Nigeria Content Online

The Presidency
yesterday reiterated its claim that Goodluck Jonathan inherited most of
his aides from his predecessor, late Umaru Yar’adua who also took over
some of them from the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.

The spokesperson
to the president, Ima Niboro said there was need to condemn “the
willful distortion of the list of appointees.” He said, “If you go
through the list you will know that some of them were already there and
only relocated to fill vacancies at the president’s wing,” he said.

A NEXT report had stated that the Presidency has an army of 133 aides who get paid about N780 million every year.

The report also
said Mr. Jonathan, after being sworn in as president last May,
following the death of Mr Yar’Adua, not only retained almost all the
special aides appointed by his late boss, but also appointed 57 new
ones.

Mr Niboro, in his
second response on the issue, said most of the new appointments were
made to fill in vacant positions at the office of the President and
Vice President, when the president vacated his office as vice president
to the office of the President.

“You don’t come
into office and fire everyone. Here we are complaining about
institutional memory and someone somewhere believes the president
should fire everybody,” he said. “Having said that, I think it is quite
silly to claim that I told a lie, when the evidence that I am correct
stares you in the face. I maintain that apart from the normal positions
the president filled in the presidency, a large number were inherited.
The president has created only a handful of key positions, like the
special advisers on power, policy monitoring, SSA on Diaspora Affairs,
the Coordinator of Anti Terrorism, and a couple of others that were
found to be needed for the times.

“Indeed I can tell
you that the president has not even exhausted the Special Adviser
positions approved for him by the National Assembly,” he said.

The Federal Government on Wednesday in Benin
flagged off the first phase of the Benin-Abraka road reconstruction
project with a call on host communities in the area to cooperate with
the contracting firm, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC).

The 30km road project was part of the contracts
approved for the 2010 budget, with the sum of N9.75 billion allocated
for the project which will be supervised by the Ministry of Niger Delta
Affairs.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe
who performed the flagging off ceremony un-behalf of President Goodluck
Jonathan, said the road construction will be completed within three
years. He assured the people that the construction company handling the
project will do an excellent job.

On his part, the Minister of State
for Works, Chris Ogiemwonyi, disclosed that the federal government road
project will cut across Edo and Delta States, adding that the first
phase cuts across three local government areas of Orhiomwon,
Ikpoba-Okha and Oredo in Edo State.

Prisoners across
the country will soon begin to benefit from better training and
infrastructure, the comptroller-general of prisons, Ogunsola Ogundipe,
has said. Mr. Ogundipe who was represented by the deputy comptroller of
prisons (finance), Salawu Momodu, said the prison service has started a
restoration programme which will ensure that inmates are no longer
housed in substandard buildings. He made the statement in Abuja on
Tuesday at the fifth International World Conference on Human Rights,
Criminal Justice and Prison Reform, hosted by the Citizens United for
the Rehabilitation of Errants. Mr. Ogundipe said that the training of
inmates to prepare them to adapt to the real world after their jail
terms would form part of the restoration programme.

“We are building
new prisons and upgrading old ones in a bid to develop prison
infrastructure, to ensure that inmates are kept in humane places. We
are also carrying out manpower development,” he said.

Mr. Ogundipe also said that the problem of prison congestion was
because of the large number of people awaiting trial. He said that the
prisons were designed for convicts and not those awaiting trial. Mr.
Ogundipe promised that the reforms taking place in the prison service
would ensure that the problem was tackled soon. He said that with
increased funding, the prisons would do better, arguing that the
colonial structures in the country should be updated. The former chief
justice of the federation, Muhammed Uwais, who also spoke at the event,
said the process of reforming the judicial prison system in Nigeria was
ongoing. He said that although Nigeria was still lagging behind
compared to other countries in the world, “we will catch up with them”.

The Nigerian
Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on Wednesday said that it has
commenced the migration from the current terrestrial operations to
satellite-based navigation to enhance safety across the nation’s
airspace.

According to the
agency, arrangements have been concluded for the takeoff of the project
in March, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has
been contracted to carry out the job which is to cost the organisation
₦360 million. “There are ample opportunities for airlines to fly in and
out of the airport with flexibility. It is going to be economical for
them as they will burn less fuel, make quicker turn and talk less with
the Air Traffic Controllers,” said Supo Atobatele, General Manager,
Public Affairs, NAMA at the agency’s headquarters in Lagos.

The satellite
navigation system configures a country’s airspace with the Global
Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is carried out through the
World Geodetic System 84 (WGS84) survey. Its completion will augment
flight operations, making it easier and safer for pilots to navigate
through the airspace. Funds spent in the acquisition of aviation fuel
will be reduced to a “large extent” when the satellite navigation
system is in place, and the difficulty experienced by airlines and air
traffic controllers in the positioning of aircraft in motion and on the
runway will be adequately corrected, according to the airspace agency.

Mr. Atobatele said
that the federal government will bear the cost of the project, adding
that the International Air Transport Association has carried out survey
of the 22 airports controlled by the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) including two others owned by the Akwa Ibom and Gombe
State governments. The NAMA spokesperson noted that at the moment the
project commenced at four major international airports in the country,
Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja; Port
Harcourt Airport, Rivers; and Aminu Kano Airport, Kano.

“With this
movement, we’ve gone digital and the issue of obsolete equipment is no
longer there. The GNSS is a modern trend in air navigation spatial
coordinate of terrestrial points, which was established by the ICAO
(International Civil Aviation Organization) and it’s the acceptable
international terrestrial reference framework known as WGS84,” he said.

Mr. Atobatele
disclosed that some foreign carriers have been picked for the test
flights of the new system and that the ICAO had set a deadline of 2016
for all member countries to migrate to the new regime, adding that the
agency looks forward to completing the project by 2012. “When fully put
into use, pilots in flight will depend more on the satellite to
navigate to the airport covered by the survey and depend less on land
aids.

NAMA had trained its personnel, airline technical staff, naval
officers and air force personnel for efficient handling of the
equipment.”

The continued
absence of Ibrahim Ida, Chairman Senate committee on Defence and Army
has stalled the passing of the Anti Money Laundering bill.

Mr. Ida represents
Katsina Central constituency in the Senate and heads an ad hoc
committee that was mandated by the Senate in July last year to
recalibrate the bill which the senator thought too harsh at the time.

Mr. Ida has since
the beginning of the week been absent each time the bill came up for
hearing. Traditionally, the Senate does not legislate on bills if the
author is not present in the plenary because the author has the
responsibility of defending the spirit and letters of the bill as well
as offer clarifications to fellow lawmakers on any ambiguous part of
the bill.

The anti-money
laundering bill is a complementary legislation to the anti-terrorism
bill which was passed by the Senate last week. Both the anti-money
laundering and anti-terrorism bills are based on recommendations of the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), established by the G7 Summit held
in Paris in 1989. The anti-money laundering bill will replace the 2004
version of the same bill which is said to lack the relevant provisions
that will make it fully compliant with the recommendation of FATF.
Passage of the anti-money laundering bill will mark Nigeria’s full
compliance with the international requirements for combating terrorism
recommended by FATF.

President Goodluck
Jonathan, for the third time in 11 months, written the lawmakers early
last week to expedite legislation on the Anti-terrorism and Money
Laundering Bills. Following the President’s repeated appeals to the
lawmakers, the Senate hurriedly passed the anti-terrorism bill on
Thursday last week, with enthusiasm to pass the complementary
anti-money laundering bill this week. However, each time it was
presented for hearing, Mr. Ida, the author of the bill was absent.

When contacted,
Mr. Ida rejected calls and did not reply text messages sent to his
official mobile line. The bill is not new to this kind of treatment at
the upper chamber . In July 2010, a deliberation on the bill was called
off after a slow-moving debate and adoption of the individual clauses
in the bill due to the absence of the initial author of the bill, Sola
Akinyede (PDP Ekiti state).

Although the
senators complained of the complex provisions of the bill which they
said could only be explained by the author, the senators also showed
apathy towards the bill. It was thereafter committed to the Mr. Ida
headed ad hoc committee for further calibration but it never came back
for hearing till the president’s last letter of reminder. Deadline for
the passage of the bill has since expired on June 30.

The governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola,
on Thursday, called for presidential debates for aspiring candidates vying for
the seat of the number one citizen of Nigeria.

Mr. Fashola, while speaking to reporters at the
presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on his way back from
a lecture titled: ‘Abundance of Possibilities for Nigeria’, which he delivered
at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, disclosed that higher institutions should
partner with their respective communities in a bid to make democracy work
better in the country.

“I am surprised that even as we speak, there is
no information that there will be a presidential debate, and we are going to
elect a president in the next few weeks. Now, democracy is always concerned
only about whether a candidate has been picked by popular choice.

“Democracy does not assure us that that candidate
knows what to do about security; it does not assure us that that candidate
knows what to do about electricity, or indeed about transportation or
healthcare. It is only processes built within the democratic process like
debates that enables the public test the preparedness of the candidates,
whether or not they are ready or they are even aware of what their problems
are,” Mr. Fashola said.

The governor disclosed that higher institutions
of civilised nations organise debates to get the basic information of whether
their choice candidate has the wherewithal to take the community to a better
level.

“This is what is done by universities like
Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and others for prime ministerial, gubernatorial,
and presidential elections in the two oldest democracies in the west. I didn’t
expect that we will be going to an election and at least there would not be a
debate held in each of the six geopolitical zones; three for the vice
presidential candidates, three for the presidential candidates in our
institutions of higher learning. How much will it cost to organise that and
televise it live?” He queried.

‘We need young leaders’

Mr. Fashola further called for young leaders in
Nigeria, arguing that it is by this that the country will be able to
efficiently tap from the knowledge of the youth.

“I think it is obvious now to everybody what
young people can do. For the very first time, they entrusted youth corpers with
the voter’s registration exercise and so far so good.

“If we don’t give this young people a chance,
then are we truly really sure that this democracy is about them, are we really
sincere that the future truly belongs to them? When 40-year olds are now
leading nations and our 40-year olds can’t even get to the Senate, they can’t
even become governors. Are we really preparing this generation for the future?
Those are the issues really. We cannot point to success in other countries and
refuse to do what those people are doing to get things right,” he said.

Striking Doctors

The Lagos State governor called on doctors in the
city to understand the constraints faced by the government, adding that the
government has done its best by increasing the pay of the workers.

He, however, said he will continue to dialogue
with the medical practitioners, as opposed to the demand for their sack by his
predecessor, Bola Tinubu.

“I think the point is that we will continue to
engage and appeal to them. This is not a war of who is superior; this is a war
of rationality and reason, and we think that the point has been made. It is not
a choice that we do not want to pay; it is the reality that we cannot afford to
pay the full sum that they are asking for.

“After salaries, we have to buy drugs; after
drugs, we have to power medical equipment and keep patients alive; after all of
these, we have to pay security; we have to build roads; we have to build more
schools; we have to provide water supply. These are all involved in this
process and not everybody can really have everything that he wants.

“We have made a compromise, we have increased salaries, and once again, I
appeal to them to see themselves as part of the solution rather being a
problem,” he said.

Lack of funds for
the construction of gas pipelines to power stations in the country may
affect the federal government’s road map on power. The Chairman,
presidential task force on power, Barth Nnaji made this assertion on
Thursday during a meeting with the joint committee of the National
Assembly on gas, where they discussed the progress of the various
gas-to-power projects in the country.

He said although
government is prospecting for alternative fund for the gas-to-power
project, the possibility of attaining the projected 40,000 megawatts by
2020 from thermal power plants is being frustrated by none allocation of
fund in the budget.

“There is no way we
can shy away from infrastructure if we want to grow the economy and
power is critical,” he said. “I want you to look at it very well because
this is key but government alone is not going to fund it. The private
sector will have to look for money to come, because the plan is for
government to develop the infrastructure to deliver the gas to the power
plants and then hands off power generation and distribution in 2011.”
“Provision of infrastructure for gas is key to unlocking economic growth
in Nigeria,” the task force chairman stressed.

The Director
General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogwu, however,
denied the statement that the project has no budgetary allocation. He
informed the Committee that N195 billion has been set aside for national
domestic gas development in the 2011 budget.

He, however,
admitted that government cannot provide the total N725 billion needed
for the project in a budgetary year because of pressing demands from
other sectors.

According to Mr
Okogwu, the sector needs another round of “holistic review.” “One of the
things plaguing the sector is because investment is not robust; we are
not spending sufficient funds. But as managers of the nation’s
resources, we need to prioritise.

“In 2011, we have
provided N195 billion, it is there in the budget. N725 billion is close
to a trillion. You will not get that from the budget in any year because
the aggregate budget is a little above one trillion, so asking us to
put another money into the budget will create problem,” Mr Okogwu
argued.

The Committee directed the budget office to enlist the gas-to-power project in the 2011 budget.

“You should give them funding even if it means looking for a third
party to attract national prominence,” Osita Izunaso, Chairman, Senate
committee on gas said. “In this next two weeks, let us have a framework
of how you are going to achieve the third party and if there is no fund,
there is no point continuing with the project. The Task Force should
wind up.” Mr Izunaso declared.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday
ruled that Godswill Akpabio, governor of Akwa Ibom state is the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the April general
election.

Presiding Judge, Abdu Kafarati, delivering
judgement in the suit filed by a PDP aspirant, Frank Okon praying the
court for an order to stop the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) from recognising Mr Akpabio as the party’s candidate,
said the evidence brought by the plaintiff to argue his case were mere
assertions.

Mr Kafarati subsequently struck out the suit for
lacking in merit and ordered that Mr. Akpabio be recognised by the
electoral body as the authentic governorship candidate of PDP in Akwa
Ibom state in the April polls. “The suit was more of an academic
exercise, but since the court has been approached, the door will not be
shut against the plaintiff but rather the court will look at the merit
of his case and having looked at the merit, it is of my view that the
suit lacks merit, on this ground I strike out the case”.

The plaintiff had, earlier through his counsel,
Andem Ndem dragged INEC, the PDP and Mr Akpabio to court, seeking an
order of interlocutory injunction restraining PDP from transmitting the
name of Mr Akpabio to INEC based on the result of the governorship
primaries held on January 9, 2011. Counsel to the PDP, Olusola Oke,
brought a preliminary objection praying the court for an order striking
out the suit on grounds that the party had internally redressed the
wrong for which the plaintiff came to court. Mr Oke informed the court
that the plaintiff had earlier petitioned the party over the January 9,
2011 primary election and the party had reacted to the petition by
cancelling the initial election and conducting a re-run, which Mr
Akpabio also won.

A group of lawyers has called for the immediate resignation of
both the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Aloysius Katsina-Alu and President of
the Court of Appeal, Ayo Salami to allow the judicial panel of inquiry into
cases of allegations against them to do its work.

The convener of the group, Malachy Ugwummadu, at a protest held
in front of the High Court of Justice, Ikeja said the continuous stay of the
two judges in the position of leadership is an opportunity for them to scuttle
justice and cover up the dirty details behind proofs of the allegations.

“Our claims and predictions is in full realisation and
recognition of the composition of the judiciary. As a self regulatory body, the
Nigerian judiciary is structured and configured in such a manner that the
identified principal actors are both in the leadership of virtually all the
relevant regulatory institutions and organs of the judiciary as chairman and
member respectively. By virtue of Section 12 (a)(b)and section 20(a)(c) 0f Part
A of the Third schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999, the CJN is the chairman of both Federal Judicial Service commission and
National Judicial Council, while the PCA is also a high ranking member of both
bodies just as they occupy similar strategic position in the legal
practitioners’ Privileges committee as well as the National Judicial Institute.

“These are the institutions that have the statutory
responsibility to self regulate the affairs of the judiciary particularly
regarding discipline and control. It is therefore evident that no meaningful
investigation, probe or inquiry can go on with their continued stay as the CJN
and PCA respectively,” he said.

One of the Lawyers, Ubani Monday said: “We the concerned members
of this profession now call on those involved to step aside from their respective
offices forthwith to allow for a full scale independent judicial panel of
inquiry comprising men and women of proven integrity and character to be headed
by a retired jurist in the calibre of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa or Justice
Kayode Eso.” He said.

The group however commended the intervention of the Nigeria Bar
Association for resolving to also investigate the allegations. The crisis
started after Mr Katsina-Alu in his capacity as the Chief Justice of the
Federation promoted Mr Salami from his present position of the President of the
Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.

In Mr Salami’s rejection letter dated February 4, 2011, Mr Salami claimed
that he was moved to the Supreme Court with an aim to replace him with Mr
Katsina-Alu’s stooge. He stated that, “I prefer to follow in the wake of my
worthy predecessors who in spite of their experiences retired as Presidents of
the Court of Appeal with their honour and reputation unsullied. The present
unholy move to push me out of the Appeal Court for whatever reason has no
precedence in our legal history.” Mr. Salami said.

South Africa-based
Nigerian, Kole Omotoso, of the Africa Diaspora Research Group yesterday
said one of the greatest hurdles against the nation’s development is
the inconclusive revenue allocation system.

Mr Omotoso who
spoke at the Ondo State Cultural Centre in Akure, said there must be
deliberate efforts to fund institutions and make them work.

The lecture titled,
“Liberation from Perdition: What option for a Nigerian politician,
Service at National Level or Service at State Level,” was part of the
activities marking the second anniversary of the administration of the
state governor, Olusegun Mimiko.

The need to evolve
a resource control system, according to him, was in tandem with the
constitutional provisions that the federal government has no control
over how states utilise their resources.

He said, “While all
nations invest in their national government the wealth of the nation,
it is how that wealth is shared that is of the greatest importance.” Mr
Omotosho, a Professor of English Studies, said the reason why
politicians prefer service at national level was the desire to halt
legislative hindrances to state development.

“The sole and most
valid reason for a politician serving at the national level instead of
the state level is the burning desire to rectify, to help to correct
legislative mistakes and idiosyncrasies that make development
impossible at the state and local levels. The failure to convert the
national government from the government of men to the government of law
is located in the Sisyphean struggle of the Nigerian politicians to
roll up the heavy stone up the steep slope of Nigerian political and
economic existence.

“If it is
impossible to do anything at the state level because of the ideas and
concepts at work at the national level, it might be time for the
Nigerian politician to serve at the national level. But there must be
clarity as to the reason for going there. It is to be able to do
something there,” he declared.

Explaining his
argument, Mr Omotoso lamented the constitutional obstacle to the
control of security apparatuses by the governors in their states which
sometimes lead to the use of militias. “Within the constitution of the
country, state governments have no control over the police in their
states. This is an impossible position to be for the governors.

What alternatives
do they have other than conniving with these various groups to have a
semblance of a coercive force to give a semblance of authority without
bowing and scraping to the federal government?” he said.

In his remarks, Mr
Mimiko said the future of the country depends on the quality of
education at all levels which is why the Labour Party administration in
Ondo State has come up with the idea of building mega primary schools
as a foundation of education.

According to him,
government must get primary education right to ensure that graduates in
the country are able to compete favourably with their peers across the
globe.

The governor also agreed that state governments must not wait for
the Federal Government before developing at their own pace, noting that
development in the south west under the late Obafemi Awolowo was often
ahead of the Federal Government.