Juliana

The Year 2008 in my Life

2008-12-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

God has been good to me I will be ungrateful if I say otherwise.

Psalm 139:13-18 (New International Version)

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [a] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

God has been good I will be totally ungrateful if I say otherwise

For me, the year 2008 was simply mind blowing. I saw God did the impossible for me. Yep, I had some disappointments and I made some grave mistakes but the scripture above sums up the way I feel about God and how he saw me through the year 2008.

I had alot of expectations in the year gone by, I thought I would be married by now and expecting my baby. Yep, it was one of my prayer points in 08 (others came to pass) but alias it didn't happen. God has remain God and I sure will not fret over that matter.
I got recognised and commended from quarters beyond my imagination, my family members have remained intact despite the threatening challenges (though I lost my cousin in July and my Aunt has been struggling back to life after suffering stroke), I had opportunity to attend three programmes outside the country all paid for, above all I am alive (lost two dear friends, Brig. Gen Giwa Amu in February and Chris Nwachukwu on December 11), well and lacking nothing. So quit worry and trust God completely.

There is an old saying that goes, "Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened". This essentially means that there is no use crying over split milk. You cannot turn back time and do things that would benefit you. Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue. New year is the time of new beginnings. It is time to start afresh and do things that would make someone else smile. Make a pledge to make at least one person happy. You will see the difference it can make in both your lives. The essential message of New Year is let go off the past and embrace life as it comes to you. You will be happier and merrier that way.
Who am I? Where am I from? What can I do? Where am I going? Dear Friend, as you step into 2009, these are fundamental questions I will want you to reflect and ponder on. As you arrive at the answers, God helping you, begin to take little steps towards where you are going to. No matter how little these steps may be, be rest assured that you will gain some significant grounds in no time and attract the right persons that will motivate and assist u towards where u are going. With a consistent focus and progressive efforts towards where you are going, frivolities, fantasy, and those things "that so easily beset us" will have no space in your priorities, because you will be pre-occupied with the pursuits of your destination goals. What more can I say but to wish u bountiful success in 2009. Happy New Year

This daily declaration worked well for me in 2008 and I am taking it over to 2009

MY DAILY DECLARATION 2008
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
Today, I declare and confess that I am filled with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. I boldly declare that I dwell in the secret place of the most High and my family and I are safe. I believe and I declare that no evil shall befall me neither shall any plague come near my dwelling place. I believe and I declare that I shall not die but live to declare the works of God.
Today and in 2009, the Lord is my helper and I shall not be afraid of what man shall do unto me. Today, I shall not waste my destiny and I shall not roam in the market square of life.
Today, the Lord shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I decree and I confess that there is no lack in my life, family and ministry because Jehovah God is my Shepherd. Yea, I decree and I declare that the Lord is my banner and He shall fight my battles into victory. No weapon formed against me shall prosper and God’s word is life to my flesh. I shall not waste my resources on sicknesses and in my life and pathway, there is no death. I shall excel in this day and I shall walk in favour beyond measure. The days of my labour are over and the days of my favour are born. I shall not drink the water of affliction and losses shall be far from my dwelling place.
Today, I hear the sound of abundance of rain and I hereby declare that there shall be a rain of Jubilee and Mercy on my life, family and ministry. I shall eat the good of the land and I shall be honoured. As I go out today, I declare that Christ in me is my hope of Glory. I therefore reject shame! My generation shall get the best from my life and ministry. I shall not die till I am accomplished. I decree and I declare that I am making a difference in the world and I am thankful to God. I shall not be a part of the wasted generation. I shall be revealed and I shall manifest as a son
of God to my generation. As I sleep, my hidden talents are revealed. As I awake my hidden talents are manifested. I am a great success story and I am a blessing to this generation. So help me God!

In Berlin

2008-07-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

I am away in Berlin for two full months. Now it promises to be very interesting as far as multimedia and online journalism is all about.

It's been an engaging class with colleagues from Vianem, Afganistan, Jordan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Pakistan and of course Nigeria.

Incredible what one can do on the internet.

Anyways that will not prevent me from keeping taps of happenings back home and so far it is not so good.

New ID Card Scheme to Gulp N30bn

2008-07-02T04:53:00.001-07:00

Hi folks,

Are we in trouble or what? Is a N30 billion ID card scheme what we really need now or to fix problems like the one the Permanent Secretary in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, is raising alarm about. He has warned that if something Is not done urgently, the River Niger Bridge in Anambra State may collapse soon.
Moddibo the other day was busy selling an abuja boulavard when housing is a problem, the power sector reform we really do not know the direction. I am indeed very worried.

Though it took his visitation by the Senate AdHoc Committee probing the utilisation of fund in the Transportation Sector for him to reveal this. But Baba-Ahmed, who was at one time Permanent Secretary in the Works Ministry, knows what he is saying when he stressed that the bridge was being poorly maintained.
Back to the ID card scheme expected to commence by the end of the year, the N30bn according to the Director-General /Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Mr. Chris Onyem-enam, is expected to be used to upgrade the National Identity (ID) Card management scheme in the country to an international standard to create a national identity database.
The previous identity card scheme alleged to be riddled with fraud and which led to the removal of the former Minister of Internal Affairs, late Chief Sunday Afolabi, cost $215 million (N25.155billion). The project was handled by Sagem SA of France.
The national identity card scheme hitherto implemented by Directorate of National Civic Registration (DNCR) under the Ministry of Interior, has been transferred to NIMC. DNCR metamorphosed to NIMC following the repeal of the Act, which established DNCR last year and its assets and liabilities transferred to NIMC.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja at a pre-event on the forthcoming National ID Card Management Conference (another wastage venture) billed for between September 21 and 23 in Abuja, Onyemenam said the N30 billion is an estimated cost as the Commission had not taken into consideration the existing infrastructure inherited by NIMC from DNCR.
He said when the ongoing audit was completed; the total cost of the identity card scheme might be reduced.
Onyemenam, however, said the cost of the biometrics project is expected to be borne by the Federal Government and the private sector under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
He confirmed that already, the Federal Government had picked two consultants for the project (Iris One-CardSecure Consortium and Chams Consortium) to operate the front end of the project.
He was optimistic that the new state � of - the - art infrastructure that is expected to be built would provide a platform for effective management of the National ID card in the country.
Onyemenam expressed optimism that the new scheme would solve the problems of multiple registrations in the country as it would become the only instrument for identification in places such as hospitals, banks, embassies and others requiring identification.
The new scheme, he added, would make registration less cumbersome as registration would be decentralised and would become a daily activity.
Throwing more light on the plans of the scheme, the Director-General said: �Another infrastructure upgrade has to do with the creation of a secure National Identity Database with necessary authentication and verification infrastructure and full business continuity support so that it would be easy for anyone from anywhere within Nigeria to prove or assert his /her identity.
�Accordingly, to achieve this objective, the Commission is focused on expanding, extending and enhancing existing identity infrastructure and where necessary exiting obsolete technology and processes in order to establish a reliable, secure and scalable identity management system infrastructure that utilises advanced biometric technologies to uniquely identify every individual in the country.
�This strategy is what we have code- named 4Es through, which we ultimately hope to deliver in partnership with the private sector, a National ID Management System infrastructure upgrade that is consumer focused and sustainable,� he explained.

Nyako: Yar’Adua, PDP Wade in

2008-06-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.26.2008 (THISDAY Newspapers)

president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have waded into the move by the Adamawa State House of Assembly to impeach the state Governor Murtala Nyako.
PDP National Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor, who led the party leadership to a meeting yesterday with President Yar’Adua at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on the matter, said the impeachment move had been taken care of.
He described the problem between the House and the governor as a family affair.
“It is the party that intervened and we have solved the problem. It is a family affair and it’s been taken care of. We only went to brief the President what we did and the President is happy with the party. The governor and the Speaker are one and the same. Everything is over and we are happy,” he said.
The PDP Chairman described the allegations of the state legislature against the governor as “shallow” and according to him, arose from a mere misunderstanding which is normal in politics.
“The allegation is shallow. I think it is shallow but its just a misunderstanding which is normal in any administration. Politics is not like religion but even in religion they disagree, in church they disagree so there is bound to be disagreement.
“We listened to both parties and where there is need to apportion blame we did and both of them saw where they made mistakes. Nobody is above mistakes”, he said.
But the meeting may have ended in a deadlock.
The body language of the state House of Assembly Speaker James Barka and the moves by Ogbulafor and National Secretary Abubakar Kawu Baraje to sneak Nyako away from the press appeared to suggest all was still not well after the meeting.
Both men, the embattled governor and Barka, emerged from the two-hour meeting wearing long faces.
After the meeting, the Speaker walked away and it took repeated calls by Ogbulafor to have him reluctantly walk back to speak with State House correspondents.
When asked if he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, the unsmiling Barka answered in the negative, saying he would have to brief his colleagues first before making further comments on the issue.
“No. We have had a meeting and the chairman has said it all and I will meet with my members”, he said before walking away.
The meeting was adjourned so the Speaker would brief his colleagues on the decisions reached and thereafter return for another round of consultation to be presided over by Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan in the Presidential Villa but no date was fixed.
Nyako, on his part, kept mute despite repeated questions posed to him by reporters.
He however said he had reached out to the state House of Assembly.
On whether he saw the hand of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar or former governor Boni Haruna in his impeachment move, he replied: “Do you mean physical hand or…” and walked away.
The Adamawa State House of Assembly had on Monday served Nyako an impeachment notice.
The governor was alleged to have committed 16 impeachable offences.
Nyako was returned to the governorship seat last April after a rerun poll.
In the six-page impeachment notice tabled before the House by the Deputy Speaker Aliyu Isa Ahmadu and signed by 20 of the 25 members of the assembly, the governor was accused of gross misconduct in the performance of his official duties and other unconstitutional acts.
In the notice of impeachment, Nyako was accused of obtaining a loan of $50 million or N6 billion with a repayment regime of 34 months at N248 million net per month.
This, according to the impeachment notice, amounts to N8,432,000,000, which has allegedly subjected the state to an unnecessary financial burden.
Nyako is also accused of unilaterally obtaining the loan without the assembly's approval as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to the notice, the lawmakers said: "The interesting part of the loan is that the financier, the consultant and contractor for the projects selected for execution with the money is one and the same."
The assembly identified the company involved as Messrs SNECOU Group of companies Ltd, "a company with a share capital of only N1 million."
The lawmakers said the company did not have the capacity to handle such a transaction involving large sums of public money.
"There is also no evidence that the money was paid into any account which the Adamawa State Government operates. Meanwhile, repayment of the money has already commenced since May 2008 at the rate of N248 million per month," they said in the notice.
Nyako was also accused of obtaining another loan from a second generation bank to the tune of N5 billion with a repayment rate of N457,211,021.49 million per month.
The assembly disclosed that both loans were procured without the authorisation of the House contrary to Section 120 (2) (3) and (4) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
The governor was also alleged to have frozen the account of Mayo Belwa Local Government Council in the state.
This, the legislators insisted, took place with little regard for due process.
The legislators also accused the governor of authorising illegal deductions from the joint accounts of local governments thereby starving them of funds which they were to deploy in implementing their projects for the benefit of the people.

Strike: Yar’Adua, Aja-Nwachukwu Meet over Teachers’ Pay

2008-06-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.26.2008 (THISDAY Newspaper)

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday met behind closed doors with Minister of Education Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu to find a lasting solution to the lingering problem between the teachers and government over the payment of the harmonised salary across the states.
President Yar’Adua, THISDAY gathered directed the minister to explore all avenues to ensure that the looming strike was averted.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) had on Tuesday fixed Tuesday July 1 for the commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike by all primary and secondary school teachers.
But Aja-Nwachukwu later declared that day that the Federal Government had agreed to implement the Teachers salary Structure (TSS).
Addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, Minister of Communication and Information John Odey in company with the Minister of Health Hassan Lawal, however, reiterated that the Yar’Adua administration as a responsible one was willing to negotiate with all the stakeholders to ensure that there “is amicable resolution of the problem.”
“I shared your sentiments and as a responsible government, we are very very concerned about the welfare of workers, be they teachers or other workers. The case of the teachers’ demand is being looked at holistically,” Odey said.
He disclosed that negotiations were going on at all levels but warned that it would be impossible for the Federal Government to take decisions for the states and local governments on a uniform salary structure for the aggrieved teachers.
“Consultations are on with states and local government areas in order to arrive on a common solution that will cut across boards and not just in the federal schools alone,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Yar’Adua, has approved N331,824,047.10 for the completion of the laboratory complex at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) Idu, Abuja, abandoned since 1996.
Odey said the contract which was the only major decision taken at yesterday’s meeting was awarded in favour of Messrs Atidolf Nigeria Ltd with a completion period of 24 weeks.
He said the construction work of the laboratory complex was a five-storey block laboratory office, space, library and conference hall, adding that the need to complete the building and the significance to the expansion of the services and activities of the institute could not be over-emphasised.
“The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Idu is the centre for various pharmaceutical research works.
“Through research conducted at the centre, a lot of control measures have been instituted in the prevention of sickle cell anaemia, malaria, hypertension, diabetes etc.
“The scope of work required for completion of the laboratory complex include replacing the roof covering that was blown away by storm, plastering, metal and structural steel works, furnishing, external works, electrical works, glazing, painting, decorating laboratory fittings and fixtures, passengers lifts etc,” he said.

Gambari Wants 90-Day Truce from Militants

2008-06-25T02:51:00.001-07:00

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.25.2008 (THISDAY Newspapers)

Chairman of the Steering Committee on the Niger Delta Summit, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has called on militants in the area to declare a 90-day truce to give the committee as well as next month’s summit the benefit of the doubt to bring lasting peace and development to the region.
Gambari, who addressed State House correspondents after his meeting with President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday said his committee would reach out to all stakeholders with legitimate inputs to be made.
“Let us prove ourselves, judge by the results of our action and the process that we are going to put very much in place,” he said.
The United Nations (UN) envoy stated that the summit would be different from previous efforts because it would address the issue of the Niger Delta comprehensively.
He said it would also look at all aspects, the issue of decades of neglect, poor physical infrastructure, poor social infrastructure, education, health and environmental degradation.
According to him, the perception or the reality of marginalisation and economic development, particularly employment for the youths would be addressed.
He called on Nigerians to see the summit as a national issue rather than one organised by the Niger Delta for the Niger Delta, adding that the summit would comprehensive and address issues holistically.
“We hope to do a very good job because we want this summit to be different from the previous summits. We want a summit that will address the issue of the Niger Delta comprehensively, looking at all aspects, the issue of decades of neglect, poor physical infrastructure, poor social infrastructure, education and health, environmental degradation.
“This is a national summit, all Nigerians are stakeholders in the issue of the Niger Delta. It is not a Niger Delta problem, it is a national issue that manifests itself in a particular way in the Niger Delta and for durable solution. All of us Nigerians will have to be regarded as stakeholders.
“Beyond our shores, we also have the international dimension to the Niger Delta situation because for those of you following the event, you know that when you have an issue in the Niger Delta, it immediately reflects itself in the global oil prices which is therefore of concern to countries in our region and also even beyond.
“There is also the issue of small arms and light weapons and the militarisation of the area which further complicates the issue and we also add the national security dimension.
“So, that is the assignment. It is an honour and privilege as a Nigerian to be given this opportunity. Though we are yet to be inaugurated, I thought I should let you know that the process of consultation has started; is advancing and we hope at the end of the day we will produce a national summit that Nigerians will be proud of. The neigbouring countries will be happy with and international community will take due note,” he said.
On those to expect at the summit, Gambari said the committee would reach out to all stakeholders, both local and international, before reporting back to the President for the summit proper.
Reacting to criticisms of his choice as chairman of the committee, Gambari said it was the Nigerian government that asked for his release by the UN, having seen his mediating roles in both Myanmar and Iraq.

Power: Lukman Proposes Suspension of Privatisation

2008-06-25T02:45:00.000-07:00

...Estimates $85bn needed to achieve 20,000mw by 2020
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.25.2008 (THISDAY Newspapers)

The Federal Government should halt the privatisation of the power sector until necessary repairs are carried out in the existing infrastructure, the Power Sector Reform Committee headed by Honorary Adviser on Energy to the President, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, has proposed.
Lukman, while submitting the committee’s final report to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in company with Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, said: “We feel that it is highly important that the coordinating body in the PHCN be put in place. The privatisation of the successor companies should be suspended until the finalisation of these repairs and viability status is sustained.”
Preparatory to the privatisation of the sector, the former administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had unbundled the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) into 18 successor companies to handle generation, distribution and transmission, while Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was incorporated to take over “stranded” assets and liabilities of the defunct NEPA.
Lukman was however silent on the fate of the 18 successor companies since they have already been “corporatised” – having been registered as independent companies at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
This recommendation for a new co-ordinating unit may also raise legal issues since the 18 companies are already corporate bodies on their own.
The committee also said Nigeria needed $85 billion (about N10.2 trillion) to meet her 20,000 megawatts electricity target by 2020.
It said the sum would be expended on the ailing sector in the next 12 years in order to achieve government’s short, medium and long-term target as contained in the Power Sector Masterplan.
He, however, was quick to add that this amount did not include another N301.3 billion that would be required for the immediate rehabilitation of gas infrastructural development to enhance adequate gas supply for the generation of the targeted megawatts.
He said 60-70 per cent of the country’s electricity requirement would be dependent on gas, while the remaining are hydro, coal and solar.
Lukman warned that while gas-related electricity accounts for about 70 per cent of total requirement, unless there was peace in the Niger Delta, the nation’s quest for adequate power supply would be a mirage.
All forms of privatisation in the sector should be suspended until Nigeria achieves a healthy power sector, the committee recommended.
The breakdown of the figure shows that of the N10 trillion, a total of $3.5 billion (about N411.1 billion) is to be sourced to solve the sector’s immediate problems and generate 6000 megawatts under the short-term plan which would last for the next 18 months.
For the medium-term plan, the committee is proposing the total amount of N434.3 billion to beef up total electricity generation to 10,000 megawatts which equates current demand.
This will be implemented in the next three to five years, while the long term plan which stretches through another six years, is expected to consume the balance of the whole sum.
The committee lamented that currently only 40 per cent of Nigerians are serviced by the PHCN, but the remaining 60 per cent are expected to be taken care of at the end of the medium-term plan implementation.
The committee advised government to consider emergency power generation in selected urban areas with a view to deploying it whenever there is a sudden drop from the national grid.
It said the facility could also be relocated from one city to another or even to the rural areas as soon as the situation improves in the cities.
While it recommended government’s immediate approval of the implementation of the short-term plan, it warned that gas supply and the Niger Delta where it is produced are the most crucial ingredients and aspects of the power generation in Nigeria and most therefore be given priority in public expenditure.
Assessing the current state of the country’s reforms in the sector, Lukman disclosed that gas supply is the single most important element of Nigeria’s adequate power supply, followed by maintenance.
He said the country had gas deposit that could sustain her power generation for over 150 years but decried the current indebtedness of PHCN of N14 billion to gas suppliers.
The committee also uncovered that while an average of N20 billion is required monthly for the settlement of PHCN retirees, 37,000 are workers in the utility’s employ as against the verified number of 22,115 staff by consultants.
He said 90 per cent of them do not contribute meaningfully to productivity as they lack professional training.
President Yar’Adua, while thanking the committee for a job “well done”, declared that with the submission of the report, his government would immediately proceed to work out the package for both the short, medium and long-term plans for the proposed declaration of a state of emergency in the sector.
He reiterated that the power sector remained the immediate priority in the government’s resolve to meet the vision 202020 target, adding that government would immediately examine the report and its recommendations with a view to implementing them without delay.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after the presentation, Lukman said: “We decided that we are going to define the stages based on what is achievable. For the short term, our aim is to optimise, stabilise and maintain the existing systems. There are a lot of megawatts that could be gained. We also believe by so doing, the capacity of generation can be raised to 6000mw. We also understand that currently, the transmission network cannot raise more than 4000 conveniently, so because of that, transmission and distribution network must be added to the system. The short term plan is 18 months, from now to December 2009.
“For the medium term, we feel that something tangible must be achieved within the lifetime of this administration, the first term. Within three years, we can beef up the current demand which we projected as 10,000 mw. This is achievable.
“After that, we look at the long term. Then we look at 2020, what is achievable. These are the ways that we came out with the short, medium and long-term, considering what is practically achievable, and what is also reasonable.
“For any plan, there must be general assumptions that would guide the way we go about the plan.
“The existing stations would continue to be maintained as at when due. If you do not maintain what you have started with, you are going to go backwards. The Federal Government would release timely funds, the FG would complete all NIPP projects. There must be assurance of adequate supply of gas, there must be no vandalism of power transmission and gas pipelines. For the medium and long-term plans to be achieved, the short-term plan must be successfully completed. These are the assumptions.
“Short term plan is primarily designed to address the immediate shortfalls both in generation and transmission capacity to achieve 36,000mw daily power. What we understood is that as long as these maintenance works are not started, more and more units are going to breakdown. So the first thing to do is stop the rot.”
He also emphasised the importance of optimising the new power stations, so that the three new stations at Geregu, Omotosho and Osun Oshogbo could be fully operational.
According to him, “The grid is very weak, many of the equipment currently are causing power cuts across the country because they are old, they have not been maintained properly and they are aging. We also need to expand the distribution network to accommodate the new power that is coming, and the old power that had been there.
“If all is done, we are assured of 7365mw, but we are only working on ensuring 6000mw by December 2009 because we are still on transmission.
“The communication, control and signalling systems within the grid are all very old and very unreliable. At the end of the short-term what is required in terms of funds to complete the short term is $3.5 billion.
“Medium term is a very interesting phase because by that time, we are going to have new stations started by this administration and we are about completing all the NIPP projects. We believe it is time we start bringing other sources of energy into the mix for energy security. We also hope to start seeing the IPPs coming to complement what the government is doing.
“Three major introductions, one, the introduction of other sources of energy, more hydros, coal and some renewables, because we included some solar and wind power to be experimented. Then the IPPs, more joint ventures coming in. Hopefully by that time the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) would have raised the economy to a level where people can come in and feel convinced that the investment is right.
“Finally, in the long term, it is hoped that the private sector should at least equal whatever investment government is making in the power sector. It is our belief that, rather than trying to sell the few little ones that are available, people should add more because Nigeria needs more megawatts. It is better the sector is all open; there are a lot of opportunities for everyone. By 2020 the private sector should be the leaders in the sector, the opportunities are there. For the private sector to come into this industry, most of them should go into gas.
He said the committee projected that wind and solar would have contributed 200mw. “So much more again have to be spent, in terms of constructing of transmission lines and substations and this one is purely government responsibility according to the current policy.
“The same thing with distribution. Distribution networks can be privatised with time; individuals can construct distribution networks and connect them to the grid. This is still allowable. And this could relieve government a lot in the sector, it is very feasible. There is a lot of private money that can go into distribution networks.
“Between now and 2020, we projected that we need to spend about close to $85 billion to be able to realise our dream. This is money that can come from all sectors. This does not include money required for gas infrastructure, which would also be massive.
“The plan here is for power, but there would be required a sort of equivalent gas infrastructure for them to be able to service all these thermal stations that are going to constitute about 6-7 per cent of the requirement. It is nearly also about eighty something, or ninety something million US dollars.
“Based on the submission we received from the NNPC, this is just for the short to medium-term. This money has to be spent between now and 2009 to be able to address those shortfalls, because without spending this, those shortfalls would be more because they would not be able to provide the infrastructure required for the gas supply to the power stations.
“The overall priority of government should be to arrest the decay in generation which is currently below 3000mw by optimising the use of existing assets.”

FEC Approves Master Plan for Abuja Boulevard

2008-06-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

THISDAY Newspaper From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.19.2008

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has approved the revised master plan for the construction of Abuja Boulevard.
When completed, the boulevard will be like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, United States, and is expected to boost tourism in the city.
The boulevard will have a cluster of highrise buildings, hotels, conference centres and parks, in a bid to modernise the nation’s capital.
Briefing State House Correspondents yesterday, the FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Moddibo-Umar, in company with the Minister of Information, John Odey and his Minister of State, John Akpanudoudeghe, said the new arrangement would see the upward review of the new development levies payable by allottees in the Boulevard area from the prevailing rate of N2,000 per square metre to between N50,000 and N70,000 per square meter.
This means under the new arrangement, a plot of land in the planned boulevard will cost over N500 million in the 6.5 kilometre stretch of the new downtown facility.
Already, N250 million has been provided for in the 2008 Budget of the FCT as seed money for the planning, engineering design and similar preliminary works/services for the project.
The Boulevard, he said, is contained within four major axial roads which are Road B06, B08, B10 and B12, adding that the FCTA administration resolved to embark on the development of the Axial roads B08 and B10 into world standard similar to other popular boulevards substantially through private partnership.
According to Modibbo-Umar, the boulevard would make Abuja a more befitting town comparable to its peers around the world.
He said when completed, “it is expected to attract and facilitate 24/7 commercial activities complemented by 24/7 vehicular and pedestrian movement.”
“There are three categories of plots in the proposed Boulevard area - they are the undeveloped, partially developed and fully developed. Out of the plots, 71 plots have been fully developed, 72 have been partially developed while 132 have not been developed at all.
“Some of the developed and partially developed structures are not in conformity with the boulevard concept. They shall therefore require some upgrading for integration into the boulevard scheme or shall need to be removed subject to compensation,” he said.
The FCT Minister said current allottees within the Boulevard area would be given the right of first refusal to reacquire the Boulevard plots “for which they will pay the revised development levies failing which they will be considered as having opted out of the scheme. They will be relocated to other plots outside the Boulevard area”.
The minister who said government had not fixed any time frame for the commencement of or the cost of the project said: “We are not sure of the estimate though we are working towards getting the correct estimate but the original estimate just for that 6 kilometres will cost N50 billion to build it.
“That is why we believe the time is over where government will build infrastructure and develop it and give to somebody who paid N2000 per square meter only for him to resell that plot for N300 million and put into his pocket. At the moment, a plot of 5,000 square metres is selling for between N100-150 million and it is not fair on government and people of Nigeria, where some people by virtue of their privilege will take this land and wait for government to take this precious money that could be channelled to other use to develop the area for you only for you to resell. When there are even institutions like MTN and Globalcom waiting for us at the Boulevard even with the new rate,” he said.
Modibo said the project “is expected to pay back its cost through payment of development levies or premium by allottees of the plots within the boulevard area. To facilitate the private finance arrangement for the project to pay back its cost, allottees of the plots will be required to pay in full the new development levies.”
“Similarly, properties in the central area which may benefit indirectly from the development of the boulevards will be required to pay betterment levy for the increase in value of their properties,” the minister said.
He said talks would be held with owners of plots in the planned boulevard, as there are fears that many of the present owners would lose their plots due to the new development rate of between N50, 000 and N75, 000 per square metre to be introduced by the FCT administration.
“We don’t want to bulldoze people based on our new mantra of the rule of law. We want to respect the rights of our citizens to fair hearing. If a tenant decides he does not want, he will first go to the FCT Land Use Act Tribunal and if he is not satisfied, he will go to the Abuja High Court, then the Appeal Court. And we are willing to go all the way because one way or the other the Boulevard will have to be built. This is very clear, is either the government does it long time or government gets money to do it because it is already in the master plan,” he said.
“Under the Land Use Act we have the right to change that plan but the tenants have the right to seek redress and the Land Use Act is also clear about the rights of the sitting tenants. In the next one or two weeks we are going to publish in the papers. We are going to discuss with the owners. The key word there is the right of first refusal because we are not going to say move… if you are going to retain your plots this is the new development levy. We are going to exercise that right,” he said.
The FCT Minister assured Nigerians that the FCT authorities “are going to follow due diligence” in all the activities concerning the new project.
The new boulevard, according to him, would stretch from the Eagle Square to the National Hospital, all in the central business district of the FCT and is contained within four major axial roads (which are roads BO6, BO8, BO10 and B12) - also constitution avenue, hospital avenue north, hospital avenue south and independence avenue respectfully.
He said the FCT administration resolved to embark on the development of the axial roads “into world standard boulevards similar to other popular boulevards in the big cities of the world substantially through public private partnership”.
He explained that the “status of the city of Abuja has informed the strong desire of the FCT administration to embark on the development in the central area to provide Abuja with a downtown and make the city more befitting of its status as a world class city”.
Other decisions taken by the council were for the construction of six recreational parks and gardens in the FCT.
The parks are to be constructed by some corporate organisations such as banks, construction companies and other service providers.

Latest On The Death Of 46 Nigerian Soldiers

2008-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Nigerian Army, UN Disagree

·Grants At The Centre Of Feud By Sani Mohammad

The last may not have been heard of the unfortunate incident that claimed the lives of 46 Nigerian Soldiers returning from peace-keeping operations in Darfur-Sudan.
The Federal Government, a source told FRESH FACTS, has since commenced investigation into the circumstances that led to the accident that claimed the lives of the soldiers.
Informed sources hinted that, the Yar’Adua administration was jolted to commence the investigations following a complaint lodged by the United Nations which insisted that it had made adequate provision and paid for comfortable transportation of troops returning to their units in their respective countries.
It could be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Luka Yusuf had earlier accused the UN of not adequately providing the funds needed to transport such returning soldiers back to their respective formations. But in a swift reaction to that allegation, the United Nations sent details of the payments made to all the troops in Darfur for the peace-keeping mission including Nigeria which received almost more than what other countries received. It could be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Luka Yusuf had earlier accused the UN of not adequately providing the funds needed to transport such returning soldiers back to their respective formations. But in a swift reaction to that allegation, the United Nations sent details of the payments made to all the troops in Darfur for the peace-keeping mission including Nigeria which received almost more than what other countries received. Sources told FRESH FACTS that, the authorities of Nigerian Army had been paid by the United Nations to transport the returning troops from the Abuja Airport to their base at Mongonu, Borno State in air-conditioned luxury buses, but the soldiers were being transported in rickety army trucks when the accident occurred.
The aim of the Federal Government’s probe is to unravel the mystery behind the violation of the UN provisions to comfortably transport the troops back home, and also establish what happened to the huge funds disbursed to the Nigerian Army by the UN. Already, a source disclosed, fears and apprehension have gripped the top brass at the Army Headquarters in Abuja because the investigation as they had reasoned, may unearth more damaging financial infractions inflicted on Nigerian troops by their superior officers, especially as regards the payment of requisite duty-tour allowances and other entitlements due to the troops. Prior to the coming of the Yar’Adua administration and the appointment of Mahmud Yayale Ahmed as Nigeria’s Defence Minister, troops on peace-keeping operations had consistently had their entitlements either arbitrarily reduced or outrightly denied by senior officers at the Army Headquarters.
For example, soldiers on peace-keeping operations during that period, were paid only $400 instead of the $1,200 as provided for by the United Nations Peace-Keeping Headquarters.
Similarly, in the past, many soldiers who traveled for various peace-keeping operations were made to return to Nigeria without their entitlements paid and such payments were made quarterly in peace-meal, many months after the troops have returned to base in Nigeria.
However, after the discovery of this gross-injustice by the Yar’Adua, administration the Army Headquarters was ordered to rectify the anomaly, as such Nigerian soldiers on peace missions are paid their monthly $1,200 while the troops are at their respective frontlines.
It was based on this submission from the UN that President Yar’Adua set up the investigative panel to establish the true position of things.
However, when FRESH FACTS contacted the Army Public Relations Officer, Brigadier-General Emeka Onwuamaegbu he reacted to

Vision 2020 to gulp N12tr

2008-06-16T06:53:00.001-07:00

By Adeyemi Adepetun (The Guardian)

THE financial outlay for Nigeria's Vision 2020 development agenda has been unfolded by the Federal Government: It will gulp, at least, N12 trillion or $100 billion.

The money will be spent in the next 12 years in four sectors, which the government identifies as the pivots of the country's drive to join the top 20 global economies in 2020.

Without any derailment from the set objectives, the government will on the average spend N1 trillion yearly in the former sectors.

The Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), Senator Sanusi Daggash, who unveiled the expenditure pattern at the weekend in Lagos, said the money would be spent on power, railways, roads and the oil and gas sectors.

Even though, he recognised that agriculture needs special attention, Daggash did not disclose the amount the government would spend on the sector during the period.

Daggash said the power sector needs between $18 billion and $20 billion to be revived. The railway line needs about $10 billion, the roads require about $15 billion, while the oil and gas sector would gulp $60 billion investment.

He spoke in Lagos at a dinner organised by the Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria (HBSAN) to mark the silver jubilee of and the centenary of the body and the school, located in Cambridge, United States with the theme: "2nd Ball and Black Tie Dinner."

Daggash, who spoke on "infrastructural development in Nigeria,", noted that electricity was yet to reach over two billion people worldwide and invariably, the much-expected output from mostly developing economies is stunted.

He added that on the average, 40 per cent of the power generating capacity in developing nations is unavailable for production.

The Senator said based on the constraints experienced by poor economies due to power crisis, they had to resolve into looking for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to augment their meagre budgets for infrastructural development.

The minister said that for most countries, the bulk of FDIs would remain concentrated on resources - based industries, with Africa capturing about three per cent of the total global FDIs compared with developing countries in Asia, which receive nearly 25 per cent of the funds in the last one year.

He said Nigeria like most developing nations suffers acute infrastructural deficiency in all critical sectors of the economy.

This, he said, had become a threat to the government's aspiration to make the country one of the top 20 economies in world by 2020.

"Perhaps, the most threatening is the chronic lack of power," he stated.

Daggash said the World Bank believes that the power problem in the country holds back the country's Gross Domestic Products (GDP),by as eight per cent.

He added: "It will interest you to know that the electricity consumption at the Harvard campus in Cambridge is about 100mw, which is the same amount of electricity that is supplied to about four states in the North, with a population of about 16 million people.

"This is in spite of the huge amount of money that has been directed to the sector in recent time through the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) and other initiatives.

Daggash however, said those were the bad news, "the good news is that Nigeria has began to see the light at the end of the tunnel because there is now an economic renaissance going on in the country."

He remarked that the international community had started noticing the success of the government's reforms, anchored on the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), the Social Economic Regeneration Agenda implemented by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

"The implementation of NEEDS move the country from a stagnant economy to a vibrant and robust nation. We have witnessed high level of dynamism and activities in the policies environment in our country with the increasing engagement and deliberation between government, civil societies and the industrial sector aimed at putting the country on a higher pedestal of growth", he stated.

Daggash said the present government is now committed to moving the nation to a level where it would be able to compete globally.

The government, he added, was working on a Private Partnership Project (PPP) to accommodate the private sector to chart a new course for the development.

The minister disclosed that the government is developing a 15-year national infrastructure master plan to improve investment in infrastructure.

Daggash said: "We are also working in a collaboration effort with the private sector for the West African Gas Pipeline project, a 681km onshore and offshore that will transport natural gas from the western Niger Delta to selected consumers in the Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.

"The pipeline project obtained the financial guarantees of the World Bank and is currently being considered for support by the European Investment Bank.

"It is believed that the project will contribute to the harmonisation of regional, institutional vigour and regulatory framework in the participating West African countries in the context of World Bank within the West African Regional Integration Assistance Strategy", he said.

Vision 2020 to gulp N12tr

2008-06-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

Military, No Threat to Democracy, Says Army Chief

2008-06-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

From Imam Imam in Gusau, 06.15.2008

The military institution in Nigeria is no longer a threat to the survival of the nation's democracy, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Luka Yusuf, said yesterday in Gusau, Zamfara State.
The Army chief, who gave the assurance while on a “thank you visit” to the government of Zamfara State for its decision to build a new ammunition depot in Gusau, said the military has now become the bastion of democratic governance in the country.
He warned against continued incidents of internal political wrangling witnessed in some parts of the country and said: “Army will not tolerate any form of political disturbance in any part of the country.”
Yusuf said unlike the previously held view that the army has been an impediment to the development of democracy in the country, everyone is today aware that "the Army is the pillar of Nigerian Democracy and we will always be there to safeguard the system. We will always be there to make sure that Nigerians understand and appreciate the country better," he added.
He said the Nigerian Army is currently undergoing transformation that would make its personnel to be more professional in the discharge of their duties.
"We are transforming the Nigerian Army so that Officers and Soldiers would understand their duties well and be more professional. We are training very hard so that we can address any form of internal security problems and as well we are training very hard on peace support operations for which we are the fourth most contributing country in the world,'' he said.
The Army boss disclosed that the service is earning some money for the country through the peace keeping operations contrary to the belief by Nigerians that the country is wasting its scarce resources on the operations.
He however failed to say how much the country is earning from the operations. He only said "the amount is substantial but I cannot give the specific amount because I am not an accountant."
While commending the Zamfara State Gover-nment for its decision to construct a new ammunition depot for the army to replace the existing one, Yusuf said the gesture will go a long way in cementing the already existing cordial relationship between the state and Nigerian Army.
In his response to the army chief’s remarks, Governor Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi extolled the role of the Nigerian Army in nurturing the country's democracy.
He identified poverty as the bane of security in the country and ephasised the need for all stakeholders in the country to work towards reducing poverty in the country.
Shinkafi, who said the Nigeria Army is among the highly skilled forces in the world, pledged that his administration would continue to support the service whenever the need arises.

Yar’Adua Sets December 2009 for New Electoral System

2008-06-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

(THISDAY From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.14.2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has set December 2009 as target date for the introduction of the electoral reforms promised by his administration to ensure long-term political stability in the country.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Olusegun Adeniyi, Yar’Adua also disclosed that within the context of the electoral reforms, his administration will consider measures to ensure that the estimated five million Nigerians in the diaspora are able to vote in future elections.
Yar’Adua made the disclosure while addressing Nigerians resident in France at the residence of the Nigerian Ambassador to France in Paris, during his state visit to the country. He said that the National Electoral Reform Committee was working very hard to conclude its work by the end of this year.
“We are hoping that by the end of 2009 we will have an electoral process that will provide Nigeria with what it requires to establish long-term political stability and entrench a culture of democracy and the rule of law.
“We are absolutely committed to the quest to imbue the nation with real democracy and the rule of law, and we will do whatever is necessary to succeed,” he said.
President Yar’Adua said that the country had the resources and capability to achieve the objective of becoming one of the twenty most developed economies in the world by the year 2020.

all Nigerians must identify with the vision and commit themselves to attaining the political stability, peace and security needed to make it realisable.
The President also spoke of his Administration’s determination to reform Nigeria ’s petroleum and gas sector to ensure that the downstream sector is well established and becomes self-sufficient in the processing of the country’s oil and gas resources.
He said that the Federal Government’s objective in this regard was to make the sector a key “enabler” for rapid industrialisation of the country and to make Nigeria the leading producer of petrochemicals in Africa .

President Yar’Adua also told them that his delegation had had “very fruitful discussions” with the French authorities in the course of his state visit, saying that the talks had laid the foundation for a new effort to confront the developmental challenges facing Nigeria and other African nations.
At talks with the President of the National Assembly of France, Mr. Bermand Accoyer, President Yar’Adua had called for greater foreign investment in Africa .
“What we want from France as a country is more investment. We are grateful for all the assistance by way of aid. Aid is good but trade is far better. What we need in Africa is investment. For Africa to attain the Millennium Development Goals, we have to improve in the area of infrastructure. We will require the partnership of our friends, especially France, for the attainment of this objective, he told Mr. Accoyer.

2008-06-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

•36 states approve N585bn for projects

(THIDAY) From Juliana Taiwo and Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja, 06.14.2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday in Paris, France announced that his administration would formally declare a state of emergency in Nigeria’s power sector next month.
The 36 states of the federation have equally agreed to withdraw N585 billion (the equivalent of $5 billion) from the excess crude account to support the financing of power projects across the country during the emergency period.
A statement signed by Special Adviser to the President on Communica-tions, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, said Yar’Adua, who was on a visit to France, disclosed this while responding to concerns expressed by prospective French investors over current power supply problems in Nigeria.
The President said under the emergency which would be in force for three years, the federal and state governments would set aside $5 billion for the rehabilitation and expansion of Nigeria’s power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The President told the gathering of French businessmen that after the three-year emergency period, Nigeria’s generation and distribution infrastructure would be privatised while its transmission infrastructure will remain under the control of a state-owned company.
He said Nigeria would seek additional financing from international finance institutions for the rehabilitation and expansion of its power infrastructure, adding that his administration intends to establish a proper framework for the incremental increase in Nigeria’s power generation capacity to about 50,000 megawatts by the year 2020.
President Yar’Adua invited the French businessmen to take greater advantage of the immense investment opportunities thrown up in all sectors of the Nigerian economy by the deregulation and privatisation policies of the Federal Government.
Before leaving Paris for Abuja, President Yar’Adua met with African Ambassadors to France.
He told them that as Africa’s representatives in one of the world’s major economies, they have a duty to make the continent’s case for equity to its development partners and to present its perspectives on the critical socio-economic, developmental and political issues in a fast-globalising world.
The President said: “In the reality of today’s world, you have a responsibility and obligation as Africans to form yourselves into a functional, pro-active and effective synergy to drive our continent’s quest for regeneration.”
In the meantime, as the Federal Government is concluding arrangements to declare a state of emergency in the power sector, the 36 states consented to withdraw N585 billion from the excess crude account to support the financing of power projects across the country.
The total amount in the excess crude account stood at $18 billion as at May this year.
Although details of how the funds will be withdrawn were not disclosed, the amount for each state will be released to the Federal Government for the projects according to the revenue sharing formula.
The Federal Government will meet with the 36 states of the Federation on June 19 and unveil the framework and the financing details for the much-awaited state of emergency in the power sector.
Finance Minister of State, Mr. Remi Babalola who disclosed the consensus reached by the states after the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) held in Abuja yesterday, said the state governments unanimously agreed to withdraw the money from the account and such will not repaid, until the proceeds which will be shared according to the revenue formula after the assets are privatised.
“We are going to take $5 billion from the excess crude account. It has been approved by theFAAC that it should be put into power projects based on the inputs that will come from Mr. President and if that is done, the three tiers will own a substantial part of the power infrastructure according to their share of the revenue formula.
“There will be no repayment. But once those assets are privatised, the proceeds will be shared according to their revenue formula.”
Babalola also said the 36 states and the Federal Government unanimously agreed that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Federal Inland Revenue service (FIRS) should not debit the Federation Account with bank charges charged them.
Meanwhile, the three tiers of government shared a total of N436.51 billion for the month of May as against N431.75 billion distributed in the previous month.
A communiqué signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ibrahim Dankwambo stated N316.73 billion was shared as statutory revenue allocation and N31.90 billion as value added tax (VAT) while N87.87 billion was used as budget augmentation for the month.

Xenophobia: What South Africa Told Yar’Adua

2008-06-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

THISDAY Newspapers
06.12.2008

Juliana Taiwo, just back from Cape Town, South Africa writes about how South Africans are employing every tool to atone for the xenophobic attacks on migrants, including Nigerians, despite the ugliness of the mayhem

From the Murtala International Airport when the advanced team for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s three-day State visit to South Africa were waiting on Saturday May 31, to depart for Cape Town, it was obvious from discussions that Nigerians were clearly unhappy with the recent xenophobic attacks in which thousands of Nigerians and other migrants were forcibly displaced.
Nigerians were clearly upset with the short memory of the South Africans, of how Nigeria in particular sacrificed all to ensure they gained their freedom from their white masters. Worst hit is President Thabo Mbeki, who was roundly criticised over his government's ineffective handling of the attacks and for failing to remind his countrymen that their economy rested on the work of migrants from across Africa.
So, before departing the airport, an opinion has been formed that the South African government and her people were looking the other way while their fellow Africans were being attacked by angry South Africans who feel their jobs were being taken away from them. So before President Mbeki tendered unreserved apology to President Yar’Adua during a joint press conference at the end of their private session Tuesday June 3, it was a rude shock when on checking into the hotel and putting on the television, all the stations had something or two to say against the attack.
The Super Sports crew commentators of Thomas Kwenaite, Thomas Mlambo and a guest took it on a lighter note when they said Nigeria had a good retaliation on the xenophobic attacks the best way they could when they continued in the humiliation of Bafana Bafana of South Africa by beating them 2-0. But they did not play down on the seriousness of the matter. The trio condemned in strong terms the throwing to the dogs the strong history of African brotherhood.
They described as a shame the attack on fellow Africans considering what countries like Nigeria have done to end the reign of apartheid in South Africa. Also the new 24-hour news station e-news which started broadcasting on June 2, did not also waste time in featuring news story as well as short documentaries on victims of the attack, their disappointments as well as the way forward. About 50 per cent of the advertisement on TV also condemned the attack urging South Africans to remember the contributions of other African countries to their freedom, reminding them that they are first Africans before South Africans.
The newspapers were not left out in publishing stories from South Africans or organisations also condemning the attack. Mbeki had come under fire for travelling to Tanzania for an African Union summit last month and waiting until the next day before ordering the army on to the streets to help the police. He has also been criticised for being too out of touch to realise that the violence was in part fuelled by the lack of adequate housing and jobs for the poor South Africans.
A front-page editorial in South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper said: "Throughout the crisis, arguably the most grave, dark and repulsive moment in the life of our young nation, Mbeki has demonstrated that he no longer has the heart to lead." Moeltsi Mbeki, of the South African Institute of International Affairs, who is Thabo Mbeki's brother, said the government had lost credibility.
"Even a strong statement by somebody who has such weak authority will not convince the people. This crisis is the result of the failure of their foreign policy against Zimbabwe and they don't want to admit that," he said. According to a Nigerian based in Cape Town, Jesse, the violence is waged by poor South Africans who claim the refugee population, which is estimated to be as high as five million, take their jobs and dwellings and commit crime.
He said a job that was before now going for R100 per hour for instance, the migrants from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, were ready to settle for R30 or less. However, police and politicians say there is also a significant element of thuggery and criminality with shops and homes looted for personal gain. There have also been series of protest march against racial intolerance in various cities in South Africa. In one protest according to Africa News, the protesters risking violence themselves, held aloft posters saying "xenophobia hurts like apartheid" and "we are all Zimbabweans".
The President of the United Democratic Movement party, Bantu Holomisa, was quoted to have said that Mbeki's inquiry into the outbreak of violence needed to reveal whether a so-called "third force" was responsible for stoking the crisis. He said: "The key here would be to remove any kind of suspicion that this thing was unleashed deliberately and orchestrated by whomever. Ministers are already telling us there is a third force. Let them bring that evidence to the commission."
So it was not surprising when Mbeki decided to use the three-day state visit by Yar’Adua to tell Nigerians in particular that his government and indeed the people of South Africa were clearly against the attack. South Africa’s anti-immigrant violence, which saw over 60 people killed and tens of thousands displaced, featured highly on the two leaders' agenda. Although no Nigerian was among those killed, many lost property or had their shops looted.
“We extend an unreserved apology to the President with regard to these attacks that have taken place in some parts of our country, attacks against other Africans particularly.” He said his government was “opposed to any manifestation of any xenophobia amongst our people. We are quite determined to make sure we protect everybody but are also very, very keen that the process of the reintegration of displaced people within communities from which they came is done as quickly as possible. Many of our communities are already indicating interest that the displaced people should return.”
Also towing the line, the Speaker of the South African Parliament, Hon. Mbete Baleka shortly before Yar’Adua addressed the parliament, described his visit not only as an honour for South Africa but “also fortunately timed in that it gives us an opportunity to reaffirm our friendship with the government of Federal Republic of Nigeria and indeed with all the peoples of Nigeria.
“The history of the friendship between the people of our two countries is a long one. Prior to the first democratic elections in 1994, Nigeria was a supporter of international campaign against apartheid, for that support we remained deeply grateful. The relationship forged during the years of struggle is now bearing fruit for the African continent as a whole.
South Africa and Nigeria share the vision of an African renewal. In pursuit of this vision, our countries are partnering through a range of formal structures to give practical meaning to their shared vision. This vision of African renewal is a noble enterprise, an enterprise in which Nigeria is giving leadership.
“We hale your august visit as one of peace and friendship during this particular time in South Africa. We know your visit will extend the bond of unity between two great giants of Africa Nigeria and South Africa. We appreciate the brotherhood you offer with your presence here today and honour you and your commitment to oneness of our great and promising continent that is on its way to its ultimate prosperous destiny.
Also speaking, the Deputy Speaker, Mrs. Peggy Hollandre said the bond between the two countries is a time tested one. “Nigeria played a critical role in racial discrimination in South Africa through its support for international campaign against apartheid. It is therefore fitting that the two countries continue to maintain a strong relationship, especially with regards to the challenge of the renewal of the continent.
“Your visit to South Africa is an important step towards ensuring entrenchment of this growing relationship between our two countries. As you would agree, we share the dream of building an Africa that is free from the clutches of poverty and hunger, an Africa that truly promotes good governance, and the sharing of the fruit of democracy among the people.
“It is a dream that must enable us to conquer the visages of the colonialism. Through cooperation between the individual countries we have to succeed in building one continent that belongs to its entire people, our strength is in unity. We have to act to revise the division created by years of colonialism. This must include dealing with acts of violence among fellow Africans such as the one witnessed in our country recently.
“A famous politician once said, ‘to build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years, to destroy may have to be the thoughtless act of a single day.’ Clearly we have the challenges of uniting our people in the midst of the contest for merger resources,” she said.

Teachers Strike: We Are Not Perturbed – Nwachukwu

2008-06-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Imagine this o! Despite the fact that teachers strike has led to the suspension of the NECO exam, and other activities affected the Minister of Education, Aja Nwachukwu has said government is not perturbed by the three-day warning strike embarked upon by members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, describing it as a non-issue because is not about “we are not in any popularity contest with any body”.

The Minister who spoke in between the briefing of State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting, said the federal government will not negotiate with the teachers because “it is not the mandate” of the federal government to fix salaries for teachers in secondary and primary schools.

“The teachers don’t have any basis to go on strike because Education is on the concurrent list (in the constitution) and by right, the states and local governments are in charge of secondary and primary education. We (Federal government) are going to enhance the salaries of teachers in federal government colleges but on the issue of negotiating with the teachers, we don’t have anything to do with that”.

Nwachukwu stressed that the federal government cannot negotiate with the teachers since “we don’t know the ability of the states to pay. We insist that the teachers should go to their various states to negotiate their salaries. It is not our mandate to do so”

He said if the ministry was invited as arbiters, it would respond, but “we cannot interfere in the affairs of the state”.

He advised Nigerians to stop being emotional about issues “but to go back and read their constitution” in order to know the role of the various tiers of government.

He said rather than blame the federal government for being non-committal to the plight of Nigerian student who have been deprived of attending school for three days, Nigerians should blame the teachers for embarking on an unnecessary strike.

The Minister of Information and Communication, John Odey however said negotiations were on going. “Negotiation is on going with the union and the ministry. Council received briefing and as far as we are concerned as a government we will want to maintain a cordial relationship with all the unions. The purpose of government is to provide good livelihood for the people and the workers and as such we will not see that as confrontational, we will adopt best method ever to make sure it is resolved”, he said.

Why will he be perturbed? He has always been privilaged all his lives. His father was a former education minister in this country and he has been appointed because of his privilage background to the same office and yet he is unperturbed about the plight of our education system! If Yar'Adua allows this man to continue as Minister I'll also take it that he is against the progress of our education system.
God help us!

GETTING THE MOST FROM A NEWS CONFERENCE

2008-06-09T04:17:00.000-07:00

THE PRESS CONFERENCE (more widely known now as a news
conference) is a common device used by an organisation or
individual in search of publicity.

The ploy has some advantages for both sides. For the promoter
it means telling the story only once, and creates a
potentially newsworthy event. Critics say many are non-events.

But a news conference also has drawbacks for the active news
gatherer. All the competition is there also. So, in theory,
everyone will come away with the same story. Or will they?

Determined and alert reporters do not sit back, fortified by
free drinks and dreaming of a free meal to come, swallowing
everything else that has been outlined.

Always remember, you are a reporter and not a mere message
carrier. What you are hearing may be only a rehash of old
news, or an attempt to gain free publicity.

A diligent reporter, assigned to a news conference on an
unfamiliar topic, first checks with his paper's library or
his colleagues or contacts for background information.

Clever organisers of news conferences often supply written
material (sometimes called a press kit) but this may not
necessarily contain the story which you will file at the end
of the exercise.

If time is paramount, try to slip away to a quiet corner
before the conference begins and read and consider the
contents of any handouts supplied.

Mentally discard the puff (publicity for a product, plan or
individual) and sift through for facts. Try to imagine some
of the possible effects of what you have been told. Read
between the lines. What hasn't been said?

For instance, could any potential hardship be caused by
building that new airport or road? What has happened to the
new appointee's predecessor? Why this change of policy at
this time?

Be primed, so that you are ready for any sort of avoidance or
playing down of the points.

The verbal submissions with which many news conferences begin
may stick closely to the information also supplied in a
brief. In which case, merely keep a watchful eye that any
speaker does not deviate from the prepared draft.

If you have not been given a press kit on arrival (and it is
always wise to ask if one is to be distributed) it means
careful note-taking.

Normally, after the formal stage, the assembled press
representatives are invited to ask questions. This can well
be the most productive part of the occasion, providing that
the conference principals are reasonably open and frank in
their replies.

But informative replies are not only the result of good
questions. Good questions themselves are the fruit of
preparation, thought and awareness.

In particular, sensitive areas will only be successfully
explored and admissions gained by the right questions at the
right time.

Even if you have no such questions, listen carefully to the
replies to those colleagues who, perhaps because of inside
knowledge and background, are able to frame testing queries.

Make careful notes if you sense someone is 'on' to something
extra, even if you aren't fully conversant with the topic.
Closer reference later to the written material, or checks at
the office, or supplementary questioning yourself, can bring
the whole thing into perspective.

Try to join in the questioning if there seems to be a genuine
area of interest on which the organisers seem unwilling to
elaborate. Keep the pot boiling, to give the minds of others
time to tick over.

Put your questions politely, but pointedly. Don't be overawed
by authority on the platform. Don't let a responder get away
with half-answers. Most of all, don't be the one to introduce
an irrelevant issue, letting the wriggling victim off the hook.

In other words, reporters should 'hunt in packs' until what
you collectively and instinctively deem to be a newsworthy
aspect has been exhausted.

From an aggressive newsperson's point of view, all this has
one drawback. What you get, everyone else also gets. So, if
you hold a trump card, don't play it at the conference
proper.

Use it by seeking out the major speaker when the conference
is breaking up, or by a phone call later.

News conferences are a legitimate and handy way of
distributing information and they should be responded to as a
matter of newspaper routine. But never let your reporting
skills at that event descend to the routine.

If you feel nothing useful has come out of a news conference,
don't waste time writing up simply to prove you turned up.

Check that your news editor agrees with your judgement --
then use the time saved to chase real news.

SOURCE: Notes, IIJ-G57 1990.

Xenophobia: Mbeki Apologises to Yar’Adua

2008-06-05T02:49:00.001-07:00

From Juliana Taiwo in Cape Town, Gboyega Akinsanmi and Eddie Alegbe in Lagos with agency reports, 06.04.2008

South African President, Thabo Mbeki yesterday apologised to President Umaru Yar'Adua over the recent wave of xenophobic uprising targeted at Nigerians and other foreign nationals resident in his country.
Also yesterday, Nigerian and South African governments agreed to set up a team consisting of business people who are familiar with business conditions in both countries to assist in removing obstacles preventing the growth of Nigerian businesses in South Africa.
Mbeki tendered his apology while holding talks with President Yar'Adua in Cape Town. Yar'Adua is on a three-day state visit to South Africa.
The South African president said: "We extend an unreserved apology to the president with regard to these attacks that have taken place in some parts of our country, attacks against other Africans particularly."
He said his government was "opposed to any manifestation of any xenophobia amongst our people. We are quite determined to make sure we protect the security of everybody but are also very, very keen that the process of the reintegration of displaced people within communities from which they came is done as quickly as possible. Many of our communities are already indicating interest that the displaced people should return”, he said."
While responding, Yar'Adua expressed concerns about the uprisings that few weeks ago dislocated Nigerian businesses, and displaced the country's nationals.
"Nigeria expresses our deep concerns not only to the victims of the xenophobic attacks, but also to the government and people of South Africa because we have experienced these issues over the past and we know that hardly are these kind of issues spontaneous," he said.
Yar'Adua also commended Mbeki for heeding the international call for the deployment of soldiers whose intervention eventually contained the uprising.
He said Mbeki had made a determined effort to "put a stop to the situation," and lauded his decision to deploy the army to the streets to bring the violence under control.
“It is important for authorities to stand firm and uphold the principles that will guide community relations and reject this kind of behaviour and this the South African government has done", he said.
The two leaders also agreed on strengthening economic and political ties between the two countries. Mbeki confirmed that "Nigeria has the largest number of bilateral agreements with South Africa, more than any other country on the continent and probably around the world."
Mbeki, who has been facing hard times at home, added that economic development between the two countries was a prime goal. He also said it was important to promote greater investment by Nigerian companies in South Africa, which already has many businesses operating in Nigeria.
Supporting his counterpart, Yar'Adua called his visit a "watershed" for relations between the two nations, stating that the duo could together promote African growth and development.
However, yesterday's parley between the two leaders and their delegations also centred on how to create conditions conducive for the growth of Nigerian businesses in South Africa.
In a joint press conference after the meeting, Mbeki said though Nigeria has the largest bi-lateral agreements with South Africa than any other country, the challenge has always been the implementation.
He said both governments have agreed to strengthen the implementation apparatus and erase the challenges that have militated against agreements signed.
“We hold the view that it is very important to strengthen this partnership between Nigeria and South Africa in the interest of both countries and the continent. We also believe both countries have a positive impact on the development of the continent. Nigeria has the largest bi-lateral agreements with South Africa than any other country but one of the obstacles have been the implementations of these agreements. “We are concerned to deepen the relationship in the area of economy which will include investments in each other’s country. We are interested in seeing Nigerian businesses more active in South Africa. “The South African government is very interested in opening the space because as you know there are many South African businesses in Nigeria and this is good.“The team to be set up is made up of business people from Nigeria and South Africa that will be familiar with the business conditions of each country so that they can assist in unlocking the things that are blocking better trade between the two countries.
“South African government will look at elements in terms of regulations that might be blocking the intervention and participation of Nigerian companies in South African economy”, he said.
The South African President said the business group will focus on ensuring increased investment by investors from both countries and would find ways of addressing the challenge of implementing the numerous agreements entered into.
"We have put in place necessary processes that tend to encourage business partnership between the two countries. This will drive the common challenges of addressing the economic development of both countries", he said.
Responding, President Yar’Adua said the economic, political, social and cultural cooperation which exist between both countries would be further strengthened through strategic partnership.
“We will continue to cooperate in the economic, political fronts. We will continue with a high powered delegation visit to ensure a very active bi-national commission. This commission met a fortnight ago in Abuja and will continue to meet annually on a regular basis with the various sub-committees to consider all aspect of this partnership, to work out various frameworks, agreements and details of implementation of agreements signed”.
While fielding questions from the media, President Yar’Adua used the opportunity to reiterate that Nigeria has never supported the establishment of the United States African Command (AFRICOM) on Nigerian soil.
“Nigeria has never agreed to host Africom. I had asked President Bush on my visit to the United States of America with respect to Africom, that what we need is for the US to assist the AU to establish the African standby force and to assist the Gulf of Guinea nations establish the Gulf of Guinea Guard Force.
“Africom is part of US defence policy and has nothing to do with us. There are about four other commands like the Pacific Command, the European Command and the Middle East Command and now there is African command.
“Whatever assistance expected is by training, supply of equipments and logistics to assist the AU establish the African Standby force consisting of a brigade in each of the regional groupings. We have a proposal to establish a Gulf of Guinea Force to enable the Gulf of Guinea nations see to the maritime security of our countries and that is what I asked President Bush to do”, he said.

FG Set to Revoke Shell’s Licence in Ogoniland

2008-06-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

•New operator to take over

From Juliana Taiwo in Cape Town, South Africa, 06.05.2008

Indications emerged yesterday in far away South Africa that the Federal Government will soon revoke Royal Dutch Shell's oil operating license in Ogoniland as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua during his state visit disclosed that a new operator will take over the company's oild fields in the area by the end of the year.
But in a swift reaction yesterday, a Shell spokesman, Mr. Tony Okonedo said the Federal Government has not formally communicated the said planned take-over to the company. He admitted that Shell has seen series of reports regarding the issue in the newspapers but would not make further comments until it is formally notified.
Addressing Nigerian Community in Cape Town, South Africa, the President said since there is a total loss of confidence between the Ogoni people and Shell, government believe it would be wise to allow another operator acceptable to the Ogonis to take over exploration activities in the area.
“There is a total loss of confidence between Shell and the Ogoni people”, and so “another operator acceptable to the Ogonis will take over. Nobody is gaining from the conflict and stalemate, so this is the best solution,” he said.
The President further told the gathering that agreements have already been reached for compensation to be paid by Shell for the environmental degradation arising from the spillage of crude petroleum resulting from their operations.
It was learnt that the Federal Government had threatened to withdraw the company's operating license, should it fail to resume operations in Ogoniland at the end of May 2008.
To make good the threat, government was said to have opened discussion with the new operator after due consultation with the Ogoni people.
Shell's activities in the area had suffered set backs due to strained relations between it and the Ogoni people who often complained that the company failed to pay compensation for damages done to their environment as a result of exploration activities.
The relationship between Shell and the Ogonis hit rock bottom in 1995, when the military government of the late General Sani Abacha hanged nine Ogoni activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
The development halt Shell's activities in the area as the company's infrastructure, the oil wells, the flow lines which bring crude oil to the flow stations, and the pipelines - all of which require routine maintenance continue to rot away because the Ogonis denied the company access to the facilities.
Also, in his reaction to the escalating crude oil prices, President Yar'Adua said it was erroneous to blame the current surge on crisis in Iraq, Venezuela and Nigeria. Rather, he said the development was attributable to increasing energy demands by strong, emerging economies as well as the activities of market speculators.
He said his government was determined to focus on the development of "economic growth enablers", which he said would trigger the Nigerian economy towards irreversible development.
He challenged Nigerians all over the world to identify with the country's vision to build a strong economy by 2020.
Responding to complaints from Nigerians in South Africa about the shabby treatment by other nations, especially regarding issuance of visas, the President said the issue is currently being discussed with the South African government. He assured the audience that the visa problem would be properly addressed.
He, however charged Nigerians "to project a good image of the country in all their activities", in order to attract respect from other nations.
He pledged his administration's commitment to protect all Nigerians in all circumstances, adding that the Ministry of Transport has been directed to look into the incident of alleged maltreatment of Nigerians by the British Airways and that sanctions would be imposed if need be.
Meanwhile, Presidents Yar’Adua and Mbeki have assured investors intending to invest in both countries of their political will to safeguard investments. They gave the assurance yesterday at the Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town, venue of the South Africa- Nigeria Business Forum in honour of the Nigerian leader who is on a three-day state visit.
Yar’Adua told the conference hall which was filled to capacity with notable personalities in Nigeria including Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola and Mr Tony Elumelu of United Bank for Africa that Nigeria has put in place the enabling environment and legislations that would safeguard investments and ensure investors have good returns in good time.
“This business interaction has been exciting and interesting. The two ministers (Minister and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Senator Mohammed Sanusi Daggash and the South African Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa) have provided us in detail business opportunities existing in Nigeria and South Africa.
“I want to summarise in the slogan that I had coined, in our effort as a government to provide a clear and enabling environment for business in Nigeria and that is ‘what is good for business is good for Nigeria’.
“We have various sectors that can be described as just beginning to develop like the power energy, restructuring the petroleum sector, that is the oil and gas sector, transport and generally getting the private sector to come into the development of infrastructure in the country.
"The infrastructure concessioning Act is in place now and we have appointed the Infrastructure Concessioning Commission which will be inaugurated within the next few weeks so that private sectors investors who want to go into infrastructural development can under this Act get concessions for roads, railways, airports, ports, all form of infrastructure.
"That means you can go to Nigeria, look at the facilities, come up with any project in terms of infrastructural development and you can negotiate concession for 20 years, 25 years 30 years on BOT or PPP basis”, he said.
“Let me say to our South African brothers that I personally will like to see investors from South Africa going to take opportunities that exist in our country. I know that the environment we have created today, the reforms we have carried out and the restructuring and repositioning of the national economy to ensure that government provide the enabling environment that would ensure the private sector sit in the driving seat.
“Senator Daggash has just explained the kind of estimation we have made as regards the kind of investment we expect into every critical aspect of the national economy. I will be most delighted to see that the partnership that we develop becomes strategic and that we have the greatest partnership between Nigeria and South Africa so that we ensure we keep the wealth within the family”.
President Yar’Adua further said he would henceforth personally monitor developments in the Nigeria-South Africa cooperations to reassure investors that his administration is determined to strengthen business relations between both nations.
In his response at the conference, President Mbeki said “our political relations are long standing and has survived the ups and downs that must have been. So we are able to speak with one voice. On the political front, we have continued to work together very closely and will continue. We share the same perspective about the needs of our people.
“We are indeed keenly interested that we must make all these advances that we have identified with regards to the continent, advances of democracy, of peace, of economic development, of benefits growth, stability, struggle against poverty, this matter about the placement of the African continent in its own rightful place globally as a result of our development in economy, technology, education and so on.
“But critically important in that regard in terms of our ability to make an impact on these matters in the continent as a whole is what happens between the two of us. It is not difficult for us to make very good speeches about the Nigerian South African cooperation, but in the end because people are looking, listening, watching critically, they will ask the question but what are those two countries actually doing to ensure that what they are preaching can in fact be done.
“It is these practical things that can and must happen between Nigeria and South Africa that will give substance to what in many instances is on the African continent’s hope, vision. To translate that into something actually really practical is clearly what is required and this cooperation that we have been talking about should happen.
“That is why the question that was posed that where do we go from here is clearly critical, as President Yar’Adua was saying, is indeed very correct. So what I’ll like to say and to confirm what the President has said, we will both be keenly interested to see what happens. Like the Mpahlwa said, we are establishing the president advisory group on investments, we are doing that in other to translate these common positions into some platform for future engagements so that we can indeed achieve these things that must be achieve.
“In the end, what I am saying is that the governments of Nigeria and that of South Africa from the president downwards are committed in assisting to ensure that indeed these cooperations we are talking about happens. And we are quite convinced that, that matter is critical not only to Nigeria and South Africa but also important to the future of the continent. So I do think that therefore, that we are committed and as business people we want to say at the end all these opportunities that have been identified in both countries, here are all the problems that we must overcome in other to transform those opportunities into actual cooperations among ourselves.
“And indeed you can look closely as you want and you will not find any other partnership on the continent other than that of the South African and Nigerian partnership which has the capacity to lead the continent in the directions which I think we all agree. So here is the challenge, like the American Secretary of State who published a biography which had a rather brave entitle, ‘present at the creation’, we shouldn’t say we were present at the creation because only God was present at the creation, but at least we should say we participated in the process of creating this new Africa and we have the possibility to do that”, he said.

Yar’Adua’s Chief of Staff, Mohammed, Resigns

2008-05-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 05.30.2008 (THISDAY)

Chief of Staff to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Major General Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd.) yesterday resigned from his position. His resignation has been accepted by the president who then appointed his Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters, Dr. Gbolade Osinowo to act as Chief of Staff until the appointment of a substantive replacement.
A statement signed by Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Olusegun Adeniyi stated that Yar’Adua in accepting Gen. Mohammed’s resignation, praised the outgoing Chief of Staff’s immense patriotism and dedication to national service.
The President thanked Mohammed for his enormous contributions to the present Administration in the past year, and to national development in the course of a remarkable public service career spanning many decades within and outside the Armed Forces.
Gen. Mohammed’s resignation is with effect from Monday, June 2, 2008.
Mohammed came into political limelight as a member of the corps of crack colonels in the army who effected the change of government in which the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon was toppled in a bloodless military coup and General Murtala Muhammed took over. He was then made the director general of the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO) and later, director of military intelligence.
After General Obasanjo handed over to elected civilians in 1979, Muhammed retired from the army and went into private business. He was managing director of Atoto Press in Ilorin, his home town.
He was recalled from retirement in 1998 when General Abdusalami Abubakar took over as head of state following the demise of General Sani Abacha. Muhammed served as national security adviser to that government. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected, he retained General Muhammed and made him chief of staff.
Yar'Adua also re-appointed him as Chief of Staff when he assumed office on May 29, 2007, meaning that he had spent close to a decade in the presidency serving three leaders.
Some analysts believed he was retained by Yar'Adua on the basis that he would help to achieve smooth transition between the Obasanjo Presidency and its succeeding administration. He is reputed to have served as institutional memory for Yar'Adua in the running of government in the past one year.
His reappointment by Yar'Adua was also said to be the government’s way of staving off the pressure from politicians including former governors and ministers seeking to be appointed into the position which has now become more influential than many other non-elected key offices in government.
He was said to have agreed to serve for only six months in the present administration before retiring. Then, Dr Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, a close confidant of President Yar'Adua was appointed deputy chief of staff to understudy Muhammed and subsequently take over.
Kurfi was later moved out of Aso Rock to become special adviser on economic affairs to the president. With his deep involvement in economic issues on behalf of the president, Kurfi may not be interested in administrative issues now.
With Gen Muhammed's exit from the presidency, it is believed that one of the last old guards of the Obasanjo presidency has now left. But the man appointed to act as chief of staff before the appointment of a substantive holder, Osinowo, also came to the presidency through Obasanjo who appointed him as a senior special assistant in 1999.

Agonies And Fears Soldiers’ Widows

2008-05-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

05.29.2008 (THISDAY Features)

Juliana Taiwo witnessed one of the most emotional funerals in the country last Friday as the remains of the 46 soldiers just back from Sudan were laid to rest at the national military cemetery in Abuja. It will take the dependents a long time to recover from the loss of their breadwinners

Friday May 23, was the day it dawned on the families of an officer and 45 soldiers that they would never see their bread winners again. Most of the relatives were brought in from Bauchi in military vehicles while others came in chartered vehicles. The venue was jam-packed, as relatives, colleagues, and other sympathizers were on ground long before the 4 p.m. burial time to bid the fallen heroes farewell. The men had lost their lives Wednesday May 21, on the Bauchi-Potiskum road while on their way to join their families in Monguno Borno State. It was an irony of life that the soldiers, who survived the challenging terrain of Sudan’s strife torn Darfur region where Nigeria had in October lost eight soldiers to die in their own country.
They were said to have died with their six months allowances and entitlement in dollars paid them on arrival at the Abuja airport, having served six months in the AU Hybrid Force in Darfur, Sudan. Those who saw them on arrival on Tuesday May 20 when they were dropped in Abuja by the United Nations (UN) aircraft said they were in high spirits. The children cried uncontrollably, the widows shouted, screamed and even fainted at the mention of the names of their husbands about to be interred, the mothers, brothers, uncles, aunties, uncles lamented wondering why God has chosen to punish them this way.
The dignitaries present included President Umaru Musa Yar,Adua, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ministers, National Assembly Members, politicians, businessmen, the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs amongst others, showed that they were human beings after all as they betrayed their emotions.
The families were also consoled by Mrs. Bilikisu Yusuf, the wife of the COAS and President of Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA). For Juliana Wasiu, wife of LCPL Alamu Wasiu, it seemed the world has suddenly come to an end. She is left to fend for five children. She could not hide her feelings as she cried and wailed.
Cuddling her nine year-old son, Babatunde, she had just only one question on her lips: "where am I going to start from with the children?”
Babatunde, the first of five children who accompanied his mother to the burial ceremony, wiped away her tears. He begged her to stop crying. Already behaving like the man of the house he said: "Mummy stop crying". Another bereaved woman shouted: "There is nothing to live for again. I will die, I will die, why won’t I die." Three of the widows fainted on hearing the names of their husbands.
At another end of the ground, the intervention of a reporter prevented what could have been a disaster as one of the widows suffered asthma attack. Basirat Mohammed, mother of three and wife of Lance Corporal Shehu Mohammed who was with their eight-year old son, Ilya Mohammed was seized by asthma attack. The reporter offered her inhaler as the medical team rushed her to one of the waiting ambulances for medical attention.
The preparation for the final journey of the ‘gallant 46’ started the previous night where 46 graves were dug. Flags were flown at half mast in honour of the 46 at all military formations across the country. Their bodies were flown in from Jos, Plateau State capital Thursday night and deposited at the National Hospital for the journey to the military cemetery.
An unnamed widow said the pain would have been easier to bear if they had died in Darfur but that fate was indeed cruel to take them away just few hours to their uniting with their families. “I had cooked his special dish, turned the house inside out and made sure it was sparkling clean and all that for what? My husband is gone forever after six months absence. I want to die also”, she said amid sobs.
“After six months of their departure, the news of their arrival into the country brought excitement, happiness and joy. Everything was set to welcome them but can you imagine the way they went?” A soldier standing by queried no one in particular.
While their remains (only two of them could be identified, the rest were charred bodies) laid by the graveside with their name tags on them, Captain Okojie, was carried by six of his colleagues with the same rank. Their shoes, caps and swords placed on the caskets draped in national colours. The last honour for the gallant 46 was the stepping out of detachment of soldiers who matched smartly to the grave side for the last process of lowering the bodies.
The first bugle was sounded at exactly 4.15 p.m. After the prayers, there was the laying of the wreaths. At exactly 4.20 p.m., a sombre- looking President Umaru Yar’Adua rose to lay the wreath.
He was followed by Senate President, David Mark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, the Minister of Defence, Yayale Ahmed, his state counterpart, Fidelia Njeze, FCT Minister, Aliyu Modibo Umar. Others were the Chief of Defence Staff, General Owoye Azazi, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, Chief of the Naval Staff, Ganiyu Adekeye and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike.
The 21-gun salute was fired at 4.30 p.m as the flags were removed from the caskets and folded. As the bodies were being lowered to the grave at 4.46p.m, wailings erupted from the canopy of the relatives of the deceased. One of the widows shouted “open the casket, open it, I want to see him for the last time” but a soldier responded; “what is there to see? She will be worst off if she sees what is inside her husband’s casket”
The last bugle was sounded at 5.15p.m after which the remains of the fallen soldiers were given to the son of Captain Okojie and Patrick Ogbudu eight-year-old son who represented the soldiers’ families.
A very emotional President Yar’Adua who had cut short his trip to Arusha, Tanzania, for the meeting of the Committee of 12 in honour of the soldiers promised to mitigate the harsh effects of their deaths on their families.
He described the accident as a tragedy of enormous proportion. “This is indeed a tragedy of enormous proportions. It is made more heart-rendering by the fact that these are courageous heroic soldiers who have just acquitted themselves commendably in their tour of duty in the challenging terrain of Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region. To return home and end in this way is a calamity that the Nigerian military establishment and in a special sense their families, will find difficult to live with. We however, can find solace in the knowledge that they have paid the supreme price and sacrifice in gallant service not only to our fatherland but in the course of international peace and security and in the service of humanity.
“We have an obligation to ensure that their sacrifice is not in vain by recommitting to successfully driving peace efforts in the Sudan and other troubled spots on our continent and beyond. My heart goes out to all the aggrieved families to these fallen heroes. I pray the almighty God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss to deal with the unfortunate passing of their loved ones.
“I pledged that the federal government will do all that is necessary to mitigate the adverse effects of the demise of these gallant Nigerians for their families and their dependants.” he said.
The President personally went to the bereaved families and offered words of condolence before departing the venue. In his remark earlier, the Minister Defence, Yayale Ahmed, assured that despite the deaths, the military was more than ready to render service to the country and the international community.
“We were informed that these officers came back gallantly and with deepest sense of patriotism to continue serving their nation. Alias, God who created them, love them most, therefore their time came for them to be nearer to Him. They are just waiting for us, because as we stand here, the difference between them and us is like the two side of a coin.
“While we mourn the demise of these gallant soldiers we are more than ever before determined to continue serving the nation and in international peacekeeping operations. These deaths, painful as it is, will never deepen the enthusiasm of Nigeria and the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces in particular in servicing this great nation”, he said.
Also commenting, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoeye Azazi, assured that everything will be done henceforth to motivate military personnel while alive and those who lost their lives in the course of serving their nation, their families will be well catered for.
“This death is tragic for Nigerians and Nigeria. So many of us are affected by this tragedy and we are indeed in deep grief. The Holy Book tells us that there is time for everything. So we take solace in the fact that there is a time for dying, this time of dying no one knows and could indeed be anytime for any of us.
“For soldiers, the risk of dying becomes apparent when military operations are being conducted. These soldiers lying here today were exposed to such risks for six months in Darfur but they all survived it. They returned to Nigeria safely and on the way to join their unit they died. Just before their death, those Nigerians who had seen the convoy as you have been told, saw that these soldiers were in very high spirits, singing, clapping and dancing obviously, they were happy to be back home. They were happy that they have served Nigeria very well and they had also hoped that few hours later they will be with their families to enjoy blissful reunion. Sadly this did not happen for them, they had an accident and died painfully. I have seen the photographs of these individuals which they took before they departed for Darfur all of them full of life and enthusiasm but today they are no more.
“For those of us alive today, let us take solace in the fact that everything was a design by the almighty. These soldiers represent what Nigeria means to us and the international community. Nigeria has consistently brought peace to so many countries and to so many divided societies. The Nigerian military has therefore made Nigeria very proud. We therefore resolve to ensure that we create the conditions to motivate members of the Armed Forces while they are alive and ensure that those they live behind when they die are also adequately catered for. As we stand here today five of their colleagues that survived injured are lying in the hospital and we pray they recover quiet fast,” he said.

All About Yar'Adua's Media Chat

2008-05-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

My Plan for Power Emergency, By Yar’Adua
•’Why electoral reforms, rule of law and N’Delta are central’
By Deji Elumoye with agency report, 05.30.2008
(THISDAY))

President Umaru Yar'Adua yesterday in Abuja said the plan to declare a state of emergency in the power sector would require adequate preparation and wide consultation to get an effective result.
Yar'Adua while fielding questions on a live television programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) said power was critical to the development of the country.
The President also expressed confidence that the 20-man Electoral Reform Committee would complete its assignment before the end of the year.
He said a state of emergency in the power sector would only yield results with details on the failure of the sector, and a blueprint for the future.
“It is not a simple issue. We need to have a national plan that includes an emergency legislation for the sector,” he said.
Yar'Adua said a National Energy Council, headed by Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, was inaugurated last August to do a due diligence on the sector, with a view to understanding the depth of the problems.
He said the Energy Council had concluded its assignment and forwarded its report to him on the findings in the sector.
The president said the report would be discussed by various stakeholders, which includes the National Council of States, the NLC, governors and the National Assembly.
He said the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Civil Society Organisations would also be consulted to make their input before the declaration of the emergency.
“The importance is that by the end of the emergency, this country will be sufficient in power supply,” he said.
Emergency legislation, according to the president, will create enabling laws for the period of the emergency and beyond.
“People also have to change the way they relate with the sector in paying their bills,” he stressed.
Yar'Adua said an emergency court would be instituted to try people who foiled regulations in the power sector as a way to change the mind set on the power sector.
The president said about 6,000 megawatts would be generated in the sector by the end of 2009, adding that the trend would be onward until the nation reached self-sufficiency.
Yar'Adua said the private sector would play a key role in buoying the power sector, alongside the states and the local councils.
He said the federal government, working with the states and local councils, would have to use a part of the excess crude oil fund to reform the power sector during the emergency period.
The president said efforts were already being made to ensure an improvement in gas supply, which would further improve power supply.
The President emphasised that the committee headed by the former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Muhammed Uwais will submit its report to government this year.
He said the committee is currently touring the six geo-political zones of the federation "with a view to collating the views of the generality of the people towards the electoral reforms."
According to him, at the end of the exercise, the committee will come up with a comprehensive electoral reforms in the country.
Yar'Adua said he is determined to leave a legacy of credible electoral process and rule of law.
He said on eof the challenges facing his administration at inception was the lack of associate respect for the rule of law in the country.
"One of the greatest national problems is the breakdown of the respect for the rule of law and order," he said.

...Cabinet Shake-up on the Cards
By Deji Elumoye and Sherif Balogun, 05.30.2008
(THISDAY)

President Umaru Yar'Adua yesterday hinted of plans to effect changes in the machinery of government with the planned shake up of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). The media had been awash recently with reports of the planned cabinet reshiffle by President Yar'Adua.
When asked the question during the media chat to mark the first anniversary of his administration,Yar'Adua said there is the strong possibility that a cabinet shake up is imminent at the federal level.
According to him,"there is the probability of effecting some changes in the cabinet as presently constituted,it is true there is that probability."
He said the changes would come in terms of not only those heading ministries but that the structures of the ministries may be affected in the expected changes.
He said with one year gone out of his four-year term Nigerians should expect better things in the years ahead adding that having laid a solid foundation his government would now be ready to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.
"Nigerians should be rest assured that this government is committed to their well being and should therefore look forward to very exciting time especially in the next 365 days," he said.
Commenting on the anti corruption move of his administration,Yar'Adua said his government will continue to pursue the assignment with all vigour.
"The issue of corruption, we have been able to approach it from the right perspective as we have been able to face the reality on the ground very squarely.The EFCC,ICPC and other anti graft agencies have continued to function within the ambit of the law," he said.
He debunked claims that the administration is favouring is a particular section of the country with appointments into positions and said he has always filled vacant positions based on merit.
"Appointments made so far are usually based on merit.Take for example the nine parastatals under the federal ministry of information, only two are from the North while the other heads are from the South even at that those appointments were based purely on merit," he said.
Speaking on his predecessor,Yar'Adua eulogised Obasanjo who he said "met Nigeria nine years ago on the verge of collapse. He did his best for this great nation although there may be lapses."
The president said that the current spate of probes going on in the National Assembly was not his making, explaining that the legislature, as a separate arm of government, had the powers to do what it was doing.
“I am waiting to see the outcome of what they are doing and I cannot predict what it will turn out to be,” Yar'Adua added.
On whether he would later set up a full-scale probe of the past government, Yar'Adua said the outcome of the current National Assembly probe would determine his next line of action.
The National Assembly recently set up committees to investigate activities in the power and petroleum sectors as well as the FCT in the last eight years.
On the Niger Delta Crisis, the President said all hands were on deck to amicably resolve the crisis in the nearest future.
According to him, "the federal government will soon convene a summit of all stakeholders that will take proper look at the problem of the Niger Delta and we hope to use dialogue in discussing with the militants and other leaders of the region so as to achieve the ultimate goal of holding the summit which is to allow peace reign in the Niger Delta region," he said.

‘Africa Still Centrepiece of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy’
05.30.2008

President Umaru Yar'Adua said yesterday in Abuja that Africa still remained the centrepiece of Nigeria's foreign policy.
In a televised question-and-answer session forum tagged “Media Chat'', Yar'Adua said Nigeria was working to provide leadership in efforts to bring Africa together.
The forum was organised to mark Yar'Adua's first year in office and also to coincide with a national holiday in commemoration of the country's return to democracy on May 29, 1999 after 16 years of unbroken military rule.
Yar'Adua said that efforts were being made to integrate the continent economically before political integration.
On the recent attacks on Nigerians and other Africans resident in South Africa, the president down-played calls for retaliation, saying it was unnecessary.
Yar'Adua said the South African government had taken adequate measures by deploying its military personnel to the troubled areas.
Yar'Adua also said that Nigeria's stand on the Zimbabwean election crisis was that it should be resolved according to law.
“We cannot come out like the countries of the west to pass judgments,'' he said, adding that Africans would bear the brunt of any violence in Zimbabwe more than westerners.
“Everything that has to be done has to be done according to the law. We do not support violence and we should not follow the temptation to follow it not according to the law,'' he said.
He said "by next week I will be going to South Africa on state visit and will use the opportunity of the visit to resolve the problem through dialogue that will not lead to political disintegration." (NAN)

Exciting times await Nigerians, says Yar'Adua

From Martins Oloja and Madu Onuorah, Abuja

(The Guaridan)

PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday looked back on his first 365 days in office, identified some achievements, many challenges, but promised that "exciting times await Nigerians."

He however foreclosed any wholesome probe of his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's eight-year rule, saying that the former President did "his best, whether people like it or not."

The President also dismissed the thinking of many Nigerians that he is slow, stating that it is a matter of time before Nigerians appreciate the efforts he is putting towards planning as laying the "solid foundation" for an industrial Nigeria "requires perseverance and commitment."

He also confirmed that there would be a personnel and structural change in the administration very soon, based on the lessons learnt in the last one year of his administration.

On the fight against corruption and the perceived truncation of it on account of the removal of an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman as well as the appointment of a new one, Yar'Adua said he was more interested in building institutions and systems as opposed to personality. "Nations are built on systems and institutions as opposed to personality," he said. "I do not believe in the indispensability of human beings. Only God has the attribute of indispensability. We must put in place a system where every average intelligent Nigerian can run the institutions."

Also, on corruption, he says he is more interested in fighting the root of the problem than the cause. "Here accountability is the word before the act is committed. People confer on themselves authority that is more than what is conferred on them by our laws. But to me, discretionary powers and authority are out. They are the root cause of corruption," Yar'Adua said.

The President, who let out a slight cough intermittently, also spoke extensively on his medical history from 1986 to date said: "I am human. I can fall sick. I can die tomorrow. I can die next month. I can live to be 90... "So there is nothing extraordinary about my being ill." He also lamented the predilection of Nigerians for believing rumours on health instead of information that he himself volunteered. "The last time I went to Germany for medical check up, my office issued a statement on my health, but people did not believe the official statement but the rumours."

Speaking on the controversy over May 29 as Democracy Day taking precedence over Independence Day, which is October I, the President said that for him, October 1, "our National Day, comes first." But for the purposes of its significance as the day of transition to democracy in Nigeria's history, according to Yar'Adua, May 29 is also relevant. "On that day, those of us who want to relax and recharge our batteries can take advantage of the public holiday," he said.

The President also said: "People miss the criminality in the Niger Delta. It has to be dealt with in the coming summit. People are stealing crude oil in the high seas. This can't help the Niger Delta. This criminal activity and bunkering has to be dealt with for the sake of the region."

He also said that before a national emergency is declared in the electricity (power) sector, there would be a national consensus on it so that whatever will be done in that sector would be a "shared project."

In a two-hour live programme tagged: 'Presidential Media Chat' on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to mark the first anniversary of his administration, President Yar'Adua said that what Nigerians expect from his administration and what he is doing are "to lay a solid foundation and effect reforms to transform this country into an industrial giant."

This focus, he said, is what is facing "the direction of his government. And they are quite challenging, which involves having a sustainable democratic culture anchored on credible elections and commitment to the rule of law and maintaining law and order. These are the platforms to building a developed nation. And without political stability, you can't have a developed nation."

Asked if he was going to buy into the on-going probes of his predecessor by the National Assembly and conduct a wholesome probe of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's administration, the President stated: "frankly speaking, my predecessor met a nation almost on the point of collapse. And during his eight years (in power), he did his best. There could be lapses. But he has done his best, whether people like it or not. For over 30 years, the system had broken down completely. It is between May 29, 1999 and now that attempts are made for proper governance. What the National Assembly is doing, they have the power to do what they are doing. I am waiting for the outcome of their reports. I cannot contemplate what they are going to do. I am waiting just like you. All of us are waiting."

President Yar'Adua described his perceived slowness as "a process of learning. When you work hard and produce plans, it will be 60 per cent of what you want to achieve. If you have a good plan, the implementation goes on smoothly. The problems we have are anchored on lack of respect for rule of law and lack of proper planning. But we are insisting that we must learn. We must take time to produce good plans that will translate to actual achievements. But am not perturbed (by the tag of being seen as slow). Once you are sure of what you are doing and the path you are travelling, it is a matter of time for it to materialise. We have to have a national culture of rule of law. And this respect for rule of law sets out the reference point for everything. The greatest national problem we have and one of the greatest problems facing Nigeria is the breakdown of respect for the rule of law and established procedures. We are learning to tackle the problems sector by sector."

On the seeming delay in declaring an emergency in the power sector, the President said that "to declare an emergency is not as simple as just making a declaration for its own sake. It is having a programme and the benchmarks that would be achieved. And by the end of the emergency, this country would be self-sufficient in the power sector and the problems in the power sector would be solved once and for all."

He added that by the programme of the emergency being planned, "the emergency period will last up till when we produce 10,000 megawatts and have a distribution network that can efficiently distribute this. This will take us to 2011. By the end of 2009, we will have generation of 6,000 megawatts and have a transmission and distribution system with enough integrity to distribute this."

On South Africa, the President noted that the issue of retaliation for the violence against foreigners does not arise as he would be going there next week on a state visit.

No regular power till 2011, says Yar’Adua

By Kayode Ketefe, Mudiaga Affe, Ihuoma Chiedozie and Stanley Opara
(Punch Newspapers)

President Umaru Yar’Adua on Thursday said Nigeria might not have regular power supply until 2011.

Yar’Adua, in a live television presidential media chat to mark his one year in office, gave two reasons why power shortage may persist.

These are non-existent of law to back up the much expected declaration of emergency in the power sector, and the fact that Nigeria had sold all its gas for export.

He said the deals entered into by Nigeria with international oil companies on gas would have to be renegotiated over seven years.

“It is only now that the nation realises the critical importance of gas to the national economy,” Yar’Adua added.

The President, who coughed repeatedly during the two-hour telecast, said the privatisation of the power sector had failed. He however pledged that a large chunk of Nigeria’s savings from oil revenue would be spent on repairing power stations and transmission grid.

The President said that the power sector was too sensitive to declare a state of emergency without having the necessary legislation to back up such a period.

He, however, noted that the plan to declare the state of emergency was still on course just as necessary steps were being taken to implement short and long term measures that would address the problem of electricity.

Yar‘Adua said that the power sector was one of the vital sectors of the economy that would fast-track development and attract more investors into the nation‘s economy.

He said, ”To declare a state of emergency, you must have a clear programme. There should be an emergency legislation that is meant to be in place during the period of the declaration.

”I had in mind that by the time I declare this emergency, the nation should know what the problems are. It has to be okayed by the National Assembly and all other related agencies, state and local governments and all other sectors of the economy.

”The issue must have been exhaustively discussed. So, it is not just a simple issue and by the time we are out of the emergency situation, it is expected that this country will be self- sufficient in the power sector.

”What we are doing is learning how to tackle the sectors one-by-one. That is where the issue of declaring a national emergency in power and energy sectors comes in. This is one of the most critical sectors that needed to be sorted out before we can move forward. I have promised this country that I will declare a national emergency in that sector.

”In August 2007, I set up the National Energy Council and also two committees that will look into the oil and gas sectors. Let me inform the nation that just this week, I received a copy of the power sector reform and had to go through it personally before it is officially presented.”

The President disclosed that as part of the plans, the emergency period would see the sector generating 6,000 megawatts by 2009, and 10, 000 megawatts by 2011.

He said his hope was that 10,000 megawatts would be sufficient for the nation’s needs to a large extent.

He said, ”Again, we will need a legislation that will serve as deterrent to offenders during the period of emergency.”

Reacting to criticisms that he was slow in taking decisions, the President said that he was not disturbed because he was determined to effect a change in the polity.

He explained that the issue of the rule of law was paramount to the sustenance of national development.

He said, ”I believe that what Nigerians expect of this administration and what I am determined and committed to do is to lay a solid foundation that will protect reforms and programmes that will transform this country from an underdeveloped one to a developed nation.

”When I came in, there were certain elements that I recognised very clearly that are key and critical to achieving these objectives and vision, in particular the vision 2020.

”These elements are the ones that can shapen the direction, and they are quite challenging, but if this nation must transform, these challenges must be tackled.”

Dismissing insinuations that he was not serious about tackling corruption, the President said he had ordered the prosecution of officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration involved in the award of a fraudulent contract that led government to incur debts totaling N80bn.

He said, “Some officials, knowing that there is no appropriation; there is no cash backing, went and signed the contract. The contractors went and started work and then in the contract agreement, it was signed that any certificate of valuation which was not paid within the stipulated period in the contract agreement would attract a certain percentage of interest against the FCTA.

“Signing these types of agreement is against the extant laws of the Federal Government. The Bureau for Public Procurement law explicitly makes it illegal to award contracts without appropriation, or cash backing.

”What did we have? By the end of that, there were certificates worth N35bn, but the FCTA settled as and when due. It attracted an interest of N45bn.

“I have asked the FCTA to bring those who are responsible to be prosecuted.”

On his health, the President said he was amused by rumours that had gone round about his medical condition, including rumours that he had died.

“To me, this was amusing. Just like I told some foreign journalists, it is just a medical condition. Anybody can fall sick. I am an ordinary human being like other Nigerians. I can fall sick, I can die; I can die tomorrow; I can die next month; I can live to be 90. I can not guarantee how long I want to live and when I am going to die,” he said.

How I fell sick, by Yar’adua (Daily Trust)
30-05-2008 03:16

PresidentPresident Umaru Musa Yar’adua gave a com-prehensive explanation of his much-talked about illnesses last night, saying it was a simple matter that was somehow twisted and given a political meaning. Explaining why he left for Germany soon after signing the 2008 Appropriation Act last month, Yar’adua said he actually suffered from malaria for four days, which did not abate despite his taking of Metacalfin tablets administered by his doctor.

He said after four days, his doctor went and brought another doctor from the Julius Berger Clinic in Abuja, where Yar’adua said he maintained a medical file since 1986. He said the Julius Berger doctor then administered to him a new anti-malarial drug, which quickly took care of the fever and he has not suffered from it again since then. However, the president said when he woke up in the morning, his face was swollen, and the doctors said he suffered an allergic reaction from the new anti-malarial drug.

Alhaji Umaru Yar’adua said he was given other drugs to bring down the swell and when they failed to do so after some days, he went to the National Hospital, Abuja for some tests. It was there that he was advised to go to the German hospital where he normally treats himself, he said. The president said when he got to Germany, no specific thing was done for the swollen face because it subsided on its own, so he decided instead to undergo his normal medical checks at the hospital. He said he had been doing so since 1986.

The president expressed surprise that even though his Special Adviser on Communication Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a statement prior to his departure to Germany explaining this, rumours took over and alleged all kinds of things as the reason for his illness.

Yar’adua said the same thing happened last year, when he suddenly fell sick during the general election campaign and rumours made the rounds about his alleged sickness.

According to him, he had been involved in vigorous campaigns for the PDP presidential primaries and had gone on to campaign for the general elections when he suffered from a cold. Yar’adua said when doctors examined him, they said his main blood vessel, the aorta, was greatly swollen and could burst at any time.

He said the doctors described the situation as critical and ordered for an air ambulance to fly him to Germany, even though the only thing he himself felt at the time was a cold. He said when he got to his German hospital, he found that surgeons were waiting to conduct an emergency operation on him, but they decided to do a check first. When the CT scan result came in an hour later, he said, the German doctors said there was a misdiagnosis, that in fact his aorta was normal.

President Yar’adua said he was therefore surprised and amused when rumours spread that he was unconscious and some even said he was dead. "I am just a normal person, like everyone else," the president said. He said like every other person, he can fall sick, he can recover, or he can die tomorrow, next week, or he can live to be 90 years old. "I cannot guarantee anything about that because it is in the hands of God," he said.

My battle with ill-health – Yar’Adua
(Sun Newspapers)
Friday, May 30, 2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua last night took the wind out of the sail on the raging controversy over his health status.
In a two-hour live presidential media chat to commemorate Democracy Day, the president explained how he had been managing his ill-health, dismissing widespread fears that he was medically unfit.

Yar’Adua had a question thrown at him by one of the interviewers, who said one of the reservations Nigerians had about the seeming inactivity in governance was the ill-health of the president.

Responding to the question, President Yar’Adua regretted that the issue of his health had been politicized. He then opened up on his health condition, explaining that what took him to Germany last month was reactions from a drug earlier given to him by his doctors for the treatment of malaria.

Said he: “I had a reaction to a drug which was the case. I had malaria, I took Metakelfin, it did not go, I got my doctor who brought another doctor from JB Clinic and they gave me a new drug, the malaria went, but the following day, I woke up with a swollen face.

“So they gave me what they called term steroid, it did not work and I went to the National Hospital where they ran test and they decided that I go to my doctors in Germany. I have my record there since 1986. In 2000 I had kidney problem. My record is there. I got there and in three days my face became normal.

“So you see, the press statement by my Special Adviser (Communications) was not believed, same thing the other time, when I was campaigning then during my campaign they ran an x-ray and the doctors said my aorta was inflated and they termed it critical, because they said it can burst anytime. That was how I was referred to the hospital in Germany and they brought an air ambulance because they wanted a doctor to be with me.

“When I got there, they prepared the theatre for a major operation, but they decided to run another test and shortly after the result was out and they said my aorta was normal.
“It is amusing because you can have a medical problem anytime. I am an ordinary person and I am as ordinary as any other Nigerian. I can fall sick, I can get well, I can die, I can die tomorrow, I can live to be 90, I am pleased to be president, but I am an ordinary person.”

Speaking on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Yar’Adua gave him kudos saying his predecessor did his best to put Nigeria back on track.

According to him, Obasanjo met the country on the verge of collapse and he did his best in eight years to put the country on track, admitting that there might be excesses in the process of putting things right.
The probe of some activities of Obasanjo’s administration by the National Assembly, Yar’Adua said, was within the lawmakers’ constitutional power, adding that he could not envisage any outcome of the exercise. “I am also waiting for the outcome of their activities as any other person is waiting for it.”
The president spoke extensively on the plans by his administration to rescue the nation from the doldrums and restore hope in the citizenry.

According to him, lack of respect for law and order was one of the greatest national problems, pointing out that his administration had set out to guarantee entrenchment of the rule of law as well as ensure political stability with the on-going electoral reforms.

The president who also identified the lack of planning as a critical problem in the nation’s development efforts said tackling the problem would set the tone for development in the various sectors of the economy, including electricity, petroleum and gas, iron and steel and cement. According to him, those sectors would drive all other sectors of the economy.

On why he had not declared national emergency in the power sector as promised, Yar’Adua said, “To declare it one must have a clean focus on what should be done. There should be emergency legislation to govern the period of emergency. When I said so, I had in mind that by the time I declare it, the nation will know exactly what it entails, the objectives, the guidelines and how it is going to be financed.”
According to him, when declared, the power sector emergency would last till the time the government was able to produce 10,000mw of electricity and to have a transmission that would be able to generate and distribute the electricity. “That will take us to about 2011. We hope that by the end of 2009, we’ll have 6,000mw and distribution and transmission system with enough integrity to distribute the electricity generated. By 2011 the emergency period would have been over.”

He listed the elements of the power emergency to include national effort at financing the emergency. “The nation has to agree to dedicate a certain percentage of the Federation Account to fund the power sector. The other alternative is for the Federal, state and local governments to dedicate part of the excess crude account for the power sector during the emergency period. The other aspect of the emergency is the need for emergency laws to try offenders who vandalise transmission lines and those who fail to pay tariffs, etc.”

On funding of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the president said that the Federal Government had done its best to ensure adequate funding of the commission, though the issue of security in the region had been a stumbling block.

His words: “As regards funding to NDDC, the government has done its best. There is Federal Government intervention in oil producing areas. There is issue of security which is affecting our projections. The Office of the Vice President is looking after this aspect. The initiative to dialogue with the militants is bearing some fruits.”

He said the agitations of people of the Niger Delta would be dealt with during the national summit on the Niger Delta. While admitting that some of the issues would need constitutional amendment to deal with, he condemned the activities of the militants as criminal.
On the attack on Nigerians in South Africa, the president said retaliation was out of it, saying the problem should be resolved through dialogue.

According to him, Nigeria must provide leadership towards integration of the sub-regions within the African continent just as he assured that what were supposed to be done were being done to resolve the problem.

While hinting of a Federal cabinet reshuffle, Yar’Adua urged Nigerians to look forward to an exciting time in the next one year when the plans his administration had made in the last 12 months began to yield fruits.

I have kidney problem - Yar’Adua
From Idowu Samuel and Akin Durodola - 30.05.2008
(Tribune)

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua on Thursday finally opened up on the state of his health as he admitted having a kidney problem. The President made this known during a live telecast of a special presidential media chat organised to mark Democracy Day and one year in office.

He also stated that Nigerians had been exaggerating his health condition and that it had been politicised. Yar’Adua said his last trip to Germany was to treat a reaction he had to malaria drugs administered to him by his doctors in Nigeria, adding that the effects of the drugs were so severe that they made his face to swell up.

He expressed dismay that Nigerians ignored a clear statement made on the state of his health by his Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, and chose to believe the rumours peddled about his health.

“Before I travelled to Germany, my Special Adviser on Communication, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, issued a statement on what was wrong. His statement was clear enough. “In the statement, he said I had a reaction to drugs administered to me to treat malaria. That was the case. I had had malaria for four days and then took drugs, and it did not go.

“My doctor got another doctor from Julius Berger Clinic. They came and gave me a new drug. I took it and the malaria was gone. The next thing was that my face got swollen up. The doctors said it was the effect of the drugs.

“I went to the National Hospital and a test was conducted. It was from there that a decision was taken that I should go to Germany. I was in Germany in 2006 because I had my medical record there. And in 2000, I had kidney problem. I decided to go to Germany to have my check-up.
“The interesting thing is that people did not believe a statement

that was officially issued, and they did not believe what was officially issued, why did they believe rumour?” President Yar’Adua also mentioned a similar rumour about his state of health during the last presidential campaign when he said he had cold and had to travel to Germany for immediate check-up.

Yar’Adua told the nation that only God knew how long he would live as the President of Nigeria. He said, “I can die tomorrow, I may die next month and I may live up to 90. I can not guarantee how long I will live. And I am not a super human being.”

Nigeria power shortage to persist (BBC)

Nigerians do not get reliable electricity supply
Nigeria will not be able to generate enough electricity for its population until at least 2015, President Umaru Yar'Adua has said.

Speaking live on television, the president answered critics who said he had been slow to address the problem.

Nigeria is the eighth largest exporter of oil but cannot generate enough electricity to meet the needs of its 140 million-strong population.

Before his election, President Yar'Adua promised to take swift action on power.

But three finished gas-fuelled power stations are unable to generate electricity because Nigeria has sold all its gas for export, the president said.

These deals with international oil companies would have to be renegotiated over seven years, he added.

"It is only now that the nation realises the critical importance of gas to the national economy," the president said.

'Failed privatisation'

The president said the nation's privatisation of the power industry had failed.

During the televised press conference with a select group of journalists he declared his intention to spend some of Nigeria's savings from oil earnings on repairing the nation's power stations and transmission grid.

Under the previous administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, the government-run power company was split up so parts of it could be sold.

Nigeria's electricity facts
Currently generates 3500MW
Would need 100,000MW to become an industrialised economy, according to the ex-president
Six power stations begun under the last administration have not been completed
$16bn (£8bn) has so far been spent on the power sector since 1999

Power stations are rotting away unfinished, and imported generator turbines are still in ports unable to be moved years after they were delivered, a parliamentary investigation found in March.

There was no way investors could be attracted to the industry as it was he said.

"Today, still, most of the companies are still publicly owned," President Yar'Adua said.

"Emergency legislation" will be needed to allow the government to spend some of the billions of dollars in oil revenue it has saved in the central bank on power, he said.

For every barrel of oil sold $59 goes to the national budget.

The rest is held in an account which has now swelled to $12 billion.

By law this has to be shared among the state governments.

Health worries

The president coughed constantly through the press conference.

One of the reasons his critics have said he has been slow to act is his deteriorating health.

Last month he was flown to Germany for emergency medical treatment.

"They prepared the operating theatre, all the surgeons were ready," he said.

"But they ran tests on me and said an operation wasn't necessary."

An allergic reaction to a malaria drug was responsible for his illness, he said.

In 2000 he suffered from an unnamed kidney condition, from which he says he has recovered.

He was also flown to Germany for medical treatment in the middle of his election campaign.

"I am just a human being, I could die tomorrow, but I could also live until 90," he told the conference.

Lack of adequate power can only engender further job loss, says Esele

2008-05-28T02:14:00.000-07:00

Trade Union Congress (TUC), President General, Mr. Peter Esele, has left no one in doubt that the he knows his onions. He has continued to change the face of collective bargaining through robust and well-informed arguments on national issues without compromising the welfare of workers.

In this interview with DELE FANIMO and ADEWALE SANYAOLU, he ex-rays the state of the economy, power sector and the one-year in office of the current administration.

Excerpts.

YAR'ADUA promised massive job, constant power supply via a declaration of emergency in the power sector. One year down the line, what is your assessment of his administration?

One year down the road for the current administration has been more of urge purge, more of motion without movement but still credit goes to the administration in the area of rule of law and arbitrariness of the previous eight years, which there are some changes.

But after that, what next? In the area of power generation, which the President said he is going to declare an emergency nothing has been done in that respect.

For creation of jobs, how many jobs have been created since this government came to power?

In Europe, or America they know the amount of job that he has been created. And they also know the number of people that get employed every month, because they have statistics for that.

But in this part of the world, nothing like that. So, if you ask me, I will say this government has not really given us the clear-cut agenda. That one will be able to say this is what I will hold them for.

What is your assessment of the real sector of the economy? Has it really improved or the sector is going down the line, almost to extinction level?

If you are asking me about the real sector, I will say how can the real sector improve or grow when there is no power. So, if you ask me, I will say the real sector is going into extinction. They are barely surviving. And those that are still in operation live on generator.

And when you notice what is going on now, by getting power for an hour or two some of them virtually run their generators for 24 hours in a day.

So, I think they are worse-off now.

That means jobs will be lost and people will be dislocated. What is the labour movement doing, to at least mitigate some of these serious issues?

It is not that jobs will be lost. Jobs are being lost. Because we have real serious problems that this government should address. We have the problems in the Niger Delta. Companies are leaving that region, and people are losing their jobs. And these are creating more problems in the society. Now, if we are labour have the capacity to generate power, probably we would have done that.

We pay our taxes, and we expect government to provide all this infrastructures, because that is what we have government for. For government to put resources together and then solve the problem that will serve as a catalyst for the development of the society, and the country.

You and I will agree that infrastructurally, we are not there. And that is why sometimes I laugh when we talk about this Vision 2020. Because if you talk about 2020, you are looking at the 20th biggest economy in the world, and I think that is Belgium.

So, if you at where we are and where Belgium is, it's a long way off. But then for us to even get there, the infrastructure to get there is not even on the ground.

Besides, you can't even lay your hands for the plans to take us there.

Though we can say the banks via banks' consolidation are there, yes. But after that, what next, where is power, rail and road. So this decay in getting too much.

Now, we will say Yar'Adua is one year old fine. But I am looking at it from the chain that we have been under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government nine years. And I am looking at it from a composite perspective. That we have been under PDP government for nine years. And nine years is enough to at least address some of these problems like power.

Nine years is enough for government to ensure that we have adequate supply of power. For rail, nine years is enough for government to build it to ensure the cheap movement of good on our roads.

These are a lot of challenges that we face as leader and which is affecting the Nigerian workers.

What we try to say is that we are a pressure group. We try to bring it to the attention of government. And there are several ways we do this. Either by picket or strike. The last time, we had to go on strike over the sale of some refineries, which we feel we lead to job losses. And also, areas that were not cleared by government privatisation and the issue of due process. These are the things that we can also do.

But we have not rested on our oars to ensure that Aluta continue which is, we will continue to talk about things that are affecting Nigerian workers. Because, if things are not good for Nigerian workers, things cannot be good for Nigerians.

So that is the only way we can agitate for the people. Because we cannot carry guns or any other armed weapon to break the law. But what we can do is that, we must at all times bring this to the attention of those who are in power. And also to make Nigerians to be aware that this is how far we have gone and this is the stage we are.

Yar'Adua said recently that he is going to create 10 million jobs by 2011. But from what is on ground, do you think that is visible?

Yes I heard it. But if you want to create 10 million jobs, I think even in the most advanced countries of the world they can't create 10 million jobs in three years.

Well, he is the President may be there are some things he wants to do that we are not seeing. But my worry is that, if you say you want to create 10 million jobs, you should be able to tell the people how you intend to create it. In which aspect of the economy does he intends to create it and work on to create that job? Because the aspect of the economy that that can create a 100,000 or 200,000 jobs now in one year is the textile industry. And the textile industry is as good as being in a state of comma at the moment. Though everything is been done now to see if they can be brought back to life. But at the moment, it is as good as dead.

However, even if they are trying to bring them back to life that cannot happen within a year.

So, now if you look at the Oil and Gas, the sector is a specialised area. So, how is government going to create jobs in that sector?

Now, if government says 10 million jobs in 2011, and we are in 2008, that means we have three more years. Which means on the average, government wants to create 3.5 or 3.3 million jobs in a year.

If the President can do that, we all will be very happy. But if you ask me what is on ground towards achieving that, I am scared and worried. Because there is really nothing on ground for that to be achieved.

The first thing that can help you, if you say you want to create job is power. Because you need power for the formal and informal sector of the economy. And you know we have a large pool of people in the informal sector - artisans, small-scale industrialists and so on.

So, how do you encourage them? But if we have power today and the President says by the end of the year the country will generate up to 10,000 to 15,000 megawatts, fine.

This now gives you room to say, okay, if they cannot achieve the 10 million jobs, probably they can achieve a million. But this is a tall order. Though I wish him well. But I just feel probably there is a way he can do it.

Elsewhere where governments make such policy statement or pronouncement, governments let you know which area of the economy they are going to put interest and attention to generate those jobs.

I read the statement and speech. But I could not lay my hands on which aspect of the economy that is going to receive that kind of attention to create such jobs.

In the next few days, the one-year oil price freeze will lapse. But when you were negotiating, it was about $82 per barrel. Today the price is about $130 per barrel. What are Nigerians going to expect?

First, let us commend all Nigerians for their understanding in the last one-year. And also commend the government as well for sticking to the terms of agreement. We have lived through government that don't live by agreement. When they tell you one thing, they do something else. And also, one reason why we took the one-year option was that we say it as a way of creating stability. As at the time we made that agreement the price of crude was between $60 and $70 per barrel. Now the price is around $135 per barrel as at today (Thursday) last week. The issue. What are the options available to us? We are currently having informal discussions with authorities. I have had one with the Energy minister, where we are looking at things from holistic perspective. To say, where are we going to go from here?

But at the moment, there has been no agreement to the issue currently. However, we are still doing an exploratory discussion on how best to address this issue.

And we had already spoken to government to look at the issues on ground and keep it the way it is.

If government is however, thinking of increasing, we need to also sit down and say increase by what. And what are the benefits for the Nigerian people?

Secondly, we don't want a situation whereby previous government telling us that they want to increase. And subsequently telling us that they want to reduce subsidy, provide more infrastructure. But you and I know that nothing was ever done. Instead they created more hardship.

If you ask me, I will prefer that whatever we do or are going to do with government should be based on the law. If there have to be a bill, we will have a bill to tell that if an amount is coming in into the country that is been generated. That is what it is going to be used for. If there is going to be a board, it has to cut across, both labour and government and see how to tie the whole thing in.

Because if we are able to do that, it will be good. Why are people so particular about been against the increase in price of petroleum products? The reason is just because people have not seen an improvement in their life. If you are telling me to tighten my belt and you are loosening yours, so how do you now expect me to trust you?

So, these are the fundamental issues that are making labour and Nigerians so aggrieved and upset when government comes up with anything that has to do with prices of petroleum products.

At the moment, I will say we are still talking. But I don't expect government to go ahead and increase the prices of petroleum products without having discussions with labour.

When you have an agreement and the agreement laps courtesy demands that you go back to the people and then talk about it.

Lets look at the level of human capacity development in the country. In your own assessment, can the present state of education and skill acquisition take us to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs)?

I keep hearing about the idea of condemning everything that has to do with our educational system. There are problems. I agree to that. And there is very big room for improvement. This does not mean that you throw the baby with the bathwater away. Let us look at areas where we feel we are lacking and concentrate on those areas and see how we can improve on it.

But when I hear people in government making a sweeping condemnation of our educational system is not fair.

You still get people who are out of this system and are still excelling in what they do. But what they don't know is that when you hear a minister or people in government condemning our educational system, it shows that they too are responsible for it.

It was not like this before. So, what I expect us to do, is to do an overhaul, a kind of audit on the educational system of our country and try to find out what is lacking.

Then, what do we need to do to address this concern? And in our growth, in the next 20 or 30 years, what aspect of our national life or educational aspects are we lacking that we think we should pull all our resources on to ensure that we develop it?

Science and Technology, how are we handling it? Same for IT. How are we able to ensure that Nigerians improve in that aspect of capacity building? But again, if you are talking about capacity building. You must also look at your standard of living. To improve the people, you must ensure that they have sound education. But this days, what we have is that most people now go to private schools.

So, attention is no longer paid to public schools because nobody goes there anymore. The children of the poor are the only ones you find in public schools. But instead of government to ensure that the gap between the public and private are bridged, that is not done.

Formerly, nobody goes to private schools but all goes to public school. That shows there is a decay. But I will not want to make a sweeping condemnation of our educational system. I will say there is a huge room for improvement, if we want to compete, because this is the era of globalisation.

For us to be able to compete and develop our country, then we need to carry out an overhaul in our education system and improve on it.

But the welfare of our teachers, because it is not only about making chairs and tables and you put it there. The lecturers, teachers in university, polytechnic, primary and secondary should be well motivated through up to date training and adequate remuneration, in that way they can impart knowledge; but not when you don't take care of them.

The first law of life is survival, the lecturers, teachers need to survive and in the process of struggling for survival, they might want to do anything to survive.

And all these are responsible for them wanting to take their skills abroad. Formerly, non of our lecturers want to go out. Rather they want to stay in the country. But the situation is different now.

But, if we don't do all these, in 20 to 30 years time, we are going to have a very serious social uprising in our country. Because the gap between the rich and poor is widening everyday.

So, if the government does not correct this imbalance, there will be problem because it is also for our own security and that of the country. So, that the situation does not degenerate to what is currently happening in South Africa at the moment, where people are ready to kill for the sake of joblessness and homelessness.

As African Union Strategises on Peace, Security

2008-05-26T04:14:00.001-07:00

Juliana Taiwo, 05.22.2008

Recently, 26 journalists drawn from nine African countries assembled in Addis Ababa for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation three-day capacity building programme on peace and security on the continent. Although plagued by a myriad of conflicts, top officials of the African Union say there is a silver lining on the horizon. Juliana Taiwo was there

Right from the Addis Ababa airport, Monday night, May 5, 2008 when participants started arriving in batches from West and Southern Africa, it was clear that the Zimbabwe and Darfur issues were going to dominate discussions at the three-day capacity building programme, "Journalists´ Training on the African Peace and Security Architecture”, by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The two participants from Zimbabwe (The Standard News Editor, Walter Marwizi and National Constitutional Assembly, Information officer, Patience Nyangara started the discussion right there at the airport. The cold from the air-conditioning units at the airport did not douse the heated discussions from Nigerian and Zimbabwean journalists, who engaged each other soon after formalities while waiting for the arrival of other colleagues from Ghana, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Madagascar and Mozambique.
Walter stated clearly when Okey Ndiribe of Vanguard Newspapers asked what the situation was when he left home adding that he was in Addis to find out why the AU has been particularly silent on Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe.
As far as they (Walter and Patience) were concerned, what was the use of EU sanctions if it is not enforced? He said the sanctions from the West on Mugabe and his family has not affected him much as he has found alternatives to meeting his personal needs and concerns while the poor Zimbabweans in addition to poverty and hunger, are now being killed on daily basis for daring to vote against the same man who is supposed to protect them.
Walter said appointing South African President, Thabo Mbeki, as mediator was a disaster because he was Mugabe’s friend. He also said neither Mugabe nor Morgan Tsvangirai were the messiahs the Zimbabweans were looking for but in their desperate need for change, they were ready to settle for even ‘Satan’ just to be free again.
So when the 26 participants including two from Ethiopia, gathered at the African Union Conference room in Addis Ababa, from May 6-8, 2008, many took turns in hitting back at the AU and their frustrating hurdles placed on the path of journalists trying to report their activities.
The AU representatives most of whom happened to be the resource persons were quick to beat their chests about the interventions of the AU in places like Zimbabwe, Somalia, Darfur and recently Comoros but most of the disclosure sounded like French to participants as no efforts have been made to publicise them.
Mr. Charles Mwaura, an expert on Early Warning System with the AU, said it was not true that African leaders were closing their eyes to the happenings in Zimbabwe. He said though the leaders may not openly criticise bad leadership they were working behind the scenes to tell leaders like Mugabe the home truth. He said the success of SADC was as a result of the backing of the AU Commission and the African leaders engaging of Mugabe at the African Leaders Summit in 2007, this he said led to Mugabe engaging in dialogue with the MDC opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
He also disclosed that no conflict in the continent that has not been foreseen and efforts were made to warn them like that of Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
While hitting on the African media, Mwaura said while the western media markets their news with updates at intervals, some African media do not update their sites if they have any at all. This, he said, was responsible for the poor reportage of the AU and other development happening in the continent.
Mr. El Ghassim Wane, Head of the Conflict Management Division of the African Union said the issue of peace and security was a priority for the African Union. “That is why as a matter of fact in the process of putting together the AU, the leaders made the request to review the way we are working with the peace and security, look at the instruments that existed at that time and see how best we could improve on it. It was in that context that a decision was made to adopt the protocol establishing the African Union Peace and Security Council. And that protocol provided for the establishment of the Peace and Security Council and also established other key organs to support the peace and Security Council in its mandate and include the Panel of the Wise, the African Stand-by Force (ASF). But there are also provisions providing for closer cooperation with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) which play increasingly active role in the prevention and management of conflicts. For example, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).
“I believe we have made progress significantly in putting together what we call the Peace and Security Architecture which is made up of all these organs. The AU as of today is more active than it has ever been in dealing with conflicts situation. There is hardly any conflict situation that is not on the agenda of the AU. We sometimes play the lead roles in all these situations, we support the regional groupings, we work very closely with the United Nations, we are involved in conflict preventions, we are involved in conflicts resolutions, we are involved in post conflicts, we are involved in programmes aimed at addressing the root causes of conflicts.
“In spite of the achievements clearly we also do face a number of challenges and one of the main constrains has to do with financial resources,” he said.
On what the AU was doing to address these challenges, Wane said “when it comes to finance, of course we are trying to address it but within membership of the AU but also with our partners. You know the United Nations Peace and Security have a role to play. When the European Union act on the issue of peace and security it is also acting on behalf of United Nations and we need clearly a much bigger support from the international community. Already we have received significant support from the European Union, United States of America, Japan, Canada, China, from individual members of EU and other member states. We are trying to generate enough support to build our capacity in terms of human resources and also to increase our resources. Maybe you are aware that recently, the security council organised meeting on relationships between the UN and regional organisations particularly the AU and one of the focus of the meeting was precisely to see how best to enhance our resource base, how best to enhance our human resources capacity to make it possible for us to address or deal more effectively with the issues facing the continent in terms of peace and security”, he said.
Wane speaking on early warning system and why the AU wants to put it in the front burner, said “You know one of the main objectives of the AU is prevention of conflicts and that is for two reasons. One of which is that it is always better to prevent than to cure because many lives would be saved and of course prevent destruction of properties, killing of people. You know all the mayhem that goes with war. Second one is that it is cheaper to prevent than to send very expensive peace support operations. For instance the operations in Darfur is a project of over $400 million a year, that is literally four times the budget of the AU and it is the same for Somalia. So we have a keen interest in preventing conflicts and that is why in the peace and security council protocol I referred to earlier, there is provision on the establishment of continental early warning system that would be made up of the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), to make it possible for us to anticipate and prevent all conflicts. We have made some progress in putting in place the key components of the early warning system and again I think ECOWAS for instance among the regional body is clearly the most advanced and we are working very closely with them and once the early warning system is fully in place, it will clearly enhance our capacity to anticipate and also to put policy options to our leadership in the AU so that appropriate preventive action could be taken but there is still much to be done.
The regional training, according to Dr. Sabine Fandrych, Resident Representative of FES, Addis Ababa office, is subordinate to the objective of creating a regional dialogue on security issues, and specifically aims at raising awareness among journalists about the structure, functioning and implications of the new regional security architecture in the framework of the African Union; its linkage to other sub-regional, regional and global organizations; the opportunities and challenges of conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict peace-building.
Fandrych said the workshop was also intended to identify journalists as possible multipliers on these issues and to improve the networking of journalists in the Southern and West African region.
“This security architecture encompasses a Peace and Security Council (PSC) which, according to its founding protocol, is meant to be a ‘collective security and early-warning arrangement to facilitate timely and efficient response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa’. The PSC is to be supported by the Commission of the AU itself, via the Peace and Security Commissioner as well as the Peace and Security Department, a Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), an African Standby Force with five regional brigades as well as a special fund. Apart from that, a Panel of the Wise and a military staff committee have been set up to serve as advisory bodies for the PSC in all questions relating to the promotion of peace and security in Africa.
“The creation of such a continental African system for Peace and Security is a remarkable and innovative development, and it is unequalled even on a global scale. However, there is a long way to go to make the envisaged structure a functioning system, both in technical as well as in political terms. In order for it to function effectively, close cooperation with the sub-regional organizations as well as with the United Nations and international partners is needed.
At the end, it was agreed that African journalists need to take interest in the happenings in the AU, efforts it is making in conflicts prevention and resolutions and bring it to the knowledge of the beneficiary states as well as the continents.
While it was agreed that journalistic ethics such as credibility, balance, objectivity, neutrality and morality, must not be compromised, it was also stressed that responsible and objective reporting will contribute to peace and security in the region.

Senate Asks Waziri to Stay away from EFCC

2008-05-23T02:27:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

According to Saharareporters.com, Mrs. Farda Waziri had just returned from a spending spree in preparation for her new job. Now she has been asked to stay away until confirmed. It is amazing how we rush to embrace illegality when we are involved then turn around to criticise when we are not the beneficiary.

To think she has continued to report at the EFCC head office even when Nigerians are crying over how she was appointed.

Senate Asks Waziri to Stay away from EFCC

From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 05.23.2008

Senate President David Mark yesterday asked the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, to stay away from office pending her confirmation by Senate.
THISDAY, however, confirmed that she still reported to the head office of EFCC in Abuja yesterday and left around 3pm, although without accepting the handover notes presumably on learning of the Senate directive.
Also yesterday, THISDAY was informed that Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, the former acting chairman of the commission, was “in a fix” over different directives he has received in the last one week over his status.
At the National Assembly yesterday, Mark directed the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Nar-cotics, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Sola Akinyede (Ekiti South), to interrogate the facts that she was already acting and had indeed assumed office with a view to advising her appropriately on what to do in the circumstance.
He said that if it was found out that she was already acting in the office of the commission’s Chairman, the Comm-ittee Chairman should write to her to leave and not resume until she had been confirmed by the Upper House.
According to him, “Ascertain if she has resumed or not; if she has, tell her to leave the place alone because she cannot resume until we have confirmed her. Please, go and get your facts.”
He also said that the Committee should investigate all issues surrounding the appointment while screening her as well as the five other members of the commission nominated for senate confirmation and report back in one week to plenary for confirmation hearing.
This followed a heated debate on the floor of the Senate on the propriety of her appointment in acting capacity by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua prelude to his executive communication seeking confirmation of her appointment as substantive chairman of the commission.
The debate was prompted by the observations raised by Akinyede to the letter sent to the Senate President by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, in which he justified Yar’Adua’s action.
Shortly after the Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, introduced the first item on yesterday’s order paper and moved a motion calling on the Senate to consider Yar’Adua’s request for the confirmation of the nominations of Waziri and the five other members in accordance with Section 2(3) of the EFCC Act, 2004, with the Minority Whip, Senator Sani Yerima seconding it, Mark put the motion to question and members unanimously voted for it.
Mark said thereafter: “I think the normal practice is for us to refer the request to the committee except anybody has any objections to make. The committee would be given one week to conclude the assignment and report back for confirmation.”
But Akinyede said he had observations to make in respect of the letter sent to the Senate President on the appointment by Aondoakaa in which he attempted to justify Yar’Adua’s action since the letter was a reply to his (Akinyede’s) letter to him (Aondoakaa).
He told the Senate that he wrote a letter to the Attorney-General when Waziri’s appointment in acting capacity was announced Thursday, last week, to draw his attention to the breach of the provision of the EFCC Act, 2004.
According to him, “There was an appointment made in acting capacity and that was why I issued a letter to the Attorney-General because there is no provision for acting Chairman, as the position does not exist. But I am surprised that the Attorney-General wants to justify the appointment.
“The Attorney-General argued that the action of Mr. President is covered by Chapter 123, Section 11 (1) of the Interpretation Act on appointment which states that where an enactment confers a power to appoint a person either to an office or to exercise any functions, whether for a specified period or not, the power includes - (a) power to appoint a person by name or to appoint the holder from time to time of a particular office; (b) power to remove or suspend him; (c) power, exercisable in the manner and subject to the limitations and conditions (if any) applicable to the power to appoint- (i) to reappoint or reinstate him; (ii) to appoint a person to act in his place, either generally or in regard to specified functions, during such time as is considered expedient by the authority in whom the power of appointment in question is vested.”
Akinyede stated further, “The EFCC Act said the senate confirmation must come first. If this is allowed to pass, it is going to erode the authority of the Senate. This justification by the Attorney-General is worrisome and I want the senate to look into this.”
He also referred the Senate to Section 147(2) of the Constitution: “Any appointment to the office of Ministers of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any persons to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President,” saying that the same procedure was applicable to the office of the EFCC Chairman.
He declared that the authority of the Senate was under threat and urged his colleagues that the threat must not be allowed to stand.
Senator Lee Ledogo Maeba (Rivers South-east) shared the position of Akinyede, arguing that the Senate was already under attack.
According to him, “On whether or not to clear Waziri, we are being blackmailed to clear the woman. Ibrahim Lamorde has been acting for several months. If the President wants to appoint a substantive chairman, he should do so in consonance with the provisions of the EFCC Act, 2004. I see the appointment of Waziri as acting chairman as a breach of procedure.
“This nomination is already very controversial and the best thing to do is to send it back to Mr. President. The Chairman of the Committee has already received a bashing from the Attorney General and the Chairman has said that it was not correct and what other different report can we get from the Committee chairman after screening?”
But Senator Kanti Bello (Katsina North) said it was unfortunate that allegations were being made, pointing out that “if a Senator has got an information, he must lay it on the table.”
He maintained that the allegations that Waziri had resumed office should be investigated and confirmed before making it.
Senator Abubakar Sodangi (Nasarawa West) advised the senate to return the nominations to Yar’Adua to enable him represent them in line with due process as clearly enshrined in the EFCC Act, 2004.
However, Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima (Zamfara West), who is a member of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, disagreed with his colleagues, saying Yar’Adua was right to appoint acting Chairman for the EFCC, prelude to Senate confirmation.
He said Senator Akinyede, who is the chairman of the committee, was not in a position to write the Attorney-General of the Federation in the first instance on the announcement of the appointment of Waziri as acting Chairman.
On his part, Senator Anyim Ude (Ebonyi South) said that the development had brought into focus the issues of due process and the authority of the Senate, stressing, “On due process, I associate myself with Senator Akinyede because the procedure has been breached, hence the controversy we are in now.”
The contribution by Senator Uche Chukwumerije (Aba North) was mediatory as he called for a middle-of-the road approach on the issue so that Waziri and other members of the Commission could be screened with a proviso that the Senate would no longer tolerate any breach of procedure after this.
He noted that Senator Akinyede made an important point on the issue of threat to the authority of the Senate but expressed concern that the debate on the issue was tending along sectional lines.
“Let us overlook this and say only this and never again. We can pass a resolution…. Let us very reluctantly accept this and pass a resolution that we will not accept any other breach after this,” Chukwumerije said.
Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) (Cross River Central), said some of the issues raised by Senator Akinyede were of serious constitutional nature.
He, however, stated that the claim that Waziri had already resumed office at the EFCC was premature, stressing, “These are facts the committee must find out. I read in the papers that she was to have resumed last Thursday, but that she has not resumed.”
He continued: “At the moment, EFCC is rudderless. Lamorde has been posted to Bauchi State; whether Waziri has taken over or not is fact the Committee must investigate. The committee must go on with the screening and in the process find out if she has resumed.”
The Senate President at this point referred to the Attorney-General’s letter to Senator Akinyede, which was routed through his office, saying the argument contained therein to the effect that President Yar’Adua was right in appointing an acting Chairman for the EFCC was worrisome.
According to Mark, “He (Aondoakaa) gave the impression that the President can appoint chairmen in acting capacity before Senate confirmation. The letter appears to be justifying that certain appointments can be acting and later confirmed by the Senate.
“The advice to Senator Akinyede is to ascertain whether she (Waziri) has resumed at the EFCC. If she has, tell her to leave office because she cannot resume until after we have confirmed her. Go and get the facts. She has no business resuming except this senate confirms her. Find out whether he has resumed and draft an appropriate reply to the Attorney-General.”
He said the letter from the Attorney-General did not need to be laid on the table.
Mark tasked the Committee to report back in one week. Akinyede had wanted clarifications on whether the one week was for investigating the facts of Waziri’s resumption in the EFCC office in acting capacity.
But Mark said: “The assignment you have been given is screening for the purpose of confirmation.”
Yar’Adua’s letter, nominating Waziri and five other members, was read on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, about seven days after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, had announced her appointment in acting capacity.
The letter, entitled: “Appoin-tment of Chairman and Members of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)” by Yar’Adua had read: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is an agency established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2004 charged with the responsibility for the enforcement of all economic and financial crimes law among other things.
“The appointment of the Chairman and members of the Commission is provided for in Section 2 subsection 1 and sub-subsections A and B of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004 except for the appointment of the Secretary of the Commission who is also a member of the Commission, which is provided for separately in Section 8, Subsection 1 of the Act.
“By virtue of Section 2 subsection 3 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, which confers upon the President the powers to appoint the Chairman and members of the Commission other than the ex-officio members, subject to confirmation by the Senate, I have appointed the following as members of the Commission: Mrs. Farida M. Waziri, AIG retired - Chairman; Barrister Basil M.C. Anago - member; Barrister Paul Harris Ogbole - member; Mr. Banjo Olaniyan - member; Alhaji Mohammed Jibo -member; Mr. Emmanuel Akomoye - member/secretary
“Their Curriculum Vitae are attached hereto. The purpose of this letter is to request the Senate to kindly confirm their appointments in the exercise of the powers conferred upon them by Section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act of 2004.”
Meanwhile, THISDAY has learnt the government has reportedly written to Lamorde, asking him to hand over to Waziri “immediately” – although her appointment is yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
The police authorities have also asked him to proceed to Ningi, his new posting as Area Commander, “immediately” – even though he is yet to hand over officially to Waziri.
This could leave a leadership vacuum at the commission.
Also, President Yar’Adua was said to have given Lamorde permission to attend some conferences in Australia and Switzerland which is still running.
Although he had to return home on learning of the announcement of Waziri’s appointment, the presidential permission allowing him to attend the conferences is still valid since it has not been withdrawn.

SOME BRITISH AIRWAYS PILOTS ARE RASCIST. EX BA PILOT

2008-05-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

I just came across this and thought I should share. Wish you all a fantastic weekend.

Culled From UK Newspaper: Daily Indipendent

By Andy McSmith Saturday, 26 April 2008

A senior British Airways pilot reveals today the startling levels of casual racism in the flagship UK company, which once famously claimed to be "the world's favourite airline".
Captain Doug Maughan, who has 28 years' flying experience, including 15 years with BA, says that derogatory remarks about race by his colleagues are so common they are treated as normal.
Mr Maughan, a serving pilot who captains BA aircraft to all parts of the world, has decided to go public with his complaints after struggling to persuade BA's management to take racism among its senior staff seriously. He has complained by email to BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, but says no action was taken.
His allegations are an acute embarrassment for the airline which carries 36 million passengers a year; operates out of airports in every continent; and could plausibly claim to be one of Britain's most high-profile companies. The airline is already threatened with a boycott by Nigerians flying to and from the UK.
Mr Maughan alleges that racism is a "generational" problem – common among middle-aged pilots, but rare among younger pilots.
He lodged his first complaint after hearing a senior training captain use the word "coon" during a training session on a flight simulator – but says that no action was taken.
"There was the time when we set off for Los Angeles with a large party of Saudis on board, who had joined us at Heathrow direct from the VIP lounge," he added. "In the cruise, my captain suddenly embarked on an extraordinary rant about 'rag-heads'. He got the word out twice before I stopped him by explaining he was going to be short of a first officer for the return sector if he carried on."
Mr Maughan, who lives in Dunblane, Perthshire, was on another flight when a fellow flight officer complained that there were too many Asians in Britain. "The captain turned to me and said: 'I don't suppose there are many of them up your way.' I replied: 'Well, there's my wife.' After that, they had the decency to fall silent," he said.
He has also complained about abusive emails sent to him by a fellow pilot, who is English. One of the emails said: "Come separation, will all Jocks F. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes."
Mr Maughan, 53, is so exasperated by what he sees as BA management's refusal to tackle the problem that he is planning a protest at this year's annual shareholders' meeting. "It's what I'd call a canteen culture," he said. "It seems to be accepted that people are going to make racist remarks and get away with it. The phrase 'institutional racism' has been so over-used as to be almost worthless, but I have to say that racism is as prevalent now in BA as it was in the RAF 25 years ago.
"What is common among white flying crew in BA is the use of mildly derogatory, sometimes jokey, language about other races, mainly aimed at black and Asian groups. Because it's so common, it's hard to tackle: it's ... the norm and rarely even noticed."
BA said: "All British Airways employees must adhere to our policies concerning dignity at work. Under these policies we encourage employees to report incidences of racism, sexism or any other behaviour that they deem offensive or inappropriate. Any reports of such behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a matter of priority. Captain Maughan has a duty as an employee to provide details of any alleged inappropriate behaviour direct to the airline."
Mr Maughan's revelations come as BA's treatment of Nigerian passengers threatens to have diplomatic repercussions. Robert Dewar, the British high commissioner to Nigeria, has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be warned that Nigeria expects its citizens to be treated with "dignity". And a meeting between BA representatives and the director general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Harold Demuren, broke up when Dr Demuren objected that BA had slighted him by sending junior managers.
Nigeria's President, Umaru Yar'Adua, has ordered an investigation into an incident at Heathrow in which 136 passengers were turned off a BA flight to Lagos. It developed as immigration officers and BA staff were trying to force a man who was being deported to stay on board against his will. The deportee, Augustine Eme, is a member of Massob, a banned organisation in Nigeria campaigning for independence for the region of Biafra.
A fellow passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, from Chatham, objected to Mr Eme's treatment and was arrested. Mr Omotade's arrest triggered more protests, until the BA captain ordered every passenger in economy class off the plane. BA has defended the decision to empty the aircraft saying that it was legally obliged to carry passengers such as Mr Eme. It said a large number of passengers on flight BA75 on 27 March became disruptive; that it was not possible to pinpoint which ones were involved; and that the police and crew agreed it could pose a safety risk to allow them to stay on board.
BA's other troubles
*TERMINAL 5
BA's biggest disaster in recent years was the botched opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 on 27 March. More than 500 flights were cancelled after a hi-tech baggage handlinge system malfunctioned. The fiasco cost the airline £16m, and, combined with rising oil prices, caused its share price to fall to its lowest level in four years. Chief executive Willie Walsh resisted calls for his resignation.
*Gate Gourmet
In August 2005, the catering firm Gate Gourmet, which wanted redundancies among its full-time staff, brought in 130 temporary staff to handle the holiday workload. The firm's 600 staff went out on unofficial strike, and were sacked. About 1,000 BA staff walked out in sympathy.As a result, 900 flights were grounded and BA lost £45m.
*The crucifix
BA was threatened with a boycott by protesting Christians, after Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker, was suspended for refusing to remove her crucifix at work.
Interesting?

EFCC: Waziri’s Name Finally Sent to Senate

2008-05-20T03:27:00.000-07:00

Why did they skip the process in the first place? And to think she had even gone to resume immeditately. Enjoying illegality meanwhile she is preparing to fight corruption.

EFCC: Waziri’s Name Finally Sent to Senate
From Sufuyan Ojeifo in Abuja, 05.20.2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has sent a letter to the Senate seeking confirmation of retired Assi-stant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Mrs. Farida Mzamber Waziri, as substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This followed last Thurs-day’s announcement of Waziri as acting chairman of the Commission by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ambas-sador Baba Gana Kingibe.
Her resumption of duty without confirmation had generated controversy because it was said to have breached the provision of Part 1, Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act which states that “The Chairman and members of the Commission other than ex-officio members shall be appointed by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate.”
The Upper House had served notice that it would look at the process to see if the appointment and announcement of Waziri as acting chairman was consistent with the provisions of the Act.
THISDAY gathered yesterday night that an executive communication had already been sent to the Senate nominating Waziri for confirmation as the substantive Chairman of the Commission.
A top presidency source said that the letter was dispatched last Friday to the Senate. All executive communications by the President are usually addressed to the Senate President, Senator David Mark.
The source was confident that the letter, barring last minute changes, would be read on the floor of the Senate this morning by the Senate President under announcement.
Today’s session is the first by the Senate since the Presidency announced Waziri last Thursday as acting chair of the nation’s sleaze watchdog.
The announcement had drawn flaks from some circles, including the National Assembly bordering on procedural breach.
The Benue-born EFCC boss is married to Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Turkey, Ajuji Waziri (a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police) from Gombe State.
When contacted yesterday night, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Information, Senator Ayogu Eze, said he could not confirm if President Yar’Adua’s letter on Waziri was already in the Senate.
Waziri will, upon confirmation by the Upper House, replace the former Chairman of the Commission, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on substantive basis.
Ribadu is currently on a study leave at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, near Jos.
Eze had stated at the weekend that the Senate would not give a stamp of authority to abuse of procedure and rule of law if it was found out that the Presidency did not do the right thing in the appointment of Waziri.
He had responded to a question on the likely step the Senate would take in the light of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Sola Akinyede’s letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, drawing his attention to the breach of provision of the EFFC Act in the appointment of an acting Chairman for the Commission.

Yar’Adua: I’m Healthy Enough to Rule

2008-05-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Finally, I am going to be free from those phone calls wanting confirmation of the President's death. It's been so terrible that atimes I get calls as early as 3a.m.
In fact, i had concluded that somebody has just landed a big contract whose job is solely to create this rumour and put all of us on high jump. These rumour has sent churches praying daily for the man and Nigeria and same goes to our muslim brothers.

The man has said he is fit enough to rule Nigeria so those rumour mongers I hope you will let me have my beautiful sleep henceforth?

Yar’Adua: I’m Healthy Enough to Rule

…Opposes Carter’s mediation in N’Delta crisis

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 05.20.2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has said the constant rumour about his state of health only goes to prove that he is “only human and not super human” as many are wont to believe, maintaining that he is fit enough to be president.
The President, in what appears to be his first anniversary interview, told the Financial Times of London that he feels elated at some of the rumours because it only proves that he, like any other Nigerian, has feelings and can take ill at any time.
Yar’Adua asked Nigerians to have confidence in their leader and not be gullible to all kinds of rumours.
He revealed that he was having as little as four hours sleep a day all in a bid to ensure the business of governing Nigeria is not jeopardised.
“When I hear these rumours, I always feel more elated, they confirm to me that I am not what those peddling the rumours want to believe I should be – I am an ordinary human being, I am not a super-human being, I don’t know one yet, but certainly I’m not one.
“I am a normal human being who can fall sick, who can recover, who can die, who can have feelings, who can be angered, who can laugh… Yes, and who is fit enough to be president, and who can have headaches, and can have fever.
“You see…all my medical records are in Germany, and I have been going to Germany since 1986, and I do my check-ups in Germany every year. In fact sometimes every six months, and this has been going on since 1986…Now the fact that I’m president today, doesn’t mean that when I feel there’s something that I think is wrong and needs to be checked I shouldn’t go to my doctors, where all my records for the past 22 years are there. It is the most practical thing to do…They know the background of everything about me medically,” he said.
Asked to assure Nigerians who are concerned about his health, Yar’Adua said: “They should be concerned about Nigeria itself, and that they should be rest assured [that] working, carrying out responsibilities of president, I am fit and able to do that, and I’m doing it, in fact, at times, even overdoing it. I hardly have more than five hours, four hours sleep a day, and…I believe the kind of work I do, it has to be because there is an inner energy propelling me to do it. Sometimes when I look back, I just wonder that I’m able to do what I’m doing, and I believe Nigerians should have confidence in their leaders, and they should not be gullible to all kinds of rumours. When I was going to the hospital, I had malaria, for four days, it never stopped me from doing anything. And then I took a new drug, which of course treated malaria, but then it gave me an allergic reaction. And we announced it.
“The day before, when I got the allergic reaction, it was a Sunday, that Sunday I spent over eight hours in my office in my house working. The following day, I signed the budget, and before I left I spent time in my office working, because there was nothing wrong with me except allergic reaction. Politics in Nigeria is very interesting, and we can see that people enjoy fabricating stories, falsehoods, getting their way to get them published... But gradually, once we continue to develop as a nation, and then respect for the rule of law begins to take firm root, even the attitude of people to be sincere and honest in what they do, will now continue to develop, that is why it is very critical, and very important, to establish respect for the rule of law. It’s not a small challenge, because it is the greatest challenge this nation faces.”
In a separate interview with AFP at the weekend, Yar’Adua said Nigeria would not invite any foreign mediators to help the country deal with the crisis in the Niger Delta.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had recently claimed to have approached ex-US President Jimmy Carter to ask him to mediate in the crisis.
It also said it was committed to holding a temporary ceasefire if the government accepted Carter as mediator.
A spokesperson for Carter had told THISDAY recently that the American statesman, who is very familiar with Nigeria, would not object to his invitation because he was concerned about the situation in Nigeria but the invitation must come from the Nigerian government.
But Yar’Adua has poured water on the suggestion, maintaining that the crisis is internal to Nigeria and should be handled by Nigerians.
“We are trying to avoid a situation in which the issue will be internationalised... We cannot do that because it is a Nigerian problem,” Yar'Adua told AFP.
Yar'Adua said: "The Niger Delta problem is a Nigerian problem. It is not a problem just for the people of Niger Delta. It is the national effort that will solve the problem.
“When you internationalise it and you bring, for instance, Jimmy Carter to mediate, then you are bringing a different perspective all together. Now you are saying it is the people of the Niger Delta versus other Nigerians.”
MEND had threatened that if the Federal Government failed to bring in Carter for negotiation, the violence in the region would continue.
"If as expected, the government fails to seize on this new opportunity for peace, our actions will continue to speak volumes beyond the Nigerian shores," the group had threatened.
Yar’Adua also spoke on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) which he said would be transformed from an “impenetrable bureaucratic giant” into a real privately run company when restructuring is completed next year.
After taking office a year ago, Yar'Adua decided to break up the 30-year-old NNPC into five separate new companies, but he has since been heading a committee whose proposals for a new structure are expected in a couple of weeks.
The presidential committee on oil and natural gas industry reforms was expected to submit a report to the government recommending changes to NNPC's juridical and legal framework, Yar'Adua said.
The reforms had been long expected and the parliamentary process would take time in view of the NNPC 's vital role in the nation's economy, he said.
He said the law might be changed before the end of next year, adding that new legislation would come into force and the restructured company would take off.
“The plan is to restructure or reposition the NNPC to become a truly national oil company that will go and compete and operate like other international oil companies with the capacity to use its assets, get credit from the market and become an international operator in the sector independent of government,” said Yar'Adua.
"It will act purely as a private sector company and this will relieve the national budget of joint venture cash calls," he added in a reference to funds that the state has had to inject every year into joint ventures with multinationals such as Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Total.
"This year, NNPC requires about $8.3 billion for its joint venture cash calls and out of this, $4.9 billion is coming from the national budget, and for the first time, we asked the NNPC to go to the capital market to raise the balance," he explained.
Meanwhile, Yar'Adua will make an official visit to France on June 12 during which he hopes to clinch an "energy partnership", he also told AFP.
"I have great expectations for this trip," said Yar'Adua. "Relations between France and Nigeria should be much closer."
Yar'Adua is travelling on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's invitation and hopes to seal "an energy partnership between France and Nigeria".
Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter and, along with South Africa, is France's most important economic partner on the continent.
"I also want France to come and invest in railway network of this country," said Yar'Adua. "We are going to enter a new phase in our relations,” he added.

Iyabo Weeps to Police Cell!

2008-05-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

This just interesting! Pray, why will a Senator who is suppose to make laws for the land ignore that every law when it comes of questionable actions she has taken? What was she weeping about? So is she better than Adenike Grange who is older, has accomplished much in life than her that showed up in court, went through the procress and got bail? Does this country look like Ota farm to this woman?

How I wish just like Political Platform (a political programme on Ray Power Radio) has said, the presiding judge will not be in a hurry to grant her bail, so she will have a taste of the rubbish she tried to make of us, our constitution and our country.

Pls read on.

Daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, yesterday betrayed her emotions as she shed tears profusely,immediately after an Abuja High Court ordered that she should be remanded in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's cell.

The trial judge, Justice Salisu Garba, in his ruling on Obasanjo-Bello's oral bail application, justified the court's earlier position when he held that section 341 (4) of the penal code would be infracted if Iyabo was granted bail based on an oral application.

He had earlier refused other 11 accused persons, including former minister of health, Prof. Adenike Grange, bail they made orally.

Obasanjo-Bello was charged alongside Grange and others over allegations bordering on conspiracy, theft and retention of N300 million meant to be returned to the Federation Account as directed President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Obasanjo-Bello, who arrived the court at about 8:56 a.m dressed in a Kampala material fashioned in the traditional adire style, reiterated her fear and phobia for the EFCC when she prayed the court, through her lawyer, Mr. Bankole Akomolafe, that she should be sent to the police cell instead of the cell of the anti-graft agency.

While bowing to legal authority, the embattled senator, who had been shielded from the law by the influence of her father, engaged journalists in a dramatic tour around the premises of the court just as she resorted to leave the court room by sneaking out through the back entrance precisely where the trial judge usually makes his exit.

But as soon as she appeared downstairs, she was stunned when she saw the newsmen she was running away from already positioned with cameras waiting to take shots of her while sandwiched between fierce-looking mobile policemen.

Earlier, Justice Garba had thrown out her two applications challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try her over the alleged theft of N10 million.

The judge set aside an earlier order he made that the accused person be arraigned in court on May 21, 2008.

He ruled that since she was in court in person, she should be properly arraigned.

Her counsel had contended that since she had submitted herself to the court, she should be allowed to take her plea.

The charges were read to her and she pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Akomolafe later moved a motion for her bail.

In his oral application, Akomolafe prayed the court to grant her bail at least for obedience to court.

He said his client was made a party in the suit and had made appearance through her counsel.

He said, "Counts 55 and 56 are bailable offences and considering the fact that the other accused persons are already on bail, I urge your lordship to extend such discretion to the 12th accused."

But counsel to the EFCC, Mr. James Binang, opposed the oral bail application on three grounds. First, he said, "because of the ugly antecedents of this case, there are some facts which I would want to bring to court by affidavit evidences."

He argued that since the other accused persons were asked to apply formally before they were granted, the 12th accused application for bail should also come formally.

Relying heavily on sections 341 and 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code which gives prominence to formal bail application, Binang urged the court to discountenance the oral application even as he maintained that Obasanjo-Bello must also grace the EFCC cell just the same way the other 11 accused persons did before their formal bail application was granted.

"This is court of justice, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for gander," Binang noted.

In his ruling, the judge agreed that since the case was a joint one, Iyabo should not be an exception.

He said, "The oral application for the 12th accused is hereby refused. I hereby ordered that the 12th accused person be remanded in EFCC custody."

When it dawned on Obasanjo-Bello that she was about to be a guest to the EFCC, the embattled former first daughter shed tears profusely from the dock where she sat, sandwiched between security operatives.

Yar’Adua: I’ll Quit if I Lose at S’Court

2008-05-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

It's been a while I know. But this is one piece of news that gladdans my heart. It is not just because the President is rumoured to be of ill-health but just his intergrity has blown me away.

According to AFP, Fears of a possible constitutional crisis if the 2007 presidential election was annulled by the Supreme Court were allayed yesterday by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He said at the weekend that he would quit power if the Supreme Court annuls his election.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidates of Action Congress (AC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) respectively at the April 2007 poll, are currently challenging Yar’Adua’s election at the Supreme Court.
They had initially lost their case at the Appeal Court for what the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal called lack of evidence to substantiate their claims that the election was rigged.
But Yar’Adua said yesterday that he would quit power if the Supreme Court ruled against his victory.
"I will leave office immediately," Yar'Adua told AFP in an interview when asked what he would do if the Supreme Court invalidates the result of the poll that brought him to power.
Rather than tow the line of several state governors whose elections have been overturned by the courts, Yar'Adua who has always said his cardinal principle is respect for the rule of law, and who on each occasion had asked the affected governors to vacate their seats.
"When it comes to my own election, I need to do the same. On the day there is judgment, I will leave office and ask the Chief Justice to swear in whoever the Supreme Court says should be sworn in," Yar'Adua said.
Going by the practice in the states, the Senate President David Mark, as the No 3 citizen, may be sworn in as acting president if Yar’Adua’s election is cancelled while a fresh election will be held within 90 days.
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in March dismissed the prayer by Abubakar and Buhari that the poll be annulled and re-run on grounds of electoral fraud.

In His First Visit to Niger Delta... Yar’Adua Warns on Future of Oil

2008-05-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

In His First Visit to Niger Delta... Yar’Adua Warns on Future of Oil

From Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, Segun James and Juliana Taiwo in Yenagoa, 05.11.2008

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday visited Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State in what is his first visit to the Niger Delta region since he was sworn in as president of the federal republic. He used the occasion to warn that unless the youth restiveness in the Niger Delta stops immediately, Nigeria may lose her ranking as the number one oil producing country in Africa to Angola.
Yar’Adua had been adv-ised based on security reports to shelve the visit to Bayelsa State following a bomb blast which occurred within the premises of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) But he defied the warning and added colour to the flagging off of the gubernatorial campaigns of the party’s candidate in the re-run election scheduled for May 24, Mr Timipre Sylva.
Yar’Adua had arrived in Port Harcourt in a Presidential jet marked 5N-FGS at the Air Force Base where Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Chief Godswill Akpabio came to receive him.
After the formal airport reception, Yar'Adua who arrived with PDP national Chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor and other party chieftains held a closed door session with traditional rulers and other stakeholders. He later removed the light coffee-coloured kaftan and changed into the campaign attire.
He was airlifted in an Air Force Augusta helicopter marked NAF 540 from the base to Yenagoa. He left the Air Force base at 12.50 pm.
The president who addressed a large crowd of party supporters and prospective voters at the Yenagoa Sports Complex urged for restraint in the manner youths in the nation’s oil producing areas are agitating for better conditions in their area. He said unless oil exploration and production are allowed to go on uninterrupted and in a peaceful atmosphere, the nation may be pushed out of her number one position in Africa by Angola.
He said his administration is already on top of the situation in the region with Vice President Jonathan Goodluck charged with the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful dialogue with the people.
Yar’Adua said the Niger Delta region has the potential of becoming the petrochemical power in Africa, as no other part of the continent has the potential, but lamented that the absence of peace has retarded African development in the past 50 years.
He regretted that the increase in world crude oil price is blamed on the situation in Iran , Iraq and the lack of peace in the Niger Delta “because we, ourselves, gave them the opportunity to do so.”
“There is a growing energy situation in the world and the energy demand is becoming worrisome, the situation has started driving upward the price of crude oil. When the world press talks about it, they said it is due to the lack of peace in Iran , Iraq and now the Niger Delta region.
“This assertion is becoming true. It is because we provide the world with the opportunity to do so. It is painful for me because we have the potentials to become the petrochemical hub of the region,” he said.
He said the growing energy demand all over the world, which is responsible for the rise in oil price, is due to the needs of growing economies of China and some other Asian countries and not unrest in the Niger Delta.
As part of his seven-point agenda, the president assures that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will receive all its entitlements in the 2008 budget, according to the NDDC Act.
He said among those empowerment provided by his administration is the making of the issue of the release of the Niger Delta Devel-opment Commission (ND-DC) funds as a priority and in accordance with the Act establishing it.
“We have set aside funds for the Oil producing states of the country, and in the supplementary budget, we will make the issue of power/energy, security and the Niger Delta region, a priority. The administration is doing everything possible to lay foundation for development,” he said.
The President however insisted that without peace and unity, such desired development cannot be achieved.
“The Vice President is leading the process of dialogue. I appeal that you co-operate with the Vice President, the National Assembly and the Government. This conference will provide a way forward for peace and I appeal in the name of God. I am talking from the bottom of my heart. It is painful that we could lose our position,” he said.
On the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa State, Yar’Adua said Chief Timipre Sylva will be the third PDP governor to serve a five-year term, as he had no doubt that the party will win the election.
He says PDP will campaign in all the nooks and crannies of the state. “I know this election has been lost by AC and won by PDP,” he said.
Among those who came for the rally are Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, PDP national chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, who formally presented Sylva to the people, Senate President, David Mark, and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu NDDC Managing Director, Mr. Timi Alabe, NDDC Chairman Sam Edem, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, , Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.
Speaking at the occasion, former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha said he was not campaigning for any particular candidate as the outcome of the election was already clear, going by the crowd of people at the flag off.
Alamieyeseigha warned the people against violence as those contesting the election are brothers. He said weapons are not ballot papers and urged the people to conduct themselves peacefully before, during and after the election.

Yar'Adua's Six Top Worries

2008-05-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yar'Adua's Six Top Worries
From Martins Oloja (Abuja Bureau Chief)

Soludo's Action On $480m AFC Investment

Obasanjo's Lingering Bashing
* Attorney General's Indiscretion

Diplomats' Concern Over Security, In Abuja

Ministers' Lack Of Initiatives.

Disquiet Over State House Entrenched Staff
AS tongues continue to wag in the nation's capital about the real state of health of President Yar'Adua, who marks the first year in office this month, it appears he is more disturbed by six issues that have challenged his presidency.

Insiders at the seat of power told The Guardian that the issue of the Central Bank governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo's unilateral action in committing Nigeria's hefty $480 million to the AFC deal is quite worrisome to the President.

He is said to be disturbed, coming on the heels of a recent development whereby Soludo was stopped from implementing the re-denomination of the Naira for the same reason: arbitrary decision without consultation with the president.

An interim report of a federal government's committee set up to investigate the circumstances of the AFC investment, was last week reported to have recommended that the CBN governor should withdraw the $480 million and put it in an Escrow account.

The second issue said to be giving the President concern is the reported perception that his office is aware of the politics of bashing of his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo - a new passion driving even legislative duty in Abuja.

The President's spokesperson, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, last week debunked the growing perception in an exclusive report in The Guardian. He said Yar'Adua was quite worried about the incessant bashing of his predecessor even as he added that the flurry of probes in the federal legislature had been perceived "as a source of distraction."

It was learnt that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa's frontal attack on Obasanjo last Thursday in Abuja, also flustered the President.

The minister, at a press briefing, declared that "Obasanjo'a government was lawless" and that was why the present administration had been trying to use the rule of law as mantra.

Besides, the AGF reportedly upset the President when he made an infantile remark that his boss was said to be passionate about arbitrary rule because his elder brother had died in an atmosphere of arbitrariness.

It was gathered that the "presidency has been very disturbed" by the AGF's indiscretion at the "strange ministerial briefing where he could not articulate any concrete achievement beyond Obasanjo's bashing."

Interestingly, the President refused to attend the public presentation of former Senate President, Ken Nnamani's Centre for Leadership last week when he (Yar'Adua) realised that the event, attended by many former heads of state, might be an avenue for another attack on his predecessor.

The fourth challenge is the public outcry by diplomats in Abuja last week that the level of insecurity (armed robbery) and poor infrastructure (power supply) in Abuja had become disturbing.

Consequently, the leadership of the ruling PDP had last week held a meeting with the FCT minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar and the diplomats over the development.

But a furious Umar chided the diplomats, whom he accused of provocative statements without first reporting to him. He said they exaggerated the development.

However, it was discovered that there had been some unreported robberies within the diplomatic circles even as surveillance had increased in the FCT following security cooperation among the neighbouring states of Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger.

The diplomats are reportedly worried by their huge expenditure on diesel, as they run their Missions on power generators all day. But that is not an FCT affair, as it is a national headache.

Yar'Adua is also not happy about the quality of his first cabinet. It is said he is keen on changing but for the subsisting (expected) Supreme Court ruling on the April 2007 presidential election petitions challenging his victory.

"The President is quite disturbed by the apparent lack of initiative on the part of most of the ministers," a presidency source said. "He is worried that there are not many strategic planners and thinkers in the cabinet.

"That is why there will be low-key celebration of one year in office without much to show-case in terms of concrete achievements."

The sixth challenge the President faces in Abuja is how to weed out all vestiges of the "old soldiers" in the presidency.

It was understood that the number of entrenched staff inside Aso Presidential Villa had agitated the President. "But he could not act until a recent issue of alleged leakage of a document by one of the aides an inheritance from his predecessor."

The aide was reportedly detained by the State Security Service (SSS) and released, having concluded investigation and interrogation on the leakage issue and currently awaiting a presidential directive on his fate, "to be communicated to him soon by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

However, his action had precipitated a flurry of inquiries to weed out all the "old soldiers" including security operatives, who had stayed longer than necessary in the Villa.

"The presidency has found out that some of them have become very wealthy and pompous," a source said.

The security and intelligence outfits are said to have completed their house-cleaning and change of guards at the Villa - an exercise that "predated the leakage of document.

As an officer revealed last week, "that exercise began since October last year. But we just completed that. It was done, as some officers were in the habit of resisting transfers from tour of duties by calling on influential people in government to remain on their beats."

"But in the new dispensation, it is no longer permissible to resist transfer. We have completed that," the officer added.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the president might authorize mass movement of even top bureaucrats from the Villa very soon, as "some have been discovered to be disloyal to the present set-up."

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER

2008-05-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER

By Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Pretty is as Pretty does... but beautiful is just plain beautiful!
TODAY IS BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTERS DAY

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Is Grace Unlimited This Month!

2008-05-02T08:36:00.001-07:00

Lying in bed, I was asking myself, what are some of the secrets of success in life? I found the answers right there, in my very room. The fan said: be cool. The roof said: aim high. The window said: see the world. The clock said: every minute is precious. The mirror said: reflect before you act. The calendar said: be updated. The light said: shine as bright as you can. The wall said: stand firm. The door said: push as hard as u can for your goals, so always apply this techniques for a better life...have a nice day God has seen u strugglin and he says its over. A blessing is coming ur way...i wish u a wonderful and great month of May

British Airways Contempt!

2008-04-25T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

This British Airways guys actually think they are still our colonial masters hence they can treat our complaints with levity.

Imagine this o!, The Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, had on the directive of the Federal Government called with British Airways to explain why it maltreated Nigerian passengers on its flight 0075, that left London to Lagos on March 27.

Guess what? BA sent its junior officials to the meeting instead and peeved by the attitude, Demuren terminated the meeting and directed the airline to come at a later date with its top officers as representatives, remarking that the airline should not treat an issue, which the Federal Government is interested in with such levity. (I applaud this action with all my heart).
Meanwhile, Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Madueke and the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Robert Dewar Have held talks over the British Airways incident.
Madueke met with Dewar in his office in Abuja yesterday where he reiterated that President Yar’Adua’s posture on Citizen Diplomacy would not tolerate the inhuman treatment of any Nigerian for any reason, even when there are allegations of criminal activities.
He warned that the bilateral relationship which the two nations have enjoyed over the years has ensured the temperate reactions to the matter, but to maintain it, Nigerians must be treated with dignity within and outside the shores of the country.
He appreciated the British government’s interest in the matter while urging Nigerians abroad to always comply with the laws of their countries of residence.
Dewar has however gave the assurance that he had taken a special interest in the matter and would dig to find more information.
Also commenting on the issue, Minister of State for Air Transportation, Mr Felix Hyat, told newsmen when he visited Lagos on Wednesday, that government was miffed by the report and said it would give it full priority after the investigation by NCAA.
Hyat condemned the incident, and said maltreatment of Nigerian passengers by foreign airlines must stop, noting that government must ensure that similar thing never happen again.
It would be recalled that early last year, former Minister of State, Air Transport, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, had also condemned BA’s treatment of its Nigerian passengers.
Just to refresh our memory, on March 27, 2008 about 137 Nigerian passengers on board British Airways flight 0075 from London to Lagos, witnessed the gory treatment of a Nigerian deportee who was handcuffed and forced into the flight.
The way he was manhandled made the deportee to shout for help, which prompted a Nigerian passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, to call the British immigration officials manhandling the deportee to exercise restraint.
Angered by this, the immigrations officials took the deportee and the sympathiser out of the plane, arrested the later and detained him, while the deportee was latervreturned to the flight.
Outraged by the incident, Nigerians who either witnessed or read the report in the British tabloid, Daily Mirror, wrote a protest letter, signed by over 1000 Nigerians, to the President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, demanding a front page apology in a Nigerian national daily newspaper to all passengers on-board flight BA0075, a written apology and appropriate compensation to Mr Ayo Omotade, lifting of the life ban imposed on him by the airline, and all criminal charges against him dropped forthwith.
But in a swift reaction, the British Airways in a statement, however, stated that it was right, and quoted the UK Immigration Act 1971, to back the action.

Let it go....

2008-04-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Let it go ....
By T. D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you
this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want
you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you,
calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to
you. I mean hang up the phone.

When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never
tied to anybody that left.

The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made
manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt
they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you.
And if they are not
joined to you, you can't make them stay.

Let them go.

And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their
part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in
your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead.
You've got to know when it's dead.

You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something. I've got
the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in
good-bye.
It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever
God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much
sweat, I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay.

Let them go!!

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was
never intended for your life, then you need to......

Let it go!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains ......

Let them go!!

If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth.....

Let them go!!

If someone has angered you ........

Let it go!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge......

Let them go!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction......

Let it go!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or
talents .

Let it go!!

If you have a bad attitude.......

Let it go!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better......

Let it go!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level
in Him......

Let it go!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship.......

Let it go!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help
themselves.......

Let them go!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed ..........

Let it go!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling
yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need
to......

Let it go!!

Let the past be the past. Forget the former things.
GOD is doing a new thing for 2008 !!!

Let it go!!

Get Right or Get Left .. think about it, and then ..

Let it go!!

"The Battle is the Lord's!

Yar'Adua orders probe of British Airways incident

2008-04-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Even though our President is sick, his concerns for those he governed still overwhelms him. I hope this is true and not some political gimmick o! I wish him well sha but I am glad those BA people now know that are government is not a sleeping gaint. They cannot take us for granted. Pls read on.

Yar'Adua orders probe of British Airways incident
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja

PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has directed the Minister of State for Transportation (Aviation), Mr Felix Hyatt, to begin an urgent investigation into a March 27, 2008 incident in which British Airways (BA) allegedly ordered more than 100 Nigerians off its London to Lagos flight "for protesting against the brutal treatment of a deportee aboard."

Yar'Adua, who is in Germany for a medical review, asked Hyatt to take all necessary measures and protect "the travelling public from the humiliation they face daily from foreign airlines."

A source told The Guardian that the President had seen reports of the incident from the British media, expressing "disgust" at the "seeming non-chalant attitude of BA officials."

He, therefore, directed that since the minister has not forwarded any report of the incident to his office, he should be formally written to investigate the incident and report back to him.

The source added: "The President is said to be concerned by the recent resurgence of complaints about the poor treatment, discrimination and downright abuse meted out to Nigerians by some foreign airlines operating in the country.

"The President has also directed the minister to make it absolutely clear to all foreign airlines operating in Nigeria that under no circumstance will his administration tolerate the subjection of Nigerian passengers to less than acceptable standards of treatment."

Death Scare!

2008-04-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

I had a terrible scare last night. I had closed from work and felt i should go to the salon and wash my hair. I got there and decided to fix a new bread. While we were on it, the powerful PHCN or (is it NEPA now), struck and so we had to rely on the generator to finish up the hair.

The salon had no ventilation and so we had to close the door and rely on the fan. The last thing I remember saying was when I celebrated the Liverpool own goal against Chelsea. Gradually we became sick. First it was headache and then dizziness, then fainting, then vomiting etc. The three of us in the salon were experiencing the same feeling at the same time. Only God's intervention served us we would all have been dead within a twinkle of an eye.

The guy making my hair had managed to go out, and having taken in a little fresh air and poured water on his head had recovered quickly, he was the one that helped the rest of us (his younger brother and I) to recover. We had to put off the generator and use the phone light to finish up the hair after an hour of trying to recover from that terrible scare. I got home at 12 am because I had to drop them off.

I am glad to be life and I thank God for intervening just on time and giving Azuka (the hair stylist) the wisdom to aid our recovery. I now know why people die from generator fumes. Terrible feeling I tell u and the process is gradual. I actually saw death but cheated it. Praise God!

Well, I almost spoil my joy today when instead of deleting what was obviously a disgusting funwall i hit the forward button instead. I have been so sad all day but I feel better now that I have apologised to everybody. We are all humans and prone to mistakes. Please I am apologising again for a funwall you must have received from me via my email. I feel so ashamed but thank God for forgiving friends who have already accepted my apologise. Thanks and remain blessed.

I Love This: Maduekwe Locks out Permanent Secretary, Directors etc

2008-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love this country atimes? Just read the responses of some of the staff. Please read on

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe on Monday locked out the Permanent Secretary, Directors and some other employees of the ministry for reporting late to work.

Reports have it that the Minister, who reported for work at 8.15 a.m., gave the directive that the gates be shut however, respite came, when the Permanent secretary Alhaji Baba Kaigama arrived at 9.12 a.m. before the staffers were allowed in by security men.

Maduekwe, who later addressed the workers, berated them for finding it difficult to report to work on time having “after a nice weekend''.

The minister, who noted that it was not intentional to keep any worker ‘miserable' under the heat of the sun, expressed surprise that majority of the workers were not at their duty posts at the stipulated time.

Maduekwe explained that under the civil service rule, workers were expected to be at their duty posts by 8 a.m. and close at 4 p.m.

“Because I travel frequently out of the country should not give you the illusion that I do not know what is happening in the ministry,'' he said.

“This administration places emphasis on the rule of law, accountability and due process.

“If we must get it right, this ministry must lead by example and be a model in order to project a good image for this country,'' Maduekwe added.

According to him, for the country to attain its vision of being one of the 2020 economies, its workforce must be hard working, disciplined and committed.

“We must get it right if we are actually going to be one of the 2020 economies, but you cannot attain this if you report to work late,'' he stressed.

Maduekwe who noted that government was mindful of the challenges the workers faced, said such challenges were man-made and were surmountable.

“I am not pretending about problems of no power supply, lack of transportation and water, but you have to strive to achieve,'' he said.

The minister granted the workers ‘a general amnesty' with a warning that “it will not be so next time.''

Some of staff who reacted to the situation, expressed regrets that the minister was not being fair to them, adding that there were no staff buses to convey them to work.

“How do you expect us to put in our best when the issues of welfare, which is very paramount to our ability to deliver quality service is not addressed,'' one of the civil servants said.

He explained further that though there were lots of challenges, workers had been jolted by the action and would also try to sit up.

Another civil servant described the minister's address as a ‘political talk' adding that more needed to be done than “speaking grammar''.

He said: “Ministers travel a lot, but do not know what junior workers that are doing the entire job go through.''

Brother Kidnapped Brother

2008-04-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

Who is really benefiting from all these? I have said it before and I will repeat it again that this kidnapping and destruction of pipeline business is for the selfish few.

Aside from blowing up two of Anglo-Dutch oil gaint, Shell pipelines in Rivers State by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), how can you explain this one where an elder brother (Ndego) kidnapped his own younger brother (8-year-old Israel) to get N1.5 million from their guardian (Ubogu) who was magnanimous enough to take him (the 8-year-old) in after the death of their father in a road accident?

Ndego narrated how he left the house to wait at a point on Jakpa Road where he had asked Israel to take him to under the pretext of getting acquainted with the neighbourhood.

The suspect, who is cooling his heels at an Ekpan Police Station cell, disclosed how he planned the kidnap with his friends in Lagos, adding that they left for Warri to execute the plan.

"My friend met his friend in Benin and it was there that we agreed to take him (Israel). What we agreed on after I took him to Benin was that my friend would call my aunt and demand N600, 000 ransom. I was surprised that he later called to demand N1.5million that was not the original plan," Ndego added.

Ubogu left for Benin and found Israel where he was dumped by Ndego’s accomplices. Incredible! God help us.

EFCC Thanks for Uncovering Turaki's N36B oil Block Fruad but Where is Iyabo Obasanjo

2008-04-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

It is very interesting to seeing the way The Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)carry out its work.

It has just given us details of how the immediate past governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Saminu Turaki, used a sum of N36 billion he allegedly stole from the state's treasury, to buy oil blocks in the country.

EFCC told a Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital that Alhaji Turaki standing trial before the court on allegation of conspiracy, money laundering, theft, corrupt enrichment and looting of the treasury, “used the funds of Jigawa state to pay for oil blocks given to him by the Federal Government''.

EFCC further alleged that the former governor used his younger brother, Bashir Turaki and his companies, INC Natural Resources Ltd., Arkel Construction Nig. Ltd and Wildcat Construction Ltd., to siphon state funds while in office.

The EFCC said the accused was running the companies, using his brother and one Abdul Aziz Haliru, and had used the Jigawa government as a guarantor for the loan taken by the companies.

Turaki is also accused of making the government to give an irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) to the bank in respect of the loans taken by the companies.

EFCC further alleged that the bank was deducting the said loan from the statutory allocations meant for the state, until billions of naira was deducted.

The allegations are contained in an affidavit filed before the court by EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacob, the Commission also gave insight on how the alleged fraud by the former governor, now a Senator representing the state, was discovered.

According to the EFCC: “Sometimes in June 2006, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) of the EFCC intercepted a suspicious transaction made by the agents of the accused.

Alhaji Turaki was arraigned in October 2007, on a 32-count charge of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, by the EFCC.

He has however, pleaded not guilty to the charge and had since been granted bail by Justice Binta-Murtala Nyako.

But my question now is, why is it so difficult to arraign Iyabo Obasanjo? Now she has gone into hidding. Well at least The Senate has asked embattled Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to appear before it next Tuesday over the case the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has against her. I hope the EFCC will arrest her after her appearance

We'll make Nigeria flow with milk, honey, says Ogbulafor

2008-04-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

I hope this is not just political talk o! Nigerians right now are not in a right frame of mind for silly jokes. With the damning revelations coming from power probe, housing probe and even aviation probe, any cheap political talk is not welcomed at all o!

As far as I am concerned, the PDP chairman is overwhelmed with his new office hence he is talking carelessly. We need action to be matched with words and not even after he said he wants PDP to be in power for 60 years! Haba! We will all be ruined by then

We'll make Nigeria flow with milk, honey, says Ogbulafor
From John-Abba Ogbodo, Abuja

NIGERIANS have been assured of the commitment of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to making the country a land "flowing with milk and honey."

The National Chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, who said this on Wednesday night, expressed the resolve of the President and the party to "make whatever sacrifices that are necessary to accomplish this."

Ogbulafor, during an interactive session with journalists, also disclosed that as part of measures to ensure that the governors of the party matched their electoral promises with action and operated within the ambit of the PDP manifesto, the leadership of the party would set up an evaluation team to monitor the performances of its state chief executives.

"If we are actually called to serve, we should put our lives into the service and live above selves. What will it pay a person if he gains all the things in this world and remain on negative side of history? Yar'Adua and the party will like to make history. The seven-point agenda touches every aspect of human life. With the support of Nigerians and the blessing of God, the President will implement the agenda and the country will be a beautiful place for all to live and milk and honey will be flowing. What we need is unity of purpose. We need peace, unity and love," he said.

Ogbulafor reiterated that his election and that of the President came as an act of God and that made the challenge very unique. But he gave assurance that both Yar'Adua and the party would work hard to make life better for Nigerians.

"My emergence as national chairman is divine, purely an act of God. It therefore throws a lot of challenges to me as a person and a true Nigerian. If you look at the composition of the National Working Committee, members were carefully selected, fire-brand Nigerians, enthusiastic to move Nigeria and the party forward," he said.

The PDP national chairman described President Yar'Adua as a silent operator whose emergence was by divine intervention. He noted that people who emerged through such circumstances would always be ready to offer services without counting costs and expressed the determination of the present PDP administration at all levels to remain on the good side of history.

He wants Nigerians to support the President and the party, pointing out that with such support, Yar'Adua would be able to implement his programmes and put smiles on the faces of Nigerians.

"Yar'Adua is a silent operator and his election is also is divine", he said.

Still expressing gratitude to God over his emergence, Ogbulafor recalled that two weeks to the national convention at which he emerged, he was admitted in a hospital and had given up hope, but God still made it possible for him to emerge as national chairman. He maintained that power flows from God, stressing: "That is why when I see some people struggling for power, sometimes, I laugh. God crowns and equips the person."

He reiterated the resolve of the present leadership of the party to practise internal democracy in the party so that it could return the party to the status envisaged by the founding fathers. He disclosed that as part of these efforts, the new leadership had started reaching out to aggrieved members who left the party with a view to wooing them back. Ogbulafor also said that the party would ensure a harmonious relationship between the Executive and the Legislature through constant dialogue and would give all members a sense of belonging.

The national chairman said in line with the manifesto of the party, the leadership would put a mechanism in place to ensure strict compliance by the governors and local council chairmen. He, however, expressed satisfaction with that which of the governors on the platform of the PDP had done but said the party would still put together a team to monitor their performances.

"Fortunately, our governors are putting a lot on ground to ensure development. We will rule this country for the next sixty years. The challenges are enormous. We will ensure that every member complies with the constitution of the party. The party will put in place a monitoring team in all states to monitor what our governors are doing. The challenge is to build a virile place which all of us will be proud of", he said.

According to him, it is the hope of the party to attract all Nigerians to join PDP through a superlative performance and added that "I will not care if Nigeria becomes a one party state controlled by PDP."

The national chairman concluded that the leadership of the party was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the work being done by a committee set up to review the report of the reconciliation committee headed by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, so as to begin the implementation that would return the glorious days of PDP

I'm Cut Off Civilization!

2008-04-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

I don't know how many MTN users are feeling depressed and frustrated as I am right now. I have been cut off civilization just because of the striking staff of Nigerian Tele-communications Limited.

Transcorp Hilton had dared the staff that they were not working and so they decided to proof their worth, today it is weeping and gnashing of teeth for those who have come to depend on the GSM to transact business.

The Minister of State for Information and Communications, Ibrahim Nakande, has appealed to the striking staff of Nigerian Tele-communications Limited "to return to work in the overall interest of the nation".

Did I hear him right? interest of the nation? and if indeed that was the case, why has it been so difficult to meet the demands of the workers or at least sit down with them to dialogue and reach a common ground?

How can you be owing family men and women several months, how are they suppose to take care of basic needs like healthcare, school fees, house rent, feeding as well as transport themselves to work?

Rather than talk to them face to face he decided to send his appeal in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Okon Bassey, in Abuja.

The minister said that suspension of the strike would ensure a conducive atmosphere for negotiations to continue. He warned that the strike was capable of crippling the telecommunication sector, "which is neither in the best interest of the nation nor NITEL staff themselves."

Can you imagine this man? That the strike is capable of crippling the telecom sector when already everything is at a stand still right now? As from 4 p.m yesterday upto this moment i am sending this post, I have not been able to communication with anyone because there is no service on my phone.

I also have a starcomms line and the management of starcomms had to warn in advance via a text message that as a result of the strike we are likely going to experience epileptic service.

The workers down tools nationwide on Monday following the inability of Transcorp, the core investor in NITEL, to fulfill an earlier agreement with workers over unpaid salaries.

The workers had complained that Transcorp owed them five months salary arrears and allowances. They also accused Transcorp of failing to confirm the appointment of workers who had been on probation since November 2006, when the company acquired the 51 per cent equity of NITEL.

Transcorp Spokesman, Mr Adedayo Ojo in a statement on Tuesday, insisted that the strike was unnecessary. He claimed that the company paid over N500 million on Monday to offset part of the outstanding salaries.
However, Mr Charles Amankwe, President, National Association of Telecommunications Employees, said Transcorp only remitted money for a month's salary, in breach of their April 1 agreement.

As far as I am concern, the only language Nigerian businesses including the government understands is strike and if the issues of welfare are to be addressed. So I am going to bear this while I employ everyone trying to reach me to use the email facility.

This is the prize we all have to pay for things to move forward. God help Nigeria!

Iyabo Obasanjo Fears for Life!

2008-04-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Stories like this makes me want to puck. Is either she is playing with our intelligence or the EFCC and herself are playing out script but we are not fools. But again she is having a taste of her father's medicine. He used the EFCC to mate out the same treatment including the former Plateau State governor.

Wonders they say will never end. Rather than go to the EFCC to clear her name she has embark on a cheap campaign that her life is in danger. She is also continuing in her father's shoe of his contempt for the Nigerian media. Rather than talk to the Nigerian press about her plight she ran to the BBC but I can assure her it will not help her.

Hear her: "There's a very huge anti-Obasanjo sentiment in the country now and honestly the behaviour is not normal."

But pray, is it normal not to answer a call by a security agency or is it an anti-fraud agency to clear your name? Whether she likes it or not, her father is no longer the President of this country and she must pay for her sins. Like somebody said, she has not even achieved half of what the two former Ministers – Prof. Adenike Grange and Gabriel Adukuformer Ministers – Prof. Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku and yet they were humble enough to make themselves available including facing the embarrassment of the court. Who the hell is this woman?

If I may ask, what is the usefulness of her being alive? Her being alive is causing us terrible embarrassment all over the world worst than what the yahoo boys and our thiefing politicians are doing. Unfortunately for her she cannot even run abroad as is the normal practice with her likes. In the US, she is wanted and in the UK with the help of interpol, she is sure to be brought back in handcuffs. Even some African countries will not want anything to do with her talkless of seeking refuage there, so my advise now is for her to appear before the EFCC and hasten the process of either clearing her name or heading to jail. period!

Below is her story as given to BBC
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, has said she fears for her life. Obasanjo-Bello is implicated in the N300 million Health Ministry scam and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) now wants her to be prosecuted for the alleged offence.
Her comments came after the anti-corruption agents raided her home in Abuja in an attempt to bring her to face prosecution.
She told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yesterday that EFCC agents slapped her personal assistant during their visit to her house two days ago.
"I am afraid of the EFCC... they slapped my PA when they got to the house," she said
"I'm not on the run but I feel as if I'm a victim of harassment... I'm afraid for my life," she added.
Obasanjo-Bello, who chairs the Senate's Health Commi-ttee, was charged along with ten other top officials of the Health Ministry, including two former Ministers – Prof. Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku - for sharing the proceeds of corruption
After charges against Obasanjo-Bello were read in court last week, the EFCC said she had to turn herself in as soon as possible.
She was said to have bolted out of the house through the back door when the men of EFCC came to her house uninvited on Tuesday.
She told the BBC she could not understand why her home was raided when she had visited the EFCC offices twice in the past week and made herself available through her lawyer.
"There's a very huge anti-Obasanjo sentiment in the country now and honestly the behaviour is not normal."
Grange and Aduku resigned from their positions in March after an investigation uncovered N300m had not been returned to the coffers of the Federal Government after the fiscal year ended.
Yesterday, Obasanjo-Bello did not show up in the Senate for the sitting.
Her seat beside Senator Anthony Manzo's was empty at plenary and the Senate was spared her characteristic movements from one side of the chamber to the other during sitting.
The money was said to have been part of the unspent N300 million in the 2007 budget of the Health Ministry which was shared by top officials of the Ministry as Christmas bonus or gift.
All the accused persons, save Obasanjo-Bello, had been charged to court on account of being beneficiaries of the procceds of corruption.
Meanwhile, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has chided the EFCC over its operatives’ failed attempt to arrest Obasanjo-Bello over her alleged involvement in the scam.
Aside from chiding the EFCC, the TMG through its chairman, Comrade Moshood Erubami, described the drama of the evasion of arrest by Obasanjo-Bello as not portraying her as a good representative of her people.
He said: "The TMG sees the whole episode as not portraying the Senator as a good and trusted representative of the electorate in her constituency.
"The question one should ask the on-the-run-Senator is, "if it is true that the money was meant for a retreat in Ghana, why is she on the run?”
The group insisted that the anti-graft body was still treating the arrest of the Senator with kid gloves noting that if Obasanjo-Bello were to be an ordinary Nigerian, she would have been arrested and arraigned for long by the EFCC.

Ayodeji Omotade vs. British Airways by Reuben Abati

2008-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

On one or two internet sites, particularly Nigeria Village Square, Nigerians are up in arms against the airline, British Airways over the maltreatment of 135 Nigerian passengers and one Ayodeji Omotade on a March 27, 2008, BA flight to Lagos from Heathrow, London. Readers of Omotade's story, which he tells with transparent pain and agony have been asked to send protest comments to the CEO of British Airways, amid nationalistic calls for the boycott of British Airways by Nigerian passengers.

It is strange that more than a week later, there has been no response from British Airways to this public relations crisis on its Lagos route. It is either the public relations managers of British Airways are asleep, or they have chosen to treat this as a piece of irritation, or they are assured that since the protesters are angry internet commentators, their indignation would soon pass unnoticed.

If the latter reason explains the seeming arrogance of British Airways and its CEO, then it clearly underestimates the influence of internet journalism. With increasing ICT penetration and access to interconnectivity, more persons are spending more time daily on the world wide web, which they now rely on for a broad range of activities including conversation, romance, therapy and education. The number of Nigerians, especially in diaspora, who falls into this category continues to increase, the same with internet sites on Nigerian affairs, with the most active and the most interactive being in my estimation, the Nigeria Village Square.

No serious business should take any debate about its affairs on the internet lightly. Nor should it underestimate the increasing power and influence of citizen journalists, those ordinary men and women who practice journalism simply because they have a story to tell, and they are so moved by events they cannot afford to keep quiet. But the story of Omotade's agony is told not just in Nigeria Village Square, it was also reported in The Mirror of London as follows:

"A British Airways captain ordered 136 passengers off his plane in chaotic scenes after they all started complaining to cabin crew.
As the flight waited to take off at Heathrow the row was sparked by the restraint of a man being forcibly deported.

Many were distressed by his pitiful cries of "I go die" and one passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, 39, spoke up on his behalf.

The deportee was taken off the Lagos bound jet by immigration staff and police.
But five officers returned and arrested Mr Omotade. This outraged the other 135 passengers in the economy class section and they complained to cabin crew.

Amid riotous scenes in the aisles, 20 police officers boarded to calm everything down. advertisement

Then the BA pilot took the extraordinary decision to boot off everyone who had witnessed the arrest of Mr Omotade, an IT consultant from Chatham, Kent.

The captain took the view they were all guilty of disturbing the flight, although no more passengers were arrested.
After the economy class section was virtually cleared, the deportee, aged about 30, was brought back on and the flight left.

The passengers were booked on to later flights but Mr Omotade was told by BA staff he was banned by the airline for life.
English-born Mr Omotade, married with a daughter aged four, was handcuffed and kept in police custody for eight hours after his arrest. He has not been charged and is seeking an apology from BA.

He was travelling from Heathrow's Terminal 4 to Lagos for his brother's marriage and had in his luggage the groom's wedding ring, shirt and suit. He missed the ceremony.

He told the Mirror: "There were agonising noises from an individual being restrained. It went on for 20 minutes.
"I pleaded with the officers and my exact words were, 'Please don't kill him.'

"I was not swearing or threatening. BA staff said the officers were doing their jobs and nothing was going to happen. When he was removed we thought it was the end of the matter.
"But police officers came back and I was handcuffed and dragged off the plane."

He claims his luggage has been lost and ?1,600 cash he had for relatives has been taken and not returned.
Scotland Yard confirmed: "A man was arrested for affray and causing a disturbance and was bailed."

Ba said: "Police were called to the BA75 service to Lagos on March 27 after a large number of passengers became disruptive.
Many were removed.
"We take any threats against our crew or passengers very seriously and this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated."

What is missing in The Mirror report, but which Omotade provides in his own account is the ordeal which he, Omotade, is now undergoing in the hands of the British authorities. He has been charged to a Magistrate court. Investigators are asking him to provide pay slips and bank statements to enable them establish the source of the money that was found in his possession. British Airways kept his luggage for more than a week; when it was returned, one of the bags was damaged. Omotade was not a Naomi Campbell, playing the prima donna and slapping policemen at the airport, his only offence was that he dared to speak up for a compatriot in distress who was being deported back to Nigeria and who was screaming: "I go die". He is being punished and victimized, he has now been banned from flying British Airways for life (!), for being outspoken. The other 135 passengers had also protested, but Omotade had to be singled out by British Airways as a scapegoat. Omotade may at the end of the day get the apology and the compensation that he seeks, but to get to that point, he should assert his rights beyond mere complaints on the internet, send a formal complaint to BA, go to court, but it is the mindset, the sociology of air travel, the politics, that has informed his maltreatment that should be addressed.
Since 1999, the Nigerian government has been making efforts to work on Nigeria's image abroad, to transform the country from being regarded as one of the last outposts of military dictatorship into an open, democratic society, but whatever has been done and gained in this regard has been hobbled by the grand failure of domestic policy, and the failure, also, of national character. Nigeria remains in the eyes of the world, a country that is badly run, badly led and whose citizens in desperation have taken to a life of constant emigration and crime. Every Nigerian that shows up in a foreign land, including African countries, is immediately regarded as a security risk. We have this strange image out there of a loud, ungovernable people, in whose inner recesses exists a craving for the short cut and disdain for rules and standards. It is the likes of that deportee on that British Airways flight who have brought this opprobrium on our heads, it is the likes of Obasanjo, godfathers like Adedibu and all the thieving Governors and Ministers, whose stories are well known in Europe and the United States who have brought us so much undeserved shame. The deportee kept shouting: "I go die"

Even in his distress, it was probably simulated, his compatriots felt for him and tried to defend his right to live. But the British flight crew must have stretched the situation into the hall of prejudices: the pilot had to evict the Nigerian passengers because he had imagined that their complaints could have ended up as "a hijack operation". "Can't put anything past these Nigerians", he must have concluded. We are the victims of some of the worst stereotypes, and profiling systems, in the world. A young lady travelled to Mauritius recently only to discover that every Nigerian is referred to suspiciously as "the Green Passport" by the people of Mauritius. We are not the only country in the world using a green passport, but ours is the only green passport that carries a stigma.
It is not only the British Airways that is guilty. Hotels, restaurants, super markets, foreign government authorities all treat Nigerians suspiciously. A credit card originating from Nigeria is subjected to more than ordinary scrutiny. Ayodeji Omotade is a British citizen but that did not stop the BA and the British police from treating him shabbily. If he is Nigerian, then there must be something about him. So, they refused to listen to his pleas that he had not committed any crime or disrupted the activities of the almighty British Airways. They had to investigate the source of the one thousand six hundred pounds (about $3, 200) that they found on him. They probably thought he could be a money laundering agent for one of those corrupt Nigerian public officials. They have seen so many in the recent past, they would rather not take any chances. But there was a curious class dimension to the politics of the British Airways flight. Only the passengers in the economy cabin were evicted. Now, economy passengers on Nigerian routes have quite a reputation with all airlines. They are loud, they carry excess luggage, and when you pry into that luggage, they are either transporting cray fish and snails into England or they are going back into their country with bagfuls of toothpaste, chocolate, toilet rolls, and so on. This kind of behaviour sends signals of poverty and underdevelopment, and so those funny hostesses treat economy passengers on Nigerian routes snobbishly, sometimes, they spray disinfectants straight into your face! Often times, I suspect they think we are bringing lice aboard the flight.

We must link all of this to the unusual vigilance that any flight to or from Nigeria generates at foreign airports. All the dogs are brought out, all the guns are cocked, all eyes are on us. We are treated like terrorists, but terrorists of a different kind. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Ojo Maduekwe has been talking about citizen diplomacy. This is a major area of assignment for Ojo and his team. The ordinary Nigerian citizen out there in the world, be he a crook or a gentleman is entitled to the protection of the Nigerian government, insisting on his right to human dignity. But the best way to earn the respect of the world, for the country and its citizens is to run a country where things work, a country that is truly deserving of respect. Much of what goes into human relations is visual. We have a continuing challenge to turn Nigeria into a visual delight not the eyesore that it is at the moment.

Having dealt with the internal dimension of the problem, let me now add that the arrogance of the British Airways authorities is insufferable. This arrogance derives in part from the unusual dominance that BA enjoys on the Lagos-London -Lagos route, making this route one of the most profitable worldwide for the airline. This has not translated into due courtesy to Nigerian travellers, rather it has encouraged contempt on the part of the airline. The Nigerian aviation authorities must take a second look at the London route, and open it up a bit more, make it more competitive and offer Nigerians a wider range of choices. Would BA ban anybody for life on its airline, just for expressing an opinion, if it did not think we are still in the era of British imperialism?

In specific terms, the Bilateral Aviation Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Britain allows 21 frequencies for British airlines and 21 frequencies for Nigerian airlines on the Lagos-London route. But at the moment, the British Airways enjoys more frequencies than other airlines, it flies into Lagos and into Abuja, and sometimes it does so more than seven times in a week. Why? The 21 frequencies for Nigerian airlines is shared by Bellview, Arik Nigeria and Bellview.

The 21 frequencies for British airlines is meant to be shared by Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and British Midlands. But British Midlands is not on the route. British Airways currently uses its frequency, granting it an undue advantage and even when it exceeds its quota, Nigerian aviation authorities look the other way. The British Airways authorities need to be reminded that when General Sani Abacha banned the British Airways in the recent past, and BA had to relocate to Ghana, the airline almost bled to death. Also, in the post-9/11 season when BA scaled down n its trans-Atlantic operations, it was sustained largely by its Lagos-London route and the ever traveling crowd of Nigerians. All Nigerian customers of British Airways deserve more respect than they seem to be currently getting.

Juliet Akano certificate fraudster?

2008-04-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

Incredible story and I think I should share this. It is a pity because hardworking women will continue to be rubbed by the likes of this woman in the story below. Little wonder why we are treated like dirt abroad? we can't even present genuine certificates to run for public office.
God help us

According to STEVE UZOECHI of huhonline.com, the Honourable member representing the Nwangele – Nkwerre – Isu – Njaba Federal Constituency of Imo State in the House of Representatives, Juliet Akano is involved in certificate forgery.

It was gathered that while completing her INEC nomination form and documentation, declared that she attended Oguta Girls’ High School, Oguta, Imo State from 1979-1984.

But this claim has been debunked by the principal of Oguta Girls High School insists that there was no such name or record corresponding with the date claimed by Mrs. Akano.

On a visits to the school to verify the facts by huhonline.com, the Vice Principal (Senior) reiterated that there was no such records in their files, stating that the woman’s particulars which at the time was Obasi Juliet Nnenne has been checked before and was not found in there records. A statement signed by the school principal (names withheld) and made available to huhuonline.com in respect of Akano’s claims partly reads; “I hereby state that the above named records were not found in Oguta Girls’ High School between 1979-1984”.

In 1998, Juliet Akano engaged a lady (names withheld) who now, works with an airline in Lagos to sit for her WAEC/SSCE (Private candidate). The lady sat and passed the examination for Akano.

The photo card for the examination which was made available to huhuonline.com bears the picture of the young lady but the name, Akano Juliet Nnenne. The girl’s signature conflicts with the signature Akano used in the submission of her INEC forms. advertisement

The lady’s examination number is 304 while the centre number is 55729. The examination was written somewhere in Lagos Island and the documentation and pictures of the girls are still in tact at the WAEC office.

In a petition directed to the leadership of the National Assembly, copied to the EFCC, SSS, INEC and the Federal Ministry of Justice, dated 14/11/2007, one Eugene Okoma alleged that Akano used another person’s certificate for the INEC clearance during the House of Reps election and forged the certificate with which she gained admission into the university for her said degree in marketing.

The petition further declared, “It is clear that Hon. Juliet Akano is a cheat, a fraudulent person, not in any way qualified to occupy any position of authority, let alone being elected as an honourable member representing the largest federal constituency in Nigeria”.

The petitioner insists that Akano lied on oath as a member of the House of Representative.

Ironically, Juliet Akano is a member of the Integrity Group of the House of Representative which presently is in charge of the leadership of the House. Observers are however, of the opinion that this perhaps, is the reason why the leadership of the lower chamber of the National Assembly seemingly swept the petition dated 14th November, 2007 against Akano, under the carpet.
The integrity of the leadership of the House of Representative would be called to question if front liners of the Integrity Group like Hon. Farouk Lawan, Abike Dabiri and others fail to rise up to the challenge and probe the various certificate scams perpetuated right under their noses and save the House from the shame of being peopled by undesirable elements.

Efforts to speak to Akano by huhonline.com proved abortive as she refused to take her calls. Text messages sent to her for reactions were not replied as at press time.
Meanwhile, in December, 2007 when her campaign coordinators from the Nwangele-Nkwerre-Isu-Njaba Federal Constituency honoured a Christmas invitation from Juliet Akano and erroneously went to her matrimonial home for the Christmas get-together, to their chagrin, they were turned back.

One of the coordinators who confided in huhuonline.com said that members of the family and even neighbours, disowned Juliet Akano saying, “there is no such person around here”. The function, he said was later held in the office of one paint manufacturer.

Juliet Akano’s marital life however speaks volume of the despicable mindset of a woman to whom holy matrimony is but a mere business partnership. A union of convenience which she exploited to the despair of the men who thought they were married to her.

A brief trace by huhuonline.com revealed that Juliet Akano who was merely a cloth seller at Balogun, Lagos was actually married to one Macdonald Akano, from a popular royal family in Nwangele LG A of Imo state. After having two children for him, she abandoned him for another man in the neighbouring community of Nkwerre, one Mr. Okechukwu Uzoho, a prominent lawyer. She however did not stay very long with Uzoho.

As the last general elections drew nearer, she saw her opportunity and schemed her way back to the Akano royal family. Surprisingly she was re-accepted by the Akanos but little did they know that she only wanted to use the name and clout of the royal family, as her launching pad, to achieve her political ambition.
Soon after, she was foisted by the PDP as the party’s candidate for the Federal constituency in a primary election that was held about five times and all ended inconclusively in fracas.

Thereafter, courtesy of the Maurice Iwu election, she emerged as the member representing Nwangele – Nkwerre – Isu – Njaba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. That was all she needed to abandon her marital vows once again.
Today, however, rather than waiting for a non-resident wife and mother, Mcdonald Akano is already married to another woman while Juliet is said to be planning to return to Mr Uzoho so as to still be seen as an indigene of the constituency she pretends to be representing.

It is reported that Mr. Okechukwu Uzoho appears most unwilling to play the fool again.

This simply implies that Juliet Akano, who is largely operating from Oguta, her place of birth is representing a people whose confidence she does not have and a constituency to which, she is a stranger.

A fugitive from home, a cheat and a fraud seating at the National Assembly representing a people she cares and knows nothing about, is an illegality and insult on the largest Federal Constituency in Nigeria.

Time to Boycott British Airways!

2008-04-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Is it not about time we deal with this colonial masters once and for all? Imagine this dehumanising treatment on Nigerians, the country that contributes so much to their development. Is this the thank you we get for giving them the most lucrative routes in Aviation?

Pls read on

British Airways an Anti Nigerian Airline? How BA Kicked out over 100 Nigerians from Plane

Humilation of Nigerians on British Airways by Ayodeji Omotade

On the 27th of March 2008 at about 12:30pm, I boardedthe British Airways flight BA75 and I went straight toseat 53C. On getting to my seat, there were noises from anindividual being forcibly restrained but who was notvisible because some police officers and some plainclothes people held him down. The noise continued formore than 20 minutes and I was concerned because theindividual was screaming in agony and shouting inpidgin English "I go die" meaning, I will die. Ipleaded with the officers not to kill him and my exactwords were "please don't kill him". The BritishAirways staff said that the officers were doing theirjobs and that nothing was going to happen. The noisebecame louder and other passengers started gettingconcerned and were complaining especially about theirsafety. The situation continued for another 15 minutesafter I got on. Eventually, a member of the cabin crew announced thatthe passenger was going to be removed and thepassenger was removed from the plane and we allthought that was the end of the situation. Fiveminutes later, two members of the cabin crew arrivedwith about 4 police officers and told me to get offthe plane. I asked what the matter was and they saidthat I was not going to travel with the airlinebecause the cabin crew thought I had been disruptiveby questioning the noise being caused by the personthat was removed. I pleaded with them that I was goingfor my brother's wedding and that I had all his stuffwith me. I was dragged out of the plane as if I wasresisting arrest. As we got to the corridor thatlinked the plane with the terminal building, I wasslammed against the wall and made to sit on the floor.I was still pleading with them telling them that theyhad completely misunderstood me and that I was onlycomplaining about the situation regarding thedisturbances caused by the deportee they were tryingto restrain and subdue. I was on the floor for about20 to 25 minutes. Another passenger was brought to thecorridor as well and he was also pleading with theofficers. I was later put in the back of the police van at about1:50pm and I was locked up there for about an hour ormore still handcuffed. I was formally arrestedapproximately 2:30pm and my rights were read to me.Before the arrest in the van, I managed to reach formy pocket and brought out my mobile phone. I made somephone calls to my wife, sister and a friend while thelow battery sign was on because I was all alone andstill handcuffed.I was later driven to the police station where I wasformally checked in. I was in police custody foralmost 8 hours and later released on bail after theinterview with the duty solicitor and the detectives.I had £473.00 on me which was seized as well as £90.00sent to my mother in-law from my sister in-law and£1,050.00 given to me by my cousin who is a doctor forthe upkeep of his parents in Nigeria. All the moneytogether was £1,613.00. I was told that I would appearin a magistrate court to prove the money was not meantfor crime or proceeds of crime. The officer told methat they will like to see traceability and that Ineeded my payslips and bank account detailing mypayments and withdrawals as well as my cousin'spayments and withdrawals.I was released but without the money. I made my way toterminal 4 and arrived there at about 12:30am but theBritish Airways kiosks were closed. I was directed tothe staff room and told them that I wanted to rebookmy trip to Lagos. A lady told me to give her my ticketand she stated that British Airways has banned me fromtravelling with them indefinitely and that only themanagers can use their discretions because I was a'disruptive passenger'. I requested for my 2 pieceluggage and she told me that the section will beopened later at about 5:30am and I will be escorted into collect them. I slept on the chair and waited tillabout 5:30am and attempted to rebook my ticket but wastold that British Airways refused to take me. Idecided to go and pick up my stuff and I was told thatmy luggage were missing. I was handed a form withreference number LONBA90924. At this point, I becametotally stranded because I could not leave without myluggage because it contained my brother's weddingsuit, shirts and accessories. I was on the phone with my wife and she wanted to bookan alternative flight that departs at 10:15am so thatI could make it for the wedding. This was not possiblebecause British Airways refused to disclose where myluggages were and did not remove my luggage from theflight when they called the police to arrest me. On Monday 31st of March, I appeared at the Magistratecourt but was told that a decision was made about the£1,613.00 that was seized from me. The police had beengranted a further 90 days to hold on to the moneypending their investigation. I was given the officer'sdetails . He requested 12 months bank statements and 6months payslip to prove that the £473.00 that belongsto me was not proceeds of crime and also requestedthat the £1,050.00 that was given to me by my cousinfor his parents should also be traced to my cousin's12 months bank statement and 6 months payslip. DCWebster has promised to write me detailing theserequests.Still on Monday 31st of March 4 days after I was takenoff the plane, I made extra efforts to find out thewhereabouts of my 2 piece luggage (LONBA90924),because they have not been sent to my address aspromised by calling the lost baggage section at13:44hrs and spoke to a man called Neil who said that,it is difficult for them to trace my bags and thatthere is a strong possibility that they might be inLagos. He suggested that I should call back in 24hours. Eventually, one week and one day later, my bags werebrought to me at home. One was badly damaged and theother was intact. British Airways delibrately madesure I missed the wedding because if they were kickingme off their flight, they would have removed my bagsfrom the flight. They were all there when the policeofficers made me to sit on the floor and heard mepleading to allow me fly for my brother's wedding. Icould have made either KLM or Virgin Nigeria thefollowing Friday morning.I will not want to believe that the authoritiesinvolved in the situation deliberately or cleverlypunished me unnecessarily out of frustration for notbeing able to restrain or subdue a deportee or that Ias a fee paying passenger was accused of affray withviolence when I was voicing my concerns about thedisturbances caused by the deportees. I nevermentioned any abusive or swear words neither was Iphysically threatening anyone. My luggage mysteriouslywas lost and I have been banned on all British Airwaysflights without a chance to say my part of the storyto redeem myself. 135 passengers were asked to leavethe flight because they expressed displeasureregarding the disturbances caused by the deportees andthe officers trying to restrain him. My ticket waseven refused to be endorsed by BA to enable me to flywith another airline. I need full compensation of myloss and also a letter of apology from BritishAirways.
RegardsAyodeji Omotade
The British Mirror Newspaper Reports
A British Airways captain ordered 136 passengers offhis plane in chaotic scenes after they all startedcomplaining to cabin crew.As the flight waited to take off at Heathrow the rowwas sparked by the restraint of a man being forciblydeported.Many were distressed by his pitiful cries of "I godie" and one passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, 39, spoke upon his behalf.The deportee was taken off the Lagos bound jet byimmigration staff and police.But five officers returned and arrested Mr Omotade.This outraged the other 135 passengers in the economyclass section and they complained to cabin crew.Amid riotous scenes in the aisles, 20 police officersboarded to calm everything down.Then the BA pilot took the extraordinary decision toboot off everyone who had witnessed the arrest of MrOmotade, an IT consultant from Chatham, Kent.The captain took the view they were all guilty ofdisturbing the flight, although no more passengerswere arrested.After the economy class section was virtually cleared,the deportee, aged about 30, was brought back on andthe flight left.The passengers were booked on to later flights but MrOmotade was told by BA staff he was banned by theairline for life.English-born Mr Omotade, married with a daughter agedfour, was handcuffed and kept in police custody foreight hours after his arrest. He has not been chargedand is seeking an apology from BA.He was travelling from Heathrow's Terminal 4 to Lagosfor his brother's marriage and had in his luggage thegroom's wedding ring, shirt and suit. He missed theceremony.He told the Mirror: "There were agonising noises froman individual being restrained. It went on for 20minutes."I pleaded with the officers and my exact words were,'Please don't kill him.'"I was not swearing or threatening. BA staff said theofficers were doing their jobs and nothing was goingto happen. When he was removed we thought it was theend of the matter."But police officers came back and I was handcuffedand dragged off the plane."He claims his luggage has been lost and £1,600 cash hehad for relatives has been taken and not returned.Scotland Yard confirmed: "A man was arrested foraffray and causing a disturbance and was bailed."Ba said: "Police were called to the BA75 service toLagos on March 27 after a large number of passengersbecame disruptive.Many were removed."We take any threats against our crew or passengersvery seriously and this kind of behaviour will not betolerated."

Another One Bites The Dust

2008-04-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

President's Aide In $200,000 Bribe Scandal
From Martins Oloja (Abuja Bureau Chief)

THE lingering crisis at Wema Bank Plc has spread its deadly tentacles to Abuja's seat of power where a presidential aide, who works directly with the President, has been detained for allegedly collecting $200,000 from one of the suspended chiefs in the bank.

A suspended top official in the bank reportedly implicated the aide, a personal assistant to the President.

Though it is still a closely guarded secret inside the State House, The Guardian has confirmed that the aide has responsibility for receiving, sending and filing mails for and on behalf of the President. He took over from Mr. Taiwo Ojo, who was in similar position for former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The officer has responsibility, too, for responding to and forwarding memoranda to ministers, chief executives, etc., on behalf of the president.

Security agencies called in last week to investigate the allegation against the presidential aide were said to have been told that intelligence had it that he had leaked a document he received on behalf of the President on the Wema Bank issue to the bank chief (name withheld).

Trouble started for the suspect when the bank executive, a former deputy governor, who has been quizzed by top security chiefs, confessed that he paid $200,000 to the presidential aide for the leakage of the document.

At press time, it was not clear whether the presidential assistant, who has remained incommunicado to even his family, had corroborated the bank chief's claim.

It was learnt from insiders that the President was shell-shocked when he was told about the deal.

When contacted on the telephone yesterday, presidential spokesperson, Mr. Segun Adeniyi said he was not aware of the development.

Saying he was in Ijebu-Ode for the 80th birthday bash of Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Adeniyi promised to contact The Guardian on his return to Abuja.

But another State House insider, who cannot be named, confirmed the development, as corroborated by security sources last night.

The first presidential aide who ran into trouble was Mr. Foluseke Somolu, another inheritance from Chief Obasanjo. He was senior special assistant on Power Sector Reform and coordinator on National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).

Trouble knocked on his door early this year when the power sector conflicting-figures issue cropped up in Abuja and his attempt to straighten records cost him his job.

In a memo of January 14, 2004 to the Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu, Somolu reportedly argued that the total amount released to NEPA/PHCN during the period being probed was $2.2 billion while a total of $2.96 billion was released to the NIPP, bringing the grand total to $5.16.

His action was predicated on the need to correct the impression that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, had created when FRSC chiefs visited him. He had claimed that $16 billion had been spent on the power projects.

Based on submission by the Economic Adviser to the President, Yar'Adua had previously quoted $10 billion to the World Bank chiefs, who visited him.

However, Somolu did not copy the memo to the President, according to reports: he only copied the Minister of State for Energy (Power) and Special Adviser to the President (Power) and Coordinator PHCN Liaison Unit.

He was promptly sacked for his "bad verses," which was perceived as an affront to the President, who had quoted the same figure to the visiting World Bank officials.

Nonetheless, at the House of Representatives Public Hearing on NIPP, both the Accountant General of the Federation and the CBN Governor had confirmed Mr. Somolu's informed submission. But the dice had been cast, as he had been cashiered.

Another Breaking News:APPEAL COURT NULLIFIES SOKKOTO GUBER ELECTION

2008-04-11T04:21:00.001-07:00

The appeal court sitting in Kaduna on Friday nullified the election of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako. The election of Magatakarda was challenged at the Appeal court by Dingyadi, the Candidate of the DPP, after the election Tribunal sitting in Sokkoto affirmed his election.

Breaking News: Court Dismisses Charges against Major Al-Mustafa

2008-04-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

I am no surprise though.

Court Dismisses Charges against Major Al-Mustafa
Posted 11,Apr. 2008
A Nigerian Court today Friday, has dismissed the charges against Major Hamza Al-Mustafa for lack of diligent prosecution.

The former Chief Security Officer to Nigeria’s late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has been facing trial at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, South-West of the country, with two other accused persons, Lt. Col Mohammed Adeka and one Onwuchekwa Okorie jointly for conspiracy, and attempt to topple the government of Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, was said to have spear-headed the operations of the military government including order of arrests and assassinations of personalities who were opposed to Abacha's attempt to succeed himself as civilian president.

The men were also accused of trying to kill Chief Obasanjo aboard a helicopter using a stringer missile.

Al-Mustapha had asked the Court to strike out or dismiss charges of attempted murder and treason offences leveled against him by the Federal Government.

Ndudi Elumelu Life Threatened

2008-04-10T05:15:00.001-07:00

You shall not die but live to declare the word of God. Surely they will gather but if they gathering is not of God they gather in vain. Nobody can say yes when God says no.

Hon. Elumelu, you are our answered prayers to fight corruption. They are like dead lion they cannot bite. God has exposed them and many more will follow suit. Anybody that digs grave for you will like King Harod by buried in it. Every Hamman's gallow shall have Hamman hung on it instead. Relax God is in control. Don't fret because He that keeps Israel neither sleeps nor slumber.

Power probe: Elumelu alleges threat to life
By Adelani Adepegba, Enugu
Published: Thursday, 10 Apr 2008
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, on Wednesday alleged that he had been receiving threats to his life since the probe of the nation’s power sector began on March 11, 2008.

Skip to next paragraph

File
Mr. Ndudi Elumelu

His mother, he added, was also being pressured to prevail on him to be cautious in handling the probe.

He said, “It’s obvious now. Do you know some people have gone to the extent of telling my mother to warn me to desist from continuing with the probe?

“I know the Nigerian factor, but I am resolute about the probe; we will get to the root of the matter.”

Elumelu, who however did not name those behind the threats and pressure, assured Nigerians that he was determined to complete the investigations without fear or favour.

He spoke while on a visit to the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Sullivan Chime, in Enugu.

Elumelu told the governor that what members of the committee had seen since they began an on-the-spot assessment of the power plants in the country were “stories of non-performance.”

He said that the committee was in Enugu to assess the work done at the N8.8bn New Haven-Ugwuaji 33 KVA sub-station by Chrome Consulting Energy at N8.8bn. About N5.6bn had been paid to the firm.

The chairman added that Energo Nigeria Limited which is handling the N19.4 bn Ikot-Ekpene-Ugwuaji sub-station had received N13.2bn while Reynalds Engineering had been paid N264m out of the N643m contract sum for the Nsukka 32/33 KV sub-station.

Another sub-station at 9th Mile, Enugu, contracted out at N1.2bn is being handled by Pivot Engineering Limited.

Elumelu, who also disclosed that the National Assembly would soon pass a supplementary budget from which allocations would be made to states for infrastructure development, added that a sub-station at Amaechi was contracted out to W. Ibeh and Brothers.

He said that the committee would assess the level of work done at the stations to determine whether the contractors should continue or refund the monies so far paid to them.

At Nsukka, the committee found out that less than one per cent job was done at the project site.

Elumelu, who was visibly annoyed, demanded to know why the project had not advanced beyond the clearing of the site, installation of a generator and erection of two blocks of three-bedroom flat for engineers.

A representative of Reynalds Engineering , Mr. Nkem Okeke, blamed the development on late treatment of documents submitted to ‘relevant authorities.’

“There was no PC ascribed to the project for three months after the contract was signed, thereby causing the project to start afresh at the appointment of PC,” he said.

A breakdown of the activities at the site showed that the contractor had spent N501m on soil, engineering designs, civil works and other preliminary activities including soil tests, bush clearing, provision of vehicle, set up of site office and others.

At the Oji River thermal station, the engineer in charge, Mr.Chinedu Iwuagu, explained that the 30 MW capacity station could only generate 14MW.

He said that one of the turbines had been rehabilitated but could not commence operation because there was no coal to fire it up.

A member of the committee, Mr. Ogbuefi Ozumgbachi, said that he had recommended that N200m be provided for the revival of the station.

He claimed that his suggestion was rebuffed by a former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Liyel Imoke, who is now the governor of Cross River State.

Earlier, Chime said the nation should be grateful to the House of Representatives for empowering the committee to probe the power sector.

“It is unfortunate and ironic that these things happened when the government was shouting due process; the huge amount expended with nothing to show is disturbing,” the governor said.

He advised the committee to look at how the coal industry could be well exploited for power generation.

Grange Dranged Iyabo Obasanjo Clean!

2008-04-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

Clear case of injustice. Even if you commit murder in this country, once you have the right name, connection, you will walk free.

While former ministers of health, Professor Adenike Grange and Arch. Gabriel Aduku were arraign before a court to answer for their roles in the N300 million unspent budget, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has been given clean bill of health by her fellow senators.
According tot hem she did not contraven any known law by obtaining N10 million for capacity building training in Ghana.
This is a clear case of selective justice. This is a woman whose name is now synonmous with corruption. A former president's daughter has done enough damage to image in no small ways both nationally and internally.
I think is about time Nigerians arise against this injustice. If Grange and Aduku and the permanent Secretary and some directors can face the music I really don't know what senators are talking about.
It is still their selfish interests that have kept us without a budget because they choose to pad it to protect their greed rather than see all of us enjoy our common wealth.
I am a die has optimist and I know their days are numbered in this country. If they don't repent they will begin to reap very soon.
The Obasanjo family have brought hardship, shame and disgrace to this country. They steal (father and daughter), they commit incestious act (father sleeps with son's wife) and have total disregard for the rule of law.
Now we know Abacha was a saint.

Can Amodu Deliver Our Football?

2008-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Just heard disturbing news some few minutes ago and i am fuming right now so I decided to vent my anger on my blog.

I am told that everything has been done to ensure that Amodu Shuaibu who has been out of job for a long time heads the Super Eagles. It is rather unfortunate that Amodu that deserted our team and also fail to handle a club with success and also failed to upgrade himself is the on one those that matters in sport is now backing.

And to ensure that the press does not give it the necessary bashing, all the Sports Editors (even those that claim to be critics) were flown into Abuja, camp in a hotel by Patrick Ekeji to rubber stamp and endorse his candidature so that the sporting press won't kick against it.

But that is more dangerous because I know if the man fails to perform the same sporting press will cry foul. They may keep quite for a while but results cannot be faked. He will be named at the end of the NFS Board meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
Lets wait and see o. I know that God will continue to compensate the hard working people Samson Siasia and Stephen Keshi.

After a protracted meeting in Abuja on Monday, the board of the Nigeria Football Association had once again postponed the announcement of a new coach for the Super Eagles until Thursday.

A communique from the meeting on Monday, stated that: "After listening to the presentation of a detailed report from the screening of a number of candidates for the vacant Super Eagles coaching crew positions by the Technical Committee, the Executive Committee unanimously decided to set up a three man committee to make recommendations on a four-man technical crew with the financial implications, contract duration and targets of performance.

"The committee must present its report to the Executive Committee at a meeting on Thursday April 10 which will take a final decision on the issue."

KickOffNigeria.com exclusively reported that the board has already agreed on the personnel for that four man coaching crew, which will be headed by Amodu Shuaibu.

He will be assisted by Daniel Amokachi and Fatai Amoo with Alloy Agu as goalkeeper coach.

Nigeria have been without a coach since Berti Vogts was dismissed following the country's worst Nations Cup performance in 25 years.

We are not ready in this country I tell you and this is very sad.

EFCC Invites Keyamo on Police Equipment Fund

2008-04-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
Is a new day and I am glad to be alive how about you?
Well this Police Eguipment Fund issue has refused to go away. There are a lot of questions begging for answers. The simple question I want answer to is, is it right for funds to be raised to equip the police and yet diverted to other groups excerpt the police?
Anyways Channels Television has the full gist on Keyamo and the EFCC invitiation. Enjoy

EFCC Summons Keyamo over Allegations of Missing Police Funds
Posted 8,Apr. 2008
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes commission, EFCC has summoned a Lagos based lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Festus Keyamu over allegations of corruption involving the Nigerian Police Equipment Fund.

The allegation of corruption on the Police Funds is a long and winding story with an intricate plot that raises a thousand and one questions, begging for answers.

Already so much has been written and said about the story, in the national dailies and electronic media, so much that some of the protagonists have found it very difficult to cope with the heat.

According to our Channels Television Political Correspondent, the story began sometime in 2004, and involves three men, Mr. Joseph Agharite, now late, Mr. Ibrahim Emmanuel Dumuje and Mr. Godson Ewulum who came together with an initiative to raise funds, ostensibly to help to equip a badly funded Nigeria Police.

Their plan was to partner with the Federal Government to actualise the goal, and had therefore gone on to sign this participation agreement on the June 15, 2004.

While their target was to raise 100 million naira, they had agreed to pursue the project and share equally among themselves, ten percent of whatever was eventually raised.

They had also agreed to use NIGERSTALG, a private company owned by Mr. Agharite, to pursue the project.

Sequel to the signing of the agreement, both Joseph Agharite and Ibrahim Dumuje had sent a proposal to the Inspector General of police at the time, Mr. Tafa Balogun, seeking to help raise 100million naira through public donation for the sole purpose of buying body armour for the police.

According to Mr. Ewulum series of correspondence were subsequently exchanged between the police and the parties who were by now operating under the name of NIGERSTALG.

Before much headway could be made with the proposal, the former Police boss, Mr. Tafa Balogun was removed as the Inspector General of Police, having been indicted by the EFCC, tried and later convicted by a law court for money laundering and missing police funds traced to his accounts.

This had affected the activities of the group for a while, until months later, when a brother-in-law of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo came into the picture.

The introduction of Chief Kenny Martin was however became a major subject of controversy, according to Ewulum and Keyamo who spoke to Channels Television.

Working with Chief Martin, had caused a total alteration to the entire idea, as the proposed fund was jerked up to 100billion naira, while the items to be purchased were ammended to include body amour, helicopter and other essential equipment.

On July 7, 2005 still using NIGERSTALG, the group sent a fresh proposal to the Presidency through the then Minister of Police Affairs Mr. Broderick Bozimo, which was signed by Mr. Agharite, Chairman of NIGERSTALG.

Mr. Bozimo who also spoke to Channels Television confirmed sending a memo to the Chairman of NIGERSTALG on August the 26, 2005 to inform him that the proposal had been referred to the President and demanded more details about the proposed project.

Disaster however struck two months later, October 2005, when the sole Chairman and owner of NIGERSTALG, died in the ill-fated Bellview plane crash.

On November 10, 2005, just weeks after Agharite died, NIGERSTALG did a fresh memo to the Minister of Police Affairs seeking the establishment of a Presidential Committee to direct and administer the proposed 100 billion naira fund.

The memo provided the purpose for which the fund would be used and also spelt out the composition of the committee which included both government and a long list of eminent Nigerians including major players in the private sector.

The proposal was signed by Ibrahim Dumuje according to the former Minister of Police Affairs.

Former President Obasanjo late gave approval to the proposal through a memo addressed to the Minister of Police Affairs, which was dated December 3, 2005.

Following the President’s approval a memorandum of understanding was subsequently signed between the Federal Government and NIGERSTALG to guide the operation of the Presidential Committee on Police Equipment Fund.

The memorandum clearly identified items to be funded under the project, which included helicopters, vehicles and communication equipment armaments and other equipment for training, community policing and renovation of barracks.

Years after, nothing significant has changed for the police while there have remained accusations and counter accusations about the missing funds amounting to billions of naira.

This Budget Thing When Will It End?

2008-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Now is nobody out there worried that we are in the fourth month and yet there is no end in sight as to this signing of buget issue?

Why in the world with members of the National Assembly pad the budget for their selfish ends? Do this pple understand what budgetting is all about? And now I hear President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua might ask the Supreme Court to determine whether the National Assembly has any constitutional power to increase the Appropriation Bill sent to it by the executive or not.

The way it is going we might to have this budget until June or July o! Anyways feel free and send me your comment.
Meanwhile enjoy the story

Why Yar'Adua refuses assent to budget
From Martins Oloja,
Abuja Bureau Chief

PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar'Adua may be insisting on his philosophy of good governance rather than what many have seen as muscle-flexing with the legislature in his refusal to assent to the 2008 Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly.

The President's aides and senior officials of the Budget Office, who spoke on the budget crisis at the weekend, explained that Yar'Adua was not particularly keen on embarking on new projects that his administration may not complete.

They listed seven aspects of the budget in which the President believes that the legislature erred by voting funds and listed certain projects in the document they expect the executive to fully implement.

Yar'Adua is said to have frowned at new projects being included in the budget without any input from the executive.

Even at that, the officials of the Presidency and Finance Ministry said that the President was not maintaining a hardline position on the matter even though he had resisted pressure to sign it. In fact, the senior government officials said that Yar'Adua would this week parley with the leadership of the National Assembly on his reservations on the grey areas in the budget.

The argument of Yar'Adua, according to Presidency officials assisted by Budget Office experts, is that the National may not have taken into account some of his administration's "priorities in line with overall national plan, macroeconomic stability and strategies, which made the President to place emphasis on completing old projects instead of starting new ones, which could end up being abandoned."

According to them, some of the areas where there are distortions in the budget are the inclusion of new projects without consultation.

The issue is whether the legislature can unilaterally initiate projects and allocate money for such schemes in the budget without consultations with the executive given that the design, costing, due process certification, execution and supervision is vested in the executive.

The Presidency also noted that "the National Assembly is alleged to have distorted the budget by encouraging ministries and departments to submit to them sundry projects for which they allocated money thus usurping the functions of the executive, whose duty it is to initiate budget...question even arises as to how they were able to determine the costs of the projects inserted."

Besides, they said the Budget Office is fully persuaded that "the figures are just 'guesstimates' which make nonsense of the budgeting process."

Also, at stake is the raising of the budget benchmark by the National Assembly. The Budget Office confirmed that the raising of the oil price from $53.83 per barrel to $59 per barrel was agreed with officials of the Ministry of Finance based on the understanding that the extra revenue would be used to reduce the fiscal deficit in the original executive proposal.

The officials explained that contrary to the agreement, "the National Assembly has devoted much of the extra revenue to increase total expenditure, leading to deficit rising from N468 billion under the executive budget to N554 billion proposed by the National Assembly."

According to Budget Office officials, "the choice of $53.83 per barrel benchmark was based on a macro-economic framework designed to ensure stability in the system to keep liquidity at a manageable level, check inflation and provide an environment for interest rates to start to move downward which the present increases will jeopardise."

The President was also said to have rejected the raising of capital votes by the Assembly.

Yar'Adua particularly kicked at the jump of the budget of the Ministry of Transportation to N61 billion, of which N36 billion is for new projects; Agriculture and Water Resources (N20.4 billion); Defence (N17 billion); Interior (N15 billion); FCT (N12.9 billion); Science and Technology (N6.3 billion).

Budget Office experts said the President is convinced that "while some of these projects could probably benefit from increased allocations, the lawmakers didn't factor in the implementation capacity of the various ministries since they were not consulted which means if the money comes into the system, it is likely going to be wasted."

Another poser raised by the President is in the sphere of introducing new heads votes.

The budget officials alleged that the lawmakers inserted new vote heads into the budget with Federal Polytechnics (Bali, Ekowe, and Ugbokolo) being the beneficiaries. Both Bali and Ekowe were established in 2005 as federal institutions, but were not allocated funds at that time because they had not taken off.

For this reason they were also not budgeted for in the 2008 executive budget.

The officials said it was curious that provision was also made for Ugbokolo Polytechnic, owned by the Benue State government, which is located at Okpokwu Local Council.

Also, several professional council registration boards that never used to be in the budget (architecture, quantity surveyors, societies of engineers, estate surveyors, builders and town planners as well as advertising practitioners of Nigeria among others) were allocated money by the National Assembly without consultation with the executive.

The amount budgeted under these new vote heads is N2.1 billion.

In the same vein, the Presidency officials alleged that "the personnel costs granted to a number of ministries and agencies were raised without making provision for the social costs like pension and NHIS, which would have been calculated automatically if it had been based on the Budget Office's template had there been consultations with the executive."

A few of the cases of personnel cost increases include the Ministries of Agriculture (N227.3 million); Interior (N520 million); Transportation (N635.8 million); Energy (N526 million); Commerce and Industry (N382 million); Culture and Tourism (N116 million).

The state officials confirmed that "the increases were not based on any known shortfall reported by these ministries, and officials of the ministries confirmed to the Presidency and Budget Office authorities that they had no shortfalls. So where will these monies go?"

Another area of discontent in the budget is some unsolicited increases in the overhead allocation to some ministries, including education by N1.65 billion; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF (N2.1 billion); Youth Development (N377 million); and Presidency (N900 million).

The other issue the President is said to have frowned at is the way the National Assembly allegedly inserted some clauses that violate the principle of separation of powers.

One of them is that the Accountant-General of the Federation and CBN Governor must furnish National Assembly monthly with details. This is seen by the President as undue interference with Executive functions.

Also, accounting officers are to present quarterly reports to National Assembly. This clause is also seen as an interference with executive functions.

The House also demanded that the Accountant-General of the Federation must disclose details of funds releases to the National Assembly. This too is seen by the President as another unnecessary interference with executive functions.

Yar’Adua May Go To Supreme Court

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

• Meets with NASS leadership tomorrow

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua might ask the Supreme Court to determine whether the National Assembly has any constitutional power to increase the Appropriation Bill sent to it by the executive or not.

The president’s threat, LEADERSHIP gathered last night, informed the decision of leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to quickly summon a meeting between principal officers of the National Assembly and the presidency to resolve issues delaying the passage of 2008 Appropriation Bill.

The issue is whether the legislature can unilaterally initiate projects and provide money for such projects in the budget without consultations with the executive, given that the design, costing, execution and supervision of such projects are vested in the executive arm of government.

The National Assembly is said to have distorted and mutilated the budget by encouraging ministries and government departments to submit to them sundry projects for which they allocated money, thus "usurping the functions of the executive whose duty it is to initiate budget."

According to a source in the Budget Office, "question even arises as to how the lawmakers were able to determine the costs of the projects inserted."

According to a source, the figures are just estimates, which makes nonsense of the budgeting process.

The source confirmed that the raising of the benchmark oil price from $53.83 per barrel to $59 per barrel was agreed with officials of the Ministry of Finance based on the understanding that the extra revenue would be used to reduce the fiscal deficit in the original Executive proposal.

"As it turned out, the National Assembly has devoted much of the extra revenue to increase total expenditure, resulting in an increase in the deficit from N468 billion under the executive budget proposal to N554 billion," it added.

"The choice of $53.83 per barrel benchmark was based on a macro-economic framework designed to ensure stability in the system, bearing in mind the necessity to keep liquidity at a manageable level, thereby keeping inflation in check and providing an environment for interest rates to start to move downward, which the present increases would jeopardize."

The other issues include the unilateral increase of the capital votes for several ministries, including: Ministry of Transportation (N61 billion, of which N36 billion is for new projects); Agriculture and Water Resources (N20.4 billion); Defence (N17 billion); Interior (N15 billion); FCT (N12.9 billion); Science & Technology (N6.3 billion), etc.

The argument of the source is that while some of these projects could probably benefit from increased allocations, the lawmakers didn’t factor in the implementation capacity of the various ministries since they were not consulted, "which means if the money comes into the system, they are likely going to be wasted."

The lawmakers on their part were said to have inserted new vote heads into the budget with a few examples: Federal Polytechnics (Bali, Ekowe, and Ugbokolo). Both Bali and Ekowe were established in 2005 as federal institutions, but were not budgeted for at that time because they had not taken off. For this reason they were also not budgeted for in the 2008 executive budget.

Provision was also made for Ugbokolo, a state government-owned institution in the federal budget.

Several professional council registration boards that never used to be in the budget (Architecture, Quantity Surveyors, Societies of Engineers, Estate Surveyors, Builders and Town Planners as well as Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria, etc, were allocated money. The total amount budgeted under these new vote heads is N2.1 billion.

"The personnel costs granted to a number of ministries and agencies were jerked up without making provision for the social costs like pension and NHIS, which would have been calculated automatically if it had been based on the Budget Office's template had there been consultations with the executive.

"A few of the cases of personnel cost increases include the Ministries of Agriculture (227.3 million); Interior (520 million); Transportation (N635.8 million); Energy (N526 million); Commerce and Industry (382 million); Culture and Tourism (N116 million); etc. The increases were not based on any known shortfall reported by these ministries, and officials of the ministries confirmed that they had no shortfalls.

"So where will these monies go? Assuming there would be increases, should there not be consultation with the executive on how it would be spent?

"There are some unsolicited increases in the overhead allocation to some ministries, including education (by N1.65 billion); SGF (by N2.1 billion); youth development (by N377 million); presidency (by N900 million), and others," the source added.

Contentious clauses in the budget, according to the source is that the lawmakers want the accountant-general of the federation and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor to furnish National Assembly with monthly reports. But the source said, "This is seen as undue interference with executive functions."

"That the accounting officers should present quarterly reports to National Assembly, and that accounting-general of the federation should disclose details of funds releases to National Assembly. All these issues the executive see as undue interference with its power.

The meeting between the president and principal officers of the National Assembly, which was fixed for last night, would now hold tomorrow.

Arsenal Bleeding My Heart

2008-04-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
It was not a good week for my last week and with the performance of my boys below expectation, it worsen the matter. Anyways there is another crucial encounter with Man U on saturday I am going to fast and pray that this time around the Arsène Wenger's boys make us proud and stop this heart ache. Gunners 4 life!

Incredible Week This Has Been

2008-04-03T05:11:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks,

It's been incredible this week with the kind of news coming out of Nigeria.

More incredible revelations from the tour by the House Committee on Power and Steel where contractors (Marubeni Nigeria Limited)were over paid by N224 million.

The committee members were told in Cross River State this amount was paid to the contractors as "unforseen expenditure", even though it was above the agreed contract sum.
It also emerged that Marubeni, whose project was among the first to be awarded, was fully paid by the federal government to the tune of N19.4 billion for the Calabar 561mw GT power station.
The committee also learnt that apart from collecting over $151 million, Marubeni has completed only 30 per cent of the civil works while the project is now eight months behind schedule.
However, Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, who had appeared before the House Committee to explain his role in the projects when he was Minister of Power and Steel, asked the committee not to rely on hearsay as they inspect the plants and sites of the power projects.
Imoke told the committee members that it was good they were embarking on this fact-finding mission and not relying on hearsay, adding that visiting the sites “will afford you the opportunity to see, first hand, what is going on. It will also ginger those that are not working and spur others to take the job seriously. They will be on their toes”.
Imoke, who received the committee at 12. 40 pm in his office, recommended that non-performing contractors should be punished.
“The projects,” he said, “have been on for quite some time and should have been completed. You must make recommendations for the completion of these projects.”
The governor told the committee at the Government House, Calabar that after the visit, “you should sanction those who have failed to perform and commend those who excelled. For us in Cross River, it is our hope and belief that your visit will facilitate the completion of the projects”.
The committee is expected to start a tour of locations in the state before leaving for Bayelsa on Thursday.
"The projects were designed to create relief across the country," the governor said. "It is imperative that they be completed."
When the lawmakers stopped over at the Calabar 561mw Generation Power station along the Itu road, Ikot Nyong in Onim Ankiong Clan, Odukpani Highway, the Site Manager of Marubeni Corporation of Japan, Derek Charman, a British citizen, explained that two site managers who earlier started the project abandoned work before he was brought in last November on a rescue mission.
He would not state why the previous site managers jumped ship.
Charman said: "We have had no financial problems, just the roads, but now we have been able to do about 30 per cent of the civil works on site."
Explaining his position, in which he tacitly asked for more grace before he could accomplish the task before him, Charman said: “I arrived here November 15 last year. I am determined to complete this job and I know its importance. We have had delays. But I will need one more dry season that means I can deliver the job between January and April 2009.”
On why the job was not started till the completion date elapsed, he said “we have improved since I came in”.
The statement by the Managing Director of Marubeni, Mr. Toru Sato, that the community was delaying the job was countered by the Clan Head of Ankiong Clan Council of Odukpani Local Government, retired Brigadier General Bassey Asuquo, who confronted him (Sato) at the Calabar Port.
Asuquo disclosed that after the ground breaking by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on March 10, 2006, rather than complete the job with the first phase of the proposed five turbines scheduled for July 2007 and the last in November last year, there were only unanticipated and technical delays for the better part of the project.
The sub-contractor handling the civil and earth works at the project site along Itu road, Gitto Construction, explained that contractors handling big jobs in Nigeria tell a lot of lies without carrying out the necessary tests.
Another contractor blamed nature and topography for the delay in executing their project.
The Site Manager, Emmanuel Sandrello, told THISDAY that they never envisaged what they saw when they moved in to the site as they had spent so much time blasting rocks hidden atop soft soil before they could proceed with piling and ejection on the points for the turbines.
He however explained that the civil works would be ready before the end of the year as they work along with the main contractors to remedy the situation.
At the site of the 30.31 KV sub station in Calabar, the members were told that the contract was awarded in 2001 on paper without a site by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
The Consultant Engineer of PH Power, Mr. Abdulrauf Jimoh, a Nigerian, told the committee that three contractors earlier given the job abandoned it before MBH Engineering, owned and run by Indians, took over the job.
This company too has already cashed over 90 per cent of its contract sum.
He told the committee that government has so far paid over £8,987,000 out of the £9 million for the procurement of the equipment and so far, it has also paid N306,956,000 for the local content out of N461 million.
He said the job was awarded to the contractor who was asked to go and look for a flat land to site the project but Alston and Ariva who were the initial company that started the job all left because they asked that the initial bid be reviewed. He estimated 22 per cent as the state of jobs done at the site.
When the committee members visited the Calabar Port, they were shown round the Warehouse of Intels Nigeria handling the clearing of the goods for the projects. The company explained that they stored the turbines which cannot stand the harsh weather inside the terminal building while others have been lying outside since last year.
They also said that they had so far handled about eight vessels since they starred in 2006.

Iyabo Obasanjo Admits Collecting N10m Largess from Health Ministry

In its first official reaction to its reported involvement in the budget scandal that rocked the Ministry of Health, Senate Committee on Health yesterday admitted that a princely N10 million was the extent of the support given to it by the Ministry for the capacity-building retreat in Ghana.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, who travelled out of the country on another trip by the Senate Committee on Education to Cuba, had met with eight other members of the Health Committee Monday in Abuja where it was agreed that a formal reaction on the issue be made.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Clerk of the Committee, IEF Edobor, at the instance of the Committee leadership, said that the money was received and duly signed for by the then Secretary of the Committee.
According to the statement, "The amount was received in December (2007) and the Committee had the retreat in Accra, Ghana from March 16 to March 20, 2008. This was the period most convenient for the generality of Committee members vis--vis programmed activities of the Senate.
Entitled: "Statement by the Senate Committee on Health Regarding negative publicity on the Committee's retreat to Ghana,"it reads in part: "There have been media reports in the last few days unfairly linking the Senate Committee on Health with the alleged misappropriation of funds in the Federal Ministry of Health. The allegation under reference has led to some resignations in the Ministry."

"The Senate Committee on health would like to state as follows: that the committee was not a beneficiary of any 'Christmas bonus' or 'Christmas gift' or indeed any other gift from the Federal Ministry of Health." That contrary to all the speculations, the Committee was in no way involved in any alleged money sharing.That the Committee, however, acknowledges some funding from the Ministry specifically meant to support the retreat in Ghana which was planned to review and conclude the national Health Policy Bill pending since the last senate.
"This is an Executive Bill (and) the Committee notes that the support of the retreat by the Federal Ministry of Health is totally in consonance with senate Rules (Rule 3 of the Senate Code of Ethics). The rule, on Sponsored Official/Travel Trips, states in 3.1., that senators shall not undertake any official foreign or domestic travel sponsored by individuals, private or corporate organizations unless such travels are in the public interest and will enhance legislative duty. The Senate President must be notified in writing before such trips are undertaken".
"Rule 3.2-Disclose the purpose, sponsors and duration of such travel or trips to the Senate President in writing; Rule 3.2-Submit a written report on any official trip sponsored by the government, individuals, private or corporate organizations to the Senate President within 4 weeks on return. The same rule shall apply to travel by any Senate Committee.
The Committee, in the three-page statement, further justified the Ghana trip, pointing out that it afforded members the opportunity to be involved in brainstorming sessions on the National Health Policy Bill.
According to it, "In addition to brainstorming sessions on the bill, the Committee while in Ghana took advantage of the retreat to interact with the following: Committee on Health of the National Assembly of Ghana, Ghana's Minister of health, Department for International Development (DFID), Ghana, the Ghana opposition spokesman on health, and former President Jerry Rawlings.
"There were also academic and technical contributions by Health consultants, from both Ghana and Nigeria as well as Ministry officials.The Committee claimed that it found the retreat ìto be very productive, informative and educative," adding, "The Committee's action on the Bill was concluded and is now ready for submission to the Senate for further deliberation."
There has been a growing unease within the Committee over the likely disposition of the Senate leadership and the Senate in plenary to the credibility of its defence. It was learnt that some members of the Committee had warned against the Chairman of the Committee leaving any paper trail that would link her to direct receipt of the money when arrangements were concluded in December last year to release it to the Committee.
The then Secretary of the Committee whose name has been kept away from the public domain was asked to sign for and collect the money on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee for the Ghana trip.
Meanwhile, there were feelers that the plan to move a motion calling for the resignation of Senator Obasanjo-Bello as Chairman of the Health Committee is still on course as senators involved in it were said to be perfecting their move.

FEC Approves Strategy for Additional 16,000mw

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the recommendations of the Presid-ential Committee on the Accelerated Expansion of Nigeria’s Electricity Infrastr-ucture.
The measures are intended to increase the electricity supply in the country to 6,000mw in the next 18 months and to add a further 10,000mw by 2011.
Nigeria currently produces a little below 3000mw but needs at least 6000mw to meet current national consumption demand – and at least 10,000mw if the whole country is electrified as only 30 per cent of the population have access to electricity.
Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting yesterday, the Minister of Information and Commu-nication, Chief John Odey, said: “Council in view of the administration’s seven-point agenda as it relates to energy supply and generation, it considered that it is necessary to take measures in the short term and medium term to ensure that additional capacity is generated, transmitted and distributed to consumers.”
The Presidential Committee, after working on its assignment for one month, had reported to President Umaru Musa Ya’Adua that the target of 6,000 additional megawatts within 18 months could be exceeded with the investment of $2.7 billion and with Federal Government’s direct intervention in critical areas.
It also said that 1450 additional megawatts could be realised from existing PHCN plants, 3368 megawatts from ongoing National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), 640 megawatts from the Shell Petroleum Development Company’s Afam/Okoloma Joint Venture and 805 megawatts from Legacy Independent Power Projects.
The governmental interventions sought by the committee include immediate action to implement the Electric Power Reform Act, 2005 and the approval of private sector structured financing with international management oversight of financed assets.
The committee, which reiterated the willingness of the private sector to collaborate with the Federal Government in funding power supply projects, also called for accelerated action on the Multi Year Tariff Order and the Power Consumer Assistance Fund.
Also yesterday, council approved the price variation on the ongoing contract for the rehabilitation of four injection substations providing power to the State House and Asokoro District, by AY Electrick, for the sum of N247,061,920.58.
It approved another award of contract for design, manufacture, supply and installation of 11KV underground cables and overhead lines and 11 RMU in Asokoro Direct in favour of Messrs Renacs Engineering Company Ltd/AK-AY Electrik for the sum of N94,554,169.13.
This brings the total revised coast of the rehabilitation of the four injection-substations providing power to the State House at the cost of N1,104,616,637.70 with a completion period of 12 months.
Council also approved the declaration of cessation clause for the 1,606 Sierra Leonean and 5,528 Liberian refugees remaining in Nigeria and the closure of Oru refugee camp.
“It also approved that the multipartite agreement between the government of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria as well as UNHRC and ECOWAS on Local Integration be forwarded to the President of ECOWAS Commission for possible consideration during the submit of Heads of States and Govern-ments in June 2008 in Abuja with a view to applying it in other parts of the sub-region,” he said.
Odey addressed the press in company with the Minister of State Energy (Power), Mrs Fatimah Balaraba Ibrahim, and the Executive Secretary of National Electricity Regulatory Comm-ission (NERC), Dr. Ransome Owan.

Govt Revokes sale of Ajaokuta Steel Firm, Orders trial of officials

THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday rescinded the concession agreements between the Federal Government and Global Infrastructure (Nigeria) Limited (GIHL) in respect of the Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASCI) and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), accusing the firm of non-compliance and asset-stripping.

In addition, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, after reviewing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC's) interim report on the concessioning/sale of ASCL, NIOMCO and the Delta Steel Company, has ordered the criminal prosecution of indicted officials of the Federal Government and promoters of GIHL for alleged asset-stripping.

Also, the Council directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to establish the amounts of money borrowed by GIHL from Nigerian banks, determine the amounts actually utilised locally and those taken abroad.

FEC had deliberated on the report of the administrative panel of inquiry set up by the Yar'Adua administration to review the concession agreements and determine the extent of compliance by both parties.

The Council, which met till yesterday evening at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, agreed with the finding of the panel that the agreements "were largely skewed in favour of the concessionaire to the detriment of the Federal Government of Nigeria."

The panel had put the statutory obligations outstanding against GIHL at N350 million, saying that instead of investing external funds on the completion of both projects as expected, the firm embarked on massive borrowing from local banks, pledging the assets of the Delta Steel Company as collateral.

It also submitted that following the "massive borrowing" from Nigerian banks, GIHL now owes the banks about $192 million.

The panel said in its report, which was adopted by the Council that "the general impression is that GIHL has been diminishing the values of ASCL and NIOMCO to buoy up its fortunes."

The Special Adviser to the President (Communications), Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, also noted in a statement that "the aforementioned actions notwithstanding, the Federal Government wishes to assure all law-abiding investors of the safety of their investments in Nigeria."

Adeniyi, obviously allaying the fears of investors, reaffirmed the commitment of Yar'Adua to due process, transparency and the rule of law, adding that "the administration will continue to respect the sanctity of all proper and legally-binding agreements."

According to Adeniyi, "the Council also agreed with the panel's conclusion that any benefits that might have accrued to the government and people of Nigeria from the implementation of the agreements have been thwarted by breaches and unwholesome practices by GIHL.

"The Administrative Panel of Inquiry indicted GIHL for breaches of the concessionary agreements, including failure to submit a workable business plan within the specified time-frame, non-payment of concessionary fees as well as the cannibalisation and exportation of plants and equipment.

"In deciding to rescind the agreements, the government also noted that the purported Share Sale Purchase Agreement (SSPA) between it and GIHL in respect of ASCL is technically not in force because the transfer of shares to the buyer was never effected.

"The summary of statutory obligations outstanding against GIHL was put at N350 million. The panel also discovered that instead of investing external funds on the completion of both projects as expected, GIHL embarked on massive borrowing from local banks, pledging the assets of the Delta Steel Company as collateral.

"The panel reported that GIHL currently owes the banks about $192million. "The general impression is that GIHL has been diminishing the values of ASCL and NIOMCO to buoy up their fortunes."

Adeniyi stated that an interim managements would be set up by the Federal Government for the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the National Iron Ore Mining Company pending the determination of all issues arising from the government rescinding the agreements with GIHL."

Also yesterday, the FEC approved the report of the Presidential Committee on the Accelerated Expansion of Nigeria's Electricity Infrastructure on the strategy for increasing the current power generation and supply to 6,000 megawatts (mw) in the next 18 months and an additional 10,000mw by 2011.

Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. John Odey and Minister of State for Energy (Power), Fatimah Balaraba Ibrahim, flanked by Minister of State Information and Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Nakande and the Executive Secretary of National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Ransom Owan, said that "the Council, in view of the administration's seven-point agenda as it relates to energy supply and generation, considered that it is necessary to take measures in the short-term and medium-term to ensure that additional capacity is generated, transmitted and distributed to consumers.

"Therefore, the Council at its meeting approved the measure being put in place to increase the current electricity supply in the country to 6,000 mw in the next 18 months (short-term) and to add a further 10,000mw by 2011 (medium-term) as recommended by the presidential committee."

Inaugurated by the President on February 15, 2008, the committee was charged with formulating strategies to boost Nigeria 's power supply capacity by 6,000 megawatts within 18 months, with an additional 10,000 megawatts by 2011.

The Council also approved the price variation on the on-going contract for the rehabilitation of four injection sub-stations providing power to the State House and Asokoro District, by AY Electrick in the sum of N247,061,920.58 and another award of contract for design, manufacture, supply and installation of 11KV underground cables and overhead lines and 11 RMU in Asokoro District in favour of Messrs Renacs Engineering Coy Ltd/AK-AY Electrik, in the sum of N94,554,169.13. This brings the total revised cost of the rehabilitation of the projects to N1,104,616,637.70 with a completion period of 12 months.

ICPC quizzes Ehindero over N557m police fund

Bozimo at commission's office

IT was yet another case of investigating corruption in high places as two senior officials in the last administration yesterday kept a date with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The officials were former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero and the former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Boderick Bozimo.

Ehindero, who was the first to arrive at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja was interrogated for two hours on how the N557 million meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the police allegedly ended up in his private accounts in two new generation banks.

Bozimo, who was later seen at the ICPC office was summoned by the commission to explain how he allegedly got N17 million from the money.

Prof. Adenike Grange and her Minister of State, Mr. Gabriel Aduku were forced to resign over their alleged involvement in the sharing of N300 million unspent budget of the ministry.

Four directors and the permanent secretary in the health ministry were also suspended. The legislature is not spared. Two committees of the National Assembly are also involved in the scam.

Ehindero, who wore a multi-coloured Agbada of Ankara fabrics stayed with the ICPC operatives from 10.15 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.

According to ICPC officials, Ehindero allegedly admitted that he directed that the funds be paid into his personal accounts in the banks under fixed deposits for four months.

At the expiration of the period, the interest accruing from the money stood at N6.5 million.

In his defence, Ehindero reportedly told his interrogators that the interest was spent on operational expenses by the police.

Anxious journalists, who were waiting at the ICPC office to speak with Ehindero were disappointed when they discovered that he had been allowed out of the building through another exit door.

A source at the ICPC said that Ehindero was interrogated on his involvement in the arms and ammunition funds lodged in his personal account with two different banks and responded that he directed that the money be deposited in his private accounts.

Bozimo was to give details of his alleged share of N17 million of the N27 million purportedly deducted from the N557 million to be paid to the aggrieved contractor, who petitioned the ICPC.

Two directors in the Police Affairs Department of the Ministry of Interior, a deputy director, Alhaji Ibrahim Tumsa and an assistant director, Mr. J.O. Akindele both in accounts were arrested by ICPC on March 14 after which they promised a refund of N10 million they benefited from the loot.

It was learnt that Ehindero had approached the former governor of Bayelsa State now Vice President of the country Goodluck Jonathan to procure arms and ammunition to strengthen security in the state.

But the funds were not utilised until after four months when they were deposited at the two banks in N300 million and N200 million instalments.

The Resident Consultant, Media, Mr. Folu Olamiti who confirmed the development said Ehindero was quizzed by the commission but the details were meant for the consumption of the commission only.

He, however, said that after a thorough appraisal of the investigation, with reference to the ICPC Act, it would be decided a case of prima facie had been established against him and subsequently charged to court.

It was learnt that former President Olusegun Obasanjo directed the defunct Ministry of Police Affairs to oversee the procurement of the arms and ammunition but the supplier who was to be paid N557 million was short-changed N27 million by the two directors now under interrogation.

To deepen its investigation, ICPC said it had gone ahead to pick managers of the banks used for the lodgment of N35.9 million unspent fund of the National Population Commission (NPC's) budget for 2007.

A leading new generation bank cheque of N38.98 million was issued by NPC to the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF)'s office and expected to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Funds but was not reflected in the review of personnel cost of ministries, departments and agencies.

Olamiti said that the directors, Mr. D.A Kifasi, M.L Ajanchukwu, Assistant Director, E.K. Johnson Senior, Accountant and M.A. Vatsa, Accountant 1 arrested over the diversion were yet to be released while the managers of the banks involved were also to face the commission yesterday.

This is the second case of fraud that Ehindero is being linked with.

On June 7, 2007, a Chief Superintendent of Police in the Budget Office and Personal Assistant and driver to the Commissioner of Police (COP) in charge of Budget, Mr. John Obaniyi were caught with N21 million cash said to belong to Ehindero.

After a thorough investigation, Obaniyi was quoted as saying that the money with his personal assistant was being taken to Ehindero as ordered by him.

Investigators of the fraud in their report, concluded that Ehindero, engaged in a "criminal breach of trust with intent to convert the money.

Newly appointed as Ehindero's successor, Mike Okiro, confirmed in the report he sent to the Presidency that the Force Budget Section was infested with shady deals, especially financial misdeeds and pledged to curb the situation.

The report found Obaniyi, guilty of negligence, breach of public trust and intent to conceal the money.

The N21.6 million was contingency fund for the 2007 elections, including operations at tribunals.

Okiro accused Ehindero and Obaniyi of cover-ups in the scandal.

Obaniyi headed Force Budget Section until June 7 when the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) blew the whistle on the scam; after his driver, Elisha Augustine, and personal assistant, Olu Monday, were arrested for illegal movement of cash.

The CIB uncovered large sums stuffed in empty cartons and closed files in a store room, triggering finger-pointing among top police officers. Ehindero equally gave his own excuses, then denied any wrongdoing.

"Further to my interim investigation report ... dated June 15, 2007, I submit to (the President) the investigation report into the case of alleged conspiracy, breach of trust, theft, corrupt practices and stealing by public officers," Okiro said in the report.

"In my earlier report, I had intimated you of the conduct of ... Obaniyi who, against financial regulations, had kept in a store room files and empty cartons containing ... N21,650,000 which should have been lodged in a bank or secured in a safe.

"The erstwhile IG, in his statement to the investigating team, had averred that the said amount should have been a subject of handing and taking over between the outgoing and the incoming CP budget. This non-disclosure of the facts of the sum, even when I confronted him (Ehindero), is tantamount to criminal breach of trust with intent to convert the money".

Obaniyi, on suspension since the start of the sleaze, was accused of negligence, discreditable conduct, and conduct prejudicial to discipline.

Okiro said failure to hand over the money to the new CP Budget - as appropriate - meant that Obaniyi was up to some game.

"(Obaniyi)'s matter would be determined by the Force Disciplinary Committee and obviously shown the way out of the Force, as the Force cannot accommodate such a dishonest officer who has assaulted our rules with impunity.

"However, this recommendation will have to wait for the ratification of the Police Service Commission, which is yet to be reconstituted, following the expiration of the five years mandatory tenure of the former Commission ....

"The case file has been sent to the Legal Department of the Force, to ascertain if there is enough prima facie evidence to activate judicial process against the officer."

The duo were to face prosecution once President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua approved the report of the presidential committee set up to investigate the scam.

Though Ehindero denied that he had anything to do with the fraud, Obasanjo claimed that he had remitted a lot of money in the past to him.

Ehindero was quoted as saying that he would soon be vindicated adding: "I want to say categorically that the truth will surely prevail because those behind the allegation are out to blackmail and discredit one in the eyes of the public."

Their trial is yet to begin 10 months after the indictment.

Imoke Reveals 21 Gas Turbines Rotting Away at Ports

With the halting of work on some sites of the National Integr-ated Power Project (NIPP) as a result of stoppage of payments by the Federal Government since June 2007, 21 gas turbines imported for the generation of electricity are lying idle at three of the nation’s ports – Onne, Warri and Calabar.
The cost of the imported power-generating equipment is estimated at over $300 million and it is feared that they may no longer function optimally because they are not being well-preserved.
They were imported nearly a year ago to be installed immediately but the controversy over NIPP has meant that the turbines are holed up at the ports.
Most of the project sites are not yet ready for the installation of the turbines because only 25 per cent of the amounts have been paid in most cases.
Former Minister of Power and Steel in the Obasanjo administration, Senator Liyel Imoke, now Governor of Cross Rivers State, confirmed this to THISDAY yesterday while fielding questions from THISDAY Board of Editors during his visit to the corporate headquarters of the newspaper in Lagos.
The 21 turbines and other equipment which include generators also daily attract demurrage estimated at millions of dollars, expected to be paid by the Federal Government, except there is a waiver.
It is feared that their manufacturer’s warranty on the equipment may expire if the power projects remain in the state of limbo.
The project has been put on hold for nearly one year now while the House of Representatives Power and Steel Committee has since started probing it.
Imoke further revealed that because of the enormity of the project, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) was asked to work hand in hand with two foreign firms, Panalpina and SDV, with a view to ensuring a clearing of the turbines.
Imoke said that because the equipment were wasting away, the President of Benin Republic recently requested that one of the turbines be sold to his country for its ongoing power project.
“The President of Benin Republic came to meet us and said could we please sell to him because they are trying to get one turbine or two in Benin Republic. He has ordered one from General Electric, but it takes a waiting time of three years to get it delivered,” he added.
He disagreed that the NIPP had failed, contending that if thoroughly implemented and supervised, it was capable of ameliorating the nation’s power woes.
According to him, the projects were conceived to address the critical challenges of the Nigerian power sector and “contrary to insinuations in many quarters it was well conceived”.
The former minister suggested that while continuing with the project, the Federal Government should hold the individual contractors responsible for the successful execution of the projects.
“Anybody who fails to perform could be held responsible,” he said, expressing his delight that the Presidential Committee on the Accelerated Expa-nsion of Nigeria’s Electricity Infrastructure recently submitted its report with a promise that Nigeria could hit 6,000 mw next year.
“Of the 6000mw, 3368 megawatts will come from NIPP according to the committee,” he said. “This shows that NIPP is not a waste as many people tend to suggest. All we need do now is complete the project as time is passing by.”
Meanwhile, Cartlark /Payma Bargh, the consortium handling Ikot-Ekpene and Afam 330/132kv and 132/33kv substations and 330kv and 132 transmission lines, has denied disappearing from sight.
In a paid newspaper advert signed by its Managing Director, Mrs Maryam Sola Akanmode, the contractors said they were “extremely distressed to read the account in various newspapers which insinuated that we disappeared after collecting payments for the Substation and Transmission line projects”.
They said the assessment of their performance “has been based on a regrettable misunderstanding of the nature of the EPC project”
Explaining that EPC stands for Engineering, Procurement and Constr-uction they said an EPC Contract has three distinct but interrelated segments.
Engineering and Procur-ement constitute the lion share of an EPC contract. In some cases, they account for up to 80 per cent of the total contract, they said.
“The amounts released so far for the Project are as follows: (1) 25.288 million Euros being 100% of the cost of Engineering and Equipment Procurement. The Naira equivalent is N2.845 billion (2) N364.493 million being 25% ONLY of the money for Construction, local logistics and transportation to site some of which is actually expanded on the local logistics of procurement such as clearing of goods at Ports.
“The sum of N364.493 million was released for Construction. This is only 25% of the N1.4 billion for this segment. The amount is to cover Preliminaries like soil test, clearing, site facilities, perimeter fencing, civil works, foundation works, logistics (especially clearing of hundred of containers), installation of equipment and commissioning
“It is important to state that if all the N364.493 million released for construction had been fully and adequately utilized it will translate to only 8% of the total project. In other words if the inspection team is only interested in work on site the best performance can show , vis-a –vis the money released, can only translate to 8% of the total EPC contract.
“We acknowledge the fact that the progress on site is behind schedule for several reasons.
The most important reason is the delay in the compensation of the three communities affected by the location of the project. In fact, up till today, the landowners along Afam to Ikot Ekpene transmission line have not been compensated. Another reason is the peculiar process of designing the Substation, especially in view of the fact that our Substation is the Switching Station for where about 10 transmission lines originate or terminate. We are therefore advised to make haste slowly because the precise location of the substation is susceptible to change.
“From the break down earlier stated, the amount released for Procurement and Engineering is 73% of total project cost. The progress made so far is as follows: 90% of Trans-mission Line equipment delivered on site. The balance of 10% is for accessories to be procured after ascertaining precise quantities, 45% of Substation Equipment awaiting clearance at Onne Port, 45% of Substation Equi-pment on the high seas, 10% of Substation Equipment consists of accessories to be procured after ascertaining precise quantities.
“The good thing about procurement is that you cannot conceal the facts. Right from the opening of Letter of Credit, to shipping, to clearing and to storage at site nothing is hidden. We have 120 containers on site, 31 containers at Onne Port, and some on the high seas. Some of the containers on site were delivered over six months ago!
“We therefore still maintain and the Consultant will agree, that in totality, our performance is at least 40% of the EPC contract,” they wrote.

Nigeria's former Army Chief Gen. Bamaiyi Freed after 9 Years

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi was today discharged and acquitted over a four- count charge of attempted murder brought against him by the Lagos state government after nine years in detention.

Bamaiyi who served under the military administration of late General Sani Abacha was arraigned by the Lagos state government of the publisher of the Guardian newspaper, Mr. Alex Ibru, and an eminent Delta state indigene, Mr. Isaac Porbeni.

The former Army Chief in his defence had alleged that he was being framed for not supporting the presidency of retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 after opening his defense on Tuesday at the Ikeja High Court.

General Bamaiyi who was led in evidence by his counsel Idemudia, in his defence had told the court that he objected to the insinuations that his late boss and head of state, that his late boss General Abacha had planned to drop his military garb and continue as a civilian President.

He also objected strongly to the claims that a retired General was to become President after former Head of State, General Abdusalam Abubakar, who supervised the transition civilian rule and handed over to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

General Bamaiyi said he conducted an opinion poll and found out that the image of the military had suffered a serious bashing, as many of the citizens had grown tired of military rule, and had lost respect for soldiers.

He said he had suggested that an experienced civilian, in the person of Chief Olu Falae, should be made to take over the reins of government from General Abubakar at the time, and felt vindicated by his suggestion, as Chief Obasanjo’s government turned out to be the worst in Nigeria’s political history.

General Bamaiyi alleged he was framed in the murder attempts on the lives of prominent Nigerians, because of his lack of support for Obasanjo’s Presidency.

He claimed that as former Lagos Garrison Commander, he never authorised the movement of weapons and specifically debunked Sergeant Rogers’ claims that he gave instructions and handed out weapons for the attempted murder of Alex Ibru, Pat Utomi and Pa Abraham Adesanya.

He denied ever meeting with the star witness and hatch-man Sgt. Rogers or having conspired with Frank Omenka, Al-Mustapha, Rabo Lawal or any of the other accused persons.

The General accused his juniors, of trying to eliminate him for his involved in NADECO activities and insisted that the charges brought against him, was meant to keep him busy and frustrate him for not supporting General Obasanjo’s presidency.

I'm A Kept Woman

2008-04-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

I Am a ' K EPT ' Woman .

You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind,
but GOD

KEPT
me sane.
(Isa. 26:3)

There were times when I thought I could go no longer, but the LORD
KEPT
me moving.
(Gen 28:15)

At t imes, I've wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me
wrong, but the LORD
KEPT
my mouth shut.
(Psa. 13)

Sometimes, I think the money just isn't enough, but GOD has helped me to
KEEP
the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid,
etc.
(Matt. 6:25-34)

When I thought I would fall, HE
KEPT
me up. When I thought I was weak, HE KEPT
me strong!
(I Pet. 5:7, Matt. 11:28-30)

I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you hear me!

Praise the Lord and pass the filet mignon! I'm Blessed to be
KEPT!
Are you, or do you know a
KEPT
Woman?

If so pass it on to her to let her know she is KEPT!

Sad End for Commissioner Enoma-Calus

2008-04-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

It is very said that missing Edo Commissioner Information and Orientation, Barrister Calus Enoma, was found dead in Palm Royal Hotel, in Ugbowo area of Benin, the state capital.

The late commissioner was said to have had a deep cut on his forehead while his body was swollen and stinking at the time police detectives forced the door to his room open on Monday.
He was found dead naked on a bed in the hotel room.

But what i found reckless is the statement by the Special Adviser on Communication to Governor Osunbor, Mr. Tony Ikpasaja, demanding that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the AC should produce Barrister Enoma within 48 hours or face dire consequences. A former Journalist, Ikpasaja should know that you just don't make spurious statement all in the name of politics.

How did the Governor know that Enoma was abducted at a hotel and what was he doing at the murder scene when the corpse was found? This is suspicious and I hope the police will get to the end of this matter.

For the hotel management, how will your guest check into your hotel since friday and did not contact since then not even to ask for water and you did not bother to check out why? Was his room not supposed to be made each day?

According to the police sources, Enoma had driven himself to the hotel on Friday night in a car that bore no security number. He was said to have dropped his police orderly at his residence, where the policeman also lives, before driving out alone.

This too is pregnant. He must of have been lurd out but by who and for what?

Welcome to New Month

2008-04-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,
Is April 1 and the prophetic word this month is that, this is your month of limitless favor. You shall walk over your problems, challenges and above all you will take delivery of God's goodies for you this month. Get up and take charge in Jesus Name because all delays, barriers are off.

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Psalm 105: 14-15

Welcome to the month of April

Obasanjo Again?

2008-03-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

This is incredible o! Will we ever get over the damage of Obasanjo govt on our pysche?

Obasanjo’s Coy In Billion- dollar Contract Deals (Leadership Newspapers)

• Reps to subpoena Nenadi Usman

Iyobosa Uwugiaren

More stinking revelations oozing out from the ongoing probe of the power sector by the House of Representatives suggest that Unistar Hi-Tech System Limited, a company jointly owned by a China-based company and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, got a billion dollar contract from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for the manufacture and supply of prepaid energy metres in the country.

Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited with its registration address at No. 389 Ikorodu Road, Ojota, Lagos State, is owned by Henan Star Hi-Tech Co. Ltd, a China- based company and Unipumps Investment Company Limited, also located at 389 Ikorodu Road, Ojota, Lagos. Unipumps Investment Company Limited, a co-owner of Unistar, was floated on November 4, 2003, by Obasanjo Holdings Limited, located at 56 Quarry Road, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Biacpl FZE, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates based company. Obasanjo, according to LEADERSHIP investigation, has 7,300,000 shares while Biacpl has 2,700,000 shares in the company. Investigations reveal that Unipumps Investments Company Limited, in which Obasanjo has huge business interest, was used as a front to secure the multi-billion dollar contract for Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited.

According to a certified true copy of Memorandum and Article of Association of Unistar Hi-Tech, obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the company was established to, among other things, "take over and manage the agreement and understanding entered into between National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) – now PHCN in Nigeria - and Henan Star Hi-Tech Co. Ltd for the manufacture and supply of prepaid energy metre"; to "establish" own and manage an industry or industries for the manufacture of prepaid energy metres".

The company also has the mandate to "apply Henan Star metre technique and manufacturing equipment in the production, servicing and recharge of prepaid energy metre" in Nigeria, and to "purchase the meters, components and materials" from China. "At present, Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited owned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo is installing prepaid metres, selling, re-charge cards for the prepaid meters across the nation and PHCN staff are not doing anything," source in PHCN said.

Our source added that the huge part of over $16.9 billion collected from the nation’s treasury by the Obasanjo-led regime was diverted to the Unistar Hi-Tech System Limited’s business interest. "If the National Assembly is interested in getting to the root of the enormous problems facing the power sector, it must also look at the activities of Unistar Hi-Tech Systems Limited and the questionable contract it entered into with PHCN," our source added.

Obasanjo’s business fronts, Unistar Hi-Tech System Limited and Unipumps Investment Company Limited, according to LEADERSHIP investigations, were registered at the CAC the same day – November 4, 2003, by same lawyer, Mr. Lucky Onyema Egede of No. 389 Ikorodu Road, Ojota, Lagos Sate.

As indicated in the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Unipumps Investment Company Limited was registered to "carry out business as investment holding company and in that capacity to acquire, buy, hold, trade in shares, stocks, bonds, debentures and treasury bills."

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Power and Steel probing the $16 billion allegedly expended on power between 1999 and 2007 may issue a warrant for the arrest of a former minister of finance, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, anytime this week, for failing to honour the summons of the investigative body.

This is just as the committee commences visits to project sites for an on-the-spot assessment of contract works on power stations across the country.

Chairman of the committee Ndudi Godwin Elumelu had, last Thursday, expressed dismay at the actions of the former minister, who has repeatedly refused to appear before the public hearing to answer questions relating to the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) contracts during her tenure.

Elumelu, at the venue of the public hearing, confirmed that the committee was concerned about the attitude of Mrs. Usman but would still take a decision on her, after the testimony of former solid minerals minister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and former finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

When the duo appeared before the committee last week, Okonjo-Iweala absolved herself of any wrongdoing in the financing of the NIPP and disclosed that Obasanjo approved due process waivers for the projects.

Dr. Ezekwesili, for her part, faulted the due process waiver granted by her former boss, noting that due process has no provision for waivers and she never supported it.

LEADERSHIP learnt yesterday that the committee has resolved to subpoena Mrs. Usman since she has consistently refused to honour its invitation. Although the chairman could not be reached on phone, a member of the committee confirmed to our correspondent that a warrant will be issued this week for her arrest.

The member said: "You know, we have to finish this assignment so that we can submit the report to the House for deliberation. So, no individual will be allowed to weigh us down. If she does not respond this week, we will invoke the relevant portions of the constitution.

"I am sure you know what sections 88 and 89 of the constitution says. This committee has the power to invite anybody to come and give evidence and if one fails to submit himself or herself, we also have the powers to get the person arrested."

Section 89(1)(d) of the 1999 empowers the National Assembly to "issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any person who, after having been summoned to attend, fails, refuses or neglects to do so and does not excuse such failure, refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the House or the committee in question, and order him to pay all costs, which may have been occasioned in compelling his attendance or by reason of his failure, refusal or neglect to obey the summons, and also to impose such fine as may be prescribed for any such failure, refusal or neglect; and any fine.

Graft: Health Minister, Deputy Forced to Resign

2008-03-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Graft: Health Minister, Deputy Forced to Resign
• Grange, Aduku, Iyabo Obasanjo, Ojomo face arrest
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 03.26.2008

Add To Favorites
Print This Article
Post Comment

The Minister of Health, Prof. Adenike Grange, and the Minister of State for Health, Mr. Gabriel Aduku, have been forced to resign from their positions by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua following allegations of graft.
They are both expected to be arrested today by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preparatory to their prosecution.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello – daughter of former president Olus-egun Obasanjo – and her House of Representatives counterpart, Dr. Alaba Ojomo Oladoyinbo, are also expected to be arrested today by the anti-graft body in preparation for prosecution.
Both legislators were reportedly indicted in the EFCC investigations into the allegations of graft in the Ministry of Health.
A disgruntled staff in the Federal Ministry of Health, who was said to have felt cheated in the sharing of a N300 million Christmas bonus last month, had petitioned the EFCC on financial impropriety in the ministry.
It was later discovered that a lot of money had gone out of the system through rushed contracts and a rash of conferences, thought to be a clever way of spending the unspent budget and avoiding returning it to the treasury as directed by the President.
Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, told State House correspondents yesterday that the President had accepted the resignations of the ministers.
THISDAY had gathered from a source last weekend that Grange, a former director of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) who was among those named ministers in July 2007, was given the option of voluntary resignation or sack by President Yar’Adua.
Grange, who wore a navy blue skirt suit with a lemon green flowered scarf round her neck, walked briskly alongside Aduku, who wore a peach colour babanriga with a red cap to match, out of the Villa after dropping their resignation letters.
While Aduku smiled and waved to the pressmen, Grange tried to keep a straight face, clutching her black handbag tightly.
Adeniyi said both ministers were leaving the Federal Executive Council (FEC) following charges of corruption brought against them by the EFCC.
“It is expected that without the burden of their ministerial duties, they will be better placed to respond to the charges against them.
“President Yar’Adua has also ordered the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Ebele Okeke, to direct that the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Prof. Simon Ogamdi, the Director of Administration, Dr. H.B. Oyedepo and the Director of Finance, Hanafi Muh-ammed, who participated in the subversion of his directive on the return of unspent Budget 2007 funds to the Treasury should proceed on immediate suspension in accordance with extant civil service rules pending further disciplinary action by government.
“Another Director, Mr. M.S. Hamid, a Chief Accountant, Abdulrahaman Ambali, a Principal Administrative Officer, Mr. Donald Ekanem, a Principal Transport Officer, Mr. Donatus Iyang and seven other civil servants in the Ministry were also affected by the suspension order.
“The Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal, is to oversee the affairs of the Federal Ministry of Health until further notice,” Adeniyi said.
An aide to Grange had disclosed that the President felt betrayed by her actions of not obeying the directive to return all unspent budget to the treasury.
The source said Yar’Adua had refused to buy her excuse that she was misled by the civil servants she worked with.
The N300 million that was to be returned to the treasury from the 2007 budget was said to have been converted to Christmas bonuses.
Some members of the National Assembly are said to have recieved N10 million each.
The source said: "The money was meant for staff as end of year bonuses. The lowest staff on grade level 04 was expected to be given N175,000. Deputy directors and directors were to receive N2.5 million and N3.5 million respectively.
"But an assistant director decided to slash the money to N40,000 for the lowest staff, that is grade level 04. Those on grade level 13 who were supposed to receive N500,000 were however given something far less. But that of the directors were not touched.
"About N195 million remained unutilised and was passed on to those on the top, who reportedly pinched a little and directed that the money be distributed among the staff of the ministry.
"The aggrieved staff from the department of finance who saw the approval and sharing formula petitioned the EFCC and attached the payment voucher."

How Clean is Grange Hands?

2008-03-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Former Minister of Health, Prof. Adenike Grange, yesterday said her sudden exit was “due to recent events” in the ministry, but maintained that while she accepted responsibility for what happened during her brief tenure, she was not accepting guilt since she was not the chief accounting officer of the ministry.
If her hands are cleans how come she returned N14 million to the coffers?

“I am leaving this cabinet because I consider my dignity, reputation and legacy - values that I have worked hard for and hold dearly. I am returning to my unblemished career which I have assiduously laboured for over the years with resounding success nationally and internationally and to the business of which I am familiar with – saving the lives of mothers and children across Nigeria and the world in general".

Unblemishe career? who is she deceiving? Herself i suppose. Her name will always be synonimous with fraud henceforth until she goes down to the grave. She will be hunted by this single act of greed because she had all the time in the world to say no but choose to follow the beautiful road that leads to destruction. She must now realise that good name is better than gold nor silver.

Hear her:
“As a professional and a technocrat, I must admit that the level of decay and corruption within the Ministry and the whole Nigerian system as we all know glaringly need to be decisively tackled and purged".

But the very first chance she had to implement that she choose to join the bandwagon.

"I saw my invitation to serve on this cabinet as an opportunity for professionals to join in the extirpation and re-engineering of the whole system to move this great country forward expediently.
“I wish to clearly state that while I am not the chief accounting officer to the ministry; the fact is that the recent episode involving contracts and welfare packages happened under my leadership for which I accept responsibility but not the blame".

B4 nko na me she go blame?

"However my acceptance of responsibility should not be misconstrued as an admission of guilt but rather a path of honour for lapses and intrigues under my watch for which I unfortunately was not well versed in,” Grange said.

Good raddiance to bad rubbish.