Inside Cameroon

A historic home video from the UK royal family has been leaked, showing members including the queen doing the Nazi salute. It is a grainy black and white family home video from the 1930s. In it, a man and a woman, with two young children are seen playing and then doing the Nazi salute. The woman is the future queen mother, the girl is the future queen Elizabeth, and the man is her uncle who would shortly afterwards become King Edward VIII.

The video was published by The Sun newspaper that reports “while there is clearly no suggestion that the queen or queen mother were ever Nazi sympathizers, Edward’s links with Hitler and fascism are very well documented.” Then Prince Edward and later King Edward VIII, the monarch was a Nazi sympathizer and remained pro-Nazi even after war broke out.  He once gave the Nazi salute to Hitler and claimed he was “not a bad chap.” 

Experts have called the footage “remarkable”, “shocking” and “historic”. But the British royal family has expressed disappointment that the newspaper has decided to publish the leaked video clip. Royal sources say there will be an urgent investigation how this 20 second clip of a longer video has made its way into the public domain.

Speaking to the state-run BBC, a royal source said, "Most people will see these pictures in their proper context and time. This is a family playing and momentarily referencing a gesture many would have seen from contemporary news reels.”

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.Jul.2015

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The Ugandan air force says it is going to deploy fighter jets in Somalia to help the war-torn country battle al-Shabab militants. A spokesperson for Uganda's air force said Friday that the deployment comes as part of the African Union (AU) mission's operations in Somalia to retake more areas from the militants.

"The AU has been negotiating with us on the deployment of our military aircrafts and assets in Somalia. We have agreed on the modalities and we shall deploy them soon," Maj. Kiconco Tabaro told Chinese news agency Xinhua, adding that the mission would also ease troops mobility and help the evacuation of medical staff and casualties. 

"As you know our troops are too far from each other in Somalia. Our line of communication and movement has been difficult. These assets are necessary and will ease our personnel mobility, logistics, medical and causality evacuation," Tabaro said.

Another military spokesman said a heightened wave of attacks by al-Shabab militants against the military forces and civilian population in Somalia has made Uganda's help urgently needed.

"We have reached a point of no return. We have been lacking the needed air support in the fight against the al-Shabab militants in Somalia," Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said, adding, "We are committed to liberating our Somali people."

In a recent meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, AU officials announced that they were negotiating with Uganda to have its helicopters deployed in Somalia. Uganda had prior plans to deploy military assets in Somalia, although they faced a setback in 2012 when a convoy of helicopters that had been sent to Somalia crashed in Kenya, killing seven crew members.

Kampala also received two Cessna 208B aircraft from the United States in March, allegedly as an appreciation for its counterterrorism and security efforts in Somalia. Uganda is also the biggest contributor of ground forces to the AU mission in Somalia, and troops of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) have been stationed there since 2007.

Somalia has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab since 2006. The militants have been pushed out of the capital, Mogadishu, and other major cities by  forces of the government and the African Union, which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.

Al-Shabab have, however, continued to carry out attacks in Mogadishu.

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Ngwa Bertrand

17.Jul.2015

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South Africa has welcomed Tuesday’s conclusion of nuclear talks with Iran, saying it wanted to resume trade with the Middle Eastern country as soon as possible. South Africa relied on Iran as the biggest supplier of oil before sanctions on Tehran halted the trade in 2012.  

Iran and the P5+1 group of world countries finalized their nuclear talks on Tuesday, paving the way for the removal of sanctions. “If sanctions are lifted on oil imports, that’s a win-win situation and we would like to benefit from that,” South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in Pretoria.

She said her country’s refiners suffered great losses from the sanctions on Iran which exported about 70,000 barrels per day of oil to Africa’s largest economy. South Africa’s energy company, Sasol, imported about 12,000 bpd or 20% of its oil needs for refining from Iran. It also owned 50% of the National Petrochemical Company of Iran’s Arya polymer plant from which it divested under pressure. The biggest South African buyer of the Iranian crude oil, however, was Engen which is majority-owned by the Malaysian national oil company Petronas.  

South Africa relied on Iran for about 29% of its oil imports, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The country consumes about 550,000 barrels of oil per day, of which 370,000 bpd is imported. After the sanctions on the Islamic Republic, South Africa turned to Saudi Arabia to replace the Iranian oil, with Nigeria and Angola being other significant suppliers.

Iran and South Africa have forged close political and economic ties since the fall of the apartheid regime. Africa's largest telecoms operator MTN has a 49% stake in Irancell, which provides services to 33 million clients.

Energy Minister of South Africa Tina Joemat-Pettersson visited Tehran in April and discussed purchases of crude oil, oil products, gas, and petrochemicals from Iran as well as participation in the country’s energy projects.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Jul.2015

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French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says he will pay a visit to Iran upon an invitation by his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, following the conclusion of nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1. Referring to the invitation he said he had received from Zarif, Fabius told French radio on Wednesday that, “I told him (Zarif) I would go to Iran, so I will go to Iran.”

He did not, however, specify when the trip would take place. He made the remarks a day after Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – concluded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which will put limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian sources have yet to comment on this report.  Fabius also pointed to the significance of business cooperation between Tehran and Paris. “Trade is very important. It fosters growth. It’s important for the Iranians, it’s important for us,” he said. French companies, including giant automakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault, and energy giant Total, which had a strong presence in Iran before the enforcement of anti-Iran sanctions, have recently shown willingness to resume their activities in the Islamic Republic after the removal of the sanctions.

Representatives from French employers’ federation MEDEF are also slated to visit Iran in September in a bid to restore relations. Some 107 representatives from the MEDEF traveled to Iran early last year to try to revive business ties with the country. Bilateral trade between Iran and France plunged from four billion euros (4.4 billion dollars) in 2004 to just 500 million euros in 2013, according to French statistics.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Jul.2015

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The call of duty is over for top ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were appointed ambassadors by former President Goodluck Jonathan. They were recalled home last night by President Muhammadu Buhari after three years of service abroad. Prominent among them are a former Foreign Affairs Minister , Chief Ojo Maduekwe (Canada); Chairman  of the  Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2011 election, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida (UK);Professor  Ade Adefuye (USA);widow of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Bianca (Spain);and former deputy governor of Oyo State, Mr. Taofeek Arapaja (Jordan).

The rest include a former aviation  minister, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze (Switzerland);ex-General Manager, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Ibadan, Mr. Yemi Farounbi (Philippines); a one-time governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Mr. Olatokunbo  Kamson (Jamaica); a PDP front liner in Ondo State, Mr. Cornelius  Oluwateru (UAE); Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Bunu (Saudi Arabia); a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in  Benue State, Mr. Chive Kaave (Argentina); a former  financial secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Tukur Mani (Iran);and  former permanent secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA Biodun Nathaniel Olorunfemi (Namibia). 

Also on the list are: Chief Asam Asam (SAN), (Russia); Mr. Okwudili Nwosu (Burundi); Mr. Okeke Chukwuemeka (Vatican); Mr. Eric Aworahbi (Italy); Dauda Danladi (Pakistan); and Mrs. Katherine Okon (Czeck Republic); Mr. Nwofe Alexander,; Princess Victoria Bosede Onipede (Republic of Congo); Senator Haruna Garba (Kuwait); Mrs. Nonye Rajis-Okpara (Singapore); Chief Eddy Onuoha (Hungary); Mr. Adamu Babangida Ibrahim (Syria); Dr. Sam Jimba (Poland)

They were among the 93 envoys posted out in June 2012. Authoritative sources said last night in Abuja that the   Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had communicated the President’s directive to the affected ambassadors. They were told to hand over to the highest ranking officer in their various locations. A Presidency source confirmed to The Nation that some of the ambassadors including the envoy in Saudi Arabia were already on their way back to the country at press time.

The source said: “the President has issued a directive to the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recall all the political appointees currently serving as ambassadors in all parts of the world.  It doesn’t matter whether they have just few months to the end of their tenure. “I am sure the envoy in Saudi Arabia is already on his way and quite many others should be reporting to the ministry by Monday. I really don’t have a comprehensive list of the number of people that are affected but they are posted in different continents mostly in key European, Asian and American countries.”

The sack is the biggest since President Buhari assumed office on May 29. Their nominations were endorsed by the Senate on Wednesday February 8, 2012, nearly two months after former President Jonathan submitted their names. On the list were 32 names of politicians. The ex-President in a letter to the then Senate President, David Mark, requested that in line with section 171(1) C, sub-section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Senate should consider the list, hoping  that “this exercise will receive the usual kind expeditious attention of the Distinguished Members of the Senate of the Federal Republic.”

Of the 88 nominees sent to the Senate by Jonathan,  only 87 appeared before the screening committee, while 84 passed the screening. Two of the nominees, Mrs. Sifawu Momoh, Edo; and Mazi Okafor Ojih, Ebonyi, could not scale the screening as the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs did not recommend them for confirmation. Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, who was nominated to represent Anambra State on the list of non-career category, did not appear for screening but was confirmed nonetheless, her nomination coming barely a week after her husband died in a London hospital.

Maduekwue was nominated by Jonathan following his ouster as National Secretary of the party in what observers said was a move to placate him. Kamson, Njeze and Arapaja had all failed to secure the party’s governorship tickets in their states. The recall of Ambassadors serving in foreign missions is a routine exercise especially where there is a change of guard at the federal level.

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Jul.2015

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Two suicide bombers blew themselves up today in front of a public school in Fotokol killing 16 and leaving 6 with life threatening injuries. Cameroon Concord's military informant hinted a while ago that another blew himself up directly in front of a BIR military camp without any fatalities. 

Our source says both men wearing burqas carried out the attacks. The city Fotokol is located in the department of Logone-and-Chari found in the Far North region.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Jul.2015

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