The newly registered All Progressive Congress (APC) has a warning for Nigerians: President Goodluck Jonathan’s purported re-election bid ahead of 2015 general elections may destroy the country.

“He (President Jonathan) treats national issues with levity. All he is concerned about is his third term. He has reduced Nigeria to kindergarten governance. This is dangerous and may destroy the nation”, Interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Adebisi Akande, said yesterday. He added: “Jonathan is the most powerful President in the world. He has all the powers arrogated to him, yet he is asking for more”.

Akande, a former governor of Osun State, buttressed his claim that the President is unfit for re-election with the allegation that he wrote two letters to the President as the National Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, on national issues, but Jonathan failed to reply.

“I did not see President Jonathan as a serious-minded person. Nigeria’s problem today is Jonathan. I wrote him twice when I was in office as National Chairman of the ACN on issues bordering on the state of the nation and, till date, he did not acknowledge the letters not to talk of replying”, the APC leader, who spoke while fielding questions from journalists on the state of the nation in Ila Orangun, Osun State, said.

He likened President Jonathan’s style of governance to that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying the President keeps harassing anybody that stands on his way with anti-graft or security agencies.

Akande noted that the political crisis in Rivers State was as a result of the President’s ambition to remain in office beyond 2015.

On the quality of the person to flag the APC presidential ticket in the 2015 election, he said, “We want a thinking leadership in this country and not a kindergarten leader like Jonathan.”

The APC leader denied media reports that his party was not keen about the 2015 presidential election,saying he was misquoted.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/jonathans-2015-bid-may-destroy-nigeria-apc/

For many Nigerians who came to Lagos with the dream of making it in life and achieving economic success at the end, this may not happen.

Hopes could be dashed, a lot of people are embittered by frustration and disappointment. The journey back home empty-handed can be difficult and unimaginable. Emeka, 17, was one of those youths not in the mould of trying to acquire even basic education but to trade and do business. Lagos therefore, seemed the ideal city to stay. He came, thinking that all that glitters is gold. But Emeka misjudged the situation.
His story is typical. He moved to Lagos in 2010 in search of greener pasture. After taking odd jobs all to no avail, he started hawking snacks and later soft drinks; dashing in between commercial buses during traffic along highways.

He lost everything at the end with nowhere to go. Emeka, from one of the Igbo-speaking South-East states, was caught wandering with some other young persons, arrested by officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI). They were taken to rehabilitation centres established by the Lagos State government with facilities to learn some skills and vocational trades.

Suddenly, in the early morning of Wednesday, 24, July, 2013, many of these young people of various ages already detained for nearly six months in Ikorodu, for alleged wandering and other minor offences by KAI officials were taken into buses escorted by anti-riot policemen and driven down to Onitsha. They were allegedly dumped at Upper Iweka bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.

This action enraged many people and caused national uproar. This was not the first time that suspected miscreants, beggars, destitute, mentally-retarded have been rounded up and sent to their states of origin, sometimes, after due consultations with affected state governments.The rationale for such actions seemed to be the determination of the Lagos State government to clean up the city in the bid of creating a mega city in the likes of Rio de Janeiro, New York, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Beijing, etc.

Explaining the action taken, the Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Youths and Social Development, Dr. Enitan Badru was reported saying the action stemmed out of the effort to re-unite the affected persons with their families. Since January, 2013, about 1,708 beggars and destitutes had been expelled to their various states and countries in a bid to rid Lagos streets of beggars and the mentally-challenged.

According to Badru, “the end result is to re-unite them with their families. We are not repatriating them out of Lagos, we are re-uniting them with their families because once we rescue them, we cannot as a government hold a child under age of 18 years in custody without parental or guardian’s consent.”

In the last one year, 3,114 beggars, destitutes and mentally challenged have been rescued in day and night operations, while about 2,695 were taken to Rehabilitation and Training Centre, Owutu, Ikorodu, where the government has provided them with skills to live a better life.

However, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, did not see it this way. He petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan, describing the action as the latest callous act in which Lagos State did not even bother to consult with Anambra State authorities before deporting 72 persons considered to be of Igbo extraction to Anambra, saying it is illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant violation of human rights of these individuals and of the Nigerian constitution.

But responding, Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola described the controversy trailing the decision to send some people back to their towns and cities as political.

His words: “It is unfortunate that my colleague governor has made this a media issue. As I speak, I haven’t received any telephone call or letter from him to complain. I don’t think that is the way government works. On less important matters, he had called me before.”

He added: “This is a political season and Anambra will be up for contest. And in a political season, unusual things happen. It is really important to say that our hospitality in Lagos State is legendary.”

Fashola acknowledged that there is a large Igbo community in the state and they are doing their businesses peacefully. “There is too much at stake for anyone to begin to incite the Igbo community against their host state”.

He said that the relationship between the Igbo and the Lagos State government would not break because of the issue, as the government and the residents had a strong bond. The Lagos State governor said he hoped that commonsense will prevail here.

Our investigation showed that Lagos had been a “safe haven” for the Igbos in the country. They constitute the largest population apart from the Yoruba in the state with plenty of business interest and property. Most of them had been voting for the popular candidate chosen by the people of Lagos State in all the governorship elections since the advent of democracy in 1999.

Even the Igbo had been enjoying the goodwill and patronage of Lagos State government with many of them employed in teaching and other government jobs. There is an Igbo in the State Executive Council presently while a new housing project built by the government was named after Emeka Anyaoku, the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

However, this crisis of sending the Igbo to re-unite with their families, whether done in good faith or not, has raised fundamental constitutional issues as regards to indigene and settler relationship which had caused dispute in several states of the federation. For instance, the Fulani herdsmen and natives in Plateau State had led to persistent ethnic clashes and wanton killings and massive destruction of properties.

There were also the Ife/Modakeke clashes in Osun State and the Itsekiri/Urhobo and Ijaw ethnic disturbances in the recent past. All these crises had tended to disrupt the peace and unity of the country, threatening the corporate existence of our nation.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/deportation-by-lagos-state-govt-no-place-like-home-at-the-end/

HUNDREDS of underage children in Ogun State recently embarked on a protest against the Senate endorsed controversial child marriage bill, vowing to go on hunger strike if the lawmakers failed to retrace their steps and jettison the idea.
Leading her colleagues drawn from different parts of the state, 13-year-old Pascalyne Ogbuli, submitted thus: “We do not wish to grow up and tell our young daughters that we were forced into early marriage and that same fate awaited them because there is a law that supports it.
“It is shameful that the Senate with people that children respect and aspire to be like, could even consider a law saying our childhood and innocence could be taken away, and education destroyed in exchange for a bride price, and that we (kids) could be sold as slaves to early marriage.


“To this end, we, the Nigerian children, demand a national apology from the Nigerian Senate for belittling our child right and wilfully deliberating and considering the stamping of early marriage in Nigeria. And if we die telling our leaders that our education and our future count more than an early marriage, so be it”. Pascalyne spoke on behalf of other children during a press conference they addressed in Abeokuta under the banner of Volunteer Team of Children.
As part of their war against child marriage, the children said they have produced a film titled, ‘Yerima: Diary of a Child’ which will be shown throughout the country to express their opposition and expose the danger of early marriage.
According to Pascalyne: “It was during the making of the film against early child marriage that many of us realised the cruelty of early child marriage and its humiliating impact and consequences on children, especially the girl-child”.
Producer of the film, Femi Olabode-George, who doubles as Chairman, UTV Media, informed that it was not easy producing the film. According to him, 35 children participated in the production, adding that he took up the challenge to embark on the project when contacted by volunteer artistes led by Mrs Omowunmi Freeman
He disclosed that the 82 minutes film will premiere soon in Abeokuta, before onward transmission to all other parts of the country. He called on parents, guardians, children and other stakeholders to come out en masse to watch the film.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/early-marriage-day-children-took-to-the-streets/

ABUJA — Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has disagreed with claims that Shell lost $700 million to oil theft in the second quarter of the year.
NNPC said in a statement by the corporation’s Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Ms. Tumini Green, in Abuja, yesterday, that Shell’s claim was “defective” and that the loss the multinational oil firm claimed to have suffered was not based on its operations in Nigeria.
NNPC described Shell’s argument that its current divestment was due to harsh operating environment and absence of leadership in the oil industry as defective and rooted on weak syllogism.
According to NNPC: “Mergers, acquisition and divestment, MAD, is a global portfolio management strategy employed by mostly big corporations to restructure and reposition companies for better and efficient revenue growth and competition.”
It wondered anybody “could canvass such position when the multinational oil companies themselves, especially Shell, have repeatedly stated that part of the reasons for divestment of its assets was a deliberate measure to encourage and promote indigenous participation in the upstream oil and gas industry.
On Shell’s report
“With regard to claims by Shell that it lost $700 million by the second quarter of 2013 to crude oil theft and other disruptions in Nigeria,” NNPC said “the loss claims are not localised to Nigeria as reported.
“Shell’s acquisition of Shale oil and gas assets in North America has also proven not to be good investments and as such programmed for divestment to minimise risk.
“In order to further buttress the global challenges, Shell’s current tight oil output is 50,000 barrels per day, bpd, as against an estimated 250,000bpd in the United States.
“Furthermore, ExxonMobil’s Q2 2013 earnings were down substantially by 57 percent year-on-year primarily due to prior year gains, Japanese restructuring and divestment.”
NNPC said that Shell’s divestment were a blessing in disguise for the nation as they “have in fact increased indigenous participation which will in turn create new job opportunities, reduce capital flight, encourage capacity building and support gas-based industrialisation aspirations.”
‘We’re winning war against oil theft, vandalism’
It claimed that the nation was winning the war against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, which was being led by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the leadership of the corporation.
Consequently, the conglomerate disclosed that daily crude oil production had increased to an average of 2.4 million pbd.
It said: “Suffice it to say that some vandalised pipelines and flow stations have been repaired and re-opened such that average current national daily production stands at 2.4 m/bpd compared to the average year to date figure of 2.13 m/bpd as at June 2013.”
The corporation traced the current success to the minister’s directive to NNPC to constitute an industry-wide committee on Security Strategy Against Crude Oil and Product Theft.
That committee’s members include representatives from NNPC, all IOCs, NPDC, security agencies and Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, of the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI.
Production projections
NNPC said: “In a fortnight, repair works on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which has a daily capacity of 150,000 bpd is expected to be fully completed.
“On completion, daily average crude oil production is expected to increase to 2.50 m/bpd which will exceed the national daily target of 2.48 m/bpd.
“Our expectation is to increase production from the 2.48 to 2.55 m/bpd (both crude and condensate) for the rest of the year. We have the capacity and potential to maintain production above 2.55 m/bpd in the country.
“All that is required is to continue the fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft to achieve this target. This will increase our 2013 average production to about 2.34 m/bpd if the current fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft is sustained.”
The corporation restated its determination to work with all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to ensure effective management of the nation’s vast hydrocarbon resource base.
NNPC expressed gratitude to security agencies that have been collaborating with its team and assured that it was determined to sustain this tempo to free the nation’s oil resources from every form of criminality.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/nnpc-disagrees-with-shell-on-700m-loss/

MAKURDI — Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to late Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha, has revealed that he escaped several plots to kill him while he was still in prison. He said but for the intervention of Wantaregh Paul Unongo and retired Controller of Prison, Iorbee Ihiagh, he would have been eliminated after the death of his former boss Gen. Sanni Abacha.

Maj. Al-Mustapha spoke last weekend in Jato Akaa, when he led his wife, son of the former Head of State, Mohammed Abacha, friends and loyalists to pay homage to Second Republic Minister of Steel, Wataregh Paul Unongo, in his country home.
He said: “On the 29th of March, 2004, some people planned to kill me. I was to be forced out of the prison and taken to an unknown destination where they were to take my life.

“Thank God, a reliable and trusted son of Tivland and my friend was officer in charge. He was directed to release me without documents in the wee hours of the night.

“As God would have it, he sought for guidance from our father and leader, Wantaregh Paul Unongo, who in turn directed him not to allow them take me away for subsequent killing.

“God saved my life on that day. Let me say, from the day the journey started, the day my father, the late General Sanni Abacha, died to the 12th of of July this year when I was released, we have had so many attempts to take our lives but God Almighty preserved us.

“Alhaji Mohammed Sanni Abacha and I initially were framed through scripted stories released to the media and we were arrested. Thank God that subsequently justice was served having passed through series of travails and torture.

“But today it is just normal that we should come home to Tivland before my father Wantaregh Paul Unongo and in the presence of CP Ihiagh, who was prematurely retired because he refused to play games with my life. God Almighty has decided that I will still see today.”

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/how-i-escaped-plots-to-kill-me-in-prison-al-mustapha/

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) electronic registration which began with Anambra State has ended with the party saying it recorded well over 1.5million members in the pilot scheme.

The state chairman of PDP, Prince Ken Emeakayi, who disclosed this while monitoring the exercise in Awka, the state capital, noted that the party needed to mobilise its members, adding that the objective was to bring the PDP members together and put the party in good stead ahead of the October 15 and November 16, council and governorship elections respectively in the state.

Senator Emma Anosike who was also seen in Ogbaru, Anambra North Senatorial zone of the state mobilising PDP supporters for the e- registration told THISDAY that the membership drive was aimed at repositioning the party.

The party, he said, embarked on the exercise free for members. He said from the seven council areas in Anambra North zone alone, about 600,000 estimated members had been registered.

He added that it was his expectation that at the end of the day, about over 1.5million eligible voters would have been registered for the party state wide. The exercise is also to accommodate new members.

Senator Anosike said the state chapter of PDP is now ready to contest in both council and governorship elections slated to hold later in the year, stressing that as the party prepares to conduct its primaries to pick its governorship candidate; the members would look up to an aspirant with the capacity to drive the ideas and developmental programs encapsulated by the party in its manifesto.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/anambra-pdp-records-1-5m-members-with-e-registration/

Imo State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha has defended his membership of the APC, declaring that the future political fortunes of Ndigbo are better served in the new mega political party.

Okorocha who sang the praises of the new party in a town hall of the Imo State Congress of America 2013 national convention in Atlanta, USA, also reacted to a purported suspension by a faction of APGA, saying that the wellbeing of Ndigbo remains paramount in all his action and would continue to take steps to assist Igbos to regain their rightful place in the political equation of Nigeria.

“APC remains the best vehicle to promote the interest of our people. PDP has marginalized the south east and has nothing to show for all its years in power”.

Governor Okorocha urged Ndigbo to embrace the APC because it guarantees equity and political opportunities denied by the ruling party. He said the purported action of a faction of APGA is of little political consequence as the party lacks the national spread to ensure Igbos make significant headway in the political leadership of the nation.

He described the APC as a national party made up of progressive elements determined to ensure equitable distribution of political offices to all tribes in the country and as one of the tripod on which the country stands, the APC was set to redress the injustices to Ndigbo made by the PDP and urged all progressives south easterners to line up behind the new party and ensure it produces the next leaders of the country at all levels.

“Igbos has not produced the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House or the Chief Justice of the Federation but I am confident under APC, one or more of these positions will come to the southeast”.

Gov. Okorocha urged Ndigbo to channel their energies and resources towards the development of their homeland and suggested a set date for Nigerians in the diaspora to return home.

“Our people should learn to leave America and return home at a certain date to contribute meaningfully to the development of our dear state”.

He pledged the commitment of his administration towards providing enabling environment to assist those willing to return home.

“My administration has embarked on projects that have significantly improved infrastructure in the state and has tackled the issue of security such that for the past six months the issue of kidnapping and other social vices have reduced significantly”.

He challenged those really interested in tapping the potentials of the state to partner with his administration for mutual benefit.

The governor however warned Igbos in the diaspora to guard against greed and corruption, urging them to lend a hand to the less privileged in the society.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/apc-will-serve-the-political-fortunes-of-ndigbo-okorocha/

The Presidency, yesterday, raised the alarm that five northern governors, who are currently moving round the country holding consultations with political stakeholders in Nigeria, have a hidden agenda to ease President Goodluck Jonathan out of the 2015 election “in order to enhance their selfish political interest”.
According to the Presidency, the so-called consultations by the governors, which had not been authorised by any organ of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or the Presidency, was a selfish political move aimed solely at distracting President Jonathan from his people-oriented programmes and heat up the polity, so as to give the erroneous impression that the country was on fire.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, made the accusation in an exclusive interview with Sunday Vanguard – SEE FULL INTERVIEW ON POLITICS
The accusation by the Presidency notwithstanding, the governors, yesterday took their grievances against President Jonathan and the Tukur-led PDP, to former Vice President and founding member of the party, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, in Abuja.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that four out of the five governors – Sule Lamido, Murtala Nyako, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Aliyu Wamakko, met behind closed doors for several hours on Saturday with the former Vice President on what a source close to the governors described as a ‘further consultation’ with the founding fathers of the PDP.
“We met with the former VP and explained our grievances to him as a member of the G-34, which founded the PDP,” one of the governors said, without disclosing the details of their discussion.
The meeting with Ekwueme brought to five the number of top profile Nigerian leaders that the aggrieved governors had so far visited and explained their grievances to.
The Presidency, which initially spat fire over the action of the governors for their audacity to confront the President on issues relating to the PDP and the 2015 election, has however soft-pedaled and begged them to give peace a chance.
The Presidency which, though accused the five governors of having a hidden agenda against President Jonathan, also admonished them to desist from such antics in the interest of the nation.
The Political Adviser also pleaded with the quintuplet to sheathe their sword and allow peace to reign in the land.
Gulak said, “I want to plead with the four or five governors from the north, who are trying to precipitate crisis to give peace a chance and spare the country avoidable trouble.
“They should realise that without peace none of them would be governors. They should subsume their interest. That is my plea to them”.
Reflecting on the current crisis in the ruling party culminating in predictions about Nigeria’s disintegration in 2015, Gulak stated that the nation would wax stronger rather than break up.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/why-five-northern-governors-are-after-jonathan-presidency/

As a mother do you still enjoy the act of breastfeeding? Nothing can beat that feeling that you breast fed your own baby. From experience, breast feeding promotes bonding between you and your baby.
While breast feeding your baby, you tend to hold the baby and there is no more comforting feeling for an infant of any age than being held close and cuddled while being breastfed. Many premature babies are more likely to die if they are not held or stroked.
Breast milk has been established as a unique nutritional source that cannot adequately be replaced by any other food.
Alas, it is like so many Nigerian mothers seem to have forgotten the real essence of breast feeding which is as old as the existence of man himself.
Going by recent findings, exclusive breast feeding rate in Nigeria has fallen as to as low as 15 percent.
Many mothers are said to have chosen to keep their breast for their man than their baby who needs it for survival. Some claimed that breast feeding their babies will affect the shape of their breasts and may no longer be attractive to their man. Studies also show that breast feeding has nothing to do with the breast sagging. It has also been proven that whether a woman breast feeds or not, whether a woman gets pregnant or not, a time shall come in the woman’s life when her breasts will become slack due to ageing.
Between the baby and father, who actually needs this breast? There are hard facts that the man only use the breast as an object of romance, unlike the baby who utilises the breast for survival.
Evidence abounds that breast milk itself is the gold in infant nutrition for a newborn as it possesses anti-infective properties that help to protect infants against diseases. Breastfeeding has been declared an unequaled way of providing ideal food for the health, growth and the development of infants as well as been a unique biological and emotional basis for the health of both mother and child.
Studies have shown that women who were formula-fed as infants have higher rates of breast cancer as adults.
For both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer, women who were breastfed as children, even if only for a short time, had a 25 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer than women.
Again, not breast feeding increases risk of cancer in women. But if all women who do not breastfeed or who breastfeed for less than three months were to do so for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduced by 11 percent, judging from current rates. This reduction would be even greater among women who first lactate at an early age.
Studies indicate that breastfeeding helps improve mothers’ health, as well as their children’s.
A woman grows both physically and emotionally from the relationship she forms with her baby. Just as a woman’s breast milk is designed specifically to nourish the body of an infant, the production and delivery of this milk aids her own health.
For example, breastfeeding helps a woman to lose weight after birth. It releases a hormone (oxytocin) that causes the uterus to return to its normal size more quickly.
When a woman gives birth and proceeds to nurse her baby, she protects herself from pregnancy again too soon, a form of birth control found to be 98 percent. Breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of osteoporosis in later years.
Diabetic women improve their health by breastfeeding. Women who lactate for two or more years reduce chances of developing breast cancer by 24 percent.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/breast-feed-your-baby-not-your-man/

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has protested the use of the party’s logo in a congratulatory advertorial authorised by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

The party, which described the act as not only mischievous but a premeditated action, demanded that Fashola in addition to retracting the publication within seven days, should pay the party N20 billion as damages or face a legal action.
Addressing journalists at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, chided the governor for what he termed an attempt to cause confusion and breakdown of law and order through the dumping of destitute and criminals in Onitsha.
Umeh said the party leadership was shocked to read from the newspapers advertorials placed by Fashola that APGA was part of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“We want to make it abundantly clear that this was a clearly orchestrated, premeditated action by Governor Fashola to deceive supporters of APGA and on behalf of our party, we are calling on Fashola to publish a retraction of the advertorial removing APGA logo in all the newspaper advertisements that our logo appeared today (yesterday) within seven days. In addition to our demand for the retraction of the publication, we are also referring the matter to our lawyers to formally write Governor Fashola to pay us damages in the sum of N20 billion or face legal action,” he said.
He added that the governor was aware that at no time did any APGA official appear in any meeting where merger talks were held.
“He is also aware that APGA leadership has consistently made it clear to Nigerians that APGA was never part of the merger talks and will never part of it.

“We were shocked to see today’s (yesterday) newspapers, an advertorial placed by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, congratulating APC for scaling the registration hurdle of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and in the publication, four political parties logos were listed- ACN, CPC, ANPP and APGA.
“We are expressing our dismay that the Lagos State governor, who is a senior advocate of Nigeria, can so mischievously place the advertorial which listed the logo of APGA. Of course, the clear intention of the action is to give the impression that APGA is now part of APC and that APGA is no longer a political party.

“Coming from a senior lawyer, we are sure that the governor knows the obvious implications of this advertorial, which we detest.
“It is a mischief contrived to deceive all our teaming supporters in Nigeria and worldwide that APGA has now become part of APC. Governor Fashola cannot claim not to know that APGA never submitted itself to any merger talks with the three parties and other interest groups that came together to form the APC,” he added.
He advised APC not to be too desperate but to pursue politics with decorum, adding that “if they are desperate to recruit APGA in their ranks, they should know that it is not by force.”

Umeh also joined the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, to protest to President Goodluck Jonathan over the dumping of destitute persons in Onitsha by the Lagos State Government.
He said the claim that the destitute were from Anambra State was false, adding that most of the people brought to Onitsha by the Lagos State Government were mostly from the neighbouring states of Delta, Rivers, Abia and even far away Niger Republic.
He accused Fashola of picking up criminal elements from Lagos streets and dumping them in Anambra State.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/apga-demands-n20bn-damages-from-fashola-over-use-of-partys-logo/

KANO — The casualty fig-ures from the multiple blasts that rocked the predominantly Christian quarters in Kano, Monday evening, has increased to 45 dead, according to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano.

Briefing newsmen on the development in Kano, yesterday, Chairman, Kano chapter of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Chief Tobias Idika, said: “We counted 45 dead bodies and they have all been deposited at the morgue for identification by relations.”

“We have records and proof of what we are talking about. I participated in the rescue operations and I am best informed to tell the world what happened regarding the deaths and the injured.”

SURVIVORS: Mr. Emeka Mba, Manager, New Tarzan Motors (left) and Mr. Emeka Ani, survivors of the Kano bomb blasts, in hospital.

He revealed that 15 people were injured during the blast, adding that the injured were on admission at various government hospitals in the metropolis.

He described the attack “as one too many on members of the guest community doing their legitimate business in the city and contributing to its growth.

“It is high time those in position of authority rose to stem the tide.”

Idika commended the decision of the state government to take care of the medical bill of the injured.

He, however, expressed skepticism on the sincerity of the pledge “in the light of previous experiences where such victims were left on their own after the profit making statement on camera.

“We have seen this kind of promises in the past that start and end in camera, and it is our hope this kind of promises by the governor will be translated into concrete action for the benefit of mankind.”

12 died— JTF

Contesting the casualty figure in a statement, the Joint Military Task Force said: “At 9 p.m. on July 29, sounds of simultaneous explosion were triggered by persons suspected to be members of the Boko Haram group between 38 and 41, New Road and Igbo Road by Enugu Road.”

The statement by Captain Ikediche Iweha added that “12 persons were confirmed to have died from both incidents, while a couple of others, who sustained various degree of injuries, were rushed to hospital for medical attention.

“The latest incidents could have been avoided if citizens had maintained vigilance to observe when packages are dropped as it was in this case, contrary to reports circulating in some media that they were suicide bombers.”

Hospital says 24 dead, 10 injured

Speaking on the development, spokesman of Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Aminu Inuwa, said “this hospital received 24 dead bodies from security agents, and the breakdown of the figure shows that three out of this figure are female.

“We also have in the hospital 10 injured persons that are being attended to by our team of expert. We are doing our best to save lives, and we therefore call for understanding.”

He denied reports that the hospital authorities refused to release corpses to relation for interment.

He said: “This is an organization. We have a process and we always ensure that it is followed to the letter to avoid backlash, and this is the best practice all over the world.”

Kwankwaso’s pledge

Kano State Government has, however, directed health institutions handling cases of injured victims of the blast to offer free service to them.

Kwankwaso, who gave the directive during a visit to the victims at the Murtala Mohammed Hospital, Kano, described the attack “as an attack on Nigeria,” adding that “we will do our best to stop reoccurrence.”

In the meantime, JTF has stepped up patrols in the city following renewed onslaught by the extremist group in the city.

Armed troops in patrol vehicles were seen all over the city, especially areas designated as “dark spots,” while cautioning residents to be wary and report suspicious abandoned packages.

Meanwhile, Federal Government has extended the time frame for the work of the Kabiru Tanimu-led Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North by two months to allow it complete its assignment.

Boko Haram C’ttee reacts

This is coming on the heels of assertion by chairman of the committee and Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Kabiru, that despite the bomb blast in Kano State that claimed scores of lives, the committee will continue its assignment.

Speaking with State House correspondents after collecting the letter of extension yesterday, Tanimu said that the committee was in contact with genuine members of the Boko Haram sect and that the ceasefire offer was still on course.

According to him, the seeming disparate voices from members of the sect on their meetings with the committee represent the various dynamics within them.

He said: “There are people who are engaged in it on the basis of ideology or dogma. Some people are doing it on the basis of economic benefits.

“Some people are fifth columnists, who will make sure you don’t succeed in whatever you do.”

Speaking on the Kano incident, Tanimu said it was really unfortunate that it happened at a time serious efforts were being made by government to ensure that issues were sorted out.

He said that some people, who did not wish the country well, were trying to pull the hands of the clock backwards.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/kano-blast-jtf-ohanaeze-hospital-disagree-on-casualties/

WikiLeaks whistle-blower found guilty of all but two charges including five counts of espionage.

A military judge has acquitted former US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning of the most serious charge against him, aiding the enemy, but convicted him of espionage, theft and computer fraud charges for giving thousands of classified secrets to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks.
He faces a maximum sentence up to 136 years.

The judge on Tuesday deliberated for about 16 hours over three days before reaching her decision in a case that drew worldwide attention. Supporters hailed Manning as a whistleblower. The US government called him an anarchist computer hacker and attention-seeking traitor.

The WikiLeaks case is by far the most voluminous release of classified material in US history. Manning’s supporters included Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, who in the early 1970s spilled a secret Defence Department history of US involvement in Vietnam that showed that the US government repeatedly misled the public about the war.

Manning’s sentencing begins on Wednesday. The charge of aiding the enemy was the most serious of 21 counts and carried a potential life sentence.

His trial was unusual because he acknowledged giving WikiLeaks more than 700,000 battlefield reports and diplomatic cables, plus video of a 2007 US helicopter attack that killed civilians in Iraq and a Reuters news
photographer and his driver. In the footage, airmen laughed and called targets “dead bastards”.

‘Good-intentioned’

Manning pleaded guilty earlier this year to lesser offences that could have brought him 20 years behind bars, yet the government continued to pursue the original, more serious charges.

Manning has said he leaked the material to expose the U.S military’s “bloodlust” and disregard for human life, and what he considered American diplomatic deceit. He said he chose information he believed would not the harm the US, and he wanted to start a debate on military and foreign policy. He did not testify at his trial.

Defence attorney David Coombs portrayed Manning as a “young, naive but good-intentioned” soldier who was in emotional turmoil, partly because he was a gay service member at a time when homosexuals were barred from serving openly in the US military.

Coombs said Manning could have sold the information or given it directly to the enemy, but he gave them to WikiLeaks in an attempt to “spark reform” and provoke debate. A counterintelligence witness valued the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs at about $5.7m, based on what foreign intelligence services had paid in the past for similar information.

Coombs said Manning had no way of knowing whether al-Qaeda would access the secret-spilling website, and a 2008 counterintelligence report showed the government itself didn not know much about the site.

Not so naive?

JD Gordon, former Defence Department spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that the Obama administration has made an example of Manning.

“I think that he [Bradley Manning] was a spy and a traitor. He was involved in this 21st century type of warfare. He is more like a criminal instead of a whistle-blower. So I am pleased with the judge’s decision today,” he said.

The lead prosecutor, Major Ashden Fein, said Manning knew the material would be seen by al-Qaeda, a key point prosecutor needed to prove to get an aiding the enemy conviction. Even Osama bin Laden had some of the digital files at his compound in Pakistan when he was killed.

The Manning trial unfolded as another low-level intelligence worker, Edward Snowden, revealed US secrets about surveillance programs. Snowden, a civilian employee, has told The Guardian newspaper his motives were similar to Manning’s, but he said his leaks were more selective.

Manning’s supporters believed a conviction for aiding the enemy would have a chilling effect on leakers who want to expose wrongdoing by giving information to websites and the media.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy/

There are indications that the federal government may jettison two of its three Greenfield refinery projects, following the recommendations of the National Refineries Special Task Force (NRST).

The 22-member task force headed by former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, had in a report submitted on August 2, 2012 found that of the three joint venture Greenfield refineries option under consideration by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the economics strongly favours only Lagos.

Based on its finding, the committee had advised that only the proposed 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) Lagos Greenfield refinery should be pursued vigorously as a priority project to ensure it comes on stream by 2016, while the proposed Bayelsa and Kogi refineries should be explored later.

The NNPC and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of three Greenfield refineries in Lagos, Bayelsa and Kogi, as well as a gas refining/petrochemical plant.

Under the terms of the agreement, 80 per cent of the estimated cost of all four projects, put at $28.5 billion was meant to be funded with a term loan provided by China Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE) and a consortium of Chinese banks led by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank, while the NNPC was to foot only 20 per cent of the cost as equity contribution.

The project was envisaged to add 750,000 barrels per day of extra refining capacity to Nigeria’s current 445,000 barrel per day refining capacity as well as stem the flood of imported refined products into Nigeria.

However, the project had suffered series of setbacks, as the NNPC was said to have failed to fulfill the conditions stated in the MoU.

A source at the NNPC told THISDAY weekend that although the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Greenfield refinery projects had been completed and soil analysis showed that the project was viable, the project might not take off soon as government was determined to implement the recommendations by the refinery task force.

He explained the construction work did not commence as planned because the NNPC was awaiting the report of the refinery task force, which, would determine the next line of action.

The source said, for now, the government was interested in revitalising the old refineries and also planned to divest its equity from them in line with the recommendations of Idika Kalu task force.

“No meaningful development has taken place as regards the Greenfield Refineries project. We are still considering the refinery committee’s report to see areas that will be fully adopted. And if the NNPC decides to follow the recommendations of the task force, it will definitely affect the Greenfield Refinery projects one way or the other”, the source said.

He also noted that based on the recommendations, the partners may have to amend the MoU, a development, which he said will further delay the project.

The Idika Kalu committee had been mandated to among others, conduct a diagnostic review of the nation’s existing four refineries and advise on the best approach to turn them around; review as well as advise government on private refinery licensing and partnership models for Greenfield refineries.

The committee had also in its report, observed that the old refineries with combined capacities of 445,000 bpd, could meet Nigeria’s domestic needs only if the root causes of their poor performances were vigorously resolved. It also identified years of maintenance neglect as the major cause of the refineries’ poor performances.

“In the early 1990’s, Nigerian refineries produced enough petroleum products to satisfy national demand and exported the excess, but discovered the refineries have not been efficiently and safely operated and maintained for more than 15 years”, the committee noted, even as it advised that government should divest its equity from the refineries and allow private entities to manage them.
Source:http://infonigeria24.com/fg-may-dump-bayelsa-kogi-greenfield-refinery-projects-as-only-lagos-viable/

An Igbo socio-political group, Njiko Igbo, Sunday said maverick politician, Senator Arthur Nzeribe, lacked the moral and legitimate standing to speak for Ndigbo on either the 2015 elections or any issue whatsoever given his personal history.

Nzeribe had last week declared that Ndigbo are not ready to stake a claim for the presidency of Nigeria in 2015.

Among the reasons he advanced for this dishonourable stance is lack of unity among Ndigbo and their inability to speak with one voice.

The group in statement signed by its Director of Operations, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, said it was disheartening that Nzeribe, who ought to know better, allowed himself to be sold on the preposterous argument designed to cloak the pervasive prejudice that had kept Ndigbo in the third class tier in the politics of the Nigerian federation.

“No Nigerian civilian president or prime minister has ever launched himself to power on the springboard of ethnic unity since the advent of the Nigerian state. By taking the position that he has taken, Senator Nzeribe has demonstrated that he lacks any measure of grasp or apprehension of central executive power politics this country. Having been a participant in the political game, as Nzeribe clearly had been, does not confer such understanding.

“It is hard to resist drawing the conclusion that Senator Nzeribe came to his erroneous and inflammatory conclusion having been seduced, induced or deceived by personal and selfish considerations rather than by considerations of what is in the best interests of Ndigbo and indeed Nigeria in general. But it must be emphatically stated that a hundred, a thousand, a million Arthur Nzeribe’s cannot and will not break the Igbo spirit nor weaken the Igbo resolve.
“If ethnic unity is the prerequisite for aspiring to the presidency, as posited by Nzeribe, then the philosophy of Njiko Igbo should come highly recommended to him. NJIKO IGBO is an organisation dedicated to the struggle for the ascent of a citizen of Igbo extraction to the
presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015. We are fully committed to the security and peace of our nation, and to the comradeship of a common justice for all Nigerians.

“We are neither a political party nor are we affiliated to one. Our primary mission is to enlighten and mobilise the Igbo population, both at home and in the diaspora, to stand firm and united in the pursuit of our collective goal. Our secondary duty is to connect with and
persuade the rest of the Nigerian population about the justice of our cause.

It is curious that this nation has been in a quasi state of war for over two years but the voice of Nzeribe has been silent. Ndigbo have been bombed and butchered in their places of worship and business in some sections of this country by nihilistic Islamic fundamentalist and yet the voice of Nzeribe has remained silent. The corpses of dozens of
young men who were clearly victims of extrajudicial executions were recently plucked from Ezu River in Anambra State and yet Nzeribe did not call a press conference to condemn it or demand answers from the
Nigerian state.

“History has no record of Nzeribe’s intervention either publicly or privately in the organised anti-Igbo massacres in Kano in 1980, Maiduguri in 1982, Yola in 1984, Gombe in 1985, Kaduna in 1986, Bauchi
in 1991, Funtua in 1993, Kano in 1994, Damboa in 2000 and the Apo 6 massacre in 2005. It is impossible therefore to escape the question:
what is really wrong with men like Senator Nzeribe, a geriatric who, at the age of 74, still prefer to offend the sensibilities and legitimate aspirations of decent people through shameless self-promoting politics?

“As Ndigbo continue to swim against the tide of baseless suspicion, distrust and deep rooted prejudice in this country, characters such as Senator Nzeribe bring unfortunate affirmation to the very elements that negate the status of Ndigbo as legitimate citizens with legitimate aspirations in their own country.”

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/2015-nzeribe-has-no-moral-standing-to-speak-for-ndigbo/

In the run up to the November 16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra State, virtually all the political parties and aspirants seem yet to find their rhythm. The election holds barely 90 days away to elect Gov Peter Obi’s successor.

Analysts blame the scenario on the delay by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in releasing the guidelines and timetable for the election.

The aspirants had been cautions not to run foul of the laws, or be seen as jumping the gun when the Commission had not given the green light to start campaigns. The green light finally came some three weeks ago. The contest is characterised by intrigues and scheming by the various political blocs and camps.

The PDP is one of the most visible parties in the state, but grapples with efforts at self-rediscovery. The party is besetted with crisis over whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan will seek re-election in 2015. The North says he should not. Anambra must be high on the PDP agenda as it remains the arrowhead to determine where the South-east geo-political zone goes in the 2015 polls. So, with the state’s governorship election fast approaching, the party must stand firm, for obvious political reasons.

Now, those who have not been part of the politics in Anambra for many years are said to have stormed to the Wadata House headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to pick the Expression of Interest(EOI) form. The fee went up from the N250,000 in 2009 to N1 million for the Anambra guber ticket.

MASSIVE PURCHASE
But this has not dampened the spirit of the about 27 aspirants jostling for the PDP ticket, even as more than half are said to be women, one of them a hairdressing salon operator in Awka. At least two aspirants have been accused of massive purchase of the form for their respective camps.

Alleged abuse of the free access of the PDP female aspirants to the nomination form is also said to be generating ripples and may force the party to review the policy. Wadata Plaza sources said the fee for the nomination form could go up as high as between N10m and N20m for each aspirant. The hike, it is believed, would help keep unserious aspirants, proxies and stooges out of the race.

Primary election will obviously determine who picks the PDP ticket for the Anambra guber race. But the allegation that two aspirants have acquired the nomination form for about ten of their supporters is causing tension.

Analysts say the move may be a design to put a clog in the wheel of the primary election stated for August 24. The game plan was to put the PDP in a situation whereby there will be a repeat of the primary. “In the end, they would use their contacts at the Wadata Plaza to settle for a consensus candidate option, hoping that that would favour them more, having already watered the grounds well in that direction,”a source familiar with the race for the PDP ticket in the state said.

“Alternatively, they would bamboozle the party headquarters into inviting all the ‘aspirants’ to Abuja where the matter would be resolved through internal mechanism. This includes but not likely to be limited to asking the ‘aspirants’ to vote among themselves to choose who they want to fly the party’s flag at the Nov 16 governorship election in the state. Of course the outcome would be foreclosed as each ‘aspirant’ would simply vote for his/her sponsor.”

Some of the guber aspirants, especially in the PDP, are reportedly being sponsored by some northern elements with a view to using them to attempt to scuttle President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 agenda. Analysts say Aso Rock may consider backing the aspirant without political blemish or baggage.

TOP ON LIST
The analysts said of all those jostling for the PDP ticket, only Walter Ubaka Okeke and Alex Obiogbolu are exciting the party’s big wigs. But Okeke, according to them, remains top on the list as he fits perfectly into the battle to pick the PDP ticket because he is said to be well-heeled with a deep pocket, well-read, psychologically very stable, and a key player in the Nigeria’s big oil/gas services sector since 1995.

His businesses are domiciled in the Niger Delta. He was said to have been paying to the governments an annual tax in the region of millions of naira, as against other contestants who pay peanuts and only for the sake of the gubernatorial election process requirement. He is reportedly married from either Bayelsa or Rivers.

While Obiogbolu reportedly has what it takes to govern the state, the larger section of Anambra’s 177 communities is said not to be favourably disposed to someone from his area due to social reasons. But he is seen as capable and qualified with immense administrative experience in government business. Obiogbolu is a reputable medical officer and successful businessman who has a lot of enduring legacies to his credit in the state’s civil service.

Chief Sylvester Okonkwo, a close confidant of a South-south governor, is said to be among those who have not visited the state in the last 10years. It seems his only reason for picking the form is because one of the key players in the PDP politics urges him on. Unfortunately, the present political equation of the state does not favour his aspiration, as he comes from the Central zone like the outgoing Governor Obi and former Gov. Ngige.

NASS MEETING
For Senator Andy Uba, it was said that he has been working against the emergence of the PDP candidate based on primary election. Sources accused him of moving to upstage all other aspirants undemocratically. He was alleged to have held meetings with his ‘aspirants’ in Abuja. Some serving and former members of the House of Representatives including Ben Nwankwo, Fort Dike, Eucharia Azodo and Lynda Ikpeazu allegedly attended the meetings recently. These meetings were described as historical as it was the first to be held between the senator and Reps as a group since their inauguration in the National Assembly.

Chief Mike Okoye, a successful legal practitioner, was alleged to be relying on his friendship with the former Governor Diepreye Alameseigha to grab the PDP ticket. Unfortunately his political traducers are quick to point out that he once held sway in Hope Democratic Party but let go of it when it mattered most, hence political watchers wonder what he really wants this time around.

RELIGION FACTOR
Dr Obinna Uzor remains a close friend of former President Gen Ibrahim Babangida, and also does not hide his penchant to cling to anything Catholic. That’s why he has been going round building parishes for his beloved faith. Analysts say he may at the end of the day realise why the holy book warns that in heaven, there is no Catholic, Anglican or Pagan.

Elders of the party in Anambra State are said to be rooting for a holistic review of the input each of the aspirants has made to the growth or otherwise of the party in the past ten years.

Some of the aspirants were alleged to have sowed confusion and crises in the PDP only to run into another party. It is feared that they are on the familiar move again, knowing fully well that the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP is not kidding on enthroning internal democracy and discipline.

Anambra is among the few states to have about four citizens in the party’s Board of Trustees(BOT)-Dr Alex Ekwueme, Senator Onyeabor Obi, Chief Maxwell Okudoh and Mrs Iyom Josephine Anenih. They cannot be indifferent about who runs their state as governor, hence must be interested in this contest.

GRASSROOTS SUPPORT
Any serious contender for the Anambra governorship ought to go round the state to express his/her interest to run in the November 16 election. Investigations show that only Walter Okeke, Obiogbolu and Tony Nwoye have done so.

Analysts believe than when all the factors are considered, the PDP may end up with a dark horse like Walter Okeke, said to be surefooted and firmly etched in business and politics of the state. He is said to be miles ahead of the Ubas, the Ukachukwus and the Soludos as he has in the course of his 326 ward tours displayed an unusual mastery of the state geography and political idiosyncrasies of the various zones. And going by the pronouncements of the party’s national chairman during the inauguration of Gov Seriake Dickson-led PDP Reconciliation Committee, they are very prepared to reclaim Anambra among other states the party lost.

INSIDE APGA
Gov Obi is believed to have President Jonathan’s ears. Yet he is said to be rooting for Prof Charles Soludo, a former CBN Governor, who apparently left the PDP because he failed to get the nod of Mr President, as the APGA candidate. This is clearly an ambush for whoever Mr President’s PDP nominates.

As he counts days to his departure and after working so hard to dismember his APGA, Obi is said to be playing church politics card. He wants his Catholic faith to dominate others with mind-boggling ratio in virtually everything in the state. To achieve his aim this time, he is said to be reconciling with his embattled national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, a fellow Catholic, using Soludo, also a Catholic, as the bargaining chip.

Soludo too is said to be ready to reconcile with his sister in-law, Prof Dora Akunyili, also a Catholic, to upstage the looming political volcano APGA being foisted by the elements in PDP. It was for this reason the former Central Bank chief recently dumped the PDP for APGA, just like Akunyili. They are Catholics, and are all very qualified, no doubt. They fit properly into the out-going governor’s ‘all-Catholic’ profile agenda.

Close watchers of events in Anambra contend that the lack of geo-balance and respect for the sensibilities of the electorate by the key players in the newly formed All Progressives Congress(APC) is the greatest headache its most visible aspirant, Dr Chris Ngige, would have. In addition, many of those who were close to him have vowed to oppose him,this time. Their reasons are similar and personal- they allege he underrates loyalty. His upcoming APC is equally accused of lacking sense of fair distribution of anything, not even the party positions.

MANY WARS
Ifeanyi Ubah is an energetic young man with visible burning zeal to better the lot of the masses, but the Nigerian factor is alleged to have become his greatest undoing. He may have issues of security clearance ahead of the election. He has too many wars on his hands with federal agencies.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/anambra-2014-one-office-multiple-contenders/

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis.

George, the patron saint of England, was the 12th most popular name in the UK in the past year.
The baby will be known as Prince George and as third in line to the throne will one day be king.
Kensington Palace said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son George Alexander Louis.

“The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.”

Before the royal couple left the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London where their baby was born, William revealed that naming the infant was a priority, saying: ”We’re still working on a name, so we will have that as soon as we can.”

It had been thought the Duke and Duchess would spend a few days deliberating on what to call their son but it appears they may have had a name in mind and were discussing it with family members.

They followed tradition and picked names for their newborn which all have royal connotations.

Baby Prince George’s other middle name – Alexander – is one that three medieval Scottish kings have had.

There have been six King Georges since the German-born George I, the first Hanoverian king of Great Britain, acceded to the throne in 1714.

The last was the Queen’s father George VI who died in 1952 but was known to his family as Bertie.

George was the most popular name with the bookies with betting firms William Hill, Coral and Paddy Power all offering short odds on the moniker.

William Hill said that George had been by far and away the best backed boys name with the firm and ended as the 2/1 favourite ahead of James and Louis.
William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said: “Yes, George has been incredibly popular with our punters in the last 24 to 48 hours but the pregnancy has lasted a lot longer than that and up until Monday the majority of the betting was for a girl .

“We are paying out a six figure sum to winning punters but the Royal Baby betting has been so popular that we have enough to get in a bottle of bubbly to wet the baby’s head tonight.”

Since the baby was born on Monday William Hill has taken 3,400 bets on the name George with 25 of those being three figure punts – the biggest was a £500 wager at 2/1 on Tuesday.
The name Louis is likely to be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle and the last British Viceroy of India before independence in 1947.

Mountbatten and William’s father the Prince of Wales were very close, with Charles confiding in his relative.
He was known by the Royal Family as Uncle Dickie and was assassinated by the IRA in August 1979.

His boat was blown up on a fishing trip off the coast of County Sligo, Republic of Ireland.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/by-george-kate-and-william-name-their-son-george-alexander-louis/

The Senate and the House of Representatives, Tuesday, alleged mischief in the report alleging that Nigeria’s federal legislators are the highest paid in the world. The Senate said it would not as much as dignify the report with a response.

House members, like kettle calling pot black, asked critics to also look at the emoluments and corruption in the executive arm of government which they claimed was by far higher.

The defence of the legislators nonetheless, civil society activists denounced the legislators, saying they were bent on bankrupting the country and its democracy.

The report released by The Economist of London suggested that the lowest paid legislator in Nigeria earns N30.6 million ($189.5,000) per annum which was put at 116 times the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, per person.

As a ratio to GDP per person, Kenya was second with 76 times, Ghana 30 times and Indonesia 18 times.

Among those who reacted were former Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, constitutional lawyer, Itse Sagay, Afenifere, second republic parliamentarian, Dr. Junaid Mohammed and civil rights activist, Bamidele Aturu.

Senate spokesman, Senator Enyinninya Abaribe described the report as a figment of the imagination of the authors of the report adding “the Senate will not dignify the false claims with a reaction.”

His counterpart in the House of Representatives, Rep. Zakari Mohammed said a number of the figures used as salaries were expenditures and allowances that were normally retired.

It’s mischief directed at us — Senators, Reps
He told Vanguard, “this is a mere mischief because we retire all these monies they are not part of our salaries. Medical allowance, furniture and the rest are monies you must retire.

Rep. Jagaba Adams Jagaba (PDP, Kachai/Kagarko Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, a one time chairman of the House committee on anti-corruption asked critics to also look at the emoluments drawn by those in the executive arm of government.

“No, how can we be the highest paid in the world? Have you cared to know how much ministers collect in Nigeria? Have you cared to know how much their aides have been collecting? The corruption we are talking, is it not the executive arm that is more involved than any other politician in the world? You see, the truth of the matter is that we are doing our work. ”It’s dangerous for our democracy — Tsav
Abubakar Tsav said: “If it is true that they have been authoritatively ranked as earning the highest pay worldwide, then it is a dangerous development for our democracy. And it is capable of destroying our democracy. That is why you find people doing all manner of things to remain in office. Some have even turned political office into a do-or-die affair because of the money being paid to them. Some of the lawmakers have even turned themselves into contractors. If the situation is not corrected, people will always do anything to remain in office.

Yes, our legislators earn more than American president — Sagay
Prof. Itse Sagay said: “It is well established that Nigerian legislators, at the national level, are the highest earning legislators in the world. That is well known. The Senators’ take home pay is not less than N15 million a month and in a year, it is not less than $1.7 million.

“Whereas an American Senator earns $144,000 a year and the English parliamentarian is earning $100,000 a year, while the American president earns $400,000 a year.

“Our Senators earn far more than the American president and everybody knows this but nothing has been done and nobody listens”.

Describing the situation as an aberration, Afenifere speaking through its spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said: “this is a classical case of extreme inequality to the extent to which those earning the N18,000 minimum wage and those who are supposed to be representing them are earning N29 million a month, there is no where in the world where such disparity will be allowed.

Our legislators decree salary for themselves— Mohammed
Dr. Junaid Mohammed who served in the second republic House of Representatives said: “Throughout the world, salaries of lawmakers are discussed publicly but in Nigeria, our parliament result to what is called Executive session and they decree a salary for themselves”.

“The National Assembly does not care what the economy could afford, they don’t give a damn about the economy and what is obtainable in the public service, all they are interested in is the jumbo pay at the expense of the masses. For me, this is criminal and they are shameless”.

He went further, “Our parliament is the laziest all over the world, they are irresponsible and indolent with the kind secret salaries they pay themselves. This is an insult to Nigerians”.

“Ours is a parliament where members decree constituency projects for themselves, they award constituency projects to their companies and make corruption more popular in Nigeria”.

It’s very unfortunate — Aturu
Describing the situation as frightening, Bamidele Aturu said: “Democracy is about ensuring the masses enjoy dividends of democracy, it is about developing the country by having adequate infrastructure but in a situation where huge money are being filtered away and wasted on idle legislatures who steals this countries wealth for doing nothing, it is very unfortunate”.

“This is a wake up call on Nigerians, we need to do something urgently about the equitable structure of this country because this injustice is very wicked”.

“On one hand he mentioned loans, do loans constitute salaries too or furniture allowance part of our salaries?. All these things he mentioned are not part of our salaries, we earn less than N1million Naira monthly after a loan of N300,000.00 must have been deducted from the car loan we took. “

“You must retire all these money before you quit this complex, my friend that story was planted to implicate the National Assembly.”

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/outrage-greets-lawmakers-jumbo-pay/

ABUJA — The Federal Government has saved about N119 billion from ghost workers through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, disclosed this while inaugurating the implementation committee of the system in Abuja, yesterday
She said the implementation of the IPPIS will “enhance efficient personnel cost planning and budgeting as personnel cost will be based on actual verified numbers and not estimates”.
Under the IPPIS, workers’ salaries are paid centrally from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, into individual workers’ accounts, as opposed to the former practice under which estimated staff salaries were released to MDAs and the organisations paid the individual workers.
That system gave room to a large army of ghost workers in the MDAs such that a total of 46, 000 names on the payroll, representing close to one out of three workers in the organisations so far covered were ghost workers
According to Dr. Okonjo-Iewala, 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, with a total staff strength of 153, 019 have been captured on the IPPIS.
Under the system, each Federal Government staff’s biometric data is captured to enable the implementation officers determine who really is a staff, while names whose bearers fail to present themselves for verification are considered those being used by pay officers to defraud the government.
The minister said the new committee with the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yarima Ngama, as Chairman would fast-track the process of bringing the remaining 321 federal MDAs on the system, with the hope that the problem of ghost workers would be addressed effectively at the federal level.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala also charged the Ngama-led committee to speed up work on the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System, GIFMIS, under which Federal Government acquisition, allocation, utilization and conservation of public financial resources is automated and integrated.
She disclosed that 58 per cent of the budget was already being executed through GIFMIS, adding that the volume of government activities captured under the system would have risen to 79 per cent by the end of the third quarter.
On the refusal of some MDAs to remit 25 per cent of their gross revenue to the coffers of the Federal Government as directed, the minister revealed that her team has recovered about N34 billion out of the outstanding N58 billion.
She insisted that further measures were being adopted to ensure the recovery of their funds .
The AGF, Mr. Jonah Otunla, disclosed that until the commencement of the GIFMIS in April last year, there was a preponderance of MDAs accounts across various banks in the country and that managing Federal Government’s finances was very difficult.
According to him, there were situations where government was even borrowing its own money from the system, especially as there was a disparity in terms of idle funds of low spending MDAs as opposed to their high spending counterparts.
He said some government officials were reluctant to buy into the new system of administering government funds from a central focal point but that there was no going back on the initiative which has reduced government’s borrowing from about N154 billion to only N20 billion.
Other members of the committee were: Messrs Otunla, Faouk Gumel, Bizmark Rewane, Tunde Kehinde of duniya.com and Angela Adeboye.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/fg-eliminates-ghost-workers-saves-n119bn/

Two former heads of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, will today in Minna, the Niger State capital, meet with five governors from the northern part of the country on the state of the nation.

Sources privy to the meeting told THISDAY Sunday that the meeting would discuss the political crisis in Rivers State, the turbulence in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the factionalisation of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and jockeying for the 2015 general election, especially as it concerns the clamour for power shift to the north.

The five governors expected at the meeting are: Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (Sokoto) and the host governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu.

Although Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, was initially billed to attend the Minna meeting, it was learnt that he would not make it as he left Nigeria yesterday on a five-day trip to the United Kingdom.

The Minna meeting, it was learnt, was in furtherance of efforts by the governors, four of whom were in Abeokuta on Saturday to consult with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on how to resolve the crisis in Rivers State and the PDP.

Kwankwaso, Lamido, Nyako and Wamakko had held consultations with Obasanjo at his Hilltop home during which they discussed the state of the nation with the former president, who is the immediate past chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).

Their meeting with Obasanjo came a few days after Kwankwaso, Lamido, Nyako and Aliyu visited Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last Tuesday to assess the situation in the state that has being caught in vortex of violence following the degeneration of the power tussle in the state chapter of the PDP that had led to clashes between pro and anti-Amaechi lawmakers in the state House of Assembly on one hand and between supporters of the two factions of the lawmakers on the other hand.

Also, Abdulsalami had last week warned against the deteriorating crisis in Rivers State, noting that it could precipitate a coup in the country.

THISDAY checks revealed that today’s meeting in Minna, which is being hosted by Aliyu, is scheduled to start at about noon at the Presidential Lodge, behind the Government House, Minna.

The choice of the Presidential Lodge, according to a source, was informed by the refusal of both former heads of state to host the meeting at their respective residences because of the preying eyes of the press and speculations that might follow thereafter.
Shedding more light on today’s meeting, a source in Minna said: “Four northern governors will be joining Aliyu tomorrow (today) in Minna to visit Generals Babangida and Abdulsalami and I am sure the visit is not unconnected with the recent political crises going on in Rivers State and the PDP.

“I am sure they will also be consulting on what steps to take in 2015 and other national issues.”

Another source in Minna said the northern governors would be consulting with the two generals and other key players, who according to him, include a former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

“They have already met with General Obasanjo over the weekend and will meet IBB and Abdulsalami and then they will meet T.Y. Danjuma,” he added.
He however expressed reservations if the meeting will discuss power shift to the north, adding that its primary purpose is to consult on the way forward given the political crises that have engulfed the nation.
“Their meeting has nothing to do with power shift to the north but it has to do with the crisis in the NGF and how the presidency is trying to muscle governors,” the source said.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/ibb-abdulsalami-five-northern-govs-discuss-rivers-pdp-crises/

A group known as Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), has expressed its support for the inclusion of the 10 per cent Hosting Community Fund by International Oil Companies (IOC) in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

HNDC, in a memorandum submitted to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources , said the establishment of the PIB is a great feat and a commendable step that has been taken by the federal government towards the realisation of developmental objectives for the country.

The memorandum, which was also made available to journalists by Comrade Sunny Ofehe, an environmental activist and founder/executive director of HNDC, noted that with the inclusion of the 10 per cent contribution of the IOC towards the Petroleum Host Community (PHC) Fund, the benefits of the initiative will not only stop at the host communities alone but will spread across the entire length and breadth of Nigeria.

The group posited that the passage of the PIB will help stop the illegal activity or unrest in the region as the host communities would be made partakers of the natural resources from their land.

According to the group, the inclusion of the 10 per cent Hosting Community Fund will directly and indirectly reduce negative impact on the environment due to illegal activities such as pipeline vandalism and illegal refinery operation.

“The inclusion of the 10 per cent Hosting Community Fund by IOC will help in the further development of the Niger Delta Region. It will also help to create more legitimate and successful entrepreneurs and boast employment creation in Niger Delta region.

“It will also help in providing the needed infrastructural requirement and assist in repositioning the Niger Delta region as an economic player in Nigeria, which automatically will lead to improvement in the par capital earning of the people in Niger Delta region.”

The PHC fund, the group said, can be utilised for the development of the economic and social infrastructure of the communities within the petroleum producing areas.

“The need for the remittance of 10 percent from the IOC net profit on a monthly basis into the PHC Fund is necessary as well as important to guarantee infrastructure development and improvement in the oil producing states.

“It would improve on the socio economic well-being of the hosting communities. Government will be able to channel its limited resources towards the provision of infrastructure in the non-oil producing communities. It would help eradicate the sense of marginalisation currently being felt by residents of the oil producing communities.

“Development and operation of licensed mini refineries: part of the 10 percent can be committed as equity contribution towards the development of mini refineries in the oil producing communities as a way of curbing the operation of illegal refineries which is fast becoming an environmental and economic hazard in the region,” the memorandum stated.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/pib-group-seeks-inclusion-of-10-for-oil-producing-communities/

Wife of former Kwara State governor and founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, WBFA, Mrs Oluwatoyin Saraki, has called for an urgent amendment of Section 29 (4) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), legalizing child marriage.
In a position statement on the resolution of the Senate to retain provisions of the Section in question, Saraki pointed out that the constitutional amendment was desirable for clarification purposes, and to eliminate all forms of equivocation that can and will promote the continued abuse of girls through child marriage.
In the statement signed by the WBFA Executive Director, Mr Temitayo Erogbogbo, the body expressed grave concern over the Senate’s resolution which, it said, disenfranchises girls and women, and encourages child marriage which robs girls of a good education, optimal health, opportunities for socio-economic empowerment and violates their rights to security and protection from all forms of physical and mental abuse.
“Section 29 (4) (b) contradicts conventions that the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a signatory to, which profess, as commitments, the protection of the rights of girls and women from all forms of abuse, neglect or discrimination, as well as providing the best-available opportunities for self-actualization and fulfillment, through education and other means,” the statement said.
Yerima-Sani
“The evidence is clear that child marriages deny girls of an opportunity to complete an education, thereby directly diminishing their chances at a good life. In line with the Foundation’s long-standing policy we shall continue to strive for improved well being of the girl-child by protecting their rights to security; protection from all forms of physical and mental abuse; education; health; and social and economic empowerment, irrespective of their religious or cultural backgrounds.”
Calling for the rejection of any form of stigmatization of married minors, as well as seeking exceptional and increased protection of child rights and citizenship benefits for all existing married minors, the statement said,“ We look to the House of Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to support our call to action to this end.” According to the WBFA, child marriages are detrimental to a girl’s health, by a direct effect. “Young girls, by virtue of the fact that their bodies are not yet fully developed, run a high risk of developing complications in pregnancy and childbirth, compared to women. Such complications include prolonged and obstructed labour, bleeding, and even death. Girls who are married young are also more vulnerable to contracting sexually transmissible infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS”.
The statement observed that chain reaction that results from a mother’s ill-health also have direct effects on income-generation, especially in Nigeria where the informal sector, mainly driven by women and girls, has contributed largely to household income.
“Therefore, there is an urgent need for the amendment of Section 29 (4) (b) of the Constitution of Nigeria, if the government must keep to its word of ensuring good health and economic prosperity for its people”
Source:http://infonigeria24.com/child-marriageex-gov-sarakis-wife-seeks-amendment-of-constitutional-provision/

Olalekan Ishau Abiola, the first son of late Alhaja Kudirat and Moshood Abiola, in this interview, insists his mother’s killers are still living large and walking the streets freely. Excerpt:

What’s your take on the Appeal Court judgement which freed Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan?

In our religion, we were taught that speculation is the worst kind of speech. Unless you are in a room with the conspirator, it is very difficult to say there was conspiracy to jeopardise the case. I think the Lagos State Government did the best it could under extremely difficult situations.
The killing of my mother happened during the Abacha regime, which means that those investigating the murder were investigating the people that perpetrated the act.

One of the things the Appeal Court said was that there was no police report. Probably, the police did not investigate the case in the best way. So, that was the major problem that the Lagos State Government had in pushing the case forward.

But we were fortunate that the principal actors, the person that shot my mother, Sergeant Rogers, admitted it; the person that drove the car admitted it, people that were present when the order was given admitted it. Their confessional statements were written in the dailies. But the weakness in the Nigerian judiciary system that allows the defense lawyer to delay cases, adjourn and make all kinds of motions, delayed the case and within that time, it was messed up.

The same Sergeant Rogers and every other person that confessed, initially, reversed their confession that they were under duress to confess because of the delay in the judicial system.

Besides, it was not only my mother that Sergeant Rogers confessed to have shot in the head. He confessed to have shot the late Alex Ibru, the Guardian Publisher; he shot at the car of Abraham Adesanya. Unfortunately, all the evidence was buried.

The case of late Bola Ige has been buried as well as other high-profile cases. Where are the cases of ex-Governors accused of embezzlement, corruption? None of them have been convicted.

This shows the weakness in the judicial system. Aside that, many witnesses that might have testified in one way or the other might have died, some are nowhere to be found.

So, the weakness in the system has to be addressed for Nigeria to move forward. When my mother was alive, she was receiving threatening phone calls. But she was optimistic that she had a place in Allah’s paradise. And I know that Allah would give her the paradise. So, whether convicted or not, it does not change where she is.

But as human beings, we should discourage this act of injustice for the purpose of the future of this country. Right now, the Nigerian judiciary does not convict people enough. We have become a nation where anything can happen.

I don’t know the kind of signal we are sending as a nation. Nobody has been arrested or convicted for the murder of over 30 students in Yobe State. There are several illegitimate killings going on in the country without anybody being convicted.

It seems the family is not satisfied with the judgement. Are you thinking of going back to court?

We never went to court in the first place. It was the Lagos State government that took the case to court. We never put pressure on the Lagos State government or anybody. All we wanted from the beginning was a fair trial.

But, in this case, we cannot say we have gotten a fair trial. A situation where those believed to be involved in the murder of my mother were discharged and acquitted is a total injustice. This means they are telling me I never had a mother or that she never existed? Who shot my mother? I can’t be happy with the fact that all those who had confessed to have been involved in the murder of my mother are free.

But I am willing to forgive anyone who did it. As moslems, we are mandated to forgive those who trespass against us. But, in this case, nobody has admitted he is guilty. Those who admitted were not convicted. The only good thing is that Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan spent 14 years in jail.

I also appreciate the Judge at the Lagos High Court who was brave enough to pronounce the death sentence on Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan because they did everything within their power to frustrate justice. The fact that the Appeal Court threw the case out has not changed anything. When the death sentence was passed, it was appreciated by many people. But when the Appeal Court threw it out, people were shocked.

If the Lagos State government decides to go to the Supreme court, I will support it because the Supreme Court started the dismantling of this case.

The first time Mohammed Abacha said was that he had no case to answer. The Supreme Court accepted that he had no case to answer which was ridiculous. A case that had not been judged at the lower court was hijacked at the Supreme Court. The case has been messed up. But my candid opinion is that going to court is a waste of time.

Do you think Al-Mustapha was actually involved in the muder of your mother? The Appeal Court said there was no concrete evidence to prove he was guilty.

Speculation is the worst kind of thing. I believe the initial confession by Sergeant Rogers about how Al-Mustapha gave the gun and the order to carry out the operation. I believe he was not only involved in my mother’s killing but in the killings of other people.

So, if he likes, let him go to Kano and present himself as a hero. Let the Kano State Government give him a title or make him Imam of their Central Mosque. But I know that the Almighty Allah will judge the case himself.

If he had a hand in it, he should make his repentance to Allah but the chances of his repentance to be accepted by God are very slim because it has to do with blood. He has a case with God and the injured party. In this case, the injured party is dead, so no one can compensate a dead person. The fact is that they deprived my mother of her life unjustly and of motherly role.

Even if they had upheld the death sentence, no governor would have signed it. Since democracy was brought back to Nigeria, the only governor who had the nerve to sign a death warrant was Oshiomole of Edo State. No other person has done that because they are all cowards. So, the case would have been buried. But, if Al-Mustapha had a hand in my mother’s death, I know he will not go scotfree. And whoever had a hand in the killing of my mother will be punished by God.

What is your position on his status in the Army?

They can make him a General or Chief of Army Staff, I don’t care. But it is very unfortunate. My mother fought and gave her life and she knew that her life was at risk. We were begging her to leave Nigeria but she insisted. This woman fought for the democracy that Nigerians are enjoying today, but it is unfortunate that the present government could not ensure that she got justice. Her fight was successful, but it is a shame that the Nigerian democratic government could not repay her for the justice she deserved.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/al-mustaphas-acquittal-is-unjust-olalekan-abiola/

ABUJA — Towards ameliorating widespread poverty in Nigeria and appropriately empowering both women and youths across the 774 local governments in Nigerian, Dangote Foundation has continued the disbursement of N10 billion grants to women and youths in the local governments across the country.
The fund disbursement is meant to enable recipients to meet immediate family and livelihood needs by providing a one-time grant to start up enterprises that will boost their economic and consumption activities and help reduce their vulnerability.
Speaking at the continuation of the disbursement in Lokoja, Kogi State, President, Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote said the Foundation in response to the widespread poverty in Nigeria, in 2011, instituted a cash transfer intervention – the Dangote Micro-grants Programme- to provide cash transfers to select poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The disbursement is expected to be completed in 24 months.
He explained that the cash transfer intervention focused on women who bear the greatest brunt of poverty.
He said: “Our Programme provides a one-off grant that enables recipients to grow or start an enterprise, invest in product assets, improve the health of their families, and/or take on new activities that reduce their vulnerability and enhance their economic standing. It has successfully assisted women and their families in Kano and Jigawa states.”
According to the business mogul, the cash transfer intervention Programme is national in scope and will systematically cover all the 774 local government areas of Nigeria.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/dangote-disburses-n10bn-to-women-youths-in-774-lgs/

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Alani Akinrinade (retd.), and Brig.-Gen. Godwin Alabi-Isama (retd.), on Thursday faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Nigerian Civil War account.

Obasanjo’s story in his war memoirs, My Command, Akinrinade and Alabi-Isama said, was full of “serious and historical errors” and constituted a “self-glorification.”

The former President’s account, the retired military officers added, amounted to denying others, who helped to achieve Nigeria’s victory, the credit they deserved.

The civil war took place between 1967 and 1970.

The generals, who participated in the war, spoke in Lagos at the public presentation of Alabi-Isama’s book, Tragedy of Victory: on the spot account of Nigeria-Biafra Civil War in the Atlantic Theatre.

The author, in his book, claimed that Obasanjo, who was the last Commander of the Third Marine Commando that led the military campaigns against Biafra, did not participate in the real battle even as he committed many strategic blunders.

Alabi-Isama added that Obasanjo, in My Command, claimed glory for the victory even when he was not present to receive the instrument of surrender from Biafra when the war ended in 1970.

Alabi-Isama, who narrated how he faced persecution in the army, said his book was to celebrate others whose contributions during the war Obasanjo and others failed to acknowledge.

He said, “We neglected those who fought the Civil War and we have a glorified brother, who was as at the time Col. Obasanjo. He wrote a book entitled, My Command. In that book, he wrote about himself and every other person was demonised. That is why I have the Part 3 of this book as the expose.”

Commending Alabi-Isama’s work, Akinrinade said the author had “put the record straight”, particularly with documents and photographs.

The 601-page book has 36 maps, 20 documents and 450 photographs, which Alabi-Isama reportedly took during the war.

Akinrinade added that My Command failed “to do justice to all the good people who fought that war.”

The Executive Editor of The NEWS magazine, Mr. Kunle Ajibade, who reviewed the new book, said My Command was unlike Long Walk to Freedom, in which former South African President Nelson Mandela was full of praises for those who fought the anti-apartheid struggle with him.

Ajibade said, “The total lack of this kind of generous spirit in Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo” spurred Alabi-Isama to write The Tragedy of Victory, which “offers a ferocious and damning critique of Obasanjo’s vainglorious claims of his gallantry.”

Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who was the Head of State during the war, said Obasanjo, “as the Commanding Officer assigned to command the division, “was rightfully positioned to claim victory on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”

Gowon, who was unable to attend the event, stated in his foreword to the book.

According to him, Isama-Alabi’s book has made an “invaluable” contribution to understanding our nation’s history.

A former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), who chaired the book presentation, denied the allegation that he conspired with Obasanjo to force the author out of the army.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/obasanjos-civil-war-book-self-glorification-ex-generals/

The wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan has expressed concern about the unhealthy scenario at the Rivers State House of Assembly.

And as one who is familiar with that terrain she’s asking all parties involved in the on-going crisis to sheathe their swords and give peace a chance.

Referring to the state governor Chibuike Amaechi as her son, she asked him not to allow himself to be used by those who do not wish the state well.

Mrs Jonathan’s comments came after she attended an event at the presidential villa.

She also referred to the minister of state for education Nyesom Wike as another son who should tread softly to allow peace reign in the state.
Source:http://infonigeria24.com/amaechi-remains-my-son-patience-jonathan/

The Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Tuesday said the federal government’s mobile broadband plan was targeted at accessing 80 per cent of the entire population while fixed broadband plan would access 20 per cent of the population by 2017. Johnson made the disclosure in Abuja while inaugurating a 19-member council that would help drive the execution, implementation and delivery of the plan.

Private members of the council include Messrs. Jim Ovia and Ernest Ndukwe as co-Chairmen and Ms. Funke Opeke. Others are Mr. Titi Omoetu and Mr. Junaid Dikko. The goal of the broadband plan, the minister explained, was to have pervasive mobile broadband access to 80 per cent of the Nigerian population and fix broadband access to about 20 per cent by the year 2017. She acknowledged that with the credibility and intellectually prowess of the nominees, there was no doubt that they would deliver. Johnson said: “With this goal in mind, I have no doubt that with the credibility and the composition of the nominees to this council and working closely with the ministry, I have no doubt that we can achieve the objective of the broadband plan and look forward to work with you on the delivery of these objectives.

The inauguration of the council, according to the minister, represented an important milestone in the implementation of the national broadband plan, adding that the national broadband plan was presented to President Goodluck Jonathan for approval in May. She said: “In his remarks after the plan was presented to him, he emphasised that broadband is to digital age what electricity was to industrial age and that while African countries seemed to have missed out of the industrialisation age, they could not afford to miss out of the digital age and therefore he welcomed the national broadband plan.”

The minister stated that the plan had been widely disseminated and circulated and had generated positive feedback from both the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the GSMA and other international bodies, adding that they all admitted that the plan is robust both in its breadth and depth.

She added: “The role of the council is to ensure that we do not only have a well-articulated plan, but also well executed plan as well. “The terms of reference include providing periodic progress report on the evaluation of the plan, facilitating the coordination and collaboration of the various stakeholders during plan implementation, ensuring that relevant agencies and institutions are actively engaged and monitoring the progress of the plan and highlighting adjustment areas if any.” According to her, the nomination process to the council was carefully done.

She said the council had both institutional, individual and government representations as well. Institutional representation, Johnson added, was to ensure that the requirement of the industry and the individual was taken into consideration as the plan was executed and that included Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, all key institutions to the delivery of the broadband plan. In his remark, Ndukwe, said: “I’m excited and would like to congratulate President Jonathan for setting up the committee with the minister’s approval.

“That such a thing has happened means our labour was not in vain and I would also like to congratulate the minister for her vision and most especially, for her speed in constituting the broadband committee.” According to him, the deployment of broadband plan in the nation’s ICT sector is a step in the right direction, adding that something good was in the offing for the country.

He said: “As a country, we have an opportunity to use technology to transform the lives of the people. “Nigeria, with this broadband plan, is at a very important milestone in the move towards what I call broadband revolution in this country. “In Africa it is said that three out of 10 people have electricity, but that seven out of 10 have mobile phones which point to the fact that there is a lot of strength in technology and that has actually helped in building or transforming economies in Africa.”

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/mobile-broadband-plan-fg-targets-80-nigerians-by-2017/

For several hours Monday, the joint education committee of the National Assembly along with the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa'i, met with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the ongoing strike by the union but they failed to prevail on the union to suspend the industrial action.

ASUU vowed not to end the strike until government meets its demands.
Before the meeting dissolved into a closed-door session, chairman of the committee, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, had urged the union to reduce its demands to only three: funding of the institutions, university autonomy and earned academic allowances.

He deplored the federal government's unwilling stance to honour the 2009 agreement that it signed with the union, describing it as a betrayal of trust. Chukwumerije also emphasised the need to urgently end the strike in the overall interests of students and the nation.

He said: "It is a puzzle to Nigerians that it has on three occasions required the extreme action of withdrawal of services by ASUU to compel the attention of the government to the necessity of honouring the 2009 agreement.

"Why endorse an agreement in the first instance if you had no intention of honouring it? Wherein then lies the basis for mutual trust?"

The Senate Committee Chairman also chastised ASUU, accusing it of brandishing what it called "self righteous certitude."

He added: "The public is again puzzled why a healthy insistence on academic autonomy and institutional self regulation should resist the searchlights of audit on any aspect of the institution's financial operations, whether staff or any other aspect since the universities pride themselves as beacons of transparency."

Chukwumerije urged both the federal government and ASUU to shift grounds and create room for amicable resolution of the crisis.

However, ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, said the union was not interested in commencing a fresh negotiation on the agreement it had with the federal government in 2009, alleging that the government had cultivated the tradition of reaching agreements with ASUU only to renege on it once the union had kept its part of the pact.

He decried allocations to education, recalling that during the military regime of General Sani Abacha, between 1993 and 1998, the highest allocation to the education sector was 12.87 per cent as he listed various allocations to education in the national budget since 2007.

According to him, in 2010, the allocation was 8.19 per cent; 6.41 per cent in 2011; 7.95 per cent in 2012; and 8.44 in 2013.

The ASUU president regretted further that the federal government had over the years lacked a sense of sincerity.

"Government is not sincere. Government is not interested in addressing the problems in the education sector. Our union is a union of intellectuals. We cannot take guns and start shooting people. The only option we have is to withdraw our services," he said.

He insisted that ASUU would not be deceived to end the strike this time until the government begins the implementation of the contentious agreement.
But Rufa'i urged the union to end the strike to avoid greater damage to the troubled education sector.

The meeting eventually ended in a deadlock with ASUU demanding 100 per cent implementation of the 2009 agreement as a condition for suspending the strike.
At the end of the meeting, Chukwumerije said:

"Having explored all avenues to address the matter, the National Assembly is appealing to ASUU to give us two or three days or even a week to ruminate over all the positions reached and come back to us with a new position, particularly the non-academic allowance that the federal government conceded to pay five per cent in the interest of our children who are staying idle at home and in fact roaming the streets."

Apart from the lawmakers, education minister and lecturers, others present at the meeting were Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie.
Source: http://infonigeria24.com/ASUU-vows-to-continue-strike-until-govt-implements-2009-agreement/

Nelson Mandela will soon be discharged from hospital to recuperate at home, according to former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

‘I am quite certain that one of these days Madiba (Mandela) will go back home,’ he said at the weekend.

Official statements that South Africa’s first black president was critical but stable were correct, he said, at a memorial service in Pretoria on Saturday.

He added: ‘One of these days the doctors will agree that he can go and stay at home rather than in hospital.’

Mandela’s wife Graça Machel also said she was ‘less anxious’ about his condition.

‘He continues to respond positively to treatment. I would say that today I am less anxious than I was a week ago,’ she said.

The former apartheid campaigner has been hospitalised for more than five weeks for a recurring lung infection, which has led to four hospital stays in the last six months.

Friends who have visited him say he is on a life support machine – and court papers alleged he was in a persistent vegetative state – but recent official updates have said Mandela was in a critical but stable condition.

Mandela, who was hospitalized on June 8, turns 95 on Thursday.
He spent 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

Last week, a close friend of Mandela contradicted the court reports that he was ‘totally conscious’ when he visited him in hospital this week.

Denis Goldberg, a white anti-apartheid activist and stalwart of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), contradicted that medical opinion presented in court, which stated that Mandela has been in a ‘vegetative state’ for the last nine days and his family had discussed switching off his life support machine.

Goldberg, who was jailed for 22 years during the infamous Rivonia trial of 1964 that saw Mandela imprisoned for life, insisted that he had visited Mandela on Monday and he that ‘he is clearly a very ill man, but he responds to voices and tries to talk.’

He added: ‘He was dozing when I got there. I spoke and told him who I was and he opened his eyes and looked at me. I spoke to him for about ten minutes and he responded positively to what I was saying. He was aware of who I was.’
Source:http://infonigeria24.com/mandela-to-be-allowed-home-as-he-continues-to-respond-positively-to-treatment/

*Relieves prison experience *Abachas, grandmother set to receive him in Kano today…
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, says he has forgiven those behind his 14 years sojourn in prison.

In an interview aired on BBC Hausa Service, yesterday, the former Abacha security goon said “there was conscious effort by those behind my travail to paint me black before the whole world, but my gratitude goes to God for allowing truth to triumph over falsehood”. He spoke about 24 hours after the Court of Appeal set him free.


Al-Mustapha stated: “The last 14 years of my life was spent between solitary confinement that lasted five years and three months and detention in about 32 facilities located within the northern and southern parts of the country.”

Recounting his experience in prison, the former CSO declared: “I was toughened by my professional calling and my belief as a Muslim to persevere in whatever condition one finds himself”, stressing that 14 years from home had been tough and laden with lesson of life

The one-time feared Major, in the emotional interview, said, “I am fully convinced that my travail was ordained by God to test my will and trust in Him and those laying claim to have played a role must have done that out of ignorance, and I bear no grudge against them.

“I have learnt a lot lessons from my incarceration and, from what I have seen at the maximum prison, there is a number of people who are being detained illegally across the prisons and those in position of authority must do something to address the issue”.

He added: “I am still a major in the Nigerian Army, and cannot be dragged into politics especially since I have been out for so long. I don’t think of politics, my major preoccupation now is how to reunite with my profession.”

Rally
Meanwhile, barring any last-minute change in plan, Maryam Sani Abacha, wife of the late Head of state, Abacha, is set to lead the entire Abacha family to receive him at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport as he returns home today. Al-Mustapha’s grandmother was also said to be anxious to see him.

Supporters and well-wishers of the freed former CSO were, yesterday, said to be planning to hold a rally for honour their hero.

A jingle by Muhammad Abacha, eldest son of the late Head of State, ran on virtually all radio stations in Kano, calling on Kano people to come out en masse to welcome Al Mustapha back home.

Palpable festivities enveloped the city of nine million people as many were seen discussing today’s event that promised to attract hundreds of thousands of people.

Al-Mustapha’s private residence, located at Lamido Crescent, Nassarawa GRA, wore a new look with increased activities as hordes of people were seen trooping in and out of the house.

Sunday Vanguard checks round the city showed posters of the late Abacha dotted strategic streets with those of Al-Mustapha.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/i-have-forgiven-my-foes-al-mustapha/

The Israeli military has test-fired a new long-range ballistic missile reportedly capable of carrying a nuclear, chemical or biological warhead.
The military described Friday’s launch from a base on the Mediterranean coast as the test of the propulsion system of a missile on which it declined to elaborate, AFP reported.

“This morning, Israel conducted a launching test from the Palmachim base of a rocket propulsion system,” the Israeli ministry for military affairs said in a brief statement.

“The scheduled test was pre-planned… and was carried out as expected,” it added.

Israeli media, citing analysts, said the test was very likely related to Israel’s Jericho ballistic missile system.

Aalysts say the most modern version of the system, the Jericho III, has a range of between 5,000 and 11,000 kilometers, and can carry a warhead of up to one ton.

The last test of a Jericho III missile was conducted in November 2011.

In 2008, the Israeli military test-fired another long-range ballistic missile, threatening to strike Iran.

The Israeli regime is widely believed to be the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The regime reportedly maintains between 200 and 400 atomic warheads, but under its policy of so-called nuclear ambiguity, it has never denied nor confirmed its possession of the weapons of mass destruction.

Furthermore, the Israeli regime has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/israel-test-fires-nuclear-capable-ballistic-missile/

ABUJA—FORMER Federal Capital Territory ,FCT, Minister, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, yesterday, said the powers of the President and Minister of Petroleum to award oil blocs should be curtailed.

El-Rufai, who spoke at the final public hearing on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, organised by the House ad hoc Committee on the PIB, said Nigerians should be given the opportunity to freely bid for available oil blocs, instead of arbitrarily awarding same to select individuals by the President.

He said: “Today, Nigeria has a track record of attracting a billion dollars in fees from frequency spectrum. If we can sell something, which is scarce, like the spectrum for that kind of money, why can’t we bid out oil blocs? I think you should put in the PIB a requirement that every oil bloc in Nigeria, whether onshore or offshore, be publicly advertised, and everywhere in the world, Nigerians and foreigners, be given the opportunity to bid for it, and whoever bids the highest price should win, even if you have some provisions that Nigerians can win, if they bid 10 or 20 percent lower. But no one, not even the President should have the discretion to allocate oil blocs without rules”.
El-Rufai argued that there should be a government framework that encouraged independence of the regulators in the sector, insisting that the regulators should not be made to report to the Minister of Petroleum.

He said: “I think that as you are doing this legislation, we must have independent regulators. Independent regulators mean that they don’t report to the minister. They are independent of the minister. The minister focuses on policy, the regulators have freedom to regulate independently without any control of the minister, which means, for instance, that we should not live in a country in which the oil bloc can be allocated based on discretion.”

Speaking as a director of the Centre for Africa’s Progress and Prosperity, CAPP, El-Rufai suggested that the joint ventures should be incorporated and put on the stock exchange, so Nigerians could buy shares in the JVC’s. The former FCT helmsman also advised that more Nigerians be encouraged to participate in the petroleum industry. On oil host communities’ fund (PHCF), he applauded the initiative, saying it was assailable but, however, called for a governance framework.

Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said to ensure transparency in the industry, the PIB should provide for an allocation process that was clear and transparent, and openned to the general public.

She maintained that there should be a clear description of the process for transferring or awarding oil licence.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/pib-jonathan-diezani-should-not-award-oil-blocs-el-rufai/

THREE days after the mayhem at the Rivers State House of Assembly, the polity was still awash with condemnation of the action of the lawmakers and feuding stakeholders.

Among those who spoke on the crisis, yesterday, were Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, legal icons, Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, Itse Sagay, SAN, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Femi Falana, SAN.

Nobel Laurete, Professor Wole Soyinka has condemned the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, saying that democratic grounds were being eroded in the state.

Soyinka also took a swipe at the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan for her alleged over bearing tendencies and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to call her to order.

While he faulted the presidency for trying to absolve the president from the crisis, he said “the perception in the world is that he bears a vicarious liability in the crisis.”



RIVERS—The police fire tear gas as rival lawmakers and their supporters clashed in Port-Harcourt yesterday. Photos: Chijioke Nwankpa.

Besides, he said the indifference exhibited by the President creates an enabling environment for his followers to act on his behalf.

He said: “What I want to do here is to remind you of a certain historic figure. I am sure most of us here must be familiar with Thomas Becket, who was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 11th Century, who was murdered at the altar by four Knights of King Henry II.”

Commenting on the crisis, he said: “Now, I have read on the pages of newspapers and watched on television that the President’s spokesmen have been trying to distance him (President) from what is happening in Rivers State. They are doing their job and I wish them well but they have to understand that the President has to understand that the perception out there in the world is that he bears a lot of responsibility for what is happening in Rivers state.”

Drawing a parallel, he said “My reference to Thomas Becket was this: the absolute Monarchism that obtained at that time was that King Henry II saw that Thomas Becket was becoming too influential and what he said was that: ‘will no one rid me of this pestilence?’

“What happened after that was that four Knights went and attacked the Archbishop at the Cathedral. Historically now, we have five operators carrying out the imaginary will of the absolute monarch, again another parallelism.”

Continuing, he said “Again, I have been asking myself are we not tilting towards absolute monarch? There are many ways of saying: will no one rid me of this pestilence in Rivers State? You don’t have to utter a word directly but from your conduct which can convey very strong signals or better still say I will come after you.”


Stating that he was not casting aspersion on any individual, he said, “I am saying that one can establish certain conducts in the mind of one’s followers, all of which circle around impunity. There are certain ways you can convince your followers, your officials, your cohorts that they can act with impunity. There are many ways, for instance, you can expose a prey and say that prey is available.”

First Lady’s excesses
Decrying alleged excesses of the first lady, Soyinka said it was unfortunate that a mere domestic appendage of power could go to a state and take over the state for 11 days. “A queen goes to the archbishop’s domain, stays 11 days and the baron is not even allowed to move; creating an enabling environment for that baron to be dealt with. He is stopped by a Sheriff and that baron is responsible for security and governance.”

He continued: “I am calling on the President Jonathan please curb the excesses of his wife. Too much is too much. Is she the first First Lady we have had? She is now being used to abuse the authority of an elected governor.

“The governor’s lodge was tear-gassed. Anybody who said teargas was not thrown into Amaechi’s lodge is either ignorant or lying. Some of Amaechi’s security has been removed. The democratic grounds are being eroded. With a teargas thrown, the next one may be a smoke gun”.

He chided Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu over his role in the political imbroglio and described him as a political policeman.

Falana laments crisis
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana said it was regrettable that exactly 10 years after a group of thugs attempted to abduct a sitting governor in Anambra State, another set of thugs attempted to undermine democratic institutions in Rivers State.

Falana said the silence of President Jonathan on the unfortunate development in Rivers State was tantamount to an endorsement of the political crisis.

He said: “We have been through this route before. We must tell them that we are not a conquered people. The case of Rivers is more absurd, more odious, where five members of the assembly aided by the state invaded the Assembly chambers and chased away their colleagues”.

Source: http://infonigeria24.com/soyinka-nwabueze-others-condemn-rivers-assembly-crisis/