Nigeria Content Online

The former minister
of sports, Damishi Sango, on Monday, formally declared his intention to
join the race for the Plateau State governor in 2011.

Mr Sango, in his
address to Plateau citizens, said he was vying for the number one
citizen because the people of the state had suffered “needless pains as
a result of leadership failure.”

According to the
candidate, “the future appears hopeless because we have been treated as
second class citizens by those who feel their small enclaves are
shrines. Consequently, the people have drifted gradually into fear and
despair. Those who hold the sacred trust to protect our lives and
property ignore our plight.”

He said that the
situation ought not to be so, and declared that when he becomes the
governor in 2011, he would do things differently through dialogue that
would ensure respect for one another.

Mr Sango said that
his vision was anchored on faithful and participatory implementation of
innovative programmes and projects in peace, education, agriculture and
health.

The 60-year-old teacher served as minister of sports between 1999 and 2001.

A High court
sitting in Kano has awarded the Kano state Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau,
N1 billion as damages in a defamation suit he filed against a
Lagos-based magazine, Business Eye.

The magazine had
published in its 8th-14th December 2008 edition that Mr Shekarau
operates eight foreign accounts through which he corruptly enriched
himself by engaging in money laundering and inflation of contracts,
particularly the Tambarawa water works project.

In the two hour
judgment, the presiding Justice, Tani Yusuf Hassan, noted that for two
years the defendant failed to provide evidence to support their claims
and tried to frustrate the case by incessant requests for adjournments
and absence from court.

False claims

The judge said the
court had received evidence in the form of letters and authorities from
the relevant authorities in the eight countries in which the magazine
alleged that the Mr Shekarau is operating accounts in foreign banks,
adding that it was established that the banks are either non-existent
or the accounts/account numbers are fictitious.

Mrs Hassan said
even though copies of the letters were given to the defendants, they
refused to retract the article, show remorse or contact the plaintiff
for out of court settlement leading the court to deem that plaintiff’s
(Shekarau’s) image has been damaged.

The evidence before
the court was not challenged or refuted by the defendants despite, been
given all opportunities to present their case before the court.

Making an example

The Judge ordered
the defendants to immediately retract the publication and awarded N300
million as compensation to the governor for the libelous publication in
addition to N700 million as punitive or exemplary damage for the
callous and unrepentant assault on his character, pride and dignity.
The court also awarded additional N50, 000 as the cost of litigation.

She further ordered
the defendants to write a public apology to the plaintiff on the
Business Eye’s website, Economic International magazine, the Guardian
and Thisday Newspapers. It also restrained the defendants, their
servants or privy from further use of the same or similar libelous
words against the plaintiff.

Responding to journalists shortly after the judgment, Mr Shekarau
said “today I have been vindicated, the truth has been established and
this is a milestone judgment. This equally proved that not all Nigerian
government officials are corrupt I give gratitude to Allah”.

The Federal Government has directed all universities
across the country to establish entrepreneurship centres. This is part
of an effort to ensure that quality graduates that are relevant to the
industry are produced.

Ruquayyatu Rufa’I, the Education Minister, who gave
this directive yesterday in Abuja at the opening of a workshop
organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), stated that
universities are supposed to produce graduates that are self-reliant
and productive.

Considering other developmental challenges facing the
government, she said government may not fully cater for all the
employment needs “the entrepreneurship centres will equip graduates to
be self-reliant and independent of government.”

According to Mrs Rufa’I “The National Universities
Commission has taken measures in establishing these centres with a view
to addressing issues of job creating, poverty reduction and provision
of sustainable employment which should engender an increase in the
average income levels per household in Nigeria and as well improve the
international image of Nigeria through enhancing the competitiveness of
the economy.” She said the partnership with Centre for accountability,
transparency and good leadership (CATGOL) was in line with the federal
government determination of ensuring entrepreneurial education in
Nigerian universities curriculum.

She ensured that “federal ministry of education is determined to give its full support to the student advisory group framework.”

In the same vein, the Executive secretary, NUC,
Julius Okojie, said the scheme will provide an opportunity for
university undergraduates to directly engage and connect with credible,
reputable and successful well meaning Nigerians with a view to imbibing
values that made such people great.

According to him, “it will enhance students’ social
development across the Nigerian university system as well as produce
globally competitive and nationally relevant entrepreneurially imbued
graduates in order to make them internationally relevant and
competitive as well as make them job creators as against job seekers.”

On the objective of the workshops, the NUC said it
was intended to sensitise all Nigerian universities and other
stakeholders charged with the responsibility of promoting leadership
and entrepreneurship skills acquisition among youth in Nigeria.

Also speaking, the National President of CATGOL,
Bassey Effiong Ikot-Osin said there was a disconnect between creation
of policies and the implementation as well as disconnect between
lecturers and students and therefore called for decisive action and
collaboration among stakeholders.

He equally disclosed that entrepreneurship curriculum programme aims
at stimulating entrepreneurial talents among young people by enhancing
their ability to identify economic opportunities, while developing
other commercial skills such as creativity, innovativeness and planning
which will aid them in their professional life.

The African Editors’ Forum (TAEF) fourth conference, kicks off on October 14, 2010 in Bamako, Mali.

About 180 delegates from 36 countries are expected to
attend the conference, which has as its theme Media and the Challenge
of Peace in Africa.

The conference, which is to be attended by African
editors, media trainers and executives according to the organisers will
‘interrogate the impact of war on journalists as well as the coverage
of peace-making and peace-keeping efforts’. It will also focus on ways
of developing the standard and quality of journalism in the continent.
A panel made up of activists, ombudsperson and editors are to discuss
the issue.

Generate debate and knowledge

According to the outgoing TAEF Chairperson, Mathatha
Tsedu, “The intention is to broaden the debate around the standard and
quality of journalism from the narrow confines of getting the facts
right to also include whether media in Africa has the capacity to do
holistic coverage of the intricacies of African life: from the
development initiatives that are seeing economies grow, to its
politics, cultures and the wars that ravage its soul.”

During the conference, African political leaders who
have created media-friendly environments during their terms in office
will be honoured.

Some former African leaders are to be honoured. Among
these are Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), John Kufuor of
Ghana and Alpha Konare of Mali; past Chairperson of the AU Commission,
and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who in her short term has
already passed the Freedom of Information Act. All five have been
declared ‘Friends of the Media in Africa’.

Likewise, four editors – three of whom were killed by
suspected government agents in different countries, one missing for
over five years after being abducted by security agents in The Gambia,
and another who suffered detentions and torture in the hands of police
before dying in a car accident – will also be honoured and remembered.

The editors are to visit the Timbuktu world heritage
site, where manuscripts predating colonialism are being restored and
kept in the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic
Research.

This year’s conference will be held in collaboration with the African Union’s Peace and Security Commission.

The Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) has condemned in strong terms the failure of the
South-Eastern states governments to meet its demands, and affirmed that
the ongoing strike in the affected states’ universities would continue
indefinitely.

The president of the union, Ukachukwu
Awuzie, made the condemnation in Abuja, saying that it was regretable
that proper teaching environment and materials were lacking in the
universities.

“Our demand has nothing to do with
salary, but the lack of good teaching environment and infrastructure.
We declared the industrial action almost three months ago, and since
then, nothing has been done to meet our demands,” Mr. Awuzie said.

He explained that as a result of the ‘insensitivity’ of the state
governments to the plight of the union, some of the lecturers had
started leaving for other universities.