₦airaland Forum

PPA EXPELLED ORJI KALU ‘S FAMILY FROM THE PARTY .
This story from a genuine source has it that the PPA has terminated and expelled Orji Uzor Kalu’s family from participating on every active and non-active work and activities regarding the party. This strait-laced sanction was as a result of inappropriate dealings which the family members have been deeply involved lately, which has engendered the image and reputation of PPA. This decision was taken by the chairman and the entire PPA stake holders in order to absolve the party the ugly streak of reproach and shame.
We awaits Orji Uzor Kalu’s reaction.

2 Bombs Rock Kaduna On Valentine’s Day, Cop Killed

Two bomb blasts rocked Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria this morning, killing a policeman.
The first blast happened at Angwar Seriki area of Kaduna near Kano, a very busy area where fully armed soldiers were mounting survellance.
While the first blast went without any loss of life, the second was devastating as a mobile policeman who moved to the Sheikh Mahommud Gumi Mosque, Kano, Kaduna with a bomb detector was blown up by the bomb.
The level of the blast forced residents of the area to run for their dear lives. The pandemonium continued up till the time of filing this report.
Security operatives including soldiers, mobile and regular policemen have been drafted to the area to comb for more explosives which might have been planted in the vicinity. The security personnel have also cordoned off the Kano area.
An helicopter was hovering around the scene of the blasts, also as part of security measures to curb further explosions in the vicinity.
It is widely believed that the Islamist fundamentalists, the Boko Haram might have planted more bombs in the Kano area of Kaduna. Many residents are afraid tha there could be more explosions. Soldiers and other security personnel have advised people including journalists to leave the scene of the blasts in their own interest.culled from thejuristlaws..com

Review Curriculum For Ict Now
A School principal, Mr Moyo Akinleye has called on the Fderal Government to review the entire curriculum of secondary education in Nigeria to incorporate information and communication technology (ICT) in the teaching-learning process.
Akinyele, the principal of Abadina College, University of Ibadan, in Oyo State made this call while offering his assessment of the impact of the Multichoice Resoure Centre on his students. While calling for its sustenance, the principal called for the review of the entire school curriculum to incorporate the technology.
“I plead with government to ensure the sustenance of this initiative and also resurrect the special grants for schools to enable them carry out renovation of schools,” he said, adding the impact has been tremendous. “It has helped us in our students’ performance.”
Complementing theory classes
One of his teachers, Mr. Owuye Bamidele said with the aid of the facility, they have been able to complement the theory classes.
“I think this has done us a great deal. Merely watching the audio-visuals, makes them gain more and have lasting impression of the knowledge unlike when it was only theory. We use it every day and we have trained all our teachers too to use the technology.
Multichoice Nigeria, in collaboration with SchoolNet Nigeria, an NGO powered the introduction of audio-visual learning technologies in 201 Nigerian schools in 2004. The benefiting schools from 21 states of the federation each got an audio visual centre from the pay TV firm to demystify science and other difficult subjects for the students to enable them have a full understanding of each subject.
Students being taught with ICT facilities
Multichoice CSR
MultiChoice while launching the resource centre project in 2004, said the initiative was its corporate social responsibility, CSR to the Nigerian people, even when the success of the novel idea seemed to be in doubt.
According to the firm, the centre was aimed to serve as effective information communication technology tool that would enhance teaching, learning and management of processes in Nigerian education system, with the first phase of the project in Abuja and Lagos.
According to MultiChoice, the project apart from the above objectives was also designed for the beneficiary schools to have unfettered access to MultiChoice Education Bouquet with a view of integrating the programmes into their curriculum in order to enhance the teaching and learning process.
An assessment of these facilities by a team of journalists justified the importance of technology in the modern education system, simplifying the theoretical studies in practical terms.
It’s a great help, says teacher
Another teacher from Community Grammar School, Mokola, Ibadan , also in Oyo state, Mr. Femi Omotosho told journalists that the technology had not only simplified teaching in the school but had also enhanced students understanding of their subjects, especially the sciences.
Mr. Omotosho who identified power as the major challenge in the use of the facility also used the medium to advocate for a Nigeria content through the MRC project. With local content, every subject will better taught and assimilated by the student, he opined.
According to Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe, beneficiary schhols will have access to the special MultiChoice Eduction Bouquet that comprised instructional channels such as Discovery, National Geographic, BBC Knowledge, BBC World, History channel, Animal Planet and Mindset learn at no cost to the schools.
”The Resource Centre project is part of a broad based community development strategy designed to raise the standard of education in public schools on the African continent by leveraging on the assets and experts of our digital satellite television for development and growth of African communities,”he said.
Head, Corporate Communications of MultiChoice, Mr. Segun Fayose said part of the company’s commitment towards the success of the project was provision of learning aid items to each of the beneficiary schools, which includes one Dstv decoder, on television, one DVD player, burglary proof for the equipment and, education bouquet. Others include: one small generator, one whiteboard, 50 blank video cassettes, one stabilizer, one metal filing cabinet among others.
Training
According to Fayose, MRC project did not end with the installation of the facility in the schools, as MultiChoice takes the project a step further by training teachers who can man the facilities. This was followed by a three day training workshop for teachers in Lagos. Fayose who expressed delight at the utility rate of the facility urged the beneficiaries to continue to make adequate use of the equipments in their schools.

In order to ensure teachers commitment in using the facilities, MultiChoice in partnership with SchoolNet instituted the MultioChoice Creative Teachers awards in 2006, 2011. the award is designed to reward teachers involved in the use of the over 200 MultiChoice Resource Centre Audio-Visual learning aid across the country to teach students in their classes.

Though, the company said it had spent over N100 million in training of teachers, Segun said “the management of the company is determined in ensuring that more students and teachers benefit from the initiative and recently because the company have started to see the benefit of their commitment when master Chukwuka Ekweani of Zamani College, Kaduna, a beneficiary School of the MRC emerged the winner in the essay category of the Dstv Eutelsat Star Award in Nigeria, while Precious Ezea of Government Technical College, Enugu, another beneficiary of the MRC emerged runner up in the same competition.
Ugbe however, assured that besides rolling out more Resource Centres this year, MultiChoice will soon embark on intensive unannounced on-the-spot assessment of the centre in the six geo-political zones.culled from thejuristlaws..com

A School principal, Mr Moyo Akinleye has called on the Fderal Government to review the entire curriculum of secondary education in Nigeria to incorporate information and communication technology (ICT) in the teaching-learning process.
Akinyele, the principal of Abadina College, University of Ibadan, in Oyo State made this call while offering his assessment of the impact of the Multichoice Resoure Centre on his students. While calling for its sustenance, the principal called for the review of the entire school curriculum to incorporate the technology.
“I plead with government to ensure the sustenance of this initiative and also resurrect the special grants for schools to enable them carry out renovation of schools,” he said, adding the impact has been tremendous. “It has helped us in our students’ performance.”
Complementing theory classes
One of his teachers, Mr. Owuye Bamidele said with the aid of the facility, they have been able to complement the theory classes.
“I think this has done us a great deal. Merely watching the audio-visuals, makes them gain more and have lasting impression of the knowledge unlike when it was only theory. We use it every day and we have trained all our teachers too to use the technology.
Multichoice Nigeria, in collaboration with SchoolNet Nigeria, an NGO powered the introduction of audio-visual learning technologies in 201 Nigerian schools in 2004. The benefiting schools from 21 states of the federation each got an audio visual centre from the pay TV firm to demystify science and other difficult subjects for the students to enable them have a full understanding of each subject.
Students being taught with ICT facilities
Multichoice CSR
MultiChoice while launching the resource centre project in 2004, said the initiative was its corporate social responsibility, CSR to the Nigerian people, even when the success of the novel idea seemed to be in doubt.
According to the firm, the centre was aimed to serve as effective information communication technology tool that would enhance teaching, learning and management of processes in Nigerian education system, with the first phase of the project in Abuja and Lagos.
According to MultiChoice, the project apart from the above objectives was also designed for the beneficiary schools to have unfettered access to MultiChoice Education Bouquet with a view of integrating the programmes into their curriculum in order to enhance the teaching and learning process.
An assessment of these facilities by a team of journalists justified the importance of technology in the modern education system, simplifying the theoretical studies in practical terms.
It’s a great help, says teacher
Another teacher from Community Grammar School, Mokola, Ibadan , also in Oyo state, Mr. Femi Omotosho told journalists that the technology had not only simplified teaching in the school but had also enhanced students understanding of their subjects, especially the sciences.
Mr. Omotosho who identified power as the major challenge in the use of the facility also used the medium to advocate for a Nigeria content through the MRC project. With local content, every subject will better taught and assimilated by the student, he opined.
According to Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe, beneficiary schhols will have access to the special MultiChoice Eduction Bouquet that comprised instructional channels such as Discovery, National Geographic, BBC Knowledge, BBC World, History channel, Animal Planet and Mindset learn at no cost to the schools.
”The Resource Centre project is part of a broad based community development strategy designed to raise the standard of education in public schools on the African continent by leveraging on the assets and experts of our digital satellite television for development and growth of African communities,”he said.
Head, Corporate Communications of MultiChoice, Mr. Segun Fayose said part of the company’s commitment towards the success of the project was provision of learning aid items to each of the beneficiary schools, which includes one Dstv decoder, on television, one DVD player, burglary proof for the equipment and, education bouquet. Others include: one small generator, one whiteboard, 50 blank video cassettes, one stabilizer, one metal filing cabinet among others.
Training
According to Fayose, MRC project did not end with the installation of the facility in the schools, as MultiChoice takes the project a step further by training teachers who can man the facilities. This was followed by a three day training workshop for teachers in Lagos. Fayose who expressed delight at the utility rate of the facility urged the beneficiaries to continue to make adequate use of the equipments in their schools.

In order to ensure teachers commitment in using the facilities, MultiChoice in partnership with SchoolNet instituted the MultioChoice Creative Teachers awards in 2006, 2011. the award is designed to reward teachers involved in the use of the over 200 MultiChoice Resource Centre Audio-Visual learning aid across the country to teach students in their classes.

Though, the company said it had spent over N100 million in training of teachers, Segun said “the management of the company is determined in ensuring that more students and teachers benefit from the initiative and recently because the company have started to see the benefit of their commitment when master Chukwuka Ekweani of Zamani College, Kaduna, a beneficiary School of the MRC emerged the winner in the essay category of the Dstv Eutelsat Star Award in Nigeria, while Precious Ezea of Government Technical College, Enugu, another beneficiary of the MRC emerged runner up in the same competition.
Ugbe however, assured that besides rolling out more Resource Centres this year, MultiChoice will soon embark on intensive unannounced on-the-spot assessment of the centre in the six geo-political zones.

Honduras prison fire 'leaves at least 272 dead'
Many of the victims were burned or suffocated to death in their cells at the jail in Comayagua, in central Honduras.
Families flocked to the site, desperate for news. Some prisoners escaped the blaze by breaking through the roof to jump from the building, they said.
Officials are investigating whether an electrical fault caused the blaze.
The fire broke out late on Tuesday night and took more than an hour to be brought under control.
Dozens of prisoners died trapped in their cells and were burned beyond recognition.
Comayagua firefighters' spokesman Josue Garcia said there were "hellish" scenes at the prison and that desperate inmates had rioted in a bid to escape the flames.
"We couldn't get them out because we didn't have the keys and couldn't find the guards who had them," he said.
Confusion
Lucy Marder, who heads the forensic services in Comayagua, said that reports indicated at least 272 people had been killed.
Army and police stand guard at the jail in Comayagua The prison was holding more than 800 inmates
She later said that 356 people on the prison roster were unaccounted for.
"The majority could be dead, though others could have suffered burns, escaped or survived," Ms Marder said.
The prison in Comayagua, some 100km (60 miles) north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, was holding more than 800 inmates.
It was feared many of them had fled in the chaos, officials said.
Amid the confusion, relatives gathered outside the prison to try to get information.
"I'm looking for my brother. We don't know what's happened to him and they won't let us in," Arlen Gomez told Honduran radio.
Local hospitals are treating dozens of people for burns and other injuries.
Some of the injured have been taken to Tegucigalpa for treatment, among them 30 people with severe burns.
Firefighters said they had struggled to enter the prison because shots had been fired.
Honduran media reported that there had been a riot in the prison before the fire broke out.
Prison service head Daniel Orellana denied this.
"We have two hypotheses. One is that a prisoner set fire to a mattress and the other one is that there was a short-circuit in the electrical system," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Prisons in Honduras, which has the world's highest murder rate, are often seriously overcrowded and hold many gang members.culled from thejuristlaws..com

OGBOGBAGBENE bombing : WHEN on Tuesday, January 28, the fleeting peace in the Niger-Delta was shattered by some unknown gunmen, who stormed Ogbobagbene, the country home of the Minister of Niger-Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, and blew up parts of the sprawling mansion with explosives, many thought it was the handiwork of mischief makers.

Elder brother of the minister, Mr. Felix Orubebe, told a delegation of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, which visited the community on a fact-finding mission that the bombers, who spoke in Ijaw language came with very sophisticated guns, and because of the calibre of weapons, nobody dared come out his house in the community to challenge them. The story that made the round was that the bombers were sent by the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, who was purportedly discontented with the role Orubebe played in the troubles he was facing in his state. By that time, Sylva was still in office, but he lost his job barely a week after.

No hands in Sylva’s predicament

However, Orubebe, during a visit to his country home, denied ever accusing Sylva of sending militants to his home, saying he (minister) had no hands whatsoever in what was playing out in Bayelsa. Nobody claimed responsibility for the Ogbobagbene bomb attack. Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Tsafe, laid the blame on those he called miscreants. When Vanguard visited the residence, there were bloodstains all over the floor; indication that some of the attackers sustained injuries during the incursion.
Fixing the puzzle: However, on Sunday, February 5, the jigsaw started coming together, as the umbrella militant group in the region, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta, MEND, which has been in an indeterminate state for sometime, particularly, since the arrest and trial of the Okah brothers, Henry and Charles in South-Africa and Nigeria, not only claimed responsibility for the bombing of Orubebe’s home, but the bombing of an Agip trunk line at Brass in Bayelsa State on Saturday, February 4.
Its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, in an internet post, noted: “This relatively insignificant attack is a reminder of our presence in the creeks of the Niger Delta and a sign of things to come.”
Though, a former field marshal and commander of MEND, Mr. Victor Ebikabowe Ben, alias Boyloaf, who is one of the five founders of MEND said: “I can tell you that Jomo Gbomo is not an existing person. Anybody wielding a laptop can also use it. If I want to use it, I can.
Any of us (former militants) can use the name and we have used it before.”
The militant group in the statement said: “We have constantly warned Nigerians about Goodluck Jonathan and his train of idiots running Nigeria. Rather than address serious issues facing the nation and its citizens, Goodluck Jonathan squanders public funds on tribalistic sycophants and thugs calling themselves ex-militants.
“Nigerians should disregard the idle threats and ranting of imaginary militant groups and other hired “Jonathan praise singers.” Besides empty talk, they are unable to help Jonathan in any way. In fact most so called ex-militants are hiding in Abuja or Lagos, not venturing near their villages in the Niger Delta.
“Our silence thus far has been strategic and at the right time, we will reduce Nigerian oil production to zero and drive off our land, thieving oil companies. British petroleum is prepared to pay $25 billion compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil spillage, yet for worse spillages in the Niger Delta; our people are paid with death at the hands of the Nigerian military.
“In the dark days to come, MTN, SACOIL, and other South African investments will pay a heavy price for the interference of Jacob Zuma in the legitimate fight for justice in the Niger Delta, by its people. The South African President has reduced himself to the position of a hired thug for Goodluck Jonathan. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, understands the negative impact our assault on the Nigerian oil industry will have on the ordinary citizen in a country which relies almost entirely on one source of revenue.
“Unfortunately, the extremely irresponsible, floundering government of Nigeria is more concerned with enriching themselves and family members than attending to the problems of the Niger Delta and the continuously depreciating standard of living of the ordinary Nigerian. A government incapable of managing roads, refineries, power stations and other basic infrastructure is again squandering valuable public funds on a committee tasked with investigating the viability of nuclear energy for electricity generation.
New chapter of struggle
“In this new phase of our struggle for justice, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, will pay considerable attention to dealing with security forces and traitorous indigenes of the Niger Delta.
In this regard, MEND wishes to confirm that our fighters were responsible for the attack at Ogbobagbene in Burutu local government area of Delta State, on the compound of Godsday Orubebe, Minister for Niger Delta.
“The general public is again advised to take very seriously, any warnings of impending bombings. Such warnings will always precede a bombing, providing sufficient time for evacuation. Specific members of the security services and the media will in addition to email, receive notification of an impending attack, by SMS in order to minimize the possibility of civilian casualties.”
JTF writes off MEND: JTF was not pleased that the group, which is supposed to be extinct, could be making such loud claims. The task force in a statement, February 6, by its media coordinator, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha, dismissed as impostors those posing as a new MEND after the likes of Tompolo exited from the group.
Its words: “Following the dynamite explosion, which compromised AGIP manifold at Brass on Friday night, the Joint Task Force OPERATION PULO SHIELD have identified the following as the brains behind the dastardly act.
They are: Friday Burutu, Lord Onipa, Robinson Agagudu, Eyala Karo, Stanley Uduorie, Para Ekiyes and Rasmus Omukoro. Consequently, these suspects are advised to turn themselves in for interaction with authorities of the Joint Task Force in Yenagoa, latest 12 noon, February 8, 2012.
“The Joint Task Force wishes to reiterate its earlier warning that the suspects and their cohorts are out to swindle Niger Deltans by appropriating the identity of the erstwhile leadership of MEND to advance their selfish interest. For the avoidance of doubt, people who were the leadership of MEND are now responsible members of the society, having accepted the amnesty.
“In the light of these, the general public is advised to remain calm and discountenance the tissue of lies issued by these suspects as their raison d’etre, because the relevant stages of the amnesty which was granted to authentic ex-militants and all the attendant benefits are still on course.” The South African government on its part in a report by an official of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it trusted the ability of the Nigerian government to tackle the group.
MEND takes umbrage
Piqued by the dismissive manner the task force responded to the threat of the militant group, MEND, in another statement by Jomo Gbomo said: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, wishes to respond to the ignorant comments of the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Col Timothy Antigha, and the government of South Africa through its Ministry of International Affairs.
The JTF spokesperson in his little mind is failing to comprehend the gravity of the situation unfolding in the Niger Delta and attributes our attack on the Agip pipeline to instigation by imaginary persons interested in benefiting from the fraud that was the disarmament process in the Niger Delta.
“The Nigerian government claims to have disarmed more people than exist in the Nigerian Army with only two thousand weapons to show for all their trouble. The lull in fighting by all groups in the Niger Delta is being used to acquire more sophisticated weapons to ensure that our next assault on the Nigerian oil industry expels western oil companies once and for all. There is nothing the Nigerian military can do to halt us.
“Agip cleverly indicated that 4000 barrels of its production is affected by our attack. The reality is that close to 200,000 bpd of Nigerian crude exports is affected by our attack as that trunk line served to transport crude oil for other oil companies as well. This translates to a daily loss of at least 20 million US dollars
“To the South African government, we accept your challenge and will show you how easy it is to drive your investments out of our region. If the Nigerian government cannot protect companies like Shell and Chevron, how will they manage to protect an insignificant Sacoil?
Within the next few weeks, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta will carry out a few major attacks on oil installations to demonstrate to the world the helplessness of oil companies and the Nigerian military. After these next attacks, there will be a brief pause as we await the time agreed upon by all groups in the Delta for the resumption of hostilities in the Niger Delta.”
Apparently not contented with its earlier retort, the militant group in another riposte, February 8, to the task force asserted: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, advises Nigerians to disregard the pathetic attempt at propaganda by a very unintelligent spokesperson of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Col Timothy Antigha. As confirmed in early 2011, all statements posted on Sahara reporters and the times of Nigeria websites are authentic MEND statements.”
MEND regroups: Already, its renewed threat have created panic in the oil industry, but the poser is whether it is capable of stinging any more or merely grandstanding? With Henry Okah and Charles Okah cooling off in detention and people like Tompolo, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Farah Dagogo, Ateke Tom, Boyloaf, Shoot-At-Sight, Deadly Underdogs, Ogunbos and many others, having distanced themselves from militancy, it is not clear how the new MEND intends to prosecute a fresh war in the region.
The new MEND is relying on a new set of fighters, which it claimed are disenchanted with the state of things in the region. Among those in this rank are ex-militants, who have axe to grind with their former leaders, who they accused of short-changing them in the Federal Government’s amnesty programme.
Jomo Gbomo hinted of dark clouds in the region in his statement and painted a horrifying picture when he said the few major attacks to be carried out in the next few weeks were a mere teaser, as the militant groups in the region were regrouping for the main onslaught. Last week, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, announced for the umpteenth time that the amnesty programme had no third phase, but some ex-militants are parading themselves as members of Third Phase Amnesty Programme.
Sometime, last year, they laid siege to the East-West Road and obstructed traffic for hours. Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and the Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Kingsley Kuku, in his reaction to the protest said the amnesty office had not received directives from President Goodluck Jonathan to admit new entrants into the programme.
No more amnesty: In a statement signed by the Head, Media and Communication, Amnesty Office, Mr. Henry Ugbolue, the special adviser observed that the clamour to integrate new persons into the programme was against the principles of the 2009 Amnesty Proclamation. According to the statement, there was no basis for the protest by the ex-warlords as the time frame for the amnesty had expired.
It was learnt that those who may easily fall prey to the war drum of MEND are this category of agitators and true to type, another batch of ex-militants, who go by the name, Niger-Delta Phase II militants, few weeks ago, in Warri, threatened to return to the creeks if payment of their allowances through their erstwhile leaders was not discontinued by the Amnesty office.
Barricading of East – West road
Only last week in Delta State, some aggrieved ex-militants in the Niger Delta barricaded the East – West road again in protest against their exclusion from the Federal Government Amnesty programme.
The ex-militants, who set up bonfires at Oghoro junction on the ever busy East – West Road, barricaded the road from 2.00 a.m till about 9:30a.m, causing gridlock on the road. Travellers were made to spend several hours to drive through the barricaded area of the road, even as some commuters who could not stand the menacing displays of the ex-militants fled into the bush for safety.
Spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, Lt Col. Timothy Antigha, in confirming the incident disclosed that the leader of the group, one Ramsey was arrested and would be handed over to the police for prosecution at the end of interrogation. Going by the words of the spokesperson of the militant group, the gravity or otherwise, of the new MEND will be determined in the next few weeks during which it has boasted to carry out major attacks on the oil industry.culled from thejuristlaws..com

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief (Sir) Don Ubani, has reiterated the State Government’s commitment to turning the economic fortunes of the people of God’s Own State to a very high point of fascination. Chief Ubani gave the assurance in a press release he issued shortly after Governor T. A. Orji had paid inspection visits to project sites in Aba; the Commercial Centre of the State, where heavy Construction Works are going on concurrently, at the instance of the State Government. The Information boss stated that the magnitude of infrastructural work currently going on at Aba was a clear manifestation of the governor’s determination to give Abia an entirely new face. As Chief Ubani put it, for Governor T. A. Orji to have chosen 14th of February, which is a lovers’ day, to visit Aba, certainly means that Aba is, indeed, very dear to the State Government. Chief Ubani, who expressed maximum optimism that the numerous projects being handled in Aba by the State Government would be completed before the rain set in heavily, also reminded the people of Enyimba City to appreciate the simple fact that the development of any society is a collective responsibility between the Government and the governed. Hence it is important that residents of Aba should co-operate with the State Government by keeping the city clean and also paying their taxes, as stipulated by law.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP

(Okwubunka of Asa} culled from http://www.abiastate.gov.ng

ABUJA — THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has beamed its searchlight on companies that benefitted from the fuel subsidy regime, particularly the portfolio investors among the 140 corporate bodies that were invited by the Farouk Lawan-led House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy.


Investigations conducted by Vanguard revealed that most of the companies invited could not provide documented evidence of how they got allocation to import fuel but handsomely benefitted from the fuel subsidy fund, FSF.
An indication that the anti-graft agency would play an active role in the alleged fuel subsidy scam was when the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee noted last Wednesday that companies that could not show conclusive evidence of how the fund was disbursed would be handed over to security agencies.
Lawan made this disclosure when a beneficiary refused to talk at the panel and came to the public hearing without a single document to back up the N2.3 billion he got to import fuel into the country.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Saminu Rabiu, had confessed through his spokesman, Mohammed Aminu, that his company had only six staff but got as much as N2.3 billion to import fuel but did not come with one single document to back up his claim.
Coys not registered
Some companies invited that got the fuel subsidy windfall were not even registered before they got the nod of the agency in charge that they should import fuel into the country.
Unknown to the invited companies, EFCC operatives were always at the public hearing monitoring the proceedings and taking notes of all the transactions of the ad-hoc committee for the three weeks it sat.
From all indications, the anti-graft agency seems to zero in more on the companies that refused to send in proxies or appear before the panel as is widely believe that such outfits have a lot to hide.
Two weeks ago, the Committee Chairman had also threatened to arrest Chief Executives that refused to show up at the panel. Despite this threat, proxies still stood in for CEOs who, in most cases, send their lawyers as representatives.
But two companies deeply involved in the fuel subsidy alleged scam were visibly missing last Thursday when the committee drew the blinds on public hearing, the two companies were Sahara Oil and Transfigural Oil.
Feelers from the investigative panel indicated that the report being prepared might not necessarily favour the companies who could not give a very good account of how they managed the PSF as they may end up in the underground cell of the anti-graft agency.
The 140 companies which most likely the EFCC must have placed on a watch list to forstal sudden disappearance from Nigeria will have to vomit all they refused to deliver to the panel to the anti-graft body.
When contacted on phone, the Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwaren confirmed that the investigations into the companies involved in the FSF “is still on-going by the agency and that of the House too separately.”thejuristlaws..com

15 die as rainstorm wreaks havoc in Lagos

AN early morning rainstorm, which began at about 7.10 am,  yesterday, wreaked havoc in several parts of Lagos, killing 15 persons, destroying many houses, cars, electric poles and uprooting many trees.
Among the dead were 10 children, who drowned at Shibiri Ekunpa area of Ojo when a passenger ferry conveying them to school capsized due to a gust of wind that assailed it. Also, two students of Goodness Comprehensive High School in the area were killed when the storm destroyed their school building.
A teacher at St Gregory College, Obalende was reportedly killed by a mast that collapsed on him while four others were injured. Also, around Radio Nigeria, Ikoyi office, several trees were uprooted by the storm, which caused severe damage to some cars parked in the area.
At Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa in Isolo Local Council, two persons were killed by a tree felled by the rainstorm.
At Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, over 100 buildings including Jakande Low Cost Housing Estate Primary School, Oke Afa Junior and Senior Colleges and the Area office of  Ejigbo LCDA in Jakande Estate had their roofs blown away by the rainstorm, which lasted for about 15 minutes.culled from thejuristlaws..com
The Third Mainland Bridge was also blocked for most of the morning as street light poles felled by the storm lay on the road, obstructing free flow of traffic. It took the intervention of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, to prevent motorists from running into the poles.
At press time, a combined team of the police and LASTMA operatives was seen making efforts to clear the bridge of the debris caused by the storm to make way for free traffic flow.
Reminiscence of the July 10, 2011 rainfall that killed scores of people and destroyed property worth millions of Naira, other local government areas equally hit by yesterday’s downpour include Ejigbo, Onipanu, Obalende and Lekki.
The Lagos State Office of Public Defender (OPD) in Surulere billed to be inaugurated by Governor Babatunde Fashola today was not spared by the rainstorm as a section of its roof was ripped open.
Also some Mega BRT bus stops on the ever busy road were destroyed while three Multi-media bill boards pulled down by the storm lay on the road. The situation led to traffic gridlock as traffic officials worked frantically to ease traffic.
Wind travelled at 120 km/hr
The winds from the storm reached about 74 miles (120 kilometers) an hour, the threshold for hurricane wind speeds, said Mary Iso, the Meteorological Manager of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Further inland, winds reached up to 40 miles (about 65 kilometers) an hour, she said. About two-thirds of an inch (about 1.7 centimeters) of water fell during the storm, which lasted about 15 minutes, Iso said.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had previously issued warnings about the possibility of a storm coming through as the seasons begin to change in the nation, Iso said. Nigeria remains gripped by Harmattan winds, which carry sand from the Sahara Desert over Africa’s most populous nation. The country’s rainy season typically begins in several weeks. “Within a transitional period like this, we normally have erratic weather,” Iso said.
The cause of the rain                 
Another metorologist,  Mr. Abayomi Oyegoke, with Nigeria Meterorogical Agency (NIMET), Oshodi,  said the rain was not unusual in terms of scale and attributed the destruction to the wind. “The rain was not massive. When measured, it was 18.6 mm. It is not a massive rainfall. It is the wind that caused the destruction.”
He said the rain came as a result of a micro scale system that developed over the Delta area, grew and propagated into the West towards Lagos. “In the process of that movement, another cold system developed around the inland of the South West. Because of the one coming from the Delta area, it invigorates and merges and became a massive system.  This massive system now caused a downdraft.  The downdraft was associated with the strong velocity of wind that led to the maximum wind gust that caused the destruction we witnessed today.”
Lagos opens relief camp
As of press time, the identity and total number of the victims were still being sought by the state government officials saddled with rescue operations.
The General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Mr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the incident said the state government was on top of the situation as rescue operation was ongoing.
He added that in the interim, the state government has declared open the Agbowa Relief Camp, in Ikorodu suburb for all willing Internally Displaced People, IDP, for accommodation as part of measures to mitigate their loss pending permanent solution to their plight.
Osanyintolu, added that the state government was working out a form of compensation for all the enumerated victims of the latest disaster.
He explained: “As soon as we got the information in the early hours of the day, my men (LASEMA) rushed to the scene to save the situation from getting out of hands. Our early arrival saved the situation from recording higher casualties.
“My men are also on ground at the other locations across the state where the ugly incident also occurred. It is quite unfortunate that Lagosians have to pass through this kind of natural disaster again after the July 10th, 2011 tragedy as a result of heavy rainfall.
“I therefore, wish to assure Lagosians that government has put everything in place to ensure prompt response to any disaster in the state.”
According to him,  yet to be identified corpses had been deposited at the mortuary.
The Shibiri mishap
Unaware of what lay ahead of them, 14 school children had boarded the ferry which took them to school as usual. But tragedy struck at about 8 a.m when the ferry, which could not withstand the gust of wind capsized. The rescue team that raced to the scene was able to recover 10 dead bodies while four were brought out alive and they are currently receiving intensive medication in various hospitals.
Disaster at Oke Afa
About 200 families were rendered homeless as their roof tops and ceilings were completely pulled off by the wind which blew for close to an hour in some areas. Several buildings were partly damaged with some fences collapsed.  Some vehicles’ windscreens were shattered by hard objects which fell on them.
Residents of the area were greeted by a dark cloud which enveloped the atmosphere, followed by the raging wind which blew off their roofs, a situation that caused panic, as some of the residents rushed out of their apartments, for fear of collapse of their buildings.
Commercial motorcyclists were not left out, as some of them took cover under a tree at Oja Bus-stop. But the unexpected happened as a roof which pulled off landed on one of them. He was rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state. Some students who were also running to safety were reportedly hit by a tree, which fell around the Low Cost Housing Estate public school, killing one of them in the process.
Chairman of the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, who  visited the estate to assess the level of damage, said that work on the affected buildings would begin before the day ran out.
Said Bamigbetan:  “We are here to assess the damage and respond to the damage by restoring as much as we can within the shortest time. Our carpenters are already on ground and we are going to assess the situation, based on which we will look at the cost and try to respond to it”.
A total of 100 blocks, he said were affected.
Adding that work would first begin on buildings which had their roofs completely pulled off. But for those whose roofs were partially affected, vanguard gathered that they were asked to fix them themselves but would be compensated by the state government.
Most of the affected occupants appreciated what they described as the state government’s quick response but expressed doubt on whether those partially affected would get compensated at the end of the day.
A register for those affected was opened at the  Landlord Association Civic Centre at about 1 pm and  over 100 persons had registered as of press time.
Bamigbetan, however, advised the victims to evacuate their properties to a safe place in the interim.
As part of arrangement to assist victims, the chairman has directed the victims to register their complaints at a special centre opened by the LCDA within the estate with photographic evidence of their claims
Also, Hon Omowunmi Olatunji Edet, member Lagos State House of Assembly, Representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II joined the council boss at the meeting and also expressed her sympathy assuring the victims of the state government’s support even as she commended the swift response of Bamigbetan to the situation.
Some residents in Onipanu, Palmgrove, Fadeyi and other communities along Ikorodu, whose buildings  were affected were seen salvaging some of their properties while others lamented the damage done to their belongings by the rainstorm.
The beautification projects of the Lagos State Government were affected at the Iganmu garden as some of the storm uprooted some newly planted trees.

Mrs Risikat Adeyanju, a resident of Okokomaiko in Ojo Local Government Area of the state also said no fewer than nine houses in the area were damaged by the rainstorm.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/02/15-die-as-rainstorm-wreaks-havoc-in-lagos/

15 die as rainstorm wreaks havoc in Lagos

AN early morning rainstorm, which began at about 7.10 am, yesterday, wreaked havoc in several parts of Lagos, killing 15 persons, destroying many houses, cars, electric poles and uprooting many trees.
Among the dead were 10 children, who drowned at Shibiri Ekunpa area of Ojo when a passenger ferry conveying them to school capsized due to a gust of wind that assailed it. Also, two students of Goodness Comprehensive High School in the area were killed when the storm destroyed their school building.
A teacher at St Gregory College, Obalende was reportedly killed by a mast that collapsed on him while four others were injured. Also, around Radio Nigeria, Ikoyi office, several trees were uprooted by the storm, which caused severe damage to some cars parked in the area.
At Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa in Isolo Local Council, two persons were killed by a tree felled by the rainstorm.
At Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, over 100 buildings including Jakande Low Cost Housing Estate Primary School, Oke Afa Junior and Senior Colleges and the Area office of Ejigbo LCDA in Jakande Estate had their roofs blown away by the rainstorm, which lasted for about 15 minutes.
The Third Mainland Bridge was also blocked for most of the morning as street light poles felled by the storm lay on the road, obstructing free flow of traffic. It took the intervention of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, to prevent motorists from running into the poles.
At press time, a combined team of the police and LASTMA operatives was seen making efforts to clear the bridge of the debris caused by the storm to make way for free traffic flow.
Reminiscence of the July 10, 2011 rainfall that killed scores of people and destroyed property worth millions of Naira, other local government areas equally hit by yesterday’s downpour include Ejigbo, Onipanu, Obalende and Lekki.
The Lagos State Office of Public Defender (OPD) in Surulere billed to be inaugurated by Governor Babatunde Fashola today was not spared by the rainstorm as a section of its roof was ripped open.
Also some Mega BRT bus stops on the ever busy road were destroyed while three Multi-media bill boards pulled down by the storm lay on the road. The situation led to traffic gridlock as traffic officials worked frantically to ease traffic.
Wind travelled at 120 km/hr
The winds from the storm reached about 74 miles (120 kilometers) an hour, the threshold for hurricane wind speeds, said Mary Iso, the Meteorological Manager of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Further inland, winds reached up to 40 miles (about 65 kilometers) an hour, she said. About two-thirds of an inch (about 1.7 centimeters) of water fell during the storm, which lasted about 15 minutes, Iso said.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had previously issued warnings about the possibility of a storm coming through as the seasons begin to change in the nation, Iso said. Nigeria remains gripped by Harmattan winds, which carry sand from the Sahara Desert over Africa’s most populous nation. The country’s rainy season typically begins in several weeks. “Within a transitional period like this, we normally have erratic weather,” Iso said.
The cause of the rain
Another metorologist, Mr. Abayomi Oyegoke, with Nigeria Meterorogical Agency (NIMET), Oshodi, said the rain was not unusual in terms of scale and attributed the destruction to the wind. “The rain was not massive. When measured, it was 18.6 mm. It is not a massive rainfall. It is the wind that caused the destruction.”
He said the rain came as a result of a micro scale system that developed over the Delta area, grew and propagated into the West towards Lagos. “In the process of that movement, another cold system developed around the inland of the South West. Because of the one coming from the Delta area, it invigorates and merges and became a massive system. This massive system now caused a downdraft. The downdraft was associated with the strong velocity of wind that led to the maximum wind gust that caused the destruction we witnessed today.”
Lagos opens relief camp
As of press time, the identity and total number of the victims were still being sought by the state government officials saddled with rescue operations.
The General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Mr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the incident said the state government was on top of the situation as rescue operation was ongoing.
He added that in the interim, the state government has declared open the Agbowa Relief Camp, in Ikorodu suburb for all willing Internally Displaced People, IDP, for accommodation as part of measures to mitigate their loss pending permanent solution to their plight.
Osanyintolu, added that the state government was working out a form of compensation for all the enumerated victims of the latest disaster.
He explained: “As soon as we got the information in the early hours of the day, my men (LASEMA) rushed to the scene to save the situation from getting out of hands. Our early arrival saved the situation from recording higher casualties.
“My men are also on ground at the other locations across the state where the ugly incident also occurred. It is quite unfortunate that Lagosians have to pass through this kind of natural disaster again after the July 10th, 2011 tragedy as a result of heavy rainfall.
“I therefore, wish to assure Lagosians that government has put everything in place to ensure prompt response to any disaster in the state.”
According to him, yet to be identified corpses had been deposited at the mortuary.
The Shibiri mishap
Unaware of what lay ahead of them, 14 school children had boarded the ferry which took them to school as usual. But tragedy struck at about 8 a.m when the ferry, which could not withstand the gust of wind capsized. The rescue team that raced to the scene was able to recover 10 dead bodies while four were brought out alive and they are currently receiving intensive medication in various hospitals.
Disaster at Oke Afa
About 200 families were rendered homeless as their roof tops and ceilings were completely pulled off by the wind which blew for close to an hour in some areas. Several buildings were partly damaged with some fences collapsed. Some vehicles’ windscreens were shattered by hard objects which fell on them.
Residents of the area were greeted by a dark cloud which enveloped the atmosphere, followed by the raging wind which blew off their roofs, a situation that caused panic, as some of the residents rushed out of their apartments, for fear of collapse of their buildings.
Commercial motorcyclists were not left out, as some of them took cover under a tree at Oja Bus-stop. But the unexpected happened as a roof which pulled off landed on one of them. He was rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state. Some students who were also running to safety were reportedly hit by a tree, which fell around the Low Cost Housing Estate public school, killing one of them in the process.
Chairman of the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, who visited the estate to assess the level of damage, said that work on the affected buildings would begin before the day ran out.
Said Bamigbetan: “We are here to assess the damage and respond to the damage by restoring as much as we can within the shortest time. Our carpenters are already on ground and we are going to assess the situation, based on which we will look at the cost and try to respond to it”.
A total of 100 blocks, he said were affected.
Adding that work would first begin on buildings which had their roofs completely pulled off. But for those whose roofs were partially affected, vanguard gathered that they were asked to fix them themselves but would be compensated by the state government.
Most of the affected occupants appreciated what they described as the state government’s quick response but expressed doubt on whether those partially affected would get compensated at the end of the day.
A register for those affected was opened at the Landlord Association Civic Centre at about 1 pm and over 100 persons had registered as of press time.
Bamigbetan, however, advised the victims to evacuate their properties to a safe place in the interim.
As part of arrangement to assist victims, the chairman has directed the victims to register their complaints at a special centre opened by the LCDA within the estate with photographic evidence of their claims
Also, Hon Omowunmi Olatunji Edet, member Lagos State House of Assembly, Representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II joined the council boss at the meeting and also expressed her sympathy assuring the victims of the state government’s support even as she commended the swift response of Bamigbetan to the situation.
Some residents in Onipanu, Palmgrove, Fadeyi and other communities along Ikorodu, whose buildings were affected were seen salvaging some of their properties while others lamented the damage done to their belongings by the rainstorm.
The beautification projects of the Lagos State Government were affected at the Iganmu garden as some of the storm uprooted some newly planted trees.

Mrs Risikat Adeyanju, a resident of Okokomaiko in Ojo Local Government Area of the state also said no fewer than nine houses in the area were damaged by the rainstorm.
Photo Source: culled from thejuristlaws..com
AN early morning rainstorm, which began at about 7.10 am, yesterday, wreaked havoc in several parts of Lagos, killing 15 persons, destroying many houses, cars, electric poles and uprooting many trees.
Among the dead were 10 children, who drowned at Shibiri Ekunpa area of Ojo when a passenger ferry conveying them to school capsized due to a gust of wind that assailed it. Also, two students of Goodness Comprehensive High School in the area were killed when the storm destroyed their school building.
A teacher at St Gregory College, Obalende was reportedly killed by a mast that collapsed on him while four others were injured. Also, around Radio Nigeria, Ikoyi office, several trees were uprooted by the storm, which caused severe damage to some cars parked in the area.
At Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa in Isolo Local Council, two persons were killed by a tree felled by the rainstorm.
At Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, over 100 buildings including Jakande Low Cost Housing Estate Primary School, Oke Afa Junior and Senior Colleges and the Area office of Ejigbo LCDA in Jakande Estate had their roofs blown away by the rainstorm, which lasted for about 15 minutes.
The Third Mainland Bridge was also blocked for most of the morning as street light poles felled by the storm lay on the road, obstructing free flow of traffic. It took the intervention of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, to prevent motorists from running into the poles.
At press time, a combined team of the police and LASTMA operatives was seen making efforts to clear the bridge of the debris caused by the storm to make way for free traffic flow.
Reminiscence of the July 10, 2011 rainfall that killed scores of people and destroyed property worth millions of Naira, other local government areas equally hit by yesterday’s downpour include Ejigbo, Onipanu, Obalende and Lekki.
The Lagos State Office of Public Defender (OPD) in Surulere billed to be inaugurated by Governor Babatunde Fashola today was not spared by the rainstorm as a section of its roof was ripped open.
Also some Mega BRT bus stops on the ever busy road were destroyed while three Multi-media bill boards pulled down by the storm lay on the road. The situation led to traffic gridlock as traffic officials worked frantically to ease traffic.
Wind travelled at 120 km/hr
The winds from the storm reached about 74 miles (120 kilometers) an hour, the threshold for hurricane wind speeds, said Mary Iso, the Meteorological Manager of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Further inland, winds reached up to 40 miles (about 65 kilometers) an hour, she said. About two-thirds of an inch (about 1.7 centimeters) of water fell during the storm, which lasted about 15 minutes, Iso said.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had previously issued warnings about the possibility of a storm coming through as the seasons begin to change in the nation, Iso said. Nigeria remains gripped by Harmattan winds, which carry sand from the Sahara Desert over Africa’s most populous nation. The country’s rainy season typically begins in several weeks. “Within a transitional period like this, we normally have erratic weather,” Iso said.
The cause of the rain
Another metorologist, Mr. Abayomi Oyegoke, with Nigeria Meterorogical Agency (NIMET), Oshodi, said the rain was not unusual in terms of scale and attributed the destruction to the wind. “The rain was not massive. When measured, it was 18.6 mm. It is not a massive rainfall. It is the wind that caused the destruction.”
He said the rain came as a result of a micro scale system that developed over the Delta area, grew and propagated into the West towards Lagos. “In the process of that movement, another cold system developed around the inland of the South West. Because of the one coming from the Delta area, it invigorates and merges and became a massive system. This massive system now caused a downdraft. The downdraft was associated with the strong velocity of wind that led to the maximum wind gust that caused the destruction we witnessed today.”
Lagos opens relief camp
As of press time, the identity and total number of the victims were still being sought by the state government officials saddled with rescue operations.
The General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Mr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the incident said the state government was on top of the situation as rescue operation was ongoing.
He added that in the interim, the state government has declared open the Agbowa Relief Camp, in Ikorodu suburb for all willing Internally Displaced People, IDP, for accommodation as part of measures to mitigate their loss pending permanent solution to their plight.
Osanyintolu, added that the state government was working out a form of compensation for all the enumerated victims of the latest disaster.
He explained: “As soon as we got the information in the early hours of the day, my men (LASEMA) rushed to the scene to save the situation from getting out of hands. Our early arrival saved the situation from recording higher casualties.
“My men are also on ground at the other locations across the state where the ugly incident also occurred. It is quite unfortunate that Lagosians have to pass through this kind of natural disaster again after the July 10th, 2011 tragedy as a result of heavy rainfall.
“I therefore, wish to assure Lagosians that government has put everything in place to ensure prompt response to any disaster in the state.”
According to him, yet to be identified corpses had been deposited at the mortuary.
The Shibiri mishap
Unaware of what lay ahead of them, 14 school children had boarded the ferry which took them to school as usual. But tragedy struck at about 8 a.m when the ferry, which could not withstand the gust of wind capsized. The rescue team that raced to the scene was able to recover 10 dead bodies while four were brought out alive and they are currently receiving intensive medication in various hospitals.
Disaster at Oke Afa
About 200 families were rendered homeless as their roof tops and ceilings were completely pulled off by the wind which blew for close to an hour in some areas. Several buildings were partly damaged with some fences collapsed. Some vehicles’ windscreens were shattered by hard objects which fell on them.
Residents of the area were greeted by a dark cloud which enveloped the atmosphere, followed by the raging wind which blew off their roofs, a situation that caused panic, as some of the residents rushed out of their apartments, for fear of collapse of their buildings.
Commercial motorcyclists were not left out, as some of them took cover under a tree at Oja Bus-stop. But the unexpected happened as a roof which pulled off landed on one of them. He was rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state. Some students who were also running to safety were reportedly hit by a tree, which fell around the Low Cost Housing Estate public school, killing one of them in the process.
Chairman of the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, who visited the estate to assess the level of damage, said that work on the affected buildings would begin before the day ran out.
Said Bamigbetan: “We are here to assess the damage and respond to the damage by restoring as much as we can within the shortest time. Our carpenters are already on ground and we are going to assess the situation, based on which we will look at the cost and try to respond to it”.
A total of 100 blocks, he said were affected.
Adding that work would first begin on buildings which had their roofs completely pulled off. But for those whose roofs were partially affected, vanguard gathered that they were asked to fix them themselves but would be compensated by the state government.
Most of the affected occupants appreciated what they described as the state government’s quick response but expressed doubt on whether those partially affected would get compensated at the end of the day.
A register for those affected was opened at the Landlord Association Civic Centre at about 1 pm and over 100 persons had registered as of press time.
Bamigbetan, however, advised the victims to evacuate their properties to a safe place in the interim.
As part of arrangement to assist victims, the chairman has directed the victims to register their complaints at a special centre opened by the LCDA within the estate with photographic evidence of their claims
Also, Hon Omowunmi Olatunji Edet, member Lagos State House of Assembly, Representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II joined the council boss at the meeting and also expressed her sympathy assuring the victims of the state government’s support even as she commended the swift response of Bamigbetan to the situation.
Some residents in Onipanu, Palmgrove, Fadeyi and other communities along Ikorodu, whose buildings were affected were seen salvaging some of their properties while others lamented the damage done to their belongings by the rainstorm.
The beautification projects of the Lagos State Government were affected at the Iganmu garden as some of the storm uprooted some newly planted trees.

Mrs Risikat Adeyanju, a resident of Okokomaiko in Ojo Local Government Area of the state also said no fewer than nine houses in the area were damaged by the rainstorm.
Photo Source: Sahara reporters

Plans by digruntled and intellectually lazy students to invade Abia State University campus

It has painfully come to the knowledge of Abia State government that few disgruntled and intellectually lazy students of Abia State University, Uturu, are on the verge of concluding arrangements with a ‘rebellious faction’ of the highly disciplined and respected National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, to invade Abia State University Campus, Uturu, with the sole aim of reducing the University to rubbles. According to an intelligence report contained in a release issued in Umuahia by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy; Chief Don Ubani, the said students, who, unfortunately, have resolved to conduct project themselves as irresponsible rascals and unrefined vandals, are purporting to protest against the recently announced slight increase in fees payable by students of the University. The state government wishes to state that, in as much as it is ever committed to the provision of effective result-oriented functional education for her indigenes and residents at a minimal cost, the said students should not lose sight of the very simple fact that education is and remains a collective responsibility between government, parents and other relevant stake-holders and, so, cannot be left alone for the government, especially at the tertiary level. Chief Ubani made it clear that education is essentially an indisputable priority of the state government of Chief T. A. Orji, hence education is free at both primary and secondary school levels in the state. The state government wishes to state that the dynamics of Nigeria’s contemporary society made it imperative that salaries of the Nigerian worker had to be increased, coupled with inevitable increase in the cost of administration of public institutions, with its attendant pecuniary implications. It, therefore, follows that the slight increase in fees payable at Abia State University became an outcome of inevitability. It should also be noted that Abia state government believes in giving governance a human face, hence the stipulated fees in the University are not only categorized into A, B n C but could also be paid in two equal installments by parents or guardians within an academic session. Again, Abia State Government wishes to state, in an unambiguous language, that Abia State University is a veritable source of the intellectual pride of God’s own state and, so, any hoodlum or miscreant who is dreaming to cause any mayhem thereon, should better think twice and look before leaping because that is one joke the State government cannot and shall never tolerate. Parents and guardians are, by this announcement, warned to call their children and wards to a very timely order.culled from http://www.abiastate.gov.ng

Gov. Orji Hails Contractors

Abia State Governor Theodore Orji has hailed the standard of work being executed by contractors handling several state government projects.


Orji urged the contractors, especially those handling road projects, to asphalt the roads before the rains to avoid doing the work twice.


He said the government is building six halls in the high court complex.


Orji said his administration is building 30-room office complex for judicial workers and revealed that the government had earlier renovated existing office blocks at the Ministry of Justice.


He also said the 48-room office complex being built at the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA) is to provide befitting office block for the workers.


The governor noted that the completed Agbama road project will be inaugurated next week, saying a number of other roads, including the Okwoyi road, the Nkata Alaike –Umukabia roads are almost completed and awaiting commissioning.culled from thejuristlaws..com

Wole Soyinka: Next Phase Of Boko Haram Terrorism

To what will you attribute Boko Haram’s terrorism?-Let me begin by reminding everyone that Boko Haram has a very long history, whether you describe Boko Haram as an army of the discontent, or even as some people grotesquely try to suggest, “revolutionaries,” or you describe them as, legitimately, this time, as marginalised or feeling marginalised.
When I say that the phenomenon has a very long history, I am talking about a movement that relies on religion as a fuel for their operation, as a fuel for mobilisation, as the impetus, an augmentation of any other legitimate or illegitimate grievance that they might have against society. Because of that fuel, that irrational, very combustible fuel of religion of a particular strain, of a particular irredentist strain; because of the nature of that religious adherence, which involves the very lethal dimension of brain-washing from childhood, all a man needs to be told is that this is a religious cause. All they need to be told is that this is an enemy of religion and they are ready to kill. No matter the motivations, no mater the extra-motivations of those who send them out, they need only one motivation: that they are fighting the cause of that religion.
People wonder, sometimes, if they are fighting the cause of religion, why are they also killing fellow religionists? It is very important for us to understand that they have a very narrow view of even their faith. Anyone outside that narrow confine, narrow definition (in this case, we are talking about Islam), is already an infidel, an unbeliever, a hypocrite, an enemy of God (they use all these multifarious descriptions) and therefore is fit for elimination. If they believe that this environment contains any non-believer in their very narrow strain of Islam, that person or that very area is due for sanitation. And if there are those who also believe, who are confined within the very narrow limit of their arbitrary religion, any chance that there are such people, they consider them matyrs, who will be received in the bosom of Allah, with double credits as having been killed accidentally.
What I am saying is not any theorising; it is not any speculation. Examine this particular strain of Islam from Afghanistan, through Iran to Somalia to Mauritania. We are speaking in fact of a deviant arm of Islam, whose first line of enemies, in fact, are those who I call the orthodox Muslims with whom we move, interact, inter-marry, professional colleagues and so on. They don’t consider them true Muslims.
So the seeming paradox is explained in that. And this mind is bred right from infancy. We are talking about the madrasas, we are talking about the almajiris. They have only one line of command: their Mullah. If the Mullah says go, they go; come, they come; kill, they kill; beg, they beg. They don’t believe in leaving their narrow religion, which teaches them that they have to be catered for either by their immediate superior as an authority or by the community or sometimes an extension of that by the town. When they go out to beg, they believe that this mission of begging is divinely ordered and it is the responsibility of the person from whom they are begging to give them alms.
They sit before their Mullah or their Emir or their chief or whatever and memorise the Qu’ran. Their entire circumscription or mental formation is to be able to recite the Qu’ran from the beginning to the end. Outside of that, there is no educational horizon. So, I want us to distinguish very carefully. If you don’t distinguish, if you don’t narrow these things down to the specifics, we are likely to be misunderstood, as people like me have been misunderstood, because I have been against fundamentalism all my life, of any religion, whether it’s Christianity, Orisha worship, Buddhism, Hinduism or whatever. Any kind of extreme in faith that makes you feel that you are divinely authorised to be the executioner of your deity or that there is only one view of the world, or that only one view exists, for me, is pernicious and it is anti-human. That is why I am making this preliminary explanation.
The second elaboration I want to make is that I have never liked the expression, “the core North”. We are talking about North because the North is very much identified with Islam. And for one reason, there is no core South. I don’t know about the core East, I don’t know about the core West. So why that expression? For me it is too general, too loose and it confuses the dramatis personae of our political life.
I, however, identify hard-core northerners, as in hard core pornography. There exist hardcore northerners. They may be in the minority, but they believe that they are divinely endowed to run any society.
They are hardcore Northerners, whether you are talking about Sheikh Gumi and others. For a character like Sheikh Gumi, politics fuses with religion. A man who said Christianity is nothing, who said a Christian would rule this nation over his dead body. So, we have hardcore northerners, hardcore northern Islamists like the late Sheik Gumi. Among those that I describe as the hardcore northerners, (note I didn’t say Islamists), are people like Sani Ahmed Yerima, the former Zamfara State governor, who is now a legislator. There are hardcore northern Islamists. Why do I use Yerima? Because in him, you also encounter the fusion of a credo in Northernism and at the same time in Islamism. So you can see somebody like him as an opportunist. And I say this, you know, because he himself admitted to some of our people in NALICON during the immediate post-Abacha era, when he was asked why he decided to turn Zamfara into a theocratic state in a secular dispensation. He said, and I dare him to deny it, that it was the only weapon he had to snatch power. He said the PDP machinery was so strong that he needed something which would appeal to raw emotions, to mobilise and get the governorship.
If, periodically, I refer to this individual, it is because he represents to me, the opportunistic face of Islamism. And, of course, he had to deliver after he became governor. He is not the only one. I distinguish between him and Gumi because Gumi never sought political power. He was just a raw believer in raw Northernism and Islam. The two tributaries fuse in a personality like that.
In the case of Mr. Yerima and a number of others, Islam is just an instrument. I don’t consider them genuine Muslims. For them, however, they are willing to go the full length of Islam because it pays them politically. Having said that, I do not say for a moment that he is responsible for Boko Haram or that he has any hand in it. But I say that his school of thought and his school of opportunism is responsible for the birth of a movement like Boko Haram.

Now let’s get to the specifics. And I dare anybody to contradict what I am about to say. General Obasanjo came to power as a civilian ‘President’ on the platform of the Northern caucus. If you remember, there was a huge controversy: Did he sign? Didn’t he sign? Did that one sign, didn’t this sign?
Before the presidency was, shall we say ‘conceded’ to him, it’s quite true, and he’ll be the last to deny. In fact, he admitted that he was even brought a paper to sign but he refused.
The first signs that the sponsors of Obasanjo got that they made a mistake was when he dismissed military officers, who had held political offices. That was the first time those who sponsored Obasanjo, who were hardcore northerners, felt they had got themselves into trouble because as it happened, those who were most affected were northerners. That was the first sign of trouble.
And they just didn’t take it and say ‘oh let it pass’ until later. They then opened a war office at that time. I’m talking of a physical office in which every single thing he said, every clipping, was stored. Ask Olusegun Obasanjo. I personally told him this. I said: ‘By the way, I hope you realise that the people who sponsored you have declared war on you; that they have opened an office on you, specifically an Obasanjo office!’ How do I know about this? If anybody denies this, I will come back to you and I will tell you how I knew about it. I am not ready to divulge. So, that is the first. The second phase was when Obasanjo proceeded and began privately to plan his re-election (that is the second term in office). At that time, what I called the hardcore northerners began to mobilise at what level yet, I cannot categorically say.
I don’t have the slightest interest in whether Obasanjo was right to seek a second term or not. I am not going to discuss whether it is right or wrong for anybody to try to impose a limitation, which is not backed by the constitution, on any individual candidate. I’m just telling this nation certain facts which no one can deny.
Obasanjo decided to have a second term, that is a southerner, not just an ex-military man, but a southerner. The language at the time was very overt. It was ‘we are just lending you the presidency, we will take it back at the end of your term.’ It was a feeling, a belief, which percolated through the various levels, various ranks of politicians and across all ages.
I remember one incident. I was invited by Fani-Kayode (Femi) and Akin Osuntokun to a meeting of a group they had. There was a very young man, very intelligent, at the meeting. A lot of young northerners gravitated towards me, by the way, and I interact with them. Even back in the Abacha days, some of them used to come and see me in Harvard University, where I relocated and taught. And each time I meet a generation that does not belong to the hardcore northerners, I am always delighted to exchange ideas with them till tomorrow. And this young man, I remember I met him. And I wanted him to join us. I sent his name to Fani-Kayode and I said this is the kind of man you people should interact with. These are very progressive people. It almost ended in a disaster because that young fellow, whom I discussed with, made a mistake by saying: ‘After all, I don’t know what you people are complaining about. We did concede after Abiola. We did concede the thing to you.’ Fani-Kayode wanted to take that man’s head off. He blew up, it was difficult for me to separate them. I say these things only to explain that, even among some of the young generation that one thought could be weaned away from such ideas, such notions exist. A lot of people there that day can check on the incident. And it’s only one of such incidents.
So, the next sense of betrayal was when Obasanjo got a second term. Some of them even said openly that they had been misled that the man they thought was going to hold the forte for them turned out to have an agenda of his own. So far, so bad. The next phase that can determine at which time, I won’t tell you, the hardcore northerners began to activate what I called secret army, when they began to send their people to training. They felt they had to fight to take back what they felt belonged to the North.
So I suspect that the breaking point was when Yar’Adua took ill and the question of succession began. ‘If Yar’Adua dies, you mean another southerner is going to get into that position?’ This now became a real nightmare. For this, hardcore northerners (it’s too long, let’s just use the word cabal, even though that word is misused, to narrow it down to make sure we are talking about individuals, not about a region).
They decided that something drastic had to be done. Around this time, they had begun to activate, they intensified the training, this set of foot soldiers, they began to make intensified contacts, alliances with international religion-based insurgents like al-Qaeda. And their soldiers began to go to Mauritania, Sudan and Somalia, particularly those who were categorically confirmed by the security services. They began to send them seriously for training. That is not the problem, al-Qaeda has always been interested in Nigeria, as in Kenya and Mauritania. Osama bin Laden listed, if you remember, it’s published, Nigeria among the nations to be Islamised.
And so, these people went for training, they came back lying low, waiting to be activated. Remember all these didn’t begin with the period I’m talking about. They have a long history of extremists. People tend to forget about Maitatsine; that was a different calibre altogether. So there is nothing new about what we are seeing. It is the intensification and the murderous dimension that this narrow Islamism is taking.
I am talking of accumulation of grievances of this narrow group. And this is why even some of their own fellow northerners were targets because these were considered malodorous among them and in any struggle of this kind historically, you find that the first stage is to clean out your rearguard, those whom you consider might stab you in the back–the rearguard traitors. You wipe them out first. And that is why we are seeing the intensification of the antagonism towards certain progressive liberal northerners.
Matters became worse, of course, when Jonathan decided that in his own right, he was going to contest elections. That is when the last restraint vanished from the hardcore northerners. That is when they activated the extreme, murderous strain of religion. That is why they began to identify political enemies as religious enemies. What we are reaping today is largely a political problem. It’s true that in my article, precisely the last one, used in Newsweek, I emphasised the religious strain because it is true. I did not want to make statement of a political nature; I did not want to elaborate, but I said enough in that article where I used the expression: ‘those who lost out in the political stakes are the ones who are now intensifying, who are now mobilising, activating the religious fanatics in our midst.’ I just hinted as much. But now, we are reaching a place where we are talking in terms of fatalities, we are counting now in four figures. By the time you add together all the fatalities that have occurred in the last year and half, we are talking in terms of thousands now since the real militancy began.
But I think at that point, even before now, we should never even have gotten to this point. But now, we have reached the stage where there is going to be some frank talking among ourselves.
If you read the ‘manifesto’ of the Boko Haram, you will find that there is nothing you can actually hold on to unlike, say, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, which is categorical on the polluted environment. The oil companies have polluted the environment, all the wealth coming from there goes to develop the rest of the country, you killed our leaders, we turned them into martyrs, land is polluted, air is polluted. There are pulmonary and skin diseases as a result of oil spillage and flaring of gases. Fish ponds have been degraded. You can see what you can hold on to. You can agree or disagree with their methodologies, we are not talking about that now. The important thing is that when you read their table of content, of complaints, at least, it is not on an eerie level.
In this particular case, you can go to Youtube and all what Shekau says is that ‘democracy is haram’. We are going to Islamise’ and so on. What is he going to Islamise? You are talking nonsense because you are saying you were going to Islamise dead bodies. Let’s say there are non-Muslims in this country, a modest estimate, let’s say two million. I say very modest estimate, you know you cannot kill two million. So, what you do to Islamise is you do that over dead bodies and you can’t do that, not even if you say you are Rwanda.
It is because these hardcore Northerners are embarrassed to admit what really is behind this thing. They are embarrassed to admit it. And on the other side, they are inhibited, they don’t want to say it’s North versus South, it’s not even that. It’s a minority versus the rest. And I say it’s not even against the South. It’s a minority versus the entirety of the nation.
PDP is at the heart of the trouble, it’s within PDP they have been making this dirty bargain. “You rule for so long, it’s my turn.” It is not in the constitution. So it’s the PDP members, who really should go and sort out this problem among themselves. But the nation is the one paying the penalty. This is not comfortable because they can protect themselves. They are the ones that divided the country into two–the North and then, the South.
I think that the reason which you might say is on paper, in terms of political planning, are the six geo-political zones. This ‘two’ business, I don’t understand. But they are using this division of North versus South the same way as they are using religion. The issue is completely political. But with toxic element of religion infused into it, it gives them the leg to ally with international terrorist bodies based on religion. Those are only too happy to be of assistance.
It is the same way, as in the days of ideological bifurcation of the world, the Eastern bloc versus the Western bloc. All you had to do was to go the Eastern bloc and say I am a revolutionary, I’m a Maxist-Leninist, Troskyite, Maoist something, and they give you training right away and they embrace you, and are ready to send you even outside your own country to go prove your mettle there and come back.
And, of course, the capitalists would go to the former Nicaragua under Somoza and other nations and they also got their training. So, we are right inside an international programme. And a lot of people don’t understand; it’s not extraordinary, it’s only that we are hiding the truth under blocs, hoping that somehow it will fizzle away.
When we talk about a national conference, it’s because we realise there are serious polticial issues into which religion has also been cropped and that is a very lethal cocktail. But the basic thing is political. Religion is invoked. I am not surprised by the recent revelations being made in the papers such as ‘we have been on the payroll of this governor’. It may be true, it may be half true, it may be totally untrue.
But all these go back again to Maitatsine. In the Maitatsine days, governors courted the sponsorship of Maitatsine. I remember a former governor of Kano admitted that at the beginning, he used to go to Maitatsine, when elections came close, to get support. But he said: ‘I stopped doing that when I realised that it’s a very dangerous organisation.’
The politicians are so desperate; they are the ones who utilise religion. They are not alone. We saw Goodluck Jonathan kneeling before a Christian prelate for his blessing. The only difference is that I am not aware that Goodluck Jonathan has been sponsoring any militant fundamentalist Christians. People turn to religion. We shouldn’t be surprised at this; it’s the extent at which you want to go into religion that makes it a normal aberration, a contradiction in terms by the way or an acceptable kind of aberration. Whether one destabilises, whether one gives you psychological advantage over the followers of that particular religion, there is nothing we can do about that. But when we reach a point where the product of that alliance is destroying us, then I think it’s about time we all spoke up and let these people now admit what they have known, what they have always suspected, so as to assist the security people in determining where the criminal line exists and to take action.

Many people are worried that what Boko Haram is doing may lead to the dismemberment of the country, while some others are saying: “we are too interwoven to split”. On what side do you queue?
If Boko Haram succeeds in its stated agenda to make the country ungovernable, if Boko Haram succeeds in goading those areas that have victim citizens in the northern part of the country into reprisal actions on the nearest targets, not only will this cause a break-up, it will be very messy. That is the reason some of us have been issuing appeals to community leaders to make sure it doesn’t happen in their communities.
It isn’t the break-up as such. Other nations were broken up, but the way in which we will break up will be intensely irremediable, it will be extremely messy. I can reveal to you, for instance, what the third phase of Boko Haram is supposed to be.
The security people know it. I am making it known publicly because I am disappointed that they have not taken action on it. And that third phase is selected assassination of leaders from here. I happen to know for a fact that I am on the list. I am very close to the very top of the list. If you have contact within the security, go and check because I have this information confirmed within the Nigerian security services and from outside security quarters, which I will not name. At least the government security agencies have the responsibility to start protecting those individuals or at least to communicate to community leaders the existence of this threat so that they can take certain precautionary measures. Because if they succeed unfortunately in that particular project, things will be out of control. There are young people, who will not, may not be able to control their reactions.
The reason for this programme, which I know is very much their third phase, is that those pushing this agenda know very well that this could be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. And they would rather this country broke up and possibly in an inferno, than continue to accept the loss, even the temporal loss of power in this country. For these people, government is the only business around. To the membership of this group that I’m talking about, government is the only business.
We are talking about an unproductive group, who all their lives, have been accustomed to living on the proceeds of power, even when they are not physically in charge. It is the only way of life that they know and so while destabilising the rest of the nation, they want to ensure that they carve out a certain region in which they can dominate, and which they can terrorise through an extreme form of the Sharia, so that they can continue consuming the revenue from that area, such as it is without any opposition. These people believe very much in the divine authority of religious governance.
They secure through terror, total destruction and, paradoxically, they are securing their enclave when they retreat, they have somewhere into which they retreat which is governed on the strictest law of the Sharia. That is their ultimate goal. If they cannot have the entire thing, that is the nation, then they can ally with similar theocratic states and their position is, whatever it is, they are not individual losers, they will be taken care of.
That is why I believe that the country is very much on the verge of disintegration, especially if Bokom Haram succeeds in its agenda, which I outlined. With complete sense of responsibility and with the accumulation of facts, some within the government know what I’m saying, they acknowledge it. Some within the security services, I hope, have reached that analytical truth. I hope so, but they are not acting as if they heard and it is very worrisome.
How do you assess President Goodluck Jonathan’s response to Boko Haram threat and even the President himself as a person?

I don’t believe that President Jonathan understands half of what I have been telling you about. I don’t think that he has a truthful appreciation of the circumstances. I think he is very much some kind of an optimist; he believes certain politicial largesse or panacea here and there will solve this enormous problem. I think he is counting too much on the fact that yes, indeed, there are strongly committed loyalists to his regime from the troubled parts of the country, and ideally that is enough.
He is underestimating the desperation of the forces of the group. I do not believe that he has been able to extract the lesson or lessons of Islamic struggle, that is internal struggle throughout the world. For instance, in Iraq, every year on the holiest day of a certain Islamic sect ( I am talking about the Shiites and the Sunnis) that one group goes and butchers the other, ambushes them, mows them down even on their way to pilgrimage. I don’t think he understands or appreciates the fact that even sanctuaries have become meaningless. Sanctuaries used to hold meanings in all religions. You don’t just assault your opponents when they have taken religious sanctuary. Nigeria is filled with a whole race of mimics.
If one person 419s, tomorrow, a thousand will. They will use exactly the same formula. If they see that this formula has worked in attracting one greedy fellow over there, the next time you will see thousands of people in cyber cafes, using exactly the same formula. If you analyse all the 419 letters, I don’t think you can get more than three models, with minor variations, and yet there are hundreds of thousands of these letters going out. I am sorry to say these are the kind of people who would say: ‘Oh, the Shiites killed just 40 people. Okay, to make ourselves heard, we’ll kill 400.’
That mimic syndrome of the worst kind that is taking place in others areas is somehow very prevalent here. A mistake in London is a style in Nigeria. That is our mentality, which has been carried over into the realm of religion.
And in talking about the almajiri, they are not the “unwashed” faces that you see on the streets now. Some of them who came through the madrasas you see on the streets have gone to universities and some of them have dropped out of universities because of genuine religious convictions. They look around and say: ‘we cannot be part of this sinful environment. This is not true Islam.’ But the more “enlightened” of them just go and carve out their own school of religious thoughts, gather adherents around them and preach and try and convert people. They don’t try and convert, putting a knife to the throat. No, they convert through the soul, through the invisible soul.
Others, however, have come to believe that what is happening in Afghanistan is what ought to be happening here. That they are not true religionists unless they are killing, unless they turn executioners on behalf of Allah. Who appointed them executioners? I don’t know.
But that is what they believe. Unless they are behaving in the most extreme fashion on behalf of their religions, they are not true religionists. And because they have been to universities and because they have travelled, they adopted the sophistication of other religious movements in terms of organisation, in terms of weaponry, in terms of arrogance to look down on those who do not believe in their particular religion, as less than human, as vermin, the extermination of which will make Allah very happy and will guarantee their entry into paradise.
This is the phenomenon we are confronting right now. And, unfortunately, it is not being said and said properly in the right places. The correct people are not being confronted with it. There are only those who understand it and who are willing to exploit it. And those are the hardcore northern Islamists that we are talking about.
There are people who suggest that the solution to this problem is to have a dialogue with Boko Haram. What you think?
I know the Movement for Unconditional Dialogue exists. That may have to do with guilt. In Obasanjo’s case, guilt is definitely involved because it was under his watch that theocratism entered this country in a structured way. And you also note that he cultivated some of these groups because of his own political agenda. So, he owes them, so to speak, in the sense of repayment of the debt. There are others who, for me, have wooly ideas, who believe that, who fastened on dialogue as a magical wand. You dialogue only with those who are willing to dialogue.
These people, as I said, have not articulated what they want to come and discuss at the conference table. You begin talking of dialogue when there is articulation.
They want the suspension of the constitution, they want the enthronement of Sharia…
Throughout the whole nation, and that is why they are bombing us to the table! Alright, those who want to have dialogue with them on those terms, please go and institute the dialogue. We instituted a dialogue without involvement of government in this nation, which was PRONACO. Obasanjo tried to stop it, he threatened us, he charged us for treason. In fact, if you remember, that was when I came into PRONACO. When he said he was going to arrest all those who were organising the conference, I said what? In this country under a democratic dispensation, a group of people cannot meet, and decide and review the constitution and then present their findings to the rest of the nation? And I joined. That was how I came into PRONACO.
To those who believe in dialogue, organise your dialogue. I am not stopping you and then come and give the rest of us what your findings are.
We are not stopping you, but please don’t tell me that somebody attempted to take my life yesterday and then I start begging him, please come to the table. I believe that one should not beg for existence. If the price of not coming to table is that you want to eliminate me, and you can do so, please do so. I am 77.
Please come to the debating table, but you will not persuade me simply because you have the capacity to blow me and my family. You can simply go ahead, blow us up if you think that is the way you can do your conversion. But you will not bomb me to sit with you at the table. Rather, that diminishes me as an individual.
How would you describe the last protests over the fuel price hike?
A huge awakening and I hope a huge revelation, not only for the present governors but for those who want to come. It is a heartwarming event. To mobilise the country in such numbers says a lot of the political enlightenment. I think even if the goal was not achieved immediately, and I use the word immediately because it does not mean the goal will not be eventually achieved, the bill of rights, the bill of claims, is there. It’s being distributed, including the things we went to discuss at the town hall meeting.
For once, such a bill of demand has to be taken seriously because they know that the people have the will and the power and the means of mobilising in support of that. It includes things like what legislators should be earning, removal of tax here and there, transparent investigation of the real killers of society, economic muderers of society, abolition of such offices as first lady, which is not in the constitution.
I know that the movement, which we saw, will be pushing that bill of demands at every opportunity. And if government is dragging its feet on those issues, if it is showing unwillingness, it is trying to be deceitful, doing cosmetic things, I know the people will come out again.
You once said the presidential system of government is too expensive. Why do you consider the other alternative, which is the Westminster model, better, given that it has its own shortcomings?
The human factor is always there. What you do is block the avenues for corruption. And the presidential system is the most corruptible. Even in the United States, from where we copied it, you find that there are so many bye-laws, regulations, even lobbies. But there are rules and laws that have mapped out how far you can lobby, not to declare certain things, areas of interest, and so on. We don’t even have such controls here to start with.
The parliarmentary system, to me has less avenues for corruption. But above all, I think that in this country, what is wrong with having a part-time legislature? Look at the amount of work they do; calculate the man-hours involved in their sitting and tell me why they have to have full time engagement. And all the scandalous allowances.
Do you believe the ongoing probe of the oil sector can yield anything meaningful, given that we have a history of probes that have turned up nothing positive?
Let me first of all say that among the problems, among those who at least delight in Boko Haram and the destabilisation of the nation, are those who have criminal cases to answer and they are across the land. They are not just those we are speaking of now. And so, every kind of attack should be very carefully examined because there are those who jump on the bandwagon to assist in the total disintegration of the nation.
Many people for instance don’t know (let me go back to the opportunistic categorisation) that one of the very first files taken by the EFCC to Obasanjo when he was there, was the file of Ahmed Yerima, governor of Zamfara State. If you don’t believe me, go and check with Nuhu Ribadu. One of the very first files, with prima facie case for serious investigation and prosecution, was the case of Ahmed Yerima.
Some of these people, South, North, East, mouthing dialogue this and that don’t even want dialogue. And they also have very serious criminal cases. I mentioned that in my article in Newsweek.
So, we are waiting to see whether something positive will happen with all the probe going on. The civil society is also waiting on the direction of those probe to see if they are serious. I mean they have asked in that bill that I saw for life sentences for anyone found guilty of corruption. Let’s see how serious, how free these investigations will go.
One of the problems Nuhu Ribadu had, for instance, was that he found himself being circumscribed. I’m waiting to read his book, by the way, to see how much he is willing to tell of what happened during that period.

What do you make of the recent deployment of soldiers in Lagos?
It’s pernicious and it’s a huge blot on Jonathan’s administration that he found it necessary (in a democratic setting, with legitimate demonstrations going on, rallies going on, peaceful, well controlled) to send the military to Lagos. It’s something which should never have happened. I went there. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the walk that I wanted to because I was being mobbed almost immediately. I got down from the car. I just asked some of the officers there: ‘What are you people doing here and when are you leaving?’
‘We are here to protect you, sir.’
I said: ‘Don’t tell me that; you know very well you are not here to protect me, I don’t need your protection.’
And I had to jump into the car because people were bringing out their cameras and so on. I didn’t really do what I wanted to do. It’s wrong, it’s setting the people against the military and it’s only in extreme cases that you infest a place with military presence.

There are people wondering, given the way Jonathan is going and the helplessness he has shown, if the military would not come back. And if the military should come back, won’t they be accepted?
We have had worse cases of civil unrest in other societies where the military did not come in. And so I will find it totally unacceptable, the incursion of the military. They are part of the problem, they sowed the large part of the problem. And so they cannot say they are coming to solve it. All we just want from the present administration is that Jonathan should widen and diversify his present catchment area of consultation. He should try and bring closer those who have no stake in the governance, who are not seeking advantage, those who are genuinely altruistic about the direction of this nation, those who are not seeking for preferment, not looking for contracts, not looking for jobs, not looking for anything whatsoever. He should try and diversify his area of consultation.
He desperately needs that. I believe that he is doing himself a lot of damage by restricting, I mean he should have more options; I believe he is having only one set of options, the kind of option that made him to antagonise a large section of the civil society by deploying soldiers where they were not needed, where there was that little justification for them. Somebody obviously said to him: ‘Oh you are weak, show that you are in charge, show that you are commander in chief, send the military there’ and he also bought it, I suspect. I don’t believe that it stemmed directly ftom him. It was part of the advice given him. In any case, the buck stops on his desk. He did it and he has to accept responsibility for it, and the penalty which civil society will exact from him. And on the penalty, I’m not talking about the immediate, I’m talking in terms of the kind of support they give to his government. He will come to appreciate that he committed a huge blunder.
He alienated a large section of this population because of that. To militarise any section of society unnecessarily and with the governor saying: ‘I didn’t invite you, please take your people away’; leaders of society saying: “please, take these people’ and then having the military lying and saying “we had this arrangement”. Which arrangement is that? You know where the armed robbers are, go and find them. They are not at Gani Fawehinmi Park.

What do you have to say about the ethnicisation of the protests/struggle?
Oh, what a disappointment, that was. That is also a result of the narrowness of advisory circle that he has. I was very disappointed, I want them to please go back to history, not even immediate past history, and see how civil society conducts itself when there is disagreement with governments at the centre. Let’s go back, under Obasanjo, under Yar’Adua, under Shagari, under Tafawa Balewa, let them go back and please not lose credibility, particularly that language “Our son, our son”. It disgusts me. Who is our son? Who is not our son? Who is our father? Who is not our father? I found that kind of language very depressing and I hope it is an aberration. I like to be able to meet those I still consider my comrades on that side of ethnicity to please, come back into the fold. You can disagree with the cause, there is nothing wrong with that. Even on a parochial level, you can disagree. If you believe, for instance, that the revenue that will come to you will become less, will be reduced, so you have the right to fight for that kind of revenue, but you don’t have to ethnicise it.
When we talk about allocation, derivation, we are not talking about one region alone. Lagos is involved in the same principle of derivation. We have been talking about VAT, we have been saying that it should be proportionate. Where VAT is derived should have a lion’s share of the proceeds. To generate consumption, you put certain infrastructure in place, you spend your revenue. Common justice dictates that in the states, there should be a derivation principle in proportion to what you actually contribute to that common purse. And so we are on the same side.
I don’t say this for any reason. Fashola is not my son, I didn’t know him until he became governor. We are saying this on behalf of human beings, who also actually occupy spaces, not their leadership. Let’s hear the last of “our son, our son”. I don’t want to hear it.

Can we have your take on the judgment (death sentence) on Hamza al-Mustapha and Shofolahan?
This moment of decision would have been arrived at much earlier, if al-Mustapha and his defence had not deployed delaying tactics, including grandstanding efforts to rubbish his judicial process. The delaying tactics were based on the expectation that government would change hands in Lagos State. I know for a fact that al-Mustapha had been assured that the trial would be discontinued with a change of government.
He gambled on this assurance and he lost. Pressure was indeed mounted on Lagos State government to release him. The discontinuance of the case against Mohammed Abacha was cited as guarantee – more of that in another place. Mustapha’s defiance, his confident arrogance, his insults to the process, were based on this assurance. I make no comment on the outcome, I merely remind the Nigerian people once again that political interference with the judiciary remains one of the main issues that must be tackled whenever (if ever) Nigerians take the courageous step to sit together and fashion a new set of constitutive protocols for their co-existence that protects the judiciary in an unassailable manner.


SOURCE: http://thejuristlaws..com

Posted 1 hour ago by thejuristlaw

FG to generate 370,000 jobs in 2012 - Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has reiterated his administration’s determination to address the problem of youth unemployment in the country.
He also said the series of government projects outlined to address the situation will generate 370, 000 jobs across the country before the end of 2012.
He disclosed this at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja during the launch of the Public Works and Women/Youth Employment (PW/WYE)) project, which is a component of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE).

While inaugurating SURE Board, Jonathan assured that in this season of doubts over government's inability to deliver, those selected are tested hands that will take on the challenges to ensure that all projects identified are properly done as well as ensure that funds assigned will be quickly deployed.
“At this time that youths are easily engaged for negative deeds, this SURE Programme will engage them positively, " the president said.
Jonathan said his administration recognized the youths as a strategic partner in national development and was prepared to address the problem of youth unemployment.
The Chairman of the SURE-P- Board, Ambassador Christopher Kolade, in his address hinged the success of the programme on full cooperation of governors and local government chairmen. culled from thejuristlaws..com

Plans by digruntled and intellectually lazy students to invade Abia State University campus

It has painfully come to the knowledge of Abia State government that few disgruntled and intellectually lazy students of Abia State University, Uturu, are on the verge of concluding arrangements with a ‘rebellious faction’ of the highly disciplined and respected National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, to invade Abia State University Campus, Uturu, with the sole aim of reducing the University to rubbles. According to an intelligence report contained in a release issued in Umuahia by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy; Chief Don Ubani, the said students, who, unfortunately, have resolved to conduct project themselves as irresponsible rascals and unrefined vandals, are purporting to protest against the recently announced slight increase in fees payable by students of the University. The state government wishes to state that, in as much as it is ever committed to the provision of effective result-oriented functional education for her indigenes and residents at a minimal cost, the said students should not lose sight of the very simple fact that education is and remains a collective responsibility between government, parents and other relevant stake-holders and, so, cannot be left alone for the government, especially at the tertiary level. Chief Ubani made it clear that education is essentially an indisputable priority of the state government of Chief T. A. Orji, hence education is free at both primary and secondary school levels in the state. The state government wishes to state that the dynamics of Nigeria’s contemporary society made it imperative that salaries of the Nigerian worker had to be increased, coupled with inevitable increase in the cost of administration of public institutions, with its attendant pecuniary implications. It, therefore, follows that the slight increase in fees payable at Abia State University became an outcome of inevitability. It should also be noted that Abia state government believes in giving governance a human face, hence the stipulated fees in the University are not only categorized into A, B n C but could also be paid in two equal installments by parents or guardians within an academic session. Again, Abia State Government wishes to state, in an unambiguous language, that Abia State University is a veritable source of the intellectual pride of God’s own state and, so, any hoodlum or miscreant who is dreaming to cause any mayhem thereon, should better think twice and look before leaping because that is one joke the State government cannot and shall never tolerate. Parents and guardians are, by this announcement, warned to call their children and wards to a very timely order.

Chief Sir Don Ubani KSC, JP,

Okwubunka of Asa.
Commissioner For Information CULLED FROM http://www.abiastate.gov.ng

Odemwingie hits hat-trick eyes top-half finish
On February 12, 2012 · In Sports
Email0

West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie celebrated the “double joy” of scoring a hat-trick against local rivals Wolves, then targeted a place in the top 10.

Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews also scored for the Baggies at Molineux against woeful Wolves, who briefly levelled at the end of the first half through Steven Fletcher.

Odemwingie told Sky Sports 1: “I’ve been looking forward to returning to scoring form.

“It’s my first hat-trick in the Premier League, a very tough league to score in, so I’m very happy about that.

“And the extra bonus I got was [that it was] in the black country derby so it makes it double joy for me.

“I hope we can change our home performances and then there’s nothing that can stop us finishing in the top 10.”

Odemwingie said he and his team-mates were in no doubt about how much the match meant to the West Brom fans.

“We know this game means a lot to our fans so we’re very delighted with winning and scoring lots of goals,” he said.

“There a lot of motivation, receiving messages from our fans [about] how they look forward to these games makes the week special. You prepare well, you rest a lot.

“It was a very big game for us, a great team performance.”

aba owerri by oceanic bank near rail-way crossing aba as at 31/1/2012 aba owerri

Whitney Houston dies at 48
February 12, 2012 by Agency Reporter 52 Comments
whitney

whitney | credits: File
Incredibly talented music and movie superstar, Whitney Houston, has died in her hotel room aged 48, PUNCH has learnt. News of her death broke late Saturday and sent shock waves around the world. Whitney who had charming looks and a remarkable voice kept the music world enchanted from when she hit the scene in 1985 till she died. The cause of her death is unknown. USA TODAY reports that word of the 48-year-old singer’s death broke early Saturday evening as the industry gathered in Los Angeles for the official Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel hosted by her mentor Clive Davis, chief creative officer of Sony Music Worldwide. Her publicist, Kristen Foster, confirmed that the singer died in her room at the Beverly Hilton. Houston had been expected to attend the gala.
The party went ahead as planned, though Houston’s body was still in the building. Among the celebrities in attendance at the gala: Britney Spears, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Serena Williams, Sean Combs, Slash, Herbie Hancock, Lana Del Rey, Diana Ross, Ne-Yo, Jon Voight, Skrillex, David Foster, Diane Warren, Gayle King, L.A. Reid and Neil Young and his wife Pegi.
“It’s so stunning and unbelievable,” said Aretha Franklin in a statement. “I couldn’t believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen.”
Producer Quincy Jones said in a statement that he was “absolutely heartbroken … I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare.”
Dolly Parton, who wrote what would become Houston’s signature song, I Will Always Love You, said in her statement: “Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song.”
At the Staples Center, site of Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, executive producer Ken Ehrlich was wrestling with how to tweak the awards show to pay tribute to one of its onetime brightest lights, Whitney Houston.
“We’re definitely going to do something, but in some ways it’s too fresh and too early to do a full-blown tribute,” he told USA TODAY.
The veteran Grammy producer confirmed that he was in contact with singer/actress Jennifer Hudson about honouring Houston at the show. Whitney’s marital and drug addiction problems in the mid 90s overshadowed her meteoric rise. But she continued to trudge on. In recent years, Houston had struggled to regain her past glory. In 2009, she released I Look to You, her first studio album in seven years and first since going through rehab and divorcing Bobby Brown, her husband of 14 years, in 2006. While the album did debut at No. 1 and sold more than 1 million copies, it failed to produce any massive hit singles, or receive hoped-for Grammy Awards nominations. Her subsequent overseas tour met with mixed reviews, with disappointed fans demanding refunds.
“She don’t want to come, my soprano friend,” Houston crooned from the stage after stumbling through her signature songs at London’s O2 arena in April 2010. “Sometimes the old girl sings, but not tonight,” she said of her voice. “I want to do it, but she doesn’t want to. … She’s getting a little … temperamental, even.”
It was a sad end for the once incandescent star who paved the way to pop success for other African-American singers such as Janet Jackson, Anita Baker, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige, and has been cited by the likes of Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Leona Lewis for inspiring them to become singers. The gospel-trained Houston was the daughter of singer Cissy Houston, goddaughter of Aretha Franklin and cousin of Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick.
Houston was already an up-and-coming magazine model (she was one of the first women of color to grace the cover of Seventeen) when record mogul Clive Davis signed her to his Arista Records label in 1983. In an interview accompanying the 2010 reissue of her debut album, Whitney Houston: The Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition, Davis recalls first seeing her backing up her mother at the New York City club Sweetwater’s.
“She did two solo numbers, one of which was the song The Greatest Love Of All. Whitney sang the song with such fervor, with such a natural vocal gift, with such passion, that I was stunned. I knew really right then and there that this was a special talent, and I was blown away by her,” Davis recalled. “There was no hesitation. I wanted to sign Whitney.”
Together, they would make music history. Davis spent more than a year grooming Houston, lining up producers and collecting the right material. Her first hit, Hold Me, a duet with Teddy Pendergrass for his 1984 Love Language album, went to No. 5 on the R&B chart. It was a precursor to Whitney Houston, which arrived in 1985 to rave reviews.
First single You Give Good Love was a top 5 pop hit, and its follow-up, Saving All My Love for You, was even bigger. It went to No. 1, as did How Will I Know, the video for which became one of the first by an African-American female to get heavy rotation on MTV. The Greatest Love of All also spent three weeks at the top of the charts, and Whitney Houston wound up selling 13 million copies domestically.
She earned three nominations at the 1986 Grammy Awards, including one for album of the year. Saving All My Love for You won for female pop vocal, and her performance of the song on the show would win her an Emmy Award later that year. The Greatest Love of All would also be nominated for record of the year at the following year’s Grammys.
Houston’s superstardom was solidified in 1987 with the release of Whitney, which sold 9 million copies in the USA and spawned four No. 1 singles —I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),Didn’t We Almost Have It All, So Emotional and Where Do Broken Hearts Go— to give her a record seven chart-toppers in a row. A fifth single, Love Will Save the Day, was a top 10 hit. Thanks to her record sales and concert grosses for 1986 and 1987, Forbes ranked her as the eighth-highest-earning entertainer at the time.
Her crossover success was unprecedented for an African-American woman, but she soon found herself defending it against critics, who claimed her hits lacked soul. Her third album, 1990′s I’m Your Baby Tonight, took her in a more urban direction thanks to production by L.A. Reid, Babyface, Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross, but its reception was less spectacular. The album peaked at No. 3 while selling 4 million copies, though singles I’m Your Baby Tonight and All the Man That I Need topped both the pop and R&B charts.
Still, big things and big changes were on the horizon for Houston, whose 1991 Super Bowl performance of The Star Spangled Banner remains the yardstick by which other singers are judged. Two things happened in 1992 that would profound alter her career: She made a move into acting and making soundtracks with The Bodyguard, and after a three-year courtship, she married R&B singer and former New Edition member Bobby Brown.
In The Bodyguard, she starred as a singer being protected from a stalker fan by Kevin Costner’s title character. The film grossed more than $121 million at the box office, and the soundtrack had an even bigger payoff for Houston. Her cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, distinguished by Houston’s a cappella intro, stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record 14 consecutive weeks and had significant stints atop the R&B and adult contemporary charts as well.
The album also spawned top five hits I’m Every Woman (a Chaka Khan hit on which Houston had sung background when she was 15) and I Have Nothing. The album sold 17 million copies in the USA, won three Grammys, including album and record of the year, plus a slew of other awards.
Two years later, Houston performed at a state dinner at the White House honoring newly elected South African President Nelson Mandela, and she would later be the first major artist to perform in that country, playing three shows to 200,000 people.
Her next film, 1995′s Waiting to Exhale starring Angela Bassett, was also a hit with a huge soundtrack. This time, she teamed with Babyface to co-produce the star-studded album, and she contributed to its success with Exhale (Shoop Shoop), Why Does It Hurt So Bad and Count On Me, a duet with CeCe Winans.
She earned $10 million for her next role, 1996′s The Preacher’s Wife, which starred Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance. While it didn’t do as well at the box office as the previous two films, Houston got her best review yet as an actress. The soundtrack saw Houston cutting loose in a gospel setting. It featured six songs with the Georgia Mass Choir, including He’s All Over Me with gospel legend Shirley Caesar. I Believe in You and Me and Step By Step were both radio hits.
Houston branched off into TV in 1997, producing a remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Brandy with Houston as the Fairy Godmother. The highly rated ABC special earned seven Emmy nominations. That set the stage for Houston’s first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love. The album sold 4 million copies in the USA, and spawned a successful world tour, but peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard album chart, making it her first album to fall short of the top three. Still, with production by Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott and Rodney Jerkins, it had the hits When You Believe with Mariah Carey, Heartbreak Hotel, It’s Not Right But It’s Okay, My Love Is Your Love and I Learned From the Best.
As the ’90s closed, Houston’s popularity was beginning to wane just as rumours about drug use with Brown swirled and reports began surfacing about erratic behavior and weight loss, along with missed interviews and canceled concerts. On January 11, 2000, marijuana was discovered in Houston’s and Brown’s luggage as they passed through security at a Hawaii airport, though they boarded the plane and left before police arrived. Two months later, she was conspicuously missing when Clive Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was also to have performed on the Academy Awards, but was fired by musical director Burt Bacharach.
She signed a $100 million, six-album deal with Arista/BMG in 2001, but after appearing on the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special, her extremely thin frame fueled more rumors of drug abuse. Those rumors were confirmed a year later when she did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her upcoming Just Whitney. She admitted using drugs in the highly watched TV interview, which included her infamous declaration, “Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight. OK? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is wack.”
Just Whitney was her poorest-selling album to date, and none of its singles made the Hot 100′s top 40. She got positive reviews for 2003′s One Wish: The Holiday Album, but only modest sales.
Houston’s image took further pummeling on the sordid 2005 Bravo reality series Being Bobby Brown, which gave an inside look into their family life. Critics savaged the show, but morbidly fascinated viewers tuned in to see just how low they could sink. The show was canceled after Houston decided to no longer participate. She separated from Brown in September 2006 and the divorce was finalized in 2007, with Houston given custody of the couple’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina.
In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey to promote I Look To You, Houston blamed an emotional abusive and jealous Brown for many of her problems, confessed that she laced her marijuana with rock cocaine and revealed that she’d spent time in rehab and had undergone an intervention by her mother.
The album made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with a career-best opening week of 305,000 copies sold. It was her first chart-topping album since 1992′s The Bodyguard. But the title track and the Alicia Keys-penned Million Dollar Bill had only modest success.
Her post-release TV appearances were also spotty. Though the fans responded warmly, she had to apologize for her voice cracking at a three-song Good Morning America concert in New York’s Central Park. It came not long after the Oprah interview, which she says wore out her vocal cords. She gave a much better received performance of I Didn’t Know My Own Strength on the American Music Awards two months later.
But the savage reviews of what would be her final tour in 2010 remain a stark reminder of the gorgeous voice she once had, and how much she lost to years of drug abuse and personal turmoil.culled from punchnews

February 11, 2012 by Adelani Adepegba, Abuja; additional reports by Fidelis Soriwei 233 Comments

State Security Service officers on Friday re-arrested Kabiru Abubakar Dikko (aka Kabiru Sokoto), the suspected Boko Haram kingpin alleged to be the mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.

Sokoto, who allegedly led the terror attack in which 43 worshippers died, was arrested at the residence of an accomplice, where he was hiding inside a clothes rack at Mutum-Biu, Gassol Local Government Area, Taraba State.

The Boko Haram operative, who was sporting a Puma-branded T-shirt over a pair of jeans, was paraded at the SSS Headquarters at a brief news conference in Abuja.

Sokoto had earlier escaped from police custody on January 15, 2011 at Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory, when he was being led to his home for a search of his apartment by a team of policemen on the orders of Zakari Biu, a commissioner of police.

The police had on Jan 19 declared him wanted and placed a N50m bounty on his head.

Sokoto’s escape from custody led to widespread criticism of the police hierarchy; Biu and five other junior policemen, who took Sokoto to Abaji are currently facing disciplinary probe over the incident.

Sokoto’s escape also led to the sack of the former Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and the Police Management Team comprising six Deputy Inspectors-General.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the Deputy Director, Media and Public Relations, SSS, Marilyn Ogar, explained that after his escape, the suspect had taken refuge at Umaisha in Toto LGA, Nasarawa State, before he fled to Taraba, where he was re-arrested.

Ogar didn’t allow the suspect to answer questions from journalists, insisting that investigations were still ongoing and Sokoto would not be allowed to disclose information that might jeopardise the operations of the service.

Giving background information about the suspect, Ogar said that Sokoto was born on May 9, 1983 to the family of Umaru Jabbi of Gagi village, Sokoto South LGA, Sokoto State.

Upon the death of his father, he was adopted by his paternal uncle, Abubakar Dikko and renamed after him. He completed his primary education at Model Primary School, Gagi town in 1996.

According to Ogar, the suspect enrolled for secondary education at the Ahmadu Bello Academy in 1996, but absconded shortly after and re-applied for admission as a fresh Junior Secondary School I pupil in Sultan Bello Secondary School, Sokoto South LGA, from where he passed out in 2003.

“In 2005, he gained admission into the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto, where he exhibited a high level of truancy and extremist tendencies, a situation which accounted for his poor academic performance. In mid-2007, he absconded again from the institution when he outright refused to re-sit some papers he failed in an examination,” she narrated.

The SSS spokesperson stated that Sokoto was instrumental to the visit of the late leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, to Gagi village in February 2009, during which he was declared the leader of the sect in Sokoto State.

Ogar re-assured Nigerians of the collective resolve of security forces to stamp out terrorism, adding that they were poised to end all the dastardly activities of terror groups in the country.

She sought the support and cooperation of Nigerians to rid the nation of terror plotters.

Also, a top intelligence officer hailed the re-arrest of Sokoto.

He attributed the success to the commitment of the security agencies, who had seemed helpless in the war against terrorism before now.

The officer explained that the exercise was made possible by the effective collaboration among security operatives and members of the public.

According to him, several Islamic organisations have condemned the group on the grounds that Islam did not teach anybody to kill. He stated that security gadgets and other GSM tracking equipment, which had been procured and put to work effectively, were crucial in re-arresting Sokoto.

The source added that many of the members of the sect in custody of the security agencies were monitored and arrested through their mobile telephone lines.

It was learnt that the Federal Government was taking delivery of other important security equipment.

The officer said, “Kabiru is in custody; more will soon join. The security agencies are working and it is now obvious. There is nothing more to add.” source: vanguardonlinenews

Governor T. A. Orji has embarked on a massive construction of over fifteen buildings
Abia State Governor Chief T. A. Orji has embarked on a massive
construction of over fifteen buildings for some Ministries, Agencies,
Parastatals, Institutions of higher learning and some Federal
Government Agencies in the State, that will be commissioned soon.
In a press release by the Chief Press Secretary Ugochukwu Emezue, Abia
State helmsman embarked on these laudable projects to solve the
accommodation problems being encountered by staff of these Ministries
and Parastatals.

Mr. Emezue listed such building projects as Ministry of Justice office
blocks, the new High Court blocks in Umuahia and Aba comprising of
many court rooms and offices for the judges. According to Mr. Emezue,
the State Governor decided to intervene in the provision of befitting
office blocks for the Judges and court rooms, so as to enhance the
dispensation of justice in the State.
The Governor said that he is worried that Judges and Judiciary workers
do not have enough offices and court rooms to effectively carry out
their duties, Emezue added.

Speaking further, the Governor’s Spokesman disclosed that other
buildings under construction include a state of the art Dialysis
Centre at the Diagnostic Centre in Umuahia, School of Midwifery, and
residential accommodation for Doctors at the General Hospital
Amachara, as well as a new auditorium at the Abia State University
Teaching Hospital Aba.

Other projects Mr. Emezue mentioned are ASEPA building, new
Commissioners’ Quarters, NYSC building at Igbere, Broadcasting
Cooperation of Abia State office complex, International Conference
Centre, new Government House, Civil Service Secretariat and the
Planning Commission House.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that Chief T. A. Orji is now
inspecting these projects to see that they are completed on record
time.

Emezue hinted that some of these projects, especially the new Civil
Service Secretariat, BCA Office and the Dialysis Centre will be ready
in four months time, adding that the new Planning Commission House has
already been commissioned.

UGOCHUKWU EMEZUE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
source: thejuristlaws..com

Between Abia govt and armchair critics
FOR quite a long time now, it is obvious that the activities of the Abia State government have been getting negative publicity, most times fabricated or twisted for selfish and mischievous purpose by a particular national daily owned by a former governor.

As a regular and avaricious reader of the national dailies, I do take my time to dissect the editorial contents of each to en able me judge their objectivity, balance and fairness.

I have observed that for a while now this national daily has not reported any positive news about the state and it has always been about allegation, criticisms or condemnation of the state government’s activities or policies.

The question begging to be answered is has nothing positive happened or happening in the state or does it mean this particular national daily has an axe to grind with the state government. This becomes worrisome as positive news report about giant strides by the Abia State government have been reported in other national dailies and even in the electronic media. For example, it was reported recently that the State government empowered 4,500 youths by employing them in the council areas.

These unemployed youths were engaged and are being paid monthly, while they still have time to engage in other activities to improve their lot. What a step in the right direction given the unemployment challenges across the nation.

Apart from this, the government had also released millions of naira for the settlement of the arrears of pensioners in the state, introduced radical reforms in the civil service. The government has repaired some federal roads in the state and has promised to do more if the Federal government is not forth coming. There are so many completed and ongoing projects across the state now and contractors are being mobilised adequately to ensure speedy completion.

None of these above -mentioned giant strides of the State government which had been reported in the other national dailies in the country, was reported by this particular national daily. Within the month of January this year alone, I had read two prominent stories carried by the national daily aimed at castigating and maligning Governor Theodore Orji and his government.

On Wednesday January 25, 2012, the newspaper in its page 3 carried a story titled “Group Faults Orji’s Appointment of Permanent Sec”. In the story was an alleged opposition by a faceless group called Umunneochi Consultative Forum against the appointment of Dr. Johnson Uzuatuegwu as permanent secretary from the council area by Governor Orji.

It is a faceless group because a member representing Umunneochi in the State Assembly Prince IKedi Ezekwesili the next day denied the existence of such group in the constituency. So who are the members of the group and who is its sponsor and have provided a platform for it to play to gallery. Their alleged opposition or protest was not that nobody was appointed from their area as permanent secretary by the State government, but that they do not want Uzuatuegwu to be appointed. Have they and their sponsors forgotten that civil service has rules and procedures?

As if that is not enough, the same national daily on Monday January 30, 2012 carried another story against the state government titled “Abia Health Sector In Shambles-NMA”. In the story, one Dr. Godwin Iheanyi Uzoma acclaimed chairman of Aba zone of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) alleged that apart from Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), that there were no other specialists hospitals anywhere in the state.



He claimed that there were only 28 doctors in the state of about three million people and that it was only in Aba North council area that there is a doctor. Uzoma alleged that the difference between the salary of house officers in the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia and state government teaching hospital in Aba is N80,000 and the difference between the salary of a consultant in FMC and ABSUTH is N200,000 and that is why doctors do not stay long at the latter.

Though I am not from the state, but I have seen on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) a new specialist and diagnostic hospital built in Umuahia by the state government which has been now extended to Amachara General Hospital and has been upgraded. The governor had on several occasions made it known that his government inherited a decayed health sector that was moribund when he assumed office. But presently, the governor has constructed hospitals in all most all the local council areas. If Dr. Uzoma allegation that there are only 28 doctors in the state and it was only in Aba North that there is doctor, so where are the other doctors? Does it mean that he is the only private or government doctor in the whole of Aba as he would want the world to believe? What an unethical and false allegation in attempt to paint the state government effort in health sector in bad a light.

On the issue of disparities in the salaries of doctors as alleged by Uzoma, it is clear to a layman that there is always a disparity in the salaries of workers in the state and federal establishments. Comparing the salary of a staff in Federal Medical Centre Umuahia and ABSUTH is the highest level of hypocrisy shown by Dr. Uzoma. Even with the new minimum wage, federal workers and their state counterpart do not earn the same salaries and allowances, so why and how could a right thinking person equate or compare a federal civil servant with a state civil servant.

Besides everybody cannot work in federal establishments as being canvassed by Uzoma and his sponsors. As a medical officer, what should be uppermost in the mind of Uzoma and his allies is how to save life first and not how to acquire material wealth. That is why some doctors no longer concentrate on their job which has led to careless death of patients.

No matter the political differences between a publisher and the state government, such should not be allowed to affect the editorial contents of the newspaper, rather extra efforts should be made to ensure balance and objective reporting of events across the country without minding whose ox is gored.

Culled from Vanguard
Posted

Subsidy withdrawal causes Orji to reduce transport fares
Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has ordered the transport company of the State, Abia Line Network to reduce its transport fares by 13 percent to cushion the effect of the partial withdrawal of subsidy on fuel by the Federal Government.

The Governor, who gave the directive at the presentation of 7 new commuter busses to the corporation also appealed to the National Union of Road Transport Workers to emulate government by reducing their fares.


Orji disclosed that his administration has employed about 4,500 youths of the State through the Local Government System, noting that his administration is committed to improving the lot of the people of the State.

NNPC/Capital Oil kero-direct scheme kicks off in 10 states
Direct sale of kerosene to consumers, a collaborative effort between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Capital Oil and Gas, has kicked off in ten states, while other states will also enjoy the benefits soon. However, the scheme this time, will require the involvement of the state and local governments.

The Kero-Direct Scheme is aimed at ensuring making sure the product is made available to vast majority of Nigerians and to generate additional direct employments for Nigerians.
According to the managing director of the Capital Oil and Gas, Ifeanyi Ubah, the company is taking a review of the scheme, adding that the sales started in Ondo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Kano and Jigawa States this week. “We have commenced sales of kerosene directly to the people at the grassroots in about 10 states of the federation which kick starts this week. The NNPC/Kero-Direct scheme has continued its spread throughout Nigeria with distribution of kerosene to end users at N50 a litre,’’ he said.

He said the Kero-Direct scheme had made the company to employ additional 557 youths, while it has penciled down another 158 employments before the completion of the distribution. “Under the arrangement, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, provides the product that will be sold to end users at the official rate of N50 per litre, while the product is being dispensed through the use of Capital Oil dispensing trucks,” he said.

The Capital Oil boss said the issue of middlemen has been completely taken care of as the sale is restricted to 25 litres to each household, adding that the sales of the product would be judiciously distributed to Nigerians as stipulated. He further said that his company had been very concerned about the difficulty in getting kerosene for domestic use. “It is in response to this that the company came up with this innovation of deploying mobile filling stations with standard dispensing pumps to deliver kerosene at official price of N50 per litre to Nigerians,” he said.

The scheme, according to him, will afford consumers greater access to the product with a view to reducing the use of charcoal and fire woods, which are hazardous to health. He lauded the initiative of Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister, Petroleum Resources, and the NNPC, for their good intention to provide kerosene to end-users through truck dispensing.

Ubah said the challenge of ending kerosene scarcity and ensuring uninterrupted supply of the product was one that could be handled through consistent investments in infrastructure.

Source: Businessdayonline
culled from thejuristlaws..com

Governor T. A. Orji has embarked on a massive construction of over fifteen buildings
Abia State Governor Chief T. A. Orji has embarked on a massive
construction of over fifteen buildings for some Ministries, Agencies,
Parastatals, Institutions of higher learning and some Federal
Government Agencies in the State, that will be commissioned soon.
In a press release by the Chief Press Secretary Ugochukwu Emezue, Abia
State helmsman embarked on these laudable projects to solve the
accommodation problems being encountered by staff of these Ministries
and Parastatals.

Mr. Emezue listed such building projects as Ministry of Justice office
blocks, the new High Court blocks in Umuahia and Aba comprising of
many court rooms and offices for the judges. According to Mr. Emezue,
the State Governor decided to intervene in the provision of befitting
office blocks for the Judges and court rooms, so as to enhance the
dispensation of justice in the State.
The Governor said that he is worried that Judges and Judiciary workers
do not have enough offices and court rooms to effectively carry out
their duties, Emezue added.

Speaking further, the Governor’s Spokesman disclosed that other
buildings under construction include a state of the art Dialysis
Centre at the Diagnostic Centre in Umuahia, School of Midwifery, and
residential accommodation for Doctors at the General Hospital
Amachara, as well as a new auditorium at the Abia State University
Teaching Hospital Aba.

Other projects Mr. Emezue mentioned are ASEPA building, new
Commissioners’ Quarters, NYSC building at Igbere, Broadcasting
Cooperation of Abia State office complex, International Conference
Centre, new Government House, Civil Service Secretariat and the
Planning Commission House.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that Chief T. A. Orji is now
inspecting these projects to see that they are completed on record
time.

Emezue hinted that some of these projects, especially the new Civil
Service Secretariat, BCA Office and the Dialysis Centre will be ready
in four months time, adding that the new Planning Commission House has
already been commissioned.

UGOCHUKWU EMEZUE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
culled from thejuristlaws..com

There were indications that on-the-run escapee leader of the Boko Haram sect, Kabiru Sokoto who allegedly masterminded the Madallah Church Christmas bombing may have been rearrested.

Sokoto was allegedly arrested at a location in Taraba State Friday morning.

Former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim and his cronies had presented a fake suspect to Police Affairs Minister, Caleb Olubolade, purported to be Kabir Sokoto, in a desperate bid to beat the 24 hour deadline by President Goodluck Jonathan.

A panel at the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, charged with the responsibility of hunting down Sokoto, is currently having a closed-door meeting at the time of filing this report. It could not ascertained if the meeting is in connection with the arrest and no press briefing has been promised.

But sources told Pointblanknews.com that the meeting is indeed over the arrest of Sokoto.

Although Police sources are yet to confirm the arrest of the terror kingpin, but other sources confirmed to Pointblanknews.com “the person arrested is Sokoto and he is currently being interrogated at the head office of one of the security agencies.

Kabiru Umar, aka Kabiru Sokoto, recently escaped from police custody under questionable circumstances, following which a national manhunt was declared, and a N50million ransom price placed on him by the police high command.

In fact, Kabiru's 'disappearance' cost the former Inspector- General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, his job, as President Goodluck Jonathan fast-tracked his retirement from the Force and replaced him with Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.
Kabiru had been implicated in the Christmas Day, 2011 bombing of the St. Theresa's Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, which killed more than 40 persons.
He was taken into custody in the wake of the bombing, but escaped from the police team while being led to his Abuja home for a search.

The State Security Service will brief the nation on the arrest of Kabiru at 3pm on Friday.
culled from pointblankboko

IN order to bring affordable health care services to the people, the Abia State government has built, equipped and staffed over 210 Primary Health Centres across the state.

It has also embarked on renovation of general hospitals in addition to two high technology Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centres in Aba and Umuahia, which President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned last year.

Speaking on the efforts the Theodore Orji Administration has so far made in the sector, the Health Commissioner, Dr Okechukwu Ogah, said the governor hopes the specialist centres would provide suitable alternatives to people seeking medical treatment abroad.

The government, he said, has invested in the upgrading of facilities in its health institutions, training and re-training of medical and paramedical personnel as well as approved building of residential quarters for doctors within the general hospitals six of which are being expanded with facilities for training.

On the problems facing health care delivery in the state, Ogah listed poor roads and utilities in the rural areas, inadequate manpower and indiscipline among health workers adding that government was striving to address them effectively to effect the reversal.

It also unfailingly fulfills its obligations in all international and national health projects in which the World Bank and other donor agencies are partners.

“This was confirmed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Resident Representative in Nigeria, Dr Agathe Latre-Gato Lawson, who during a working visit to the state last year, noted that Abia State was far ahead others in the payment of counterpart funds” Ogah said.

On immunization, Ogah said the state has performed well as there have been no new incidents of Polio in recent times.

With respect to the remuneration of medical personnel, the Commissioner told The Guardian that governor Orji had approved the implementation all nationally approved salaries and allowances including keying into the Health Insurance Scheme.

Ogah also said a committee was working out the cost implications of effecting free Maternal and Child health care in the state while the Emergency Ambulance Programme that would convey sick persons to the nearest hospitals would soon take off.

On the problems facing health care delivery in the state, the commissioner listed poor roads and utilities in the rural areas, inadequate manpower and indiscipline among health workers adding that government was striving to address them effectively to effect the reversal.

Corroborating Ogah’s comments, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Kingsley Enweremadu commended the government’s acquisition of the General Hospital Amachara.

“We thank the governor for this and hope that all that is necessary will be put in place to have full compliment of consulting units and requisite equipment in the respective specialties”.

He commended the governor for consistently increasing the budget for health, which came third in priority this year out of the Abia State 2012 Budget outlay of N100 billion broken into N56.9 and N43.10 recurrent and capital expenditure respectively.culled from http://www.ngrguardiannews.com

GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of Abia State has charged Muslims across the country to use the occasion of the Eid el Maolud to pray for peace and stability in the country.
Governor Orji in a goodwill message said peace is one of the major ingredients that sustain development and democracy in any society.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, Orji said efforts must be made by Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings to maintain peace at all cost in their various areas.
Referring to the killings in some parts of Northern Nigeria by the notorious Boko Haram, the Governor noted that life is sacred, and cautioned those involved in the killing of fellow citizens to desist from such acts which constitute a threat to the corporate existence of the Nigeria.
Assuring Muslim community in the state of their safety and protection, Orji urged them to peacefully go about their businesses.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/02/eid-el-maolud-orji-urges-muslims-to-pray-for-peace/
http://thejuristlaws..com/2012/02/eid-el-maolud-orji-urges-muslims-to.html

Abia State government has described as highly deceitful, the claims by
former Governor of Abia State Orji Uzor Kalu that nothing is happening
in the state. In a statement signed by one of his aides, Kalu alleged
in his newspaper that roads are terrible in Aba, while the atmosphere
is not conducive for investors to invest in the State.
Reacting to this, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ugochukwu
Emezue described the former Governor as a man living in the past who
is yet to come to terms with the present realities in Abia State.
According to Emezue, what the former Governor could not achieve in
eight years, Chief T. A. Orji has done within a short period of time.
Mr. Emezue stated that Chief T. A. Orji has transformed Abia State in
all sectors as can be seen by all Abians except the likes of the
former Governor who can be best described as highly myopic.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that Aba the commercial nerve centre
is working with massive road constructions going on there, especially
at Ohanku, Port Harcourt Road, Faulks Road, Ukwu-mango just to mention
a few.
It is on record that during the last nationwide strike, the state was
generally peaceful especially Aba, as residents in one voice refused
to be forced into protest by enemies of progress, having seen the
wonderful job the Governor is doing.
On the issue of not having a conducive atmosphere in the state, the
former governor is just seeking for relevance as peace is the order of
the day in Aba. Many investors are falling head over heels to come to
Aba. A typical example is MECURE, an Indian firm which partnered with
the state to establish the diagnostic centres in Aba and Umuahia
Emezue added.
Mr. Emezue hinted that Chief T. A. Orji will not be distracted by
antics of a drowning man.
He however stated that anytime the former Governor wants to wash his
dirty linen, Abians will help him by reminding him of his past which
is nothing to write home about.
culled from thejuristlaws..com

Abia State government has described as highly deceitful, the claims by
former Governor of Abia State Orji Uzor Kalu that nothing is happening
in the state. In a statement signed by one of his aides, Kalu alleged
in his newspaper that roads are terrible in Aba, while the atmosphere
is not conducive for investors to invest in the State.
Reacting to this, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ugochukwu
Emezue described the former Governor as a man living in the past who
is yet to come to terms with the present realities in Abia State.
According to Emezue, what the former Governor could not achieve in
eight years, Chief T. A. Orji has done within a short period of time.
Mr. Emezue stated that Chief T. A. Orji has transformed Abia State in
all sectors as can be seen by all Abians except the likes of the
former Governor who can be best described as highly myopic.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that Aba the commercial nerve centre
is working with massive road constructions going on there, especially
at Ohanku, Port Harcourt Road, Faulks Road, Ukwu-mango just to mention
a few.
It is on record that during the last nationwide strike, the state was
generally peaceful especially Aba, as residents in one voice refused
to be forced into protest by enemies of progress, having seen the
wonderful job the Governor is doing.
On the issue of not having a conducive atmosphere in the state, the
former governor is just seeking for relevance as peace is the order of
the day in Aba. Many investors are falling head over heels to come to
Aba. A typical example is MECURE, an Indian firm which partnered with
the state to establish the diagnostic centres in Aba and Umuahia
Emezue added.
Mr. Emezue hinted that Chief T. A. Orji will not be distracted by
antics of a drowning man.
He however stated that anytime the former Governor wants to wash his
dirty linen, Abians will help him by reminding him of his past which
is nothing to write home about.
culled from thejuristlaws..com

ABA—ABIA State government yesterday assured that it would complete the new Government House, international conference centre, secretariat, roads, and other projects already initiated by the present administration before its termination in 2015.
The government also promised to revive moribund industries to create jobs for teeming youths, as well as generate more revenue for its operations.
Permanent Secretary, Government House, Umuahia, Mr Nwachukwu Agomuo, disclosed this to newsmen while dispelling insinuations that the state government was embarking on white elephant projects that might be abandoned at the expiration of its tenure,
Agomuo said: “That is one thing with human beings, when not much was being done, they complained that nothing is happening.
“Now when much is being done, people are already complaining that this present government won’t be able to complete the projects.”
He stated that the governor had his plans and was bent on completing whatever project he initiated.
“For the governor to have woken up and decided to build a Government House, state secretariat, an international conference centre and other numerous road projects across the three senatorial zones of the state, you should understand that the man has his plans all these years and had been tinkering, not minding the problems he had in the beginning of his first term.
“Initially, he said he was in a hurry to develop the state and so should be given a credit. Let them complain that we have so much we are doing and Ochendo will deliver on them all at the specified time,” he said.
On the moribund industries in the state, Barrister Agomuo stated that the state government had set a machinery in motion to reactivate many of them.
He disclosed that a Malaysian firm had almost completed arrangement with the state government, through the state Ministry of Agriculture, to revive Ogwe Golden Chicken and palm industries in the state.
Agomuo stated that the state government would continue to create the enabling conducive environment for all investors in the state, stressing that “the government has no business in business but to make the state an investment heaven for all investors.” culled from thejuristlaws..com