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The nine aspirants
for the position of national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) will meet today in Abuja, as the party decides how they will
choose their next party leader.

The meeting follows
last week’s resignation of the party’s national chairman, Vincent
Ogbulafor. Mr. Ogbulafor is facing charges of fraudulently awarding
contracts worth about N200 million to fictitious companies when he was
the Minister of Special Duties during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime.

In the meantime,
candidates for the position are already emerging. Special Assistant to
the President on Political Matters, Polycarp Nwite, yesterday announced
his intention to contest for the position. Mr. Nwite is a Third
Republic senator and former ambassador to Botswana.

Others in the race
include former external affairs minister, Ike Nwachukwu, former Senate
President, Anyim Pius Anyim, former Ebonyi State governor, Sam Egwu,
Sunny Iroche, Dan Ulasi, and former Enugu State governor, Okwesilieze
Nwodo.

Mr. Nwodo is one of
the founding members of the party and is considered a favourite among
South-East senators who will meet later today to consider their
nominees for the chairmanship job.

Party at a standstill

While the race
ramps up, the ever-busy secretariat of the party in Wuse, Zone 5,
Abuja, was quiet on Monday. Car parks within and outside the premises
were empty and the secretariat is operating on skeletal staff. Workers,
who asked to remain anonymous, said that until a new chairman emerges,
they have nothing much to do.

An emergency meeting organized by party elder, Alex Ekwueme, to
discuss the emergence of a new chairman, was scheduled for Wednesday,
but has been postponed.

Eleven
workers of a firm owned by former vice president Atiku Abubakar,
recruited from Lagos for the installation and commissioning of a
hi-tech printing technology, “Atlantic Sizer”, are now stranded in
Yola, the Adamawa State capital, after their sack.

The sacked workers
claim that the management of Abti Press Group of Companies terminated
their appointment on May 4, “without any tenable reason.” They said
this was done after they had been “used” by the company to achieve its
aim of commissioning the “Hi-tech scratch card making facility”,
imported from Germany.

They narrated their
ordeal shortly after been quizzed by the police at the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office of the Adamawa Police State
Headquarters, the result of a complaint brought by the management of
Abti Press against the sacked workers on “threats” being issued by the
group.

The sacked workers,
however, explained that their protest was based on the “refusal of the
company to pay us our due entitlement.”

‘We were naive’

Akinrinola
Akintunde, the leader of the sacked workers regretted that they
“naively” took the offer of employment on the “strength of the name” of
Mr. Abubakar, without getting the management to commit in writing to
some of the verbal agreement reached before their offer of employment.

“The 10 of us
recruited from Lagos were all comfortable and living fine but then came
this organisation from Yola and they said it was owned by the former
vice president, Atiku Abubakar,” he said. “We failed to see the other
side and thought to ourselves the grass would be greener here, only to
come to this miserable end.”

The workers, who
claimed they are protesting against “modern slavery”, pointed out that
they are not ignorant of the fact that the company wanted to keep
afloat. Another of the worker, Odiase Ronald noted that they understood
that the company could no longer keep them. “We know they want to down
size, but why do it through the back door?” Mr. Ronald lamented.

Brandishing a copy
of what appeared to be a copy of another offer of employment for the
same job they were being paid over a million naira in gross annual
income now pegged at a paltry three hundred and sixty-thousand
naira(N360,000) albeit for the new employees as trainee operators.

‘We don’t talk to journalists’

ABTI Press Group of
Companies, established by the former vice president, has been battling
to come out from troubling financial waters it has been sailing in
since last year when it entered negotiations with some of its staff to
slash their remuneration.

Johnson Agwu, the
managing director, however refused to speak to the press on the issue.
However, a management staff, speaking anonymously on the matter in
Yola, said “everything was going by the dictate of the rule of law.”

But it was gathered
that the management has agreed to settle the entitlement of the sacked
workers at the instance of the commissioner of police.

Mr. Akintunde said
“the management of the company offered to give us a cheque for 60 per
cent payment of our salary,” adding that “the company promised to pay
the balance of their outstanding 40 per cent accruing since July, 2009
as entitlement sometime in July 2010.”

He concluded that they accepted the offer only to be given dude cheque for payment from a dormant account of the company.

Following the shut
down of airports and airspaces across Europe due to the prevailing
volcanic ash erupting from Iceland, the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA) on Monday, implored international travellers in the
country to be tolerant with airlines.

Advising passengers
to liaise with their respective carriers to confirm the status of their
trips, the authority disclosed that flights disruptions have started
and travellers may experience delays and even cancellations.

“Once again, the
NCAA is urging passengers intending to travel to Europe, particularly
UK, Ireland and some Scandinavian airports, to be patient with their
airlines, as volcanic ash have forced authorities to close and re-open
airspace, depending on the prevailing situation,” said Harold Demuren,
director general of the authority.

It could be
recalled that the volcanic ash eruptions of April disrupted flights
activities across Europe for about five days, which also affected
Nigerian passengers as most flights were either delayed or cancelled
outrightly for safety reasons.

“Another volcanic
eruption has occurred, and current weather patterns over parts of
Europe have resulted in an extensive ash cloud that is likely to result
in closure of some airspace zones,” Mr. Demuren added.

The authority,
however, disclosed that Virgin Atlantic and Arik Air departed the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Monday, at about
11am, adding that British Airways departed the airport at about 3.30am
and landed “safely” at Heathrow, England, at 3pm.

Outlining some
international airports that are currently open for flight activities,
the authority disclosed that Amsterdam airport was closed till 2pm
Monday, and would be re-opened thereafter, adding that Frankfurt,
Paris, Madrid, and Rome airports are all currently open to operations.

Admitting that
larger number of delayed flights and stranded passengers would crowd
airport departures halls and with limited rooms to accommodate the
travellers, the NCAA boss disclosed that passengers should endeavour to
contact their travel agents or international carriers.

“It is advisable for passengers to re-confirm their departure
details with their airlines and find out any special arrangements that
have been made for passengers whose journeys have been disrupted to
avoid untold hardship,” he said.

Nigerian
hepatologists say they watch most of their patients die of end stage
liver diseases without being able to help them, because the patients
report at hospitals too late. End stage liver disease is caused by
viral hepatitis over a long period of time.
Under the
professional body, Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in
Nigeria (SOGHIN), the scientists at a workshop creating awareness ahead
of the World Hepatitis Day, marked every May 19, decried the increasing
rate of patients who could have been prevented from dying, if only they
had been screened earlier.
“Early screening is
the key to preventing this deadly disease,” says a liver specialist,
Oluyemi Aderemi. “We should have more screening centres across the
nation. Once a person is screened, if he tests positive to the disease,
he can be further treated before it develops into liver cirrhosis or
cancer. And if he is negative, he can be immunized against it.”
Vaccination provides 95 per cent immunity.
According to Dr.
Aderemi, Nigeria has a prevalence rate of 10-20 per cent, which means
about 14-28 million people are infected with hepatitis, and about 5
million die of the consequences, annually.
Knowing hepatitis
The World Health
Organization defines viral hepatitis as a small virus that attaches
itself to the DNA. In other words, the virus attaches itself to the
genetic components of a person. Experts say it takes 20-30 years for an
infected person to develop a full blown liver disease.
“So all the people
who present with liver diseases at age 20 or 30 must have been infected
since childhood without knowing it,” Dr. Aderemi says.
Viral hepatitis has
various types, but B and C are most common. From their clinical
experience, the experts say Type B is the commonest in Nigeria, being
highly infectious, and about 50-100 times more infectious than HIV. The
virus lives in body fluid; blood, sweat, semen, tears, urine, vaginal
fluids, even saliva.
Transmission could
be during pregnancy from mother to child; through injection drug use
that involves sharing needles; through breaks in the skin resulting in
contact with blood or opens sores of infected persons; needle pricks;
sharing items such as razor blades; blood transfusion and through
unprotected sexual intercourse with infected persons.
“If left untreated
for years, infection with the virus can lead to scarring of the liver
(cirrhosis), liver cancer, liver failure and, ultimately, death.”
Treatment dilemma
Dr. Aderemi says
hepatitis is treatable and preventable if it is detected early through
early screening, but there are not enough screening centres and there
is low awareness.
Describing it as a
silent killer, he says hepatitis shows no symptoms until it has got to
the end stage where the patient comes into the hospital with a swollen
stomach, jaundice and coughs or vomits blood. At this stage, there is
really little any doctor can do.
In her experience,
Funke Adeleye, a physician at the Gastroenterology department of the
Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba, says, “It is very
sad when you watch your patient die without being able to help them.
…Many of them show up when the liver has become severely damaged. We
tell their relatives the truth so that the dying patient has enough
time to put his her house on order…there is nothing we can do.”

Calling on the government
SOGHIN called on
the government and NGOs to raise awareness by conducting screening
exercises just like in the cases of hypertension and diabetes, in
market places, schools, pre-employment and so on.
“When people are
screened, they will know their fate early. That is the only way to help
us (hepatologists) to save lives. Otherwise, late presentation will
always lead to death.”
They added that
vaccination in Nigeria has been available since 1982 but there has been
low awareness. Not until 2005 did the government make hepatitis
vaccination part of the routine immunization for all children.
The message for the public is that children born before 2005 are
unlikely to have been immunized and should, therefore, go for screening
and be vaccinated if not already infected.

Frantic efforts are
being made by the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issues that
resulted in a stalemate at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee
meeting held last Friday.

The meeting ended
abruptly following disagreements by members over the recommendation of
its technical subcommittee on distributable revenue for the month.

Authoritative
Presidency sources said, in Abuja, that the Minister of Finance, Segun
Aganga, and Minister of State Finance, Remi Babalola, as well as the
Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Dankwambo, will be
meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan today in an attempt to gain
clarity on certain issues.

Mr. Babalola, the
committee’s Chairman, had hinted that a meeting of the major
stakeholders will soon be convened to re-examine the facts and data as
well as assumptions and estimates in the 2010 budget so that a way can
be found out of the stalemate.

However, there are
indications that complex political considerations may impinge on
efforts to find a resolution. NEXT investigations indicate that one of
the issues likely to be tabled for discussion with the President is the
need to approve the disbursement of the sum of N736.985billion from the
balance of $4.393billion in the Excess Foreign crude account to augment
the budgeted distributable revenue allocation for the three tiers of
government.

Though total
distributable revenue for the first quarter of the year, according to
available figures from the Office of the Accountant General of the
Federation, was put at N1,495.021 billion, indications are that only
N431.747billion from the monthly revenue receipts as well as a balance
of N212.559billion in the Domestic Excess Crude Account was available
for distribution.

The President is
required to authorize withdrawal from the Excess Crude Account to
augment the available amount, but Presidency sources said yesterday
“President Goodluck Jonathan might not be very disposed to taking that
action for obvious political reasons.”

According to our
sources, the President will be reluctant to approve the release of so
much money to the state governors with just a few months elections as
he would want to avoid a situation where the funds are diverted into
the re-election campaigns of the state governors.

“Don’t forget, most
of them know they are not in his good books. Apart from mobilizing
against the President’s emergence in the wake of the Yar’Adua’s health
crisis, most of the governors were also not on the same page with him
on the issues of ministerial appointments; the trial of the former
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman as well as choice of the Vice
President.

“Insisting that
they be paid all the arrears of the differential between $45 and $67
benchmarks (over N737billion) for the four months is obviously one of
the ways to get whatever they can before the elections,” the Presidency
source said yesterday.

However, one of the
representatives from the South-South states who attended the meeting on
Friday said, “The immediate implication of the refusal of the
government to release ` the arrears for the four months would be that
civil servants would have to go without salaries for some time till
when the payment is made. This is the only way to show government that
the matter is very serious.”

Besides, the other
issue that would have to be thrashed out would be the need to review
the benchmark and other assumptions in the 2010 budget approved by the
National Assembly, which are considered higher than normal.

The National
Assembly had raised the oil benchmark proposed in the 2010 budget from
$59 to the barrels to $67 from last year’s benchmark of $45 to the
barrel.

The implication in
this action is that more money would be accruing in the Excess Crude
Account for distribution to the three tiers of government during the
year.

The
National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday paraded six
suspects, including a pregnant woman who were apprehended in three
different raids carried out in Ogbese, Akure North Local Government
Area of Ondo State.

The suspects were
arrested for allegedly serving as custodians of Indian hemp in
warehouses in Ogbese. Walter Nicholas, the new Commander of the agency
in Ondo State, while briefing reporters about the activities of the
command, said the officers of the command also seized six tonnes of
Indian hemp from the suspects.

Mr. Nicholas stated
that the suspects were merely remotely connected with the drugs because
the real barons behind them had disappeared. He regretted that Ondo
State was leading in the cultivation of Indian hemp, as 60 per cent of
the drug currently being produced in the country, were from Ogbese and
other villages around Owo.

He explained that the suspects were arrested because they were sighted near the warehouses where the drugs were kept.

He also said
operatives of the agency had dismantled a local factory where the
barons compressed bags of Indian hemp into small packages for export to
Spain en route Kano and Libya, adding that most of the Indian hemp
usually being seized by the agency in Kano, was usually procured from
Ondo State.

“The development
has portrayed Ondo State in a bad light,” he said. “It is something
that is highly shameful. To curb the dangerous trend, traditional
rulers and security agencies in the state have been enlisted in the
fight to bring the barons to book.

“Ondo State is endowed with abundant virgin and fertile land that
should be used to cultivate plants that could be exported or processed
for local consumption. Farmers should embrace the cultivation of such
plants instead of cultivating Indian hemp.”

As the plenary
sessions of both chambers of the National Assembly begin today to
confirm the nomination of Namadi Sambo as the nation’s vice president,
there are indications that the Senate and House of Representatives may
use sharply different considerations to screen him.

Letters informing
both chambers of President Goodluck Jonathan’s choice of Mr. Sambo,
governor of Kaduna State, as the vice president, reached the leadership
of both chambers last weekend.

However, it is
still unclear if the legislators would have Mr. Sambo appear in person
to answer questions, or at least make an appearance before the
lawmakers.

Members of the
House of Representatives, who are performing their first such approval
function unlike the Senate which has confirmed ministers, are planning
to have a physical interaction with the vice presidential nominee
before approving his nomination by the president.

Approval procedure

The Senate, which
has always screened and confirmed executive functionary nominees, is
considering approving Mr. Sambo’s nomination based on his nomination
letter – without seeing him.

Ayogu Eze, the
Senate spokesman, said on Monday that, “In accordance with our rules,
the letter will be read as an official correspondence from Mr.
President in plenary on Tuesday (today). Thereafter, a time and date
will be set when the Senate shall approve the nomination, in accordance
with section 146 sub-sections 3 of the 1999 constitution.”

In a telephone
interview, Mr. Eze argued that Mr. Sambo may not need to appear before
the Senate, since it is not a confirmation screening as was applicable
to the recently appointed ministers.

However, Ita Enang,
the chairman, Business and Rules of the House of Representatives, said
the House has invited the nominee to its sitting.

According to him,
the House of Representatives will rather have the vice presidential
nominee appear before it since he is not known to all Nigerians.

Sources note that
the president’s choice of Mr. Sambo does not tally with the wishes of
the members who preferred one of their own. They have, however,
promised to give their assent to the president’s choice.

Mr. Sambo was
nominated by President Jonathan last week after a period of jockeying
and lobbying for the post by various interest groups.

Mr. Jonathan however chose a man who has been variously described as
a ‘dark horse’, because his name did not in any way feature among all
those bandied about by the different interest groups. His choice has
therefore, left many guessing, especially in view of next year’s
elections.

Wife of the General
Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Folu Adeboye, has
urged Nigerian leaders to place emphasis on good governance in order to
improve the welfare of the masses.

Mrs. Adeboye, who
made the plea at the weekend, during a seminar with women in governance
in Ondo and Ekiti States, held in Akure, said the time has come for
Nigerian leaders to shun personal interest and ensure that Nigerians
experience the gains of democracy in good time.

She noted that the
purpose of the seminar was to give the people an opportunity to embrace
God, stressing that Nigerians should show more zeal to serve God.

According to her,
all women in position of authority should fear God, adding that they
should not use their positions to oppress.

“Every leader is a minister, and we are supposed to serve our states and run errands for our people for good,” she said.

“To lead is to
serve. Women are supposed to have submissive spirits because, one day,
you too will face the judgement of God where all your deals will be
blown open and there will be no hiding place for you any more.”

Discussing the problems

The wife of the
Ondo State governor, Olukemi Mimiko, said the seminar came at the right
time, as it would enable women in Ondo and Ekiti States to brainstorm
on numerous problems facing the development of the area.

“A leader who does
not have the fear of God cannot be compassionate,” Mrs. Mimiko said,
adding that when a leader fears God, he or she would have the interest
of others at heart.

Indigenous airline operators in the country have criticised the decay of infrastructure at the nation’s premier airport.

This is coming
after last week’s over three hours power breakdown that was experienced
at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, which left
hundreds of international travellers stranded at the terminals of the
airport.

“We had mentioned
that these airports were a serious embarrassment to our nation, and we
wondered many times whether we are really serious about improving
aviation,” said Mohammed Tukur, assistant secretary general, Airline
Operators of Nigeria (AON), over the weekend.

Describing the
recent incident at the international airport as “an unbelievable
embarrassment to Nigeria,” Mr. Tukur disclosed that the disgrace should
be addressed by the appropriate authorities.

“This scandal is
simply unacceptable. It is obvious to all discerning Nigerians that the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport has failed. It is over crowded
and poorly managed,” he asserted.

Last week Thursday,
the Senate directed the committee on aviation to look into the issue of
the power outages at the Lagos airport which paralyzed flight
activities.

Mr. Tukur, however,
called on the government to move some of the airlines operating at the
international terminal to the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2), adding
that Nigeria’s image should not be further tarnished by the
developments at the international airport.

He urged the
Federal Government to implement programmes that would provide better
facilities for travellers and users of airports in the country.

According to him, for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) to function efficiently, debts owed it by airlines and users of
the authority’s facilities must be reconciled.

Two time
governorship aspirant in Ogun State Kayode Soyinka at the weekend
declared his interest in contesting the 2011 governorship election.

Mr. Soyinka, who
made this known to members of the Action Congress (AC), at Ward 10,
Ago-Owu in Abeokuta, called on party members to give him support. He
also expressed optimism that if given the party ticket, he would be the
better candidate to reclaim the party lost victory.

‘I am confident
that if I emerge as our party flagbearer, the coast is clear for our
party to win the governorship election,” he said. “If I can contest in
2003 and 2007 and still remain consistent with the party, it shows my
genuine commitment and a plus to my credibility.”

Primaries first

The journalist-turned-politician tasked party leaders to conduct proper screening for all intending aspirants.

‘Our first hurdle is the primaries. It is not difficult to win if we put our house in order before the polls,’ he said.

Mr. Soyinka also
said the Action Congress (AC) should work as one to fight its common
enemy, which is the Peoples Democratic Party.

“I have been to all
the 236 wards in the state, there is no local government area they
don’t know me. The records are there, if elected am going to also use
all my international connections to better the lots of our people,” he
said, adding that he is starting the governorship race from his ward
10. He also promised that his official declaration would be done in
grand style.

No political prostitute

A leader of the
party and former commissioner of education Yomi Ademefun called on
party supporters to give Mr. Soyinka their support to win the ticket
which, he said, is the first phase of the general election.

He argued that Mr.
Soyinka’s constant identification with Action Congress (AC) is an
indication that he is not a “prostitute politician”, but is convinced
about the party philosophy and ideals.

“If we had given recognition to his personality and decided early
enough to throw our support behind him, we could have taken over the
government and he would have being governor by now,” Mr. Ademefun said.