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The Senate Committee on Education warned on Monday
that without adequate funding of the education sector, the improvement
of the Nigerian educational system will remain a mirage.

Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Bangudu, made the
observation yesterday in Abuja when the committee paid a working visit
to the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Education Trust
Fund.

“The NUC as a central organ is not adequately
funded,” he said. “It has led to a number of problems: children cannot
find enough spaces for admission; there are complaints about low
teacher and graduate quality from those institutions. There is need for
a rethink about how to fund the institutions.”

New alternatives

Mr Bangudu said the government could not afford to
cover all the costs in the sector and suggested greater partnerships
with private organisations.

“It is almost impossible that the government alone
will ever come up with the funding requirement for the sector,
therefore we must be ready to find out alternative means of funding,”
he said. “Institutions should be given the freedom to find alternative
sources of funding.” He pledged the Senate’s commitment and said that
efforts were being made, so that the Education Trust Fund law is
amended to ensure that education quality improves.

Julius Okojie, executive secretary of the NUC, agreed
that the release of funds to the sector has not been inadequate and
that it had affected the execution of capital projects by the
commission. He cited poor access to education as well as inadequate
teaching and research facilities as some of the other challenges faced
by the sector.

“The situation has remained the same over time
because it is a tuition-free environment and we [can only] grow at the
rate at which we are receiving resources.”

The deplorable
state of power supply cannot be solved by privatisation but through
“determination, commitment, and eradication of corruption,” according
to a communiqué issued on Monday at the end the seventh All Yoruba
Youth Conference, which held in Lagos.

The conference,
organised by the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG),
called “on the Jonathan-led federal government to stop forthwith the
planned privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).”

The communiqué also
asked Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission, to “as a matter of urgency, remove Mrs. Adebayo Ayoka, the
present resident electoral commissioner posted to Ondo State, after her
shameful and disgraceful conduct of the elections in Ekiti State,
because her dignity and integrity have been ruined by the judgement of
the Appeal Court.”

The group described
President Jonathan’s “antagonism to the convocation of a Sovereign
National Conference” as anti-people, and warned that it will only
support a presidential candidate “that is ready to implement, to the
details, the Yoruba Charter.”

Where are the leaders?

The conference featured several lectures that highlighted national issues and agenda for 2011.

Wahab Shittu, a
lawyer, in his lecture titled ‘Misuse of Oversight Roles of
Legislatures in Modern Democracy’ asked lawmakers to focus only on the
business of lawmaking and desist from impeding governance under the
clout of oversight functions.

However, Dipo
Fanimokun, who represented Alani Akinrinade, a retired army general and
the occasion’s chairman, drew attention of the gathering to the dearth
of “worthy leaders” in the Yoruba nation.

“Almost every
occasion that has to do with Yoruba will have General Akinrinade as one
of the dignitaries, whether in Ondo, Ekiti, or Lagos. This is
worrisome, and we have started asking ourselves where the leaders are,”
he said.

Other lectures
included ‘The Contribution of Women in National Development” by Abiola
Akiode, a lawyer and the executive director of Women Advocates Research
and Documentation Centre; and ‘Youth Crises and Our Collective
Challenge’ by Kayode Olagunju.

Mrs. Akiode posited that there has been a “historical injustice” against the womenfolk, which must be corrected.

“Women have played
great roles in national development but their contribution is hardly
given appropriate prominence in history books,” she said, drawing
analogies from the example of late Kudirat Abiola.

“Until we begin to talk about women’s roles prominently, and men and
women begin to sit together to discuss national issues as ‘our issues’,
there cannot be appropriate progress in Nigeria,” she said.

The Goodluck/Sambo
Presidential Campaign Organisation yesterday debunked claims by the
Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) that the forthcoming
general elections will be highly monetised because of funds it raised
last week to prosecute President Goodluck Jonathan’s election.

Spokesman of the
organisation, Sully Abu, said in a statement in Abuja, that the
fundraising dinner was organised with the entire campaign of the
president in view, and not only for the primary election.

“The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation wishes to state in very clear terms that the
position of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties(CNPP) that the
2011 general election will be highly monetised because of its unfounded
claim that Corporate Nigeria donated N500 million for President
Goodluck Jonathan’s primary election is patently mischievous.

“Our fundraising
dinner of Friday, October 29, 2010 was done with the entire
presidential campaign in view, and not solely for the prosecution of
the battle for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential ticket at
the primary election,” the organisation said.

Mr. Abu explained
that some prominent Nigerians such as Oba Otudeko, Aliko Dangote,
Abdulsamad Rabiu, Jimoh Ibrahim, and Femi Otedola, who the CNPP tagged
as “the motley crowd of Corporate Nigeria,” came to the fundraising
dinner in their individual capacity and made some donations.

He accused the CNPP
of deliberately misrepresenting the fact when it claimed that these
individuals raised N500 million; whereas, other persons, including a
number of governors, made donations at the event.

He added that the fact that those Nigerians came was indicative of the appeal of the Goodluck/Sambo ticket.

Mr. Abu added that
rather than bandying claims as well as figures that cannot be
substantiated and making innuendoes that tend to disparage innocent
entities, the CNPP should organise its fundraising dinner where it
could get similar support.

He noted that as a campaign organisation, “we are confident with our
programme to transform our country. The Goodluck/Sambo ticket is the
most attractive option for Nigerians.”

The national
chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Ogbonnaya Onu said at
the weekend that the party will take back Bauchi State from the Peoples
Democratic Party during the 2011 gubernatorial elections.

Speaking during his
visit to the state, Mr Onu said it naturally belongs to the party,
until its governor, Isa Yuguda defected to the PDP. He said that the
party structure in the state is still intact and vowed that it will
return to power unfailingly next year.

He called on
Nigerians to give the ANPP a chance to govern the country, noting that
since the PDP came to office, it has not changed the lives of Nigerians.

The ANPP boss said
with free and fair elections next year, the party will win in many
state and at the same time produce the president of the country because
it was not formed to be an opposition party.

He added that the
position of the party during the recent public hearing on the amendment
of the Electoral Act 2010 is that electoral results must reflect the
wishes of the people of Nigeria and anybody who wins election on a
party’s platform and decides to defect should surrender the mandate to
the party and go for a fresh election.

Register to vote

While in Adamawa
State, Mr Onu urged members of the party to participate in the
forthcoming voters’ registration “because it is the first step of
attaining victory.” According to him, their participation will help to
eradicate the mysterious names that exist in the register and which
were used to rig elections. Mr Onu informed the party members that the
national leadership has constituted a Contact Committee charged with
the responsibility of reaching out to the members of the party, who
left the party for different reason and bring them back.

He also urged members of the party to go all out and get more
supporters so that PDP will have no place to run to in Adamawa State.

The ministers of
defence and finance, Adetokunbo Kayode and Olusegun Aganga, are among
top government officials expected to be questioned this week by the
House of Representatives over the spending and status of Nigeria’s
accruals from United Nations Peacekeeping operations.

The two ministers
were earlier billed to address the House committee on defence last week
on how the funds earned by Nigeria from years of foreign peace missions
in Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Lebanon, and Sudan were applied.

Mr. Aganga was also ordered to appear before the lawmakers’ plenary over poor funding of federal capital budget.

Both meetings were suspended and no excuse officially given.

The chairman of the
House defence committee, Oluwole Oke, said the ministers, amongst
several other summoned public officials, will be expected to tell the
lawmakers “what they know about the funds”, said to be in billions of
dollars.

In the past, the
disbursements of funds to security personnel who took part in Nigeria’s
several United Nations-backed peace missions, have stirred controversy,
with mostly junior officers complaining of being short-changed.

Twenty eight
soldiers, who represented the Nigerian mission in several conflict
areas, were court-martialed and jailed for life in 2009, after staging
an open protest in 2008 about the non-payment of their entitlements.

The House committee
is to review the allocations from the UN made to Nigeria since 2007,
and how the monies were used and where they were lodged.

Mr. Oke confirmed that the meeting with the ministers and others will now hold on Tuesday.

Also to appear are the group managing director of Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Austin Oniwon; the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) governor, Lamido Sanusi; the managing director of Unity
Bank Plc, Falalu Bello; the director general of the Budget Office and
Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Dankwabo.

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, over the weekend, advised the federal government to consider meting out
appropriate sanction to the country of origin of the arms and
ammunitions intercepted recently at the Apapa Port, Lagos.

Mr Fashola, while
speaking to journalists at the Tin Can Island Port where he had gone to
inspect the impounded consignment, said taking such action will
reinforce the successful interception and send a positive message to
the international community that Nigerian ports are not for terrorism
acts. “This is a huge trading port,” he said. “Our port and the
businesses that it brings in terms of export to other countries create
international commercial benefit that must never be abused against the
safety of citizens. So this is the time we should be finding out where
this cargo originated from and summoning their diplomatic
representative if we have not done so.

This is where we
should be considering whether or not we should suspend import from that
country to send the strongest signal to every other countries that ship
goods to Nigeria that our port are ports for development of the
prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians and not port for being agents of
destruction. I want to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoning
the Ambassador of the country who owns the vessel, the people who are
named on the bill of lading, even if
they are not in Nigeria. This is not different from what happened to us
when one of our citizens was caught in an aircraft. They de-categorised
and reclassified our airport. The seaport is not different.”

India, or Iran

According to the
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Dikko Abdullahi,
the ship came into Nigeria, in transit, from India, but its country of
origin is yet to be ascertained. The seized weapons, contained in 13
containers, were intercepted by a combined team of State Security
Service and Customs officials.

However, the
shipping company that shipped the crates of weapons, CMA CGM, a French
company, said the ship was loaded in Iran and its next destination
after Nigeria is Gambia. The company, in a statement made available to
Reuters, claimed it had been a victim of false declaration. “The
shipment in question was booked as a ‘shipper’s owned container’ and
supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does
not appear on any ‘forbidden persons’ listing. The containers were
loaded in Bandar Abbas and discharged in Lagos in July,” stated the
company.

Mr Fashola, who described as unimaginable, what would have happened
if the consignment had escaped, commended the Nigerian Customs Service.
“I think the message to be sent is: What do we do with the latest
success? Do we want to climb a slope or climb a hill? I think we must
use this success to climb a slope and progress from here”, he said.

A group, The Justice and Law
Enforcement Reformation Organisation of Nigeria, has kicked against the
plan by the Federal Road Safety Commission to introduce new number
plates, with expiry dates, as well as new drivers’ licence.

In a letter to the corp marshall and
chief executive of the commission, the group said the FRSC has no right
under the constitution to undertake the task.

Copies of the three-page letter, signed
by its executive secretary, Israel Nwagabor, was also sent to the
Senate president, David Mark; Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Dimeji Bankole; the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu;
secretary to the government of the federation, Yayale Ahmed; the 36
state governors; the director general of the state security service;
the Inspector General of Police; and the Minister of Justice, Mohammed
Adoke.

Losing focus

The group, in the letter, said: “The
role of your commission is primarily to provide safety for traffic on
federal trunk roads, as provided in item 63 of the exclusive
legislative list of the 1999 Constitution.

“That the provisions of Section 15,
Section 5 (f) (g) (h) and section 10 (3) (c ), (e), (g), (u) of the
FRSC Establishment Act 2007 are inconsistent with the spirit and
provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

“The introduction of new vehicles
registration number with expiry dates and the new drivers’ license is
an attempt by your commission to continually rip the public of funds.
The introduction of your proposed vehicle registration plates with
expiry date and drivers’ licence will in no way help to improve your
primary duty of ensuring safety of traffic on federal trunk roads.”

The group asked the commission to stop
further encroachment into the functions of the police and state
agencies, particularly vehicle inspection officers.

It also threatened to mobilise civil society organisations against
the commission over its involvement in motor vehicle administration
duties of states if it (the commission) insists on changing the current
number plates/drivers’ licence without the consent and approval of all.

Experts from the
European Commission (EC) have embarked on a “fact finding mission”
aimed at providing a solution to the worsening state of insecurity in
the Gulf of Guinea.

The EC team, which
is to work in conjunction with officials from the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), during a visit to the anti-drug peddling
agency at the weekend, said that their task in the region is based on
how to address the problems of trafficking of hard drugs, smuggling of
arms, and other related crimes. “We are on a fact finding mission on
how to tackle drug trafficking, piracy, illegal arms dealing, illegal
fishing and the state of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea,” said
Olivier Villedieu De Torcy, the leader of the team.

The Gulf of Guinea
runs from Guinea, on Africa’s North-Western tip, to Gabon in the South,
and includes Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo,
and Cameroon. Among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea
are the Niger and the Volta. The coastline on the gulf includes the
Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny. Mr De Torcy explained that the
team had been to Cameroun, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, adding that
the experts will get to other countries within the Gulf, and will
assess existing plans at regional levels aimed at addressing the
problems. “Equally important to the team is the interest of visiting
countries supporting security in the region,” he said.

A timely intervention

Describing the
visit as “timely,” Ahmadu Giade, the Chief Executive of the NDLEA, said
that Nigeria had long been working on peace initiatives for the Gulf of
Guinea in line with the United Nations political declaration, and that
the agency had participated in various round table sessions aimed at
addressing the issue. “We welcome this move by the European Commission
in the implementation of peace plan in the Gulf of Guinea,” he said.
“It will further strengthen existing efforts to address the nagging
issues of drug trafficking and insecurity in the region. Nigeria is
willing to enlarge its support in the interest of enduring peace at the
Gulf of Guinea.”

According to the agency’s boss, pervasive insecurity in the Gulf
has resulted in huge financial losses that have significantly
constrained investment and economic prospects in the sub-region.

The Nigerian
Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is to issue
guidelines for operators in the nation’s downstream petroleum industry.
The guidelines are meant to regulate their compliance with the
provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, Ernest Nwapa, Executive
Secretary of the Board, said at the weekend.

Speaking during a
meeting with chief executives of downstream companies, Mr Nwapa, said
the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act also
cover activities in the downstream sector, contrary to the belief by
some stakeholders that it is intended to regulate upstream operations
alone.

According to him,
the essence of the meeting with the operators was to get their views
and take them into account in the formulation of the Nigerian Content
Regulations for that sector of the nation’s petroleum industry, which
the Board is to release shortly.

Emphasising the
need to fully comply, Mr Nwapa said: “These regulations would have
obvious implications and could be disruptive to business operations in
downstream sector if key stakeholders do not key in to the
requirements.”

He also said the
successful implementation of the Nigerian Content Act requires strict
compliance by indigenous operators as its primary focus goes beyond the
international operating companies (IOCs) and their service counterparts.

Mr Nwapa explained
that the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board expected
the operators in the downstream sector to prove that they have the
capacity to engage Nigerian service providers in the acquisition and
maintenance of their assets, comply with the Cabotage Act in their use
of marine vessels as well as meet the training and employment
aspirations enshrined in the Act.

He explained that
it was wrong to believe that existing indigenous operators in the oil
and gas industry are already in compliance with the Nigerian Content
Act on the basis of their ownership of businesses and employment of
Nigerians.

Multiplicity of players

Mr Nwapa also
directed downstream companies to ensure that genuine Nigerian owned
marine vessels that meet technical requirements are fully utilised in
their operations, particularly in the lightering of products before
foreign owned vessels are engaged to satisfy the “first consideration”
requirements of the law.

“The Nigerian
Content Act seeks, among other things, to increase the participation of
indigenous companies in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and promote
the ownership of marine vessels and equipment by Nigerians,” he said.

Other opportunities
for the maximisation of Nigerian Content in the downstream include the
fabrication and maintenance of tank farms in Nigerian fabrication yards
and the manufacture and maintenance of retail pumps and other
accessories in-country, he said.

To ensure that the
multiplicity of players in the downstream does not make regulation
difficult, Mr Nwapa said the Board will develop a unique framework
adapted to the downstream industry and create a Nigerian Content
template which will help operators achieve compliance.

Representative of
Honeywell Oil & Gas, Ekpeyong Etim, admitted that there are cases
where downstream companies use foreign flagged vessels in the
lightering of imported refined products.

He blamed the practice on the failure of most Nigerian owned vessels
to comply with standard conditions required for vessels that will work
in the oil industry, like having insurance cover and requisite
certification.

Former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday said he knew the late military ruler, Sani
Abacha, would not live to witness his release from prison, just as he
added that he was optimistic that he would regain his freedom.

Mr. Obasanjo spoke
at the dedication service of Chapel of Christ The Glorious King,
Abeokuta, which he built to thank God for sparing his life. He recalled
that the bitter experiences as a prisoner turned him to a preacher in
the four walls of prison.

Mr. Obasanjo and
some other retired military officers and civilians were jailed in 1995
by the military government of Sani Abacha, after he was found guilty by
a military tribunal of plotting to overthrow Mr. Abacha’s
administration, and were released after Mr. Abacha’s death in 1998.

“Before I left
prison, I said if I get out of prison, I would divide my time into
four. I would buy a Landrover and trailer and use it for evangelism,”
he said.

Unwilling candidate

The former
president, who is the chief promoter of the church, said that was part
of how he thought he would live the rest of his life outside the
prisons. He, however, said this did not work out as, when he came out
of jail, pressure mounted on him to join the race to be president of
Nigeria.

“Initially, those
calling me to contest I cursed. Primate Sunday Mbang also joined me to
curse them, but, as time went on, I left the matter in the hand of God,
and God eventually had His way.”

Mr. Obasanjo, who
spent three years behind bars, recalled that while in Yola prison, he
became an unordained pastor and converted many, including a convicted
armed robber whose name was Baba Alli.

He said he assured
Mr. Alli, then the leader of an armed robbery gang called Arewa Boys,
that he would send him to Bible College, which he did after regaining
freedom. He said as at today, the ex-convict robber is now an ordained
pastor in Abuja.

Dignitaries at the dedication ceremony included Ayo Oritsejafor;
Sunday Mbang; Ola Makinde; Samson Ayorinde; Tunji Olurin; Adebayo
Alao-Akala; Segun Agagu; Ojo Madueke; Christopher Kolade; Ayoka
Adebayo, among others.