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Can man cause rainfall? Yes! we do it

2012-04-21T14:20:00.003-07:00

The weather was windy and cloudy; humidity and visibility became bad. It could be a sign of heavy rainfall. Those who saw the signs embarked on a last minute rush to get to their destinations.

Traffic became unruly as motorists meandeared to get out of the gridlock as a result of the impending downpour. But suddenly, it began to clear, and the hitherto ominous dark clouds became cloudless. It was amazing that even without a light shower, the weather became clear once again. Could that be the manipulation of the rainmakers?

Last year, a team of famous rainmakers from Edo State led by one Osarobo Enogie was invited to England to attend the Royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton despite the snubbing of Nigerian former president, his vice and other first ladies. The rainmakers were honoured and accomodated in Windsor Castle just to ensure it did not rain within the duration of the Royal Wedding.

Critics may scoff and skeptics may laugh, but rainmakers are becoming more popular by the day. It is an amazing thing that an individual can invoke the god of rain and request him to send down the rain and he obeys or invoke that the impending rain should cease. This is common in areas where celebrations and social functions are being threathened by rain. Although there is widespread skepticism among scientists toward such weather modification efforts, the practice remains common with the traditional priests, sorcerers and clerics.

There are special people who have the inspiration or power to perform the art of rain making just as the methods of doing it differ from place to place and according to the needs. Saturday Vanguard spoke with Nigerians on the practice of rain-holding. Many of them believe that weather modification, as it seeks to change local weather either through the native means, prayer or spiritual means and scientific methods are possible.

How it works

Different rainmakers use different methods in either holding down the rain or causing it to rain. A native doctor who does not want to be identified as a rain-holder Kamuope Alabi said weather alteration is mostly done in the native ways by using leaves, shrubs and herbs. “we can use leaves, roots with some incantations to drive away the rain. If it is cloudy, once we match some leaves together and put it in a basin facing the direction where we want it to go, in few minutes, you will see the result and it will not rain.”

Alabi who refused to mention the leaves and shrubs used in clearing the weather said he could rig a thunderstorm out of a desert but he does not do it for a fee as it against the interest of his gods insisting that he only does it to benefit his people. “If a close relation is having a social function in an open place and it is being threathened by the rain, I can do it or if some people beseech me to do it in their favour, I will do it. But I don’t do it to exploit people at social functions. I don’t charge a fee either. It is against the gods.” He stressed that some of those who have the power to make rain no longer use the power for the right purpose; adding that some of them use the power to intimidate people by sending down the rain when they have occasion to celebrate unless the celebrant gives them money as a form of bribe.

Another raindoctor who does not want his name in prints said; “the rainmaker would enter the bush and pluck leaves, stems and even roots of plants, shrubs and grasses. The combination of these are burnt in fire and as soon as the smoke goes to the sky, the rain starts pouring.” The rainmaker who is a graduate of Geography from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said the modern method uses a kind of stone called ‘crystal stone.

“Modern method uses a type of stone often referred to as the crystal stone.” According to him, “the stone is washed and as soon as the stone starts glazing, the sky starts changing and soon rain starts.” He added that the method is dangerous because it often attracts heavy thunderstorm.

Religiously speaking, Clerics however employ the prayer method in the holding and causing the rain to fall. A muslim cleric who does not want his name in print said: “prayers can do all things and it is on this basis that I believe it can be done.” He stated that the act should not be encouraged because rainfal is one of the mercies of God and should not be inhibited, adding that those who do it for economic gain might incur the wrath of God someday.

Pastor Peter Diji of the Fountain Bible Church hinged the possibility of man causing rainfall on the will of God. “It is possible if it is the will of God. But, if it is not, there is nothing like holding rain or causing it to fall.”

Pastor Moses Ojedokun of Gospel of Peace, Lagos shared the same view. He stated that nobody can do that at will, if God refuses it but agreed that it is only possible through prayer. “When a Christian prays to God maybe due to some genuine circumstances, God can answer such prayers. But, nobody at will can stop rain.”

Pastor Bisi of Mountain of Transformation Ministry explained that there was an example of that in the bible where Elijah stopped and caused rain to fall while also submitting that it is according to the dictates of God.

Scientifically, an environmentalist and Chief consultant of Adibe firms and Co. Tunde Olatunji said it is possible. He hinted that he was taught while in school and that the experiment can be performed by anybody. “You can inject silver iodide or similar substance into the atmosphere. The chemicals like ice nuclei, or the particles serve as surfaces for condensation to occur (where gas turns into a liquid). If the condensation creates large enough water droplets, rain will fall.” he stated.

He said that ionization could be set with several emitters that can send millions of cloud-forming ions into the atmosphere. In theory, ions, or charged particles, attach to the condensation nuclei in clouds, enable them to survive longer in the atmosphere. The longer they survive, the more time water droplets have to grow on their surfaces.

He added that one can monitor the cloud-forming effects by radar, satellite, adding that these are what the the meterologists used in making their predictions about weather conditions.

Anthony Ehis, a meterologist corroborated the view of Olatunji but stated that the native and the local priests method of using leaves, shrubs and herbs is unacceptabe saying that their claims have not been exposed to scientific evaluation and therefore cannot be accepted as anything new. “It is very sad that rain enhancement by using herbs and other native methods have no scientific basis and have not been exposed to a scientific evaluation.”

Cloud seeding

Olatunji opined that scientifically, cloud seeding is one of the methods used to cause rainfall. According to him, Cloud seeding is the process of spreading either dry ice, or more commonly, silver iodide aerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and form rain. “Cloud seeding has been used to change the structure of clouds by dispersing substances into the air, potentially increasing or altering rainfall.”

He maintained that “there is much controversy surrounding the efficacy of cloud seeding, and evidence that cloud seeding leads to increased precipitation on the ground is highly equivocal. One difficulty is knowing how much precipitation might have fallen had any particular cloud not been seeded.”

“I think up until now the limiting factor has been our inability to engender substantive proof that the technology works, at least in the eyes of some in the meteorological community who remain skeptical,” says Olatunji, who believes that some of the construction companies engage in the act in order to increase the pace of work amidst inclement weather condition.

Gunmen kill trader in Maiduguri

2012-04-12T17:10:00.002-07:00

Maiduguri— Unidentified gunmen on yesterday killed another trader at the Monday market in Maiduguri.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the incident came barely a week after seven persons were shot dead at the same market.

Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, on Operation Restore Order, ORO, who confirmed the incident in a statement in Maiduguri, said it took place around 1245 hours.

He said: “One person was shot dead by unknown gunmen at the Monday market at about 1245 hours. The area where the incident happened has been cordoned off and searched.

“Foot patrol has been intensified to avoid stampede and troops assisted people to get out of the market, while efforts are on to get the culprits.”

He, however, added that the JTF had not made any arrest on the incident.

Meanwhile, a similar incident was witnessed at the Gamboru market where a trader was allegedly shot around 2 pm in a shop.

A trader, Malam Sani Umar, said the market was closed by the JTF shortly after the incident.

He said: “We spent about 30 minutes in the market as all gates were closed by the soldiers in search of the perpetrators.

“But we were allowed to leave after being searched.”

DOCTORS’ STRIKE: Lagos to bear healthcare bills of patients in private hospitals

2012-04-12T17:08:00.003-07:00

AS the strike called by the Medical Guild, doctors under employment of Lagos State Government enters its third day; the State government has offered to pick up the bills of patients referred from its hospitals to private hospitals.

To this end, the state government has identified some private hospitals that could offer secondary care to serve as rescue centres for patients in critical conditions who cannot be handled at the state owned-hospitals due to the strike.

Lagos State Governor, Fashola

Two hospitals around Ikeja area of Lagos, Shepherd Medical Centre and Unity Hospital, have been designated by the state government to treat all referral cases from LASUTH.

Addressing journalists on services available at LASUTH, the Chief Medical Director, Prof Adewale Oke, who said the decision of government was to forestall loss of lives as a result of the industrial action, however, confirmed that no life has been lost at the hospital since the strike began.

His words: “The Ministry of Health has identified some private hospitals all over Lagos for this rescue mission. But Unity Hospital and Shepherd Medical Centre will handle referral cases from LASUTH and Lagos State government will foot the bill.”

Oke noted that the rescue centres had become necessary because the state-owned hospitals can no longer run full hospital services as a result of the strike and skeletal services rendered by some consultants was like a drop in the ocean.

Explaining the situation at LASUTH, he said: “Since the strike started the hospital has made necessary arrangements to ensure that emergency cases and patients in the wards are taken care of. What we have done here is to ensure that emergency departments are running. We have a fair coverage to ensure that no life was lost unnecessarily.”

Oke who said that at least two or more consultants (senior doctors) were stationed in all the departments since the strike started, added: “To sustain emergency services we posted some consultants to run the Surgical Emergency unit, Paediatric Emergency unit, Out-patient Emergency unit and other emergency units in the hospital. We hope that by the end of the warning strike, dialogue between doctors and government will yield results so as to prevent continuation of the action.

“Doctors erred in execution of the strike by not following the labour law by issuing the government at least 15 days notice before downing tools. Government was only given a day notice before the action which is not the procedure.”

Explaining the bone of contention, he said the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale, CONMESS, which is the major issue for the strike, was already being paid in Lagos at the same level with federal government, “but we cannot implement it step by step across the levels because of the large number of doctors in Lagos state employment.”

Speaking, Director of Clinical Services and Training, LASUTH, the Dr Bode Ogunbanji, said that the biggest challenge Lagos State had in implementing any salary structure including CONMESS was number of doctors in its employment which he claimed was bigger than that of other states.

On why there were no ward rounds yesterday, he said: “When you have an emergency situation like this, you do not expect to have ward rounds, if there is any emergency, the management team will be called to attend to the cases that require emergency care. They will call me or any other management staff to sort it out. Nothing like that happened yesterday. You cannot run ward round in all the departments in emergency to send a team of doctors to take care of the situation.”

On heavy presence of armed policemen, he said they were there to prevent any eventuality and not to arrest anybody. However, a walk round the hospitals, yesterday, revealed that the heavy presence of the police witnessed on day one of the strike had disappeared. But patient load has drastically reduced. Patients in Lagos have continued to face hard times as many patients facing ill health conditions, which visited public hospitals to seek health care were turned back from hospitals due to the non availability of doctors to attend to them.

When Vanguard visited the Lagos State University Teaching Hospitals (LASUTH), Ikeja, yesterday, only emergency cases requiring urgent medical attention, were being attended to by a few consultant doctors who were assisted by nurses and other medical workers.

Similarly, at the General Hospital Lagos, Isolo General Hospitals, General Hospital, SuruLere, and others, the situation was the same, but the large number of patients who used to swarm the hospitals was drastically reduced.

Investigations revealed that the patients stayed away following the news of the doctors’ strike. Many of the patients are now seeking healthcare in private and Federal Government owned hospitals.

Two brothers beheaded for murder

2012-04-09T16:43:00.002-07:00

RIYADH (AFP) – Two brothers sentenced to death for murdering a fellow Saudi were decapitated by the sword in the city of Jeddah on Monday, the interior ministry said.

Mohammed and Selim al-Madhiribi al-Shamali were convicted of hitting Saad al-Madhiribi on the head with a hammer and then stabbing him to death in a business dispute, it said in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA.

Their beheadings took to 19 the total number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Under the AFP count, at least 76 people sentenced to death were beheaded in 2011, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79.

The death penalty is handed down in Saudi Arabia, which applies strict sharia (Islamic) law, for a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking as well as murder.

How Obasanjo used govs, ministers for 3rd term project

2012-04-09T16:41:00.003-07:00

LAGOS — Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s denial of his involvement in the third term tenure controversy roiled on at the weekend with key figures in the opposition to the proposal unfolding how he mobilised the machinery of government to advance the proposal.

Former presidential aide and member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Usman Bugaje, and another former House member, Ms. Temi Harriman, narrated how governors and key officials of the Obasanjo administration were mobilised and intimidated to coerce the lawmakers to adopt the proposal.

At a point, according to Harriman, ministers of the Obasanjo government were put under pressure to ensure that National Assembly members from their states supported the enactment.

*Obasanjo

Harriman toldVanguard how she was brought under pressure to the fact that she was endangering the position of the then Minister of State (Defence), Dr. Rowland Oritsejafor.

Ibori’s threat on N50m rejection

She also disclosed that the then governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, told her that there would be no future for her if she declined the alleged N50 million incentive for supporting the proposal.

Harriman represented Warri, Delta State, Federal Constituency between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of PDP and was the only PDP member in the House from the South who came out against it.

She said: “They were phoning my mother in London, they were phoning my dad, they were using traditional rulers, all ministers had to deliver and they said that if I didn’t support that, Oritsejafor was going to be sacked and eventually he was removed.

“We didn’t stay in our houses just to be careful, especially those of us that were running the secretariat. My governor at that time, James Ibori, when he learnt of my opposition and that I was rejecting the N50 million sent to me, phoned me that there was no future for me in PDP if I didn’t support it and that I should collect the money. I now called the emissaries who were the leaders of the South-South caucus at that time and told them that ‘if any body dared to collect any money on my behalf that I will call a press conference to expose them.’”

Bugaje, who was the chairman of the 2007 Movement which comprised members of the House of Representatives opposed to third term said: “He (Obasanjo) is a pathetic liar, the whole world knows. What about the money that was distributed by (senator, names withheld), a former presidential aide?

“How can he talk like this. Everybody knows that he did everything short of killing some of us. I know people who were pursued even in hospitals.

“When were going to hold a meeting against third term, you would remember that Victor Lar, who is now a senator had to hide for nearly three days because they wanted to arrest him. My private office was burgled and they picked an American intern and the American embassy had to rescue him. So, how can he say that he did not?

Mantu’s role

“What about Mantu, who asked Mantu to do what he did? Mantu was chairman of the constitution review panel and they did what they did in Port Harcourt and Bawa Bwari, the former chief whip, told of how they were excluded from the deliberation.

“Even EFCC refused to follow our alert when they were distributing the N50 million. We followed them, we gave them the vehicle number- plates and yet they refused to acknowledge or follow up our lead.

”Who else would have been able to mobilise SSS, EFCC, Police and others for this other than the President? So, it is an outright lie and he should not add to the crimes he has already committed by lying to the Nigerian people.”

EASTER TRAGEDIES: 58 die in bomb blast, church collapse

2012-04-09T16:39:00.003-07:00

KADUNA—The ceaseless bloodletting that has been the lot of some Northern parts of the country coloured the Easter celebrations, yesterday, throwing several families in Kaduna and Makurdi into mourning. 58 persons died when a suicide bomber killed 36 persons in Kaduna even as 22 others lost their lives in Makurdi as a church building collapsed on worshippers during Easter vigil mass.

The tragedy in Kaduna occurred, yesterday, when a car loaded with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded with a suicide bomber at the busy Sardauna Crescent Junction, Kaduna killing not less than 20 people on the spot. 16 others were later confirmed dead in several hospitals less than two hours after. Several others were also injured.

Eye wirness account said five minutes before the incident, the car had approached the 1st ECWA Goodnews church, on Gwari Road close to the scene of the incident, but the desperate move by the driver to force his way through a blockade was frustrated by the Police.

When Vanguard arrived the scene of the blast about 45 minutes after, part of charred remains of the car engine, said to be a Honda Accord 2003(EOD) model with number plate BB111DKA, was seen about 500 metres from the point of the explosion which occured directly opposite Fina White Hotel.

Junction Road, by Sardauna Crescent, the place the explosion occurred In Kaduna, yesterday

The explosion dug a crater about two feet deep. It brought down the roof of Fina White Hotel.

See more photos here

A couple and their two year-old baby, the only guests at the time, came out of the hotel unhurt.

It was estimated that at least 60 buildings within 500 metres radius of the blast may need to be rebuilt.

Eight cars and scores of commercial motorcycles were either burnt or severely damaged.

Thousands of onlookers resisted concerted attempts by soldiers to keep them away from the scene that was cordoned off to both human and vehicular movement.

The smell of burnt human flesh still filled the air, while officials of the Red Cross, and Federal Road Safety Corps picked up human remains into body bags. Human blood mixed with engine oil was noticed on the tarred road.

It was a gory spectacle. But it could have been worse had the intended target been hit – a church with thousands of worshippers.

How ECWA Church was spared

Mr Francis Markus, a security man attached to 1st ECWA Church, Gwari Road narrated how he innocently warded off the bomber with a few police men when he spoke to newsmen close to the Church yesterday.

He said: “It was about 10 am when I saw a man coming to this street, and said he wanted to pass. I told him that he cannot pass because the church service was going on, we don’t normally allow cars to pass when service is going on because of the insecurity in the area. I advised him to pass after the church service. He insisted that he was going to his house. Then I said which of the houses are you talking about? He pointed at that upstairs building (pointing at one storey house painted in green on the street).

And I know so many people in the house, but for him and the car, I didn’t recognize his face because I work here every Sunday. I didn’t recognize his face. I stopped him from passing through the street. But he pointed at another house, saying that, that was where he wanted to go. He came through Arochukwu Road at about 9.45am. He drove in a Honda Accord ash-coloured car.

I told him that he cannot pass through here. He accused me of violating his rights for not allowing him to go to his house. I asked him to wait till after church service before he could pass, but he insisted that he must pass. We dragged this for some minutes. He entered the car and reversed and drove towards me. Yet I stood my ground and held the iron which we used for the road block. He hit the iron against me.

“Luckily enough, one of my church members came with his bike, parked and intervened. At this point we noticed that the man was having an army uniform on the back seat of his car, and an army cap by the rear wind screen. Then I told him that as an Army officer for him to behave that way, ‘you are a disgrace to the Army. You are misbehaving.

“As we were talking, the police men that were posted to the church saw what was happening between me and the man. They walked over and helped me to drive the man away. But within three to five minutes, we heard the explosion across the road, along Junction Road. It was the same car that came here.”

Five killed - Police

Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar however brought a curious twist to Markus story later in the afternoon.

Said Jinjiri: “Situation report indicated that today (yesterday), April 8, 2012 at about 8:45hours, intelligence report received said two suspected vehicles heading towards Kakuri / Sabon Tasha axis exploded while on transit.

“The two vehicles were pursued by Detective Corporal Francis Marcus, and then suddenly one of the vehicles hit the other, thereby causing a serious bomb explosion between the two vehicles on Junction Road by Sardauna Crescent in Kaduna.

“The bomb explosion was massive which resulted in the death of the suicide bomber and 5 persons with 16 injured victims who were passers-by.

“Police and other security agencies are investigating the issue and final report will soon be made public”.

36 killed, 13 injured— SEMA

But the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Abubakar Zakari Adamu had earlier given newsmen his version of the explosion which most people agreed with.

Adamu said: “We have taken seven persons to Rakiya Memorial Hospital, out of which five died while the remaining two were transferred to 44 Army Reference Hospital.

“At the Army Reference Hospital, 20 people were seriously injured and are receiving treatment there.

“At St Gerald Hospital, 10 people were taken there, five have died while the remaining five were seriously injured. At the Barau Dikko Hospital, we have six dead, six injured. As you may be aware, 20 people died on the spot. That brings the casualty figure to 36 dead and 13 seriously injured”, he said.

At the St. Gerald Catholic Hospital Kaduna, the PRO of the Hospital, Mr. Sunday John Ali, told Vanguard that out of the five victims taken to the hospital, three had been transferred to Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Chika, near Zaria. Vanguard spoke to some of the victims on their sick beds yesterday

I don’t know what has happened to me – Yako

Umar Garba Yako (25), an indigene of Sokoto, married with a daughter was selling date palm fruits when the explosion took place. He lost part of his right arm, and was in pains when he spoke to Vanguard:

“I was selling dabino (date palm fruits) in wheel barrow. We were four in number selling dabino. I just heard an explosion. I saw myself high up in the air. I hit a pole. I don’t know what hit me and took me up like that. When I woke up here, people were saying that it was a bomb in a car. But I did not see any car. Three of my friends died. I am lucky to be alive. May God save us from evil”, he said.

I just heard an explosion and was blown away – Johnson

Femi Johnson, 28, a printer from Osun State, was on his way to attend church when he became a victim: “I came from Sardauna crescent and crossed to the other side of the road to wait for vehicle to take me to church. I saw bright heavy flash of light followed by a loud bang. I was taken far away and hit something. There was fire on my body. I managed to stand up, but I fell again. People were running and screaming. I just laid there. Then they came and took me here. Till now, I don’t know where the explosion came from. I doubt if a car can explode like that”.

This year alone, there have been five bomb attacks in Kaduna with about six deaths, including Sgt. Sunday Badang of the Kaduna State Anti-bomb detecting squad. Yesterday’s blast was the most serious since an Islamic sect started using bombs to attack targets in the aftermath of the post-April political uprising in some parts of northern Nigeria.

22 worshippers die in Makurdi church collapse

Meanwhile, a total of 22 worshippers died on Saturday during an Easter vigil mass when their Church collapsed on them. An eye witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Makurdi that the incident happened at an outpost of the Christ the King Parish Church Adamgbe, Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue. The witness added that the Church collapsed following a heavy rainstorm.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Alaribe Ejike, said that the worshippers died when the Church collapsed on them. He dismissed speculations that the incidence was caused by an attack as reported by some foreign media agencies.

Ejike assured the people of the state of the readiness of the police to protect lives and property of citizens.

Efforts to get reactions from the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi failed as both the Director of Media Affairs and the Secretary of the Bishop did not pick phone calls.

But a security officer at the Bishop’s residence, Mr Aondover Nyamor, said he was aware of the incidence.

Varsities Admission: Frustration, anger set in as students, parents react

2012-04-07T15:22:00.001-07:00

Bimpe, 21, sat fuming and brooding over her several attempts at writing JAMB. She mumbled some words explaining that her mates were about to graduate from the university and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her mum came immediately and gave her soothing words.

Bimpe had every reason to feel bad since she believed that her ambition and dream of becoming somebody in life is being threathened by the JAMB and the Post-UTME. According to her, the problem was not much of passing JAMB but the Post-UTME she had written severally, with conviction that she had done well but had her hope dashed by some factors called admission discripancies that have been going on in most of the universities.

One of the challenges noted by prospective students is scaling through the JAMB examination hurdle and obtaining the required cut off mark of a particular university for admission.

Therefore, some students in collaboration with their parents were employing various means such as special centres, proxy arrangements, concealing calculators and aiding materials and other cheating materials in their private parts, shoes, among other hidden places and payment of huge sums of money to officials who aid them in the act.

But inspite of all these, the results of 2012 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB and released recently have shown that only 10 percent out of the 110,724 scored above the cut-off mark of 170 in the core subjects including English language, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geography.

The 2012 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) had 72, 243 candidates scoring 250 and above while 336,330 scored below 170. Over 1.5million wrote the 2012 JAMB exams. This also meant that the admission examination body has made not less than N7.5billion on the sale of forms alone outside other areas prospective students had been made to pay.

The matter is made worse by the process of different Post-UTME in various schools. Although many would argue that the screening exercise by the body presents the opportunity of correcting the accumulated malpractices from the secondary schools up to the JAMB exam, the Post-UTME which came in, amid protests from JAMB itself has not helped matters. Parents are made to pay so much at this level again to get admission.

A source told Saturday Vanguard that even after passing the Post-UTME, admission is not guranteed. “Admission is not for the poor in that candidates are made to pay huge sums of money to procure admission ranging from N80,000 to N100,000 ,” the source said.

The children and wards of the moneyed class are the ones benefitting from the admission racket in Nigeria. It is worrisome that students seeking admission into universities are exploited and sometimes given phony admission, with which they defraud their parents and waste away their lives while some naive parents and guardians cut corners for their children to gain admission into universities through monetary inducements.

Corroborating this view, Kingsley Alakija 20, who made the cut-off mark wrote the Post-UTME last year and had his name listed among the successful candidates. But his jubilation was cut short few days later when he discovered to his chargrin that his name was conspicously missing in the list.

He quickly approached somebody for help and he was told to provide some unspecified amount of money immediately. Alakija missed the opportunity to study Economics in the institution as his poor parents, a taxi-driver and petty trader mother ran helter skelter without success to get the money.

He observed that bigwigs and moneyed class would lobby and procure admission meant for those who wrote and passed the examination. Saturday Vanguard also heard about concessional admission which reigns in some of the universities. A source hinted that by this, some bodies and the bigwigs in the society often request Vice-Chancellors for concessional admission .

Again, huge sums of money are being realised from the sale of forms and admission process in various schools. Part of these are the huge sums paid in order to procure admission, scratch cards and the N10,000 acceptance form fee successful candidates are made to pay amongst others.

Yet, only less than 33 per cent of those who seek admission into various universities gain admission yearly. Unfortunately, the poor ones could not afford the exhorbitant special centres or the huge sums of money for post-UTME rackets. Yet, the system pretends as if the admission cankerworm has defied all logics.

The same story was told by Ayoola Olajide, 18, whose ambition to study Accounting in one of the universities in the South West was scuttled. He told Saturday Vanguard that JAMB and Post UTME are threats to the attainment of his ambition.

“This is my third attempt at JAMB. Last year, I made the cut-off mark but could not get admission after the Post-UTME and now my result is being withheld. There are serious problems in our education system and the youths are those who suffer for it. For how long would I continue like this?” Olajide lamented.

It was more frustrating for Okunola Taiwo who told Saturday Vanguard that the inability of her parents to pay the huge sum of money demanded by the state university was responsible for forfeiting her admission into the school. “It is really frustrating, I don’t know what to do.

I eventually made the JAMB and Post-UTME last year for admission into a University in Lagos . I made the cut-off mark last year and passed Post-UTME Exams . I was offered admission to study Law but I couldn’t go because my parents could not afford the new fee of N300,000.” She lamented that after three attempts, her parents have spent so much money adding that at the moment , she would have to defer her admission or apply to other schools .

“My parents can’t afford N300,000. I have siblings and they will have to go to school as well. I will have to apply to federal schools again,” Taiwo stated.

Hassan Dauda whose two children are battling to secure university admission said he has resigned himself to fate. He stated that Hassan Olamide Dauda had his second attempt in JAMB and now, he score 241 but will have to battle the Post-UTME just as Olayemi Abosede Dauda’s future will also have to be decided by the same fate.

“The first child chose university of Ibadan while the second chose University of Ilorin; and Obafemi Awolowo University and University of Ibadan as their first and second choices. For me, finance will not be the problem because the fees are affordable. It is a federal school and it is well recognised and I have confidence in those schools. University of Ilorin doesn’t go on strike.

“I’m optimistic that they will pass their Post-UTME. But, if they don’t do well, they will have to wait for another year.

“I don’t like state universities because they can wake-up one morning and jerk up the fees just like LASU has done. We will suffer from discrepancies in the admission process and yet still pay heavily with threats of academic interruptions as a result of strike actions. It is appalling. Education in Nigeria is nothing to talk about. We are still far below average. Government should encourage parents and students in their quests.”

Fatima’s dream of studying medicine in the university still remains unrealised as she got to know she did not make the cut-off mark .

“I tried my best and studied hard for the exams but all efforts were to no avail. I wouldn’t know if there are forces behind it or something. I sat for the exams and also for Post-UTME exams. I had good results but my name was conspicuously missing in the list of successful candidates for admission.”

More people also revealed that negative marking by JAMB is another factor that is crippling the system and denying students from going to schools of their dreams.

They do it yearly so as to cut down the number of eligible students and to accommodate the carrying capacities of various universities. Saturday Vanguard gathered that the carrying capacities of universities in Nigeria put together is not above 500,000 while over 1million students apply for admission yearly in various universities in the country.

Joshua, a 100 level student of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, lamented that his dream of studying at University of Lagos came to naught merely because of Post-UTME saga. He stated that he wanted to remain in Lagos in order to get a part-time work to raise money for his studies since he had nobody to sponsor his education. He also stated that he could not afford other state universities especially LASU which has recently jerked up tuition fee by more than 500 per cent.

According to him, “I sat for the post UTME exams twice but was denied admission. I wrote examination in 2008 and 2010. I was prepared for the exam. I wrote my Post-UTME twice in a University in Lagos, but the truth is that the Nigerian education factor didn’t allow me into the school of my choice. And for anyone who wants a hitch free admission, such person must have a strong connection with the school management or part with a huge sum of money. I scored the highest mark in my Post-UTME but I wasn’t given admission.

“I later applied to Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, to study English Education, and I knew what I passed through all in a bid to get university education,” he stated.

For Rachael, her first time in writing JAMB examination revealed a lot of misdemeanor among desperate students and authorities who wanted to make money.

“There is no sincerity in the education system in Nigeria. Both students and examination supervisors were involved in malpractices. Some students didn’t study for the examination because they were ready for examination malpractices. I chose University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAID). I got up to the cut-off mark but was denied admission. I don’t know the basis for writing Post-UTME. If it is that necessary, then JAMB should be scrapped.”

Many people share the opinion of Rachael, querying the rationale behind post-UTME when JAMB is established by law to carry out admission examination into the tertiary institutions in the country.Some parents who favoured that line of argument urged the federal government and the lawmakers to out-law post-UTME and strengthen JAMB to conduct admission examinations.

“By experience, students always dread the post-UTME hurdles not because it is tougher but because of the corruption and man-know-man dimension it had turned to,” said Lekan Aderibigbe, a parent whose child could not secure admission after the post-UTME.

His child had 196 and the university she chose was Akangba, in Ado Ekiti and “I didn’t like the school because it is a state university and anything can come up anytime. The state government might decide to increase the fees and nobody will complain. They can take decision on their own based on their state.

For instance, the Ladoke Akintola University’s fee was inflated by the then Governor Alao Akala and when the present government came on board, the fees was reduced, and the same can be inflated by another government. That is why I said a state university is not the best especially for average parents. That is why I am insisting that my children should choose federal universities.”

IGP orders red alert, deploys 1,000 Policemen to Suleja

2012-04-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

Security agencies in Northern Nigeria have stepped up security following alerts by the United States and United Kingdom embassies that the country may witness terrorist attacks this Easter.

The Niger Police Command has therefore deployed additional 1,000 policemen from its headquarters in Minna to beef up security at some flashpoints in Suleja Local Government Area of the state.

Mrs Deseye Nsirim, the state Commissioner of Police, made this known to newsmen yesterday in Minna shortly after her familiarisation tour of area commands in Suleja, Tarfa and Agwara Local Government Areas of the state.

Suspected explosive devices and a bag of fertilizer found in a house in Gombe metropolis on Thursday (5/4/12). Some suspects were arrested.

She assured residents of the state that adequate security would be provided for Christian and Muslim faithfuls throughout the Easter celebrations to avoid any breach of peace.

In Kano, the Joint Military Task Force, JTF, has declared that security forces are on top of situation in the city stressing there would be no cause for alarm during and after the Easter celebrations in the state and its environs.

JTF spokesman, Lt Ikediche Iweha told Saturday Vanguard in an interview yesterday that the security outfit had made tremendous progress in its war against terror in the city, pointing out that strategy had been adopted to sustain the tempo.

“We have made serious in-road in our quest to contain terrorists and their extremist tendencies in Kano; and we have every reason to beat our chests that we are on top of the situation,” Iweha said, pointing out that, Kano like any other part of this country needed peace to realize its potential.

According to him, the JTF was doing its ‘’best to ensure we put paid to the menace of extremism for good.”

He then asked the residents to remain law abiding in the course of their daily activities as according to him, their support and cooperation were vital to the overall success of the war against the menace.

The Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, Borno state also said it killed two members of militant Islamist sect Boko Haram and arrested a third yesterday during a raid on their hideout where the suspects were plotting attacks on Christians this weekend. Security had been ramped up in Maiduguri, the epicenter of Boko Haram’s attacks. On Friday, a helicopter patrolled the city from the sky and authorities searched private vehicles at checkpoints.
Reverend Faye Pama said local Christians are celebrating this year’s Easter in “a low’’ mood.

”Of course you know the killings have been on and many lives have been lost. You know even the day before yesterday,There were the killings in the market. So, we are celebrating low-key,” he said.

Gunmen opened fire on Christian traders at a busy market in Maiduguri Wednesday, killing 11 people and wounding several others. Just before the attack, gunmen shot dead an electronics technician on a popular city street. Witnesses told the Voice of America, VOA, that nine of the dead were Christians from the Igbo ethnic group.

Also, no fewer than 10 persons have so far been killed at Duduguru village in Jenkwe Development Area of Nasarawa State follwing an invasion by some people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. The crises was said to have started on Tuesday when the invaders killed two people. The Police in Nasarawa yesterday confirmed the death of the 10 persons just as the discovery of the 60 explosives in Gombe has created fear in the state.

Suspects arrested by operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) in Gombe metropolis on Thursday.

Last Thursday, another Boko Haram bomb factory was discovered in Kogi state in the Adavi Local Government Area, the Nigerian army has confirmed.

The bomb making factory is the third to be uncovered in the central state in the last two weeks. Items recovered from the hideout include security metal detectors, bullet proof vests, gas cylinder, already made bombs and ammunition.

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, had Thursday directed zonal and state commands of the police across the country to provide adequate security to all places of worship during the period.

Abubakar, in his Easter message to Christians signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olusola Amore, late Thursday in Abuja, ordered police Area Commanders and their Divisional Officers to ensure effective patrols of all vulnerable points in various cities and highways across the country during and after the Easter festivities.

However, the United States and UK embassies in their travel advisories warned their citizens against travelling to some northern cities to be extra vigilant around places of worship and avoid large crowds.

”The Embassy advises all U.S. citizens in Abuja and other large northern Nigerian cities to remain vigilant around churches and other places of worship, locations where large crowds may gather and areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers during the weekend holiday.

The embassy continues to monitor closely the ongoing threats posed by Nigerian extremist and criminal groups,” it said. The U.K. embassy in particular, listed seven states including Borno, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Yobe as the areas that its citizens must avoid, noting that “there is a high threat of terrorist attack during religious festivals.”

D’banj’s Oliver Twist video on VEVO

2012-04-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

As D’Banj continues to steer his ship away from the shores that bound his to his former Mo’Hits records partner, Don Jazzy, laurels continue to come his way.

The latest addition to his collection is his recent induction into the VEVO website.

dbanj

His inclusion into the exclusive club was made possible with the release of video of his latest single ‘ Oliver Twist’. The video was uploaded on to the website on March 19.

VEVO is an international music video website, and D’banj will be the third Nigerian to have his music uploaded on this website after the likes of Asa and Nneka.

From findings, VEVO only accepts and uploads music from internationally acclaimed record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI. Once a video is uploaded on this very web, Google and VEVO both have the honour of sharing the advertising revenue.

Born Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, D’banj also known as the Kokomaster, released his debut album “No long thing in 2005, revolutionizing the Nigerian music scene, his follow up albums include Rundown/Funk you up in 2006 and “The Entertainer” in 2008. His 2010 singles “Mr Endowed” and “Scapegoat” are on every music playlist across the continent of Africa.

His most recent work, Oliver Twist is still hot in the air thus, fetching him a worthy space on VEVO.

Facebook launches patent counter-attack against Yahoo

2012-04-04T15:23:00.003-07:00

San Francisco – (Reuters/NAN) Facebook fired back in its legal battle with Yahoo by accusing the Web pioneer of infringing 10 of Facebook’s patents, according to a court filing.

The counterclaim from Facebook, filed in a San Francisco federal court, comes after Yahoo sued Facebook for patent infringement last month.

The claims marked an expanding web of patent litigation that has already caught up the smartphone and tablet sectors and high-tech stalwarts such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

Yahoo’s lawsuit against Facebook came at a delicate time.

Notably, the world’s largest Internet social networking service is preparing for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to 100 billion dollars.

Observers have said that companies are usually more vulnerable to patent suits when they are in the IPO process as investors scrutinise the risks involved in the business.

But Facebook’s counterclaim comes as Yahoo addresses its own challenges.

The Web pioneer has seen declining revenue and newly installed Chief Executive Scott Thompson is facing a contentious proxy fight with activist hedge fund Third Point.

Yahoo spokesman Eric Berman said Facebook’s counterclaim is “nothing more than a cynical attempt to distract from the weakness of its defense.”

Five of the patents asserted by Facebook target features related to Yahoo’s online advertising business which Facebook pegged at 80 per cent of Yahoo’s 2011 revenue, according to the counterclaim.

Yahoo’s Flickr photo sharing service infringed various Facebook patents involving the ability to connect with other users on the online service,.

It also affect ability to identify people in a photo and to generate personalised news feeds, according to the filing.

At least one of the patents asserted by Facebook — a method for tagging digital media — lists its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, as one of the inventors, according to a U.S. government database.

Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot said the company had indicated that it would defend itself vigorously in the face of Yahoo’s lawsuit.

“While we are asserting patent claims of our own, we do so in response to Yahoo’s short-sighted decision to attack one of its partners and prioritise litigation over innovation,” Ullyot said in a statement.

Yahoo has claimed Facebook infringed 10 of Yahoo’s patents, including several that cover online advertising technology.

In its lawsuit, Yahoo said Facebook was considered “one of the worst performing sites for advertising” prior to adapting Yahoo’s ideas.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Yahoo Inc. v. Facebook Inc., 12-cv-1212.

Yahoo shares fell 2.4 per cent to 15.09 dollars in afternoon trading. (Reuters/NAN)

Adelabu said the current challenges were inherited, adding that admissions into the affected faculties were stopped at the inception of his administration in 2009. (NAN)

UNN @ 50: P-Harcourt dinner holds April 14

2012-04-04T15:20:00.002-07:00

Port Harcourt Zonal Dinner for the University of Nigeria at 50 Celebrations will hold on Saturday, April 14, at the Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt.

According to Chairman of the UNN at 50 Anniversary Dinner Local Organizing Committee, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuadigbo, the event is part of the Zonal Anniversary Dinners planned to celebrate the golden jubilee of Nigeria’s first indigenous university.

He said the Dinner is an invaluable opportunity for a reunion of all graduates of the University based in Port Harcourt and the entire Niger Delta region. He added that the occasion would be chaired by eminent jurist and retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, while the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, is expected as special guest of honour. Mazi Okwuadigbo said other eminent personalities and alumni in the Niger Delta region are also expected to attend.

Also, Prof. D.Fubara and Bedford Fubara will be the guest speakers at the event and Mazi Okwuadigbo added that a number of activities have been planned to make the Dinner a most memorable event.

The Port Harcourt Dinner is part of a series of activities outlined by the University of Nigeria to celebrate its golden jubilee and other Anniversary Dinners have been successfully held in Lagos, Abuja and the United States of America.

Chairman of the National Organizing Committee for the UNN @ 50 Celebration, Sir G. Toby said the anniversary series of events to mark the golden jubilee were not only to celebrate the outstanding success of the founding ideals of the University of Nigeria, but also to engender the support of all alumni for the task of transforming the university into a world class citadel of learning. Prof Pat Utomi is the Chairman of the Fundraising Committee for University of Nigeria @ 50.

LAGOS — Less than 24 hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo resigned his position as the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the leadership caucus of the party has started brainstorming on who could suitably fit into the shoes of the ex-President. This is just as Vice National Chairman, South-West, Dr Segun Oni, Wednesday led members of the party in the region to Obasanjo’s home at Hiltop Estate in Abeokuta to hold a secret meeting with him. File photo: From Left, President Jonathan, Ag Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, Former President and Bot Chairman, Chief Obasanjo and Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Ogiadomhe at the PDP convention Top sources within the party said in Abuja that the sudden resignation of Obasanjo shocked the party. According to the sources, “the leadership has, however, started thinking on possible replacement. One of the sources mentioned a possible replacement as former chair of the Senate Committee on Navy, Dr Bode Olajumoke; former National Vice Chairman of the party, Shuiab Oyedokun; leader of the Accord Party, Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja and another former National Vice Chairman, Chief Olabode George. It was learnt that following the resignation of the former President, members of the National Working Committee of the party had opened discussion on a possible replacement. Support for Anenih Meanwhile, supporters of former Minister of Works, Chief Anthony Anenih, have started moves to get him either elected or appointed into the position. Sources told Vanguard that Anenih’s supporters met in Lagos, Tuesday night, to map out strategies to ensure he emerges as the next PDP BoT chairman based on their belief that Anenih was the only person who could ensure cohesion and discipline in the party. This is even as a PDP stalwart and chairman of Declon Oil and Gas Limited, Marcel Imoisili, has asked stakeholders in the party to do everything within their power to ensure that Anenih returns as the chairman of the party’s BoT. However, in a statement in Lagos, yesterday, Imoisili, said: ‘’As events are gradually unfolding and our nascent democracy moving forward, it is pertinent to call on the new Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Tukur, the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, and National Executive Committee, NEC, to re-address the issue of chairmanship of the BoT which was hitherto restricted to former heads of state.” ‘’As it is now, the ‘cap’ of BOT chairmanship should not be restricted to a few citizens in the largest party of Africa. The party has very intelligent loyalists who can run for the office of the BOT Chairman. Chief Tony Anenih is one. ‘When Chief Anenih was BOT Chairman, the party reached its height of glory and nothing still compares till date. ‘’It is expedient that he should be allowed to complete his tenure as Chairman of PDP BOT because it (tenure) was cut short. I think naturally, justice has come to roost in the party, with the retirement of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from the exalted office.’’ The meeting which the South West leaders of the party had with Obasanjo lasted for several hours Addressing newsmen shortly after the meeting, Oni who did not disclose the content of the secret meeting held with Obasanjo, hinted that, their coming was to familiarise with the out-going BoT Chairman. While describing the action of Obasanjo on his resignation, the newly elected National Vice-Chairman said “ Baba is always a blazing trail. His resignation is another trail. You don’t find too many people all over the world who will easily relinquish a position of leadership. “Baba said he is going to bow out as chairman, Board of Trustees, but he will remain in the BOT. Statutorily, he’s a member of the BOT for life. You don’t find many people who are that humble; who would step down from such a height and now allow himself to be led by others. “I think this generation and indeed the whole of this continent needs to learn a lesson from that. A lot of people would rather die than become ex. But here is Baba, there is no pressure of any kind but Baba said this is the golden time for him to leave so that he would now be able to mentor whoever takes over from him. “He had mentored who took over from him as president and the one who took over from the president that took over from him. Now he is going to mentor whoever takes over from him as BOT chairman. That’s a lesson we all have to learn. “You know that the position is not for children; the position of shepherd is not meant for kids. God forbid, if things go awry, they are the ones we will take matters to. So, it is not a position we’ll ask people to paste campaign posters, no. “ It’s the wisdom of elders and the top echelon, starting from the president and leaders of the party and so on; if they meet and decide, we’ll know who they’ll pick as successor. It is not a position for which election is used to determine”,Oni said. He however expressed optimism on the returmn of foermer Governor of Oyo state,Rashidi Ladoja into PDP ,saying they were still talking to him . Among those that attended the meeting were Chairman elders consultative council in Lagos, Yomi Fini, former Minister of Works Adeseye Ogunlewe, former Deputy Governor of Oyo state,Taofik Arapaja.

2012-04-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

UGHELLI - DELTA State Government has given seven days ultimatum to the management of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay it accumulated ecology tariff amounting to N454.9 million or be ready to shut down their various masts scattered across the State.

Mast

State Commissioner for Environment, Mr Frank Omare who handed down the ultimatum while speaking to newsmen in his office yesterday said that “it is disheartening that MTN Nigeria Communications Limited was using its legal department to frustrate and deprive Delta State government of due revenue, whereas, the company had been paying Lagos, Akwa-Ibom and the rest”.

Our reporter gathered that following the lingering face-off between the two parties, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited had instituted a legal action at Effurun high court challenging the Delta State Government for the payment of such tariff and sought for an injunction to restrain the collection of such revenue.

However, the Effurun High court presided over by Justice Roli Daibo Harriman had while delivering judgment on 30th January 2011, ruled in favour of the Delta State Government, declaring that “the Ecology Law of Delta State 2006 was validly made by the Delta State Government and not unconstitutional. The Revised Ecology Tariff made pursuant to the Ecology Law of Delta State is valid and the order for injunction is refused”.

Justice Harriman went on to say that “my understanding is that the tariff was made pursuant to the law and it is separate administrative document from the law. He who asserts, must proof. The claimant (MTN) has therefore not discharged the burden on it to show that it was not the Governor who signed the said Tariff. This head of claim must therefore fail”, he stated.

Omare expressed disappointment that “a former high ranking official of the State Government was assisting MTN to sabotage the payment”, warning that “if by the end of this seven days ultimatum, MTN fails to pay they should be ready to shut down their mast. We have tolerated them enough.

PDP shops for Obasanjo’s replacement in S-West

2012-04-04T15:13:00.001-07:00

LAGOS — Less than 24 hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo resigned his position as the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the leadership caucus of the party has started brainstorming on who could suitably fit into the shoes of the ex-President.

This is just as Vice National Chairman, South-West, Dr Segun Oni, Wednesday led members of the party in the region to Obasanjo’s home at Hiltop Estate in Abeokuta to hold a secret meeting with him.

File photo: From Left, President Jonathan, Ag Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, Former President and Bot Chairman, Chief Obasanjo and Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Ogiadomhe at the PDP convention

Top sources within the party said in Abuja that the sudden resignation of Obasanjo shocked the party.

According to the sources, “the leadership has, however, started thinking on possible replacement.

One of the sources mentioned a possible replacement as former chair of the Senate Committee on Navy, Dr Bode Olajumoke; former National Vice Chairman of the party, Shuiab Oyedokun; leader of the Accord Party, Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja and another former National Vice Chairman, Chief Olabode George.

It was learnt that following the resignation of the former President, members of the National Working Committee of the party had opened discussion on a possible replacement.

Support for Anenih

Meanwhile, supporters of former Minister of Works, Chief Anthony Anenih, have started moves to get him either elected or appointed into the position.

Sources told Vanguard that Anenih’s supporters met in Lagos, Tuesday night, to map out strategies to ensure he emerges as the next PDP BoT chairman based on their belief that Anenih was the only person who could ensure cohesion and discipline in the party.

This is even as a PDP stalwart and chairman of Declon Oil and Gas Limited, Marcel Imoisili, has asked stakeholders in the party to do everything within their power to ensure that Anenih returns as the chairman of the party’s BoT.

However, in a statement in Lagos, yesterday, Imoisili, said: ‘’As events are gradually unfolding and our nascent democracy moving forward, it is pertinent to call on the new Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Tukur, the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, and National Executive Committee, NEC, to re-address the issue of chairmanship of the BoT which was hitherto restricted to former heads of state.”

‘’As it is now, the ‘cap’ of BOT chairmanship should not be restricted to a few citizens in the largest party of Africa. The party has very intelligent loyalists who can run for the office of the BOT Chairman.

Chief Tony Anenih is one. ‘When Chief Anenih was BOT Chairman, the party reached its height of glory and nothing still compares till date.

‘’It is expedient that he should be allowed to complete his tenure as Chairman of PDP BOT because it (tenure) was cut short. I think naturally, justice has come to roost in the party, with the retirement

of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from the exalted office.’’

The meeting which the South West leaders of the party had with Obasanjo lasted for several hours

Addressing newsmen shortly after the meeting, Oni who did not disclose the content of the secret meeting held with Obasanjo, hinted that, their coming was to familiarise with the out-going BoT

Chairman.

While describing the action of Obasanjo on his resignation, the newly elected National Vice-Chairman said “ Baba is always a blazing trail. His resignation is another trail. You don’t find too many people all

over the world who will easily relinquish a position of leadership.

“Baba said he is going to bow out as chairman, Board of Trustees, but he will remain in the BOT. Statutorily, he’s a member of the BOT for life. You don’t find many people who are that humble; who would step down from such a height and now allow himself to be led by others.

“I think this generation and indeed the whole of this continent needs to learn a lesson from that. A lot of people would rather die than become ex. But here is Baba, there is no pressure of any kind but Baba

said this is the golden time for him to leave so that he would now be able to mentor whoever takes over from him.

“He had mentored who took over from him as president and the one who took over from the president that took over from him. Now he is going to mentor whoever takes over from him as BOT chairman. That’s a lesson we all have to learn.

“You know that the position is not for children; the position of shepherd is not meant for kids. God forbid, if things go awry, they are the ones we will take matters to. So, it is not a position we’ll

ask people to paste campaign posters, no.

“ It’s the wisdom of elders and the top echelon, starting from the president and leaders of the party and so on; if they meet and decide, we’ll know who they’ll pick as successor. It is not a position for

which election is used to determine”,Oni said.

He however expressed optimism on the returmn of foermer Governor of Oyo state,Rashidi Ladoja into PDP ,saying they were still talking to him .

Among those that attended the meeting were Chairman elders consultative council in Lagos, Yomi Fini, former Minister of Works Adeseye Ogunlewe, former Deputy Governor of Oyo state,Taofik Arapaja.

US condemns ‘outrageous’ Somali bombing

2012-04-04T15:09:00.001-07:00

MOGADISHU (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday condemned an “outrageous” suicide bomb attack in Somalia which killed four people, including the country’s Olympics and football.

“The United States strongly condemns the outrageous attack today in Mogadishu that resulted in a tragic loss of life,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“We offer our condolences to the Somali people, particularly those who lost family and loved ones,” he said, noting that Somalia had made great recent strides to rebuild after two decades of civil strife.

A victim of a suicide attack is carried on a stretcher on April 4, 2012 in Mogadishu.. AFP PHOTO

“We remain committed to the people of Somalia and assisting them in countering Al-Shebab’s violence and in returning peace to their country.”

A female suicide bomber blew herself up Wednesday during an address by Somalia’s prime minister in Mogadishu, killing four people including the country’s Olympic and football bosses.

The young woman detonated her suicide belt as Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali was addressing 200 people at the newly reopened national theatre on the first anniversary of the launch of Somalia’s satellite TV network.

Somali Olympic Committee president Aden Yabarow Wiish and Somali Football Federation chief Said Mohamed Nur were killed in the blast, which was claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab rebels.

The prime minister and seven other ministers standing beside him when the bomber detonated her explosives, were unharmed.

“There are four dead, including the president of the Olympic committee and the president of the football federation,” Abdirahman Omar Osman, the Somali prime minister’s spokesman, told AFP.

Seconds after the blast, chaos filled the theatre as the dead and the wounded were slumped on chairs or lying on the floor while police escorted some of the injured to awaiting ambulances.

At least seven journalists were also wounded, press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said.

The Shebab, which have been fighting for the past five years to topple the Western-backed government, claimed in a Twitter message that they “managed to lay explosive devices before the ceremony”.

“This operation was not carried out by a woman as they (Somali government officials) claim, but it was meticulously prepared and carried out by a specially trained unit,” they said.

Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamed Rage had earlier told the pro-Shebab radio Al Andalus the attack was “carried out by people who support the Shebab” but had stopped short of claiming responsibility.

The Chinese-built theatre was reopened last month for the first time in 20 years at a ceremony attended by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the prime minister.

The president of football’s world governing body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, expressed shock at the death of the two Somali sports chiefs.

“I knew both men personally and can only say good things about their endless efforts to promote sport and football in their country. They will be sorely missed,” he said.

The slain sports chiefs had last week inspected the reconstruction of the national stadium in Mogadishu, a city which had slowly been coming back to life since Somali and African Union forces secured most of it late last year.

Somalia’s deputy sports minister had said people were eager to “benefit from the peaceful atmosphere” in Mogadishu.

The stadium was once used by the Shebab rebels as a training centre, turning the pitch into a firing range to test homemade armour piercing bullets.

But last year, Western-backed AU troops seized the stadium and used it as a forward base for assaults on rebel holdouts before turning it over to the government for restoration as a sports venue.

Despite the lull in street fighting, Mogadishu has been plagued by a series of suicide and grenade attacks since the Shebab abandoned fixed bases in August and reverted to guerrilla tactics.

A suicide bomber last month killed at least five people in an attack at the heavily guarded presidential palace.

In regions under their control, the extremist militia have banned football, watching movies, Western music and dressing, with offenders often flogged or publicly executed.

AU force deputy commander Audace Nduwumunsi described the bombing as a “despicable crime against the Somali people” and UN special envoy Augustine Mahiga also expressed outrage.

“The reopening of the National Theatre is symbolic of the real change that is happening in Somalia: the city is being rebuilt, culture is being revived and hope is being restored,” he said in a statement.

Britain, which has sought to lead international efforts to end the crisis, condemned what Prime Minister David Cameron branded a “sickening” and “mindless” attack.

“I utterly condemn the action of these terrorists who have shown complete disregard for the lives of the Somali people and for their desire to bring back normal daily life in Mogadishu.

The United States also strongly condemned what it called an “outrageous attack today in Mogadishu that resulted in a tragic loss of life”.

“We offer our condolences to the Somali people, particularly those who lost family and loved ones,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said, noting that Somalia had made great recent strides to rebuild after two decades of civil strife.

“We remain committed to the people of Somalia and assisting them in countering Al-Shebab’s violence and in returning peace to their country.”

Somalia has lacked an effective central government for years, allowing armed groups, pirates and extremists rebels to thrive and establish control in vast regions.

Robbers attack luxury bus, rape students

2012-04-02T12:16:00.002-07:00

LAGOS — A luxury bus belonging to Ekenedilichukwu transport company with 42 female students of a secondary school (name withheld) on board was weekend attacked by a 12-man robbery gang at Oke-Odo, along Ore-Shagamu Expressway, Ogun State. Some of the female students were reportedly raped by the hoodlums.

The students said to be returning to their parents in Lagos for the Easter holidays, were also reportedly dispossessed of cash, GSM handsets and other valuables which monetary value could not be immediately ascertained.

Luxury buses

Report said they left Enugu for Lagos on Saturday morning but the luxury bus developed a mechanical fault which could not be repaired immediately.

Another luxury bus with Number Plate XW 875 LSR was brought by the transport company to convey the stranded students to Lagos. But by then it was already late in the evening.

However, on reaching Oke-Odo at about 11.40pm, the gun-wielding robbers reportedly intercepted the luxury bus, ordering all passengers to lie down, cooperate or risk losing their lives.

Report also said that the robbers thereafter, hijacked the luxury bus and drove it far inside the bush, where they allegedly gang- raped some of the teenage students and made away with their valuables.

Meanwhile, in Lagos, parents and relatives of the victims became apprehensive after waiting endlessly for their wards. Tension heightened when they got wind of the attack which made them to pass the night at the park, waiting for their return.

When the students eventually arrived yesterday morning, parents and relatives wailed at the sight of some of the blood-stained teenagers.

Some however, were dazed as they could not find their wards among those that came in. An unconfirmed report however had it that some of the passengers fled while the robbery was going on in Ogun State.

Management of the transport company was said to have immediately rushed most of the victims to the hospital.

No official report yet — School Principal

The principal of the school, Mercy Ani, in her reaction said she had not been contacted by any parent of her students that traveled back to Lagos after the school closed on Saturday. She however confirmed hearing the rumour of the robbery attack but quickly added that reports reaching her indicated that all the students that left for Lagos were already with their parents.

When Vanguard arrived Jibowu park at about 4.30pm, none of the staff agreed to speak on the issue. Rather, they referred one to their head office at Oregun. They also refused to give out the telephone numbers of their spokesman and that of the manager.

But a man who simply gave his name as Ifechukwu, a loader with another transport company, said: “It is just unfortunate that this is happening. The truth is that the company in question does not travel at night. It is prohibited there. It is just unfortunate that the vehicle was faulty. Some of the relatives are blaming the company but they should understand that no one will ever drive a faulty car around.

“Yes, I saw some of the girls. Most of them were stained with blood and had scratches all over them. I guess they must have sustained that in the bush. Some of them were also in shock because this probably is their first experience. But in all, let us thank God that none of them died.”

Contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Jaiyeoba, confirmed that a manager of the transport company whose identity he did not disclose, reported the case at Sabo division but that he was referred to Ogun State, since the robbery did not take place in Lagos.

When his Ogun State counterpart, Mr Olumuyiwa Ogunjobi was contacted, someone else picked his phone, informing that the PRO was in a meeting that would last three hours. He however sent a text message which read: “Report received from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ijebu-Ode has it that by 0730 hours (7.30am) yesterday, one Friday Odi, a male of Ekenedilichukwu Nigeria Limited, driver in charge of vehicle registration number Lagos XW875 LSR reported that at 2340 (11.40pm) hours of 31/3/2012 (Saturday) while conveying 42 female students to Lagos, armed men in Oke-Odo area along Ore-Shagamu Expressway, stopped their vehicle and drove them to a point in the bush where where they were robbed.

“Supol Ogbere led his men to the scene, traced the hijacked bus, rescued and evacuated the students to their Lagos destination and thereafter, towed the vehicle to the station and later released it to the owner on bond. Nobody was injured.”

A police source also confided in Vanguard that a child of a top police officer in Abuja was one of the victims and that effort to arrest the armed robbers was not successful.

Victims may suffer psychiatric disorders — Medical experts

Reacting to the emotional and psychological impact of the attack on the rape victims, a Senior Registrar at the Dejumo Hospital Gbagada, and former Registrar, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Obagaye Olukunle, who expressed worry that the victims may suffer psychiatric disorders said there is need for them to be taken to a psychiatrist or psychologist for further evaluation and immediate treatment.

Olakunle said in the meantime, the victims may experience sudden trauma because of the sudden nature of the rape. He said the victims are also prone to episodes of anxiety disorders notably, acute stress reaction and post traumatic stress disorder because of what happened.

“In the immediate, the victims will experience acute stress reaction. Most times, you find that the victims will not feel happy.

Mild or moderate, acute stress may even lead to suicide, depression. On the long run, they are bound to come down with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is when the picture of the experience will keep on recurring to them over and over again”.

He advised that such individuals be taken to a psychiatrist or psychologist immediately to relay their experiences freely. “Any psychiatric disorder discovered should be treated immediately. The victims should be placed on a Community Behavioural Therapy and there should be adequate counseling.”

Apart from drugs, Olakunle posited that the victims must also undergo psycho therapy.

Also reacting to the incident, Executive Director at Media Concern Initiative, Dr. Princess Olufemi-Kayode described rape as a signature of robbers. According to her, “there is hardly a robbery now without its own incident of rape. It is an exhibition of power and dominance over the victim. Rape is one of the most common forms of sexual violence in the world.”

Commenting on the immediate and long-term effects on the victims, Olufemi-Kayode, who has vast experience in rape-related issues particularly child sexual abuse, stated: ”First there would be an initial trauma. Some of the victims may not show anything now, but may exhibit delayed shock.

They would need to be counseled and properly examined by a medical expert. This is a normal procedure in any rape incident and since they are minors, their consent or their parents’ consent is not required.”

Continuing, she explained that normally, if there is no life threat, a police report is required before the medical examination. “However, if the victim is bleeding heavily or is in serious pain, a medical test may be carried out first to obtain a report before lodging complaint with the Police.

The victim would then need to be given pain relievers and antibiotics. Emergency contraceptives are often required for those that are mature enough so they don’t get pregnant. They would especially need to be protected against sexually transmitted infections such as HIV and hepatitis, among others.”

DERIVATION: The North’s conspiracy against us – Sen Enang

2012-04-02T12:15:00.001-07:00

Senator Ita Solomon Enang has since 1999 been a pivotal part of the machinery of the Nigerian National Assembly. First as the Vice-Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Business in 1999, and subsequently as chairman of the committee, Enang is believed to have since then had a hand in all enactments to have come out of the National Assembly.

It was not surprising then that upon his election into the Senate to represent the Uyo Senatorial District in 2011 that he was named the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business. A lawyer, Enang was born on 23 August 1962 and attended the Presbyterian Teachers Training College, Ididep, Akwa Ibom State (1974-1979) and subsequently the University of Calabar, Calabar between 1980 and 1984 where he read Law.

Enang cut his political teeth with his election as a councilor in 1987. He was elected to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in 1992 before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 to represent the Ibiono Ibom/Itu Federal Constituency. He won re-election in 2003 and 2007 before his election to the Senate in 2011. Enang spoke in an interview on the issues pertaining to revenue derivation and distribution among other issues. Excerpts:

WHERE do you stand on the dispute over the implementation of the derivation principle in the sharing of federal revenue?

I stand on the principle that the derivation principle should be reviewed by raising it upward to between 25% and 50% because the constitution says that it should be a minimum of 13%. It should be raised by way of an Act of Parliament to make it between 25% or 50%. Afterall, under the 1960 constitution derivation was 50%.

Again I want to say that it is only oil that is contributing to the revenue and other solid minerals are not contributing. What I have discovered is that the North has so much solid minerals and even oil but they are not exploiting. It is hidden under what they call “illegal mining”. In Kaduna there are so many solid minerals, but they are being mined by individuals and sold without anything being paid to government.

In Nasarawa State, the governor, some days ago, even signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an agency to prospect and exploit mineral resources for Nasarawa State to earn revenue and increase their revenue. In Bauchi State and the Chad region, there is oil but it is not being exploited yet. Also in Borno State and Yobe State because these are states bounded by the Chad-Basin.

In the Chad-Basin, which surrounds Cameroun, Chad, Niger Republic and Nigeria, Niger Republic has oil within that basin, which is about 20 kilometers from the boundary of Nigeria. They have exploited oil and even have a refinery there. And it is suspected that Nigerians, big Nigerians of some extractions, own the rigs and the mining rights; and it is them- the big Nigerians, who sponsored and installed the refinery there in Niger Republic. But instead of putting the rig on the soil in the Nigeria end of the Chad Basin, they put the rig in the Niger end and are then exploiting the oil from Niger, paying revenue to Niger Republic.

Senator Enang

Chad has oil, still from the same basin, it is exploiting the oil. Cameroun has oil within the Chad Basin. All the countries around the Chad Basin are drilling oil. Why is Nigeria not allowing the exploitation or exploration of oil in the Chad Basin?

I want you to go to the website of the Energy Commission of Nigeria and look at the address that was delivered last (penultimate) week, by the Director General of Energy Commission of Nigeria, where he said the same thing. That Nigeria is deliberately not exploiting oil in the Chad Basin in Borno, Yobe and all those areas because there is oil that has been discovered there and so much money has been spent by Nigeria in discovering oil in those places.

Is this deliberate, and on whose part?
It is deliberate; it is on the part of Nigeria or Nigerians who are from there. They do not allow the oil to be exploited because, in my opinion, it is to preserve that oil until the one of the South is finished. But it does not work that way; because when they stand to drill oil in Niger, they are drilling the oil that is in that basin.

So even if you are standing in Nigeria, if it is to finish it will still finish because there is this lateral drilling or horizontal drilling that wherever you put your rig there in the oil bed it is the same oil. Within a specific area it does not matter where you stand to drill. It is just like water, it has a water bed. When you put your rig, you take the water from within that particular area. Therefore Nigeria should, instead of talking of revenue allocation, we should be talking more of revenue generation.

Let every part of this country that has oil minerals cause its own to be exploited. And I believe that if we reach a situation where people or the states are allowed to exploit their own minerals and pay a percentage to the Federal Government, all the states will be able to produce. If you go to Kebbi State, Sokoto State, there is this diamond and lots of precious stones, including gold.

But we have a Ministry and Minister of Solid Minerals?
The minister should resign and the Ministry of Solid Minerals should be scrapped and merged with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and renamed Ministry of Mineral Resources. So that it will be incharge of all minerals issues, whether it be liquid, solid, petroleum or solid minerals so that it could know that revenue from minerals is revenue from minerals.

A new Northern group has alleged that too much money going to the Niger Delta is breeding corruption in the region
(Cuts in)…

That is not correct. Come to Akwa Ibom State and see come and see how money that is derived from derivation is being put to use. Or is that what has caused the entire Niger Delta to be given less amount of money that is given from the federation account to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Federal Capital Territory alone uses over N400 billion naira to construct its roads annually. How much of it goes to the Niger Delta? The roads that are constructed in Abuja, in Kaduna, in Lokoja, all those infrastructure in Kaduna, where is the money coming from? It is from oil of the Niger Delta. It is time that other parts of this country that have minerals should allow their minerals to be exploited so that something would go into federation account.

Otherwise, let it be that whoever has mineral exploit it and pay something into the federation account. Let Kaduna State not hide behind illegal exploitation. Let Bauchi State not hide its own oil. Let Yobe and Borno States not hide their oil. Let Kebbi and Sokoto State not hide their diamond and gold.

The Northern Governors are equally calling for the strict application of the offshore/onshore dichotomy in the sharing of revenue.

Offshore where? Offshore from the coast of Nigeria area. What makes that area part of Nigeria is because of the littoral states and all the littoral states suffer the effect. Those areas in the continental shelf became the continental shelf of Nigeria because they belong to part of a state of Nigeria. If they were not part of a state of Nigeria, then you wouldn’t have the right to go and exploit oil on that offshore.

It is offshore the coast of Nigeria, because it is offshore the coast of Akwa Ibom State, Bayelsa State, Rivers State, Delta State, Lagos State, which are part of Nigeria. Can we say that of Cotonou, or Benin Republic? We cannot say because those are not parts of Nigeria. Can we say that of Ivory Coast, or any part of Ghana? No! Because those are not parts of the coast of Nigeria. They are not part of any state of Nigeria. That is why, since our continental shelf overlaps that of Equatorial Guinea, that is why we have joint development zone with Equatorial Guinea.

If our territories did not overlap, if part of Akwa Ibom State and Delta State and all those areas in Gulf of Guinea and Bight of Biafra were not part of those littoral states in Nigeria, then you would not have a joint development zone for the purpose of producing oil in that area. So that argument does not follow logical.

Okonjo-Iweala best candidate to lead World Bank, Jonathan canvasses

2012-04-02T12:13:00.001-07:00

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday issued a strong statement in support of Africa’s World Bank pick, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

In a statement made available today the president said that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s knowledge and expertise make her the best candidate to lead the World Bank.

Below is the President’s statement

I am very pleased to note the staunch support and universal acclaim elicited by the nomination of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, as a candidate for the post of World Bank President.

I am particularly appreciative of the strong endorsement and proactive backing for her candidature as Africa’s nominee for this very important position by fellow Heads of State across the continent, the African Union Commission, ECOWAS and African Ministers of Finance, Economy and Planning.

It is noteworthy that other developing countries, prominent individuals and organizations across the globe, including development experts, national and international media, Think Tanks, and Civil Society groups, have been very supportive of her nomination.

I also acknowledge the positive role played by Nigeria’s legislature, and other prominent groups, including members of Nigeria’s vibrant media, in lending strong support to her candidature. These have given Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s campaign a tremendous momentum, which we welcome.

As a preeminent development institution, the World Bank is well-positioned to play an important role in partnering with Developing countries to promote growth, tackle poverty and uplift living standards.

Accordingly, the leadership of the institution matters greatly and must be chosen with utmost care.

It matters even more in a complex, increasingly inter-connected global environment characterized by volatility and uncertainty.

It is for this reason that there is a resounding call to ensure an open, transparent and merit-based process in the election of the World Bank President, which our country aligns with, and which has been promised by the G-20 Countries as well as the World Bank’s Development Committee.

We firmly believe that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s knowledge and expertise, as well as the depth and breadth of her experience make her the best candidate to lead the World Bank. She has first-hand experience of managing complex financial and economic development issues at national and international levels, deploying her skills with demonstrated passion, commitment and professionalism.

She has also shown a high degree of innovation and drive, while exhibiting a strong ability to integrate and manage interwoven problems of development in infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, and other sectors in her expanded role as Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

I am firmly convinced that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership will be beneficial, both to the World Bank and to its principal stakeholders.

I also believe that it would be immensely beneficial to Africa and the developing world at large. Nigeria urges that her candidacy receives fair consideration in an open, transparent and merit-based process, which should be embraced by all stakeholders.

N6.5bn fraud: EFCC moves to prosecute Sylva

2012-04-02T12:12:00.002-07:00

ABUJA – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Monday, intensified its bid to prosecute the former governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, following allegation that he pilfered N6.5 billion from the state treasury whilst he was in office.
The anti-graft agency had in a 6-count criminal charge it entered against the ex-governor on February 24, maintained that the said crime was perfected between October 2009 and February 2010.

Meanwhile, sequel to inability of the commission to serve a copy of the charge on the accused person to pave way for his arraignment, it secured the nod of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday to paste the 6-count charge at the front gate of his Abuja residence located within the Maitama District.

More details later

Court dismisses charges against Akingbola

2012-04-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Lagos – (NAN) A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday dismissed the criminal charges filed against the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank ( now Access Bank), Dr Erastus Akingbola, for lack of diligent prosecution.

The EFCC had on Dec. 31, 2010 arraigned Akingbola on a 22-count amended charge of misuse of depositors’ fund, abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N5 billion.

In his ruling, Justice Charles Archibong held that the prosecution counsel, comprising five Senior Advocates of Nigeria, were incompetent in the prosecution of the charges against the accused.

“I direct the Attorney-General of the Federation to disband, sack and de-brief the present prosecuting team and their various respective firms for abuse of court process.

“They are a drain on the public purse,’’ he said.

Archibong said the prosecution had chosen to pursue a campaign to “scandalise’’ the court, saying “this amounts to serious and professional incompetence in prosecuting the accused.

“The counsel shall not be given any further audience in relation to the charges against the accused either by me or any other judge of the Federal High Court.

“I hereby dismiss the charges amended or otherwise on the grounds of incompetence. I discharge the accused person accordingly,’’ he ruled.

Earlier, prosecution counsel, Mr Godwin Obla (SAN), had asked for a short adjournment to enable the lead counsel, Mr Ben Ukala (SAN), to be physically present in court to prosecute the matter.

He told the court that the prosecution also wanted further stay of proceedings to enable them to compile documents at the Appeal Court to challenge the refusal of the judge to disqualify himself from hearing the case.

Counsel to the defendant, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), however, objected to an adjournment and urged the court to dismiss the charges against his client. (NAN

My work will campaign for me – Gov Oshiomhole

2012-04-01T14:11:00.001-07:00

In this interview, Governor Adams Oshiomhole describes the challenge of governance in the last four years, and looks forward to the electioneering season which will come up in July 2012. He granted the interview in the Government House, Benin City. Excerpts:

You have been in Government House for over three years. What is the experience like, changing from Labour leader to being a governor often faced with ultimatums and strikes by Labour unions?

In the NLC, the focus was on the welfare of the workers, the welfare of the people. Job security and civil liberty. In all of that the focus is on the people. That is what defines the struggle at the Nigeria Labour Congress.

In government, the people are the primary focus in terms of the welfare of their rights. Their privileges, their right to good quality of life and I think for me nothing has changed. As I have argued elsewhere those who really have difficulty are people who transfer from being businessmen and women where the focus is on maximizing profit for the individual, family or business, and where the tactics of achieving that is basically, to exploit the workforce and appropriate the difference between what you pay them in wages and the value of what they actually contribute and that is labelled as profit which is reserved for the owners of the business.

The only thing that is fundamentally different, in my view is that whereas as a union man, you dictate, negotiate, demand, you give ultimatum and you go on strike to press home your demand, as a governor, you have the executive capacity to carry out your wishes, rather than waiting for people to persuade you. You do what you are convinced is right. I think to that extent, that is for me a qualitative difference.

For example, Edo State was the first state to pay the minimum wage, if I were in the NLC, I might be pressurising Edo State to try to make my state to live by example, but as a governor, I did not need to be persuaded by anyone, I was convinced about it and I told my union people, I am in a hurry to be the first to implement it to show that it is implementable. That for me is a constructive difference; that you can do it if you are convinced about it.

I have personally experienced the menace of flooding in Benin City. How have you been able to address flooding in the state which previous administration could not solve?

To be honest, every fact of life in Edo State had decayed. In most parts of the country, people look forward to the rainy season and in some parts, people have to organise prayers for God to send them rain but people of Benin City in particular never looked forward to the rainy season, because of the havoc it usually wreaked on the people, because there were no drainage. The one constructed by the Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia government, surface drainage and underground, a very good network, in addition to the moat dug by our great, great grandfathers; all these were not being maintained.

Benin is only city with that comprehensive moat which provided for both security as well as flood control, but over the years governments allowed the drainage to be blocked, and no effort was made to de-silt it. The moat was compromised by the people and government for allowing people, including sometimes, government agencies converting the moat to waste dumps sites.

Others who considered themselves powerful even decided to build houses on the moat. All of these taken together with lack of investment on infrastructure, that was why persons lost their loved ones during the rains. That was how serious the situation was. People had given up on Edo. The official position was that what can we do, we don’t have resources, all kind of explanations.

The same situation was prevailing in other sectors. The one you will not see by the road side was the situation in our public schools. Almost 95 percent of our public schools had witnessed situations where pupils were sharing classrooms, primary one, primary two, they are packed in one classroom. In most cases the students sat on the floor.

That was the situation and this was everywhere including in Benin City, the capital.

Our Central Hospital was built in 1903 and since then, there has been no major intervention other than piecemeal token refurbishing and unco-ordinated temporary structures added here and there. When I visited the hospital, I told the director that even for a healthy person, if he walks into the hospital and spends five minutes there he is likely to require medical help.

In the rural communities, most of them were not accessible which is one of the things, I am happy about that I got involved in politics. In Edo Central, it is common to find people with surface tanks to collect water, rain water, during the rainy season, which they hope to rely on during the dry season. Although several bore holes had been sunk, billions of Naira was allegedly spent to provide water for the people who were told borehole could not be viable, even though they had been paid for.

This was more or less the situation. In other words, Edo had been an unviable entity. From being the heart beat of the nation, one whose citizens were respected, if you remember the old Bendel and Midwest, from that height we came so low that we are now being reported only in terms of armed robbery, other very negative violent crimes. But the good news is that it is not an act of God, it is the result of many years of misapplication of public funds and leadership that had not factored in the people as the essence and primary purpose of governance.

What are the methods you have adopted to turn things around to make the situation better than what you met?

I think the first thing is to try to understand, how did we get here? You rightly reminded us that the last time Edo people witnessed development was in the era of Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, ironically, as a military governor. But coming from Edo State, he had a kind heart and common passion to build up the dream of the founders of Midwest region. You know this was the only state that was democratically created.

Governor Oshiomhole

A referendum was conducted and people voted for the creation of Midwest region. I think Ogbemudia might be inspired by the appreciation of the vision behind that agitation which our people massively bought into, voting for the creation of Midwest State and therefore worked so hard to realise the dream. But thereafter, in trying to identify how we got here, we started having one military government after the other, who were not from this state, who were posted, like the way they will post a Brigade Commander, who arrived without a purpose. They did not have immediate or long term interest.

What makes a democracy superior to military is the power of the electorate to reward and punish public servant or political office holder, by electing and removing according to their judgment of your performance. Which is why we identify roads, erosion and flood control, de-silting drainages and rebuilding the health centres, introducing free ante-natal health care for pregnant mothers as well as free medical health care for children up to the age of five and reinventing the public schools and building them to a standard primary or secondary schools in Edo State and I will take you out to visit any private school of your choice, and I will show you the public schools.

Community development
We are reconnecting the rural communities with electricity as well as roads, so that when we ask our people remain in the rural area, we are not saying remain in prison or jungle, they will be there and they can have access to electricity, they can listen to radio and watch television. Those of their children who are knowledgeable with some effort they can access the internet and they do not have to come to Benin City to access the internet. For boreholes, we realised that the problem was insufficiency of equipment. We decided to import heavy duty bore hole rigs to drill water such that there is no terrain in Edo State today where we cannot get water.

In Ekpoma and Iruekpen where Prof. Osunbor comes from we now have water, and several other places. These are areas over the past 35 years, there were water tanks but no water and now we have proven that there is water because scientifically it has been established that there is nowhere on this planet where you can’t get water. One terrain could be more challenging than another but the technology exists to deal with it because even in the desert you can get water.

I read in the papers that the current internally generated revenue (IGR) in Edo State is N2 billion per month. It sounds like a fairy tale. Please tell us how you went about this because other parts of the country may want to copy from you by looking inward.

I assumed office on November 12, 2008 and we saw our average earning from the federation account crashing from an average of between N4 and N5 billion a month to N1.6 billion a month with a wage bill of N2 billion and internal generated revenue of an average of N285 million. So when you added the IGR with our share of the federation account, our net receipt was about N1.9 and yet our basic requirement to run the bureaucracy was about N2 billion.

This meant if I did not do something, Edo State was going to continue in what has been known in the past, namely not being able to pay salaries because before I assumed office, it was quite common that for two, three months, workers in the public sector in Edo State were not paid because the money was not there. But for me, coming from my background there is no way I can approach workers, to say, sorry because of some reasons, the pay day is not sacrosanct. For me the pay day is sacrosanct.

It has to be respected and enforced. I was troubled at that point. You know as they say necessity is the mother of invention and I had to look at two things, first, why must we spend N2 billion to run a small bureaucracy? Two, why are we earning so little from internally generated revenue, N285 million a month? When you start questioning, you begin to understand and that makes you to first discover that there were lots of wastages in our system.

Expenditure pattern
Eighty percent of our total earning was being devoted to recurrent expenditure and only twenty percent of the budget was for capital project, which explained the decay in various sectors of the economy of the state. So how do you deal with that?

First we believed we have a team of young professionals. A multi-disciplinary team of young men and women, mostly of Edo State origin, not necessarily living in Benin City; people who have made it and are making it in their private lives. First we must reorder our structure of expenditure, we must put more money on capital project and less on recurrent, but how do you do that without carrying out retrenchment?

Now we went into the specifics. Each of the elements that constituted the recurrent expenditure, subhead by subhead and we discovered that the real cost was not on workers salary, was not as a result of the wage bill. It was generally described as goverhead. So the first year we saved N5 billion on cost of running government.

We aggressively addressed the second question, why are we earning only N285 million.

There is something curious about Edo State, after, Lagos, Abuja and probably Port Harcourt, this state has the highest number of banks and branches of banks in Nigeria.

We tried to understand why are banks locating here; if, as everybody seems to feel that this is a civil service town. As you interact you begin to discover what you might call invisible but viable businesses, here and there, because of the way the Nigeria economy is largely informal, it is informal because of weakness in our information management system.

As we investigated more and more we discovered that a couple of things were possible, so we first corrected the deficiency in the Pay As You Earn, we enforced the law. We had challenges with that, workers did not think a union man, should enforce that law.

The good thing is that I can be accused of having organized several strikes and I will be guilty of those accusations, because I have organized too many, I cannot even remember, right from the age of 16, 17 years, I will be causing trouble. In all my union training and all the union literature I have read, including literature on governance of the left or of the right, the practice of democracy, or progressive, taxation is common. So I have never led strike against taxation. But, who pays what, the law can be made in a way as to favour the rich or the poor. But there is always a tax and states live on tax. But you must pay tax.

We found a lot of people here who occupy 3000, 4000, 10,000 square metres of residential accommodation. They pay next to nothing. Even to process a C of O costs N25,000.00, express, N50,000.00 for a property worth maybe N500 million, N1 billion. People are running private schools, one pupil pays N300,000 per annum and the school is paying only N10,000, over all to the state. Someone has a very big private hospital, where their consulting fee is a minimum of N1,000, just to see the doctor and what he pays to government is N7,000 per annum.

We saw that there were people who were given government land for farming which was converted to private use. They become landlords. We saw that banks, all these guys with double breasted suit, talking about accountability and corporate social responsibility, ninety five percent of them are tax defaulters, they falsify their records, under declare their earnings and therefore defraud the state.

We had to get people to carry out the audit and the laws are very enabling to empower public authority to investigate any body, including the deposit you pay to the bank. It is possible to establish what you are worth, and through this we are able to improve our locally generated revenue from that paltry sum to an average of N2 billion which we attained last month. But we are not celebrating.

Cleaning up the system
I think we ought to be able to do better, if we can clean up the system and get even more aggressive.

People were surprised because government has never announced they have money in the past, this is the first time a government says, they have N13.5 billion. It is a very small money and some of our neighbouring government earn this in ten days. But when you recognize that our monthly earnings from the federation accounts at that time, was about N1.6 billion, N13.5 billion represent almost nine months of total earnings from the Federation Accounts.

In my first year budget, we decided to put seventy percent of the total capital budget to deal with the flooding and roads in Benin City rather than going to every senatorial district, local government. If we do that we won’t be able to build any road. Some people criticised me that we were only working in Benin. I said fine, but the good thing is that Benin is our capital and there is no hamlet in Edo State that does not have its people living in Benin.

Even my village as small as it there are my village people who have been living here for so many years. If you touch Benin City, you touch a fair representation of every hamlet in Edo State. Even politically, there is nothing wrong with that. So I know I have a four year tenure, subject to God. I can plan that this is what I am going to do for the first year , second year, this is what I will do, third and fourth year.

Explain your plan for deflooding Benin City.

One thing in management, is that you just don’t throw money at a problem. The first thing is to try to understand the problem and to get value for money you must carry out certain studies. So I was clear that to deal with the problem of flooding in Benin we needed a holistic approach. We commissioned a foreign consulting firm to revisit the Benin City master plan, they carried out some studies and came out with what we now call, Benin City water storm master plan. They have been able to establish the number of water basins within the city and where to channel water to. So when we are building a road, or constructing drainage, we know exactly where the drainage will lead to.

We are taking the first bold steps now of dealing with one of the basins and we are dredging a modern canal spanning, totally over fourteen kilometres, and the first canal is about seven kilometres.

We can now channel the secondary drain into the primary drain. If we are constructing any road, we will channel it into the primary drain, and the water will flow to the river. We also insisted, as a matter of policy, that every road must have drains on both sides. Having looked at the habit of our people, who throw all sorts of things into the drainage system, we also decided to cover the drains on the two sides of the road and then convert that to walkway so under the walk way, you have a flowing drain.

We have manholes you can open up and de-silt if it gets blocked, so basically that is what we have done and that is what we are doing right now, and you will find out that there is no one road in Benin we are doing that does not carry drainage, walkway and even street lights.

Will your coming from Edo North be a problem in your bid for a second term?
No. First is that Edo people have been extremely kind and generous to me even the first time because the only thing I invested in this project is my reputation as a labour leader. They trusted us that those qualities they saw that if I get involved in governance I will make a difference. That was all I invested. It is that power of support that enabled us to overwhelm the godfather and his rigging machine down the drain.

Three years four months down the road, we have demonstrated that Edo state is working again and so for me therefore the campaign is being done by those contractors working in various parts of the state and because they are working in every local government, the campaigns are going on by what people see. Just give me two minutes, we will go to one or two places on project supervision and I want you to listen to people’s comment, I will not say anything to anybody and you are likely to hear people say, forget about campaigning for 2012, carry go, Osho baba we are for you.

There is nothing our opponents are going to be able to point at that they achieved.

Nigeria has no reason to fail Africa – Ghana’s VP

2012-04-01T14:08:00.003-07:00

Ado-Ekiti – Ghana’s Vice President John Mahama has challenged Nigeria to use its human and material resources to lead other African nations to economic greatness

Mahamamade the call in Ado Ekiti on Saturday while being conferred with the honorary Degree of Public Administration by the Ekiti State University (EKSU).

L-R: Vice President of Ghana, Dr. John Dramani Mahama; Ekiti State Governor and Visitor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and Vice Chancellor, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Patrick Aina, at the 17th Convocation and 30th Anniversary Ceremonies of the university in Ado-Ekiti... on Saturday

“Nigeria contributes over 50 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in West Africa,’’ he said, adding that it had no reason to fail the continent in view of the resources at its disposal.

He said that Nigeria and Ghana had symbiotic relationship in terms of educational and economic attainments since Independence and urged Nigeria to take the leadership position in Africa and ensure that all the evils bedeviling the continent were solved.

He submitted that receiving honorary title from Ekiti State University (EKSU) do not diminish his title as the Vice President of Ghana.

“When I told some of my friends that I will be receiving award they thought it will be from Cambridge or Oxford University.

“But I want to say proudly today that this honour is symbolic and receiving this award remains a pride to me because President Goodluck Jonathan was in this way honoured by Ghana Institute of Administration’’.

Also speaking at the occasion, Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, promised to teach Peace and Conflict Studies in the Department of Political Science in the University.

Fayemi, who said the rating of Nigerian universities in the world, was unacceptable to him, charged African Nations to ensure that the African universities were made one of the best in the world.

“The best African University was rated number 387 in 2011, while the best rated Nigerian University was number 2,266 position,” he said, noting that this rating speaks volume.

According to him, I am not unaware that the major complaints of public institutions centre on inadequate funding, noting it would not be acceptable to the State Government as an excuse for failure.

“I challenge you to engage in profitable and socially relevant consultancy and be prudent in your resource management. ’’

He further called on the authorities of the institution to collaborate institutions outside the country, noting that it was the key used by successful universities.

Other eminent Africans honoured at the occasion include the Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Prof Tekene Tamuno and Dr Kande Yumkella, who were conferred with honorary of Doctor of Letters and Doctor Science respectively. (NAN)

Another Kogi Bomb Factory: 10 killed in Boko Haram, security forces gun duel

2012-04-01T14:07:00.001-07:00

Security forces, yesterday, clashed with gunmen suspected to be members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

By the time the booming of guns went down, 10 people lay dead.

The dead include nine suspected Islamists and one soldier. Two other security operatives sustained serious injuries.

Scene of gun battle was Ihima, in OkehiLocal Government Area of Kogi State.

The members of the security forces, comprising of the military and the Department of State Security, SSS,were said to be on their way to uncover a bomb factory allegedly operated by Boko Haram in Ihima when they came under attack by the Islamists

The security forces had acted on a tip-off barely one week after they uncovered another bomb factory in Kabba, the headquarters of Kabba LGA, Kogi State.

In the ensuing duel, nine Islamists and a soldier were killed while two members of the SSS were also injured.

In the course of the duel, the military deployed a helicopter for reconaissance and shelling of the Islamists bomb factory.

Bomb manufacturing materials discovered in Kogi State, yesterday.

Confirming the incident, the commandant, Nigeria Army Records, Lokoja, General Alphosus Chukwu, who led the operation, said the security forces, acting on a tip off, were on their way to Ihima to uncover another bomb factory, after the one in Kabba was unveiled, when they were engaged in gun duel by the hoodlums. He added: “We are already on top of the situation and the factory is now condoned off”.

He advised law abiding citizens in the area to go about their lawful duties without any fear of molestation. Meanwhile, the governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, says his government would take care of the medical expenses of the injured security agents.

The governor, who stated this when he paid a visit to the injured security men at the Federal Medical Center, Lokoja, said government will continue to work with the security forces to rid the state of criminals. He called on the security agents not to be deterred in the onerous task of providing security for the citizenry.

2012-03-31T06:57:00.003-07:00

SPOILER ALERT: Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight talks to GB about the season-ender's casualties and plot twists on the Starz series.

Starz

It didn’t look good for the rebellion going in to Friday’s season finale of Starz’s Spartacus: Vengeance. Trapped on Vesuvius and surrounded by Roman soldiers, Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) would have to once again do something no one expected in order to get his band of rebel slaves off the mountain.

Surrounded by Glaber’s (Craig Parker) men waiting at the foot of the mountain with just the one path leading up and down, Spartacus found inspiration in his former lover Mira’s (Katrina Law) death and led the group down by vines. The surprise attack would give the rebels the advantage and ultimately Spartacus would get his revenge on the man who ordered his wife to her death. But, the win wouldn’t come without casualties for characters whom the show’s viewers have become very attached to.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with series creatorSteven S. DeKnight about the decisions he and his team made for the finale episode.

The Hollywood Reporter: There was a huge and bloody shift for Lucretia, but was it really a big change?

Steven S. DeKnight: Once you go back with Lucretia you’ll realize, ‘Oh, she was actually insane the whole time. She never really recovered.”

THR: Lucretia was marked for death once before. When did you decide this was how she’d ultimately go out?

DeKnight: I had originally planned that she was going to die with Batiatus at the end of Season 1. [Executive producer] Rob Tapertpassed along the message from Starz that they were very interested in bringing Lucy back. And I loved Lucy; I loved her performance. But I was adamant, “No, she has to die.” And then the next day I called up Rob and said, “I had a thought this morning in the shower of a cool thing to do with Lucy next season.” And it was all based on that she wanted the baby and how it would end. So before we started the season, that’s the reason I brought her back to end it just like that. Because I had this image in my head of revealing why she wanted the baby. Because I think a lot of people have obviously picked up on she’s very obsessed with Olivia’s baby. But most people think she’s going to take the baby and run away with it, which she kind of does. But in her mind, she’s fulfilling what she’s always wanted. And what her husband always wanted, which I found operatic and grand and twisted. And I’m still shocked that Starz actually let me do that.

THR: Why did you choose to kill off Mira the way you did and with so little fanfare?

DeKnight: It was the one death I think we probably talked about the most, because we went back and forth. I love the character. I love what Katrina did with the character. People always ask me, why do you kill people? And it’s mostly due to story and then the other part of it is looking forward to the next season and the dynamics and how everything fits together. With killing her off you know we wanted to make a statement at the beginning of the episode that all bets were off and anybody could get it. And sometimes that people die and you don’t get a magnificent final death scene with your last words. Sometimes, you just get it. And it’s violent and horrible. And I also really needed an emotional connection for Spartacus throughout this. An emotional loss that led him to the idea of how to get off the mountain. So, they’re out of firewood and the rock is too hard to bury the body and he has to wrap her in these vines. And that’s what leads him to the idea of creating these vine ropes to get off the mountain.

STORY: Starz to Launch Second ‘Spartacus’ Facebook Game, Sampling Opportunities for Show

THR: Mira gets killed on the finale and, for a lack of a better word, dumped by Spartacus on the last episode. Don’t you think fans will feel like she got a raw deal?

DeKnight: Yeah, she got a raw deal all around. I mean she fell for a man that will never be able to give his heart. On the plus side, she went from basically a third level sex slave into a very powerful woman. And I just hope people don’t get the wrong impression that, oh, I’m going to build up a powerful woman and then kill her -- not at all my intention. It was purely a product of the story and where we’re headed with the story.

THR: Speaking of raw deals, Glaber pretty much sent Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) to his sure death. Why would he go on such a suicide mission?

DeKnight: You know what I love about Ashur, and I try to do this with all the villains, but Ashur especially. Ashur thinks he’s the hero. He doesn’t think he’s a villain at all really. And I’ve had many conversations with Nick about this. And I think it’s one of the keys to the Ashur character. Is that he continually thinks he’s in the right no matter what he does. He honestly believes he’s in the right, which is why his ending kind of surprises him -- that he got screwed this way. It’s funny because how Ashur dies I had planned towards the end of Season 1. I’d figured that out. And I remember I had bumped into Nick and Lesley-Ann Brandt, who at the time was playing Naevia. And I excitedly told them how Ashur was going to finally meet his demise. And, of course, Lesley-Ann Brandt thought it was a fantastic idea and Nick was like “What? What are you talking about?” And then of course Lesley-Ann Brandt wasn’t available due to scheduling problems. So we had to recast to Cynthia Addai-Robinson -- who I think when you get to that final moment with her and Ashur will be the moment that the audience can really get behind Naevia and see her transformation from the broken shattered woman she was into something powerful and deadly.

THR: After all that Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) has survived, the Egyptian was finally the one to do him in. Can you talk about your thought process on Oenomaus’ death?

DeKnight: Historically, Oenomaus was the first one to fall out of Spartacus’ people by some accounts at the battle of Vesuvius. So, we do try to stay historically adjacent as I like to call it. We always knew that Oenomaus would die at Vesuvius. And I wanted that moment to have a little more emotional resonance. Because I wanted to build to Oenomaus finally forgiving Gannicus with his last dying words. And to get the sense of loss through Gannicus. Loss, but also having that burden lifted from his conscious that his brother forgave him for what he did.

And I’m sure I’ll also get many angry emails about killing Oenomaus. I’ve read a lot of comments recently after Episode 9 about people asking ‘This Egyptian character, how could he beat Oenomaus who’s supposed to be the greatest ever? And I have to keep reminding people that way back in Season 1 in Episode 5 he tells Crixus and Spartacus when they’re going to fight Theokoles that his day is past. He’s a great trainer and he is a great fighter, but he is at the end of that line. He’s not the great warrior he once was. He can still fight like hell. And that’s why we created this Egyptian character. We wanted an unstoppable character that never says anything that’s just a force of nature. My ultimate plan was that it would take Gannicus and Oenomaus both to stop this guy and one ends up sacrificing his life.

STORY: 'Spartacus' Spins Off Book Series From Titan Books

THR: While there are a lot of loose ends tied up in this finale, there’s also a sense of impermanence about the victory. Is that how you set it up?

DeKnight: That’s another thing that I love about the show and something I’ve really tried to do since the beginning. When we get to the season ending I like an ending -- not a cliffhanger -- especially considering how long you have to wait before the next season. I don’t want to do a cliffhanger and have everybody wait nine months to see what happened. It kind of deflates it. So, I like to put an exclamation point on the endings, but still have that feel that more is coming, which we did at the end of season one. And, of course, at the end of this season.

THR: What’s the final moral message on the idea of vengeance after this season?

DeKnight: When I suggested the subtitle of Vengeance --- and doing each season with a different subtitle has proven to be my best worst idea because I love the concept, but getting everybody to agree on the subtitle is just a monstrous task. And we went round and round about Vengeance. There was a faction among Starz -- and the executive producers and I agree with them -- that vengeance is not a heroic ideal. It’s a dark very treacherous path.

For me that is exactly what I wanted, practically everybody this season has an axe to grind with someone. And I also wanted that idea, that when you get to the end and you look back, that Spartacus really slowly moves away from the concept of vengeance and starts to put the group ahead of his own passions. Of his own thirst to kill Glaber, which you especially see in Episode 8 where he decides instead of killing Ilithyia or making an attempt on Glaber’s life instead he’s going to trade her for the weapons they need to continue their fight. So yeah, vengeance ultimately is very empty once you have it. And next season one of the things we’re going to be talking about is Spartacus has killed Glaber. He’s killed Batiatus. The two people really responsible for his wife’s death but it’s not enough. It’s never enough. Once you exact that vengeance it is a hollow feeling.

Oily death: How Nigeria short-changed oil producing areas

2012-03-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

Deputy Political Editor
SINCE Nigeria started generating revenue from crude oil in 1958, the country has earned about N50.696 trillion or N1 trillion a year,Saturday Vanguard investigations have shown.

Of this princely sum, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the country’s federal revenue, only N6.577 trillion or less has been paid to the oil producing areas as derivation. The figure is N18.771 trillion less than the N25.348 trillion the oil-bearing regions should have got as derivation if 50 per cent derivation had not been jettisoned few years after crude oil became the chief revenue earner.

Between 1958 and 2007 (CBN Annual Report and Statement of Account, 2008), Nigeria earned N29.8 trillion from petroleum resources. And between 2008 and 2011, the country generated N20.895 trillion.

Oily death

However, the huge earnings, arguably, have not translated to improved welfare for the people of the oil producing areas, whose environment -land, water and air have been adversely contaminated and in many cases devastated and polluted. In the last 20 years, about 2,000 persons have been killed in pipeline_related explosions and accidents in the region.

Indeed, a World Bank report warns that 40 per cent of habitable terrain in the Niger Delta area would disappear in 20 years if strong-willed remediation was not carried out. And the Federal Government admitted that 40,000 oil spills had occurred in the past 53 years of oil exploration.

In the report, the World Bank claimed that the palm groves, shorelines, creeks and other habitable areas would be washed away by erosion as well as spills due to vandalism, system failure and crude oil theft.

President Jonathan and Diezani

Apart from effects of oil spills, gas flaring constitutes a veritable hazard. It causes acid rain which acidifies the lakes and streams and damages crops and vegetation. It reduces farm yields and harms human health; increases the risk of respiratory illnesses, asthma and cancer and often causes chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, blindness, impotence, miscarriages and premature deaths.

Constant heat and the absence of darkness in some communities have done incalculable damage to human, animal and plant life in affected areas. Gas flares also cause affected places to be covered in thick soot, making even rain water unsafe for drinking.

A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, last August, criticised how the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) deals with the environmental damage it has caused in the Niger Delta, especially in ogoniland. UNEP said Ogoniland needed the world’s largest ever oil clean_up, which would cost an initial $1billion or N160 billion and could take 30 years.

How Ogoniland and other polluted communities would be cleaned is a matter of conjecture. If now that oil revenue is available the areas cannot be cleaned, is it when the revenues cease that the task will be embarked upon?

By projection, Nigeria currently has a proven crude oil reserves of about 37.2 billion barrels which at the current rate of exploitation (2.5mbp) may be exhausted in the next 40 years unless new deposits are discovered.

Like most oil-bearing areas of the world, the Niger Delta has a tough terrain, which needs huge funds to be developed. Often times, oil producing areas are marshy or arid and most part parts of the Niger Delta is marshy.

The devastation of the Niger Delta region has been attributed, among others, to many failures of policy in the region and refusal of the government to pay special attention and inject funds into the area for development. Till date, no city in the region has been mapped out for a special development as the government did in Lagos and Abuja.

In the beginning

In 1958, before crude oil became a critical factor in Nigeria’s development, Sir Henry Willink’s Commission recommended that the Niger Delta region deserved special developmental attention by the Federal Government because of its difficult terrain. In response, the government established the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) in 1960 to tackle the developmental needs of the region. The board in its seven years of existence achieved little or nothing. It was consumed by the military coup of 1966 and the outbreak of the civil war in 1967.

Before and shortly after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the federating units (regions) retained 50 per cent of revenues derived from their areas and contributed the rest to the central pool. It was on this basis that the regional governments led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo (West); Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (East); Sir Ahmadu Bello (North) and later Dennis Osadebey (Mid-West) unleashed unparalleled development in their respective areas.

However, the 50 per cent derivation principle was kicked aside by the military in 1967 as earnings from crude oil skyrocketed. First, part of the proceeds were used to prosecute the Nigeria-Biafra civil war of 1967 to 70. After the war, the military rulers refused to return to the status quo and chose to disburse funds to the states as they deemed feat. The military also created numerous states and local councils, which were funded with oil money. The oil producing areas were short-changed in the series of state and councils creation sprees.

With crumbs coming from the centre as allocation and their primary occupations – fishing and farming inhibited by oil pollution, Niger Deltans embarked on vigorous agitation to save their lives and environment.

In response, the President Shehu Shagari Administration set up a Presidential Task Force (popularly known as the 1.5 % Committee) in 1980 and 1.5 per cent of the Federation Account was allocated to the Committee to tackle the developmental problems of the region. This committee could not achieve much. There were doubts if the government actually disbursed 1.5 per cent of the revenue to the committee. And most of the funds released were allegedly looted.

Discontent in the area was to continue. So, when General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida came to power, he set up the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 and allocated 3 per cent of federally collected oil revenue to it to address the needs of the areas. Like its forebears, the OMPADEC, which initially raised hopes also failed to deliver as it perceptively became inefficient and corrupt.

When General Sani Abacha took over, he set up the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) headed by Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). The PTF did not meet the yearnings of Niger Deltans as its mandate covered all parts of the country. With critics saying that the PTF carried out more projects in northern parts of the country, restiveness in the Niger Delta assumed a higher gear. Abacha convened a National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in 1994, where conferees agreed on at least 13 per cent derivation. Abacha did not live to implement the recommendation.

His successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar included it in the 1999 Constitution, which he handed over to President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999.

On his part, Obasanjo scrapped the PTF and established a special body, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to undertake rapid development of the impoverished oil region.

He foot-dragged on the payment of the 13 per cent derivation until the oil producing states got a court judgement, which forced him to pay the proceeds beginning from June 1999.

At the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) convened by Obasanjo in 2005, South-South delegates insisted on 25 per cent derivation and had to walk out on the gathering when the other parts of the country said they could not approve anything more than 18 per cent, which was later recommended.

However, this recommendation did not see the light of the day and died with Obasanjo’s alleged third term ambition. And the agitation for enhanced welfare continued.

On succeeding Obasanjo, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua established the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to offer more palliatives to the region. When militancy took the upswing in the area and knocked down oil production to about one million barrels per day, he also offered amnesty to the militants, a progamme that has gulped billions of Naira.

President Goodluck Jonathan inherited the programme and has been implementing it.

Fire of controversy

The current fire of derivation controversy raging in the polity was ignited a few weeks ago when a host of northern leaders including Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Malam Lamido Sanusi; Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu; the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Dr. Junaid Mohammed decried the huge revenues going to the oil producing states and sought reduction of the proceeds to free more money that could be allocated to northern states. Some of them attributed the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging many northern cities especially in the North-East geo-political zone to poverty arising from disproportionate revenue allocation to the North.

The northern demand drew the ire of some Niger Deltans, who demanded true federalism and 50 per derivation. The government extended the 13 derivation to cover other minerals as all states of the country have mineral resources that could be explored and exploited.

Governors meet Wednesday

Amid the raging controversy, Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, said on Thursday that the governors would meet on the issue on Wednesday.

Responding to a question on the governors’ disagreement on 13 per cent derivation at a lecture in Lagos, Amaechi said: “There is nothing like that apart from press-sponsored disagreement among the governors. The governors will meet on Wednesday to discuss the matter. The Nigeria Governors Forum position is that the states need more revenues than the Federal Government because there are more responsibilities in the states than at the federal level. We did not talk about derivation.”

Let’s return to true federalism – Anyaoku

Disturbed by the dangerous dimension the derivation question and other issues such as insecurity and stunted growth were taking in the country, former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anayaoku, has canvassed a return to true federalism, to address the issues.

Speaking a colloquium to mark Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 60th birthday in Lagos, he said: “I do believe that a true, rather than our current unitarist federalism, will better promote peace, stability and development in Nigeria.

There can be no doubt that Nigeria was making more progress in national development in the early years of its independence when it practiced a true federalism of four regions with more extensive powers devolved from the centre to the regions.

Those were the days of the significant export of groundnuts, hides and skins, and the tin ore from the North; of cocoa from the West; of rubber from the Mid-West; and of palm produce and coal from the East of Nigeria. They were also the days of such achievements as the free universal education and introduction of television in Chief Awolowo’s Western region, and of the budgeoning industrialization of Dr Okpara’s Eastern region.

“To return to true federalism, we need a major restructuring of our current architecture of governance. We would need six federating units, instead of our present 36, which not only sustains an over dominant centre, but also compels the country to spend not less than 74 per cent of its revenue on the cost of administration. If the existing 36 states must be retained in some form, they could be made development zones with minimal administrative structures within the respective six federating units.

“No one can seriously deny that there are major challenges currently facing our country. The challenges include the state of national insecurity which has been heightened by the activities of the Boko Haram; the raging debates over revenue derivation and allocation; the obvious decline in standards and scope of our public services, especially in education, health and the civil service.

“We need to convene a national conference of appropriately chosen representatives of the six geopolitical zones to dialogue on how to face these serious challenges.”

At the top of the agenda should be to reach a consensus on the fundamentals of our constitution including a new architecture of governance that will best promote peace, stability and development in Nigeria.

“I believe that if we are to recapture the zeal with which the then regional Premiers and their electorates embarked on the development of their regions, if we are to arrest the present destructive competition between our various ethnic groups for the control of power at the centre, and if we are to repair the collapse in our societal value system which is at the root of the pervasive corruption and degradation of our public services, we should aim at getting the national conference to reach a consensus on devolving from the centre to the six federating units responsibility for such areas of governance as internal security including the police, infrastructure, education, health and economic development.”

Anyaoku’s suggestion has the endorsements of many eminent Nigerians drawn from all parts of the country. How long the government will shy away from convening the confab is to be seen.

Crude oil production and
revenue in Nigeria (1958-2011)

Year Prod(M ba) R(N) Dertn(N)

1958       2               0.2 M           50% (0.1M)
1959       4               3.4M           50% (1.7M)
1960       6               2.4M           50% (1.2M)
1961       17               17M           50% (8.5M)
1962       25               17M           50% (8.5M)
1963       28               10M           50% (5.0M)
1964       44               16M           50% (8.0M)
1965       99               29M           50% (14.5M)
1966       152               45M           50% (22.5M)
1967       117               30M           50% (15.0M)
1968       52               -           -
1969       196               75.4M       -
1970       396               167M           -
1971       559               510M           -
1972       655               764M           -
1973       719               1.016B       -
1974       823               3.724B       -
1975       660               4.272B       -
1976       758               5.365B       -
1977       766               6.081B       -
1978       696               4.556B       -
1979       846               8.881B       -
1980       760               12.354B       -
1981       526               8.564B       -
1982       471               7.815B       1.5% (117.9M)
1983       451               7.253B       1.5% (108.795M)
1984       508               8.264B       1.5% (123.96M)
1985       547               10.915B       1.5% (163.725M)
1986       536               8.107B       1.5% (121.60M)
1987       483               19.027B       1.5% (285.05M)
1988       529               20.934B       1.5% (314.01M)
1989       628               39.131B       1.5% (586.96M)
1990       661               55.216B       1.5% (828.24M)
1991       689               60.314B       1.5% (904.71M)
1992       711               115.392B       3 % (3.462B)
1993       695               106.192B       3 % (3.204B)
1994       692               160.192B       3 % (4.830B)
1995       715               324.548B       3 % (9.736B)
1996       682               369.190B       3 % (11.0758B)
1997       855               416.811B       3 % (12.504B)
1998       806               289.532B       3 % (8.686B)
1999       775               500.0B       13%-June (32.5B)
2000       828               1.34T           13% (174.2B)
2001       860               1.7076T       13% (221.91B)
2002       726               1.2309T       13% (160.017B)
2003       844               2.0743T       13% (269.659B)
2004       900               3.3548T       13% (436.124B)
2005       923               4.7624T       13% (619.112B)
2006       814               6.109T       13% (794.17B)
2007       880               6.70T           13% (871B)
2008                       3.96T           13% (514.8B)
2009                       2.22544T       13% (289.307B)
2010                       9.15T                13% (1414.91B)
2011                       5.561T       13% (722.9 B)

TOTAL 50.696T 6.577T
Source: Petroleum Inspectorate, NNPC (CBN
Annual Report and Statement of Account 2008 and
Saturday Vanguard’s research.

No regret dating Soul-E, says Queen Ure

2012-03-31T06:12:00.001-07:00

Ure Okezie, only daughter to late prominent medical practitioner, politician and former Minister of Health Dr. J.O.J Okezie is a reporter’s delight any day.

In this interview with Showtime Celebrity, Queen Ure as she is more fondly called by friends and admirers tells the story of her childhood, love life and experience as a banker.

A native of Umuahia, Abia State, Queen Ure who made headlines on account of her romance with popular R&B star Soul-E (an affair she says she has nodoesn’t regret), also explains why she is going into music. She is dropping her first single next month.

Enjoy:

Is name Ure or Uremma?

My dad just gave me Ure. But whatever people add to it, I answer but my name is Ure and I’m called Queen Ure

Did you add the Queen or people added it for you?

I added the Queen(laughs). I think it was something that came up years ago when I was about getting a yahoo address. You know you always want to add something distinct to your name. So I just put it as queenure@yahoo.com. That was many years ago.

Now coincidentally, I went to the studio to do some work, and the producer asked what I wanted my stage name to be, and I remembered my email address. So I chose Queen Ure.

Tell me something about growing up

She’s just this person you’re looking at right now. I’m a regular girl. I was born in the 70s and I’m sure you know what growing up in the 70s was like.

I was born in the 60s…

Queen Ure & Soul-E

Oh my God! Well, I’m the only daughter and the last child in a family of six, my parents inclusive. So I’ve got three elder brothers. I grew up with a lot of attention.

You were pampered?

I was loved and not spoiled.

They didn’t spare the rod?

There was no need for that. I was very quiet and a good girl. So there was no need for the rod.

So what kind of parents were they?

They were the kind of parents that wouldn’t spank a child. I never really did things that would warrant that. It’s just that my brothers were always playing boys stuff and they wouldn’t let me join them because I’m a girl. So I just got used to having to be different, nice and quiet.

But growing up was fun. My father was so much into reading and mathematics; and that’s how mathematics became my best subject. I went to Federal Government College Owerri. After that, I got into the University of Jos and studied Physics. After my NYSC at 21, I got into the banking industry and that was how the banking journey began. I spent few years in Diamond Bank, got into Zenith and spent a few years there. Later I moved to Bank PHB and then Fin Bank which was the last commercial bank I worked with.

Before going deep into what you are today, let’s go back to growing up with the boys

You know how it is, if you see male clothes, nobody would be certain who owns it. But if you see a female dress, everybody knows it’s Ure’s. So I just had all the attention and I was uncomfortable with it at a time because everybody sees me as the last child. It was good. I was also very close to my dad. Each meal he had, they would always get me to sit beside him. Even when I was in school, anytime I returned, it was already a part of me that whenever he was eating, especially lunch, I’d just sit beside him. He was like an idol to me and he showered so much love on me. Of course my mother also loved me and was never jealous of that.

You dad was a scholar and a politician?

Yeah, he was a medical doctor. He became doctor when he was 25 years, practiced for over 50 years. He died t 77 still practicing in 2002. It’s ten years now but it feels like yesterday. He was very much into politics too.

From being a girl, you grew into an adult. Did you paint the town red with your brothers?

The funny thing was that I was a little Church girl but my brothers were everywhere because they were party freaks. They never took me along to those parties. I didn’t grow up partying like them. When I was ten, I got into Students Christian Movement in school and it was serious for me.

So you got born again at ten?

Yes. And I used to be quite emotional about it. The kind of Christianity we had then was the type when you wouldn’t wear trousers, wouldn’t go to parties. So I avoided those things feeling that they would stop me from going to heaven. Not that I was boring person but my growing up years were in Church and my dad thought it was just a phase that would pass and he didn’t have any serious problem with it. I used to read a lot of Kenneth Higgins’ books. My dad noticed I loved reading religious books and so one day, he brought Sorrows of Satan. He wanted me to read it and he’d come back to ask me questions on it. So he would give me novels too so that my mindset wouldn’t be just about Church.

Were you in the choir?

Yes I was. My parents were Anglicans so I joined the choir back in the east. I joined at age 8 because I just wanted to sing.

So what did you learn from your brothers?

It made me so comfortable and not to be afraid of guys. I can stay in the same house with guys and not even feel any different . Again, it made me to know the pranks they play. That’s why when people lie, rather than condemn them, I always feel there’s always a good behind every deception because guys lie a lot.

Queen Ure

They played lots of pranks. I had to bring in girls into the house who weren’t my friends because they would lie that they were asking after me. And if they said they were asking after me and I let them into the house, they would just whisper that they wanted to see my brothers. Sometimes, a girl might be around while another would come again. So I’ll have to go bring in that one again and sit with her. So I knew that guys love pranks so maybe that’ why I easily forgive.

Were you then scared of men because of that experience?

No. They’re very loving people too. Even before guys start playing pranks on me, I figure it out myself.

So what was it like the first time a guy came looking for you in the house?

Well, the first guy who came looking for me wasn’t a boyfriend. My first boyfriend was in the University. We dated for four years without sex. But the first guy who came to my house is doing fine now in New York where he works with a bank. He wasn’t my boyfriend, we used to read together and he was also a Christian.

Or was he shy to ask you out?

Not at all. We were very close but it never came up. We were good friends and my bothers would always tease me about him because I would give him money to buy his school things and bought him sandals. There was nothing romantic about it.

Okay let’s talk about your first love. You dated him for four years and nothing happened

Yes, because I was a Christian.

No kissing, necking…

There was a bit of smooching, the very safe ones. Back then, I was in UniJos and the kind of Christianity we had in the North was more serious than what obtains in the South. He pushed for sex a little but when he couldn’t, he respected that. I was 18 years and we dated till I went for my NYSC.

What happened four years after- who dumped who?

I don’t want to talk about those details because he’s a happily married man today.

Who broke whose heart?

He claimed I broke his heart but I claimed he broke my heart.

Were you really in love with him?

We’re talking about when I was eighteen to when I clocked twenty one. What did we know about love then. Even at that, I was in it with my whole heart and my family knew about it. I told my father about him after my NYSC. He’ a Northerner from Adamawa State.

What kind of people are his people?

They’re nice people and they’re Christians. I don’t want to talk about the details because one thing may lead to another.

So you remember him very well?

Of course, we’re still in touch. He’s pastor and he’s happily married.

You must be proud of him

Of course I am because I was part of the foundation.

Now that you’re going to record an album, is it going to be gospel?

No, I’m not doing gospel. But I can always minister anytime I enter into a Church because it’s part of me.

So what genre of music are you hoping to record?

Queen Ure

I’m doing normal good music. I sing about everything. The thing is that I enjoy different genre of music. So whichever way the song comes, that’s the way it’ll be produced. I love R &B, Rock, Hip-hop, African music and reggae. So it depends on my mood and the inspiration at a time. But I do mostly R & B.

Do you have the gut to perform as an artiste?

When you’ve been a stage person even if it’s in Church, it won’t be a problem. I’ve always sang right from childhood. It’s funny, but way back at age of five, my audience was our night watchman. I always go to him and ask him to watch me. And while he was watching, I’d be imagining a crowd before me. So it has been in me way back in secondary school. And in all the competition we had, I always took the solos.

And immediately I got into the University as teenager, I used to back up Pernam Percy Paul. I also had a music group on campus called the Rubies but it was gospel group. Even in Household of God here, I used to sing lot then.

Why did it take you this long to break out?

I’m glad that I’m doing it because some people who are talented aren’t even coming out to do it. I would say that it’s because I’ve been doing other things. I’m so happy the way my life has gone and I’m thankful to God. I’m not one of those that believe you must do one thing for the rest of your life. God can put you in different places at different times for different reasons. For over twelves to fourteen years, I was in the banking industry.

Why did you leave the banking industry, were you not enjoying the job?

I totally enjoyed the corporate world and the discipline of waking up 4:00am and getting back home at about 10pm. And then the drive, it makes you to become result oriented.

What happened to the music part of you then?

They were there but were dormant. I still used to write songs but nothing come out of it.

So you wrote all your songs?

Yes I did.

Are you going to have collabos?

Eventually yes but as I’m coming out now, the first few songs people would hear will be just me.

Are there any regrets?

No,I don’t because I believe that every experience adds to your life

What about your relationships?

I don’t regret anything

What about your last relationship?

I don’t want to talk about that

Was it love?

I don’t want to talk about it but you’re trying to get me to talk. Before the interview, I already made up my mind not to talk about anything personal.

How did your brothers feel when that relationship ended?

My family just wanted me to be happy. And they wish me well whenever I say anything that will make me happy.

Was that happiness?

Let me make this clear. First, I’d say I don’t want to talk about it. But I just want to say that, there’s something great about everybody- whether they’re born with a silver spoon or wooden spoon. It doesn’t matter. So I don’t associate with people because of their class. I just take people as I see them and look at them as great people. So your question on why I would associate myself with such a person, and I say categorically that everybody has greatness so I can be involved with anybody

The truth is that I’m sure you lost plenty of money

I’m not going to say anything.