Nigeria Content Online

Twenty-two members
of the Plateau State House of Assembly have been quizzed by
anti-corruption officials over how they spent N880 million in two years.

The lawmakers
reportedly received N20million each in 2007 and again in 2008 as
“constituency allowance,” and are now being quizzed by investigators of
the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC). “The lawmakers were guests of the commission since last week as
the commission’s investigators took them in batches,” said Folu
Olamiti, the Media Consultant to the agency. “The last batch of eight
was attended to yesterday.” The commission began investigations after
it received a petition from “concerned elders of Plateau State” who
complained that none of the lawmakers executed projects for which they
received the money. The ICPC officials will also be looking into
whether the contracts were inflated, how the contracts were awarded to
determine whether there was competitive bidding, and whether or not the
contracts have actually been executed. Investigators would be going to
the contract cites.

Illegal allowances

Salaries and
allowances of state legislators, as well as other elected public
officials, are by law to be determined by the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). The approved amount as annual
constituency allowance for state legislators according to the RMAFC
website is 50% of their basic salary which amounts to less than N400,
000. The annual N20million being received by the Plateau State
legislators as constituency allowance is not only higher than the
approved figure, but is higher than the approved total package
(salaries plus all allowances) the legislators should receive.

Mr Olamiti explained that the commission would be finding out if the
“legislators violated any law by approving such an amount for
themselves.” A source at the anti-graft agency said “there is no doubt
that they collected the money, what we want to find out is whether they
utilised the money they received for the purpose it was meant.” The
source confirmed that although the lawmakers collected the allowance
again in 2009, the ICPC may not include that in its investigations
because “they (the legislators) could claim that the 2009 contracts
were still ongoing.” Collection of illegal and unapproved allowances is
not limited to Plateau State legislators. Members of the National
Assembly are believed to receive between N35million and N48million as
office running cost every quarter. Following statements credited to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the ICPC last week asked the clerk
of the National Assembly to furnish it with the vouchers and slips of
all payment made to federal legislators since 2007.

Telecommunications
operators in Nigeria want the federal government to do a better job of
protecting telecom infrastructures, such as base stations and
fiber-optic cables, across the country.

Operators say the
regulation has become necessary because of the rise in vandalism,
abuse, and the indiscriminate shutting down of cell sites. He said such
activities threaten the functionality of the equipment and impact
negatively on the quality of service rendered by the operators.

Gbenga Adebayo,
chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of
Nigeria (ALTON), made this call when his group paid a visit to the
executive vice-chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC)
on Tuesday, in Abuja.

“We are of the view
that telecom infrastructure should be classified as national security
infrastructure and should be protected by law. These infrastructures
are owned by operators, but they provide services for the public,” he
said.

Mr Adebayo said
that without adequate protection of the infrastructure, the entire
national network is open to all forms of abuse.

Government issues

He condemned the
recent disconnection of some telecommunication installations by the
National Environmental Standard Regulatory Agency (NESREA), saying that
the agency did not follow due procedure.

He said the agency
had asked the group to submit an environmental impact assessment audit
report on sites across the country by the 24th of August. However, the
group said the agency began disconnecting sites in Abuja, Kaduna, and
Lagos on the 23rd – a day ahead of schedule.

“It is very
unfortunate and our concern is not just on the commercial losses, but
on the impact on quality of services. It is sad that an agency of
government would subject operators and Nigerians to that kind of
hardship,” he said.

Mr Adebayo said
that some of the sites that were shut down were hub sites that provide
services to other secondary stations. He called on the NCC to intervene
in the standoff, adding that the matter could go to court if
negotiations fail.

The NCC’s Eugene
Juwah promised that the commission will continue to hold discussions
with NESREA to mitigate the impact of such disruptions on quality of
service. However, he said the commission could not protect
infrastructure; rather, that was the priority of the police.

The National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), on Wednesday, solicited the
intervention of some Yoruba leaders on the crisis of ego plaguing the
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho.

The students’ body,
in a statement made available to journalists, specifically called on
former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the governors’ forum, and Afe
Babalola to wade into the crisis and call the duo of Governors
Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Adebayo Alao-Akala of Osun and Oyo States to
order.

The call is coming
about 24 hours after the southwest branch of Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN) warned on the implication of the crisis on the future of
education of the owner states, the institution itself, its students,
and members of staff.

NANS said it
condemned the ‘needless’ struggle over the control of the management of
the institution, positing “the lingering crisis has seriously affected
the reputation of the institution regarded as the ‘Best State
University in the country and the 76th Best University in African
continent.’

“The latest
issuance of two weeks ultimatum by the National Universities Commission
(NUC), for the two states to resolve the crisis, has evidently showed
some publicity.

“We, therefore,
sincerely appeal to the senses of reasoning and patriotism of
Governors’ Forum, the monarchs in the south-west region, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, Aare Afe Babalola, and other eminent Nigerians to
collectively wade into the crisis and find the lasting solution to the
disengagement war.

“Students and
members of staff are grievously suffering from the agony of the series
of actions embarked upon by the Governors Adebayo Akala and Olagunsoye
Oyinlola,” the students said.

Dashed hopes

NANS stated that
the crisis has dashed the hopes of students who had hoped to become
graduates in the next few weeks, urging the governors of the
owner-states to quickly agree on the position of the vice chancellor
and the Governing Council before the deadline issued by the National
University Commission (NUC) to avoid its hammer of licence revocation
on the institution.

“It is our
conviction that in the general interests of the masses of both states,
the two proprietors should amicably resolve, harmonise, and make public
pronouncement that there exist now, a proper governance structure in
the institution,” NANS said.

“To emphasise their harmonisation, they should accede to the
yearnings of the striking unions on the campus as a matter of urgency,
so that the institution will resume normal academic activities. This is
in the interest of the students and the good reputation of the
varsity,” the union said.

Madonna and Demi
Moore may be fuelling talk of a growing trend for older women on the
prowl for younger men but a study has said the phenomenon of the
“cougar” is a myth, confined to the world of celebrities.

The study of online
dating, by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), issued
last week found men and women are still rather traditional when it
comes to searching for their ideal partner.

Women generally seek an older and, therefore hopefully, wealthier man, according to the UWIC study.

Men, on the other hand, desire a young and attractive female, and often prefer a much younger partner as they themselves age.

The findings,
published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, disputes the
“cougar” phenomenon popularised in TV shows and movies like “Cougar
Town” starring Courteney Cox and “Sex and the City” of women aged over
40 seeking “cubs.” Psychologist Michael Dunn of UWIC’s Cardiff School
of Health Sciences led the study which involved analysing the age
preferences of 22,000 men and women using online dating sites across 14
countries and two religious groups.

“A critically
important consideration for advertisers on online dating sites appears
to be the age of a potential partner,” Mr Dunn said in a statement.

He said it was a
commonly held assumption that with the advent of female financial
independence, women were now free to target men of any age group, as
securing financial security from older, wealthier males was no longer a
priority.

“The transference
of female desire from relatively older men to relatively younger men,
it has been argued, is reflected by the growth of the toy boy
phenomenon,” he said.

“The results of our
research challenge these assumptions. Although there was some cultural
variation in extremes, the results showed clearly that women across all
age groups and cultures, targeted males either their own age or older.”
Mr Dunn said a strikingly different pattern of age preferences was
evident in men.

Younger men, aged 20 to 25, either targeted females their own age or marginally younger.

Consistent pattern
But as males aged, they clearly expressed a preference for women
increasingly younger than themselves, with this pattern also being
cross-culturally consistent.

“These findings are clearly supportive of evolutionary theory,” Mr Dunn added.

“A wide variety of
evidence has shown that women, when considering a potential long-term
partner, focus more than males on cues indicative of wealth and status
and these logically accumulate with age.

Males conversely
focus more intently on physical attractiveness cues and these are
clearly correlated with the years of maximum fertility.” A UWIC release
added: “Madonna and Demi Moore are said to be influencing a whole new
generation of ‘cougar’ women who see much younger men as their goal
when looking for a long-term partner.

“But this notion of the ‘toy-boy’ phenomenon is dispelled as a myth
which only exists in the world of celebrity rather than reflecting real
life.” The countries involved in the survey were Australia, Brazil,
Britain, Canada, China, Greece, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya,
Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Ukraine.

The Lagos State
government, yesterday, announced a law banning motorcyclists, popularly
known as okada, from carrying pregnant women and children.

Babatunde Fashola,
the state governor, at the Stakeholders Forum on Motorcycle (Okada)
operations, said the ban which also includes road safety measures and
restricts the movement of motorcyclists, especially from all Lagos
bridges, will take effect from September 1.

Mr Fashola said the
move was for “the preservation of human lives and the safety of
property, and called on government agencies including the police,
traffic management agencies and state task force agencies to enforce
the law.”

Case for the underage and unborn children

Speaking on the ban
on the carrying of pregnant women and underage children, the governor
said, “The child has no say but our government has the right to stand
up on behalf of that child.” He also reiterated the need for crash
helmets and other road safety measures, saying that his government had
decided against placing an outright ban on commercial motorcycling
because of the service it provides the public and “for those who
provide these services as a means of livelihood.”

‘The danger of okada’

Also speaking at
the forum, Marvel Akpoyibo, the state police commissioner, said
okada-related accidents accounted for an average of 70 per cent of road
accidents in the state, between January and May this year.

Mr Akpoyibo, in his
call for appropriate measures in curbing the spate of accidents, said
further analysis showed that 14 per cent of okada-related accidents in
the state within the five-month period were fatal.

“Although a large
section of Lagos populace have come to regard commercial motorcycles as
a necessary evil, it has become imperative for government to
intervene…. To this end, stringent measures must be taken to curtail
the excesses of commercial motorcycle operators,” he said.

He, however,
identified “corrupt practices on the part of law enforcement agents, in
the issuance of vehicle and drivers’ licences, and dearth of
infrastructure and road signs” as some of the factors also responsible
for carnage on the roads.

Some stakeholders’ grudges

However, not all
the stakeholders were fully satisfied with the government’s decision,
as evident in the grumbling by the crowd during the forum, especially
regarding restrictions of motorcycles in some parts of the state.

According to Dansu
Alphonsus, a commercial motorcyclist in Ikeja, the banning of
motorcycles in some parts of the capital city will ‘indirectly ban him
from working’.

“I ply Ikeja area,
so by banning okada along Obafemi Awolowo way, Alausa, and Mobolaji
Bank Anthony way (all in Ikeja) will affect me too much; it’s like not
working again.”

“We should be
allowed to carry pregnant women also; it will not be good if they are
stranded where they cannot easily get transport,” he said.

Another commercial
motorcyclist, Joseph Oladoja, said the implementation of the law will
largely depend on government’s resolution to curb corruption in
obtaining drivers’ licences and other road usage permits.

“For instance, the
rider’s card which is supposed to be N800, we pay about N1,600 to get
it; the number plate which is N4,000 normally, we spend N6,000 to get
it, and this discourages most okada riders. It will be easier to
sanitise our roads if we also curb corruption in those offices,” he
said.

Courier services,
along with the okada riders, also stand to face major challenges as a
result of the new law, starting from next month.

Oladipo Akinyele of
Xpress Partners Limited, who spoke for Courier services in the state,
said their services “will be greatly affected by the restrictions
placed on motorcycles.”

“Our business
services people in core areas where it is only easy for motorcycles to
reach,” he said, in his appeal for a review of the law.

Mr Fashola,
responding to requests from the motorcyclists and courier service
owners, said his administration will look into the issues.

The Oyo State
Police Command, on Tuesday, arraigned 25 persons before a Chief
Magistrate Court sitting in Iyaganku, Ibadan , Oyo State, over their
alleged involvement in the violent crisis between two Islamic sects at
Sabo area of the state capital last Sunday.

The suspects, who
pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them, were each granted
bail in the sum of N100,000 and two sureties in like sum by the
magistrate, Sofiat Oyediran.

Cutting across the
two groups involved in the fracas – Izalat and Tijaniyah – the suspects
were alleged to be responsible for the infliction of injuries on
several victims and destruction of properties.

The police
prosecutor, A.O Ojeh, in the charge sheets read to the hearings of the
suspects, accused them of flouting the order of the court which
prohibited the two sects from using microphone and loud speakers to
preach inciting sermons and disturb public peace. The offence, he said,
contravenes the provision of the law and punishable under section 133
of the criminal code cap 38 laws of Oyo State.

The suspects were
also accused of acting against the provisions of section 451 of the
criminal code cap 38 law of the state by destroying valuables, which
included a jeep, valued at N1.3m; motorcycles, and many household items.

The 16th to the
25th accused persons, who are members of Izalat, were arraigned on
one-count charge of willfully disrespecting the ruling of the court in
Suit No: MISC/85/2010 by preaching inciting sermons among themselves
and disturbing the public peace, contrary to and punishable under
Section 133 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 Vol. II Laws of Oyo State
Nigeria 2000.

Fifteen others,
belonging to the Tijaniyah, were arraigned on a five-count charge. The
charge include preaching inciting sermon, willful and unlawful damage
of properties including a Land Rover Freelander Jeep, motorcycle,
roofing sheets, ceiling fans, and a generating set; as well as willful
and unlawful assault occasioned by bodily harm.

Leaders on trial

Messrs Waheed Olajide and Adebayo Shitu represented suspects from the Tijaniyah and Izalat groups respectively.

They both, in their
oral application, prayed the court to grant the suspects bail, arguing
that the offences preferred against them were bailable.

Mr Olajide told the
court that all the suspects were invited by the police as leaders of
their respective sects, adding that none was arrested at the scene of
the crisis. He said since they personally came to honour the police
invitation before they were detained, they would be ready to come back
to face trial and would not jeopardize investigation and the course of
justice.

Mr Shittu, in his application for bail for the suspects, urged the court to allow them bail in the most liberal terms.

While acceding to
their prayers and granting the bail, the chief magistrate ordered that
one of the sureties for the suspects must have landed property in the
state capital, while the other must present evidence of payment of tax
payment for three consecutive years and produce an identity card.

The case was then adjourned to September 16, 2010.

The Lagos State
government, yesterday, announced a law banning motorcyclists, popularly
known as okada, from carrying pregnant women and children.

Babatunde Fashola,
the state governor, at the Stakeholders Forum on Motorcycle (Okada)
operations, said the ban which also includes road safety measures and
restricts the movement of motorcyclists, especially from all Lagos
bridges, will take effect from September 1.

Mr Fashola said the
move was for “the preservation of human lives and the safety of
property, and called on government agencies including the police,
traffic management agencies and state task force agencies to enforce
the law.”

Case for the underage and unborn children

Speaking on the ban
on the carrying of pregnant women and underage children, the governor
said, “The child has no say but our government has the right to stand
up on behalf of that child.” He also reiterated the need for crash
helmets and other road safety measures, saying that his government had
decided against placing an outright ban on commercial motorcycling
because of the service it provides the public and “for those who
provide these services as a means of livelihood.”

‘The danger of okada’

Also speaking at
the forum, Marvel Akpoyibo, the state police commissioner, said
okada-related accidents accounted for an average of 70 per cent of road
accidents in the state, between January and May this year.

Mr Akpoyibo, in his
call for appropriate measures in curbing the spate of accidents, said
further analysis showed that 14 per cent of okada-related accidents in
the state within the five-month period were fatal.

“Although a large
section of Lagos populace have come to regard commercial motorcycles as
a necessary evil, it has become imperative for government to
intervene…. To this end, stringent measures must be taken to curtail
the excesses of commercial motorcycle operators,” he said.

He, however,
identified “corrupt practices on the part of law enforcement agents, in
the issuance of vehicle and drivers’ licences, and dearth of
infrastructure and road signs” as some of the factors also responsible
for carnage on the roads.

Some stakeholders’ grudges

However, not all
the stakeholders were fully satisfied with the government’s decision,
as evident in the grumbling by the crowd during the forum, especially
regarding restrictions of motorcycles in some parts of the state.

According to Dansu
Alphonsus, a commercial motorcyclist in Ikeja, the banning of
motorcycles in some parts of the capital city will ‘indirectly ban him
from working’.

“I ply Ikeja area,
so by banning okada along Obafemi Awolowo way, Alausa, and Mobolaji
Bank Anthony way (all in Ikeja) will affect me too much; it’s like not
working again.”

“We should be
allowed to carry pregnant women also; it will not be good if they are
stranded where they cannot easily get transport,” he said.

Another commercial
motorcyclist, Joseph Oladoja, said the implementation of the law will
largely depend on government’s resolution to curb corruption in
obtaining drivers’ licences and other road usage permits.

“For instance, the
rider’s card which is supposed to be N800, we pay about N1,600 to get
it; the number plate which is N4,000 normally, we spend N6,000 to get
it, and this discourages most okada riders. It will be easier to
sanitise our roads if we also curb corruption in those offices,” he
said.

Courier services,
along with the okada riders, also stand to face major challenges as a
result of the new law, starting from next month.

Oladipo Akinyele of
Xpress Partners Limited, who spoke for Courier services in the state,
said their services “will be greatly affected by the restrictions
placed on motorcycles.”

“Our business
services people in core areas where it is only easy for motorcycles to
reach,” he said, in his appeal for a review of the law.

Mr Fashola,
responding to requests from the motorcyclists and courier service
owners, said his administration will look into the issues.

The chief judge of
Niger State, Justice Jibrin Ndatsu-Ndajiwo, on Tuesday, granted amnesty
to 15 inmates of Bida Prison on grounds of ill-health and other sundry
considerations.

A News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) correspondent reports that the visiting chief judge
pardoned two prisoners because of deteriorating health condition.

He granted amnesty
to five prisoners due to old age and two for good behaviour, while six
others were about to finish their jail terms.

Speaking to NAN on the occasion, the officer-in-charge of the
prison, Babayo Maisanda, said the inmates’ release was part of efforts
by the Federal Government to decongest the country’s prisons and
commended the chief judge for releasing the prisoners, saying “the
gesture is appreciated.”

Samingo Etukakpan,
a community leader in Eket, Akwa-Ibom State, on Tuesday urged the state
government to either ensure the early completion of the public-private
partnership initiated refinery or recover state money. Mr Ekukakpan
told journalists in Eket that this was the only way to ensure that the
$10million (about N1.5billion) the state invested in the Eket Private
Refinery does not go down the drain.

He said the state Governor,
Godswill Akpabio, during his visit to Eket last weekend, said that the
$10 million state fund it invested in the project was trapped and that
the governor claimed that only $1 million (N150million) has so far been
recovered. The state government and Amakpe International Refineries are
collaborating on the refinery project. According to Mr Ekukakpan, the
governor said that the steps so far taken to recover the money from the
private investors have not yielded any good result.

The former governor
of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, yesterday said he has forgiven Nuhu
Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission (EFCC) for his investigation by the anti-corruption agency.

Speaking in Lagos
at the launch of ‘Diary of a Debacle: Tracking Nigeria’s failed
Democratic Transition (1989-94),’ written by Olatunji Dare, Mr. Tinubu
traced the forgiveness to the spirit of humility occasioned by the
Ramadan fasting.

“Your period was a
big challenge. Manipulators wanted to use it for politics, but you did
what you had to do to some of us and we challenged that. I believe in
what you believe: transparency, honesty and integrity, making the
people the cornerstone of every economy of a nation,” Mr Tinubu said.

“But, I must thank
you once again that no matter the level of things here and there, you
did not falsely paint a crime and charge me falsely. Thank you, and in
the spirit of this month of Ramadan, I have forgiven you everything and
it is the truth. Some could have created chronic charges, even if the
court will let you go, but you refused to use that office to abuse it,
you refused to allow that. Thank you very much. You believe in what we
believe, so we are expecting you to join the democratic struggles and
liberate this country,” he said.

He, however, asked
Mr Ribadu to make good all the opportunity he has now to benefit the
needs and yearnings of Nigerians, which he claimed had been deprived of
quality leadership.

“I have heard so many speculations in the papers. So make it real. We must take control of our future,” he said.

The former Lagos
State governor was accused of certificate forgery and shoddy dealings
in the sale of the state’s N4 billion shares in the telecommunications
outfit, Econet (now Zain) during his tenure, an allegation which he
then denied.

With his name still
listed as one of those under prosecution for one case or the other, he
said that the transaction was a “straightforward institutional
investment”, which earned the state over N15 billion profit.

Anti-democracy

Berating how bad
eggs that contributed to the annulment of June 12 are now also parading
themselves as presidential aspirants and politicians in the country,
Mr. Tinubu described them as dubious, saying “did they say they are
democrats and they want to contest the next election and annul June 12?
If they were, they would not have annulled June 12.”

He said Nigeria only honours fraudulent men and those that have no reason for receiving national honours.

“Look at the annual
list of our national honour award. Only those that are known for their
notoriety and contributions to economic instabilities are there,” he
said.

Sitting beside
Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, Mr. Ribadu has also been linked to the
2011 presidential race and has promised that all Nigeria needs now is a
youthful leadership, which he is set to grant.

A delegate of the
National Association of Nigerian Students, led by Agbabiaka Ahmed, also
stormed the venue of the event at exactly 1:08pm to call for the
establishment of voters registration centres on university campuses.