US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, renewed a plea to Nigerian authorities to ensure the military does not carry out atrocities against civilians in its clampdown on Islamic militants.

Nigeria declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states on May 14 as it launched a military offensive to end Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency.

“Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation and they have killed wantonly and upset the normal governance of Nigeria in fundamental ways that are unacceptable,” Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of an African Union summit.

“We defend the right completely of the government of Nigeria to defend itself and to fight back against terrorists. That said I have raised the issue of humans rights with the government,” he stressed.

Nigeria’s FM Ashiru and US Secretary of State, John Kerry in Washington 25 April

Activists as well as the United States have voiced concerns over the fighting, with Nigeria’s military regularly criticised over its response to the insurgency due to allegations of major abuses.

“We all of us try to hold to the highest standards of behaviour,” Kerry said in a joint press conference with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “One person’s atrocity does not excuse another’s.”

He insisted the authorities should not seek revenge, saying the best way forward was “good governance, it’s ridding yourself of the terrorist organisations so you can establish a standard of law that others can respect.”

A May 7 attack in northern Bama saw insurgents disguised in military uniforms break into a prison and attack several government buildings, leaving 55 people dead. The women and children were around the sites at the moment of the attack and were taken hostage and only finally released on Friday.

The conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security services.

Kerry added that “to their credit the government has acknowledged that there have been some problems, they’re working to try to control it.”

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A report by the United Nations has indicated that the provision of meals for school children was still lacking in many developing countries, including Nigeria. The State of School Feeding Worldwide report by World Food Programme (WFP) was made public at the UN Headquarters on Friday.

The report stressed the importance of providing meals for school children, particularly in times of crises.

The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the report provides global analysis of school feeding programmes in developed and developing nations.

According to WFP, about 368 million children, about one in five, get a meal at school every day in 169 developing and developed countries. In Nigeria, according to the report, fewer than 500,000 children are being fed in schools. However, countries such as Ghana, Zambia, Lesotho, Egypt, Cape Verde, Morocco, Sudan, Ivory Coast have a better coverage of their children. Lesotho and Cape verde feed their school kids, 100 per cent, the report indicated.cameroon and Nigeria perform very poorly, with Nigeria the worst.

It explained that despite the global nature of school feeding, the coverage of these programmes was lowest where they are most needed. For more on the WFP report, please click this link:http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp257482.pdf

“In low-income countries, only 18 per cent receive daily meals at school, compared to nearly 49 per cent of children in middle-income countries. Global investment in these programmes is about $75 billion, with most coming from government budgets.

“While these may seem like a large investment, the benefits are even greater as the report states that for every $1 spent by government and donors, at least three dollars are gained in economic returns,’’ it said.

It stressed in the past five years, at least 38 countries have scaled up their school feeding programmes in response to a crisis, whether related to food prices, conflict, natural disaster or financial volatility.

School children: UN calls for feeding agenda

“School feeding assures that where quality education is available, children are able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn. It is an investment that pays off in the future with better-educated, stronger and healthier adults.

“It is also a critical safety net to prevent the most vulnerable from suffering in times of crisis,” the report quoted the Executive Director of WFP, Ertharin Cousin as saying.

The report also quoted lead author, Carmen Burbano as saying that “during the food and fuel crises in 2008, many governments struggled to protect the most vulnerable from hunger and looked to school meals to achieve that.

“In the current recession, even wealthy nations are examining how school meals can prevent families sliding deeper into poverty and hunger.”

WFP had been operating school meals programmes in developing countries for almost 50 years.

In 2012, the agency provided meals or nutritious snacks in school for 24.7 million children in 63 countries.

This included take-home rations for 1.3 million girls and 500,000 boys, providing an incentive for poor families to keep their children in class.

The Un will celebrate Children’s Day on 27 May.

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Akwa Ibom governor,Godswill Akpabio, demonstrating poor sportsmanship, is determined to split Nigeria Governors Forum, after his candidate, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state stunningly lost to incumbent chairman, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state on Friday in Abuja.

Akpabio says that Jonah Jang is his faction’s chairman of Governors Forum, though Jang lost the open-secret election to Amaechi by three votes.

After Amaechi’s re-election was announced by Mr Asishana Bayo Okauru, Director-General of the forum`s Secretariat, Akpabio led the governors in his camp out of the secretariat, to announce that Jang ‘won’. Akpabio also leads the PDP Governors Forum, hurriedly set up, with inspiration from Jonathan’s presidency to break the solidarity of the 36 state governors under NGF and Amaechi’s leadership.

Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State governor: very anti-Amaechi

Okauru said “Amaechi won the transparent election with 19 votes while Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau, who contested the position with him, got 16 votes.

“ I served as Returning Officer and after counting the votes cast by all governors here, except that of Yobe, the forum`s incumbent Chairman, Gov. Amaechi of Rivers emerged winner. He got 19 votes against Gov Jonah Jang of Plateau who got 16 votes,’’ Okauru said.

He added that Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo and his Zamfara counterpart, Abdulazeez Yari, contested the Vice Chairmanship position of the forum.

Mimiko, he said, withdrew from the contest shortly before the commencement of voting and yielded his position to his Zamfara state counterpart, who now returned unopposed.

However, those in the camp of Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom protested the reemergence of Amaechi as the forum`s chairman.

Akpabio, who is the Chairman of the Peoples` Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDPGF), said the result of the election was not valid.

He held that 18 governors had endorsed Jang as their candidate and wondered how Amaechi could have won the election.

He posited that Amaechi was not supposed to have presided over the election, adding that he should have stepped down before the election.

Akpabio maintained that his camp would only recognise Jang as the NGF’s chairman while Mimiko of Ondo would serve as its vice chairman.

Governors of Kogi, Bauchi, Delta, Enugu, Plateau, Cross River, Anambra and Ebonyi, among others, were at Akpabio’s briefing.

The NGF had so far had five governors as chairmen since inception.

Its pioneer chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, then the governor of Nasarawa State, held the position from 1999 to 2004.

Chief Victor Attah, then governor of Akwa Ibom, succeeded him and was there for two years from 2004 to 2006 when the then governor of Edo, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, replaced him.

Whereas Igbinedion was in office until 2007, his successor, Sen. Bukola Saraki, then governor of Kwara, led the forum from 2007 to 2011.

The exit of Bukola from the forum paved the way for the election of the current chairman, Amaechi, since 2011.

Under its first three chairmen, Adamu, Attah and Igbinedion, the forum was largely regarded as a platform where the governors came together to rub minds and relax.

However, under Saraki, it began to take on more serious issues. The forum helped the governors to win a share of the Excess Crude Account.

The NGF is an umbrella body of the 36 governors in the federation irrespective of party affiliation.

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The Indiana Pacers bounced back from a heart-breaking game one defeat to edge LeBron James and the Miami Heat 97-93 on Friday and level the NBA Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

With the win in Miami, the Pacers seized home court advantage in the best-of-seven series from the reigning league champions, and they will try to maintain the momentum when they host game three on Sunday.

The winner of the series advances to the NBA finals to take on the Western Conference champions for the league crown. San Antonio lead Memphis 2-0 in the Western finals.

“This whole team has just shown great desire,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said of his young squad, who had fallen 103-102 to the Heat on Wednesday.

“They believe we can win this series, and they’re giving it all their might, all their might.”

James, who earned NBA Most Valuable Player honors this season for the fourth time in his career, was forced into two crucial turnovers in the final 43 seconds.

Indiana Pacers vs Miami Heat – Game Two

Roy Hibbert, who was on the bench when James provided the game-winning layup in overtime in the series opener, delivered a dominant performance, leading the Pacers with 29 points and 10 rebounds.

George Hill scored 18 for the Pacers and David West added 13 points and seven rebounds — and forced the two late turnovers by James.

West stole a pass from James with 42.9 seconds left and Indiana ahead 95-93, although the Pacers did not score from the ensuing possession.

On Miami’s next possession, with the Heat needing a field goal to tie the game, West batted away another James pass with 8.3 seconds remaining.

Hill came up with the ball and was then fouled by James, calmly making his free throws to seal the win.

James scored a game-high 36 points with eight rebounds, but also had five of Miami’s 15 turnovers.

“Very disappointing, of course, for me. That’s the first thing I always look at on the stat sheet is my turnovers,” James said. “I had two key ones at a big point of the game. I am very disappointed in my judgment and my plays down the stretch. But I’ll make up for them.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Miami’s problems went deeper.

“It’s not just those two plays,” Spoelstra said. “We just didn’t finish the game like we’re capable of. We’re supposed to find a way to close out those games and we didn’t.”

Chris Bosh scored 17 points and Dwyane Wade added 14 — the only other Heat players to score in double figures.

The Pacers, meanwhile, shot 50 percent for the game, holding the advantage in rebounding and converting 26 of 32 from the foul line.

But a four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter without a basket saw Miami seize a four-point lead with less than six minutes to play.

Lance Stephenson drained a three-pointer with 5:25 remaining to pull the Pacers within one, and Hibbert’s layup put them ahead again.

James converted a three-point play that gave Miami a two-point lead with 3:32 to play, but that was their last lead of the night.

Hibbert and West scored back-to-back baskets for Indiana. Bosh responded with two free-throws to knot the score at 93-93.

Hill drew a foul and went to the line to sink a pair of free throws with 48.9 seconds remaining. Down by two, Miami turned to James, but this time he couldn’t come through.

“We’re young guys, but we know what we’re doing,” Hibbert said. “They could be the champs, but we’re coming for them.”

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Seven other children were injured in the blaze which destroyed the vehicle.

The van was carrying 24 children to a private school in Gujrat, about 112 kilometres (70 miles) north of the eastern city on Lahore, when it caught fire, local police chief Dar Ali Khattak told AFP.

“The fire erupted in the vehicle when the children were only a few kilometres from their school,” he said.

The blaze was apparently caused by a spark when the driver of the dual-fuel van switched from gas to petrol, he said, adding that the fuel gas cylinder was intact.

The children were aged between five and 15 years old, he said, adding that a female teacher also died.

Another police official, Abid Khan, said the driver fled after the fire.

Five of the injured children were in serious condition, hospital officials said.

Vehicles in Pakistan mostly run on both petrol and natural gas.

Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

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Ayo Oluokun/Abuja

Governors loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan, led by Godswill Akpabio, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State are kicking against the return of Rotimi Amaechi, their Rivers State counterpart as the Chairman of Nigeria Governor’s Forum, NGF in an election conducted in Abuja on Friday.

Amaechi was declared re-elected after a three hour meeting of the NGF in Abuja today.

A.B. Okauru, Director-General NGF who presided over the election had announced that Amaechi defeated his opponent, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State by 19 to 16 votes. 35 of the 36 Nigeria state governors were present and voted during the election.

But in what seem a continuation of the intrigues and high wire politics that had characterized the election, Akpabio who led the other Governors who were disappointed by the result away from the venue of the election immediately after its announcement later told journalists at the Akwa Ibom State Lodge, Abuja that the poll was a sham.

He was supported by Jang of Plateau and Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, state Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state and Peter Obi of Anambra state, all of whom are regarded as die hard supporters of President Jonathan.

Akpabio declared that contrary to the result declared, Governor Jang won the election by 19 votes.

Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State governor.

Though the election was conducted by open-secret balloting in which each voter (governor) was handed a paper on which to write the name of his choice and drop in a box, Akpabio distributed a sheet of paper containing 19 signatures which he said belonged to the Governors that voted for Jang.

Consequently, the Akwa Ibom State Governor said he and his colleagues regarded Governor Jang as the validly elected Chairman of NGF.

President Jonathan and his supporters within the ruling PDP are believed to be against the return of Amaechi as the Chairman of NGF over concerns that the Rivers State Governor may contest for the presidency or as vice president to a Northern presidential candidate in the 2015 election.

The PDP Governor’s Forum led by Akpabio was formed earlier in the year as a counterpoise to Amaechi led NGF.

Reports indicated that Akpabio had been in Abuja for some days before today’s election trying to lobby other governors against voting for Amaechi.

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•Amaechi:

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of oil rich Rivers State, has been re-elected by his colleagues to chair the Nigerian Governors Forum, despite speculations that Aso Rock planned to block him.

In the election today in Abuja, he got 19 votes, while his opponent, Jonah Jang of Plateau State got 16 votes.

Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina state were earlier rumoured to be in the race to topple the Rivers governor, who has been having a bumpy relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan. But in a run-up to the election, the Northern Governors Forum endorsed Jang as consensus candidate, after Shema and Yuguda refused to step down for each other.

Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Geidam was absent at the election.

Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Geidam stayed away from the poll, there were indications that a governor might have stayed neutral.

According to an insider, Amaechi won the poll at the first ballot.

The insider said: “At the count of the ballot, Amaechi secured 19 votes against Jang’s 16.

“The verdict has been greeted with protest by pro-presidency governors. That is what we are now contending with. They want to stage a walk out.” But anti-Amaechi governors were alleged to have threatened a protest march out of the poll venue, reported TheNation online.

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The loss meant the SuperSand Eagles who still progressed, will now face perennial foes Senegal, in the first semi-final match of the competition on Saturday afternoon.

A win on Saturday will give the former African champions one of the two African tickets to the World Cup.

The mundial is scheduled for Papeete in Tahiti in September.

The other semi-final encounter will see Cote d’Ivoire taking on hosts Morocco later in the day.

In Friday’s match, Cote d’Ivoire kept the first place on the Group B table by upsetting Nigeria in the last group-stage matchday of the competition.

A balanced and hard-fought game had seen a first period without goals, while the scoreboard got really busy in the first half of the second period.

Both sides, however, engaged in a ding-dong affair which finally had the Eagles 3-2 ahead at the end of the period.

Nigeria opened the third period with a goal to make it 4-2, but the Elephants netted two goals to level things back.

With the match seemingly heading to extra time, the Ivoriens fired a free kick home with just seconds to go to grasp the game’s full points, leaving Nigeria no time to react.

In the other matches played on Friday, Egypt mauled Libya 8-3 while Morocco beat Senegal 3-2 and Madagascar whipped Ghana 10-3.

Eight teams are participating in the competition which began on May 22 and end on Sunday, May 26.

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Guatemala extradited ex-president Alfonso Portillo to the United States on Friday to face charges of laundering $70 million, sending him on a plane under the escort of US agents in a first for Latin America.

“Hasta luego (see you later), people of Guatemala,” Portillo, 61, said as he boarded the small plane at the air force headquarters south of the capital.

Portillo, who was president from 2000 to 2004, is the first former Latin American leader to be extradited to the United States. Panama’s former dictator Manuel Noriega was ousted by US troops in 1989 and jailed in Miami for 20 years on drug charges.

Wearing a black sweater jacket and holding two books, the former president described his extradition as a “kidnapping” and accused the Guatemalan government of breaking the law since he still had cases pending in his country

“They have acted illegally against me from the beginning. They have violated all my rights,” he declared after being taken from the military hospital where he was being treated for health problems.

“They are taking me away sick, so I hold the government and the interior minister responsible for anything that may happen to my health. I’m not well,” he said, adding he had fluid in one lung and an abnormal heart beat.

The United States welcomed the extradition as “an important affirmation of the rule of law and due process in Guatemala.”

“We commend the commitment of Guatemalan authorities to strengthen the rule of law and combat organized crime and corruption,” William Ostick, a US State Department spokesman, told AFP.

Portillo had been fighting extradition since it was approved by then president Alvaro Colom in 2011.

“I will be back,” he said as dozens of supporters protested outside the air base. “The evidence they have is not enough to convict me, and I thank the Guatemalan people for its support.”

Alfonso Portillo: to face money laundering charge in US

Following a request from a New York court, he was arrested in January 2010 as he was trying to flee to Belize. Portillo has described the case against him as a “political persecution.”

Portillo was indicted by a US grand jury on charges of embezzling tens of millions of dollars of public funds and laundering the money through US and European banks, including $1.5 million intended for Guatemalan school children.

His attorney, Mauricio Berriondo, said the extradition was “outside any legal framework” and was conducted “by force.”

In 2011, a Guatemalan court acquitted Portillo and two of his former ministers of conspiring to embezzle $15 million from the defense ministry in 2001. His acquittal was confirmed by an appeals court in April.

Portillo was a member of the Guatemalan Republican Front, a party founded by former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who faces a new trial after the nation’s top court threw out his genocide conviction this week.

“What they did was inhuman because the former president’s life was put at risk,” Mario Estrada, a losing candidate in the 2011 presidential election, said as he stood with other supporters outside the air base. “They kidnapped him from the hospital to take him away.”

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The list released Friday in Accra, Ghana had some surprise inclusions, top of which is long-time absentee Dominic Adiyiah

Also getting a recall for action with the Black Stars is France-based defender Samuel Inkoom who has not played for Ghana for nearly one year.

In a list expectedly dominated by foreign-based players, four home-based players nonetheless were named for the two away matches.

Top on the list of local stars in the Ghana squad are Kotoko defender Rashid Sumaila and Aduana goalkeeper Stephen Adams who returns to the fold to replace goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey who will undergo surgery on an injury.

Top stars such as Mubarak Wakaso, Sulley Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah, Agyemang Badu, Christian Atsu and striker Asamoah Gyan were all named in the team.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Fatau Dauda (Ashgold), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals), Stephen Adams (Aduana)

Full-backs: Harrison Afful (Esperance, Tunisia), Samuel Inkoom (Bastia, France), Kissi Boateng (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Baba Rahman (Greuther Furth, Germany)

Central Defenders: John Boye (Rennes, France), Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France), Awal Mohammed (Maritzburg United, South Africa), Rashid Sumaila (Kotoko).

Defensive midfielders: Rabiu Mohammed (Evian, France), Edwin Gyimah (SuperSport, South Africa) Isaac Coffie (Chievo Verona, Italy)

Right midfielders: Albert Adomah (Bristol City), Solomon Asante (TP Mazembe, DR Congo)

Left midfielders: Sulley Muntari (AC Milan, Italy) Mubarak Wakaso (Espanyol, Spain), Christian Atsu (Porto, Portugal)

Offensive midfielder: Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (Udinese, Italy), Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus, Italy)

Strikers: Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain, UAE), Dominic Adiyiah (Arsenal Kiev, Ukraine), Richard Boakye Yiadom (Sassuolo, Italy), Mahatma Otoo (Hearts of Oak).

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