₦airaland Forum

fisuyi: The world's biggest pharmaceutical company hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general in order to persuade him to drop legal action over a controversial drug trial involving children with meningitis, according to a leaked US embassy cable.

Pfizer was sued by the Nigerian state and federal authorities, who claimed that children were harmed by a new antibiotic, Trovan, during the trial, which took place in the middle of a meningitis epidemic of unprecedented scale in Kano in the north of Nigeria in 1996.

Last year, the company came to a tentative settlement with the Kano state government which was to cost it $75m.

But the cable suggests that the US drug giant did not want to pay out to settle the two cases – one civil and one criminal – brought by the Nigerian federal government.

The cable reports a meeting between Pfizer's country manager, Enrico Liggeri, and US officials at the Abuja embassy on 9 April 2009. It states: "According to Liggeri, Pfizer had hired investigators to uncover corruption links to federal attorney general Michael Aondoakaa to expose him and put pressure on him to drop the federal cases. He said Pfizer's investigators were passing this information to local media."

The cable, classified confidential by economic counsellor Robert Tansey, continues: "A series of damaging articles detailing Aondoakaa's 'alleged' corruption ties were published in February and March. Liggeri contended that Pfizer had much more damaging information on Aondoakaa and that Aondoakaa's cronies were pressuring him to drop the suit for fear of further negative articles."

The release of the Pfizer cable came as:

• The American ambassador to London denounced the leak of classified US embassy cables from around the world. In tomorrow'sGuardian Louis Susman writes: "This is not whistleblowing. There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people. There is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations on which our common security depends."

• It emerged that Julian Assange had been transferred to the segregation unit in Wandsworth prison and had distanced WikiLeaks from cyber attacks on MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and other organisations.

• Other newly released cables revealed that China is losing patience with the failure of the Burmese regime to reform, and disclosed US fears that Europe will cave in to Serbian pressure to partition Kosovo.

While many thousands fell ill during the Kano epidemic, Pfizer's doctors treated 200 children, half with Trovan and half with the best meningitis drug used in the US at the time, ceftriaxone. Five children died on Trovan and six on ceftriaxone, which for the company was a good result. But later it was claimed Pfizer did not have proper consent from parents to use an experimental drug on their children and there were questions over the documentation of the trial. Trovan was licensed for adults in Europe, but later withdrawn because of fears of liver toxicity.

The cable claims that Liggeri said Pfizer, which maintains the trial was well-conducted and any deaths were the direct result of the meningitis itself, was not happy about settling the Kano state cases, "but had come to the conclusion that the $75m figure was reasonable because the suits had been ongoing for many years costing Pfizer more than $15m a year in legal and investigative fees".

In an earlier meeting on 2 April between two Pfizer lawyers, Joe Petrosinelli and Atiba Adams, Liggeri, the US ambassador and the economic section, it had been suggested that Pfizer owed the favourable outcome of the federal cases to former Nigerian head of state Yakubu Gowon.

He had interceded on Pfizer's behalf with the Kano state governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau – who directed that the state's settlement demand should be reduced from $150m to $75m – and with the Nigerian president. "Adams reported that Gowon met with President Yar'Adua and convinced him to drop the two federal high court cases against Pfizer," the cable says.

But five days later Liggeri, without the lawyers present, enlarged on the covert operation against Aondoakaa.

The cable says Liggeri went on to suggest that the lawsuits against Pfizer "were wholly political in nature".

He alleged that Médecins sans Frontières, which was in the same hospital in Kano, "administered Trovan to other children during the 1996 meningitis epidemic and the Nigerian government has taken no action".

MSF – which was the first to raise concerns about the trial – vehemently denies this. Jean-Hervé Bradol, former president of MSF France, said: "We have never worked with this family of antibiotic. We don't use it for meningitis. That is the reason why we were shocked to see this trial in the hospital."

There is no suggestion that the attorney general was swayed by the pressure. However, the dropping of the federal cases provoked suspicion in Nigeria. Last month, the Nigerian newspaper Next ran a story headlined, "Aondoakaa's secret deal with Pfizer".

The terms of the agreement that led to the withdrawal of the $6bn federal suit in October 2009 against Pfizer "remain unknown because of the nature of [the] deal brokered by … Mike Aondoakaa", it said. Pfizer and the Nigerian authorities had signed a confidentiality agreement. "The withdrawal of the case, as well as the terms of settlement, is a highly guarded secret by the parties involved in the negotiation," the article said.

Aondoakaa expressed astonishment at the claims in the US cable when approached by the Guardian. "I'm very surprised to see I became a subject, which is very shocking to me," he said. "I was not aware of Pfizer looking into my past. For them to have done that is a very serious thing. I became a target of a multinational: you are supposed to have sympathy with me … If it is true, maybe I will take legal action."

In a statement to the Guardian, Pfizer said: "The Trovan cases brought by both the federal government of Nigeria and Kano state were resolved in 2009 by mutual agreement. Pfizer negotiated the settlement with the federal government of Nigeria in good faith and its conduct in reaching that agreement was proper. Although Pfizer has not seen any documents from the US embassy in Nigeria regarding the federal government cases, the statements purportedly contained in such documents are completely false.

"As previously disclosed in Pfizer's 10-Q filing in November 2009, per the agreement with the federal government, Nigeria dismissed its civil and criminal actions against the company. Pfizer denied any wrongdoing or liability in connection with the 1996 study. The company agreed to pay the legal fees and expenses incurred by the federal government associated with the Trovan litigation. Pursuant to the settlement, payment was made to the federal government's counsel of record in the case, and there was no payment made to the federal government of Nigeria itself. As is common practice, the agreement was covered by a standard confidentiality clause agreed to by both parties."
       
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/09/wikileaks-cables-pfizer-nigeria

]doyin13: Just a reminder its been quite a while our country has been in the docks. Makes for really gruesome reading.

Officials of the Federal Government as well as those of the Kano State government were complicit in the 1996 Pfizer’s Trovan clinical trial that used Nigerian children as guinea pigs, leaving at least 11 infants dead and several others with permanent disabilities. This is according to the report of the Investigative Committee on the Clinical Trial of Trovan constituted by the Federal Government in 2001.

This man that should have known better. . . .For his role in the killings, he got rewarded Nigerian style.

Isa Dutse, chief medical director, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, now the chief medical director of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, was also indicted by the report. Shortly before Pfizer hurriedly flew its doctors into Kano on a DC 91 jet in the heat of the triple epidemic, Isa Dutse, who had previously worked for Pfizer, was contacted and made the principal investigator for the clinical trial.

The investigative committee report identified Mr. Dutse as being responsible for recruiting patients for the trial without written consent.

"As principal investigator, he had no record either of the patients recruited or the outcome of the investigation," the report said.

Mr. Dutse, who claimed to have been paid $20,000 (N3 million) also admitted to the committee that he single-handedly issued a backdated ethical clearance certificate to Pfizer at a time an ethical committee was not in existence at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital when contacted by Pfizer six months after the trail.

Mr. Dutse also confessed that a child, identified as Patient 0069, died after the Pfizer team continued to give the child oral Trovan and did not consider changing therapy. The committee recommended that Mr. Dutse should "be reprimanded and considered for disciplinary action."

Instead of the government punishing Mr. Dutse as the committee recommended, he was richly rewarded for participating in the killing of helpless Nigerian children. Mr, Dutse, now a professor, enjoyed a rapid career rise, and is heading the biggest hospital in Kano as the chief medical director.

And how was the lone man of integrity treated. . . . .

In the midst of the confusion and deliberate collusion by government officials and Pfizer to experiment on Nigerian children, one voice stood out against this evil.

Mr. Idris Mohammed, the chairman of the Federal Task Force for the Control of the Epidemics, was the only person who tried to put a stop to the Pfizer trial. The report commended the efforts of Mr. Mohammed, who is a retired professor of medicine.

He had insisted that Pfizer produce a clearance certificate for the trial when he found out that Pfizer was conducting a clinical trial, but Pfizer failed to produce it. He subsequently ordered the immediate halt of the trial but Pfizer seemed to have entered into negotiations and subsequently secured the backing of officials of the Kano State ministry of health to continue with the trial.

He also obtained sample of the drug from Pfizer investigators and handed them over to NAFDAC in Kano for analysis but nothing was done about it.

He then wrote a petition to Mr. Madubuike on 1 July, 1996, where he detailed what transpired during the trial. But on 11 December, 1996, the minister sent a reply maligning Mr. Mohammed, based on the submissions of Pfizer and the Kano State government, all without inviting Mr. Idris Mohammed to defend himself.

"There was no breach of Nigerian law as alleged by you. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has the legal mandate to grant permit for importation or manufacture of unregistered drugs for the purpose of clinical trial investigation. Kano State Ministry took appropriate actions," the letter stated.

The report reprimanded the former minister for not setting up a committee to look into Mr. Mohammed's petition and for not inviting him for discussions on the matter before writing him "an undeserving and distasteful letter."

While responding to questions from the committee, Mr. Mohammed noted that Pfizer got "excellent cooperation from the Kano State Ministry of Health."

Bliss4Lyfe: Pfizer logo Pfizer has agreed to sponsor health projects in Kano
Continue reading the main story
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US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has made the first compensation payment to Nigerian families affected by a controversial drug trial 15 years ago.

It paid $175,000 (£108,000) each to four families in the first of a series of payments it is expected to make.

The payouts are part of an out-of-court settlement reached in 2009.

In 1996, 11 children died and dozens were left disabled after Pfizer gave them the experimental anti-meningitis drug, Trovan.

The payouts were made to the parents of four of the children who died.

Their parents told the BBC they welcomed the payment, but it would not replace the loss of their loved ones.

The children were part of a group of 200 given the drug during a meningitis epidemic in the northern city of Kano as part of a medical trial comparing Trovan's effectiveness with the established treatment.

For years Pfizer maintained that meningitis - not the drug - caused the deaths and disabilities.

But after a lengthy and expensive litigation process, it reached a settlement with the Kano government in northern Nigeria.
DNA tests

The trials were carried out in Kano and the state government fought Pfizer on behalf of victims and their families.
Hajara Hajara, photographed in 2007, survived the trials but became deaf afterwards and is unable to speak

It has taken two years and DNA tests to establish who is entitled to payments, the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Lagos says.

It could take another year for payments to be concluded, he says.

Pfizer also agreed to sponsor health projects in Kano as well as creating a fund of $35m to compensate those affected.

Pfizer said it was pleased the four had been compensated.

"This is the first step in a multi-phase review process by which the independent board of trustees that manages the fund will deliver payment to all other qualified claimants," the company said in a statement.

"We thank them for their commitment and dedication to seeing this process through in the most timely and transparent way possible."http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14493277

Kingspin: Anambra Governorship Election: Peter Obi’s
movement restricted on november 16, 2013 at 1:46pm in news By Vincent Ujumadu

In spite of the immunity enjoyed by Gov. Peter Obi and his being the Chief Security Officer of the State, he was Saturday prevented from moving freely around the State because of the governorship election.

When newsmen visited the Government Lodge, Gov. Obi was busy treating his files. When he was asked while he was not moving around, he
disclosed that security men asked him not to as a result of the curfew imposed on the
State for peaceful election.

Obi who however left the Lodge at 11:50 for
accreditation at his house in Agulu had to do so with Police clearance. None of his security
followed him as police men on election duty escorted him to the place and back to the
lodge. *Gov Peter Obi Obi who said he had no
problem with the arrangement, said he would support any measure taken to guarantee
free and fair election at all times. He said though he had no idea while the restriction should affect him as the Chief Security Officer, but that it was
part of the sacrifice for the sanctity of the electoral
process.

Commenting on the restriction of Mallam El Rufai, Obi who confessed to hearing about
that for the first time wondered why he left Katsina for Anambra State. He said though the restriction affected everybody and should be
understood as part of measures to ensure free and fair election, he wondered why some Nigerians enjoy putting up reckless behaviour that
would only led to lawlessness.
www.vanguardngr.com

CFCfan: Equatorial Guinea 1-2 Spain. 10 mins to go.

So EQG are this good?

kobonaire: Bros, we certainly have the money .... at least compared to Morocco

kobonaire: I take great exception as to why we played on a bad pitch...
1) It affected our game - it was quite obvious from their play. I am happy we got the result but cannot deny that SE were lacking their normal flow
2) If we have better stadia and pitches then why are we not playing there? We are the so called giants of Africa, why can't we showcase our country's infrastructures to the world instead of playing on this C grade pitch?
PS: You do not need to read it on any website that the pitch was bad, just watching the game was enough evidence that the pitch was not worthy of a football power house like the super eagles.

kobonaire: So why do none of them ever become super stars? Why do they fizzle out when the reach the age of 25 (because real age is close to 40). Learn to debate in a civil manner. Even 'dogs' show more etiquette than you have

I'm going to address this strange argument about longevity.

You cannot say that the reason a player does not become a great success after his under 17 career is simply because he is too old. There are so many other factors involved.

1) Do we have a structure in place to help these players graduate to the senior level?

2) What kind of contracts do they sign after their youth career (Chris Ohenhen, Ahmed Garba, etc)?

3) What is the state of our domestic league (remember, many youth players return to their domestic league after competitions) and so many more reasons.

The final of China 85 was between Nigeria and Germany. How many of those players became successes after the competition? Jonathan Akpoborie and Marcel Witheczeck. Does that mean that they were the only under 16 players in both teams? Fact is, many players that are under 17 during the tournament will not go on to perform wonders in their senior career, while players who are above 17 could go on to have glittering careers. What did Florent Sinama Pongolle and Anthony LeTallec achieve with the French National Team?

The fact that some cheat does not mean that all of them are cheating, so my question is, do you have any proof that they are cheating? (I don't mean guesses or conjecture, I mean solid proof).

naptu2: Some players that have played for both the Golden Eaglets and the Super Eagles.

Nduka Ugbade (1985), Wilson Oruma (1993), Victor Ikpeba (1989), Nwankwo Kanu (1993), Celestine Babayaro (1993), Jonathan Akpoborie (1985), Mikel Obi (2003), Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi (2003), Mobi Oparaku (1993), Godwin Okpara (89), Karibe Ojigwe (93), James Obiorah (95), Christopher Nwosu (87), Angus Ikeji (87), Benedict Akwuegbu (89), Isaac Promise (2003), Precious Monye (89), Haruna Lukman (2007), Rabiu Ibrahim (2007), John Zaki (89) , Ogenyi Onazi (2009) and Kenneth Omeruo (2009).

naptu2: Yeah. I actually tried to list all those that played for the Golden Eaglets and went on to have long and distinguished careers with the Super Eagles or in Europe.

Nduka Ugbade played for the Golden Eaglets (China 85), Flying Eagles and Super Eagles (he would have been the first person to play in all levels of FIFA World Cup, ie u17, u21 and senior world cup, if Westerhof had picked him for USA 94). He also won gold at Tunisia 94.

Celestine Babayaro played at u17 (Japan 93), captained the u23 to Sydney 2000, won gold in Atlanta 96 and played at the 1998 world cup. He also won many titles with Chelsea FC.

Jonathan Akpoborie played at u17 (China 85) and u21 levels and also played for the Super Eagles. He won many titles with Stuttgart FC and was one of the highest goal scorers in Europe in 1997 (joint top scorer in the European Cup Winners Cup).

Victor Ikpeba played at u16 (Scotland 89), u20 and u23 levels and also played for the Super Eagles. He won many titles with AS Monaco and (together with Sonny Anderson) led them to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1997/1998 season. He played at the 1998 World Cup and won silver at the 2000 Nations Cup.

Nwankwo Kanu played at Japan 93, captained the Dream Team to Olympic gold in 96, played at the 98 and 2002 world cups and won many titles with Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal.

Mikel Obi played u17 in 2003, u21 in 2005, won the nations cup in 2013 and has won many titles with Chelsea.

These players have won many titles and played for Nigeria for around 10 years.

django1: Is the stadium complete? Pls supply NL link to the development. Thanks.

[size=14pt]Jega promises credible guber election in Anambra.[/size]

on November 14, 2013 at 9:00 am in News

By ENYIM ENYIM

ONITSHA — Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, declared that Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State would be the best election so far in the country.

Speaking during a stakeholders’ forum at the Women Development Centre,  Awka,  Jega said the commission had made adequate preparation to ensure a credible, free and fair election.

However, he appealed to political parties and their candidates to cooperate with the commission to actualise the goal, as INEC would give all the parties and candidates a level playing ground.

He said INEC had corrected the errors in the controversial voters’ registers earlier given to political parties, adding that the mistakes were computer errors.

Presenting the corrected copies of the voters’ register to political parties, Jega asked them to carefully study them and raise objections where necessary before the election.

“We are transparent and we will continue to be transparent and fair to all the parties. We are human beings and we can make mistakes and correct them.

“We have concluded the training of our staff, we have introduced security features to protect our ballot papers and ballot boxes for every polling unit with a unique code number for each unit so that you can not take a ballot paper from one unit to another,” he said.

On multiple registration, the INEC boss said that the commission had already arrested some defaulters and were concluding arrangements to prosecute them and warned voters in the state who had double registration not to go to the polling units on Saturday as security agents had been directed to arrest any offender.

Jega warned that there would be no movement of government officials in the name of monitoring the election, adding that party agents must wear INEC tags to enable them enter and stay at the polling boots assigned to them.

Equally, he advised governorship candidates against going to the polling booths to vote with their armed aides, noting that it had caused violence in the past.

Youngzedd: There is no security in Feggge Onitsha.

All I see is police men without their tools.

Useless police men.

Where is the money spent in security by state government

NO SECURITY......