Politics
US Stronger Since 9/11 Attacks –Obama
The United States is stronger while al-Qaeda is on the road to defeat 10 years after the 9/11 attacks on the country, President Barack Obama has said.
Obama was speaking ahead of planned events to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks on New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania, and amid a security crackdown following “specific and credible” threats against New York City and Washington on the eve of the anniversary.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our military personnel and our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security professionals, there should be no doubt: today, America is stronger and al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat,” Obama said in a weekly radio and internet address on Saturday.
The president also referred to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the former leader of al-Qaeda, asserting that popular protest movements in the Arab world were a testament to the lack of influence al-Qaeda has over the region’s people.
“We’ve forged new partnerships with nations around the world to meet the global challenges that no nation can face alone,” Obama said. “And across the Middle East and North Africa, a new generation of citizens is showing that the future belongs to those that want to build, not destroy.”
Obama spoke as New York police put out a show of force, setting up checkpoints at major traffic intersections and at key locations on the city’s subway system.
Al Jazeera’s Asad Hashim, reporting from the city’s financial district, said the impact of the tight security on Saturday was markedly less than Friday due to the start of the weekend.
The NYPD’s response came after US intelligence reported the existence of specific, credible but uncorroborated threats involving a car or truck bomb plot linked to the anniversary.
The intelligence emanated from a source in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, who told US officials that three men had been sent to the US with the training and intention of setting up car bombs in the two cities, a senior counterterrorism official told Al Jazeera.
US officials said they had not been able to get another source to confirm the threat or any details, but that security will be ramped up in both cities as the anniversary approaches on Sunday.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, had earlier indicated that the US believed that al-Qaeda was involved in the threat.
At least two of the suspects are believed to be US citizens, the Associated Press news agency reported.
At a meeting of his senior national security team on Sunday, Obama directed officials to “pursue vigorously all threat information and to ensure a heightened state of vigilance and preparedness” ahead of the anniversary.
US military bases overseas have been placed at the second-highest “bravo” alert level in response to elevated security risk.
The president also said that efforts must not let up in the days and weeks following the anniversary weekend.
Meanwhile, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, US Vice-President Joe Biden and former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton were present at a sombre ceremony honouring the passengers and crew of Flight 93, which crashed in a field after being hijacked on September 11, 2001.
They were accompanied by relatives of the 40 victims of the crash. Speakers at the dedication of the $62m Flight 93 National Memorial also included Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93 group. Felt’s brother Edward had been on board the flight, and had telephoned a friend from on board to report that the flight had been hijacked.
A white stone wall, bearing the names of those who struggled with the hijackers on the Boeing 757 airliner during the attack, was unveiled in the rural Pennsylvania field where the plane crashed.
Security was tight at the ceremony, and the US Federal Aviation Administration declared a no-fly zone up to 5,500m over the site, which is about 200km west of Washington, DC, for most of Sunday, when further ceremonies will be held.
Obama visited the Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday with his wife, Michelle, to remember those US soldiers who have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They visited Section 60 of the cemetery, a burial ground for service members killed in those two wars, which have so far claimed more than 6,213 US soldiers’ lives.
The Obamas were due to participate in a service project on Saturday afternoon in the Washington, DC area, ahead of ceremonies on Sunday where the president is scheduled to visit the New York City, Shanksville, and Pentagon sites where hijacked planes crashed 10 years ago.
He will be joined in New York by former President Bush. The memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York City will begin shortly before 8.30am local time, with moments of silence to be observed for each of the times that the four planes crashed, and the two times when the World Trade Center towers fell.
Speakers at the event will read out the names of the almost 3,000 people who were killed in the attacks that day. The ceremony will also mark the opening of two memorial pools at the World Trade Center site, which sits at the former footprints of the two buildings, to the public.
Obama closed the day by speaking at a memorial event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has renamed The Polytechnic, Ibadan as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan, in honour of a late former governor of the State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo.
Dr Olunloyo, who died on April 6, 2025, was the pioneer Principal of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, while he also served as Governor of Oyo State between October 1 and December 31, 1983.
Governor Makinde made the announcement at the state interdenominational funeral service held yesterday in honour of the late former governor at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Liberty Road, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde said Dr Olunloyo lived an eventful life, adding that his attainment and personality could not be summarised in one sentence.
“He was not a man we could summarise in one sentence. He was a scholar, a statesman, a technocrat, a lover of culture and, above all, a man of deep conviction.
“While giving the exhortation, I was listening to Baba Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu and he said in 1983, Baba became Governor of Oyo State. Though his time in office was brief, his election victory over a popular incumbent remains a powerful testament to the trust people gave him.
“I talked about preserving and digitising his library yesterday [Wednesday] as a mark of honour to Baba Olunloyo.
“Today, we will be giving Baba another honour to immortalise him. He was the first Principal of The Polytechnic, Ibadan; that institution will now be named Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan.”
Earlier in his sermon, a retired Methodist Archbishop of Ilesa and Ibadan, Ayo Ladigbolu, described the late Olunloyo as a role model with intellectual inspiration and unassailable integrity.
The cleric said the deceased also demonstrated leadership in most superior quality during his lifetime.
In attendance were the state Deputy Governor, Chief Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal; wife of a former Military Governor of the old Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Dupe Jemibewon; wife of a former Governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Mutiat Ladoja; former Deputy Governor and PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; and former Deputy Governor, Hazeem Gbolarumi.
Others were the member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, Hon Abass Adigun Agboworin; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; Oyo State Exco members; Chairman of Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr Saka Balogun; Chairman of All Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State, Hon Sikiru Sanda; President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Adeniyi Ajewole; religious leaders and family members, among other dignitaries.
Ten members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) have countered the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, on the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary.
The dissenting members, led by the Deputy National Chairman ( South), Taofeek Arapaja, in a joint statement, said no organ of the opposition party could overturn the decision of the 99th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The dissenting NWC members include Arapaja; Setonji Koshoedo, Deputy National Secretary; Okechukwu Obiechina-Daniel, National Auditor; Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary; Ologunagba; Woyengikuro Daniel, National Financial Secretary and Ahmed Yayari Mohammed, National Treasurer.
Others are Chief Ali Odefa, National Vice Chairman (South East); Emmanuel Ogidi, Caretaker Committee Chairman (South South); Mrs. Amina Darasimi D. Bryhm, National Woman Leader and Ajisafe Kamoru Toyese, National Vice Chairman (South West).
The group also insisted that contrary to the position of the acting National Chairman, the 100th NEC meeting of the party would be held on June 30 as earlier scheduled.
The statement read: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press briefing by the acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, today Wednesday, June 25, wherein he attempted to overturn the resolution of the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which scheduled the 100th NEC meeting for Monday, June 30.
“The acting National Chairman in the said press briefing also reportedly announced that Senator Samuel Anyanwu has been asked to resume as National Secretary of the party contrary to the resolution of the 99th NEC meeting, which referred all matters relating to the office of the National Secretary to the 100th NEC meeting.
“The pronouncements by the acting National Chairman have no foundation as no organ of the party (including the NWC), individual or group has the power to cancel, overrule, veto or vary the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the party, second only to the National Convention. By virtue of Section 31 (3) of the PDP Constitution, the resolution of the NEC to hold its 100th meeting on Monday June 30, is binding on all organs, officers, chapters and members of the party and no organ, group or individual can vary or veto this resolution of NEC.
“Furthermore, the claim by Damagum that Sen Anyanwu has been asked to resume office as the National Secretary of the party is, therefore, misleading being contrary to the resolution of NEC.
“In the light of the foregoing, the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled for Monday, June 30, has not been canceled or postponed.”
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has fired back at former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following the latter’s scathing criticism of President Tinubu’s administration and his 2027 re-election prospects.
In an interview on live television, Mallam El-Rufai said it would take a “miracle” for President Tinubu to be re-elected in 2027, citing an internal poll that purportedly shows a 91 percent disapproval rating for the president across key regions in the country, including the South-East and the North. He also claimed that President Tinubu’s disapproval rating in Lagos stood at 78 percent.
Reacting on Wednesday via a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Onanuga took a swipe at the ex-governor, quoting a harsh assessment of Mallam El-Rufai’s character from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological,” Mr Onanuga wrote, citing Chief Obasanjo’s words. “Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai.”
The presidential adviser emphasised Chief Obasanjo’s remarks that Mallam El-Rufai often tries to elevate himself by diminishing others. “He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends,” Mr Onanuga continued, quoting the former President. “I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.”
Chief Obasanjo, who appointed Mallam El-Rufai as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory between 2003 and 2007, did not mince words in the memoir, describing Mallam El-Rufai as suffering from “small man syndrome.”
Mr Onanuga’s post is seen as a direct rebuttal to Mallam El-Rufai’s recent criticism and growing opposition role. The former governor is reportedly playing a central role in forming a new coalition to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
In March 2025, El-Rufai officially dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), intensifying speculations about his 2027 political ambitions.
As the political rift deepens, Mallam El-Rufai remains one of the most vocal critics of the Tinubu administration, while Mr Onanuga and other presidential allies continue to push back against what they describe as “reckless” opposition rhetoric.