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Japanese authorities
have taken a major step in managing a nuclear crisis by connecting all
six earthquake-damaged reactors to power supply.

But it’s too soon to say the crisis has reached a turning point, experts said on Monday.

Power has been
connected but not switched on to crank up most coolers and pumps, which
may have been badly damaged in the quake and tsunami that on March 11
triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Only one
pump has been activated. The damaged reactors and their spent fuel pools
at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km North of Tokyo,
urgently need cooling from air-conditioners and from water pumped in.

U.S. Energy
Secretary, Steven Chu, asked by CNN whether the worst of Japan’s 10-day
nuclear crisis was over, said: “Well, we believe so, but I don’t want to
make a blanket statement.” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman,
Gregory Jaczko added that radiation levels at the plant appeared to be
falling.

But nuclear experts in the U.S. and elsewhere were not quite as positive.

“I am not sure if
the crisis has passed but it is definitely a step in the right
direction,” said Peter Hosemann, a professor at the University of
California Berkeley’s Nuclear Engineering Department.

“It is getting
better. However, we don’t know if the pipes and connections and pumps
still work at this point or what works and what not. But having power
makes external water supply easier.” At Fukushima, 300 engineers have
worked around the clock inside an evacuation zone to contain the worst
nuclear accident since Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986.

The most badly damaged reactors are No. 3 and 4, which were both hit by explosions last week.

Japan’s nuclear
safety agency said pressure was rising in the most threatening reactor,
No. 3, which contains highly toxic plutonium, and this may have to be
released by “venting” steam, a step taken last week that discharged low
levels of radiation into the atmosphere.

Japanese authorities say they have established power lines to all the reactors.

Reactors 5 and 6
have not been much of a problem since a diesel pump was activated last
week, cooling down both the reactors and their spent fuel ponds.

“Reactors 5 and 6,
they are now in what’s called cold shutdown, and the spent fuel cooling
ponds are at normal temperatures,” said Tony Irwin, a former nuclear
plant manager who now lectures at Australian National University.

“They are in the
sort of situation now we would like to see 1, 2, 3 and 4 in.” The other
reactors are damaged but more or less stable, although the spent fuel
cooling pond at reactor 4 is also a particular worry.

The reactor’s core was drained only last November and the radioactive spent fuel transferred to the pond.

“There was already spent fuel in there so there was quite a high load of spent fuel in that pond,” said Irwin.

“And that has been
giving the main radiation effects on site.” He said of the efforts at
the plant: “I think it’s all going in a good direction, but we are not
at a point where we can say we are totally happy.” Engineers have been
spraying the coastal complex with thousands of tonnes of sea water so
fuel rods would not overheat and emit more radiation.

Najmedin Meshkati, a
nuclear and environmental expert at the University of Southern
California Los Angeles, said the measures were necessary but raised a
fresh, and serious, concern.

“Where does the sea
water drain?” he asked. “This is now radioactive waste water. Has there
been any measurement of its radiation effect?

“I am interested to
know how this water is being disposed, if it is being disposed or just
allowed to drain to sea. That is the hidden part of this catastrophe.”
Japanese authorities have acknowledged that some of the water may be
spilling into the ocean, but said they doubted it would have any effect
on human health.

They agreed it needed to be monitored.

Overall, however, experts were more optimistic than they were earlier in the crisis.

“My read is, that they’re at least holding their own,” said Murray Jennex, professor at San Diego State University, California.

“Things are not getting worse. That’s actually good news right now.
The longer they go, the cooler the stuff starts to get, and the less
likely there is to be a severe problem.”

Last week, Paulinus
Ushie, a native of Obadem village in Utugwang in Obudu Local Government
Area of Cross River State but based in Ondo State shocked the entire
community when he beheaded his cousin, Agbama Ibogu, for money ritual.
Mr Ushie was said to have returned from Ondo State early this month with
a plan to kill his mother or any other person and use the victim’s head
for ritual. After plotting for one week on arrival, he decided to
confide in Mr Ibogu who kicked against the plan. When Mr Ibogu realised
that Mr Ushie was bent on carrying out his evil plan, he decided to
caution Mr Ushie’s mother.

Alternative plan

Since he could not
get his mother, Mr Ushie decided to focus on Mr Ibogu as an alternative
target. He waited until his victim got back from his trip to a nearby
market and beheaded him with a sharp machete. The scream from his
victim attracted the attention of neighbours to the scene. Soon, a mob
has gathered. They caught Mr Ushie with the head of his victim in a
polythene bag. The angry mob left the lifeless body of Mr Ushie at the
Utugwang police station.

The traditional ruler of Obudu Local Government Area, Uti Joseph
Davis Agba, described the incident as an abomination. He said “the time
has come for us to stop our youth from having this mentality of getting
rich quick through whatever means.”

A non-governmental
organisation, ActionAid Nigeria, has urged the federal government to
revive the agricultural sector to improve the nation’s economy.

Tunde Aremu, policy,
advocacy and campaigns coordinator of the organisation, told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that if the agricultural
sector is revived and taxes properly accessed, money will be available
to improve the lot of Nigerians.

“We don’t believe in
poverty alleviation; we believe that poverty can be eradicated totally
and when we say poverty can be eradicated totally, we are also talking
about absolute poverty. People must live a life of dignity.”

Mr Aremu maintained that poverty eradication can be achieved if
Nigerian leaders do more to apply the country’s resources on projects
that are beneficial to all.

Russian Prime
Minister, Vladimir Putin said on Monday a U.N. resolution authorising
military action in Libya resembled “mediaeval calls for crusades” after
Western forces launched a second wave of air strikes.

As diplomatic
tempers over the campaign flared, officials in Tripoli said a missile
intended to kill Muammar Gaddafi had destroyed a building in his
fortified compound, which was heavily bombed in 1986 by the Reagan
administration.

“It was a barbaric
bombing,” said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of
shrapnel that he said came from the missile.

“This contradicts
American and Western (statements) … that it is not their target to
attack this place.” There was no comment on the strike from attacking
forces.

In an appearance on
Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a “long war”
after the U.N.-authorised intervention in the uprising against his
41-year rule of this oil producing north African desert state.

“The resolution is
defective and flawed,” said Russia’s Putin, whose country did not use
its power to veto the resolution at the United Nations. “It allows
everything. It resembles mediaeval calls for crusades,” Mr Putin added.

China’s official
newspapers on Monday stepped up Beijing’s opposition to air attacks on
Libya, accusing nations backing the strikes of breaking international
rules and courting new turmoil in the Middle East. China also did not
veto the U.N. resolution.

Libyan rebels welcomed the second wave of attacks.

“The committee
rejects foreign troops on the ground but we encourage the bombardment of
Gaddafi’s army,” Ahmed El-Hasi, a spokesman for the February 17
opposition coalition, said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi
where the uprising began.

He said rebels
coordinated with international powers on air strikes. “There is a
connection between us. One, to pinpoint the position of Gaddafi’s
troops, and two, to pinpoint the position of our fighters so they don’t
get hit with bombardments.” Accounts from the rebel-held western city of
Mistrata appeared to show Gaddafi forces, in a change of tactics forced
on them by air attacks, were trying to mingle with the civilian
population, making it hard to target them from the air. Rebels said
women and children were being used as “human shields”.

“Eat us alive”

The first strikes on
Saturday halted the advance of Mr Gaddafi’s forces on Benghazi and
targeted Libya’s air defences in order to let Western warplanes patrol
the skies of Libya.

The second wave of
Western air strikes also hit Mr Gaddafi’s troops around Ajdabiyah, a
strategic town in the barren, scrub of east Libya that rebels aim to
retake and where their fighters said they need more help to take the
battle to the enemy.

“If we don’t get more help from the West, Gaddafi’s forces will eat us alive,” rebel fighter Nouh Musmari told Reuters.

The U.N. mandated
intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt
against Mr Gaddafi also drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr
Moussa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said
had killed many civilians.

Mr Moussa said on Monday however that the League respected the U.N. resolution while stressing the need to protect civilians.

The United States,
carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, France, Italy
and Canada among others, said the campaign was working and dismissed a
ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday evening.

Henri Guaino, one of
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest aides, said strikes were not
aimed at ousting Mr Gaddafi but said they were likely to last “a little
while”.

Underlining its
commitment to avoiding civilian casualties, Britain’s Defence Ministry
said one air force mission was called off because of civilians in the
target area.

“As the RAF GR4
Tornados approached the target, further information came to light … As
a result the decision was taken not to launch weapons,” a ministry
spokesman said.

The intervention in
Libya is the biggest in an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Withdrawal of Arab support would make it harder to pursue what some
analysts say could in any case be an open-ended campaign with an
uncertain outcome.

Italy said it had
warplanes in the air, after U.S. and British warships and submarines
launched 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Gaddafi’s compound

Late on Sunday
night, Libyan officials took Western reporters to Mr Gaddafi’s compound
in Tripoli, a sprawling complex that houses his private quarters as well
as military barracks, anti-aircraft batteries and other installations,
to see what they said was the site of a missile attack two hours
earlier.

A short walk from a
brightly lit tent where Mr Gaddafi receives his guests, the three-storey
building stood in ruins, and a circular hole was visible on its gutted
facade. The United States says it does not have Mr Gaddafi on its target
list.

The wrecked building
was close to a house in the compound which was attacked by the Reagan
administration and which was never rebuilt.

Outside in a symbol of defiance, a giant golden fist crumples a model of a U.S. warplane.

With Mr Gaddafi
having vowed to fight to the death, there were fears his troops might
increasingly try to force their way into cities, seeking shelter from
air attacks among civilians.

In Misrata, a rebel
spokesman said pro-Gaddafi forces had killed seven people there on
Sunday. Residents said water supplies were cut off and Libyan troops had
encircled the city.

“The Gaddafi forces
are forcing people from Zawiyah, al Mahjoub and Al Ghiran out of their
houses and giving them Gaddafi’s pictures and the (official Libyan)
green flag to chant for Gaddafi,” Hassan, a rebel spokesman, told
Reuters.

“They are bringing
them to Misrata so they can enter the city and control it by using the
civilians as human shields because they know we are not going to shoot
woman and children and old people,” he said by telephone from Misrata.

No-fly zone in place

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was now in place.

But Defense
Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would not have a
“pre-eminent role” in maintaining it, and expected to turn over “primary
responsibility” within days, perhaps to Britain or France.

U.S. officials,
eager to avoid similarities to the invasion of Iraq and the toppling of
Saddam Hussein, have been playing down Washington’s role and emphasising
that overthrowing or killing Mr Gaddafi is not the goal of the attacks
on Libya.

Mullen told CBS television the endgame of the campaign was “very uncertain” and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate.

Mr Gates told
reporters: “I think this is basically going to have to be resolved by
the Libyans themselves.” French planes fired the first shots of the
intervention on Saturday, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles near
Benghazi.

France sent an
aircraft carrier towards Libya and its planes were over the country
again on Sunday, defence officials said. Britain said its planes had
targeted Libya’s air defences, mainly around the capital Tripoli.

Other countries, including Qatar, also dispatched aircraft to participate in the operation, U.S. officials said.

Ogun State governor,
Gbenga Daniel yesterday stunned political observers by attending
campaign rally of the opposition, Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). The
rally held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta was organised
by the PPN, to launch the campaign of its governorship candidate,
Gboyega Isiaka and other candidates. Mr Daniel arrived the campaign
ground mid-way into the programme and was received by members of the PPN
who were mostly those who defected from the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP). He told the PPN supporters that he has become an elder statesman
who will support anything good but insisted that he would work towards
the re-election of President Jonathan “If we see anything good, we must
endorse it. What we are witnessing today is good and we must support
it. Even though you are not happy, you have declared your support for
President Jonathan, we will vote for him because we are working for him.
I have come to feed my eyes and my eyes are seeing good things today,”
Mr Daniel declared.

In his own speech,
PPN governorship candidate, Mr Isiaka told his supporters that he is on a
path of greatness. “I am more than being convinced that we have the
capacity and the courage to govern Ogun State more than any other
candidates in the race. With your continued support and understanding,
we are sure of victory at the polls.” He declared.

PDP asks questions

Meanwhile, the Tunji
Olurin Campaign Organisation said it received with mixed feelings the
inclusion of Mr Isiaka’s name in the list of governorship candidates
released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for
Ogun State.

In a statement
issued and signed by Lai Labode, Chairman, Sub-Committee on Media &
Publicity. The party said “on the one hand we welcome his formal
entrance into the race because we do know that his inclusion in the list
will afford him an opportunity to test his popularity alongside other
candidates in the April polls.

“On the other hand,
we are concerned at the way and manner his name was smuggled into the
list through the backdoor. It is clear to all that the deadline for the
withdrawal and substitution of candidates was February 28, 2011, yet as
at March 3, 2011 when the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered its
judgment, Isiaka and others were parties in a suit seeking to validate
the primaries that produced them as the authentic candidates of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP);the statement pointed out.

“So, the questions
that all men of good conscience should ask are: at what point did Isiaka
become a candidate of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN)? Was it before
or after the judgment? What would have happened had the court declared
him as the candidate of the PDP? What is the role of INEC in all of
these?” the party asked.