Nigeria Content Online

As part of its intervention strategies
aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change in the
northern part of Nigeria, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, in
partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency, has
commenced activities towards the implementation of Reducing Emissions
through Reduction in Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in Taraba
State.

The activities, which contain different
steps, involve the use of tools that are capable of receding the
current rate of forest loss in Nigeria and at the same time provide
financial incentives for forest-based communities in Taraba. The
foundation said it had secured support from CIDA in the form of a
contribution grant towards biodiversity conservation and natural
resources management programme in the state.

Sensitising the people

According to them,
the two-day workshop organised last week was aimed at sensitising
stakeholders towards the preparation for the full implementation of the
project. “The workshop provided the stakeholders (a platform) to
discuss the role of forest degradation in carbon emission and the
efforts of REDD as a tool for reducing deforestation while providing
financial incentives to communities through carbon credits,” said
Tirimisiyu Ashimi, the foundation’s Taraba Project Manager. He added
that the sensitisation workshop was necessary given the low level
awareness on the climate change in the state despite the state’s
strategic position on the delivery of the UN-REDD programme in Nigeria
and the potential opportunities available to forest-based communities
in the state. “It also analysed Nigeria’s current efforts on REDD and
what the Taraba State government and people need to do as preparatory
efforts towards REDD implementation in the state,” he said.

As part of her direct intervention, the foundation has identified
and participated in the development of principles and guidelines for
REDD and took part in various fora to develop the REDD strategy for
Nigeria. Speaking at the workshop in Jalingo, the Director of Technical
Programmes, Alade Adeleke, said that though Nigeria may not have the
financial resources or sophisticated technology to mitigate climate
change, the country is endowed with a mosaic of natural ecosystems that
have the capacity for carbon sequestration. “Ecosystem services
produced by ecosystems and biodiversity such as food, water, timber,
fuel and fibre, particularly food are one of the key drivers of
inflation rate,” he said. “NCF climate change adaptation initiative,
therefore, seeks to assist communities especially those around our
intervention sites to increase their resilience to climate change
induced challenges such as food security, agriculture, watershed
management, and natural systems conservation.”

Mohammed Adoke, Nigeria’s attorney
general, says that Nigeria currently has challenges in the area of
mutual legal assistance because a number of countries have not adopted
international anti-corruption instruments, making the process of assets
recovery tedious. Speaking at a meeting in Abuja on Thursday where key
players in the anti-graft fight gathered to mark the International
Anti-Corruption day, most speakers took turns to speak about Nigeria’s
anti-corruption stance.

“Experience has shown that the
procedure for obtaining mutual legal assistance to seize, confiscate
and repatriate proceeds of corruption is often complex, expensive and
time consuming,” Mr. Adoke said.

While speaking at the event, Mr. Adoke
reiterated that asset recovery is the pivot of the anti-corruption war
and called for other countries to implement the asset recovery
provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

“We believe that these provisions, if
diligently implemented by the state parties, will go a long way in
redressing the injustice associated with a system that allows a few
corrupt persons to enjoy the proceeds of their crime to the detriment
of the majority especially in developing countries,” Mr. Adoke said.

Speaking at the event also, Farida
Waziri, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
complained that the staff strength of her commission is not sufficient
to fight corruption.

“Corruption has eaten deep into this
society and can no longer be the job of only one agency,” she said.
“The EFCC is 1,700 in strength and the country is 150 million. How can
we cover that? We can only work with the support of the people.”

Blame it on Nigerians

The president-general of the Trade
Union Congress, Peter Esele, said that Nigerians are to blame for the
growth of corruption in the country.

“Nigerians are docile and the members
of the National Assembly are no longer public servants but our masters
because of this,” he said. “Nigeria is the only country where corrupt
politicians can go to court to prevent the EFCC from investigating
them. Nigerians must say enough is enough.”

Dagmar Thomas, country representative
for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, who also spoke at the
event, said that Nigeria is far from winning the fight against
corruption.

“Corruption impedes Nigeria’s
development,” she said. “Since Independence, successive administrations
of Nigeria have acknowledged the need to combat corruption. While these
efforts have recorded some successes, numerous legal and institutional
challenges persist,”

Ms. Thomas added that Nigeria is yet to create an enabling
environment to fight corruption, thus making the work of agencies like
the EFCC more difficult.

The Ondo State
Police Command, yesterday, arrested two civil servants with the State
Property and Development Corporation for allegedly demanding N480, 000
ransom from their boss in the same office.

They allegedly
ordered their boss to pay the ransom or have his children kidnapped.
Chintua Amajor-Onu, the state Commissioner of Police, who addressed
journalists over the incident, said the two suspects, Adedayo Olupona
and Idonuagbe Raymond, in collaboration with one Olumide Olorunnisola,
pretended to be kidnappers to demand the money from Anthony Akinrotoye.
“When Akinrotoye reported that a GSM phone number,

0816475934, was
used to send message to him demanding the sum of N480, 000 and that
they threatened to go to his school and kidnap two of his children if
he fails to give them the money, a team of detectives led by Sikiru
Lawal was dispatched to lay ambush against the hoodlums in a spot where
the victim was directed to place the money, and one Olorunnisola
Olumide appeared to receive the ransom and was arrested,” she said.

According to the
police boss, Mr Olorunnisola confessed during interrogation that he was
sent to collect the money by Messrs Raymond and Olupona. She said the
phone and the SIM card the suspects used had been recovered from them
as exhibits, adding that they would be charged to court soon. Mr
Olorunisola confessed to journalists that the team wanted to give the
money to a friend who had accommodation problems.

Meanwhile, the police boss also announced that a gang of armed
robbers which attacked and robbed a retired Deputy Superintendent of
Police, Adelakun Akinsuyi, of N500, 000 at Ore, had been arrested.
According to her, the gang followed the victim to his house from the
First Bank, Ore Branch, and attacked him.

President Goodluck
Jonathan will, Tuesday next week, present the 2011 budget estimate of
N4.56 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.

In a letter to
leaders of both chambers, dated December 8 2010, the president asked
the Speaker and the Senate President to let him address a joint session
of the national assembly at noon on Tuesday next week.

At the Federal
Executive Council meeting last Wednesday, the government approved a
budgetary proposal of N4.56 trillion for the 2011 fiscal year. The
figure is 10.27% less than that of 2010, but fits into the 2011-2013
Medium Term Fiscal Frame.

Wednesday’s
approval signifies the commencement of the implementation of the
2011-2013 Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) and Fiscal Strategy Pare
(FSP), the revenue and expenditure frameworks of the government as
agreed to by FEC.

According to the
these documents, the 2011 budget will have an increased non-debt
recurrent expenditure compared to the 2010 budget. The recurrent
non-debt expenditure increased by 6.77% to N2.849 trillion with major
increase in personnel cost and lower overheads.

Recurrent
expenditure has been on the increase in recent years and this trend
might persist in the medium term as the wage increase for civil
servants, medical personnel, university lecturers etc. is fully
implemented.

“To manage this,
the Government is to set up a Committee to rationalise recurrent
expenditure.” Notwithstanding complaints by policy makers, the capital
expenditure decreased by 38.6% to N1.083 trillion. Statutory transfer
is lower at N179.78 billion, while debt service recurrent is also lower
at N517.07 billion.

Return of joint sessions

In addition to the
budget, the president also forwarded a bill to establish the Nigeria
Sovereign Investment Authority which he said will “build a savings base
for the future generations, enhance development of the infrastructure
sector in Nigeria, assist fiscal stability in certain circumstances and
for related matters.” The budget presentation is coming late, but if
successfully presented to a joint session of the national assembly, it
will mark a return to the traditional method of budget presentation
which was discarded last year following the inability of both chambers
of the Assembly to agree on a venue.

Since 1999, the president had always addressed a joint session of
the legislators in the larger House of Reps chambers but last year the
Senate insisted that the address take place in its chambers.

The Commissioner of
Police for the Federal Capital Territory, John Haruna, and his Lagos
State counterpart, Marvel Akpoyibo, have been transferred on the orders
of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim.

The development
followed the disappearance of some of the Direct Data Capture machines
imported into the country for the registration of voters for the 2011
elections, on Wednesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Mr Haruna has been redeployed to Lagos State to take over from Mr
Akpoyibo, who has been asked to report at the Force Headquarters for
further directives.

However,
spokesperson for the Nigerian Police, Emmanuel Omore, has denied
knowledge of the redeployment. “I am not aware of the transfer and I am
yet to see any signal to that effect,” he said. A senior police source,
who did not wish to be named, confirmed that “the signal for the
movement has been signed and will soon be served administratively.” The
source further said that the two commissioners already aware and have
even started networking in their new stations. According to him, Mr
Akpoyibo may likely proceed to the National Policy and Strategic
Studies, Jos, for a course.

The DDC machines were brought into the country via cargo aircraft
early in the week and kept in a store before the disappearance on
Wednesday morning.

The All Nigeria
People Party (ANPP) yesterday said it was withdrawing its members
serving with the federal government as the party puts an end to its
participation in the government of national unity.

The national
chairman of ANPP, Ogbonnaya Onu said the National Executive Council of
the party has directed all its members in the federal government to
withdraw immediately.

Mr Onu, who
recently took over the leadership of the party, had said the ANPP,
under him, will likely pull out of the arrangement entered into by the
former leadership of the party under Edwin Ume-Ezeoke.

“Our great party
has reviewed its position and has come to the conclusion that in the
best interest of our dear country, the new All Nigeria Peoples Party
should no longer participate in the government of National Unity,” Mr
Onu said. “The party therefore calls on all its members who are holding
one position or the other, as a result of the Government of National
Unity, to withdraw their services and return home. Also, in any state
of the federation where there is any such relationship, out great party
wants those affected to take similar action.”

Mr Onu, who said
there is a bright future for the party, added it has reclaimed its
identity as the leading opposition in the country and a party to watch.

He said that in the
last two months he has visited 20 state chapters of the party and will
visit the remaining states. During the visits, he met with religious,
community and political leaders.

Mr Onu said that
since the new leadership assumed office, defections from the party have
reduced considerably and has ceased as of now.

“It is instructive
to point out that as I speak more and more people have been defecting
to our party from other political parties, especially from the ruling
party.”

Bright future

He said the ANPP
has commenced discussions with other opposition political parties who
share similar conviction with the party to ensure that it is successful
in the next general elections.

“Make no mistake
about it; Nigerians deserve and want change for the better. To defeat
hunger, poverty, disease and illiteracy, we are asking other opposition
political parties to work with us so that change can take place,” he
said.

Members in government

The party decided,
along with the Progressive Peoples Alliance to serve in the federal
government after the 2007 election when it nominated. As at today, the
party has two ministers in the PDP government. They are the Minister of
State for Finance, Yabawa Lawan Wabi and the Minister of State for
Foreign Aaffairs. The ANPP also has two advisers – Chineme Ume-Ezeoke,
Special Adviser on Civil Society matters and Ebute Ayuk, Coordinator,
Informal sector.

The three governors of the party – from Borno, Yobe and Kano States – attended the NEC meeting.

Former National
Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Audu Ogbeh, will head
the Presidential campaign of Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), NEXT has learnt.

A close aide of Mr.
Ribadu who confirmed this stated that the choice of Mr. Ogbeh is
“because of his demonstrated integrity, vision for Nigeria and ability
to garner broad support for the candidacy of Mr. Ribadu.” Mr. Ogbeh
joined the Action Congress in 2006 alongside former Vice President,
Atiku Abubakar. Seen as one of the political leaders in Northern
Nigeria, Mr. Ogbeh left the PDP following his fallout with former
president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

He was ousted as
PDP Chairman in January 2005 following his public criticism of the
former President over the latter’s handling of the Anambra saga between
the then Governor Chris Ngige, and his estranged ‘godfather’ Chris Uba.
Mr Ogbeh, who was Chairman of the PDP from 2001 to 2005, had condemned
Mr. Obasanjo for not calling Mr. Uba to order and stopping the carnage
and destruction that went on in Anambra state during the crisis.

He was a member of
the nine-man committee of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF)
which chose Mr. Abubakar as consensus Northern aspirant for the PDP,
though he reportedly voted for the Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki.

Ribadu to Kick start Campaign

Indications also
emerged that Mr. Ribadu, who has chosen “A New Nigeria is Possible” as
his campaign slogan, will commence his full campaign on December 15
when he is expected to hold a formal declaration.

Mr. Ribadu will
challenge two other aspirants for the ticket of the Action Congress of
Nigeria. They are Usman Bugaje, the national Secretary of the party,
and Attahiru Bafarawa, the former governor of Sokoto State.

Should the ongoing
discussions between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC) also come to fruition, Muhammadu Buhari, former military ruler and sole Presidential aspirant of the CPC will also be a contender for the ticket.

Bisi Akande, the
outgoing national Chairman of the ACN had earlier confirmed the ongoing
negotiations between both parties. While the ACN wants an outright
merger of both parties to create a stronger party, the CPC wants an
alliance that will see both parties present a single presidential
candidate.

Chido Onumah, the director of communication of the Ribadu Campaign Organisation confirmed to NEXT that Mr. Ogbeh would head Mr.

Ribadu’s campaign
while stating that other political parties and prominent personalities
had also declared support for the aspirant.

“Our campaign is
targeted at the average Nigerian, the man and woman on the street. That
is why we are accepted not just by the traditional politicians, but by
the millions of apolitical Nigerians. However, our ongoing
widespread consultations led to the choice Chief Ogbeh who has shown
himself as a man of courage who stands by the truth, as the Chairman of
our campaign organisation,” Mr. Onumah stated.

The power outage
that paralysed operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport
in May this year was caused by the poor management of the airport, the
Senate has said.

The report of the
Senate Committee on Aviation, led by Ayim Ude (PDP Ebonyi state),
reveals that the power outage at the airport and other infrastructural
decay at the airport were primarily technical failures caused by lack
of funds.

The report says
the poor funding was as a result of a N17 billion debt owed Federal
Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) which the management of FAAN has
been unable to collect due to “flagrant disregard for all known
business decorum, rules, regulations and best practices.” Following the
report, the Senate on Wednesday asked the federal government to “carry
out a total overhaul of the management of FAAN in order to deal with
the corruption and incompetence in the operational system of the
organization.” The report, which was adopted by the Senate on
Wednesday, detailed how the alleged managerial failure at the aviation
authority led to a series of facility decay at the airport, resulting
in intermittent “embarrassing” breakdown of facilities at the airport.

“There is no gain
saying that our airports are embarrassments to Nigeria,” the Senate
President, David Mark, said, “Apart from the building being an
embarrassment, there are too many things that go wrong with our
airports.” According to the report, the aviation authority has seven
categories of clients including the government, handling companies,
active airlines, dormant airlines, oil companies, and concessionaires
(general and management). It says these clients collectively owe the
agency N16.777 billion.

While the
government is owing FAAN N1.405 billion, active airlines and dormant
airlines owe N3.02 billion and N2.794 billion respectively. Handling
companies owe N1.136 billion and oil companies owe the least N415.787
million.

Ghost companies

The report also
published a list of 26 companies that are management concessionaires
handling internally generated revenue collection for FAAN. These class
of companies owe FAAN the highest amount, of N5.534 billion.

“None of these
management concessionaires had bank guarantees while most of them
neither have Memorandum of Incorporation nor detailed contractual
agreement with FAAN,” Mr. Ude said. “Of all the concessionaires that
did business with FAAN, only 35% of them were properly documented.”
Meavis Nigeria Ltd and Bi-Courtney Ltd are among the 26 management
concessionaires of FAAN, but they claimed that FAAN’s allegations that
they owe N1.3 billion and N856.98 million respectively as outstanding
revenue collected and not yet remitted to FAAN are untrue.

However, the
Senate recommended that the federal government should direct FAAN to
“dispense with the services of Meavis ltd since it was unable to add
value to FAAN’s revenue profile… in the interest of airport
development and administration in the country.” The Senate also urged
the aviation minister to present the seven-year old dispute between
FAAN and Bi-Courtney on the concession agreement to the Federal
Executive Council.

Poland’s
parliament is getting its first ever African lawmaker, a teacher and
Christian pastor from Nigeria, who has lived in Poland for 17 years and
proven himself a popular local leader.

John Abraham
Godson is a councilman in the central city of Lodz. The 40-year-old
will fill a seat in the national parliament, vacated by a fellow
lawmaker from the Civic Platform party.

That lawmaker,
Hanna Zdanowska, was elected mayor of Lodz on Sunday. Godson was her
runner-up in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

He said Monday that he feels honoured and believes it is a “historic moment” for Poland.

As a lawmaker, he plans to support technological innovation in Poland and bolster ties with Africa.

His swearing-in is expected in the coming weeks.

Federal lawmakers
elected on the platform of the People Democratic Party (PDP) may be
given automatic tickets to contest the forthcoming general elections to
return to the parliament. The PDP national chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo
who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, however, said only those who
have performed well will be granted such privilege.

According to him,
the aim, is to have some form of continuity in government and also to
grow the nation’s democracy. He added that it will also put an end to
the learning process.

Mr Nwodo, who spoke
at a workshop organised for the women aspirants and political office
holders, in the PDP said “We have said it at the party secretariat and
at the National Assembly when we went to meet members of the House of
Representatives and the senators. We said that, we as a party want to
grow this democracy and in trying to grow democracy, what we need to do
is to have some form of continuity and therefore, we will like as many
members of parliament who are performing and who are also acceptable in
some extent in their constituencies to come back,” he continued.

“Unless we do that,
we will continue our learning process. Every day we are learning; we
would stop learning. We have to build and consolidate the democratic
institution. So, in doing that, I think the next thing I am going to
push for is the return of as many as possible,” Mr Nwodo added. Sources
however said the carrot was dangled before the lawmakers to secure
their support for President Goodluck Jonathan during the forthcoming
primaries of the party.

There are about 80
members of the party in the Senate and about 270 in the House of
Representatives. Earlier in the year, the Senate President, David Mark
had demanded automatic ticket for the PDP senators, saying it will
guarantee legislative strengthening.

Women representation

Mr Nwodo told the women not to relax until their demand for the 35 percent slot in appointments and election positions is met.

According to him,
it is now generally known that women also have the mental capacity to
do it “You will not get 35 percent by sitting at home. When you come
forward in this manner and you say it with great emphasis, people will
listen,” he said.

“Anybody who is
saying that a woman is least qualified for any position on earth is
saying balderdash. It should be condemned because we are endowed with
the same mental capacity to do what any man can do. And these days we
don’t do things by force.

We do things by
intellect, by computer and by inventions and science. We don’t use
force. So, what anybody can do you can do.” Mr Nwodo said that the
National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP at its last meeting,
approved 35 percent slots for its women members in the area of
appointment and elective positions, but that it is merely waiting for
the ratification at the national convention to make it constitutional.
According to him, “What is important is giving you the same
level-playing ground to do what others are doing. In PDP, we have no
impediment to the success, absolutely not. We have been giving you
nomination forms without paying, we have given you 15 percent and now
35 percent.

“The 35 percent I can assure you has gone through our NEC as at last meeting.

What we will do now
in our party at the next national convention is to put the 35 percent
in our constitution. We are not stopping at that. We as a party want to
grow democracy.” Earlier in her speech, the PDP national women leader,
Ina Ciroma said that the workshop was put together to prepare female
aspirants for the challenges posed during the 2011 polls.

Also speaking at the forum, the Minister of Women Affairs, Josephine
Anenih appealed to the PDP NWC to ensure that not less than 35 percent
of female aspirants win during the party primaries. According to her,
democracy entails ensuring a level playing field and that it is only
when everybody is given opportunity to contest that democracy can be
said to be thriving.