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Nigerians evacuated from Libya have accused the federal government of neglecting them, since they returned to the country.

About 50 of the 180
evacuees who returned to the country at the weekend said the government
should have left them at the Tunisia refugee camp instead of bringing
them back home and failing to keep promises made to them.

Speaking on Sunday
at the Hajj camp of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos,
some of them said over 48 hours after their arrival in Lagos, no one has
come forward to tell them anything about their belongings, which they
checked-in at the Tunis airport. They also said they were promised $200
(N30,000) each by government officials, but on getting to Nigeria, the
sum was reduced to N5,000.

“We arrived Nigeria
without our luggage and nobody has told us why our luggage did not
arrive with us, because we checked them in at Tunis airport,” said
Muhammed Abubakar, an evacuee who is from Kano State.

“We were told that
we would be given $200 when we arrive Nigeria by our ambassador at Tunis
airport but when we arrived, we were given only N5, 000 and even some
of us have gotten our money.”

Another evacuee, who
identified himself as Winner, confirmed the Mr. Abubakar’s claims, and
added that “it is a huge disappointment to have the federal government
treating its citizens this way”.

“When Ghanaians were
evacuated by the Ghanaian government, on arrival in Accra, they were
given a new hand set and a sim card and they were evacuated promptly,”
he said.

When contacted, an
official of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) refused to
comment on the issue. However, Margret Isaac, an evacuee who arrived
Nigeria with her daughter, said that the agency earlier promised to
bring back the luggage by Wednesday and Friday.

“I told my husband
to allow us to remain in the refugee camp in Tunis but my husband said
we must go back to Nigeria. In the refugee camp in Tunis, we were given
enough food, water and everything we need but here in Nigeria NEMA is
giving us N5,000; this is not enough. This is not what the ambassador
told us in Tunis,” she said.

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

The former President
of Botswana, Festus Mogae, will lead the Commonwealth Observer Group
(COG) to the forthcoming general elections in April.

This was revealed by
the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma on Monday in London
after constituting the group which he claimed was at the invitation of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Mogoe is
respected in the global community for the effective reforms he undertook
during his two term as the leader of the South African country. Mr
Mogoe in 2008 won the prestigious Mo Ibrahim prize of Achievement in
African Leadership. A prize that has remained elusive ever since then as
no other African leader has been found worthy.

The COG is expected
to comprise 13 experienced persons, supported by a team from the
Commonwealth Secretariat headed by Amitav Banerji, Director of the
Political Affairs Division. They are expected to arrive in Nigeria on 26
March 2011, and to stay until 15 April 2011.

According to Mr
Sharma, “the Commonwealth has a long and substantial history of
engagement with Nigeria” as he noted that “it is important that the
forthcoming elections are well-organised, credible and peaceful.” He
expressed his delight over the observation mission noting that the
elections were ‘critical’ in the nation’s history and he stated his hope
that the electoral process and the outcome will further strengthen the
democratic process in the country.”

Role of the observer group

The mandate of the
Commonwealth Observer Group is to observe the preparations for the
election, the polling, the counting and the results process, and the
overall electoral environment. It will assess the conduct of the process
as a whole and, where appropriate, make recommendations for the future
strengthening of the electoral framework in Nigeria.

The group will determine in its own judgement whether the elections
have been conducted according to standards for democratic elections.
The group’s report will be submitted to the Commonwealth
Secretary-General, who will in turn send it to the government of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, the INEC, political parties, and eventually
to all Commonwealth governments.

The presidential candidate of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday, vowed to jail those
who have looted the treasury in the last 12 years if elected as the next
president of the country.

Mr Ribadu, the former Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, made the statement in Ado
Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital during his presidential rally. He likened
the Action Congress of Nigeria to a revolution that would sweep the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of Nigeria.

Mr Ribadu and his running mate, Fola
Adeola, accompanied by other party leaders, entered the venue of the
campaign rally along Iworoko Road at about 3.55pm. He said he would fix
the country’s economy if he becomes the president

“ACN is changing Nigeria and is going to
kick the PDP out of the country,” he said. “I represent the youth
generation; a young man is taking over the country after 2011. If we are
elected, we are going to provide employment, build hospitals, create
wealth, build industries to take care of the youths. PDP have destroyed
Nigeria by its inability to impact on the lives of the people in the
last 12 years.

We are going to focus on peace and
unity, provide security. This will not be a great task to achieve
because of my experience in the public service and that of my running
mate, Mr Fola Adeola, in the private sector. PDP has destroyed Nigeria.
They have stolen our money, and now, we should come together and rescue
our nation.”

A revolution

Two PDP members in
the House of Assembly, Adebayo Morakinyo and Femi Adeleye, representing
Ikole 1 and Ido/Osi 2 constituencies respectively, defected to the ACN.
Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, said youth revolution has
entered Nigeria, calling on all and sundry to embrace the progressive
revolution and chase away the PDP out of Nigeria. He regretted that the
ruling PDP has not been able to proffer lasting solution to the
lingering crisis of poor power supply in Nigeria.

“God will deliver Nigeria the way it delivered the Babylon,” he said.
“PDP has become a disaster to this country. When the former President
Olusegun Obasanjo got to power in 1999, he promised to provide stable
power in six months, but did nothing after eight years. This was a
confirmation of my belief that the PDP is a power disaster party.”

Ahead of the April
general elections in Edo State, Governor Adams Oshiomhole over the
weekend said the work his two years old administration has successfully
carried out will further campaign for the candidates of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), as it would help to show what the party
candidates can achieve if voted into power during the elections.

Mr. Oshiomhole,
while speaking to journalists after the inspection of the
Jattu-Uzairue-Ayohan-Okpekpe Road in Etsako West and Etsako East local
governments and the Ekperi-Anegbete Road in Etsako Central Council, also
admitted that he was not popular among the political elite in the state
because of his frugal management of the state’s lean revenue and his
award of contracts to competent contractors instead of politicians who
may eventually abandon the job.

While on inspection
of projects at Okpekpe, he said, “the truth of the matter is that I am
the first to admit, I am not too popular among a good section of the
political elite because, for them, resources should be shared and even
if contracts should be awarded, it should be awarded to party leaders.
It does not matter that those party leaders know nothing about road
construction.

“So, what has
happened is that because we are giving jobs to those who are competent
to do it and because we have carried out proper studies and designs and
proper costing of projects, we are able to do what we have to do.

“All we have done is
to block the loopholes in the system and like I said at the beginning,
we are not going to put too little every where such that to make impact
nowhere,” he stated.

He said his
administration was determined to wipe out poverty from the land: “We
cannot address the challenge of rural poverty in our rural areas without
opening up the roads to those rural communities. I believe that the
starting point in any bold attempt to defeat poverty is to reintegrate
our rural communities where the bulk of our people live.

“I believe that what
we are doing here will not only open up the rural communities; those of
our people who are interested in mechanised farming, they now can drive
out and appreciate the work of nature and see how much of natural
endowment we have in this part of the state.”

Kaduna State
governor, Patrick Yakowa, and four other governorship candidates,
yesterday boycotted the town hall election debate organised by the
African Independent Television (AIT) held at the Gamji Gate
Multi-Purpose Hall, Kaduna. Also, the candidates of the Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN), Sani Sha’aban, the Nigeria Advance Party (NAP), Yusuf
Abubakar Sadiq, Usman Nafiu of the African Political System (APS) and
David Ahmadu of National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP) were all
absent.

Candidates of the
Peoples Redemption Party (PDP), Balaraba Musa, All Nigerian Peoples
Party (ANPP), Muktar Aruwa, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA),
Mohammed Sagir Madoya and Jimmy Dung of National Trasnsformation Party
(NTP) attended the debate. Others in attendance were Barrister Bello
Mohammed of Labour Party (LP), Haruna Sa’eed of the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), Bala Mohammed of African Democratic Congress
(ADC) and Abdul Ahmed Ishak of Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP).

The organisers of
the event told NEXT that a letter was extended to Mr Yakowa for the
programme which he acknowledged and accepted to participate.

Reason for absence

When contacted, the
Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Reuben Buhari, said that the
governor could not attend because of his governorship campaign tour and
had earlier informed the organisers of the debate of his inability to
attend.

“We had already
fixed today for the completion of our local government tour. I called
the coordinators earlier this morning and explained to them. I also
tendered our apologies that from Igabi, we will proceed straight to
Abuja”, he explained.

The debate was chaired by Abdulwaheed Ujor, a former Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kaduna State.

In their
submissions, all the candidates promised to deliver dividends of
democracy to the people if elected. They emphasised that education,
security, healthcare delivery and agricultural revolution will top their
agenda if elected in office.

Options for the people

Mr Musa of the PRP
and ADC candidate, Abdul Ishak, argued that the 27 percent the present
administration claimed to have been allocated to education is not a
reality. “It is not true that the present administration in the state
has allocated 27 percent to education. If not, education in the state
would have improved. I don’t think that the state government has given
up to 15 percent. It is just to deceive the people.” He said.

He said the PRP
government will ensure that at least 30 percent of the state’s annual
budget will be channelled to education and will provide free and
compulsory education from primary up to tertiary level depending on the
available resources.

Mr Dung of NTP said
his government will transform the education sector to make it attractive
and competitive as well as ensuring that private schools are not
superior to the public ones in the state.

On agriculture,
Muktar Aruwa explained that reviving the sector needs a political will
and bringing together all the stakeholders to address the issue.

He said that reviving agriculture in the state will be part of his programme if he becomes governor of Kaduna State.

Mr Sa’eed of CPC
said the proposed sugar factory in Makarfi Local Government Area of the
state which could have given employment to many has been abandoned for
25 years and promised that if elected, he will revive the ailing
industries and privatise them.

The APGA candidate, Sagir Maidoya stated that revolutionalising agriculture will be the focus of his three point agenda.

On healthcare
delivery, Mr Aruwa stressed that government will focus on sustenance of
rural infrastructural development which will touch all the Local
Governments in the State. He noted that the health facilities in the
hospitals are in a deplorable condition while the present leadership is
doing nothing to address them.

Mr Dung while
explaining that lack of political will and constant power supply
contributed to the closure of many industries in the state said his
administration will address the problem on a public private partnership
programme as well as providing the enabling business environment for
manufacturers.