Headline

Buhari Directs SGF, CoS, To Appoint Qualified Youths In MDAs

Published

4 years ago

February 11, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja said he will support the aspirations of credible and committed young people who are vying for positions in the February 26 national convention of the All Progressives Congress.

This is as he mandated his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to ensure that all Ministers and Heads of agencies include young people with the requisite skills and experience in all Boards and Committees of the Federal Government.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Friday, titled ‘Ensure young people with requisite skills get board appointment, President Buhari directs SGF, chief of staff, ministers’.

Buhari gave the assurance while receiving members of the All Progressives Congress National Youth Lobby Group at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, ”I will also support the aspirations of credible and committed young people who are vying for positions in the upcoming convention.

”It is also in our interest to ensure the longevity of our party by standardizing and institutionalizing the leadership recruitment system. Hard working and exemplary individuals should be identified and encouraged and mentored.

”It should be a deliberate policy of the progressives in ensuring that we have a robust succession plan in place.”

The President also directed the SGF, Mustapha, to submit a report on the inclusion of young people on boards and committees that are yet to be constituted, next month.

He further asked his Chief of Staff and the SGF to ensure monthly engagements with the APC Youth Lobby group for better synergy and cross pollination of ideas and opportunities.

While urging senior government officials to explore the establishment of a Committee of young people to form the monitoring and evaluation team of ongoing Federal Government projects across the country, Buhari said the committee would provide feedback to enable his government to hold public officers to account.

Buhari welcomed the idea of the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Youth in liaison with the youth leader, requesting the SGF and the Chief of Staff to work out the modalities for its operationalisation.

He told the Ismaeel Ahmed-led APC Youth Lobby Group that the leadership of the party would ensure full participation of young people at all levels.

Commending members of the APC National Youth Lobby group for their work, he said: ”You are not begging, but negotiating, staking a claim and seeking to add value, which is admirable.”

He urged them to help the party achieve a successful Convention on February 26, 2022, and in subsequent elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

Buhari also declared that APC must be made attractive for younger people to continuously take ownership of it because that is the future, and ”that is what progress means.”

Expressing support for the establishment of the Progressive Institute for the party, the President said: ”The party must have an Institute where its ethos, character and mantra are inculcated in our members. I will rely on you to share the concept note for further action.”

He endorsed the 2021 APC Youth Conference Report presented to him, assuring the Group that the recommendations in the report that are within his own remit would be given favourable consideration.

He also promised to encourage the leadership of the States and the party to implement the recommendations of the report for the benefit of young progressives.

On his part, the APC youth leader who described the President as the leader of the party and moral compass of the nation, thanked him for sending a powerful delegation to the Progressive Youth Conference in June 2021, “demonstrating that the present government believes in young people.”

”Mr President, young people in Nigeria believe in your capacity and the history of your public service. You joined the Army at the age of 20, you joined the war to save the country at the age of 25, became a governor at the age of 33, minister at 36 and Head of State at 41.

“You joined politics at the age of 60 and was elected President at the age of 72. You have demonstrated through your personal example, the integrity that very few people have had the opportunity to demonstrate in the country,” he said.

On the forthcoming APC convention, Ahmed appealed to the President to speak for the ”young people whenever we are not there to speak for ourselves, as you have always done.”

Headline

Africa Coups: 10 In Five Years

Published

1 hour ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A military coup attempt in Benin Sunday adds to a list of such incidents on the turbulent African continent.
A group of soldiers announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Here is a recap of the 10 successful coups in Africa in the last five years:

Mali

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by five army colonels in August 2020.

In May 2021, the Malian military takes over from the civilian leaders of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goita, who led both coups, is sworn in as transitional president.

After promising to hold elections in February 2024, the military puts them off indefinitely, pointing to the jihadist violence plaguing the country.

In July 2025, Goita approves a law granting himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable without election.
In September jihadists launch a fuel blockade, weakening the ruling junta.

Guinea

On September 5, 2021, mutinous troops led by lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya take over in Guinea, arresting President Alpha Conde.

Doumbouya in early November 2025 submits his candidacy ahead of December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order.

Sudan

After weeks of tension between the military and civilian leaders who had shared power since the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir, the armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stage a new coup on October 25, 2021.

Since April 2023 war has raged between the regular armed forces led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022.

In January that year mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba arrest President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Then in September army officers announce they have dismissed Damiba. Captain Ibrahim Traore becomes transitional president, but elections he promised do not materialise. In May 2024 the junta authorises him to stay for another five years in a country wracked by Islamist violence.

Niger

On July 26, 2023, members of the presidential guard overthrow Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the presidential guard, takes over.

In March 2025, the junta extends by at least five years its transitional leadership of the country which is plagued by jihadist violence.

Gabon

In Gabon, ruled for 55 years by the Bongo family, army officers on August 30, 2023 overthrow President Ali Bongo Ondimba, less than an hour after he is declared winner of an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
General Brice Oligui Nguema is named transitional president.

In April 2025 he is elected president with 94.85 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on the basis of a new constitution approved by referendum during the transition.

Madagascar

In October 2025, the military ousts Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina and takes power following weeks of “Gen Z” anti-government protests.

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina is sworn in as Madagascar’s new president, promising elections within 18 to 24 months.

Guinea-Bissau

In November 2025, military officers in Guinea-Bissau declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after general elections.

The military says a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” is taking over the leadership of the country “until further notice”.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

8 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

9 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)