COVID-19 IN NIGERIA: WE SAY NO TO CHINA INTERVENTION

Can the world ever trust China again? Would Nigeria romance with the prime suspect of the current global crisis (COVID-19)? How can we? In 2012 China handed over a fully funded and built headquarters building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to the African Union (AU). A great gesture of friendship and solidarity, perhaps. But not long after, it was alleged to have been bugged, leaking vital, confidential information of the Union to China in faraway Shanghai! True or false, the Union had to change its computer servers to check the alleged mischief. But issues of health are different. Misfiring means losing a life, or even lives. On a national scale, that can amount to thousands. Painful loss. Avoidable loss. The authorities must tread with caution here. Face masks, test kits, ventilators, vaccine and doctors - all from or of China. Hmmmm, caution we must exercise. Until now we have been using our indigenous doctors, and they have been doing well. WHY CHANGE THE WINNING TEAM? Please let us DISCARD this idea of Chinese intervention. WE DON'T NEED IT. Let us stay safe Stay indigenous. Stay Nigerian We shall overcome

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law on trial in New York


In this courtroom sketch, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, centre, is flanked by his legal team 3 March 2014
A US prosecutor has said Osama bin Laden's son-in-law used the "murderous power of his words" to rally others against America after the 9/11 attacks.
The statement came during opening arguments in the terrorism trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who once served as al-Qaeda's spokesman.
Mr Abu Ghaith, 47, has pleaded not guilty to charges he conspired to kill Americans.
The Kuwaiti national was brought to New York from Turkey last year.
Prosecutors say he appeared in videos with bin Laden the day after the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC that killed almost 3,000, calling for jihad against "the Jews, the Christians and the Americans".
Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Lewin described Mr Abu Ghaith as a fiery orator who had spoken to those training in al-Qaeda camps in the months before the attacks in order to inspire them.
Mr Lewin said Mr Abu Ghaith had agreed to appear in the group's videos to call for further violence "while our buildings still burned".
"He invoked his twisted view of Islam and declared 'Fight thee against the friends of Satan. Fight with al-Qaeda against America.'
"For more than a year after, the defendant used the murderous power of his words to try to strengthen al-Qaeda."
The Kuwaiti imam is married to the deceased al-Qaeda leader's eldest daughter, Fatima. He is the highest-ranking al-Qaeda official to stand trial in the US since the attacks.
He was turned over to US officials in Jordan in 2013 after being deported from Turkey.
On Wednesday, Mr Abu Ghaith's lawyer mocked the prosecution's opening statement.
"You've just been to the movies ladies and gentlemen," Stanley Cohen said. "At the end of the day, there's really no evidence. There is the substitution for evidence with fright and alarm."
He told them some of what Mr Abu Ghaith had said was "dumb. It's stupid."
But he asked jurors to keep an open mind, saying his client was not bin Laden and the trial is not about the 11 September plot.
The Obama administration's decision to try him in civilian court had been criticised by Republicans.
They said Mr Abu Ghaith should be sent to the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to face a military tribunal.
BBC News


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