Challenges of implementing Lagos tenancy law

In this piece, Bamidele Jonathan reviews the challenges facing the implementation of tenancy law in Lagos State and suggest solutions

Introduction

Tenancy is as old as civilisation itself. It is part of all stages of civilisation – ancient, middle ages, industrial and technological eras. The scope of this article shall be limited to Nigerian tenancy in the post colonial era with special reference to Lagos State. It is the currently enacted new Tenancy Laws of Lagos State that moitivated the writing of this article as the contribution of the author to the laws.

Firstly, the Lagos State tenancy is in the spirit of 1979 constitution and an improvement on the Lagos State 1996 Rent Control Tribunal Edict. Section 17(2)(d) of 1979 constitution states that, “The state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that suitable and adequate shelter, food, water supply,… are provided for all citizens.”

Also the Lagos State 1996 Rent Control Tribunal Edict provides for “the establishment of rent tribunals for the determination and control of standard rent of residential premises and for other purposes…”

In addition to the fact that the new law is in line with the constitution, it is also an improvement of 1996 Rent Control Tribunal Edict as many areas of tenancy not addressed by RCTE were covered by the new law. For instance, security of tenure is better guaranteed; it frowns at forcible ejection of tenants; unreasonable rent and arbitrary increase of rent, as well as advance payment were addressed.

The unavailability of houses is still a major set back to the implementation of the law. It is a known fact that law alone cannot be required to increase the available housing stock; therefore concrete measures are required to address the housing crises – which is at the root of the problem of housing including the one that gave rise to the tenancy law.

The advancement of the 2011 law over that of 1996 RCTE goes beyond the items covered, it treated some major lapses of 1996 RCTE, which include:

• The new law makes provisions for the Magistrates’ and High Courts to entertain legal issues relating to tenancy. This is an improvement over the situation where Tribunal wass set up as provided for in 1996 RCTE. The setting up of the Tribunal for the purpose is a violation of Article 10 of the basic principle on the Independence of the Judiciary which states that any person without legal training cannot administer legal issues. The new trend will strengthen the capacity of the existing Magistrates and the High Court.

•The Tribunal members has no security of tenure because the Military Administrators could hire and fire them at will. Even the tenure of Military Administrators themselves are not guaranteed; how much more that of the Tribunal members. But the Magistrates and the Judges of High Court had secure tenure which could fast track issues being raised in legal issues.

•The six months given by the 1996 RCTE to tenants to look for alternative accommodation had been replaced by the normal legal process which can protect the interest of the tenants without jeopardising that of the landlords.

This article is to outline some lapses in this new law and those in the previous ones that were not covered also in the new law.

Some of the ste desire to see a perfect working tenancy laws and relationship by taking practical steps using one stone to kill many birds at once among which are:

• A tenancy relationship that will give an account for our housing stocks and updating the same regularly

• While the landlord are in possession of their property physically and economically, the government through this law should be legally controlling housing stock

• Using the mechanism of actualising this tenancy laws and relationship to bring the incidence of building failures into barest minimum

• To also enhance the workability of the New National Building Code.

•To put the professional in the built environment in practical and technical control of the field in place of the quacks who are currently in charge of the bulk of their practice.

The law’s loophole

Firstly, the core issue in housing is that of the stock which must be available before we talk of tenancy. Those who are involve in housing (at all levels) in Lagos State knows that the law cannot operate effectively in the present situation. A Lagos-based Lawyer, Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu (The Punch, Friday December 9, 2011) said the efficacy of the Law, as ambitious as it is, can only be predicated on a robust housing scheme. The way it is now, tenants are being caught between ambitious desire of government to mitigate the high tenancy rate and the reality of paucity of housing facilities in the State.”

The situation where demand is far higher than supply reduces the opportunity for legal claims by the accommodation seekers. This is because the landlord and their agents will push such aside in the presence of alternative tenants who are ready to pay any amount even when it is ridiculous.

Therefore, the core issue is that housing stock needs to be increased to a level whereby there will be alternative for tenants. It is under such condition that the law will achieve the desired goals.

However, beyond legality, practical administrative step that can enhance the implementation of the new law is missing. In the same The Punch of Friday December 9, 2011 a tenant (Collins Duru) suggested that a task force should be put in place to ensure compliance with the law.

Furthermore, time constraints to go to courts or purse legality is readily not available to most accommodation seekers who may be workers. The employers will not have the time to give an employee to be pursuing legal matters at the expense of the time for work. How many tenants or accommodation seekers can even afford the legal fees or have the time to go to court if an exorbitant rent is demanded from them?

The way forward

First and foremost, there is the need to increase housing stock. The rate at which stock of houses increases cannot guarantee an increase in stock that is proportional to the actual housing needs. Many houses that are built by individuals take almost a life span and requires the bulk of their income. The alternative is to remain in the hand of the landlords whose only purpose building houses is to make profit on investment. The government’s housing schemes and houses provided by private developer are actually out of the reach of the needy ( especially for low-income class forming not less than 50 per cent of those who need house in Lagos). Therefore, the same landlords who are having the purchasing power buy over the new housing units for letting.

The lack of a promising and efficient mortgage system has excluded even the working class who can pay the mortgage from their salaries. Employers (first public and the organised private sector next) should take the lead in providing insurance coverage and as guarantor of the first home owner to get a house within the first five years of employment. It should be adopted as a policy. This is all the private sector in the business of building houses for sale needs to start off massive housing for the low and middle income class in fixed income structures. The government can reduce their involvement in actual construction to essential needs and basic social housing. The task will be of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation of the policy. The issue of mass housing should be encouraged by the government.

The government and the interested private sectors, especially the developers should be interested in financing such ventures that will lead to more social housing that will use 100 per cent local building materials. The cooperative housing should be further encouraged as this will cover, the low and middle income classes not in the employment of public or organised private sectors. All measures to activate a functional housing circle to increase the housing stock should be encouraged.

In addition to courts, the citizens mediation centres should be involved in settling issues related to this law. The existing task force in the zonal planning office or at the central planning office should be mobilised to get involved in this process by enforcing the National Building Code in the area of Certificate of Fitness for use and habitation. For a new house, a copy of this certificate should be pasted on the building which the task force will freely access. This same certificate should be renewed every five years. The tenants should be empowered to request for the current copy of this certificate pasted on the wall or should not pay rent to any landlord or agent. The tenants should report the same to the task force for action. Any house that is not having a pasted copy of this certificate should be warned twice and at the third time cause the house to be sealed off and such landlord and the tenants be charged to court for living in an unfit house. Any professional consultant that will sign a certificate of fitness that is false or the structure fails should be held responsible by the court of law for professional misconduct and for criminal offence.

Moreover, the issue of building failures will be reduced to barest minimum, as the consultants will be held responsible for every building under the Law. This will also empowered the government and its agencies to have a grip hold on premises under the Law beyond pre-construction and construction stage. Though these provisions are there in the National Building Code (section 13 (ii)) but it is high time it was put into use. It is called Building Condition Survey Report and Building Maintenance Manual which shall be the bases of renewal of the previous Certificate of Fitness every 5 years.

Finally the poor maintenance culture that Nigerians are known for will become a past as the structure must be in the minimum standard before consultants will put their signature on the Certificate of Fitness. These premises should be inspected once a year by the task force of the Code from the planning office without notice to the landlord and the tenants.

These suggestions if followed, will contribute to making the new tenancy more productive to serve its place in our society.

– Jonathan, an architect, writes from Lagos.

Pension: Making informed choice between programmed withdrawal and annuity

Pension: Making informed choice between programmed withdrawal and annuity.

Pension: Making informed choice between programmed withdrawal and annuity

 

Under the new contributory pension scheme, a potential retiree, while in active service, is expected to have much knowledge of what his retirement options are. NIKE POPOOLA writes on the choices

Under the new contributory pension scheme, as enshrined in the 2004 Pension Reform Act, one critical finding uncovered so far during interviews with new retirees is that they are usually ignorant about how to make the best choice out of the two retirement options available for drawing their pension benefits.

Four years after the first set of pensioners began to access their benefits under the new contributory pension scheme, workers are still burdened with the same fear and anxiety that was predominantly associated with the former pension scheme in the country.

If a worker is well enlightened about his benefits and obligations under the new pension scheme, experts say he should not be unnecessarily worried. Rather, he should be able to make the best choice out of the two available options provided for him by law.

A major difference between the old scheme (which used to be operational in the country) and the new scheme (which is fast growing) is the planned transparent structure associated with the latter.

The Retirement Savings Account of the worker under the new scheme is operated like a bank account, in which the worker gets an update on his account balance (RSA) regularly, thus enabling him to know how much he is entitled to, even before he retires.

To avoid hiccups that may arise at retirement, a worker should ensure that he monitors his account while still in active service. Besides, he is expected to have sufficient knowledge on the two retirement options that are available to him: programmed withdrawal and annuity.

Section 4 of the PRA 2004 clearly specifies the conditions under which an individual can have access to the monthly contributions in his RSA.

The section says, “A worker with a RSA can access the money upon retirement or at the age of 50, which ever comes later, by opting for programmed withdrawal, which is provided by the Pension Fund Administrators, or annuity, which is provided by the insurance companies.”

According to the Act, programmed withdrawal is an option that is calculated on an expected life span; meaning that the pensioner will be paid on a regular basis for a fixed number of years, after which he ceases to earn any further income from his PFA again.

Also, the Act specifies that the annuity will be paid on a regular basis by the insurance company to the pensioner until he dies.

Inasmuch as the new pension scheme does not make provision for gratuity, the pensioner is usually allowed the option to withdraw certain percentage of the balance standing to his account as lump sum.

The other means, allowed by law, under which a worker may access a maximum of 25 per cent of the balance standing to his RSA, is if he loses his job before the age of 50, and does not get another job within six months.

The Director-General, National Pension Commission, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad, says that a PFA cannot decide for the retiree how it will be paying him when he retires, but can only advise the retiree on the options available to him in payment of his benefits.

He warns that Section 1.2.9 of regulation on Administration of Retirement Terminal Benefits issued by the Commission provides that a PFA shall not impose, coerce or influence a retiree on the choice or mode of withdrawal.

According to Ahmad, the payment of retirement benefits is governed by the PRA 2004, Section 4(1) (c), which allows for a lump sum payment to a retiree, provided that the amount left after that lump sum withdrawal shall be sufficient to fund a programmed withdrawal over an expected life span or annuity for life, of not less than 50 per cent of his annual remuneration as at the date of retirement.

“This, therefore, makes the monthly pension withdrawals to be a first charge on the RSA balance while the residual, after providing for the monthly withdrawals, will be paid as lump sum,” Ahmad explained.

The PenCom boss says that the computation of the lump sum payment and periodic (monthly/quarterly) pension withdrawal is based on a standard programmed withdrawal template/model.

This template, he notes, makes provision for minimum and maximum withdrawals for lump sum and periodic draws.

Ahmad also says that the RSA holder can negotiate with the PFA on the minimum and maximum amounts to be paid, either as lump sum or periodic pension, within the minimum and maximum generated by the template.

According to PenCom, out of 41,000 pensioners in the scheme, less than 0.5 per cent have been using annuity.

However, PFAs and life insurance operators have expressed their views on the practical operative modes of the two retirement options.

The Chairman, Pension Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Dave Uduanu, notes that efforts geared at sustaining the contributory pension scheme cannot be complete without reference to the activities of related or complementary industries.

He says, “The core pension industry must put their act together to ensure that they do not lose their market share to a related industry, such as the insurance.”

According to him, the PRA 2004 Act clearly offers a choice to the retiree between a programmed withdrawal and annuity payment.

Where a RSA holder is not well managed and informed while in the active fund, he adds, chances are that he may opt for an annuity, though there could be other ancillary reasons for some to opt for annuity in place of programmed withdrawal.

“But the point must be made that while retirees could exercise option of annuity, the choice must not be borne out of lack of sufficient information on the part of the operator,” Uduanu says.

The immediate past Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr. Ezekiel Chiejina, notes that it has been quite difficult for the insurance firms to gain access to the pensioners in order to market annuity to them.

He observes that as the fund is under the control of the PFAs, they do everything possible to make sure they keep the money.

Chiejina says, “They mislead people. The main thing is ignorance and awareness. They are controlling the money and want to remain controlling it; they don’t want people to know about annuity.”

The insurer is worried that the new retirees do not know they need to enquire more to know that they have options, different from programmed withdrawal.

“They have been told they don’t have an option. Even if some of them are told, they will not believe because they think it is a lie,” he adds.

He, however, notes that practically, some retirees deliberately opt for programmed withdrawal because of poor health. Some may want to collect their money on time, thereby opting for programmed withdrawal.

However, he adds that those with a history of longevity running in their families will prefer annuity.

According to him, the solution is for insurance companies to wake up and be more proactive in marketing annuity, as many of them have yet to develop the product.

Experts advise that when a new retiree gets his retirement bond or confirmation letter, he should go to his PFA, where he would be asked to sign an application letter to require for his lump sum and either programmed withdrawal or annuity option.

He should read it clearly and be sure that he is signing his preferred option, if not sure, he should ask questions and ask for the right form to fill, (either programmed withdrawal or annuity form) before proceeding with his application, they caution.

After that, the next step is for the PFA to require the new retiree to provide details, such as passport photograph; birth certificate or age declaration; retirement letter; confirmation letter (for private sector clients); bond slip (for public sector clients); most recent payslips; signed retirement indemnity form; insurance acceptance letter ( for a retiree taking annuity); means of identification; bank account details; and annuity agreement documents(for annuitant).

While negotiating on what option to choose, a retiree should ask his PFA to give him a print out of his lump sum, what his regular retirement payments will be and how many years he will be paid (if he decides to take the programmed withdrawal option) before signing any agreement.

It is advisable that he should also take this print out to an insurance company licensed to underwrite annuity, where he would ask the firm to give him details of how much it will be paying him regularly, until he dies (if he decides to take annuity).

Comparison between the offer from the insurance company on annuity and the PFA on programmed withdrawal should help him to decide which option to take before signing any agreement with his PFA.

It should be noted, however, that where a retiree has purchased the life annuity, he shall not be allowed to change to programmed withdrawal and vice versa.

 

Margaret Thatcher: The One and Only

When Hillary Clinton recently announced that she will retire from politics after the 2012 U.S. Presidential elections, one of the most remarkable political careers of the modern era likely came to an end.

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Former British PM Margaret Thatcher.

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Assuming she adheres to her vow, she will likely never become the first female American president. Moreover, there are few, if any, prominent American women lawmakers who are expected to make a bid for the White House in 2016. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s political future looks cloudy, while the governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, has presidential aspirations, but she remains an untested long-shot.

It is indeed odd that the U.S., the world’s most advanced nation, has never had a female head-of-state. Many countries around the world – including Germany, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Israel and Thailand – have had women as leaders, some of whom have become iconic figures.

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Moreover, the nation most similar culturally and linguistically to the U.S., Great Britain, has had one – and only one – woman Prime Minister.

Margaret Thatcher dominated British politics throughout the 1980s.

Thatcher became a British powerhouse and a global player during the era of Ronald Reagan. However, given her strident conservative views; opposition to trade unions during a period of endemic strikes and high unemployment; tough stance against the Soviet Union; controversial statements on immigration during a period of racial unrest in Britain; and severe cuts in social spending; the “Iron Lady” made as many enemies as supporters.

Thatcher remains a highly polarizing figure in Britain and elsewhere. Even some members of her Conservative Party were uncomfortable with her views, personality and policies. Still, she remains the only woman British Prime Minister.

Thatcher’s profile was recently raised again by the release of a new movie starring Meryl Streep in the role of the formidable woman.

International Business Times spoke to an expert on British politics to discuss the phenomenon and legacy of Margaret Thatcher.
Dr. Victoria Honeyman is a lecturer in British Politics at Leeds University, UK.

IB TIMES: Margaret Thatcher was the first female British Prime Minister, but so far the only one. Do you think her controversial term in office and strident personality has hurt the chances of other British women from rising to the top of UK politics? Or did she inspire a new generation of British females to pursue senior politics?

HONEYMAN: I don’t think it has particularly damaged the prospects of [British] women in politics, nor has she particularly helped it. Thatcher was often accused of acting “like a man” in politics and therefore betraying the feminist movement. Therefore, other female politicians are no more linked to Thatcher than a male politician would be to any other random male politician.
Thatcher’s politics, not her gender, that were far more likely to inspire or upset people.

IB TIMES: What made Thatcher stand out to the point where she led the rough and tumble world of Tory politics?
HONEYMAN: Like all politicians, the attributes which led her to the top were ambition, expertise and cold-blooded determination. Thatcher was able to split opinion and inspire loyalty amongst her supporters, as well as inspiring hatred amongst her enemies. In addition, Thatcher was lucky in that many of her political opponents missed their own chances of leadership.

IB TIMES: Is Thatcher an ”icon” to the current Tory party, or do they seek to distance themselves from her now?

HONEYMAN: A bit of both, depending on who you talk to. Thatcher is a toxic brand to many in Britain and therefore the party have distanced themselves from her. However, to another sizeable portion of the electorate, Thatcher is a political hero, as reflected by the desire of former Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s to meet with her early in their leadership.
Therefore, the current Conservative Party cannot distance themselves too much from Thatcher. It is a tricky tightrope to walk on.

IB TIMES: What percent of the Members of Parliament in the UK are women? Are we seeing this figure climb?

HONEYMAN: I think it is currently just over 20 percent. There have been a number of initiatives since the early 1990s amongst the three main parties [Labour, Conservative, Liberal-Democrat] to increase the number of women in Parliament, but these have tended to have only limited, and rather short-term, success.

IB TIMES: Does the Labour Party feel “embarrassed” that they’ve never had a female candidate for PM, given that they’re supposed to be the “progressive” party”?

HONEYMAN: There is no evidence to suggest this. They have had a female Deputy Leader in the form of Harriet Harman. Prior to 1997, the key thing for the Labour Party was winning a general election, then maintaining their position in government, not the gender of their leader.

IB TIMES: What British women, if any, might be considered future PM material?

HONEYMAN: It is impossible to say. When asked – while serving as Education Minister under former Prime Minister Edward Heath — Thatcher herself said she didn’t expect to see a female Prime Minister in her own lifetime.
Politics is a game of twists and turns and therefore it is impossible to mark someone for greatness with any certainty.

Health and fitness news

Resting heart rate as simple biomarker

A large study has found that a rise in resting heart rate over a decade may indicate an increased risk of death from coronary artery disease.

Norwegian researchers studied 30,000 healthy men and women 20 and older, checking heart rates at intervals 10 years apart. The scientists followed the subjects through 2008, recording the number of deaths from coronary heart disease. The results were published Dec. 21 in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Compared with those whose heart rates remained stable at 70 beats per minute or less, those whose rates increased to 85 or more were almost twice as likely to die of heart disease. For those with resting rates between 70 and 85 beats per minute at the first test, an increase to greater than 85 was associated with an 80 per cent increase in death rate.

There was no direct decrease in heart disease risk with decreasing resting heart rate, but among the 7,000 people whose heart rates had decreased from between 70 and 85 to below 70 beats a minute, risk for death from any cause was reduced by 40 per cent.

The subjects were completely healthy at both measurements, said Ulrik Wisloff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “So resting heart rate is a simple, cost-free and strong biomarker that should be monitored regularly.”

Trace elements and pancreatic cancer risk
A new study has found that high bodily levels of the trace elements nickel and selenium may be associated with reduced risk for pancreatic cancer, and that high levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead may increase the risk.

The study, published online Dec. 19 in the journal Gut, included 118 pancreatic cancer patients and 399 patients with other diagnoses at several hospitals in Spain. Researchers analyzed toenail samples with plasma mass spectrometry, a highly sensitive technique for detecting trace elements.

After controlling for age, sex, smoking, diabetes and other factors, the scientists found that the subjects with the highest levels of arsenic were at twice the risk for pancreatic cancer, compared with those with the lowest concentrations. Those with high levels of cadmium were at three times the risk for pancreatic cancer, while those with the highest levels of lead were at six times the risk.

Those with the highest levels of nickel and selenium, on the other hand, were at significantly lower risk for pancreatic cancer.

Nuria Malats, an epidemiologist at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center and the senior author of the new study, said it was the first to provide these kinds of results with trace elements, and that it did not mean that people should take dietary supplements.

4 Vitamins that strengthen older brains

Higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E are associated with better mental functioning in the elderly, a new study has found.

Researchers measured blood levels of these nutrients in 104 men and women, whose average age was 87. The scientists also performed brain scans to determine brain volume and administered six commonly used tests of mental functioning. The study is in the Jan. 24 issue of Neurology.

After controlling for age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index and other factors, the researchers found that people with the highest blood levels of the four vitamins scored higher on the cognitive tests and had larger brain volume than those with the lowest levels.

Omega-3 levels were linked to better cognitive functioning and to healthier blood vessels in the brain, but not to higher brain volume, which suggests that these beneficial fats may improve cognition by a different means.

Higher blood levels of trans fats, on the other hand, were significantly associated with impaired mental ability and smaller brain volume.

New York Times Service.

One nation, conflicting interests

WE  writes that the nationwide strike that followed the Federal Government’s removal of petroleum subsidy might have exposed Nigeria as a country of divergent opinions

Second Republic is dead, but the memories of some actions of the politicians and political parties that played active roles during the ill-fated democracy would not be forgotten in a hurry. The slogan of the ruling party then, the National Party of Nigeria was: One Nation, One Destiny.”

However, the last strike and protests called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, which was supported by the civil society groups, may have shown that Nigerians, though in one nation, have their different destinies. Agreeably, majority of the people would have thought that the protests, which were occasioned by the removal of subsidy on petrol, would be resisted by people from the six-geo political zones of the country. Such thought, according to Emeka Kalu, an engineer, was further fueled with the fact that Nigerians, no matter their status, region or tribe, patronise the same market to purchase  goods. “After all, a musician waxed a record, in which he said this,” Kalu further explained.

It was probably based on such hypothesis that protesters trooped out in large number during the protests in some zones, while in others, sympathisers of government at the centre either stayed indoors or even organised their own protests to show support for the government.

Thus, in the whole of the South-West and the entire four zones in the northern part of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the strike was described as total. Economic and social activities were paralyzed. Rallies were also held to denounce the government’s action. In Lagos, the rallies and the protests assumed a carnival-like dimension as musicians, actors and actresses mounted the stage to add colour to the demonstrations. The entertainers, who hitherto saw President Goodluck Jonathan as the messiah derided him by calling him unprintable names. The convener of Save Nigeria Group, who was also a vice-presidential candidate for the Congress for Progressive Change during the last presidential election, Pastor Tunde Bakare, was visible at the event. His overbearing presence at the rallies made the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, to say that the protesters were members of Bakare’s Latter Rain Assembly Church.

Kuku and those who had such impression must have been stunned  when the Muslims leaders led their members to Ojota, venue of the rallies for their jumat prayers. After listening to the sermon, the Muslims, who were supported by their Christian brothers and sisters, then went on their knees, for prayers. In Gombe, Kano, Ilorin, Lokoja, Yola, the situation was almost the same: protesters trooped out in large number to register their displeasure over the government’s action.

But the residents of Bayelsa, the home State of the President, shunned civil society groups’ protest. The civil society groups under the aegis of Civil Liberties Organisation in the state had called for public protest and had even gone ahead to sensitise the public not to sit on the fence but to come out en masse to protest against the Federal Government’s policy, which they considered as “anti Nigerian people.”

While the leaders of the civil society groups in the state blamed the failure of the street protest to hold on the refusal of the police to grant them permit for the rally, a senior police source dismissed the claim as untrue, saying the command even deployed policemen to provide the civil society groups protection, which informed the presence of security operatives at take off point of the rally and other strategic locations in the state capital so as to prevent miscreants from hijacking the process. It was, however, learnt that the President’s men succeeded in infiltrating the rank of the anti subsidy removal camp and the result was the failure of residents to turn out for the rally.

It was not only in Bayelsa State, where ethnicity reason prevailed. The President’s fellow Ijaw man and a former militant, Asari Dokubo, who is from Rivers State, led a peaceful rally of a small crowd, threatening to defend the position of President Jonathan. He said if PENGASSAN carried out its threat to shut oil production, he would rally former militants to take over and ensure that PENGASSAN did not return. In the estimation of the former militant, the move by many Nigerians against the FG was meant to discriminate against the leadership of a helpless minority of Ijaw decent. He ((Dokubo) threatened to personally spearhead the region’s mass protest to defend their son from the arrogant northern majority whom he claimed wanted to make the country ungovernable.

Also, a coalition that called itself Deltans Occupy Niger Delta Resources, in a communiqué, said it would take its resources back, by all legal means available to it. The release signed by Ankios Briggs, President Agape Birthrights and convener of NDONDR reads, “Niger Delta and oil resources found in the Niger Delta belong to Niger Delta people. All resources found in any other region of Nigeria belong to the people of such region. We call on all our Niger Delta people, for the sake of our future to look to our nearest neighbours, the Igbo for immediate and strong alliance, to enable the Niger Delta nations and the Igbo nation to face the obvious change that will come to Nigeria, in strength, justice, brotherhood and truth. If Jonathan, a Niger Delta son, is not good enough to govern Nigeria, the oil in his Niger Delta is not good enough for Nigeria. If the Niger Delta people are not good enough to be part of good governance in Nigeria then our oil and gas of the Niger Delta peoples is not good enough for Nigeria.”

Some ex-militants, who were known to fight on the side of the people before carrots began to drop from the government table, also stormed Yenagoa and protested along the Major Chief Melford Okilo way in total support of the FG’s action.

Before then, some prominent people from the South-South also took sides with government on the matter and even alleged a plot to assassinate the President and some eminent persons in his administration. The Ijaw leaders, under the aegis of South-South Leaders’ Forum, led by Chief Edwin Clark, met with a resolve to queue behind Jonathan on the removal of fuel subsidy while they accused anti-subsidy promoters from other regions of the country of plotting the downfall of their kinsman.

It was however gathered that the people of the South-East were persuaded to stay-off the streets during the protests with the hope that Jonathan would hand over to an indigene of the zone in 2015.

A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West and the Action Congress of Nigeria however expressed their worry over the ethnicisation of the protests. David-West particularly said that it was wrong for some Ijaw leaders and persons from the Niger Delta to conclude that resistance against fuel subsidy removal was aimed at frustrating and possibly ousting President Jonathan. David-West, who described the fuel subsidy issue as a national one, reminded those who ascribed ethnic meaning to the strike, to recall that the President did not win the April 2011 election with only the votes from the Niger-Delta and the Ijaw. He said, “What they are doing is not good for the image of the President. Those protesting on the basis of ethnicity are merely interested in the money they can make from the president and also seeking relevance.  Jonathan is the president of Nigeria and not the Ijaw. Jonathan only got 24 per cent of his votes from the South-South. He is able to occupy Aso Rock because of the votes from other parts of Nigeria. There is a serious need for people to be circumspect at this critical moment.”

The Action Congress of Nigeria, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, decried those reading ethnic meanings into the protests. The party said it was unfortunate that the President “that was purportedly given a pan-Nigeria mandate only a few months back is now being made to look more and more like a South-South President, who must be ‘protected’ by his ‘supporters and kinsmen’ against failed politicians from the other regions, forgetting that the same President won the last election because of the support of the other regions that are now been demonised.”

Bakare was particularly criticised for leading the protest in Lagos, and it was alleged that the protests he led were sponsored by some individuals. But the non-conformist cleric described the allegation as a misplaced propaganda, adding that it was not the first time that SNG would lead protests against unjust acts in the nation. He reminded Nigerians about the rallies the group staged to protest the denial of Jonathan the opportunity to act as President in 2010, when his late boss then, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua was terminally sick. But the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, said Bakare should no longer be looked at from the angle of being a pastor. “In the past, he belonged to SNG. Today as you know him in the political circle, he has ceased from being the Pastor he was because he was a vice- presidential candidate of CPC, that was defeated in the last general election by the PDP. He is a voice of CPC.” He said the PDP would not sit by and allow failed politicians misinforming innocent Nigerians.

 

Jonathan : Destroyer or saviour?

 

 

I AM sad and troubled for our nation. I just cannot sleep when I consider the amount of innocent blood that has been spilt in the 24 hours before I wrote this piece.

Kano, Bayelsa, Bauchi….it goes on and on. So much blood, so much hate, so much division and so much destruction. And at the end of it all, just in the space of one afternoon, Nigeria’s second largest city of Kano has been brutally raped and violated and no less than 260 innocent and defenceless Nigerians have been butchered mercilessly in broad daylight and are now lying dead in the mortuary or the cemetry.

Many bodies are still lying under the rubble undiscovered and unrecognised even in death. I am convinced that there is only one thing left for President Goodluck Jonathan to do if he wants to turn the tide of public opinion that is mounting against him and if he wants to save himself, save his government and save Nigeria.

He must find the courage to convene a Sovereign National Conference of the various nationalities that make up the geographical expression called Nigeria in which the terms and conditions of our continued union will be fully renegotiated. If he can do this quickly and if he can pull it off sucessfully his image will be redeeemed and his name will be carved  in gold in Nigerian history forever despite all that has happened in the last two years.

If he does not do this the islamist slaughter, the sectarian bloodshed and the inter-ethnic mayhem will just continue, his government will eventually fall and Nigeria may well break up in the process. Mark my words. Depending on the choice that he makes he will either be known as the saviour of Nigeria or her destroyer. May God guide our President and cause him to make the right choice.

When I first made this suggestion about the convening of a Sovereign National Conference on my facebook page many asked why it was that the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, which I served, did not convene a Sovereign National Conference at that time and why I didn’t support such a course of action then. My answer to them was as follows. A few of us most certainly did push for a Sovereign National Conference when we were in power.

Some of us in that government, including Chief Akin Osuntokun, Professor Julius Ihonbere and a few others pushed for it very hard but you know very well that essentially President Olusegun Obasanjo is a conservative and he resisted it. As a matter of fact that is what qualified him and that is why he could be trusted with power and the job of President in 1999 by the northern power-brokers that brought him out of jail and put him there.

They knew that they could trust him not to let them down and not to do what they did not want. And what they did not want was a Sovereign National Conference because they saw it,wrongly in my view, as a precurser to a break-up of the country. The Yoruba nation, on the other hand, have been pushing for an SNC since 1993 and the June 12th annulment and many of our people were killed over the years in the pursuit of that noble cause.

Again when OBJ’s government was in power every single one of the six zones in the country endorsed the call for an SNC except for the north-west and the north-east.

That was four for it and two against it. Yet OBJ would still not do it. Instead he listened to the objections of the two core-northern zones and came up with that celebrated and famous quote that ”we cannot have two sovereigns at once” and that ” the Nigerian people have given their sovereingty to me through my mandate and I will not relinquish it to any conference”. Of course, some of us, including me, took him up on that publically and we disagreed with him openly.

My leader and my boss and the man that I still consider to be the father of our nation, President  Obasanjo, with the greatest respect, just didn’t get it then and perhaps he never will. We discussed this matter with him privately on many occassions and he resisted the idea but with the recent developments in our country I am sure that he wished that he had listened to us at that time.

When we joined his government in 2003 there were many of us who had been NADECO men who urged him to find the courage to call the SNC but the man regarded us as dangerous radicals and he felt that we just wanted to break up Nigeria. Well he was wrong, we were right and history has proved this to be so.

If we had had this ”sovereign” national conference long ago we would have had a better, stronger, restructured and more united Nigeria by now which would have been a true reflection of the will of the people. We would also have had either a true fedration or a confederation. We would not have still had what is in real terms essentially a unitary government with a Federal facade and we would not have still been busy killing ourselves over the little crumbs that we get from the federal table.

The reason that it was not so urgent when OBJ was in power, despite the fact that even then most Nigerians wanted it, was because religious and sectarian violence and ethnic and fratricidal butchery that we see today did not exist at that time.

Our government was able to contain the violence and threats of the Niger-Delta militias, the OPC, MASSOB, the Egbesu Boys, the Bakassi Boys, the Arewa Youth Congress and the core northern pro- sharia lobby through a firm and strong ”no-nonsense”-style of leadership and we did not have to deal with a vicious and extreemly violent, well-funded and well organised islamist sect with an Al Qaeda-style agenda like Boko Haram at the time.

Sadly, now we do and we are on the verge of a monuemental disaster and violent break up of the country. Worst still Boko Haram and those that secretly support, arm and fund them have made it clear that they are at war with the government, with the security agencies, with CAN, with christians and with muslims that do not share their extreemist views and or espouse their vicious brand of islam.

They have also said that they want a northern Nigeria which is free of christians, which is free of western education, which has an islamic fundamentalist/Taliban-style government and which practices full sharia law. They are not just demanding for this but they are also waging an open and terrible war and what is essentially a form of ethnic cleansing and genocide against a section of the people of northern Nigeria in order to achieve it. If we had a conference such demands could be put there peacefully assuming that is what the people of the core north really want. Other regions and zones also have their legitimate demands which should and would also be considered.

We either settle these fundamental issues by talking about it around a table at a Sovereign National Conference whose findings and resolutions would be binding on ALL our people or the consequence is better imagined.

By FEMI FANI-KAYODE was former minister of Aviation under ex-president  Obasanjo.

Drogba’s mother cooks for fans

Drogba’s mother cooks for fans.

Drogba’s mother cooks for fans

The mother of Cote d’Ivoire international Didier Drogba has been cooking for the national team supporters at a makeshift restaurant she set up near the fans’ village in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where the Elephants are playing their Group B games.

Clotilde Drogba, who personally does the traditional home cooking of fried plantain chips, pepper soup, white rice, tomato sauce and attieke, said it was her contribution to nation at the tournament by feeding the supporters so they could have enough strength to cheer the team to final victory.

Every match day, some 60 members of the national committee of the Elephants supporters queue up with empty bowls to collect food free off charge from the mother of the most influential Ivorian player, before heading to the stands to sing and clap.

Ivory Coast sports minister Philippe Legre visited the supporters’ village early this week and handed the sum of $100 (R776) to each of the 60 men and women.

Local pundits have criticised the Ivorian authorities for sponsoring a very few number of supporters to the showpiece as opposed to other members of the group who came in with larger contingents.

Pains and gains of January 2012 protests

The January 2-16 people’s revolt against fuel subsidy removal is a clear testimony that Nigerians are no longer docile. The uprising shows that my compatriots no longer enjoy ‘suffering and smiling’. Since 1980 or thereabouts when the former President Shehu Shagari’s administration introduced austerity measures down to 1986 when the Structural Adjustment Programme was inaugurated by former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida, it has been only the masses that have been making all the sacrifices, tightening their belts, while our leaders loosen theirs due to their bulging tummies. Never again shall we suffer the fool. There is a saying that “you can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” It is true that some people died in the course of the two weeks protest; many, including government, lost huge revenue (the National Bureau of Statistics estimated that Nigeria’s economy lost N207.4bn ($1.2b); property were destroyed by rioters in states like Niger and Kano; many people also had to postpone their long planned events such as conferences, workshops, marriages, funerals, etc. These are some of the pains of the rebellion.

However, the gains far outweigh the pains. It is unprecedented that Nigerians across economic divides will unite to fight a cause. In the January ‘Harmattan Protest’, both the bourgeoisie and the proletariats united to fight our common oppressor, which is the government which though claimed to feel our pain, decided to add to our economic burden. Apart from many cities in Nigeria such as Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Owerri, Benin, Niger, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Bauchi, Nigerians in the Diaspora in countries such as Ghana, South Africa, the United States, and United Kingdom also defied chilling cold weather to stage their own protests.

Other palpable gains of the protest are the forced commitments of the Federal Government to reduce waste and fight corruption. In his first televised broadcast aimed at preventing the commencement of the strike by organised labour and civil society, President Goodluck Jonathan made the following pledges: 25 per cent cut in the basic salaries of all political office-holders in the executive arm of government to begin from this year; review of the number of committees, commissions and parastatals with overlapping responsibilities with a view to restructuring them; and a directive to all ministries, departments and agencies to take steps to reduce their overhead expenses. Others include the speedy launch of a mass transit intervention programme to bring down the cost of transport nationwide to be implemented in partnership with state and local governments, labour unions, transport owners, and banking institutions while funds (N15bn) would be given to transport stakeholders at zero per cent interest; a promise to grant import duty waivers on all needed parts for locally made mass transit vehicles, as part of the efforts to create additional jobs in the economy; directed all MDAs to execute projects designed to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal in the short, medium and long-term as outlined in the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme document; the mobilisation of contractors to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway line and to complete the Lagos-Kano railway line; the immediate commencement of a public works programme that will create jobs for 10,000 youths in every state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, thus creating 370,000 jobs nationwide.

In his January 16 broadcast, President Jonathan made further concessions. These include the reduction in the price of a litre of petrol from the earlier announced N141 to N97. Furthermore, he promised that the legal and regulatory regime for the petroleum industry is to be reviewed to address accountability issues and current lapses in the industry. In this regard, the Petroleum Industry Bill will be given accelerated attention. The report of the forensic audit carried out on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is being studied with a view to implementing the recommendations and sanctioning proven acts of corruption in the industry.

Many committees have also been constituted to assist with the implementation of some of the promises. These include the Justice Alfa Belgore committee saddled with the responsibility of interfacing with organised labour and other stakeholders with a view to resolving issues that may arise from the removal of the subsidy on petrol and the Dr. Christopher Kolade-led Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board. The board is to oversee and ensure the effective and timely implementation of projects to be funded with the savings that will accrue to the Federal Government from subsidy removal. Another committee is the Senator Udo Udoma-led Special Task Force for the quick passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.

The Faruk Lawan-led Ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on petrol subsidy which commenced sitting on Monday, January 16 is also among the numerous gains of the revolt. Startling revelations being made by different ministries and agencies of the government at the public hearing surely validated the long held view of many Nigerians that our oil industry is a cesspool of corruption. Some of the disclosed sharp practices include the prevention of the Nigerian Customs Service from asking for proper documentation from the oil importers; the diversion of mother vessels to Cotonou and Lome before using smaller vessels to bring in the imported petroleum products; the non-subtraction of the volume of locally refined crude oil from the imported one in the calculation of the subsidy.

Others include, the licensing of companies that do not have storage facilities and other basic requirements to import petroleum products; the application of rule of the thumb rather than proper authorisation by the Ministry of Finance to the NNPC for subsidy payments; the alleged importation of 59 million litres of PMS when in actual fact Nigerians consume only 35 million litres per day thereby encouraging smuggling of petrol to neigbbouring countries. All these mind-boggling revelations and more have come to the fore since the probe panel began sitting. That the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been called in to examine the books of Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency and other agencies involved in the subsidy scam is also a direct benefit of the struggle against the removal of fuel subsidy.

I have gone to this length to highlight the many assurances that helped to extinguish the ember of revolution that was kindled by the removal of fuel subsidy so that we all can hold government accountable to all these promises. Eternal vigilance is the price for liberty!

Maryam Abubakar Wife Of Acting IG Of Police Dies

The wife of the newly appointed Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar has died in Kano. Hajiya Maryam Abubakar reported died in a local clinic in Kano after she suddenly fell ill some 48 hours ago. The wife of the newly appointed Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar has died in Kano. Hajiya Maryam Abubakar reported died in a local clinic in Kano after she suddenly fell ill some 48 hours ago.

Is This part of the party or what?

Kudirat Abiola murder: Al-Mustapha, Shofolahan know fate today

Embattled former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha and a protocol officer in the MKO Abiola campaign organisation, Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, will know their fate today, as a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, will give judgment in the conspiracy to murder and murder charge preferred against them.

Trial judge is Justice Mojisala Dada.

The court adjourned after counsel in the matter adopted their written addresses.

Defence counsel had argued that the court should commit the credibility of all the prosecution witnesses to scrutiny, having been dented by numerous contradictions.

While praying the court to ensure true dispensation of justice in the case, defence counsel argued: “Any diligent prosecution would go the extra mile to confirm whether Shofolahan actually worked as a protocol officer in the campaign organisation of the late MKO Abiola.”

According to the defence, “Murder is a very serious offence and the prosecution was not able to establish that Shofolahan was a protocol officer in the MKO Abiola campaign organisation office.”

On its part, the prosecution asked the court to take judicial notice of the reign of terror on some targeted Nigerians while late Gen. Abacha held sway as head of state and commander in chief.

Prosecution said: “My lord, the prosecution has succeeded in proving a case of conspiracy to murder and murder of late Kudirat Abiola against the defendants. I urge your lordship to convict them accordingly.”

Let’s return to Aburi Accord – Adeniyi

Let’s return to Aburi Accord – Adeniyi.

Let’s return to Aburi Accord – Adeniyi

CHIEF Tola Adeniyi, is a foremost journalist and former Managing Director of Daily Times. In this interview with Vanguard,  stressed the need for restructuring of the polity into a confederal system as agreed at the Aburi, Ghana meeting of 1966 to address the myriad of problems facing the country.

While he canvassed dialogue to check the activities of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, he called on government to reduce the cost of governance. Excerpts:
Insecurity

Most people are talking about insecurity, but insecurity did not just jump down from Heaven. What were the factors that led to insecurity? Insecurity has been with us for a long time but it came to a head in the last five or six years. The chief cause of insecurity in Nigeria is mass unemployment. The level of insecurity in any society is directly proportional to the level unemployment and unemployment in Nigeria is over 50 per cent. There are so many Nigerians, who are not doing anything. If you have so many unemployed graduates, who know how to make bombs, then the country is in trouble.

Boko Haram

What is Boko Haram? Boko Haram says if the education we acquire from the West, means stealing, mismanaging, embezzling, not doing what you should do as a chairman of local government, as a governor or as a president, then they (Boko Haram) don’t want that kind of education.

They are not saying they don’t want education because some of them are graduates but they are saying that western education has ruined Nigeria. And any right thinking person would agree that if all that we have to show for the education that we acquired from the West is what we are seeing in governance, then that type of education is wrong.

Yakubu Gowon and Late Odumegwu-Ojukwu

And that is what Boko Haram is all about. It is not a religious thing at all, Boko Haram is making war against society that has failed them. They are waging war against government and that is why they are attacking instruments and institutions of government like military barracks, police barracks among other institutions. When they attack churches or mosques, what they are doing is to attract attention to the situation they are in.

Cost of governance

The cost of governance in Nigeria is the worst and highest in the world where a country spends 80 per cent of all its income servicing less than one per cent of the total population. The entire people we have in government are not up to one million. Each state governor spends N1milion a day for feeding while at the level of the president, he spends N900 million annually for feeding. This is happening in a country where some people do not eat more than twice a day.

So, the cost of governance is another thing that is driving the polity into this craziness. And because we are in this kind of situation, we are going to have total collapse of law and order. When you have a collapse of law and order, it will be such that the 330,000 policemen we have in Nigeria will not be able to cope with the looming crisis. If we drive the situation far, we are going to have complete breakdown and it will be everyone unto himself.

Fuel subsidy

What has compounded it is the ill-advised, insensitive and cruel petroleum tax, which government introduced on thge first day of January. There is nothing like subsidy. Government, having spent about a trillion on the elections of President Goodluck Jonathan,  realised that the only option left for them is to tax Nigerians to the bones and called it petroleum tax because they know everybody uses petroleum. There is no government in the world that would impose 100 per cent tax on its people. The budget has opened the eyes of Nigerians and this has united Nigerians. The greatest unifier of people is not religion, it is not ethnicity, it is poverty. Nigerians are all united with poverty.

What government has done that is going to worsen the situation in Nigeria is trying to divide labour and civil societies.

When you divide labour and civil societies, if there is an uprising or demonstrations, they will no longer be guided by anybody and that is why I said we are going the way of Somalia. When you allow people to go loose, then, there is serious trouble and that is what happened in Somalia.

In Poland, they broke the ranks of labour and civil societies in 1981 and the people attacked the president, which led to a complete breakdown of law and order. So, it is not right for any government to go through that route of trying to divide labour and civil society organisations by making them to run against each other. The end result is that you will have a serious crisis that will not be managed by anybody and that is very dangerous.

Security agencies

Another aspect to this insecurity is that Boko Haram and other dangerous elements have infiltrated security apparatus in the country. You have Boko Haram in the Army, you have them in the Air Force. You have it in the Navy and in the Police. So, the security agencies have been infiltrated. Whether you like it or not, 90 per cent of Nigeria Police is not loyal to anybody because they are also suffering. It is just that because of the nature of their job, they cannot publicly go on strike. Majority of them are striking psychologically ditto the military.

One other affliction affecting the military and intelligence agencies is that it has put people, who are less learned, intelligent and qualified as heads of these organisations.

There so many qualified men and women in the Police Force, who should occupy the position of the Inspector-General of Police, but they are not been promoted because they want to create jobs for the boys. What you have in our security agencies is that people, who head them do not command the respect and loyalty of their followers. That is also dangerous for any society.

Government has shot itself in the foot by bringing people, who are not qualified to head all out intelligent and security apparatus and that poses its own problems and dangers.

Way out of nation’s woes

We don’t feel happy that Jonathan has allowed his government to be hijacked by those they did not vote for. That is why Nigerians are saying this country has no government because government has been hijacked by those, who have no business being in government.

What government must do in the interim as a palliative is for them to revert the pump price of fuel back to N45 per litre or grudgingly return to N65 per litre.

The money government is generating from oil alone is enough to do anything. They need not to have imposed petroleum tax on Nigerians.

But more than that, certainly, they have not passed the budget for 2012. The National Assembly should reduce the recurrent expenditure by 80 per cent. If the National Assembly wants to save the jugular of this country, they should immediately cut that budget and the 80 per cent they will take away from recurrent expenditure, should go into capital expenditure. It is only the National Assembly that can save this country at this point in time.

Another way out is a reduction in the size of government. All the state governors are equally guilty of the petroleum tax imposed on Nigeria because they were there when the decision was taken by the president.

The governors agreed because they knew they were going to make money. So, the size of governance, which is ridiculous should be reduced. That is in the interim and that should be immediate.

The second interim measure is for government to reduce mass unemployment. Construction is the largest employer of labour and if government decides to embark on mass construction of houses, that alone would provide jobs for about three quarter of those who are unemployed.

Confederation

To prevent us from becoming another Somalia, the president must send a bill to the National Assembly to start a process of confederation. Let every region be semi-autonomous and develop at its own level. That was the Aburi agreement.

What was agreed on then was that there should be confederation. I am proposing that Nigeria should immediately go to six regions which Abacha created in 1995 and these regions should be semi autonomous. What will only bind us together will be defence, foreign policy and currency.

What I am saying is that there is need for restructuring of the polity. We were forced into a marriage, the terms of which were never made known. They never consulted anybody and because we don’t have a nation, it also contributed a deal to the problems of Nigeria.

We must have a confederation, we must have a nation and that is why we need to talk. We must have a national conference, people must come together to talk. We cannot run away from it. We must sit down and decide how to live togther as a nation.

 

AFCON 2012: Senegal’s exit, where are the Dembas?

AFCON 2012: Senegal’s exit, where are the Dembas?.

AFCON 2012: Senegal’s exit, where are the Dembas?

 

Who would have believed that star studded Senegalese team would be the first to bow out of the 2012 African Cup of Nations tournament holding in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea without a point?

With prolific strikers like Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cissé, Senegal was tipped by many to reach the final stage of the tournament. However, the reverse was the case, as even the Dembas could not help Senegal secure a quarter final ticket.

Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cissé are currently playing for the Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

Ba signed for Newcastle United on a three-year deal on June 17, 2011, making his club debut on 13 August 2011. His first goals for the club came on 24 September 2011 with a hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers in a 3–1 home win. A second hat-trick came in a 3-1 away win at Stoke City.

Papiss Demba Cissé (left) and Demba Ba stand together for a team photo

Ba’s goalscoring form continued despite Newcastle entering a downward spell, and saw him picked in ESPN.com’s Premier League Best XI for the first half of the season, and named Premier League Player of the Month of  December 2011. By the time Ba left to play in the January international tournament-African Cup of Nations 2012, his league tally had reached 15, making him second top scorer in the league behind Arsenal’s Robin van Persie.

On the other hand, Cissé joined Newcastle side on a 5½ year contract on 17 January 2012 from SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga league.

During the 2010-11 Bundesliga season, Cissé was second in the league in goals scored, only behind Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich who scored 28. Cissé also set a club and league record. His 22 goals during the course of the season set the single-season goal record by an SC Freiburg player, as well as set the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single Bundesliga season.

Following their goal scoring exploits in their clubs, it was expected that they would replicate same in their national team. And it was not surprising that they were ranked among the best teams of the tournament.

Senegal’s early exit only confirm what many have come to believe that there are no more ‘small teams/underdog in African football. Those regarded as ‘small teams’ are ones making the desired impacts.

Meanwhile, it is said that one man’s meat is another’s poison. As Senegalese team, fans and the country at large are lamenting over their woes, Newcastle United of England is happy that two of their valued strikers are returning earlier than expected.

Who will step into Ojukwu’s shoes?

Who will step into Ojukwu’s shoes?.

Who will step into Ojukwu’s shoes?

THIS pertinent and burning question among the Igbos of Nigeria cries for an answer and that answer, in all humility, I must try to give. The Igbos being what they are, would feel it infradig that no Igbo man or woman dares to wear late  Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s shoes.

Those who hold viewpoint are free, but they forget the Igbo saying that no one is irreplaceable. The people belong to the ilk of Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Okwadika Igbo Ukwu.

It is true that none is irreplaceable. Jesus Christ was a unique being, yet He replaced himself with John the evangelist when He told his mother to see John as her son and John to see Mary as his mother (John 19:26). In other words, Jesus swapped his sonship of Mary to John.

As a result, the Bible tells us that John took over and cared for Mary as his mother. Yes, every analogy limps, the philosophers say, but the truth is there. What could Jesus have done to his mother, seeing his ignominious death at 33?

Also, before He ascended into heaven, He ordered the apostles to carry on with his work or legacy by telling them to go into the world and make disciples of all people (Matt. 28:19). The apostles, weak and timid as they were, did not fail Jesus. They accomplished their assignment. As John, the last of the apostles to die, really died, the timorous Peter took over in Rome. His Bishopric let another take is applicable here. After Peter, Linus – saint, took over and in 76AD, he was replaced. Our Ojukwu is not greater than all the succeeding Popes who have been replaced.

Ojukwu has encouraged us to replace him by his anecdote that a white man scales a high mountain with ropes while a black man would build a shrine at its brow and adore it. He thereby condemns our psychosomatic surrender that we cannot find one to replace him. Cowards die many times before their death as it is attributed to Shakespeare.

The greatest honour we owe the general is not to scatter but to reorganise resiliently around a burgeoning leader who will be humble, self-sacrificing, courageous, amenable to informed reasons, etc. He will not be eze onye agwalam. He will not be a scit ominia-all-knowing man enrobed with the concomitant hubris.

However, I do not mean the so-called-be leaders who are projecting themselves by all sorts of writings and innuendos. People like that rule themselves out of consideration.

Concerning eligibility,  Ezeigbo Gburugburu concerns all the Igbos and so must be handled by all. Then all stakeholders, in groups or individually, should suggest names of those they deem worthy to The Sun newspaper or other dailies for all to know.

They must accompany those names with cogent reasons for their suggestion. Enough time should be given for this all-important exercise and anybody who obtrusively offers himself or herself de facto and dejure fails to be considered.

I disinterestedly suggest Governor Peter Obi to wear Chief Ojukwu’s shoes in the fullness of time. In order that we may pick a worthy candidate, enough  time, perhaps a  year or more be given.  Now, my  reasons, Ojukwu himself has given us the clue by calling the Anambra People, who represent the Igbo people, to have Obi as his last wish on earth.

Anambra honoured the wish, so we too should, Okey Ndibe, on page 55 of The Sun of November 30, 2011, said “Obi, Ojukwu State governor, became like a son to him in his final lap on earth running to attend to every need and making sure he will lack nothing”. In the same paper on page 7, Obi said: Ndigbo, wherever they are, should seize the opportunity of his celestial departure to rejig the process of reigniting Igbo political, social, and economical renaissance as that is the only way the hero will sleep well in eternal bliss. “In the same place, Okey Ndibe says that Ojukwu is physically dead but his spirit looms, will infuse the hearts of those he touched and whom he allowed in (Daily Sun November, 29, page 44).

Do we doubt that Obi is his adopted son? Do we doubt that his spirit touched Obi and that he allowed Obi to touch him? It is stated that Obi has visited Ojukwu every month since December 23, 2010 he took him to the hospital in London. Obi left him alive on Friday and before getting home on Saturday, he was called and informed about Ojukwu’s death and he flew economy back to London.

Governor Obi has benefitted from Ojukwu more than any Igbo man and Obi has served Ojukwu more than any Igbo man. Ojukwu’s widow, Lady Bianca, can attest to this. Obi is the herald of his death to us.

He was the first to sign his condolence register at the Ojuwku’s Enugu palace. Obi announced his burial on February 2, 2012.Anambra people do not regret Ojukwu’s last wish that they have Obi as their Governor.

Obi’s governance activities, education, healthcare, infrastructure, job opportunities, intra and inter-sate relationships, attraction of the Diaspora, investments in the state speak volumes.

It is true that the other Igbos may not know Obi well; the Anambra people, the president and the fellow governors know him. Why can we not follow suit?

 

Rev.Fr. OMUNEKOKWU EZE, wrote from Ihe/Owere-Nsukka

Ojukwu: Ijele Ndigbo (1933-2011)

Ojukwu: Ijele Ndigbo (1933-2011).

Ojukwu: Ijele Ndigbo (1933-2011)

As arrangement for the burial of late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu gets underway, starting February 21 to March 2, Magic kay global services is asking for contributions reactions, papers  etc. on the Ikemba Nnewi and his place in Nigeria’s history.

Controversy often trails the Ikemba – in life and in death; while some say he loved Nigeria, others say he loved Biafra and his people. Some call for a state burial for his contributions to nationhood, others prefer his being buried by his people, the Ndigbo.

What is the place of Odumegwu Ojukwu in Nigeria’s history?

Send your papers, contributions , reactions to:

(i) margickayglobe@yahoo.com

(ii) Short messages less than 140 characters on Twitter to hashtag #kachimmm

(iii) comment on our daily post ‘Ikemba Ojukwu’ on our Facebook fanpage: igwe kingsley

 

ABUJA – THE National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Friday, described the unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court which sacked its five governors as a welcome development and an acceptable verdict.

Speaking with Vanguard  on the ruling, the PDP National Legal Adviser, Chief Olusola Oke who noted that the party had expected that the judgement would have been otherwise, stressed that as the final court of the land, the ruling of the apex court was not questionable.

The PDP however maintained that the emergence of Henry Seriake Dickson as the candidate for Bayelsa State; Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Sokoto; Murtala Nyako for Adamawa and Liyel Imoke of Cross River remain unchanged, just as the party boasted that it was fully mobilized for the elections fixed in these states by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Oke who called for the immediate swearing in of the governor-elect of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada and his Deputy, Architect Yomi Awoniyi, however urged INEC to scrupulously follow its time table for the election in these states.

It would be recalled that INEC came up with a time table to conduct election in Adawawa State, February 4; Bayelsa State, February 11; Sokoto state, March 10 and Cross River State, April 14.

According to Oke, ‘’we accept the verdict in good faith even though we thought the Judgment could have been otherwise. As the final court of the land, the decision of Supreme Court is unquestionable; what this means to us is that the governor-elect of Kogi State should be inaugurated immediately while INEC should scrupulously follow its time for the conduct of election in other states.

Fuel Subsidy. The Intrincases

Fuel Subsidy. The Intrincases.

Fuel Subsidy. The Intrincases

Fuel subsidy probe
Farouk Lawan: what is Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption?
Diezieni: 52million Liters
NNPC: 35m liters
DPR: 43m liters
PPPRA: 24M liters
… Okonjo: 40M liters
Farouk Lawan: What was the subsidy for 2011?
Diezieni: 1.4Trillion
Okonjo: 1.3Trillion
CBN: 1.7Trillion
Farouk Lawan: Can we have the KPMG REPORT?
Okonjo: I have to go through the report first
Diezieni: I have not seen the report
Farouk Lawan: What is the production capacity of our local refineries?’
NNPC: 30%
PPPRA: 20%
DPR: 13%
Diezieni: 15%
Farouk Lawan: Does Nigeria pay subsidy on locally refined Products?
Diezaini: it depends
NNPC: The lay man cannot understand how it’s done
PPPRA: yes
DPR: No
Farouk Lawan: Why is Kerosene still scarce?
Diezieni: Because its use by the aviation industry as aviation fuel
NNPC: Because there is no subsidy so NNPC overstretched its resources
PPPRA: it’s not properly deregulated
Farouk Lawan: what is the balance in the subsidy accounts?
Diezieni: it’s a virtual account
NNPC: There is no account in existence as the lay man will look at it
PPPRA: The account is a technical one
CBN: There is no account with us for subsidy
Okonjo: The account exists but not with a bank.

PHCN ’ll be liquidated by a court order – Minister

PHCN ’ll be liquidated by a court order – Minister.

PHCN ’ll be liquidated by a court order – Minister

The Minister of Power, Prof Bart Nnaji, has said the Power Holding Company of Nigeria will be liquidated by a court order.

He said the company had yet to be liquidated.

Nnaji, who spoke in Lagos on Thursday during a meeting with the members of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, said operations at the PHCN headquarters were shut down based on the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.

Nnaji stated that the PHCN headquarters was spending N500m monthly on salaries and other overheads, adding that the cost centre had been discontinued from January 1 this year.

According to him, unlike other stakeholders, PHCN headquarters is not a market participant, hence its inability to generate revenue for the company as a whole.

Commenting on the deployment of some workers from the headquarters, he said those deployed would not have their salaries, allowances or entitlements affected in any way.

Those being redeployed, he added, were principal managers and below. Their number, he noted, was 1,050.

On the condition of PHCN workers and their welfare, the minister said the next round of negotiation would be on February 18.

He said only thermal stations would be privatised while hydro stations would be given out under a concession arrangement.

Nnaji said after the verification, the ministry discovered that there were three categories of workers in PHCN.

The categories are bona fide, illegal and ghost workers.

According to him, the chief executives of the successor companies will soon be called upon to clarify the anomalies.

On the outstanding entitlements owed workers, he said such salaries as well as the 50 per cent pay rise covering June, July and August would be paid in January together with that of January.

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Yuguda denies ties with Boko Haram

 

 

Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda has dismissed allegations that he was among sponsors of the extremist Islamist group- Boko Haram.

Yuguda who spoke at the public presentation of a magazine, “Transformation Train”, by the office of the Political Adviser to the President, Mr. Ahmed Gulak said those peddling such rumours were his detractors who were bent on frustrating his plans to transform the state.

Yuguda was particularly irked by a publication by a national daily (not THE PUNCH), which named him among sponsors of the sect.

He said, “The in thing today, is the Boko Haram security threat; only yesterday, I read in a national daily (names withheld) that Mr. Yuguda is a sponsor of the Boko Haram.

“What a tragedy, what a misfortune for Nigeria to still have this kind of newspapers because they are destroying Nigeria while we are trying to reconstruct Nigeria for future generations.”

The governor also said President Goodluck Jonathan deserves our prayers because most of the problems he was trying to address today were inherited from previous administrations.

He noted that by the oath the president swore to on assumption of office, Jonathan was aware of the enormous responsibility on him.

According to him, the President has taken the Bible and has entered into a covenant with the Almighty one, to provide security for life and property in Nigeria.

I ‘ll fight Boko Haram to standstill – New IGP. Who cares?

I ‘ll fight Boko Haram to standstill – New IGP. Who cares?.

NADECO calls for national conference, true federalism

NADECO calls for national conference, true federalism.

I ‘ll fight Boko Haram to standstill – New IGP. Who cares?

ABUJA— Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar yesterday took over the reins of  police leadership from his predecessor, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim vowing to fight the dreadedBoko Haram sect in all its ramifications.

Besides Boko Haram, Abubakar said the Nigeria Police force under him would undergo serious restructuring and declared a state of emergency on Police training institutions in the country saying the way they were presently constituted can only produce ill-equipped officers.

Addressing senior Police officers at the IG’s conference room after the handing over ceremony in his office, the new IG promised to work with the DIG Parry Osayande Committee set up by the President “so that Nigeria can have the Police force it deserves, a police force that will respect the rule of law, that will be committed, and fair in the discharge of its responsibilities”.

His words: “I want to assure all Nigerians that this administration under my leadership will be different from all other Police administrations. I will be a team player because I can’t do it all alone. There is no Commander without troops. We have done it in other places, we demonstrated it and we are going to demonstrate it here. But take note, the police will undergo serious restructuring.

HAND OVER— Former Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim (left) with his successor, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar during the handing over ceremony at the Force Headquarters, Abuja yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

“I do not have a speech for now because I am just taking over and I want to be fully briefed about the challenges, difficulties and the task facing the Nigeria Police. I am not a new comer to it and cannot run away from the fact that I know some of them.

“I do know that we have a very challenging and uphill task and I want to assure all Nigerians that this administration will be different from any other administration because every officer and men of the police belong to the same family. We shall focus on the areas that we know the police are lacking, that is training and re- training programmes, welfare scheme and ability to detect crime.

“We shall move into every nook and corner of this country and do what is expected of us in respect of fighting crime and criminality. This administration will not tolerate any act of indiscipline or corruption and I intend to live by good example. Therefore, all officers and men will be positioned or posted based on competence and ability to perform and not based on whom you are by name”.

While calling for the support of officers and men as well as the media, Abubakar said: “I need your support and I need your cooperation. We are all together and Nigeria is greater than any other group. We need dedicated and committed staff that are fair and firm in the discharge of their responsibilities because you will be asked questions in any area of irresponsibility that you display within or out of office”.

Boko Haram, crime, we shall fight them all

Answering questions on Boko Haram, he said: “I have said we shall fight crime in all its ramification. This includes crime and all acts of criminality, whatever name you give it whether Boko Haram, or armed robbery. We shall fight them all”. He also promised to carry along officers and men of the force in his decisions. According to him, “I hope you will be there to be a living witness. I am a team player.

New Inspector General of Police M D Abubakar dressing junior officer during handover ceremony at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan .

I do not believe I can do this job without my officers and men. We shall do what we shall do and you will be a living witness to what we shall do. But we need prayers”.

Reminded that arms used by Boko Haram group and armed robbers in some cases were more sophisticated than those of the Police, he said, “I do not know how you came about that. We do not know what they have so that we compare them to know who has stronger arms. We intend to do what we are supposed to do especially in the area of training”.

“Training is an area we are lacking. I will focus on it very seriously. We will put our training centers and colleges on very tasking challenge, so as to be able to train officers and men. I am going to declare a state of emergency in our training institutions so that we can look at the facilities, the staff and what they have on ground. We cannot take policemen to institutions that are bad, lacking in facilities, and expect to produce good police officers”.

I succeeded as IGP —Ringim

Abubakar’s immediate predecessor, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim in his speech at the handing over ceremonies yesterday declared that he succeeded as the leader of the Nigeria Police force in its fight against terrorism, crime and criminality, noting that those who doubted him were free to have their opinion.

Said he: “I gave this challenge (IGP), my best shot and I sincerely believe I succeeded. Some may want to contend this, but I sincerely believe that under my leadership the Nigeria Police Force discharged its functions and its obligations creditably well.

“You are all aware that as I have requested to the President to commence my leave-pending retirement, it became necessary for Mr. President to appoint a new Inspector General of Police.

“I must thank the members of the Force management team, DIG Okoronkwo, DIG Udah, DIG Audu Abubakar, DIG Muhammed Yesufu, and DIG Saleh Abubakar. Those were the members of the defunct police management team that I headed. Because of the fact that I needed to go on retirement, which letter I wrote to Mr. President, and which approval I also received from the SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, It became necessary to appoint a new Inspector General of Police.

“That Inspector General of Police is Mr. Mohammed Dikko Abubakar. I took time to brief the new IGP considering the task ahead of him. Having successfully discussed with him, and briefed him on what I know so far to be his duties and his responsibilities, and have placed him on notice also of the enormous responsibilities that lay ahead of him.

“It is my wish that you all, particularly the officers at the force headquarters, in the wisdom that you have, give the same support, encouragement and assistance that you gave me in order for him to succeed.

“The task is by no means an enormous one. In this regard I will also solicit the support of our friends, our colleagues, the media, who chose to make and unmake, I sincerely wish you would give him the support, he will definitely need your support and I sincerely wish you would give him all the support.

“As you know I would cease to be the Inspector General of Police from the time I handover. I have done my bit within the period that Mr. President has graciously appointed me as IGP. I told you what I was going to do and to some extent I did the best I could do. I gave this challenge my best shot and I sincerely believe I succeeded.

“In this regard I will pray that God Almighty will afford the new IGP also the opportunity and the wisdom to steer to a better course, the ship of the Nigeria Police”.

NADECO calls for national conference, true federalism

 

The National Democratic Coalition has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to convene a national conference to resolve the problems of the country.

The group, which met in Lagos on Thursday, also advocated true federalism to develop the country.

The Chairman, NADECO, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (retd), said such a conference had become a necessity following the challenges facing Nigeria.

Kanu said NADECO believed that a national conference would help provide solutions to the country’s socio-political and religious problems.

The former Lagos State Military Governor said, “Let it been known from all observable signals and assessments that what is being witnessed now will be a child’s play if we do not quickly hold a national conference.

“We wish not, we pray not, but it will obviously be so if we confer not.”

According to him, the crises in the country have emphasised the need for all its ethnic nationalities to discuss the way forward.

He said, “That way we will re-establish the constitutional architecture of Nigeria, allowing every group sufficient space for self and group actualisation so that we can build a nation state out of the diverse ethnic nationalities.”

Kanu alleged that those benefitting from the rot in the country had been working against the convention of a national conference.

“The truth however is that the actions of the opponents of the conference can only lead to Nigeria’s breakup,” he said.

He warned that no group should capitalise on the crisis in the country to take over governance.

Kanu also condemned the killings in the North by Boko Haram, urging the government to find solutions to the problem.

The Secretary, NADECO, Chief Ayo Opadokun, explained that the group’s re-emergence was due to appeal and pressure from various ethnic and professional groups in Nigeria.

“Besides, events in the last three months in Nigeria calls for concern and we cannot afford to fold our arms while the nation boils,” he said.

The forum was attended by pro-democracy activists including the NADECO Publicity Secretary, Mr. Tony Nnadi; Chief Wale Osun; Mr. Femi Falana; Col. Tony Nyiam (retd); Dr. Uma Eleazu; and Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye.

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Nedum Onuoha joins Queens Park Rangers (QPR)

Nedum Onuoha joins Queens Park Rangers (QPR).

Nedum Onuoha joins Queens Park Rangers (QPR)

 

Nedum Onuoha in action against Four Arsenal players

Nedum Onuoha against His Nigerian Brother- Sola Ameobi

 

 

Nigerian born defender Nedum Onuoha,has completed the long awaited transfer from Manchester City Football Club to team up with former manager Mark Hughes at Queens Park Rangers.
The player who represented England at junior levels, will now play alongside Super Eagles left back Taye Taiwo who earlier this week completed a loan move from AC Milan.
Onuoha spent last season on loan at Sunderland but has found opportunities limited at City. He this afternoon signed a four –and-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Nedum Onuoha in action against Four Arsenal players

Ex-Madagascar president to return from exile

Ex-Madagascar president to return from exile.

Ex-Madagascar president to return from exile

Mediation talks on the political crisis in Madagascar sponsored by regional body – Southern African Development Community – should allow ousted president Marc Ravalomanana’s return from exile by February 29, a close aide said on Wednesday.

Ravalomanana’s plane was turned back mid-air on Saturday when he tried to fly back home after nearly three years in exile, prompting a meeting in Pretoria with regional mediators the SADC.The SADC security Troika called for key reforms to be completed by end February, according to Ravalomanana’s top aide Mamy Rakotoarivelo, who heads the country’s Transitional Congress, an interim parliament.

“The meeting ended with the troika indicating that the process of social appeasement, the release of political prisoners and the return of exiles has to be executed and end at the latest on February 29, including the return of Ravalomanana,” said Rakotoarivelo.

SADC and South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry have not commented on the talks, but deputy foreign minister Marius Fransman on Tuesday lambasted both Ravalomanana and strongman Andry Rajoelina for their Saturday standoff.

The former president was ousted in an army-backed coup in 2009 by Andry Rajoelina, a former disk jockey-turned-politician.

SADC brokered a “roadmap” to peace in November last year, leaving Rajoelina at the head of a transitional government until elections in 2012.

Ravalomanana faces legal woes after being sentenced to life in prison and hard labour for the death of 30 opposition protesters killed by his presidential guard in February 2009.

But Rakotoarivelo said following the talks the former president would not be jailed and predicted an amnesty law would soon clear the path for Ravalomanana.

He boycotted the body’s opening together with 86 other lawmakers from Ravalomanana’s party on Monday in protest against Saturday’s airplane debacle.

Can You Imagine? 10 die in a Gun duel!

Can You Imagine? 10 die in a Gun duel!.

Girl born without limbs in Bauchi.- End Time?

A baby, girl, without hands and legs, has been born in Sandigalua village in Zaki Government Area of Bauchi State. The baby, named Fatima, was born to the family of Ahmadu Didda, a peasant farmer and wife, Rukaiyya, on January 13.

Fatima’s father, Didda, however, expressed gratitude to God for giving them the child, describing her as a beautiful baby. Didda said Fatima was delivered at home and that both the mother and the baby are healthy.

Father’s plea

He said: “This is a gift from God. But it won’t be easy for us to raise Fatima because without legs and hands, she needs special care and attention. We feel sorry for her but with assistance from government and individuals I know that she will live a good life.”

The couple, however, appealed to both government and well-meaning individuals to come to their aid in order to care for the child.

Fatima Didda

Also, in a special appeal, a blind man who is the Chairman of Physically-Challenged People in Sakwa, Mr. Abdullahi Gindi, said: ‘’It is the duty of society to ensure that Fatima is not discriminated against as a result of her condition.

“She (Fatima) needs to be assisted. We are grateful that she was born a healthy child. She sulks normally and so we need to protect her.
’’But her parents are poor and that is why we are calling for assistance so that Fatima would live.”

Doctor’s opinion

A medical practitioner, Dr. Cletus Eze, has said that a woman can have a deformed baby if she takes certain drugs at the early stages of her pregnancy.

Dr. Eze, who spoke in a telephone interview with Vanguard,lamented that Nigeria was one of the few countries in the world where even a university graduate would buy drugs from the shelf and swallow them without even reading the leaflets accompanying such drugs.

According to him, a woman can give birth to a deformed child like Fatima if she takes drugs like flagyl within the first three months of her pregnancy.

Self-medication

He said: ‘’Nigeria is the only country where people buy drugs from non-professionals and administer same on themselves. There must be laws to regulate some of these bad practices because of the harmful effects of certain drugs.

“The mother of Fatima must have taken certain drugs, which she would not even remember having taken at the early stages or within the first three months of her pregnancy.

’’The worst thing is that she might not even be able to sue anybody, because such drugs were not prescribed by qualified people and she must have forgotten the particular drugs she took or where she bought them.

“The authorities must continue to educate the citizens on the bad effects of self medication,” he added.

Can You Imagine? 10 die in a Gun duel!

10 die in Ebonyi gun duel

ENUGU – TEN persons including a soldier were killed, yesterday, as officers of the 24 Engineer Regiment in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state engaged suspected armed robbers in a gun duel along Akaeze end of the Afikpo – Okigwe Expressway.

No fewer than nine of the suspected robbers died in the shoot-out while several others including two military officers sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries.

The Assistant Director of the Army Public Relations of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, Lt Col Sagir Musa who confirmed the incident yesterday,  said the robbers were fleeing after a failed bank robbery at Ikom in Cross River state in which nine persons including a police officer were killed.

They were however intercepted by soldiers on routine patrol in Ebonyi state.

He said: “At about 1830 hours on Tuesday 24 January 2012, there was a failed/foiled bank robbery attack at Ikom in  Cross River state which led to the death of 8 civilians and a policeman.

“The Robbers fled towards Ebonyi state in two vehicles through Ugep-Abomigbe Rd. Soldiers on routine patrol in Ebonyi state were fully informed and subsequently they intercepted the robbers along Afikpo-Amasire axis heading towards Enugu-Port-Harcourt express way through Okigwe, just 10 km to Akaeze.

“At that point, there was heavy exchange of fire which resulted in the death of one soldier and two soldiers were wounded. Seven robbers were killed, two seriously wounded and bled to death before reaching the hospital.”

Musa who disclosed that six of the suspected robbers escaped with bullet wounds into the nearby bush added that among the items recovered were two RPG7 bombs, 28 empty magazine, two Gas Cylinders, 37 empty cases of 7.62 mm special ammunition, 22 rounds of live 7.62mm special ammunition and two vehicles.

/According to the Army Spokesman, immediately they received intelligence report about the robbers escaping from the failed bank robbery, troops of 24 Engineer Regiment, 82 Division Garrison and 103 Battalion were alerted to block all possible escape routes especially the Afikpo-Okigwe road, Enugu-Abakaliki road, Abakaliki-Ogojo road and Abakaliki-Itigidi-Ugep road which made it difficult for them to escape.

Expectations from the new IG- Do You Need To ADD?

Expectations from the new IG- Do You Need To ADD?.

Expectations from the new IG- Do You Need To ADD?

Investigations carried out by Vanguard showed that Nigerians have given a nod of approval to the forceful retirement of Ringim, describing the action as the right step towards restructuring the Nigeria Police.

With the emergence of Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar as the new IG, it is expected that positive changes in terms of checkmating the Boko Haram sect would be witnessed. Abubakar, as expected, has much assignments to do presently to save the already damaged image of the  Police Force  in order not to toe the path of his predecessor.

The operational AIG who has served in different capacities in the Nigeria Police Force, has reportedly proved himself. For instance, when  he was CP Lagos, statistic showed that crime was brought to the barest minimal , a line that is currently being toed by his successors .

He served as a substantive Commissioner of Police in charge of several Police Commands across the Federation amongst them, Plateau, Abia, Kwara, Kano, Airport and Lagos State Police Commands, before he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police  Zone 2, comprising Lagos and Ogun States; AIG Zone 5 Benin comprising of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa state; Zone 6 comprising Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Ebonyi states and  AIG in charge of Zone 12 Bauchi, from where he was promoted t o the rank of IG.

Some senior Police officers who would not have their names in prints, expressed optimism in Abubakar’s ability to right the wrongs in the Police Force.

One of the AIGs said: “We trust him to  do well, if not better. The area I would want him to work on is that of positioning the right officers in right formations and not out of favoritism.

Again, as an operational man, he should also try to talk to aggrieved policemen affected either by posting or promotion out of their present  states, as this will motivate them to work harder.

Another Commissioner of Police in one of the northern states said: “M.D, as we all call him, should as a matter of fact, deal first  with the Boko Haram sect. If he succeeds in this area, other areas would be checkmated.

“He has no doubt left a shoe too big for his successors in every office he  has served  and  I have no doubt that he will perform well as IG”

 

Who is this IGP? Meet Him

Profile of Acting IGP, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar

Muhammmed Dikko ABUBAKAR, Assistant Inspector General of Police, joined the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, as a Cadet Inspector on August 1, 1979. An indigene of Zamfara State, he has meritoriously served the Force and his country in many capacities.

Important positions he has held in the Force include; Assistant Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigations Departement, Sokoto Police Command; Assistant Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, Force Head Quarters, Lagos; and, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

He is a principled and operations-minded officer with deep understanding of modern policing strategies and ethics. A committed crime fighter with keen eyes for details, he has also served as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration), Lagos State Police Command.

Muhammmed Dikko ABUBAKAR, Acting Inspector General of Police
On his elevation to the position of Commissioner of Police, he served as a substantive Commissioner of Police in charge of several Police Commands across the Federation. Some of these are Plateau, Abia, Kwara, Kano, Airport and Lagos State Police Commands.

An amiable and intelligent officer, he was later promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police and he subsequently became the Assistant Inspector General of Police in- charge of Zone 2 comprising Lagos and Ogun States. He was also the AIG Zone 5, Benin comprising of Edo, Delta, and Bayelsa states. He was later posted to Zone 6 comprising Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Ebonyi states. He is currently AIG in charge of Zone 12 Bauchi State.

He is a detribalized Nigerian. Born May 5th, 1960, he is happily married with children. MD as he is popularly called, is a member of the prestigious National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). He has undergone several professional training locally and internationally; some of which include:

*Intermediate Command Course –Jos;

*Senior Command Course – Jos;

*General Detective Course – Metropolitan Police, West Hendon, England;

*General Security Course – Israel;

*General Security Course – FBI, USA;

* International Security – England;

*General Detective Course – Scotland Yard.

*He is an active member of International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Economics (FCE) and a holder of the prestigious Police Medal (NPM).

Obama stands tall on foreign policy

Obama stands tall on foreign policy.

Obama stands tall on foreign policy

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama brandished the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Kaddafi as an election year show of foreign policy force aimed at disarming his Republican foes.

Trumpeting his commander-in-chief credentials in an annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama made it clear that the traditional avenue of attack — Democratic presidents are weak on defense — would not hold in 2012.

“There are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country,” the president said in the speech, which effectively launched his reelection campaign.

“Most of Al-Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home,” he said.

Addressing rows of military men in uniform, including his joint chiefs of staff, Obama praised their achievements as “a testament to the courage, selflessness, and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces.”

In a highly symbolic call for unity in a polarized America, Obama said a flag bearing the names of the Navy commando team that eliminated bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda mastermind, was one of his “proudest possessions.”

“Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn’t matter. Just like it didn’t matter that day in the Situation Room…. All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics.”

But beyond the jingoistic military message was a clear challenge to Republican rivals not to come after him on foreign policy, a marker in the sand less than 10 months before the November 6 presidential election.

Despite several clear foreign policy successes over the last three years, Republican presidential hopefuls have nonetheless sought to portray the Democratic incumbent as weak, continuing a tradition dating back to the Carter administration and the Iran hostage crisis.

After winning in South Carolina and surging to the front in the Republican nomination battle, Newt Gingrich issued the ultimate insult: “President Obama is a president so weak that he makes Jimmy Carter look strong.”

Gingrich’s main rival for the nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, has repeatedly accused Obama of pursing an “appeasement policy” and failing to halt Iran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The president, in concert with the European Union, has stepped up sanctions on Iran’s oil and banking sector to try to force it to stop uranium enrichment, which the West fears masks a drive to produce an atomic bomb.

In his State of the Union address, Obama insisted that a peaceful resolution was still possible in the high-stakes international showdown with Tehran but vowed he would “take no options off the table,” referring to military action.

“The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent,” he said.

In an address focused heavily on domestic economic concerns, Obama also found time to hail the demise of Libya’s Kadhafi and warned Syria’s Bashar al-Assad that his regime’s days were numbered.

“A year ago, Kadhafi was one of the world’s longest-serving dictators — a murderer with American blood on his hands. Today, he is gone,” Obama said.

“And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed, and that human dignity cannot be denied.”

While noting it was unclear how events in the Middle East and North Africa would unfold, Obama said he would continue to “stand against violence and intimidation” and support the Arab Spring’s democratic ideals.

“How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. But we have a huge stake in the outcome,” he said.

“We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.”

How can a couple agree to kill their only Son? please see

ASABA-  AN Ogwashi-Uku High Court in Delta State has convicted a couple for killing their only son with a gun as a result of scuffle between them.

Prosecution had told the court that one Mr. Monday Ugwu, a vigilante member at Ogwashi -Uku returned home on the 8th of April 2007 at about 6.30am from his beat to confront his pregnant wife over the whereabouts of a wheelbarrow he borrowed the previous day.

Not satisfied with the explanation from the wife, he was said to have flogged her leading to a scuffle. In the process, his wife furiously ran and took a locally-made one single barrel gun kept behind the door. She smashed it on the ground and in the process, the gun exploded and hit their only child, a four-year old ,  Chibuese Ugwu.  The boy died later that day at  the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba.

Sentencing the two accused persons, on the 14th of December last year,  the presiding Judge, Justice. T.O. Diai stated that “the court has considered all the circumstances and is saddened about the events which gave rise to this charge against the accused persons, a husband and wife.

“They have lost their only son as a result of the carelessness of the 1st accused (husband) person in keeping a loaded gun behind a door in their apartment and the uncontrollable rage displayed by the 2nd accused (wife) person. Taking all these into consideration I hereby pronounce the following sentences on the accused persons. 1st accused person: sentenced to three years imprisonment. The sentence is to run from the date of remand in prison custody. 2nd accused persons: find of N5,000 or two years imprisonment with hard labour”.

From the available court record, the 1st accused person has been in custody for about three years, having jumped bail and re-arrested.

Speculations rife over Ringim’s exit, successor

Speculations rife over Ringim’s exit, successor.

Speculations rife over Ringim’s exit, successor

Speculations are rife that Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, has begun his pre-retirement leave and is to be replaced by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.

The speculations reigned on social media and public discourse for much of Wednesday.

The speculations were fuelled by media reports that Ringim would proceed on pre-retirement leave from today or tomorrow.

Many bloggers on Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger and Twitter stated that Ringim was on his way out and that all the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police were packing their belongings from the Force Headquarters.

Some quoted Presidency sources as having confirmed that Ringim was advised by President Goodluck Jonathan to begin his terminal leave immediately.

Ringim joined the Nigeria Police Force as a Cadet Inspector on March 1, 1977. By March 1, 2012, he will clock 35 years in the police force, which is the bar, except the President extends his tenure.

However, uncofirmed speculations said he would be succeeded by AIG Abubakar, who hails from Zamfara State in the North-West, in conformity with Federal Character.

Ringim hails from Ringim Local Government Area of Jigawa State in the North-West.

No official of government could be reached for comments on the speculations.

Police sources said an announcement might be made on Wednesday night on the choice of Ringim’s successor.

BOKO HARAM’S THREAT LETTER TO NLC

From: Boko Haramistgroup <bokoharamistgroup@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 7:20 PM
Subject: warning….
To: “gsec@nlcng.org” <gsec@nlcng.org>

WARNING : I said it recently, the so call robbers Labour Union & his wife TUC, are bastards traitors that dey will disappoint Nigerians, how can dey submits to the pressure, who sent them is not on fuel subsidy alone,i am talking about d highest CORRUPTION in the land. What was a stay at home protest will that yield any result? The Battle Line is Drawn.BADLUCK wants WAR, he belives in his IJAW MILITANTS.
the man did not understand what Nigerians want. On #65 i stand. Is the most Useless President Nigeria ever had. his. PHD is questionable.

  Am using this oppoutunity to tell abdulwahed omar to resign with imediate effect,NLC AND TUC be prepared for fire at your head offices and offices nationwide soonest (friday 2012).

 

 

 

 

The problem with Nigeria. by https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000057421055

The problem with Nigeria.
I live here in Nigeria now, by choice I might add, thankfully.
Its not a bad place to live if you are afforded the means and the oppurtunity to vacate her shores in case of a force majeure or illness or something worse.
Nigerians simply are the problem with Nigeria. The general individual prevailant attitude in Nigeria is one of dire personal survival, even at the peril of other citizens. You observe this attitude in the general populace everywhere you go in Nigeria.
Standing in a queue in a bank, driving on the street, surging with a crowd to enter a place of worship, or just being any where there is two or more people. People here are constantly jostling for position or a head up. This attitude which fosters no camraderie amongst neigbours is deeply rooted in the Nigerians psyche of get it now or loose it.
Survivability is a God given attribute and should be encouraged when done with a humanistic attitude. Our appointed leaders and politicians whom are supposed to stand as beacons of exemplary behaviour go to great extent to magnify this narcisitic scourge of a behavior by hording wealth looted at the coffers without regard to moral injunction or common sense.
The so called men and women of God has over the years converted to singing the apothesis to wealth and ostentaciousness rather than the God wisened homelitics of morality that should be thier office. Again the wanton and excessive need to survive at all cost is to blame.
My fellow Nigerians dare to do unto others as you would have done to you. this is the credo and song of change that should be ringing from our lips like a mantra. “Be the change you want

We ‘re on Northern govs’payroll – Boko Haram

LAGOS —The Boko Haram sect has cited the stoppage of its monthly financial support for the recent attacks on northern states, claiming that the group was until recently being bankrolled by some northern governors.

The claim by the group came as it also alleged that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in its firing range last September but was spared because of his tolerance of the sharia Islamic code during his presidency.

An unnamed high ranking official of the group alleged that the Ibrahim Shekarau administration in Kano made a monthly N10 million donation to the group while the Bauchi Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda besides financial commitments was also an admirer of the military prowess of the group.

The group has, nevertheless, dismissed any personal grouse with President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging that the problems with the administration were carryovers from what it claimed to be the callousness of the Yar‘Adua administration in waging war against the group.

The allegations were made by a high ranking official of the group to the online publication247ureports.com.

Mr. Michael Ishola, Chief Press Secretary to the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, however, debunked the claim as a “very, very strange allegation.”

The newly appointed Special Adviser (Media) to the Kano State Governor, Mallam Halilu Dantiye on his part, claimed ignorance of any monthly payment to the group by the Ibrahim Shekarau administration which the present administration succeeded as he claimed that there was no such issue contained in the handover note.

Noting that the attacks on Kano and Bauchi arose from the stoppage of the financial support to the group by some northern governors, the official in the disclosures to the publication said that the entire northern governors have ongoing relationships with the group.

“Most of them pay us monthly to leave their states alone”.
It was alleged that the Shekarau administration reached an agreement as far back as 2004 to be paying a monthly support of N5 million to the group which was later raised to N10 million sometime in 2009.

The agreement also reportedly included infrastructural support. The support was, however, allegedly stopped at the inception of the Kwankwaso administration in May 2011.

The publication alleged that the Kwankwaso regime also turned against the group dismantling its infrastructure in the state.

“We warned the Governor of the consequences. We concluded on Kano in December 2011,” the source said. Shekarau’s spokesman, Sule Yau did not respond to the allegations yesterday as he did not respond to a text message sent to him. Mallam Dantiye Special Adviser to Governor Kwankwaso claimed ignorance of the alleged support saying that nothing like that was contained in the handover note received from Shekarau.

On Bauchi, the publication reported that Governor Yuguda reached a similar agreement with the leadership of the group for the payment of N10million monthly to the group alongside the provision of training grounds on the many mountains scattered in Bauchi State. The governor it was reported also promised to give them security against arrests by the federal government.  The agreement was supposedly reached in June 2008 but mid 2011, the governor reportedly stopped the disbursement of the funds.

Mr. Michael Ishola, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yuguda also refuted the allegation against Governor Yuguda. “It is a very, very strange allegation, because the Isa Yuguda I know cannot be involved in such an allegation. We in Bauchi have been living in peace. We are not involved in that,” he told Vanguard yesterday.

Why we didn’t kill Obasanjo — Boko Haram

While noting the group’s reservations on the mediation initiated by President Obasanjo with the group through Babakura Fuggu, in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the slain founder of the group, the publication disclosed that the new leader of the group, Imam Abubakar Shekau, had considered priming Obasanjo for assassination as the September 15, 2011 exchange approached.

According to the publication:  As Obasanjo concluded his secret meeting the previous day at the Green House with three other religious group [Jamatu Nasirl Islam, JNI and CAN] in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on the Wednesday of September 14, 2011, and took off the following day to Borno State, the terrorist group, according to the source, marked the former President within their ‘firing range’ from the moment he landed in Borno State at minutes after 11am till he departed the State in the late afternoon of the same day. According to the source, “we were not sure of him”.

“He was going to be a big catch” said the source who explained that the leadership halted the operation as Obasanjo went inside the residence of Babakura.

“Obasanjo was good to us. We had no problem with Obasanjo. We had him. We could have taken him out”, as he recalled that the sharia movement took off during the period when Obasanjo was president. “The problem started during the late President Yar’Adua regime. Goodluck only inherited the problem. We have no problem with Goodluck. But his Ijaw people around him are deceiving him”.

See details  here

JTF kills 4 Boko Haram members in Maiduguri

In a seeming fight back, the Joint Task Force (JTF), “Operation Restore Order” in Maiduguri, Borno State claimed success in gunning down four operatives of the Boko Haram sect in the town. The four were reportedly killed yesterday in Pompomari ward of Maiduguri , the Borno State capital.

According to a Press statement signed by the Field Operations Commander of the JTF, Col. Victor Ebhaleme the quartet was apprehended along with bomb materials.

He said: “Four members of the sect involved in the killings in Maiduguri metropolis and its environs and have been under the surveillance of security agencies were shot dead”.

The statement further claimed that, various Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) materials prepared for detonation were equally recovered from their Golf Saloon car.

The statement further warned those still harbouring the sect members to desist from such acts, urging them to report all suspects to security agencies for prompt action

Nigeria, US join forces against Boko Haram

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s effort to combat the activities of the Boko Haram sect received a boost yesterday as it resolved to collaborate with the United States in the fight against the group.

The meeting between the two countries held under the aegis of the US-Nigeria Bi-national Commission had US Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mr. William Fitzgerald leading the American side, while the Nigerian side was led by the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Martins Uhomoibhi in company of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Azazi (Rtd.)

Both the Nigerian and US officials met in Abuja to formalize a response to the general insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria. Before retreating to a closed door meeting, Fitzgerald disclosed that, due to the intensity of the insurgent activities in the North, the security working group was split into two, with one group focusing exclusively on tackling the Boko Haram menace, while the other would focus on security of the Niger Delta region.

He said: “Today marks a new beginning, security issues in the North have taken up new significance, so we have chosen to split the regional security cooperation and the Niger Delta. The regional security cooperation has its own working group which will meet today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today).”

“I bring on behalf of the US government, the deepest condolences on the heinous attacks that have taken place during the past few days first in Kano and then Bauchi State. We deplore swiftly the reign of terror that has existed in the north of the country for many months. And we stand with you to work together to find a way to bring peace to the north,”  the US envoy added.

Ambassador Adefuye was quoted as saying that “the United States government has proposed that the Niger-Delta and regional security component of the commission be split into separate entities and the first meeting on regional security should hold immediately on 23 and 24 of January. We have agreed to this proposal.

“We are receiving adequate support and assistance from our international friends without compromising our independence and freedom of action.”

CBN: Bank customers won’t pay for using PoS

CBN: Bank customers won’t pay for using PoS.

CBN: Bank customers won’t pay for using PoS

Bank customers will not pay  charges for using Point of Sale (PoS) machines, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

In a statement, it said that the cost of such deals will be borne by merchants, which will pay 1.25 per cent of the transaction fee. The fee is distributed to different parties for playing different roles in ensuring that the PoS system works well.

The fees, according to the statement enable the parties to recover the cost of the PoS; support maintenance and connectivity among others.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

It explained that where the merchants do not use the PoS, they will still be charged a penal fee of 20 per cent of cash transaction in excess of the cash limit policy. Merchants are also advised to recognise that there are other ways in which the PoS terminal can benefit them, such as selling other services and earning commissions.

For instance, mobile credit can be sold through the terminals, or used to collect bill payment for firms such as the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Also, training will be provided by the acquirer’s payment terminal service provider (PTSP). Part of the deployment process is to ensure a practical training of how to use the PoS for the merchant and their staff.

“However, if the PoS or mobile phone is stolen, the money for the user is safe as the devices do not hold the money. In terms of infrastructure, the CBN is working with Nigeria Communications Commission and telecoms companies to ensure that there are dedicated communication links for the PoS system.

Also, all PoS must have a minimum of two Sims such as MTN and Glo. However, this does not guarantee 100 per cent connectivity but does increase the uptime of PoS system. In terms of power, there is minimum of 24 hours battery life, and they can sometimes come with car charges,” the statement said.

However, in terms of security of platforms, it said that ATM fraud was prevalent when Nigeria was using magnetic stripe cards. But last year, Nigeria migrated all their cards to chip and pin which is more secure and drastically reduced the fraud level. With chip and pin, the chances of fraud are reduced provided a customer keeps his PIN secret.

Besides, the CBN Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Fraud Prevention Committee comprising banks, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), InterSwitch, ValuCard among others, deliberate monthly to make e-payments more secure. Also, the Nigerian Electronic Payment Fraud Forum has been inaugurated to share strategy for fraud prevention.

“The literacy required in operating the PoS is minimal as many Nigerians can use a mobile phone needed to make mobile payments. Biometrics is also being installed in some ATMs and PoS to further check fraud in the industry.

“Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has also introduced NIBSS Instant Payment that enables people to transfer funds immediately between two accounts within same bank or in different banks. This is currently being offered by a few banks. The apex bank has already issued a circular to break exclusivity of card. Within Nigeria, all cards will be accepted at any terminal.

The PoS, going forward, will accept both VISA and MasterCard at ATMS or PoS terminals,” the CBN said. The banking watchdog said that it has released guidelines and standards for PoS operations.

It also appointed NIBSS to serve as a central aggregator for all PoS transactions. In addition, 96 Payment Terminal Service Provider companies were licenced to maintain/support PoS.

With all these, the apex bank said the PoS and other electronic payment platforms are supposed to be up and running at all times.

THE POWER OF VISION!

Vision is the God given ability to see and capture the blueprint for your life – family, career, business, academics and humanitarian assignments. Everything we see around us today was once in the dreamland but through the power of VISION, innovation and creativity they were all brought forth for the benefit of mankind. Your success in life can be predictable when you understand and embrace the power of vision

 

1.     The Basic Components – The Future, The Present and The Past

2.     Your Keys – Your Gifts, Talents, Abilities, Opportunities …

3.     How to get Vision – Look Up, Look Within and Look Around You

4.     Vision Boosters – Focus, Diligence, Faith, Stewardship, Service …

5.     Vision Pitfalls – Laziness, Indiscipline, Bad Association, Weak Character …

6.     Your Action Point – Determine to be the best in your life pursuits

 

You were created to add value; you can’t afford to be a liability on your environment. Where there is no vision people cast off restraints but blessed is the one who can see and capture the future. In the midst of this seemly challenging environment, what can you see this week?

I see value, solution, increase, promotion and enlargement!

AU election: Ex-ECOWAS president endorses Nigeria’s candidate

A FORMER President of the Economic Community of West African States and current Secretary-General  of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambers,  on Sunday endorsed the candidature of Nigeria’s  Aisha Abdullahi,  for the post of Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission.

Chambers, in an endorsement letter made available to the News Agency of Nigeria described Abdullahi as the best candidate for the post considering her vast experience in solving the political crisis in Guinea as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the country.

“I had the distinct pleasure of getting to know and work with Abdullahi during the Guinean transition as she was the ambassador of Nigeria to Guinea.

“She worked closely with the ECOWAS Office in Conakry and provided leadership to the ECOWAS Group of Ambassadors there,” Chambers said.

Chambers, a former Ghana’s deputy foreign minister, said during the crisis, Abdullahi was accessible to the Guinean “Forces Vives’’ and was clearly a source of inspiration and encouragement to them in their legitimate aspirations to install democracy and constitutional rule in their country for which she was greatly admired.

He stressed that if voted to the post, Abdullahi would bring to the AU Commission “a brilliant academic background, quick grasp of issues, a result-oriented and practical approach to challenges.”

Chambers said, “She is strongly committed to the democratic ideals of respect for rule of law, human rights, gender, justice, equity, transparency and a fair distribution of socio-economic wealth for the benefit of all.”

Chambers added that he was optimistic Abdullahi would be “a proud, creative and resourceful addition to the AU Commission.”

NAN reports that Abdullahi, the Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea, is vying for the post with six other candidates including Ms Genevieve Tsegah, from Ghana.

Gaddafi loyalists seize Libyan town

Libya’s ramshackle government lost control of a former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday after local people staged an armed uprising, posing the gravest challenge yet to the country’s new rulers, Reuters reports.

Elders in Bani Walid, where militias loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council were driven out in a gunbattle a day earlier, said they were appointing their own local government and rejected any interference from the authorities in the capital Tripoli.

The town’s revolt will heighten doubts in the West about the NTC government’s ability to instill law and order crucial to rebuilding oil exports, to disarm tribal militias and guard Libyan borders in a region where al Qaeda is active.

Naira falls to lowest level in eight weeks

LAGOS – The Naira, yesterday,  fell to its lowest level against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market where it depreciated by another 15 kobo.

At  the  foreign exchange auction conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, under the Wholesale Dutch Auction System, WDAS,  the Naira depreciated  by 15  kobo as the  official exchange rate rose to N157 per dollar from N156.85 last week. Result of the auction indicated the apex bank sold $250 million but the amount demanded was not indicated.

The Naira also depreciated by 27 kobo at the interbank foreign exchange market where the interbank rate rose to N161.22 per dollar from N160.95 last week. The depreciation of the Naira in both segments of the foreign exchange market reflect demand pressure in the foreign exchange market.

Cumulatively, the naira has depreciated by 30 kobo against the dollar at the official market, where it opened the year at N156.7 per dollar.  Also the CBN has sold $1.419 billion since the market opened on January 4.

On the international scene, the euro strengthened to an almost three-week high against the dollar as French Finance Minister Francois Baroin  said negotiations between Greece and its private creditors were making “tangible progress.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/naira-falls-to-lowest-level-in-eight-weeks/

Why Rochas is buying 1 million shoes – Duruji

The Imo State Commissioner for Information, Barrister Obinna Duruji at a parley with newsmen spoke on the strides, successes and challenges of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State. He also spoke on issues emanating from the Governor’s recent victory at the Court of Appeal. Excerpts:

EIght months in office, what can you say are the attainments of the administration?

The governor on assumption of office declared free and  compulsory  education in both primary and secondary levels in Imo State which PDP and Ohakim told Imo people was impossible, placement of order to procure  one million  school scandals and ordered  procurement of 600,000 school bags and desks to boost free education in Imo State.

The governor also ordered the payment of backlog of pension arrears  owed for over 12 years  by the  past administrations, establishment  of Imo Pension/Senior Citizens’ Club and  donation of vehicles to the  club, release of N450 million bailout  fund to missionary schools  in  Imo State, increase  of government  monthly  subvention to IMSU from  N57m  to N100m, revival of the  Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) abandoned by Ohakim’s administration.

Community speakers

He  introduced fourth tier Government and appointment of  community speakers, which have brought  governance closer to the grassroots, reformation  of the vigilante outfits by  restricting  their  operations in the  communities rather than using them to fight  political  opponents, establishment  of General  Security Council  and Local  Government Security Council and Local Government  Security Council in the 27 LGAs, reconstruction of Commissioners’  Quarters  abandoned by Ohakim’s administration.

Reconstruction  of ALGON and Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers Secretariats, construction of 405  rural roads at 15km per L.G.A, introduction of Health-at-your-door-steps programme in Imo State, the first of its kind in Africa, upgrading of Umuguma General Hospital to a Specialist Hospital, reformation of the State Civil Service Local Government System, blockage  of revenue leakages  thus saving  billions  of naira for capital  projects in Imo State, construction of International Conference Centre at Oguta Blue Lake of Treasure (formerly known  as Oguta Wonder Lake).

Mr Duruji

It is worthy of note that the Oguta Wonder Lake project only existed in the internet during Ohakim’s regime. These are some of the tremendous achievements of His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha in less than one year of his administration, which is an eloquent testimony that Imo Rescue Mission has come to stay.

The last administration of Governor Ikedi Ohakim took N18.5b bond from the Stock Market. What does the current administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha intend to do with the bond?

Government is a continuum. We are going to redirect the bond and ensure that it is used for meaningful development projects.

The bond was to be used for the rehabilitation of the Imo state water scheme, rehabilitation and construction of major roads, financing the Imo State government’s equity investment in Imo Wonder Lake and conference centre in Oguta. Okorocha’s administration has started work in all these areas and that’s why I said government is continuum.

There were speculations that APGA wasresponsible for the transfer of the governorship election tribunal to Abuja. Is this true?

No, we are a responsible government and our priority and focus is the delivery of dividends of democracy. You can see that even on the day of the tribunal verdict on the 12th of November, 2011; the governor was not bothered; he was driving his government bus to various sites inspecting projects.

I was shocked when I came from the tribunal and I saw him at the gate of the Government House in shorts, addressing the crowd and I was curious and I said your excellency are you addressing Imo citizens on shorts, he said it doesn’t matter and that he was coming from the project sites.

So that’s how unruffled he is. His mandate was ordained by God and delivered on the planet earth. It is not our own making. Imo citizens for the first time expressed their wishes and aspirations in the mandate delivered to the Governor.

It was not their making, it was ordained in heaven. So what we saw on earth was the manifestation of the heavenly intervention. So, the governor is loved by his people and those who came to the court were there to show their solidarity to the mandate they gave to him. Neither our party APGA nor government influenced the move to Abuja.

The governor is accused of formulating policies in the state without due process; they cited as example the creation of community speakers without the input of the house of assembly. What is your reaction to this?

He didn’t have to. What people don’t understand is that the only constant thing in life is change. This is a man who is a change agent; he is a catalyst, a facilitator for change and development. He is not going to be held hostage by protocol and mundane understanding of the rule of law.

Law trails development, development does not trail laws unnecessarily, and law trails development all over the world. I am a senior advocate in the Unites States and I do know that law follows development, development does not follow law; otherwise society will not move forward.

As events are happening, law catches up, you don’t wait to make the law for the average human thinking before you can implement, it is only as you evolve that the law trails behind, and all over the world, the due process is a twin sister or brother of democracy.

So the two are not mutually exclusive, they are mutually inclusive. Once you see democracy, the government of the people, for the people and by the people, you are talking about rule of law.

So once he envisions, he conceptualizes and then the legal process takes place. If he does not envision, conceptualize, articulate the polices before the implementation, how can the Legislative house formulate. The House formulates based on the fine prints of articulation of the policies and programmes that emanate from the executive arm whenever necessary.

It is only then that the policy is transmitted to the house for articulation of an enabling law. It cannot be the other way round; otherwise the House will be dictating to the executive. So there is no violation of the rule of law, I challenge any opponent of this administration to come up with a clear indication of where we have violated the law.

Imo indigenes sacked in Abia. Why is the problem still lingering?

Well it is not an Imo problem; it is the South East problem as a matter of fact. But the issue is still pending before the South East Governor’s Forum. So Governor Okorocha has advised us to be cautious in our approach, that dialogue will be a better approach to resolve the quagmire and as obedient servants we so obliged.

Cushioning of effects of the sack

He has also cushioned the effects of the sack, which is our major concern and apprehension about the fate of the Imo indigenes, by assuring us in no mistaken terms that at the appropriate time, if the obnoxious decision is not rescinded, that Imo citizens would be absorbed in the Imo workforce. So that is the last resort and that’s by way of assurance.

What is your reaction to Court of Appeal decision?

Owelle’s victory at the Court of Appeal recently in Abuja is a further manifestation of its divine origin and a revalidation of Imo people’s mandate. The judgment has also rekindled our faith and confidence in the Nigerian judiciary. Imo people applaud the judges for remaining resolute in their determination to uphold Imo people’s mandate despite pressure to the contrary.

Given the wisdom of the tribunal and court of appeal, we are confident that the dismissal will stand Supreme Court scrutiny. To God be the glory.

Security: Retired Generals meet on way out

ABUJA— Following the increase in the spate of Boko Haram bombings and attacks in the country and seeming inability of security agencies to stop them, retired military generals have scheduled a two-day meeting in Abuja to deliberate on present security challenges and come out with possible solutions to the problems.

The retired generals under the auspices of Alumni Association of National Defence College (ANNDEC) in conjunction with the National Defence College , will converge at the auditorium of the NDC on 24th and 25th, January 2012, to brainstorm on National Military Strategy and serve as a bridge between the current participants at the College and ANNDEC.

Addressing the media on the objectives of the meeting at the weekend, Chairman of the organizing committee and former Guards Brigade Commander, Major General Alexander Mshelbwala (rtd), noted that “It is to bring the experiences of members of the Alumni Association including former Service chiefs, GOC’s, etc, to bear on the academic learning of the participants in order to galvanize them for the daunting work awaiting them in the field with respect to national security”.

Commenting on the importance of the seminar, General Mshelbwala said, “The answer is not far-fetched. The Vanguard for national security is the armed forces since the main purpose for their creation or establishment is for the defence of the territorial integrity of the nation”.

‘In other words, to the armed forces, the survival of the Nigerian nation is not only fundamental but indeed not negotiable. Nonetheless, it is the people that make or unmake the efficacy of the military in this direction. Realizing this therefore, the seminar has been carefully structured to harp on the critical sectors of national endeavours with a view to distilling the security support components inherent in them”, he said.

Meanwhile, after last Friday’s bomb explosion, armed soldiers have been drafted to the troubled city to beef up security in the state. The 24- hour curfew imposed on Friday was still in force, with the exception of those returning to their homes and those searching for lost loved ones.

A source said that corpses continued to arrive at several mortuaries in Kano, including Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Murtala Hospital, and Nassarawa Hospital.

Hundreds of seriously injured victims were also receiving treatment and first aid across the ancient city.

Some corpses were mutilated and others burnt beyond recognition. In some cases, aid workers pieced together torn and scattered body parts before moving them to mortuaries.

A staff of a hospital said that many people besieged his hospital looking for missing relatives or the corpses of those confirmed dead.

“Those who cannot trace their loved ones just fall on the ground and wail,” the source said.

Boko Haram, sect had claimed responsibility for the attacks in a widely circulated paper written in Hausa and released on Friday.

The statement read:

“In the name of Allah, Peace and Mercy! We are the group called ‘forbidden’ that is Boko Haram but we love to call ourselves Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Liddaawati wal Jihad. This message is to all inhabitants of Kano State especially the security agencies, those arresting our brothers and telling the media they are arresting thieves or armed robbers. These are our brothers they are arresting. We don’t have the right to attack those who don’t attack us but our war is with the government fighting Muslims, its security agencies and Christians (under C. A. N), those killing Muslims and even eating their flesh and all those helping security agents even if they are Muslims. Anybody who becomes an accomplice to arresting our brothers should wait for our visit.” The message ended with the words, “Message from Leader Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Liddaawati wal Jihad. Imam Abu Muhammad Abubakar Bin Muhammad (Shekau).”

 

 

 

 

Three days after the deadliest Boko Haram attacks yet, police in Kano State announced that they had impounded 10 cars laden with explosives. Some of the vehicles were found to have been abandoned by their owners, while another was arrested along with the owner at Gwauron Dutse in the ancient city. On the same day, •Senate President David Mark, speaking on behalf of the leadership of the National Assembly, said laws would be amended to strengthen the fight against terror; •Four Boko Haram suspects were killed in Maiduguri, Borno State; and •A man was shot in the leg at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on the suspicion of being a terrorist. THISDAY gathered from security sources in Kano that two of the vehicles were abandoned by their owners since last Friday at various locations within Kano metropolis. The Kano attacks, launched simultaneously at eight spots, left nearly 200 persons dead. It was learnt that a Honda Civic car was found abandoned close to the NNPC Mega Station in Hotoro, beside Kano depot, laden with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), while the second car, a Kia, was discovered at Tula in the suburb of Kano by the eastern by pass. The vehicles were evacuated safely from the area by security agents with the help of residents of the area, THISDAY learnt. The third car, which is a Honda Brahma series, was found abandoned on Sunday at Sheka quarters after residents reported the unusual presence of the car since last Friday to security agencies. THISDAY was also informed that the fourth car, a Toyota Camry, was intercepted yesterday during security operative’s wait and search operation at Gwauron Dutse quarters in Kano city. Both the car and its driver were arrested. Items found in the car were: a bullet proof vest, a gun and some chemicals believed to be used in making IEDs. Two brand new Hilux open pick-up vans were also found packed with explosives in the Bompai area of Kano. Special prayers were conducted in mosques throughout Kano yesterday to seek divine intervention in order to prevent recurrence of last Friday’s bomb blasts. Prayers were also said at Kano Central Mosque, led by the Chief Imam of Kano, Professor Sani Zaharadeen. In attendance were the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and all ulamas in the state. “I will pray to God that we should never re-live the catastrophe that resulted in the deaths and maiming in our city,” Kwankwaso said. Bayero told the clerics: “I enjoin you to continue praying for peace and stability in our city. I call upon you to use any religious fora to pray for peace in our land.” David Mark assured Nigerians Monday that the National Assembly would as a matter of urgency revisit the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was passed last year, to give maximum legislative and legal support in the fight against the Boko Haram menace. The law, as it stands, makes prosecution difficult because of the evidence required. Most of the suspects charged to court so far were arraigned under other laws which allow them to be granted bail. Mark promised a review of the law when he led the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and other principal officers of the National Assembly on an on-the-spot-assessment of the damage done by last Friday’s bomb attacks. He consoled the Emir of Kano, the Kano Emirates Council, government and people of the state, assuring them that the perpetrators of the dastardly act would soon be brought to book. He said: “We will do all within our powers to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of this anywhere in our country. If there is anything we in the National Assembly can do in terms of taking a second look at the Anti-Terrorism Act, we will go ahead and do it. We will give maximum legislative and legal support so that those who are involved are dealt with. “It’s time for all good men in our country to speak out and condemn this act with all our might and with all our powers. It is also time for our security agencies to double their efforts and prevent such mishaps before they happen.” Meanwhile, police Monday said a suspected Boko Haram militant on Sunday evening killed the registrar of Maiduguri High Court, Baba Loskurima, at his residence within the metropolis. According to the police, the deceased, 47, was attacked at his Tandari residence in Budum ward at about 7pm. Borno State police spokesman, Samuel Tizhe, said: “An unknown gunman approached the house of the High Court registrar at his house and fired severally into Baba’s head and chest with a Kalashnikov rifle, before he fell on the ground and died in front of his wife and children.” In another development, the Field Operations Officer of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Col. Victor Ebhaleme, in a signed press statement, said: “Four members of the Boko Haram sect involved in the killings in Maiduguri and environs and have been under the surveillance of security agencies were shot dead in Pompomari area of Maiduguri yesterday (Sunday).” He disclosed that various IEDs prepared were also recovered from the suspects’ Golf Volkswagen vehicle. He warned members of the public to desist from harbouring members of the sect, adding that any resident that had knowledge of any suspect should immediately report such to the JTF for prompt action in order to save lives and property. At the Ministry of Defence in Abuja, which had been cordoned off since last year over the fear of terror attack, soldiers on duty demobilised a man who is said to have tried to force his way in. It was learnt that passers-by ran for cover, fearing that the man might have been on a suicide bombing mission. The agitated soldiers opened fire on the man who was alleged to have attempted to grab a rifle from one of the soldiers at the entrance gate of the Ministry. It was gathered that it was while the scuffle was going on that another soldier shot the leg of the alleged assailant. A source further disclosed that the injured man is in now in the custody of the Directorate of Military Intelligence where he is said to be undergoing treatment and interrogation.

600 million new jobs needed in next 10 years says ILO

GENEVA (AFP) – The International Labour Organization on Tuesday released a pessimistic report for the global jobs market in 2012 saying urgent attention is needed to create 600 million new jobs in the next 10 years.

“Despite strenuous government efforts, the jobs crisis continues unabated, with one in three workers worldwide, or an estimated 1.1 billion people, either unemployed or living in poverty,” said ILO director-general, Juan Somavia, in the Global Employment Trends 2012 report.

“What is needed is that job creation in the real economy must become our number one priority,” he said.

“Whether we recover or not from this crisis will depend on how effective government policies ultimately are.”

The report said governments must coordinate and act decisively “to reduce the fear and uncertainty that is hindering private investment so that the private sector can restart the main engine of global job creation.”

ILO senior economist Ekkehard Ernst said at a press conference the recovery started in 2009 was short-lived and there were nearly 29 million fewer people in the labour force now than “would be expected based on pre-crisis trends”.

“Our forecast has become much more pessimistic than last year, with the possibility of a serious deceleration of the growth rate,” he said.

The report refers to “discouraged workers”, those who have decided to stop looking for work because they feel they have no chance of finding a job and are considered economically inactive.

“If these discouraged workers were counted as unemployed, then global unemployment would swell from the current 197 million to 225 million, and the unemployment rate would rise from 6 per cent to 6.9 per cent,” Ernst said.

Young people continued to be the hardest hit by the jobs crisis.

“Judging by the present course,” the report says, “there is little hope for a substantial improvement in their near-term employment prospects.”

The ILO says 74.8 million youths aged 15-24 were unemployed in 2011, an increase of more than four million since 2007 in the total global labour force of 3.3 billion.

Globally young people are nearly three times as likely as adults to be unemployed. The global youth unemployment rate, at 12.7 per cent, remains a full percentage point above the pre-crisis level.

Ernst and fellow ILO economist Moazam Mahmood recommended additional public spending “to support both the domestic and global economies.”

The report warned that outside of Asia, developing regions have lagged behind developed economies in labour productivity growth, raising the risk of a further divergence in living standards and limiting prospects for poverty reduction.

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