African press review 11 June 2015

President Buhari of Nigeria eager to turn Lake Chad Basin summit into anti-Boko Haram war machine, as press piles pressure on him to move out and change the old ways of politicians. 

We begin in Nigeria and expectations are high as President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to host leaders of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Abuja this Thursday. Daily paper Vanguard says the newly-elected leader hopes to perfect a strategy to fight the Boko Haram insurgency during the summit.

Among leaders expected to attend today’s meeting which will be held at the presidential lounge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport are Paul Biya of Cameroon, Mohammadou Issoufou of Niger, Idriss Deby of Chad and the President of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi. Benin Republic is, however, not a member of the commission. Nigeria is hoping to raise some 30 million dollars needed to set up headquarters for the Multi National Joint Task Force in Chad, according to the newspaper.

There are continuing reactions in the Nigerian press to the controversial election of senators Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and House Speaker respectively. The two were elected after a process held by a ruling party rebel.

Vanguard reports that the rumbles from Tuesday’s election of Saraki as Senate President continued, yesterday, with opponents and supporters of the nation’s new number three man stalking one another in furtherance of upturning or sustaining the new order.

The Nation argues in an editorial that the two officials were elected during a so-called “clandestine ballot” organized without the knowledge of the ruling All Progressives Congress. According to the newspaper, if Nigerians ever thought that nobility was a defining feature of the nation’s high offices with the smooth conduct of the last general elections, the unfolding drama in the National Assembly, has dashed all hopes.

For the publication, the fallout is a sickening reflection of the despicable depth of politicking in Nigeria and reveals the incapacity of the governing class to even self-govern. This is bad for Nigerian democracy; this is not how serious nations do things concludes the Nation newspaper.

The Guardian newspaper believes that President Muhammadu Buhari erred by excluding himself from the election of the house leadership and restore discipline in the party that brought him to power. While Buhari has been in office for just 8 days, the Guardian also draws the President’s attention to the mood of impatience felt thoughout the country.

In an editorial, the publication asserts that the nation expects him to speak out without delay and urge politicians to change their old ways. According to the Guardian the situation on the ground is pathetic with ”virtually non existent power supply, scarcity of fuel as motorists in Lagos, abandon their vehicles near major petrol-filling stations, where the arrival of tankers are welcomed like a Christmas gift."

According to the Guardian his predecessor, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, had about seven month honey moon period with citizens. Buhari has no such luxury, it maintains.

A Nigerian woman is to go on trial in July for throwing her 9 year-old niece out of their home for allegedly stealing a piece of meat. The Nigerian Tribune reports that the victim was brought to Lagos from Ekiti State some years ago after the death of her mother to stay with her aunt. Prosecutors at the Yaba Chief Magistrates' Court in Lagos State, on Wednesday, charged the woman of child abandonment, which carries a heavy prison sentence under Nigerian criminal law, according to the newspaper.