The Federal Government says it has taken delivery of the final batch of the 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets expected from the United States.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Monday when he featured on a phone-in programme of TV Continental, “This Morning,’’ monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“All the 12 Super Tucano fighter jets have been received. As at this morning, all the 12 were here and they have been deployed to the North-East.
“We can see that the Tucano jets are actually game changer.
“Most of the successes we’ve recorded in recent time is because of the acquisition of the new platforms, not limited to the super Tucano,’’ he said.
The minister said with the recent notable successes recorded by the military on insecurity, he was amused by a story on Monday that the Nigerian Air Force paid N20 million to bribe bandits so that they would not bring down the president’s aircraft.
“Fortunately, the Air Force immediately debunked this because this exposes their ignorance.
“Between Zamfara, Katsina, parts of Kaduna and Niger states, there are about 150 bandit camps. Who then was the money given to? (NAN)
He also said the recommended conditions for the lifting of the suspension imposed on Twitter would be applicable to all Over-The-Top and other social media platforms in Nigeria.
The minister, who did not disclose the recommendations by the ministerial negotiation team to engage with Twitter on the suspension, said its report would be submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed, who headed the team, however, reiterated that the engagements with the microblogging and social media platform had been positive and fruitful.
“All I can say is that the recommendations we are going to make will not only be applicable to Twitter but they will be applicable to all OTTs and other social media platforms in Nigeria.
“Today, we are dealing with Twitter, we don’t want a situation where we will be dealing with Facebook tomorrow and Instagram the next day. Our recommendations will be very comprehensive.
“You will recall that during the 61st Independence anniversary celebration, the president said Twitter will return to Nigeria as soon as they meet the conditions of government.
“Even last night, the ministerial team met under my chairmanship and we reviewed the position of things.
“I want to say that we should wait for the committee to officially give its reports to the president but things are looking very positive and rosy.
“After submitting our reports and recommendations to the president, I will be disposed to say what we agreed and what have been met and what has not been met,’’ he said.
NAN reports that following the indefinite suspension of its operations in Nigeria for activities capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, Twitter had written to the president seeking engagement over the suspension. NAN
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