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The World Bank has provided Nigeria with the sum of
$46 million for the upgrading of airport facilities across the country,
the bank’s team leader, Noro Rabefanirana, said yesterday in Abuja.

The official, who was accompanied by the bank’s
country director, Owlo Ruhl, said the money was to bring the airports
up to international standards where passengers can board planes without
any fear of technical deficiencies.

Ms Rabefanirana expressed happiness that, within a
short while, the federal government has moved the functionality of the
airports from 11 per cent to 36 per cent and stated that Nigeria will
move higher very soon. She said airports are critical to the economy of
any nation, and any country that plays with her aviation industry is
doing that at her own peril.

The Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njeze, expressed
appreciation for the assistance of the World bank. She said this was
the sixth in the series of the bank’s mission to Nigeria to supervise
our aviation component of West and Central African Transport Safety and
Security, since inception in 2007.

Intervention measures

She disclosed that in order to avoid unforeseen
circumstances such as air mishaps in future, the federal government has
put in place some intervention measures to enhance the facilities and
services at the airports, with a view to meeting the challenges of the
21st century and building a truly modern Nigeria aviation sector in
compliance with international standards.

“The federal government decided to join the West and
Central Africa Air Transport Safety and Safety Project (WCAATSSP) after
due consideration of activities of the World Bank in providing
financial assistance to execute projects that will have positive direct
bearing on the people, spread over 23 nations in the West and Central
Africa countries,” she said.

Ms Njeze said having met eligibility criteria for
lending, a total of $46.65 million credit facility was granted by the
bank to Nigeria for the implementation of aviation safety and security
projects in the four major international airports and at the College of
Aviation Technology, Zaria.

Under the Government Economic Reform Agenda, the minister disclosed
that the bank also granted the sum of $15 million to the aviation
ministry to fill infrastructural gaps that exist in the sector,
including the provision of operational fencing projects for Abuja and
Port Harcourt international airports.

Ahead of Saturday’s
visit by Jonathan Goodluck to Oghara, the hometown of James Ibori,
embattled former governor of Delta State, the Urhobo ethnic group wing
of the Delta Elders and Stakeholders Forum has described as hypocrisy
the planned commissioning of the Nigeria Navy logistic base and the
Delta State teaching hospital by the president.

The elders said
most of the projects are not priority projects, as they are not
necessarily essential to the people of the state, and that the state
government squandered tax-payers money on the projects.

Addressing a press
conference in Warri, Delta State, yesterday, the elders, led by their
Chairman, Patrick Ideh; Deputy Chairman, Godwin Ogbetuo; and Sam Kowho,
said it amounted to great hypocrisy for a state government to build a
logistics command for a federal government parastatal when the people
are dying of hunger.

“The federal
government is richer and stronger to bear the weight of expenses than
Delta State,” they said. “Yet, at the expense of Delta State which is
lacking in almost everything, the administration undertakes the
exercise of investing on the Nigeria navy logistic command which is
being handed over to the richer federal government.” The elders also
expressed displeasure aboutthe siting of the teaching hospital in
Oghara, despite the expert advice from the Nigeria Medical Association
(NMA) which warned of the long distance students have to travel between
the university campus in Abraka to Oghara.

No meaningful project

“Since the
beginning of this administration, no meaningful project has been
undertaken in the state. The projects being commissioned by the
president are old projects executed by earlier administrations,” they
said.

The elders also
cited the case of the commissioning of the Olomu and Okpare bridge,
which attracted hostile reactions from the people when the governor and
his deputy were chased away by youth in Out-Jeremi, as one example of a
meaningless exercise.

While pledging to support Mr Jonathan’s reform agenda, the group
called on the president to overhaul the current electoral system in
order to forestall electoral fraud and guarantee free and fair
elections; with one man, one vote.

Nigeria’s flag carrier, Air Nigeria, on Wednesday in Lagos formally made public its first re-branded aircraft.

Unveiling the
airplane on the tarmac of the new domestic terminal, Murtala Mohammed
International 2 (MMA2), the management of the carrier told aviation
correspondents that the new name will be on all its fleet in due course.

“We told you a week
ago that the aircraft will arrive and to the glory of God, we have it
here, this is the first aircraft that will be named Air Nigeria and
this is to demonstrate how far we are progressing in the turn-around,”
said Jimoh Ibrahim, group managing director for the airline.

Congratulating
Nigerians on the feat, Mr. Ibrahim promised that the rebranded Nigerian
Eagle Airline, formerly known as Virgin Nigeria, that is now Air
Nigeria has come to stay, adding that more aeroplanes are going to be
added to the airline’s fleet.

“I can assure that
on this project, I am committed and I want to congratulate Nigerians
for having an airline of their own that they can be proud of. Whether
you like it or not, it has come to stay, I have no apology for anyone
that doesn’t like it,” he said.

“More aircraft will
start coming in from now, we expect the arrival of two aircraft in the
livery of Air Nigeria in the next 15 days, thereafter another four will
arrive and then we will have a dozen aircraft by the 1st of October;
and by then we would have finished with the first phase of the
turnaround, we will then move to Human resources.”

Early this month,
Air Nigeria at a briefing held at its headquarters in Lagos, disclosed
that the new name of its carrier became necessary in order to make the
airline fully indigenous, adding that the change was effected sequel to
the resolution of the board on May 14, and that the name has been
approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and has been
registered with a certificate number RC501975.

Indebtedness to banks

On the airline’s
debt with Guarantee Trust Bank, the NICON group boss disclosed that Air
Nigeria has cleared all that it owed the financial institution, and
that the case in court has been closed.

“On GTB, I am sure
that you know that the issue has been rested, but don’t ask how it was
rested, that is the job of the turnaround. That has come to an end, all
those unwanted criticism that GTB is a problem will not happen.

“The GTB case is
dead and it has been discontinued, for what we did was to pay after
having a meeting; we did not restructure the debt, we fully discharged
the debt and we are not indebted to Guarantee Trust to one Kobo again,”
said Mr. Ibrahim.

The airline’s boss
promised that its indebtedness to another bank in the country will be
cleared shortly, adding that loans are necessary for a company’s
survival.

“We are dealing with two banks, we’ve paid one, the other one will
get its pay in the next two weeks, for we are to pay them hundred per
cent and they will give us a letter of non-indebtedness and their debt
will become zero,” he said “It is not as if you should not take loans,
you can take it and then pay back, we will still take more loans but we
want to know the capacity of paying back what we have taken.”

Should the
political class not clean up its acts during the upcoming elections,
Nigerians should opt for open protest rather than wait for judicial
decisions which might waste time and not ensure justice, President of
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has said.

Mr. Akeredolu, who
said he was expressing his personal opinion and not that of the bar,
was the guest lecturer at a lecture series organized by the League of
Veteran Journalists, Oyo State, in Ibadan, on Wednesday.

In a lecture
titled “Leadership As Albatross: The Nigerian Experience”, the guest
lecturer explored the history of Nigeria from the time of amalgamation
to explain the country’s many problems as well as proffer solutions.

While emphasizing
the need to reform the electoral process for the next elections, he
explained that if the country could institute a mechanism that would
ensure credible elections, there would be no need for election
tribunals.

According to him,
politicians take Nigerians for granted by rigging elections and
manipulating election tribunals since the people have not been taking
serious actions against them.

“No amount of
tribunal can challenge election riggers. People should go to the street
and fight their cause, otherwise, the mess will continue. If elections
are rigged in 2011, people should go to the street to protest. There is
no other due process than that”, he said.

“Our recent
experience clearly shows that we are still far from achieving
greatness. What is of utmost importance and urgency now is the process
which will throw up the desired representatives of the people. Unless
the much anticipated electoral reforms become reality, we continue to
grope in the dark,” he said.

Support Jega’s appointment

The NBA boss
absolved President Goodluck Jonathan of any wrong doing in his manner
of appointing the new Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
chairman, Attahiru Jega, saying the appointment is in line with the
existing law.

Against the
argument from some quarters that the recommendation on the appointment
of INEC chairman in the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform was
breached, Mr. Akeredolu said the recommendation was yet to be ratified,
adding that the president made the appointment in consonance with the
law of the land.

Despite the much
celebrated pedigree of the new INEC boss, Mr. Akeredolu said Nigerians
should be cautious of jumping to the conclusion that Mr. Jega’s
leadership of the electoral body would give the country credible
elections.

He also said
advised the country to stop recycling leaders when the youth who are in
tune with the modern day realities abound for the jobs.

“To enable a
leader realize his set goals, ambition and objectives, he needs the
services of a crop of dedicated young men and women with vision and
high sense of imagination, not discounting the invaluable experience of
the veterans in all relevant fields of human endeavour. He must lead a
team that is articulate and full of initiative,” Mr. Akeredolu noted.

“We
are a developed country with undeveloped people.” How provocative! My
instinct was to reject the statement, but on deeper thought I feel that
there is an element of truth in that statement. If that is the case,
what does it mean in practical terms?

All of a sudden,
many incomprehensible and frustrating things make sense. Nothing seems
to last! Our big national projects that are well started end up
half-done. Our well trained staff start off well but like batteries,
they quickly exhaust their energy and thinking cells, and grind to a
halt until the employer starts the process all over again.

Why are we labelled
a developing country? 30 years ago we had trains, planes, schools,
universities, farms, plantations, factories, roads, reliable power,
postal services, telecoms services (albeit limited), and formal cordial
relations with most countries in the world. We built industries around
our mineral resources and took pride in our contribution to worldwide
commodities trading. Growing up, the industries I heard most frequently
referred to were textiles, fisheries, cocoa, and rubber.

We had low
unemployment, high enrolment in apprenticeships, vocational training
schools and well-run polytechnics and universities. Our graduates,
academics, and citizens were valued and respected world-wide for their
energy, enterprise, and the contributions they could make. Enterprise
and occupations were passed from parent to child and we had generations
of farmers, blacksmiths, artists, traders, market women, transporters,
lawyers, taxi drivers, doctors etc..

Engagements with
government were straightforward and took minimal time. The civil
servants were friendly, helpful, informative and happy to be of service.

To all intents and
purposes, I would assess Nigeria then, even in the rural areas, as 60%
on the road to developed nation status. What went wrong?

I join a long list of more eminent people who have pondered and explored the causes. This is my own take on it.

Fola Arthur-Worrey,
in his book, the Diary of Mr Michael, writes about the observations,
thoughts and experiences of a visitor to Nigeria starting from his seat
on the plane as it approached Murtala Muhammed International Airport in
Lagos.

What does the
visitor see? And this is very important. The largest manifestation of a
nation’s culture is in the external sensory components of it – what you
can see, smell, hear, and touch. The landscape, the buildings and
structures, the dress and appearance of inhabitants, the available
facilities, the language, the facial expressions, posture and gestures
of people.

Form follows functions:

So what did Mr
Michael see as he moved around our country? The same things that we see
on a daily basis. On the surface, we see all things that have always
been there (except trains) plus new technological advancements such as
mobile phones and computers. It all seems logical. It all seems to be
working.

Yet, once you look
beyond the surface and delve a little deeper, you may find a vast
difference between what is on the surface, and the reality. That was
the role played by Mr Michael’s Nigerian driver.

He was the voice of
the people, deconstructing, demystifying and explaining the
inexplicable. What we have in place is Form without Substance, a
developed country with undeveloped people.

Just as architects
and designers generally follow the principle of ‘Form follows
Function’; in other words, that the design of the object/building must
enable and not detract from the ultimate purpose of the object: i.e. a
beautifully designed bottle opener is no use if it cannot remove the
caps and corks from bottles. Just so, educationists and citizens forget
that the various forms we have, of government, of transport, of
education and so on, are no use if they do not deliver the function for
which they were set up. There is no point having a democracy with three
‘independent’ arms of government, federal, state and local legislatures
if they do not deliver democracy.

Initiatives for progress, improvement and positive change should be
fundamentally about achieving better substance and function. We are
tired of changing and improving ‘forms’ – better job titles for work
that is still undesirable. That is where we seem to be stuck in our
development track. Repeatedly changing the form, without improving the
substance of our existence.

It
may seem a double tragedy for Nafiu Baale, one of the suspended members
of the Oyo State House of Assembly, who was again, on Tuesday,
suspended indefinitely by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in his ward.

Mr. Baale, who
represents the Ibadan north east constituency at the state legislative
chambers, was suspended last week alongside other six lawmakers for
three months, for moving to remove the speaker, Olawale Atilola.

Wahabi Raji, PDP
chairman in his ward, addressed the press at the party secretariat in
Ibadan, on Monday. He informed that the party constituents decided to
suspend Baale indefinitely for getting himself involved in the attempt
to impeach the Speaker, who was alleged to be frustrating the move by
members to investigate the alleged misappropriation of N8.2 billion
levied against the state governor, Adebayo Alao Akala, by some
petitioners.

Sixteen of the 32
members of the House who attempted to sit at Chamber of the state House
of Assembly, with the intention to impeach Mr. Atilola, were prevented
by thugs who beat some of them mercilessly last week, leading to
serious injuries on two of them.

The pro-Speaker
members later sat to suspend seven of the pro-impeachment lawmakers.
But despite an effort to secure a court order to set aside the
purported suspension from the House, Baale got another blow from his
ward exactly a week after that of his colleagues.

Unhappy Baale

In his reaction to the latest suspension, Mr. Baale said the pronouncement was “illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.”

“The so-called
leaders that suspended me without informing me or levying any
allegation against me in writing, as prescribed by the PDP
constitution, and allowing me to defend myself before suspension, have
got it wrong. I don’t know if they know that a party constitution
exists at all. They just believe in doing things illegally. This is
sad,” he said.

He explained that
before a punitive action is taken, the law permits that an accused
person be invited to come and state his own side of the story.

“A decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the
charges against him or her, or been given any opportunity of defending
himself or herself, shall be null and void,” Baale said, quoting the
constitution.

The Federation Account Allocation
Committee (FAAC) appears increasingly helpless over the N450 billion
indebtedness by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as
Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, turns defensive over the
corporation’s ability to meet its obligations.

More than six months after last
December’s ultimatum by FAAC for NNPC to pay up the debt, Mr. Babalola,
who is the FAAC Chairman, told NEXT last Tuesday at the end of the
Committee’s meeting for May in Abuja, that the issue has lingered
because the corporation is still bleeding.

“We should not forget that in the last
few months there have been a lot of challenges and issues with the
NNPC. The Group Managing Director that took FAAC through all the
corporation’s challenges and promised to come up with a repayment plan
was changed barely after a month. Another one came, that was also
changed for a new one.

“We also know that NNPC has some
challenges, including subsidies on petroleum products supplies that are
not being replenished, making it to be bleeding, and very difficult for
it to meet certain obligations. The issue is not about decision to pay
or not.

“The truth, as we know in the Federal
Ministry of Finance as at today, is that NNPC’s cash flow warrants that
we work with them till it is able to stand on its own as a business
entity. We need to be holistic about these issues,” he said.

Lingering debt debacle

After several months of ignoring
appeals for reconciliation of outstanding payments to the Federation
Account, FAAC had issued the ultimatum to the then Group Managing
Director of the corporation, Mohammed Barkindo, to appear without fail
before its meeting of last January with the repayment plan.

Rather than respond, the NNPC
management reciprocated with an invitation to FAAC members, made up of
officials of the Federal and 36 state governments as well as the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, for a “special two-day
workshop” on ‘Understanding the operations of the Oil and Gas Industry
in Nigeria.’

At the opening of the workshop held
late last January, Mr. Babalola told participants that the NNPC may not
be able to pay up its debts, as a result of its cash flow problems.

Emboldened by kid gloves handling of
the matter, NNPC’s Group General Manager (GGM), Finance, Ahmadu Sambo,
at the workshop, gave fresh conditions for the repayment of the debt,
saying NNPC’s capacity to repay was hinged on how soon it would get the
reimbursement of over N1.1trillion from the Federal Government for
subsidy expenses incurred for petroleum products supplies and
distribution since 2003.

Not soft on NNPC

Describing FAAC’s approach on the
issue as a display of “unusual maturity and understanding,” considering
NNPC’s peculiar operational environment, the Minister said FAAC decided
to issue another ultimatum to the NNPC management demanding the
repayment plan, though there was no guarantee that a positive response
would come.

On allegations that FAAC was soft on NNPC over the issue as a result of reported deal with its management, Mr. Babalola noted:

“I was the same person that forced the NNPC to agree that they are owing the Federation Account N450 billion.

“I was the same person that took top NNPC management to the
Presidency over the same indebtedness. So, how on earth would anyone
allege that the debt has not been paid because FAAC was soft on NNPC,
or that there appears to be some arrangement for the money not to be
paid? Certainly, this is not correct. One needs to understand the
operations of the NNPC. One cannot be producing a product that costs
N60 and selling at N40, and would not be bleeding. It does not make
sense.

The
new government in the United Kingdom will directly champion prosperity
for millions of people across the world that are battling against
poverty, disease and injustice, the new UK secretary for international
development, Andrew Mitchell has said.

Decrying the poor
structure of the Nigerian health and child-care sectors, while
presenting grim figures on mortality due to child-birth, Mr Mitchell in
a statement on his assumption of office as the head of UK’s aid agency,
Department for Foreign Direct Investment (DFID), noted that, of half a
million women that die due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth
across the world, around ten percent of them are Nigerians, and nearly
25,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases in the country.
This figure, he claims, has barely fallen in the past two decades in
many regions.

“Clearly, we must
act, and act now, to right these wrongs and end this terrible waste of
human potential” he said. “The people and government of Britain are on
your side, and we will use every tool in our policy armoury to champion
justice, freedom, fairness and prosperity for you.”

Mr Mitchell, who
recently spoke at the launch of Oxfam’s report on 21st Century Aid at
The Royal Society, in London, declared that UK development assistance
to Nigeria will rise to £140 million per annum in 2010/11 with the
development priorities intended at promoting non-oil growth in the
nation’s economy, and more effective spending by the government of
Nigeria on poverty reduction. He, however noted that his country can
only play limited role due to the current economic downturn.

“We can’t escape
the fact that in Britain, today’s economic situation is radically
different from what has gone before,” he said. “The UK has a massive
deficit, which it is our number one priority to tackle,” he said. “We
won’t balance the books on the backs of the world’s poorest. We have
resolved, in our coalition programme for government, to honour our
commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid from 2013, and to
enshrine this commitment in law. We will keep aid untied from
commercial interests, and maintain the Department for International
Development (DFID) as an independent Department, focused on reducing
poverty.”

A million aid watchdogs

The minister also
explained that of empowerment will be central in their approach, with
the aim of making “people in developing countries to be masters and
owners of the international development system, not passive recipients
of it.”

Mr Mitchell adds
that other opportunities for empowerment in the programme will provide
power to citizens to hold their governments accountable. This, he
stated, will be achieved with a plan to set aside up to five per cent
of the total amount given to governments to help parliaments, civil
society and audit bodies to hold responsible those who spend their
money.

He also announced a new UK Aid Transparency Guarantee that will help
to create a million independent aid watchdogs to enable people “see
where aid money is supposed to be going and shout if it doesn’t get
there.”

To write anything about the Nigerian Police is almost like spewing out clichés. Except, none of
the clichés will be heartwarming. They are usually gory tales of
killers in uniform. Men and women that were supposed to protect the
Nigerian citizens have become their greatest enemies. Seeing a Nigerian
police officer when you are under any form of duress actually adds to
the fear and distress, because they will add their own unpleasantness
to your already nervous condition. Ask any Nigerian, and he or she has
a mouth full of stories about police trouble.

Even when they
seem to be doing their job, they don’t seem to have your interest at
heart. Till today, I am still wondering the reason behind roadblocks in
our streets other than to extort money from innocent commuters and
harass poor citizens, while the real thieves drive by in luxury cars.
Many have lost their lives due to these road blocks, either been
physically shot or been harassed into preventable accident.

The recent news
coming from Abuja in regards to what is now known as APO Six killing is
disheartening. The Investigative Police Officer, Denise Asawa, in the
killing of six innocent Nigerians five years ago is now confessing to
lying about his testimony in the case. Mr. Asawa, supposedly a trusted
member of the force, says he was compelled to write false statements to
save another accused. This statement makes one wonder, how many false
statements are being pumped out from the force? Not only are some
members of Nigerian Police killers, they have also openly confess to
lying and manipulation of evidence. How discomfortingly frightening.

I hope one day, the government will find it necessary to overhaul a
tattered force, retrain the hunters in uniform to see citizens as human
beings not animals. Until then, the police is not your friend but your
fiend.

The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) on Wednesday agreed to vote tomorrow on a new
International Labour Standard on HIV and AIDS to protect people living
with HIV/AIDS in the workplaces.

The ILO Liaison
Officer in Abuja, Pius Udo, said that if the International Labour
Conference (ILC) adopted the standard, “it would be the first
international human rights instrument to focus specifically on HIV and
the world of work.” The committee of governments, workers and employers
convened in Geneva last Monday to discuss and agree on its content and
approve the draft standard, along with a new resolution on its
promotion and implementation.

The proposed
standard contains provisions on prevention programmes and
anti-discrimination measures at national and workplace levels aimed at
strengthening the contribution of HIV positive people to work;
universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. If
finally approved, this will shield the HIV positive people from
discrimination. The resolution had invited the ILO governing body to
allocate resources to give effect to the standard and requests to
regular reports from member states on its implementation for review,
saying the UNAIDS and WHO supports would also be encouraged as
discussed during the discussions.

Sophia Kisting,
director of the ILO Programme on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work,
said: “members of the HIV and AIDS Committee used their experience in
implementing the ILO Code of Practice on HIV and AIDS to craft this
landmark instrument that is real proof of the power of social dialogue.
If adopted on Thursday, this standard will take workplace interventions
to a higher level in the global response to HIV and AIDS.” Also, the
Chairperson of the HIV and AIDS Committee, Thembi Nene-Shezi said the
Committee “had made history” in the “crafting of this instrument which
should be a source of pride for the ILO and its constituents.”

No job loss

Mrs. Kisting also
clears the view that there might be clash between the already
implemented Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS, and the world of work and the
new standards if finally voted for adoption. “The ILO Code of Practice
adopted in 2001 is a set of principles that enjoys a great deal of
support amongst ILO member states, as well as UN agencies and many
organizations both within and outside the UN system. While there is no
intention to change the Code, we have experienced that there can be
selective implementation of its 10 principles and a new recommendation
would strengthen the Code and create much greater harmonization of our
work place programmes. If adopted it will be the first international
human rights instrument to focus explicitly on HIV/AIDS,” she said.

“One of the central
reasons that a new recommendation was proposed by the ILO Governing
Body was that our constituents wanted to find a way to help address
stigma and discrimination. To this day stigma and discrimination still
means job losses, it still means a lack of access to jobs, and it still
means that through fear and going too late for an HIV test that
potentially a life is lost. Through an international human rights
instrument such as this proposed recommendation we can more confidently
tackle stigma and discrimination, make sure that people could access
voluntary counselling and testing and be referred for treatment in time
and we can help save businesses and small enterprises and ultimately,
lives.”

Nigeria involved

Nigeria has 20
government delegates, seven employers’ delegates and 7 Labour group
contingents, including the Trade Union Congress president,Peter Esele
and Odah John of the Nigeria Labour Congress The Nigerian government
contingent, in its brief, said that it believed that the proposed
recommendation would help fill the gaps in efforts to stem the scourge
of HIV/AIDS.