Nigeria Content Online

Amnesty
International has called for the retrial of the seven Nigerians who
were convicted by a court in Equatorial Guinea for their alleged
involvement in an attempted coup in that country.

A court in the
capital city of Malabo, on April 5, sentenced the Nigerians, consisting
of six men and one woman, to 12 years imprisonment each, on charges of
attempting to assassinate Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo during an alleged
attack on the presidential palace last year.

“The Equatorial
Guinean authorities must take action to make sure these men receive a
fair trial,” said Tawanda Hondora, deputy Africa director of the human
rights’ organization. “They were denied access to proper legal
representation, and their complaints that they had been tortured in
custody have not been investigated. Neither has the death in custody of
one other Nigerian woman.”

Fishermen or coup plotters?

The accused
reportedly pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, and claimed to be
fishermen and traders who found themselves lost at sea and had drifted
into Equatorial Guinea waters where they were arrested by the navy.
Amnesty reports that a Nigerian woman also detained at sea has since
died in custody.

According to media
reports, gunmen in speedboats launched the attack on the presidential
palace in Malabo in the early hours of February 17, 2009. The
Equatorial Guinea government moved swiftly to blame the Movement for
the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a militant group in southern
Nigeria for the attack.

The agency also
demanded that the Equatorial Guinea authorities release two members of
the country’s opposition party, the People’s Union, who have been kept
in prison six weeks after they were reportedly acquitted of all charges
levelled against them.

“Later on the day
of the attack, the Equatorial Guinean navy arrested the Nigerian men
and women in a boat in Equatorial Guinea territorial waters,” stated
Katy Pownall, Amnesty’s acting African press officer. “No weapons were
found in the boat.” Following their arrest, the Nigerians and the two
UP members were held incommunicado and without charge until mid-October
2009 in Black Beach prison in Malabo. All were reportedly tortured to
extract ‘confessions’ from them.”

The seven
Nigerians: Marck Etim Marck, Eyoh Okon Ikara, Eyon Kun Jhon, Effiong
Matew, Okokon Iyanam (aka Mintay), Isangadighi, and Ekaette Eyo Okon, a
woman, were tried between March 17 and 22, 2010, by a court of appeal
in Malabo, the Tribunal de Apelación de Malabo.

Denial of fair trail

“They were not
allowed access to a lawyer until a few days before the trial started
and were thus denied the right to present an effective defence,” stated
Amnesty International. “No weapon or other evidence was presented in
court to sustain the charges against the Nigerian nationals.
Nevertheless, the court dismissed their claims that they were fishermen
and traders and convicted them on the basis of weather reports for 16
and 17 February, 2009. According to the reports, the weather was good
and therefore, visibility was good so they could not have been lost in
fog and strayed into Equatorial Guinean waters.”

During their trial,
the defendants and their lawyers reportedly complained of torture,
including the death in custody of a Nigerian woman, but were stopped by
the president of the court who allegedly dismissed the claims as
irrelevant to the proceedings.

“The authorities must grant the Nigerian detainees access to
lawyers, consular personnel and any medical treatment they may
require,” said Mr Hondora.

Three committees of
the House of Representatives, which investigated the death of Grace
Ushang, the former corps member who was killed last year in Bornu
State, have recommended that her family be paid N20 million.

The House
committees on Women Affairs, Human Rights and Women in Parliament,
which conducted investigations into Miss Ushang’s tragic death, say the
Borno State government should pay the amount to her family as
compensation.

In the reports of
inquiry, which have been presented to the House for consideration, and
were obtained exclusively by NEXT, the committees said the N2 million
earlier offered by the Bornu State government, “was not sufficient”.
The recommendations are not yet final, since they are yet to be
discussed by the House’s general assembly.

“Stakeholders were
in agreement that the Bornu State government had not done anything
tangible to compensate the family of the deceased,” the committees
noted in reference to the public hearing they conducted on the case
last year. “They were of the opinion that N2 million was not
sufficient.” The eight-point recommendation says the late Miss Ushang,
who was alleged to have been raped and attacked to death by unknown
persons, be given a posthumous national award while the House monitors
the progress of compliance.

The report has left
out any direct punitive measures against any person or organization,
but notes with the police, that investigations are ongoing. Binta
Garba, a member who represents Adamawa State and who heads the Women
Affairs committee, said two weeks ago that the discussions were delayed
because of the House consideration of the constitution amendments.

But officials conversant with the House orders of investigation, say if there are changes, they will likely by minimal.

Gender Rights group
have dismissed the report as leaving out key elements which were
canvassed for, namely advising on penalties against security agents who
they argue have not acted enough to forestall a repeat of the incident.

Mma Wokocha, the
National President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria, said the
recommendation has sustained the notion that “money is everything” and
vowed to raise the issue beyond the lawmakers’ investigations if they
were eventually approved by the House.

“Even if the
parents are satisfied, we are not satisfied because that is not what we
fought for,” said Ms Wokocha, who was present at the House hearing. “We
will like to take this up. We need to know what happened and we need to
bring the culprits to book.” At the hearing, Ms Wokocha, a
gynaecologist, and other rights group representatives, condemned the
police report which ruled out rape as the cause of death. They
dismissed the police post mortem report which the police admitted was
conducted by NYSC doctors.

The groups and some
lawmakers urged the house committees to order a fresh autopsy to aid
investigations. But the report did not mention that.

Protect the youth corps members

In the remaining
parts of the recommendation, it says corps members should be posted to
only organizations that can provide for their safety.

It also advised
that corps members be properly educated about security measures and
should be armed with “simple security devices that can raise alarm if
they are attacked”. Adequate provisions should also be made for them to
avoid deprivation which can expose them to attacks, the report also
recommended.

Ada Agina-Ude,
Executive Director of Gender and Development Action (GDA), whose
organization was also present at the House hearing, said while the GDA
may not be concerned so much with penalties, the committee’s work was
too silent on finding the culprits.

“What should be
done is to underscore that the police do their jobs well. They should
be given time limits to find the killers,” she said.

Country Vice
President, International Federation of Female Lawyers, Ezinwa Okoroafor
urged for a report that will be effective in dealing with a repeat of
the incident.

“I commend the
committee for their steps, but the important thing should be about
forestalling a recurrence,” said the group’s Ms Ushang, 25, from Obudu
in Cross River State, was found dead in Maiduguri on September 26,
2009, while serving as a youth corps member in Bornu State. Reports,
later disputed by the police, said she was attacked, raped and killed
in a local neighbourhood of the state because she dressed in the NYSC
trouser kit.

“The case of Grace
Ushang should be treated urgently, as it is a great threat to our
nation’s unity and the NYSC scheme,” the lawmakers noted in conclusion.

In
the quest to consolidate on its victory in the south west during the
2007 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the
weekend officially received some new and returning members into its
folds in Ondo State.

Former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, who spoke at the reception said the party would not
relent until it reclaimed the states it lost to the opposition.

Mr. Obasanjo, in
welcoming Jimoh Ibrahim and others into the party at the Akure town
hall, said he was shocked that the party lost Ondo State, and all
efforts must be made to regain the top spot in the ‘sunshine state.’
The rally which was attended by party members from all the 18 local
councils was however shunned by some prominent members. One of the
aggrieved members of the party and a former friend-turned foe of Mr
Obasanjo, Oyewole Fasawe who was conspicuously missing at the rally.

Some members of the
party who served as commissioners under Olusegun Agagu’s administration
in the state also refused to attend. Among the absentees were erstwhile
commissioner for finance, Tayo Alasoadura; former commissioner for
agriculture, Ayo Ifayefunmi and former secretary to the state
government, Isaacs Kekemeke.

We are ready for violence

Despite their
absence, members of the party were assured by Mr Obasanjo that the
party will be restructured ahead of the 2011 general elections to
reclaim the states it lost to the opposition parties.

While urging
members to be united and work as a team to dislodge other political
parties in future elections Mr. Obasanjo said, ‘there is a big task
ahead of the party in 2011, we must all work together to make sure that
PDP remains a formidable party in Nigeria. Our doors are open for those
who have defected to other political parties.

“I personally did
not expect what happened in Ondo state but we have put the issue behind
us. What we are doing today is not a rally alone but to welcome new
members to our party.” The former president, who charged members to
eschew violence, however said the party was battle ready to confront
any political party that is planning to unleash violence during the
next general elections.

He also admonished
aspirants vying for different positions in the party to do away with
any act that could lead to unnecessary division in the party, stressing
that in every contest there must be a winner.

“From the state
House of Assembly to the National Assembly, I want to appeal to all
aspirants not to nurse enmity against one another. You should not dump
the party because you were not given the ticket to represent the party,
rather you should work together as a family to wrestle power from the
opposition,” he said.

He charged members
not wait for the 2013 governorship election in the state but work to
win all the elective positions in the 2011 election as well.

Repositioning the party

The party’s
national vice chairman, south west, Tajudeen Oladipupo, said more heads
would roll in the process of repositioning the party, adding that the
cleansing would be extended to states, local governments and the
national levels of the executives. “There is the need for all leaders
of the party to make sacrifice in order to reposition the party in the
eyes of the general public. We also appeal to our aggrieved leaders to
bury the hatchet and work for the success of the party,” he said.

Mr. Oladipupo
commended the maturity exhibited by the former national chairman of the
party, Vincent Ogbulafor over allegation of financial misappropriation,
saying Mr Ogbulafor’s action has further proof that PDP is a credible
party.

“The decision to
resign when he was still being probed is a laudable development which
has further boosted the image of the party among Nigerians. Though, he
has not been found guilty, he demonstrated a good quality of a leader”
he said.

The former governor
of the state, Mr Agagu said the rally marked the turning point in
recovering the party’s stolen mandate in the state.

He accused the state government of abandoning the projects he was executing before he was sacked by the court of appeal.

The United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is expected to quiz Nigerian
officials over the allegations of a contracted marriage between a
serving lawmaker, Ahmed Yerima, and a minor when they appear before the
committee on Wednesday, May 26, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The delegates will
be in Geneva to present a periodic report on issues surrounding child
rights in Nigeria at the 54th Session of the CRC and will in turn
answer questions from the CRC. Typically, the delegates would be
expected to answer questions on such areas as child labour, education,
and female Genital Mutilation.

Joy Ezeilo, the UN
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and
children, however says that the delegates should expect to be
questioned on the recent controversy with the Nigerian senator who
allegedly contracted a marriage with a thirteen year old Egyptian girl.

Mrs. Ezeilo said it
fell within the purview of the CRC to question the delegates on all
issues that concern children in Nigeria even if the issues are not
addressed in the delegate’s periodic reports.

“Nigerians should
gear up to answer questions on senator (Mr.) Yerima’s matter,” she
said. I think the UN committee will take the Nigerian officials to
task. The CRC can take up any issue so far it concerns children.
Besides, the report should include issues on child marriages.”

Obstructing the Millennium Development Goals

The United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) describes child marriage as a violation of the
child’s human rights which the body says can lead to serious health
risks such as early pregnancy, and related risks. UNICEF also says that
child marriage contravenes with the basic right of every person to free
and full consent to a marriage as recognised in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

UNICEF also says
that child marriage is a direct obstruction to the achievement of
nearly all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including: achieving
universal primary education (MDG 3), protecting children’s lives (MDG
4), and improving health(MDG 5&6).

Concurring with UNICEF is another senator, Chris Anyanwu, who sits on the senate committee on MDGs.

“What UNICEF is
saying is only rational,” she said. “It is a very simple deduction. If
you pluck a little girl from school, she will not have the opportunity
to develop fully. It implies that that is one person lost to future
contribution to development,”

Mrs. Anyanwu, one
of the first senators who condemned Mr. Yerima’s actions, added that
“He has set a bad example and is indefensible. He may be our colleague
but we cannot approve his actions based on that. We cannot act in
impunity anymore. We are leaders and whatever we do becomes a symbolic
example for others to follow.”

Disgracing Nigeria

Mrs. Ezeilo said
that Mr. Yerima’s recent scandal would paint an ugly picture of Nigeria
in the international community, adding that Nigeria was once denied the
United Nations committee membership due to similar scandals in 2004.

This was when a female, Amina Lawal, was condemned to death in Katsina for alleged adultery.

“We had a highly
qualified candidate in 2004 but he was not chosen simply because of
Amina Lawal’s issue,” she said. “Now again, Nigeria might be
disqualified again because of this child marriage issue. It is really
unfortunate but we have to show that we respect international
conventions and laws.”

Other Children’s rights

Nigerian delegates
will also be speaking on the child witchcraft syndrome common in the
southern part of the country which recently came into public glare.

British born child
rights activist, Gary Foxcroft, the programme director of a UK charity
with offices in Nigeria, welcomes this development. Mr. Foxcroft has
spent the last two years caring for abandoned children.

“This development is particularly important because it shows that
the problem of human rights abuses resulting from child witchcraft
stigmatization is now firmly on the international agenda,” he said. “It
is clear that UN human rights bodies recognise the severity of this
issue and the legal responsibility of the Nigerian government to
address it quickly and effectively.”

The National Assembly has agreed to
review downwards, the N4.6 trillion 2010 budget recently signed by the
president, Goodluck Jonathan, by 40 per cent because of the drop in
crude oil price. To this end, the Assembly has agreed that the
presidency should forward an amendment bill on the budget to scale it
down, Ayoade Adeseun, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on
Appropriations, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday.The legislator said the review was
necessitated by the fear that the revenue projections for the estimate
might be unrealistic, while admitting that the budget, as passed by the
National Assembly, was facing some challenges.

Mr Adeseun said, “The challenge facing
the budget as passed is basically that of revenue. The price of crude
at the time the budget was passed was $84 per barrel and the National
Assembly decided to peg the benchmark to $67 per barrel, which was used
as the revenue projection for the budget, but the current price of
crude as at today stands at $69 dollars per barrel.

“It is not going to make any economic
sense to leave the benchmark of crude at $67 as projected because the
actual price at the international market is becoming too close for
comfort. It is obvious that something must have to be done to avoid (a)
huge budget deficit that might threaten the economy,” he said.

Adeseun admitted that reviewing the appropriation law might not
particularly be ‘out of place’, noting that Mr Jonathan is expected to
forward a proposal for the reduction of the budget to the National
Assembly, for consideration within the week.

After over 50 years
of dispute over the boundary between Ipesi-Akoko community in Akoko
South-east local government area and Idogun community in Ose local
government area of Ondo State, the state government has demarcated the
boundary as a solution to the problem.

The Deputy Governor
of the state, Ali Olanusi, who doubles as the chairman of the state
boundary committee, presided over a meeting with leaders and
stakeholders of the two communities where he made the decision known.

After the meeting,
he warned that the government would no longer tolerate any act of
lawlessness under the guise of boundary dispute in the state and
advised the two communities to let peace reign.

The demarcation,
read by Mr. Olanusi, stipulates that 60 per cent of the disputed area
be allocated to Ipesi Community, while 40 per cent be given to the
Idogun people.

He said the decision on the disputed area was based on various investigations conducted by the commission.

“Ipesi Community
claimed that the natural boundary between the two communities is river
Awowole, but it later agreed to a settlement by the colonial masters
that river Okikanmi should be their natural boundary,” Mr Olanusi said.

After all findings,
Mr Olanusi said, there was no record or document anywhere to show or
give clue to a boundary between the two.

“With the evidence
on grounds and in conjunction with various investigations and to let
peace reign, the boundary commission under my control concluded that 60
per cent of the disputed area should go to Ipesi, while 40 per cent be
given to Idogun community,” the deputy governor said.

A community leader
in Ipesi-Akoko, Oladele Akadiri, however, rejected the verdict of the
commission, saying his community would not accept it.

The Onidogun of Idogun, Moses Ekundayo preferred equal sharing of 50-50 per cent.

Research is one of the core functions of higher education and can determine the reputation of a university.

Hence government,
policy makers and donor agencies are concerned with the quality and
impact that research from the institutions has on society. This is
because research and innovation have been acknowledged as critical
factors for fuelling long-term sustainable economic growth, generating
employment, and alleviating poverty.

However, recently,
the issue of research uptake has become very contentious as
governments, communities and industries for whom research has been
undertaken to address their needs prefer to have nothing to do with it.

One reason for
this, according to a lecturer at the University of Jos in Nigeria,
Jonah Akpa, may be the issue of who determines the priorities before
the researchers go to work.

Communities,
governments and industries have their priorities, which do not always
align with a funding organisation’s desire for investing in a research
project.

“Researchers in the
ivory towers look for grants to undertake research that will not only
enhance their financial status but also earn them a promotion,” Mr Akpa
said. “But regrettably, most governments in Africa don’t fund research
even though they have the greatest need for it.”

Other reasons for
the seeming disconnect between town and gown is the inability of
researchers to communicate their research to governments and the
communities effectively, the absence of relationships between
researchers and the media, research undertaken mainly for purposes of
promotion, or dubious study samples utilised as part of the research.

Michael Ranson and
Sarah Bennett at The Alliance for Health Policy and System Research,
which is part of the World Health Organisation, said in a recent
publication that donor funding for health-system-financing research is
inadequate and often poorly aligned with national priorities.

This position is
supported by Goski Alabi of the Institute of Professional Studies in
Ghana, who says it is important that research aligns with the
priorities of national, community, university, and funding
organisations to ensure that the results of such research are not
shelved.

“Today, most
research is undertaken not because it is targeted at addressing a
problem but because there is available funding,” she said. “So, it is
important we have a change of mindset about what research is supposed
to be and should result to.” The African deficit Bassirou Bonfoh of the
Swiss Centre for Scientific Research in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, says no
country can develop without investing heavily in science and
technology. Mr Bonfoh also said scientific research is instrumental in
determining the rank of national economies.

“Unfortunately,
most research is still funded by external funds and African governments
still fail to use at least one per cent of their gross domestic product
to support research as stipulated by the African Union. Africa cannot
wait exclusively for outside solutions and funds to the problems faced
by the continent,” Mr Bonfoh said.

The position of
African governments, according to Ogoh Alubo of the African Population
and Health Research Center in Kenya, is informed by the lack of
partnership between the policymakers and the researchers. “There is
little evidence to show that policies in Africa are research-driven,”
Alubo says.

The position of
African governments has caused sleepless nights for funding agencies
and this has led to the several workshops to evaluate and advise on how
donors can get governments, communities and industries to develop
interest in the research they are funding.

Abel Olorunnisola
of the University of Ibadan said it remains a surprise that, in spite
of the huge investment in engineering education in Nigeria, the country
is still grappling with a myriad of engineering challenges. “While the
challenges exist, much of the research output from the universities
lies fallow on laboratory shelves,” he said.

In 2009, the UK’s
Department For International Development (DFID) convened a meeting of
experts across the African continent in Ghana to discuss the issue. One
of the findings was that research was not being prioritized. The group
also acknowledged that there has been weak flow of communication
between the media and researchers, and researchers and governments,
resulting in each group working in isolation and with a lack of access
to relevant and timely information.

The International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), a public entity created by the
Canadian government to aid researchers in the developing world, is
convinced that the creation of new knowledge remains vitally important
to humanity’s ability to grapple with challenges.

Linking research to need

Wallace Udoh, with
the Nigerian ministry of Works and Housing, believes, however, that the
application of the IDRC mandate has been limited to universities and
research institutes.

“There is no way
you will be able to affect or enhance the development of developing
countries without aligning your priorities with that of the government
of the day. Otherwise you are only interested in undertaking academic
exercises whose outcome is of no use to society,” Mr Udoh said.

At the recent
INORMS 2010 Congress, a meeting of research managers from around the
world that was held in Cape Town, South Africa where the issue of
research uptake came to the fore, the conference participants stressed
the need to align research funding organisation’s priority with that of
the applicable government, universities, and society for maximum impact.

South Africa’s
Minister for Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, said it was a
government’s obligation and duty to invest in fundamental research.

“Business cannot do
that. Business has to rely on governments to educate scientists and
technologists; innovation depends on an educated workforce and to
maintain the basic infrastructure of research at universities and
research institutes,” she said.

“It is governments who have to look to the long term and invest in basic research.” she says.

Ms Pandor also said
governments must lay down policies and standards that will promote
research and innovation, adding that such innovations must be to social
and economic benefits. Chris Nhlapo of the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology in South Africa, agreed that research must align with the
economic activities of the region in which it operates.

“University
research policy and strategy must align with national policies and
strategies because society wants research to result in beneficial and
measurable impact,” he said.

I grew up as a
teenager, in the streets of Benin City, opposite the famous New Benin
Market and ‘Regent Cinema’ where the notorious Anini had his enclave.
There, it was purely the survival of the toughest and craftiest – or so
we thought, until the God factor became clear.

Well, I survived,
despite the daily troubles and fights, especially when we had to fetch
water from those public taps where iron buckets were used freely like
in WWF – World Wrestling Federation. I had an uncle who nicknamed me
‘fighter’ because every time he entered my father’s house, he found me
by the corner kneeling down, with my eyes shut, and usually, he would
be told that I was involved in a street fight. How I managed to escape
without serious bodily harms I have now discovered to be God’s love for
innocent and ignorant children.

My story, however
is about adults. I told everybody at that time that I would rather have
internal ailment than have bodily injury that would live a scar on my
skin. Now I know better, having found out that inside our body resides
the most delicate organs. So, when I trace the history of Nigeria in
the last fifty years, I have found out that many of our leaders have
always travelled outside the shores of this nation to take care of
their failing health in the area of the heart, liver, or kidney.

The question then
arises, why have all these leaders who have continuously recycled
themselves or their children not been able to build an ultra modern
hospital that will take care of these organs effectively?

All fingers point
in one direction. This happens to be the last card in our quest for a
corrupt-free society and it is also the joker in the pack of cards, for
our acquire-all looters in the corridor of our nation’s power. A lot of
comedians have joked about most governors and even some past presidents
concentrating their efforts in refurbishing or making our prison houses
more comfortable. But to their bewilderment, according to the jokes, if
you refurbish Kuje Prison, when you are out of office, the new helmsman
may decide to send you to Gasua Prison, where the sun’s heat has never
been known to be merciful. But again, a leader who is sympathetic could
keep you in Kuje Prison in Abuja, where most political prisoners live
better than most of us outside.

Not so smart heart

It is, therefore,
very credible that these gang of leaders have refused to build a
hospital good enough because it will not support their evil ploy of
looting and bleeding the nation. As has been found out, even our
courts, after the usual de-briefing from the brief case of these
international thieves, grant that “the accused be allowed overseas
travel for medical care, for a failing heart, liver, or kidney.” If our
politicians and their cohorts know that once they are caught in the web
of fraud and corruption, they will receive full treatment right here in
Nigeria, there will be some kind of rethink to this whole disease of
kleptomania. It is strange that their heart that was strong enough to
steal but not strong enough to face the music, and the same heart would
always fail them before or during trial.

Unfortunately, President Umaru Yar’Adua (may his gentle soul rest in peace), died from heart and kidney related diseases.

Perhaps, if he was
able to get treatment for these obviously terminal ailments here in
Nigeria, the time spent in transporting him abroad could have been used
to stabilise and accord the sickness proper and more effective care
and, most importantly, the craft and chicanery of the cabal would have
been made more difficult, if not impossible.

When I saw Rotimi
Ameachi of River State on television, speaking about the new Port
Harcourt City his administration is building, and the international
standard hospital he has budgeted for in that garden city, I could not
help but say a Daniel has come to judgement. But your Excellency sir,
is our new modern hospital going to be able to treat effectively and
perfectly the very elusive problems of the liver, kidney, and heart?

For a popular musician once sang “…can’t always trust it no, the
heart is not so smart, goes where it should not go, the heart is not so
smart”.

The chickens are
coming to roost. The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the
Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), the Federal Government will be
setting up a committee that will determine the authenticity of the Pius
Okigbo Panel report, review the allegations and recommendations with a
view to ascertaining whether the allegations can sustain a criminal
charge against former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida on
the abuse of government funds during his time in power.

A coalition of
civil society organisations had, on May 5, 2010 made real its promise
to dust and produce the certified true copy (CTC) of the report long
submitted by the Pius Okigbo Panel and alleged to be missing, after the
Justice Minister requested for the original copy in his reply to
group’s earlier petition.

Mr. Adoke received
the group’s couriered document last week after his return from Cape
Verde. Speaking with NEXT on Sunday, two of Mr. Adoke’s aides: the
Special Assistant on Media and Special Duties, Onyema Omenuwa and the
Chief Press Secretary, Ambrose Momoh said they could not as at now
state any specific action the government will take on the report.

Pick up a copy of NEXT on Sunday newspaper for details.

Three notable cases best epitomise
how Aliyu Modibbo, as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja, made a mockery of the Abuja master plan and entrenched lack of
due diligence as standard operating practice in land management.

The cases are the purchase of
4million square metres of land by Sunrise Estate Development, Houses
For Africa Development Ltd and Harmony Properties Development all in
Abuja.

Shady dealings

On Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at
the office of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in
Area 11, Garki, Abuja, Mr. Modibbo, then FCT minister, met with
officials of a fictitious company with the grandiose name of Houses For
Africa Development Ltd.

Pick up a copy of NEXT on Sunday newspaper for details.