₦airaland Forum

Airtel employees [url=http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/workers-urge-fg-probe-airtel%E2%80%99s-labour-practices]have pleaded with the federal government[/url] to compel the management of the telecommunications company to comply with basic labour standards as obtained in the telecommunications sector.

This was contained in a statement signed by Foluso Taiwo, the Chairman of the Airtel Branch of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) after the protest of Airtel workers in Abuja on Tuesday.

The planned walks, to protest the rape of an ABSU student, were cancelled due to government refusal in both Abuja and Umuahia.

In Abia, the state where the recent rape of a univerity student occured, organisers of the #ABSU rape walk say the state commissioner of police communicated to them that their proposed walk has not been approved and that they are not allowed to hold any walk in the state.

The Walk in Abia was to commence at the Okpara square in Umuahia, and conclude at the state house while that of Abuja was to start from the Millennium Park, to the ministry of education and then end at the ministry of women affairs.

Officials of the education ministry allegedly diverted N30 million monthly meant for the six educational districts in the state into some private accounts over the last 10 months.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has ordered the Attorney-General, Ade Ipaye, to probe an alleged diversion of public funds in the education ministry.

A ploy, which had been used by some top officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Education to siphon up to N300m of public funds, was exposed on Monday. The identities of those involved are still being kept under wraps by the state authorities.

In 2009, about 10,000 people were rendered homeless after the Rivers government demolished 2 waterfront areas.

Amnesty International (AI) and the United Nations (UN) have called on the Rivers State Government to engage the people of the Njemanze and Abonnema waterfronts, Rivers State, in its plans for the areas two years after demolishing structures in both areas.

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The federal government's decision to celebrate Independence Day within the confines of Aso Rock for the first time sends the wrong security signals.

Editorial: A President in hiding.

President Goodluck Jonathan should not have stayed away from the Independence Day celebrations. By doing so, Mr. Jonathan was sending a strong message to Nigerians that his administration does not have the capacity to deal with terror.

Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, on Friday declared that the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, were grossly misunderstood by their fellow Nigerians.

Fielding questions on the Security challenge in the North, from journalists at the Presidential villa, the governor who was one of the first three Northern governors to issue an apology to the group which has claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks in the country, argued that the Boko Haram group was not necessarily against the Nigerian society.

In his words: "I want the Press to appreciate and let them try to define what Boko Haram really means. Boko in Hausa means learning in English while Haram is something forbidden.

"They did not say they forbid learning in Arabic, neither did they say they forbid learning in Chinese language or German or French.

"So, then you ask yourself, what is this Boko Haram? Is learning Medicine in Arabic forbidden? The average Nigerian Journalist thinks about Islamic sect springing up to fight the society. That is not true.

"The fact is that, if it is fighting Western education, have you ever seen where a group of terrorists has gone to bomb a primary school, or a secondary school or laboratory or even hospital?

"The spate of terrorism we have seen is targeted towards police stations and killing of politicians. So there lies the question what is Boko Haram?

"When you do your research you will likely come up with the fact that Boko Haram is about something else."

The Bauchi State Governor pointed out that the problems facing the country can be solved when leaders realise that their responsibility is to create jobs, put food on the tables of the people, check armed robbery, revive ailing industries and ensure electricity for our people as “ an idle mind is the devil's workshop”.

Yuguda noted that an absence of the above mentioned is what gave rise to the group.

"So, Boko Haram was used by those young men who graduated for so many years without a job and they have first and even second degrees and have stayed for many years without jobs.

"So what else do you expect them to do and what do you expect the devil to tell them?

"But for them, learning in this particular language has made it difficult for them to get jobs. It could be a psychological thing.

"So it is a challenge for us as a generation to rally round Mr. President to succeed. It is God who gave him the Presidency, we must support him by being transparent," the governor said while insisting that "despite the things that have happened, Nigeria’s level of security is not worse than several other countries."argued that the Boko Haram group was not necessarily against the Nigerian society.

The attack took place in Lingyado, a village in the state of Zamfara which sits at the base of the Sahel where Africa's most populous nation borders Niger.

For weeks, the ABSU rape case which involved the gang rape of a female student of the Abia State University by 5 male students of the school has generated a lot of anger, dismay, and comments. Following the furore raised by Nigerian youths, lawyers and House of Representatives member, Honourable Abike Dabiri, the Police in Abia began investigations into the case.

However, barely 2 weeks after said investigations commenced, the police appear to have thrown in the towel.

https://dailytimes.com.ng/sites/default/files/imagecache/spotlight_homepage/Eagle%20square%20Abuja.jpg


The Minister of Information says the decision to hold a low-key celebration was not borne out of fear.

Nigeria is tagged “the world’s most populous Black nation” and is proving this moniker accurate with a steady annual 3.2 per cent exponential increase in population.

By October 31, 2011, Nigeria’s population is expected to be 166 million – 24 million more than documented in the 2006 national census.

Commercial sex workers in Abuja have gotten a new haven in neighbouring Nasarawa State since Bala Mohammed, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), few months ago, gave them their marching orders.

The FCT’s Social Development Secretariat, which was mandated to implement the order, has since carried out several raids, after several attempts to discourage the female sex workers from plying their trade failed.

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/nigeria-must-move-faster-says-mark

Senate President David Mark has admitted that Nigeria failed to live up to its responsibilities, 51 years after it gained its independence from Britain.

The senate president made the remarks on Thursday while concluding discussions on a motion to congratulate Nigeria for surviving 51 years after independence. “We are coming up but I think we need to double our speed,” he said. “…because after 51 years, if you have not grown to become a man, then you have a problem.”

[size=13pt]OPC pleads with MEND[/size]

The group reacts to threats by militants to bomb the Eagle Square on Independence Day

Dr Frederick Faseun, the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), on Thursday, appealed to the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to desist from carrying out its bomb threat on Saturday.

MEND had on Wednesday warned that it would detonate a bomb in Abuja on October 1, exactly a year after it set off bombs near the Eagle Square, Abuja, killing no fewer than 12 Nigerians, most of them security operatives, as the nation was marking its 50th independence anniversary.

Faseun said that the reason for the appeal to MEND was to avoid the loss of innocent lives. “I know that the leadership of MEND cannot get up to threaten to bomb without having its reasons, but care must be taken to ensure that nobody dies,” he said.

He, however, urged the federal government to do its best to ensure that it provided adequate security in the federal capital on that day, and also warned against having any elaborate celebrations at the Eagle Square to mark the country's 51st independence anniversary.

“With the situation in Nigeria today, the best places to mark the Independence Day anniversary are the churches and the mosques,” he said.


Dr Frederick Faseun, the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), on Thursday, appealed to the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to desist from carrying out its bomb threat on Saturday.

A 25-litre gallon of water now sells for between N20 and N25 as against N10 and N15 before the Lagos Water Corporation strike.

LAGOS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank plans to diversify its $33 billion in foreign exchange reserves away from the dollar by switching a tenth of the stockpile into yuan, underlining the momentum behind China's drive to internationalise its currency.

"We are looking at anything to start with from 5 to 10 percent of our reserves," central bank governor Lamido Sanusi said on Monday.

The central bank had already said that it was considering reducing its reliance on the dollar, which economists say accounts for the bulk of its $32.96 billion in reserves . The bank does not publish the currency composition of its assets.

But Sanusi, speaking to CNBC news by telephone from China, said Africa's second-largest economy was not abandoning the dollar and euro. "They are going to remain an important part of our holdings," he said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E7K51OB20110905

The CBN will diversify up to 10 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign reserves into the Yuan.

The policemen went on the ramage after a man killed a police officer while being arrested.

The forthcoming elections of the NURTW in Lagos promises to be bloody as the sides gear up for action.

The Oyo state government tells people who have built structure along drainage channels that they have 7 days to get out.

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/100-million-africans-slip-below-poverty-line-yearly%E2%80%94who

Abimbola Ojo and Miriam Olofu filed a suit against the Federal Capital authorities on various charges including unlawful arrest, unlawful detention and malicious prosecution

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/nightmare-abuja%E2%80%99s-streets

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/two-die-yenogoa-cult-clash

The fear in that part of the country is that politicians are arming "militants" again as the governorship elections approach.

Confirmed dead at the National Hospital Morgue, 7 Nigerians, 1 foreigner. Two of the dead are female. Bodies being taken to other hospitals.

, in drinking Guinness.

Recently in Abuja, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board has been arresting girls arbitrarily late at night. Their offence? They were outside after dark, so they are accused of prostitution.

The story of Hannatu Idris
Analysis by a lawyer