Nigeria Content Online

A senator in the
third republic, Remi Okunriboye, has described as “pathetic” the
current situation where politicians incur huge debt in their bid to
acutalise their political ambition.

Mr. Okunriboye, who spoke in Owo, said the huge amount committed to campaigns will continue to rob the nation of credible polls.

“What do you expect
from politicians who borrow from banks and people? They will never
serve the interest of the masses,” he said.

“Their main target,
when they get to position, is to first recoup the money they spend
during campaign. This is highly detrimental to the advancement of the
nation call Nigeria. They invest heavily to make Nigerians pay for it
later.”

The politician, who
is a senatorial candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, also
charged anti-corruption agencies to probe the spending of aspirants
during electioneering campaign. He said it was time Nigerians rise up
against extravagant spending by politicians during elections.

Fulfil promises

He also urged
politicians across the country to always fulfill their electioneering
promises whenever they get to positions, saying the only way
politicians could assist the electorate was to give them dividends of
democracy.

“It is highly disturbing that the moment politicians get to the corridor of power they forget the electorates,” he said.

“This is not good for our democracy; we must allow our people to get to the mainstream.”

Mr. Okunriboye also
criticised the total number of political parties registered in the
country, saying, “the more you have various political parties, the more
you create problems for the country.”

He, however,
charged political leaders in the country to look inward to tackle the
problems of the masses through massive creation of jobs.

About 120 prisoners who were recently freed when
members suspected to be of the Boko Haram sect attacked the Bauchi
Prison, have willingly returned to the prison.

The Minister of Interior, Emmanuel Ihenacho,
disclosed this in Abuja while explaining what the federal government
was doing to forestall the threat of further attacks from the religious
sect that has held the northern part of the country by the jugular
since last year.

Although details of the returnee prisoners could not
be ascertained as to whether they were awaiting trial prisoners (ATPs)
or those serving various sentences, a prison source who asked not to be
named said that they are prisoners serving light sentences.

Mr Ihenacho said the suspected Boko Haram members
actually launched the attack with the sole aim of freeing over 100 of
their members detained in the prison in relation to last year’s
disturbances that accounted for the death of about 1000 persons and
destruction of several property.

Safe and secure

The minister disagreed with those who have accused
the federal government of being helpless, saying it was committed to
the security of lives and property at the prison.

He added that there were a total of 759 inmates under
the prison’s guard, out of which 721 were freed during the jail break,
leaving a balance of just 28 inmates.

Mr Ihenacho did not explain what will happen to the
120 prisoners that returned on their volition, whether they will be
considered for future government pardon or not, but he did add that the
nationwide prison security system and related security agencies will
mount a concerted search to track down the fleeing inmates.

He promised that the government will reinforce the
monitoring of security situations in the contingent states of the
sect’s spread, especially those of the north-east geopolitical region,
to forestall a possible spill-over.

Clarifying on the casualty figure from the jailbreak, the minister
said only two un-identified persons were confirmed dead, along with a
mobile policeman, while three other prison officials who sustained
severe injuries are currently receiving treatments.

The federal
government has charged the Honourary International Investor Council
(HIIC) to support Nigeria in building investor confidence in the
country. The call came against the backdrop of the treatment given to
companies doing business in Nigeria by some countries.

Vice President
Namadi Sambo said at yesterday’s meeting of the Council at the Banquet
Hall of the State House, Abuja that it is sad that European Union
countries do not guarantee companies that are doing business in
Nigeria. He cited the United Kingdom which gives guarantees to
companies in Ghana and other countries but not to those in Nigeria, as
an example.

He therefore urged
the members of the body “to support and partner with government to
build investor confidence on the country.” Mr. Sambo stressed that
there are still huge opportunities for investment in all sectors in
Nigeria, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria has made available
N500 billion at one digit interest rate.

The Vice President
noted government’s commitment in ensuring an enabling environment for
businesses to thrive in Nigeria, saying “government has made deliberate
policies to ensure that these objectives are met”.

In this light, he
said government has put in place a new gas pricing policy to further
bolster investor interest in the oil and gas sector and that to ensure
adequate security, machinery had been put in place to reform the
Nigeria police.

“To meet the huge
financial requirements for infrastructural development, government is
looking at various ways to organise and stratify funding for projects
in its quest to achieve the laudable goals contained in the Vision
20:2020 programme,” he said.

He said such ways
include concessionary funds from the World Bank, the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Yen
Credit facility, among several others. Others include Public Private
Partnerships and bilateral funding.

The VP stated that
government needs “the cooperation and support of the private sector to
meet the developmental challenges of the country”.

According to him,
areas needing urgent intervention include, “power, such as the hydro
power projects in Zungeru and Mambilla, and development of Coal power
plants; transportation; housing and urban development, construction of
multipurpose dams, agriculture, port expansion, road and railways
construction, water ways and access to financing for the private
sector”.

Positive changes

The Chairperson of
the Investor Council, Lynda Chalker, said the Council has a good
opportunity to take a number of key issues forward. She further said
that the Council had noticed a very significant change in Nigeria which
is for the better, adding that they have seen a big leap forward. Mrs
Chalker used the occasion to assure Mr Sambo of their commitment to
improving investor confidence in Nigeria.

The meeting saw
presentations from the Minister of Agriculture, Ahmed Abdullahi on
driving investments into agriculture; the Chairman, Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega on the Challenges
and Prospects of Electoral Reform Process in Nigeria and; the
government of Borno State, on driving investment to Nigerian States.

Council members present include Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Sam Jonah,
Emmanuel Ijewere, Umaru Mutalab, Neil Harvey, Guillaume Roux, Ronnie
Ntuli, Simon Harford and Pietro Franco Tali. Others at the occasion are
the Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman; Special Assistant
to the President on MDGs, Amina Al-Zubair, and the Executive Secretary,
Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Mustapha Bello among
others.

The Anambra State
government has assured that the strike action embarked upon by the
state chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which
led to the closure of the state university’s campuses at Uli and
Igbariam, will soon be resolved.

The university
staff joined their counterparts in the four south-east states in a
strike to protest the non-implementation by the south east governors of
the new salary scheme for state universities.

But addressing the
press yesterday in Awka, the senior special assistant to the governor
on communication, John Ubabukoh, said that the governor, Peter Obi, was
worried over the continued closure of the Anambra State University and
was working hard to resolve the crisis. Mr Ubabukoh said several
meetings had been held towards this and there were indications that the
problem would soon be resolved.

The head of service
in the state, Ngozi Melifonwu, has also assured that the government is
working round the clock to resolve the problem. She said the government
indicated its seriousness in solving the problem by setting up a panel,
which she headed, to look into the matter. “We just rose from the
follow-up to our inaugural meeting,” she said. “I must tell you that
all the parties that attended the meeting share the same concern and
want the crisis to be settled so that our children will go back to
school.”

Lasting solution

Mrs Melifionwu said
the panel had listened to the problems in the school from relevant
stakeholders, including the government’s delegation. She said that the
panel will now go into other details necessary for a lasting solution.

“It was good to
observe that the meeting took place without antagonism. If we continue
in the same spirit, the crisis will surely be over soon,” she said.
Other members of the panel are the Pro-Chancellor of the University,
Elochukwu Amucheazi; Israel Okoye; A.F Uzoka; Chukwuemeka Ike, a
traditional ruler; the acting Vice Chancellor of the Anambra State
University, C.C. Anene and representatives of the Ministry of
Education, among others.

The south-east
governors had insisted that the resources available to states were not
equal and thus every state could not be expected to implement the new
salary scheme. But the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum,
Peter Obi, recently said each state in the south-east zone was free to
handle the matter as it deemed fit.

The ASUU within the region also directed its affiliates in the states to parley with their governments over the matter.

On a visit to South
Africa, I walked into some Nigerian street hawkers in Johannesburg. One
of them, noticing I was just visiting, commented, “Do you see how clean
and nice this place is?” It reminded me of the conversation between two
South Africans on my flight. They were returning home after a business
trip to Lagos. “Did you get to visit Abuja after all?” asked one of
them. “No, I was so fed up with this place, I decided to cut my trip
short and return to Jo’burg. Even the hotel had no water this morning!”
he said.

I thought the
discussion was cruel and stuffy, but of course I was eavesdropping and
had no business joining a conversation I’d not been invited to. Even if
I did contribute, what was I going to say in defence of Nigeria? How
does a “Centre of Excellence” surrounded by water, produce dry taps?
Lagos is mild compared to other places in this country where incidences
of cholera, typhoid and guinea worm are commonplace enough to send the
water and health authorities back to continue their sleep.

Johannesburg is one
of the few big cities in the world not located near a major water
source. Some of the water supply to Johannesburg is pumped from over
45km away. Nevertheless, that city enjoys a much better and more
efficient water supply system than the almost submerged Lagos, or any
city in Nigeria. Two sources of water common in Nigeria actually result
from earth’s infinite generosity – groundwater and surface water, the
latter including, lakes, rivers and wetlands.

The problem in
Nigeria is, therefore, not so much the occurrence of water, but the
technical capability to manage its abundance, to design and execute
infrastructure to clean it and pipe into homes. It rains so heavily in
Nigeria that we do not need a foreign technical adviser to coach on how
rainwater could be collected, stored and used. This is simple
technology that dates back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, but
virtually unknown in modern Nigeria.

Yet, every
university faculty of science in the universe has a brilliant Nigerian
in it. Something at the governance level discourages innovation and
intellectualism in Nigeria.

I asked those
compatriots in Johannesburg if they intended inviting their South
African friends to visit Onitsha or Aba over Christmas, and the answer
was roaring laughter. Nigerians living abroad hardly invite their
friends to spend time in Nigeria.

And we’re supposed
to be a hospitable people? The reasons are obvious – constant stress of
having to repeatedly apologize and make excuses for poor sanitation,
for the toilet that cannot flush, indeed for lack of water and
epileptic supply of electricity.

Notice that
strangers are never shy to ask, “Could I have some water to drink?”
because we intuitively believe that water should be a basic human right
and must be available all the time in a home. Leaning on the 1968 paper
called The Tragedy of the Commons by the ecologist, Garrett Hardin,
water is the ultimate commons. But whatever seems boundless is
naturally easily abused, and that is what is going on with water
resources in Nigeria.

Ecuador is the
first country in the world to put the rights of nature in its
constitution so that rivers and forests are not simply property but
maintain their own right to flourish. Under these laws, a citizen might
file a suit on behalf of an injured watershed, recognizing that its
health is crucial to the common good.

We have a long way to go in Nigeria.

The much-expected
launch of Ibrahim Babangida’s presidential campaign in Abuja today is
likely to be blunted by the meeting of the National Executive Committee
of the Peoples Democratic Party also fixed for 12pm, at the party’s
national secretariat in Abuja.

The NEC meeting,
which was brought forward from Thursday without any official reason,
not only took the Babangida camp by surprise but threatens to
jeopardise its efforts at hugging the limelight in a successful
declaration.

A text message sent
out late Monday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Rufai
Alkali, requested every member of the party’s national decision making
organ to attend the meeting on time.

“An emergency
meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic
Party is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 15th September 2010.
Venue: National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. Time:
12.00 noon. All NEC members are invited to attend on time,” the message
said.

No official of the
party was willing to state whether the event’s timing was a mere
coincidence or an attempt to scuttle Mr Babangida’s declaration. But
the implication, according to political analysts, is that PDP board and
national leaders may have to abandon the Babangida event to attend the
NEC meeting.

Ike Abonyi,
spokesperson to the PDP National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, said time
constraints led to the decision to hold the NEC meeting. “We are under
pressure to finalise the order of the primaries in accordance with INEC
timetable,” he told NEXT yesterday. “Members of the PDP NEC are
expected to be neutral. No NEC member is supposed to attend the rally
of any aspirant. There is no clash, whatsoever.”

Ready for launch

But the Babangida camp did not entirely agree with this view of things. Mr Babangida’s spokesperson,

Kassim Afegbua
insisted that the declaration will go on today whether those invited
and others expected eventually turned up at Eagle Square or not.

He said a former
senate president and member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Ken Nnamani,
has been invited to chair the declaration ceremony.

He said: “The
declaration of the former president still stands as at today, despite
the convocation of the PDP NEC meeting. If the former senate president
decides to miss the PDP NEC meeting to attend another important event,
is it wrong?” When NEXT visited Eagle Square on Tuesday evening, a big
podium, along with a smaller platform, has been erected; with chairs
neatly arranged even and huge loud speakers blaring music from the four
sides of the square. On the side facing the highways, a huge billboard
of Mr. Babangida, with the inscription: “Together, let’s build a new
Nigeria” has been erected. It is believed that the reported choice of
former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili as Mr. Babangida’s running
mate was made to frustrate Mr Jonathan’s chances of picking the PDP
presidential ticket.

There are also
indications that Mr Babangida and another candidate, Atiku Abubakar
might be working towards some kind of political arrangement. The two
men, who have held series of meetings over the weeks, also met last
night in Abuja ahead of today’s declaration. None of them was willing
to discuss the reason for their meeting.

Ready for a debate

But aides of Mr
Jonathan, who is expected to announce his candidacy on Saturday, said
the president is ready for a public debate with his political
opponents, including Mr Babangida.

The Special Assistant to the president on Political Affairs, Mobolaji Adebiyi, said Mr Jonathan will not duck such an event.

“Is President
Jonathan ready to face anybody in an open debate? Yes, he is very ready
to go into debate with anybody in any party on any issue,” Mr Adebiyi
said. “He is very prepared. He has been the President now for some
months.

Before then, he has
been the Vice President. He knows and has what it takes to govern the
country. So, why would he not be ready to go into debates with other
candidates?”

Mr Afegbua also said his principal was ready to face the incumbent president any time.

“Yes, we are ready
for debates and we will be very happy to put issues in proper
perspectives,” he said. “He (Babangida) is a trusted and worthy
Nigerian leader that should be taken on his words. He will quit in 2015
as he has promised.” The Eagle Square has become historic as the
inaugural ground of past presidents, and our reporter observed that
politicians are planning very extravagant declaration ceremonies there
this week.

Apart from Mr Jonathan who is also expected to make his declaration
there at the weekend, the governor of Kwara State, Olusola Saraki also
plans to use the venue to announce his presidential aspiration.

As part of its
determination to ensure the supply of petroleum products to all nooks
and crannies of our country, the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) says more floating mega filling stations are to be
constructed to cater to the people in the riverine areas.

NNPC Retail
Limited, which is a subsidiary of the NNPC assigned the responsibility
of handling the retail of petroleum products across the country, has 12
floating stations currently in operation at different parts of the
country, apart from 37 mega stations and 469 affiliate fuel stations
nationwide.

Managing Director,
NNPC Retail Limited, Oladipo Ajiboye, listed some of the floating
stations currently in operation with Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), or
diesel; Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, and Dual Purpose
Kerosene (DPK), to include: the Nembe floating station in Rivers State
as well as those in Calabar and Ikang, all in Cross River State, and
Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State.

The oil executive,
who denied that the Okerenkoko floating station in Delta State has been
abandoned, said all the floating stations in the riverine communities,
including the ones located at Uta Ewa in Akwa Ibom State; Bonny in
Rivers State as well as Oporoma and Burutu in Bayelsa State are fully
operational, while efforts are in top gear to bring on stream the ones
affected by the crisis in the Niger Delta region.

Refuelling abandoned stations

He announced that
the NNPC Group Managing Director, Austen Oniwon, has already directed
that the construction of another floating mega station in Edo State
should go ahead, following a request by the state government, adding
that the completion of the project would gulp about N982 million.

“The NNPC is
waiting for the approval of the federal government to build additional
50 stations at different parts of the country. Some of the stations
will be mega models, while others will be standard affiliate stations,”
Mr Ajiboye said, adding that preliminary activities for the
construction of the stations have already commenced in Port Harcourt,
Yenegoa and Lagos.

The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) is mourning the loss of its key operative, Abdullahi
Muazu, who was killed yesterday in his home in Kaduna. Mr Muazu was,
until his death, the head of the Forensic Unit of the anti-graft agency.

The EFCC says that there is not enough
evidence to suspect any particular person, as Mr Muazu had been
involved in several EFCC cases. An operative of the agency, who asked
not to be named, told NEXT in Abuja that Mr Muazu was very involved in
the ongoing trials of the bank chiefs who were sacked by the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last year.

“Muazu was involved in virtually all
our cases because he was the head of the Forensic Unit, so it is
difficult to say that we suspect any particular person,” the EFCC
official said. “I know that he was very much involved in all the trials
of the Bank Chiefs, you know with checking finger prints and all that.”
The spokesman of the commission, Femi Babafemi, in a press statement
made available to NEXT, condemned the killing; adding that the
anti-graft agency is strengthening its resolve to go ahead with its
duties.

“Information reaching the Commission
today confirms that our head of forensic unit was killed in a cruel
manner in the early hours of today by unknown assailants. Those behind
this attack may have succeeded in killing a strategic hand and a key
witness in some of our on-going cases, but their act has failed to
dampen our spirit or deter us from continuing our investigation and
prosecution of all forms of economic crimes and corruption in the
country,” Mr Babafemi said.

Ominous killings

Mr Babafemi also said that the commission has launched an immediate investigation into the matter.

Mr Muazu’s death is coming just one day
after the gruesome murder of an agent of the State Security Service
(SSS), Garba Bello, who was killed alongside his children and wife in
Kano.

Bamidele Aturu, a Lagos Attorney,
described the murder of the SSS agent as “ominous”, while alluding that
the death is related to the coming 2011 elections. Mr Aturu also
expressed a lack of faith in the ability of law enforcement agencies in
the country to apprehend the killers.

“One must confess that it is futile to call on the security agencies
to fish out sponsors of gruesome and cold blooded murders such as the
one that happened in Kano on Monday,” he said. “They seem eternally
incapable of that. We can only hope that this latest killing might just
be an exception in the sea of murder riddles in a country that spends
billions of dollars on security at all levels of governance or
mis-governance.”

Former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, is in advanced talks
with Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers State, as he closes in on a running
mate for the 2011 presidential elections.

A source within Mr. Babangida’s camp said that the choice of Mr.
Odili was strongly influenced by Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of DAAR
Communications, and director general of Mr. Babangida’s presidential campaign.
The two men have a history of mutually beneficial dealings. Mr. Dokpesi was the
director general of Mr. Odili’s campaign when he ran for president in 2007. At
the time, Mr. Odili was alleged to have invested N400 million of funds taken
from the Rivers State treasury, into Mr. Dokpesi’s company.

The EFCC, under Farida Waziri, quizzed Mr. Dokpesi over the
money, but no charges were ever filed. According to the source, “Odilli will be
groomed as the person that will succeed General Babangida, come 2015.”

A controversial choice

Mr. Babangida, who is at the centre of several allegations, will
be picking an equally controversial character if he settles on Mr. Odili as a
running mate. Mr. Odili was elected governor of Rivers State in 1999 and was
re-elected in 2003. His tenure was marred by human rights violations,
insecurity, and widespread accusations of fraud.

During his governorship, Rivers State was, in theory, one of the
wealthiest states in the country owing to its enormous oil revenue, but Mr.
Odili instituted relatively few improvements. Instead, the former governor is
on record for acquiring a South Africa-based hospital, and two Brazilian jets.

In November 2006, Peter Odili announced that he would run for
president in the 2007 election under the ruling PDP. However, a day before the
PDP’s presidential primaries, Mr. Odili stepped down from the contest, paving
the way for fellow governor, Umaru Yar’Adua, to emerge as the party’s flag
bearer.

Reports say Mr. Odili was forced out of that contest when the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led by Nuhu Ribadu, released a report
implicating him in fraud, mismanagement of state funds, money laundering, and
abuse of office.

In February that year, Mr. Odili filed a suit challenging the
powers of the EFCC to probe his administration. The court granted him an
indefinite injunction stopping any investigations into his finances, describing
it as a breach of his civil rights.

The declaration

It was expected that Mr. Odili would be unveiled at a rally for
the official declaration of Mr. Babangida’s intention on Wednesday in Abuja.

However, a text sent out by the National Publicity Secretary of
the PDP. Rufa’i Ahmed Alkali. inviting all party executives to an emergency
meeting on that same day , is raising eyebrows.

The coincidence in the timing is leading to speculation that this may be an
attempt to steal the thunder from Mr. Babangida’s declaration. As of the time
of going to press , we were unable to contact Mr. Babangida to find out if he
intends to change his plans. . Text messages to Mr. Alkali seeking clarity on
the matter, remained unanswered

A planned emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is threatening an event where Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida is to formally declare his intention to run in next year’s presidential election.

Both events are scheduled to hold on the same day, Wednesday, September 15, 2010, in Abuja. While the declaration, which was announced long before now, comes up at about 11.00 am at Eagles Square, the PDP emergency NEC meeting comes up at about 12.00 pm at Wadata Plaza, the party’s National Headquarters.

As at the time of going to the press, it was not known whether the events came up at about the same time as a mere co-incidence or an attempt to scuttle one with the other.

However, a text message sent out late Monday and received by NEXT correspondent from the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Rufai Alkali, called on every official to be punctual at the meeting.

It stated: “An emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 15th September 2010. Venue: National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. Time: 12.00 noon. All NEC members are invited to attend on time.”

If both events hold as planned, it is unlikely the top echelon of the party will be available to witness Mr. Babangida’s declaration.

On Monday afternoon, when NEXT visited Eagles Square where Mr. Babangida’s declaration is expected to take place, preparation was in top gear with different technical men working to put the big stage in place.