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The Falconents
definitely conquered in Germany, and the women in Nigeria decided to
rub in the failure of our senior national team, the super chickens,
through their elaborate celebration of our girls who we, in the spirit
of patriotism, agree are all under 20.

Here in Abuja,
where the Falconets were warmly received by the Ministers of Women
Affairs and Education, amongst other dignitaries, girls were recently
banned from one of the oldest trades in the world: ashawo, opio,
prostitution or commercial sex work. The FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed,
was kind enough to extend some form of amnesty to those girls who are
willing to give up the trade and, like the militants in the Niger
Delta, submit their weapons of mass destruction, distraction or
attraction and take up new noble trades of hairdressing, tailoring and
others.

The women were
apparently banned from only their nocturnal activities, because the
mandate to arrest them only holds for those low class ones who stand in
different corners of Abuja at night to wait for their customers. Law
enforcement officers were empowered to arrest both the traders and the
buyers when caught in the act of peddling, which might be a bit
difficult to prove, unless the he-goat is caught directly on top of the
she-goat. Even at that, it might be hard to prove that the girl is not
a girlfriend or even wife, with our popular Abuja marriage where young
men and even old men and ladies live together on credit; that is,
without carrying out the normal traditional marriage rites.

However, since men
have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to fly
without perching. The operations of the night girls have continued
unabated, with the help of GSM technology. One call and the customers
know where, when and how to meet. More recently, though, the dress
culture of our youth has muddled up the waters. It is very difficult to
tell a street girls from a supposedly well brought up girl on our
streets, with about 70 per cent of our women revealing body parts as
their style of dressing.

This, dear reader,
is the drift of my script. The number of ‘indecent dressers’ have since
multiplied 10-fold in Abuja. I watched some ladies on national
television talking about women’s right and one of them, while answering
the question of the presenter as it concerns indecent dressing, said,
“Women should be allowed to dress the way they like”.

Stealing is their style

Every ordered and
dignified society that wants to genuinely progress and be reckoned with
does not allow its people to dress the way they like. Even in America
where people are mostly free to do the things they like, there are some
restrictions in the dress culture of the youth in certain universities.

Have we not seen
what happens to a people who talk the way they like? Sleep the way they
like or drink the way they like? You cannot even laugh or eat the way
you like once you are outside your home. So, if you dress the way you
like, you should be prepared to reap the consequences. Our society is
already bedevilled with men who steal and loot the way they like, and
some women want to support them by dressing the way they like?

It is the thunder that announces to the blind that it is going to
rain. If these kinds of women are not stopped from talking the way they
like on national television, it might take earthquakes, tsunamis and
wild bush fires to announce to us our impending doom. Let those who
have ears hear.

Aderemi
Banjo, the protem national chairman of the Mega Progressive Peoples’
Party, on his plan for the party and how he intends to defeat the PDP
in next year’s election. Excerpts:

Vision for the party

I was formerly in
Alliance for Democracy (AD). I contested in 2007 as a House of
Representatives member and I have been a functionary during the time. I
am going to my 40s and I believe that the politics we have now is for
the Generation Next.

So I am optimistic
that the vibrant youth of today will have a role to play in building a
future that we desire of our tomorrow. That is why we are sensitizing
the youth on how to manage their roles. We don’t want them to be
deceived and disenfranchised, and we don’t want their voters’ cards to
be used against their future by giving them money and robbing them of
the future. With all this, we will be sure that there will be people
whose votes will count in the 2011 election.

Challenges ahead of the party

One of the
challenges I foresee now is the task ahead of us. Like I said, I am
determined that we will stand against the tyrant Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) and another thing is how we are going to mobilize people
into our party, to come on board. Also, to mobilize people for the next
voters registration so that they can participate in electing people
into governance themselves. You know that without a good structure and
a good platform, there is no way to have good governance and those are
the challenges that we are set to face.

Vision for the future

I can see a bright
future; I mean the kind of future that America had. You understand, we
want to be innovative because we can’t afford to put round pegs in
square holes again. We want a situation where individuals can begin to
start asking for their rights. So, the youth are supposed to be the
ones that have information for the next generation and if I can
recollect, in 1978, Obasanjo was addressing some group of youth and he
told them that “you are the leader of tomorrow” and an average youth
even right since then was supposed to be above or around 30 years old.
Now, imagine those people that are called the leaders have, however,
not portrayed themselves as true leaders.

Obasanjo that
encouraged the youth years ago, later turned around and wanted a third
term in office, while the youth were all around the streets looking for
jobs. Then when is it that the tomorrow will come and when are those
leaders he referred to then taking over?

Assessment of Lagos state

For now, we want to
build on what every other person has done, and not to condemn. We know
we can do better, considering the likes of the progressive elements we
have brought together. We can reason together as one Nigeria without
been dictated to. So that is what I think.

Whatever they are
doing now in Lagos, the assessment is not really a means to affect or
influence us, but to serve as a basis for the delivery of our promises
on bringing quality leadership to the doorsteps of all Nigerians.

Godfathers in politics

I have leaders in
politics. They were before me, but no one is a godfather to a visionary
mind and I can promise you that Mega Progressive Peoples Party leaders
are capable minds that have earned legacy and if you look at the
members of the executive of the party, then you will know that when it
comes to the Mega Party, it is a progressive party and the issue of
leadership is what we know and there is no room for godfatherism.

The 469 members of
the Senate and House of Representatives are frustrating the
anti-corruption effort of the federal government, Emmanuel Ayoola, the
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related
offences commission (ICPC) said recently.

Out of the N2
trillion recurrent expenditure in the 2010 budget, N138 billion is
meant for the National Assembly – some 6.6 per cent of the budget. Only
two ministries: Defense and Education, have a higher recurrent
expenditure.

The lawmakers were
recently involved in a war of words with former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo. Mr Obasanjo, who ruled the country for eight years, accused
the lawmakers of corrupt activities, including beefing up the budget
proposal of the presidency so as to have personal gains. The minority
leader of the House of Representative, Mohammed Ndume, who did not deny
that the legislators were corrupt, accused the former president of
breeding corruption while in office, including giving “N50 million each
to members of this House to extend his tenure.” Though Mr Ndume made
the statement in public at a media briefing, anti-corruption agencies
appear unwilling to investigate the allegations.

Femi Babafemi, the
spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
denied the commission’s knowledge of Mr Ndume’s statement. “I am not
aware of it,” he said; while Folu Olamiti, the spokesperson of the
ICPC, was non-committal.

Human rights
lawyers and anti-corruption crusaders say the agencies would have
failed to perform their duties if the allegation is not investigated.

“The EFCC cannot
just sit down as a lame duck and say they are not aware. EFCC cannot
wash off its hands like Pontius Pilate and say they have not received a
petition and are not aware of it,” said Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos-based
human rights lawyer. “Now that this man has come publicly to say this
actually happened, it is the duty of the EFCC to say, ‘Mr Lawmaker,
come forward. Come and give us a statement’, and then commence
investigations.”

Olanrewaju Suraj of
the Movement Against Corruption (MAC), believes Mr Ndume’s statement is
a confirmation of a widely held opinion. “The guy is just making a
confirmation of what we have said actually happened during the madness
of this tenure elongation thing,” Mr Suraj said. “Except the EFCC is
also shying away from its duties and responsibilities, investigations
can be commenced immediately. We need to know where those monies were
gotten from.” However, the ICPC, whose chairman, Emmanuel Ayoola,
stated last week that they would commence investigation on the
allowances of the legislators based on Mr Obasanjo’s accusation,
explained that the legislators were also hindering his commission’s
efforts.

Frustrating fight

Mr Ayoola explained
that, for three years, the National Assembly has failed to pass a law
that would make his commission’s work easier. The existing ICPC act
prescribes that the commission can only begin corruption investigations
when it receives a petition on the alleged crime.

“The National
Assembly has been dealing with the amendment of the ICPC act, in which
is put an express provision permitting us to be proactive. That has
been on for the past three years,” Mr Ayoola stated. “We’ve gone for
public hearings in the Senate; we’ve gone for public hearings in the
House. We’ve submitted our memorandum, but up till now, the amendment
has not been passed.” However Mr Ogunye, who stated his utmost respect
for the ICPC chairman, disagreed with him.

“The delay (in
passing the amendments) may be because members of the National Assembly
themselves are corrupt. I would rather act and wait for the court to
then say that you cannot act because you don’t have a petition to
commence investigations,” Mr Ogunye stated.

Efforts to get the two chambers of the National Assembly’s reactions were unsuccessful.

Ayogu Eze, the
Senate spokesman’s telephone was switched off, while Eseme Eyiboh, the
spokesman of the House of Representatives, did not answer our telephone
calls.

Though Mr Ayoola
claims that the commission is already finding “ways and means of
breaking out of the limitation,” and that no Nigerian is being treated
as a sacred cow, investigations show that federal lawmakers may be
enjoying a break.

For instance,
Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has not
once been invited for questioning by any of the agencies, despite
various allegations levied against him.

Missing Report

Farida Waziri, the
EFCC chairperson, told journalists on June 7, that her commission has
sent a report of its investigations into the N2.3billion Peugeot car
scandal involving the leadership of the House of Representatives, to
the presidency. Mr Jonathan, through his spokesman, has denied the
claim. Yet, the commission has kept mum on the report.

When asked on the
status of the report, Mr Babafemi said, “I don’t know.” Anti corruption
fighters, however, condemn the EFCC’s position on the report.

“Submitting a report to the presidency already shows that they
either don’t have a case that they want to pursue or there have been
some underhand dealings that is also connected with them,” Mr Suraj
said. “There is no immunity for the Speaker, where we can say they are
hiding under immunity or they have been barred by immunity for the
Speaker.”

The three Nigerians recently arrested by marine
police in Akwa Ibom State while attempting to smuggle 55 nationals of
Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso to Gabon for onward movement to Europe,
will soon be prosecuted, officials of the National Agency for
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) have said.

The agency also said at least 85 persons involved in
human trafficking have been successfully prosecuted by the Agency since
2003 when it was established.

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Benin City,
Chuzi Egede, the Executive Secretary of the NAPTIP, said the 55
foreigners have since been re-united with their families through their
various embassies, just as he said that the agency has achieved 100 per
cent in the prosecution of arrested persons involved in human
trafficking.

“Only two weeks back, we received about 55 victims
who were rescued from the high sea by the marine police in Akwa Ibom
State and we have since reunited them with their families,” he said.
“All of them were from neighbouring countries of Togo, Benin, Burkina
Faso and the likes and, through their embassies, we have been able to
take them to their countries and the three Nigerians who were
trafficking them to Gabon are in our custody and as soon as
investigations are completed, they will be prosecuted in our law
courts.”

Rehabilitated victims

Mr Egede said the agency had successfully convicted
20 persons as at July this year, adding that the agency has
rehabilitated about 800 victims. The agency has rehabilitation centres
in seven zonal offices of Lagos, Benin, Enugu, Uyo, Maiduguri, Kano,
Sokoto and Abuja. “When we see victims, they are taken to these
shelters and they are rehabilitated and the experts are there to give
them all the care they want,” he said.

The agency’s Director, Counselling and
Rehabilitation, Lilly Oguejiofor, said the National Policy on
Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons in Nigeria has even
been adopted by other countries in West Africa for use in the
rehabilitation of trafficked persons within the sub-region.

In what appears to
be a clear endorsement of the yet to be declared intention of Goodluck
Jonathan to contest next year’s election, the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) yesterday said the contest for the party’s 2011 presidential
nomination is open to all aspirants.

The chairman of the
party, Okwesilieze Nwodo, who disclosed the party’s position after its
National Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, however, cautioned
that the party has not completely abandoned its zoning arrangement.

Asked if the party
had done away with zoning, he said, “When former President Olusegun
Obasanjo emerged, he chose a Northern Muslim, Atiku Abubakar, as his
vice president. When the (former party) chairman resigned, he was
replaced by another chairman from the South Eastern zone. Our Senate
President, Speaker, Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker are from
different zones of the country. How then can PDP be said to have
abandoned zoning or rotation?” Mr Nwodo pointed out that the party had
not always adhered to the arrangement in the past. He said it was only
rigid about rotating power to the southern part of the country in 1998
because of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

But in 2003 and 2007, the contest was thrown open to all aspirants, irrespective of their zone.

“If our late
president were alive today, we wouldn’t be contesting his right to run
for a second term under our national constitution. It was his
entitlement,” he said. “This will, of course, not exclude any other
aspirant from any part of the country from contesting the presidential
primary, as it has become the custom of our party.”

Later, Solomon Lar,
the founding chairman of the party, told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) that Mr Jonathan will be serving out the terms of the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan joint mandate.

According to
reports, a proposal on the zoning arrangement was presented by Mr Nwodo
and it was unanimously adopted. The chairman had proposed that Mr
Jonathan, currently serving out the joint mandate of the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket, had the right to run for a second term under
the party’s national constitution.

“In the zoning
formula, we did not envisage that a serving president will die in
office. Today, Jonathan, by the dictates of the party constitution, is
serving out the term of the mandate given by the people of our dear
country. That being the case, the party believes rightly that Jonathan,
who is part and parcel of the mandate, has a right to contest the
remainder of their joint ticket in 2011,” he said. Ibrahim Shema, the
governor of Katsina State, had moved a motion for the adoption of the
continuity of the mandate and was seconded by a member of the PDP Board
of Trustee, Tony Anenih.

A source, who asked
to remain anonymous, told NAN that the motion did not receive any
opposition, adding that the party granted a waiver to people from
Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Abia and Niger States, who intend to return to its
fold.

Dangerous primaries ahead

In a reference to
supporters of the zoning arrangement, Mr Nwodo noted that “reforms are
sometimes hard to accept, especially when we are called upon to abandon
old ways of doing things. In preaching these reforms, we may have hurt
the sensibility of some of our members. We, thereby, present our
unreserved apology. But we, however, continue to appeal that these
reforms be accepted by all our party members.” In his address, Mr
Jonathan pleaded with members of the party to exercise decorum in the
months ahead, as the party prepares to conduct its primaries.

“Wherever two
people stay, they must disagree. Husband and wife must disagree.
Siblings belonging to the same parents must disagree, and as a party,
we must disagree, but what makes us strong is that we have the ability
to resolve our differences.” He also appealed to members to hold
dialogues instead of switching parties.

“When you have
crisis, the faction that is disgruntled will first of all give their
votes to another person. Even though they will regret later, but in
anger they will dash their votes out. But by God’s grace, we will be
resolving our crisis internally. We will not argue it in the public.”

Other party matters

Mr Nwodo announced
that sections of the party constitution, especially those that affect
delegates in the party’s primaries and convention, will be amended in
line with the provisions of the recently-passed 2010 electoral Act.

Though the
resolutions of the NEC meeting will be made public today, sources at
the meeting said the online registration of members was suspended in
the interim.

The source, who
declined to be named, also said that the council accepted the return of
the Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, to the party. However, he only
narrowly got its waiver to contest in 2011 under the party platform.

Most of the party’s governors spoke vehemently against the waiver,
demanding that he goes back to his ward and register, as stipulated by
the party’s constitution. It took the intervention of President
Jonathan to sway the council.

Incumbent Paul Kagame won 93 per cent of the votes in
Rwanda’s presidential election, final results showed on Wednesday,
after a campaign that critics said was marred by government repression.

A grenade was thrown into a rush-hour crowd in the
capital Kigali, wounding at least seven people. Analysts said the
attack appeared to be aimed at producing a political crisis.

Kagame, widely lauded for rebuilding Rwanda and
establishing peace in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, won the last
election in 2003 by a similar margin. Wednesday’s results still have to
be signed off by the Supreme Court.

“We are very happy with the conduct of the electoral
process, from the campaign to the voting itself. We did not get reports
of intimidation from anywhere,” said Charles Munyaneza, executive
secretary of the electoral body.

Turnout for Monday’s election was more than 95 per cent in all the nation’s five provinces.

Kagame’s nearest rival, Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo
of the Social Democratic Party, won 5 percent. Prosper Higiro of the
Liberal Party garnered just over 1 per cent and Alvera Mukabaramba of
the Party for Peace and Concord 0.4 per cent.

Opponents said the other candidates were a democratic
smokescreen and stooges of Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). They
also said the campaign playing field had been uneven, with three
would-be opposition candidates prevented from registering to contest
the ballot.

One of them, Victoire Ingabire, head of the United Democratic
Forces party who faces charges of funding rebels in neighbouring
Democratic Republic of Congo and espousing genocide ideology, rejected
the result.

Grenade attack

Police spokesman Eric Kayiranga said seven people
including two children were wounded in a grenade blast outside a Kigali
bus park on Wednesday evening.

“It was thrown into the middle of a crowd. It was
rush hour and people were going home. Three suspects were arrested on
the spot,” he told Reuters.

The attack was “a terrible and cowardly act of
violence”, he added in a police statement. “There are no other security
concerns in Kigali or around the country,” he said.

Security agents quickly sealed off the area, denying
access to journalists. Eyewitnesses put the number of wounded at closer
to 20 and said bloodstains were visible on the roadside.

“Grenade attacks are never an attempt to overthrow
the government but rather to influence the political climate. At most
they could provoke the RPF to clamp down on civil liberties and thereby
create a political crisis,” said Rwanda expert Jason Stearns.

Another regional analyst who cannot be identified
said: “It does show that opposition to Kagame is unlikely to come via
the ballot box.” Human rights groups pointed to mounting violence
during the run-up to the election after the shooting dead of a local
journalist and the killing of an opposition official who was found
nearly beheaded in July. The government strenuously denied any
involvement.

“It was a climate of intimidation and exclusion of
the opposition and critical voices. It was a climate of fear,” Carina
Tertsakian, Rwanda researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters by
telephone from London.

The European Union congratulated Rwanda for the calm
atmosphere on polling day and high voter turnout and said the election
marked a new stage in Rwanda’s democratic process and development.

But it said it was concerned by the pre-election incidents and called for swift and transparent investigations.

Kagame has been in control of the land-locked nation
of 10 million people since his rebel army swept to power in the
aftermath of the genocide of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus
in 1994.

Despite being poor in natural resources, Rwanda is a rising star in
Africa for donors and investors with Kagame feted as a visionary leader
and African icon. The International Monetary Fund forecasts its economy
will expand by an average of 6 percent in the medium term.

The Ogun State Police Command yesterday
said it has arrested 1,523 suspected criminals, while 5230 ammunitions
of different sizes were seized from armed robbers between January and
July this year. The Commissioner, Musa Daura, made this known while
receiving the executive of Correspondents Chapel Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) Ogun State Council, who paid him a courtesy visit in
his office at Eleweran, Abeokuta.

Mr Daura also said the police have
recovered 137 vehicles of different types during the months, adding
that 52 cases of murder and five cases of kidnapping were handled.

He attributed the success recorded so
far to the doggedness of his officers and the good working relationship
between his command and the press.

The Chairman of the Correspondents
Chapel, Kunle Idowu, promised that journalists in the state will
continue to promote the good works of the command.

He said, as the fourth estate of the
realm, journalists will continue to promote goodwill between the police
and general public so that their constitutional duties will be carried
out with less stress.

“We know the challenges that Nigeria
police is facing today, but in spite of that, you still perform
creditably well in reducing crime to its barest minimum in the state.
This, journalists in Ogun State can attest to,” he said.

While calling for more commitment from the rank and files of the
force, Mr Idowu called on the government and well-meaning individuals
to continue to assist police so that the society will be crime free.

Twenty-four people
died in separate accidents, following a deadly car accident and the
collapse of a four-storey building in Abuja on Wednesday.

At least 10 people
were killed when a four-storey building in Garki, collapsed. In another
part of the city, about 14 persons died when a trailer-load of cement
ran over 13 cars.

The four-storey building at Plot 4, Ikole Street, Off Gimbya Street, Area 11, collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses say the building caved in around 5am, trapping many of the residents inside.

David Ibrahim, one
of the survivors, said the collapse happened without warning. He and
his brother barely had time to jump out through the window and escape.
However, Mr Ibrahim said his brother’s wife and three children were
still trapped inside.

Dauda Ologboneja, a
taxi driver whose route took him past the area, said frantic family
members were using cell phones to try to locate their loved ones.

“My friend used his
phone to call some people inside the building,” he said. “One guy said
he was feeling hot and that they should come and help him.”

Dangerous situation

The uncompleted
building had been abandoned for the last five years and had become a
temporary shelter for small scale traders and homeless people in the
area. It is allegedly owned by Olawale Kuye.

In 2001, Mr Kuye
was directed by the Federal Capital Territory Authority’s (FCTA)
Development Control Department to stop construction on the building
after he illegally added an extra floor and failed integrity tests.

The director of the
territory’s development control unit, Yahaya Yusuf, said the building
contravened what was approved for the owners. “The unit has already
ordered the occupants of the building to move out. The process of
bringing down the building was still pending at the legal (department)
of Development Control when I received the news that the building has
collapsed this morning.”

The Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed, who visited the scene a
few hours after the collapse, has threatened to sack Mr Yusuf for
incompetence. He accused the director of “shielding his boys who marked
the houses and are collecting bribes from developers.” He promised a
full investigation into the incident.

Rescue efforts

All emergency
officials of the FCTA, in collaboration with the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA), were mobilized to the scene. Members of the
Civil Defence Corps were the first to arrive, using their hands to pull
survivors and bodies out of the rubble. Local construction companies,
including Julius Berger Plc., Gilmore and Reynolds Construction Company
brought in heavy machinery to help clear the debris.

As at press time,
10 people had been rescued and had been taken to hospital, but over 50
persons were still trapped in the debris.

Despite the efforts, residents accused the NEMA of not responding on time.

“The ambulance came
here one hour after the building collapsed,” said Charles Ofoji. “More
lives would have been saved if they came here earlier.”

Car accident

Thirteen people
were killed and scores more injured at the scene of the car accident at
AYA junction. Thirteen cars were crushed when a trailer overturned onto
nearby vehicles.

A combined team of
police officers, road safety personnel, soldiers, Vehicle Inspection
Officers (VIO) and bystanders worked to rescue some of the victims
trapped beneath the truck. People from the other cars involved in the
accident were rushed to the hospital, but the driver of the truck was
nowhere to be found, as he reportedly fled the scene.

One woman, who was
trapped in her car for about an hour, was finally freed when over 30
rescuers worked to unload the truck’s burden of cement, to pave way for
a VIO truck lifter to raise the vehicle.

An eyewitness, who declined to be named, attributed the incident to brake failure.

“The truck hit a car and in the course of an argument between the
truck driver and the car owner, the truck started smashing other cars
that were in front and on its side,” she said. “It looked as if the
truck driver actually meant to kill today.” The FCT minister visited
the National Hospital where the victims of both incidents were taken
for treatment. Mr Mohmmed promised that the FCTA would pay for the
treatment of all the injured persons.

Three
writers have been shortlisted for this year’s edition of The Nigeria
Prize for Literature while the winner of The Nigeria Prize for Science
has emerged.

Former managing
director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo (‘The Killing
Swamp), the late Esiaba Irobi (‘Cemetery Road’) and scholar, Ahmed
Yerima (‘Little Drops…’), made the final list.

Addressing
journalists on Wednesday at Ocean View Restaurant, Victoria Island,
Lagos, chair, panel of judges of the prize, Dapo Adelugba, disclosed
that an initial 93 entries were received. He said 21 of the works
didn’t meet the eligibility criteria and because of this, only 72 were
assessed.

The professor of
Theatre Arts disclosed that the jury comprising Mary Kolawole, John
Ilah, Kalu Uka and Tanimu Abubakar, also professors, used five main
criteria to judge the works. They are relevance and originality;
compliance with the highest standards of literary and dramatic
production; dramaturgy; setting and linguistic appeal; and stageability.

Earlier, chair of
the Literature Committee, Theo Vincent, noted that the Literature Prize
has developed its own dynamism and momentum. He also spoke on changes
made in the administration of the prize after no winner emerged for the
last edition. Disclosing the identity of the judges and opening up the
prize to all Nigerians irrespective of where they are domiciled were
some of the changes announced by the committee which Vincent heads.

Close scrutiny

Mr Vincent also
thanked the media for its interest in the prize. “We assure you we do
value the close scrutiny of what we are doing,” he said.

Similarly,
Akaehomen Ibhadode, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Benin, has been announced winner of the 2010 Nigeria
Prize for Science.

Mr Ibhadode won the
award for his work entitled ‘Development of New Methods for Precision
Die Design.” Chair of the Science Committee, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, read the
report of the jury comprising Anya O Anya, Awele Maduemezia, Gabriel
Ogunmola, Grace Olaniyan-Taylor and Lateef Salako.

The judges noted
that Mr Ibhadode has made significant contributions to the field of
cold forging. They added that he developed a mathematical model for the
design of forging die based on die expansion methods, an optimal
procedure for the selection of the most effective die design.

“In an
industrialising economy like Nigeria, the products of the precision die
process are particularly important in the development of small and
medium scale enterprises on which the economy depends for its
accelerated growth. He has applied the methods not only for the steel
industry but also for the development of aluminium products,” the
judges said of Ibhadode’s work.

Jonathan Nok won
the science prize last year while nobody won the literature prize. Both
prizes are sponsored by the Nigerian LNG Limited. The winner of the
Literature Prize will be announced at the NLNG Grand Award Night on
October 9.

On Wednesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja turned
down a motion seeking to stop the Head of Civil Service of the
Federation from conducting competency and pre-qualification tests for
senior civil servants.

Justice David Okorowo struck out the motion, saying
the test the group was asking him to stop had already taken place on
Monday, August 9. He consequently adjourned the substantive suit to
October 22.

Standoff in court

Last Friday, Sunny Uche filed a suit against the
federal government on behalf of Association of Senior Civil Servants of
Nigeria seeking to stop the tests pending a court hearing and a judge’s
determination of the motion on the notice.

Mr Uche wanted a declaration that the Federal Civil
Service Commission is not obliged to consult the Head of Service in
exercising its powers of promotion. He also wanted the court to declare
that the Head of Service could not rewrite any of the existing
conditions for promotion, even when consulted.

The civil servants had asked the Head of Service to
delay the exam pending the determination of the case or risk being in
contempt of court.

Sticking to the plan

Notwithstanding the suit, the Head of Service, Steve
Oronsanye, administered the examinations as scheduled on Monday. Three
thousand senior civil servants of the directorate cadre defied the
early-morning rain to participate in the test. Even unionists, who had
challenged the test in court and picketed the Head of Service’s office,
turned out to participate in the exercise.

Mr Oronsaye denied being served the court injunction on Friday.

“They went to court. Unfortunately for them, I do not
think they got an injunction. If they had, I would not have conducted
this test, because I am a respecter of the rule of law.”

He said stiff sanctions awaited the workers who refused to take part in the exercise.