Gist Arena

At the moment, Zimbabwe is in turmoil. The whereabout of its 93-year old president, Robert Mugabe is unknown but the military assures that he's in safe hands with his family. There's unusual military movement in the capital and many punidts suspect it may be a coup and despite taking over the state owned media house, ZBC, the military insists all is well. Below is a 1980 interview that Mugabe granted to BBC shortly after he took power. In the interview, he said no military can remove him as he intends to rule the country with firmness. Watch below...

T he military's action came after former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, a veteran of Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation wars, was sacked by Mugabe earlier this month. The dismissal left Mugabe's wife Grace, 52, in prime position to succeed her husband as the next president - a succession strongly opposed by senior ranks in the military.  Just yesterday, the head of the armed forces Constantino Chiwenga, openly threatened to intervene in politics if Mugabe did not stop removing veterans from government. And true to his words, action was taken today. Deposed vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, has now returned from exile to take control. See photos below.

F ormer President, Goodluck Jonathan, has reacted to a recent allegation leveled against his administration by a former chairman of EFCC, Farida Waziri. The former EFCC boss at a recent event, told newsmen that the former president's administration terminated her appointment because she refused to back down from investigating a key culprit in the fuel subsidy scam that had links to the presidency.  'If I see President Jonathan today, I will kneel down to thank him for the honor done me by removing me as the EFCC Chairman at the time he did. My first strong premonition of what was ahead was when I began the probe of the monumental oil subsidy fraud going on then. I came to Lagos on a vital intelligence on the subsidy scam and as soon as I arrested a key culprit I got a call from the Presidential Villa asking me to release the suspect, because, in their words, ‘he is our person’, but I refused to let him off and days after I was removed from office,” Waziri was quoted to ...

T ruly, Diligence is the mother of good fortune and a great teacher! A good lesson for people out there...be humble, diligent, do your job faithfully... whatever the situation, challenges. One day, the right people will notice. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, shared an inspiring story of a young lowly but hardworking typist, whom he recommended for an international job despite the fact that he had only his school certificate. Read the story below: While I was teaching at the University of Lagos, as a young lecturer, in the department of Public Law in the Faculty of Law, there were 3 typists in the department. The chief typist, senior typist, and the junior typist. Because in those days before laptops and personal computers, typists in universities had to do a lot of work and they were very important because you always needed to type all your materials. When there was work to do, what l discovered was that the chief typist would disappear. He works only till...

T he Nigerian Government on Tuesday told an Abuja Federal High Court that leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnmadi Kanu deliberately went into hiding to avoid the consequences of himself and his group. The Federal Government said this while urging the Acting Chief Judge of the High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, to dismiss the motion IPOB filed to quash the proscription order. Represented by the Solicitor General of the Federation, Dayo Akpata, the Federal Government insisted that there was no bloody onslaught in Kanu’s house during the Operation Python Dance II, adding that it was not responsible for the whereabouts of the IPOB leader. Akpata insisted that there was no report from security operatives to the effect that Kanu was missing. He said Kanu “has deliberately gone into hiding ostensibly to avoid his adjourned trial and also to avoid the likely legal consequences of the activities of himself and his group”. The government also informed t...

Z imbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe, has been booted out of office through a bloodless military coup which brought to an end his 37-year iron grip on power. The country’s ruling Zanu-PF party confirmed this development via its Twitter handle. It said that the southern African nation’s 93-year-old President had been “detained” in a “bloodless transition”. Zanu-PF, in a statement issued this morning, said: “Zimbabwe has not had a coup. There has been a decision to intervene because our constitution had been undermined. “In the interim, Comrade E Mnagngawa will be President of ZANU PF as per the constitution of our revolutionary organisation. “ZANU PF has a way of solving our own problems, the situation is stable and Zimbabwe is open for business. There was no coup, but a bloodless peaceful transition- the centre is strong and there is peace with honest leadership. “There was no coup, only a bloodless transition which saw corrupt and crooked persons being arre...

A former presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP) and elder statesman, Chief Chekwas Okorie has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the south-east has given hope to the people. According to Okorie, the people of the region had now realised that they have not been forgotten in the scheme of things. Buhari yesterday arrived Ebonyi State for the first time since assuming power. He is expected to be in Anambra as part of his official visit to the region. Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, Okorie described the visit as a welcome development but used the opportunity to appeal to the President to schedule more of such official visits to the region. Chief Okorie, who is the founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and current UPP national chairman, also appealed to the President, “to consider improving the state of infrastructure and especially roads in the south-east in order to add value to the nation’s economy.” “...

S PEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE STATE VISIT TO EBONYI ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017, AT THE ABAKALIKI TOWNSHIP STADIUM PROTOCOLS: I am delighted to be in Abakiliki today to interact with the good people of this State and indeed, the South East (Ndigbo) region as a whole. I want to express my gratitude to Ndi Ebonyi for their hospitality and warm reception since our arrival in Abakiliki a few hours ago. In the last few hours, I have commissioned some landmark projects and laid the foundation stones for the Ebonyi City Mall and a flyover bridge projects. I commend His Excellency, Governor David Umahi for his vision and commitment to the development of his State. In the course of my visit, I also had the honour and privilege of unveiling the statue of a great Nigerian, Sir Akanu Ibiam, whose notable records of humanitarianism, advocacy of free primary education and rural development, w...