MMM springs a surprise, bounces back a day ahead of schedule •Tells members what to expect, warns Nigerian Govt., media

In a surprise move, Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM) on Friday bounced back in Nigeria and opened for business – 24 hours ahead of its advertised return date.

The Ponzi scheme that created deep anxiety for its 3 million subscribers in Nigeria when it shut shop last December announced today on Twitter that it is back.

In a letter to its faithful, the promoters blamed the government and the Nigerian media for the hysteria around the scam and this time, they warned them to ‘leave us alone’ and ‘have mercy on people’.

PRESS RELEASE: Nigerian media, most vibrant in Africa – Minister

Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the Nigerian media as one of the most vibrant in Africa and indeed across the world, while assuring that the government will not do anything to stifle press freedom.

Speaking at the 3rd Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, the Minister said the Nigerian media did not achieve its vibrancy by accident, saying apart from the fact that it derives its powers to function directly from the nation’s Constitution, the Nigerian media has come a long way.

Media Siege: Jonathan fighting a battle he can’t win — APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned the siege on newspapers across the country by security agencies. The party warnend that the Jonathan Administration, by tampering with press freedom, had taken on a battle it cannot win.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the President failed to learn the lessons of history that the Nigerian media could neither be intimidated nor suppressed by anyone, and that all those who tried to do so in the past lived to regret their actions.

It wondered why a government that was having problems prosecuting war on terror was instead waging a war on the media and using the security agencies to interfere with the country’s democracy.