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Former governor of
Ekiti State, Olusegun Adebayo Oni, was on Sunday treated to a heroic
welcome when he visited his home town of Ifaki-Ekiti, his first since
he left the state after the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, that
ousted him from office.

Mr. Oni told the
gathering that he never had penchant for amassing wealth, but has
always been concerned with serving the people and would continue to
render services to humanity.

While speaking
during the thanksgiving service held at the Methodist Church,
Ifaki-Ekiti, Mr. Oni, who was in the company of his wife and some of
his former aides, said he was aware that some people were blaming him
for not amassing wealth for himself.

“I want to testify
to the goodness of God because He has made me a man that does not covet
riches, power, and even comfort. I only covet one thing, and that is
service,” he said.

Beyond opposition

In a statement
issued by his chief press secretary, Wale Ojo-Lanre, the former
governor also said the PDP in the state is “too big to be an opposition
to anybody. We will applaud anything that is done in the interest of
the people and vehemently go against anything that is done against the
people.”

He thanked the king
of Ifaki, Oluwole Agbaje, and the people of the town for honouring him
and his wife with the title of Asiwaju and Yeye Asiwaju of Ifaki.

The bishop of the
Methodist Church of Nigeria, Oyo Diocese, Ayo Ladigbolu, eulogised Mr.
Oni, describing him as a worthy ambassador of the church and a proud
son of Ifaki. He said God’s vision for the former governor as regards
the future is bigger than that of the present.

Five months to the
next general elections, incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan; former
anti-graft boss, Nuhu Ribadu; and former head of state, Mohammed Buhari
are ranked by Nigerians ahead of other contenders for the presidential
contest, NOI Polls, a non-partisan and non-political polling
organisation, has revealed.

The organisation,
which released the result of its October snap polls, said it used a
representative sampling of phone-owning Nigerians and surveyed the
preferences of some aspirants who have declared their intention for the
presidential race.

The results
revealed that 99% of the people polled said they were aware of Mr.
Jonathan’s intention to contest the presidential elections.

Of this, 87% of
respondents said they feel he should run for office, citing his right
as a Nigerian, experience, innovativeness, and his representation of a
new generation of leaders as their reasons. Some 22% of the respondents
said he should not run, citing a desire for a new generation of leaders
and a respect for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) zoning formula as
their reasons.

Some expressed a
“general dislike,” while others cited the “recent mishaps in the
country” and the difficulty of the electoral agency to conduct a free
and fair election under a incumbent president as a contestant.

About 86% of
respondents acknowledged the intention of former anti-corruption chief,
Nuhu Ribadu to contest the polls, while just a little over half (55%)
think he should run and 41% think otherwise. Some of his supporters see
Mr. Ribadu as a new generation of Nigerian leader, whilst 59% of those
who do not want him to run cite his inexperience as their reason, with
13% generally disliking him.

Mr. Buhari’s
candidacy has the support of 41% of the people surveyed, while 58% said
he should not run. His experience and integrity were the reasons stated
for supporting his candidacy, while 34% of those who said he should not
run mentioned a preference for other candidates and the desire for a
new generation of leaders and his inability to “provide the positive
change need in Nigeria.”

Also in the race

While nearly 97% of
those polled were aware that Ibrahim Babangida is running for the 2011
presidential elections, only 27% think he should run for office on
claims of being a good man and competent to run for the office. But 69%
do not want him to run, citing his reputation as being corrupt.

Another contender
that was ranked is former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, for whom only
27% of the 90% of those aware of his ambition think he should run. Some
21% of those who think Atiku should not run maintain that he is
corrupt, 19% do not like him, and 18% think he has a bad reputation,
while another 18% think he cannot provide the positive changes needed
in Nigeria.

Kwara State
governor, Bukola Saraki’s candidacy had 35% support, while 62% said he
should not run, with 3% being indifferent. Mr. Saraki’s antagonists
cited incompetence and bad reputation, as well as an inability to
provide the positive change needed in Nigeria as their reasons.

NOI Poll said 1058
people took part in the telephone interviews. The organisation said the
poll is part of the ongoing snap poll exercise conducted to rapidly
assess public opinion on various electoral events.

It is a Nigeria-based opinion research organisation which works in
technical partnership with Gallup Polls (USA), to conduct periodic
opinion polls on various socioeconomic issues in Nigeria.

Former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday said he knew the late military ruler, Sani
Abacha, would not live to witness his release from prison, just as he
added that he was optimistic that he would regain his freedom.

Mr. Obasanjo spoke
at the dedication service of Chapel of Christ The Glorious King,
Abeokuta, which he built to thank God for sparing his life. He recalled
that the bitter experiences as a prisoner turned him to a preacher in
the four walls of prison.

Mr. Obasanjo and
some other retired military officers and civilians were jailed in 1995
by the military government of Sani Abacha, after he was found guilty by
a military tribunal of plotting to overthrow Mr. Abacha’s
administration, and were released after Mr. Abacha’s death in 1998.

“Before I left
prison, I said if I get out of prison, I would divide my time into
four. I would buy a Landrover and trailer and use it for evangelism,”
he said.

Unwilling candidate

The former
president, who is the chief promoter of the church, said that was part
of how he thought he would live the rest of his life outside the
prisons. He, however, said this did not work out as, when he came out
of jail, pressure mounted on him to join the race to be president of
Nigeria.

“Initially, those
calling me to contest I cursed. Primate Sunday Mbang also joined me to
curse them, but, as time went on, I left the matter in the hand of God,
and God eventually had His way.”

Mr. Obasanjo, who
spent three years behind bars, recalled that while in Yola prison, he
became an unordained pastor and converted many, including a convicted
armed robber whose name was Baba Alli.

He said he assured
Mr. Alli, then the leader of an armed robbery gang called Arewa Boys,
that he would send him to Bible College, which he did after regaining
freedom. He said as at today, the ex-convict robber is now an ordained
pastor in Abuja.

Dignitaries at the dedication ceremony included Ayo Oritsejafor;
Sunday Mbang; Ola Makinde; Samson Ayorinde; Tunji Olurin; Adebayo
Alao-Akala; Segun Agagu; Ojo Madueke; Christopher Kolade; Ayoka
Adebayo, among others.

The Nigerian
Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is to issue
guidelines for operators in the nation’s downstream petroleum industry.
The guidelines are meant to regulate their compliance with the
provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, Ernest Nwapa, Executive
Secretary of the Board, said at the weekend.

Speaking during a
meeting with chief executives of downstream companies, Mr Nwapa, said
the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act also
cover activities in the downstream sector, contrary to the belief by
some stakeholders that it is intended to regulate upstream operations
alone.

According to him,
the essence of the meeting with the operators was to get their views
and take them into account in the formulation of the Nigerian Content
Regulations for that sector of the nation’s petroleum industry, which
the Board is to release shortly.

Emphasising the
need to fully comply, Mr Nwapa said: “These regulations would have
obvious implications and could be disruptive to business operations in
downstream sector if key stakeholders do not key in to the
requirements.”

He also said the
successful implementation of the Nigerian Content Act requires strict
compliance by indigenous operators as its primary focus goes beyond the
international operating companies (IOCs) and their service counterparts.

Mr Nwapa explained
that the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board expected
the operators in the downstream sector to prove that they have the
capacity to engage Nigerian service providers in the acquisition and
maintenance of their assets, comply with the Cabotage Act in their use
of marine vessels as well as meet the training and employment
aspirations enshrined in the Act.

He explained that
it was wrong to believe that existing indigenous operators in the oil
and gas industry are already in compliance with the Nigerian Content
Act on the basis of their ownership of businesses and employment of
Nigerians.

Multiplicity of players

Mr Nwapa also
directed downstream companies to ensure that genuine Nigerian owned
marine vessels that meet technical requirements are fully utilised in
their operations, particularly in the lightering of products before
foreign owned vessels are engaged to satisfy the “first consideration”
requirements of the law.

“The Nigerian
Content Act seeks, among other things, to increase the participation of
indigenous companies in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and promote
the ownership of marine vessels and equipment by Nigerians,” he said.

Other opportunities
for the maximisation of Nigerian Content in the downstream include the
fabrication and maintenance of tank farms in Nigerian fabrication yards
and the manufacture and maintenance of retail pumps and other
accessories in-country, he said.

To ensure that the
multiplicity of players in the downstream does not make regulation
difficult, Mr Nwapa said the Board will develop a unique framework
adapted to the downstream industry and create a Nigerian Content
template which will help operators achieve compliance.

Representative of
Honeywell Oil & Gas, Ekpeyong Etim, admitted that there are cases
where downstream companies use foreign flagged vessels in the
lightering of imported refined products.

He blamed the practice on the failure of most Nigerian owned vessels
to comply with standard conditions required for vessels that will work
in the oil industry, like having insurance cover and requisite
certification.

Experts from the
European Commission (EC) have embarked on a “fact finding mission”
aimed at providing a solution to the worsening state of insecurity in
the Gulf of Guinea.

The EC team, which
is to work in conjunction with officials from the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), during a visit to the anti-drug peddling
agency at the weekend, said that their task in the region is based on
how to address the problems of trafficking of hard drugs, smuggling of
arms, and other related crimes. “We are on a fact finding mission on
how to tackle drug trafficking, piracy, illegal arms dealing, illegal
fishing and the state of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea,” said
Olivier Villedieu De Torcy, the leader of the team.

The Gulf of Guinea
runs from Guinea, on Africa’s North-Western tip, to Gabon in the South,
and includes Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo,
and Cameroon. Among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea
are the Niger and the Volta. The coastline on the gulf includes the
Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny. Mr De Torcy explained that the
team had been to Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, adding that
the experts will get to other countries within the Gulf, and will
assess existing plans at regional levels aimed at addressing the
problems. “Equally important to the team is the interest of visiting
countries supporting security in the region,” he said.

A timely intervention

Describing the
visit as “timely,” Ahmadu Giade, the Chief Executive of the NDLEA, said
that Nigeria had long been working on peace initiatives for the Gulf of
Guinea in line with the United Nations political declaration, and that
the agency had participated in various round table sessions aimed at
addressing the issue. “We welcome this move by the European Commission
in the implementation of peace plan in the Gulf of Guinea,” he said.
“It will further strengthen existing efforts to address the nagging
issues of drug trafficking and insecurity in the region. Nigeria is
willing to enlarge its support in the interest of enduring peace at the
Gulf of Guinea.”

According to the agency’s boss, pervasive insecurity in the Gulf
has resulted in huge financial losses that have significantly
constrained investment and economic prospects in the sub-region.

A group, The Justice and Law
Enforcement Reformation Organisation of Nigeria, has kicked against the
plan by the Federal Road Safety Commission to introduce new number
plates, with expiry dates, as well as new drivers’ licence.

In a letter to the corp marshall and
chief executive of the commission, the group said the FRSC has no right
under the constitution to undertake the task.

Copies of the three-page letter, signed
by its executive secretary, Israel Nwagabor, was also sent to the
Senate president, David Mark; Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Dimeji Bankole; the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu;
secretary to the government of the federation, Yayale Ahmed; the 36
state governors; the director general of the state security service;
the Inspector General of Police; and the Minister of Justice, Mohammed
Adoke.

Losing focus

The group, in the letter, said: “The
role of your commission is primarily to provide safety for traffic on
federal trunk roads, as provided in item 63 of the exclusive
legislative list of the 1999 Constitution.

“That the provisions of Section 15,
Section 5 (f) (g) (h) and section 10 (3) (c ), (e), (g), (u) of the
FRSC Establishment Act 2007 are inconsistent with the spirit and
provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

“The introduction of new vehicles
registration number with expiry dates and the new drivers’ license is
an attempt by your commission to continually rip the public of funds.
The introduction of your proposed vehicle registration plates with
expiry date and drivers’ licence will in no way help to improve your
primary duty of ensuring safety of traffic on federal trunk roads.”

The group asked the commission to stop
further encroachment into the functions of the police and state
agencies, particularly vehicle inspection officers.

It also threatened to mobilise civil society organisations against
the commission over its involvement in motor vehicle administration
duties of states if it (the commission) insists on changing the current
number plates/drivers’ licence without the consent and approval of all.

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, over the weekend, advised the federal government to consider meting out
appropriate sanction to the country of origin of the arms and
ammunitions intercepted recently at the Apapa Port, Lagos.

Mr Fashola, while
speaking to journalists at the Tin Can Island Port where he had gone to
inspect the impounded consignment, said taking such action will
reinforce the successful interception and send a positive message to
the international community that Nigerian ports are not for terrorism
acts. “This is a huge trading port,” he said. “Our port and the
businesses that it brings in terms of export to other countries create
international commercial benefit that must never be abused against the
safety of citizens. So this is the time we should be finding out where
this cargo originated from and summoning their diplomatic
representative if we have not done so.

This is where we
should be considering whether or not we should suspend import from that
country to send the strongest signal to every other countries that ship
goods to Nigeria that our port are ports for development of the
prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians and not port for being agents of
destruction. I want to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoning
the Ambassador of the country who owns the vessel, the people who are
named on the bill of lading, even if
they are not in Nigeria. This is not different from what happened to us
when one of our citizens was caught in an aircraft. They de-categorised
and reclassified our airport. The seaport is not different.”

India, or Iran

According to the
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Dikko Abdullahi,
the ship came into Nigeria, in transit, from India, but its country of
origin is yet to be ascertained. The seized weapons, contained in 13
containers, were intercepted by a combined team of State Security
Service and Customs officials.

However, the
shipping company that shipped the crates of weapons, CMA CGM, a French
company, said the ship was loaded in Iran and its next destination
after Nigeria is Gambia. The company, in a statement made available to
Reuters, claimed it had been a victim of false declaration. “The
shipment in question was booked as a ‘shipper’s owned container’ and
supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does
not appear on any ‘forbidden persons’ listing. The containers were
loaded in Bandar Abbas and discharged in Lagos in July,” stated the
company.

Mr Fashola, who described as unimaginable, what would have happened
if the consignment had escaped, commended the Nigerian Customs Service.
“I think the message to be sent is: What do we do with the latest
success? Do we want to climb a slope or climb a hill? I think we must
use this success to climb a slope and progress from here”, he said.

Following security
threats in the country and globally, Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest
commercial carrier involved in domestic, regional and intercontinental
air transport business, over the weekend, said it invested about
$4million for the detection of explosives and hard drugs on board
aircraft.

Speaking at a
briefing to commemorate the carrier’s four years anniversary at its
headquarters in Lagos, Chris Ndulue, the Managing Director of the
airline, said that the motive for such investment was solely aimed at
ensuring safety of lives and properties. “This is to enhance aviation
safety following the events of terror scare and terrorism that we hear
nowadays,” he said, adding that the carrier is working to ensure that
passengers are adequately screened before boarding any of its 26
aircraft, whether those on domestic or international routes.

Mr Ndulue also
revealed that over 5.8 million passengers were airlifted to various
destinations by the airline in four years. “We have carried 5.8million
passengers in these four years, but infrastructure as a major challenge
is inhibiting our expansion,” he said.

Arumemi Ikhide, the Chairman of the airline, while speaking on the
development, expressed hopes that the government will approve the
carrier’s request to develop the General Aviation Terminal (GAT),
located at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos. “We want to
develop a terminal that will be owned by government and operated by
FAAN (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria), but we are yet to get
approval from government on this and it has been a challenge,” he said.

Barack Obama was
elected president two years ago by harnessing the hopes of his
supporters. But now, he finds himself at the close of a very different
campaign trying to manage disappointment and discontent.

“Let’s not fool
ourselves,” he said. “This is a tough election. This country has gone
through one of the most difficult periods of our history.”

American voters
will go the polls Tuesday to elect national lawmakers and state
leaders, with two wars, high unemployment, and record deficits on their
minds.

The president
himself isn’t on the ballot, but he’s working hard because as the race
goes into its last weekend, his Democratic Party is facing a debacle.

Pollsters predict
it will lose dozens of seats in the House of Representatives, giving
Republicans majority control. In the Senate, the Democrats are expected
to be reduced to such a slim majority that they won’t be entirely in
control there either.

Obama hasn’t had an easy two years. Now his term is half over and
when the results are in next week, he may find the hardest part still
ahead.