DELE MOMODU: A Coup By The River Nile

Dele Momodu

Fellow Africans, this is a very tense moment for all of us, from Pretoria to Cairo. First, our greatest statesman, Madiba Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the first Black President of South Africa, is lying critically ill in the hospital and apparently hanging to a life support machine for life.  May God almighty be with him to the glorious end. Second, and of no smaller importance, is the latest military coup, or military correction, or whatever they wish to call it in Egypt. I doubt if Africa has been in the news on such massive scale in recent time. All the big news Agencies and television networks are camping out around our continent at the moment.

SIMON KOLAWOLE: From Arab Spring to Arab Fall

Simon Kolawole Live!: Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com

He looked at me straight in the eye, clearly agitated. “I swear by Allah,” he said, solemnly, “Hosni Mubarak was better than Mohamed Morsi. We regret voting for Morsi.” It was at a shop in Dubai a few months ago. The shop owner had introduced himself as our “African brother” while urging my wife to buy a pair of sunglasses from him. He told us he was from Egypt, and as it is my custom, I began to discuss local politics in his home country. So I asked if it was true that Egyptians were regretting deposing Mubarak through a revolution, the so-called Arab Spring, two years ago. His emphatic “yes” drew another question from me. “You miss a dictator who ruled you for nearly 30 years?” I asked, cynically. And then he swore.

Nigerian Children Smash Teeth Brushing World Record

Nigerian school children setting the new world record 

More than 300,000 children from over 300 Nigerian schools have set a new world record for the most people brushing their teeth at the same time. The largest gathering was at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, with smaller events organised simultaneously at hundreds of other locations across the city.

Nigerian Dental Association President, Dr Olurotimi Olojede said the event aimed to teach pupils how to brush and to help them understand the importance of good oral hygiene.

President Jonathan Says Yobe Students’ Killers Will Go to Hell

President Goodluck Jonathan

An exasperated President Goodluck Jonathan Sunday had harsh words for gunmen who killed 32 schoolchildren in Potiskum, Yobe State on Saturday, saying they will “burn in hell for their horrific act”.

Jonathan, in a reaction to the killing of the boarding schoolchildren along with a teacher, who were attacked in a dawn raid on their Government Secondary School, Mamudo, described the incident as wicked, horrific and barbaric.

The death toll in the attack rose to 32 Sunday, from the initial 29, as two more students and a local initially injured in the attack died at the General Hospital, Potiskum, where they were receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the onslaught.