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The Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Wednesday, embarked on
thorough screening of motorists and air travellers at the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The development,
which is a fallout of the October 1, 2010 twin bombings in Abuja, is
aimed at curtailing the influx of people into the nation’s premier
gateway, and to “painstakingly screen” all guests to the international
airport. Akin Olukunle, the General Manager, Public Affairs for the
organisation, said that Aviation Security (AVSEC) operatives have been
ordered and stationed at strategic positions at the airport to enforce
the screening procedures.

“The airport is a
public place where several people engage in different activities and
that is why it is always a target for terrorists,” he said. “The
airport should therefore be properly secured, as this was one of the
prerequisite to the safety of the people that make use of the airport.”
He also added that operatives from the Nigerian Air Force, Police
Anti-Bomb Squad, Immigration, Civil Defence Corps, and the Aviation
Security are all going to be involved in the screening exercise at the
international airport.

All must be screened

Mr Olukunle also noted only the president and his vice are exempted
from the screening processes. “All airport users, whoever is coming to
the airport must have a business to do,” he said. “If you don’t have
anything to do at the airport then you are a tout and such a person
will be arrested by the Aviation Security personnel and handed over to
the police, no matter who you are,” he said. Mr Olukunle, however,
admitted that the road block mounted by the security operatives about
two kilometres away from the international terminal resulted in the
traffic jam at the airport, adding that passengers are therefore
advised to arrive the airport early enough to be able to go through the
screening and catch their flights on time. The authority’s spokesperson
said that commercial vehicles operating into the airport are also
inclusive in the screening exercise and that passengers on the buses
and cabs have to be searched thoroughly before getting to the
international airport.

The Central Bank has assured customers who have deposits in closed microfinance banks that they will be compensated.

Mohammed Abdullahi, Head, Corporate Communications of
the Bank, said “Let me assure Nigerians that no depositor would lose
their money in the 224 microfinance banks that were closed down by the
Central Bank.

“This is so because of the guarantee of the payment
of not more than a N100,000 to each of the depositors as provided by
the insurance scheme offered by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance
Corporation, NDIC,” he said.

“What this means is that every customer of the
microfinance banks involved in the current exercise would be paid a
maximum of N100, 000.

“For those who have more than N100, 000 deposited in
their accounts with these banks, you would recall that these 224 banks
have a portfolio of nonperforming loan exposure amounting to about N20
billion and as the Central Bank has said, we are going to assist them
to aggressively recover these loans.”

He also stated that even at that, some of the
microfinance banks have properties and collateral which could be sold
in order to meet up with the payment of the customers affected.

“What this means is that at the end of the day, no
depositor would lose his/her money as a result of the actions taken by
the Central Bank of Nigeria”.

Apt intervention

Experts have commended the move of the Central Bank
to restore sanity to the microfinance industry when, last month, it
announced that it was revoking the operating licences of 224
microfinance banks that were found to be ‘terminally distressed’ and
‘technically insolvent’ and/or had closed shop for at least six months
after a target examination was conducted on 820 MFBs across the country.

The Central Bank confirmed that the industry had been
confronted with numerous challenges since the launch of the
Microfinance Policy Framework in December, 2005. A significant number
of the microfinance banks (MFBs) were deficient in their understanding
of the microfinance concept and the methodology for delivery of
microfinance services to the target groups.

Experts have, however, identified the problems of
microfinance banks in Nigeria to include under capitalisation,
extremely high levels of non-performing loans, insider lending, lack of
transparency, inexperience and supervision, meagre capital base, loss
of customers’ confidence, and high overhead cost. They have also
expressed fears that the sector might collapse if the operators and
regulators did not change their strategy.

With more than half of the adult population unable to access retail
banking services, the introduction of microfinance banking by the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was welcomed by Nigeria’s development
partners and the general populace. The Central Bank spokesperson says
the regulatory body would not hesitate to take further action on the
remaining microfinance banks, as supervision is continuous.

Mr Ringim stated
this in Umuahia on Wednesday while addressing police officers from Zone
9, comprising Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi States. “The
situation in Aba was caused by some of us,” he said. “I have been one
of you, I know the problems of policing in Abia and the entire
South-East. I am not here to blame or praise you. I know that the
police have failed the people either because of salaries or other
logistics. Problems of logistics are not new.” He warned that the new
management would not condone excuses. “It will not also condone acts of
carelessness and recklessness, which led to the degeneration to
lawlessness in Aba to this level,” he said.

The
police boss expressed regret that Aba, the biggest trading town in the
South-East was now a ghost town. “This is because of the conduct of the
police who allowed criminals to overrun the city,” he said. He said the
situation should change for the better, stressing that police officers
seeking to reach the pinnacle of their profession would attain it only
with good conduct.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities says it
will, next Monday, embark on a three-day solidarity strike to protest
the continued closure of five state universities in eastern Nigeria.
The chairman of the Anambra State University chapter of ASUU, Jaja
Nwanegbo told the News Agency of Nigeria that the association’s
decision to embark on a three-day solidarity strike was taken at the
union’s National Executive Council meeting held last month in
Cross-River State.

He said that the strike was necessary to create
public awareness on the failure of some state governments to fully
implement the November 2009 agreement on improved condition of service.
According to him, the solidarity strike is to register their
displeasure with the Federal Government’s refusal to intervene in the
crisis. The union chairman said that the eastern region has suffered so
much that it should not be experiencing closure of state universities
at this point in history. “A region that experienced three years of
political crisis between 1967 and 1970, and where many of her youth
take to trading instead of education, should have universities running
regularly more than others in the country”, he said.

Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu and Abia state
universities have remained closed for about 11 weeks following the
strike embarked upon by their academic staff over improved funding for
the institutions.

The Yobe State deputy governor, Abubakar Ali, said
on Wednesday that 132 deaths and 2,273 cases of cholera were recorded
in the state from July to date.

Fielding questions from journalists in Damaturu,
the state capital, Mr Ali said 79 people were on admission in various
hospitals in the state. “These were cases that were brought and
recorded at the hospitals by the epidemiological unit but the deaths at
home were not recorded,’’ he said. The deputy governor, who is also the
commissioner for health, said the government has established camps in
local government areas like Gashua with high incidence of the disease.
He also announced that “special funds have also been allocated to local
government areas in the state to tackle the disease while government
supports them with drugs from the state Ministry of Health”. Mr Ali
attributed attitudinal problems of poor hygiene and sanitation to the
recurring outbreaks of the killer-disease among the populace. No fewer
than 50 deaths were registered recently in a fresh outbreak in Bade,
Jakusko and Bursari Local Government Areas of the state.

None of the
survivors of the Abuja bomb blasts taken to the National Hospital,
Abuja has died, the head of management and information services of the
hospital, Tayo Haastrup has said.

“We have
stabilized them,” he said. Mr Haastrup told a delegation of ANPP
leaders led by its national chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu that 19 out of the
27 victims brought to the hospital in the wake of the blasts have been
discharged, leaving only eight of them.

The ANPP leaders, who visited on Tuesday,

pledged to give N1 million to the survivors of the bomb attack.

“We are really
touched by the level of destruction and lives involved, it is very
disturbing, we have never had something like this; we pray we will
never have anything like this again,” Mr Onu said. “Our heart is with
the families of this innocent Nigerians, they do not deserve this. We
are very happy that the national hospital is doing very well as they
have not lost anybody and they are working very hard to restore the
health of those affected.” Unveil the suspects Mr Onu said the party
will make available the sum of N1million to the family and ask the
Chief Medical Director (CMD) to share the money among the survivors.

“We know that the
president has promised to take care of the bill but we still believe
that there is the need for us to do something additional,” he said. He
said that the primary responsibility of government is to secure the
lives and property of the citizenry adding that the federal government
must ensure that all Nigerians live and work in an environment that is
secured.

Mr Onu also said
security agencies must do their best to unveil those behind the plot
and that the findings into the blasts should not be swept under the
carpet.

Amongst the party’s entourage were the deputy national Chairman
(South), John Odigie-Oyegun and other senior members of the party.

A Federal High
Court, sitting in Lagos, yesterday, ordered the National Assembly to
stop further amendment of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

The presiding
Judge, Okechukwu Okeke, ordered that no parties must take further steps
in respect of the subject matter. The suit was initiated by the former
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Olisah Agbakoba. Mr
Agbakoba had asked the court to hold that the Constitution (First
Amendment) Act 2010 passed by the National Assembly cannot take effect
as law without the assent of the president. He had posited that the
exercise by the lawmakers without the assent of the president was
illegal and unconstitutional, urging the court to nullify the
amendments on the grounds that the National Assembly had contravened
section 58 of the 1999 Constitution. “I have taken cognizance of the
counsel to the plaintiff that the first defendant (National Assembly)
is making moves to further amend the subject matter before the court,”
said the judge. “The 1st defendant counsel has posited that there are
no such moves but I conceded that while the matter is pending, his
client have no power to take further steps.”

Defying the court

At the resumed
hearing of the matter yesterday, Chijioke Emeka, Counsel to Mr
Agbakoba, told the court in his notice of interlocutory injunction,
dated October 6, 2010, that there is pending before the judge a
substantive case challenging the constitutional validity of the
Constitution (First Amended) Act 2010. Mr Emeka argued that while the
suit is pending, the respondents have continued to carry into effect
the provisions of the disputed legislation in defiance of court process
and exposing the subject matter of the suit to disrepute.

However, Counsel to
the National Assembly, Johnson Usman, debunked the allegation, saying
that it was not correct that the first defendant has continued to carry
out the process of further amending the constitution. “I am aware that
when parties are in court, status quo has to be maintained and the
first defendant is doing everything to maintain status quo to show
regard to the majesty of the court,” he said.

In a similar
manner, Emmanuel Akaa, the Counsel to the Attorney General of the
Federation, said his client would not do anything that would sabotage
the processes which are already in court on the matter. “We shall obey
which ever order the court gives on this matter,” he said.

The president must sign

Mr Agbakoba is also
asking the court to hold that in view of the provisions of section 58
(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the assent of the president is a
prerequisite before the amendments can become law. According to the
plaintiff, unless the assent of the president is overridden in pursuant
to section 58 (5) of the Constitution, president’s assent is required
before the amendments become law. He is also asking the court to
“declare that the exclusion by the first defendant (National Assembly)
of the assent of thepPresident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from
the process of alteration of the Constitution, unless section 58 (5) of
the 1999 Constitution is complied with, renders the ‘Constitution
(First Amendment) Act 2010’ embodying such altered provisions
unconstitutional, null and void.”

The plaintiff is
seeking an order nullifying and voiding the Constitution (First
Amendment) Act 2010’ for contravening the provisions of section 58 of
the Constitution. According to Mr Agbakoba, section 58 of the 1999
Constitution is unequivocal on the mode of passing an Act of the
National Assembly and therefore, an Act does not become law unless it
gets the consent of the president.

The matter was adjourned till October 26, 2010 for hearing of all the applications and the main motion.