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Nigeria’s minister of aviation, Fidelia Njeze, and delegates
from United Airlines, an international carrier from the United States of
America, have officially announced the commencement of flight operations by an
additional airline on the Nigeria-USA route.

Describing the development as an “accomplished mission” for the
federal government of Nigeria, Ms. Njeze disclosed that the entry of the new
United States carrier into the Nigeria aviation industry depicts mutual
understanding between both countries after the signing of the open skies
treaty.

“This is mission accomplished for us in the ministry and for
Nigerians,” she said during a briefing at the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Wednesday.

“What we are witnessing started some years ago, which led to the
coming in of Delta Airlines; and this marks the Nigeria-United States agreement
of open skies signed in 2001.”

The aviation minister disclosed that Nigeria will continue to
work with the United States government to enhance development in the sector,
adding that the arrival of United Airlines will boost services on the route.

“Nigeria will always be a strategic and economic partner of the
USA, and for this reason I hereby formally announce on behalf of the federal government,
the arrival of United Airlines to Nigeria,” she said.

Making Lagos a hub

Speaking on the development, Richard Aisuebeogun, managing
director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, said that the federal
government is making efforts to ensure that the Lagos international airport
becomes a hub in Africa, adding that the airline is welcomed to Nigeria.

“This shows progression and it drives at making Nigeria,
especially Lagos airport, a hub in Africa,” he said. “We have the market, the
number and the business, so we welcome United Airlines and we want to assure
you that soon your frequency will be increased.”

Expressing thanks to the federal government through the ministry
of aviation, Charles Duncan, president of the carrier, reiterated that the
addition in the number of carriers on the route will promote trade, improve
cultural ties and development passenger services.

“I am grateful to the aviation minister and all of our partners
here who made launching the new service to Washington possible,” he said. “This
service will facilitate stronger commercial and cultural ties between the
United States and Nigeria, while making travel more convenient and more
accessible to our customers in Africa and the Americas.”

United Airlines brings the number of carriers flying to the United States
from Nigeria to three after the country attained the much coveted Category One
Status in August this year from The United States Federal Aviation
Administration (US FAA). The other airlines on the Nigeria-US route are Delta
Airlines and Arik Air, an indigenous carrier.

A British judge
granted bail of 200,000 pounds ($317,400) on Tuesday for the release of
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sex
crimes and the target of U.S. fury over the release of secret
diplomatic cables. Prosecutors, representing Swedish authorities,
quickly said they would appeal against the bail decision and Judge
Howard Riddle said Assange must remain in custody until a new hearing
is held within 48 hours. Riddle had earlier ruled that, pending a
hearing on January 11, Assange could be freed under strict conditions
including electronic tagging and a curfew. He would have had to report
to police daily and post a 200,000 pound bond, to be put up by wealthy
backers. The 39-year-old Australian, who has spent a week in London’s
Wandsworth prison, is fighting attempts to extradite him to Sweden for
questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct made by two female
WikiLeaks volunteers, accusations he denies. Mark Stephens, a lawyer
for Assange, said Swedish authorities would clearly not spare any
expense to keep Assange in jail.

“This is really turning into a show trial and we will be in court again within the next 48 hours,” he told reporters.

He called Assange
“an innocent man sitting in Dickensian conditions, Victorian conditions
in Wandsworth jail.” Assange and his lawyers have voiced fears that
U.S. prosecutors may be preparing to indict him for espionage over
WikiLeaks’ publication of the documents. Riddle denied Assange bail a
week ago on grounds he might abscond but said he had changed his mind
because Assange had provided a British address and because
discrepancies over his passport and right to stay in Britain had now
been resolved. Prosecution lawyer Gemma Lindfield, acting for the
Swedish authorities, said nothing had changed.

“He remains a significant flight risk and no conditions that court can impose could prevent his flight,” she told the court.

Impassive Assange

Assange, wearing a
navy suit and open-necked white shirt, spoke only to confirm his name,
age and address. He sat impassively behind tall panels of thickened
glass during the hearing, which lasted a little over an hour. His
supporters in the court included Bianca Jagger, the former wife of
Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger. One of the main conditions of his
bail is that he lives at Ellingham Hall, a country mansion in Suffolk,
eastern England that is the home of a former army officer and Assange
supporter, Vaughan Smith. Assange has long been a thorn in the side of
Washington. U.S. anger reached new heights after WikiLeaks began
publishing part of a trove of 250,000 secret diplomatic papers. Two of
Assange’s supporters took the witness stand to offer 20,000 pounds each
to act as a surety. Restaurant designer and catering company boss Sarah
Saunders told the court: “I believe he would not let me down.” Smith
called him as a “very honourable person, hugely courageous,
self-deprecatory and warm.” Assange, who handed himself in to British
police last week after Sweden issued a European arrest warrant,
remained defiant.

In a statement
released by his mother on Tuesday, he denounced the firms that
suspended payments to his website as instruments of U.S. foreign policy
and calling for help in protecting his work from their “illegal and
immoral attacks. My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the
ideals I have expressed. This circumstance shall not shake them,”
Assange said, according to a written statement of his comments supplied
to Australia’s Network Seven by his mother Christine.

“We now know that Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others are instruments of U.S. foreign policy,” he said.

“I am calling for
the world to protect my work and my people from these illegal and
immoral attacks.” Internet activists launched “Operation Payback” last
week to avenge WikiLeaks against those perceived to have obstructed its
operations, temporarily bringing down the websites of credit card firms
Visa and MasterCard, as well as that of the Swedish government.

An ABC
News/Washington Post poll released on Tuesday showed that a majority of
Americans — 59 percent — believed the United States should try to
arrest Assange and charge him with a crime related to the disclosure of
the cables.

Sixty-eight percent
of the 1,001 U.S. adults polled said WikiLeaks’ actions harmed the
public interest, while 20 percent said the disclosures served the
public interest.

Bi-Courtney
Aviation Services Limited, operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2
(MMA2), Lagos, on Tuesday, announced that a female passenger of IRS
Airlines slumped at the departure terminal of the airport.

The passenger,
Chinyere Njebu, who died while being transported to hospital by Zenith
Medicals, an ambulance therapeutic service company stationed at the
terminal, was said to have been drinking with an unidentified man at
the Barcellos eatery in the departure terminal. Chukwudum Ofomata, the
media representative for Bi-Courtney, said that the incident happened
on Monday at about 12noon, adding that Ms Njebu was supposed to catch a
flight for Abuja before her demise.

Staff of the eatery
confirmed that the deceased bought two cans of stout and was drinking
with a man, who could not be found by security operatives at the
airport after the incident. “She bought two cans of stout and was
drinking it with this guy who we won’t be able to identify before she
suddenly slumped,” said Atoyebi Taofeek, a supervisor for Barcellos.
“Airport officials rushed her in a stretcher and she was taken to a
hospital by the Zenith ambulance. But after the doctor diagnosed her,
he said that she had traits of hypertension and her blood sugar level
was tested to be a little unusual.”

A Federal High Court in Lagos, on
Tuesday, adjourned till December 17, ruling in the application filed by
the former Managing director of Intercontinental Bank, Erastus
Akingbola, for the release of his international passport.

“We want an order from the court
directing all security agents such as the SSS (State Security Service),
EFCC (Economic and Financial Crime Commission) and the police from
prohibiting the accused person from travelling outside the country,”
said Felix Fagbohungbe, the counsel to Mr Akingbola. He also urged the
court to allow his client report once every month at the EFCC office in
Lagos instead of its Abuja headquarters every first working day of the
week.

Mr Akingbola had, through his counsel, urged Justice Mohammed Idris
to vary his bail conditions and release his passport. Prosecution
counsel, Emmanuel Ukala, however, urged the court to reject the
defendant’s application, arguing that “the Federal High Court was not
the appropriate court to vary the bail conditions.” Justice Idris had,
on August 30, granted Mr Akingbola bail in the sum of N500 million with
two sureties who must have landed property within the court’s
jurisdiction.

Speakers of the 36
State Houses of Assembly in the country have threatened to boycott the
primary elections of their parties if the proposed amendment to the
Electoral Act 2010 to include federal lawmakers in the National
Executive Committee (NEC) of their parties scale through.

The Speakers, who
met in Abuja yesterday under the aegis of the Conference of the State
Legislature (CSSLN), also rejected the exclusion of the members of the
state assemblies as delegates to the conventions of their primaries
where the presidential candidates will be picked.

The CSSLN chairman,
Haruna Istifanus Gbana, who read the communiqué to journalists, said
the bill to make the members of the National Assembly members of NEC of
their respective parties as passed in the House of Representatives last
week, is totally undemocratic, self-serving, and repugnant.

“In the event the
National Assembly goes ahead to pass this Amended Act, the way it is
now, Rt. Hon. Speakers and deputy Speakers will have no choice than not
to participate in the party primaries for the selection of candidates,”
Mr. Gbana said.

The conference also
faulted the exclusion of party executive members from the selection of
candidates during party primaries at all levels.

Be patriotic

It frowned at the
exclusion of members of the state Houses of Assembly as delegates to
their parties’ primaries for selection of presidential candidates of
their parties.

The Speakers asked
the federal legislators to show more patriotism and put the interest of
the nation first in coming up with legislations.

The National
Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
was forced to adjourn yesterday after about 40 minutes following
disagreement among its members on the amendment to the Electoral Act
2010, designed to include members of the National Assembly in their
parties’ NEC.

The meeting, which
began at about 1.47 pm at the Wadata Plaza came to an end at about
2.20pm after the party’s national Legal Adviser, Olusola Oke hurriedly
moved a motion for the adjournment of the meeting till Thursday. The
motion was seconded by a member of the House of Representatives, Shehu
Garba Matazu from Katsina State.

Sources at the
meeting said things started getting out of control when the PDP
national organizing secretary requested that the party chairmen from
Anambra, Ogun, Enugu and Oyo States should leave the venue of the
meeting.

Some of the
governors were said to have resisted the order, thereby prompting the
National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, to call for the adjournment of
the meeting, after consulting with President Goodluck Jonathan.

The governors, at
their different meetings in the last three days in Abuja, have kicked
against the amendment and had reportedly asked Mr Jonathan not to
assent to it when passed by the National Assembly.

Following the
adjournment, some top members of the NEC subsequently moved to the Aso
Rock Villa for a meeting, apparently to resolve the controversy on the
Electoral Act and other issues.

Those who moved to
the Aso Rock Villa were President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo
and the entire leadership of the National Assembly.

Others were all
former national chairmen of the PDP, former chairmen of the Board of
Trustees, and all the governors. They were still meeting at press time
yesterday. The minister of Women Affairs, Josephine Anenih also held a
closed-doors meeting with women members of the NEC at the PDP
secretariat while state chairmen of the party also moved to an
undisclosed venue for their own parley.

Meeting adjourned

In a statement he
issued shortly after the meeting, the party’s national publicity
secretary, Ahmed Rufa’i Alkali said the NEC adjourned till Thursday to
give room for further consultations, adding that it became necessary
because of the need to include all stakeholders in the process of
arriving at acceptable decisions.

“At the 54th
meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic
Party held today at the National Secretariat of our great Party, NEC in
a brief session resolved that in view of the critical importance of
issues to be deliberated upon, the meeting be adjourned till Thursday,
16th December, 2010 to give room for further consultations,” Mr Alkali
said.

However, before the
meeting dissolved into closed-doors, Mr Jonathan, in an apparent
reference to the tension generated in the party over the Electoral Act
and election timetable/guidelines, urged all members of the ruling
party to work together.

“It is a period that the atmosphere is charged and everybody is
stressed about one thing or the other. This period is very critical not
for PDP alone, but for the whole country,” he said. “But PDP is on top
because anything about PDP we set the agenda and everybody knows that
and that is why they concede to us and that is why other parties want
to participate in our primaries. Even though we don’t know when they
conduct their own primaries but they want to be involved and witness
our primaries. No matter what anybody says, we are the ruling party.

Bolaji Akinyemi,
the former minister of foreign affairs, has called for a code of
conduct for Nigerian journalists. Speaking in Lagos yesterday, at the
launch of a book, “A decade of democracy,” written by Sanya Onayoade,
the former minister called on journalists to stop publishing pictures
of dead bodies in the media. He also decried the practice of the police
parading crime suspects in the media. He said, “Even if the police do
it [parade crime suspects], the media, knowing better, should not do
so.” Mr. Akinyemi commended the author of the book for taking the pains
to document a detailed record of Nigeria’s democracy in the last 10
years. He said Nigeria’s is bedevilled by incorrect details, especially
where it concerns the dead whose accounts are often misrepresented by
the living.

Distorted facts

The former minister
who spoke as the chairman at the book launch said: “What we have today
is people coming up with manufactured and twisted facts to suit their
own intentions, especially because some concerned people, who can
corroborate the facts, are already dead. A nation that cannot agree on
its history is a nation in crisis.”

He called for a concerted effort, from journalists and historians, to ensure Nigeria’s recent history is documented in earnest.

Alex Akinyele, a
former information minister, also backed the call for a code of conduct
for journalists. In his remarks, Fredrick Fasheun, the founder and
president of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, reiterated the agitation of
the Yoruba ethnic nation for a sovereign national conference and true
federalism. He pleaded with all Nigerians to ensure they register and
vote in 2011, while also chiding the National Assembly members for
their recent unruly acts.

“Democracy where people have turned the chambers into boxing ring is no democracy,” he said.

Mr. Onayoade, the
author, said he decided to write the book to preserve the history of
the last 10 years for young Nigerians whose minds are prone to warped
tales from politicians.

“I don’t want my kids growing up reading wrong historical facts,” he said, recommending the book to all Nigerians.

Dele Alake, a
former information commissioner in Lagos State, who launched the book
said the book is a must-read for everyone aspiring to be leaders in
Nigeria. “Nigeria needs a leader who has knowledge, vision,

and will but we
have not been fortunate to have a president in the last decade that has
the three qualities. This book should be read by aspiring leaders in
Nigeria,” he said.

He described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the most
courageous president we have had but one that lacks the prerequisite
knowledge and vision and the late President Musa Yar’Adua as the exact
opposite of Mr. Obasanjo.

Wrongdoing in
society must be identified and punished to avoid the development of a
culture of impunity, President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday during
a meeting with the leadership of the Evangelical Church Winning All
(ECWA).

Responding to a
call on government to take radical steps to ensure that individual
votes count in 2011, Mr. Jonathan said perpetrators of electoral
offences such as “changing figures of votes cast”, which is forgery,
would face the full wrath of the law, since “any crime that goes
unpunished leads to a culture of impunity, which does not augur well
for law and order.”

He also re-stated
his commitment to the conduct of free and fair elections in 2011,
adding that, “until people can elect those they want as their leaders,
democracy will not take root in Nigeria.”

Clarifying his
position on the militants and anti-social conduct in the Niger Delta,
the president said genuine militants who had embraced the amnesty were
being taken care of, but all those who have engaged in criminality
would be treated as criminals. The president further commended ECWA for
their role in partnering with government in educational, health and
rural development and congratulated them for celebrating their
centenary this year.

Laws on electoral offence

The president of
ECWA, Anthony Farinto, who led a delegation of the church to the State
House, called for laws to criminalise electoral malpractices.

“The current situation whereby some state governors,

federal and state
lawmakers occupy office for about three and a half years only to be
rooted out of office by competent courts is definitely not good for our
democracy,” he said.

He commended Mr.
Jonathan’s commitment to free and fair elections in 2011, his
determination to improve power supply and the establishment of six new
federal universities.

The ECWA president expressed concern at the incessant religious
crises in the North andcalled for a serious check on electoral
malpractices, as well as for a return of mission schools taken over by
government to their original owners.

The House of Representatives, on
Tuesday, readmitted another suspended member, Doris Uboh (PDP, Delta)
to the House as part of a gradual reintegration of the sanctioned
‘progressive’ lawmakers back into the House. Gbenga Oduwaye (PDP, Ogun)
and Austin Nwachukwu (PDP, Imo), who were also on suspension, were
pardoned last week. They attended yesterday’s plenary session. Also in
attendance were arrowheads of the group, Dino Melaye, Independence
Ogunewe, Solomon Awhinawhi, Abas Anas Adamu and Bitrus Kaze.

Messrs Melaye and Awhinawhi had, last
week, stormed the House’s chamber during a plenary session to enforce a
court ruling that their suspension was illegal, prompting deputy
speaker, Usman Nafada, to announce that the House was a law-abiding
institution and would therefore respect the decision of the court. It
was, however, gathered that the presence of Mr. Melaye and the others,
led to the temporary delay of the commencement of the plenary session
as the chamber was locked for about an hour allegedly to prevent them
from going in. But the doors to the chambers were opened at about
11.15pm after some of the lawmakers, who were hanging around the lobby,
expressed their anger over the development.

Obeying the court

In announcing the re-admittance of Ms.
Uboh, who had also gone to court to challenge her suspension, Mr.
Nafada, in the course of making the day’s announcements, informed
members that: “I received a communication in my office this morning on
the case by Doris Uboh that the Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled
that she be recalled back to the House. Uboh is hereby re-admitted.”

The lawmakers were suspended in June after they accused the leadership
of the House of corruption and threatened to remove the Speaker, Dimeji
Bankole if he did not resign as demanded. The lawmakers were forced out
of the House during a fracas at a plenary and were indefinitely
suspended by their colleagues. They has struggled most of last week to
have the judgment of the court overturning their suspension accepted by
the House leadership.

John Abraham
Godson, a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, has been sworn-in
as the first black member of Poland’s parliament.

Mr. Godson had
served as a councillor in the city of Lodz before taking up a
parliamentary seat, vacated by a party colleague after local elections.
His entry into parliament has created a media stir in the mainly white
country.

He came to Poland
in the 1990s, opening an English language school, and working as a
pastor in a Protestant church. He has since married a Polish woman and
the couple have four children.

Beaten up twice

A member of the
centre-right Civic Platform Party, he was appointed to the seat vacated
by party colleague, Hanna Zdanowskaafter, after she became mayor of
Lodz.

Racism is still a
problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to
make racist jokes and it is still quite rare to see black people even
in the Polish capital, Warsaw, Poland’s most cosmopolitan city.

Mr. Godson was
beaten up twice in the early 1990s, but he says attitudes to black
people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the
country joined the EU six years ago.

Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr. Godson said:

“I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here, and I want to be buried here.”