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Lagos Assembly summons Airtel over alleged sack of Nigerians
October 5, 2011 05:20PM
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The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday summoned the management of Airtel, a telecommunication company, to appear before it on October 11 to explain the alleged sack of about 1,000 Nigerians and their replacement with foreigners.

The lawmakers made the call during their plenary session after Mr Lanre Oshun, (ACN - Lagos Mainland II) had under a matter of urgent public importance, called the attention of the House to the mass sack.

Oshun said that about 1,000 Nigerians were sacked and replaced with Indian nationals who were invited to the country.He said that the House should investigate the criteria used for the downsizing and recruitment.

The lawmaker said that the Indians, who replaced the Nigerians, were placed on higher salaries and said there was a need to question why Nigerians were being downgraded.

The lawmakers, while debating the issue, raised concerns about consumer protection and violation of workers rights, which they argued, foreign companies did not adhere to when dealing with Nigerian employees.

They stressed the need for the Nigerian Communications Commission to regulate the activities of the telecommunication industry to ensure that the rights of Nigerian workers were not trampled.

The lawmakers resolved to invite the company because it was operating in Lagos and residents of the state were involved.

Mr Ayinla Yusuf (ACN - Mushin I), who said he had worked as a cleaner in the UK, argued that immigration rules in other countries did not make it easy for other nationals to take jobs of their citizens.

“Do not let us sell our birthright in Nigeria,” Yusuf said.

Mr Rotimi Olowo (ACN-Somolu I) said it was wrong to allow Nigerians play second fiddle in their own country.

He stressed the need for both the federal government and the Nigerian Immigration Service to ensure Nigerians got fair treatment in recruitment agreements.

Olowo stressed the need to look at the number of Nigerians who were employed in the company.

The speaker, Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji, ruled that there was a need for the Assembly to invite the company on “a fact finding mission.”

He ruled, after a unanimous vote, that the company should appear before the Assembly on October 11.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5744457-146/lagos_assembly_summons_airtel_over_alleged.csp

Onyekakeyah: How disunity is nurtured in Nigeria
TUESDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2011 00:00 BY LUKE ONYEKAKEYAH OPINION - COLUMNISTS
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THE last couple of weeks have witnessed wide public condemnations of the sacking of “non-indigenes” from the Abia State’s public service by Governor Theodore Orji’s government, who happened to be Igbos. The development is not new. Many other states have done the same at one time or the other overtly or covertly. Enugu, Plateau, Rivers and Sokoto, among other states, have openly expelled “non-indigenes” from their employment in the past. Many other states are doing it unannounced. The country has in principle been split along state lines. Even what used to constitute large ethnic blocs have been neutralised by this negative tendency.

That’s why, today, no one gets a job in government establishment outside his or her state of origin. Even states that lack manpower find it difficult to hire “non-indigenes”. They prefer the positions to remain vacant, thereby compounding the unemployment situation. That’s why many schools across the country, particularly, in the north are understaffed. Abia State is just toeing the steps and doing what other states have done. You can call it reprisal or revenge. Whatever it is, it has helped to deepen the festering sense of division and disunity in the country.

There’s no law in the country which stipulates that Nigerians in public sector employment outside their states must be re-absorbed in their state public service as insinuated by Governor Orji. Usually, anyone who wishes to transfer his or her service to another state does so voluntarily and not by compulsion. After all, there’s no guarantee that the recipient states would be obliged to re-absorb those dislodged elsewhere. Even if they do, it is a rigorous process that takes a very long time during which, those affected would remain unemployed.

Unfortunately, each governor claims that the resources of the state are strictly meant to cater for the state “indigenes” and no one else. That’s the extent Nigeria has inadvertently succeeded in dividing itself. The seed of disunity has been planted and is being watered on daily basis by the country’s leaders that swore to uphold the unity of the country. The same leaders deceptively afford themselves at every occasion to proclaim national unity as if they mean what they’re saying.

In the case of Abia, it’s advisable that the lecturers in tertiary institutions who were excluded by Governor Orji’s mass sack should not rest on the oars of the state government anymore, because it’s no longer reliable. They might as well begin to seek alternative employment in their home states where their services would be appreciated and rewarded in the long run. Experience shows that henceforth, they would most likely be treated as second-rate citizens and denied promotions and appointments as heads of department. Governor Orji is retaining them to suit his own purpose. For, if tomorrow there’re Abians who could replace them, they would be booted out without hesitation. That’s the truth of the matter.

There’re few states in the country today that still retain “non-indigenes” in their employment. Where such is the case, those states retained them in their own interest and not in the interest of the “non-indigenes”. However, those retained have little or no say in their place of work. Quite often, they’re engaged on contract basis. They’re humiliated and denied promotion and other fringe benefits because they’re not from the state.

They can’t complain without being reminded by the “indigenes” that they were visitors who should return to their states if they were dissatisfied. In Abia State, for instance, the slogan is “Abia is for Abians”. “The Governor is elected to govern Abians and not every Nigerian”! In such a situation, “non-indigenes” simply hang on, passing through psychological trauma, in the face of crushing unemployment situation in the country.

I strongly believe that there’s a subtle move by practically all the state governments to root out “non-indigenes” in their midst. It’s already being implemented systematically across the states. The days when Nigerians could go anywhere in the country to look for employment are over. The private sector now represents the only true face of Nigeria, employing Nigerians irrespective of where they come from.

There’s no other way to prove that disunity has been elevated to state policy than the fact that one can’t get employment in the public service outside his state of origin. The leadership at all levels is to blame for this turn of events. This has dealt a deadly blow on the foundation upon which Nigeria was founded. Ironically, while the leaders are sowing the seed of disunity on one hand, they’re at the same time singing “One Nigeria” on the other hand.

The seed of disunity is nurtured not only in sacking “non-indigenes” from public service employment across the states but also in institutions of learning. Since September when various schools started releasing their admission list, I have taken a closer look at the distribution of admissions into some of the schools.

Starting with the universities and other tertiary institutions that are owned by the Federal Government, it’s official government policy that such schools across the country should give the bulk of their admissions to indigenes through what is popularly known as catchment area tag. By catchment area is meant that schools in the east virtually belong to easterners; schools in the west belong to westerners and schools in the north belong to northerners.

By this discriminatory policy, Nigerian youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow, are not allowed to go outside their immediate geographical region for schooling. They’re restricted to their immediate enclave. The youths are brainwashed to appreciate only things from their home region and or zone while discrediting anything from other parts of the country. Nigerian youths are therefore indoctrinated from childhood not to see themselves as one. They’re not even made to wear the Nigerian identity but ethnic toga.

By this divisive prescription, candidates from the east are virtually edged out from admission in western and northern schools, except on merit basis. The merit score represents the highest score in entrance examinations, which is difficult to make. The disadvantaged candidates from outside the catchment areas of the various institutions are expected to score the highest marks before they could be admitted in schools; whereas, their counterparts from the catchment area are admitted even with failure scores.

It’s on the basis of this official policy of discrimination that over 80 per cent of students at the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan are of Yoruba extraction.The same goes for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which is populated by Ibos. Similarly, the universities in the north like the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), University of Maiduguri and Usman dan Fodio University, Sokoto are filled with Hausas, Fulani and other indigenes of northern extraction.

The same divisive policy is applied even in the so-called Federal Unity Schools. My investigation in some of the federal Unity Schools shows that the last thing in those schools is unity. Looking at the admission list of candidates into the Junior Secondary School (JSS1), I noticed that over 80 per cent of the admissions were given on the basis of what is called “environmental” consideration. This is another name for catchment area. I thought that the Unity Schools give equal representation of candidates from all the states of the federation, but this is not the case. No wonder, the Unity Schools have failed to unite Nigeria more than three decades after they were started.

It’s on these bases that I question the spirit and purpose of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. The NYSC scheme was in principle established to promote national unity. Good enough. But what kind of unity are we promoting when students are not free to attend schools anywhere of their choice in the country?

Why should an Igbo youth who was denied admission at the University of Ibadan or ABU, Zaria, and forced to study at the UNN be compelled to go to the same Zaria or Ibadan to do NYSC after graduation? The same applies to Yoruba and Hausa youths, who are forced to study at Ibadan and Zaria, respectively. Why should they be compelled to go to the East or West on graduation to perform a national service?

Besides, there are no prospects of career development in the states. As no state employs “non-indigenes”, the youngsters are made to return to their states of origin to look for employment. Who is fooling who? Can we see why all the talk of national unity is not achieving anything? The hypocrisy in government is to blame. The structures in place are anti unity.

If the government is sincere in promoting national unity, all these official obstacles and hindrances should be dismantled. Nigerian youths should be free to school anywhere of their choice in the country. As a matter of fact, it’s easier to achieve national unity through the younger generation. But the system must open up for them; otherwise, the empty slogan is inherently flawed.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63193:-onyekakeyah-how-disunity-is-nurtured-in-nigeria&catid=38:columnists&Itemid=615

There’s hope for Nigeria, says Tinubu
By Our Reporter 14 hours 39 minutes ago
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Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has urged Nigerians to rally to the national cause of justice, fairness and peace, despite the present economic and security challenges.
“We are almost there,” he said in a special release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Olakunle Abimbola, to mark Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary.
“I see a land free from institutional and social injustices that breed so much discontent. I see a people free from economic deprivation that breeds so much poverty. I see a nation bound together in freedom, justice, peace and unity,” he said.
He, however, added that to get to the Promised Land, Nigerians must vigorously engage the government to radically reform those critical institutional frameworks needed to halt the present slide and drive development and prosperity.
On such frameworks, Asiwaju Tinubu called on all patriots to always speak truth to power and place the survival of democracy in Nigeria on the priority agenda.
One, the former governor said, is the federal question. “To get out of the woods, Nigeria must go back to fiscal federalism. That gave our country much hope in the immediate years before independence and a few years after, before the over-centralisation of the military years that halted everything,”he said.
The ACN leader reasoned that though increased revenue allocations to state would start the “re-federalisation” process, ultimately, every state must move towards growing its own resources to develop its own people.
“Federalism is not a political question, though it appears outwardly political. It is basically an economic question, for it structures the growing and allocation of resources for development,” Asiwaju Tinubu insisted.
“If we get our federalism right, we would be well placed to confront head on and conquer the poverty question. If we get rid of poverty, or reduce it to the barest minimum, we would have uprooted deprivation and want, which is the nursery for the security challenges like Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militancy that we now experience,” he said.
But Asiwaju Tinubu also cautioned that social justice was key and that was why, he added, the judiciary must be strengthened to do its work without any fetters.
“In every state, talk less of a democratic order, the judiciary is key. The courts must not only do their work without any fetters, they must be seen to do so,” he said.
He repeated his clarion call for electoral reforms, so that no person or part of the country could go to the extent of resorting to violence, out of a feeling of frustration over marginalisation of political power.
“Democracy is all about fair access to power by everyone. But the driving engine is fair electoral processes. If we must institutionalise regular, periodic and peaceful change of power, then our best bet is free, fair and transparent election.
“That is the only way elections would not be a do-or-die affair, for whoever loses today knows he could win tomorrow,” he said.
While congratulating Nigerians on the 51st independence anniversary, he called on them not to despair, but do everything to make the country better.
“We have no other country. That is why we must insist that our country be well run. It is the only way to actualise our manifest destiny,” he said.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/21480-there%E2%80%99s-hope-for-nigeria%2C-says-tinubu.html

NDLF disowns October 1 bomb threat

By Shola O'Neil 53 minutes ago

The Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) has dissociated itself from the reported plans by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta to blow up venue of the 51st Independent celebration in Abuja on Saturday.
NDLF, formed by the deceased MEND Commander, 'General' John Togo, said it was not part of the plot, adding that the faction behind the threat "does not represent the interest of the good people in the Niger Delta struggle. “
“We in the NDLF, a very strong organization, condemn the threat," the group said.
It would be recalled that a faction of the group, purportedly led by Henry Okah, who is standing trial in South Africa in connection with last year's blast, threatened to bomb the Eagle Square during the independent anniversary celebration.
Already, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered a low key celebration, ostensibly as result of threats by the group and its northern counterpart, Boko Haram, even though Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, claimed the subdued celebration has nothing to do with security threats.
But Captain Mark Anthony, speaking on behalf of NDLF on Friday, fingered unknown northern leaders as the masterminds of the latest bomb threat.
Anthony, whose position was contained in a statement made available to our correspondent, challenged MEND to withdraw from its planned action, "if it has genuine interest of the Niger Delta people.
"You cannot claim to be fighting for Niger Delta people and poor Nigerians and go about roasting the same poor people through bomb blast. This similar episode of last year which MEND claimed responsibility remains a point of suspicion among key players in the organization,” he said.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/21462-ndlf-dissociates-itself-from-october-1-bomb-threat.html

Lagos tackles filth with Transfer Loading Station

By Toluwani Eniola and Mariam Ndikanwu 15 hours 42 minutes ago

Fashola unveiling the TLS…yesterday. With him are his deputy, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (left), Bello (second right) and the Managin Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) Mr. Ola Oransanya (left)
The Lagos State Government yesterday inaugurated the waste Transfer Loading Station (TLS) at Oshodi along the Oshodi Apapa Expressway.
With capacity to treat 1000 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste and 24 metric tonnes of medical waste daily, the Oshodi TLS, fitted with hydroclave equipment, is the second  in the Centre of Excellence.
Fashola also berated the Federal Government for its failure to fix the collapsed Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Airport Road.
According to him, “the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway is a link to the nation’s major port, while the Airport road is the first point of call for visitors to the country.
“Companies, organisations bring in their goods through the ports and if those companies cannot evacuate their goods from the ports, what industralisation are we talking about”.
He urged the agencies responsible to rise up to the challenge and restore the nation’s glory.
Fashola said the facility, which also has a medical waste treatment plant to accommodate waste from hospitals across the state, was the fulfillment of his campaign promises to pursue preventive healthcare  servises and decongest the hospitals.
His words: “This is a fulfillment of the promise made in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) manifestos to aggressively pursue a programme of preventive health care and to clean up Lagos and manage waste disposal more effectively by using Transfer Loading Stations.”
Fashola  said the facility would put Lagos at par with other developed countries in terms of waste collection and management .
He said the TLS would serve as transit camp for waste generated at its environs such as  Oshodi, Mushin, Anthony, Mafoluku, Mile 2, Amuwo-odofin, Okota and Ilupeju. The governor said the refuse would be moved to the dumpsites overnight to prevent the trucks from being caught in traffic congestion.
He said: “ Our strategy is to clean up Lagos and manage waste disposal more effectively by using the TLS. We have delivered on this promise. We have finished the Simpson Transfer Loading Station which has been in use for more than two years.
Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment Mr Tunji Bello spoke of plans by the state government to establish  20 of such within the next  10 years.
He said the hydroclave medical treatment plant has a low operating cost, easy to operate and reduce waste by 80 per cent leaving no odour.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/21386-lagos-tackles-filth-with-transfer-loading-station.html

Salami sacrificed to instil fear in other judges -Tinubu
on SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 · in NEWS
     
BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE & OKEY NDIRIBE

ABUJA-FORMER Governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Thursday said the embattled former President of Appeal Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, was sacrificed to instil fears in other judges to do the bidding of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP.

This came as former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, predicted that Nigeria’s democracy might collapse if Nigerians allowed the judicial arm of government to become completely compromised.

Speaking at the annual award ceremony of the Leadership newspapers, tagged: “2011 Elections: How credible,” where he was conferred with the Leadership Man of the Year award, Tinubu said the post-election crises that enveloped the judiciary called for a lot of thinking as democracy was fast eroding in Nigeria.

He said: ”The most glaring example of this has been the government’s attempt to cut short the career of one of our illustrious jurists, Court of Appeal President, Isa Salami. What was his crime? Because he refused to put his sense of justice for sale.

“For this they tarnished his name and plot to end his career and rumoured that he is in the pockets of the Action Congress of Nigeria, AC N. This is a terrible lie against a good man. His verdicts were not for AC N, they were for justice.

“However, those in power could not tolerate his impartiality and they sacrificed one of Nigeria’s finest jurists to send a blunt message to other jurists: go against our wishes and you shall lose those robes you dear.

“Given this example, no other jurists dare cross their assumed master and our courts have become islands of confusion as judges balance their conscience against their career as we are seeing judicial verdicts in some states that are odd after overturning several 2007 elections.

On electoral fairness

On electoral fairness, Tinubu said: “We must not relent in our struggle for electoral reforms as the Justice Uwais report contains a fine blue print enumerating 83 recommendations which dealt with the independence of the electoral commission and creating an electoral process less vulnerable to manipulation.

“The beauty of of democracy lies in the power it confers on the citizenry to elect the leader they want or reject those who have failed them.

“The ruling party, PDP, has always pilfered votes through brute force or brazen fraud to secure its victories. The 2003 elections were bad but what came next in 2007 was worse because by 2007 the public was eager to wave goodbye to Obasanjo but he and his cronies were not ready to give free rein to the will of the people.

“They snatched the peoples’ mandate from their very hands and commandeered election materials as phantom results were announced at polling stations and this electoral pilferage prevented serious opposition parties from going into post electoral hibernation as was usually the case.”

Buhari predicts collapse of democracy

Meanwhile, former military Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, took a look at the nation’s judiciary, yesterday, and predicted that Nigeria’s democracy would collapse if Nigerians allowed the judicial arm of government, charged with the responsibility of interpreting the nation’s laws, to become completely compromised.

He made this prediction while speaking on behalf of award recipients at the Leadership Newspaper Awards, in Abuja.

Commenting further on happenings within the judiciary in recent times, he lamented that that the election petition which he filed against the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the April 2011 general election before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal might be affected negatively with the suspension of the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami and his replacement with another judge in an acting capacity.

Going down memory lane, Buhari recalled how long the petition he filed against the victory of former President Olusegun Obasanjo during the 2003 Presidential election lingered before judgement was delivered against him (Buhari) in the case, adding that a similar situation took place after the 2007 election when he also challenged the victory of the late President Umar Yar’Adua in court.

Buhari also threw a challenge at the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to account for the N100 billion allocated to it for the purpose of conducting the last voters registration early this year.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/salami-sacrificed-to-instil-fears-in-other-judges-tinubu/

Cartel frustrates NNPC audit release
THURSDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2011 00:00 HORATIUS EGUA, ABUJA

Not satisfied with how much they have pillaged the nation, some influential individuals and corporate organisations in the country, have vowed to stop the Federal Government from publicising or implementing the report of the forensic audit on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), so as to shield their wrong-doings.

The Federal Government had in 2010, at the peak of claims that the NNPC was in poor financial condition, appointed KPMG and SS Afemike & Co, to carry out forensic audits of the corporation, to ascertain the true state of its finances. The firms were also mandated to audit the over N1.5 trillion which government was spending on fuel subsidies annually.

However, nine months after the presentation of the report to the former minister of finance, Olusegun Aganga, (in January 2011), a senior Presidency source, told BusinessDay, that a cabal in the petroleum sector, has frustrated the implementation of the report.

The source said: “It is very sad that very influential individuals and corporate bodies benefiting from the subsidies bazaar, have arm- twisted the Federal Government from making public the report, as well as from implementing the findings of the audit report.

“They are too powerful and they can get to wherever they want and whoever they want to. They have a hold on the government and ministers. So, it is going to be extremely difficult for the government to expose them, because they are the primary beneficiaries of this largese coming from the bloated subsidies. That report has died a natural death,” the source lamented.

The source, who spoke to BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity said: “It will even be more difficult now, because some of those involved in the subsidy cartel, are close to the corridors of power and now that they are having serious financial crisis, they consider it would be better they died, than allow the government to ridicule them. It is very, very sad for Nigeria “.

Eddy Wikina , a former NNPC external affairs manager , share the sentiments of other sources, adding that Nigerians should not expect that the government will release the report or implement as there are so many powerful interest working against it.

Similarly, Babajide Soyode, a retiree of the corporation said unless there is deregulation of the downstream sector no meaningful report could come from the audit. “ How do you explain the situation where you sell crude oil and you use the proceed to buy refined products almost immediately”, he asked, adding “there cannot be transparency in this type of situation”.

Worried by the rot in the NNPC and its subsidiaries, President Goodluck Jonathan had in May 2010, ordered the probe of the over N1.15 trillion outstanding claims on fuel subsidy, and other related expenditures presented to the government by the NNPC.

“The president has also directed a comprehensive audit of NNPC accounts. The finance minister is to engage the services of a world-class auditing firm to carry out the audit,” the Presidency said in a statement issued in May 2010.
The N1.5 trillion, covered payment for movement and supply of petroleum products across the country, between 2005 and 2010.

Consequently, Aganga, the immediate past minister of finance, in August of 2010, appointed KPMG and SS Afemike & Co, to carry out forensic audit of the NNPC accounts, with a pledge to Nigerians, to make the report public in January 2011 but unfortunately, nine months after the submission of the report, it is yet to be made public.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/27936-cartel-frustrates-nnpc-audit-release

Boko Haram rejects amnesty
From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri
Wednesday, September 28, 2011


Deputy spokesman of the sect, Abu Kaka, told journalists in a telephone interview that the committee was on its own. Kaka said that the Islamist sect still maintained its course of ensuring strict Islamic laws in the country and wage war against the people it called infidels.

He said the alleged split in its fold was the making of the security agencies in the media.
“The brotherhood remains indivisible entity. There is no split and no splinter group. The story of the split in our fold is a lie, given to the media the SSS,” the Jama’atu ahlus Sunnah lid Da’awati wal Jihad, originally known as Yusufiyya movement maintained.

The Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-east zone, had on Monday recommended that the Federal Government grant amnesty to members willing to surrender.
The committee was set up following the bomb attacks by the Islamic sect in parts of the country and with specific targets of government establishment.

While submitting the report at the State House to Vice President Namadi Sambo, who received it on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, the panel headed by Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari, urged that “the Federal Government should fundamentally, consider the option of dialogue and negotiation which should be contingent upon the renunciation of all forms of violence and surrender of arms to be followed by rehabilitation.”

The committee also told Sambo, that Boko Haram, has nominated the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III or his representative, the Emir of Bauchi and Sheik Abubakar Gero Argungu, as its representative in any Federal Government team that will negotiate with its members.

To this end, the panel, which had earlier submitted its preliminary report to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Pius Anyim Pius, said “therefore Government may consider constituting another committee with wider powers and with increased membership to handle the assignment within a reasonable time frame but not weeks as was given to this committee.”

The committee, which said it had interacted with various stakeholders including the State Governors of Bornu, Bauchi, Kano, Niger and Sokoto and the Sultan of Sokoto among other traditional rulers, also urged, “the Federal Government to diversify and strengthen its means of creating avenues for international intelligence sharing and inter-agency cooperation through diplomatic channels/pacts.”
It added that, “the Federal Government should create an informal forum at the highest level, where Mr. President will discuss national security issues with governors and other major stakeholders from time to time. Again, there is an urgent need for arranging an informal forum where Mr. President will grant audience to each state governor on one-to-one basis where issues on security, could be addressed.”

“It further recommended that “the Federal Government and Borno State Government should ensure that human and organisational victims most especially, churches and mosques including schools, which were destroyed during religious crises in the past and even in the recent past, should be compensated monetarily and by way of resuscitating and reconstructing their properties. Survivors of the deceased victims should be compensated appropriately.”

The panel listed the remote and immediate causes of the present security challenges in the country, to include among others: “high level of poverty and illiteracy existing in the North-east; massive unemployment of youths, both skilled and unskilled; and existence of private militias that were established, funded and used by politicians and individuals and then dumped after having been trained to handle arms.”
Other causes, according to the panel, are “presence of large number of almajiris who together with those mentioned above could easily be used as canon-fodders to ignite and sustain crisis and “ influx of illegal aliens resulting from porous and unmanned borders coupled with provocative and inciting preaching by some religious clerics.”

Also listed to be the immediate causes of the ongoing terrorist attacks are “the extra-judicial killing of the sect leader, Mohammed Yusuf and some members of the sect by security agents”, and “weak governance and failure to deliver services in the wake of huge resources accruing to state and local governments.”
The panel further stressed that on the part of the security forces there are palpable operational lapses, service rivalry, under funding, under-equipment and lack of collaboration; while governments have failed to deliver justice and bring immediate relief to victims of the crises.

Also cited as a major discovery by the panel is the “general failure of effective and coordinated intelligence gathering and its deployment to forestall events with undesirable consequences,” stressing that, “in this direction, there is no high level security network/forum (outside the statutory national security institutions) that will enable an informal meeting between Mr. President and the governors as well as other top level security stakeholders.”

It further noted that crises became more frequent due to “the lack of an institutional structure/arrangment to primarily cater for inter-religious affairs to promote harmonious co-existence confounded the problems.”
“The committee was inundated with series of complaints that the increasing level of insecurity in the country was amongst other reasons due to the failure of governments to implement reports of various committees that were constituted and had submitted useful recommendations in the past.”

Receiving the report from the committee members, Vice President Sambo who was joined by the National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi, the Secretary to Government of Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, promised to implement the recommendations as contained in the report; even as he thanked the members of panel for a job well done.
The committee was inaugurated by the SGF in August with a two-week life span but after expiration of the duration, it turned-in its first report, and requested for more time to do a thorough job, which government graciously granted.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/sept/28/national-28-09-2011-003.html

We must discuss Nigeria -Mimiko
From TAIWO AMODU, Abuja
Wednesday, September 28, 2011


Mimiko
•Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko has reiterated the need for a forum, where stakeholders can discuss about the structure of the Nigerian federation. Delivering a paper, ‘People, Power, Good Governance and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria,’ at the public presentation of a book, Nigeria’s Golden Book, published by The Sun Publishing Limited, yesterday in Abuja, the governor noted that the continuing imbalance in the operation of the federal system is a manifest threat to good governance and enduring democracy.

“On the issue of the structure of Nigeria, the point has been made yet, we have to repeat it: no other federal entity is being run as a unitary enclave like Nigeria. It is the perversion of the federal structure that has birthed the disparate distortions in the polity. Because we are a federation running on a loose spin, the functional and symbiotic relationship expected between the federating states and the centre, on one hand, and among the federating states on the other, are non-existent.

“Apart from the unitary structure presented as a federation, what exist informally are regional structures, anchored in most cases on religious/ethnic and regional colourations, which are run most of the time in the interest of these regions and in such cases may not be unwilling to subvert the sanctity of the federation.”

The governor expressed concern that certain forces are frustrating the urgent need for a forum, where Nigerians could ventilate their feelings on the structural imbalances in the amalgam, Nigeria.
“We must be prepared for an all inclusive engagement. We must talk by whatever name it is called. We must discuss our anxieties and build the necessary consensus for the way forward! We have said there is a mutual reinforcing relationship between the skewed structure, elections and leadership. What should be added is that there are a set of manifestations of their combined effects on Nigeria.

“These manifestations are also direct results of the distortions occasioning the two problems. Nigeria must talk about the structure of this country. We cannot pretend that there are no structural problems in our nation. If we do not talk, hoodlums, kidnappers will talk for us from the streets. Issues of structures must be discussed.”
While he noted that democracy is synonymous with good governance all over the world, the guest speaker lamented that it has not translated to human development for Nigerians.

“Today, 12 years after the restoration of civilian democratic rule, there are horrendous challenges towards the deepening of democracy in Nigeria. Furthermore, many Nigerians of political perambulation and inept leadership have stunted Nigeria’s development, accentuated ineffective governance and deepened alienation of the people from the political process.”

Governor Mimiko painted unsavoury pictures in all sectors of the economy: agriculture, education, health and security, declaring that successive governments have not been able to create enabling environment for job creation.

“One of the major determinants of good governance is the extent to which government is able to create the enabling environment for job creation. The reality about Nigeria is that, in spite of the cost of formal education, and its attendant difficulties, the prospect of employment is less promising. Overall, there is an obvious mismatch between the graduate turnout and graduate employment in Nigeria thus reinforcing that sense of hopelessness amongst the youth.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/sept/28/national-28-09-2011-001.html

‘You can do better without being a dictator’
By Agency Reporter
Wednesday, 28 Sep 2011

The Action Congress of Nigeria has faulted comments credited to President Goodluck Jonathan that his critics want him to rule with an iron fist.


In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said the comments had portrayed Jonathan “as being totally oblivious of what his compatriots want or being out of tune with the situation in the country.”


It added, “For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. President, Nigerians are yearning for good and purposeful governance.


“They want their leader to hearken to their yearnings by addressing, decisively, issues of security, against the background of rising violent crimes, including kidnapping and armed robbery, and deadly bombings by Boko Haram.


“They want their leader to act urgently in taking measures that will reverse the decay in infrastructure, especially roads. Uplift the economy and raise the living standards of the people. Mr. President, it does not take a lion, dictator, or a pharaoh to do this.


“A President who vacillates when urgent actions are required is not decisive; and a President who carries on as if all is well when citizens are being daily tormented by the scarcity of kerosene, or who is ready to add to their burden by signing on to the removal of a nebulous petroleum subsidy is not responsive.”


The ACN also expressed shock at the statement credited to Jonathan, where “he insinuated that he is not appreciated at home when he is being praised by foreign leaders, especially President Barack Obama of the United States.”


The party said, “We sincerely hope that Mr. President was misquoted on this issue. When did cheeky praises from foreign leaders become the yardstick for measuring the success of a leader?


“The President of Africa’s most populous nation and the largest black nation on earth should not be seen to be pandering to anyone.”


http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201109283414729

Tears as Fashola donates flat to widow of LASTMA victim
on SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 · in NEWS
     
By OLASUNKANMI AKONI & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO
LAGOS—Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Tuesday, commissioned an 80-unit Hon Olaitan Mustapha and Mrs. Adetoun Mustapha Millennium Housing Estate, Ojokoro Phase II, Lagos, noting that the 2011 Tenancy Law is not a substitute for affordable housing in the state.

Highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of keys to one of the flats at the housing estate to Mrs Mary Igbokwe, whose husband, Mr. Benjamin Igbokwe, was killed by men of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, last year.

Igbokwe, a commercial driver and father of nine, was killed by overzealous officials of LASTMA and was given jungle justice.

Amidst tears, his son Somtochukwu, recounted his late dad’s ordeal.

Mary thanked the governor for his kind gesture and also urged the government to assist in the upkeep of the nine children.

The governor promised to assist in sponsoring the children’s education.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/tears-as-fashola-donates-flat-to-widow-of-lastma-victim/

Yuguda appoints 1070 aides

Written by Ahmed Mohammed, Bauchi Tuesday, 27 September 2011 05:02


Governor Isa Yuguda yesterday appointed 1,070 political aides, among them hundreds of special assistants and dozens of senior special assistants whose salaries and other perks would cost the Bauchi State treasury more than a billion naira yearly.


Among the new appointees are 810 special assistants, 94 senior special assistants, 24 directors-general, 20 special advisers, 20 deputy local government chairmen and 20 secretaries for the local government caretaker committees.


Others are four members for each of the 18 local government caretaker committees while Alkaleri and Ganjuwa councils have five members each.

In a statement in Bauchi yesterday, Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Ahmad Ibrahim Dandija, said the appointments were with immediate effect.

No mention was made of how much the new officials would be paid for their services.

But Daily Trust gathered that monthly salary of a special adviser in a state is about N400,000 while a senior special assistant takes about N350,000, in addition to other perquisites of office like official cars and domestic staff. A special assistant receives around N50,000 monthly.

The new appointments in Bauchi yesterday saw the re-emergence of some of Yuguda’s former aides. Abdulmumini Kundak is now Director-General Special Assignment and Duties; Kabiru Baba Maji is DG, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation; Sheikh Sidi Ali Dahir is Director General for Tsangaya Education; former commissioner Mu’azu Musa Badara is now DG for Monitoring and Evaluation of Higher Education; while Isa Kufai rose from council chairman to DG for Abuja Liason.

Former water resources commissioner Mr. Bukata Bukar Bayero is now Special Adviser representing Bogoro Local Government Area and Ahmed Yerima is Special Adviser from Misau LGA.

Other new Directors-General are Sirajo Garba (Due Process), Jibrin Adamu (Assembly Liaison), Sanusi Aska (Hajj Affairs), Phillip Elam (Agriculture Mechanisation and Rehabilitation of Government Equipment and Machinery), Abdullahi Gwaram (Local Government), Mohammed Lawal (Information Communication Technology) and Babani Umar (Protocol).

Also appointed were Ibrahim Babaji (Societal Re-orientation), Mohammad Chindo (Higher Education), Sale Hussaini (Education), Aliyu Jibrin (Projects), Nura Danmadami (Debt Management Agency) and Adamu Toro (Youth and Women Rehabilitation and Development).

Others were Tanko Dutse (Rehabilitation and Resettlement), Muktar Abdu (Public Enlightenment), Danladi Mohammed (Community Relations), Garba Dahiru (Poverty Alleviation), Mohammed Ningi (Establishment of Youth Empowerment and Job Placement) and Isa Tahir (Petroleum and Solid Minerals).

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28627:yuguda-appoints-1070-aides&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

Nigeria, 20 Years Hence

Tunde Fagbenle

September 26, 2011






As a columnist you are assailed by unceasing questioning by your fans, especially the younger ones who are ready to “swear” by your name. One such fan accosted me the other day and after the usual expression of joy at meeting you threw it at me:

“Sir,” she asked rather petulantly, “how do you see Nigeria in twenty years time?”

“Do you want an honest answer?” I retorted.

“Yes, sir,” Biola answered. And I gave it thus:

It is difficult to see Nigeria together as one country twenty years hence. Of course, I would love to be proved wrong, but the signs are ominous.

I love Nigeria. I was born in the north, I grew up in the north, and I should qualify to be one of them, but I dare not take that for granted in Nigeria of today. Or I do so at the peril of my life.

I am saddened by the nonsense going on under the banner of some so-called Boko Haram group. I have tried hard but I can’t make any sense out of their demand. They are a brazen and sheer terrorist formation out to cause fear and through violence and wanton destruction exert political control for their dubious cause.

This group have introduced a form and scale of violence to Nigeria that will not go away, possibly ever! The genie is out of the bottle and nothing would force it back. Indeed, the bottle is broken anyway in the sense that the fear and distrust already created are indelible and self-perpetuating. So if that’s what those behind it, within or without the country, set out to achieve they can pat themselves on the back.



The country is a fraud and fraudulently her leaders pursue her course. What do I mean?

Right, it is fraudulent to want to compare or equate this Boko Haram thing with militant groups such as OPC, MEND, MASSOB or any other such groups with clearly defined political and human rights objectives over their land and with no desire to expand to or control the rest of the country. On the other hand, they are even seeking excision or secession from what they perceive as continued fraud and injustice.

It is therefore fraudulent to talk about negotiating with this group. What negotiation? And the fraud in the thinking of the government is exposed in the manner it has set about such “negotiation”. Sending an Obasanjo or an Obasanjo sending himself is the most unreasonable thing to do. Obasanjo is neither a Muslim nor a northerner, regardless of his (I must admit, genuine) sense of “one-Nigerianness”. He is a “kafir”, talking to him itself is “haram”!.

Now, where in all of this are the northern leaders of note? Where is Shagari? Where is Buhari? Where is Babangida? Where is Abubakar? Other than self-conceit, what would make an Obasanjo think he is a more credible and acceptable face of “national leader” to these (call them what they are) terrorists than these past leaders who have ethnic and religious affinity with them? Even if the terrorists reject some of their past leaders who they may believe “sold” them into their present “plight” and also would not want to see any of their emirs, surely there are still some northern leaders they would consider credible enough. So why is none of them lending a hand? Is it out of fear, out of “convenience” or out of connivance?

The point I’m driving at is that you cannot conceivably send a ‘Yanmiri’ or ‘Malam’ to go talk to OPC or MEND to lay down their arms; or a ‘Malam’ or ‘Yoruba-Yoruba’ to tell MASSOB to sheathe sword. True, MEND picked on a Prof. Wole Soyinka to negotiate for them, but they see him as credible and having earned their trust through long years of identification with their cause. What is the cause of the northerner or Muslim that an Obasanjo could be said to have pursued honestly, selflessly, and consistently to earn him a place in the hearts of Boko Haram?

But I am not knocking Obasanjo entirely, doubtful as his real motives may be. Again I ask, where are the northern leaders? They know those behind the “masks”, they should “know “ how to bring them to order.

Now with the way the threats of Boko Haram is being stretched beyond the core northern borders, the implication and repercussion is likely to boomerang into total conflagration.

It is a shame because this country of great potential doesn’t have to come to this.

Another fraud that this country is set upon is the question of constitution amendment.

Of course nothing can be more fraudulent and deceitful than the approach that a totally wobbly foundation can be corrected through plastering and facelifting of the structure. A possible way to avert the apocalypse earlier pictured is to set on the course of restructuring the country through a National Conference. It is imperative and it is urgent. Let the leaders of all the waring or militant groups and of all the ethnic nationalities table their grievances and their expectations and let us arrive at mutually agreeable terms for moving the country forward or going apart peacefully.

Yet another fraud is this belated trial of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (BT) over what even a primary school child would dismiss as inconsequential. The matter is in court and little can now be said on it. But while a friend of mine believes the government may not have the sinew to push him to jail, a la Awolowo in the First Republic, I am concerned that the “puppeteer” still lurks (nay, looms) large and is uncaring enough to ask to damn it all.

Of all possible grievous charges that can be brought up against a political opponent, I find this the most ludicrous more particularly because of the lack of substance than the fact. If BT has committed criminal acts that should send him to jail, by all means let justice prevail, but certainly not on some hogwash charge of something virtually all of them do. There is the letter of the law and there is the “spirit” of it.

The Boko Haram menace is heating up the polity enough, it is silly to heap some more on ourselves.

I carried on a bit further with Biola, my fan, dwelling on the hope that the new generation of Western states governors – Fashola to Fayemi, Aregbesola to Amosun, Ajimobi to Mimiko right up to Oshiomhole – ignite in me. The hope that, perhaps, through their pockets of sanity, a substituting regional paradigm may emerge to rescue us from impending Armageddon!

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/tunde-fagbenle/nigeria-20-years-hence.html

Tinubu’s trial is an embarrassment to Nigeria, says David-West

By Bisi Oladele 7 hours 55 minutes ago

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, has described the ongoing trial of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by the Code of Conduct Bureau as an embarrassment to the nation.
He said it shows that Nigerian politics is still "primitive, very vindictive and satanic."
Condemning the trial in an interview with our correspondent in Ibadan on Monday, the university don called on Nigerians to rise up in support of the former governor of Lagos State the same way they condemned the sack of Justice Ayo Salami.
David-West said it is not Tinubu that is on trial but Nigeria, adding that the trial is a political persecution.
He said: "What is happening to Tinubu embarrasses any Nigerian who loves Nigeria. Tinubu and I are not in the same political camp but what they are doing to him is a political persecution and I completely condemn it. Who is on trial is not Tinubu but Nigeria. It shows that our politics is primitive, very vindictive and so satanic. If Tinubu as governor made mistakes, why didn't they bring it out before now? He was there for eight years. It is so silly and silly to try him 12 years after allegedly commited the offence. Why didn't they use it to disqualify him when he was re-contesting? It is political. They are embarrassing themselves and Nigeria, not Tinubu.
"Nigerians should rise up against the trial. They should give Tinubu the same solidarity they gave Justice Salami. Jonathan knows about it," he added.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/20921-tinubu%E2%80%99s-trial-is-an-embarrassment-to-nigeria,-says-david-west.html

[size=13pt]Be assertive, Sagay, CD, CPC tell Jonathan[/size]
By Olusola Fabiyi and Olamilekan Lartey
Tuesday, 27 Sep 2011


Prominent Nigerians and groups on Monday took a swipe at President Goodluck Jonathan over his defence of his style of governance.


An opposition party, the Congress for Progressive Change, and the Campaign for Democracy, said that the President should be assertive in handling the affairs of the country.


An expert in constitutional law, Prof Itsay Sagay, SAN, also said that Jonathan’s statement on Sunday had potrayed him as a weak President.


During an inter-denominational service to mark the country’s 51st independence anniversary at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, over the weekend, the President had chided critics of his style and government.


The President had said, “Some Nigerians still want the President of this country to be a lion or a tiger; somebody that has the kind of strength, force and agility to make things happen the way they think.”


“I don’t need to be a lion, I don’t need to be Nebuchadnezzar, I don’t need to operate like the Pharaoh of Egypt, and I don’t need to be an army general. I can change this country without those traits.”


Jonathan had also said that there were forces that were bent on frustrating his administration. The forces, the President referred to as Goliaths.


But faulting Jonathan, the President of the CD, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said that “being assertive is different from being a Pharaoh or a lion.”


Okei-Odumakin said that the President must go beyond prayers and take actions that would move the country forward.


She stated, “People are dying and our President is making reference to biblical allusion. I am disappointed and angry. He should sit up. People paid for this democracy with their blood.”


The CD president also criticised Jonathan for saying world leaders, including the United States President, Barak Obama, commended him.


Okei-Odumakin stated that what should matter to the President should be his assessment by Nigerians, adding that he (Jonathan) should understand that “leadership is not bread and butter.”


Sagay said Jonathan’s intention at the church service was to give the impression that he was not an oppressor or a dictator, but had conveyed the impression he was not decisive and strong enough to tackle the nation’s problems.


He said, “He conveyed the impression that he is weak and does not have a sense of direction to take Nigeria forward. He could have said he was a David. David was close to God and very successful, but he did not claim to be that. He did not claim to be strong.


“What he conveyed was weakness and aimlessness. The late Obafemi Awolowo was not a dictator or an oppressor. He was an organised man who raised his region through careful planning to the leading position.”


“What we saw in the President’s statement was the negative. He needs to change his position which indicated weakness and planlessness.”


Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, described the President’s outburst as “unfortunate.”


He said Jonathan had shown that he was not prepared to lead the nation and that his comment was an admittance of failure.


He said, “One of the greatest tragedies that can befall a nation is to have an unprepared person as its leader.


“Jonathan was never prepared to be Nigeria’s president. All he wanted to be was to be a university lecturer until someone brought him to come and assist him as a deputy governor.


“He again was brought out to be a Vice-President. He never aspired to be the arrow head of any group and that was why he never prepared to lead the nation.


“The death of his boss unfortunately catapulted him to the position of leadership instead of being a deputy leader. It is an unprepared leader who talks the way he spoke.


“He said he is not a general. Yet, he is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Which rank is higher than that in the military?”

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201109274231664

Delta Governorship: Why I am not giving up – Ogboru
on SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 · in POLITICS

By Emmanual Aziken
Businessman, politician Chief Great Ogboru was the candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP in the court ordered rerun gubernatorial election in January 2011 and the April 2011 election, both of which were won by Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Ogboru, however, disputes the declaration as made by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and thus has resorted to the courts for arbitration. Following last Thursday’s decision of the Court of Appeal that Ogboru ‘s quest to overturn the result of the January rerun was an academic exercise, Vanguard took up the opposition candidate on his opinion and options in a telephone interview. Excerpts:

HOW did you receive the judgment?

Like everybody who has been following the case we are very surprised because we knew that we had a valid case in the Court of Appeal but unfortunately the Justices abdicated their responsibility by saying that the appeal was academic. But it cannot be academic because it was the Court of Appeal that ordered a re-run election on the 9th of November. That election took place on the 6th of January.

Now, if INEC had declared that I won the election in January would my tenure have ended on the 29th of May? The answer simply is no, which means that before you determine whether or not the appeal is academic you must first establish if somebody was validly returned.

In this case what is being questioned is not the tenure of Uduaghan but his return which we say was not valid by virtue of the fact that he did not have majority of the lawful votes cast in that election. That is what the court is supposed to determine.

If the court found that I had the majority of valid votes cast in that election then what the court should do, I mean from what the lawyers have told us is to do what they did in Anambra State to vitiate immediately the elections of April 2011 and then uphold the elections of January 2011 and then I would be sworn in as Governor and then the constitution says that from the date you are sworn in you have four years to serve.

So, there is no way on earth that our petition could be said to be academic because there are two sides to the coin. If Uduaghan won the election in January 2011, then off course he has served his tenure and then our questioning the election in that case could be termed academic. But in this case it has not been determined that he was validly elected.

In any case, you have to go one step backward, when we were given the right by the Court of Appeal to contest a re-run election it was presumed that the outcome of that election would be challenged. If we had a right to participate in an election, how come we do not have the right to challenge an unlawful or invalid return?

Those are the issues that the court should have addressed its mind to but unfortunately failed to do so and that is why we say in our view and in the view of the constitution of Nigeria that the court abdicated its responsibility and did not hear our own appeal, but just went straight to the appeal of somebody who won at the tribunal which should not be the case.

It should have been a cross appeal which means that they should have heard the two together, but they only took one and left the other.They heard our appeal but did not give judgment on it. They abdicated their responsibility.

That is why we said that we are going to put it to the Supreme Court to test it because if we have to go by constitutional democracy which we are operating then we should be bound by precedence and the precedence suggests that you cannot go to the issue of tenure without first determining if there was a valid return.

Given your experiences do you believe you will get this justice?

To presume otherwise would be to ask the question how did we get to this situation where we had the re-run election of January. It was the Court of Appeal in Benin that agreed with us that there was no election in Delta State in April 2007 and declared that the tenure of Uduaghan for 3½ years was illegal.

That court has already declared 3½ years illegal! In our own view and from the facts what Uduaghan simply did was to continue in his illegality for another six months. But it is not the duty of the constitution of Nigeria or that of the courts of our country to say that because a tenure has been spent illegally that the tenure has expired.

No. it is only when that tenure is validly occupied that you can say so or when there is no challenge of the tenure during that occupation. That is when you can say so.

But there was a valid challenge to the tenure while he was there, it is only a procedural issue and that does not at all amount to him having occupied a valid or a lawful tenure and it is only when the issue of who was validly returned is determined that we can start to go to step two.

I think the Court of Appeal in Benin frankly did not do a proper job the way we expected men of their caliber to do.

Well, that is this time around?

Well this time around there are different set of Judges and different considerations. It may seem that judgment is more political than legal. Legally, it doesn’t hold any water at all. Politically, I think that it is very capable of creating the very issue that we are trying to avert which is to create instability. I think that that kind of judgment is enough to make people into taking stupid decisions and that is why we are very upset with that judgment.

We have tried to put ourselves in the position of following due process, complying with what the constitution of Nigeria says and what the electoral Act says but we are being told that having complied with all the steps prescribed by the Constitution and the Electoral Act that we have erred. I don’t see how complying with the laws of our country can make you err.

At what point will you give up and say I am tired, I have fought a good fight?

We cannot be tired because of the process, we must exhaust the possibilities. The question of being tired is out of the question and right now we are pursuing this case to the Supreme Court and we are also challenging the return of the 26th of April.

It is not our intention to say that we are tired, we will do what we have to do. It is a process. It is one thing to start a race and not to complete it. The race started from when we were nominated it ends when the final court gives its decision and that is how we see it and that is what we intend to do.

So, what is your assessment of the situation in your state?

There is an eerie calm in the state, people are very unhappy, they see it as the function of a cabal outside the state trying to emasculate the right of the people of Delta State by undue interference by taking extra-judicial measures to vanquish their franchise which they have freely given. I think they are not happy at all. They are not happy at all.

You refer to a cabal outside the state? Who are the members of this cabal?

If you have been following the electronic media, especially Saharareporters you would have seen names being bandied that are creating turbulence in the state because of their personal interests which override that of our state and most of them are not indigenes of our state and they find a willing lackey in a man who was not elected by the people.

Delta State is a cash cow where they come and bleed and that is what is causing all these problems.

A final word

Everything I have said so far is directed at making our supporters understand what the issues are and how we feel about them and what actions we are taking. In a nut shell we are telling them, keep hope alive we have to keep on doing what we are doing until we are proved right or otherwise.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/delta-governorship-why-i-am-not-giving-up-ogboru/

Chinua Achebe’s sterling example
on SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 · in EDITORIAL

From far away United States of America, one of Nigeria’s literary giants and ambassadors of honour, Professor Chinualumogu Achebe, has set another good example.

What he has done sends strong signals to fellow Nigerians, especially the youth that there are things money cannot buy.

It all started when popular rapper, James Jackson Curtis III, also known as “50 Cent”, offered to pay $1 million to keep the title: “Things Fall Apart,” which he gave to a film he has been shooting for the past one year.

Unknown to him, there was a famous African novel written 17 years in Africa before he was born bearing the same title.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, is the most widely read work of literature emanating from Africa and has sold more than 10 million copies. The 53- year-old novel was listed in 2009 as number 14 in Newsweek Magazine’s top 100 books. Though written in the English language, it has been translated into 50 other world languages.

In spite of this enviable pedigree, the rapper and his handlers apparently did not know of its existence when they chose the title for their documentary, which was based on the story of an American footballer diagnosed with cancer.

The film was directed by Mario Van Peebles and was premiered at the Miami Film Festival in March this year. And so, when Achebe’s legal team notified “50 Cent” of this apparent copyrights infringement, the latter offered the said amount to enable him keep the title. Achebe turned down the offer, describing it as an “insult” and saying the title was not for sale, not even for a billion dollars. “50 Cent” decided to rename his project All “Things Fall Apart.”

This story holds a lot of lesson for everybody, especially here in Nigeria. This is a country where the quest for money has blinded most people to the more sublime virtues. Not many Nigerians still live under the age-old dictum: “Good name is better than silver and gold.” Things are literally falling apart in Nigeria because of the mad quest for money. Both in the public and private sectors, most people are not paying attention to the job they signed for.

They are more interested in the money that comes with the job, especially the money they can make illegally on the job. Many policemen are more interested in the money they extort from motorists than in their primary task of securing the country. Security agents at the borders collect money and allow foreigners and Nigerians alike, many of who have nothing good to offer for being in Nigeria to come in and create problems in the system. The list is endless.

The quest for money is responsible for the collapse of values in all sectors of society and the economy. That an eminent Nigerian like Chinua Achebe can look $1 million in the face and tell it off is therefore worth cheering and emulating. He could easily have taken the money without losing much face since it could have been justified as a benefit from the work of his hands.

Achebe has been a crusader for moral regeneration in Nigeria. His small dynamite of a book entitled: The Trouble With Nigeria, is a book of lamentations on how things fell apart in a country that was billed for greatness at independence. It was written 27 years ago. In it, among other things, Achebe had condemned the inordinate quest for money in Nigeria, which was then in its infancy compared to the epidemic scale of it today. In rejecting the “50 Cent” offer he effectively put his preachments into practice.

Nigeria needs a total moral rebirth. As a nation, we have strayed and our youths are growing up the wrong way. We should find the right avenue to bring back the teachings of our cultures and religions, which place emphasis on achievement rather than money. Our cultures and religions teach us that we should never sell our consciences and that integrity is a convertible currency.

Achebe, who has long been one of the icons of this nation, nay Africa and the Black Race, has reinforced his place in the pantheon of African leaders of great character.

We salute his good example and recommend it to all.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/chinua-achebes-sterling-example/

16 illegal refineries discovered in Abia
on SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 · in NEWS

By George Onah
Port Harcourt- About 16 illegal refineries have been discovered within Imo River Field of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, Abia State, causing the company to shut down production of 25, 000 barrels of oil per day since August 28, 2011.

The action aims at starving the bunkerers of oil product in order to prevent further environmental pollution. The crude oil theft and unprecedented upsurge in illegal bunkering and refining are said to have severely impacted on rivers in Abia and Rivers States.

Vice President, Health Sector and Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Attah in a statement to Vanguard, weekend, said: “The scale of crude oil theft in the area was alarming. Aside from revenue loss to government and other stakeholders, significant portions of the stolen crude are spilled, blighting large swathes of the ecosystem.

“Imo River Field straddles Abia and Rivers States and has five flowstations, a gas compressor station and several kilometres of pipelines among other facilities. Security forces moved in two years ago dislodging the thieves and destroying dozens of barges and canoes.

“But the criminal activity has recently resumed with crude thieves inflicting hacksaw cuts on pipelines to siphon crude into waiting flotilla of barges and canoes some of which can hold as much as 40, 000 barrels of oil.”

Attah explained that the leadership of Ukwa West Local Government, Abia State House of Assembly members and the Department of Petroleum Resources had been engaged to intervene in the scourge of the illegal bunkering and crude theft.

Vanguard gathered that the large volume barges and Cotonu Boats filled with stolen crude oil collected from trunk lines are most times enroute to discharge into ocean going vessels and other high volume crude oil end users.

Scores of rivers in Rivers State, particularly in Ogoniland, have been polluted by oil in recent times, but most of the spills have been traced to pipeline vandalization, illegal bunkering, refining and sometimes system failure.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/16-illegal-refineries-discovered-in-abia/

Why I ordered Major Loye’s arrest- Oshiomhole
on SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 · in NEWS

By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN- GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, weekend, said he ordered the arrest and prosecution of Major Lawrence Loye, the embattled Chairman of the State Task Force on Environment because he (Loye) took the law into his hands and not because the incident involved a very important personality.

Explaining his action to members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at their 7th National Conference in Benin City during a question and answer session, weekend, the governor said nobody was bigger than the government and that government would always take actions in the interest of the general public.

Oshiomhole said: “There is no man bigger than the government. We removed the wall fence of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion on Akpakpava Road because it offended the right of way and we wanted to expand the road. He complained to Chief Tom Ikimi, former Minister of External Affairs. Chief Ikimi came to advise me. But before he finished, his own house had been demolished because it also offends the right of way.

“The rules are clear and the law is blind. It does not know Action Congress of Nigerian, ACN, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rich man or poor man.

“We went to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and I asked the Commissioner to remove the wall to pave the way for the expansion of the Akpakpava Road. He was hesitant. I told him if you don’t remove the wall before ‘X’ hours, we will demolish the CBN wall.

We had to enforce the law and after that everybody knew we were serious. On their own, they removed their illegal structures on the road.

“Before the latest incident, Major Loye went to one market, drove away the market women in order to pave way for a car dealer to take over the market. The Commissioner for Local Government said he warned him against it.

“The market women came to Government House to protest because that is the beauty of democracy. I called the Commissioner for Local Government and he told me he had assured the market women that nobody was going to disturb them. Then he called Major Loye to advise him that those women had been trading there for 30 years and their activities did not disturb the road. But Major Loye demolished their stalls.

“On the demolished building that led to his arrest, we had told him repeatedly because you don’t know anything about town planning, I will have to see the building because you can’t just pull down somebody’s house. It was not a joke and I had to convince myself that the decision was taken in public interest.

“Now Major Loye went on his own to mark the building. The Commissio-ner for Land heard of it, called him and said that building did not offend the moat, yet he demolished it.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/why-i-ordered-major-loyes-arrest-oshiomhole/

3 girls kidnapped in Church
on SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 · in NEWS
     
BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

OWERRI – Palpable confusion and apprehension reigned in Saint Mulumba’s Catholic Parish, Owerri, following the kidnapping of three girls that attended the 7am mass in the church yesterday.

The abducted children are; six-month old Munachi Ikwuazu, her two-and-a- half year old elder sister, Ugonma Ikwuazu, as well as two-and-a- half year old Uchechi Ukwuoma.

Concerted efforts made by Vanguard to talk with the parents of the three children proved abortive as they were completely short of words on what to say about the incident.

While the father of Munachi and Ugonma, Mr. Remigius Ikwuazu only managed to say that they are from Umuhu, Enyiogugu, Aboh Mbaise local government area of Imo State,Uchechi’s father, Mr. Nnaemeka Ukwuoma said he is from Umuoma, Nekede, Owerri West local council area of the state.

Confirming the ugly development, the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Justin Okoro, wondered why anybody would want to perpetrate such a dastardly act on innocent lads that came to worship their God.

“These abducted innocent lads were on their way home after the children’s mass when the ugly incident took place. I am completely devastated but the situation is obviously worse for the children’s parents”, Rev. Fr. Okoro said.

Answering a question, Okoro confirmed that he had reported the matter to his Local Ordinary, Archbishop Anthony J. V. Obinna, and the security agencies.

Narrating the story of how her sisters were abducted, 10-year old Chinaza Ikwuazu said “a lady confused us, took us in a Keke NAPEP to the Old Market, made a few calls and told the receiver to hurry to where we were, adding that she had some children with her”.

She pleaded with the people holding her sisters to please allow them to re-unite with the family, adding that “God will bless them if they do this for us”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/3-girls-kidnapped-in-church/

Tinubu and the lynch mob
By Femi Adesina (kulikulii@yahoo.com, 08055001928)
Friday September 16, 2011

Love him or hate him, one fact is incontrovertible: Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the most potent political force from the South-west of the country today.
In 2003, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swept through the region like a typhoon, uprooting the Alliance for Democracy (AD), which hitherto controlled Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states. The only man left standing was Tinubu, who retained his seat as governor of Lagos State on the platform of the AD. Later, he was to form and join the Action Congress (AC), which has metamorphosed today into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Tinubu became the National Leader of ACN after leaving office as governor in 2007 and at the general elections last April, he led his party to do exploits that shook the PDP to its very foundation. The ACN, in a blitzkrieg, recovered Ogun, Oyo and equally kept Lagos, which the PDP would have given an arm and a leg to win. Late last year, ACN had got Osun and Ekiti States into its kitty through pronouncements of the judiciary on the highly disputed polls of April 2007. The same feat had been accomplished in Edo State two years earlier. Today, save for Ondo State ruled by the Labour Party, the ACN controls the entire South-west, plus Edo in the South-south region. Which ruling party at the centre will not fear, nay plot against such party?

I don’t like the PDP, I’ve always said so. This is because since 1999 when it got to power at the centre and in many states, the party has not made much impact on the lives of the people. The ACN, mind you, is not also a paragon political party (there may never be any, really) but then, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Because the ACN can give the PDP a bloody nose, it has some measure of support from me.

True, I was disappointed when an alliance of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the ACN did not work before the last general elections. I had always maintained that we needed a rainbow coalition to get rid of the army of occupation called the PDP but it didn’t happen. We’ve heard stories of what Tinubu as ACN leader did and didn’t do to torpedo the proposed alliance. But that is a story for another day. Today, we want to talk about why a PDP-led Federal Government would do anything to stop a ‘chief rascal’ called Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Last week, the news came that summons had been served on the former Lagos State governor to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The accusation? He operated at least 10 foreign accounts in the U.S and the U.K while he was governor between 1999 and 2007. What does the law say? “The President, Vice-President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners of the Governments of the States, members of the National Assembly and the House of Assembly of the States, and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe, shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.”

This was the law Tinubu allegedly breached and trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal starts next Wednesday, September 21. Nobody is, and should be above the law. There should be no sacred cow (though I heard that the animal is worshipped as god in some parts of India, thus making it sacred). If Tinubu flouted the law, he should answer for it.

But I have this overpowering feeling that there may be more to the trial than meets the eye. Is this some sort of political lynching? Is it an opportunity to cut Tinubu down to size? Is this a gambit to stop the rampaging ACN dead in its tracks? In the last elections, apart from sweeping the South-west, the party almost got Akwa Ibom and Benue States. Before then, it had almost gotten Anambra. Cases are before the courts in respect of those states. What to do? Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

If the tribunal finds Tinubu guilty, he will be banned from all political activities for a minimum of 10 years. Surely, that is a decapitation, a guillotine of the ACN. And if the Federal Government wants, it can also begin criminal prosecution, which can see the ACN leader behind the bars for some time. If Bode George of the PDP went to prison, why can’t Bola Tinubu also serve time there? What is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. The PDP-led Federal Government has every reason to take Tinubu out. From facts available in the public domain now, the man did not declare the 10 foreign accounts in the Form CCB -1 assets declaration form he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau on January 6, 2004. So, there is every reason to try him. And when the summons was served last week, Tinubu told his staff to accept it, saying, “after years of threats, political mudslinging and media trial…it’s an opportunity to put an end to unproven allegations and politically orchestrated persecution.” Brave words.

But I have some posers: Granted that not closing those ten accounts he operated before becoming governor was against the law, what is the balance in the accounts? Were they ever operated between 1999 and 2007 when Tinubu was governor? The law banning operation of foreign accounts by public officers is meant to checkmate looting and money laundering. Was there any inflow into those accounts between 1999 and 2009? When Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha ran into problem with the law during their tenures as governor, the amounts involved were made public. So why is nobody telling us the total amount in those ten accounts? I have a copy of the exhibit filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The total value of the ten accounts I can see is 20,995 pounds. Is that money laundering or what? And there was no deposit between 1999 and 2007, as far as I can see. So, is there money laundering? We need answers, if the trial would be worth the time and resources it would consume.

While it does not exculpate the accused in that the very act of still having those accounts in his name while he was a public officer amounts to an offence, I think it considerately weakens the case, if indeed no transactions were made within the period. And it also strengthens the suspicion that the case has political motivation. What is the total balance in those accounts? We need to know. If I were the PDP-led Federal Government, why would I not want to castrate Tinubu? (And I’m talking of political and not physical castration, lest Senator Oluremi Tinubu begins to panic). Elections are ahead in some states few months hence. Decapitate the ACN before then by hacking down the leader of the party.

The Justice Ayo Salami fire is still blazing, stoked by the ACN and its sympathetic media. House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged in defiance of his party’s zoning formula, aided by Tinubu and the ACN lawmakers. Deal with the man before he wreaks more havoc. Of course, in 2015, PDP would want to recover all the South-west states, and also capture Lagos. Not while Tinubu is free and kicking. So, what to do? Get him out of the way or weaken him substantially. It was part of the agenda in the South-west meeting of the PDP held in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, recently. How about all those vexatious press statements of Lai Mohammed of the ACN? Surely, a pain in the neck and Tinubu, the brain box of the party, must pay for it. Take off the head and the mouth becomes permanently quiet.

A final poser. In 2006, a good number of governors were accused of running foreign accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Why is it that only Tinubu is now being brought forward for trial? What of the others? Curious. Very curious. Tinubu has called on everyone to keep calm and be vigilant, “while the judiciary does justice to this matter.” Good. But as much as I try to keep calm and be vigilant, I can’t shake off the nagging feeling that this is all about political lynching, with the PDP mob baying for blood. Am I right? As they say, time will surely tell.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/columnists/femi/2011/femi-sept-16-2011.html

Anambra At 20: A Dream Betrayed
Posted: September 23, 2011 - 20:11
By Oscar Onwudiwe
On the exact day of the sixth Anniversary of General Babangida’s administration, the good Lord moved him and his policy makers to carve out of an existing Anambra State (since 1976), a land area of 4.416 sq. kilometers to retain the same name “Anambra” as it was derived from a River in the area that is also a tributary of River Niger.

Babangida’s gift was to a people widely recognized for their industry and resourcefulness. A people who at the time had over 85 percent literacy level. A people with the highest number of notable achievers in Africa. A people equally blessed with material resources. Yes! On the 27th of August 1991, hope was born.

There was HOPE that the focus and core goal shall be on a sound philosophy for development. There was HOPE that Anambra shall feed herself and export to her neighbors through a sound program of agriculture; since God in His wisdom made over 80 percent of her land so fertile.

There was HOPE that the over 3000 medical personnel and doctors of Anambra extraction in the U.S.A and over 2,150 in the UK (sustaining the N.H.S) and many others all over the world would be mobilized to think home and contribute (in anyway) their patriotic quota to health care delivery for their kith and kin; for we all agree that Health is Wealth. There was HOPE that drinking water would flow after N680 million was allegedly expended in 1992 (a World Bank Project).

There was HOPE that rural electrification shall be Government business as against community contributions, bribe for light and a tool for political blackmail by the powers that be. There was HOPE that the infrastructure for industrialization would be laid to encourage production, create wealth by boosting employment for the highly skilled and ready to learn youths. There was HOPE for a crime free society.

There was HOPE that Anambra shall out-educate the rest of the states; that her secondary schools would get back the great reputation they had in the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s and even 1980’s. That her children would not only be educated but would also be tutored on the time-honored VALUES that created the numerous notable achievements of the National hero’s from Anambra state.

There was HOPE that Anambra state would have a state Capital that is second to none. There was HOPE that our markets would be modernized with good facilities and proper access roads built for our traders to get to their stores. There was HOPE that development would take priority over politics. After all, the Odumegwu Ojukwu who had the developmental vision that was expressed in his Ayiara declaration is from Anambra state.

The philosopher and the great visionary, Zik of Africa, who gave the economic blueprint that made the Eastern Region, the fastest growing economy in West Africa was from Anambra. The number of whiz kids from Anambra state is uncountable. Cosmos Maduka, who represents the great willpower of “I CAN,” is from Anambra State. The list is endless of people who burst the odds and moved from grass to grace. No, no, no: Anambra is not CURSED, rather she is too BLESSED. God can never forsake the descendants of ERI.

The success of the children of Anambra got to their heads and they became drunk on pride. They forgot the law that says, “if you are not humble, you would stumble”. Just like the rest of Nigeria, Ndi Anambra lost their values but unlike the other Nigerians, they could not manage the after math of that loss. They were unmindful of those who looked at their individual progress with envy. They were two naive to notice that many a time they stimulated the feeling of inadequacy in those who could not understand them; and this included their own weaker sons who were vulnerable to cheap values of unrighteousness.

These weak sons of Anambra were empowered by the enemy and their individual inadequacies to pollute Anambra with profanity. They considered it wise to sow lawlessness and filth and scared away from Anambra, the best brains. Then things fell apart even in the home state of Professor Chinua Achebe. Now Anambra is still scoring the usual “first,” but this time in everything deplorable.

I am an optimist and I know that “all things work together for good.” Our ways are not God’s ways! Anambra truly needs some beating into line. That is why God allowed the worst of us to take over and represent the best of us. They too have a message to deliver. It is not right but it’s okay that the State House of Assembly is as good as not being in place since 2007.

Checks and balances as a doctrine vital to democracy has been given a new meaning and governors now have absolute powers. Nobody talks about what they do with local government funds in their control. It may be acceptable in other cultures, but it is repugnant to justice in Igbo land. Igbos know that absolute power corrupts badly, and they would rather not lead anyone into temptation. Are members of Anambra House of Assembly Igbos? I wonder.

Igbos are different and Ndi Anambra are more different. Their Elohim never meant for them to thrive in unrighteousness. The purpose for the unsolicited creation of Anambra state in 1991 was in resonance with God’s plan. Anambra was to light the candle for others to find their way. Has that been done? Where is the hope to out-educate the rest of Nigeria when government plays politics with education? Is it right that over 747 of the primary schools out of 1,039 lay in shambles, whereas more than N3.5 billion meant for their renovation is left in the bank yielding interest for “God knows who”?




Is it right that for over seven years now no teacher has been employed to teach the children? There are vacancies for 8000 (eight thousand) needed teachers. Yet, it was only a few weeks ago that approval was given for a mere 900 to be employed. How true it is that health is wealth when the fewer than three hundred doctors working in government hospitals have been on strike for over seven months? What do the doctors want that the government cannot give? What attempts are been made to make them feel good and to stimulate that patriotic spirit in them?

It is not right, but it is okay that government cannot provide potable drinking water. We are after all in a Third World country. But how come Anambra sons, including some in government have big and beautiful shopping malls and plazas in Abuja, but the markets in their home land remain worse than they were when Zik built the biggest and most modern market (then) in West Africa in his home land?

In the past, wealth was based on the ownership of material things, but today it is based on knowledge and on the ability to use that knowledge. Singapore is there for us to see. Anambra State has in large quantity such mineral resources as clay and kaolin, pyrite, natural gas and petroleum, sandstone, ironstone, lignite, coal, gypsum, and bentonite.

In agricultural resources, the land is great for maize, rice, yam, yam bean, pigeon pea, cassava, sweet potato, melon, kola, castor oil, palm oil, plantain and banana – just name it. Nobody is talking about all of these and how to use them to attract investors to create wealth and provide employment for our youths. It is better to talk about how the governor fought to become and remain a governor at our 20th anniversary. The core goal is politics, and that is repugnant to development.

I used to think that great leaders were those who develop a compelling vision of the future, then motivate the people to embrace that vision and see it as their own that must be translated into reality. But today, it seems the new philosophy is a focus on image. Image is everything and substance is nothing. We no longer have a vibrant House of Assembly and no think tank.

All we have is some image-driven micro-manager with his praise singers and dogs whose only job is to abuse real or perceived enemies of their boss. We see today the worst case of personification of government. Little wonder that when our children leave school, they must leave the state in search of the proverbial Golden Fleece in other lands.

What qualifies any one to rule Anambra today is simply dependent on the size of his pocket and not the size of his vision, a sense of mission or even a passion to develop his home land. To be called “Your Excellency” is the goal. Here is a clear case of a people perishing for lack of knowledge. There is nowhere in the world that the elite class rule and you find development. To be wealthy, you must be selfish and greedy because is all about profit to self. To rule a people, you must have vision, compassion and totally driven by the spirit for public service and for the common good.

Zik and Okpara did not need to own a brewery or make a lot of noise before establishing one nevertheless a brewery was established and it created jobs. They did not own a cotton mill but they established one. They had the best team of ministers (as commissioners were called in those days). It was not about them, it was about the people. It hurts that most of the notable achievers we still talk about all grew in the era of good values. It is clear therefore that there is a correlation between good values and development.

So any true leader must first recognize that the biggest crisis in Anambra today is not roads, it is not the giving away of computers and buses or building of hospitals for ill-motivated doctors. It is the crisis of values. This calls for an inspiring leader who would stimulate the urge for Ndi Anambra to return to their winning ways. You don’t inspire good people by praising yourself all the time.

It is well and I remain an optimist. Every problem contains the seed of its own solution. If there are no problems there would be no solutions and progress will stop. I shall make no comments about our great elders who grew up and achieved with the aid of the values of selflessness, the values of being your brother’s keeper etc, but today they keep quiet and live outside their home state and watch the nothingness their grandchildren would inherit.

I respect them too much to notice their apathy. As long as they are recognized, it is okay by them. Their fathers never did so. I take solace in the fact that a few like-minds are prepared to ensure that Anambra would be great again. I am one of them. Are you?

2014 is not far away and Anambra must be re-energized with HOPE. Growing old is mandatory – but growing up is optional. Twenty years is enough for Anambra to decide to grow up and play the role designed by God for her. To light that candle is a task that must be done.

To the sons and daughters of Anambra with a sound sense of history, to those with the gift of sober reflection, I say Happy 20th anniversary. The best is yet to come. Hope is a moral imperative.

Onwudiwe is a legal attorney and national co-coordinator of Vanguard for Transformation


http://saharareporters.com/article/anambra-20-dream-betrayed

Ex-governor insists he didn’t run accounts
By Our Reporter 16 hours 29 minutes ago
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Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

Also yesterday, Tinubu described his case as political persecution and challenged the complainants to bring their proof, if they had any against him.
Addressing reporters after the sitting, Tinubu said: “I believe in the rule of law and constitutional democracy and the respect for the judiciary, believing equally that those who allege must prove beyond reasonable doubt. The substance of the case, I don’t even know.
“They said I operated foreign accounts; they have not shown me statements of account, they are yet to provide information, even though under the Freedom of Information Act they are expected to do that; they have not provided me the amount; is it from the state money? Is it from Lagos State or from my almajiri exercise or efforts? They have not shown me.
“Suddenly, they pounced on me with a new charge; amended charge this morning in the court premises. That one, I have not seen at all. I don’t know what the charge is. Anybody who knows me knows that I maintain an open-door policy. My address is known throughout this country. They gave excuses there again that they had to drop the summons in my office because they couldn’t locate me. That, I believe is a fabrication.
“The question is, this is all politics.com. Nigeria is facing a very crucial challenge in our democratic dispensation; in our institutional building. The focus of service and development to this country is very crucial at this hour. I think we should wait for them to see and prove whatever they have, but, to me clearly, we should concentrate on the security, the welfare and developmental requirement of our nation.”
As he walked to the BWW Sport Utility Vehicle in which he rode out of the court premises, Tinubu’s supporters chanted: “On your mandate we shall stand, on your mandate we shall stand, on your mandate, on your mandate, on your mandate we shall stand!”

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/20445-ex-governor-insists-he-didn%E2%80%99t-run-accounts.html

Marginalisation: Ijaw call for creation of Toru-Ibe State
on SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 · in NEWS

By Victor Ahiuma-young

Ijaw in Delta State have demanded for the creation of Toru-Ibe State with capital in Burutu city to save them from further socio-economic and political marginalisation.

Labour Party candidate for Warri North in Delta State House of Assembly in the April 26 polls, Mr. Adanse Felix, in a statement, appealed to the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan to address the concerns of the Ijaw.

He said: “The call became necessary because of the deliberate marginalisation and oppression of the Ijaw in Delta State, particularly the Egbema and Gbaramatu Ijaw kingdoms in Warri North and Warri South-West local government areas.

“The Ijaw in these areas are treated like third-class citizens in their respective councils. They are not allowed to be voted for by the imperialists who claimed big brothers’ role. Although we can vote for the ‘big-brothers’ to represent the areas in elections, but we are not allowed to be voted for in any capacity to represent the same areas.

“A situation where a certain ethnic group is marginalised, oppressed, deliberately and maliciously schemed out of political governance by a particular system by an orchestrated cabal can only be described as blood-sucking and barbaric.

“Also, the Ijaw communities where the bulk of the oil and gas are coming from, which sustain Delta and other states, have no single developmental projects either from the states or the Federal Government.

“Hence, I lend my voice for the creation of our long-awaited Toru-Ibe State, so that the Ijaw can have a voice of their own and to encourage development. This state is long overdue. If created, it will reduce all forms of tensions and inter-tribal wars between us and our neighbours.

“I am making this call to authorities concerned to put the necessary machinery in place to see that our long dream state is created.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/marginalisation-ijaw-call-for-creation-of-toru-ibe-state/

As Mark misses the mark again
on SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 · in THE HUB

By Josef Omorotionmwan
Most times, what is said is less important than how it is said. This past week, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been busy writing its own testimonials. We have a copy of the welcome address which the Senate President delivered to his colleagues on their return from recess.

Perhaps unknown to him, virtually every word that proceeded from his mouth was an insult on the collective sensibilities of Nigerians. For now, we shall consider the first two paragraphs of that address: “It is my immeasurable pleasure to welcome you back to this hallowed chamber after a well-deserved recess…”.

A well deserved recess, indeed! These people went on recess long before the general elections of last April and justifiably, they were on recess throughout the elections and thereafter. After the inauguration of the Seventh National Assembly on June 6, 2011, Nigerians got the rude awakening that the facilities for members were not ready and that in the circumstance, they must still continue on recess.

Some of us cried out at that time that the National Assembly had once more been wrong-footed by the those in charge of the National Assembly Complex.

Now, our Senators are back “from a well deserved recess”! The toiling Nigerian workers, a vast majority of whose take-home pay cannot take them home must hear this. Although workers are compelled by law to work for eight hours a day; those who work in Lagos, for instance, start off as early as 4 am to be able to beat the gruelling traffic congestions, and they do not return home until 10 pm.

For these ones, there is no recess, deserved or undeserved! As for the mass of the unemployed youths, the Senate President’s assessment simply succeeds in portraying the senators as insensitive tax-eating parasites, over-paid and under-worked.

In the second paragraph, the Senate President says: “As you are all aware, we did what we could to assist the government take off before we went on recess. Forty-two ministerial nominees were diligently screened in this hallowed chamber in line with our constitutional duty.

Out of these, 41 nominees were confirmed as ministers.” Bravo! Our senators have done us a favour by carryingout their constitutionally assigned responsibility. This was a four-day jamboree. Maybe this function should have been left for Area Boys and motor park touts, eh?

Guess what the Senate’s priorities are. They include the creation of new states and the amendment of the nation’s Constitution. We are carrying an elephant on the head and sourcing for cricket with the toes. The same last week, VANGUARD sent a team of reporters across the country to find out how the various states are faring on the minimum wage issue.

In state after state, they returned a unanimous verdict that should disturb even the greatest iconoclast: “It is certainly not the best of times for most states of the country. A host of them are on a cliff-hanger over how to resolve the lingering industrial disharmony over the N18,000 minimum wage.

Some of them like Adamawa, Enugu, Kano and Ebonyi have been paralysed by workers’ strikes. A couple of others are on the verge of being crippled by industrial action unless the governments yield to organised labour’s demand…. To get the ship of state sailing, some are adopting interesting strategies such as outright appeal to labour for understanding and raising joint negotiation panels to address the nagging issue.

Jigawa and Abia are among the states that have raised joint negotiation committees to stem the imminent industrial crisis” (VANGUARD, Thursday, September 15, 2011, pp 44-45).

It does not bother the National Assembly leadership that at some point soon, they may have to consider which of the unviable states should be merged. Again, this is an aspect of state creation, albeit in the negative. Essentially, state creation is such a serious affair that should not be contrived into individual post-retirement plans.

We are yet struggling to beat our clear world record in the abuse of constitutional amendments. Just before the elections, we amended hundreds of clauses in the 1999 Constitution, to the extent that in a single fiat, we re-amended what we amended.

The constitution of a country should be more fundamental than the local government edict regulating its garbage collection.

Too many amendments would simply suggest that the entire document must be jettisoned while a proper body should be impaneled to prepare an appropriate replacement, instead of a parochial body that only seeks to write itself into the Constitution. From the lessons of history, it is clear that the Americans lacked the advantage that we had.

While they made a fresh beginning, we had them to copy from. That explains why the entire Chapter IV of our Constitution, which deals with Fundamental Human Rights, is a replica of the American Bill of Rights, encapsulated in the first 10 amendments to the American Constitution.

Since 1791, when the American Constitution came into effect, only 14 clauses have been altered, in addition to the Bill of Rights, which, in effect, should be considered as part of the original document as their adoption in 1791 was a condition of ratification by states. Since 1791, Congress has had to reverse itself only once on the issue of constitutional amendment.

The Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting commerce in intoxicating liquor was ratified in 1919 and it took effect from early 1920. It was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933. Clearly, there is no better time than now to listen to those calling for a Sovereign National Conference. Enough is more than enough!

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/as-mark-misses-the-mark-again/

Tinubu’s trial: Court stops reading of new charges
By Yomi Odunuga and Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja 1 hour ago
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Asiwaju Tinubu at the tribunal before the sitting ,  yesterday. Behind him are: Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, Mr. Demola Seriki, Hon. Mutiu Are and Prince Wasiu Eshinlokun
AMID tight security, former Lagos Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) yesterday. But the matter could not go on, as the prosecution served the defence a new charge, shortly before the session.
Tinubu is charged with alleged operation of foreign accounts, more than four years after he left office.
Attempts by the prosecution to convince the court to read the charge was rejected. CCT chairman Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar insisted on fairness and justice in the handling of the case.
He adjourned the matter till October 26 for objection to the charge before the court.
Tinubu’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN),  informed the three-man panel that he was served neither the old charge, which was amended yesterday, nor the new one filed on Tuesday and served on his lawyers in the court yesterday.
He said Tinubu, out of utmost respect for the judiciary, chose to voluntarily honour the invitation which he knew about first in the media. The summons was later dropped in his office, he said.
Justice Umar praised the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for his exemplary conduct, which he advised Nigerians to emulate.
“That is evidence of respect for the rule of law. Service requires to be personal. Out of respect, he chose to come; that is good enough. We want Nigerians to take a cue from that,” Justice Umar said.
Tinubu was at the Tribunal 30 minutes before the sitting began. He was clad in a blue kaftan, a blue cap and a pair of black shoes to match.
At exactly 10:33a.m., members of the Tribunal emerged from the chamber.
The prosecution counsel, Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN) introduced his team. Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) introduced nine other Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) for the defence.
They are: Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Charles Edosomwan (SAN), Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), Dele Belgore (SAN), Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Kabiru Turaki (SAN), Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), Deji Sasogbon (SAN) and Dele Adesina (SAN).
Others are former West African Bar Association President Mr. Femi Falana, Mrs Jumoke Anifowoshe, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, Blessing Umuapo, Charles Musa, Babatunde Ogala, Dr. Muiz Banire, Funsho Olukoga, Dapo Akinoshun, Olanrewaju Obadina, Silas Onwuguonu, Moses Ideh and P.C. Okafor.
Sola Iji, Oye Akintola, Ganji Ajape, Soji Olowolafe, Gbenga Adeyemi, Bayo Idowu, Iyiola Oladokun, Joshua Alogu and Francis Alogboh were also there.
Iziyon informed the Court of the new charge, which the defence counsel did not object to.
Olanipekun told the Tribunal that Tinubu was not personally served the old charge, adding that “personal service is fundamental in the case”.
His words: “No personal service was effected on him. It was only dropped somewhere; he heard of it … but out of respect for the court, he chose to come to honour the tribunal. I urge your lordship to direct that all processes be rightly served.”
Iziyon admitted that Tinubu was not personally served the summons. He blamed this on what he called the inability of the bailiff to see the former governor.
But the Tribunal overruled him, saying since Tinubu is no longer in office, serving him could not have been difficult.
Tinubu remained calm while the proceedings lasted.
Iziyon urged the Tribunal to read the new charge to Tinubu for his plea to be taken. The defence kicked.
Olanipekun said: “My lords, we want to object to the motion. We have perused through the amended charge. We, as counsel to the defendant, intend to raise a similar and more fundamental objection. The objection will also affect the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to take up this matter. We will need time to prepare our motion. We need time to prepare a formal motion.”
But Iziyon insisted that the amended charge be read to Tinubu.
Citing various authorities, Olanipekun submitted that “by asking that the charge be read, the court is assuming jurisdiction”.
“My lords, the jurisdiction you have is to first determine whether you have jurisdiction or not. Your lordships could not have side-tracked the right of the defendant to Preliminary Objection. It is unfair for the prosecution to insist that the defendant should take his plea. This is the same charge that was served on us this morning. Section 36 of the Constitution is very clear on this. I don’t think even in Libya that this kind of procedure will be allowed because nobody is in charge now,” Olanipekun said.
Replying, Iziyon told the Tribunal that he would not object, if the Defendnat wanted to oppose the charge, “but for him to say he should not take his plea, no”. “Arraignment is different from trial.”
Justice Umar said: “We have to look at this case generally. We are here for justice for all. This is a court of summary trial. You (Iziyon) served the amended charge today; they did not object to that. They observed that they want to object to the charge, they did not object to you serving them. Issue of jurisdiction is very fundamental. We cannot proceed if we don’t have jurisdiction. I’m of the opinion that we grant them the necessary time to raise a motion to challenge the charge; we should not be jumping the gun.”
The CCT Chairman appealed to counsel for cooperation so as to decide the case expeditiously.
“Bear in mind that the prosecution in this court is summary; please, do not delay…we want to dispense this case so quickly; we want a fair trial,” he added.
Upon agreement by parties, the Tribunal gave the defence 14 days to file its written address on the Preliminary objection. The prosecution has 14 days to reply. The Defendant will then have five days to reply on point of law.



http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/20448-tinubu%E2%80%99s-trial%3A-court-stops-reading-of-new-charges.html

The Timing of Tinubu’s tempest
on SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 · in POLITICS

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
The Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja is Wednesday set for what is unarguably its biggest case in recent times. On parade before the tribunal on a case of ethical misconduct is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the erstwhile Governor of Lagos State and the national leader of the country’s biggest opposition political party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.

As the tribunal case opens President Goodluck Jonathan who is in the United States where he is expected to meet world leaders including United States administration officials, could be tempted to refer to the trial of one of the country’s most influential politicians as evidence of his own administration’s fight against corruption.

Tinubu is charged with the maintenance of foreign bank accounts which according to the prosecution is at variance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct for public officers. The case flows from the investigations allegedly initiated in 2005 by a Joint Task Force constituted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to investigate allegations of impropriety against the Governors of that era.

At the end of the alleged investigations, several Governors were reportedly indicted on several counts of illegal enrichment, falsification of assets, operation of foreign bank accounts, corruption and outright stealing of public funds. In the case of Tinubu he was reportedly indicted by the JTF on the allegation of operating foreign bank accounts in the United States of America.

Following the exit of the Obasanjo administration the corruption cases against many of the Governors dilly-dallied and only two, Lucky Igbinendion of Edo State and James Ibori came to conclusion. The former was convicted and paid some reparations while the later was cleared of all the cases of corruption put against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by a Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State.

The case against Tinubu, however, continued to be mentioned now and again with no firm push for a trial, at least until now. What was seen as until now the dithering indecision of government on the matter of Tinubu has inevitably swelled opinion among the political class of allegations of a political motif.

This flows from the fact that even though the case was first filed in 2005 but that no substantive move was made to initiate prosecution until earlier this month when the Code of Conduct Tribunal issued a statement through its Special Adviser/ Director of Information Abdulazeez Badisha, that the former Governor would be appearing today at the tribunal.

According to the statement issued on September 6, 2011 the actions of the former Governor in allegedly maintaining foreign accounts violated section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap 56 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, as amended.

The issue flows from the constitutional inhibitions against public officers maintaining foreign accounts. Section 3 of the fifth schedule of the constitution states thus:

The President, Vice -President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners of the Governments of the States, members of the National Assembly and of the Houses of Assembly of the States, and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.

Remarkably, as at press time the details of the formal charges in respect to the accounts were yet to be produced and are expected to be unveiled during the trial. However, political associates of the ACN leader in a master stroke have gone ahead to disclose details of the alleged bank accounts which sources say totaled about $31,000.

The accounts were allegedly jointly operated with his wife, Mrs. Remi Tinubu who is now a Senator.

Political associates of the former Governor say that the relatively small amount of money in the accounts that is for a man of Tinubu’s perceived financial standing, could not but reflect a desperation to put Tinubu out of circulation.

This, it is argued, is against the background of what is generally seen as the growing political clout of the ACN leader across the country.

As leader of the ACN Tinubu has successfully wrested the political control of the Southwest from the PDP to his party which now controls all but one of the Southwest states. The only Southwest state, Ondo that is not in the control of the ACN is under the control of the Labour Party, a party he Tinubu reportedly collaborated with to oust the PDP from the administration of that State.

But even beyond the Southwest Tinubu was strategically involved in the political dynamics that embarrassed the PDP’s zonal permutations for the distribution of positions in the House of Representatives. His reported collaboration with elements in the PDP helped to enthrone Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives against the official position of the PDP for the emergence of Mrs. Mulikat Adeola-Akande.

The arraignment of the ACN leader is also coming in the heels of the recent strategic meeting of the PDP in the zone last month where by one account the party leaders were said to have pinned the problems of the party in the zone to the political sophistication of Tinubu.

So given the woes of the PDP it is conceivable for some to allege the conspiratorial role of the PDP in the present travails of the ACN leader.

But that is, however, begging the question as to the substance of whether Tinubu is guilty of the allegations raised against him. Has he offended the provisions of the law?

Tinubu in his reaction has now welcomed the opportunity to defend himself.

Speaking on his return from an overseas trip ahead of today’s trial Tinubu last Monday told newsmen at the Lagos airport that the trial was politically motivated to intimidate the opposition.

He said: “I can just tell you, that nothing, will intimidate me, as a leader of opposition parties in Nigeria. I believe wholeheartedly in the tenets of constitutional democracy, and rule of law, and as a politician , I am used to be persecuted or tried , there was this experience of the treasonable felony that was hanged on me during the Abacha era, when they hanged a life sentence on me, after all it is democracy in a very dangerous environment.”

“But, they cannot induce any charge to silence the opposition in this country, the question of the rule of law, the question of dividing the judiciary, the question of the ruling party orchestrating allegation to silence opposition party, and the urge to continue to rule, without obeying the rule, does not bother me.”

The Code of Conduct Bureau has meanwhile distanced itself from the allegations of political witch-hunting. The bureau in a statement issued by its head of information, Mrs. Iyabo Akinwande affirmed that the delay in the trial since 2005 was to enable the bureau complete all investigations into the issue.

“It has no political undertone. The case was only put on hold because investigation was on going,” Akinwande said in a statement on Monday.

Tinubu and his ACN had snubbed the invitation by the PDP to its government of national unity arrangement preferring to monitor the administration from outside. The ACN’s decision was despite insinuations in some quarters that Tinubu refused to put obstacle to Dr. Jonathan in the Southwest during the presidential elections because of a secret pact between the duo.

But despite refusing to participate in the GNU arrangement the party nevertheless resolved at one of its meetings after the elections not to be too critical of the Federal Government on issues of security. The ACN has so far followed up on its promise by not stinging the administration on national security issues.

Given Tinubu’s success in diminishing more challenging political opponents in the Southwest, in the person of General Olusegun Obasanjo and Commodore Bode George, it would be remarkable if President Jonathan mentions today’s trial as a success for his administration in his meetings with world leaders.

Well it may be. It may also mean the extension of his political troubles to Tinubu’s base in the Southwest.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/the-timing-of-tinubu%E2%80%99s-tempest/

Boko Haram Warns Katsina Risks Attacks If Preaching Law Is Not Repealed

Preaching Law - Boko Haram Warns Katsina

Hamza Idris20 September 2011
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Maiduguri — The Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, yesterday said Katsina State risked sporadic attacks if it did not repeal the bill that was passed by the state House of Assembly which requires Islamiyya schools, preachers and mosques to obtain license before they operate.

The group said the law was highly selective because it did not say anything about regulating the activities of churches and Christian missionaries in the state and that it was aimed at subduing Islam and propagating western ideologies.

A statement signed by Abul-Qaqa, the spokesman of the group, which was made available to newsmen in Maiduguri yesterday said for peace to reign in Katsina, the state government must retract the law. "It has become imperative for me to comment on the draconian law enacted by the government of Katsina State under the leadership of Ibrahim Shehu Shemat.

"The law said henceforth, nobody should teach or carry out Islamic preachings in mosques or Islamiyya schools without permission. It went ahead to say that violators would be incarcerated for between one year and five years; a fine of between N200, 000 to N500, 000 or both.

"We want to reiterate that this is a grand conspiracy aimed at ceiling restrictions on the propagation of the teaching of Prophet Muhammad. It is also the grand conspiracy of the United Nations (UN) which wants to dictate to the world how Islam must be practiced. The UN now controls the world and various governments have been coerced to succumb to its dictates," the statement said.

"Even though we are consoled that Prophet Muhammad had forewarned us that enemies will continue obstructing the religion of God through obnoxious laws and that Muslims will continue to remain vulnerable until the last rope that hold them together, which is prayer is obstructed, we want to reiterate that this is time to act.

The group also claimed that Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State had goofed for stating that people that memorized the Holy Qur'an do not deserve any salary unless they have additional qualification of western education.

"We want to ask if there is any knowledge that is superior to the knowledge of the Qur'an. Is it good for a man that claimed to be a Muslim to make these proclamations?" the group asked but quickly add that they are not complaining about the issue of denying memorizers of the Qur'an any salary.

The group said Prophet Muhammad had warned that if Muslims gave priority to worldly possession without taking adequate measures to propagate Islam through Jihad, then Allah will subject them to untold hardship until they repent and do the right thing which according to them is Jihad.

Taliban turban bomber kills Afghan ex-president
on SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 · in NEWS

as Obama meets Karzai after Rabbani killing

KABUL (AFP) – A Taliban suicide bomber with concealed explosives in a turban on Tuesday assassinated former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading government peace efforts, police said.

In New York the US President Barack Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday in New York, hours after a suicide bomber in Kabul assassinated Afghanistan’s former leader Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Karzai was due to cut short his trip to the United Nations General Assembly shortly after his meeting with Obama, to return home after the killing of Rabbani, who was leading the government’s peace talks with the Taliban.

The bomber struck during a meeting at the Kabul home of Rabbani, who was last year appointed chief of the Afghan High Peace Council that President Hamid Karzai tasked with negotiating with the Taliban.

His death is the most high-profile political assassination since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power and comes just two months after Karzai’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was also killed.


Burhanuddin Rabbani, former Afghan president
The attackers arrived at Rabbani’s house with Mohammad Massom Stanikzai, Rabbani’s deputy, for a meeting before the turban bomber detonated his explosives, according to one source amid conflicting reports of the incident.

A member of the High Peace Council, Fazel Karim Aymaq, said the men had come with “special messages” from the Taliban and were “very trusted.”

Kabul criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zaher said two men “negotiating with Rabbani on behalf of the Taliban” arrived at his house, one with explosives hidden in his turban.

“He approached Rabbani and detonated his explosives. Rabbani was martyred and four others including Massom Stanikzai (his deputy) were injured.”

The bomber struck close to the US embassy, making it the the second attack within a week in Kabul’s supposedly secure diplomatic zone.

The killing prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to cut short his visit to the United States, his spokesman said, adding he was still expected to meet US President Barack Obama as scheduled before leaving.

An AFP reporter saw an ambulance at the scene and said police had blocked off surrounding roads.

The reporter also heard guards at the house shouting for an ambulance for Rabbani’s deputy.

Two of the former president’s political allies, who did not want to be named and speaking before police confirmed Rabbani’s death, wept as they told AFP he had been killed.

“Yes, he is dead,” said one of the two sources by telephone.

The Taliban were not immediately reachable for comment, but the insurgency led by its militia has hit Kabul increasingly hard in recent months.

The Pakistani government swiftly condemned the assassination, describing Rabbani as a “friend” with whom Islamabad was working closely on peace efforts.

“The people of Pakistan stand by their Afghan brothers and sisters in this moment of grief,” a joint statement released by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said, just days after the United States accused the Pakistani government of having ties to Taliban faction the Haqqani network.

Among the most high-profile attacks was last week’s 20-hour siege of the US embassy and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters which left 14 people dead.

Rabbani was president of Afghanistan from 1992 until the Taliban took power in 1996 and headed a country wracked by civil war.

Karzai’s brainchild, the High Peace Council was intended to open a dialogue with insurgents who have been trying to bring down his government since the US-led invasion overthrew their regime.

The 68-member council, hand-picked by the president, was inaugurated on October 7, 2010, amid mounting reports of secret peace talks with Taliban leaders and key insurgent groups.

Delivering his acceptance speech, Rabbani said he was “confident” that peace was possible, according to a statement from the palace.

“I hope we are able to take major steps in bringing peace and fulfil our duties with tireless effort and help from God,” he was quoted as saying.

According to Human Rights Watch, Rabbani is among prominent Afghans implicated in war crimes during the brutal fighting that killed or displaced hundreds of thousands of Afghans in the early 1990s.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/taliban-turban-bomber-kills-afghan-ex-president/

Ibori Remanded In UK Prison Till 2012 As Judge Postpones Trial Date
Posted: September 20, 2011 - 16:10


By SaharaReporters, New York
The London trial of former Delta state governor James Ibori has been delayed until 2012 after his defence team successfully argued they hadn't been given enough time to prepare.

Mr Ibori, facing 14 charges of fraud and money laundering, will remain in prison until the trial, now set to begin on 13 February, the court decided.

Members of the public in the gallery also got a hint of some of the legal arguments Mr Ibori intends to deploy in an attempt to have the case dismissed before the trial begins.

In legal hearings before the trial, defence team members told the court, they will argue that he cannot be tried in the UK because a Nigerian court has already decided there is no evidence he has committed any crime in Nigeria.

Mr Ibori appeared in court wearing a creased grey linen jacket and shirt without a tie. He had freshly shaved, getting rid of the small moustache he at one time sported. He waved to supporters, and at one point flashed a smile at the police officers who have worked to amass tens of thousand pages of evidence against him.

Benjamin Aina QC of Mr Ibori's defence team, told Southwark crown court they could not begin the trial as planned in November because they need more time to go through the approximately 65,000 pages of evidence and travel to Nigeria to speak to witnesses.

"Mr Ibori has the right to be competently defended" Judge Anthony Pitts said, setting the new date.

Mr Ibori's defence team did not object to the prosecution's request to extend the time Mr Ibori could be held in custody. Without such agreement prisoners in custody on remand for non violent offences can be released on bail after six months.

Mr Ibori was extradited to the UK from Dubai in April, and prosecutors decided he would be tried alongside a co-defendant, Emmanuel Preko, who was already slated to be tried in November.

But Mr Ibori's Barrister, Nicholas Purnell QC, referred to in court by other members of the defence team -and the Judge- as "one of the finest legal minds of this generation", told the court he had been forced to withdraw his services from Mr Ibori because of the schedule.

"This has caused some considerable distress to the defendant," he said.

The delay to the start date allowed Mr Purnell to represent Mr Ibori as originally planned, he said.

The prosecution said the defence team had already had adequate time to prepare, as many of the legal representatives had also worked on the trials involving associates of Mr Ibori. His wife, mistress and lawyer, were all convicted in London last year.

Much of the complex evidence has been agreed over the course of the previous trials, the prosecution said.
"One wonders what the defence team has been doing these past months," Sasha Wass QC told the court.

Before the trial the court will convene to hear legal arguments, where Mr Ibori will apply to have the case thrown out.

Mr Aina said it was not clear to him that what Mr Ibori is accused of was considered illegal in Nigeria.

"Due to differences in practice between here and Nigeria, it has not yet been established that whatever did or did not take place in Nigeria is in fact criminal, or is malpractice that falls short of criminality," Mr Aina said.

Judge Pitts said he received this statement with "some surprise".

Prosecutors said an independent expert on Nigerian law had given evidence in previous trials that the crimes committed by Ibori's associates were illegal in Nigeria.

"It doesn't seem to us that they will be able to say that what Ibori did; stole, lied, cheated, would not be offences in Nigeria," Miss Wass said.

The public gallery was full of Mr Ibori's supporters, including Chief P D Oboh, who hails from Mr Ibori's home village.

Also in court it was noticed that the court usher, the official monitoring the recording of proceedings, and the guard who brought Mr Ibori up from the cells are Nigerians living in London.

They will presumably have a ringside seat to observe the trial when it starts next year.
Mr. Ibori faces 14-count charge relating to money laundering in the UK of billions of naira stolen from the treasury of Delta state.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/ibori-remanded-uk-prison-till-2012-judge-postpones-trial-date

September 15, 2011 05:13PM

The leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Imo, under which the state governor, Rochas Okorocha won the April 26, 2011 governorship election is currently faced with controversy.

Last week in Owerri, the APGA National Deputy Chairman Frank Ojiaho, inaugurated a 15-member “Interim Executive Committee” of a faction of the party led by Udo Aguoha.

However, in two different statements issued in Owerri on Thursday, the state Chairman Cletus Nwaka said that the emergence of the new executive was illegal.

Mr Nwaka said he was still the authentic state chairman of the party.

In one of the statements, which was addressed to the Imo Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Nwaka claimed that the entire members of the said new executive were not registered with the party in Imo, and accused Mr Okorocha of being the mastermind of the development.

“There is no constitutionally recognised body known as the National Stakeholders of APGA which can make far-reaching decisions for the party. The recognised organs of the party that can make decisions for the party are National Working Committee, National Executive Committee and National Convention.

“Here in Imo State the APGA structure under the leadership of Prince C.C. Nwaka as the chairman and Ochudo Martin Agbaso as the leader has been strong, virile and indefatigable at all levels.

“Martin is the immediate elder brother of the deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso. Surprisingly, the governor himself in tandem with the machinations of these people has refused vehemently to work with the party that produced him as governor.” Mr Nwaka said.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Chinedu Offor, did not pick his calls when called for comments.

However, the Special Assistant on Media (Print), Ebere Uzokwa, said the governor was not aware of the leadership squabble in the state.

He said the governor had just returned to the country after a three-week tour of Europe in search of foreign investors.

“The governor didn’t mandate anybody to dissolve the executive or create a new one, the governor is innocent of the whole saga.” Mr Uzokwa said, adding that as the leader of the party in the state, the governor would surely intervene to ensure that there was no crisis in the party in Imo.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5742055-147/imo_apga_chairman_accuses_okorocha_of.csp