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I’m “Aussie Kim” now, says champion Clijsters

With
an ultra-bright smile replacing tears of joy, Belgian Kim Clijsters
celebrated her first Australian Open title by telling a packed
Melbourne crowd: “Now call me Aussie Kim!” But the third seed would not
fully commit to returning to defend her crown next year or a swan song
at the London Olympics, having already said 2011 would be her final
full year on tour.

“Now I feel you
guys can call me ‘Aussie Kim’ because I won the title,” a beaming
Clijsters said after an absorbing 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Chinese
trailblazer Li Na in Saturday’s final.

Asked if she would
be back next year, Clijsters blushed and said: “Yeah, I hope so. The
Olympics is what I was thinking of when I (came back) but we’ll see.”
Clijsters, the beaten Melbourne finalist in 2004, paid tribute to ninth
seed Li, who gave the tournament favourite a working over in the first
set.

“The first set, I
thought ‘Wow! This is going too fast for me!’ It was tough,” said the
four-time grand slam winner. “She was playing probably the best she
ever played against me.” Clijsters, who has won three majors since
returning to women’s tennis in 2009 following a two-year break, found a
way to win, the emotion getting to her after Li blasted a forehand wide
on match point.

“Grand slam victories are all emotional,” said the 27-year-old working mum.

“What overwhelms me
is that it’s so intense up until the last shot and then all of a sudden
it’s finished. Then it’s just like a big relief.

“That I was able to
turn it around is what makes it all so special,” added Clijsters, who
buried head in her towel sobbing gently after it was all over.

Dental work

Clijsters, hugely
popular Down Under since a previous romance with Australian Lleyton
Hewitt, thanked everyone from the ball boys to a local dentist who
performed an emergency repair job on a cracked tooth before the start
of the tournament.

“My tooth chipped off,” smiled Clijsters. “I was eating a rice cracker actually, nothing hard, just a nice, soft rice cracker.

“I thought there
was a piece of rice that wasn’t cooked or something and I just spat it
out. I felt my tooth not there so I went to a dentist who fixed me up
real quick.” Clijsters, who will rise to two in the world when the new
rankings are published, also revealed her superstitious side.

“My uncle came to
watch me in Doha (at the 2010 year-ending WTA Championships) in the
ugliest green trousers I have ever seen,” laughed Clijsters.

“I won that
tournament. I’m superstitious so I told him if he’s going to come and
watch me he has to wear them and he was like ‘Oh God!’ “But he wore
them here so thanks,” she said pointing to her box.

Sports

Cricket federation says 2010 was a success

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Cricket federation says 2010 was a success

The
Nigeria Cricket Federation has come out with a communiqué stating the
successes of 2010 and what the federation is planning to do to top
those achievements. The NCF instituted a scheme for members of the
national team to further motivate them during tournaments. Five players
are the initial beneficiaries of this scheme and are: Endurance Ofem,
Kunle Adegbola, Joshua Ogunlola, Saheed Akolade and Jide Bejide.

The Federation held
a series of training camps during 2010, the most notable of which held
in Ibadan, Oyo State in March 2010. The Federation also tried to
upgrade some existing cricket facilities in the country and one of
these was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the
University of Lagos on Perimeter Fencing of the Cricket Oval in the
school. Also women’s cricket was looked into and in June 2010, the
maiden edition of the National Women Cricket Championship was held in
Lagos. Edo, Lagos, Imo and Ogun States were in attendance and Lagos
State emerged as the champions.

An ICC-ACA Cricket
Administrators Programme (CAP) on Financial Management was also in
Lagos in held in June. The one-day course was facilitated by Okon
Ukpong, chairman of the Technical Committee of NCF and assessed by
Patrick Okeke, secretary-general of NCF. The programme was designed by
the International Cricket Council (ICC) to improve the practical skills
of cricket administrators.

The NCF appointed a
general manager/chief operating officer in compliance with the
directive of ICC to all associate countries. George Wiltshire was the
person chosen for the positions.

Wiltshire has drawn up a lot of programmes for 2011 and top of these
is the World Classification League that Nigeria will be involved in.
The COO said: “We have arranged for our training camp in Benoni, South
Africa and we hope to have all that will be needed by the players in
place weeks before they will be going to the camp in South Africa.” The
year 2010 was ended with the U-15 ICC-ACA North-West Africa tournament
was held in Nigeria in December 2010. Sierra Leone emerged the winner
of the tournament. Ghana came second, followed by Nigeria in the third
position.

Sports

Ice man Djokovic mauls Murray in Melbourne final

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Ice man Djokovic mauls Murray in Melbourne final

Third
seed Novak Djokovic pulverized Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 6-3 to win his
second Australian Open Sunday, dashing British hopes of a first men’s
grand slam champion in 75 years.

Eye-balling Murray
with intent across the net, Serbia’s Davis Cup hero completely
dominated the Scot, who came out flat and has now lost all three of his
grand slam finals without winning a set.

“I dedicate this
title to my family, my brothers, my girl Jelena back home, my people
that have been with me for so many years,” an emotional Djokovic said
as he cradled the trophy.

“It has been a
tough period for our people in Serbia,” added Djokovic, who also paid
tribute to the victims of the recent Queensland floods.

“We are trying
every single day to present our country in the best possible way, so
this is for my country Serbia.” Djokovic then saluted hundreds of noisy
fans wrapped in Serbian flags from the balcony of a television studio,
holding the trophy aloft soccer-style as they bounced up and down
singing below.

“This means the world to me,” he said. “Any grand slam title is a huge achievement. I have dedicated my life to the sport.

“I’m still 23 and
hopefully will have more chances to win grand slams. It really gives me
a lot of motivation. It’s a huge confidence boost.” Djokovic, who
lifted his only previous major title in Melbourne three years ago, got
off to a scorching start in energy-sapping heat supposed to favor fifth
seed Murray.

Relentless pressure
forced a forehand error from Murray, giving Djokovic the first set
against last year’s Australian Open runner-up, who played with a tired,
hang-dog look throughout a surprisingly one-sided match.

Murray rattled

Murray, rattled by
noise from Djokovic’s box and berating himself for his ineptitude,
began to unravel in the second set, screaming at his own coaching team:
“Be quiet!” A fired-up Djokovic took a stranglehold on the final by
ripping another big forehand down the line, a dejected Murray slumping
in his chair muttering to himself in despair.

Djokovic went for
the jugular, breaking for 3-1 in the third set with a breath-taking
backhand down the line, the Serbian pumping his fists and roaring with
delight.

Murray immediately
broke back but Djokovic, ice in his veins, blasted a forehand cross
court to go 5-3 up and finished the job with another crunching forehand
the Scot could only dump into the net after two hours 39 minutes.

Djokovic celebrated by throwing his racket, shirt and shoes into the crowd as a packed Rod Laver Arena went wild.

Murray was bidding to become Britain’s first male grand slam winner since Fred Perry in 1936.

He lost the 2008 U.S. Open final and last year’s Melbourne final in straight sets, both times to Roger Federer.

“I’ll try to keep it together this year,” said Murray, who had been reduced to tears by Federer last year.

“I won’t lose sleep over it. I want to try to win a grand slam but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”

Sports

Teachers pay the price for voters registration

Teachers pay the price for voters registration

As the government’s
directive that schools remain closed during the registration of voters
became public mid January, Zaria Academy, an elite college in Kaduna
State, summoned its teaching and non-teaching staff to make a point:
there is no break here.

For the two weeks
the exercise lasted in the first instance, the academy like a few
others across the country, held classes, offering parents – many
already keen at returning the kids to school- a sure sale that such
prolonged stay at home would only distort the students’ learning.

But according to
long-term staff there and others elsewhere, experts on private schools’
programmes and administration, such counter order, rather than aimed at
protecting the students’ interest, stands in many cases to serve a
vital live-wire for educational organisations whose economic wellbeing
tie squarely to turnovers derived solely from students’ pay.

“This is a private
business and even if they have money elsewhere which many times they
do, the owners will always prefer spending as they come,” said Joseph
Niaje, who has spent 22 years as a teacher in many schools, and now
runs Destiny Crèche, a day care centre for children in Kubwa, Abuja.

Even for relatively
bigger schools, many teachers say, salaries and benefits of staff are
spread through the year interspersed by new term resumptions, when
fresh fees are expected to help clear personnel and overhead spending.

However, that
balance will be altered by occasional interruptions to the calendars
annually, as with the two-week closure of schools ordered by the
federal government during the ongoing voters registration that would
now get another extension.

In the end, the
staff would assert that employees of privately-owned institutions where
monthly remunerations, and other running cost are chiefly fed by
quarterly student charges, would appear to lead a group hit by a
federal policy that has no direct bearing on their profession.

“Somehow we seem to be the last point,” says a middle-aged teacher who gave his name only as Simeon.

“They may not
accept it, but what makes the difference every new term is the fees and
now our January money cannot come and if they extend the registration
again, only God knows how long we will suffer.” For the two weeks of
the break leading to January ending, many of the teachers interviewed
and whose schools were closed said they had already missed the usual
dates when they get their monthly pay.

In many of the
schools, the pay had failed to come although the staff had been ordered
back to work by the authorities preparatory for the eventual resumption
of the students.

In a few schools
like the Zaria Academy where classes had resumed for some of the
students during the period, staff say they received their pay and that
funds were the major reason why students were recalled.

That position,
however, has been severely denied by management staff of some of the
schools who point out that the consideration of finance plays no role
and that their motive in defying the closure of the schools was purely
in the interest of the students.

“It is not about
finance, it is about the curriculum,” said Adebisi Adeniyi, Vice
Chairman of the Association for Formidable Education in Nigeria, a
group that says it seeks financial intervention for small and medium
schools that may face financial challenges.

Mr. Adeniyi said
although the schools are run as business with eyes on profit, concern
for the excellence of the students override immediate gains. “Even if
the schools were to open normally, the students will not return fully
until February and now that they are to open in February, they will
resume fully in March. Any time they come, the money will come.”

At the Zaria Academy where some students took classes throughout the
exercise, the principal, Gideon Wuyako, refused to answer questions
about the motive behind the school’s reopening.

newstoday

‘Raw materials processing clusters will create more jobs in Nigeria’

‘Raw materials processing clusters will create more jobs in Nigeria’

There is hope of more jobs by re-invigorating the natural small
scale industrial clusters through capacity building and injecting new
technologies for increased productivity, says Peter Onwualu, the Director
General of the Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC). Below is
excerpt from an interview he had with a NEXT reporter:

Taking research result to the industries

One of the projects
we started last year and we are continuing is the raw materials
processing clusters. One of the things we do is to give competitive
research grants to individuals and institutions who have the expertise
in doing research in value addition for raw materials sourcing and
processing. We have done this over the years and the question is how do
we move the result of some of these researches to the private sector in
order to use them for production purposes? If you look around the
country, there are naturally existing raw materials processing clusters
like the leather cluster in Kano; shoe, bags and textile cluster in Aba
and in Abeokuta. Our idea was to look at these clusters, study their
challenges and see how we can assist them to function better to produce
competitively by injecting technologies into existing clusters. In some
cases, the plan is to establish new clusters and we think this is a new
idea. In the past what we did was once we have research results, we
build a pilot plant and from there, we go into commercialisation but
now if we find out for example that people in particular community are
already processing cassava, we now go into such communities, work with
them, find out what their problems are especially with respect to
technologies, and then find the research centres where these
technologies have been developed then inject them into their
operations. In that way, they become more competitive.

Identifying the Clusters

As a first step, we
started what is called cluster mapping. This involves scientific
identification and analysis of existing clusters. For instance, around
the FCT here, you are aware that we have the Kugbo furniture cluster.
We are working with them. We have also done a number of such mappings
in every state using our state coordinators. We have a baseline mapping
that has taken us all over the country to identify those clusters that
already exist. The mapping also includes interacting with the operators
to know their problems, challenges. We also visited the knowledge
centres around them: the polytechnics, universities, research
institutes to find out what they can offer in terms of technological
input into these clusters around them. So that has been completed. The
report is almost ready but we also know that for you to start such a
programme, you also need to train people.

774 clusters to benefit

One of the things
we did last year was to conduct an international training programme in
collaboration with Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and
Pan African Competitiveness Forum. That Forum works on using clusters
to promote industrial competitiveness. We trained selected clusters
because after the baseline study we decided to start with at least two
clusters per geo political zone. The cluster training we had is to
prelude the emergence of at least one technologically viable cluster in
every local government. It is a tall order but it is part of our vision
2020. So we did this training and it was for Nigeria and Gambia. 30
Nigerian clusters participated at the training from all over the
country. They include the brass cluster in Bida; textile workers from
Aba; Tie and dye from Abeokuta; Otigba ICT cluster in Lagos among
others. Following that training, SIDA is now collaborating with us to
inject technologies into these clusters. What we told the different
clusters to do after the training was to go back, look at their
problems especially those ones that are technological and come up with
projects that will enhance their competitiveness. They were given some
templates for this. As I speak, they have all submitted their projects
and we are now synthesising them to be able to forward them to SIDA.
The arrangement is that SIDA will fund the project 50 per cent and raw
materials council will fund the remaining 50 per cent. The
beneficiaries will be these first set of clusters that have been
trained.

More Clusters to benefit in 2011

And in addition to
this training, we have now developed a blueprint for raw material
cluster development in Nigeria. This is ready for implementation and
then we have gone ahead to start with a few cases. One of the cases we
completed last year was the cashew nut processing cluster commissioned
in Ayangba, Kogi State. The plant is now functional but the entire
cluster is made up of a number of other cashew processing plants that
will be coming up in Enugu State, Abia State, Kogi State and Abeokuta
in Ogun State but we have already gone far in terms of discussion with
beneficiaries so that in 2011, you are going to see four of these
cashew processing industries all working together as a cluster. We used
last year to do a baseline and lay the foundation and started a few.
There are about three that we have ordered equipment for. One other
cluster we want to promote is the organic fertilizer production in
Emene industrial layout Enugu. In December 2010, the equipment for that
factory arrived from China and is now being installed. There is also
another one in Kebbi State on shea butter for processing shea nuts. The
equipment for that is being installed.

More money for SMEs

Clusters are
already in existence at rudimentary level with little technologies. To
make the programme very effective and successful, three different
bodies are involved. RMRDC represents the government and will provide
enabling environment through release of fund to research institutes
that develop technology that will be injected into the industry.
Ordinarily, the private sector man will not have the patience and time
to be going round looking for technology to use, the researcher may not
have the money to take his technology to the industries and that is
where the government comes in. We are also trying to bring in financial
institutions. We are discussing with NERFUND, Bank of Industry and some
commercial banks so that these small and medium scale enterprises can
source funding from the money market because there is no way we will
provide everything they need.

More jobs in the economy

In the last three
years, what has happened to the economy in terms of manufacturing is
that the figures are going down because a number of them are closing
down and some are relocating because of the challenges that the sector
faces. At the same time, government has a policy to diversify the
economy so that we don’t depend on oil all the time. One way to address
this is to see the emergence of more industries and we are targeting
the SMEs. Cluster exists as an informal sector. So what we are now
trying to do is, for any beneficiary, the number one step is that the
organisation has to be registered with the Corporate Affairs
Commission. Government gets revenue from the registration and it will
be easy to track the organisation for tax to increase revenue of the
government. An additional benefit to the economy is that each of these
industries must employ people.

Money

Pharmaceutical companies are underperforming at the Exchange

Pharmaceutical companies are underperforming at the Exchange

While the prices of
quoted healthcare (pharmaceutical) companies at the Nigerian Stock
Exchange have seen marginal improvement since transaction opened this
year, trading activities in the sector have reduced significantly in
volume when compared with the sector’s performance last month.

The over 10 million shares that the sector usually record weekly, on the average, has reduced to half.

Apart from the
recent global financial crisis that discouraged investors’ appetite in
the sector and affected market general performance, analysts say the
challenges facing healthcare companies in Nigeria may further
discourage investors’ confidence in the sector.

Available data at
the Exchange showed that only Fidson Healthcare and GlaxoSmithKline out
of the nine quoted stocks in the healthcare sector rewarded their
shareholders last year. Some other companies listed in this sector
include Evans Medical,

May & Baker Nigeria, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical, and Union Diagnostic & Clinical Service.

David Amaechi, an
executive member of the Shareholders Association of Nigeria,
said,”Manufacturing sectors generally have been finding it difficult to
enjoy operation in this kind of harsh operating environment.” Mr
Amaechi said investing in the healthcare companies should be for long
term for investors to get good return on their investment.

Sector challenges

Afrinvest West
Africa Limited, an investment bank, in a healthcare report this month
said that Nigerian health sector has remained “grossly underdeveloped”
in the last five decades despite seeming better off than their African
peers.

“Healthcare delivery in Nigeria is characterised by inefficient budget execution,

inadequate funding,
poor service quality and a shortage of qualified personnel essential to
the delivery of public health services,” the report said, adding that
the absence of effective methods of addressing the healthcare needs of
the people as well as the low levels of government expenditure,
“currently averaging 5.4 per cent of the total budget since 2008” have
contributed to the nation’s “dismal health statistics.” The report also
said that the Nigerian pharmaceuticals sector has consistently been
under utilized, from a capacity perspective, as a result of widespread
counterfeiting, infrastructural challenges and corruption, despite
evident demand for effective drugs. “In spite of the substantial growth
potential within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, the
elements of risk and uncertainty that currently subsist, limit
international interest/investment in the sector,” it said.

However, it noted
that the government has demonstrated its “willingness to make the
country self-sufficient” in terms of drug production, by restricting
imports through partial regulatory regimes and tackling counterfeits.
“The federal government’s restructuring of the National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in view of its past
successes has moderately improved confidence in the sector’s reform.”
Nigeria’s pharmaceuticals sector is regulated by NAFDAC.

Data from the
Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of
Nigeria showed that the local market of pharmaceutical producers
accounted for an estimated 35 per cent of the market size.

Meanwhile, the
report said access to essential medicines is fundamental to the
realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “Despite
government’s noble intentions, poor availability, high cost and
irrational use of essential medicines continue to plague the
pharmaceuticals sector. Efficient provision of essential drugs depends
on appropriate selection, quantification, procurement, quality and
storage, distribution, human resources and information management,” it
added.

Olumide Ajayi, Director of Business School Netherlands
International, said in spite of these challenges, “businesses can still
explore a number of opportunities and develop initiatives and
programmes that will change the landscape of engagement and provide a
better space for businesses to move Nigeria closer to achieving the MDG
targets as it relates to heath.” Healthcare industry watchers say with
the campaign by NAFDAC in the war against counterfeit, fake and
substandard drugs, the healthcare sector will witness growth this year
and quoted companies in the sector can reward their investors
accordingly.

Money

PERSONAL FINANCE: Invest regularly

PERSONAL FINANCE: Invest regularly

Most people are not as disciplined as
they would like to be when it comes to saving and investing. They may
save some money for some months and nothing at all for several others.

Yet for the vast majority of people,
the only way to achieve your financial goals is by earning through hard
work and saving and investing in a systematic and disciplined way over
several years.

Cost averaging, is a simple approach to
saving that helps you to save regularly whilst at the same time
building long-term financial security. It involves investing a fixed
amount on a regular basis rather than a lump sum, even when your
finances are stretched, and no matter what the market is doing. This
could be monthly, quarterly, or whatever suits you; you do not have to
time the market or look for the best entry point, you just invest
regularly.

It is almost impossible to time the
market as it is challenging to anticipate correctly its peaks and
troughs. For the average investor, and particularly for the smaller
investor who does not have lump sums to invest, what is required is an
investment strategy that allows you to maintain an even keel in rising,
fluctuating and falling markets.

Cost averaging accomplishes this and if
you can manage to apply this strategy to even a small amount of money,
with ease and efficiency, you will have a better chance of achieving
your goals.

Cost averaging is a particularly useful
tool in a choppy market as it provides a buffer for volatility. Even
though the value of your overall investments will fall as stock prices
fall, remember that you also bought more shares at lower prices. As you
will bed rip-feeding your funds into the market at different times, you
will be picking up investments at a range of prices; this reduces your
overall average cost.

Pay yourself first

Determine how much you can afford to
set aside each month. The amount you choose will depend on your own
particular situation. This could be a fixed amount each month that will
not change, or you might prefer to invest a percentage of your income,
sothat you invest more as your income increases; try to invest at least
10 percent of your income for your financial future.

What are you saving towards?

One critical factor to saving is,
knowing what you are saving towards. If you aresaving without any clear
purpose, you will eventually be tempted to dip into those savings to
satisfy your wants. If you have no savings whatsoever and currently
live from salary to salary, this is a good place to start. You need
short-term savings so that you are better prepared to deal with
unexpected expenses or emergencies. Start to build enough savings worth
about six months of your routine expenses. You also need to be
investing so that you can meet your medium to long-term goals such as
educating your children or being able to secure a comfortable and
fulfilling retirement for yourself.

Automate your savings

A most effective way to save is to put
it on autopilot so that you don’t have to think about it. If you are in
full time employment, your employer will already be withholding 7.5% of
your salary and transferring it to your Retirement Savings Account
(RSA) with your Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) on your behalf. This
is probably the most popular form of investment automation. And because
the money is removed at source, you are less likely to miss it.

But do not stop there. In addition to
your RSA you may set up a direct debit from your current account each
month and have it credited to an interest bearing account or an
investment account, such as a mutual fund. There are money market
accounts, mutual funds, and a variety of other investments that allow
you to designate a specific amount on a regular basis. Nowadays,
brokerage firms and banks have made the process so simple that you can
easily have your finances automated in a matter of minutes; and you
only need to set it up once. You then determine how much you want
debited each month and how frequently you want the withdrawals to
occur. You can usually even specify the date on which the withdrawal
should occur.

Automatically reinvest your dividends

You can also opt to automatically
reinvest your investment profits or dividends. For example, when you
sign on to a mutual fund account that makes periodic distributions, you
are given the option to re-invest your dividends by acquiring more
units in the fund before it enters your account. The fund manager is
authorised to automatically take that money and use it to buy
additional shares of the same fund instead of making it available for
you to withdraw.

While cost averaging can be a very
effective way to systematically build your portfolio overtime, it is
important to realise that there is no guarantee of profit; neither does
it prevent loss. Take a cursory look at your financial situation and
assess whether you will be able to contribute to your investment
account on a regular basis. If you are able to achieve this, remember
that even though the objective is to automate your finances, you should
continue to monitor your investments and make adjustments as required
and as your financial situation evolves.

Money

Where have all the billions gone?

Where have all the billions gone?

The debate on Nigeria’s debt debacle
appears an endless cycle. Available statistics on the spiralling
figures do not add up with reasons adduced in government circles. While
government claims the various loans, both domestic and foreign, were to
facilitate the provision of basic socio-economic infrastructure that
would make for qualitative living standard for the people, Nigerians do
not seem to feel the impact, except in the huge repayment baggage they
have to bear.

Poor in riches

As the world’s
sixth highest exporter of oil and gas, it is natural to expect that
Nigeria should have no business with poverty. Between 1999 and 2009,
Nigeria earned about $200.34billion (about N30.051trillion) from
exportation of about 4.56 billion barrels of crude oil.

The recent United
Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR)
for 2010 ranks the country among the poorest among the developing
economies, along with Chad, Vietnam and Yemen, with less than $1,500
per capita income, based on the 2007 World Bank country income
classification.

Though the
country’s life expectancy ratio for last year nudged a marginal
improvement from 46.9 years to 48, the human development index (HDI)
leaves Nigeria stranded in the 158th position out of 182 countries
included in the quality of life ranking. This leaves her behind such
less natural resource-endowed countries like Swaziland, Angola,
Madagascar, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Djibouti, Lesotho and Uganda.

Depleted Excess crude revenue

Accumulated revenue
in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at 2008, with an average crude oil
benchmark price of $108 per barrel, was N1,728.48 billion, according to
the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation’s (OAGF)
records. This excluded the sum of over N706.03billion earned from
payments for petroleum profit tax (PPT) and N247.56billion for
royalties by multinational joint venture oil companies. As at December
2009, the account had been depleted to less than N72.74billion.

As at December last
year, Minister of State for Finance, Yawaba Lawan-Wabi, said the
balance in the ECA is about $3million, after the Federation Accounts
Allocation Committee (FAAC) held a secret emergency meeting in the
twilight of last month to disburse $1billion (about N150billion) to the
three tiers of government.

But, it appears the
more government earned money over the years, the more it is sinking
deeper into the cesspit of debt, though without much to show for it, in
terms of a corresponding impact in the quality of life of the people.

(Please see the fact boxes) DMO justifies

The Debt Management
Office (DMO) allays the fears of Nigerians about the continued clime of
the country’s debt profile, claiming the size of the domestic debt
stock reflects largely the cumulative effect of financing of the
country’s deficit budgets over the year, apart from investments in
public sector capital expenditure needs.

“The increases are
accounted for by different sets of factors, reflecting a shift towards
market-based funding of government deficits, borrowing for
developmental purposes and on-lending to institutions such as Nigerian
Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (NARDB), Bank of Industry (BOI)
and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN),” the DMO explained in
its National Debt Management Framework (2008-2012) publication.

Director General,
DMO, Abraham Nwankwo, said last Tuesday in Abuja that the country’s
domestic debt profile is growing as a result of a deliberate policy by
government to focus more attention on raising funding for its
activities and services from domestic sources, rather than relying on
external sources.

“It was deliberate
for government to depend more on domestic sources, rather than
external, so that we develop other aspects of our economy, including
the bond market, the habit of long time savings and investment as well
as developing the skills by our local entrepreneurs. Nigeria now has
the capability to manage various bond markets,” he said.

Where are all the billions?

A senior lecturer,
Department of Economics, University of Calabar, Desmond Ukut, said “in
as much as it is a common practice for most developing countries to
take advantage of some of the concessionary facilities from such
international lending organisations as the Word Bank, African
Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary fund (IMF) and other
such organisations for developmental purposes, Nigeria appears to be an
exception.”

Mr Ukut said
successive governments, both military and civilian, have run the
country into debt under the pretext of utilising such loans to provide
basic amenities that would cater for the good life of the people only
for them to divert same into private pockets.

“The country is
replete with abandoned projects for which past governments collected
loans to execute, only for successor administrations to abandon them on
grounds that the money had been diverted by their predecessors,” he
noted.

Money

Protesters demand political reforms in Jordan as Islamists join Tunisian dissent

Protesters demand political reforms in Jordan as Islamists join Tunisian dissent

Islamists, leftists and trade unionists gathered in central
Amman Friday for the latest protest to demand political change and wider
freedoms. A crowd of at least 3,000 chanted: “We want change.” Banners and
chants showed a wider range of grievances than the high food prices that
fuelled earlier protests, and included demands for free elections, the
dismissal of Prime Minister Samir Rifai’s government and a representative
parliament. The protest after Friday prayers was organised by the Islamic
Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood which is the only
effective opposition and biggest party, but included members of leftist parties
and trade unions.

Jordan’s protests, as in several Arab countries, have been
inspired by the uprising that overthrew the Tunisian president. “After Tunisia,
Arab nations have found their way towards the path of political freedom and
dignity,” said Zaki Bani Rusheid, a leading Islamist politician.

Demonstrations have taken place across Jordan calling for
reversal of free-market reforms which many blame for a widening gap between
rich and poor. Jordan is struggling with its worst economic downturn in
decades. The government has announced measures to reduce the prices of
essentials create jobs and raise salaries of civil servants. Protesters say the
moves do not go far enough.

King calls for openness

King Abdullah told lawmakers Thursday the government must do
more to ease the plight of Jordanians and urged a faster tempo of political
reforms. “Openness, frankness and discourse over all issues is the way to
strengthen trust between people and government entities,” the monarch was
quoted as saying in a palace statement.

“Everything should be put in front of people. There is nothing
to be afraid of,” said the 49-year-old monarch, who has faced stiff resistance
from a conservative establishment to reforms they fear will empower the
Islamists. He urged the 120-member assembly to amend an electoral law
criticised as designed to under-represent cities in favour of
sparsely-populated tribal areas to ensure a pliant assembly. Under the
constitution, most powers rest with the king, who appoints the government,
approves legislation and can dissolve parliament.

Islamists march in Tunis

Also, Islamists marched through central Tunis on Friday,
demanding religious freedom, while police fired teargas at anti-government
protesters who have camped out around the prime minister’s office.

The march by about 200 people was the first significant Islamist protest
since the fall of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who ran a strictly secular
state in which Islamists were often jailed or forced into exile. Some carried
placards reading: “We want freedom for the hijab, the niqab and the beard.”
Under Ben Ali’s rule, women who covered their hair by wearing the hijab, in the
Muslim tradition, were denied jobs or education. Men with long beards were
stopped by police. “We demand the revision of the terrorism law … and say no
to the war on the niqab,” one woman told Reuters TV, her face entirely covered
by a black veil, or niqab. Islamists played no visible part in the “Jasmine Revolution”
that toppled Ben Ali, but when the Ennahda, the country’s largest Islamist
movement, was allowed to contest elections in 1989, it came second to the
ruling party. Since Ben Ali was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia on January14 in
the face of violent unrest over poverty and political repression, protesters
have been gathering in Tunis to demand that the new interim government be
purged of Ben Ali loyalists. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi said 12
ministers would be replaced, purging members of the former ruling party
including the interior, defence and foreign ministers.

newstoday

Court dismisses Taylor’s claims