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The governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday
underscored the importance of political will by leaders of member
countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), to realise the
objectives of the regional economic integration.

The governor, who
was speaking at the opening of the 24th meeting of the WAMZ committee
of Central Bank governors in Abuja, said the delays in the take off of
a new commencement date for the monetary union is attributed to the
lack of political will to push the process of integration to a logical
conclusion.

The objectives for
the WAMZ initiative include an attempt by member nations towards
maintenance of stable prices of goods and services; establishment of
sound public finances and monetary conditions; as well as maintenance
of stable balance of payments for member states, with the ultimate goal
of creating a monetary union.

Mr. Sanusi said the
commencement of the monetary union, which was initially set for 2003,
had to be extended thrice as a result of the inability of member
countries to attain the convergence level required for the introduction
of the common currency.

Though a new
commencement date for the monetary union of on or before January 1,
2015 was adopted by the heads of states and governments of the WAMZ at
its summit in Abuja, on June 22, 2009, the CBN boss said no significant
progress has been made towards realising it, as most member countries
have not been able to meet stipulated criteria.

He pointed out that
the meeting would provide the opportunity to review the progress on the
WAMZ programmes and chart the way forward.

The meeting is
expected to consider the recommendations of the 30th meeting of the
technical committee of the WAMZ last Tuesday, which reviewed the
developments and policy responses required to satisfy the stipulated
convergence criteria.

A review of the
impact of the global economic recovery indicated that the impressive
growth in emerging Asian economies, particularly China, was stalled in
the wake of the Euro zone debt crisis as well as the waning impact of
the huge monetary and fiscal stimulus packages implemented by many
countries.

He said the
resultant effect on the economic performance in WAMZ was that overall
compliance with the macro-economic convergence criteria deteriorated,
with most member countries missing the criteria on single-digit
inflation rate and fiscal deficit, excluding grants.

“Only Liberia met
all four primary criteria, while The Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria met
three primary criteria each. Sierra Leone met one criterion during the
period,” Mr. Sanusi said.

The four primary
criteria include achieving economic performance in WAMZ, with real
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at an average of 7.2 per cent;
easing inflationary pressures through maintenance of stability in
commodity prices; improvement in domestic food production; and building
a strong gross external reserve.

Noting some limited progress recorded through the ongoing upgrading
of the payments systems and progress in the integration of financial
markets, Mr. Sanusi said some challenges remain to be resolved with
public finances, trade and financial sector development, to prepare
towards the launch of the single currency.

Automobile spare parts dealers at the Dilimi market in Jos have announced their relocation to Jos-North shopping complex in the wake of the recurrent crisis in the state.

Mr Anselem Ebosie, Chairman, Jos-North Automobile Spare Parts Association (JASPA), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jos that the relocation was necessitated by incessant attacks at their former base.

He said, ‘‘the crisis at Dilimi has led to the loss of so many lives. The market is on the street, and we are always victims of the riots. That made it difficult for us to operate, the recent killing of many of our members around the market was the last straw.”

Mr Ebosie said the traders will not return to Delimi, he however listed challenges facing them at the new market, including the absence of toilet facilities and the lack of adequate security. He appealed to Jos North local government authority and managers of the market to provide the facilities to ensure a more conducive atmosphere for business.

He also emphasised the need for a police post in the market to avoid any breakdown of law, and secure the lives and property of traders. He advised the traders to be peaceful and law abiding, and commended the Plateau and Federal governments for their efforts toward the restoration of peace in the state.

The Federal High
Court, Ibadan, has fixed Monday, February 14, for hearing on an
application for sanction against Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo
State, for alleged contempt of court. It has also fixed the same day
for the hearing on his prayer to vacate the court order that stopped
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising
him as the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) for the 2011 election.

Represented by
Richard Akinjide, former Attorney-General and Minister of justice, the
governor requested the court to reverse its earlier order which had
resulted to the removal of his name from the list of contenders for the
April poll.

However, proceeding
at the court could not effectively progress on Thursday when an
application seeking court’s punitive measure against the governor was
to be heard.

Oluwarotimi
Akeredolu, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and
lead counsel to the aggrieved members of the PDP, who got injunction
against the candidacy of the governor, wanted the court to commit Mr
Alao-Akala to prison for describing the order as ‘an height of
frivolity’.

For hours, lawyers
only argued forth and back without progress. The crisis was spurred by
Mr Akinjide’s inability to file a counter-application to the prayer
against his client. He told the court that he was only served with
copies of Mr Akeredolu’s application late Wednesday, but also prayed
the court to hear the two matters together for speedy delivery.

Lateef Fagbemi,
counsel to Dejo Afolabi, state chairman of the PDP, who was also joined
in the suits, equally told the court that he got the application late
Wednesday.

Despite their
claims of late service, Justice Johnson Shakarho, said that the counsel
should have asked the court for time to study and react to the content
of the application.

He expressed
disappointment with Mr Akinjide, Mr Fagbemi, and PDP counsel for
allowing Mr Akeredolu to move his motion for committal to prison
against Mr Akala when they knew he could rule against them.

Effort by Mr
Fagbemi to make the judge see the matter as special fell on deaf hear
as Mr Shakarho insisted that he would work at his own pace, saying no
case is more important than others.

After much argument
and counter argument, the court adjourned till Monday for the hearing
on the contempt and vacation of order, but told counsel that the case
is not likely to be completed e next week.

Panic in the state

Schools closed
abruptly in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday, when parents
and guardians rushed to pick their wards over rumour of Mr Alao-Akala’s
attempt to use children for sacrifice to achieve his second term
ambition as the state governor.

Another version of
the story alleges that the governor was distributing indomie noodles to
school children. A third version of the story said some people died
after eating from bean cakes distributed by the governor’s men.
Perpetrators of the rumour say the governor needed a certain number of
people to use for rituals for his mission, and that anyone who eats the
distributed items will end up on the ritual list. The rumour which was
all over Ibadan had created panic among the people, this made the
government to issue a statement to calm the situation.

In a statement to
douse the rumour, Dotun Oyelade, special adviser to the governor on
public communications, described the rumour as shocking. “Government is
shocked that people can go to any length to blackmail and cause
confusion in order to gain political advantage. Our people just want to
fend for their daily bread without such deliberate harassment.

“Such lies are
wicked because Oyo State is peaceful and our poor parents and their
wards and children are being unnecessarily traumatised by those few who
have volunteered to work for reckless and desperate politicians.

We strongly advise
our people to go about their normal duties and discountenance these
latest antics by political desperados and their hirelings. It is the
handiwork of politicians who have failed in their bids for political
relevance,” he said.

The governor’s
campaign team, in a press briefing, also challenged the peddlers of the
rumour to come out and show them where the bean cake was served or any
household where an individual died on account of the rumour.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights abuses and public discontent in the state from June 1, 2003 till date.

A statement signed by Semiu Okanlawon, the state’s Director of Bureau of Communications and Strategy, explained that the Commission was set up under Section 2(1) of the Commission of Inquiry Law, Cap 29, Laws of Osun State 2002.

The Commission has one month to complete its assignment with Samson Uwaifo, a retired Supreme Court justice as chairman. Other members are Yunus Ustaz-Usman Ayo Atsenuwa, Funmi Falana, Hakeem Yusuff,

Bamidele Aturu, and Waheed Lawal. Nurudeen Ogbara will serve as the secretary of the Commission.

Mr. Okanlawon said that the inquiry was to facilitate redress, promote reconciliation, and prevent possible future re-occurrence of such human rights abuses. He said the term of reference of the commission include identifying the nature of the discontent in the state, and causes of human right violation.

Other terms of reference include identification of person or persons, authorities, institutions or organisations which may be held accountable for such acts and determine the motives for the violations or abuses, the victims and circumstances thereof and the effect on such victims and the society generally of the atrocities.

The commission, Mr Okanlawon said, would also examine and advise on the ways and means of bringing peace, amity and concord among all concerned. The Commission which will hold its public hearings at the State High Court in Osogbo, the state capital, or such other places as it may determine will commence its inquiry on February 15 and submit its report on or before March 30.

He asked members of the public to forward their memoranda to the commission.

Following the controversies and doubts
that have trailed the operational profile of men of the Special Task
Force on peace keeping in Jos, the team is now to be changed every
three months, Plateau State governor, Jonah David Jang said on Thursday.

Speaking at the new
governor’s lodge and office, Jishe when he received the national
leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who paid a
commiserating visit on him. Mr Jang explained that the decision was
made during a special emergency meeting with Vice-President, Namadi
Sambo.

The emergency
meeting with Mr Sambo last week in Abuja, had the three governors of
Plateau, Bauchi, and Borno states receiving “marching orders” to halt
the security drift in their states and ensure a peaceful atmosphere as
the April elections approach.

According to Mr
Jang, his administration is determined to restore peace in the state.
Thus, he said, it is evolving a holistic programme to engage the
various demographic categories of the state’s rural and urban
population so as to divert their energies to creative and more
constructive engagements.

He said this
programme includes ventilating the employment atmosphere in the state
so as to keep the youth gainfully employed and make them contributors
to the national gross domestic product.

Mr Jang revealed
that already, the government has purchased tricycles to be given out to
youth on a hire purchase basis, an arrangement, which he said was
conceived to phase out motor cycle transportation in the state because
of the latter’s vulnerability to harbouring miscreants that have been
accused of being accomplices in the perpetration of sectarian crisis in
the state.

Jonathan’s effort

In his remarks to
the CAN leadership led by its national president, Ayo Oritsejafor, Mr
Jang said that President Goodluck Jonathan has already approved a
community policing proposal submitted to him by the Plateau State
government.

By that
arrangement, he said, apart from Operation Rainbow which is an ad hoc
rapid response arm of the STF, the police are to train a special group
of vigilante youth to be kitted by the state for effective
village-to-village and cross-border monitoring.

Responding, Mr
Oritsejafor, who also had the General overseer of the Redeemed Church
of God, Enoch Adeboye on his entourage, said what has been happening in
Plateau State of recent is most unfortunate, and that CAN had to put
its national conference in Abuja on hold to enable the leadership visit
Jos because of the impact of these negative developments on Plateau
State and the entire nation.

Mr Oritsejafor expressed hope that the visit will mark the end of
the recurrent crises in Jos, and also challenged the Federal Government
to muster the will to uncover and punish those behind the crisis and
bring to an end what is fast turning into a culture of madness and
cannibalism.

Except government provides adequate
infrastructural framework, the nation may not get the best out of the
educational system as even the private institutions may not operate
optimally.

This was the view of Margee Ensign,
president of American University of Nigeria, who briefed journalists
yesterday in Abuja before the commencement of the institutions board of
trustee meeting.

She said the key challenge facing the
educational institutions in Nigeria is lack of adequate infrastructure.
This contributes to not just the high cost of education in the country,
but also to the falling standard of education.

“Nigerian government should provide the
framework for operation of private schools in the country. Technology
is a challenge here and it affects the system, as what obtains around
the world is the use of latest technological concepts in disseminating
knowledge among students.

“This bears on the academic prospects in Nigeria,” she said.

She also said that the Nigerian system
of education often focuses more on the constraints rather than
proffering solutions to existing challenges.

The American University of Nigeria,
according to her, is bracing for the challenges, as the institution is
not only fully served but ready to release bandwidth to the community
in which it is located.

“These measures to boost the
technological capacity of the school would soon see the linking of
optic fibre cables to the Yola campus of the institution,” she
disclosed.

Ms. Ensign added that the school will
embark on research and development activities that will bring solution
to the myriad of problems in the Nigerian eceonomy, as part of the
institution’s corporate social responsibility.

The institution’s president also
disclosed that some new programmes have been introduced in the school
and that emphasis is being placed on entrepreneurship development. “We
started entrepreneurship studies since 2006 because we want to raise
graduates that create jobs,” she added.

She emphasised the need for
entrepreneurship education in the Nigerian university system, noting
that part of the success stories of foreign based universities is their
ability to incorporate entrepreneurship skills into their learning
system.

The American University of Nigeria is
said to be a non-profit making organisation, even as the fees it
charges run into millions. The school said it is so because the board
of directors is not making profit or enriching itself, as it hopes to
break even in the next five years.

The school is said not to have any
links with the American government in terms of ownership; it is a
privately owned university that has adopted the American style of
education.

Meanwhile, four personalities, William
Bertrand, Eamon Kelly, Laurence Day, and Earl Kellogg have joined the
board of trustees of the university, in a fresh move to shore up the
institution’s capacity internationally.

Beyond the fresh entrants, the board already parades an array of
prominent personalities like Mike Adenuga, Pat Utomi, Peter Okocha,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bamanga Tukur, among others.

The federal government yesterday announced the
appointment of vice chancellors and registrars for the new nine newly
approved federal universities which will open in September this year.
The former vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, Oye Ibidapo-Obe
who is now the vice chancellor of Federal University, Ndufu-Alike,
Ebonyi state. Others include Abdulmumini Rafindadi for Federal
University, Lokoja, Kogi state; Ekanem Ikpi Braide for Federal
University, Lafia, Nasarawa state; Mohammed Kabir Farouk for Federal
University, Kashere, Gombe state; and Geoffrey Okogbaa for Federal
University, Wukari, Taraba state. The rest are James Ayatse for Federal
University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina state; Jibrila Dahiru Amin for Federal
University, Dutse, Jigawa state; Chinedu Nebo for Federal University,
Oye Ekiti, Ekiti state; and Bolaji Aluko for Federal University,
Otuoke, Bayelsa state.

While announcing the appointments at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, Minister of Education

Ruqqayatu Rufai explained that the decision of the
federal government to establish the universities was informed by the
desire to provide the access to university education to a larger number
of qualified candidates who are annually stranded due to lack of
carrying capacity by the existing universities.

The appointments, according to the minister, take
effect immediately even as she directed the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) to facilitate students’ intake into the nine
universities by September this year.

She noted that the creation of the new universities
was also informed by the principle of equity in the distribution of
federal universities to cover all the states of the federation saying
“there are at present 12 states without federal universities”.

“Federal government has approached the matter
systematically by establishing nine universities in the first instance
while the remaining three states will have federal universities in due
course,” she said.

The minister disclosed that a sum of N1.5 billion,
which would be sourced by the Education Trust Fund (ETF), has been
approved by the federal government for each university.

According to her, the appointment of the vice
chancellors and registrars was done to avoid the localization of the
new universities and to ensure that they take off as national and
international centres of knowledge.

“Care has been taken to ensure that the pioneer vice
chancellors were carefully chosen from the ranks of former vice
chancellors, deputy vice chancellors, provosts of colleges of medicine
as well as distinguished Nigerian professors in the Diaspora,” she
said. “No vice chancellor shall serve in a university within his or her
geo-political zone.”

President Goodluck Jonathan had last year directed that a committee
be set up to work out the modalities for establishing the new
institutions. Kenneth Gbagi, minister of state for education, said that
the report of the committee was good. “It has different segments but
has to do with the creation of six new universities approved by the
federal executive council,” he said.

The Senate on
Wednesday approved the virement of N51.457 billion in the 2010 budget
as requested by the executive on behalf of the Power and the Defence
ministries.

According to the
Senate, the virement is to enable the executive carry out effective
implementation of the 2010 budget in line with the already drawn action
plan for sustainable power supply in Nigeria.

The virement will
ensure the movement of funds around the 2010 appropriation for the
power ministry to the tune of N49.661 billion for a variety of
projects, including the 200 MW Kaduna power plant. Funds will be moved
from projects that are either not likely to be completed this fiscal
year or projects that are not high priority.

The defence
ministry intends to deduct N1.796 billion from some projects to fund
the repairs of damaged army barracks in Jaguza in Kano State, Gombe,

Azare in Bauchi State and Ohafia in Abia State. The virement was passed without delay at the senate.

The Senate had last
year threatened not to approve virement of funds saying they were
illegal and a recipe for laziness in budget planning and implementation.

Appointments

Meanwhile, the
Senate on Wednesday received a letter from President Goodluck Jonathan
seeking their approval for the appointment of 25 ambassadorial nominees.

The president also
forwarded the nomination of Kalu Uko as a member of the National
Assembly Commission. Mr Uko will replace D C Nwachukwu who was
representing the South-East on the board. He was nominated by the
Senate President, David Mark.

The Mr Jonathan also forwarded the nomination of Umaru Ibrahim and
Aghatise Erediauwa as managing director and executive director
(operations) of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

Egyptians counted
the economic cost of more than two weeks of turmoil on Wednesday as
protesters on Cairo’s Tahrir Square looked ahead to their next big push
to oust President Hosni Mubarak later in the week.

A day after
Egyptians staged one of their biggest protests in the capital; Tahrir
Square remained crowded although no demonstration had been scheduled.

Protesters said the
organisers were working on plans to move on to the state radio and
television building on Friday, the day of the next big scheduled
demonstration. “I think people outside will make crowds outside the
radio and television … President Mubarak will fall soon, in three or
four days,” said Mohamed Sadik, a Cairo engineer.

The television
building, surrounded by armoured army vehicles, is on the Nile about
one kilometre north of Tahrir Square. Protestors said they might also
try to spread towards the two houses of parliament which are also
nearby.

“Bulwark against militant Islam”

Security sources
said a protester was killed and several suffered gunshot wounds in
clashes with police in a desert province far from Cairo on Tuesday and
Wednesday, the first serious confrontation since the “Day of Wrath” on
January 28 led to the army’s deployment on the streets. With Mr Mubarak
refusing to step down before his term ends in September, the government
has tried to portray itself as a bulwark against militant Islam and
called for a return to normality for the sake of the economy.

In Berlin, German
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on the Egyptian government to
end emergency law and implement more political reform, echoing comments
made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The Obama
administration appears worried that Mr Mubarak’s government will not
make meaningful changes in the most populous Arab nation, a strategic
U.S. partner due to its peace treaty with Israel and control of the
Suez Canal. Vice President Omar Suleiman, who has been holding talks
with opposition groups, has said there was now a road map to hand over
power, but protesters have been unmoved by the plan.

A constitutional
committee, appointed by Mr Mubarak, has agreed on six articles that
should be amended and said further articles could also be changed, the
official news agency reported. The articles including those governing
presidential elections and terms of office. Government attempts to
defuse the public anger which erupted on January 25 have fallen flat
and the economy is suffering. “We cannot bear this situation for a long
time and we must end this crisis as soon as possible,” Mr Suleiman said
on Tuesday.

Analysts at Credit
Agricole Bank estimate the crisis is costing Egypt $310 million a day.
Ezzsteel, Egypt’s largest steel maker reported its plants were
operating below full capacity but said an investigation involving its
chairman, who had held a senior position in Mr Mubarak’s party, would
not affect company activity.

Chairman, Ahmed Ezz
denied allegations about vote rigging in parliamentary elections last
November. In Oslo, Statoil ASA said it was no longer drilling in Egypt.
The Suez Canal, a vital source of foreign currency, reported a 1.6
percent drop in revenue in January from December. But revenue was up
from a year earlier, and officials have said operations have been
unaffected by the turmoil.

Likewise, a feared
collapse in the Egyptian pound has failed to materialise although the
authorities have acted in support. The central Bank said on Wednesday
it was prepared to intervene directly in the currency market again
after an intervention on Tuesday.

“We will intervene
when we see the market is not orderly. If it is not, we will use our
tools,” Deputy Governor Hisham Ramez told Reuters, saying the market so
far was quiet and orderly. The Egyptian pound slipped slightly in early
trade after the central bank had stepped in to boost it by more than 1
percent on Tuesday when it hit a six-year low.

Death in the desert

Three protesters
died when security forces clashed with a crowd of around 3,000 in New
Valley, a province about 500 km from Cairo that includes a desert oasis.

It appeared to be
the first serious clash since January 28, when police all but
disappeared from Egyptian streets after they had beaten, tear-gassed
and fired rubber bullets at protesters.

Mr Mubarak sent the
army onto the streets that night, but several days of looting and
lawlessness followed the withdrawal of police and many prisoners
escaped from prison. Al Qaeda’s Iraq-based arm, the Islamic State of
Iraq (ISI), attacked the Egyptian government for failing to implement
strict Islamic law, and said it was better for Muslims to die fighting
their government rather than live under its rule.

It called on Egyptian Muslims to free all prisoners from their
nation’s jails after Mr Suleiman said on Tuesday that militants linked
to Al Qaeda were among the thousands who escaped from jails.