NEWS REPORT

I HAVE KISS A GUY

2009-11-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

’ve kissed a guy... I’ve kissed guys. I just haven’t felt that thing.... That thing... that moment when you kiss someone and everything around you becomes hazy, and the only thing in focus is you and this person. And you realize that that person is the only person you’re supposed to kiss for the rest of your life. And for one moment you get this amazing gift. And you wanna laugh and you wanna cry, ‘cause you feel so lucky that you’ve found it, and so scared that it’ll go away all at the same time."

Submitted by Emily

YOU THIS SIT E FOR MORE FOUR PIC AND VIDEOS

2009-11-21T12:35:00.000-08:00

Watch more funny videos at FunnyJunk.com

WAT FUNNY LIKE THIS

2009-11-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Funny Pictures

By t lion

OH FUNNY

2009-11-21T12:28:00.001-08:00

Watch more funny videos at FunnyJunk.com

by T LION

funy pic

2009-11-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

Funny Pictures

by josiah

Scores dead, villages flattened in devastating Samoan tsunami

2009-09-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Survivors of a deadly earthquake-triggered tsunami which hit the Samoan islands Tuesday have described how they watched the inrushing sea swallow up coastal towns and villages leaving devastation in its wake.

iReporter Alden Tagarino captured this image of the damage caused by the tsunami in Pago Pago.

1 of 4

more photos »

At least 111 people are confirmed killed in Samoa, neighboring American Samoa and Tonga. But officials in the Polynesia region have expressed fears the toll will rise as rescue workers struggle to reach outlying villages submerged and flattened by the wave.

American Samoa resident Frances Faumatu told CNN she had fled to Aoloau, the highest village on the island, as the earthquake shook her house.

"All of a sudden we heard on the radio everybody had to run for safety," she said. "Right after the quake, the tsunami came."

Faumatu and others stayed on the mountain for two or three hours until the warning was lifted, watching as the sea swallowed Pago Pago, island's capital, and then receded.

At least 22 people are confirmed dead in the U.S. island territory. Cars, debris, and parts of buildings were randomly strewn over the landscape where the powerful waters dropped them. See iReporter images of the aftermath »

But in some cases, the sea left nothing behind. "Other villages were taken to the ocean," Faumatu said.

The 8.0-magnitude quake hit the small cluster of Samoan islands in the South Pacific early Tuesday.

In Samoa, the death toll stands at 82, according to government minister Maulolo Tavita. But he said he feared the number of casualities would continue to rise.

Around 220,000 people live on the two main islands which make up the nation of Samoa. The population of American Samoa is about 66,000. See a map of the affected region »

Salamo Laumoli, director of health services at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago, said he feared more fatalities would turn up as rescue workers strived to access parts of the island severed by damaged infrastructure.

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"I thought it was the end of the world," said Laumoli. "I have never felt an earthquake like that before."

Patients at the hospital were briefly moved to higher ground, but they were soon brought back and the hospital is operating, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said. The airport in the capital of Pago Pago was also operational and being used for emergency flights, FEMA said.

"The wave came onshore and washed out people's homes," said Cinta Brown, an American Samoa homeland security official working at the island's emergency operations center.

The same happened on the hard-hit east and west sides of American Samoa, said Brown, who was standing in a parking lot when her sport utility vehicle began rocking left and right.

She said she could hear the rattling of metal of a large chain-link fence around the lot. "It shakes you because you know something else is coming," she said.

The British Foreign Office said one of the dead in American Samoa was a British national, but no other details were provided.

In Tonga, Lord Tuita, the acting prime minister, said at least seven people had been confirmed dead on the northern island of Niuatoputapu. Three others were missing and four people were being treated for serious injuries, he said.

"The hospital on the island is reported to have suffered major damage; telephone communications has been cut as a result of damage to equipment and facilities on the island; homes and government buildings have been destroyed; the airport runway has been severely damaged making it impossible for any fixed wing aircraft to land," a statement from the Tongan prime minister's office said. Were you there? Send us your photos and video

A series of aftershocks reverberated through the region Tuesday as reports emerged of entire villages flattened or submerged by the tsunami. The walls of water were so strong that they twisted concrete beams and mangled cars. See an explainer on tsunamis »

Laumoli said people in outlying villages on one end of the main American Samoa island had been cut off because the connecting bridge was washed away. Listen to Laumoli speak about the impact of the quake and tsunami »

American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, speaking from Hawaii, said Tuesday's quake ranked "right up there with some of the worst" disasters on the island. He said he had spoken to the military about mobilizing reserve forces for assistance.

Tulafono was on his way back home from Hawaii on Tuesday night on one of two U.S. Coast Guard transport planes delivering aid. He told reporters Tuesday it had been hard being away from home as the disaster unfolded. It was a time, he said, for families to be together.

U.S. President Barack Obama declared American Samoa a major disaster area, ordering federal aid to supplement local efforts.

The Coast Guard is transporting more than 20 officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to American Samoa, said John Hamill, external affairs officer for FEMA in Oakland, California.

The FEMA team will include a variety of debris experts, housing experts, members of the Corps of Engineers, and other disaster relief specialists, Hamill said.

The quake generated three separate tsunami waves, the largest measuring 5.1 feet from sea level height, said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Preliminary data had originally reported a larger tsunami.
By: CNN

Soul is the ultimate G-spot for happiness'

2009-09-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Story Highlights
Author says ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's advice for dating still relevant.
"Soul is the ultimate G-spot for happiness," writer translates
Soul mate is someone who nurtures your soul, thereby promoting insight and growth
Pleasure, utility and shared virtue are 3 types of relationships that bring happiness

September 29, 2009 -- Updated 1312 GMT (2112 HKT)

Next Article in Living »

(OPRAH.com) -- When I was a teen, I tried to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. My goal: Memorize its contents, be on TV game shows, win cash and prizes, run away from home, move to Manhattan and become a professional writer.

Instead of focusing on getting Mr. Right, focus on finding Life Plan Right, says author.

I got as far as Asparagus. To this day, I know a little about a lot of words beginning with "A." Some favorites: ants, atoms, alchemy.

Plus, Aristotle was a childhood crush, because I've always loved philosophy. When I finished reading his one-page encyclopedic write-up, I bought books about him. I'd been saving these dog-eared, underlined Aristotle books, as well as the "A" book of Britannica, all to be used in a novel, where I'd been planning to bless my protagonist with the quirky detail of knowing all things "A."

I recently rediscovered these Aristotle books when moving apartments. I flipped through and was surprised to discover Aristotle said a lot of the same things about love and happiness as modern psychologists. Only Aristotle obviously said it first, having been born at least 300 years B.C. Plus, Aristotle said it truly wisely.

Indeed, much of what Aristotle said hit home big-time -- in particular about a sexy, smart, funny, rich, lying, cheating, don't-get-me-started Prince Harming I'd just broken up with. I could almost hear what Aristotle might say to me if we were to chat over souvlaki.

'Sold your soul to be with him'

"Mea bene, Karen," Aristotle would say. "You know what your problem was with your ex? He was not your soul mate -- but your 'sold' mate -- because you sold your soul to be with him. Sure he was sexy, smart, rich, funny -- but alas, he was a liar and a cheat."

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"You're an intellectual guy." I'd correct the regaled philosopher called the "Mind of the Academy" by Plato. "I'm surprised you believe in something as namby-pamby metaphysical as a soul mate!" Oprah.com: 10 rules to soul mate love

"Absolutely!" My fave Greek philosopher buddy Ari would respond emphatically.

"Actually, I sort of coined the concept of 'soul mate.' If there'd been a little TM trademark thingy back in the 300s B.C., I'd be a very rich man today. I firmly believe caretaking the soul is incredibly important for happiness. I describe a soul mate as a 'soul-nurturing mate.' Someone who nurtures your soul, thereby promoting insight and growth. I pushed folks to find soul mates because, in my opinion, real happiness only comes when you stimulate your core self -- and grow into your highest potential. Basically, the soul is the ultimate G-spot for happiness."

Of course, I'm paraphrasing for my philosopher buddy. But if Aristotle were here, I know he'd agree with my verbal modernization. Plus, Ari would go on to describe how he views the world as offering three kinds of relationships, only one of which brings true happiness.

3 kinds of relationships

According to ancient philosopher Aristotle, there are three kinds of relationships, only one of which will bring you true happiness. Find out how your relationship measures up!

1. Relationships of pleasure

Partners who are about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. You share soulless, passionate sex and playful banter -- but they're about the body or ego. They never soul-nurture you with insight and growth, so they never bring real-deal happiness. Oprah.com: How to break your bad man habit

2. Relationships of utility

Partners you spend time with in hopes of garnering status, power, money and beauty like the rich guy with a trophy girl. Again, this is about body or ego and doesn't bring true joy.

3. Relationships of shared virtue

Partners who challenge and inspire you to grow into your highest potential and nurture your soul. A good example is when Jack Nicholson's character in "As Good As It Gets" says, "You make me want to be a better man." When you prioritize seeking a partner who supports you becoming your best self -- instead of crushing on "superficial lures"(hotness, funniness, smartness, success, etc.) -- you wind up with a soul mate/a Prince Charming/a definite keeper!

With this in mind, if you want to be happy in love, you must take time to see past a guy's "superficial lures" and look inside his "superinsidehimself." Unfortunately, those fumes of chemistry can often dizzy a gal into making stupid love choices. That's why it's important to remember: Hot, steamy chemistry eventually fades -- and what's always left beneath is a person's true soul.

Yes, if you want to be happy, you must seek a good-hearted, ethical soul who brings you great growth -- not simply a hottie who brings great grope Oprah.com: The best things to do for your relationship

Confession time: Another superficially alluring quality I've been suckered in by is humor. I am Silly Putty in a friggin' funny man's hands. I once had a boyfriend who teased me that the secret to getting me into bed was to crack five good jokes in a night. He'd count down his jokes as the night progressed. Unfortunately, funniness is a mere decorative quality -- sometimes developed to avoid talking about real-life issues. Which is why in the past, after a few months of dating a friggin' funny guy, I've witnessed all that fabulous ha-ha-ha laughter often gives way to tears when the guy's true character -- true soul -- shows up as one that avoids honest communication, warm empathy and the desire for growth. Then, when I try to connect soul to soul -- heart to heart -- I am greeted by a gigantic, unmovable whoopee cushion wall.

Basically, friggin' funny is only the tiniest tip of a person. Meanwhile, a person's soul is a person's foundation!

For the record: Aristotle wasn't against finding someone friggin' funny or friggin' sexy or friggin' rich. He believed these pleasure-bringing qualities were good for stirring up passion, which humans need to be our fullest selves! But Aristotle recognized "superficial lures" and material goods were simply what he called "means to the ends" of happiness, not "the final ends," which is always to grow into your most esteemed self.

As Aristotle said: "Men imagine the causes of happiness lie in external goods. That is as if they were to ascribe fine and beautiful lyre playing to the quality of the instrument rather than the skill of the player."

Or as I like to say, "It's just as easy to complain about a rich man as it is to complain about a poor man."

Basically, it doesn't matter how rich a guy is if his behavior makes you twitchy and miserable.

While on the subject of money, Aristotle was no fan of slackers either. He recognized that being or dating poor brought its share of problems. He even admitted the lack of a certain amount of wealth was as much an obstacle to happiness as deprivation of freedom. He gladly accepted that some wealth was needed to be happy -- just as exciting bodily pleasures were needed. But again, wealth and bodily pleasures were mere means to the ends of happiness -- these ultimate ends being to nourish your soul, so you can reach your most esteemed level of self.

A big secret to happiness? Stop focusing on finding a Mr. Right! Start focusing on finding Life Plan Right. When a Mr. Potential Right comes along, you must ask yourself if this guy will lead you to Life Plan Right or Life Plan Wrong.

As you get to know the guy, look to see if he:

1. Offers you exciting growth as well as exciting grope

2. Has developed good character -- so he'll be a positive influence on your character development.

If the guy scores two for two, you're likely in Prince Charming territory. Oprah.com: What you could learn from dating 100 men

Adapted by Karen Salmansohn from her book, "Prince Harming Syndrome." She is a best-selling author known for creating self-help for people who wouldn't be caught dead reading self-help.

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By Karen Salmansohn

In Kano, laurels for excellent media performance

2009-09-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

THE grand finale of the 2008 Edition of the Nigerian National Media Merit Awards (NNMA) penultimate weekend may have come and gone, but it has left some historical imprints on the commercial city of Kano. The reason being that it is only the first time it was holding there or any state capital in the North West, it also witnessed two additional prizes instituted for competition.

Besides, the event witnessed the largest gathering of media practitioners, who competed for laurels and over 200 journalists went away with medals. This much was attested to by Prince Tony Momoh, former Information and Culture Minister, who is also Chairman of the Award Nominating Panel of the NMMA. In all, Momoh said there were a total of 44 winners selected from the different categories of media works.

His panel, he revealed, received 610 entries from 442 entrants, as against last year's 753 entries from 539 applicants. A breakdown of the figures showed that 32 prizes were contested by practitioners from the print media, six prizes were won by the radio and seven were won by television journalists from different media in the country. Altogether, 64 prizes were won by over 200 winners at the yearly largest gathering of media practitioners.

Of the figure, 391 entries were received from the print media, as against 532 that were received from 555 entrants last year. He lamented, however that the entrants were largely in favour of Lagos area probably because of the heavy media presence there and used the opportunity to plead for more entries from journalists outside Lagos.

The choice of Kano, Momoh stressed, was partly informed by a deliberate attempt to mobilize journalists from all the segments of the country to identify with and compete with others with the hope of winning laurels that would improve their professional standings, knowing that winners represented the very best of the core of the professionals in the country.

He disclosed that the winners were carefully selected so as to keep to the tradition of the awards which started almost 18 years ago, noting that, the tradition would be maintained as long as practitioners identified with the awards.

Momoh's views struck a cord with that of Malam Garba Shehu, media consultant to the former Vice President, and a director of newly established Abuja-based Peoples Daily Newspapers, who also bemoaned the low level of participation in the awards by journalists from the north.

He hoped, in a chat with The Guardian at the Government House that the hosting of the event at Kano would spur media practitioners from the northern part of the country, especially from Kano to start making their relevance felt in the industry by competing favorably with their counterparts from other parts of the country for laurels.

Publisher of the defunct Nigerian Economist, Dr. Haroun Abdulrasheed Adamu, himself an indigene of Kano traced the history of media practice in the north and submitted that Kano pioneered private newspapers in the north, while Zaria pioneered the publication of government-owned newspaper, as reflected in Gaskiya Tafikwabo.

The host governor, Ibrahim Shakarau said the decision to bring the hosting of the event for this year to Kano was a wise one that would impact positively on the national character and image of the NMMA and would also facilitate the attainment of its objectives.

According to the governor, who was represented by his deputy, Abdullahi Tijani Mohammed Gwarzo, "the rotation of the awards night from one state capital to another is certainly a more ideal way of providing a forum whereby Nigeria media merit awards laureates, who are some of the most eminent media personalities with tremendous skills and first minds can come together. It will also give the members the opportunity to go round the whole federation, thereby familiarizing them with the problems of this country as well as achievements recorded by the states in various fields of human endeavour."

But he used the opportunity to appeal to policy makers in the industry to critically look at the areas that are deficient in the media practice in the country, the important role of the media as the link between government and the people. According to him, it was a common knowledge these days for media practitioners to write baseless and unfounded reports on individuals with a view to smearing the image of the personalities and bring them down politically.

"It is in the light of this unfortunate attitude among journalists, the Board of Trustees of the NMMA should not only reward media excellence among practitioners, but device means of penalizing erring media practitioners who indulge in false reporting and other unethical practices, because it is this ugly trend among journalists that is scaring away some legislators at the National Assembly from the quick passage of the freedom of information bill (FOIB)".

He added that while Nigerians supported the FOI Bill, because of its potentials for enhancing checks and balances in governance, "we need to say that journalists need to do more to convince the Nigerian public and the country's lawmakers that the bill would not be abused."

While admitted certain lapses in the practice of journalism in the country, he, however, said very little could be done to punish erring journalist unless the Press Council is given enough teeth to bite. To that he said all the stakeholders, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); the Nigerian Guild of Editor (NGE) as well as the Newspaper Proprietors should all join hands together to ensure the objective of sanitizing the profession is achieved.

Information and Communication Minister, John Odey, in his remark thanked the Board of Trustees of the NMMA for having been able to sustain the awards, which spanned over 16 years, in-spite of all odds. For him, "it takes an excellent mind to recognize excellence and expressed happiness for them for forging a healthy competitive spirit among media practitioners.

Represented by the Acting Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mrs. Maria Ode, the minister expressed the determination of the government to support the body in everything possible, and lauded the Kano government for agreeing to host the programme.

One feature of the Kano outing was that the awards had increased by two as Shekarau, a former teacher, endowed a Prize for Education Reporter of the year with effect from next year, while Chevron Company also endowed a prize for Oil and Gas Reporter of the year. While the governor placed the sum of N5 million for his Prize, Chevron prize for Oil and Gas was N2 million.

Founder of the African Refugees Foundation (AREF) and former Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Chief Olusegun Olusola, who stood in for the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NMMA, Alhaji Alade Odunewu, reminded the gathering that next year's awards ceremony scheduled for Enugu would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of television in the country.

He, therefore, solicited the cooperation of the governors towards making the event more successful, given its historical importance as the event marking the establishment of that genre of media would be marked in a grand style. The Late doyen of Nigerian journalism, Dr. Ismail Babatunde Jose was also remembered at the occasion.

Olukayode Thomas and Ronke Olawale were among the reporters that won awards at the occasion. While Thomas won the Bashorun MKO Abiola Prize for Sports Reporter of the year, Olawale won the Ernest Sisei Ikoli Prize for Newspaper Reporter of the year.

Other categories of awards that were competed for included the Abubakar Imam prize for Newspaper Features Writer of the year which was won by Adeboboye Tope of the Daily Sun Newspaper, while Omokaro Thomas Arikawo of National Standard won the Olu Aboderin Prize for Entertainment Reporter of the year.

The Buba Marwa Prize for the Defence Reporter of the year went to Olu Ojewale, an Associate Editor with Tell Magazine, who also won the Gani Fawehinmi Prize for Human Rights Reporter of the year; Gbadamosi Kehinde of Vanguard Newspaper won the News Photographer of the year award and Adeniyi Kolawole of Broad Street Journal (BSJ) clinched the UBA prize for Money Market Reporter of the year.

Igbalade Oluwaseun of IT & Telecom Digest won the MTN Prize for Telecommunications Reporter of the year; Babatunde Jimoh of Vanguard Newspaper won the Bukola Saraki prize for Agriculture Reporter of the year, while Taofeeq Kunle Yusuf of Tell Magazine won the Oyinlola Prize for Culture and Tradition Reporter of the year.

Philip Akinsuton of Tourism Digest won the Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu Prize for Travel and Tourism reporter of the year, Tony Manuaka, a Senior Associate Editor of BSJ won both the Intercontinental Bank Prize for Capital Market Reporter of the year as well as the Union Bank Prize for the Banking and Finance Reporter of the year; Ajero Chidi Chris, an Associate Editor with Newswatch Magazine clinched the Lateef Jakande Prize for Political Reporter of the year, while Kelechi Obasi of BSJ won The Guardian Newspapers Prize for Investigative Reporter of the year.

Emmanuel Maya of Sunday Sun Newspaper won the NAFCON Prize for Environmental Reporter of the year; Sam Omatseye, the Chairman of Editorial Board of The Nation Newspapers clinched the Alade Odunewu prize for Columnist of the year, while the IGI Prize of Insurance Reporter of the year went to Sola Alabadan of Daily Independent.

Also, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Prize for cartoonist of the year went to Moses Olorunleke; the Beatrice Bassey Ita Prize for Female Reporter of the year went to Stella Sawyer of Tell Magazine; the Cecil King Prize for Print Journalist of the year was clinched by John Ogunro Julius of National Standard. The Sunny Odogwu Prize for Business Reporter of the year went to Anayochukwu Agbo of Tell Magazine, while the Conoil prize for Energy Reporter of the year went to Salif Alhassan Atojoko, an Associate Editor with the BSJ.

Muyiwa Lukas, a Senior Writer with the BSJ clinched the BAT industry Reporter of the year Prize; Iwuori John of THISDAY Newspaper won the NPA Prize for Maritime Reporter of the year; Nigerian Tribune picked the Prize for the Editorial of the year; Patience Bukola Afolabi of The Week Magazine won the Peter Odili Prize for Power Reporter of the year, while Andy George Umunenze of The Source Magazine won the Aviation Industry Reporter of the year.

The Babatunde Jose Prize for Newspaper of the year went to the Daily Independent, whose editor, Mr. Ikechukwu Amaechi also won the Dele Giwa Prize for the Editor of the year. The WAMCO Prize for the Newsmagazine of the year went to Tell Magazine.

In the electronic category (radio), Aigbe Hilda of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) picked the Radio Presenter of the year award; Funke Treasure Durodola of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) emerged the winner of the Radio Production of the year award; Kareem Temitayo Abolanle of the Gateway Radio Ogun State picked the Prize for the Radio Programme of the year and Raypower Radio emerged the NBC's Radio Station of the year.

In the television category, the Cadbury Prize for TV Reporter of the year went to Deji Badmus of Channels Television; Babajide Maurufonu, an Independent Producer won the Television Production of the year prize; Shiju Alabi of MBI Television won the Television Newscaster of the year; the Television Programme Presenter of the year went to Derinola Osiname of Channels Television, while the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Network News won the Television Station of the year

From Mohammed Abubakar, Kano

MEND picks Soyinka, Akhigbe to negotiate with govt * Nominees okay deal

2009-09-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

A FRESH opportunity to stop the violence in the Niger Delta apparently emerged yesterday with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) releasing the names of those who would represent the group at peace talks with the Federal Government.

MEND disclosed its latest position barely four days to the expiration of the Federal Government's amnesty on October 4. But MEND has emphatically declared that it will not accept the deadline until the root causes of militancy and agitation in the Niger Delta are addressed by the government.

The team of eminent persons whom MEND described as the Aaron Team include former Chief of General Staff, Vice Admiral Okhai Mike Akhigbe (rtd), Prof. Wole Soyinka, Maj.-Gen. Luke Kakadu Aprezi (rtd) and Prof. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde. MEND has also nominated Annkio Briggs to liaise on behalf of the group with the team.

Yesterday, The Guardian contacted Soyinka, Abidde and Briggs who confirmed that they are on the MEND's list of negotiators. Akhigbe who is expected to be the leader of the team was said to be out of the country as at yesterday.

MEND's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said that these eminent Nigerians had graciously accepted to dialogue on their behalf with the Federal Government, "whenever the government realises the need to adopt serious, meaningful dialogue as a means to halting the violent agitation in the Niger Delta."

MEND said that the Akhigbe-led team would have the mandate to oversee a transparent and proper disarmament that conforms with international standards as the current disarmament is flawed and lacks integrity.

"The hope for peace in the Niger Delta and Nigeria in general now rests squarely on the shoulders of the Nigerian government," MEND said.

In an online interview with The Guardian, Gbomo said: "MEND will not heed the October 4 deadline to disarm. This we have stated categorically in our recent (yesterday) statement announcing the MEND's Aaron Team. We are looking beyond the 4th of October because we do not even recognise the deadline in the first place."

He continued: "We are not expecting the government to extend its deadline out of pride and fear of being seen as weak. When our ceasefire ends and the government is still not willing to talk now that we have mediators, then we will do what we do best to force them to negotiate the future of the Niger Delta."

Gbomo accused the government of not showing willingness to dialogue with MEND. According to him, the government has instead continued to make what he described as "wild unrealistic threats, purchase more useless military hardware, and dole out bribes to traitors to our noble cause as has been obvious in its so-called disarmament process.

"Those that hide under the cloak of government to perpetrate the injustice and rape against the Niger Delta have realised we cannot be compromised and that is a major concern to them. But we are confident that at the right time they will be the ones seeking out the Aaron Team to save Nigeria from destruction," he said.

Besides, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has advised the Federal Government to tackle the core issues that led to the emergence of militants groups in the Niger Delta and stop treating the amnesty offer as an end in itself.

INC spokesperson, Victor Burubo, told The Guardian yesterday that the government should be concerned about the reason some of the key militants are still reluctant to embrace the amnesty.

He said: "The amnesty itself, is a contraption of government. It was not a bilaterally agreed matter. It was government that said we are granting amnesty and of course there was a threat of military attack on anyone that does not accept amnesty. The amnesty is not the solution."

The INC said "we are accepting it cautiously as a means to an end. The government is treating it as if it is an end."

He continued: "As long as you do not remove politics from what you are doing, the result will constantly be the same. Right now, there are a lot of factors that have come into play that should not have been the case. If they remove politics from this deal, we will begin to see results."

Soyinka said in a terse response to The Guardian e-mail inquiry: "All that I consider appropriate to say, at this stage is: Yes, I was

contacted, and I agreed to serve in the capacity of Observer."

Abidde who is in the United States (U.S.) replied: "Yes, MEND, indeed solicited my inclusion in the Aaron Team of negotiators; and it is my hope that the wellbeing of the people of the Niger Delta and of all Nigerians will be paramount."

Briggs said on her part: "Yes, it is true I saw the confirmation of my nomination by MEND online."

On whether MEND gave the Aaron Team any guidelines when they eventually meet the Federal Government, Briggs said: "My role is very clear to me".

And to the question on what she hopes for from the talks, she said: "Honesty, transparency, and justice."

Tony Uranta, who also travelled outside the country last week, said that as the Secretary-General of the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS) he helped to confirm the acceptance of all five members before MEND issued their statement yesterday. "I personally got the confirmation of their readiness to serve from Prof. Soyinka, Admiral Akhigbe, Gen. Aprezi, Dr. Abidde and Ms Briggs before and after the Aaron Team was announced.

"We seize this opportunity of The Guardian reaching out to us to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to seize the time and promptly invite this Aaron Team to meet with government, in a bid to speedily resolve the Niger Delta impasse and avoid any further economic or social pains being inflicted on the longsuffering people of the cheated region."

By Onajomo Orere (Lagos) and Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt)

S-T-R-I-K-E : 700,000 varsity students to walk naked in Abuja - Plan to disrupt U-17 FIFA World Cup - ASUU, NASU protest in Abeokuta

2009-09-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

ABOUT 700,000 students from various universities have decided to storm Abuja next month to go naked, because of the strike that has kept all of them at home.

This was made known by the Students Mobilisation Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr. Sylvester Eze, while briefing newsmen in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Tuesday.

According to him, the NANS meeting, which is coming up next month, would be an avenue to show the world their grievances by going naked. He explained that they would be having their bath openly and eating openly in all the major streets and roads of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He said President Umaru Yar’Adua made education one of his seven-point agenda, adding that any government that could not develop its human resources through education had no need to continue in office.

He said: “And for failing to carry education along, we hereby pass a vote of no confidence in the president’s seven-point agenda.” Eze pointed out that the benchmark budget for education by UNESCO was 26 per cent, adding that Nigeria had consistently approved budget less than eight per cent for education with this year’s allocation, two per cent, being the worst.

He added “As part of plans to make government sign the agreement, we are mobilising and conscientising students across the federation not to allow the forthcoming U-17 World Cup to be hosted in Nigeria and so we will do all that we can to see that that event does not succeed if we are still at home before it kicks off.”

Meanwhile, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) of the University of Agriculture, (UNAAB), Abeokuta, took to the streets of the Ogun State capital, on Tuesday morning, protesting the alleged insensitivity of the Federal Government to the demands of the unions.

The peaceful protest virtually brought both vehicular and commercial activities to a halt as the protesters carried placards with various inscriptions asking the Federal Government to implement the agreement, earlier signed with the unions.

The protesters went through major areas like Isale–Igbein, Omida, Oke-Ilewo, and Sapon. The chairman of ASUU, UNAAB branch, Dr. Agboola Adesina, appealed to the Federal Government to go back to the negotiating table with ASUU and sign the agreement on increased funding of the nation’s universities, improved conditions of service for members, among other demands.

The union leader appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on President Yar'Adua, the Education Minister, Dr. Sam Egwu, and Professor Julius Okojie, Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), who were all lecturers in the university system to end the current crisis which has paralysed the nation's universities since June.

Adesina said that ASUU had made spirited efforts to ensure that a conducive atmosphere for learning was created in all the nation’s universities, as he stated that there was enormous decay in physical facilities and that there were no facilities to teach the students.

The ASUU leader pointed out that the Federal Government had failed in the area of meeting the 26 per cent budget recommendation for education by UNESCO as he said that only 1.7 per cent of the current budget was allocated to education.

ASUU, therefore, called on senators, legislators and councillors to ask the Federal Government to sign the ASUU-FG agreement now. SSANU chairman, UNAAB branch, Mr. Olayiwola Salaam, faulted the Federal Government for rescinding the decision agreed on with the union on salary structure, saying that the collective bargaining freely entered into with the union was disclaimed, as it announced a unilateral increase of 40 per cent for ASUU and 20 per cent for other unions.

Salaam explained that the struggle by the unions was not for their personal interests but for all Nigerian youths and the nation at large on the need for qualitative education in the nation’s universities.

In a related development, hope for eventual resolution of the lingering crisis in the nation’s university system came alive on Tuesday with the commencement of the much-awaited renegotiation between the Federal Government and ASUU. The meeting took off at about 7.30 p.m. at the secretariat of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The ASUU executive members of the union, led by its national president, Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie were the first to arrive at about 5.30 p.m. and wait for the arrival of the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu.

Others in the team were the Vice Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Fegge; former national presidents, Drs. Dipo Fashina and Abdullahi Sule-Kano, among others.

Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who is the mediator, came just before 7.00 p.m., while Dr. Egwu, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, chairman of the Federal Government/ASUU Negotiating Team, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, Director, Tertiary Education, Dr. Jamila Suara and other members of the negotaiting team arrived at 7.27 p.m.

Comrade Oshiomhole apologised for the late commencement of the meeting, saying that it was due to another meeting that was held after the meeting he earlier had with the union.

Oshiomhole, in his remark before the closed door meeting, said the meeting convened to revisit the dispute with the hope to finding amicable resolution to the crisis.

From Joe Nwachukwu and Olayinka Olukoya - 30.09.2009

Good example from FRSC

2009-09-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

In a demonstration of transparency and honesty, officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) from the Ondo Unit Command, along the Ondo/Ore Highway, recently returned N2 million to one Mr. Kunle Makinwa, a victim of armed robbery attack.

According to a statement by the Commission’s Public Education Officer, Samuel Obayemi, the FRSC patrol team was operating along the Ondo-Ore route when a Nissan Primera vehicle was driven to their point of patrol by the driver, who had escaped from an armed robbery attack with serious injuries.

Makinwa reportedly handed over a bag containing the sum of N2 million to the FRSC operatives, who subsequently rushed him to a hospital for medical attention. Later, the road safety officials contacted the victim’s boss, Mr. Franklin Aladenika, and the Enuowa Police Station, where it was confirmed that a police officer had earlier been attacked by the same armed robbery gang.
Following a proper identification and evidence of withdrawal of the same amount before the incident, the recovered money was handed over to Aladenika while the injured driver was treated and discharged from the hospital.

We commend these FRSC operatives for discharging their duties with passion, care and high sense of patriotism and accountability. This is not the first time that members of the Commission would demonstrate this type of good conduct. Available records show that FRSC operatives from different units in the country have reportedly returned similar amounts, or those higher in value, to victims of road accidents. They have even gone ahead to return belongings, including money, of dead victims of road mishaps to their family members.

This is a confirmation that there are still honest Nigerians, the strangulating economic condition notwithstanding. The actions of these fine officers should be recommended to the rank and file of the FRSC for worthy emulation. We also call on other security agencies, especially those that work on the highways, to copy the sterling performance and exemplary attitudes of these officers. It shows that the authorities of the FRSC inculcate in their men ethical and moral values that make them value the lives of others, as well as their belongings, even when money is involved.

The police, particularly, whose men also work on highways, should borrow a leaf from the example of the FRSC officers and let it influence their attitude to work and relationship with victims of road accidents. What the operatives have done goes a long way to show that honesty remains the best policy in all that we do, and that there is still hope for this country.

All Nigerians, irrespective of where they work, should be prepared to demonstrate honesty in their personal lives. That is the only way the government can succeed in its re-branding campaign.
Nigeria has come to a sorry pass due largely to the neglect of our ethical and moral values. It is time we re-invoked the agelong cherished values that had earlier guided our attitudes and regulated the way we do things.

We call on the FRSC, and indeed the country and other private organisations, to reward these worthy ambassadors for distinguishing themselves on duty. Let those in charge of national honours also consider Nigerians who have displayed high sense of responsibility and honesty such as the FRSC officers and men. Over time, the list has been saturated with names of people commonly associated with the nation’s politics, in total neglect of the other sectors. The time we are in now calls for moral re-armament and ethical orientation, hence the need to give honour to all these beacons of hope and honesty in our society.

There are many wicked people in govt

2009-09-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

•Senator Adeyemi

Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP Kogi West) is gradually becoming a brand name in the Senate of the Federal Republic owing to his radical position on issues.

In this interview with Daily Sun Senator Adeyemi expressed concern about the budgetary process wants it to be more participatory and people driven in practice.
The former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) now known for his radical ideas in the Senate which has earned him the title of “Senator Radical Solution” is however disturbed about the spiritual disposition of people in government saying; “There are too many wicked people in government that were elected by the people.”

Senator Adeyemi who stood firm in support of the desire of his people to have a Ministerial slot on the floor of the Senate during the Ministerial screening exercise as against the choice of Kogi State government, said that he had no regret standing on the side of his people even as he said that the development put him at cross purposes with the State government that is bent on sponsoring a candidate against him, saying that he is not deterred by such moves since the people know what he has so far done for them.

The journalists turned politician declared that it is ungodly for people to start talking about 2011 now when there are more pressing and challenging issues to be addressed saying that he does not want to be distracted from his programmes for the people.
This was even as he said that the Executive arm of government is aware that there is so much corruption in budgeting system in Nigeria.

Excerpts:

You have evolved radical ideas in the Senate that you have been labeled “Senator radical solution”. What do you really what to achieve with radical solution in the National Assembly?
Over the years, we have been following the same system of governance, the same approach to budgeting and the same approach to solving problems. We do a lot of grammar and a lot of talking and nothing has changed in Nigeria. If you maintain a particular position for about fifty years and it’s not yielding results, won’t you start looking elsewhere? Over the years, our approach to solving our problems has not yielded any result. So we need to evolve a system that is more drastic within the framework of the Constitution so that things can work. So, radical approach to issues, for me, is to abandon the old system of solving problems so that we look at more challenging approach.

They may be expensive, but it’s the best approach; radical approach in the sense of looking at issues without sentiment. In Nigeria over the years, opinion leaders, people in government and the executive have been looking at issues from mundane point of view. The time has come after fifty years that we must address issues with the zeal and political will that is required to succeed. In doing that, you should do away with sentiments. You do not look at the implication of your action, vis-à-vis how people want to interpret it. You look at it from the objective you want to attain, which is basically to improve the standard of living of the people and to do that, you have to step on toes. I’m sure it has never happened in the history of the Senate that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will read out the names of people who were involved in the collapse of banks in Nigeria.

That was a radical approach. We must be courageous enough in solving our problems. We must be courageous enough to dispassionately address issues, rather than looking at it from the perspective that we do not want to step on toes of people. There cannot be any meaningful change as long as we continue to do things the way it’s been done over the years. There can only be a meaningful change in the socio-economic and political development of our nation when we take a new approach, which of course will take into consideration the failures of the past so that we do not fail.

So, radical approach is to jettison the old order that has never helped us and we look at it from the angle of the challenges of governance in the 21st century. Nigeria has been run on a kind of analogue system over the years in the sense of the approach we inherited from the colonial masters. Even the colonial masters have jettisoned those processes in their own countries so we have to jettison the old order and face the reality of the 21st century. It’s like somebody still using typewriter today when already people are going to moon. So, we must fathom a new approach to solving our problems.

Late chief Awolowo said one of the advantages of developing nations is that they do not have to start the approach of development the way the developed nations started. We met developed nations at the peak of where they are. But in Nigeria, we are not ready to meet them at the peak. We are still going back to the process, which the white man went through to reach where he is. If we want our nation to develop, we will not have to be looking at issues from the centuries past of the white man. We will be looking at the level of achievements and development of the white man of today.

Threat to Senatorial position towards 2011
I’ve had cause to excuse myself from passing comments on 2011. I’m still very busy working for the people and because I’m still very busy, I would not want to be distracted. To me, it would be ungodly for anybody to start talking about 2011 by now. Tomorrow is in the hand of God. My father taught me that whatever I’m doing, I should do it very well. So, for me to be talking of 2011 today will be a distraction to me. I don’t want to go into any campaign for 2011. I’m presently too busy fighting for those who elected me. The project I have at hand, which I’m currently pursing here, is to persuade the University of Ilorin to look at the possibility of moving the Institute of Education to Kabba. Those are the things I want to engage myself with now.

I’m a member of the Constitution Review Committee and I want to engage myself more on the problems confronting my people at home – Local Government creation, State creation, looking at how we can attract more Federal Government presence. To me, it’s too early to be talking of 2011.
I’m aware the government is propping up somebody. The people will decide whether the government of Kogi State will have to appoint a Senator for them or the people themselves will elect the person who will represent them. I’m a member of the PDP and the PDP governs Kogi State. The only problem I have with the government of Kogi State was my disagreement over the Ministerial nominee. I had a choice of whether to be a government man or to be the man of the people. I chose to stand by the wishes of my people. History taught me that there is nobody that stood with his people that ever regretted it. As long as you stand by the need and aspiration of your people, you will never regret it. That is what I have learnt over time in quite a number of biographies of people I have read. So, I chose to stand by my people, rather than compromising the position of my people. That is the only offence I have committed.

My conscience is clear that I have represented my people very well. I have defended their aspirations in Abuja. I have equally given them dividends of democracy within available means and I’m sure they are happy for that. if defending the position of my people is the sin I’ve committed against the Kogi State government, when the time comes, the party will decide as to whether I did well or not. Don’t forget that the issue of party ticket is the responsibility of the political party. Don’t forget too that in a democratic setting, there is always an option. If you don’t get the ticket and you are convinced, you can go to court and you can protest. There are so many options. So, what is important for me is not to be distracted over these issues. I want to focus on the programmes I have set before myself for my people and I’m pursuing these programmes very well.

For your information, I’ve provided not less than 25 boreholes for my Senatorial district. As I’m talking to you, I’m constructing a cottage hospital at Odo- Eri. It’s going to be a 30-bed hospital. As I’m talking to you, I’ve just completed a 30-lockup shop at Odo-Egbe market. It cost me some N25 million. I just completed the Oba-Palace road in Isolu town. I’m constructing about three roads in that town and I’m constructing a road in Odu Eri. I’m constructing another health center in Igbagun. Just last week, I ordered 60 cars to be given as empowerment.

Already, 15 cars have arrived Kabba now and a multi-purpose town hall in Kotonkarfe. There are quite a number of projects like that. I want to engage myself more with the needs of my people rather than election. When the time comes, the people will speak and the work of my hand will speak for itself. When the time comes, God himself will speak. God is more powerful than any Governor. So, I’m not going to engage myself on the pages of newspaper against a Governor or a Commissioner who is supposed to be busy thinking of how to improve the well-being of our people but he has chosen to be campaigning for now. When the time comes, God will use the work of my hand to justify whether I should be a Governor or a Senator. It’s not for me to decide. For me, I’m focused and I don’t want to go into any campaign. Let me just say that my people are happy with me and I’m happy that I’m serving my people.

I’ve taken the risk of confronting the State government not out of hatred for my Governor but out of conviction that I’m elected to speak the minds of those who have elected me. There is nothing personal between me and my Governor. The disagreement I have with the Kogi State government is basically because of the fact that as a journalist practicing politics, I can’t allow my people to be oppressed and I keep quiet. Then I have not justified my mandate. You know I served as NUJ Chairman in Kwara, I became Vice President and National President two terms. That’s just very simple background and I don’t want to forget the fact that I’m a journalist.

The issue of budgeting has continued to reoccur in the Senate. In your own view, what do you think are the problems of budgeting in Nigeria?
I hold a very strong view that budgeting in Nigeria is faulty in the sense that it has failed to meet the needs and aspirations of the people and to a large extent, budgeting in Nigeria to me, has not really improved the well-being of the people. This is so because over the years, we have a kind of command structure and military approach to the issue of budgeting. Budgeting must take into consideration the needs and aspirations of the people. But what we have is a system whereby somebody sits down at the centre and determines what you need and what you get down the ladder, which is wrong and, of course, undemocratic. We must democratize budgeting in such a manner that the representatives of the people who are given the power by law, to come with the needs and aspirations of the people participate fully in the initial process. That is when you can say the people’s budget. What we have today is budgeting just for the sake of budgeting. Our budgeting system today is corruption driven and faulty. That explains why successive governments in Nigeria at the federal level do not implement budget proposals to the latter.

Under the Obasanjo administration, I think about 40 percent or 45 percent was implemented throughout the tenure of that government. We have just been told a couple of weeks back that only 20 percent has been implemented in the 2009 Appropriation bill. The hidden fact which no government would want to tell you is that the Executive is aware that this structure we are running is faulty. But none of the successive governments in Nigeria have had the courage to say let us change this approach because doing that probably means conceding powers of the Executive to the Legislators. Until when we have a government that is courageous enough and that can muster the political will for a change for the better that we can have a realistic budget that will meet the expectations and aspirations of the people. So, in a nutshell, what I’m saying is that our budgeting over the years has been driven by corruption. It’s a budgeting system which has legalized and institutionalized corruption and that explains why they are not implemented; and when they are not implemented, nobody has had the courage to take the Executive to court for non-implementation of budget. Even in the process of budget implementation at all tiers of government that are involved, there is element of corruption along the line.

You need to give a legal backing or a legal teeth to the process of budgeting. In essence, those who have been elected should be allowed to say the needs of our people and they should be held responsible when they are not implemented. Until when you do that, the common man on the street won’t have improved standard of living, the common man wouldn’t have his needs and aspirations met in budgeting. So, if we want the common man on the street to have the impact of governance and to have the impact of the Appropriation bill, those who have been so elected by the people by law should be able to come with the needs and aspirations of the people. If it’s going to be in 6 different sectors and you have 2 critical areas in each of these sectors to be addressed, if at the end of the year, the 12 points which is 2 per sector from your own Senatorial District is not implemented, then you have a responsibility to take back and give a feedback to those whose standard of living is tied to those requests.

If for instance the education sector and health sector of Kogi West have two critical projects and at the end of a particular year, those two projects in each of these sector is not met, I am in a position to tell my people why those projects were not carried out. I am in a position to tell my people why they were not met and we now look forward to the following year. But today, we have projects which were initiated by the first civilian administration in Nigeria in the First Republic and many of them have not been completed because there is no monitoring system for proper implementation of budget; there is no feedback and there is no check and balances in budgeting in Nigeria. There are project proposals that are not completed or executed and that’s the end. Nobody asks question. That project may not see the light of the day for another ten years because of the command structure. But when you have a system whereby the representatives of the people are compelled by law to give account of the budget of that particular year, then they can look forward to another year, if much is done in a particular year.

As it is today in this country, for instance the 2009 Appropriation Bill, there are quite a number of Senatorial Districts without a single project. This is so because their representatives are not involved in the process of budgeting. Somebody sits down in Abuja and determines what you get.
You will recall I was the first to kick against the budget in 2007 when it came to the Senate. I said this is not budgeting and I don’t have any input into it. One major aspect that will differentiate a democratic government from a military government is when budgeting itself is democratized in such a manner that those who have been elected are in a position to say these are the needs of our area.

How then can we get the representatives of the people really involved in budgeting?
It’s not a difficult thing. The executive must be determined to muster the political will for a change and the people themselves must show concern. Nigerians should know that the Appropriation bill is meant for them and not for the Executive alone. So, when budgets are not implemented, they have cause to ask questions as to why projects are not done. The first and foremost thing we should do as a nation is to put in place the legal framework for change of budgeting in Nigeria. I’m talking about a bill that will effect a total change in the way and manner budgets are prepared.

Don’t forget that President Yar’Adua was about taking the National Assembly to court to determine whether or not we have a right to insert projects in the body or we are empowered by the Constitution to examine those projects that are coming from the Executive. I would have loved the President going to court so that we get some of these things corrected once and for all, as to who has that power. Is it those who have been elected by the people who are accountable because the Executive is not really accountable to the people? Those who are accountable to the people are the legislators who have been elected by the people to represent their interest.

The President and the Vice President are duly elected by the people but the Ministers are not elected. They are appointees. So, the Ministers do not have power to determine budgets.
But today in Nigeria, it’s the Minister that determines what you get. The Ministers in the Ministries prepare the budget proposal, based on the input from the Civil Servants, whereas the reverse should be the case. The Legislature should submit to the various Ministries the need of each Senatorial district. I would like a situation whereby the Local Government Councils, through their Councilors prepare their budget proposals, take to the State house of Assembly to scrutinize and is then pushed forward to the members of the National Assembly of each Senatorial District of each state. That is when you can have the budget of the people by the people.

The advantage that will give to us is that those who will now be Councilors will be educated people who will know the needs and aspirations of their people and who will now forward this to the State House of Assembly, whose duty is just to vet and scrutinize what they are sending to the National level that these are their needs for next year from Kogi West Senatorial District. It gets to the Senators and House of Reps members. They will scrutinize it and put a covering note back to the Ministers of the various Ministries that are responsible or that are in charge of such requests. That is the way it should be done. If it is not done the following year, you can then revisit those issues that were submitted to the previous year and you push it forward. That is the only way we can do that.

Again, that will equally help us to keep data and information. For instance, how many people are unemployed in your Senatorial District? Once you know that, you have a responsibility to feed the Federal Executive. The Federal Government would be able to collate and devise a means to solve the unemployment problem. But as it is today, we don’t have a proper data or statistics as to how many people are unemployed in Nigeria. Nobody can give you an accurate figure. But if you democratize the budgeting system in such a manner that Councilors, Council Chairmen and Honourable members of the House of Assemblies of the States are involved, then you can now have an idea of the needs of every area. You can have an idea of even the medical problems, the needs in education sector and in labour. All these things would be easily collated and it would to a large extent minimize corruption.

Why is it difficult for National Assembly members and states to look at the sincerity or otherwise with which budget proposals come before them?
I just mentioned to you that sometimes last year, President Yar’Adua contemplated taking the National Assembly to court that we do not have rights to insert new projects in the budget. We made that attempt because we discovered there are lots of misplacement of priorities at the Ministry level. There are quite a number of projects that when you ask the Ministries, they cannot even give you the location where those projects are situated yet they are in the budget. There is something fundamentally wrong about the way we do our budget.

The man who is in Abuja cannot be telling you about Gboko whereas there is an Honourable Member from Gboko Local Government; or somebody in Abuja in the Ministry of Works is telling you that the health center in Ogori-Magogo requires additional ward. You ask him what his statistics is. He doesn’t have it. You ask him how does he know that in Kabba, there are over 2,000 unemployed youths and he cannot answer. Yet, he’s telling you that they are preparing budget. Until when we have a framework whereby legislators and Local Government Chairmen have input in the nation’s budget process, what we have today is a kind of military budget structure, which cannot fit into democratic dispensation.

Is that why budget cannot be implemented?
Again, you have a system whereby there is institutionalized corruption in the process of budgeting in such a manner that it is equally legalized because those who are preparing the budgets at the Ministry level are not representatives of the people. The Minister who is presiding over that Ministry is not elected by the people. He was appointed. So, he’s not going to have the same commitment because he did not stand election. I stood for election. I made promises as to attracting Federal Government presence. I made promises that some of the roads that the late Sardauna started in my place that he couldn’t finish, I will bring it to the attention of the Federal Government. But today, we are not involved in budgeting because there is no law compelling the Minister to ask me what my area needs. So, he goes ahead to award contracts across without asking me which are the areas that my people need government attention.

Why is it difficult to enact such a law when you members of the National Assembly are feeling the pinch?
In a democratic setting, you discover that there are quite a number of issues and interests you must take into consideration for even bills to be passed into law. You need the political will of the party and of the Executive. We are all members of the same party. So, if you want to make a change, you must ensure that the Executive and other stakeholders are convinced in the need for that change.

Have you made that move?
That explains why we are Holding Zonal workshop for inclusive budgeting process in Nigeria. I was happy when I saw the NGOs that came. We need such pressure groups to make things to equally work even in the National Assembly because that helps us to get to know the pulse of the nation on such issues. When you see the NGOs around, you tend to believe these are serious issues that the people would want to see us effect a change. When we brainstorm and get back, I can tell you that I’m going to push for a change. Personally, I’m going to work towards looking at the possibility of sponsoring a bill towards changing the budgeting process.

That’s the life wire of any government and many governments would find it difficult to relinquish the power of budgeting from the executive to the legislature. To them, it’s like relinquishing political power. These are the issues that people find difficult to discuss. Why is it that the budget is not implemented 100 percent and nobody is talking? It’s because even the Executive is aware that there is corruption in the process of budgeting in Nigeria and they are in a dilemma as to whether they should relinquish the power of budgeting to the legislators.

How do we get out of the constant crisis over budget between the executive and legislature?
It is so because there is no proper legislation in place. It is so because nobody questions the Executive. Don’t forget that so many people you see in the Executive today were in the military government in the past. So, they still have this mentality of a military government that is why they get pricked easily on why you are questioning their budget. So, they just expect the legislators to rubber stamp and pass the budget.

By: AMOS DUNIA

Police rescue suspected thieves from cold room

2009-09-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

It was a lucky escape for eight suspected thieves who were locked up in the cold room in a fishing company at Mile 2 area of Lagos, as they were rescued by the police.
The suspects were almost frozen to death before the police arrived the scene and rescued them.

A police source told Daily Sun that on Monday, September 22 at about 2 am, the police got a distress call that some armed robbers were operating in CIC Fishing Company.
The police raced to the scene but the suspected armed robbers had already loaded two trucks with cartons of fish leaving them for the drivers.

Daily Sun gathered that one of the drivers of the trucks was arrested. However, while assessing the havoc committed by the armed robbers, a policeman heard a faint bang in the cold room.
Suspecting danger, the policeman reported to his colleagues who unanimously agreed to force the cold room open.
It was gathered that when the door was opened, the police saw six persons who were about freezing to death.

A member of the police team who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The men were tired and had given hope of survival. We rescued and removed the ice on their bodies and took them to hospital for treatment.”
Lagos State police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, who paraded the suspects at his office in Ikeja, said the suspects were members of a gang that went to rob the company of 360 cartons of fish.
He said the police were at a loss on the disagreement between them and other members of the gang who locked them up to freeze to death in the cold room.

He gave the names of the suspects as Taofik, Rasheed, Rafiu, Saheed, Wasiu and Femi.
Mba said they would have been dead if not for the quick response of the police who stormed the scene after a distress call.
Speaking with one of the suspects, Taofik Salawu, he told Daily Sun that they were invited by some group of people to assist them in loading fish in two trucks.
He said: “We did not know they were armed robbers. They know us as load carriers and promised us N7,000 each.”

On why they were locked up in the cold room. He said: “I don’t know their reason but I am suspecting they did not want to pay us our agreed fee.”
Salawu, who thanked the police for rescuing them said all of them had given up hope of survival as they had knocked and called for help but help could not come. “I was freezing to death when the police forced the door open.”

Help me ! Disfigured teenage student cries out

2009-09-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

•Joshua Egbuchulam

For Joshua Egbuchulam, a 15-year-old JSS2 student of Osusu Secondary School, Aba in Abia State, life is not the same again. The young Egbuchulam was living a normal life until January this year when a sharp object hit his upper nose and disfigures his face.
Thus he is sad as he is dying gradually from the problem which has turned him into a shadow of his former self.

Consequently, he no longer goes to school or comes out to play with his peers as they usually make jest of him by calling him “Pig Mouth.”
Indeed, this development is weighing the little lad down, mentally, and physically, making him to resort to weeping all day, particularly as he thinks about how fate has turned his once handsome face into a monster.

Sobbing, the young Egbuchulem told his story to Daily Sun:
I am Joseph Egbuchulam from Ikeduru in Owerri, Imo State. I am 15 years old and in JSS 2 when this incident occurred. A sharp object accidentally hit me on my upper nose region and it resulted into serious bleeding.
My parents took me to UNTH, Enugu, where we were told that it was the soft tissue, collecting mixed density in the anterior aspect of the nasal bridge, extending to the nasal cavity, and the collection is non-enhancing. Another soft tissue mass is seen in the posterior nasopharyngeal mucosal space. The nasopharyngeal air way is moderately compromised.

After their finding, I was told that an operation will be carried out with 10 fresh frozen plasmas. And that the operation cannot be done without the fresh frozen plasma and that if done without it that I might die as a result of bleeding.
I was later referred to a specialist hospital in India, where the operation will be carried out at the cost of $7,000, an equivalent of N1,106,000.
My mother has sold all she has because of my ill health and it is against this background that I come to solicit for assistance through The Sun, to call on the good people of Nigeria and beyond to help me out of this situation.

Anyone who wants to help me to live can reach me on these GSM numbers: 08064162432 or 07056499575 or alternatively pay into DMC First Bank Acct No: 10130103229101or Intercontinental Bank Acct No: 0011110000717437.
Joseph, indeed, deserves pity and help as his mother, Madam Lynda, is a petty trader, and had as a result of the son’s predicament sold off her articles of trade to see that the health of her son improved, but to no avail.
Joseph’s father, Mr Isaac Egbuchulem, used to be an Okada rider, but has been thrown out of job since Okada operation was banned in Abia State.

His uncle, Mr Dominic, who spoke to Daily Sun, said that when the incident occurred, it resulted into swollen nose, which the family started treating as a minor injury.
“But the more they were treating him, the more it was getting worse. It was after they had spent their life savings without success that they went to UNTH, Enugu where scanning was carried out and it was discovered that one of the nose veins was broken into two. As a result, the blood that is supposed to pass through that vein is now dropping into another place. This has developed into internal bleeding, which collects at a point and flows out whenever it is filled up. And this blood comes out of his nose in a congealed form. It is always very painful for him as he cries almost all the time.
It is this collection of blood that has formed this lump on every part of his face, which makes his mates to call him ‘pig mouth’.

The experts said that the plasma that is supposed to be used for the operation is not even available in this country.
The problem has gulped his petty trader mother’s business capital such that feeding has become a Herculean task for the family.
It is about eight months since this thing started and the boy can no longer go to school.
Until January this year, he was a charming young boy, whose hand is sought for friendship by his associates and fellow students.
But today, his condition has made him an outcast, one who can no longer stay in the company of his school mates and play mates for fear of being ridiculed or made jest of.
Joseph is the third child in a family of five children, three boys and two girls. An upcoming footballer, who, if he lives, is believed, would make Nigeria and the entire human race proud in the game of football.

I see blood! There’s an evil man in the state PDP exco -Prophet

2009-09-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

•Pastor Udeh

As the political parties geer up to conduct their primaries in readiness for the February
gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the General Overseer of Mount Zion Faith Global Liberation Ministries Incorporated (a.k.a By Fire By Fire), Pastor Abraham Chris Udeh, has foreseen bloodbath in the state.

The Man of God also gave prophetic diagnoses of the political problem that has bedeviled the state, saying it was the handiwork of a marine spirit.
In the diagnoses, Pastor Udeh has traced the name “Anambra” to Omambra River in one of the communities in the state, claiming that the evils in the state were caused by the marine spirit in the river.
The cleric maintained that for there to be absolute peace and tranquility devoid of incessant armed robbery and kidnapping, Anambra should change its name which will be preceded by fasting and prayer.

And for the governorship of Anambra State, he said that Andy Uba should be given the chance to govern the state as Uba, he said, has been spiritually ordained to steer the ship of Anambra State to the Promised Land.
Udeh prophesied that blood will flow in Anambra come 2010 if nothing is done spiritually to tackle the marine spirit and other agents of evil plots. Excerpts from the interview:

Andy Uba to the rescue
Dr Andy Uba should be allowed to be the governor of Anambra State. His reign will attract serious development to the state. If it is not Andy Uba, to me, all other ones except Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige are coming to fight for their pockets. The reason is that Andy Uba is self-contented and he is so rich that he will concentrate on real development of Anambra State.
Let him be allowed to govern the state. I’m saying this with emphasis and as a man of God I have seen him spiritually as a man who will take Anambra to the next level. I believe he will deliver. What has been revealed to me is that if Andy Uba steps in he will not want to enrich himself at the expense of state development. I’m speaking as a prophet of God.

Ruling PDP and Anambra State
Even the leadership crisis in PDP will not stop him because his reign is a divine call. Remember that since 1999, the Federal Government has been controlled by the PDP and this means any other state that is being governed or controlled by any other party outside the PDP is in opposition and it will be difficult for such a state to have full share of the national cake. That is another cogent reason. Anambra State has suffered enough deprivation because of being governed by a non-PDP governor.

Look at what happened when Dr Chris Ngige was the governor of Anambra State, he recorded laudable achievements despite the oppositions’ tackle here and there. That was because he belonged to the PDP then and he had fair share of the national cake which enabled him to construct many roads and other infrastructure in the state.

Let Andy Uba be tried. Alternatively, Ngige should come back to continue where he stopped. But the fear is that Ngige under the Action Congress platform may not make it, he may not win election under that party. It is very hard for AC to win in Anambra State because of PDP political machinery. We still need a PDP governor in Anambra because it will not favour the state to be governed by someone who belongs to the minority party otherwise we will continue to be marginalized and reduced to robot.

Crisis in Anambra PDP
I don’t see it as anything that can stop PDP from winning. I see it as something that can be sorted out in a round table discussion. It is going to be settled. You know I’m a spiritual man. There is an evil man that is working against that cohesion of PDP in Anambra and when that man is removed there will be peace in the party. The person is a member of the state executive of the party, but I will not mention his name. I see a man in the spirit at the centre of the party crisis.

Blood to flow in 2010
When there is crisis there is every tendency for blood to flow. At this juncture where there are giants scrambling for a particular position, there must be clash and conflict, riot and open confrontation. There are people who regard the election as a matter of life and death. The state should engage in prayers. I’m praying against the looming crisis and bloodshed. There is need for fasting and prayer in the state.

Marine spirit controls Anambra
As I see it, until we tackle the river control of the state, the marine spirit caused crisis in the state will not finally come to a stop. The secret is that Anambra is named after a river, the Omambra River. The state is under the influence of marine spirit and that marine control needs to be dealt with. A lot of sacrifices are made at the river and the marine spirits there have a strong hold of the spate of kidnapping, armed robbery and other vices in some parts of the country, but Anambra’s case is always worse than other places because of the spiritual attack. The problem comes from Omambra River in the state. I see the spirit holding Anambra to ransom. If possible let the name Anambra be changed to something else.

The samething applies to Nigeria being named after Niger, that is, River Niger. We are the giant of Africa, but this marine spirit from the River Niger also makes the country to remain a dwarf, many Nigerians live in poverty in the midst of plenty, disagreement here and there, corruption everywhere, bloodshed everywhere, evil plots and execution all over the place. If Nigeria’s name can be changed as well, that will reduce the firm grip of this marine kingdom.

Some people are saying that the present government in Anambra State is not working. But let me tell you any governor that takes the mantle of leadership in this state must be attacked by this marine spirit. Let the whole world gather I will repeat what I’m saying now because I’m quite sure of what I’m saying as a prophet and servant of God.

And to make things worse, 90 per cent of the people who are leading as governors are occult people. Do they want me to talk? How can you fight the devil whereas you belong to the devil? You can’t. So, if we can get prayerful Christians, not people who practice denominations, to engage in total cleansing of the state that will be the solution to the problems of Anambra State.

DILEMMA

2009-09-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

…Obuh laments poor state of Golden Eaglets in FIFA U-17 World Cup

Chief Coach of Nigeria’s Under-17 team, the Golden Eaglets, John Obuh is regretting that the job he recently grabbed with excitement is gradually slipping to doom.
The coach has been swimming in the turbulent waters since crisis crippled his preparation of the Golden Eaglets for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup billed to take place in Nigeria next month.

The former Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin coach, told journalists in Abuja that the situation he found himself with the Eaglets is one no coach would pray to have. He pointed out that changing players almost on weekly basis for one reason or the other is not healthy for any coach, not even the best in the world. He said it would take a miracle for the team to perform well in the global cadets’ event when it eventually kicks off.

"Inasmuch as I support the MRI age test, I am of the view that the timing of the test was not right. How can you disqualify about 16 players with three months to a major tournament and still expect to get their replacements to blend and play at an expected level? It is not fair and I must confess that it has not been easy," Coach Obuh began.

"To tell you the truth, I have never in all my years of coaching, face the kind of test and hardship I am going through at the moment, trying to build a team that will at least form the bedrock of Nigerian soccer revolution. I am overworked, but I am not complaining because I am committed to ensure that majority of the players, who will emerge from the tournament, will go on to play for Super Eagles in the near future.

"It is not completely a hopeless situation, but I don’t think I can assure Nigerians that I can win the World Cup with the team I have for the championship.
"We are still building a team when other countries are perfecting their strategies for the World Cup. However, we shall give it our best and allow God’s will to be done," he continued.
"I cannot resign because my job is a national assignment and I believe that posterity will not forgive me if I abandon the young talents we have discovered in the course of rebuilding the Golden Eaglets, who had passed through two senior coaches before me. I see the future of Nigerian football in the crop of players we have in camp because they are truly Under-17.

"I may not win the upcoming World Cup with the team, but mark my words, the boys we have in camp will grow to form the core of Super Eagles by 2014 and they will remain on the scene for quite a long time. True rebranding of Nigerian football has begun and I am happy I am part of it," stated the coach, who made his mark with Niger Tornadoes and Kwara United football clubs.
On his recent playing tour of the Gambia, Coach Obuh said it was a good one, though he did not get the kind of opposition he had expected from the tour, "but it was a good exposure for the players," he said.

Obuh stated that Nigeria is blessed with talented youngsters, who could fly the country’s flag at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup next month, but regretted that he had little or no time to fish them out and develop them to his taste.
"I am encouraged with the progress and talents of the players in camp. That has made me not to resign my appointment despite the unhealthy atmosphere in camp. I am a patriot and I believe in this country, I will struggle to the end," he vowed.

The coach, however, expressed confidence that the country would put up a credible performance at the upcoming Under-17 World Cup despite the recent age scandal.
"The MRI age test recently conducted in the team is good and a welcomed idea, I appreciate it just like every other right-thinking citizen of this country. But now, we have to get together and work harder to achieve our collective goal. We are still very positive about achieving success at the Under-17 World Cup.

"I am optimistic that if the boys put up the same fighting spirit they showed in some of our friendly games, especially the one against the Flying Eagles (the national Under-20 team) recently, I am sure the age test episode will not affect our overall performance in the world tournament," he added.
"The team have yet to get to the peak level, we just past the halfway mark and hopefully, before the World Cup gets underway, we would be close to our full potentialities."

In the meantime, the Golden Eaglets are set to embark on a European tour, which will see them engaging top countries like England and Austria in warm-up games.
"We are scheduled to play friendly matches against Uruguay, England, Austria and the Gambia. We expect to leave the country at the weekend," the coach revealed.
Nigeria are drawn in Group A of the Under-17 World Cup, alongside Argentina, Germany and Honduras.

Cyber crime: Bane to ICT Development in Nigeria

2009-09-23T04:49:00.000-07:00

For Nigeria to use Information Communications Technology(ICT) as a tool to access knowledge and boost productivity, it must rise to fight cyber crime and ensure food security for its citizenry.

Berating the poor attempt by the country in the war against internet fraud, the Chairperson of the African Business Roundtable, Bamanga Turkur, said that many African countries especially Nigeria must rise to the challenge to reduce the menace.

Turkur made the assertion at the three-day African Telecom Development summit 2009 (ATD) in Abuja .
The summit which seeks to highlight ICT development in Africa by forging partnership between the government and the private sector flagged off on Thursday with its theme: Telecom in the Service of Humanity and with special focus on cyber security, food security, citizen security.
However, the minister and Deputy Chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, on the occasion confirmed that the development of ICT would give the country hope in the possibility of change in all spheres of development.

He went further to compare Nigeria’s ICT development with that of China, which he said started at a slow pace but is now one the best in the world.

“We often use the development of the ICT in Nigeria to highlight the possibility of change in Nigeria. One area that has given hope is the development of the telecom sector in Nigeria. In another 10 years, critics that had written off Nigeria will swallow their words. Just as China was written off 20 years ago, he stressed.

Usman advised the Federal Government on the need to create an enabling environment by creating good regulations and encouraging private sector participation.

In the same vein, while lauding the Nigerian government for pioneering the Internet revolution in Africa, Secretary- General of International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, said: “The operators have been equipped to carry out their various services. More than 30 million people in sub Saharan Africa have access to the internet and Nigeria added 11 million more users between 2000- 2008”

Also present at the summit were the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili , who was represented by Mr. Tony Ozodinaobi, Vice President of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe.

Petroleum Minister says oil subsidy will go ... Operator says, it will cause inflation

2009-09-23T04:44:00.000-07:00

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Rilwanu Lukman, who recently put the level of subsidy for petroleum products at about N630 billion, stating that it represents 50 per cent of the capital budget of the Federal Government has said that the subsidy will be removed.

But managing director of Petrogas West Africa Limited, Mr. Joseph Ebigbo decried the attempt to remove of subsidy on oil saying that it will trigger inflationary reactions in the economy. He noted that government subsidy hitherto, made petroleum products affordable in the absence of insufficient domestic production. He insistes that its removal will have adverse effect on the standard of living in Nigeria.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Ebigbo who is a major player in the downstream oil sector in Nigeria called for non-removal of subsidy and non-deregulation of the sector because of its obvious implications.
Only recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi spoke at the 33rd Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Nigeria Council of the Society of Petroleum Engineers in Abuja. He said that the oil and gas sector is crucial to Nigeria for revenue generation, investment and country wide growth and development. Nigeria according to him produced 2.2 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2003. But at present, production is about 1mbd, owing to the disruption of oil operations in the Niger Delta area. Sanusi also noted that the unrest in the Niger Delta, violent protests, vandalization of oil exploration facilities, unsustainability of the performance of local players and under utilization of existing infrastructure as challenges facing the industry.

Commenting on the Niger Delta struggle and the amnesty offer by the government, Ebigbo said that the militants have the right to seek for recognition being the egg that lays the golden egg. He noted that there may be some bad eggs among them who try to pervert the good course. These people according to Edigbo are parading themselves as just apostles were they are not.

"Those who fought for better future for the children and those who are coming after them, did their beat while the struggle lasted but now that government has offered amnesty between 6th of August to 4th of October they should embrace peace. It is a way of interegrating the militants back into the society and the underlying issues of the struggle brought to the national table" he stated.

He further said that the president of the Federal republic Nigerian Umaru Musa Yar'adua has done well by extending olive branch to the militants. Also the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission and Niger Delta ministry is a positive development toward ending the crisis in the area.

His words "These excellent mores by the president is many cost the government a lot of money but that is not compared with the loses recorded so far and the ones that may have come if not nipped in the bud" it is good to rehabilitate and take the arms away from them. Let come to the mainstream participation in the economy of the country".

By CHIMA TITUS NWOKOJI

Slaughtered for his faith

2009-09-23T04:40:00.000-07:00

Emmanuel Ndah, a native of Kogi State, has every cause to thank God. He narrowly escaped death in the hands of his abductors who captured him and another man of God in Maiduguri during the Boko Haram crisis.
Ndah’s escape was, indeed, very narrow because his companion, Rev George Orji, did not come out alive from that evil enclave.

Ndah lives to reveal the horrendous activities of the Boko Haram sect and the inhuman treatment they meted to both Christians and Muslims alike.
An elder with Goodnews of Christ Church International in Maiduguri, Ndah, is married, has a child and has lived in Maiduguri for 15 years. He was the one driving the late Rev. George Orji of Goodnews Church before they were both abducted by members of the infamous Boko Haram sect. They had unwittingly driven themselves to the evil enclave of the Boko Haram members. There, they were arrested, tortured and asked to denounce Christ and their Christian faith. But they refused. Somehow, Ndah managed to escape from the Boko Haram camp, but Pastor Orji wasn’t that lucky. He was stabbed in the back and left to bleed to death. Here, Ndah recounts how Pastor Orji met his untimely end.

Tension
The whole trouble, Ndah recalled, started on Sunday, July 26. “That Sunday morning, there was tension in some Northern states as the Boko Haram violence spread. We couldn’t attend church service since the place was tense.”
According to Ndah, who lived close to the sect’s headquarters, he started seeing strange people in the area the following day. “My house is just about half a kilometre to the place the group used as their headquarters,” he said. “This happened around evening. When we saw them, we panicked because they hid their faces. It was just their two eyeballs that we could see. We tried to inform our people that this was what was happening around us.”

According to him, in the past when such a thing happened, he would make frantic phone calls to the Commissioner of Police and the response was usually immediate. But in this case, he made no calls. “The excuse given by the people around was that the strange group wanted to hold a programme before their Sallah began,” he said. “We were also told that they were angry because government refused to give them permission to hold the programme.”

Boko Haram
“Actually, I didn’t even know this title, Boko Haram, until the day I escaped,” he said. “But I used to know their leader, Mohammed Yusuf. Morikaz is what they call the avenue where they held their meetings. That is their headquarters.”

Terrible Tuesday
On that fateful Tuesday, Pastor Orji and Ndah went to town after breakfast and returned after they had discovered that everywhere was calm. Later in the day, they had to go to town again because Pastor Orji needed to get some things for his children.
“I was the one driving,” Ndah recalled. “When we reached the State Low Cost Housing area, we entered and there was no problem. On getting inside the area, we found out that there were some strange people there. You know when you are driving, you can have a better view of your environment. I told him that I was very suspicious and that the fanatics might be around. I suggested that we should go back.”

According to him, the pastor didn’t argue. But as he reversed, Pastor Orji reportedly suggested that they should check on one of their members. That, sadly, was their undoing.
Ndah continued: “I didn’t even turn; I just reversed the car. There was one of our church members living close by. The pastor said we should drive to her place since the surroundings were no longer safe. We came down from the car and moved to the woman’s place. He asked me to lock the car but I said ‘no’ since we might need to run back. On reaching the woman’s house, we found out that the door was locked. We knocked again; no response. So, we decided to go back to the car.”

Their arrest
As they headed back to the car, Ndah said they saw two men approaching them. “We were very close to them and I moved forward ahead of the pastor. They asked where we were coming from. They said, are you CID or policemen? I said no, I am a businessman. Then, they asked Pastor Orji and he said he was a pastor. Immediately he said so, their countenance changed.”
“While this was going on, I tried to see what one of the men was holding because his hand was behind him. I realised that he was holding a short knife. The other one had a long knife inside his long robe. Left for me alone, I would have said, let’s try and overpower them since they are two and we are two. But I know my pastor, he would not fight. I also thought if I should struggle with the first one, the second one would get me. So, I held my peace and we were arrested.

“None of them knew how to drive the car. They asked me to enter and drive. I entered the car and I could have escaped. But how could I when the pastor was still outside the car with them? I couldn’t leave him behind. So, I told them to allow him to come in. One said they should walk, but I insisted they should go with the car with the intention that once the pastor entered, I would drive off.”
Ndah said that the two other men boarded the vehicle with the pastor. He said that while one man put a knife to his neck, the other did the same thing to the pastor. “If you make any move, we will cut off your neck,” their abductors reportedly said.

“Then, I had one option because I was the one holding the steering wheel. I could run the car and crash it on the wall and kill them there. I spoke to pastor but he said I shouldn’t do that. ‘Let’s go. If we are to die let’s die for Christ. Don’t just kill all of us like that.’ I agreed and so we moved on.”
On their way, they met more sect members. “Again, they came to us. There was one holding a gun. He boarded the car, while others continued holding our necks. At this time, we were no longer scared. I asked the pastor again, what do we do? Should I do anything I could with the car? He said ‘no, let’s go’. When I was still planing on what to do, we saw another group again. T his time around, I knew there was no longer a way out. I tried to manouvre the car. Even before I could do that, they stopped me, pushed me to the side and another person boarded to drive.”

Boko Haram camp
That was how they were driven to the enemy’s camp. On getting there, they were immediately ordered to lie flat on ground.
Ndah spoke further: “They tied our legs and hands and made us lie on ground and face the sun. There was a little boy next to me. Then the pastor gave me the last message. He said where we were about going was heaven. He said: ‘If they gave you anything to drink, don’t drink. If they gave you anything to eat, don’t eat. If it is hunger, let’s die here in the sun. if it is thirst, let’s die here in the sun. if they asked you to change anything concerning your faith, don’t agree. Let’s die for Jesus.’ He repeated this three times. He then said, if he died and I live, I should take the message to his family. He said if I died and he lived, he would take the message to my family that this is the cause that he died for, that he died for the sake of Christ. And if all of us died in this situation, then to God be the glory.”

According to Ndah, he was soon separated from Pastor Orji. He explained how it happened. “When the soldiers were firing bullets towards us, the people asked us to move inside. Because I was still lying down, while Pastor and others managed to move inside. They then bent down and cut the rope on my leg and hands to enable me move. By then, I couldn’t go too close to where the pastor was again.
“Later on, we were asked to lie down to avoid being shot by the soldiers. That was how we managed at that time to be alive for a moment. People were still coming in and we were forced to look at the dead bodies around.

They paraded us before Yusuf, their leader, where he sat like a king. We were asked to denounce Christ. One of them hit me and I fell. Then Yusuf looked into my eyes and asked if I was ready to accept Islam. They did the same thing to pastor and others. But we refused. Those who had agreed to accept Islam were later asked to go over to one side. The compound is very big. There they were also teaching some people how to pray and recite the Koran. Inside there, we had more than 200 Christians and many of them recited the Koran in my presence.
“It was at that point that I lost control of my mind. I think I was in a coma. The agony of me knowing that my end was near was not easy for me. I later recovered and I continued watching the unfolding scenario.

“Many of those who prayed with them that evening were later freed. They prayed and left around 5.00pm. Then, those of us that refused to accept Islam were tortured. They brought another group of people to join us. Before then, some of the people who prayed were still slaughtered outside. Some of them were hit by bullets. Corpses were everywhere. They asked us not to look at them but to look at the wall. But truly, I saw it all. Some of the men were terrifying. They were people whose faces you wouldn’t want to look at for a second time. Even those that handled us, I didn’t like to look at their faces because they were so horrible you would be afraid of them even if they didn’t hurt you in any way.”

Escape
It was in the evening that God made a way of escape for Ndah. “ I could only determine the time based on the weather because they took our phones, money and everything that we had on us. That was the first thing they did immediately after our arrest. So, I think it was about 7.00 p.m and the shooting was still on. They kept asking us to lie down, so that the bullets would not get to us. Afterwards, when they realised that the firing was getting closer and more severe, they decided to confront the soldiers. They took their sophisticated weapons and moved out. Mohammed Yusuf then put on the microphone and called on his people to come forward that the enemies were advancing. It was then that people started running in. At that point, the members of the sect went and confronted the soldiers, chanting Allahu Akbar. As this was going on, those people they brought that evening started running out and that was how I found myself outside.

“Everybody, including members of the pastor’s group, ran and one wouldn’t know who was who. As we attempted to escape, some of their men armed with knives came out of the State Low Cost Housing Estate and were shouting. Some of us managed to escape and I know some didn’t. In fact, I wasn’t feeling fine before then and I don’t know how I ran. I didn’t know if my feet touched the ground. God gave me the strength. The first few houses we entered, they drove us out. Thank God for one boy, he asked us to come in and hide. He was the one that took me in.”

Stabbed in the back
Ndah who is still traumatized by his experience said Pastor Orji was tortured and stabbed at the back because he refused to give up on his Christian faith.
According to Ndah, Pastor Orji never denied his faith even as he was dying. As he lay dying, he uttered his final words. “Tell my people that I died well,” Orji reportedly said.

By THERESA ONWUGHALU

Sallah tragedy: Police recover 4 dead bodies

2009-09-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

The Marine police have recovered four dead bodies out of the 10 persons that drowned at the Lagos Bar Beach on Monday.
The four dead bodies, (males) were identified by the police as Dauda Adejumo, Idris Umaru, Lukmon Taofik and one other whose identity is not known immediately. The deceased were said to be among those playing football on the Beach before they were swept away by the surging ocean waves.

Confirming the recovery of the bodies, the State Police spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, said the bodies had been deposited at the public morgue. He said their family members had come to identify them.
He said the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo had instructed the Marine police to continue to comb the waterways to recover more bodies.

Mba said it was possible that bodies recovered were the only persons that drowned, as parents and guardians had failed to come up to declare their wards missing.
He, however, advised members of the public to report at Bar Beach police station if their young ones had gone picnicking on the beach and had not returned home.
But when Daily Sun reporters visited the Bar Beach yesterday, they saw two unclaimed bodies of some of the victims still lying at the bank of the beach.
One of the victim’s name was given as Idris Umaru. A man, who identified himself as Umaru said he was the deceased’s elder brother.

He said the 18-year-old Idris was only a month old in Lagos. According to him, he just came from Kano and decided to visit the Bar Beach to catch fun, before he met his untimely death.
Friends and well wishers were seen sitting near the remains of Idris, waiting for instruction from the chairman of Hausa community in Shogunle area where the deceased lived before his death, for the next line of action.
He was said to have gone to the Bar Beach police station to obtain police report before the body could be taken to Agege cemetary for burial.

An eyewitness, Mr. Segun Popoola, 41, appealed to the government to bring naval officers to search for more victims.
One Mr. Miracle Johnson, 20, was also seen at the Bar Beach using public address system, to appeal to holiday makers to keep safe distance from the surging ocean.
He told Daily Sun that the Monday tragedy was as a result of failure on the part of the victims to heed to instructions.
One of the victims was said to have boasted that he was a ‘Beach boy’ who had mastered the terrain.

By CHRISTOPHER OJI, UGWUMSINACHI SAMUEL & IFESINACHI OBI

Man loses ear for gossiping

2009-09-23T04:28:00.000-07:00

For allegedly engaging in idle gossip, a Lagos-based man, Udo Edet has had his left ear bitten off by an angry neighbour.
The perpetrator of the heinous act, Essien Effiong, has, however, been caught by the law. He is to spend the next three years in jail after he was convicted by a Lagos Magistrate.

Udo Edet was said to have been rescued by anti-robbery policemen from Apapa division on routine patrol who were attracted to the scene by Edet’s desperate screams.

The policemen, who apparently thought that a robbery operation was on in the area, rushed to the scene only to meet Effiong raining blows on his victim, Edet. Edet’s left ear, which had just been bitten off, lay still on the ground.

Daily Sun gathered that trouble began when a young girl who was brought from the village by a food seller in the area suddenly eloped with Effiong.
Edet was accused by Effiong of reporting the girl’s whereabouts to the food seller.

Angered by Edet’s action, Effiong reportedly stormed Edet’s house with a resolve to deal an unforgettable blow on the ‘idle gossip.’ He reportedly seized Edet’s head and, with his teeth, chopped off his left ear before dealing several blows on his powerless victim.
The Apapa Magistrate Court 6 where Effiong was arraigned has since sentenced him to three years imprisonment without an option of fine.

Magistrate, Mr. B.A. Sonuga delivered judgment in the two-count charge preferred against Effiong.
The first was that Effiong committed assault by giving Edet blows with his fist all over his body, an offence punishable under section 331 of the criminal code cap 17 vol. 2 laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.
Count two stated that the accused person at number “13, Olofin Street, Apapa in the Apapa Magistrate District did grievously harm one Udo Edet ‘M’ of Marine Road, Apapa by cutting off his left ear with teeth and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 3351 of the criminal code cap 17 vol. 2 laws of Lagos State of Nigeria.”

By MATTHEW DIKE

Martins makes Africa’s best 10

2009-09-23T04:23:00.000-07:00

Following his impressive form since joining the German Bundesliga side, VfL Wolfsburg, from relegated Newcastle United during the recently concluded summer transfer window, Nigerian international, Obafemi Martins, has been included in the tenth best African player in Europe.

The Super Eagles forward, who was rated as the ninth African best in the current MTNfootball.com rating, trailed the like of inform Chelsea and Ivorien striker, Didier Drogba adjudged the current best, Inter Milan and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon forward, Samuel Eto’o and Mohamed Zidan rated the first and second runners-up respectively.

According to the report, the former Inter Milan and Newcastle attacker appreciated nine places, galloping from 18th position to his current ninth place, following other African stars like Everton playmaker, Steven Pienaar, Malian skipper, Frederic Kanoute, Chelsea and Black Stars midfielder, Michael Essien and Manchester City and Hawks of Togo sensation Emmanuel Adebayor.

Interestingly, Martins was not the only Nigerian star that made the list, as current Everton captain, Joseph Yobo, Chelsea playmaker, John Mikel Obi and surprisingly out-of-favour Portsmouth striker and Eagles captain, Nwankwo Kanu, were also listed.

While Kanu, who had made a sparingly appearance for Pompey jumped from 20th to 16th position, Yobo and Mikel dropped from 17th to 18th and from 15th to 20th positions respectively.
While commenting on the weekly rating, the report noted: “Another exciting week of European football saw many of Africa’s top players also take part in the opening games of the UEFA Champions League as well as the UEFA Europa League. One of Africa’s top strikers got his goal tally going as Frederic Kanoute scored his first, and surely not his last of the season for Sevilla in the Spanish La Liga.

“The Barcelona midfield combination of Keita and Toure were once again fantastic with Keita scoring another goal from midfield on the weekend as Barca beat Atletico Madrid 5-2. All in all another great week for Africa’s top stars plying their trade in Europe,” it added.

BY ROMANUS UGWU

Ibori fails to stop London trial

2009-09-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

The trial of associates of the former Delta State governor, James Ibori, resumed at Southwark Crown Court in London on Tuesday with Judge Christopher Hardy rejecting moves of the defence lawyer to stop media coverage of the case.

Oba Nsugbe QC,counsel to Bimpe Pogoson, tried to prevail upon the court to bar the media from covering the trial, but Judge Hardy said he had no such authority.

In another ruling Judge Hardy said of Ibori’s application to bar Nigerians from attending the trial,” No need to exclude Nigerians, this case is about them and their country,” just as he denied the application to have the case sent to Nigeria for trial. The hearing continues on Wednesday.

The trial, which began two days ago, involves Mrs Udoamaka Onuigbo Okoronkwo, Mrs Adebimpe Foleyinmi Pogoson and Christine Ibori-Ibie, who are charged with conspiracy to defraud Delta State of Nigeria, as well as related money-laundering charges regarding James Ibori’s alleged theft of $140 million from Delta state.
Represented before Judge Hardy, were prosecuting officers and Ibori’s defence lawyers, including Oba Nsugbe, QC.

The three accused persons who initially sat in the dock, were later permitted to mix with others in the court gallery on account of conditional bails granted to them to attend the trials expected to last up to six weeks or 2 months maximum for fair trials.
Agency reports say the atmosphere in the courtroom was tense.
The legal strategy of Mr. Nsugbe, counsel to Mrs Pogoson, seemed to be to have the case against his client dismissed or moved to Nigeria.

His client is accused of laundering illicit funds through her UK bank accounts, as well as with mortgage fraud committed on her apartment at Abbey Road in London. Mr. Nsuigbe QC recommended that in view of the ongoing legal proceedings against James Ibori in Nigeria, the London trial be dismissed because it would make fair trial “impossible” for his client. But that strategy failed.

Andrew Trollope QC, defence counsel to Christine Ibie-Ibori, read out the bundles of papers received from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one of which stated that James Ibori defrauded Delta State along with his close associates and relatives through inflated contracts, including the supply of 271 vehicles to the government of Delta State and that virtually all the contracts awarded during his position as governor were to extract massive amounts of money from oil-rich state.

He also stated that Mrs. Pogoson established a company with the intention of removing money from Nigeria on behalf of James Ibori and keeping it in foreign accounts, thereby using foreign companies as receptacles for proceeds from laundered money.

Trollope QC affirmed that the EFCC had alleged that (Pogoson’s) MER-UK company assisted James Ibori to purchase choice properties in both United Kingdom and United States of America, and that Ibori was poor prior to the 1999 election that brought him to power. He, however, left office in 2007 with ‘sudden unexplained wealth’ which can be traced to unspecified crimes or illicit business activities.
Demonstrating a wry sense of humour, he observed that investigations had not shown James Ibori to be a convicted bank robber, human trafficker, drugs smuggler or owner of brothels in Lagos or any other part of Nigeria, and said that the source of the former governor’s ‘overnight riches’ could not be identified in such undertakings.

He urged that Udoamaka, with over 107 count charges against her, be extradited to Nigeria to stand trial along with James Ibori on charges of conspiracy to defraud Delta State Government and allegations of theft and corruption.
Trollope concluded his submission, saying that should Ibori be discharged and acquitted by Nigerian courts, it would not be proper to continue to try him and his accomplices in another country and therefore suggested that the proceedings be adjourned and suspended pending the final outcome and verdict of the Nigeria trials.

Judge Hardy dismissed that appeal for suspension of the matter pending the outcome of the Nigeria trial, unless there is fresh circumstantial evidence before his court which may jeopardize the trial.
Lady M Wass QC, counsel to Chief Prosecuting Service (CPS) insisted that the trial must continue in London since none of the UK evidence against Udoamaka Onuigbo Okoronkwo is with the Nigeria legal system and that there is no guarantee of fair trials if they are all extradited to Nigeria for trials.

She further stated that the matter had been altered many times by Udoamaka’s counsel due to ongoing investigations coupled with a wealth of evidence evolving to prove all the allegations against Udoamaka.
Lady Sasha Wass, QC also recalled that James Ibori lied under oath to be a person of good character, with no foreign bank accounts and with no business interests, but drew the attention of the Court to the convictions of James Ibori and Udoamaka over stolen credit cards and an act of theft committed at Wickes Store in London over 20 years ago.

She also said Ibori and Udoamaka are not new to criminal activities and that multiple purchase of posh properties with or without mortgage payment are some of the methods employed to launder the stolen wealth of Nigerian people.
When asked by Judge Hardy to state her request clearly for the Court, Lady Wedge QC appealed to the Crown Court to continue the trials in London and stated that it is “ridiculous and complete nonsense” for Udoamaka and others to be claiming ignorance of the source of James Ibori’s sudden unexplained wealth.

Criteria for conditional bails include the defendants surrendering their passports, not traveling within 300 meters of airports and seaports, reporting at the nearest police station every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and not applying for fresh passports or any international travel documents pending the final verdict of the trials.

By EMMA EMEOZOR with Agency report

Bank MD loots N97bn • Invests N12bn depositors’ funds in personal firm

2009-09-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Following the second round of banks’ audit exercise conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), officials of the apex bank found that a managing director (name withheld), whose shareholders have strong political influence in the current administration, allocated to himself share capital of N85 billion that is yet to be paid up.

Daily Sun source also revealed that the same MD allocated shares to a local airline to the tune of N18 billion as corporate investments. The airline, the source said, denied knowledge of the deal. The bank MD is also alleged to have invested N12 billion depositors’ funds in a supposed subsidiary of the bank.

The source said the company was found to be the MD’s private firm. The conclusion of the latest audit has already sparked fear in the financial sector. The CBN examiners were said to have concentrated on liquidity; loan verification such as loans to stockbrokers, petroleum products importers, performing and non performing loans; corporate governance issues; processes and resources spent on information technology.

The funding is contrary to CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido’s conclusion that the remaining banks were not as bad as the others.
According to him, he did not expect many surprises as the remaining 14 banks were not significantly different but latest development had proven him wrong.
It was gathered that the apex bank was yet to conduct what they described as forensic accounting investigation on any of the 24 banks in the country.

The managing director of at least one bank has reportedly visited the State Security Service (SSS), to deposit his passport. This is to prevent him from travelling abroad.
Bankers are of the view that two or three banks may be affected by the decision of Mallam Lamido not to allow family banks in the country anymore.
The CBN governor’s policy to end family owned banks, the bankers believed, may be partly responsible for the fate of Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank, seen as being dominated by the personality of their managing directors.

Sanusi at a forum on Wednesday while briefing capital market operators warned that CBN would not allow banks to be run as a sole proprietorship but as institutions that would imbibe the tenets of good corporate governance, promising to treat shareholders of the affected banks fairly and also ensure that, henceforth, banks in the country were run as institutions rather than as sole proprietorships.

Sanusi also allayed fears of nationalizing the five troubled banks whose managing directors and executive directors were sacked following their gross misuse of shareholders’ funds and inability to meet up with other banking statutory obligations.

The governor said the results of the remaining banks would be made known in October 2009, but opined that their results would be better than those of the 10 banks examined earlier from which five were summarily sacked.
The CBN governor had on August 14 sacked the managing director of and executive directors of Afribank Plc, Finbank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc. The examination was conducted by a joint team of CBN and NDIC officials.

According to the CBN audit the major findings on the five banks were excessive high-level non-performing loans, which led to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices, leaving the percentage of non-performing loans from 19 per cent to 48 per cent. The five banks will, therefore, need to make additional provision of N539.09 billion.

The total loan portfolio of these five banks was N2, 801.92 billion. Margin loans amounted to N456.28 billion and exposure to oil and gas was N487.02 billion. Aggregate of non-performing loans were N1,143 billion representing 40.81 per cent. The five banks accounted for a disproportionate component of the total exposure to capital market and oil and gas, thus reflecting heavy concentration to high risk areas relative to other banks in the industry.

The five banks were either perennial net-takers of funds in the inter-bank market or enjoyed liquidity support from the CBN for long periods of time, a clear evidence of liquidity problem. In other words, these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market.

Further checks revealed that the outstanding balance on the EDW of the five banks amounted to N127.85 billion by end July 2009, representing 89.81 per cent of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 2, 2009. Their liquidity ratios ranged from 17.65 per cent to 24 per cent as at May 31, 2009. The banking regulatory minimum is 25 per cent as spelt out by the apex bank.

By MADUKA NWEKE

Imbibe lessons of Ramadan –David Mark, German govt

2009-09-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Senate President, Senator David Mark has urged Muslim faithful and Nigerians alike to imbibe the true lessons of Ramadan, saying that the lessons of denials and sacrifices must not be lost in the haze and euphoria of festivities.

Senator Mark who stated this in his goodwill message to Muslims on the celebration of the Eid-el Fitri stressed that the lessons of piety, forgiveness, true repentance, love and good neighbourliness learnt during the fasting period should be manifestly demonstrated now and in the future.

Mark therefore counselled that these good virtues most not end with the celebration but should become an integral part of our daily lives even as he lamented on the nation’s recent ugly experience with the Boko Haram crises, pointing out that the crises should also awaken Nigerians to the fragility of nation state.

According to Senator Mark; “the lesson the Boko Haram crisis teaches us is that we must be accommodating to one another, irrespective of religion, sex or tribe but above all, it is our collective responsibilities to jealously guard our unity and uphold the sanctity of our brotherhood as Nigerians.”
Also, the German government has said Muslims commitment to the lessons of Ramadan should be a shining example and hope it will lighten the way towards a sincere and heartfelt global partnership.
This was contained in a message of greetings from the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued through the German embassy in Abuja on the occasion of Bayram/Eid el-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan.

The release reads in part: “I wish all our Muslim fellow citizens in Germany, and indeed all our Muslim friends across the world, a happy and blessed Bayram/Eid ul-Fitr!
“On this religious festival my best wishes go out to all those who, on the basis of their beliefs, are committed to exchange, respect and better understanding between people.
“May your commitment be a shining example to us all, lightening the way towards a sincere and heartfelt partnership. It is the foundation for peace and prosperous coexistence, in Germany as in the rest of the world. With this in mind, I hope you, your family and friends have a happy holiday.

By: EMMA EMEOZOR, Lagos AMOS DUNIA