, indifference from the state and the knowledge that the perpetrator is unlikely to ever face justice," said Kolawole Olaniyan of Amnesty.

At the press conference, there was further presented evidence of the use of despoil and sexual slavery by the Nigerian security forces "to intimidate communities in the Niger Delta." The oil-rich but impoverished Delta has fallen into violence as local rebels fight for a greater part of oil revenues to be channelled to the region.

The group further outlined how despoil is used by the police as a means of torture to extract confessions from suspects in custody and how women and girls rarely seek prosecution for fear of intimidation by the police and rejection by their families and community. When they do, widespread failures throughout the judicial system result in only an estimated 10 percent of cases ever being successfully prosecuted.

The report outlines serious obstacles to the reporting and prosecution of despoil in Nigeria, including inadequate training of police that results in the humiliation and intimidation of the victims and police investigations hampered by corruption and incompetence. On the legislative level, differences between federal, state, Shari'a and customary law lead to uneven standards of justice and arbitrary decisions concerning the seriousness of the crime.

"Our report depicts the near total failure of the Nigerian state to protect women and girls from these terrible crimes. The Nigerian government has taken no meaningful action to translate its international legal obligations towards woman and girls into national law, policy and practice. It is now time that the state and federal authorities meet those obligations and offer real security and justice to women and girls in Nigeria," Ms Olaniyan said
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They met on the internet. They fell in love. A spare parts seller, Kunle Bamidele was completely honest in his dealings with his Kentucky, US-based beau, Robin Martins, and their wedding recently in Ibadan was as topical as it was controversial. Nevertheless, the young man will soon jet out of the country to join his wife. Seye Adeniyi reports. The couple kissing during their wedding. advertisement
lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu
He was castigating one of his apprentices for wrong-doing when this reporter got to his shop at Ile-Epo area of Odo-Ona, Abeokuta road, Ibadan, Oyo State. He was so annoyed with the young male apprentice that he brought out the Sunday Tribune edition of 12th of July, 2009 to butress his admonitions to the boy, on the need for him to be truthful, dedicated to duty, and, above all, say the truth at all times. “Look at this young man now (pointing at Kunle Bamidele’s picture featured in the Sunday Tribune newspaper of 12th July, 2009), he reaped the reward of being faithful, truthful and sincere, and that was why a white woman, an American for that matter, left her country for Nigeria to marry him, ‘’ he told the apprentice. Many people thought it was not possible, some tagged it an “arrangeé wedding”, while some are still casting doubts on the unique matrimonial union that took place recently in the city of Ibadan between the duo. Alhaji Laide Eniola, a 70 year-old popular fashion designer at Odo-Ona, along Apata road, Ibadan, was privy to all that transpired during the wedding. Robin Martin, a 41-yr-old Kentuckian, had travelled to Nigeria, some weeks ago, to wed Kunle Bamidele, a 32-year-old spare parts trader at the popular Gate Market, Ibadan. According to the tailor, the wedding ceremony actually took place in his house at the Scout-Camp, along Challenge-Molete road, in Ibadan on July 11, 2009, after the registry wedding at the Mapo Registry hall. On why the wedding festivities were not held at the Bamideles’ house, as was customary, he said Kunle’s father chose the Scout Camp venue to give the American some solace as it was modern and more comfortable than his own, adding that since he and the man were childhood friends, he had to oblige him. The 41-year-old American woman from Kentucky, USA, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday, July 8, 2009, and the wedding between her and Kunle took place on Saturday, July 11, 2009. She was accommodated, throughout her stay, at the tailor’s house. But why the quick arrangement that eventually led to a wedding between the duo, considering the short-days intervals? Alhaji Eniola has this to say: “Kunle and the American woman had been chatting with each other on the internet for a long time, before the woman agreed to visit him in Nigeria. What really impressed the Kentuckian was Kunle’s sincerity and truthfulness. The woman had used many things to test Kunle’s truthfulness, sincerity, love and faithfulness and, I tell you, the young man is not like other Nigerian youths who are fond of duping Europeans on the internet.’’ He noted that the flight ticket with which the woman travelled to Nigeria was sent to her by Kunle. The bride-to-be had, through the internet, sent the money (foreign currency) to Kunle, instructing him to help her purchase the flight ticket in Nigeria and send it to her, an assignment which Kunle carried out to the letter. “How many Nigerian youths, especially the so called yahoo boys, can do such a thing? I know what many of these yahoo boys can do, and how they are creating a negative image for the country through their dubious activities on the internet. But Kunle Bamidele, now the legal husband of the Kentuckian, did not do that,” he emphasised. The tailor also revealed to Nigerian Tribune that the white woman, who is a divorcee and a mother of two children in Kentucky, was also impressed with her Nigerian husband’s truthfulness and sincerity when Kunle showed her all the receipts/invoices he had used in purchasing every material she instructed asked him to get, preparatory to their wedding, including the receipt for the new generating set that was purchased before her arrival in Nigeria. Robin Martins also surprised many people, especially the people living around the Scout-Camp area of Ibadan, when she took delight in eating traditional foods like amala, fufu, eba, even ewedu, gbegiri and okro soups, without developing bowel discomfort during her stay in Ibadan. He noted that many people had tried to discourage the woman from coming, and yet many others had told the family that the woman would not tolerate the facilities on ground, but she coped admirably well. Concerning the traditional wedding gown (aso-oke), which the couple used for their wedding, the septuagarian also disclosed to the Nigerian Tribune that Kunle was given money to buy the material by his bride, adding that it was he who designed the attire for the couple. ‘’The newly-wedded coupled enjoyed their honeymoon in my house and, I tell you, she was impressed with Kunle’s “performance,” being a black man. She also confessed to me that what she saw and experienced in Nigeria was the entire opposite of all the negative reports she had heard about the country before coming to Nigeria,” the tailor told the Nigerian Tribune. He added that the white woman told him that she was very comfortable in her country, as she presently had two or three companies of her own. But she had to divorce her former American husband because the man used to beat, maltreat, and often subjected her to inhuman treatments despite the fact that she had two children by him. There was a mild drama inside the Mapo Registry hall during the wedding ceremony. The local government officials that conducted the wedding programme were amazed and highly impressed by the woman’s dancing steps. They were pleasantly surprised, especially when the Kentuckian began to lavish dollars on them, when the couple were called to come forward for thanksgiving. Throughout her stay in Nigeria, Robin Martins Bamidele was able to acclamatize to Nigeria’s weather; she did not complain of any ailment or infections. But she kept abusing the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), for throwing the country into darkness. Another drama that also ensued during the woman’s short stay in Nigeria, according to Alhaji Eniola, who hails from Ede, Osun State, was between the woman and the Embassy officials when she took her Nigerian husband there to get all the neccessary papers that would facilitate his smooth journey to Kentucky, USA. The Embassy officials did not want to give Kunle clearance documents for the journey, hinging their excuses on their previous experiences with Nigerians. However, when the new bride shouted at them, Kunle was given all the necessary papers, and will soon be going to America to join his new heart-trob.
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advertisement click for NollyWood videos on utube4naija by Danladi Usuman News Adapted from Wikipedia, Daily Sun & http://www.9jawiki.com The Encycleopedia Nig.er.ian.ica Obviously as a Gift on Father's Day Mohammed has decided to continue where is father stopped . Mohammed Abacha, the eldest son of the former Nigeria Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, is set to join one of the existing political parties in the country, a declaration that would symbolically mark the beginning of the family’s quest to return public life. The Abachas had abruptly been cut off the national leadership scene when their patriarch, Gen. Abacha, suddenly died some 11 years ago, while still serving as the Military Head of State. Mohammed Abacha before we forget In 1999, Mohammed Abacha was arrested and charged with the murder of Kudirat Abiola (wife of MKO Abiola) and the attempted murder of Alex Ibru (head of Guardian Newspaper - an opposition newspaper). In 2002 same moHommed Abacha was ultimately acquitted and released by President Olusegun Obasanjo. a supposed secret admirer of the abacha Family from the long standing Military relationship with Abacha the elder This was after an agreement was reached between the government and the Abacha family that they would hand over the balance of funds embezzled during his father's rule, Which obviously The balance of that HUGE amount of Stolen funds Mohammed wants to use As the Comeback Kid of A DESPOT ! The Audacity of the Plan shows he his his fathers Son .Decisively Stupid and Ruthless. Musa Umar Kazaure of The Weekly Trust said that the move was politically motivated.[3] The prison did not immediately release Mohammed Abacha after Obasanjo acquitted him. ON April 18, 2005 Justice Amina Adamu Augie of the Court of Appeal in Abuja said that Mohammed Abacha would undergo a trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory due to offenses related to the stealing of public funds. Mohammed Abacha filed an appeal to fight the judgment.[4] As of 2008 he is married with two children, a son named after his father and a daughter. ( SO BE CERTAIN HE LOVES HIS FATHER LIKE ANY GOOD SON BUT IS HE A GOOD PERSON OR GOING TO BE A GOOD LEADER ?) This is the question mark The people in KANO and the REST of Nigeria have to Answer advertisement click for NollyWood videos on utube4naija A very credible source told 9jabook sources in Kano that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha, when he eventually steps out into the political fray in the days ahead, is most likely going to pitch his tent with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) adding that so far, discussions between him and some of the stakeholders of the party, both in Kano State and in Abuja, have reached an advanced stage. It is speculated that the younger Abacha, upon his admission into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would immediately set his eyes on the Kano State Government House, hoping to emerge as the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP and eventually, the governor of the state by 2011. Incidentally, the Abacha Abachas are believed to have had a long-standing romance with the All Nigerian Peoples Party Party (ANPP), especially in Kano, where the party, at some stage, even road on the seeming popularity of the Abachas with the common Kano folks. It is still not clear what brought about the u-turn to PDP. A new power equation At the helm of the coordination of the highly guarded proposal is Alhaji Umar Gano Bayero (not directly related to the emirate). Alhaji Bayero, a former gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress in the 2007 polls is a close confidant of the family and one of the associates of the former governor of the old Kano State, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. His central role in the entire project has since led to the belief that, should the proposal work out as projected, Alhaji Abacha might not be joining the Kwankwaso’s faction of the party, which sources told the 9jabook is frightened by the prospect of this new factor to the political balance of the party in the state and yet hopeful, the young man might join the faction in the end. Already, a proposal for the formation of an eight- man Central Working Committee that would manage this ambition is in the offing. Sources said the names of the members of the committee were carefully selected to represent the seriousness of the new deal, adding however that their initial meeting, which should have taken place by now, was placed on suspension pending the fresh registration exercise of the party in the state which is billed for next week. It was also gathered that the meeting was caused to slow down with a view to allowing the CWC have a glimpse of the nature of the party’s congresses and the shape of the incoming executive of the state. “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) offers the young Abacha a number of benefits, including the fact that it is the party in government at the national level and a party that stands an average chance to win the next gubernatorial election in the state, if the right candidate and the right leadership is put to work,” said the source. The source opined that a character from the Abacha’s family would invariably excite the top notchers of the PDP in the country, arguing that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha fits into the kind of personality the party and those sympathetic to the interest of president Yar Adua need to balance the power equation in the party in the state. 2011 guber in the mix In reference to the 2011 battle in the state and for the survival of the president, the source added: “You see Alhaji Mohammed is very, very rich. PDP and indeed, Yar’Adua would be interested in such a person who can spend his own money for the sake of the party. This is typical of the Yar’Adua we now know, that is, getting others to do his work for him while staying aloof and watching from a distance” A number of investigations carried out by the 9jabook in Kano State recently confirmed that the relationship between the family of the former head of state and the incumbent President, Alhaji Umar Yar Adua, has been on the upward swing since the president was sworn into power, some two years ago. It was discovered that the pressure mounted on several fronts against the Abachas by the previous administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been gradually relaxed for the family, if not totally suspended. Notably among them is the easing on the tight security around the matron of the family, Hajia Mariam Abacha, who, it was gathered, has since had an ease in the restrictions placed on her movement. A security source told the 9jabook that she can now travel to any part of the world so long as she can get their visa. This new development is a sharp contrast from the restricted nature of her freedom during the eight-year rule of the past administration. It is also on record that the former First Lady was one of the very first few jubilant Nigerians to rush to the Yar’Aduas in Kastina to celebrate their son’s election as the president of the country and on that occasion, she was well received by the then incoming First Lady, Hajia Turia Yar’Adua. A burning ambition 9jabook also was gathered from another competent source that this is definitely not the first time that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha had plotted to join the politics of the state, adding that much as he was not in a hurry to stage a come back given the hostile climate against his family under Obasanjo, he had always kept an eye on the political development of the state, waiting for the right time to strike. The source, a long time relation of the Abachas, recalled that the last time Mohammed had tried his hand on this long nurtured pet project, was some two and a half years ago, when the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) had tried to wreck the ambition of some serving governors, including the second term ambition of the governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. The source stated emphatically that the Abacha son, sensing that the coast was clear, immediately flew to the Eastern part of the country to try to persuade the Chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party, Chief Edwin Umezeoke, to consider him for the gubernatorial ticket of the party in state in the event the incumbent governor was barred by the authorities. He observed that the move suffered a major set back when a court ruled against the barring of the governors by the EFCC. On the chances of the young man in a complex political terrain like Kano State, the source noted that it is one thing to want to declare oneself for political service and another game all together when one is inside the political fray with all its ups and downs. He added that for now, many people are urging on Mohammed Abacha to join politics and based on this, it seems he is a popular choice of the people. He, however, expressed pains that some of these persons singing his praise worthiness are not singing it out of genuine concerns but are simply out to milk his purse. DO YOU WANT AN ABACHA BACK IN POWER IN KANO ? obviosuly most kano people do He stated that in the political equation of Kano state, the family of the Abachas, no doubt, enjoy some form of love and respect, despite their demonization by a section of the media in the country, but he feared that Mohammed Abacha might be his own undoing, given that he is seen as a character that does not mingle with others outside his class of select friends, adding that he rarely steps out to visit people when they are bereaved and is hardly available for other kinds of social engagements in the community. This character trait, he stated, means a lot to the people of the north and Muslims generally. Efforts to reach out Alhaji Mohammed Abacha for comment were unsuccessful. Babangidas ,Obasanjo,, Over to your Sons & Daughters SOON ALL THE GOVERNORS OF NIGERIA WILL BE THE SONS OF FORMER PRESIDENTS AND THEN ALL WE NEED IS THEIR KING ? Dan Usman writes from Kano City
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