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Iranian lawmakers
called for the death penalty on Tuesday for opposition leaders they
accused of fomenting unrest after a rally in which a least one person
was killed and dozens were wounded, state media said.

Clashes broke out
between security forces and protesters when thousands rallied in
sympathy for popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday. They
revived mass protests that shook Iran after a presidential vote in 2009.

“(Opposition
leaders) Mehdi Karroubi and Mirhossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth
and should be tried,” the official IRNA news agency quoted members of
parliament as saying in a statement. The statement was signed by 222
lawmakers out of 290. Being “corrupt on earth” is a charge which has
been levelled at political dissidents in the past. It is a capital
offence.

Iranian authorities
have repeatedly accused opposition leaders of being part of a Western
plot to overthrow the Islamic system. The claim has been denied by
Mousavi and Karroubi, who were prevented from attending Monday’s Tehran
demonstration. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also accused the United
States and its allies of providing support to the opposition following
uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, both Western allies. “The main aim of
Americans was to simulate the recent events in the Middle East in Iran
to divert attention from those countries,” Larijani said, state radio
reported. However the protests seemed to be over on Tuesday and life in
the main cities was back to normal. But its leaders are wary of a
repeat of the kind of protests which shook Iran after a presidential
election in 2009. That was the biggest unrest since the 1979 Islamic
revolution. At least 20 pro-reform activists were arrested before
Monday’s marches, opposition websites said.

Iran’s top
authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the
uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia against secular, Western-allied rulers
an “Islamic awakening,” akin to the revolution that overthrew the
U.S.-backed shah in Iran. But the opposition says they mirror their own
protests after the re-election in June 2009 of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.

Protesters resume in Bahrain

Thousands of
Shi’ite protesters marched into the capital of Bahrain on Tuesday after
a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral
for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally.

The killing, a day after a “Day of Rage” of protests on Monday,

raised the prospect
of further clashes between Bahrain’s majority Shi’ite Muslims and the
Sunni security forces backed by the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty.
Bahrain’s main Shi’ite opposition bloc Wefaq, which accuses the ruler
of discriminating and neglecting Shi’ites, responded to the violence by
boycotting parliament.

Enraged mourners
chanted anti-government slogans inspired by protests that toppled the
rulers of Egypt and Tunisia. “The people demand the fall of the
regime!” protesters chanted.

Thousands poured
into Pearl Roundabout in Manama’s city centre, having marched from the
funeral on the outskirts of Manama. Witnesses said the funeral clashes
broke out when around 2,000 people set out from hospital to escort the
body of slain protester Ali Mushaima through the alleys of Shi’ite
villages towards his home, where his body was to be washed before
burial. Diplomats say Bahrain’s protests may gauge whether a larger
Shi’ite base can be drawn to the streets to raise pressure for reforms
that would give them a greater voice and better economic prospects.

REUTERS

Lawmakers in
Nasarawa State have thrown out a motion by a member, Lagi Innocent
(Labour Party, Wamba) for members to unanimously condemn the use of
live ammunition on citizens of the state during the protest that
trailed the presidential rally of the PDP in Lafia, the state capital,
last week.

Some people were killed when security agents opened fire on demonstrators who pelted the PDP campaign team with stones.

Mr Lagi moved
his motion to counter an earlier one moved by Mohammed Onawo (Doma
North, PDP) who sought a resolution of the House to condemn the attack
on President Goodluck Jonathan when he flagged off his North-Central
zonal campaign rally in Lafia.

Majority of the
members supported Mr Onawo’s motion and the Speaker, Musa Ahmed
Mohammed said the House resolution should be sent to the state
governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma for him to deliver the message to the
presidency.

But Mr Lagi
stood up, insisting that the issue at stake was the use of bullets on
Nigerians by the police and soldiers when some supporters of the CPC
governorship candidate, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura poured onto the streets
last Wednesday to protest the arrest of Al-Makura by security agents.

Waste of life

But the labour
lawmaker, in his submission before the house, said it is condemnable
that armed security men should use life bullets on Nigerian citizens
who came out to protest the fall out of the attack on the president.

But his plea was rejected by members, who rather condemned his motion.

Mr Onawo later said yesterday on phone that he was undeterred by the response of his colleagues.

“Yes, I stood up to condemn the action of armed security men who
shot the kids on Lafia streets. If protesters threw stones and sachet
water, why would they come back with life bullets and kill? It means
they came back in retaliation. It is condemnable,” he said.

A lawyer, Oghenovo
Otemu, has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja for an order nullifying
the appointment of Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu as chairman of the board of
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), citing
alleged financial and administrative misconducts when he was governor
of Bauchi State.

Mr. Otemu, in his
originating summons, said while Mr. Mu’azu was the governor of Bauchi
State, several financial and administrative misconducts were discovered
and that the state government then set up a judicial commission of
inquiry to investigate and make recommendations.

In the suit, Mr.
Mu’azu is 1st defendant, the president of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 2nd defendant, the Attorney General of the Federation 3rd, and
Minister of Transport, 4th.

Specifically, he
said “that based on the inquiry and recommendation of the Judicial
Commission of Inquiry. the government of Bauchi State then came up with
a White Paper which is gazetted and published on 12th November, 2009. A
gazetted copy of the Government White Paper on the Report of the
Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Management of some Ministries,
Parastatals, Extra Ministerial Departments of the Public Service of
Bauchi State from May, 1999 to May, 2007.”

Furthermore, that
in the Government White Paper on the Report of the Judicial Commission
of Inquiry into the Management of some Ministries, Parastatals, Extra
Ministerial Departments of the Public Service of Bauchi State from May,
1999 to May, 2007 dated 12 November, 2009, the 1st Respondent was
banned from holding any public office for a period of ten years.

He said while the ban was still extant, the 1st Respondent was appointed board chairman by the 2nd Respondent.

Unfit for office

He wants a
declaration whether the Government White Paper on the Report of the
Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Management of some Ministries,
Parastatals, Extra Ministerial Departments of the Public Service of
Bauchi State from May, 1999 to May, 2007, is not a valid and binding
document on all authorities and persons in Nigeria, including the
Defendants, until set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The lawyer is also
seeking for a declaration that by virtue of the recommendations and the
Bauchi State government’s position which banned the 1st Defendant from
holding public office for a period of ten years and which is contained
and/or published in the Government White Paper on the Report of the
Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Management of some Ministries,
Parastatals, Extra Ministerial Departments of the Public Service of
Bauchi State from May, 1999 to May, 2007, the 1st Defendant cannot be
appointed into any public office until 2019.

He also wants a declaration that the appointment of the 1st
Defendant as board chairman of the board of Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency by the 2nd Defendant is null and void
by virtue of the Recommendations and the Bauchi State government’s
position, which banned the 1st Defendant from holding public office for
a period of ten years and which is contained and/or published in the
Government White Paper on the Report of the Judicial Commission of
Inquiry into the Management of some Ministries, Parastatals, Extra
Ministerial Departments of the Public Service of Bauchi State from May,
1999 to May, 2007.

Peter Obi, the Anambra State governor,
has urged leaders in the country to intensify effort towards building
bridges of friendship among Nigerians to engender a new national
consciousness.

Mr Obi stated this when he led the
South-East and South-South governors to a meeting with their
counterparts from the North- West in Katsina State. He said the meeting
is part of on-going effort by the governors in the country to promote
peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

“It is imperative on Nigerian political
as well as other leaders to work harmoniously in order not to bequeath
anarchy to the children of the country.” He said. On his part, Ibrahim
Shema, Governor of Katsina State who hosted the meeting, said it was
borne out of the resolve of the governors to work together for the
peace and progress of the country.

Speaking when the Governors paid him a
courtesy visit, the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir Usman commended
them for the wisdom to seek peace saying that without peace, no
meaningful development is possible.

The traditional ruler commended Mr Obi
for striving to use the South-East and South-South Governors Forum to
foster peace in the country and assured him of the support of the
traditional institution.

More calls for peace

In another development, the governors of
the South East have held a meeting with the leadership of Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) at Enugu.

The meeting which stretched till midnight was attended by all the governors of the South-East.

Mr Obi described the meeting as one that
will enable the governors to interact with religious leaders as they
did with other segments of Society on the way forward for the nation.

The CAN delegate to the meeting was led by its national President,
Ayo Oritsetjafor. Valentine Onaga, Catholic Bishop of Enugu and Obiorah
Ike, among others were there.

About 82 civil
servants evacuated from the quarters of Yola Motel, by a rent tribunal
sitting in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, fortnight ago have appealed
to the state government to come to their aid.

The displaced people
who, together with their dependants are close to 600, have up till the
end of the month to pack out of the government owned property, where
they have been taking temporary residency since 2001.

The affected civil
servants were dragged by the state justice ministry before the rent
tribunal after defying a government order to vacate the property. The
spokesman for the group, Garba Tarfa said they decided to take up
residency on the property because “they do not have the money to find
themselves another accommodation, we want the government to come to our
aid as we have nowhere to go,” he said.

Mr Tarfa noted that
there is no way the residents could find alternative accommodation
before the 21 days ultimatum given to them to vacate the premises of the
Motel grounds. “The time given us is around the corner and we have no
where to go, we want the government to come to our aid by fulfilling its
promise to help us with finance for relocation,” he pleaded.

The people had
appealed to the chairman of the rent tribunal that they were forced to
seek refuge at the Yola motel because of their poor economic condition
and that the majority of those staying at the premises could not keep
up with the high rent being charged by landlords in the state capital.
They also affirmed that they obtained tenancy approval from the state
ministry of information, culture and tourism, the government agency of
the motel, in 2001 as a way out of the housing challenge by most of
them.

The ordeal

Mr Tarfa said the
ordeal started last December when they received a letter from the
government asking them to quit the property. Confronted by the quit
notice, the tenants said they met and agreed to appeal to the
government, and therefore wrote a letter titled “appeal for respite”
dated the 11th of January, 2011.

“Not wanting to
leave anything to chance, we wrote an SOS-(Save Our Soul) to the Adamawa
state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress to intervene in the
matter. The labour body consequently conveyed our plight to the state
governor, Murtala Nyako,” Mr Tarfa said.

The state government subsequently promised to allocate land and some
token amount of money to enable all the civil servants relocate but
according to Mr Tarfa “the government is yet to fulfill that promise”
nd “we plead with the government to do so” he concluded.

The National
Universities Commission recently introduced entrepreneurship studies as a
compulsory subject for all university undergraduates in Nigeria. So the
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has also
included entrepreneurship studies in its newly-developed curriculum for
secondary schools. Godswill Obioma, executive secretary of the NERDC
told journalists at the weekend in Abuja that the effort is geared
towards inculcating requisites skills to empower young secondary school
graduates who do not have resources for acquiring higher education to
earn a living.

“When we came on
board in 2005, the first target was to see how we can link up with the
reform; NEEDS was adopted in 2004 and we have curriculum which we
revised for basic education captured the very essence of NEEDS: poverty
eradication and wealth creation,” he said. “We have revived the basic
education curriculum, taking into account HIV/AIDS education, basic
technology which creates basic element of national training. Another
major impact is the senior secondary school curriculum.”

Mr. Obioma said that
in the new curriculum, students are expected to take the normal
subjects and also, one technical and entrepreneurship.

“So when it comes on
board in 2011 and by 2014, graduates of senior secondary school would
have gotten at least one technical entrepreneurial skill. So if they
cannot go into the university, they could move on with their lives. We
have created that foundation to drive the acquisition of skills.”

He added that NERDC
has within the past four years produced nine-year Basic Education
Curriculum as well as the teachers guide for the curriculum; 34
entrepreneurship trades for senior secondary education due to commence
in September; over 3,000 indigenous sign languages for BEC;
entrepreneurial skill acquisition curriculum for out-of-school youth.

“The council is
currently working on teachers handbook for the implementation of the new
senior secondary curriculum and has also revised National Education
policy (2007 draft edition); produced national language policy as well
as language map for Nigeria; bilingual dictionaries in Hausa, Igbo and
Yoruba for basic education.

“NERDC has equally
produced orthographies/meta languages in over 34 Nigerian languages;
school curriculum for some of Nigerian languages like Efik, Izon,
Kanuri, Fulfulde, Tangale, Tiv, Edo for basic education and has,
conducted predictive research on the co-relationship between
achievement in public examination and university performance,” he said.

The Airline
Operators of Nigeria, on Monday, instructed its members not to obey the
relocation directive issued to domestic carriers operating at the
General Aviation Terminal, Lagos, by the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria.

Explaining that the
notice of relocation given to airlines operating at the terminal is
illegal, the body said that the airports authority has no right to order
carriers to vacate the old local airport and start their services in
the new terminal which is owned by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services
Limited. “FAAN has no right, therefore, to relocate our members to any
terminal which presently does not belong to them,” said Steve Mahonwu,
the Chairman of the group, during a press briefing at the presidential
wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. “The action of FAAN is a
violation of contract agreement between FAAN and our members, which is
tantamount to victimisation and unnecessary use of force.”

Biased directive

Mr Mahonwu said that
the relocation order was given to other airlines operating in the old
terminal excluding Arik Air, and maintained that the development if
implemented will only cause chaos in the sector on the grounds that the
directive is biased. “The Airline Operators of Nigeria totally rejects
the illegal relocation of our members which immediately tends to create
monopoly by one of our members, Arik Air, against three others or more,”
he said. “We believe in equity and justice and are committed to protect
all our members from the cudgels of any aviation parastatal to enhance
harmony and judicious acts of governance.”

A copy of the
relocation directive did not stipulate reasons why the airlines are to
relocate. Efforts to get the aim for the decision were not successful as
the public affairs manager for the authority, Akin Olukunle, could not
be reached at his office and his mobile phones were all switched off.

Bi-Courtney should develop GAT

Mr Mahonwu said that
the concession agreement between the federal government, who is the
guarantor, and Bi-Courtney, the concessionaire, accorded the later the
right of refusal to develop the General Aviation Terminal, and explained
that the airport authority, being the representative of the government,
retains the portfolio of landlord and consolidator of all concessionary
deals at the airports. “You will recall that we forced all airlines to
relocate to MMA2 to allow Bi-Courtney to expand and modernise the
General Aviation Terminal as a befitting terminal just like London,
Paris and New York City in Ikeja land,” he said. “But Arik Airlines
refused sighting security concerns. The security questions were
inspected and cleared by IATA (International Air Transport Association)
as non-existent.”

The airline operators argued that the relocation directive is a
deliberate plan by FAAN to circumvent the concessionary agreement as a
privilege to Arik Air. “AON, therefore, believes that every airline has
the right to exist and make legitimate business without any favour
provided we pay all our rates and taxes as due,” he said. “We,
therefore, appeal to all our members to pay their Passenger Service
Charges to FAAN and others as due to enhance harmony.”

Ekiti State
governor, Kayode Fayemi, has appealed to the youth in Ikole community
not to engage in violence over the relocation of a federal university
from the town. He urged them to allow the Regent of the town, Jumoke
Mshelbwala, who fled in the heat of last Thursday’s protest to return to
the palace.

The governor said he
will personally seek an audience with President Goodluck Jonathan in
Abuja over the relocation of the federal university from Ikole Ekiti to
Oye-Ekiti.

The governor who
spoke during his visit to the families of protesters who were shot dead
by the Police in the wake of the protests, affirmed that his
administration has not rescinded its decision to make Ikole the home of
the new university.

Mr. Fayemi said he intends to make that position clear to the president.

He added that he was
sure that the president whom he described as a “believer in fairness
and the rule of law” will resolve the crisis without being biased. The
announcement of Oye as the site of the new University on a Federal
Government-owned electronic media, three months after Ikole had been
pencilled down as the site sparked off a peaceful protest by youths in
Ikole local government area.

However, the
protest was disrupted when policemen shot and killed two of the
demonstrators leading the protesters to set the Idi-Ose police station
ablaze.

The governor also
disclosed that the council of traditional rulers in Oye Local Government
Area has thrown its weight behind the choice of Ikole as the site of
the university.

The Ekiti State governor asked the Federal Government to allow the
state decide the appropriate site for the institution, adding that
although both Oye and Ikole are parts of the state, the state government
considers the choice of Ikole as “more appropriate”.

The uprisings in the Tunisia and Egypt ousting the sit tight presidents have sparked a revolution across the Middle East.

In Algeria

Protesters defied a
police ban and protested in Algiers, but thousands of riot police
blocked a planned march through the city. Opposition groups said on
Sunday they would follow up the protest they held this weekend by
calling a demonstration in the capital every Saturday until the
government is changed.

Foreign minister
Mourad Medelci said that the 19-year-old state of emergency in Algeria
will end within days, he brushed off concerns that the recent protests
in the country could escalate as it did in Tunisia and Egypt, suggesting
that though the government may be willing to make concessions, the
decision to change the government lies with the president who will
assess the possibility and make adjustments as he had done in the past.

In Palestine

The cabinet
resigned on Monday, in an apparent attempt by President Mahmoud Abbas to
demonstrate political reform in the wake of the popular uprising in
Egypt. The shake-up could bolster the standing of President Mahmoud
Abbas among Palestinians who are currently dissatisfied with the
workings of the cabinet as many regard them as dysfunctional. The
reshuffle had been demanded by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who has
spearheaded efforts to create institutions for a Palestinian state.

Fayyad will retain
his post and select new ministers, officials said. Although several
anti-Abbas protests erupted in the West Bank after the upheaval began in
Egypt on January 25, he has not faced large-scale demonstrations in the
territory, whose economy has strengthened in recent years.

In Bahrain

Protesters clashed
with police on Monday as the government tightened security in the Gulf
island state for an opposition “Day of Rage”. Helicopters circled over
the capital Manama, where protesters were due to gather later in the
day, and security forces tightened their grip on Shi’ite communities.

Police broke up one
protest with teargas and rubber bullets. Shi’te protesters revealed that
,they don’t want to overthrow the ruling family; they just want to have
their say.

Bahrain is a small
oil-producing country whose Shi’ite population has long complained of
discrimination by the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa family, well before
popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists throughout
the region.

Protest organisers
said they want the dissolution of Bahrain’s constitution, and replaced
with a new version penned by a committee that includes both Sunnis and
Shi’ites. They want the country’s prime minister to be directly elected
by the people, and demand the release of “all political prisoners,” and
an investigation of torture allegations.

In Iran

Security forces fired tear gas to scatter thousands of people marching on a Tehran square in a banned rally on Monday.

The march was a test
of strength for the reformist opposition, which had not taken to the
streets since December 2009,when eight people were killed. Iranian
security forces are still unlikely to hesitate to use any means to stop
protests.

Large numbers of
police and security forces wearing riot gear were stationed around the
main squares of the capital and travelling in pairs on motorbikes around
the city.

The opposition
nevertheless renewed the call for the rally. Iranian authorities have
warned the opposition to avoid creating a “security crisis” by reviving
protests that erupted after the last election, the biggest unrest in
Iran since the 1979 revolution. The opposition see the unrest as being
more similar to their own protests following the June 2009 election
which they say was rigged in favour of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian authorities
deny doctoring the 2009 election results and accuse opposition leaders
of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system.

“They are incapable
of doing a damn thing,” the hardline Kayhan newspaper quoted
Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi as saying. The opposition is
“guided by Iran’s enemies abroad,” Moslehi said.

In Yemen

Hundreds of
anti-government demonstrators clashed with supporters of Yemen’s
president on Monday. With both sides hurling rocks as protests escalated
in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.

Witnesses said police fired shots into the air but were unable to
control the crowd in the industrial town of Taiz, while in Sanaa,
protesters inspired by an uprising in Egypt vowed to march to police
intelligence headquarters. Analysts say Yemen is not yet at the point of
an Egypt-style revolt, and any upheaval would likely unfold more slowly
and perhaps with more bloodshed, in a heavily armed country where
tribal allegiances run strong.

A suspected Boko
Haram member on Sunday in Maiduguri, mistakenly shot dead his associate
while attempting to assassinate someone else.

An eye-witness,
Simon Joseph, told journalists in Maiduguri on Monday that three
suspected militants had attacked the Bulumkutu residence of one John
Musa at about 8 p.m. and shot sporadically into the air.

Mr Joseph said that
Mr Musa engaged one of his attackers in a combat. He explained that as
Mr Musa and his attackers wrestled, the other two attackers continued to
shoot in their direction with Mr Musa as their target.

Mr Joseph however
confirmed that it was in that process that the suspected Boko Haram
member was killed. According to him, the death of the suspected Boko
Haram member appeared to have shocked his associates as they stopped
shooting all of a sudden.

Confirming the
development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, Lawal
Abdullahi, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Borno State
Police Command, said the sporadic shooting by the suspected Boko Haram
members attracted police patrol teams to the scene of the incident.

“ The shooting attracted police patrol teams who rushed to the scene and rescued the victim, Mr Musa.

“The body of the
slain militant was evacuated and deposited at the University of
Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Mortuary. The police also recovered
an AK 47 rifle, a mobile phone and four empty shells of live ammunition
at the scene,” Mr Abdullahi said.

Jos judgement

A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Jos on Monday granted bail to five persons arrested over the January 10 crisis in Jos.

The five suspects are: Ismaila Aliyu, Mohammad Rabiu, Tijani Aliyu, Isa Isa and Yusuf Mohammad.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspects were charged for criminal conspiracy and rioting.

They were also accused of being in possession of arms and dangerous weapons which were offences under the penal code of justice.

When the case came
up for hearing before Ishaku Kunda on Monday, the suspects pleaded not
guilty while their counsel, A.S. Moyosoro, applied for their bail.

The bail application was granted with the condition that each of them must bring a District Head or a local government chairman.

Alternatively, the magistrate ordered the suspects to bring a member of either the state House of Assembly or National Assembly.

The other conditions
were that each of the sureties must have a landed property and must pay
N250,000 before they could be released.

The prosecuting police officer, Yahaya Adamu, who also addressed the
court, said the investigation was on-going and that the file would be
sent to the Department of Public Prosecution for further advice. Mr
Kunda fixed further hearing for February 23.