Nigeria Content Online

The National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday urged UNICEF to always
support state governments that have implementable emergency management
laws in place.

NEMA’s South-West
Zone Coordinator, Iyiola Akande, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
in Lagos that some state governments were yet to pass emergency laws.
“It is not enough to come up with ad-hoc emergency management policies
without the necessary legislative backup,” he said. “UNICEF should
reach out to governments where the emergency agencies are inactive, to
keep pace with development in other states. For partnership between
government and UNICEF to be result-oriented, it is imperative for state
government to have laws guiding emergency management.”

The NEMA official lamented that the lack of a regulatory document
had made emergency management effort ineffective in some states. He
also suggested the need for UNICEF to come up with a measure that would
ensure that they only deal with governments committed to their
counterpart funding. Mr. Akande noted that some states were already
lagging behind in UNICEF-assisted development projects in the zone. He
urged chief executives of the State Emergency Management Agencies to
ensure that Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNICEF was executed.
Mr. Akande restated the agency’s commitment to mitigation of
emergencies through awareness creation and capacity building of
stakeholders. He said the agency had in the last one year trained 1,600
grassroots emergency management volunteers across the zone.

The Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), on
Monday, has called on the Lagos State government to establish a common
fishing harbour in the state.

Foluke Areola, national president of
the society, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that a
common harbour would help to reduce the prices of fish.

“This is because trawler owners can
freeze, bulk buy, and do things together to make the prices of fish
cheaper. Besides, the government will also be able to regulate the
supply of diesel to the terminal. Trawler owners have had problems with
the supply of diesel because it is difficult to get diesel at the right
time,” she said.

Mrs. Areola also urged the federal
government to beef up security on the nation’s territorial waters, to
avoid indiscriminate fishing by foreign vessels. According to her,
piracy at sea has resulted in loss of humans, products, and
navigational equipment.

She said that the National Institute
for Fresh Water Research in New Bussa had begun research on ways to
breed tilapia through bio-technology.

“We are trying to shift a bit from
catfish because there has been a lot of improvement with that. Nigerian
catfish is now in high demand at the international market,” she said.

According to her, tilapia can be developed because it is also acceptable to many Nigerians. (NAN)

The Nigeria Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Tuesday, issued the first Air Operator
Certificate (AOC) under the new federal government mandatory
recertification order, to Arik Air.

Harold Demuren, the
director general, during a conference at the regulatory agency’s
headquarters annex in Lagos, disclosed that the federal government,
after the 2005 and 2006 air crashes in the country, directed the
authority to undertake a complete recertification of domestic airlines,
which is aimed at ensuring safety in the industry.

“Several years ago,
we had terrible accidents in Nigeria, and the federal government gave
out safety reform agenda to enforce international safety standards. As
a result of this, our airlines had to go through ICAO (International
Civil Aviation Organisation), USFAA (United States Federal Aviation
Authority) safety certification, among others,” Mr. Demuren said.

The authority’s
boss disclosed that the airline is to obtain the certificate after
having successfully completed the licensing and recertification
process, adding that the carrier has been working towards achieving the
feat for a long time with the US FAA.

“Today, we will be
issuing for the first time in Nigeria, after the recertification
exercise order, an Air Operator Certificate to a Nigerian carrier,
which is Arik Air. It should be noted that we have been working closely
with the FAA for the certification so as to be able to have this
airline commence direct flights to America,” he said.

“Once we complete
this exercise, other airlines in the country will pass through the same
baptism. They must demonstrate compliance by flying their planes for
about 50 hours without any passenger onboard, just like Arik did,” he
said.

Long, tedious, expensive process

Accepting the
certificate, Arumemi Johnson, chairman, Arik Air, said that the journey
to attaining the requirements for the certificate was very difficult.

“Today is a
historic day, and we are very proud to receive this certificate. It’s
been a very long, tedious and expensive process, but be that as it may,
the truth is that we will not play with lives by compromising safety,”
he said.

Mr. Johnson,
however, called on the US FAA team at the conference to fast track the
process of granting the country the highly coveted Category One
certification, which guarantees the carrier the privilege to fly
directly from Nigeria to America.

“For any Nigerian
carrier to be fully viable, it has to get that category one, so we need
that certification, as we promise to continue doing our best,” he said.

“We wish to assure you that we will maintain this standard and we
hope to get the Category One Certificate as soon as possible,” he said.

Mr. Kumo told ANPP
delegates in Gombe, on Saturday, that he wanted to concentrate fully on
his gubernatorial campaign activities. “I will resign my position as
the national secretary in one or two weeks to enable me to face the
challenges ahead,” he said.

The scribe said time was of essence and
advised all those nurturing political ambitions to declare their
intention in earnest. “I am strongly advising those who intend to
contest political positions in Gombe State to declare their intention
publicly because time is running out. For me, I will return to Gombe
after the national convention and launch my campaign activities,” he
said.

Political leaders
in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State have decried the level
of acrimony and political thuggery by party supporters in the area.
Some politicians, including the Peoples Democratic Party Chairman in
the area, Musa Dakwaya, warned aspirants and their supporters to
exhibit restraint in the quest for victory during the 2011 general
elections.

He advised politicians to shun violence and thuggery while
campaigning for support, adding that guidelines for campaigns and
elections required to be followed strictly. The Sole Administrator of
the Area, Salisu Ahmed, also expressed dismay over the activities of
some supporters of aspirants, saying that those who disrupted public
peace would be prosecuted.

Livinus Nwambe,
Secretary ANPP National Convention Committee, said in Abuja that the
contribution made by INEC toward the party state congress across the 36
states as well as the FCT was “highly commendable and impressive.”

He
also stated that such effort was a renewal of hope to Nigerians who
were looking forward to the delivery of “free and fair election” in
2011. Equally, he said that ANPP reposed its confidence in the
commission led by Attahiru Jega, “It is a new INEC entirely,” he said.
“ANPP is ready to credibly and transparently position itself to match
the new INEC in the process of discharging commendable electioneering
in Nigeria.” Mr. Nwambe also stated that all necessary logistics needed
for the party’s convention had been adequately provided ahead of the
exercise. The convention is schedule to hold on Saturday, July 17 at
Eagle Square in Abuja.

Wale Ojo-Lanre, the
Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in a statement on Sunday, said
the awards were for the 2008/2009 academic year; and awarded through
the state scholarship programme initiated by Governor Segun Oni in
2008. Mr. Ojo-Lanre said 14 students, who undertook doctorate degrees
in universities abroad, got N1.5 million each; while 88 students, who
went for the same programme in Nigeria, received N750,000 each.

He said
N500, 000 and N200, 000 each was given to 47 students who undertook
Master degrees abroad, and 131 in Nigeria, respectively, while 282
Senior Secondary School students received N30, 000 each and 86
physically challenged students got N100, 000 each as scholarships.

The Abia State
Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Emeka Nwachukwu, has
denied alleged leadership crisis in the state chapter leading to the
emergence of two factions. Mr. Nwachukwu told journalists, in Umuahia,
that there were no factions of the party in the state and that the
leadership was not in doubt.

He said that the party could have its
problems at the national level, but that the leadership of the party,
which, he said, had maintained and funded for six years was
incontestable at the moment. He, however, said that the achievements of
the party in luring the state Governor, Theodore Orji, to its fold was
greater than any personal interests, adding that as the leader of the
party in the state, “(Mr) Orji will take his time to restructure it to
suit his purpose.”

Senator Smart Adeyemi, (PDP-Kogi), has
said that the presidential system of government as being practiced in
Nigeria is a huge waste of resources in the face of glaring poverty
among majority of Nigerians.

Mr. Adeyemi, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, on
Sunday in Abuja, said “the presidential system of government is good
for a diverse nation like Nigeria. But the way we run it, a
full-fledged presidential system is too expensive and I see it as a
waste. I see it as breeding a lot of social problems.”

“Today in this country, a lot of people have taken politics as a
profession which shouldn’t be. And because I believe that politics
means service to the people, to me therefore, the present bi-cameral
practice of presidential system is too expensive and I do not support
the situation where politicians are far more comfortable than the
people who voted them into office. Today, you have a situation where
the people are getting poorer and you have a system in place that is
breeding corruption,” he added.

U.S. President
Barack Obama is thinking about jobs: looking for jobs for more than 14
million Americans and protecting the jobs of Washington lawmakers at
the same time.

“To every American who is looking for work I promise you we’re going to keep on doing everything we can,” he said.

“I will do
everything in my power to help our economy create jobs and opportunity
for all people.” The United States elects a president every four years,
but schedules congressional elections on two-year cycles. So just as
the president settles into the Oval Office, he has to lead his party in
another round of campaigning mid-way through his term.

Those ‘midterms’
are coming up on November 2 and they will be a preoccupation for
American politics for the next four months. Obama was out this week
looking for support in two western states and he has more campaign
travel coming.

Usually, the party
that controls the White House and Congress expects a protest vote to
push back against it in the midterms. Many Democrats fear serious
losses this year, because polls suggest voters are so angry.

The most recent
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 73 percent of
respondents think things are going badly in America – nearly three
times as many as respondents who said things are going well.

Democrats believe
the country’s 9.5 percent unemployment rate is partly to blame. If
Obama could lower that number, a lot of Democrats think it would help.

Republicans see a
much darker picture of the national mood. They believe that the
economy, the oil spill disaster off the U.S. coast and a host of other
concerns as well have convinced Americans that their government is
failing.

“Americans don’t see an economy in recovery,” said Republican Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas.

“They see a White
House seemingly incapable of protecting our beaches or getting people
back to work.” President Obama has a just a few months left to spur job
creation in time to have an impact on the midterms. Once they’re past,

candidates for the presidency will begin organising their campaigns
for the election in 2012. It will be Obama’s own job that will be at
stake.