Struggle for Buhari’s job causing distractions to Nigeria, says el-Rufai

— 4th April 2017

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state has said that the struggle for the position of President Muhammadu Buhari has created confusion in Nigeria’s political system.
Bloomberg reports that el-Rufai said this in Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday. According to the governor, politicians aspiring to be the next leader of Nigeria have kicked off the rat race for the country’s top job way ahead of the timeline.

He said this was as a result of President Buhari’s ill health which makes many of them feel that he would not run for a second term. He said: “Because of the feeling that the president may not run for a second term, people are already gearing up. Some politicians want President Buhari’s job because of his ill health.

“All of us are getting distracted by the coterie of ambitious presidential aspirants that are trying to kick-start the political process ahead of the normal timeline.”

Although he admitted that President Buhari has not indicated that he would run again in 2019, Governor el-Rufai, however, said that most ruling party members would like him to seek a second term.
He said: “Many of us that campaigned vigorously for him in 2015 are hoping that his health would improve and stabilise and that he would run again in 2019.
“We need the policy continuity and the stability in the political environment for the country to make progress,” Governor el-Rufai was quoted as saying.

ISIS recruiting students with financial inducement, FG alerts Nigerians On April 3, 20175:16 pmIn NewsComments By Emmanuel Elebeke The Federal Government has urged parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards in order to prevent them from being recruited by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, cited the recent recruitment into ISIS of 27 medical students of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in Sudan as an example of the new strategy being used by the organisation to recruit more members. He warned that the terrorist group has now resorted to targetting vulnerable individuals, including foreign students, using financial inducements to recruit them into the terrorist organisation. The Minister, quoting a report received by the Nigerian Intelligence Community, said 22 of the 27 students, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS, are Britons. ”According to the report, the students were recruited by one Mohammed Fakhri Al-khabbas, a former UMST student from Middlesborough, United Kingdom. ‘‘Many of the students are children of reputable doctors in the UK. Their Social Media accounts also revealed them as praising Jihadists and championing ISIS’ cause,” he said. The Minister however, appealed to Nigerians, especially those who have children and wards in foreign academic institutions, to pay more attention to their activities, while urging schools across the country to enlighten their students on the new ISIS’ recruitment strategy.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/fg-alerts-nigerians-on-isis-new-recruitment-strategy/