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What was once
simply known as ‘nature study’ metamorphosed into biology and more
recently emerged under the camouflage of what is now commonly referred
to as ‘ecology.’ This week, we are reminded by the United Nations of
World Environment Day on June 5th, in a year that is also dedicated
globally to biodiversity and the gorilla. In view of the acknowledged
deleterious impacts of global warming, but also because of scholarship
infused into public opinion by the American entomologist, Edward O.
Wilson and others, research of the natural world and its conservation
will increasingly graduate into a Darwinian process of survival.

Nations that ignore
the health of forests, rivers, lakes, and their coastal habitats run
the risk of ecological disasters, economic collapse, social dislocation
and political instability. Judged by the state of our physical
environment, it appears that Nigerians are blind to a perception of the
proverbial handwriting that everyone else sees on the wall. Citizens in
this country who either enjoy a pension, or not, but had gone to school
in the 1940s and 50s will not easily forget the green, hardback
textbook, “Nature Study for West Africa,” by one legendary
A.J.Carpenter. If they went on to secondary school, science textbooks,
often supplied free-of-charge in those days by school authorities were
lying in wait: Stone and Cozens biology,physics by Nelkon, the chemistry of Holderness and Lambert, and the dreaded mathematics in C.V.Durrell.

Messrs Stone and Cozens were principals of Government College Umuahia in the 1950s.

A.B.Cozens, the
more famous and celebrated of the two authors was a seminal figure,
some sort of icon in Eastern Nigeria, where the Nigerian Field Society
was conceived and founded by Frank Bridges, a Government Administrative
Officer in 1930.

Unsung and unknown
to many, the Field Society still exists to this day under the
leadership of David Okali, professor, in Ibadan, with memberships in
Nigeria and in the United Kingdom. Simply, the Nigerian Field Society
is 80 years old.

The Society’s
publication, The Nigerian Field, first appeared in 1931 and has
continued with the objective ‘to encourage interest in the fauna and
flora of Nigeria, its history, legends and customs, its native arts and
crafts, its science, sport and hobbies.’ This magazine serves as a
resource that has laid the foundations, cornerstones and columns
supporting nature conservation in Nigeria and West Africa.

What is known in
international circles about tropical forests and their biological
diversity is to an appreciable extent the result of work accomplished
and published by the Nigerian Field Society. Despite these cutting-edge
achievements in colonial times, Nigeria presently does not possess a
single comparable botanical garden or museum of natural history.
President Goodluck Jonathan who happens to be a biologist should give
some thought to a natural world that is rapidly decaying around us.

Clueless generation

The colonial
administrators and teachers from the United Kingdom described
everything of natural and cultural interest they came across – from
chewing sticks to sculpture, from the cult of Adamu-Orisha to elephants.

The treasure trove
of The Nigerian Field includes accounts on reptiles by G.S.Cansdale and
G.T.Dunger; mammalian biology and zoogeography by J.H.C.Ball,
J.C.Happold and M. W. J. Jeffreys; botanical and forestry studies from
Bridges and D. R. Rosevear; the bird people – J. H. Elgood, C. H. Fry,
W. Serle, Marchant and Robert Sharland.

One governor of Nigeria, Bernard Bourdillon found time to study and publish a paper on the birds of the Lagos coast in 1947.

Biology, the discourse of life, is not a popular subject in Nigeria
anymore. The younger “Gucci-on-my-wrist” generation of Nigerians find
it difficult to comprehend the country’s extreme vulnerability to the
impacts of climate change, because of a fractured knowledge base.

The senate
yesterday confirmed Samuel Ukura as the Auditor-General of the
Federation (AGF), shoving aside stiff opposition to his appointment
from some senators.

Senators,
especially those from the south western Nigeria, strongly opposed the
confirmation of Mr. Ukura, who is from Benue State on the ground that
the appointment lacked transparency, accountability and rule of law.

The senators argued
that two directors in the office of the Auditor-General, both from the
south-west, were qualified for the position and were deliberately
excluded in favour of Mr. Ukura.

Sola Akinyede (PDP
Ekiti state) argued that a requirement in the job advert that a
candidate for the position must not be retiring in two years from the
date of appointment excluded his constituents, who all had less than
two years to spend in the civil service.

“The process lack
accountability, transparency and rule of law,” Mr. Akinyede said. “We
should not set a flood gate to marginalize people.”

Arguing in the same
line with Mr. Akinyede, Isiaka Adeleke (PDP Osun state) said the
appointment of Mr. Ukura as the AGF by the president was a deliberate
attempt to exclude those directors in the office of the auditor-general
because they are from the South West geo-political zone. The senate
president David Mark, however, warned the senators against trivialising
the office, saying it will be unruly for the senate to interfere with
the selection procedure of auditor generals, especially when the
constitution has given the Federal Civil Service Commission the powers
to conduct such rudimentary screenings.

Ahmed Lawan (Yobe
North), who led debate on the confirmation, countered the arguments of
the opposing senators by saying the nominee was screened based on his
character, qualification and his credible performance when he was the
auditor-general of Benue State.

Leading the debate
on the report of the Committee on Public Accounts, the Chairman of the
Committee, Dairu Kuta however commended the Committee for a job well
done, adding that there was nowhere in the Constitution that says the
person for the position should be director or assistant to the
auditor-general.

“The submission is in the right direction,” he said.

Opposition to Mr.
Ukura’s appointment has been long. In October last year, when he was
nominated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, there have been
outcry in some quarters that confirming Ukura, an indigene of Benue
state in the North Central Zone, would amount to handing over the
entire public finance system of the country to the northern
geo-political sector.

In the end, majority of the senators voted for his confirmation as the AGF.

An Oyo State High
Court has fixed June 28 for adoption of addresses and replies to
addresses by lawyers to parties in a legal suit between Rashidi Ladoja,
former Oyo State governor, and a 5-man Judicial Commission of Enquiry
set up by the state government.

The judge, Waheed Olaifa gave the order on Wednesday after listening to arguments from lawyers in the suit.

The judge, at the
last session on the case, had ordered the counsel to prepare their
written addresses for submission on Wednesday, June 2.

But only Lasun
Sanusi (SAN), Mr Ladoja’s lead counsel was able to submit his own
address yesterday, while representative of Lateef Fagbemi (SAN)
chambers, who is advocating for the judicial commission and Governor
Alao-Akala, in the matter, could not complete his presentation.

The court also
directed Mr. Sanusi to file his reply to the defendants address within
72 hours and prepare for the adoption on the fixed date.

Mr Alao-Akala had
last year set up a judicial commission of enquiry to probe the last six
months of his predecessor but Mr Ladoja dragged the commission before
the court asking for an order to restrict it from sitting.

Mr. Sanusi explained that he was asking for a restraining order against the commission because its constitution was illegal.

The former governor joined the state governor and his attorney-general and commissioner for justice in the suit.

Mr Ladoja, in his
motion on notice, prayed the court to stop the panel from ‘probing or
investigating or trying any part of the tenure pending the
determination of the substantive motion’.

Singled for probe

He also asked the
court to restrict the panel members from ‘acting or further acting in
pursuance of their inauguration as Judicial Commission of Enquiry to
probe part of the tenure’ pending the time of determination of the
substantive motion.

Among his prayers,
was also that the governor and the state Attorney-General and
commissioner for justice be stopped from mobilizing the panel or
facilitating its sitting before the substantive motion is determined.

In the original
suit, the former governor prays the court to declare the inauguration
of a panel of enquiry to probe a potion of his tenure illegal.

According to him,
setting up of the panel of enquiry to probe a portion of his
administration is not only discriminatory and against the provisions of
the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999, but the
public property and fund (Investigation and Recovery) Panel law of Oyo
State Cap 138 of Oyo state 1996, upon which the commission was
inaugurated, was inconsistent with the 1999 constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.

He argued further
that singling him out for probe without Mr Alao-Akala, who was the
deputy-governor during the period under probe,

is illegal, and then asked the court to declare the setting up of the commission null and void.

The House of
Representatives, yesterday, rejected moves to investigate the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for disbursing N500 billion to airlines without
seeking approval of the lawmakers.

Femi Gbajabiamila
(AC, Lagos) had sought to move a motion of urgent of public importance
for the next legislative chamber to investigate the disbursement.

“In the last to
three months, CBN has released subsidy of N500 billion to private
airlines. I feel this is a matter we should discuss dispassionately. We
should guard jealously the powers of the institution,” he told the
House.

Mr. Gbajabiamila
noted that, last year, the CBN “in its wisdom and unilaterally gave out
N600 billion to some ailing banks in violation of the law of the land.”

He said in order to assert its legislative powers, the House should look into the matter.

However, when the deputy speaker, who presided at the session, put it to vote, members voted against it.

Virgin Nigeria Airways said it was changing its name to Air Nigeria Development Limited to make it fully indigenous.

The airline, which
is now to be called Air Nigeria, was in September last year renamed
Nigerian Eagle Airlines by the then chief executive officer, Dapo
Olumide.

Jimoh Ibrahim,
group managing director of the carrier said at the airlines head office
in Lagos that this recent name 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 registered with a
certificate number RC501975.

Image of the nation

In April, Mr. Ibrahim had hinted at a name change saying that the carrier’s new name will reflect the image of the nation.

“If I buy any
foreign company, I change the name to reflect Nigeria even if Virgin
gives me their name for free of charge I will change the name.”

It would be
recalled that Virgin Nigeria, which was launched amid great pomp in
2005, last year changed its name to Nigerian Eagle Airlines after
cutting ties with its founder – Virgin Atlantic Limited.

Prior to the name
change on September 17, last year, British billionaire and chairman of
Virgin Atlantic disclosed that the founding company of Virgin Nigeria
was looking forward to selling its 49 per cent stake in the carrier,
for which it paid about $25m in 2005.

Meanwhile, Mr.
Ibrahim said that the first branded aircraft in the new name will
arrive Nigeria before the end of next week from France, while the
remaining aircraft follow shortly after.

Assuring customers
that the on-going turnaround will be concluded within a short time, the
carrier’s managing director disclosed that by October 1, a minimum of
ten aircraft will be launched at a time by the company.

“We are expecting ten aircraft before October to boost our operations and increase our destinations,” he said.

Mr. Ibrahim further
assured his workforce that no employee will be laid off as a result of
the on-going turnaround, stressing that since the nation’s flag carrier
was acquired in April, no worker has been fired.

“If anyone is incompetent, we will make him competent,” he said.

The federal government on Wednesday described reports that it is planning to sack 50,000 workers as mere speculation.

Emmanuel Aziken, a
special assistant to the minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka
Wogu, said in a statement released in Abuja that the clarification was
necessary in order to dispel rumours making the rounds that the Federal
Government would sack the workers as part of its civil service reform.

“The federal
government would not, with one hand give to the populace and take same
with another hand,” he said. “President Goodluck Jonathan has, in
various ways, demonstrated his sincere empathy with Nigerian workers
both physically and otherwise. The latest of such his gestures was his
quick approval of the recommendations to bridge the disparity in the
salary scheme of the core civil service.

It is, as such, out
of place for him to go against his track record of proclivity to the
interests of Nigerian workers by approving the plans to unduly retrench
workers. The ministry, however, restate its commitment to actively
promoting employment of more citizens either in the public service or
in the empowerment of business entrepreneurs. As such, I want to
emphatically declare that there is no such proposal to retrench civil
servants for whatever purpose.”

The report quoted sources from the office of the Head of Civil
Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, as saying that he issued a
circular to compile the data of the affected staff and that he had also
inaugurated a committee to advise him on how to reposition the
Executive Officer cadre in the Federal Civil Service as part of efforts
to reinvigorate the service for effective performance and efficient
service delivery.

A man suspected to
be a member of the alleged Boko Haram group that unleashed mayhem on
Kano in July 2009, has been set free, after the prosecution withdrew
charges preferred against him on technical grounds.

Abdulrahman
Dayyabu, who was standing trial before a Magistrate Court on a six
count charge of criminal conspiracy, inciting public disturbance,
joining unlawful assembly, armed with deadly weapon, and causing hurt
to public servant, regained his freedom after almost a year in
detention.

State prosecuting
counsel from the Kano State Ministry of Justice, Yakubu Sule, urged the
court to release the accused and remove his name from the charge sheet.

The freed man, in
company of other suspected persons, were on trial before a Magistrate
Court. They are accused of having allegedly acted contrary to sections
of the Penal Code law, alleging that they injured five police officers
in Wudil local government area in Kano State.

The presiding
magistrate, Sani Ismail, advised the freed suspect, Mr. Dayyabu, to
refrain from any unlawful act, adding that the best way to live in a
multi economic, political, and religious complex society like Nigeria
is to respect the views of others, devoid of infringements on the other
from all ends.

Consolidate charges

In his prayers
before Magistrate Courts 10 and 24, the state counsel said, “Pursuant
to the jurisdiction of this court, following the advice from the office
of the Attorney General in the Kano State Ministry of Justice, cases
against the accused person have been consolidated, the two FIR have
been directed by the office of the Chief Registrar, High Court of
Justice to the Chief Magistrate Court 8.”

Chief Magistrate
Court 24 and 10 separately ruled that the accused Boko Haram suspects,
and documents related to their trial before both courts, be transferred
with immediate effect to Chief Magistrate Court 8, presided over by
chief Magistrate Ismail.

Ruling on the new
charge sheet, on which all those arrested in connection with Boko Haram
saga in the state were arraigned before his court, Mr. Ismail ordered
that the accused persons remain in prison custody, while adjourning the
matter to June 10 for mention.

The new charge
sheet stated that the twenty six accused persons connived with Salihu
Al-Jasawi, who is at large, in inciting public disturbances.

in Wudil local government area of the state.

“You attacked Wudil
divisional police station, you were found in possession of some
chemical substance used in making explosive, cutlass, bow and arrows,”
said the charges read to the accused persons.

The Senate and the
House of Representatives yesterday received official request from the
president, Goodluck Jonathan, who has urged for a downward review of
the 2010 budget in the face of dwindling government revenue.

Key members
confirmed last week that lawmakers had assured Mr. Jonathan of a speedy
approval for the budget review that will slash federal expenditure and
reduce the oil price benchmark by at least $10, immediately a formal
request was made.

In a letter to both
chambers, dated May 29, 2010 and read to the lawmakers yesterday, Mr.
Jonathan affirmed his earlier position last week, that the N4.6086
billion budget, which he signed into law in April 2010, was no longer
tenable with current economic realities of the nation.

“Recent revenue
developments indicate significant shortfalls in both oil and non-oil
revenue, which may well continue for the rest of the fiscal year, with
adverse implications for the financing of the budget,” he said. “Given
the recent drop in international oil prices from the over $80 per
barrel to under $70 per barrel, it is prudent to revise the oil
benchmark price to a more realistic level.”

Part of the
president’s recommendation to the lawmakers, Ita Enang, a House member
said, is the reduction of the oil benchmark price, initially moved by
the lawmakers to $67, back to its original $57 per barrel. With the
falling international oil price, the government fears allowing the perk
at $67 per barrel will imperil federal savings and affect spending
negatively.

In his letter, Mr.
Jonathan stayed off naming his preferred figures for either the oil
price or the total reduction, although he is said to have also called
for a total budget reduction of 40%. The president also requested for
fresh appropriation for “critical expenditure heads that were either
inadvertently omitted or under provisioned for.”

Such expenditures
will cover funds for the newly negotiated civil service wages increase,
the arrears of monetization for the staff of the Power Holding Company
of Nigeria and the celebration of Nigeria’s 50th anniversary.

“It is my hope that
the National Assembly will kindly consider and approve these request
expeditiously to resolve these challenges,” the president said.
Lawmakers are expected to commence consideration of fiscal submissions
tomorrow.

Supplementary bill

Accompanying the
2010 budget review proposal is an additional supplementary budget
proposal to authorize the executive access to N639.8 billion from the
Consolidate Revenue Fund. The bulk of the supplementary budget, about
N507 billion is for recurrent expenditure while the balance N132.6
billion is for contribution to the Development Fund for additional
capital expenditure.

A large chunk of
the N507 billion set aside for the recurrent expenditure will be shared
amongst the office of the secretary general of the federation, foreign
affairs ministry, information and communication ministry and the
ministry of women affairs to be used for Nigeria at 50 celebration in
October.

The balance of N287
billion in the recurrent expenditure will be applied to the public
service wage adjustment cut across payment of 2 months arrears to
members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), wage
increase for core civil servants, universities, colleges of educations,
and medical professionals.

The balance will also apply to feeding allowances and stipends to
ex-militants of the phase II amnesty and reintegration program and the
rest, to arrears of monetization for Power Holding Corporation of
Nigeria.

The House of
Representatives Committee on Pension yesterday asked the Office of the
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to commence the payment of
N69 billion outstanding pension arrears to federal government
pensioners.

The committee
chairman, Razaq Adewusi, who stated this during a visit to the office
of the Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye, said the National Assembly had
provided for N42 billion in the 2010 Budget following ceaseless
complaints by the pensioners.

Mr Adewusi
explained that the committee made the visit because a lot of issues
were raised by the pensioners over non-payment of pension and gratuity.

“We mandated them
to ensure the payment of the outstanding arrears to the affected
pensioners,” he told journalists after the visit.

The lawmaker said
he and other members of the committee who accompanied him on the visit
monitored the verification exercise of the pensioners and noted that
there will still be complaints after the the biometric system was
applied.

“The system would
enable us to know who and who to pay; the exercise would enable pension
managers know the data base and as they are doing this they would be
collecting their cheques on the spot.

“This was what led
to the delay and now that the biometric system has commenced, the
affected pensioners would be paid on the spot,” he said.

Unhappy lawmakers

Mr Adewusi
regretted that pensioners still complain of non-payment of pensions and
gratuities, adding that the committee members were not happy when
pensioners came to the National Assembly to protest.

Mr Steve explained that since he assumed office, he made it a priority that pensioners get their dues promptly.

He stated further that there is enough money to pay pensioners and
what has delayed the payment had been the verification which he said
has been concluded.

The President of
the West Africa Bar Association, Mousa Coulibaly, yesterday, disclosed
the readiness of his association to provide legal assistance to family
members of victims of the Boko Haram murder.

Mr. Coulibaly, who
said this in an exclusive interview at the association’s secretariat in
Abuja during the formal handing over of the leadership of the group to
him, condemned the killings of the Boko Haram members by the Nigerian
Police.

A Maiduguri High
Court recently awarded a compensation of 100 million naira to the
family of Baa Fagu, a victim of the extra judicial killings, who was
arrested and killed in police custody for being a father-in-law to the
Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf. The group was involved in violent
clashes with the police and men of the Nigerian Army, resulting in the
death of several members of the group and many police and army
personnel.

While outlining the
plans of his administration and praising the previous administration
led by Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, Mr. Coulibaly stated that his
administration would focus on “the promotion and defence of human
rights, rule of law, and the defence of democracy within the ECOWAS
space.”

The WABA boss, who
promised to build a strong relationship between the bar associations of
the various West African countries, also condemned the military coup in
his home country of Niger, while explaining that the actions of the
former democratic leadership caused the coup.

Monitor elections

The new WABA
President said that his association will always help to monitor
elections in the West African sub-region, to ensure that they are
transparent and meet international standards. He explained that they
had already commenced plans for this.

“WABA has just
written to the president of the ECOWAS Commission to be included in the
team of election monitors in the elections to take place in Guinea on
July 24.”

The other members of the new WABA executive are Joseph Camara, first
vice president, who is also the president of Sierra Leone Bar
Association; Waidi Moustapha, 2nd vice president, and also former
president, Benin Bar Association; Olawale Fapohunda, Secretary General,
and member of the Nigeria Bar Association; Sidiki Camara, deputy
secretary general, who is also the secretary, Guinea Bar Association;
and Ogugua Ikpeze, treasurer, and also former treasurer of the Nigeria
Bar Association.