Nigeria Content Online

Cross River State
is so well attuned to its tourism industry that practically most
infrastructure are built to support the sector. This is especially
important since the state recently lost its status as an oil producing
state – and the attendant revenue.

The hotel
revolution in Calabar, the state capital, and other local government
areas, from 2005 onward is enough sign of the acceptance of the
industry in this state. In Calabar, new hotels spring up monthly.

It is an open
secret in Calabar that the commonest investment of politicians is in
this industry: members of the state and national assemblies from the
state now channel resources to gigantic hotel projects with world class
facilities. These hotels come in different architectural designs,
mostly with eye-catching outer Greek columns.

It’s about comfort

The infrastructure
development, especially in the hospitality industry, is aimed at one
thing: boosting patronage. Tourists need comfort.

Now, investment in
mass transit to facilitate the movement of residents and visitors and
tourists is receiving a boost. Following the ban of commercial
motorcycle operation in Calabar, investors have moved into the
transportation business.

Branded taxis and
buses – all brand new – have come to fill the void. The four companies
holding the intra-city mass transit franchise in Calabar today include
Pronto Cars, Canaan Cabs, Calabar Urban Taxis and Red Alert. Their
colours are deep blue, light green, blue fringed with green and red.

The special
adviser on public transportation, Gabriel Okulaja, listed criteria for
franchise to include capital, availability or provision of office,
telecommunication and other facilities necessary in the business. Also,
all the vehicles have a tracking system to prevent them from being
stolen without detection. This device helps in monitoring the vehicles
too.

More companies are
billed to register to operate under the franchise, but out of the
quartet already in business, Canaan Cabs appears to be in a class of
its own. The parent company, Remlords Tours, is an long time player in
the tourism business.

Out with the old

Recently, the
initial 50 cars demanded by the state government for a company to
qualify for the franchise were inaugurated by Mr. Okulaja. Another 150
cars will be added before this year runs out. The 50 cars were
dedicated by Josef Bassey of God’s Heritage Global Mission, Calabar.

Mr. Okulaja said
the decision to ban motorcycles was the culmination of government’s
plan to bring sanity to Calabar roads. “The formal commissioning of
Canaan Cabs is a direct result of the initiative of government in
creating the enabling environment for private sector driven provision
of decent, modern, safe and affordable transportation to the
citizenry,” he said.

Chairman and chief
executive of Canaan Cabs, Nkereuwem Onung, said his company has taken
advantage of the opportunity provided by the government to float the
scheme.

“This scheme is
not limited to Cross River State. Very soon, you shall be seeing Canaan
Cabs in Lagos and other cities. We are out to support tourism and also
meet the mobility needs of members of the public. We have consultants
from the western world. Together we shall build an enviable and
reliable transportation business,” Mr. Nkereuwem said.

According to Mr. Okulaja, a new dawn has broken for public
transportation in Cross River State. “It is an era in which rickety
cars have given way to brand new vehicles to facilitate the movement of
commuters, including that of local and foreign tourists,” he said.

The Federal High Court in Asaba on Friday granted
leave to estate agents and valuers engaged by 52 Ijaw communities to
assess property damaged by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the
area.

The 52 communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom had in
July 2009 instituted a N100 billion suit against the federal government
challenging the May 13, 2009 invasion of the areas by the JTF.

The suit filed on their behalf by Femi Falana,
leading Felude Zimughan and Selekeowei Larry, sought for damages for
lives and property “wantonly destroyed” by the military operations.

The communities also prayed the Justice Ibrahim
Buba court to compel the Federal Government to rebuild the houses
demolished during the bombardment.

At Friday’s hearing, Mr. Buba ordered that the
communities be permitted to assess and carry out valuation of property
or properties said to have been destroyed on or about May 13, 2009 by
the JTF.

The communities, through its counsel Mr. Zimughan,
had told the court that armed military men of the JTF were still in
occupation of the territory in which the applicants were located.

Mr. Zimughan said the estate valuers commissioned
by the 52 Ijaw communities required the protection of the court to have
unrestricted access to the property without fear of molestation or
intimidation.

He said the claims and reliefs sought by the
applicants were such that expert evidence was necessary to determine
the actual losses suffered as a result of the military bombardment of
their communities.

Mr. Buba, who granted the reliefs sought by the
applicants, said “The application is granted as prayed” and adjourned
the matter to May 24 for further hearing.

He ordered that the experts commissioned by the
affected communities should enter the areas to assess and carry out
valuation of property said to have been destroyed on May 13 by the JTF.

Counsel to the federal government, Emmanuel Okosun, had earlier told
the court that his clients were not opposed to the application and
would go into the substantive matter.

The Abuja chapter
of Women Optometrists in Nigeria on Friday in Abuja offered free eye
screening, glasses, and other services to Jahi village residents.

Claire Esenwah,
Chairperson of the Chapter told journalists that the choice of the
village was in fulfilment of the mandate to take health care services
to the grassroots.

Mrs. Esenwah said
many people at the grassroots were not aware of the need to go for eye
checkups, noting that this could be detrimental to their health.

She said many of
them were also not aware of the eye defects that they had, adding that
such ailments if not properly screened and treated could lead to
blindness.

“We are doing this
as a way to improve the lives of residents because we know they cannot
afford to do the screening. Besides the screening, we will be giving
out free eye drops, drugs and reading glasses to those with eyes
defects,” she said.

“For those with
very serious eye defects that could not be treated here, we will tell
them to come to the clinic where we can examine them. If surgery is
required, we will make sure that it is done and all expenses will be
borne by WON,’’ she said.

Mrs. Esenwah added that the gesture will also be carried to other
villages in other parts of the country where the offices of the
organisation were located.

The
counsel to the Lagos State House of Assembly, Festus Keyamo, on
Thursday, wrote to the lawmakers informing them of an appeal filed by
Richard Akinola, a human rights activist, on Wednesday, challenging the
power of the legislative House to probe the executive government.

“I have received
the notice of appeal filed by the claimant [Richard Akinola] against
that part of the decision of the High Court which declared that the
power of the House to investigate the governor cannot be interfered
with,” the letter stated.

According to the
letter, Mr. Akinola is appealing part of Justice Hakeem Abiru’s
judgement of March 16 where the Mr. Abiru held that the counsel to the
claimant, Babatunde Aturu, did not refer the court to any section of
the Constitution that prohibits the defendant, House of Assembly, from
constituting probe panel, as long as it follows due process.

For non-compliance
with due process, Justice Abiru quashed the first attempt by the House
to probe the activities of the executive government based on
allegations from a group called True Face of Lagos.

Last week, having
complied with the directive of the court, the House reconstituted
another probe panel which will have its first sitting on Monday, April
26.

However, while the
House has cordially entertained every request of the petitioner up till
now, the last request that the House allow the probe committee to sit
publicly seems to have been trashed.

There also is a
sense of urgency in the House’s attitude towards the probe issue, as
alleged by some pro-Fashola groups, when it gave the committee just two
weeks to conduct a thorough investigation into allegations that the
EFCC cannot finish within a month.

However, as alleged
by Mr. Keyamo in the letter, “they have also rushed to the Court to
obtain an injunction restricting the House from continuing with the
present effort to probe the activities of the governor.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing and no injunction has been given.

Ministers of Economic Community of West African States,
yesterday in Abuja, called for the emergence of a diversified regional economy
anchored on a competitive manufacturing sector and common regional industrial
policy.

Under the platform of the West Africa Common Industrial Policy
(WACIP), the ministers said the poor economic performance of the region as a
regional economic block is worsened by limitations to its industrial
development, socio-political instability, fiscal, legal and judicial
constraints, underutilisation of installed manufacturing capacities, lack of
competitiveness, infrastructural inadequacies, and lack of access to finance
and small national market.

Linking improved growth rates from 5 to 5.6 percent in the last
two years to the high global demand for commodities, especially the region’s
oil and gas, metals as well as minerals, the ministers noted that with the
decline in commodity trade as a result of the global economic recession, there
should be a concerted effort to halt the slide.

“It is imperative for the region to review its strategies and
consider diversification option through value addition and export of
manufactured goods. Members should continue to initiate measures to build
bridges of development, investments, and trade cooperation outside their
national boundaries, regions and continent. They should strengthen their
national economies, and in turn, the regional economy in order to sustain our
common and shared vision of regional integration,” Nigeria’s Minister of State
for Commerce and industry, Josephine Tapgun, said.

According to the Minister, the meeting was to strengthen actions
already adopted under WACIP, to encourage further discussions on aspects of the
policy and strategic framework by the Heads of State and Governments, as well
as industrial issues by the African Union Commission (AUC).

The devastating impact of the global financial crisis, she
noted, resulted in the crash in prices of Africa’s major export commodities in
the world market, including crude oil, gold and cocoa, pointing out that the
continent’s international trade, foreign direct investment flows, tourism and
foreign aid, have been adversely affected by the collapse of the capital market
in Europe, Asia and United States.

Hinging the economic transformation and sustainable development
of the region on a robust industrial sector, Mrs. Tapgun urged member-nations
to exploit their resources for local consumption and export, as well as add
value to their agricultural produce, while remaining competitive, if they are
to overcome global recession.

She cited the steps already taken by Nigeria to implement an
action plan that emphasises national, regional, and continental policy
frameworks, adding that apart from reviewing and revalidating its trade and
industrial policies, the Federal Government has set medium term target for the
manufacturing sectors in the national development programme spanning 2010 and
2013.

Modernise industrial
capacity

The Minister listed the targets to include modernising and
expanding the nation’s industrial processing capacity to 50 percent; increase
the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) from 4 to 13 percent;
enhance the business climate for manufacturing by reducing regulatory and other
costs by 60 percent; increase annual growth rate in manufacturing to 20
percent, as well as raise average local content in the sector from 22 to 55
percent.

Other targets include increasing agricultural produce processing
by 10 percent annually; attain 60 percent compliance with global International
Standard Organization (ISO) quality standards; increase share of manufactured
goods in export from 2.5 to 10 percent, as well as raise employment share by 15
percent annually by 2020.

The Commissioner for Trade, Custom, Industry, Mines and Free
Movement, Mohammed Daramy, said in view of the challenges of globalisation,
food insecurity, financial and energy crises to the economies of the region,
the ECOWAS Commission is determined to foster regional integration through a
20-year industrialisation action plan expected to last till 2030.

The plan, he said, would focus on diversifying the regional
industrial production to raise local raw materials processing by an average of
30 percent; boost contribution of manufacturing to regional GDP to over 20
percent; increasing intra-community trade in the region by 40 percent, while
export of finished and semi-finished goods from the region to the global market
would grow to one percent by 2030.

The committee on
power created by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to solve the
problems in the sector has said it will make public its blue print
within 30 days.

Speaking to
journalists at the end of a committee meeting at the presidential villa
yesterday, Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya, said the committee
will be effective because it is working under the acting president’s
direct supervision.

“The meeting is
essentially convened by the acting president with all the stakeholders
that will make things happen in the power sector and it is generally
agreed that all hands should be on deck to move the power sector
forward,” Mr. Wya said.

“The final
documentation of the programme and the vision are being worked out and
it will be announced to Nigeria.

“The issue of gas
that we have been talking we are going to discuss it centrally. We are
discussing security of the pipelines and other things. So the difference
here is that everybody involved in value change of fuel to distribution
of power are put on the same table under the watchful eyes of the
acting president.”

However, Mr. Wya
cautioned that the 30-day time frame was not set in stone.

“I said 30 days because I am talking to journalists and I don’t want
to be held by my words. I am not the chairman of this committee, the
acting president is the chairman and he is the one to unfold this plan.”

Two weeks after its take-off, the Social Democratic Mega Party
is already being besieged by politicians who have expressed their interest to
contest at gubernatorial and presidential levels on the platform of the party,
the Party’s Protem National Chairman, Pat Utomi, said on Wednesday.

Mr. Utomi was speaking on the political strength of the new
party, amidst statements by some politicians that it is just a paper formation
and dispute among two of its former backers, Atiku Abubakar and Balarabe Musa,
on their roles in the project.

“All the candidates, including myself, are getting ready for a
long primary-season during which we would go to the length and breadth of our
constituency to canvas members of our party to support certain ideas that we
stand for and how to serve the Nigerian people in a disciplined manner and
bring an end to this curse of poor leadership that has bedevilled Nigeria for
so many years,” he said.

“For the avoidance of all doubts, the movement is strong,
healthy and surging forward.” He said a number of those who initially
participated in the process that led to the formation of the party had
different ideas of what its outlook would be.

“Different players have had different understandings of the
issues in the run of process. The situation is that different perspectives of
the structure of the party that should result from the Mega Summit Movement
have been expressed from the very beginning as should rightly have been the
case in a democratic process,” he said.

Misfits will leave

On the challenges that the party faced at its beginning, Mr.
Utomi said two schools of thought were dominant.

“One school led by Balarabe Musa wanted the process to result in
the coalition of political parties where members continue to belong to their
parties and decide whether they wanted to concentrate on local or state
election while all collaboratively work towards issues at the national level,”
Mr Utomi said.

“The second school of thought suggested that, with the experience
that we as a nation have had in the matter of political party coalition, it is
better that people coming into MSM should come, leaving their political parties
behind and come to join as individual.”

Mr. Utomi said that the group finally agreed to a model that
fuses both schools of thought.

“People who lack discipline, who cannot follow party discipline and rigorous
visionary decision-making aimed at uplifting the majority of the Nigerian
people, self-serving persons in their orientation, would eventually leave the
party,” he said.

After weeks of rescheduling, our House of Representatives
suspended voting on the 1999 constitution review on Thursday, once more
deferring by an extra week, the crucial exercise needed to conclude the amendment.

The Deputy Speaker, Usman Nafada, said the process will now be
completed next week, but gave no reasons for the new date.

“We will stay here till 6pm today to conclude the consideration
today and then start the voting on Tuesday next,” he told about 200 members who
attended yesterday’s plenary session.

In a schedule released last week by the House and confirmed by
the Deputy Speaker, the lawmakers were billed to debate the separate provisions
of the amendments on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, while the electronic
voting was planned for Thursday, April 22, 2010.

Ita Enang, the Chairman House committee on Business and Rules,
who announced the plan, said the sundry legislative business will be suspended
during this week, while the House, already behind the Senate in the exercise,
focuses on its completion.

“It is exclusively a week we devote to the consideration and
passage of the amendment of the constitution and we will do all we can to avoid
anything that will be like a distraction,” he affirmed.

Through the week, the House has hardly adhered to its timetable,
admitting motions and other deliberations during the three days that always
commenced with hours of closed door sessions.

On Tuesday, it adjourned shortly after the executive session. On
Wednesday, lawmakers commiserated with Poland over the death of its president
and considered a motion on wind storm damage in Gombi town of Adamawa State on
Wednesday, before beginning a late afternoon debate on the amendment, drawing
past 6pm.

The lawmakers also took scores of minutes debating a
controversial remark of a colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila, who said the House
leadership has led the House away from the interest of Nigerians.

By Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Nafada affirmed that voting will
still hold Thursday.

Waiting till Tuesday

The exercise will now hold on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, he
announced again on Thursday, after voting cards were earlier assigned to
members and a mock voting carried out. He offered no explanation.

He only pleaded with all members to be in attendance during the voting next
week. “Your constituency will be watching you, so we should all try and be
present during the voting,” he advised, highlighting the suggestion that the
exercise was shifted since the House could not make for the required minimum of
240 members to pass a clause.

The Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, Thursday commended the
Nigerian Armed Forces for their loyalty and respect for civil authority and the
rule of law.

He stated this when he inaugurated a new barracks named after
late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua yesterday in Asokoro, Abuja.

He commended the army for being consciously subordinate to civil
authority, and urged them to continue their efforts. He said it is a hallmark
of the loyalty which the country expects from them. He also urged them to
maintain the high level of professionalism and healthy civil-military relations
they have shown so far.

Mr. Jonathan assured the military of the federal government’s
commitment to its welfare, saying its members “are daily confronted with the
realities of [the] dearth of comfortable accommodation, particularly in the
Federal Capital Territory.”

Commenting on the efforts of army engineers who put up the
barracks, Mr. Jonathan said he was impressed that “for the first time in the
history of our existence as a nation, our army has been able to bring its
professional expertise to bear in the concept, designing, and actual
construction of an entire army barracks for the use of its personnel.”

He expressed optimism that, as the Nigerian army had single-handedly
managed a project of this magnitude at such reduced cost, the defence sector
has the capacity to undertake any engineering project successfully and can
compete favourably in the industry.

Army’s response

The Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Dambazau, thanked the
federal government for its unflinching support towards the building of the
barracks, which has underscored the government’s commitment to the welfare of
the military.

He said that with the completion of the barracks, 105 of the
families of military personnel would be accommodated and, by June this year,
another 105 families would be accommodated. He noted that the building project
was conceived in August 2008 by the Nigerian Army’s engineers under their
direct labour scheme, and this had cut down cost by more than 80 percent.

He explained that the barracks is named after late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in
recognition of his contributions to the development of the Nigerian army.

The Abia State
police command on Thursday said it is investigating the alleged
abduction of two foreigners believed to be Germans even though no
official report of the incident has been made to them.

The kidnapped men
were said to be on a picnic at the Azumini Blue River in Ukwa East local
government of the state last weekend when they were taken hostage.

The spokesperson of
the police, Alli Okechukwu, told journalists in Umuahia that the command
learned of the alleged abduction from the media as it was not reported
at any station. He, however, said the police was able to confirm the
incident.

Mr. Okechukwu said
“I want to make it categorically clear that the command also got the
news from the press. As I speak with you, there is no official report of
that alleged kidnap incident anywhere in the Abia State Police
command”.

Mr. Okechukwu said
after the command was besieged by journalists seeking to confirm the
report, its leadership dispatched officers to Azumini to investigate the
incident.

He said the
investigation revealed that the missing men had been at the river with
three girls.

“Our investigators
were told that when the expatriates ended their visit and were about to
go, some people shot sporadically in the air, scared away people and
whisked away the two in a waiting van and drove towards the boundary of
Abia and Akwa Ibom States,” Mr. Okechukwu said.

“In the melee, the
three girls and the driver were said to have run into the swamp but
reemerged later to drive back to Port Harcourt where they came from,
after the expatriates had been taken away by their abductors.”

The police spokesperson said the command was yet to ascertain the
nationalities of the abducted men and advised expatriates wishing to
travel to seek for police protection.