NIGERIAN SOLDIERS CATCH BOKO HARAM LEARDER ON BORNO.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014 was a particularly bad day for stubborn Boko Haram terrorists operating in the North East as they lost scores of their members during repeated attempts to enter Konduga, about 70 kilometres to Maiduguri.

But the icing on the cake of Nigerian troop’s victory of the day was capture of “a high ranking terrorists’ leader” who was seriously wounded and is currently being treated in a military medical facility.

Military sources informed PRNigeria that the terrorists leader

whose name is still being kept a secret was captured after the second but more fierce battle waged by the group of insurgents to capture the town following their earlier routing by the military.



Among those captured yesterday in battles where over 60 terrorists were wiped off the face of the earth.

In addition to their losing scores of their fighters, the terrorists also lost weapons and equipments including 24 riffles, five rockets propelled grenade tubes, two machine guns as well as a Ford Ranger vehicle. Another Ford ranger vehicle was also destroyed.

During the first battle of the day, which lasted over 12 hours, scores of the terrorists were again sent to hell.

“Right now, our troops are combing the vicinity of the battle scene in a cordon and search operation to determine the exact casualty figures suffered by the terrorists in the encounter,” our source declared.

During the encounter, three Hilux vehicles, one armoured personnel carrier and a cache of arms and ammunition were confirmed captured by the troops.

In yet another battle which occurred at Benishek on Wednesday, troops fought through an ambush, capturing four motorcycles from fleeing terrorists.

Unfortunately, one soldier lost his life while four other who were wounded are receiving treatment.

EA leaders address security threats

THE East African Community (EAC) Summit of Heads of State has vowed to urgently upscale implementation of relevant counter measures and directives to address current and emerging security threats in the region.


In particular, the summit directed partner states to expedite implementation of interventions contained in the revised strategy for regional peace and security, as well as those in the counter terrorism strategy.


The 16th Ordinary Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday, brought together heads of state of member states and saw President Jakaya Kikwete assuming the EAC Chairmanship from the host President Uhuru Kenyatta.


According to a joint communique, the summit reviewed the current security situation in the region and also considered the security state in South Sudan.


“The summit noted and welcomed the agreement on the establishment of the transitional government of national unity and also called for immediate and permanent ceasefire signed on February 1, this year, in Addis Ababa by the two parties in the conflict.


“The summit also called upon the two parties to abide by the terms of the agreement and ensure sustainable peace, security and resettlement of all returnees and internally displaced persons,” read the communique in part.


The summit further welcomed and supported efforts to reunite the Southern People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party being held in Arusha and saluted Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and ANC for facilitating the re-unification process.


The theme of the summit was ‘Deepening and Accelerating Integration: Towards Political Federation and also received an annual report of the council of ministers covering the period of November 2013 and 2014 and noted the steady progress made in the implementation of the programmes of the community.


Among others, the summit also approved and signed the protocol to extend jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) covering trade and investment, as well as matters associated with the implementation of the protocol on the establishment of the East African Monetary Union (EAMU).


Meanwhile, Dar es Salaam joined four other capitals of EAC member states at the official launching of Video Conference Communication System, an event graced by the Chief Secretary, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue.


Speaking at the event which was simultaneously held in Bujumbura (Burundi), Kigali (Rwanda), Kampala (Uganda), Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam, Ambassador Sefue said the application of the system could not be overstated.


“Video conferences will not only reduce costs of travel previously incurred in need of joint meetings, but also speed up consultation on matters of mutual interest among EAC member states.


The system will increase efficiency in decision making and implementation of agreed matters,” Amb. Sefue observed. Speaking from the coordination office in Nairobi where the launch was officially done out by President Kikwete who is the new Chairman of the Heads of State Summit, urged citizens in the region (EA) to take advantage of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT).


Mr Kikwete greeted government officials in the respective capitals to prove the effectiveness of the system.

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Hippo offering a ‘worm’ motherly kiss to its calf is not intimidated by a ‘mare’ sound from a catfish

EVERY Saturday the Daily Blog carries a feature titled “In the Wild”. There would be an article telling us one thing or the other about animal behaviour in the wild savannah.


I find these articles very educative as well as entertaining. So, this weekend, we savour how the writer delivers his message about the animal world.


I have three articles in front of me carrying the following titles: “How catfish mysteriously benefit leopards” (10 January); “Serengeti annual migration best in the World” (31 January); and, “The Evolving Hippopotamus of African wetlands” (February 7). The articles are accompanied by fantastic photographs of animals doing this or that action.


I like the photograph of mother and baby hippo apparently showing affection to each other. This is how the caption under this photograph reads: “The deadliest animal in Africa ‘offer a worm motherly’ kiss to its calf”.


We are used to see adult birds feeding their young ones on worms but do young hippos, or adult ones for that matter, feed on worms?


The article does not tell us. We however believe that mother hippo is not offering a worm kiss. What the writer wanted to write about was “a warm motherly kiss”, not “a worm motherly kiss”. “Worm” and “warm” should be included in the forthcoming edition of Longhorn’s Students’ Companion, under the category “Words Liable to be Confused”.


The list in the current edition is short but includes words such as: “adapter and adaptor”, “alley and allay”, “altar and alter”, “ascent and assent”, “bare and bear”, “beach and beech”; “cheap and cheep”, “boy and buoy”; “dye and die”, “course, coarse and cause”; “fare and fair”; “feet and feat”; “flea and flee”; “heal and heel”; “guerilla and gorilla”; “grate and great”; “ingenious and ingenuous”; “key and quay”; “cue and queue”; “rain and reign”; “shear and sheer”; “sore and soar”; “sum and some”; “son and sun”; “stationery and stationary”; “ware and wear”; “week and weak”; “woo and woe”; “wreak and wreck”; and many others.


“Warm and worm” should be included on this list in the book since they are currently missing. The caption accompanying the photograph should read:


“The deadliest animal in Africa ‘offers a warm motherly kiss’ to its calf”. The story about the catfish is characterised by the writer missing out on putting an “s” on various words, where this is a must.


Describing the catfish, the writer had this to say: “These are elusive ‘fishes’ ‘who’ live mysterious life which ‘enable’ them feed the leopard when antelopes and other herbivorous ‘mammal’ migrate to greener ‘pasture’


………


In savannah during dry season sunrays heat the ground for a ‘longer’ time leading to most seasonal streams, rivers and ‘swamp’ to lose big amount of water through evaporation which also ‘make’ the remaining amount to be inhabitable to marine ‘creature’ because of contamination and lack of oxygen”.


My re-write of the above quotation would go along the following lines: “Catfish are an elusive fish species which live a mysterious life which exposes them to be fed upon by leopards when antelopes and other herbivorous mammals migrate to greener pastures ………


In the savannah, during the dry season, sunrays heat the ground for a long time leading to most seasonal streams, rivers and swamps to lose large amounts of water through evaporation which makes the remaining amount of water inadequate for habitation for marine creatures because of contamination and lack of oxygen”.


In order to protect themselves from predators such as leopards, catfish take protective action: “When catfish notice any danger they will stop and miraculously produce drumming sound which can terrify people like me or you but the feline will not be intimidated by ‘a mare’ sound, and they will continue with a night feast to their satisfaction”.


A mare sound? Not likely. A mare is an adult female horse. The adult male horse is called a stallion. Our conviction is that by ‘a mare sound’ the writer had “mere sound” in mind.


The writer tells us some dangers facing catfish: “Some catfish die when they fail to manoeuvre through difficult terrain covered by sticking mud as a result die through suffocation and become food for ‘staving’ scavengers such as ‘vulture’ and ‘hyena’’. “Staving scavengers?” No. These scavenger animals are short of food. Therefore we are talking of “starving scavengers”.


A rewrite, is as follows: “Some catfish fail to manoeuvre through difficult terrain covered by sticking mud and as a result, die through suffocation and become food for starving scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.” Have a nice weekend.

State determined to see urban slums slump

THE government is determined to halve urban slums by 2025, according to Zanzibar Second Vice-President, Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi.

Presiding over a two-day regional roundtable by the Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development (UONGOZI Institute) in Dar es Salaam, Ambassador Iddi said the government is working on a number of strategies to achieve the target.

Facilitation of access to credit for urban real estate developers to improve the quality of housing, decreasing the cost of housing in urban and rural and creation of conducive environment for mortgages are some of the strategies the government is pursuing.

Ambassador Iddi added the government is facilitating the establishment of Housing Cooperatives at village and district levels.

“Critical to the success of these initiatives is the strengthening of the National Housing Corporation and the National Housing and Building Research Agency, where we intend to strengthen the skills for construction and management of human settlements development,” Ambassador Iddi noted.

In addition he said local government and regional administration are working with their local communities to facilitate regularisation of unplanned settlements.

“This is also being carried out in the formalization of informal businesses to provide them access to financial services that can help them protect and grow their businesses,” he explained.

He stressed that stemming and eventually reversing the development of informal settlements in the future is a major challenge that urban planners, designers and managers must address, underscoring the importance of involvement of citizens in the process.

“When organized and managed in this way, these initiatives and processes become capacity building programmes for inclusive urban planning and implementation,” he explained.

He said looking forward on how the public wants to live in 2015 or 2100, there is a need to reflect on the reality of urban livelihoods as they are today in 2015, since there is a growing housing shortage across the Eastern Africa.

“The growing temporary shelters or informal settlements are prone to natural disasters like flooding, as well as characterized by high levels of crime, insecurities, diseases and hardships,” he noted.

He said Tanzania is also in the midst of several comprehensive legal reforms for the inclusive registration and management of land, which will enable all citizens, both women and men, to have equal rights in land ownership.

The Uongozi Institute Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Prof Joseph Semboja said that the forum intends to look at and discuss the various challenges and opportunities presented by urbanization in the region and how African leaders can tackle them in an inclusive manner.

“An increasing proportion of Africa (and indeed the world’s) population is living in urban areas, adding to the congestion and pressure of housing, jobs and public services.

The forum is therefore meant to discuss how to address such challenges and imagine cities that reflect our desires,” said Prof. Semboja.

He said according to UNHabitat’s publication ‘The State of African Cities 2014’, East Africa is the world’s least urbanized but fastest urbanizing sub-region and by end of the current decade its urban population will have increased by 50 per cent and the total number of urban dwellers in 2040 is expected to be five times that of 2010.

“In fact urbanization and urban development are both positive products and forces for human development and economic growth -- if we can get them right.

And that is what this regional round-table is all about. To set us on the right course by identifying top priorities and key ingredients of progress,” added Prof. Semboja.

The high level participants of the roundtable hailed from governments, regional and international organizations, major cities, academia, private sector and civil society organizations of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Nobody has everything but everybody has something- Lulu

- See more at: http://bongo-daily.blogspot.com/2015/02/lulunobody-has-everything-but-everybody.html#sthash.3UEqYPU5.dpuf

Photos:Miss Tanzania 2012

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Huddah Monroe To Host AGA Awards In Malaysia – PHOTO

It seems that it is her time to shine because of late Huddah Monroe has not only been making great moves locally but internationally as well. On that note, Thee Boss Lady has flown all the way to Malaysia for business, leisure and pleasure as she likes putting it.
Well, for the business part of it, miss Monroe will tonight be hosting the Aga Khan Awards Nomination Party at Club HQ in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Here is the poster of the event she has shared on instagram.