Nigeria Content Online

The level of political murders and attempted
assassination recorded over the last ten years is unprecedented in the
history of the country, Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, said yesterday in
Lagos.

Mr. Soyinka, who was chairperson at the launch of a
book, ‘A Micro-second Away from Death’ written by Wale Adedayo, a
former media to Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, said although the
last ten years was a ‘deadly decade’ for the country, none of the
killings have been solved by security agencies.

The book is a recap on the upheavals that trails Mr.
Adedayo’s sojourn as Mr Daniel’s aide and his lucky escape from
gun-toting assassins in 2008.

“There is a lot of criminal cover-ups going on in our
country, and no matter how late, many of these facts will come out,”
Mr. Soyinka, who described the level of political murders and attempted
assassinations in the last decade as “mind-boggling,” said.

Mr. Soyinka also declared that he is convening a town
hall meeting to address the political intrigues rocking Ogun State on
December 18.

Reviewer of the book and dean of the school of
postgraduate studies, Babcock University, Ayandiji Aina, said the book
epitomises the “criminalisation of states in Africa, which is a symptom
of the non-development of the state, as captured in this book.”

Mr. Aina further said the book chronicles “the
behind-the-scene shenanigans of governance…in the greasily political
ecology of Ogun State.”

Paranoia governor

The reviewer also said the book is an indictment of
journalists who paint Mr. Daniel as a saint in a bid to pay their
bills. The governor, he said, “degenerated from an admired political
leader to a paranoid.”

Mr. Adedayo, who said the book was a documentation of
recent events for history, said the publication contains only 20% of
the original draft, as his editor and lawyer took out a number of
things they found too revealing.

Criticising the inability of the nation’s security
operatives to solve crimes, Mr. Adedayo noted that there is nothing
revealed in his book that the police, SSS, and force headquarters do
not know of.

“They have just refused to act right because the institutions of our young democracy are very, very weak,” he said.

Present at the event were former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun
Osoba, and governorship candidates in the state, Ibikunle Amosun, Lanre
Banjo, and Gbenga Obadara.

The fight against
corruption would remain herculean task for anti-corruption agencies
except adequate support comes from the general public, National
Coordinator of the National Anti-Corruption Volunteer Corps, Folu
Olamiti, said yesterday.

Speaking in
Abeokuta at the inauguration of Ogun State Chapter of the Corps {NAVC},
Mr Olamiti said the Independent Corrupt Practice and other related
offences Commission {ICPC} and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) cannot win the war against corruption alone.

“The fight against
corruption and the entrenchment of the virtues of integrity requires
the participation and active support of all well-meaning Nigerians,” he
said.

He explained that
NAVC, a sub-organisation of the ICPC, is a community service aimed at
rendering social services “that will enhance and natural development.”

He charged members
of the corps to apply themselves with renewed vigour and re-invigorate
their energy against corruption in all spheres of their lives “so that
we will force the hand of change and propel Nigeria to greater heights.
All on board Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel enjoined stakeholders
to join hand together in the battle against corruption.

“We are all
gathered here today to send out corruption out of Ogun State. Our own
resolve is to shun corruption and follow the integrity path. Will we do
our nation proud by sweeping corruption to the gate outside Nigeria.

“We must all work
in tandem with the ICPC to uproot corruption from Ogun State and I
believe Ogun State is for integrity. With the presence of the ALGON
Chairman, what we are doing today should be replicated in other local
government areas in the state.”

He told members
that the task before them was not easy one. “The Anti-Corruption war
calls for sacrifice, tolerance, an open ear and a strong voice. It must
be holistic, genuine and strictly rule-based,” he said.

The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation yesterday challenged critics of the nation’s
economy to swallow their pride and commend its latest rating by
Standard and Poor’s, an economic rating agency.

The organisation,
in a statement by its spokesperson, Sully Abu, noted that the rating is
a confirmation of its position that the economy is on the right path.

A presidential
candidate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party has
repeatedly criticised the President Goodluck Jonathan over the state of
the economy while the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP)
had warned the Jonathan administration to put back the economy on tract.

“A rating agency,
Standard and Poor’s, has just reaffirmed its positive rating on the
Nigeria’s economy, even admitting that the country’s economic
performance has been better than expected,” the organisation said,
adding that “it gave the economy good ratings both for the short term
and the long term and commended the balance sheet.”

According to the
statement, the campaign group now expects those it referred to as
‘doomsayers’ “who lap up negative prognostications on the country and
especially the economy to eat humble pie and acknowledge Standard and
Poor’s findings, that is, if they refuse to believe the report on the
economy by the relevant authorities in government.”

It re-affirmed its
stance that the administration will not be distracted by antics that
are designed to score cheap political points but would instead remain
focused on improving the living standards of the people.

“This, it is
already doing, through massive investment in power and other critical
infrastructure sectors. Delivering on the expectations of the people is
what matters at the end of the day,” the organisation said.

Nigeria is ranked
142 out of 169 least prosperous countries in the world, according to
data released on Thursday in New York by the United Nations Development
Programme.

The country was
listed 15 among 42 country considered to belong in the ‘least human
development’ category. Countries are grouped into groups of Very High
Human Development, High Human Development, Medium Human Development,
and Low High Human Development.

Zimbabwe, at 169, is at the bottom and rated the worst country to live in.

The report assessed
countries in terms of their education, wealth, and life expectancy,
measured through what it called Human Development Index (HDI).

The 2010 report,
entitled ‘The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development’,
examined progress in health, education, and income over the past 40
years. The 2010 report introduced three new indices for poverty,
inequality, and gender.

According to the
report, Nigeria’s wealth – as defined by gross domestic product per
head – has slipped, while its educational ranking has failed to keep up
with that of other countries.

The GDP per head in Nigeria is a mere $1,224, compared to $9,812 in South Africa, $1,628 in Kenya, and $2,197 in Cameroon.

Nigeria’s life
expectancy was 48.4 years on average, below that of Ghana (57.1.),
Cameroon (51.7), Benin Republic (62.3), and Uganda (54.1).

Leading nations

Mauritius ranked highest among sub-Saharan states – number 72 in the world – and is followed by Gabon, 93, and Botswana, 98.

“This year’s report
of the HDI should not be compared to the HDI that appeared in previous
editions of the Human Development Report, due to the use of different
indicators and calculations,” a statement from the UNDP said.

According to the
2010 report, Norway is the best country to live in, followed by
Australia, New Zealand, U.S, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Netherlands,
Canada, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Korea Republic, Switzerland, France,
Israel, Finland, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Spain.

UN
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, launched the Human Development Report
2010 in New York. The UN said parallel ceremonies to present the
flagship report also took place in Nairobi as well as Dakar.

Though Nigeria’s HDI rating is 0.423, the HDI of Sub-Saharan Africa
as a region increased from 0.293 in 1980 to 0.389 today, placing
Nigeria above the regional average.

The Nigeria Police has begun the
overhauling and downsizing of its mobile force in a bid to it more
efficient, the Inspector General of Police (I-G), Hafiz Ringim, has
said.

Mr. Ringim announced this at his maiden
conference with senior police officers where he declared the immediate
disbandment of the multiple crime squads in the country due to their
inefficiency.

He also said the Federal Highway and
Border Patrol Teams as well as Surveillance, Intelligence and
Anti-robbery Units would soon be re-structured for proactive policing.
He expressed regret that the Police Mobile Force had compromised its
traditional role of serving as the operational “punching arm“ of the
police in dealing with tasking and riotous situations.

He also warned that the police would
compulsorily retire any personnel who fails to pass prescribed
promotion examination after two attempts.

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Three new babies have been born at the
Lagos State Relief Camp, Agbowa, since the facility was established
three weeks ago, according to a government official.

The General Manager, Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Femi Osanyintolu, said the babies’
safe delivery was a testimony to God’s kindness and the efficient
service delivery at the camp.

The camp has a population of 1,006,
consisting of 484 adults -including 48 pregnant women — and 522
children. The three mothers described their safe deliveries as
miraculous, considering the trauma they went through during the recent
floods in their respective areas. “We thank God and all those who
assisted us. But there is no place like home. Government should help us
further by finding a permanent solution to our accommodation problem,”
said one of the mothers who simply gave her name as Evelyn.

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The Daystar Christian Centre is to
hold its annual Excellence in Leadership conference from 10 to 12 of
November at the church’s centre.

The conference is planned to transform “the leadership terrain of
the country” in its two daily sessions of general and specialized
sessions during the conference.

Speaking at the general sessions is the
founder of Ghana’s premier university, the Central University College,
senior Pastor of House on the Rock Paul Adefarasin and the host Pastor,
Sam and Nike Adeyemi.

Speaking at the specialized sessions are Toyin
Subair of HITV media on entertainment, Ikeddy Isiguzo on sports, Cosma
Maduka on the economy amongst others.

The Federal Government is committed to the eradication of
malaria in the country, vice president, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, has told Ray
Chambers, the United Nations (UN) envoy on malaria.

The vice president, who received the UN delegation on behalf of
President Jonathan, said the Federal Government places high premium on good
health services, and expressed the desire of the country to be one of the 20
most developed nations by the year 2020.

“Such feat cannot be attained without addressing health issues.
Malaria is one of the health issues that need to be addressed,” he said.

Mr. Sambo informed the delegation on the current partnership
arrangement between the states and the Federal Government on health-related
issues, especially on polio, which had recorded tremendous success, and solicited
the co-operation and support of the United Nations envoy in addressing malaria.

He further stated that provision of treated nets were very
important in this direction, especially if malaria were to be eradicated.

Covered in nets

Mr. Chambers said his team’s mission was to assess what Nigeria
is doing on maternal mortality and recalled his previous meeting in Nigeria.

“With respect to malaria, as Nigeria goes, so does Africa,” he
said, adding that treated mosquito nets have provided the required progress in
combating the disease.

The UN official said all of Nigeria will soon be covered with
the provision of 70 million nets for distribution nationwide. “It is the single
largest health intervention, covering 140 – 150 million people with nets,” he
said.

Mr. Chambers said over the last 10 years, some 250,000 Nigerian
children die every year due to malaria infection and that such lives, as well
as N10 billion spent treating the illness, will be saved by 2015. He charged
the Federal Government to support the ministry of health in accomplishing this
objective.

In attendance were the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu; Onno Ruhl, the
Country Director of World Bank; Agatha Lawson, and Alan Goth, senior adviser to
the Special Envoy.

Staff of the Ekiti
State Water Corporation have given a 24-hour ultimatum to companies
handling water projects in the state to vacate the sites or face their
wrath.

The workers, acting
under the aegis of Amalgamated Unions of Public Corporation Civil
Service Technical and Recreational Employees, said the state under the
former governor, Segun Oni, expended N400million on the concession
projects without significant results.

They also alleged that the water supplied since the programme kicked off has not met the required standard.

The workers, led by
their Chairman, Olutayo Gbenga, staged a protest march to the site.
They demanded the immediate revocation of the contracts signed with
Kemeng Nigeria Limited and Ero Power Company for the supply of water in
Ado Ekiti and other parts of the Ekiti North Senatorial District of the
state.

Some of the
placards the staff carried read: “Ekiti State deserves better water
services’, ‘N400 million spent on water concessioning in six months’,
‘KEMENG and Ero Power is feeding fat on Ekiti’, ‘Governor Kayode
Fayemi, save Ekiti from Ero Power and KEMENG”.

Mr. Olutayo
expressed disappointment that state employees are now redundant,
despite being more competent to handle the water generation project
than the concessionaires.

“Before, N13
million naira was being sent by the state government to supply water
and things were better off then, but now, the government spends over
N65million to generate water as a result of concessioning and things
are not better off and they should be asked to go”, the union leader
said.

The General Manager
of the Corporation, Julius Olofin, told the workers that the programme
was designed by the state government and that only the government of
the day has the power to stop it. He promised to take the matter to the
Head of Service, Femi Adewumi, for onward transmission to state’s
governor, Kayode Fayemi, for his intervention.

Nigeria’s Senate on Wednesday approved President
Goodluck Jonathan’s 10 nominees for the board of a state-owned “bad
bank” to absorb the non-performing loans of nine lenders rescued in a $4
billion bailout last year.

Former Goldman
Sachs investment banker Mustafa Chike-Obi was confirmed as chief executive of
the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) along with nine other board
members, Senate President David Mark said.

The central bank has said AMCON would begin the
process of buying up bad loans as soon as the board was approved.

REUTERS