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Prominent Africans
have called for the cancellation of the controversial Obiang Prize,
endowed by Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the president of Equatorial Guinea.

In a letter
addressed to the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova and members of
the African Union Commission, signatories, including Desmond Tutu,
Graca Machel, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and John Githongo described
the prize as “an affront to Africans everywhere” who work for the
betterment of the people on the continent. Totaling 127, the
signatories are African laureates, scholars and human rights defenders
who have joined up with concerned citizens of Equatorial Guinea to
oppose the prize.

The UNESCO-Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences,
named after and funded by the Equatoguinean president, was to have been
awarded on June 15, but it was delayed following criticisms. Africa’s
leading lights are now demanding that the prize be abolished
altogether, arguing that it contradicts UNESCO’s mandate on the
“observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of
poverty.” Sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth largest oil-producing nation,
Equatorial Guinea has the highest GDP per capita on the continent, yet
75 per cent of its people live in poverty. The letter states that there
are no research centres in the country to enable any of its citizens
qualify for the award.

‘Infamous dictator’

Described as “one
of the world most infamous dictators”, Obiang also stands accused of
gross human rights violations. In August, four Equatoguinean refugees
were abducted from Benin Republic by agents believed to be working for
Obiang. According to Amnesty International, the four men were tortured
and then summarily tried and executed.

“This ongoing
pattern of abuses raises serious concern and calls into question
President Obiang’s pledges of reform,” said the letter.

Cautioning against
rumoured plans to transfer the administration of the award to the
auspices of the African Union, the signatories said such a move “would
be equally harmful to the cause of advancing human rights in Africa.”
They further observed that “the diversion of wealth that should benefit
Equatoguineans to finance a prize honouring President Obiang runs
counter to the objective of improving human dignity that underpins the
missions of UNESCO and the African Union.

Mr Obiang floated
the idea of the award in 2007, promising three million dollars from his
foundation to UNESCO over five years. The Paris-based world body’s
Executive Board approved the award in 2008.

The 127 signatories are now hoping for its abolition when the Executive Board next meets later this month.

The frequent
impeachment of speakers of state Houses of Assembly across the country
is not healthy for the growth of the nation’s democracy, President
Goodluck Jonathan has said.

Mr Jonathan that
not too long ago, it was almost a weekly affair to hear that a speaker
has been impeached; adding that the inclusion of the impeachment clause
in the constitution does not mean it should be abused. The president
made these observations yesterday when he received 27, out of the 36,
speakers of the state Houses of Assembly who paid him a courtesy call
to register their condolence over the death of some Nigerians in the
October 1st bomb blasts. “There was a time that it was almost like an
epidemic: every day, every week and every month you heard one or the
other speaker being impeached,” the president said, adding that until
impeachment is reduced to its minimum, the nation would never stabilize
politically.

Not to be abused

Mr Jonathan also
said that the provision in the constitution that the president, the
vice president, governor, deputy, the speaker and the deputy speaker
could be impeached is also not to be abused. “The idea of every day a
speaker is being impeached shows that we are not stable politically,”
he said. “A nation that is stable politically need not carry out
impeachment every day.”

The president
expressed happiness that at least the nation is gradually stabilizing.
“I pray that we go with that spirit because it is when you stabilize
politically that the economic growth of the nation can be accelerated,”
he said. “I’m happy that for some time now, the stories of impeachment
are quite minimal.”

The leader of the delegation and speaker of the Taraba State House
of Assembly, Istefanus Gbana, told the president that they were in the
Villa to also congratulate him over the successful organization of the
nation’s independence golden jubilee anniversary.

>The first of Chile’s 33 trapped miners were hoisted to safety in a capsule
barely wider than a man’s shoulders on Wednesday, cheering, punching the air
and hugging their families after two months deep underground.

Rescuers, relatives and friends broke into jubilant cheers as father-of-two
Florencio Avalos emerged on the surface to breathe his first fresh air in 69
days after a claustrophobic ascent of around 2,050 feet (625 meters) through
thick rock.

Hugged and kissed by relatives, the 31-year-old Avalos looked very healthy
following a nearly 16-minute journey to safety. He was then embraced by
President Sebastian Pinera as the surrounding crowd chanted “Chile! Viva
Chile!”

Next up was fellow miner Mario Sepulveda, whose whoops of joy resounded on
the surface even before he arrived to the laughs of waiting relatives. He
stepped out the capsule with a yellow bag, reached in and pulled out souvenir
rocks from below, and slapped one in Pinera’s hand.

“I’m so happy!” Sepulveda yelled, grinning, punching his fist in
the air and hugging everyone in sight.

Then came Juan Illanes, who called the trip to the surface a
“cruise”. Each of the men wore dark glasses to protect their eyes
after spending so long in the dimly-lit tunnel below.

Like wives on the surface who had their hair and nails done for the
occasion, the men looked groomed and clean-shaven.

The miners have spent a record 69 days in the hot, humid bowels of the gold
and copper mine in Chile’s northern Atacama desert since it caved in on August
5. Rescuers expect to bring all the remaining men to safety over the next two
days.

For the first 17 days of their ordeal, the miners were all believed to be
dead, and their story of survival and extraordinary rescue operation has
captured the world’s attention.

After weeks of drilling a narrow shaft down
to the miners and preparing the special capsules, the final stage began when a
rescuer descended the shaft on Tuesday night. He was hugged by the waiting
miners when he reached their tunnel deep in the mine, and he then took just
minutes to buckle Avalos into the capsule and send him to the surface.

“This is a miracle from God,” said Alberto Avalos, the first
rescued miner’s elated uncle, who rushed to the capsule as it arrived on the
surface shortly after midnight.

The men, who set a new record for the length of time workers have survived
underground after a mining accident, have been exercising to keep their weight
down for their ascent.

Nervous wives, children, parents and friends waited on an arid, rocky
hillside above the San Jose mine waiting for the men to be evacuated in an
operation expected to take up to 48 hours.

The specially-made steel cages are equipped with oxygen masks and escape
hatches in case they get stuck.

A long, agonizing wait

Rescuers were finally able to deploy the capsule, dubbed “Phoenix”
after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, after reinforcing part of the
narrow escape shaft with metal casing to prevent rocks falling and blocking the
exit.

Engineers said the final stage of the rescue still has its risks but that
the capsule was handling well in the shaft, and they expected a smooth
extraction.

Each man’s journey to safety should take about 15 minutes. The capsule
travels at about 3 feet (1 meter) per second, or a casual walking pace, and can
speed to 10 feet (3 meters) per second if the miner being carried gets into
trouble.

The miners can communicate with rescue teams
using an intercom in the capsule. They will then be under observation at a
nearby hospital for two days.

Rescuers originally found the men, miraculously all alive, 17 days after the
mine’s collapse with a bore hole the width of grapefruit. It then served as an
umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food, as well as letters
from their families and soccer videos to keep their spirits up.

Medics say some of the men are psychologically fragile and may struggle with
stress for a long time after their rescue.

Pinera ordered an overhaul of Chile’s mine safety regulations after the
accident.

Every Chilean TV station was saturated with coverage of the rescue
operation.

“Everyone is following the rescue step by step. We are a Catholic
country and we see this as a real miracle,” said Maritza Gonzalez, a
50-year-old housewife in the capital city, Santiago.

Many relatives held vigils over the past two months at a tent settlement
dubbed “Camp Hope” above the mine, and more people joined as the
climax neared.

One of the 33 miners is a Bolivian national and Bolivian President Evo
Morales was expected to visit the mine in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

REUTERS

Ahead of next
month’s climate conference in Cacun, Mexico, African countries must
commit to a range of actions in order to impact on discussions, Josue
Dione, director, food, security and sustainable development, UN
commission for Africa, has said.
Speaking at a media
briefing yesterday, shortly before the opening ceremony of the Seventh
African Development Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mr. Dione noted
that although Africa is not responsible for the actions that have
brought about global warming, the people are not insulated from the
effects, which have impacted on food security, water security, and
energy security.
He said the aim of
the Forum is to ensure that the continent reaches a common level of
understanding and take common positions in the negotiations that will
be reached in Cacun.
“It is a platform to build concencus statements that are clear, and capable of being monitored,” he said.
Mr. Dione noted
that unless climate change concerns are mainstreamed into such
programmes as NEPAD, the development objectives will fail. He said many
infrastructural programmes will be adversely affected because in the
event of sea water rising, roads, dams, and other infrastructure will
be destroyed, a few years down the line, unless the effect of future
climatic changes are taken into consideration when developing polices.
“It can no longer be business as usual,” he said.
He said the Forum’s
plenaries have been tailored to focus on such critical areas as:
examining current evidence on climate change; the challenges and
opportunities in adopting to climate change; and outlinning strategies
for African leaders who would be making policies on climate change. He
said breakout sessions will be articulated around key blocks that will
relate climate change to human development, health, and education,
among others.
Lots of ambiguity
Answering questions
from reporters, Mr. Dione agreed that there is a lot of ambiguity among
the 53 African nations regarding how to tackle climate change and said
one of the aims of the Forum is to provide enough information for
stakeholders to understand the issues and the extent to which Africa is
willing to commit to the resolutions that will be reached in Cacun.
He said if Africa
goes as a team advocating common goals, it can easily block any
proposition that will adversely affect growth in the continent.
Earlier, the deputy
executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Jennifer
Kargo, said Africa intends to take the position that it has not caused
global warming so Africans cannot be subjected to the same level of
sanctions on carbon emmissions.
“We have to ensure that policy response are adequate to the extent that they do not impact negatively on development,” she said.

What else could
anybody expect from a development extravaganza, starting this week and
organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA?

You guessed
correctly – climate change! The forum theme is simple and to the point,
‘Acting on Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa.’
Clearly, African leaders are worried over the disastrous results of the
last Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen, and apprehensive at the
likely outcomes of the next event in Cancun, Mexico this December.

A delegate from the
UK rode with me from the hotel to the conference. At a mild hold-up, he
commented this was ‘like Lagos.’ I asked when his last visit was. He
replied he’d never been there before! The African Development Forum
(ADF) is an initiative led by the Economic Commission for Africa and
supported by a broad range of partners, including the African Union,
UNDP, UNICEF, ILO, UNFPA, the African Development Bank for discussions
of pressing Africa-driven development agenda. It is a process of
initiating dialogue, building consensus, and mobilising partnerships on
emerging issues among Africa’s stakeholders.

However, none of
the rural poor, the most vulnerable to the deleterious impacts of
climate change, is present at this forum in the mean time. Perhaps they
are yet to arrive, and I had better not jump to conclusions. The fact
is that issues of climate change and forest governance are discussed
‘top down,’ and over the heads of the African village communities.
African leaders have simply not learnt how to dialogue with their many
poor citizens.

There are over 1000
participants here, mostly ministers and ministerial assistants, policy
and decision-makers, technocrats and functionaries, the private sector,
press and civil society. The impressive forum exhibition was
coordinated by Yinka Adeyemi, the Economic Commission for Africa
Communication Officer/Exhibition Manager. Wale Adeleke, the World
Conservation Union’s Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation, REDD Thematic Coordinator for West and Central Africa
Programme made a typically incisive presentation. At the reception to
the entrance of the Africa Hall, paintings by an Oshogbo artist added
to some pride I felt as a Nigerian.

Poor representation

But back to the
grits of the seventh African Development Forum. I had concentrated my
participation on the first day around the topic ‘Forest Rights and
Climate Change.’ With much candour, agreement or admission of guilt was
rapid among delegates over the fact that Africa had done little
research on climate change issues. As a result, it had been difficult
to speak with one voice in Copenhagen last December. The second point
that reverberated in the hall, as expected, was the question of poor
consultation and involvement of rural people, the difficulties of
knowledge transfer to the masses, and the slow process of
decentralisation of democratic governance.

The third factor
left the male participants in a defensive position. Female delegates
clearly traced the marginalisation of women in the continent’s climate
change initiatives, stressing the fact that African women, by tradition
hardly owned land.

So, queried the delegates from Cameroon and Ghana, of what benefit
was knowledge transfer to the under-empowered and landless. Well, in
response, one East African male delegate contested the issue with
blissful ignorance. In his opinion, differences and confusion existed
between the concepts of land ownership and land management, and that
since women were largely involved in the latter, they could still be
the targets of capacity building and transfer of knowledge on how to
manage land. This thesis had displeased the women present, and
surprised some men as well. No one dared laugh at what was not a
laughing matter.

Medical activities at the State
Specialist Hospital, Benin City, were disrupted for several hours on
Tuesday, as health workers staged a peaceful protest to press home
their demand for the implementation of COMESS and COHESS, which has
been the subject matter of a simmering disagreement between the
government and the health workers.

Some civil society groups in the state
had convened a town hall meeting some weeks back to broker peace
between the health workers and the state government, culminating in the
suspension of the two-month-old industrial action.

The workers, which include doctors,
nurses, medical laboratory technicians, and hospital administrators,
also decided to seek spiritual solution to end the lingering salary
imbroglio by organising fasting and prayer sessions within the hospital
premises.

All of the protesters, who blew on
whistles intermittently to elicit public support, embarked on a protest
that flowed from the hospital through the Ring Road to the state House
of Assembly where they made a brief stop over, and then moved on to the
Airport Road and Exzoti Street, and back to the hospital.

Chairman of the Joint Action Committee,
Hospital Management Board, Stanley Ehiarianwian, said the strike became
necessary as all avenues to dialogue with the government appear to have
failed to yield a positive result.

“It was in good faith that we suspended
the strike because we wanted the suffering masses of Edo State to
access health care. But even as it is now, there are cases of
victimisation. We believe that the government has not been serious
about the negotiation. It is about the 9th week now, and nothing has
been achieved,” he said.

When asked if they sought the
intervention of the state House of Assembly on the matter, Mr.
Ehiarianwian said, “The House of Assembly represents various
constituencies in Edo State. It is unfortunate that under matter of
urgent public importance, that the hospitals were closed for six weeks,
there was no time the House of Assembly thought it as something that
was serious.”

Interested in negotiations

The Edo State commissioner for health,
Moses Momoh, however, said the negotiation between the government and
the health workers is still ongoing, but disputed the workers’ claim
that the government was not serious about the negotiation.

He argued that no state in the
federation has commenced implementation of the COMESS and COHESS, as
directed by the federal government, because of the financial
implication.

He, however, appealed to the aggrieved
workers for peace and more time to enable the government compute the
financial involvement.

Meanwhile, the state governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, has charged local councils in the state to embark on
projects that would benefit the people of the state and complement the
efforts of the state government in its efforts to develop the state.

Mr. Oshiomhole, who was represented by
his deputy, Pius Odubu, made the call when he commissioned N70 million
projects executed by Egor local government council.

The state governor called on council
chairmen to work more in the area of health, education, and roads, to
make life more meaningful for the people in rural areas.

Medical activities at the State
Specialist Hospital, Benin City, were disrupted for several hours on
Tuesday, as health workers staged a peaceful protest to press home
their demand for the implementation of COMESS and COHESS, which has
been the subject matter of a simmering disagreement between the
government and the health workers.

Some civil society groups in the state
had convened a town hall meeting some weeks back to broker peace
between the health workers and the state government, culminating in the
suspension of the two-month-old industrial action.

The workers, which include doctors,
nurses, medical laboratory technicians, and hospital administrators,
also decided to seek spiritual solution to end the lingering salary
imbroglio by organising fasting and prayer sessions within the hospital
premises.

All of the protesters, who blew on
whistles intermittently to elicit public support, embarked on a protest
that flowed from the hospital through the Ring Road to the state House
of Assembly where they made a brief stop over, and then moved on to the
Airport Road and Exzoti Street, and back to the hospital.

Chairman of the Joint Action Committee,
Hospital Management Board, Stanley Ehiarianwian, said the strike became
necessary as all avenues to dialogue with the government appear to have
failed to yield a positive result.

“It was in good faith that we suspended
the strike because we wanted the suffering masses of Edo State to
access health care. But even as it is now, there are cases of
victimisation. We believe that the government has not been serious
about the negotiation. It is about the 9th week now, and nothing has
been achieved,” he said.

When asked if they sought the
intervention of the state House of Assembly on the matter, Mr.
Ehiarianwian said, “The House of Assembly represents various
constituencies in Edo State. It is unfortunate that under matter of
urgent public importance, that the hospitals were closed for six weeks,
there was no time the House of Assembly thought it as something that
was serious.”

Interested in negotiations

The Edo State commissioner for health,
Moses Momoh, however, said the negotiation between the government and
the health workers is still ongoing, but disputed the workers’ claim
that the government was not serious about the negotiation.

He argued that no state in the
federation has commenced implementation of the COMESS and COHESS, as
directed by the federal government, because of the financial
implication.

He, however, appealed to the aggrieved
workers for peace and more time to enable the government compute the
financial involvement.

Meanwhile, the state governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, has charged local councils in the state to embark on
projects that would benefit the people of the state and complement the
efforts of the state government in its efforts to develop the state.

Mr. Oshiomhole, who was represented by
his deputy, Pius Odubu, made the call when he commissioned N70 million
projects executed by Egor local government council.

The state governor called on council
chairmen to work more in the area of health, education, and roads, to
make life more meaningful for the people in rural areas.

There is a
noticeably high increase in mental health cases across the country, and
this is linked to too much anxiety and depression resulting from the
harsh economic environment, Adegboyega Ogunlesi, the Provost and Chief
Medical Director (CMD) of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital,
Abeokuta, said yesterday at a press conference in Abeokuta.

Dr Ogunlesi, who
also canvassed for the establishment of more mental health centres
across the country, said the establishment of such centres would help
reduce the high rate of mental illness.

“The truth of the
matter is that mental illness is on the increase,” he said. “The level
of awareness is, however, low. The gospel we are preaching today is
that all stakeholders have something to contribute. Even the MDGs are
connected to mental health.” The Medical Director reiterated his calls
for the provision of mental healthcare services at every health centre
in the country so that mental and physical health care can be received
at the same point.

“It is in unfair to
concentrate mental health services in the urban centres alone,” he
said. “At every General Hospital, there must be a mental health unit.”

Neglecting the poor

He said the current
tendency of creating a sharp divide between physical and mental health
is no longer tenable because there is absolutely no health without
mental health.

“There is,
therefore, an urgent need more than ever before, to develop health care
delivery systems which efficiently integrate physical and mental health
services,” he said.

Mr Ogunlesi also
said that about 30 per cent of psychiatric patients were not being
given proper medical treatment, adding that those involved preferred
patronising herbalists or spiritualists.

He said, in line
with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation, federal and
state governments should evolve a system whereby primary health care
providers can address physical and mental health problems.

“It beckons on government health planning authorities at national,
state and local government levels to pay close attention to the
importance of this issue in setting up services,” he said, announcing
that the hospital had commenced a programme of integration of mental
health service into the primary care at the local government level in
the state.

Chairman of the
Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform, Akin Mabogunje,
yesterday attributed the scarcity of functional industries in the
country to the inability of local and foreign investors to have access
to land for industrialization.

Mr Mabogunje, who
disclosed this in Akure on Tuesday during a courtesy call on the Ondo
State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, by members of the committee, said the
lack of proper land survey and management had resulted in
under-utilization of vast hectares of land for economic development.

He pointed out that
more industries are not springing up in the country because many
investors fail to access lands, as land owners do not have certificates
of occupancy.

He advised that
land allocation, survey and regeneration be accorded more attention
with a view to guaranteeing the rights of land owners.

“Lack of proper
land survey and management had resulted in under-utilization of vast
large hectares of land for economic development. For Nigeria to attain
socioeconomic development, her land resources must be well managed and
put into full utilization,” he said.

Land for wealth

He said every
Nigerian must ensure that his or her landed property was judiciously
used for the purpose of wealth creation and empowerment, stressing that
his committee has been working to ensure safety of the property of
every Nigerian.

Mr Mabogunje said Ondo State was chosen by his committee for the pilot scheme of its land reform programme for the south-west.

Mr Mimiko commended
the team for its contributions to nation building, especially in the
area of effective utilization of land resources. The governor expressed
the readiness of his administration to collaborate with the committee
for the development of the state’s land resources.

“Our administration has already put in place a committee, which is
working on the state’s land digitalization for proper management,” he
said. “No doubt, we’re going to ensure that at least 50 per cent of
land owners in the state have titles for their land. This will enable
them to use the land to create wealth, as they will be able to use it
as collateral for loans.”

Ahead of the
congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State,
Okwesilieze Nwodo, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), on Tuesday, wrote to the Inspector General of Police,
Hafiz Ringim, asking that he provide security for participants during
the exercise.

The chairman’s letter followed the conflicting court orders in respect of the state chapter of the party.

In the letter
titled: ‘Security for the conduct of PDP Congresses in Anambra State’,
Mr Nwodo explained that “following conflicting Court Orders in respect
of the Anambra State Chapter of the PDP, our National Working Committee
(NWC) has directed the Zonal Working Committee of the Party led by
Chief Olisa Metuh, National Vice Chairman (south-east) to conduct fresh
Congresses at ward and local government levels in the state for
purposes of producing our candidates for the forthcoming Local
Government Elections in Anambra State”. The chairman also appealed to
the IG to accord Mr Metuh his maximum corporation to enable him
discharge the assignment.

Mr Nwodo, who said
that the congress may take place in the next two weeks, added that “the
Zonal Working Committee shall remain the only legitimate authority with
whom the Nigeria Police may relate with for this purpose.”

An FCT High Court
had last week dissolved the Anambra State Congress Committee, but the
NWC immediately filed an appeal. The NWC also asked the committee to go
ahead with the exercise since an earlier order of the High Court of
Anambra State directed the PDP to hold Congresses in the state which it
said was still subsisting.

Support for democracy

The candidates for the forthcoming ward and local government elections in the state are expected to emerge during the congress.

Mr Nwodo also
yesterday apologised to world leaders who were in Nigeria during 50th
independence anniversary celebration, over the bomb attacks. He made
the apology while receiving the President of Saharawi Arab Democratic
Republic (SADR) Mohammed Adbulaziz in his office.

He assured that the
PDP will do everything it can to help the growth of democracy in
Africa, and insisted that African nations owe it as a duty to allow its
citizens determine who governs them.

The party boss said
that Nigeria’s position in supporting self determination for the people
of Saharawi stems from the belief that the power to select rulers
should rest with the people.

Mr Nwodo expressed
regret that SADR is being colonised by a fellow African nation and
urged Morocco to ensure that the will of the people of the troubled
region prevailed.

He said that the
PDP will liaise with the African National Congress (ANC) of South
Africa and other ruling parties on the continent to persuade Morocco to
have a rethink.

SADR is the only African country yet to gain independence.

Aides sack

In another development, Mr Nwodo has sacked two of his aides.

Those sacked,
according to a statement by his spokesman, Ike Abonyi, are Ogbene-aga
Orugbo, Special Assistant (Special Duties) and Frank Igwebuike, Special
assistant (National Assembly Matters).

Although no reason
was given for their sack, the national chairman was quoted as saying
that there is a lot of work to be done and that a system under his
watch would not tolerate any shortfall.

The statement also
said that Mr Nwodo has appointed Buhari Bala, a 52-year-old former
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, as his political adviser while
Godson Nnaka, a 47-year-old lawyer from Imo State, was named Special
Assistant, Special Duties.

The PDP boss
reiterated his determination to raise the image of the party by
ensuring very high moral standing among the staff and members of the
party. He also charged the two new appointees to strive to make their
impact felt in the drive to reform the party.