Security: Jonathan lacks political will, says Afenifere

BY DAYO JOHNSON
AKURE—THE Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, yesterday expressed concern over the state of the nation and asked President Goodluck Jonathan to deal with the myriads of problems threatening the continued existence of Nigeria with “a strong political will irrespective of whose ox is gored.”
In a statement by its leader, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, in Akure, the group said it was disturbed “and constrained to call your attention to the situation for a quick redress before anarchy takes over and the state machinery grinds to a halt.”

Independence: FG declares Oct 3 public holiday

BY VICTORIA OJEME
ABUJA—The Federal Government has announced Monday, October 3, as public holiday to mark Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary, a statement from the Ministry of Interior said Monday.
The statement signed by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji S.B Ozigis, on behalf of the Minister, also wished all Nigerians a blissful independence anniversary celebration.
It quoteACd President. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as urging all Nigerians to continue to fervently pray for enduring peace and progress in the country.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/independence-fg-declares-oct-3-public-holiday/

Amosun swears in first female Chief Judge

ABEOKUTA—Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Monday, called on the Bar, Media, Civil Society Organisations, religious bodies and other stakeholders to rise in the defence of a strong and virile judiciary that will stand the test of time.
The governor who spoke while swearing-in the first female Chief Judge of the State, Justice Olatokunbo  Olopade, charged the new Chief Judge “to provide the right kind of leadership for the State Judiciary and come up with innovative ways of improving the delivery and administration of justice in the state
Amosun who used the occasion to explain that the state had no intention of taking over any school but to ensure that every child in the state had access to education.
, reminded the new Chief Judge, her that “as the very first female Chief Judge of Ogun State, she has become a pioneer and an ambassador to a segment of our population that she cannot afford to disappoint.”
According to the governor, but for the action of the government, about 23,000 children would not have been able to resume school this term.
Amosun told Justice Olopade had inherited from other renowned legal practitioners and jurists a tradition of eminence which she must sustain.
The governor commended the meritorious service of the former Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Oluremi Jacobs, to the state and promised to strengthen the independence of the third arm of the government in the interest of the citizens.
Governor Amosun expressed concern over the recent happenings in the Judiciary at the highest level, saying that they had “far-reaching implications on the confidence of the average Nigerian in our judiciary.”
The government, according to the governor, did not increase tax payable by the civil servants “even by one per cent”. “What we have done is to ensure that everybody in the state complies with the PAYE law, which is a federal statute.”
He explained that workers were not paying the right tax under the previous administration because the latter was not paying the salaries of workers in full.
“Now that we pay in full, even above the National Minimum Wage, it is imperative for all of us to pay our tax in line with the law,” he said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/amosun-swears-in-first-female-chief-judge/

Rep seeks N800bn lifeline for federal roads

By LEKE ADESERI, South-West Regional Editor
LAGOS—Federal House of Representatives has started addressing the terrible state of federal roads nationwide.
Towards this end, Speaker of the House, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, has referred a  motion on the important issue to the House Committee on Works for proper harmonisation and report back to it.
Kick-starting the debate on the need for the House to address the sufferings of Nigerians who use the roads,  Hon. Sunday Steve Karimi, representing Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State, made a case for a Special Intervention Fund in a motion of urgent national importance moved on the floor of the chamber last Wednesday.
He said there must be an urgent move for the creation of an N800 billion Special Intervention Fund to be injected into the reconstruction, expansion and maintenance of the roads, as a way out of the terrible road situation in the country.

Troubling news from Africa

Dan Simpson

Now there are pirates to the west and unrest in the south

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

By Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Africa appears to be in the process of throwing up two new alarming problems, one of them piracy on the west coast, to add to that already rampant on the east coast, and generational fracturing within South Africa's ruling party.

A third disturbing problem is that the approach to Africa by the administration of President Barack Obama is becoming increasingly dominated by the U.S. military, in the form of the U.S. Africa Command, created in 2008 during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

Nigeria to establish World class Cement Plant next year

By Favour Nnabugwu
Nigeria will next year establish a world class cement plant, Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga has said. Aganga told journalists in Abuja weekend during an interactive session with Commissioners of Commerce and Industry in the country that the establishment of the cement plant would not only create job opportunity for the Nigeria teeming youths, but would as well strengthen  the nation’s economy.
The minister though emphasized on closer collaboration with other ministries and relevant agencies, said this will fast track the transformational agenda of Mr. President on the nation’s development.
In his words: “I want to emphasis here that rather than being jack of all trade, we must focus on areas where we have comparative advantage and develop them to  world’s level. About 95 per cent limestone is used in cement production and this we have in abundance in this country. That is why the Federal Government is doing everything possible to ensure that come next year, Nigeria will establish the largest cement plant in the whole world.”

London 2012 Olympics: Minister wants Egbunike on a long term contract

By Tony Ubani, Maputo
Sports Minister, Yussuf  Suleiman has given his consent to hire ex-international, Innocent Egbunike on a long term contract that would see him revive and rekindle Nigeria’s athletic prowess of old.
Egbunike was brought to Maputo, Mozambique to assess the performance of athletics and do an appraisal to the National Sports Commission which in turn would assess him through his works to see if he merits being contracted to be part of the technical heads to tinker athletics for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Athletics redeemed Nigeria and accounted for 10 gold medals that lifted Team Nigeria from its 8th position in the medals table. But the times returned by the athletes were no where near what those who would run at the Olympics return.

Blame Boko Haram on judicial corruption – NBA

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday, insisted that the root cause for the Boko Haram menace was the inability of the judiciary to provide authentic, credible and realistic justice to Nigerians.
The association in an address it presented before the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher in Abuja, equally maintained that, “there is a growing perception backed up by empirical evidence that justice is purchasable and it has been purchased on several occasions in Nigeria”, adding that “no wonder why assassination, unresolved killings and terrorism are on the rise.”
While tasking the new CJN to redeem the battered image of the judiciary with a view to regaining the confidence of Nigerians on its integrity, the NBA, observed that Justice Musdapher, took over the mantle of leadership of the judicial sector, “at a time when the credibility and image of the justice delivery system has been severely dented.”

WHO to certify Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

THE World Health Organisation, WHO, and other international agencies have concluded plans to certify Nigerian Pharmacuetical manufacturers so that it can embrace global standards and best practices.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, the Chairman, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, PMGMAN, Mr. Bunmi Oloapa said many positive developments have occurred in the sector.

This, he said, include the recent commissioning of two new factories by Juhel Nigeria Limited in Awka, Anambra State and May & Baker Pharma centre in Ogun state.

He said Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Health has secured technical assistance from WHO/UNITAD towards attaining WHO pre-qualification.

Eight Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers are benefitting in the first phase. This was a major breakthrough which will facilitate the process of attaining international certifications for Nigerian companies.

Apart from WHO/UNUITAD, Olaopa said technical assistance from other partners such as West African Health \organisation, WAHO, and United Nations Development Organisation, UNIDO, are expected.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/who-to-certify-nigerian-pharmaceutical-manufacturers/

Why The Terrorists Are Winning In Nigeria -TheNEWS

Posted: September 18, 2011 - 14:45

Posted by siteadmin

caption: National Security Adviser, Andrew Owoeye Azazi

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja

 Mutual suspicion and lack of cooperation among the intelligence agencies are reasons for Nigeria’s failure to curb activities of terrorists.

‘Jonathan may be Nigeria’s last president’

Northern Killings: After 20 yrs  research, Rev Thompson declares: Jonathan may be  Nigeria’s last president
Reverend Oladimeji (Ladi)P. Thompson, founder and Senior Pastor of Lagos-based Living Waters Unlimited Church has, for over 20 years, followed the activities of terror groups in the North. He is also the international co-ordinator of Macedonian Initiative, a non-government, non-denominational organization established to provide succour to Christians persecuted because of their belief in Jesus Christ.
Immediately after the UN House bombing, our SAM EYOBOKA and UDUMA KALU approached him for his comment and the answer is that Boko Haram may break up Nigeria. Excerpts:
You said since 2000 you have a clear vision…
First of all, my warning was to the church leadership . I moved on to the secular world and I found out that it’s going to be difficult, so I did not go there any more. But the truth is that Goodluck Jonathan may be the last president of Nigeria. When I was saying this, they sounded very far fetched to believe.

Man survives attack by ‘assassins’ sent by wife

By Ifeanyi Okolie
For 43-year-old Vincent Omeje, this was not what he bargained for when he tied the knots with his wife, Chidera twelve years ago. The Nsukka, Enugu State- born trader was attacked by five armed men who stormed his apartment at No. 10, Awka-Etiti Street, Comfort Obot, Kirikiri, Lagos and gave him a beaten of his life. In fact, his attackers left him to die from serious injuries he sustained thereafter.

4 policemen accused of stealing N5m from Bureau de Change operator

Ikeja – A Bureau de Change operator  at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Alhaji Isiaka Tahir, on Friday accused four police men of  stealing his 20,000 pounds (about N5million).
Tahir in Lagos on Friday, said the incident happened on Thursday  while the  police men were from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
He said  his employee was stopped by a team of  RRS personnel  at about 11.00 a.m at the access gate of the domestic wing of the airport.
Tahir, whose  office is at the Hajj Camp, said he gave the employee the 20,000 pounds to deposit in his (Tahir) account at the Allen Avenue branch of  AfriBank,.
“On his way to the bank, I put a call through to him that he should return back to the office for me to add additional 450 pounds.

15 die of gastro-enteritis in Sokoto

BY ABDALAH EL-KUREBE
Sokoto – Fifteen people have so far died as a result of an oubreak of gastro-enteritis in six villages in Wurno Local Government of Sokoto State in the last 20 days.
Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Shehu Chacho who revealed this in an interview told Vanguard that the local government council had spent about N1.3 million on procurement of assorted drugs and water treatment chemicals for use in the affected areas.
Chacho said that the affected villages included Tungar-Dankawu, Ruga, Kagara, Mahici, Lahodu and Gidan-Bango.
According to him, about 336 cases were reported in the villages before the situation was brought under control. He added that the state government as well as Doctors Without Borders (Medicines Sans Frontiers –MSF) complemented efforts in bringing the situation under control.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/15-die-of-gastro-enteritis-in-sokoto/

Cholera: 11 dead out of 947 cases -Oyo Govt

BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN-OYO State Government Wednesday said the total number of suspected cholera cases so far reported was 947 with 11 dead, saying Oyo North Senatorial District had the largest number of victims.
This came as the immediate past governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala accused the government of negligence over the cholera epidemic ravaging the state for about six weeks.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Bosun Oladele and the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Lateef Olopoeniyan, who made the clarification, explained that to curtail the spread the government fumigated all the affected areas and sent intravenous fluid to affected persons.

Pupil sues teacher for N500m

By Gabriel Enogholase
BENIN—A 10-year-old primary four pupil of Okhoro Primary School, Okhoro, Benin, Edo State (names withheld) has instituted a N500 million suit against her teacher, Mrs. Mercy Iyobosa, before a Federal High Court, Benin, for allegedly beating her with a broom, which caused blindness in her left eye, over failure of a Mathematics test.
Joined as defendants in the suit are Edo State Universal Basic Education Commission, SUBEB; Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEB, Edo State Government, and Egor Local Government Education Board.

Kano workers on strike over minimum wage

Kano- Government activities in Kano State were paralysed Monday following an indefinite strike embarked upon by workers over the non payment of the new minimum wage.
The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, on September 9, directed all employees of the state to embark on an indefinite strike on Monday over the non implementation of the new National Minimum Wage law by the government.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, found that workers at Audu Bako Secretariat complex failed to come to work as its gates were locked.

Japhet, mother of 2 wins 3 medals for Nigeria

By Jacob Ajom
Nigeria began camping for canoeing in June ahead of the 10th All Africa Games. The camp was in Calabar, Cross River State. It was a quiet venture as the sport is relatively new in the country, despite the enormous coast line and numerous communities that either live near water or are locked in riverine areas.
When the Games started in Maputo, Mozambique on September 3, nobody gave the country’s contingent a chance to win anything in the sport. But Nigeria pulled the biggest surprise at the games when her contingent won one silver and two bronze medals at the end of the competition.
One woman made that possible. Little known Lilian Japhet, from Ondo State was the lone winner who bagged the three medals for Nigeria. She was surprised at her achievement.
Soft spoken and somewhat reserved, Lilian was hesitant when this reporter demanded to speak with her. But she eventually succumbed to the reporter’s persistence on speaking with her. Lilian’s story is as interesting as her present status.

Drying Lake Chad puts 30m lives on edge

Monday, 05 September 2011 00:00 Adeola Ajakaiye, Kano

Lake Chad, one of the largest boddies of water in Sub-Saharan Africa, is on the verge of drying up, as only 1,500 square kilometres,  of the original 25,000 square kilometres size of the lake still remain.
The figure represents 10 percent of the initial size of the lake, which traverses Nigeria and three other neighboring countries - Chad , Niger , and the Republic of Cameroon.
The lake, which banks in Nigeria , in the north-astern state of Borno, with Maiduguri as its administrative capital, is said to share similar hydrological basin with four other countries: Central African Republic, Algeria , Sudan and Libya.

Experts are of the view that at the rate at which the lake is shrinking, it might become mere dry land in the next 20 years.

Data obtained from the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), a multilateral agency, established by countries sharing the body of water, to manage its resources, revealed that before now, the lake covered an area larger than Israel.

“This is a staggering prospect when it is remembered that at the time of Nigeria `s political independence, the lake covered an area larger than the size of the state of Israel . Today only less than 10 percent of that size remains.

“If Lake Chad dries up, 30 million people will have no means of livelihood, and that is a big security problem because of growing competition for smaller quantities of water.
“Poverty and hunger will increase, when there is no food to eat, there is bound to be violence” Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, immediate past Executive Secretary of the organisation, said recently.

11 killed again in Jos

By Taye Obateru
Jos: The serial killings in Plateau State continued unabated as 11 people were again murdered in cold blood in separate attacks on villages in Jos North and Jos South local government areas on Sunday night.

Seven people were killed and three injured at Zallaki village near Babale in Jos North Local Government Area while four people, including a 74-year-old man, his wife and two grandchildren were murdered in the same circumstance at Dabwak near Kuru in Jos South Local Government Area. Ten others were injured in nearby Farin Lamba in the local government.

The attackers suspected to be Fulani men and allegedly backed by some people in uniform stormed the two villages between 8 and 10pm shooting sporadically and hacking down those who tried to escape. Two buildings were torched during the attack on Zallaki.

Policemen displaying the bomb found at the Riyom Market in Jos

Nigeria deports 115 illegal aliens

No fewer than 115 illegal immigrants have been deported from Kano amid increased security after an attack on UN building, Abuja, an official said Monday.

Authorities, however, declined to comment on whether the deportations were linked to the August 26 bomb attack or other violence blamed on Boko Haram.
“We have so far repatriated 115 illegal aliens from five West African countries that have been staying without valid papers despite repeated calls for them to document their stay with the immigration service,” Umar Nasir, spokesman for the Nigeria Immigration Service in Kano, told AFP.
The expelled immigrants were from Niger, Chad, Togo, Cameroon and Benin, Nasir said.
“The repatriation exercise, which will be a continuous process, followed the expiration of the three-month window period granted all illegal aliens from the sub-region to legalise their stay by registering with the immigration service,” Nasir said.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201109062322648

Robbers kill two varsity students

Two students of the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State, were on Sunday night killed by suspected armed robbers.

University authorities said the students went to the Jimeta main market, about 14 kilometres from the main campus of the AUN to buy suya when they were attacked.

A statement on Monday by the President of the university, Dr. Margee Ensign, gave the names of the deceased as Mr. Levi Yusuf and Mr. Abaagu Charles.

“The students were attacked and killed by armed robbers on Sunday night of September 4 at a suya spot near the Jimeta main market in Yola, capital of Adamawa State,” the statement said.

Ensign was quoted as saying she was “deeply saddened by the untimely death of the two students in the prime of their lives.”

The bandits were said to have fled with a vehicle belonging to one of the students.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201109062354718

Nigeria sees first iron ore output in 2012

Nigeria expects the first significant iron ore production next year from its Itakpe iron ore deposits as it looks to reduce its dependence on oil and gas revenues, Dr Olusegun Aganga disclosed in Australia over the weekend.
“Unfortunately, once we found oil, all the attention went to oil and we neglected (other areas)… mining is one of the key areas that we want to diversify into,” Olusegun Aganga, minister of trade and investment, told Reuters at a mining conference in Perth, Australia.

Shell to invest $200m on shale project in South Africa

Cape Town – Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to invest $200 million in shale gas exploration in South Africa. It is, however, facing tough opposition from farmers and environmental supporters over ecological concerns.
The Anglo Dutch supermajor wants to explore for shale gas in the semi-arid Karoo region, currently under a moratorium on oil and gas exploration licenses introduced in April over ecological concerns.
Jan Willem Eggink, general manager of upstream ventures for Shell’s South African unit, addressed journalists in Cape Town on Thursday to present details of the company’s proposals.
Eggink said he believed South Africa could have at least half of an estimated 485 trillion cubic feet of trapped shale gas, enough to be commercially viable and allow the country to become energy self-sufficient for decades to come.

Jonathan’s 100 days in office: Insecurity level is unacceptable

By Okey Ndiribe, Laide Akinboade & Ebun Sessou
As President Goodluck Jonathan prepares to mark his first 100 days in office, prominent Nigerians from different backgrounds and sections of the country have delivered a strong verdict on his administration; the level of insecurity in the country is unacceptable.

Although some of those interviewed also identified corruption and lack of a clear political focus as contributory factors to the prevailing scenario across the nation, they also insisted that protection of the welfare and security of Nigerians as enshrined in the Constitution was the primary responsibility of government.

NJC legally right on Justice Salami

With the partisan, vociferous solidarity of Nigerian Bar Association, Civil Society Organisations, vocal lawyers, activists, journalists, students, public affairs commentators, politicians, etc., for Justice Isa Ayo Salami, the suspended President of the Court of Appeal; taking a contrary stance on the matter would appear somewhat ill-advisedly suicidal.

That notwithstanding, I have decided, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, or any fear of contradiction, to examine the legal issues emanating from the imbroglio between the National Judicial Council, the retiring Chief Justice of Nigeria Hon Justice Katsina-Alu, President Goodluck Jonathan on the one hand and Justice Ayo Salami and his crop of legal and political supporters on the other.

For clarity, and a proper understanding of the issues and arguments, my preference here is to respond to the collated arguments and submissions on the issues seriatim in the manner appearing hereunder.

KATSINA-ALU & SALAMI

I saw death but God didn’t allow me to die – Paulina, woman bathed with acid by ex-lover

*This story contains a gory photo some may consider offensive, please be warned.

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South & Akpokona Omafuaire
THIRTY-EIGHT year-old Ms. Paulina Oghenemere, an indigene of Kokori in Ethiope –East Local Government Area of Delta State, fasted and prayed  on  August 27, 2010, to cast away the demon tormenting her life. Yet, it was the devil in her green-eyed  lover, a father of four, simply identified as Mr. Difference,  that knocked on her door at 5 a.m. the next day,  and since that ill-fated Thursday when he poured a substance, believed to be concentrated hydrochloric acid, on  her face, Paulina’s life has never remained the same.
From what Sunday Vanguard saw of Paulina, the beautiful woman  who men found irresistible  was a shadow of her  former  self after she was discharged from University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Benin City, two months ago. She spent  a year in the acid victims’ ward. When Sunday Vanguard visited her home, she fumbled about her sitting room, unable to see, but eager to welcome the team. What  came to mind was man’s inhumanity to man.
Today, Paulina, a divorcee and mother of two, needs a lifeline of  N10 million to restore her dignity.

Nigeria earns $612m from sale of sesame seeds – Minister

BY PETER DURU
MAKURDI – Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom yesterday said Nigeria earned $612.7 million from the exportation of sesame seeds as the leading global producer of the commodity in 2010.
Ortom spoke at the flag off of promotion on ‘’increasing sesame seed production for export,’’ by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC.
He said the sesame seed promotion was part of government’s action to boost non-oil export in the country, even as he acknowledged that Nigeria’s foreign earinings from non-oil exports increased tremendously in the last three years.

The best presidents Nigeria ever had

They are both retired military generals and septuagenarians. They are both Grand Commanders of the Federal Republic. They both enjoyed the rare privilege of ruling the Giant of Africa for as many years as the greatest and best achieving American president ever had no privilege to surpass.
They are the most talked-about former leaders the country has had. They are the most active controversy generators in the land. Uncle Sege and Uncle Ibro! They are the best presidents Nigeria ever had.
Going by what each of them thinks of himself in comparison to the other (and others), that is, Olusegun Obasanjo became a General in the Nigerian Army a decade before Ibrahim Babangida attained that rank. The former also tasted the goody-goody of the State House about that same length of time before the latter. That, by secondary school tradition, should normally make IBB address OBJ as Senior Segun. IBB, on the other hand, became president (executive or self-proclaimed) a whopping 14 years before OBJ. Senior Ibrahim!

Gunmen kidnapped Bayelsa monarch

By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa
The peace of the Atissa Kingdom was Thursday night violated by unknown gunmen who abducted the Ebeni Ibe of Atissa Kingdom, HRM, King Godwin Igodo.
Vanguard learnt that the incident occurred between 9.30 and 10pm at the riverside settlement of Obogoro in the Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa when most of his subjects had retired to bed.
The serene settlement is less than five minutes ride by boat from mainland Yenagoa, the state capital.
The royal father in his seventies witnesses told Saturday Vanguard had also retired to bed when he was unceremoniously whisked away from his residence by the armed gunmen suspected to be commercial kidnappers.