‘I don’t know if Shekau is dead or alive’ – Jonathan shocks Nigerians

President Goodluck Jonathan shocked Nigerians on Sunday when he declared that he did not know if the leader of the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, was dead or alive.
The Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State, had said in a statement August 19 that Mr. Shekau might have died of gunshot wounds he received in an encounter with Force’s troops in one of their camps at Sambisa Forest on June 30.
However, Mr. Shekau appeared in a new video last week, claiming that he was not dead.
He also claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed several civilians on September 17 in Benishek, Borno State.
The military vowed to investigate the claims as well as the authenticity of the video.
Mr. Jonathan, our Commander-in-Chief, who receives briefing from security agencies daily, repeatedly said during the media chat that he could not say if the Boko Haram leader had actually died.
“I don’t know whether he (Shekau) is dead or alive,” the President, said in a response to a question tweeted to the panel of interviewers but read to him.
“I don’t know whether Abubakar Shekau is dead or alive. I don’t know him. I have never met him. You journalists know more than us, “some of you always talk to them (Boko Haram).”
Mr Jonathan noted that the Boko Haram saga worsened because it was not “properly handled in the beginning.”
On the killing of some students at the College of Agriculture in Yobe State, on Sunday, the president debunked the claim that such acts were due to widespread poverty in the country.
“Can poor people buy AK47?” he queried.
The president said some of those arrested in the uncompleted building in the Apo District of Abuja where security forces killed no fewer than seven squatters, were member of the Boko Haram sect. According to him they confessed to terrorism.
He said the crisis in Plateau State “is more of ethnic rivalry about who controls land, but Boko Haram is different.”
Mr. Jonathan assured the people that his government would try its best to protect Nigerians in order to forestall the type of incident that occurred at a Kenya Mall recently where over 60 persons were killed by suspected Al Shabaab insurgents.
He said, “We will try our best to ensure Kenyan mall attack is not repeated in Nigeria. If the drum is changing we must change steps. I assure Nigerians we’ll continue to do what is required to protect them.”
Mr Jonathan said there would be no elaborate ceremony on Tuesday to mark Nigeria’s 53rd Independence Anniversary, because government had already planned the Centenary ceremony next year, to celebrate the amalgamation of the defunct protectorates in the country.
He added that the decision to have a low-keyed Independence celebration was not because of insecurity, insisting that most parts of the country were now safe.
According to him, “We are not going to do any elaborate ceremony until 2014″…the low key celebrations are not because of security.
“Most parts of this country are safe now for any celebration, even in Maiduguri.”
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Gov. Fashola Finally Unveiles The Tallest Hotel In West Africa

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, yesterday, unveiled the N30 billion tallest hotel in West Africa, the Intercontinental Lagos.
The hotel located at Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, is a 23-storey building with 358 rooms, 37 suites and a presidential suite.
The Intercontinental Lagos, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Hotel Group, IHG, is owned by the Milan Group.
Fashola said the new hotel showed that the economy of the country was witnessing growth daily but without corresponding employment.
According to him, “The new sector is the tourism sector. This is the only virgin sector in the country, and it will help address the challenges of unemployment in the country.”
The governor noted that the new hotel had helped to create new 650 direct jobs in the state, adding that with the construction of more hotels and hospitality outfits, more direct jobs would be created as well as numerous indirect jobs.
Chairman, Milan Group, Ramesh Valechha said the hotel will change the landscape of Lagos and boost the hospitality industry in the state.
He noted that the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for the project was signed on March 31, 2004 while it took two years to complete the design work before the conceptualisation of the project began.
He revealed that the Lagos State Government, Skye Bank and Wema Bank were supportive of the project.
According to Valechha, building of the hotel cost over N30 billion, while 650 jobs were created for Nigerians.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; Oba of Lagos, Oba Riliwan Akiolu 1; ex-governor of CBN, Joseph Sanusi, and other dignitaries.

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