Nigeria Content Online

The Federal
Executive Council yesterday approved N3.59 billion for the construction
of a modern and more befitting headquarters for the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB) in Abuja.

The nine-storey
building will cost N3.59 billion, although N594 million has been set
aside for it in the 2010 Budget. The balance will be appropriated for
as an ongoing project over the next two years, at N1.5 billion for 2011
and 2012.

Minister of
Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, disclosed this while
briefing alongside the minister of state, Labaran Maku, after the 29th
session of the FEC meeting, which was chaired by Goodluck Jonathan.

She said the
president had “presented a memo to FEC seeking for approval for the
award of contract for the construction of one block of nine-storey
office complex as headquarters for the code of Conduct Bureau in Abuja”.

According to her, “the present office space for the Code of Conduct Bureau is grossly inadequate”.

The nine-storey
headquarters building to be completed in 26 months is expected “to
decongest the present overcrowded office and end separation of staff at
the annex complex”, she noted.

A boost for education

The FEC also
approved N1.71 billion for the purchase and supply of Primary 6 English
language, mathematics and science textbooks for distribution in public
schools nationwide.

The project will be
funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) from the 2010
supplementary budget under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
textbooks initiative for the procurement of textbooks.

Mrs Akunyili said
the contract will be funded by UBEC, for which N438.6 million has
already been earmarked in its 2010 Supplementary Budget 2010, as part
of its efforts to meet the MDG’s textbooks initiative of the UBEC.

The minister of
education had gone to the FEC with a memo “seeking council’s approval
for the award of contract for the printing and distribution of English
language, mathematics and activity-based science books for Primary 6
pupils in public primary schools nationwide, under the MDG’s textbook
initiative by UBEC”.

Mrs Akunyili stated
that “in efforts to consolidate on the achievements made in the
provision of textbooks to public primary schools, the federal
government appropriated N4 billion under the MDGs Textbooks Initiative
for the procurement of textbooks for pupils in public schools
nationwide.

“The textbooks will be customized with the inscription: “MDGs-UBEC TEXTBOOK INITIATIVE 2010 – NOT FOR SALE”.

The contract is awarded to a total of seven companies, with a completion period of six weeks.

The FEC also
approved the ratification of the extension of contract for operation,
maintenance and staff training for the Wupa Basic Sewage Treatment
Plant in Abuja which was commissioned in May 2007. The 12-month
contract valued at N733.31 million is to be funded from the N800
million provision made in the FCT Statutory Appropriation for the
maintenance of the plant.

Mrs Akunyili said the extension of the one-year contract will “allow
sufficient time for the development of local expertise to grasp the
rudiments of the operation and maintenance of the plant”.

The Oyo State
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, has warned the state’s chairman of the
proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lateef
Akinsola Oluwatoki (aka Tokyo), against embarking on any act that could
disrupt the peace of the state.

The governor made this known in a release from the office of his chief press secretary, Abraham Ojo, on Wednesday.

He expressed
disgust at the threat posed by Mr. Akinsola, the recently reinstated
chairman of the drivers’ union, in a letter sent to traditional rulers
and political figures within the state on the 30th of August. The
governor said that the chairman will face the full wrath of the law if
he fails to heed the advice, adding that the union remains proscribed
in the state.

“For the avoidance
of doubt, the union remains proscribed by the state government
following the spate of violence unleashed by the leadership of the
union, leading to wanton destruction of property and unwarranted fear
by the residents. The circumstances leading to proscription of the
NURTW are very well known to all the well meaning people of the state,”
the release stated.

The governor also
considered as an affront to the constituted authority and disrespect to
the rule of law, the recent threat by Tokyo to take over the parks “at
all cost.”

Tokyo had alleged
that the appointment of park managers to take over the collection of
fees for the 33 local governments chairmen at motor park within their
jurisdictions was a crafty way of ceding the parks to his archrival,
Lateef Salako (aka Elewe-Omo), whose loyalists are claimed to populate
the men used for the job.

Tokyo, therefore,
threatened to use force to get back the parks, but the statement from
the governor yesterday promised to visit his threat with the “full
wrath of the law” if carried out.

The governor also
warned Tokyo that he will be held responsible for any breakdown of law
and order in the transport sector of the state, “as all the security
agencies will not shirk in their responsibility in dealing
appropriately with any one that foments trouble.”

Meanwhile, one of
the senior loyal members to Elewe-Omo in the state NURTW, Mukaila
Lamidi, on Wednesday, said his group has fully complied with the
proscription order of the governor since its pronouncement some weeks
back.

He debunked the allegation that the park managers employed by the
local government to collect park fees are members loyal to his boss.

Former Presidential
Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Pat Utomi, is expected to
moderate the public debate between the executive and legislative arms
of the Ogun State Government over the controversial N100b bond.

The State’s
Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Sina Kawonise, who made
this known yesterday in Abeokuta, said the debate is scheduled to hold
on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.

Lawmakers had challenged the states’ governor, Gbenga Daniel, to the debate after they declined to back the bond deal.

Mr. Kawonise
initially mocked the idea of a public debate on the matter but the
position was later changed. The lawmakers promised to okay the bond if
they lost the debate.

Live transmission

Mr Kawonise said
the public debate, which will be transmitted live on Gateway Television
and Gateway Radio, will hold at the station’s studio at 10.00am and
that the executive and the legislature are expected to be represented
by three members each.

“The public debate
which will be transmitted live on Gateway Television and Gateway Radio
will hold in the studios of the Gateway Television, Abeokuta as from
10.00am, while a renowned political economist, Prof Pat Utomi will
serve as the Moderator,” he said.

“The state government wishes to give the assurance that all
necessary arrangements have been put in place at the Gateway Television
to ensure smooth transmission of the programme. It is hoped that the
leadership of the state house of assembly will live up to its call on
this crucial matter.”

The Ekiti State governor, Segun Oni, yesterday asked
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain
statements credited to its officials that the tenure of office of all
the governors that won rerun elections should be counted from May 29,
2007 when they first assumed office, saying INEC needs to explain what
happens to the period spent in office by acting governors in those
states.

State governors such as Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa
State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Aliyu Daikingari of Kebbi
State, and Segun Oni were removed from office midway into their tenure
after losing at the electoral tribunal before winning back their posts.

But Mr. Oni said the issues surrounding the tenure of office is simply a constitutional matter.

“Even as we are not afraid of standing for elections
anytime, provided the constitution is followed, it must, however, be
stated that laws are not known to take retroactive effect,” he said.
“Though the issue of tenure of office of the states where by-elections
were held is still a subject of various law suits, we must state
without fear of contradiction that tenure of Oni and other governors
whose elections were nullified and returned to office after winning by
or rerun elections is not for the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to fix. It is simply a constitutional matter,” said
Wale Ojo-Lanre, the spokesperson to the Governor Oni.

Blaming the opposition

Mr. Ojo-Lanre, in another development, described the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state as a party of failed
politicians who abhor development and progress of the state. He was
referring to statements credited to the ACN that the Ekiti State
University Teaching Hospital has not witnessed any development since Mr
Oni took office.

“The party’s comment on the Haemo-Dialysis Centre
donated to the state University Teaching Hospital (UTH) by MTN is a
demonstration of their frustration and hatred for the well-being of
Ekiti people,” Mr Ojo-Lanre said.

“It is on record that only 12 hospitals were selected
out of 60 applications that were submitted. Governor Oni also wrote a
personal letter to the MTN Foundation, reiterating the state
government’s commitment for the project,” he said.

The spokesperson said that the hospital was picked as
one of the 12 recipients of a dialysis centre due to the report of a
team sent to the state by the foundation that claimed that it met the
standard set for the installation of the dialysis equipment.

The Ekiti State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria had on
Tuesday lauded the MTN Foundation for donating the haemodialysis centre
to the University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti. But the party said the
state government has not fulfilled its obligation to the hospital.

Workers of the
Union Bank of Nigeria have shelved their plans to go on strike until
discussions over their disagreement with the management is resolved on
September 30.

The workers accused
the bank’s management of mismanagement, ethnic prejudice, and massive
layoff of workers without adherence to due process.

The agreement,
signed between the warring parties, include an accord to halt
retrenchment, and the cut off of workers’salaries, and tax deductions
reverted to previous pre-July status, among other contentious issues.

Denja Yakub, the
secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress told NEXT that a one-month
discussion framework has been agreed upon by workers and the bank
management.

Reaching a consensus

“We agreed on the
contentious issues that they would resolve all those issues that were
raised before the 30th of September. And then they say they are not
retrenching and do not have the plans to retrench. They also said that
those who were affected by the sack the bank embarked on would be
reconsidered,” he said.

Last week, the
Nigerian Labour Congress published a letter it wrote to the governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria stating that dangers abound if Funke
Osibodu, the bank’s GMD/CEO, is not checked. It added “No bank in the
country has the record of unfair labour relations and attitude as being
exhibited by the Madam Osibodu-led management team.”

Bank denies allegations

In a rejoinder
published in a national daily yesterday, the bank denied the
allegations levelled against it by the union stating, “We view with
concern the inaccuracies and misinformation contained in the
advertorial letter written by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to the
Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The statement by
Francis Barde, head of corporate affairs, stated that it has noted the
list of demands from the NLC and dialogue had since commenced. “The
bank states that it values the harmonious relationship with the
in-house staff unions and will continue to work and dialogue with them
and the NLC.”

The bank said that
it is on record that most of the staff that were terminated or
dismissed were involved in various acts of gross misconduct, which
resulted in losses by the bank.

Mr. Barde in an
interview said, “The agreement is that the management will revert to
what the members of staff were enjoying before, pending when they are
able to sit down together with the management to decide where we are
now. So, whatever that it was before, they have been reverted, since
the staff are not comfortable with what the management have done, so if
there would be any change now, they would sit down with the management
and decide, because that is the crux of the argument.”

The previous
management of Union Bank, along with seven others were sacked by Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank governor, on grounds of mismanagement
of funds, lax credit risk management practices, among others.

Nigeria needs to
create 25 million jobs within the next ten years if it wants to tackle
poverty and unemployment, according to a report presented yesterday in
Abuja.

The five-chapter
report was an independent project by Next Generation Nigeria, a youth
group exploring how the nation could benefit from its young people. It
was compiled in collaboration with the British Council and the Harvard
School of Public Health.

Presenting the
report, Frank Nweke, director general of the Nigeria Economic Summit
Group, who worked on the project, said a shortage of jobs is a serious
challenge.

“Without remedial
action, the crisis in the job market will worsen rapidly as growing
numbers of young Nigerians enter the workforce,” he said.

Mr. Nweke said the
country cannot generate new jobs unless it diversifies its economy. He
called for a reduction in the overdependence on oil and more
investments in agriculture, information and communications technology,
textile, and leather.

“The oil industry
contributes 40 percent to the national GDP [Gross Domestic Product],”
he said. “But it is highly capital-intensive and employs only a tiny
fraction of the population.”

More investment

Nigeria needs to
spend up to 4 percent more of its GDP on the infrastructure that will
underpin a world class economy, said Mr. Nweke.

Poor power generation, in particular, has forced a lot of industries to close down in the last few decades.

“Unless we address
those things that made them shut down, the kind of employment needed to
take the youth off the streets, make them more productive, and prepare
the country to be the largest economy, cannot be generated,” he said.

Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, managing director, World Bank, and chairperson of the
Next Generation Nigeria, said at the event that Nigeria must tap into
the energies of the young. If this demographic are managed well,
Nigeria can take off in the manner that countries like South Korea were
able to do in the 1980s and 1990s.

“However, this demographic dividend will not come up automatically,” she said.

“Immediate policy actions need to be taken to seize the window of
opportunity. We need to invest in the health and education of our young
people,” she said.

Although Nigeria
contributed much to liberate South Africa from the stranglehold of
apartheid and, thereafter, threw her economic doors wide open for South
African investors and goods, these actions have not stopped a low
estimation of her citizens by South Africans, the South African High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabola, said on Tuesday, in Abuja,
at a meeting with the minister of interior, Emmanuel Ihenachor.

Answering a
question from NEXT at the meeting planned to explore ways of broadening
the existing bilateral relationship between both countries, Mr.
Mamabolo gave reasons for the increasing hostilities and physical
attacks launched against Nigerians in South Africa.

According to him,
the regard for Nigerians in South Africa is very low because the
criminal activities of a few Nigerian citizens there are the most
visible things to the hosts. He denied, however, any insinuation of
government backing for the attacks, insisting that a lot of effort was
being made to offer Nigerians in South Africa more protection under the
law.

“There is a lot
that needs to be done about the perception of South Africans about
Nigerians. The perception South Africans have about Nigerians is not
good at all. Those Nigerians of a very tiny percentage – I will say
just about one percent – engage in crimes that are generally seen by
all and which overshadow the good works of the majority of Nigerians.

“South Africa is a
law abiding society. There is law and order in our country. There is no
lawlessness. South Africans as a whole fight for human rights in
general. So, it is not true that the government is not doing anything
on the situation. It is only in the newspapers that you see that (the
hostility against Nigerians),” Mr. Mamabola said.

Responding, Mr.
Ihenachor openly refuted a tag of ‘haven of piracy’ and related
criminal activities wrongly placed on Nigeria in the global maritime
industry.

Poor perception

The minister
denounced the poor perception and challenged promoting the perception
to either show evidence of the high activities of pirates in Nigeria or
stop the image smear.

“I remember that he
said that when he (Mr. Mamabolo) was posted here (to Nigeria), people
were saying: ‘why are they punishing you? Why are they sending you
here?’

“Now, he is enjoying Nigeria. It is an issue of perception,” the Nigerian minister said.

“If you read the
papers and go on the Internet, you will never want to come to Nigeria
because they say Nigeria is the second piracy capital in the whole
world. This is untrue. I, as a master mariner, I have always been
saying that I have not seen even one pirate in Nigeria. I do not know
where those reports are coming from. If you report that Nigeria is a
piracy nation, then there is a tendency that insurance on all the goods
coming to Nigeria will rise,” Mr. Ihenachor said.

Mr. Mamabolo
promised to look into the case of the deportation of a Nigerian from
South Africa for non-possession of yellow card, with a view to
preventing a future occurrence.

Apart from
immigration issues, other areas the FG is planning to explore through
the meeting with the South African government include prison management
and maritime enterprise.

The South African
government says it hopes to learn from Nigeria how it has successfully
engaged in international peacekeeping for years now, as well as how it
has effectively managed the conflicts of its federating units to form
unity in diversity.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has
promised to punish political parties who mock their internal democratic
rules and illicitly substitute candidates after college nominations.

Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, said part of the
commission’s approach to delivering credible elections will be to
ensure there is internal democracy in parties.

“If you don’t follow the rules of conducting
primaries, by law we can decide not to accept it,” he told a women
rights advocacy team yesterday.

“We want parties to be serious and respect their own rules.”

The group, led by Women Affairs Minister, Josephine
Anenih and the chairpersons of the Senate and House committee on Women
Affairs, Eme Ekaete and Binta Garba respectively, said it needs the
support of the commission to help scale up women’s participation in
politics nationwide, and part of the bane disallowing that, is the
culture of arbitrary replacement of candidates after primaries, in
which women, the team said, are often the victims.

Not shy to punish

Responding to questions on how that will be tackled,
Mr. Jega said parties breaking their internal basic guidelines will not
escape sanctions.

“We will not be shy to apply the sanctions if and
when it becomes necessary to do so. Anything we are permitted to do by
the law, we will do,” he said.

He said the commission is “working extra hard” and
“examining and re-examining” options driven at improving issues of
logistics vital to curbing the late arrival of election materials at
polling centres, another challenge that has helped mar Nigeria’s polls.

“It is possible to do it and we are applying our mind and energy to
getting that right,” he said. Mr. Jega said he still believes securing
good elections, “is not an impossible task, it is doable and we will do
our best.”