Turai Yar'Adua signs agreement with IAEA on cancer control in Nigeria
The First Lady, Turai Yar'Adua, on Thursday signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency on behalf of her NGO, the International Cancer Centre, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Turai, who is attending a conference in Vienna, signed the agreement on cancer control in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. NAN reports that the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, signed on behalf of the centre while Prof. Werner Burkart, Deputy Director General and Head of Nuclear Sciences and Applications of the IAEA, signed on behalf the agency.
The agreement was signed at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna after a meeting between the the ICCA Board of Trustees with the out-going Director General of the Agency, Dr Muhammed El-Baradei. Speaking on the occasion, Yar'Adua called for collaboration between the two organisations especially in the areas of early detection, therapy and management.
She said that the partnership would help in the reduction of the scourge of cancer not only in Nigeria, but in the West Africa. She said only 20 per cent of cancer patients in Africa had access to medication.
"Cancer treatment is very expensive and patients must travel far away from their countries to get the required attention and my plan is to reduce the scourge through early detection of the disease,," the First Lady said. She said that statistics showed that those dying of cancer in Nigeria were more than those who died as a result of HIV and AIDS and malaria put together.
Also speaking, a member of the ICCA Board of Trustees, Alhaji Muntari Maimaje, said the centre was ready to collaborate with the IAEA in the areas of research,manpower training, and purchase of equipment. Another speaker, the Chairman, National Committee on Cancer Control in Nigeria, Prof. Durosimi Etti, said the centre planned to train some Nigerian doctors under the IAEA's Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy.
Responding, El-Baradei, said the IAEA had a good working relationship with Nigeria and that it would support the centre's plan to boost cancer control and management in Nigeria and other Africa countries.
The two sides will collaborate to develop and implement an integrated and comprehensive cancer control programme including planning, registration, prevention, screening and early detection, diagnosis and treatment and palliative care and support.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sony Corporation ridicules Nigerians, ex-president in new movie
Sony Corporation has released a new film depicting Nigerians and an ex-president as being less than human.
The American company had recently insulted Nigerians in an advert, for which the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has demanded an apology.
Read more in www.punchng.com
NEWS UPDATE: Ahead of lying-in-state, armed riot policemen beseige Gani’s office
NEWS UPDATE: Ahead of lying-in-state, armed riot policemen beseige Gani’s office
See www.punchng.com for more details
See www.punchng.com for more details
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Togo leads Morocco 1-0 in World Cup qualifier in Lome
Tunisia misses vital goal chance against Nigeria. Togo leads Morocco 1-0 in World Cup qualifier in Lome. Super Eagles line-up against Tunisia: Vincent Enyeama (Goalkeeper), Olubayo Adefemi, Joseph Yobo, Ayodele Adeleye, Taye Taiwo, Seyi Olofinjana, Mikel Obi, Kalu Uche, Osaze Odemwingie, Ike Uche, Chinedu Obasi
Super Eagles line-up against Tunisia
Super Eagles line-up against Tunisia
Vincent Enyeama (Goalkeeper)
Olubayo Adefemi
Joseph Yobo
Ayodele Adeleye
Taye Taiwo
Seyi Olofinjana
Mikel Obi
Kalu Uche
Osaze Odemwingie
Ike Uche
Chinedu Obasi
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Reps, Sanusi disagree on N420bn bailout for five banks
Reps, Sanusi disagree on N420bn bailout for five banks
Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, on Wednesday disagreed over the legality of the N420 billion bailout for five stressed banks.
The disagreement arose during a meeting between the lawmakers and Sanusi over the lawmakers' stand that the injection of the fund should have been done with approval of the National Assembly.
Related story: Reps summon Sanusi over banks’ shake-up - www.punchng.com
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The real loser in the banking tsunami
If politics is the art of muddling, Nigeria must be among the world‘s leading capitals. This might not sound so nice to super-patriots, who think we‘re too much in the habit of bashing our beloved country, but how long shall we be in denial? How long shall we compete with the ostrich at its own game, burying our heads in the sand while the country burns? Of all the major events that have wracked the country‘s soul in the last four weeks, none has been as profound as the shake up in the banking sector.
Boko Haram - the codeword for the so-called religious crisis that swept five northern states, claiming over 700 lives - has receded from the news headlines, leaving the families directly affected to bear the brunt. The university teachers‘ strike enters its 10th week, with the teachers and government negotiators damaged, exhausted and bereft of goodwill. The teachers compare themselves with bankers, oil workers - and even politicians - and wonder why they cannot earn the same salaries as these people. They conveniently forget that every job is essentially a matter of choice and that in an open economy, reward is determined mainly by consumers’ perception of value created from time to time.
The government, on its part, has been hijacked by little cults of buccaneers, with each group fighting to keep its own turf. The country is adrift and President Umaru Yar‘Adua, however well-intentioned he might be, is too distracted by his failing health to stop the drift. The man remains a ‘willing hostage‘ to a somewhat perverse view in his inner circles that western medicine and experts cannot be fully trusted, and that the less that is known about his actual state of health, the better.
These are things we‘re not expected to say. How then can we challenge ourselves to honest solutions? Boko Haram, the university teachers‘ strike, and even the President‘s offer of amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta, all bear the national imprint of muddling and denial; but none, in recent times, is as profound as the mild tsunami in the banking sector. The story is barely three weeks old but we cannot even remember how it started or what it was supposed to achieve, much less the lessons to be learned.
Boiled down to the facts, we have been told that out of the first 10 banks audited in the first phase of a special investigation by the central bank and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, five - Union Bank, Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank - had a total loan portfolio of N2.8trn. A further breakdown showed that margin loans stood at N456.3bn; exposure to the oil and gas sector, N487bn; and non-performing loans, N1.2trn. The banks had been gutted by poor corporate governance, credit abuse, and poor risk management practices.
To stem a possible collapse of the affected banks, the central bank injected N400bn, removed the CEOs and boards and advised the government to take steps to recover the loans. What appeared to be a genuine rescue mission has now been mired in controversy; everyday brings a new, monstrous angle to the story. It‘s a northern agenda to take back the banks from predominant southern control, some have said. Others have said that even before the central bank governor was appointed, a plan had been hatched to sell off some top banks to foreign interests as far back as March and that the voodoo audit was merely an excuse. Yet others have attacked the procedure, saying that it is unfair to thrash the reputation of those involved when the audit is only half done and those indicted did not get a chance to see the report first.
These are fine arguments and the imputation of motives may even be true. Like most things Nigerian, however, the fine arguments and imputation of motives have managed to obscure the main issue: are the five banks named threatened by a clear and present danger of collapse from bad loans and poor governance? The answer, of course, is yes. The disagreement in approach reminds one of criticisms of the anti-corruption war under Nuhu Ribadu‘s EFCC. He was accused of ”selective” justice and witch-hunt; yet not one of those charged and convicted denied committing the crime - their excuse was that they were not the only ones!
Did Oceanic Bank, on Cecilia Ibru‘s watch, give a N13bn loan to the CEO‘s nanny and offered credits running into hundreds of millions of naira to fictitious companies? Did Erastus Akingbola, who reportedly presided over the audit committee of Intercontinental Bank, grant a loan of N2.4bn to a company that is less than one year old with a share capital of N1m and which directors got the loan? Did the CEOs of Union Bank, Afribank and Finbank try to outspend drunken sailors?
The records are damning and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why some insist on mixing things up. True, the central bank‘s tardiness at the initial stages - including Lamido Sanusi‘s approval to Oceanic Bank to publish its 2008 results, in spite of glaring audit lapses - has not helped matters. Nor has the NDIC‘s irresponsible indifference, if not complicity, over the years. But the focus, at this stage, should be on efforts to recover the huge outstanding loans.
Various interests have already cashed in on the fuzz to divert the public‘s attention from the main issue. We must refuse to yield. We must insist, for example, that as Farida Waziri‘s EFCC continues investigations, she cannot play fast and loose with the full names of those arrested, specific details of amounts recovered so far, and from whom. As at Saturday, the EFCC was already classifying amounts paid by debtors and ”commitments/promises to repay” as actual total amounts recovered so far. This is wrong and fraught with intent to manipulate, collect bribes and steal.
I cannot also understand the suspicious silence on what has been done about the debts owed by Notore Chemical Industries (N32.3b); Ascot Offshore Nigeria Ltd. (formerly Wilbros), N44.6bn; and Berkeley Group, N4.3bn, companies that have been rightly or wrongly linked to former Governor James Ibori, said to be Waziri‘s single greatest benefactor.
Shouldn‘t we worry about what happens next to the five banks? We should, but not before the debt recovery has reached an advanced stage, the prosecution of those so far indicted has commenced fully, and the audit of the remaining banks completed. Those who worry that Sanusi is in a hurry to sell some banks on the cheap should comfort themselves with the thought that it is hardly in the interest of any serious investor to put a kobo in the banks at this stage, with so many questions begging for answers and the disclosure of the depth of the problem still unfolding. In any case, even if the government allows politics to override its decision about who buys the banks, the government won‘t force customers to bring in deposits if the banks are not properly run.
All muddling should be set aside: first things first.
EVENING UPDATES: Senate may dump Uwais committee report
EVENING UPDATES: Senate may dump Uwais committee report
AFTERNOON UPDATES: Controversy trails death of popular Yoruba actress, Monsurat Omidina
Controversy is trailing the death of popular actress, Monsurat Omidina aka Moladun Kenkelewu.
While some reports indicated that the 46-year-old actress died in her Ikorodu, Lagos home after a brief illness, the President, Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners, Mr. Jide Kosoko, told our correspondent that there was no indication of any indisposition prior to her death.
An evening newspaper in Lagos said she was hypertensive and in her bedroom with blood running from her nose and ears. The paper also quoted family sources as saying she had been ill for some time and was billed to visit the United Kingdom‘s Consular Office on Tuesday morning to obtain a visa to travel to UK for treatment.
However, Kosoko, who spoke on the telephone with our correspondent on Tuesday afternoon, said, ”She wasn‘t ill. Nothing was wong with her that I can tell you I know of. Maybe she was ill before but I don‘t know about that.” He added that she had been buried according to Muslim rites.
The news threw fans and stakeholders in the Nigerian movie industry, especially the Yoruba genre, into shock. The actress was married to popular Yoruba actor and comedian, Babatunde Omidina aka Baba Suwe. Kosoko told our correspondent that Monsurat‘s husband was ”in a very bad state” and could not speak with journalists.
Monsurat, who was also a comedian, was popular in the slap-stick humour genre. Her stage style was to over-dramatise with excessive make-up, funny costumes and she largely featured in films with her husband. She usually played the role of a gossip with a caustic tongue.
According to http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2138362/, some of her video works were Ògo ìdílé (2004); Obáj‘obalo (2003); Ògédé Didùn (2003); Ojabo Kofo (2003); Perosoko (2003); and Kadara Afri-T (2002).
A blogger on Facebook, Abisoye Oluwafemi Opeyemi, said she was planning to release a multi-million debut film next month.
The Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners, Mr. Jide Kosoko, declined to comment when contacted on the telephone. He asked our correspondent to call back in 30 minutes.
Speaking about her movie carrer in an interview posted on waleadenuga1.blogspot.com, she said she started with stage performance in 1982 in Ibadan with ”Chief Olowookere. We lived at Aremo and Iya Sala used to come around and we would see them between Ikolaba and the premises of NTA Ibadan. They used to do rehearsals behind Odo Alana behind NTA premises then. I told them of my intention to join them. After I joined, we used to rehearse everyday by 4p,m. Then, one thing led to the other and another group was formed called ‘Loveally’. I can recall, my mother in-law asked whether I could do what they were doing? She also inspired me greatly.”
On how she met her husband, she said, ”Hee, you see is not something I like talking about. I lost my ex-husband in 1993 and our relationship started in 1994 but we did not marry until 1995. We went to registry to solidify our love. The very first time I met him he was with other Oga’s sitting and I greeted all of them and they answered but he didn’t respond to my greetings and I was bitter. I was later told, that it was his behaviour and that has nothing to do with pride.
”He later sent somebody to me intimating me about his love for me. Then there was a day a respected woman in the industry invited me over to her place. On getting there I met her with Baba Suwe and she said it was Baba Suwe that actually wanted to see me. He started by wooing me and in the process he slept off and I was smiling and wondering whether he was acting a script or he just slept off like that. The rest was now history.”
UBA to sell N500bn bonds
The United Bank for Africa Plc, Nigeria’s fourth-biggest lender by market value, has said it plans to sell N500 billion ($3.25 billion) of bonds.
Quoting a statement distributed by the bank on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reports that the bonds will have a seven-year tenor and will be issued in portions.
Shareholders will vote on the proposed sale at a meeting on October 2, 2009 and the issue is subject to regulatory approval, it said, without providing further details. The bond sale comes amid a debt crisis in the Nigerian banking industry that led Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, to dismiss the chief executive officers of five lenders on August 14 and inject N420bn into the banks.
In May, New York-based Eurasia Group said Nigerian banks may have as much as $10 billion in toxic assets.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc, the nation’s biggest lender by market value, said on July 27 it would sell N500bn of bonds. Last week, shareholders of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigeria’s third-biggest bank by market value, approved the sale of N200bn of bonds.
Bloomberg reports that UBA’s spokesman, Mr. Charles Aigbe, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajddekyRt.8w
Quoting a statement distributed by the bank on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reports that the bonds will have a seven-year tenor and will be issued in portions.
Shareholders will vote on the proposed sale at a meeting on October 2, 2009 and the issue is subject to regulatory approval, it said, without providing further details. The bond sale comes amid a debt crisis in the Nigerian banking industry that led Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, to dismiss the chief executive officers of five lenders on August 14 and inject N420bn into the banks.
In May, New York-based Eurasia Group said Nigerian banks may have as much as $10 billion in toxic assets.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc, the nation’s biggest lender by market value, said on July 27 it would sell N500bn of bonds. Last week, shareholders of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigeria’s third-biggest bank by market value, approved the sale of N200bn of bonds.
Bloomberg reports that UBA’s spokesman, Mr. Charles Aigbe, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajddekyRt.8w
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Michael Jackson's family campaigns for end to Niger Delta crises
Michael Jackson's family campaigns for end to Niger Delta crises
Almost one month after the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died, his family has set up a foundation in his name, to press for peace in the Niger Delta.
The late pop star's elder brother, Marlon, who arrived in lagos via Delta Airlines on Wednesday evening, told newsmen that the foundation would explore various options for ending the crisis in the restive region.
Addressing a news conference at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Marlon
said the decision by the family to set up what he called Michael Jackson Peace Foundation stemmed from the fact that the late king of pop was both a preacher and lover of peace.
He said, “We are setting up Michael Jackson Peace Foundation to tackle the crisis in the Niger Delta. We are going to look at the various options available to achieve peace in the region. Michael loved people, he loved peace and we will try everything to achieve that.” According to him, the crisis had been a source of concern to the whole world and it was part of the reasons the family chose to find a solution to the troubled area.
He advised Nigeria and African leaders to embrace peace and love, saying such remained the only way a true global peace can be achieved. He said, “I want leaders and various groups to love one another. We all want a peaceful environment globally. We must spread love and give peace a chance and understand one another. I tell you this will bring solutions to the world.”
On the death of his late brother, Marlon, who expressed gratitude to Nigerians and the entire world for their words of consolation, said the family was still in a mourning mood.
Marlon, who was in Nigeria few months ago on a business and tourism trip to Badagry, disclosed that the surviving Jackson brothers would soon perform in a concert in Nigeria.
Almost one month after the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died, his family has set up a foundation in his name, to press for peace in the Niger Delta.
The late pop star's elder brother, Marlon, who arrived in lagos via Delta Airlines on Wednesday evening, told newsmen that the foundation would explore various options for ending the crisis in the restive region.
Addressing a news conference at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Marlon
said the decision by the family to set up what he called Michael Jackson Peace Foundation stemmed from the fact that the late king of pop was both a preacher and lover of peace.
He said, “We are setting up Michael Jackson Peace Foundation to tackle the crisis in the Niger Delta. We are going to look at the various options available to achieve peace in the region. Michael loved people, he loved peace and we will try everything to achieve that.” According to him, the crisis had been a source of concern to the whole world and it was part of the reasons the family chose to find a solution to the troubled area.
He advised Nigeria and African leaders to embrace peace and love, saying such remained the only way a true global peace can be achieved. He said, “I want leaders and various groups to love one another. We all want a peaceful environment globally. We must spread love and give peace a chance and understand one another. I tell you this will bring solutions to the world.”
On the death of his late brother, Marlon, who expressed gratitude to Nigerians and the entire world for their words of consolation, said the family was still in a mourning mood.
Marlon, who was in Nigeria few months ago on a business and tourism trip to Badagry, disclosed that the surviving Jackson brothers would soon perform in a concert in Nigeria.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Twists in Ogundeji’s murder trial - Punch Editorial Board
At a time when the nation was awaiting the outcome of the Coroner’s inquest set up by the Lagos State Government to determine the circumstances surrounding the controversial killing of Mr. Abayomi Ogundeji, a former member of the Editorial Board of ThisDay Newspaper, unknown gunmen assassinated one Tunmise, the key witness in the case. Tunmise was alleged to be with Ogundeji in the car on the night of the incident and had reportedly witnessed the killing. The counsel to the Ogundeji family, Mr. Bamidele Ogundele, informed the Yaba District Coroner’s Court that Tunmise was killed by unknown gunmen in Sagamu, Ogun State.
According to Ogundele, some police operatives from Lagos had gone to Tunmise’s house in Sagamu to forcefully take her to Lagos for interrogation but the lady and the family rebuffed the suspicious attempt. The matter was later reported at the Sagamu Police Station where it was resolved that the Lagos policemen should leave Tunmise alone. Ogundele said that Tunmise was assassinated two days later.
The attempted forceful arrest of the key witness by the Police and her killing two days later have again raised fresh issues on the possible culpability of the Police in the murder of the journalist.
When Ogundeji was murdered on the night of Sunday, August 17, 2008 under controversial circumstance, the Police had claimed that he was killed by armed robbers. Some days later, they paraded a couple, Alhaji Suraju Folarin and his wife, who, at a press conference arranged by the Police, claimed they witnessed the incident. The couple claimed a gang of six armed robbers snatched their Murano Jeep and held them hostage in it.
They claimed the armed robbers were arguing among themselves whether or not to snatch Ogundeji’s Kia Sportage Jeep that was coming behind. In the process, Ogundeji’s car hit their Murano Jeep from the rear. In their anger, the armed robbers alighted and ordered Ogundeji to come down but he refused. This infuriated the men of the underworld who, according to the couple, shot him in the head.
Reports say when the Police paraded the couple, they censored journalists’ questions and prevented them from recording the session or taking photographs of the couple.
The autopsy report carried out on the deceased indicates that he was shot from the rear. Is it possible for him to have been shot from behind while in a face-to face argument with robbers?
A reported eyewitness account says a man was involved in a hot argument with the Police at a checkpoint in Dopemu and was shot in the process. The Police stuck to their version in spite of this report. Another report says Ogundeji’s remains and car were found in front of Tower Aluminum along Lagos-Abeokuta Road, a different direction from the checkpoint.
The police have been notorious for covering up the killing of innocent citizens and destroying evidence. In 2009, some policemen shot dead a three-year-old Baby, Kausarat, inside her father’s car and hauled the father, Muritala Saliu, who pursued the fleeing policeman, into the cell, for daring to confront a policeman.
The Police shot dead Chief Alade Odunewu’s son-in-law, Mr. Modebayo Awosika, but claimed he was a victim of lone accident. Investigations later revealed a hole in his head, confirming that he was shot at a checkpoint by the Police. When the Police killed six Igbo traders in Abuja in 2005, they initially claimed that they were robbery victims.
All this raises the question of whether the nation has a people’s Police. Can this type of Police be a friend of the people? Who were the police officers who visited Tunmise’s house a few days before she was assassinated? Unfortunately, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, had also jumped to a conclusion that Ogundeji was killed by armed robbers even before any meaningful investigation was carried out.
The killing of Tunmise, if not thoroughly investigated, is capable of stalling other cases before the Coroner’s Court. The authorities must therefore get to the root of her killing while providing security cover for the other witnesses.
The only way the Police can clear their name in the Tunmise killing is to thoroughly investigate her murder and make the findings public. Otherwise it will be concluded that Tunmise was deliberately eliminated in order to cover the tracks of Ogundeji’s killers. The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, and his Ogun State counterpart, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni, must fish out the officers involved in the Tunmise saga.
According to Ogundele, some police operatives from Lagos had gone to Tunmise’s house in Sagamu to forcefully take her to Lagos for interrogation but the lady and the family rebuffed the suspicious attempt. The matter was later reported at the Sagamu Police Station where it was resolved that the Lagos policemen should leave Tunmise alone. Ogundele said that Tunmise was assassinated two days later.
The attempted forceful arrest of the key witness by the Police and her killing two days later have again raised fresh issues on the possible culpability of the Police in the murder of the journalist.
When Ogundeji was murdered on the night of Sunday, August 17, 2008 under controversial circumstance, the Police had claimed that he was killed by armed robbers. Some days later, they paraded a couple, Alhaji Suraju Folarin and his wife, who, at a press conference arranged by the Police, claimed they witnessed the incident. The couple claimed a gang of six armed robbers snatched their Murano Jeep and held them hostage in it.
They claimed the armed robbers were arguing among themselves whether or not to snatch Ogundeji’s Kia Sportage Jeep that was coming behind. In the process, Ogundeji’s car hit their Murano Jeep from the rear. In their anger, the armed robbers alighted and ordered Ogundeji to come down but he refused. This infuriated the men of the underworld who, according to the couple, shot him in the head.
Reports say when the Police paraded the couple, they censored journalists’ questions and prevented them from recording the session or taking photographs of the couple.
The autopsy report carried out on the deceased indicates that he was shot from the rear. Is it possible for him to have been shot from behind while in a face-to face argument with robbers?
A reported eyewitness account says a man was involved in a hot argument with the Police at a checkpoint in Dopemu and was shot in the process. The Police stuck to their version in spite of this report. Another report says Ogundeji’s remains and car were found in front of Tower Aluminum along Lagos-Abeokuta Road, a different direction from the checkpoint.
The police have been notorious for covering up the killing of innocent citizens and destroying evidence. In 2009, some policemen shot dead a three-year-old Baby, Kausarat, inside her father’s car and hauled the father, Muritala Saliu, who pursued the fleeing policeman, into the cell, for daring to confront a policeman.
The Police shot dead Chief Alade Odunewu’s son-in-law, Mr. Modebayo Awosika, but claimed he was a victim of lone accident. Investigations later revealed a hole in his head, confirming that he was shot at a checkpoint by the Police. When the Police killed six Igbo traders in Abuja in 2005, they initially claimed that they were robbery victims.
All this raises the question of whether the nation has a people’s Police. Can this type of Police be a friend of the people? Who were the police officers who visited Tunmise’s house a few days before she was assassinated? Unfortunately, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, had also jumped to a conclusion that Ogundeji was killed by armed robbers even before any meaningful investigation was carried out.
The killing of Tunmise, if not thoroughly investigated, is capable of stalling other cases before the Coroner’s Court. The authorities must therefore get to the root of her killing while providing security cover for the other witnesses.
The only way the Police can clear their name in the Tunmise killing is to thoroughly investigate her murder and make the findings public. Otherwise it will be concluded that Tunmise was deliberately eliminated in order to cover the tracks of Ogundeji’s killers. The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, and his Ogun State counterpart, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni, must fish out the officers involved in the Tunmise saga.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
MEND’s threat to national security - Simon Ekpe
If ever there was a doubt about the capacity of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta to inflict a mortal blow on this country, that doubt must have disappeared with Sunday‘s attack on Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos. The ease with which the attack was executed also raises a serious national security concern. It has exposed Nigeria as a country with a great deal of vulnerability to external attack.
In June last year, MEND ventured offshore to attack Nigeria‘s biggest offshore facility, the Bonga Oilfield, located at about 120 kilometres off the coast of Bayelsa State. There was no other explanation for that attack than just a demonstration of their ability to outwit the Nigerian security network, in furtherance of their plan to cripple the country‘s oil facilities. Sadly too, it is to the same reason that one can attribute Sunday‘s attack on Atlas Cove, a key port for the offloading and distribution of imported fuel to different parts of the country. The attack claimed six lives, including those of three naval personnel.
Since President Umaru Yar‘Adua‘s declaration of amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta, MEND has become more menacing in its attacks. The militant group has inflicted more harm on the country‘s economic interests than at any other time. The group has blown up oil facilities belonging to Shell, Chevron and other oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region. This has resulted in production shut-ins in the region of a million barrels per day. Only on Monday, it was reported that a newly-repaired Chevron pipeline was blown up again by the militants. In fact, they have formed a habit of issuing threats and carrying out their threats, unhindered.
The latest attack is not just another big blow to the country‘s oil industry but a declaration of war on the country. If the militants could take a trip through the open sea to Lagos from either Bayelsa, Delta or Ondo State without being detected, it means they could also carry out such attacks in any part of the country. If they could go as far as Kaduna to buy arms to the tune of over N100 million from the Nigerian army armoury, then no part of the country is safe from the reach of the militants.
In my column of two weeks ago, I did raise the question of what would happen between the time of the President‘s announcement of amnesty and when the amnesty would eventually start taking effect on August 6. Now, the answer has been provided. To show how daring the militants have become, they have timed their latest attacks to coincide with the release of their leader, Henry Okah, a beneficiary of the President’s amnesty. The message from MEND to the Federal Government is simple - in spite of the amnesty, the end to the Niger Delta crisis is not in sight.
What has been obvious in the battle so far is that MEND has been redefining its tactics and demands; but, as the militants appear to be changing their objectives, the FG must also redefine its tactics. The government can only go by that name if it can defend its citizens. This is the time for Yar‘Adua to defend not only the economic interests of Nigeria but the citizens of the country.
I pity the President who is faced with the unenviable task of confronting a faceless enemy. For all you know, Jomo Gbomo could well be a respectable permanent secretary in one ministry in one of the Niger Delta states, while Cynthia Whyte could be that smartly-dressed businesswoman that one sees everyday in Warri. She could be that woman that is usually described as incapable of hurting a fly. But that is why he is the President and Commander in Chief. Yar’Adua must ensure that the armed forces earn their upkeep.
What happened in Atlas Cove can be likened to a military invasion of Nigeria. If a foreign army were to descend on Nigeria from the sea, does it mean that their task would be made that easy? Nobody says the military should go into villages and start killing defenceless people - children and women. In fact, doing so, as we saw in Odi, Okerenkoko and Gbaramantu, is an act of cowardice. The military must be well equipped enough to detect the approach of an enemy, even from afar. When militants blow up installations within the creeks of the Niger Delta, it is understandable because of the difficulty of the terrain there. But when they venture off shore to attack Bonga Oil Field or move across the open sea to Lagos to bomb Atlas Cove, it is an act of recklessness and exposure of the nation‘s vulnerability to attacks even from a rag-tag band of rebels.
Aside from the weapons that were sold to MEND through Okah‘s brother from the Nigerian military armoury, the source of arms for militant activities has been through ships that come in through the open sea. Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, in a recent interview, accused the military, who are supposed to secure the oil facilities and the Nigerian waters, of complicity in oil bunkering in the Niger Delta. If the supply of arms is to be curtailed, then the military have to be more uncompromising in the policing of our land and sea borders. A government that cannot protect the territorial integrity of its country is not fit to be in power.
Besides securing the oil facilities and the land and sea borders, the government must also find a way of getting into discussions with the true representatives of the people of the Niger Delta region. In fact, all Nigerians must come together to discuss the modalities for the continuous coexistence of all the components of the Nigerian entity. Ultimately, it is dialogue and equitable distribution of resources that will end the problem in the Niger Delta.
In my column yesterday, I said that President Obama visited Venezuela. That is incorrect. He met President Hugo Chavez at the OAS meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. – Azu.
In June last year, MEND ventured offshore to attack Nigeria‘s biggest offshore facility, the Bonga Oilfield, located at about 120 kilometres off the coast of Bayelsa State. There was no other explanation for that attack than just a demonstration of their ability to outwit the Nigerian security network, in furtherance of their plan to cripple the country‘s oil facilities. Sadly too, it is to the same reason that one can attribute Sunday‘s attack on Atlas Cove, a key port for the offloading and distribution of imported fuel to different parts of the country. The attack claimed six lives, including those of three naval personnel.
Since President Umaru Yar‘Adua‘s declaration of amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta, MEND has become more menacing in its attacks. The militant group has inflicted more harm on the country‘s economic interests than at any other time. The group has blown up oil facilities belonging to Shell, Chevron and other oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region. This has resulted in production shut-ins in the region of a million barrels per day. Only on Monday, it was reported that a newly-repaired Chevron pipeline was blown up again by the militants. In fact, they have formed a habit of issuing threats and carrying out their threats, unhindered.
The latest attack is not just another big blow to the country‘s oil industry but a declaration of war on the country. If the militants could take a trip through the open sea to Lagos from either Bayelsa, Delta or Ondo State without being detected, it means they could also carry out such attacks in any part of the country. If they could go as far as Kaduna to buy arms to the tune of over N100 million from the Nigerian army armoury, then no part of the country is safe from the reach of the militants.
In my column of two weeks ago, I did raise the question of what would happen between the time of the President‘s announcement of amnesty and when the amnesty would eventually start taking effect on August 6. Now, the answer has been provided. To show how daring the militants have become, they have timed their latest attacks to coincide with the release of their leader, Henry Okah, a beneficiary of the President’s amnesty. The message from MEND to the Federal Government is simple - in spite of the amnesty, the end to the Niger Delta crisis is not in sight.
What has been obvious in the battle so far is that MEND has been redefining its tactics and demands; but, as the militants appear to be changing their objectives, the FG must also redefine its tactics. The government can only go by that name if it can defend its citizens. This is the time for Yar‘Adua to defend not only the economic interests of Nigeria but the citizens of the country.
I pity the President who is faced with the unenviable task of confronting a faceless enemy. For all you know, Jomo Gbomo could well be a respectable permanent secretary in one ministry in one of the Niger Delta states, while Cynthia Whyte could be that smartly-dressed businesswoman that one sees everyday in Warri. She could be that woman that is usually described as incapable of hurting a fly. But that is why he is the President and Commander in Chief. Yar’Adua must ensure that the armed forces earn their upkeep.
What happened in Atlas Cove can be likened to a military invasion of Nigeria. If a foreign army were to descend on Nigeria from the sea, does it mean that their task would be made that easy? Nobody says the military should go into villages and start killing defenceless people - children and women. In fact, doing so, as we saw in Odi, Okerenkoko and Gbaramantu, is an act of cowardice. The military must be well equipped enough to detect the approach of an enemy, even from afar. When militants blow up installations within the creeks of the Niger Delta, it is understandable because of the difficulty of the terrain there. But when they venture off shore to attack Bonga Oil Field or move across the open sea to Lagos to bomb Atlas Cove, it is an act of recklessness and exposure of the nation‘s vulnerability to attacks even from a rag-tag band of rebels.
Aside from the weapons that were sold to MEND through Okah‘s brother from the Nigerian military armoury, the source of arms for militant activities has been through ships that come in through the open sea. Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, in a recent interview, accused the military, who are supposed to secure the oil facilities and the Nigerian waters, of complicity in oil bunkering in the Niger Delta. If the supply of arms is to be curtailed, then the military have to be more uncompromising in the policing of our land and sea borders. A government that cannot protect the territorial integrity of its country is not fit to be in power.
Besides securing the oil facilities and the land and sea borders, the government must also find a way of getting into discussions with the true representatives of the people of the Niger Delta region. In fact, all Nigerians must come together to discuss the modalities for the continuous coexistence of all the components of the Nigerian entity. Ultimately, it is dialogue and equitable distribution of resources that will end the problem in the Niger Delta.
In my column yesterday, I said that President Obama visited Venezuela. That is incorrect. He met President Hugo Chavez at the OAS meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. – Azu.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
FG to withdraw case against Okah on Monday
FG to withdraw case against Okah today
Emeka Madunagu
The Federal Government is expected to file a nolle prosequi (notice to discontinue) on Monday (today), stopping the secret trial of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, at a Federal High Court in Jos.
Our correspondent gathered that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, would inform the court that government is no longer interested in prosecuting Okah for treason and gun-running.
At the last adjourned date on Friday, neither the prosecution nor the defence lawyers were present in court. On that day, the prosecution was expected to provide the court with government's plan for Okah's treatment for a kidney-related ailment.
The court presided over by Justice M. Liman had ordered government on July 3, 2009 to furnish the court with the information, after the prosecution had said that Egypt, Israel and Germany declined to receive Okah for treatment. The prosecution had informed the court that these countries declined on the grounds that they could not undertake to return him back to Nigeria after the treatment.
However, government is expected to discontinue with the case and fast-track Okah's release. A security source told our correspondent on Sunday night that the MEND leader had been moved to Jos for Monday's case.
After the proceedings, Okah will be returned to Abuja for a briefing on Tuesday with the State Security Service and the presidential committee on amnesty for Niger Delta militants to discuss the way forward.
The source said Okah would be released on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
The latest move came after a successful deliberation between government's negotiating team led by Aondoakaa and Okah's counsel led by Mr. Femi Falana in Abuja on Sunday (yesterday).
However, Punch source said the expected meeting between President Umaru Yar'Adua and Okah would no longer hold, but failed to give any reason for that.
When contacted for comments, one of Okah's lawyers, Mr. Wilson Ajuwa, said the defence counsel would be in court on Monday for the case. He confirmed that Okah's lawyers had heard that government was intent on discontinuing with the case, describing it as a welcome development.
"Yes, we will be in court on Monday," he said, and declined further comments.
Emeka Madunagu
The Federal Government is expected to file a nolle prosequi (notice to discontinue) on Monday (today), stopping the secret trial of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, at a Federal High Court in Jos.
Our correspondent gathered that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, would inform the court that government is no longer interested in prosecuting Okah for treason and gun-running.
At the last adjourned date on Friday, neither the prosecution nor the defence lawyers were present in court. On that day, the prosecution was expected to provide the court with government's plan for Okah's treatment for a kidney-related ailment.
The court presided over by Justice M. Liman had ordered government on July 3, 2009 to furnish the court with the information, after the prosecution had said that Egypt, Israel and Germany declined to receive Okah for treatment. The prosecution had informed the court that these countries declined on the grounds that they could not undertake to return him back to Nigeria after the treatment.
However, government is expected to discontinue with the case and fast-track Okah's release. A security source told our correspondent on Sunday night that the MEND leader had been moved to Jos for Monday's case.
After the proceedings, Okah will be returned to Abuja for a briefing on Tuesday with the State Security Service and the presidential committee on amnesty for Niger Delta militants to discuss the way forward.
The source said Okah would be released on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
The latest move came after a successful deliberation between government's negotiating team led by Aondoakaa and Okah's counsel led by Mr. Femi Falana in Abuja on Sunday (yesterday).
However, Punch source said the expected meeting between President Umaru Yar'Adua and Okah would no longer hold, but failed to give any reason for that.
When contacted for comments, one of Okah's lawyers, Mr. Wilson Ajuwa, said the defence counsel would be in court on Monday for the case. He confirmed that Okah's lawyers had heard that government was intent on discontinuing with the case, describing it as a welcome development.
"Yes, we will be in court on Monday," he said, and declined further comments.
The ‘scam’ called Halliburton scam probe - By Casmir Igbokwe
I READ the story of Nollywood actress, Eucharia Anunobi, with pity. The buxom lady had reportedly sued for the dissolution of her marriage to Mr. Charles Ekwu. And she is asking for a N100m compensation. Her grouse, according to reports, is that she has spent so much to maintain their seven-year-old son, Raymond.
She stressed, ”I have always been responsible financially for the marriage. We have been living in the house that I secured as a spinster, even after we got married.”
The agony of this actress reminds me of the atrocities some Nigerians commit abroad in the name of cross-cultural marriages. As you know, many of us want the Green Card or permanent residency in Europe or America. To achieve this aim, some usually enter into fake marriage contracts with their white partners. Some ladies endorse the contract with full knowledge of what they are going into. Some do not. When the men get what they want and abandon them, some of them fret and sometimes commit suicide.
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She stressed, ”I have always been responsible financially for the marriage. We have been living in the house that I secured as a spinster, even after we got married.”
The agony of this actress reminds me of the atrocities some Nigerians commit abroad in the name of cross-cultural marriages. As you know, many of us want the Green Card or permanent residency in Europe or America. To achieve this aim, some usually enter into fake marriage contracts with their white partners. Some ladies endorse the contract with full knowledge of what they are going into. Some do not. When the men get what they want and abandon them, some of them fret and sometimes commit suicide.
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Saturday, July 11, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: FG, Henry Okah’s lawyers to meet on Sunday
A Federal Government team is expected to meet with the lawyers of the detained leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, on Sunday.
Our correspondent gathered from security sources that the government team will include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa; Minister of Interior, Major-General Godwin Abbe (Rtd) and the Director-General of State Security Service, Mr. Afakriya Gadzama. While Okah’s lawyers will be led by Mr. Femi Falana.
Our correspondent gathered that the meeting will finalise the details of government’s amnesty accepted by Okah some days ago.
It will also set the stage for a possible meeting between President Umaru Yar’Adua and Okah on Sunday or Monday.
Our correspondent learnt that Okah signed a one-page document renouncing militancy and terrorism unconditionally on Thursday, thus paving the way for his likely release on Sunday or Monday.
Our correspondent gathered from security sources that the government team will include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa; Minister of Interior, Major-General Godwin Abbe (Rtd) and the Director-General of State Security Service, Mr. Afakriya Gadzama. While Okah’s lawyers will be led by Mr. Femi Falana.
Our correspondent gathered that the meeting will finalise the details of government’s amnesty accepted by Okah some days ago.
It will also set the stage for a possible meeting between President Umaru Yar’Adua and Okah on Sunday or Monday.
Our correspondent learnt that Okah signed a one-page document renouncing militancy and terrorism unconditionally on Thursday, thus paving the way for his likely release on Sunday or Monday.
Friday, July 10, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: Yar’Adua to receive Henry Okah in Abuja
Indications emerged on Friday evening that the release of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, is being delayed because President Umaru Yar’Adua wants to personally receive him at the State House, Abuja.
Our correspondent gathered that arrangements were being made for the conclusion of negotiations for Okah’s release, to enable the president receive him on Sunday or Monday. Government believes that Okah is central to the resolution of the Niger Delta crises, especially since he is the leader of the mainstream militant group.
In fact, MEND has consistently listed Okah’s release as the main condition for it to end a blistering campaign of sabotage against the oil industry.
Our correspondent learnt that Yar’Adua was eager to receive Okah, in fulfilment of the president’s promise some weeks ago to personally welcome militant leaders that agree to surrender. Punch gathered that government’s negotiating team led by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, had been working at fever pitch to clear all legal hurdles to Okah’s release by Sunday or Monday.
Our correspondent reports from Jos that the militant leader’s trial for gun-running and treason did not continue on Friday at a Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State because Okah had been moved to Abuja.
Presidential spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, told Reuters in L’Aquila, Italy on Friday that Yar’Adua had ordered Aondoakaa to clear all “unnecessary legal hurdles” in the way, to enable the release take place quickly.
Feelers from Abuja indicated that since Yar’Adua did not state whether Okah should be released to either Aondoakaa or the National Security Adviser, Gen. Sarki Mukthar (rtd) or anyone else, it is definite that the president would receive the militant leader.
Reuters reports that a meeting between government’s team and Okah’s lawyers may hold in Abuja on Sunday or Monday. However, one of his lawyers, Mr. Wilson Ajuwa, told Punch on the telephone that the MEND leader’s counsel were yet to receive any invitation.
Punch gathered that Okah had signed a one-page renunciation form, renouncing all forms of militancy and pledging to abide by the laws of Nigeria.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Britain offers to pay for new prison in Nigeria
Britain has offered to provide millions of pounds to the Federal Government to either build a new prison or refurbish an existing one to house 400 Nigerian inmates currently serving various terms in the United Kingdom.
The Times of London reports that the the chief executive of the UK Border Agency,
Ms Lin Homer, disclosed the plan when she gave evidence to the Home Affairs select committee on Thursday.
Homer said, “We are in negotiations with Nigeria to help them to establish better prison conditions in Nigeria. It is about helping them generate a infrastructure that can cope with the prisoners. We are prepared to invest if that would enable us to send people home. We haven’t yet, we are in talks with Nigeria and it would be well worth the money to do so.”
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Homer said, “We are looking at investing a few millions to improve prison infrastructure to allow us to return prisoners. It will be a new prison.”
The new prison would hold the Nigerian prisoners, who would be transferred home to serve the remainder of their sentences. The report said officials were negotiating with the Nigerian government over the proposal, which would increase the number of jail spaces in Nigeria.
The investment of millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money is needed because conditions in existing Nigerian jails are so poor that prisoners would oppose their transfer on human rights grounds.
It currently costs an average of £27,700 a year to keep a prisoner in a jail in England and Wales. At the end of March, there were 11,283 foreign nationals in jails in England and Wales, of whom the biggest group were 1,099 Jamaicans followed by 855 Nigerians, comprising 724 men and 131 women.
An estimated 400 Nigerian prisoners are eligible to be returned home without their consent under a prison transfer agreement being negotiated with Nigeria.
It is the second time in the past decade that the UK has considered helping a foreign government to increase its prison capacity so that Britain can reduce the number of foreigners in jail.
A plan to build a jail in Jamaica was under discussion several years ago but the idea was abandoned over the question of who would pay the running costs and because of the precedent it would set for other countries with large numbers of their citizens in jails in England and Wales.
The planned deal would require Nigeria to change the law so that prisoners could be sent back without their consent.
ON Wednesday night, a Home Office source said that the money would be spent on refurbishing a jail in Nigeria and training prison officers and other staff. The source told The Times that Britain believed that any deal would be worthwhile because it would free up spaces in jails in England and Wales and save money on detaining and removing Nigerian prisoners when they had completed their sentences.
An unnamed government spokesperson said, “The United Kingdom and Nigeria are negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement and discussions are ongoing.
“A prisoner transfer agreement will allow Nigerian nationals imprisoned in the UK and British nationals imprisoned in Nigeria to serve their sentences in their own country.
“We believe that prisoners should normally serve their sentences in their own country – freeing up prison spaces and saving the taxpayer money on enforced removals. This also helps prepare prisoners for their release to the community into which they will return at the end of their sentence.”
The Times of London reports that the the chief executive of the UK Border Agency,
Ms Lin Homer, disclosed the plan when she gave evidence to the Home Affairs select committee on Thursday.
Homer said, “We are in negotiations with Nigeria to help them to establish better prison conditions in Nigeria. It is about helping them generate a infrastructure that can cope with the prisoners. We are prepared to invest if that would enable us to send people home. We haven’t yet, we are in talks with Nigeria and it would be well worth the money to do so.”
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Homer said, “We are looking at investing a few millions to improve prison infrastructure to allow us to return prisoners. It will be a new prison.”
The new prison would hold the Nigerian prisoners, who would be transferred home to serve the remainder of their sentences. The report said officials were negotiating with the Nigerian government over the proposal, which would increase the number of jail spaces in Nigeria.
The investment of millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money is needed because conditions in existing Nigerian jails are so poor that prisoners would oppose their transfer on human rights grounds.
It currently costs an average of £27,700 a year to keep a prisoner in a jail in England and Wales. At the end of March, there were 11,283 foreign nationals in jails in England and Wales, of whom the biggest group were 1,099 Jamaicans followed by 855 Nigerians, comprising 724 men and 131 women.
An estimated 400 Nigerian prisoners are eligible to be returned home without their consent under a prison transfer agreement being negotiated with Nigeria.
It is the second time in the past decade that the UK has considered helping a foreign government to increase its prison capacity so that Britain can reduce the number of foreigners in jail.
A plan to build a jail in Jamaica was under discussion several years ago but the idea was abandoned over the question of who would pay the running costs and because of the precedent it would set for other countries with large numbers of their citizens in jails in England and Wales.
The planned deal would require Nigeria to change the law so that prisoners could be sent back without their consent.
ON Wednesday night, a Home Office source said that the money would be spent on refurbishing a jail in Nigeria and training prison officers and other staff. The source told The Times that Britain believed that any deal would be worthwhile because it would free up spaces in jails in England and Wales and save money on detaining and removing Nigerian prisoners when they had completed their sentences.
An unnamed government spokesperson said, “The United Kingdom and Nigeria are negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement and discussions are ongoing.
“A prisoner transfer agreement will allow Nigerian nationals imprisoned in the UK and British nationals imprisoned in Nigeria to serve their sentences in their own country.
“We believe that prisoners should normally serve their sentences in their own country – freeing up prison spaces and saving the taxpayer money on enforced removals. This also helps prepare prisoners for their release to the community into which they will return at the end of their sentence.”
EVENING UPDATES: Yar’Adua approves release of MEND leader, Henry Okah
President Umaru Yar’Adua on Thursday approved the release of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah.
Reuters reports that Yar’Adua approved Okah’s release that the MEND leader had accepted government’s offer of an amnesty. Yar’Adua is currently in Aquila, Italy for the meeting of the Grouo of Eight Most Industrialised nations, to which Nigeria, South Africa, Libya, Senegal and some other countries have been invited.
Appeal court sacks Anambra Rep
The Court of Appeal, Enugu has sacked Mr. Chuma Nzeribe from the House of Representatives.
Our correspondent reports that the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the federal lawmaker, representing Ihiala Federal Constituency and issue another one to Mr. Vitalis Okafor of the Action Congress, whom it declared as the winner of the April 2007 poll.
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Reuters reports that Yar’Adua approved Okah’s release that the MEND leader had accepted government’s offer of an amnesty. Yar’Adua is currently in Aquila, Italy for the meeting of the Grouo of Eight Most Industrialised nations, to which Nigeria, South Africa, Libya, Senegal and some other countries have been invited.
Appeal court sacks Anambra Rep
The Court of Appeal, Enugu has sacked Mr. Chuma Nzeribe from the House of Representatives.
Our correspondent reports that the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the federal lawmaker, representing Ihiala Federal Constituency and issue another one to Mr. Vitalis Okafor of the Action Congress, whom it declared as the winner of the April 2007 poll.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
MID-DAY UPDATES: Russian police arrest fake Nigerian diplomat at Obama’s hotel
Russian police have detained a fake Nigerian diplomat, Prince Henry Obasy, who allegedly tried to enter the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Moscow, where United States President Barack Obama was staying with his family.
The Moscow Times reports that the fake diplomat was apprehended by police guarding Tverskaya Ulitsa, where the hotel is located. Police said they saw the man loitering around the hotel and stopped him as he tried to mingle with Obama’s security detail.
“The man provided documents saying he was Prince Henry Obasy, a diplomat with Nigeria’s embassy in Moscow, and he said he had received (the documents) from the Foreign Ministry’s state protocol department,” Viktor Paukov, police chief for Moscow’s central district, said in a statement.
The papers turned out to be fake and he was detained. The man refused to elaborate on what he was doing at the hotel, police said. The Foreign Ministry told police that it had not registered anyone named Prince Henry Obasy, and the Nigerian Embassy denied having a diplomat with that name.
Russian police have opened an investigation on the matter. Obama and his wife, Michelle, travelled around Moscow for meetings for most of Tuesday, while their two young daughters stayed at the hotel with their grandmother.
The Moscow Times reports that the fake diplomat was apprehended by police guarding Tverskaya Ulitsa, where the hotel is located. Police said they saw the man loitering around the hotel and stopped him as he tried to mingle with Obama’s security detail.
“The man provided documents saying he was Prince Henry Obasy, a diplomat with Nigeria’s embassy in Moscow, and he said he had received (the documents) from the Foreign Ministry’s state protocol department,” Viktor Paukov, police chief for Moscow’s central district, said in a statement.
The papers turned out to be fake and he was detained. The man refused to elaborate on what he was doing at the hotel, police said. The Foreign Ministry told police that it had not registered anyone named Prince Henry Obasy, and the Nigerian Embassy denied having a diplomat with that name.
Russian police have opened an investigation on the matter. Obama and his wife, Michelle, travelled around Moscow for meetings for most of Tuesday, while their two young daughters stayed at the hotel with their grandmother.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
MID-DAY UPDATES: World bids Michael Jackson farewell
As the world bid farewell to the King of Pop, Michael Joseph Jackson, there are fears that it may create a huge pandemonium across the world.
Already, his family members have gathered for a private service at Forest Lawn, Los Angeles. Celebrity website, TMZ.com, reports that large black SUVs were seen entering and exiting the Jackson family home in Encino in preparation for the service.
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Already, his family members have gathered for a private service at Forest Lawn, Los Angeles. Celebrity website, TMZ.com, reports that large black SUVs were seen entering and exiting the Jackson family home in Encino in preparation for the service.
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Daniel accuses Lagos, ex-gov of fuelling Ogun crisis - By Olayinka Oyebode, Ademola Oni and Mudiaga Affe
Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, on Monday, tacitly accused the Lagos State Government of fuelling the political crisis in his state.
The allegation by Daniel at the inauguration of the state’s N2.5bn state secretariat by President Umaru Yar’Adua appeared to have finally confirmed the level of the acrimony between the two neighboring states.
He pointedly attributed the political logjam in the state to a number of factors, especially “the current desperation to capture power by any means by our neighbour.”
Turning to Yar’Adua, Daniel, who fingered a former Lagos State Governor as the alleged arrowhead of the “desperation to capture power,” listed “unbridled love for money and a high-level of indiscipline by our party men and women” as the other reasons for the lingering political crisis in the state.
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The allegation by Daniel at the inauguration of the state’s N2.5bn state secretariat by President Umaru Yar’Adua appeared to have finally confirmed the level of the acrimony between the two neighboring states.
He pointedly attributed the political logjam in the state to a number of factors, especially “the current desperation to capture power by any means by our neighbour.”
Turning to Yar’Adua, Daniel, who fingered a former Lagos State Governor as the alleged arrowhead of the “desperation to capture power,” listed “unbridled love for money and a high-level of indiscipline by our party men and women” as the other reasons for the lingering political crisis in the state.
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More sledgehammers for the fly within - By Azubuike Ishiekwene (azubuikeishiekwe@yahoo.com)
Since my last article under a similar headline to the one above appeared on Tuesday, I have received dozens of text messages and e-mails. A few of these mails were published on Sunday.
In the said article, I had argued that even though the Academic Staff Union of Universities had a strong case for calling its members out on a strike, the weapon had not only become ineffective, it was producing a damaging reverse impact. The very school system that ASUU is trying to save has become the worse for it.
The government’s shameful refusal to honour the 2001 agreement notwithstanding, I argued that ASUU must review its strategy or lose public understanding and respect. I offered four suggestions: publishing the names of public officials whose children are schooling abroad and the names of the schools; obtaining a court order compelling the government to honour its agreement; focusing the campaign on the passage of the autonomy bill; and/or picketing those directly in charge of taking action on the agreement.
The responses have been roughly in three categories – students, parents, and lecturers. While those in the first two groups – collateral casualties – seem to agree that the ongoing indefinite strike is one too many, a number of those in the third group think that my suggestions are useless at best, and at worst, very unfair to lecturers. I make no apologies. My conviction that there must be a way out, apart from strikes, was reinforced by the news last week that ASUU had threatened to disrupt the post-UME exam in some states. Of course, serious schools must begin to think of how to use technology to conduct future exams or to outsource them – with or without ASUU’s threat. Yet, I was horrified by the thought of angry ASUU members marching down the hallway to disturb candidates who could be their children from taking entrance exams!
But ASUU didn’t need to do that. By Monday, the non-teaching and senior staff unions had joined the strike, locking out children in primary and secondary schools attached to the universities. ASUU can, of course, argue that the threat to disrupt entrance exams and the ongoing strike are in the best interest of the system. What’s the use of fresh students when those already inside are facing an uncertain future? Good question. But then, if a strike was the best option, then we ought to have seen the result by now.
According to the National Universities Commission, public universities lost 36 months to strikes between 1993 and 2003. Between April and July 2006, ASUU went on strike for 10 days; and in 2007, academic activities were disrupted again by a three-month strike. The strikes have been mainly responsible for the outflow of students, forever changing the destinies of many of them. Student visa records from the British High Commission indicate a rising tide of Nigerian students. The number of students issued visas has grown from roughly 6,600 in 2005/2006 to 8,163 in 2007 and 10,090 in 2008. The flow to Ghana has become an avalanche, reaching about one quarter of the entire student population, according to a recent account by the high commissioner, Musiliu Obanikoro.
Yet, union leaders insist that nothing works better than strikes. Does it make sense for the entire university system, including those owned by states that have not breached any contractual obligations to lecturers, to be brought to a halt by the demands of a central union? I insist that it does not.
President Umaru Yar’Adua’s lethargy and pathetic indifference has contributed to the worsening of the current crisis: no less so have the cavalier attitude of the Education Minister, Sam Egwu; the obfuscation of the Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili; and the ineptitude of the legislature.
But can ASUU think outside the box? That is the challenge.
Re: Legitimacy, efficacy, and creative solutions
’Lai Olurode
In his weekly column of June 30, 2009, Azubuike Ishiekwene had interpreted the ongoing ASUU strike as an overkill, akin to killing a fly with a sledgehammer. Though, Azu, as he is popularly called, should be an ally of ASUU for several obvious reasons, this time, he has chosen to be detached. The three key words in my headline are from the write-up under reference. These three words are legitimacy, efficacy and creative solutions. Somehow, they should assist in providing a synopsis of his write-up. Azu’s main reservations could be summed up thus: Of course, strike is legitimate under our laws, but its efficacy is doubtful. He then wondered why the ivory tower is so completely devoid of people that could muster creative solutions.
My grouse with Azu’s belligerence over ASUU’s ongoing strike revolves around three main issues. First, tomorrow may not be adequately predicted from yesterday. Yes, strikes may have been used too often, but this ought not to impact negatively on their potency. Methodologically, causes and effects are more problematic in their relationships. There are a number of imponderables, indeed a couple of intervening variables, that can affect and direct the assumed, conventional and taken-for-granted causal relationships. Yet, strikes might not have been effective as a weapon of labour power in a military era, the same need not hold under democratisation. Besides, ASUU’s previous records and engagement with the state and its principal agents had produced outcomes that supported the effectiveness and potency of strike as a weapon through which improvement in tertiary education had been accomplished.
My second critique of Azu’s piece is in connection with the patent and inherent contradictions in the write-up. In one breath, Azu says “why is ASUU engaged in a gutter fight with a government that doesn’t know its own left from its right, and doesn’t even care?” So, to caricature Azu, since government is deaf and dumb, ASUU should just, in the language of Bola Ige of blessed memory, “siddon look” and probably go on vigils and engage prayer warriors. Then, all Nigerians should go on vacation and await God’s intervention. Azu and indeed Punch should stop publishing as previous writings and criticisms have not had any leverage on government businesses. Of course, this cannot be a strategy of dealing with our problems, since heaven helps those who help themselves.
This then leads me to the third and final point. Azu’s solutions in place of strike still imply reaching out to a government that doesn’t care – or one that is even incapable of caring. Azu had proposed three forms of responses from ASUU, which would be more efficacious. First, ASUU should publish names of key officials of government whose children are in foreign universities. Secondly, ASUU should push for the university autonomy bill in place of bread and butter issues. Thirdly, Azu urged ASUU to approach the courts for an order of mandamus and simultaneously picket chairs of education committees in the Senate and the House.
These responses can only be for a government and state actors that have a sense of morality and is perspicacious enough to discern and apprehend danger. In a country where politicians have no sense of shame; where politicians are mere prostitutes without any higher convictions that can dissuade them from jumping from one political party to the other; where political power is the ultimate; and where politicians are ready to strip themselves naked in public, then Azu’s solutions can be no solutions at all. We all owe our society an obligation to force change by whatever means possible.
Olurode is a Professor of Sociology, University of Lagos. He is on sabbatical at the Lagos State University.
The government’s shameful refusal to honour the 2001 agreement notwithstanding, I argued that ASUU must review its strategy or lose public understanding and respect. I offered four suggestions: publishing the names of public officials whose children are schooling abroad and the names of the schools; obtaining a court order compelling the government to honour its agreement; focusing the campaign on the passage of the autonomy bill; and/or picketing those directly in charge of taking action on the agreement.
The responses have been roughly in three categories – students, parents, and lecturers. While those in the first two groups – collateral casualties – seem to agree that the ongoing indefinite strike is one too many, a number of those in the third group think that my suggestions are useless at best, and at worst, very unfair to lecturers. I make no apologies. My conviction that there must be a way out, apart from strikes, was reinforced by the news last week that ASUU had threatened to disrupt the post-UME exam in some states. Of course, serious schools must begin to think of how to use technology to conduct future exams or to outsource them – with or without ASUU’s threat. Yet, I was horrified by the thought of angry ASUU members marching down the hallway to disturb candidates who could be their children from taking entrance exams!
But ASUU didn’t need to do that. By Monday, the non-teaching and senior staff unions had joined the strike, locking out children in primary and secondary schools attached to the universities. ASUU can, of course, argue that the threat to disrupt entrance exams and the ongoing strike are in the best interest of the system. What’s the use of fresh students when those already inside are facing an uncertain future? Good question. But then, if a strike was the best option, then we ought to have seen the result by now.
According to the National Universities Commission, public universities lost 36 months to strikes between 1993 and 2003. Between April and July 2006, ASUU went on strike for 10 days; and in 2007, academic activities were disrupted again by a three-month strike. The strikes have been mainly responsible for the outflow of students, forever changing the destinies of many of them. Student visa records from the British High Commission indicate a rising tide of Nigerian students. The number of students issued visas has grown from roughly 6,600 in 2005/2006 to 8,163 in 2007 and 10,090 in 2008. The flow to Ghana has become an avalanche, reaching about one quarter of the entire student population, according to a recent account by the high commissioner, Musiliu Obanikoro.
Yet, union leaders insist that nothing works better than strikes. Does it make sense for the entire university system, including those owned by states that have not breached any contractual obligations to lecturers, to be brought to a halt by the demands of a central union? I insist that it does not.
President Umaru Yar’Adua’s lethargy and pathetic indifference has contributed to the worsening of the current crisis: no less so have the cavalier attitude of the Education Minister, Sam Egwu; the obfuscation of the Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili; and the ineptitude of the legislature.
But can ASUU think outside the box? That is the challenge.
Re: Legitimacy, efficacy, and creative solutions
’Lai Olurode
In his weekly column of June 30, 2009, Azubuike Ishiekwene had interpreted the ongoing ASUU strike as an overkill, akin to killing a fly with a sledgehammer. Though, Azu, as he is popularly called, should be an ally of ASUU for several obvious reasons, this time, he has chosen to be detached. The three key words in my headline are from the write-up under reference. These three words are legitimacy, efficacy and creative solutions. Somehow, they should assist in providing a synopsis of his write-up. Azu’s main reservations could be summed up thus: Of course, strike is legitimate under our laws, but its efficacy is doubtful. He then wondered why the ivory tower is so completely devoid of people that could muster creative solutions.
My grouse with Azu’s belligerence over ASUU’s ongoing strike revolves around three main issues. First, tomorrow may not be adequately predicted from yesterday. Yes, strikes may have been used too often, but this ought not to impact negatively on their potency. Methodologically, causes and effects are more problematic in their relationships. There are a number of imponderables, indeed a couple of intervening variables, that can affect and direct the assumed, conventional and taken-for-granted causal relationships. Yet, strikes might not have been effective as a weapon of labour power in a military era, the same need not hold under democratisation. Besides, ASUU’s previous records and engagement with the state and its principal agents had produced outcomes that supported the effectiveness and potency of strike as a weapon through which improvement in tertiary education had been accomplished.
My second critique of Azu’s piece is in connection with the patent and inherent contradictions in the write-up. In one breath, Azu says “why is ASUU engaged in a gutter fight with a government that doesn’t know its own left from its right, and doesn’t even care?” So, to caricature Azu, since government is deaf and dumb, ASUU should just, in the language of Bola Ige of blessed memory, “siddon look” and probably go on vigils and engage prayer warriors. Then, all Nigerians should go on vacation and await God’s intervention. Azu and indeed Punch should stop publishing as previous writings and criticisms have not had any leverage on government businesses. Of course, this cannot be a strategy of dealing with our problems, since heaven helps those who help themselves.
This then leads me to the third and final point. Azu’s solutions in place of strike still imply reaching out to a government that doesn’t care – or one that is even incapable of caring. Azu had proposed three forms of responses from ASUU, which would be more efficacious. First, ASUU should publish names of key officials of government whose children are in foreign universities. Secondly, ASUU should push for the university autonomy bill in place of bread and butter issues. Thirdly, Azu urged ASUU to approach the courts for an order of mandamus and simultaneously picket chairs of education committees in the Senate and the House.
These responses can only be for a government and state actors that have a sense of morality and is perspicacious enough to discern and apprehend danger. In a country where politicians have no sense of shame; where politicians are mere prostitutes without any higher convictions that can dissuade them from jumping from one political party to the other; where political power is the ultimate; and where politicians are ready to strip themselves naked in public, then Azu’s solutions can be no solutions at all. We all owe our society an obligation to force change by whatever means possible.
Olurode is a Professor of Sociology, University of Lagos. He is on sabbatical at the Lagos State University.
Monday, July 6, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: Obama invites questions from Nigerians
Ahead of his trip to Ghana on Saturday, United States President Barack Obama has asked Nigerians to send him questions through SMS.A statement by the US Embassy in Nigeria made available to our correspondent on Monday evening titled, “An Invitation to Africans: Send a message to President Obama and Receive Highlights of his Speech in Ghana,” said the channel opened since Thursday, July 3. The statement said Obama was expecting “questions and comments in advance of his visit to Africa. Those who respond early will receive SMS highlights from his speech in Accra, Ghana on Saturday, July 11, 2009. This service is available in both English and French.”
MID-DAY UPDATES: MEND seizes chemical tanker with three Russians, two Filipinos, one Indian
The search for peace in the Niger Delta region suffered a major setback on Monday with the abduction of six expatriates from a chemical tanker, MV Sichem Peace, by suspected militants.
The vessel, which was conveying chemicals owned by one of the oil companies to the Warri Port, was attacked 20 nautical miles from Escravos, Delta State.
A source said the gunmen, who came in speedboats, opened fire on the vessel and forced the captain to stop before it was ransacked and took the six crewmen onboard.According to him, the attack occurred on the Atlantic Ocean. Already, he said the military authorities had dispatched a naval warship, NNS Obula, to the location where the vessel was attacked but could not say whether the team had stumbled on anything yet.
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The vessel, which was conveying chemicals owned by one of the oil companies to the Warri Port, was attacked 20 nautical miles from Escravos, Delta State.
A source said the gunmen, who came in speedboats, opened fire on the vessel and forced the captain to stop before it was ransacked and took the six crewmen onboard.According to him, the attack occurred on the Atlantic Ocean. Already, he said the military authorities had dispatched a naval warship, NNS Obula, to the location where the vessel was attacked but could not say whether the team had stumbled on anything yet.
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Sunday, July 5, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: 65% of Nigeria’s annual budgets missing -Bankole
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, has said that about 65 per cent of Nigeria’s annual budgets cannot neither be accounted for nor traced.Empowered Newswire reports that Bankole made the revelation in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on Saturday at a question and answer session at the annual reunion of US-based Nigerians. The programme draws several young US-based Nigerians together from all walks of life. Bankole blamed the Nigerian civil service for the phenomenon, saying that the House of Representatives has been unsuccessfully “asking questions about these funds and requesting that unspent funds and funds that cannot be accounted for be returned to the Federal Government.”
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MID-DAY UPDATES: MEND disowns Clark, attacks another Shell facility
MID-Day UPDATES: MEND disowns Clark, attacks another Shell facility
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Sunday disowned the leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, and other Niger Delta leaders involved in negotiations with the Federal Government on behalf of the region.MEND, which also announced a change of strategy from an all-out war on the Nigerian military and the oil industry facilities to a combination of dialogue and “phased attacks,” said in a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, that it had upgraded its Hurricane Piper campaign to Hurricane Moses.
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The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta on Sunday disowned the leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, and other Niger Delta leaders involved in negotiations with the Federal Government on behalf of the region.MEND, which also announced a change of strategy from an all-out war on the Nigerian military and the oil industry facilities to a combination of dialogue and “phased attacks,” said in a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, that it had upgraded its Hurricane Piper campaign to Hurricane Moses.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: MEND threatens to attack Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has threatened to attack the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project unless the problems of Niger Delta are solved.
MEND said in a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, that “any money put into the project will go down the drain as we will ensure that it faces the same fate other pipelines are facing today. We want to use this opportunity to warn the remaining companies still operating in the region, namely Agip, Total, Shell and Exxon Mobil to leave while there is still time because within the next 72 Hours Hurricane Piper Alpha will be upgraded to Hurricane Moses.”
G-15 lawmaker weeps as monarch frowns on role in political crisis
A frontline member of the group of 15 members of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Adijat Oladapo-Adeleye, broke down in tears at the palace of the Olofin of Isheri, Oba Nurudeen Adekanmbi, on Friday as the lawmaker and the monarch differed on the ongoing crisis in the state.
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MEND said in a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, that “any money put into the project will go down the drain as we will ensure that it faces the same fate other pipelines are facing today. We want to use this opportunity to warn the remaining companies still operating in the region, namely Agip, Total, Shell and Exxon Mobil to leave while there is still time because within the next 72 Hours Hurricane Piper Alpha will be upgraded to Hurricane Moses.”
G-15 lawmaker weeps as monarch frowns on role in political crisis
A frontline member of the group of 15 members of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Adijat Oladapo-Adeleye, broke down in tears at the palace of the Olofin of Isheri, Oba Nurudeen Adekanmbi, on Friday as the lawmaker and the monarch differed on the ongoing crisis in the state.
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Before we go borrowing again - By Adeyeye Joseph
Since I am going to sound off a bit about Jonathan Perkins‘ bestseller, The Confessions of an Economic Hitman, I guess I should be upfront about my ignorance of half of its contents. I haven‘t read Perkins‘ book.
Yet, I wouldn‘t describe the book as unfamiliar. These days, it is quite easy to distil the essence of a popular book without even taking a peek at its insides. With a reliable Internet connection, you can travel halfway through a good book without actually buying one. All you need do is to make the rounds of blogs and websites like Amazon.com and Google Books (books.google.com), and browse their rich offerings of excerpts and reviews.
I do that often. And thanks to this pastime, I can safely suggest that The Confessions of an Economic Hitman is what our present crop of leaders needs to cure them of their growing lust for foreign loans. This lust has found expression in the Federal Government‘s recent move to borrow from the international capital market and financial institutions. Every now and then, it also rears its ugly head in the form of the shameless desperation with which state governments search for all manner of local and foreign loans even when they have little to show for previous ones.
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Yet, I wouldn‘t describe the book as unfamiliar. These days, it is quite easy to distil the essence of a popular book without even taking a peek at its insides. With a reliable Internet connection, you can travel halfway through a good book without actually buying one. All you need do is to make the rounds of blogs and websites like Amazon.com and Google Books (books.google.com), and browse their rich offerings of excerpts and reviews.
I do that often. And thanks to this pastime, I can safely suggest that The Confessions of an Economic Hitman is what our present crop of leaders needs to cure them of their growing lust for foreign loans. This lust has found expression in the Federal Government‘s recent move to borrow from the international capital market and financial institutions. Every now and then, it also rears its ugly head in the form of the shameless desperation with which state governments search for all manner of local and foreign loans even when they have little to show for previous ones.
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Why I chose Ghana over Nigeria, others – Obama
For the first time since his impending visit to Ghana became public, President Barack Obama of the United States of America has explained why he chose the country ahead of other African countries.
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To read the full article, subscribe to www.punchng.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
The other side of sweet ratings By Yemi Kolapo (yemlakol@yahoo.com)
Before the banking sector consolidation created a level playing ground for operators in terms of capital base, the messy aspect of banking business was shielded from public scrutiny with some sick banks playing the heroes to unsuspecting bank customers. The banking profession was seen as the ultimate in an economy stacked with non-performing sectors that could barely afford to assure those on their payrolls of regular meals, even though oil sector pay packs were more enticing.To read the complete article, subscribe to www.punchng.com
EVENING UPDATES: FG warns South Africa against attacks on Nigerians
The Federal Government has asked the South African Government to do everything within its power to stop xenophobic attacks against Nigerians living in the country.
Why I will visit Ghana –Obama
United States President Barack Obama has explained that his visit to Ghana on July 11, 2009 would highlight its leading role in good governance and democratic development.
Obama said in an interview with allafrica.com on Thursday at the White House that his visit would demonstrate his administration’s appreciation of the “effective governance” in Ghana, noting that he would also that good governance is the key to the future for Africa.
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Why I will visit Ghana –Obama
United States President Barack Obama has explained that his visit to Ghana on July 11, 2009 would highlight its leading role in good governance and democratic development.
Obama said in an interview with allafrica.com on Thursday at the White House that his visit would demonstrate his administration’s appreciation of the “effective governance” in Ghana, noting that he would also that good governance is the key to the future for Africa.
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MID-DAY UPDATES: Soyinka, Utomi, others may meet Obama in Ghana
There are indications that Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2007 elections, Prof. Pat Utomi, as well as some leading members of the Nigerian academia and opposition political class may meet with United States President Barack Obama during his visit to Ghana on July 11.
Our correspondent gathered that officials of the State Department had already started accrediting personalities expected at the parley. However, our correspondent could not confirm how many Nigerians would be present at the meeting.
However, the Convener, Nigerian Liberty Forum, Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi, confirmed to our correspondent by email that Soyinka had already been confirmed for the meeting. He stated that the NLF had already sent two representatives but added that he could not confirm if they had been able to get accreditation.
When contacted on the telephone on Friday afternoon, Utomi claimed ignorance of the meeting. Although he said he would like to meet with Obama, Utomi said he was yet to get any information about whether he was included among those to meet with the US president during the state visit.Others expected to meet with Obama include a delegation of Nigerians in the Diaspora and non-governmental organizations.
Our correspondent gathered that officials of the State Department had already started accrediting personalities expected at the parley. However, our correspondent could not confirm how many Nigerians would be present at the meeting.
However, the Convener, Nigerian Liberty Forum, Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi, confirmed to our correspondent by email that Soyinka had already been confirmed for the meeting. He stated that the NLF had already sent two representatives but added that he could not confirm if they had been able to get accreditation.
When contacted on the telephone on Friday afternoon, Utomi claimed ignorance of the meeting. Although he said he would like to meet with Obama, Utomi said he was yet to get any information about whether he was included among those to meet with the US president during the state visit.Others expected to meet with Obama include a delegation of Nigerians in the Diaspora and non-governmental organizations.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
MID-DAY UPDATES: Nigeria-Russia joint venture sparks racism debate
A racism debate is brewing online over Nigeria’s $2.5 billion oil and gas joint with Russia, named NIGAZ.
The joint venture, which is between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, was signed last week by Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua and Russian President Dmirty Medvedev, who was on a one-day state visit to Abuja. The word is an amalgam of Nigeria and Gazprom and will build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.
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The joint venture, which is between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, was signed last week by Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua and Russian President Dmirty Medvedev, who was on a one-day state visit to Abuja. The word is an amalgam of Nigeria and Gazprom and will build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.
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Halliburton scam: We didn’t receive $6m from Obasanjo’s ex-aide – Ogbeh, Gemade (www.punchng.com)
Two former chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party — Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Barnabas Gemade — have cleared the party of receiving a part of the $180m allegedly given as bribe by Halliburton to some Nigerian ex-officials for a juicy contract.
An ex- Special Assistant on Domestic Matters to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Sunday Adeyanju, had reportedly told the presidential panel investigating the bribery allegation that he channelled $6m in three tranches to the PDP.
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An ex- Special Assistant on Domestic Matters to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Sunday Adeyanju, had reportedly told the presidential panel investigating the bribery allegation that he channelled $6m in three tranches to the PDP.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
'Jackson's Family To Put Body On View'
Michael Jackson's family plan to take his body to his Neverland ranch where it will go on public view before a burial, it has been reported.
Celebrity website TMZ.com claims the Jacksons will transport the body to Neverland, in southern California, on Thursday.
They will then hold a wake on Friday or Saturday ahead of a funeral service on Sunday.
The part owners of Neverland have sent a letter to residents of Santa Barbara warning them of the madness that will occur when Jackson's fans flock to see his body.
Meanwhile, the singer's tour promoter has said his ill-fated show at the O2 Arena in London could be turned into a tribute gig featuring his family.
The president of AEG Live Randy Phillips told Sky's Kay Burley he saw Jackson rehearsing the day before he died and that he seemed fit and "engaged".
In an exclusive interview Mr Phillips denied Jackson was suffering from stage fright, saying AEGwould at "some point" release video of the rehearsals.
He said the show was going to be "beyond anything", adding: "At some point the world needs to see this production.
"I would imagine it could be done as a tribute with the family, with the brothers performing, some sisters, and the stars that were influenced by him.
"It would have been, which is the tragedy here, one of the most amazing shows ever, so at some point we want the world to see that."
Describing rehearsals, Mr Phillips said: "(Michael) was so amazing in the final week.
"He gave me a hug and said 'now I know I can do this'. He was that engaged and that incredible."
Celebrity website TMZ.com claims the Jacksons will transport the body to Neverland, in southern California, on Thursday.
They will then hold a wake on Friday or Saturday ahead of a funeral service on Sunday.
The part owners of Neverland have sent a letter to residents of Santa Barbara warning them of the madness that will occur when Jackson's fans flock to see his body.
Meanwhile, the singer's tour promoter has said his ill-fated show at the O2 Arena in London could be turned into a tribute gig featuring his family.
The president of AEG Live Randy Phillips told Sky's Kay Burley he saw Jackson rehearsing the day before he died and that he seemed fit and "engaged".
In an exclusive interview Mr Phillips denied Jackson was suffering from stage fright, saying AEGwould at "some point" release video of the rehearsals.
He said the show was going to be "beyond anything", adding: "At some point the world needs to see this production.
"I would imagine it could be done as a tribute with the family, with the brothers performing, some sisters, and the stars that were influenced by him.
"It would have been, which is the tragedy here, one of the most amazing shows ever, so at some point we want the world to see that."
Describing rehearsals, Mr Phillips said: "(Michael) was so amazing in the final week.
"He gave me a hug and said 'now I know I can do this'. He was that engaged and that incredible."
Michael Jackson to be buried Sunday
King of pop, Michael Jackson, is to be buried on Sunday. However, the location is not known.
But celebrity website, www.tmz.com, says a shipment of concrete was delivered on Tuesday to the Neverland Ranch.
"We saw the concrete truck drive onto the property. A rep from the construction company told us they got a call today for 32,000 pounds of the hard stuff -- for what, we're not sure ... but it's certainly interesting ..." TMZ reported.
But celebrity website, www.tmz.com, says a shipment of concrete was delivered on Tuesday to the Neverland Ranch.
"We saw the concrete truck drive onto the property. A rep from the construction company told us they got a call today for 32,000 pounds of the hard stuff -- for what, we're not sure ... but it's certainly interesting ..." TMZ reported.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
EVENING UPDATES: Niger Delta situation quite tragic– Amnesty International
Niger Delta situation quite tragic– Amnesty International
Global rights watchdog, Amnesty International, on Tuesday described the situation in the Niger Delta as a “human rights tragedy,” saying the Federal Government and the oil companies operating in the region were destroying the environment.
The watchdog said in a statement made available to Punch by email that the rights of the people of the Niger Delta were being abused by oil companies, who were not being held to account by government.
”The Niger Delta provides a stark example of the lack of accountability of a government to its people, and of multinational companies‘ almost total lack of accountability when it comes to the impact of their operations on human rights,” said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International‘s Head of Business and Human Rights and co-author of a major new report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta, released on Tuesday at a press conference in Abuja..
The report examines oil spills, gas flaring, waste dumping and other environmental impacts of the oil industry. The majority of the evidence on pollution and environment damage gathered by Amnesty International, and contained in its new report, relates to the operations of Shell, the main oil company operating on land in the Niger Delta.
Gaughran said, ”People living in the Niger Delta have to drink, cook with and wash in polluted water. They eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins - if they are lucky enough to be able to still find fish. The land they farm on is being destroyed. After oil spills the air they breathe smells of oil, gas and other pollutants. People complain of breathing problems and skin lesions - and yet neither the government nor the oil companies monitor the human impacts of oil pollution.”
AI said the human rights impact of pollution in the Niger Delta was greatly under-reported, noting that the majority of people in the Niger Delta depend on the natural environment for their food and livelihood, particularly through agriculture and fisheries.
The report also said that communities and armed groups in the Niger Delta had contributed to the problem of pollution, by vandalising oil infrastructure and the theft of oil.
Kidnappers of Oyo governor’s aide demand N20m ransom
The kidnappers of the Executive Assistant to the Oyo State Governor on Administration, Chief Richard Fagbemi, have reportedly demanded a N20 million ransom.
Fagbemi was kidnapped on Sunday evening on his way from Abuja to Ibadan. He was said to have been picked between Edo and Ondo State by some unidentified persons. Fagbemi, who was a retired Permanent Secretary before his appointment, was allegedly hijacked when his vehicle allegedly broke down in company with his sister-in-law and the driver.
A senior aide of the governor, who confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity, said the aide was returning from a private visit to Abuja before he lost touch with members of his family. Our correspondent learnt that the governor had been making frantic effort to secure his release.
A top police source confirmed that he was kidnapped between Ondo and Edo State. The spokesperson of the state command, Miss Olabisi Okuwobi, could not be reached for comments.
States, FG close to deal on N2.2trn illegal deductions
Twenty states that filed a suit against the Federal Government on alleged illegal deductions from the Federation Account on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that they were sure of reaching an amicable settlement of the issues in dispute within one week.
They have therefore asked the apex court to adjourn the case to enable them finalise the deal. Based on this request, the court on Tuesday suspended, indefinitely, further hearing in the case.
The alleged illegal deductions from the Federation Accounts of monies were in excess of N4 trillion by the Federal Government. At the resumed hearing of the case, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, and Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, leading other senior lawyers asked the court to adjourn the case just for a week to enable them complete discussions at reaching a settlement.
The decision of the Supreme Court followed a request by the plaintiff-states.
But the presiding justice of the panel, Justice Niki Tobi, said the apex court would not only give them the one week but that it would allow them up till October to finalise the truce.
‘Jackson/ Rowe not biological parents of three children'
It has been revealed that Michael Jackson was not the biological father of any of his children, nor was Debbie Rowe the biological mother of the two kids she bore for Michael.
A celebrity gossip and entertainment portal, TMZ said all the three children were conceived in vitro -- outside the womb.
Multiple sources deeply connected to the births tell us Michael was not the sperm donor for any of his kids. Debbie‘s eggs were not used. She was merely the surrogate, and paid well for her services in the births of Michael Jr. and Paris.
According to TMZ, ”In the case of Prince Michael II (the youngest), we‘re told the surrogate was never told of the identity of the ”receiving parent” -- Michael Jackson. Three days after Prince was born at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego County, Jackson‘s lawyer came to the hospital to pick the baby up and deliver him to Michael.”
TMZ said, ”We do not know if Jackson chose the sperm or egg donors or if he even knew who they were.”
Although Rowe is not the biological mother, it‘s not a slam dunk that she would lose a custody battle. This type of case has never been litigated in California courts. Since Rowe was married to Jackson when Michael Jr. and Paris were born, there‘s a presumption that she‘s the biological parent. That presumption can be rebutted by other evidence.
We know there are documents outlining the whole arrangement for the birth of all three kids. Nonetheless, it‘s still an open issue with the courts."
Global rights watchdog, Amnesty International, on Tuesday described the situation in the Niger Delta as a “human rights tragedy,” saying the Federal Government and the oil companies operating in the region were destroying the environment.
The watchdog said in a statement made available to Punch by email that the rights of the people of the Niger Delta were being abused by oil companies, who were not being held to account by government.
”The Niger Delta provides a stark example of the lack of accountability of a government to its people, and of multinational companies‘ almost total lack of accountability when it comes to the impact of their operations on human rights,” said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International‘s Head of Business and Human Rights and co-author of a major new report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta, released on Tuesday at a press conference in Abuja..
The report examines oil spills, gas flaring, waste dumping and other environmental impacts of the oil industry. The majority of the evidence on pollution and environment damage gathered by Amnesty International, and contained in its new report, relates to the operations of Shell, the main oil company operating on land in the Niger Delta.
Gaughran said, ”People living in the Niger Delta have to drink, cook with and wash in polluted water. They eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins - if they are lucky enough to be able to still find fish. The land they farm on is being destroyed. After oil spills the air they breathe smells of oil, gas and other pollutants. People complain of breathing problems and skin lesions - and yet neither the government nor the oil companies monitor the human impacts of oil pollution.”
AI said the human rights impact of pollution in the Niger Delta was greatly under-reported, noting that the majority of people in the Niger Delta depend on the natural environment for their food and livelihood, particularly through agriculture and fisheries.
The report also said that communities and armed groups in the Niger Delta had contributed to the problem of pollution, by vandalising oil infrastructure and the theft of oil.
Kidnappers of Oyo governor’s aide demand N20m ransom
The kidnappers of the Executive Assistant to the Oyo State Governor on Administration, Chief Richard Fagbemi, have reportedly demanded a N20 million ransom.
Fagbemi was kidnapped on Sunday evening on his way from Abuja to Ibadan. He was said to have been picked between Edo and Ondo State by some unidentified persons. Fagbemi, who was a retired Permanent Secretary before his appointment, was allegedly hijacked when his vehicle allegedly broke down in company with his sister-in-law and the driver.
A senior aide of the governor, who confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity, said the aide was returning from a private visit to Abuja before he lost touch with members of his family. Our correspondent learnt that the governor had been making frantic effort to secure his release.
A top police source confirmed that he was kidnapped between Ondo and Edo State. The spokesperson of the state command, Miss Olabisi Okuwobi, could not be reached for comments.
States, FG close to deal on N2.2trn illegal deductions
Twenty states that filed a suit against the Federal Government on alleged illegal deductions from the Federation Account on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that they were sure of reaching an amicable settlement of the issues in dispute within one week.
They have therefore asked the apex court to adjourn the case to enable them finalise the deal. Based on this request, the court on Tuesday suspended, indefinitely, further hearing in the case.
The alleged illegal deductions from the Federation Accounts of monies were in excess of N4 trillion by the Federal Government. At the resumed hearing of the case, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, and Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, leading other senior lawyers asked the court to adjourn the case just for a week to enable them complete discussions at reaching a settlement.
The decision of the Supreme Court followed a request by the plaintiff-states.
But the presiding justice of the panel, Justice Niki Tobi, said the apex court would not only give them the one week but that it would allow them up till October to finalise the truce.
‘Jackson/ Rowe not biological parents of three children'
It has been revealed that Michael Jackson was not the biological father of any of his children, nor was Debbie Rowe the biological mother of the two kids she bore for Michael.
A celebrity gossip and entertainment portal, TMZ said all the three children were conceived in vitro -- outside the womb.
Multiple sources deeply connected to the births tell us Michael was not the sperm donor for any of his kids. Debbie‘s eggs were not used. She was merely the surrogate, and paid well for her services in the births of Michael Jr. and Paris.
According to TMZ, ”In the case of Prince Michael II (the youngest), we‘re told the surrogate was never told of the identity of the ”receiving parent” -- Michael Jackson. Three days after Prince was born at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego County, Jackson‘s lawyer came to the hospital to pick the baby up and deliver him to Michael.”
TMZ said, ”We do not know if Jackson chose the sperm or egg donors or if he even knew who they were.”
Although Rowe is not the biological mother, it‘s not a slam dunk that she would lose a custody battle. This type of case has never been litigated in California courts. Since Rowe was married to Jackson when Michael Jr. and Paris were born, there‘s a presumption that she‘s the biological parent. That presumption can be rebutted by other evidence.
We know there are documents outlining the whole arrangement for the birth of all three kids. Nonetheless, it‘s still an open issue with the courts."
German consortium plans $500m Sahara Desert power project
German consortium plans $500m Sahara Desert power project
By Hamed Shobiye
Published: Tuesday, 30 Jun 2009
A consortium of German companies, including Siemens, has announced an ambitious $500m project to power homes and factories in Europe from the Sahara Desert.
Deutsche Welle Radio reported on its website that the project would harness the sun and space of the desert for Europe’s energy needs.
The report said that although the plan had been on the drawing board for sometime, German insurance giant, Munich Re, has decided to bring it to fruition by fixing a meeting for July 13, 2009 in Munich, Germany to launch the Desertec concept.
The report said that Siemens and 19 other major German companies such as Deutsche Bank, utility companies RWE and E.ON were part of the consortium working on the project.
It stated that some other unnamed German, Italian and Spanish companies as well as a representative of the German government, the Arab League and the Club of Rome think tank had been invited to next month’s meeting.
Experts have estimated that the project would provide 15 per cent of Europe’s energy needs, the report said, adding that it might be ready in 10 years.
A Munich Re official, Mr. Alexander Mohanty, said, “The project is very ambitious but our aim is to have something of a road map for Desertec within the next two or three years.” The project foresees a string of solar-thermal power plants to be linked together somewhere in the deserts of North Africa, though no host countries have been named so far.
The report said the plants would use mirrors to focus the energy from the sun’s rays to heat a special type of oil, and use the heat for steam to power turbines. It stated that the process was cheaper than the usual method of using photovoltaic cells, a common form of solar power, which converts the sun‘s energy directly into electricity.
“You only need an area of 300 kilometers by 300 kilometers to provide enough energy for the whole world,” said Alfons Benzinger of Siemens.
However, Siemens said it would take care of concerns about transporting the energy to Europe.
According to Berzinger, Siemens has developed a system of “high-voltage direct current transmission of energy, which can transport energy over long distances and without heavy losses. We have practised this already, for instance with hydro-power plants in China and India.” There are, however, unresolved issues such as the host country, financing, safety of the plant, length of time for actualising the project and global acceptance of the project.
The report said the plan had shown that a tiny part of Africa could power the entire world.
By Hamed Shobiye
Published: Tuesday, 30 Jun 2009
A consortium of German companies, including Siemens, has announced an ambitious $500m project to power homes and factories in Europe from the Sahara Desert.
Deutsche Welle Radio reported on its website that the project would harness the sun and space of the desert for Europe’s energy needs.
The report said that although the plan had been on the drawing board for sometime, German insurance giant, Munich Re, has decided to bring it to fruition by fixing a meeting for July 13, 2009 in Munich, Germany to launch the Desertec concept.
The report said that Siemens and 19 other major German companies such as Deutsche Bank, utility companies RWE and E.ON were part of the consortium working on the project.
It stated that some other unnamed German, Italian and Spanish companies as well as a representative of the German government, the Arab League and the Club of Rome think tank had been invited to next month’s meeting.
Experts have estimated that the project would provide 15 per cent of Europe’s energy needs, the report said, adding that it might be ready in 10 years.
A Munich Re official, Mr. Alexander Mohanty, said, “The project is very ambitious but our aim is to have something of a road map for Desertec within the next two or three years.” The project foresees a string of solar-thermal power plants to be linked together somewhere in the deserts of North Africa, though no host countries have been named so far.
The report said the plants would use mirrors to focus the energy from the sun’s rays to heat a special type of oil, and use the heat for steam to power turbines. It stated that the process was cheaper than the usual method of using photovoltaic cells, a common form of solar power, which converts the sun‘s energy directly into electricity.
“You only need an area of 300 kilometers by 300 kilometers to provide enough energy for the whole world,” said Alfons Benzinger of Siemens.
However, Siemens said it would take care of concerns about transporting the energy to Europe.
According to Berzinger, Siemens has developed a system of “high-voltage direct current transmission of energy, which can transport energy over long distances and without heavy losses. We have practised this already, for instance with hydro-power plants in China and India.” There are, however, unresolved issues such as the host country, financing, safety of the plant, length of time for actualising the project and global acceptance of the project.
The report said the plan had shown that a tiny part of Africa could power the entire world.
ASUU’s sledgehammer and the fly within - By Azubuike Ishiekwene (azubuikeishiekwe@yahoo.com)
I do not know what the Academic Staff Union of Universities intends to achieve by an indefinite strike. But I think it is pretty clear what it will not achieve. The union will not get the conditions of service it wants; and even if it does, we will still not get the schools that we deserve. Not with the way the union is currently being run. It is insanity to keep doing things the same old way and to expect a different result. But this is precisely what the union insists on – calling its members out on a strike, for the umpteenth time, to pressure the government to comply with an agreement signed about eight years ago.
Under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ASUU had signed an agreement with government, which, among other things, called for a review of university teachers’ salaries; an extension of the retirement age of lecturers from 65 to 70; allocation of 26 per cent of the yearly budget to education; and a bill to free universities from the apron-strings of government. ASUU and the government quibbled over the list of demands and after a series of strikes that plunged the schools into new depths of decay, Obasanjo’s government signed the agreement, with the intention of honouring it only in the breach. It’s not ASUU’s fault that government has failed to honour its promise. If Obasanjo, being Obasanjo, can be excused on the grounds that he is lawless by nature, how can one explain the fact that Umaru Yar’Adua, who makes a song and dance about the rule of law and due process, cannot get his education minister to honour an agreement which government signed?
This appears to be ASUU’s main point – that if government has refused to honour an agreement that it freely entered into eight years ago, and will not be moved even by a recent two-week warning strike, then the union is perfectly entitled to use other legitimate weapons within its powers to secure compliance. But this strategy misses the point. The question is not the legitimacy of the weapons at ASUU’s disposal but the efficacy. Anyone with a brain half the size of a walnut should have seen by now that strikes have not only lost their impact, they have developed a reverse potency that leaves the school system more damaged each time.
It is a measure of what our universities and schools of higher learning have become, that lecturers who ought to be at the vanguard of finding creative solutions to our problems have become a part of the problem. And those among them who dare to think differently are either not interested in union activities or never get a hearing at meetings where key decisions are taken. The academia, like most spheres of life, is imitating politics. Unfortunately, the academia is not just imitating politics, it is imitating its worst aspects. My heart bleeds not only because two people who have had a most profound effect on my career – Olatunji Dare and Ralph Akinfeleye – taught me in a Nigerian university but because my daughter, who is an undergraduate, will have a hard time believing that going to a Nigerian university is not a waste of her future. And yet, there’s just a difference of 25 years between her generation and mine.
A lecturer in one of the first generation universities told me over the weekend how a dean brushed aside her objections and went ahead to borrow computers from staff and hire fitness tools for two days to impress a visiting accreditation team. According to her, “The faculty had introduced two new courses without any preparation and for months, students were left to wander off, borrowing courses. A day or two before the accreditation team came, the dean arranged a show to impress the team. What she couldn’t borrow to set up the classrooms, she hired; insisting over the objections of a few staff that it would not be in her own time as dean that an accreditation team would cancel a course.” It didn’t matter that this was a hollow ritual.
What kind of ivory tower is this that seeks to overcome its most salient problems by yielding to the lowest common form of resistance? Why is ASUU engaged in a gutter fight with a government that doesn’t know its own left from its right, and doesn’t even care? And why should the Minister of Education – and interestingly, former lecturer, Sam Egwu, care? He established a private secondary school in Abakaliki in 2003 and might, like Obasanjo and his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, award himself a licence to operate a private university before he leaves office! His daughter, Sandra Chiamaka, graduated from a university in the United States in 2005. But he is not alone. I was informed that at least one of the children of the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Joy Emordi, graduated from a school in the US too. Jonathan Mark, son of the Senate President, David Mark, studied in King’s College, London, and went on to Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science. Key ministers in Yar’Adua’s cabinet, including Information and Communications Minister, Dora Akunyili, whose rebranding is conveniently silent on the future of our schools, also have their children schooling abroad.
What do I propose instead of a strike? One, ASUU should obtain and publish the names of all key government officials whose children are schooling abroad and the schools they are attending. That may not affect the price of fish, but it surely will help provide an insight into why the government does not care about what happens to our schools. Two, instead of making bread-and-butter issues the heart of its campaign, ASUU should press for the passage of the higher education autonomy bill. The passage of the bill does not absolve government of responsibility to fund education properly, no. It will, however, create the competitive environment that will stimulate school administrators and alumni to find ways of attracting and retaining the best faculty and staff.
Whatever teachers may earn now, even if it is reviewed every three years as contained in the agreement, they will still feel short-changed by a structure that yokes everyone under one miserly pay structure, while the perception lingers on that not many lecturers can even justify their current pay. The current travesty that leaves vice chancellors eating out of the hands of the President or Minister has stunted growth and left the schools evading the tough question of what they must do to stand on their own feet. Local problems can also be handled locally, instead of the present situation where the entire school system is brought to a halt as a result of ‘hyper-local’ problems. The bankers’ union used to be a regular nuisance until competition and reduced government interference forced the banks to sit up.
Finally, it really does not make sense punishing innocent students when ASUU can take the fight directly to those concerned. ASUU can either get an order of mandamus compelling government to honour its own agreement or take the fight to the doorsteps of the chairs of the Senate and House committees on education, and the Minister. They can picket their houses in Abuja and insist they will not move until something gives. But to embark on an indefinite strike that will further erode confidence in the system and leave innocent students as the worst victims is neither sensible nor defensible.
Under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ASUU had signed an agreement with government, which, among other things, called for a review of university teachers’ salaries; an extension of the retirement age of lecturers from 65 to 70; allocation of 26 per cent of the yearly budget to education; and a bill to free universities from the apron-strings of government. ASUU and the government quibbled over the list of demands and after a series of strikes that plunged the schools into new depths of decay, Obasanjo’s government signed the agreement, with the intention of honouring it only in the breach. It’s not ASUU’s fault that government has failed to honour its promise. If Obasanjo, being Obasanjo, can be excused on the grounds that he is lawless by nature, how can one explain the fact that Umaru Yar’Adua, who makes a song and dance about the rule of law and due process, cannot get his education minister to honour an agreement which government signed?
This appears to be ASUU’s main point – that if government has refused to honour an agreement that it freely entered into eight years ago, and will not be moved even by a recent two-week warning strike, then the union is perfectly entitled to use other legitimate weapons within its powers to secure compliance. But this strategy misses the point. The question is not the legitimacy of the weapons at ASUU’s disposal but the efficacy. Anyone with a brain half the size of a walnut should have seen by now that strikes have not only lost their impact, they have developed a reverse potency that leaves the school system more damaged each time.
It is a measure of what our universities and schools of higher learning have become, that lecturers who ought to be at the vanguard of finding creative solutions to our problems have become a part of the problem. And those among them who dare to think differently are either not interested in union activities or never get a hearing at meetings where key decisions are taken. The academia, like most spheres of life, is imitating politics. Unfortunately, the academia is not just imitating politics, it is imitating its worst aspects. My heart bleeds not only because two people who have had a most profound effect on my career – Olatunji Dare and Ralph Akinfeleye – taught me in a Nigerian university but because my daughter, who is an undergraduate, will have a hard time believing that going to a Nigerian university is not a waste of her future. And yet, there’s just a difference of 25 years between her generation and mine.
A lecturer in one of the first generation universities told me over the weekend how a dean brushed aside her objections and went ahead to borrow computers from staff and hire fitness tools for two days to impress a visiting accreditation team. According to her, “The faculty had introduced two new courses without any preparation and for months, students were left to wander off, borrowing courses. A day or two before the accreditation team came, the dean arranged a show to impress the team. What she couldn’t borrow to set up the classrooms, she hired; insisting over the objections of a few staff that it would not be in her own time as dean that an accreditation team would cancel a course.” It didn’t matter that this was a hollow ritual.
What kind of ivory tower is this that seeks to overcome its most salient problems by yielding to the lowest common form of resistance? Why is ASUU engaged in a gutter fight with a government that doesn’t know its own left from its right, and doesn’t even care? And why should the Minister of Education – and interestingly, former lecturer, Sam Egwu, care? He established a private secondary school in Abakaliki in 2003 and might, like Obasanjo and his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, award himself a licence to operate a private university before he leaves office! His daughter, Sandra Chiamaka, graduated from a university in the United States in 2005. But he is not alone. I was informed that at least one of the children of the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Joy Emordi, graduated from a school in the US too. Jonathan Mark, son of the Senate President, David Mark, studied in King’s College, London, and went on to Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Science. Key ministers in Yar’Adua’s cabinet, including Information and Communications Minister, Dora Akunyili, whose rebranding is conveniently silent on the future of our schools, also have their children schooling abroad.
What do I propose instead of a strike? One, ASUU should obtain and publish the names of all key government officials whose children are schooling abroad and the schools they are attending. That may not affect the price of fish, but it surely will help provide an insight into why the government does not care about what happens to our schools. Two, instead of making bread-and-butter issues the heart of its campaign, ASUU should press for the passage of the higher education autonomy bill. The passage of the bill does not absolve government of responsibility to fund education properly, no. It will, however, create the competitive environment that will stimulate school administrators and alumni to find ways of attracting and retaining the best faculty and staff.
Whatever teachers may earn now, even if it is reviewed every three years as contained in the agreement, they will still feel short-changed by a structure that yokes everyone under one miserly pay structure, while the perception lingers on that not many lecturers can even justify their current pay. The current travesty that leaves vice chancellors eating out of the hands of the President or Minister has stunted growth and left the schools evading the tough question of what they must do to stand on their own feet. Local problems can also be handled locally, instead of the present situation where the entire school system is brought to a halt as a result of ‘hyper-local’ problems. The bankers’ union used to be a regular nuisance until competition and reduced government interference forced the banks to sit up.
Finally, it really does not make sense punishing innocent students when ASUU can take the fight directly to those concerned. ASUU can either get an order of mandamus compelling government to honour its own agreement or take the fight to the doorsteps of the chairs of the Senate and House committees on education, and the Minister. They can picket their houses in Abuja and insist they will not move until something gives. But to embark on an indefinite strike that will further erode confidence in the system and leave innocent students as the worst victims is neither sensible nor defensible.
Only four Nigerian banks are strong – Report
Only four Nigerian banks may be considered to be strong and worth their claims after the stock market crash, oil sector woes and huge public sector debt defaults combined to create “stress points” in the sector in recent months.
According to the latest edition of The Africa Report, an influential weekly published by Paris-based Groupe Jeune Afrique, gross over, leveraging of balance sheets during the short-lived boom period before March 2008, followed by crash of the stock market had left banks stuck with trillions of naira in bad debts.
The impact of the crash and inclement business environment on the banks vary according to the report, which rated the 24 banks in the country on four main categories: strong, satisfactory, shaken and stressed.
To read the full article, please subcscribe to www.punchng.com or www.punchontheweb.com
According to the latest edition of The Africa Report, an influential weekly published by Paris-based Groupe Jeune Afrique, gross over, leveraging of balance sheets during the short-lived boom period before March 2008, followed by crash of the stock market had left banks stuck with trillions of naira in bad debts.
The impact of the crash and inclement business environment on the banks vary according to the report, which rated the 24 banks in the country on four main categories: strong, satisfactory, shaken and stressed.
To read the full article, please subcscribe to www.punchng.com or www.punchontheweb.com
Sunday, June 28, 2009
No conditions attached to MEND leader's release -FG
The Presidential Committee on Amnesty and Disarmament in the Niger Delta on Sunday re-iterated its assurance that no condition has been attached to the release of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah.
The Media Coordinator of the committee, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, said that Okah, who is currently on trial in Jos, Plateau State for treason, would be freed after diplomatic formalities are concluded with the presidents of Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
The committee made the clarification, following a statement by MEND and the Joint Revolutionary Council that Okah’s release should have been unconditional.
The Media Coordinator of the committee, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, said that Okah, who is currently on trial in Jos, Plateau State for treason, would be freed after diplomatic formalities are concluded with the presidents of Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
The committee made the clarification, following a statement by MEND and the Joint Revolutionary Council that Okah’s release should have been unconditional.
Rebranding campaign targets 17m Nigerians in Diaspora
Rebranding campaign targets 17m Nigerians in Diaspora
The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has said that the rebranding campaign of the Federal Government would be sold to the 17 million Nigerians in the Diaspora, to enhance their renewed confidence in the country.
Akunyili, who said this in a speech titled ‘Re-branding Nigeria: The role of the Church” at the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Enugu held at the Cathedral of The Good Shepherd on Saturday, said that the campaign would encompass the courteous treatment of Nigerians by foreign governments and change the negative perception of the country. She stressed that the negative perception was foisted on the country by the international community and the bad attitude of some Nigerians in addition to the failure of leadership.She also charged clerics to stress the importance of good governance, transparency, accountability and honesty in public office as well as discipline, respect for human life and dignity and a corrupt-free society in their environment.
The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has said that the rebranding campaign of the Federal Government would be sold to the 17 million Nigerians in the Diaspora, to enhance their renewed confidence in the country.
Akunyili, who said this in a speech titled ‘Re-branding Nigeria: The role of the Church” at the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Enugu held at the Cathedral of The Good Shepherd on Saturday, said that the campaign would encompass the courteous treatment of Nigerians by foreign governments and change the negative perception of the country. She stressed that the negative perception was foisted on the country by the international community and the bad attitude of some Nigerians in addition to the failure of leadership.She also charged clerics to stress the importance of good governance, transparency, accountability and honesty in public office as well as discipline, respect for human life and dignity and a corrupt-free society in their environment.
National frequency sales: EFCC detains Mobitel boss over N243m deal with NCC
The Chairman of Mobitel Nigeria Ltd., one of the companies that emerged winners in the recent spectrum sale by the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr. Johnson Salako, was on Thursday picked up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over a N243m waiver deal with the NCC, SUNDAY PUNCH findings have revealed.
Thoughts on Otedola/Dangote N155m donation - Casmir Igbokwe (Sunday Punch June 28, 2009)
I THOUGHT we were done with missing genital tales in Nigeria. But primitive societies are never short of ludicrous stories. Last week, police authorities in Taraba State confirmed that four people had lost their lives in the hands of an irate mob. The four were not armed robbers. They were not kidnappers. They were, according to the Commissioner of Police in Taraba State, Aliyu Musa, suspected to have snatched the genitals of some people.
Much as I pitied the deceased, who died for something they knew nothing about, my pity went more to those who committed the atrocity. They did it out of ignorance. They are probably illiterate citizens, who need some training on how to live in a civilised society. Though this type of story is not peculiar to the North, I pitied that region the more.
Northern Nigeria is a bundle of contradictions. It has some of the richest and poorest people in Nigeria. It has the highest concentration of born leaders and born trumpeters in the country. It probably harbours more preachers, who teach tolerance and love, but witnesses more religious crises in the country. Northern women are naturally beautiful and adorable, but they suffer untold subjugation in the hands of their men. The urchins, called almajiris roam the streets begging for alms. Sometimes, they are easy tools in the hands of mischief makers, who use them to fight one cause or the other.
I believe the North needs more education – more help to catch up with the rest of the country. The government may not do it alone. This is where wealthy individuals from that region and their friends should come in to give a helping hand.
Achieving this objective requires the ingenuity of those who organised the fund-raiser for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ilorin Central Jumat Mosque. Recall that the fund-raiser took place penultimate Friday, under the chairmanship of the Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu. At the event, Nigeria‘s billionaires and millionaires struggled to outshine one another.
The most dramatic was the donation between arch friends later turned arch-enemies, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. According to reports, Dangote donated a total of N75m. Not wanting to be outdone, Otedola donated N80m. The audience responded with a great applause. The organisers must have felt very pleased as millions upon millions of naira poured in from other highly-placed Nigerians. It is expected that the mosque, after refurbishment, will have 99 domes and accommodate about 10,000 worshippers.
This is good. It is no mean achievement to contribute to the building of a befitting house for Allah. Such big donors may get pardon for their sins and even make paradise before tight-fisted fellows who do not contribute to such causes.
However, I believe that it will be better if such donors also sow a seed in the individuals who will worship in those imposing buildings. For what will it profit a man if he builds a palace and there is no family to live in it? Surely, Dangote and Otedola will not want almajiris and other dregs of the society to inhabit a worship centre they laboured to build.
Today, Nigeria is assailed by a myriad of problems. The Academic Staff Union of Universities is on strike. Fake and adulterated drugs are everywhere. Militants are blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta, in spite of the amnesty the Federal Government granted them. Our oil revenue is dwindling by the day. About 10,000 Nigerian teenage girls were reported to have been trapped in sex slavery in Morocco and Libya. The rest may have migrated to Italy or other European cities to look for greener pastures.
To cap it all, a United States-based agency, last Tuesday, rated Nigeria as 15th, out of the 177 countries that have greater tendency to fail in the world. According to The Fund for Peace in its 2009 Failed States Index of 177 countries, ”Although Nigeria is an oil-rich nation, oil revenues scarcely benefit the majority of Nigerians. Instead, elite and criminals benefit from the vast oil reserves. In order to improve its economy, oil revenues should increasingly be directed toward public service programmes.”
True, criminals in government and elsewhere have sapped the nation dry. Corruption and other criminal tendencies do not reside only in Nigeria. The only problem is that while we worship our own criminals who have a lot of cash to throw around, other nations make them face the law.
Last week, for instance, US billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford, appeared in a Houston court in handcuffs and leg chains with regard to a $7bn fraud charges levelled against him. Before his court appearance, he had already spent a week at a detention centre. Stanford allegedly conspired with some others to defraud investors, who purchased $7bn in certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank. They allegedly promised such investors returns that were too good to be true.
Remember our own wonder banks? How many of those involved in defrauding Nigerians of their hard-earned money have faced the music? Almost on a weekly basis, some of the victims of these wonder banks urge me to plead with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to release their money trapped in those banks (as if the CBN Governor needs my advice to do what he is supposed to do).
One interesting thing about Stanford is that he handed himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigations agents. For us in Nigeria, that is another big lesson. How many of our billionaires will willingly hand themselves over to law enforcement agents to be investigated? There were allegations and counter allegations as regards the reported share manipulation of AP Plc. I‘m not sure how far the relevant authorities have gone to compel the principal gladiators to face the law of the land.
For us to grow as individuals and as a nation, we must get our priorities right. We must make our laws work. Those who kill for whatever reason, be it manhood theft or breast theft, must face the consequences of their actions. The society that produces such characters needs serious education. They need good things that make life worth living. Without this, we may discover that the body of the worshippers may be in the mosque while their spirit may be revolving around what to eat and how to escape from genital thieves.
Much as I pitied the deceased, who died for something they knew nothing about, my pity went more to those who committed the atrocity. They did it out of ignorance. They are probably illiterate citizens, who need some training on how to live in a civilised society. Though this type of story is not peculiar to the North, I pitied that region the more.
Northern Nigeria is a bundle of contradictions. It has some of the richest and poorest people in Nigeria. It has the highest concentration of born leaders and born trumpeters in the country. It probably harbours more preachers, who teach tolerance and love, but witnesses more religious crises in the country. Northern women are naturally beautiful and adorable, but they suffer untold subjugation in the hands of their men. The urchins, called almajiris roam the streets begging for alms. Sometimes, they are easy tools in the hands of mischief makers, who use them to fight one cause or the other.
I believe the North needs more education – more help to catch up with the rest of the country. The government may not do it alone. This is where wealthy individuals from that region and their friends should come in to give a helping hand.
Achieving this objective requires the ingenuity of those who organised the fund-raiser for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ilorin Central Jumat Mosque. Recall that the fund-raiser took place penultimate Friday, under the chairmanship of the Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu. At the event, Nigeria‘s billionaires and millionaires struggled to outshine one another.
The most dramatic was the donation between arch friends later turned arch-enemies, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. According to reports, Dangote donated a total of N75m. Not wanting to be outdone, Otedola donated N80m. The audience responded with a great applause. The organisers must have felt very pleased as millions upon millions of naira poured in from other highly-placed Nigerians. It is expected that the mosque, after refurbishment, will have 99 domes and accommodate about 10,000 worshippers.
This is good. It is no mean achievement to contribute to the building of a befitting house for Allah. Such big donors may get pardon for their sins and even make paradise before tight-fisted fellows who do not contribute to such causes.
However, I believe that it will be better if such donors also sow a seed in the individuals who will worship in those imposing buildings. For what will it profit a man if he builds a palace and there is no family to live in it? Surely, Dangote and Otedola will not want almajiris and other dregs of the society to inhabit a worship centre they laboured to build.
Today, Nigeria is assailed by a myriad of problems. The Academic Staff Union of Universities is on strike. Fake and adulterated drugs are everywhere. Militants are blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta, in spite of the amnesty the Federal Government granted them. Our oil revenue is dwindling by the day. About 10,000 Nigerian teenage girls were reported to have been trapped in sex slavery in Morocco and Libya. The rest may have migrated to Italy or other European cities to look for greener pastures.
To cap it all, a United States-based agency, last Tuesday, rated Nigeria as 15th, out of the 177 countries that have greater tendency to fail in the world. According to The Fund for Peace in its 2009 Failed States Index of 177 countries, ”Although Nigeria is an oil-rich nation, oil revenues scarcely benefit the majority of Nigerians. Instead, elite and criminals benefit from the vast oil reserves. In order to improve its economy, oil revenues should increasingly be directed toward public service programmes.”
True, criminals in government and elsewhere have sapped the nation dry. Corruption and other criminal tendencies do not reside only in Nigeria. The only problem is that while we worship our own criminals who have a lot of cash to throw around, other nations make them face the law.
Last week, for instance, US billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford, appeared in a Houston court in handcuffs and leg chains with regard to a $7bn fraud charges levelled against him. Before his court appearance, he had already spent a week at a detention centre. Stanford allegedly conspired with some others to defraud investors, who purchased $7bn in certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank. They allegedly promised such investors returns that were too good to be true.
Remember our own wonder banks? How many of those involved in defrauding Nigerians of their hard-earned money have faced the music? Almost on a weekly basis, some of the victims of these wonder banks urge me to plead with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to release their money trapped in those banks (as if the CBN Governor needs my advice to do what he is supposed to do).
One interesting thing about Stanford is that he handed himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigations agents. For us in Nigeria, that is another big lesson. How many of our billionaires will willingly hand themselves over to law enforcement agents to be investigated? There were allegations and counter allegations as regards the reported share manipulation of AP Plc. I‘m not sure how far the relevant authorities have gone to compel the principal gladiators to face the law of the land.
For us to grow as individuals and as a nation, we must get our priorities right. We must make our laws work. Those who kill for whatever reason, be it manhood theft or breast theft, must face the consequences of their actions. The society that produces such characters needs serious education. They need good things that make life worth living. Without this, we may discover that the body of the worshippers may be in the mosque while their spirit may be revolving around what to eat and how to escape from genital thieves.
Koko Mansion and all that
Well, it's no longer news that Koko Mansion will begin airing on HiTV from today (Sunday June 28, 2009).
Koko Mansion is a conept developed by entertainer, Dapo Oyebanjo aka D'banj. It's a reality show in which female contestants jostle for a big prize. But the dominant question is what moral lessons will Koko Mansion offer viewers?
The organisers have risen in stout defence of the concept.
Let's wait and see what it offers.
Koko Mansion is a conept developed by entertainer, Dapo Oyebanjo aka D'banj. It's a reality show in which female contestants jostle for a big prize. But the dominant question is what moral lessons will Koko Mansion offer viewers?
The organisers have risen in stout defence of the concept.
Let's wait and see what it offers.
Nigeria's public university system shut down, yet again!
Nigeria's public universities are on a strike yet again. The Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities have shut down the public university system because of the Federal Government's refusal to honour agreements reached with them. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities says it will join on Monday.
On Saturday, ASUU said it might disrupt the post-Universities Matriculation Exam tests in the public universities unless its demands are met.
Nigeria's Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, has denied the existence of any agreement with ASUU. That leaves Nigerian undergraduates in these universities in a quandary. SOme were even preparing for exams before their schools were shut as a result of the strike.
But what many observers say is that government should negotiate with these unions so that students can go back to classes in the next few days.
It leaves a sour taste in the mouths of Nigerians that government can treat the issues raised by ASUU with levity. One of such is the improved funding of the system to bring the country at par with other leading nations of the world.
Any nation that treats its education system with levity risks being relegated to the background of development. It appears as if successive administrations in Nigeria are not really bothered about raising the standard of education in the country.
There is the school of thought that because many of Nigeria's leaders own private universities and do not care if the public university system is destroyed.
Well, Nigerians wait for this situation to be resolved - quickly.
On Saturday, ASUU said it might disrupt the post-Universities Matriculation Exam tests in the public universities unless its demands are met.
Nigeria's Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, has denied the existence of any agreement with ASUU. That leaves Nigerian undergraduates in these universities in a quandary. SOme were even preparing for exams before their schools were shut as a result of the strike.
But what many observers say is that government should negotiate with these unions so that students can go back to classes in the next few days.
It leaves a sour taste in the mouths of Nigerians that government can treat the issues raised by ASUU with levity. One of such is the improved funding of the system to bring the country at par with other leading nations of the world.
Any nation that treats its education system with levity risks being relegated to the background of development. It appears as if successive administrations in Nigeria are not really bothered about raising the standard of education in the country.
There is the school of thought that because many of Nigeria's leaders own private universities and do not care if the public university system is destroyed.
Well, Nigerians wait for this situation to be resolved - quickly.
Asari-Dokubo rejects Nigerian government's amnesty
The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahedeen Asari-Dokubo, has protested his inclusion on a list of beneficiaries of the Nigerian government's amnesty for militants.
Asari-Dokubo, who has vowed to take the matter to court on Monday, says he should not be on the list because he is not a militant and has not been convicted of any offence.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also says it is not impressed by the offerof amnesty. It has vowed to continue with its campaign of sabotage of Nigerian oil industry facilities.
There are fears that President Umaru Yar'adua's amnesty offer may have failed even before its expected commencement date of August 6, 2009. Even though some militants have surrendered weapons and opted for the amnesty, many observers say they are opportunists looking for a respite to enjoy the wealth they made from criminal activities.
Asari-Dokubo, who has vowed to take the matter to court on Monday, says he should not be on the list because he is not a militant and has not been convicted of any offence.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also says it is not impressed by the offerof amnesty. It has vowed to continue with its campaign of sabotage of Nigerian oil industry facilities.
There are fears that President Umaru Yar'adua's amnesty offer may have failed even before its expected commencement date of August 6, 2009. Even though some militants have surrendered weapons and opted for the amnesty, many observers say they are opportunists looking for a respite to enjoy the wealth they made from criminal activities.
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