Nigeria Content Online

President Goodluck
Jonathan has been nominated to make key note presentations to world
leaders on peace keeping and conflict resolutions at the 25th
Africa-France Summit in Nice.

Mr. Jonathan, who
is attending the summit on the invitation of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy, arrived the Southern French city of Nice on Sunday.

Nigeria’s
Ambassador to France, Gordon Bristol, told journalists that Mr.
Jonathan was nominated by Mr. Sarkozy, the convener of the summit,
because of the pivotal role Nigeria played in peace, security and
conflict resolution in Africa and the world.

“From Kosovo to
Middle East, we have sent peace keeping troops under the banner of the
UN and AU. Nigeria has co-invented new approaches to peace keeping as
evident in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, using the instrumentality of
sub-regional organisation as envisaged under the relevant charters of
the UN.

Nigeria is well
suited to speak on the issue of peace and security in the world and
Jonathan will do that at the summit,’’ Mr. Bristol said.

Heads of States and
Governments from Africa, Asia and Europe are participating at the
two-day summit which opens today at the Nice Acropolis Convention
Centre.

As part of the
visit, the president has also been scheduled to hold meetings with Mr.
Sarkozy as well as Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt.

He will also hold a
business forum with Nigerian and international business communities as
well as meet with foreign ministers on the situation in the Great Lakes
Area.

The Bayelsa State
governor, Sullivan Chime and his Benue State counterpart, Gabriel
Suswan, are in the president’s entourage, to explore areas of
cooperation and investment in agriculture and tourism with foreign
partners.

Also in the
entourage are the ministers of petroleum, Deziani Allison Maduekwe,
foreign affairs, Odein Ajumogobia, national planning, Samsudeen Usman
and commerce, Jubril Martins Kuye.

Tagged a
“Renovation Summit,” the multi-national gathering is to revamp
relations between Africa and France and the growing awareness of the
changes taking place on the continent.

It will also
discuss Africa’s roles in global governance, peace and security as well
as climate change, economic challenges and the need for a development
leap.

The Africa-France
Summit was initiated in 1973 by two African presidents, Niger
Republic’s Mamman Troure and Senegal’s Leopold Senghor.

The summit
initially was to provide a forum for French speaking African countries
and France to discuss political and economic issues.

In 1975, however, the summit was extended to Asia, English and
Portuguese-speaking African countries and later to all African
countries.

The National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday said Nigerians living in
Europe are fast becoming the delight of drug barons.

Hamza Umar, the
Lagos airport commander of the agency, explained that these youth
already have travel documents that make them easy prey for drug lords
who cajole them to participate in the illicit trade. Ten Nigerians have
recently been arrested by the agency attempting to smuggle narcotics at
the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

“Apart from the two
suspects who live in Lagos, all eight others live in Europe,” he said.
“The total weight of drugs found with the suspects is 12.33kg
consisting of 1.11kg heroin and 11.21 of cocaine.”

The airport
commander gave the names of the suspects as Osaze Godwin, 37, who
ingested 60 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.01kg; Izevbokun Kelvin, 22,
had in him 111 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.61kg; Joe Favour, 26,
ingested 82 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.30kg; Nwodo Ugochukwu, 34,
swallowed 95 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.51kg; and Chinedu Okeke, 40,
who swallowed 69 wraps of heroin weighing 1.11kg.

“Others are
Obarisiagbon Marvis, 32, with 77 pieces of cocaine weighing 1.44kg
inside him; Liasu Ismaila Ajadi, 41, ingested 80 wraps of cocaine
weighing 1.19 0kg; Ejiro Henry, 19, ingested 73 wraps of cocaine
weighing 1.28kg; Lever Solomon Ehigie,21, ingested 66 pieces of cocaine
weighing 900g; and Omorose Kingsley, 28, that swallowed 960g of
cocaine.”

A good name is better

Ahmadu Giade, chief
executive of the agency expressed regrets the “get rich quick syndrome”
inherent in the Nigerian youth, stressing that it is time for Nigerians
to embrace the principles of discipline and contentment.

According to Mr.
Giade, indiscipline and greed are the prevalent factors responsible for
the involvement of youths in the trafficking of narcotics, and urged
youths to re-brand themselves with values that show integrity.

“Drug traffickers
usually act on impulse as a result of greed and indiscipline.
Unfortunately, many only have a re-think after they had been caught,”
he said. “A good name is priceless and what integrity and discipline
offers is far more valuable than silver and gold.”

How suspects were nabbed

Mitchell Ofoyeju,
spokesperson for the agency disclosed that Osaze Godwin, a father of
two who live in Spain, was arrested on May22, during screening of
passengers on Iberia flight, and the suspect’s reason for drug peddling
was to “make ends meet.”

“Izevbokun Kelvin
lives in Torino, Italy, and was caught during the screening of Alitalia
flight on his way to Rome. His reason for trafficking drugs was as a
result of the global economic meltdown,” said Mr. Ofoyeju. “Godwin
hails from Edo State. Joe Favour also from Edo State lives in Parma,
Italy. He was to board Alitalia flight to Rome on May 20, 2010 when he
was caught.”

According to the agency’s spokesperson, all the peddlers will be arraigned for prosecution soon.

Commission
Secretary, Ahmed Salman, through a statement issued in Ilorin said,
“Elections would be conducted into the offices of Chairmen and
Councillors in all the existing 16 local government councils in the
state. By this development, intending contestants from all the
registered political parties are advised to take note and be guided
accordingly.

“The scheduled council elections are in accordance with the 2010 amended Kwara State Local Government Electoral Law.”

NAN recalls that
the last council elections in the state, which produced the present
chairmen and councillors, was conducted in 2007.

A non-governmental organisation, the Lagos
Millennium Group, said it has secured a grant of $2 million from Shell,
through a Public Private Partnership initiative, to upgrade the Ajele
Fire Station.

According to Timothy Oyedeji, spokesman for the
federal ministry of interior, the leader of the NGO, Taiwo Taiwo,
revealed this to him during a courtesy visit to the minister, Emmanuel
Iheanacho.

“The target of the NGO is to change the face of the station as it has an agenda of what it wants Lagos to be.

A communiqué,
issued at the end of a workshop in Maiduguri on Reporting Conflict,
also called on media owners to provide capacity building and exposure
for journalists, who were asked to strive hard to ensure that they
discharge their duties in a professional manner.

The participants
called on regulatory agencies, like the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) and
the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), to be more proactive to
ensure adherence to best practices.

They called for the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information Bill by the National Assembly.

The Italian Embassy, on Sunday, in Abuja, held the
sixth edition of the `’Made in Italy in Nigeria’ show, as part of
activities lined up for its June 4 National Day.

The event tagged, ‘A Taste of Italy 2010’,
featured various types of Italian dishes by renowned chef, Ferruccio
Minuz, a selection of Italian wines, and an exhibition space for the
Italian business community in Nigeria.

Speaking at the occasion, the Italian envoy to
Nigeria, Roberto Colamine, listed other events to commemorate the
national day to include an art exhibition on ‘Visions of Nigeria’, an
Italian animated movie for kids, and the national day reception slated
for June 4.

He said the activities were aimed at cementing the long friendly relationship between the two countries.

Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno, on Saturday, pardoned
33 prisoners in commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day, held at the
Ramat Square in Maiduguri.

He said the beneficiaries were shortlisted out of
the 92 convicts that applied for pardon. He also said the exercise was
based on the Section 212 Sub section A of the 1999 Constitution, which
granted him powers to pardon convicted prisoners. Five of the
beneficiaries were condemned prisoners awaiting execution.

Alain Le Roy,
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, made this known to
UN correspondents at a news conference on the international Day of UN
Peacekeepers, observed on May 29.

Mr. Ley Roy said
700 peacekeepers died in the last five years and in 2009 alone, 121
peacekeepers lost their lives while serving with the UN.

According to him,
of the 1010 fatalities suffered by the UN as a result of the January 12
earthquake in Haiti, 96 were from the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH), the biggest single loss of lives in the history of UN
peacekeeping.

Nigerians should be part of the
on-going political renewal in the country by embracing membership of
political groups, rather than complaining or criticising those
involved. The national president of Kowa party, Umar Mustapha, said
people’s bias against the political class, which made them to tag
politics a dirty game, means some few have been allowed to hijack the
system to lord it over others.

“KOWA party has emerged as an
alternative political movement, driven by the deeply felt desire and
sense of public duty of hitherto non-partisan Nigerian professionals,
entrepreneurs, development practioners, faith community leaders, civil
society activists, media practitioners, academics, and youth leaders to
organise collectively for turning Nigeria in a new direction,” Mr.
Mustapha said.

He said Nigerians must learn to demand
more from their leaders, saying these people have failed a nation of
strong and hardworking people.

“Nigeria is at a crossroads. The
quality of life is at its lowest, and our future and that of our
children are at risk,” he said.

The party leader however, said
Nigerians cannot afford to shun political activities and still support
the ‘one man, one vote’ campaign that the civil society is clamouring
for in the country. He called on Nigerians to join political groups
such as KOWA party, a people-party funded by the people.

“When few people are involved in the
funding of activities of a political party, then majority of the people
cannot be involved in the decision making or question how things are
done. So, the people need to know that they need to take over what is
theirs and contribute towards its development,” said Oluremi Sonaiya, a
professor of Foreign Languages at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,
and Public Relations Officer of the party.

Founded in June, 2009, the party said
its developmental plans goes beyond 2011 election to include
participation in the entire election, by using its political platform
to contest election and also monitor the entire political process.

The National Secretary of the party,
Olalekan Awogbemila, said the membership drive is for individuals
interested in contributing towards the development of Nigeria –
especially ordinary Nigerians on the streets, whom he said should stop
relegating themselves to merely watch how things happened without
prejudice to their financial status.

New progressive parties

KOWA party is one of a new group of
progressive parties fighting for space ahead of next year’s election.
Others include the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) and the Social
Democratic Mega Party (SDMP). Presently, the Independence Electoral
Commission still has just 37 political parties listed on its websites.

Nigerians are also wary about the likely impact of the new parties, with the elections so near.

Lagos lawyer and Action Congress
member, Jaiye Alabi, said: “It is an odd thing to say that some names
you hear are political parties. Every day, they register new parties
and you wonder if even you can ask the INEC people themselves to
mention their names off hand. They can’t.”

Recently, Protem Chairman of the SDMP,
Pat Utomi, also asked the ranks of progressives in Nigeria to unite and
save Nigeria from the aimless drift into poverty which, he said, is
increasing on a daily basis in the country.

“History would hold the progressive
elements and leaders of the opposition in permanent contempt if they
fail to rally and take advantage of the fact that PDP has become
unelectable, as they now are largely a Poverty Distribution Party,
rather than a political party,” he said.

The recent arrest
of a deportee, Ene Patrick, 34, and eight others for allegedly
smuggling about 11.45kg of illegal substances have further confirmed
experts’ worries on the rising cases of drug trafficking in the country.

These concerns
follow the incessant arrests made by the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agents (NDLEA) officials at the Murtala Mohammed Airport 1 (MMA1) in
the last few months.

The NDLEA Airport
command in a statement on April 6th, said the agency seized a total of
52.845kg of illicit drugs at the MMA1 in April alone worth over
millions of naira.

Government’s laxity

Investigations
revealed that more than ten people were arrested with about 70
kilogrammes of narcotics at the MMA1 between January and March 2010.

Darlington
Ajitenisan, a drug counsellor and broadcaster, said illicit drug
trafficking is on the rise because government treats the issue with kid
gloves.

Mr. Ajitenisan, who
expressed worries over the trend, said he had constantly through his
ministry as a pastor and counsellor preached against the dangers of
illicit drugs and their effects especially on youth.

“It is sad that the
government always talk about illicit drugs and they proud themselves in
the number of arrests they made but what happened at the end of the
day, the real kingpins, who are the barons are hardly arrested. Right
here at Egbeda (a Lagos suburb) where I live, some youth pride
themselves in taking hemp and cocaine.

“They sell the
drugs in broad daylight and when I tried to talk them out, they went as
far as burning me alive in my church, it was God who saved me. When I
reported the matter to the police, they treated it with kid gloves and
up till now that spot where they sell illicit drugs is still thriving
with even policemen and soldiers coming to smoke hemp there. So what
are they saying about arrest; where right under their nose, people buy,
sell and smoke hemp, Egbeda is not the only place there are so many in
Lagos and the police and the NDLEA have not done anything, “ said Mr.
Ajitenisan.

More peddlers

According to a
statement by the NDLEA, the figure shows that more women are engaging
in drug trafficking and the sad outcome is a family who had used their
6 year old twin sons to have allegedly trafficked cocaine worth over
N20 million in April.

Investigations also
revealed that in the first quarter of the year seven women were
arrested; while thirteen male were also arrested.

This figure increased sharply when in April alone a total of 21 suspects, eighteen male and three women were arrested.

The total seizure for the first quarter stands at 70.98kg as against 52.84kgs of last year; revealing an increase of 18.14kg.

Jimoh Bashiri, his wife, and their twin sons were the first family to be arrested in April.

According to the
NDLEA spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, “The 46 year old father Jimoh
Oladega Bashir was alleged to have connived with his wife Jimoh Mulikat
Adebukola in concealing 350 grammes of cocaine each on the diaper of
their 6 year old twins. The wife also concealed 3.350kg on her bra and
under wear which brought the total quantity of cocaine to 4.050kg.

The couple will now
face multiple charges because of the nature of their case. Besides
being the first family to be nabbed over cocaine trafficking in the
country, they are also the first to use their twins in smuggling
cocaine. The likely charges hanging on their necks include unlawful
possession and exportation of 4.050kg of cocaine, money laundering as
well as child abuse for using their six years old twins in cocaine
smuggling,” Mr. Ofoyeju said.

Also arrested in
March was a three month old pregnant woman, 29 year old Osatohamen
Esohe, who ingested 27 wraps of cocaine weighing 350gramme.

Mr. Ofoyeju said
despite the numerous arrests made by the agency, drug peddlers had
continued to devise nefarious means to conceal drugs. Some of their
methods include, concealing hard drugs in bras, foodstuffs, under
wears, diapers, stethoscopes, hair, vagina and anus, shoes, seminar
bags and shoe laces.

Speaking on the recent arrest, Mr. Ofoyefu said the NDLEA is
determined to halt illegal drug trafficking with the prosecutions of
the suspects, adding that this will deter others from engaging in the
crime.