Nigeria Content Online

Power failure stalls viewing of video evidence

Power
failure on Tuesday stalled the viewing of video recordings of the
Special Investigation Panel (SIP) in the alleged attempted murder of
the publisher of the Guardian Newspaper, Alex Ibru.

The SIP had in 1999
investigated Al-Mustapha Hamza alongside three other persons, James
Danbaba, Jibrin Yakubu and Rabo Lawal, in connection with the attempted
murder.

At the resumed
hearing, the court could not view the video tape because the generating
set powering the court-room had developed a fault, while the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had failed to restore light.

Consequently, the
presiding judge, Mufutau Olokooba, was forced to adjourn the case to
Wednesday, March 31, 2010, when the power issue would have been
resolved.

The court had
adjourned at the last sitting, for the prosecution to show the video
recording of the SIP to identify a prosecution witness, Felix Ogbaodu,
an assistant inspector general of police.

The prosecution
team led by Lawal Pedro, had previously said it would be relying on the
tape to identify the police officer as being a member of the SIP at the
time of the initial investigation.

But the defence
counsel, C.K. Nmakwe, Olalekan Ojo, and Chinedu Ikegbule, urged the
court to impress it on the prosecution to furnish them with the master
copy of the tape.

The defence had earlier noted that the tape was edited because there
were portions in the proceedings of the SIP which contained images of
torture and abuse of the defendants.

Lagos assembly revisits Fashola’s probe

Lagos assembly revisits Fashola’s probe

The
Lagos State House of Assembly has again decided to revisit and
investigate the allegations of corruption and constitutional violations
levelled against the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola.

The resolution was
made after the lawmakers deliberated on the petition submitted
yesterday by the renowned True Face of Lagos group.

The petition, dated
March 30 and signed by the group’s chairman, Adesina Adebayo, contained
many of the previously published allegations plus a few new ones.

Basis for allegations

The group, in the
petition, stated that a high level of accountability was expected from
the state government because many Lagosians have lost their means of
livelihood through “massive displacement by the present government”
besides the high compliance of residents with the tax system of the
State.

“Lagosians took all
these in their stride as our own contributions to the advancement of
our beloved centre of excellence,” the petition stated. It also said
that Fashola’s administration has spent, as budgetary allocations,
about N1.1 trillion since inception, an amount that surpassed the
entire budgetary allocations of the state from 1992 to 2007, by 30 per
cent.

“So, there is the
need to question some of the ways the governor has been expending tax
money, which in our opinion reflects financial recklessness,
mismanagement, gross constitutional violations, and abuse of office,”
the petition stated.

To substantiate the
allegation that an up-front payment of 70 per cent is always paid to
contractors, the group attached a list of contracts awarded between
January and August, 2009, by the Sstate’s ministry of health.

Two minutes of silence

After the Clerk of
the House read the petition during the House’s plenary session, two
minutes of silence was “observed” by the lawmakers, who seemed
dumbfounded that the petition resurfaced just 24 hours after a
committee set up to investigate the allegations was dissolved based on
a court ruling.

The silence was
finally broken by the majority leader, Kolawole Taiwo, who said, “I
don’t know what is in the mind of this True Face of Lagos but I can see
a determination in them. We are running towards election period and our
party’s determination to change Lagos is at stake. I don’t know how
Lagosians will feel about it but don’t you think we need to clean
ourselves of (the allegations)?” he asked.

Babatunde Adewale
(Apapa II) observed also the group’s resoluteness. “The court judgement
referred to them as faceless but they have appeared here today,” he
said. Also, the group now has a physical address as stated on its
petition as: “centre for the common man’s defence, behind 59 Ayanwale
Street, off Adeogun Street, Ojokoro, Lagos.”

Expectations and demands

Though none of the
lawmakers rejected the notion to investigate the allegations, some
expected the group to have a different approach.

“The group has been
silent since the court gave its verdict. I had expected that they will
criticise the judgement on the pages of the newspaper,” said Lola
Akande, the deputy chief whip of the House.

Ahmed Omisore
(Ifako-Ijaye II) also said the group should not only submit the
petition to the House but should present it to the governor also. “It
is important for them to take the petition to the governor rather than
use the House as a weapon,” he said.

However, Babatunde
Ogala (Ikeja I) said the House should not just accept the petition “as
is” but should invite the petitioner to prove the allegations.

“The group should be given an opportunity to come and prove their allegations in whatever manner they want to do it,” he said.

A sudden sickness

The Speaker of the
House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, said he “became ill” while listening to the
Clerk’s reading of the petition letter, because of the scale of the
allegations.

Mr. Ikuforiji, who
was still visibly angry that the House’s effort to ensure transparency
in government was thwarted by the court, said, “We have investigated
allegations in this House before, based on newspaper publications, and
nobody complained.

“Akionla was alive when we investigated the Sunborn Yacht and he
never came up then. That we are not appealing the judgement does not
mean we agreed with it. I still disagree with the judgement,” he said.

Central Bank to announce new template for microfinance banks

Central Bank to announce new template for microfinance banks

The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said it is developing a comprehensive template
to guide and regulate microfinance banking in the country.

Joe Alegienu, the
bank’s Director of Development Banking, said this at a meeting with the
management of the National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP) in
Abuja, adding that the new template will become operational before the
end of this year’s second quarter.

According to Mr.
Alegienu, microfinance banking has failed in the fight against poverty
as a result of the proliferation of mini-commercial bank operators
masquerading as microfinance operators.

The CBN, he said,
has observed with dismay the negative impact of the activities of these
operators, adding that most of them are former staff of commercial
financial institutions that failed to meet the conditions under the
recent banking sector consolidation policy.

“We do not want a
situation where the microfinance banks that were established to support
the fight against poverty among rural people are allowed to turn into a
monster that would consume the people,” Mr. Alegienu said. “We will
soon publish an operational template that would serve as a guide on how
microfinance banks are going to do business. It is time to tell those
not qualified to do the business to stay away.

“Every operator
must adapt itself to the principles of micro financing, which is that
microfinance banking does not succeed with large deposits mobilised
from depositors, but on large number of savings from ‘small peoples’,”
he said.

Beyond tricycle

Magnus Kpakol, the
Senior Special Adviser to the President and National Coordinator,
NAPEP, explained that the meeting was convened to enable coordinators
and microfinance bank operators discuss the various approaches to adopt
in the fight against poverty, which he said would not be won if the
people were not exposed to ways of applying the resources at their
disposal to their benefit.

“We want to go
beyond ‘keke NAPEP’,” Mr. Kpakol said. “We have to come up with
strategies on combating poverty. We must be seen as investing in
people. We are a wealthy nation in terms of resources, but to use the
resources to create wealth and raise income for the people is
important.”

He condemned the
practice where the government doles out money directly to cooperative
societies, saying this should be stopped or a way found to minimise the
practice, pointing out that the market place should henceforth be made
to allocate resources to the people.

“We have already written to state governments to lend interest-free
funds directly to the microfinance banks, which will lend to people at
commercial bank market rate of 20 percent and not cooperative
societies. These lending should be tied to performance and delivery. We
are also trying to involve the local government to ensure that they set
up at least five production activities every year.”

ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS: Nature study for ministerial nominees

ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS: Nature study for ministerial nominees

In keeping with a common practice in
modern, participatory democracy, Nigerians should ideally witness the
screening of new ministers live on television. It is mandatory that we
comprehend the knowledge level a minister brings to the turbulence of
governance.
Any ministerial nominee that
demonstrates ignorance during the screening exercise of those natural
processes that feed into economic growth, and the impacts of climate
change on them, belongs to the 19th Century, and should either be kept
in the National Museum or be politely requested to go home and do
something else.
So here’s a brief tutorial as an assist, both to the examiners in the Senate and their candidates:

Terrestrial habitats
Nigeria’s
terrestrial habitats are mainly savanna woodland and grassland. Montane
vegetation grows on some elevations above 1 500m in the eastern margins
of the country. Mambilla and Obudu hills are accessible examples.
40 million people
live and procreate at a rate of 3 per cent per annum. This has
consequences. All but 10 per cent of the original forest estate is left
in Nigeria! The resulting high ecological footprint is gradually
spreading to the country’s semi-arid, northern borders. In southern
Nigeria, the oil industry has shaved off swathes of rich mangrove
forests in the Niger Delta. Population drifts to coastal cities, Lagos,
Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Yenagoa, Badagry, impacts moist forests
that protect a low-lying Atlantic shoreline from storm surges and
erosion.
With the exception
of patches in Ogun, Edo, Bayelsa and Delta States, 30 per cent of the
remaining forests in Nigeria are in Cross River State. The gene pool
there is impressive, because this area survived the great ice age that
affected the whole of central and West Africa many millions of years
ago. There are more than 400 varieties of trees, around 170 species of
reptiles and amphibians, 140 fish species in Cross River State. Of the
904 bird species recorded in Nigeria, 425 occur in Cross River.
Increasing demands
on Nigerian forests are mainly for wood, food, fuels, industrial
materials, medicines, unsustainable (largely illegal) logging,
agricultural encroachment, over-harvesting of non-timber forest
products, overgrazing of livestock in the savanna, infrastructure
development without impact assessments, inadequate and ineffective
legal frameworks for forest governance, poor research and insecurity of
land tenure, are the major threats.

Sustainable energy sufficiency
In the process of
photosynthesis, tropical forests can absorb 10 per cent of annual
man-made greenhouse gas emissions. But destruction of these forests
contributes over 17 per cent to these emissions per annum. Nigeria must
establish programmes for energy efficiency, to move away from
over-dependence on combustion of fossil fuels, while making sure this
does not impact food security and biological diversity.
Destruction of forests is an environmental problem that needs an
economic solution. Carbon credits must be generated for forested states
if they reduce vegetation loss to an agreed level each year. This can
be monitored by satellite technology. The monies paid for such
environmental services could then be channelled into forest
conservation, agricultural intensification, renewable energy, education
and small businesses, building better roads and infrastructure in order
to stimulate development and create alternative livelihoods.

Bayern in rut for visit of Manchester United

Bayern Munich could
not have picked a worse time this season to face Manchester United in
the Champions League quarter-final first leg today.

The Bavarians, who
had enjoyed a successful run in three competitions following the winter
break, are stuck in a rut after their second successive Bundesliga
loss, 2-1 to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

They could also
take on United, 11 years after losing the 1999 Champions League final
2-1 when the English team scored two goals in the dying minutes,
without their best player this season.

Dutch winger Arjen
Robben pulled a calf muscle against Stuttgart and is doubtful for the
match while midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended.

“Maybe it turns out
not to be that bad but it looks difficult for the match against
Manchester,” Bayern coach Louis van Gaal told reporters.

Robben was also
outstanding in midweek, scoring the extra-time winner against Schalke
04 which sent Bayern into the German Cup final.

“It would be extremely bitter if he is missing from such a top game,” said Bayern defender Philipp Lahm.

Van Gaal, however,
does have playmaker Franck Ribery fit as well as central defender
Martin Demichelis, who injured his face in Argentina’s friendly against
Germany this month.

Striker Mario Gomez also looks to have recovered from a muscle injury, though he lacks match practice.

United have no new
injury concerns with top scorer Wayne Rooney and defender Rio Ferdinand
likely to be fit after being rested from Saturday’s 4-0 victory over
Bolton Wanderers, their seventh straight win in all competitions.

With a huge Premier League game against Chelsea next Saturday, it was no surprise that Alex Ferguson opted to rest to duo.

He said Rooney, who
has scored 33 goals this season, was left out because of a bruised foot
while Ferdinand has struggled with a back problem and picked up a groin
strain in training.

“They were just a bit tender,” Ferguson told MUTV.

“Wayne’s got a bruise on his foot. If he’d played and got a whack on it, then he would have been doubtful for Tuesday.

“We’ve got a big
week. We have to use our squad in situations like this. I’ve no qualms
about that at all. They’ve all done their job well and I’ll have Rooney
and Ferdinand available for Tuesday.”

Ferguson, seeking
to lead United to their third Champions League final in a row, will
also be delighted with Dimitar Berbatov’s form.

The Bulgarian
striker, yet to convince many United fans of his worth, scored twice
against Bolton and seemed to revel in the responsibility of leading the
line on his own.

Portuguese winger
Nani, enjoying his best season, was another on top form and Bayern will
have to work hard to prevent him and Antonio Valencia from delivering
the crosses that Rooney, in particular, has been thriving on.

Probable teams:

Bayern Munich:
22-Hans-Joerg Butt, 5-Daniel van Buyten, 6-Martin Demichelis,
21-Philipp Lahm, 28-Holger Badstuber; 7-Franck Ribery, 17-Mark van
Bommel, 25-Thomas Mueller, 23-Danijel Pranjic; 18-Miroslav Klose,
11-Ivica Olic.

Manchester United:
1-Edwin van der Sar; 2-Gary Neville, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 15-Nemanja Vidic,
3-Patrice Evra; 17-Nani, 24-Darren Fletcher, 18-Paul Scholes, 13-Park
Ji-Sung; 10-Wayne Rooney, 25-Antonio Valencia.

Reuters

Sports

N8m for grabs in Gulder promo

p>With eight million
naira up for grabs, many clubs are jostling to participate in the
maiden edition of the Gulder Five-A-Side football competition. The
competition, which will kick off next month, will be organised on a
zonal basis with the best 12 teams coming to Lagos for the final round
of matches. The registration and participation for the competition is
open to all who can access the 24 cities that will have the distinct
privilege of hosting the games, which will be played in enclosed venues
with Astro turf endorsed by FIFA. The forms for the event are available
on the website, www.gulder-nigeria.com, and registration had since
commenced from 18th of this month and will close on the 9th of April.

The Corporate
Affairs Adviser, Nigeria Breweries Plc, Yusuf Ageni, had earlier
disclosed that players who seek to be part of the team that will be
registered upon fulfilling the simple requirement of providing 50
uncrushed Gulder cans, must be 18 years and above, and must not be
registered in any of the national Professional and Amateur league
organised by the Nigeria Football Federation and Nigeria Professional
League Board. Although it is still not clear whether the deadline for
registration would be extended, consideration may be given on the
ground that some teams have complained of inability to access the site
due to heavy traffic. It was learnt that the large amount to be won may
have contributed to the interest shown by teams willing to participate
in the competition. With technical support from Mastersports
International Ltd., and invaluable endorsement from those who matter in
Five-A-Side Football in Nigeria and Europe, the competition will start
off in 24 cities nationwide from where 12 teams will emerge in a
knock-out fashion for the super showdown in Lagos.

Sports

Eriksson to coach Cote d’ Ivore at World Cup

Former England
manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been appointed Cote d’ Ivore coach for
this year’s World Cup finals, the Cote d’ Ivore Federation (FIF) said
in a statement on its website (www.fif-ci.com) on Sunday.

The FIF said it had
considered several candidates since Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic was
sacked in February after failing to lead the team to the African
Nations Cup semi-finals.

“The executive
committee analysed the profile of several candidates before choosing
Sven-Goran Eriksson”, FIF said (www.fif-ci.com).

“His mission will
be to guide our team during the World Cup and to make sure it fares
honourably, which will be difficult in a competition featuring the
world’s best 32 sides.”

Cote d’ Ivore has been drawn in World Cup Group G along with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea.

The 62-year-old
Eriksson managed clubs in his native Sweden, Portugal and Italy before
coaching the England national team from 2001-2006.

He joined Premier League Manchester City in 2007 and had an unsuccessful spell in charge of Mexico from 2008-09.

He was appointed director of football at English League Two (fourth
division) club Notts County last year but stepped down in February.

Sports

All gloom ahead of South Africa

Super Eagles coach,
Lars Lagerback had told reporters that the Home Eagles were unlucky to
have crashed out of the African Nations Championship against the Mena
of Niger in Kano last Saturday, but the Swede will not be disillusioned
on the task ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

When Shuaibu Amodu
threw out the possibility of the Premier League players making the
African Nations Cup in Angola, many had criticised him for branding
them training material. The call for home-based players’ inclusion was
further stressed after the lack-lustre performance of our Eagles at the
Nations Cup where they finished with a record seventh bronze medal. But
after their inability to show class over two legs in the CHAN
qualifiers, Lagerback will have to rely on his underperforming
Europe-based players.

There were claims
that fatigue was responsible for the first leg defeat in Niamey after
the team travelled by road and arrived the Niger capital barely 24
hours before the encounter, but they failed to redeem their battered
image in the return leg, against a country ranked 163 by FIFA. Though
it could be argued that the players did not have enough time together
and that the weather in Kano was more of an advantage to the Mena than
to our Eagles, the performance at the Sani Abacha Stadium may have
confirmed the demise of football in Nigeria. The obituary of the round
leather game in the country was also evident after the Nigeria Premier
League champions, Bayelsa United were shown the exit door in the
preliminary stage of this year’s CAF Champions League by a certain
Gazelle FC from Chad.

Flops

As it stands,
Lagerback must shift his attention to Europe and look at the current
scorecard of our players across that continent, it will be a great
surprise should our Eagles go beyond the first round of the World Cup
in South Africa, where they have been grouped alongside Argentina
(their first opponents) as well as the duo of Greece and South Korea.

Of all our outfield
regular players who featured at the African Nations Cup in Angola, only
the quartet of Mikel Obi, Onyekachi Apam, Dickson Etuhu and Taye Taiwo,
who has struggled to impress fans at the national team level, are
playing regularly at club level – barely 72 days to the World Cup in
Johannesburg. Little wonder our Swedish handler admits he will have to
take bench warmers to the Mundial.

Nigeria will be relying on the experience of the likes of Joseph
Yobo, Obafemi Martins, Osaze Odemwingie, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Nwankwo
Kanu, who all boast of decent curriculum vitae but Lagerback will soon
realise that it takes more than a name and past achievements to make a
strong impression at football’s biggest stage. The Eagles will not
surprise any fan in South Africa and for Lagerback, $1.5million is
surely a good package that any smart coach will be happy to earn in
three months.

Sports

Street Child World Cup comes to stay

Initiators of the
inaugural Deloitte Street Child World Cup have stated that they plan to
hold future street child games in countries hosting major sporting
events, such as world cups and the Olympics.

Another Homeless World Cup?

The Street Child
World Cup is meant to, among other things, create a platform for the
youngsters to share experiences of their respective countries. With
themes such as home, safety and health, the youngsters will share
stories and discuss future aspirations with each other.

The tournament,
which was initiated by UK human rights organisation, Amos Trust, and
facilitated by Umthombo, a nongovernmental organisation working with
street children in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, witnessed more than 70
homeless teenagers from nine countries compete against each other in
South Africa from March 15 to 22.

In the first event
of its kind which was won by India, football teams made up of street
children (mixed with boys and girls playing together) from Brazil,
England, India, Nicaragua, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine
and Vietnam, featured a series of seven-a-side indoor matches, while
the winning squad took home an impressive trophy.

Reaching out to children

Umthombo CEO, Tom
Hewitt, said, “Events like these are a good way to reach out to
children living on the streets. The tournament is fantastic; it
celebrates the potential of street children. The youngsters are
thrilled to be taking part in such a competition”

The tournament’s
Head of Media, Joe Hewitt, explained why the event was held in South
Africa: “It’s fitting that the inaugural tournament is staged in South
Africa in 2010, to coincide with the FIFA World Cup here. The FIFA
World Cup is something that should be for all. These children should be
involved in it in some way; they should be given a special opportunity
to be involved as flag bearers and ball crew members.”

Fully Endorsed

Some of the
influential personalities who have endorsed the Cup include South
African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu; AC Milan and England midfielder David
Beckham; Bafana Bafana captain, Aaron Mokoena; Manchester United
manager, Sir Alex Ferguson; UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown; and
Filipino professional boxer, Manny Pacquiao.

In a statement,
Tutu said, “The Deloitte Street Child World Cup demonstrates the
tremendous potential of every single child, and especially street
children, who are so often treated as less than human. I am proud that
the first ever Street Child World Cup took place in South Africa.”

His enthusiasm was
equally shared by Ferguson, who has visited South Africa a number of
times with his team, to play Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, and Orlando
Pirates in the annual Vodacom Challenge tournament.

“I am delighted
that the first Street Child World Cup took place in South Africa where
I know there is a huge passion for football. No child should have to
live on the streets and I fully endorse this campaign giving street
children a voice to claim their rights,” Ferguson said.

Sports

Football federation to make N94m if Eagles get to final