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The
Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, yesterday played host to
the 5th simulation exercise of National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) to prepare the organization and its relevant stakeholders for
disaster/emergency situations come 2011 general elections.

The exercise, code
named ‘Operation Itoju’ was conducted by the Armed Forces Simulation
Centre of the Command and Staff College Jaji.

Director general of
NEMA, Mohammed Audu Bida, said in Kaduna that as Nigeria gradually
moves towards the 2011 general elections, the agency has, as part of
the effort of the government to achieve zero crisis during the general
election, taken the step to ensure a holistic emergency preparedness
that will make for the safety of the generality of the citizenry during
the polls.

The agency gathered
all major stakeholders in emergency management, ranging from the armed
forces, paramilitary groups, Federal Road Safety Commission, Red Cross,
and others to a week-long exercise to simulate possible electioneering
crisis.

“NEMA’s vision is
to build a culture of preparedness, response and community resilience
to disaster in Nigeria,” said Mr. Bida. He expressed hope that the
exercise, coming at the heels of the 2011 general election, is meant to
achieve this vision.

The agency boss
also highlighted the intention of NEMA to use the exercise to test the
effectiveness of its recently adopted ‘Search and Rescue and Epidemic
Evacuation Plan,’ as applied to disaster relating to civil unrest.

S.A. Leks, the commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff
College, said training through simulation is a global trend that calls
for a practical involvement of the requisite experience and
professional competencies of all officers involved.

The
bill seeking to establish the Maritime Security Agency has suffered
another major setback at the senate, after it was withdrawn by its
supporters over fears of clash of responsibility with the navy.

The bill is a
deliberate attempt by the federal government to establish an agency
that will be responsible for providing security, safety information and
communication facilities for all categories of players in the maritime
industry.

“The bill is
specifically fashioned to deal with the issues of security and safety
for all categories of users of the Nigerian maritime industry,” Teslim
Folarin, the senate majority leader who led debate on the bill said.
“It shall apply to any person, ship, aircraft or any other craft or
object in the internal and territorial waters of Nigeria. It should,
however, be noted that this bill does not contemplate or apply to
warship or military patrol ship.”

It was however
withdrawn after the senators claimed the objectives of the bill clash
with the constitutional duties of some already established military
organizations in Nigeria.

The bill had last
week suffered its first setback after the senators refused to consider
the provisions of the bill because it did not contain brief account of
the financial implications of setting up the agency. The agency is to
cost the federal government about N5.8 billion to establish.

Controversy

Lee Maeba (PDP River state) however alleged that the federal government has already earmarked N5 billion for the agency.

“This agency
already exists and is to spend N5 billion this year,” Mr. Maeba said,
adding that he had fact to back up his claims.

Umar Abubakar Argungu (PDP Kebbi state) countered Mr. Maeba’s claims, and insisted that the agency does not exist.

On Wednesday, the
bill had the missing financial compendium; but senators found fault in
its essence forcing the senate leader, Teslim Folarin, who led debate
on the bill to withdraw the bill entirely.

Successful bills

Meanwhile, the 2010 amended version National Health Bill was passed into an act by the senate on same day.

The amended health
bill redefines the roles of the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control, and the National Health Insurance Scheme.

The bill also rephrased the clauses that defined the functions of both organizations.

A bill also seeking to establish the Nigerian Air Force Institute of
Technology to provide technical training for personnel of the Nigerian
Air Force and other arms of the Nigerian armed forces passed second
reading on the floor of the senate.

A
senator and former governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani Yerima was
yesterday questioned by officials of the National Agency for
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) at
their head quarters in Abuja over his marriage to an Egyptian minor.

Mr. Yerima, who
recently got married to a 14-year girl in Abuja, had been invited by
the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria and NAPTIP, but refused
to respond to the issues.

He was however
granted bail on self recognition hours after his questioning on Tuesday
and was asked to report back to the Agency on the 15 June,2010. While
outside the court, Mr. Yerima told journalists that he was not bound by
the laws of this nation but by Islamic laws, which he claimed he has
not breached.

Mr Yerima, prior
to contracting his marriage to the Egyptian child, had divorced a
teenage wife whom he married when she was fifteen and is now seventeen.

Arinze Orakwe,
head of communication and media of NAPTIP, confirmed the senator’s
presence in the agency’s headquarters, and revealed that Mr. Yerima was
released after more than two hours of questioning and was told to be
available for further questioning on June 15.

“He told the panel
that he has not contravened any law and he tendered his marriage
certificate to the girl in a Shari’a Court,” he said. “NAPTIP made it
clear to him that the agency had invited him to clear the air over the
allegation of his marriage to a minor which contradicts the laws under
the Child Rights Act.”

The National Human Rights Commission, in a statement, commended NAPTIP for its intervention.

“This singular act
has demonstrated that impunity has no place under the current
democratic dispensation and sends a loud and clear warning that nobody
is above or beneath the law in this country,” stated the commission,
while announcing its preparedness to collaborate actively with the
agency in addressing the human rights issues raised by Mr. Yerima’s
actions.

Lawbreaker

Meanwhile,
Alliances for Africa, a non-governmental group, in a statement
delivered to the 47th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on
Human and Peoples Rights in Banjul, The Gambia, says it “is greatly
concerned about the continuing incidents of early marriages in Africa.
The cases of early marriage or child marriage were evident among some
of the masses but are becoming a practice condoned by government
officials.”

The group cited the instance of Mr. Yerima’s marriage to the Egyptian as evidence of this.

“Although, in the
best interest of the child, it is not advisable to disclose the name of
the child, investigations reveal that the child is the daughter of
(Mr.) Yerima’s driver in Cairo, Egypt. Investigations also show that
Senator Yerima, prior to contracting a marriage to the Egyptian child,
divorced a teenage wife whom he married when she was fifteen and is now
seventeen and has a son for the Senator.

The seventeen year
old’s education was stopped during the time of the marriage and like
the Egyptian child, is the daughter of a former driver to the Senator.”

Alliance for
Africa said Mr. Yerima’s marriage “is a clear violation of Section 21
of the Child’s Rights Act of Nigeria 2003, which forbids the marriage
of persons below 18 years and imposes a punishment of N500,000, or
5-year jail term, or both.

It also violates
Article 21(2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child which prohibits child marriage and betrothal, as well as Article
6(b), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa that provides that the minimum age of marriage for
women is 18 years. Egyptian Law also limits the minimum age of marriage
to 18 years.”

The group also
decried the health implications of child brides which, it says, are
quite grave in Nigeria with an attendant high incidence of VVF
(Vesico-Vaginal Fistula) in Northern Nigeria.

“The annals of African medicine journals in a recent study stated
that 73% of VVF victims in Northern Nigeria are between the ages of 10
and 20. Most of the VVF victims were 15 years or less when they married
and majority were illiterate,” the group said.

The Abia
Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), says it has set up an
agriculture resource centre to train farmers in income generating
activities.

Enyinnaya
Elekwachi, the programme manager, disclosed this on Monday in Umuahia
during the launch of the ADP Rural Institution Revitalization Programme
and the distribution of cassava cuttings, seeds, and seedlings to
farmers.

The centre, to be
known as ‘Mercy Odochi Orji Women Resource Centre,’ would be equipped
with processing, packaging, and storage facilities to encourage value
addition while also providing market information, Mr. Elekwachi said.

In a remark, John Ikeogu of the National Root Crops Research
Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, said that most of the technologies
developed by the institute had been handed over to the ADP for onward
transmission to farmers.

The Katsina State government has closed down Sa’a Clinic, a private health outfit in Funtua town.

The state’s Health Commissioner, Aminu Jamo, who gave the order on Monday, described services in the clinic as “substandard”.

Mr. Jamo, who had
earlier inspected the clinic, said that the closure became necessary
because the clinic was “operating with unqualified staff, inadequate
facilities, and very poor environmental sanitation.

“The entire
building of Sa’a Clinic is dilapidated and the facilities are below
standard, hence the decision to seal it immediately.

“Government will not allow proprietors of private clinics to operate
without the required hospital facilities, and will not allow private
clinics to flout the rules and regulations of their establishment,” he
said.

The family of Kayode Ogunlusi, in Ayegunle-Ekiti in Ijero Local
Government Area of Ekiti State, on Monday, lost their children after
taking a cassava meal prepared by the family.
Five other members of the family, who also ate the cassava meal, are
now on admission at the emergency unit of the University of Ado-Ekiti
Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.
Mr. Ogunlusi, the father of the deceased children, who only regained
consciousness after receiving medical attention, said the family ate
the cassava meal on Sunday night as dinner.

He explained that few hours after taking the meal, two of the
children started vomiting, while one became unconscious.
The father, who disclosed that the food was prepared by his wife, said
members of the family were later taken to a private hospital in the
town for initial treatment by their neighbours.

The Kwara State
government said it had so far spent N2.5 billion on the installation of
725 transformers in various communities between 2003 to date.

The Commissioner
for Energy, Zakari Mohammed, said this in Ilorin, on Tuesday, while
answering questions from journalists on the activities of his ministry.

The commissioner
said the purchase and installations of transformers by the state
government was the highest any government had done for its communities
in the country. He added that most of the electrification projects were
jointly funded by the state government in collaboration with the 16
Local Government Areas.

He, however, urged all the benefiting communities to protect the transformers against vandalism by ensuring their proper care.

The Oyo State
Ministry of Agriculture wants 20 percent allocation of each local
government council to be used for agricultural development, the state
Commissioner for Agriculture, Kunle Ishola, told journalists in Ibadan
on Tuesday.

According to him,
the ministry had proposed an amendment to the bill on local government
matters in this regard. If the bill is passed into law, it would make
it an offence for any council to divert money meant for agriculture to
any other area.

He also complained
that the fees charged at the federal government’s grain silos, located
in the Monatan area of Ibadan, were too high, just as the prices of
grains sold there.