Nigeria Content Online

U.S. President
Barack Obama urged Americans to “win the future” this week, while
moving ahead in the effort to do that himself as well.

Obama delivered the
State of the Union address, an annual constitutional obligation which
has become an opportunity for the White House to praise its
accomplishments and sketch-out its plans.

In that ritual
speech to lawmakers, judges,ambassadors and guests, Obama advanced a
range of initiatives but passed-over one crucial item on his personal
agenda: beginning his campaign for re-election.

Americans voted
just a few months ago in Congressional elections that punished Obama’s
Democratic Party. His own job will be on the line the next time they go
to the polls, in November of 2012.

Despite the severe ‘shellacking’ that even he concedes he suffered in the November, his prospects are now looking up.

With the American
economy continuing to recover from recession and unemployment slowly
reducing, Obama is rising in public opinion polls. In some respects,
he’s doing better than even some of his supporters’ say they’d
expect.“Right now, you have the president with 55 percent job approval
at nine percent unemployment, which is quite frankly fairly
remarkable,” said Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher. “The policies
are working and I think the Americans are feeling it.” Obama has
started staffing his re-election headquarters in his hometown, Chicago,
and has shuffled his White House staff as well.

His potential
Republican opponents aren’t moving quite as fast. Former
vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin continues to be the most
prominent potential figure in the race, but she hasn’t said publicly
whether she’ll run.Recent public opinion polls put Obama ahead of her
and every other potential candidate the Republicans are likely to put
forward.

But the race hasn’t
really begun and it promises to challenge the president. Republicans
now control the House of Representatives and are planning a series of
confrontations over the Obama administration’s policies and
practices.Unemployment is still high and government spending is still
setting records. Both are serious problems for Obama’s prospects.

“He’s not a new
president anymore,” said former Republican White House aide Ari
Fleischer. “It’s time to judge him on results.” Americans seem to be
doing that and increasingly, they are once again rallying behind Barack
Obama.

Jonathan Mann
presents Political Mann on CNN International each Friday at 18:30
(CAT), Saturday at 3pm and 9pm (CAT), and Sunday at 10am (CAT).

As the government’s
directive that schools remain closed during the registration of voters
became public mid January, Zaria Academy, an elite college in Kaduna
State, summoned its teaching and non-teaching staff to make a point:
there is no break here.

For the two weeks
the exercise lasted in the first instance, the academy like a few
others across the country, held classes, offering parents – many
already keen at returning the kids to school- a sure sale that such
prolonged stay at home would only distort the students’ learning.

But according to
long-term staff there and others elsewhere, experts on private schools’
programmes and administration, such counter order, rather than aimed at
protecting the students’ interest, stands in many cases to serve a
vital live-wire for educational organisations whose economic wellbeing
tie squarely to turnovers derived solely from students’ pay.

“This is a private
business and even if they have money elsewhere which many times they
do, the owners will always prefer spending as they come,” said Joseph
Niaje, who has spent 22 years as a teacher in many schools, and now
runs Destiny Crèche, a day care centre for children in Kubwa, Abuja.

Even for relatively
bigger schools, many teachers say, salaries and benefits of staff are
spread through the year interspersed by new term resumptions, when
fresh fees are expected to help clear personnel and overhead spending.

However, that
balance will be altered by occasional interruptions to the calendars
annually, as with the two-week closure of schools ordered by the
federal government during the ongoing voters registration that would
now get another extension.

In the end, the
staff would assert that employees of privately-owned institutions where
monthly remunerations, and other running cost are chiefly fed by
quarterly student charges, would appear to lead a group hit by a
federal policy that has no direct bearing on their profession.

“Somehow we seem to be the last point,” says a middle-aged teacher who gave his name only as Simeon.

“They may not
accept it, but what makes the difference every new term is the fees and
now our January money cannot come and if they extend the registration
again, only God knows how long we will suffer.” For the two weeks of
the break leading to January ending, many of the teachers interviewed
and whose schools were closed said they had already missed the usual
dates when they get their monthly pay.

In many of the
schools, the pay had failed to come although the staff had been ordered
back to work by the authorities preparatory for the eventual resumption
of the students.

In a few schools
like the Zaria Academy where classes had resumed for some of the
students during the period, staff say they received their pay and that
funds were the major reason why students were recalled.

That position,
however, has been severely denied by management staff of some of the
schools who point out that the consideration of finance plays no role
and that their motive in defying the closure of the schools was purely
in the interest of the students.

“It is not about
finance, it is about the curriculum,” said Adebisi Adeniyi, Vice
Chairman of the Association for Formidable Education in Nigeria, a
group that says it seeks financial intervention for small and medium
schools that may face financial challenges.

Mr. Adeniyi said
although the schools are run as business with eyes on profit, concern
for the excellence of the students override immediate gains. “Even if
the schools were to open normally, the students will not return fully
until February and now that they are to open in February, they will
resume fully in March. Any time they come, the money will come.”

At the Zaria Academy where some students took classes throughout the
exercise, the principal, Gideon Wuyako, refused to answer questions
about the motive behind the school’s reopening.

Islamists, leftists and trade unionists gathered in central
Amman Friday for the latest protest to demand political change and wider
freedoms. A crowd of at least 3,000 chanted: “We want change.” Banners and
chants showed a wider range of grievances than the high food prices that
fuelled earlier protests, and included demands for free elections, the
dismissal of Prime Minister Samir Rifai’s government and a representative
parliament. The protest after Friday prayers was organised by the Islamic
Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood which is the only
effective opposition and biggest party, but included members of leftist parties
and trade unions.

Jordan’s protests, as in several Arab countries, have been
inspired by the uprising that overthrew the Tunisian president. “After Tunisia,
Arab nations have found their way towards the path of political freedom and
dignity,” said Zaki Bani Rusheid, a leading Islamist politician.

Demonstrations have taken place across Jordan calling for
reversal of free-market reforms which many blame for a widening gap between
rich and poor. Jordan is struggling with its worst economic downturn in
decades. The government has announced measures to reduce the prices of
essentials create jobs and raise salaries of civil servants. Protesters say the
moves do not go far enough.

King calls for openness

King Abdullah told lawmakers Thursday the government must do
more to ease the plight of Jordanians and urged a faster tempo of political
reforms. “Openness, frankness and discourse over all issues is the way to
strengthen trust between people and government entities,” the monarch was
quoted as saying in a palace statement.

“Everything should be put in front of people. There is nothing
to be afraid of,” said the 49-year-old monarch, who has faced stiff resistance
from a conservative establishment to reforms they fear will empower the
Islamists. He urged the 120-member assembly to amend an electoral law
criticised as designed to under-represent cities in favour of
sparsely-populated tribal areas to ensure a pliant assembly. Under the
constitution, most powers rest with the king, who appoints the government,
approves legislation and can dissolve parliament.

Islamists march in Tunis

Also, Islamists marched through central Tunis on Friday,
demanding religious freedom, while police fired teargas at anti-government
protesters who have camped out around the prime minister’s office.

The march by about 200 people was the first significant Islamist protest
since the fall of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who ran a strictly secular
state in which Islamists were often jailed or forced into exile. Some carried
placards reading: “We want freedom for the hijab, the niqab and the beard.”
Under Ben Ali’s rule, women who covered their hair by wearing the hijab, in the
Muslim tradition, were denied jobs or education. Men with long beards were
stopped by police. “We demand the revision of the terrorism law … and say no
to the war on the niqab,” one woman told Reuters TV, her face entirely covered
by a black veil, or niqab. Islamists played no visible part in the “Jasmine Revolution”
that toppled Ben Ali, but when the Ennahda, the country’s largest Islamist
movement, was allowed to contest elections in 1989, it came second to the
ruling party. Since Ben Ali was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia on January14 in
the face of violent unrest over poverty and political repression, protesters
have been gathering in Tunis to demand that the new interim government be
purged of Ben Ali loyalists. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi said 12
ministers would be replaced, purging members of the former ruling party
including the interior, defence and foreign ministers.

The Special Court
for Sierra Leone trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war
crimes on Friday dismissed a challenge to its impartiality that was
based on U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.

Mr Taylor, who
denies all charges of instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual
slavery and conscription of child soldiers in wars in Liberia and Sierra
Leone in which more than 250,000 were killed, had been allowed to use
the cables as evidence in court.

But on Friday the
court rejected a motion by Taylor’s lawyers seeking disclosure and an
investigation into the identity of sources that the U.S. government has
within the court’s trial chamber, prosecution and the registry. In its
filing, Mr Taylor’s defence said the cables “raise grave doubts about
the independence and impartiality of the Special Court’s prosecution of
Charles Taylor.” One of the diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks last
month contained comments made by a U.S. ambassador that if Mr Taylor was
acquitted or given a light sentence, his return to Liberia could “tip
the balance in a fragile peace.” Another cable stated that U.S. contacts
in The Hague-based court’s prosecution and registry said one of the
judges may be trying to time proceedings so as to be in charge when the
judgement was handed down.

The judge named in
the cable, Julia Sebutinde, rejected the allegation and excluded herself
from the ruling on the cables to ensure objectivity. In its ruling, the
court said the cables did not demonstrate that such contacts may have a
relationship with the U.S. government capable of interfering with its
independence or impartiality.

Officials from the
court’s registry and prosecution interact on a regular basis with
governments from a number of countries as part of their official
functions, it added. Both the prosecution and defence have already
finished presenting their evidence, but the court ruled in favour of a
defence motion seeking to re-open its case for the “limited purpose” of
admitting into evidence two U.S. cables.

As we approached a dubious police post, the conductor sighed.

“Should I give them, or do you prefer to do it yourself?” he asked the driver.

“Relax,” said the driver.

Something about the
word worried the conductor – enough to make him bring his head back
into the bus. He searched the driver’s face and did not seem to like
what he saw. “Look, just give them their 50 naira,” he said a little
urgently. “They will only waste our time otherwise.”

“I say leave them
to me,” said the driver, “No be everything be money.” The conductor’s
mouth opened but no words came out, so he closed it again.

The police officer
approached the conductor with a broad smile. The conductor nodded
towards the driver and the policeman stopped smiling and stopped
walking.

“How far?” asked
the driver jocularly. “See, we just start work now-now. This na our
first trip today. Make I go come back. I go see you later.”

He started to drive
away when the policeman suddenly screamed, “Stop him! Stop him!” and
another officer materialised from nowhere and placed his body in front
of our vehicle.

“Park,” he barked, gun raised. There was a collective groan in the bus.

“Just give am
money, make we go,” said a woman behind the driver. But it was too
late. The police officers had remembered their duty.

“Driver, come open your boot,” said one. The driver tried to placate him, gone was the braggadocio.

“Officer,” he said, “Come. Look. See my hand.” The police officers refused to “see”.

“My friend, will you come down?!” shouted the other one. “Who be your mate? You think say na play we come play here?”

The driver turned
off the ignition. The school boy sitting beside me who had been
listening to music on his phone and nodding to the beat, removed his
earphones. “Wazup?” he asked no one in particular and as no one paid
him any heed, he returned to his music.

“The driver was too
stubborn,” said a frail-looking man with a feathery voice. “The
conductor told him what to do but he wanted to show sense. Na God know
when we go leave here today.”

The driver glared
at him and got out of the bus, accosted by the police officers who
followed him to the boot. We could hear him pleading, but they were
adamant.

“When somebody wan
help una, una no dey know,” sneered one of the cops. Inside the bus,
the conductor shook his head, still amazed at the attitude of his
driver.

“Now they will not take anything less than N200,” he said sadly.

For a while we
continued to hear the conversation: the driver’s voice falling as the
policemen raised theirs. The boot was never opened. There was a lull
and the driver came back in, muttering about people who like to reap
where they did not sow.

“Na today you know
that one?” said one of the men sitting in front. “You should have just
given him the money as usual instead of wasting our time.”

At that point, the
driver could not take it any longer. “Was it his money?” he asked.
“‘Give him money, give him money’. You give me money to keep for him?
Nonsense.”

“Driver, I beg let’s go,” said somebody at the back. “We have already wasted enough time here.”

The driver hissed
and drove on. After a while, the conductor asked, gently in Yoruba,
“How much did they collect eventually then?”

The driver took his
time changing gears, and then replied: “Those thieves collected 200
naira. But it will never again be well with them or with their
children’s children. The bastards.”

The boy with the earphones took them out and looked at me.

“That’s 100 percent increase,” he said. Of course, I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“What is 100 percent?” I asked him.

“I heard everything,” he replied. “Instead of 50 naira, he ended up paying 200.”

I looked at him. “So you think that is 100 percent?”

He looked a bit confused and put his earphones back in. Standards have indeed gone south.

Thousands of angry Egyptians defied a curfew on Saturday for the second day
in a row and stayed on the streets to push their demand that President Hosni
Mubarak resign.

The army had warned that anyone who remained on the streets after 4 p.m.
(1400 GMT) would be in danger, but as the deadline passed, protests continued
in central Cairo and the port city of Alexandria, witnesses said.

Soldiers took no immediate action. They seemed relaxed and some protesters
chatted with troops mounted on armoured vehicles, the witnesses said.

On the fifth day of unprecedented protests against Mubarak’s 30-year-rule,
it looked increasingly as if the army held the key to the nation’s future.

The president ordered troops and tanks into Cairo and other cities overnight
and imposed a curfew in a bid to quell unrest in which dozens of people were
killed.

In an effort to appease the protesters, he dismissed his cabinet and said he
would listen to demands for reform.

The protesters, many of them young urban poor or students, are enraged over
endemic poverty, corruption and unemployment as well as the lack of democracy
in the most populous Arab nation. They pledged to press on with protests until
Mubarak quits.

The unrest, which follows the overthrow of Tunisian strongman Zine
al-Abidine Ben Ali two weeks ago in a popular uprising, has sent shock waves
through the Middle East, where other autocratic rulers may face similar
challenges.

Several thousand people flocked to central Cairo’s Tahrir Square on
Saturday, waving Egyptian flags and pumping their arms in the air in unison.
“The people demand the president be put on trial,” they chanted.

Troops made no attempt to break up the
demonstration and protesters encouraged them to support their cause.

The scene contrasted with Friday, when police fired teargas and rubber
bullets and protesters hurled stones in running battles.

While the police are generally feared as an instrument of repression, the
army is seen as a national institution.

Army is key

One Middle East expert, Rosemary Hollis, of London’s City University, told
Reuters the army had to decide whether it stood with Mubarak or the people.

“It’s one of those moments where as with the fall of communism in
Eastern Europe they can come down to individual lieutenants and soldiers to
decide whether they fire on the crowd or not.”

In Alexandria, police used teargas and live ammunition against demonstrators
earlier on Saturday.

Al Jazeera TV reported police opened fire on protesters trying to storm the
Interior Ministry in Cairo, killing three, but the report could not be
confirmed.

According to a Reuters tally, at least 74 people have been killed during the
week although there was no official figure. Medical sources said at least 1,030
people were injured in Cairo.

Government buildings, including the ruling
party headquarters, still blazed on Saturday morning after being set alight by
demonstrators who targeted symbols of Mubarak’s rule

As well as Cairo and Alexandria, clashes have also occurred in Suez, site of
the strategically important canal.

“We are not demanding a change of cabinet, we want them all to leave,
Mubarak before anyone else,” said Saad Mohammed, a 45-year-old welder in
Tahrir Square.

Mubarak, a key U.S. ally, has held power since the 1981 assassination of President
Anwar Sadat by Islamist soldiers and his government still rules with emergency
laws.

He promised to address Egyptians’ grievances in a television address on
Friday but made clear he intended to stay in power.

So far, the protest movement seems to have no clear leader or organisation
even if Mubarak did wish to open a dialogue.

Prominent activist Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Laureate for his work
with the U.N. nuclear agency, returned to Egypt from Europe to join the
protests. But many Egyptians feel he has not spent enough time in the country.

In an interview with France 24 television, ElBaradei said Mubarak should
step down and begin a transition of power.

“There is a consensus in Egypt in every part of society that this is a
regime that is a dictatorship, that has failed to deliver on economic, social,
and political fronts,” he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist
opposition group, has also stayed in the background, although several of its
senior officials have been rounded up. The government has accused it of
planning to exploit the protests.

The deployment of army troops to back up the police showed that Mubarak
still has the support of the military, the country’s most powerful force. But
any change of sentiment among the generals could seal his fate.

Mocking Mubarak

Protesters in Tahrir Square mocked Mubarak’s sacking of his cabinet as an
empty gesture.

Mahmoud Mohammed Imam, a 26-year-old taxi-driver, said: “All he said
was empty promises and lies. He appointed a new government of thieves, one
thief goes and one thief comes to loot the country.”

“This is the revolution of the people who are hungry, this is the
revolution of the people who have no money against those with a lot of
money.”

The final straw appeared to be the prospect of elections due to be held in
September. Until now few had doubted that Mubarak would remain in control or
bring in a successor in the shape of his 47-year-old son Gamal.

It also poses a dilemma for the United States. Mubarak, 82, has been a close
ally of Washington and beneficiary of U.S. aid for decades, justifying his
autocratic rule in part by citing a danger of Islamist militancy.

Egypt plays an important role in Middle East peacemaking and was the first
Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he had
spoken to Mubarak shortly after his speech on Friday and urged him to make good
on his promises of reform. U.S. officials made clear that $1.5 billion in aid
was at stake.

The European Union and other foreign governments appealed to Mubarak to show
restraint and listen to the demands of the people but stopped short of
suggesting he should quit. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah expressed his support
for him.

Britain, Germany and other countries advised their nationals against travel
to the main cities hit, a development that would harm Egypt’s tourist industry,
a mainstay of the economy.

Banks will be shut on Sunday as “a precaution”, Central Bank
Governor Hisham Ramez told Reuters.

The stock market, whose benchmark index tumbled 16 percent in two days, will
also be closed on Sunday. The Egyptian pound fell to six-year lows.

REUTERS

As part of measures
aimed at enhancing the level of security across airports in the
country, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, on Thursday, announced
the restriction of non-travellers within and around airports.

The directive,
which is a fallout of Wednesdcay’s rumoured bomb scare at the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was made public by the director
general of the authority, Harold Demuren, at the agency’s headquarters
in Lagos. According to Mr Demuren, the directive was in accordance with
Part 17, Regulation 83 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, and
Section 13.7 of the National Civil Aviation Security Programme. “I
hereby direct that the following additional security measures should be
implemented immediately in order to forestall any threats and incidents
at the nation’s airports: Use of hand-held metal detector and explosive
detection system at the airport entrances and gates; restriction, as
much as possible, the movement of non-travelling public around and
within the terminal building; and adequate advanced information
concerning inbound cargoes meant for the nation’s airports must be
received prior to the arrival of the cargo,” he said.

Russia’s experience

The speculations of
a possible bomb explosion at the Lagos international airport followed
the recent bomb blast at Moscow airport that led to the demise of 35
persons. The rumour at the Lagos airport prompted airports users and
passengers to become suspicious of one another at the airport on
Wednesday. “In addition, passengers should be informed that they may
experience possible delay as they pass through our security checks and
are, therefore, advised to arrive at the airport at least three hours
before their flights,” said Mr Demuren. “This directive shall take
effect from 27th January 2011 and shall be in force until further
notice.”

Early this month, the Nigerian Police and other law enforcement
agents at the airport swung into action by effecting stringent security
checks on motorists moving in and out of the airport. Days later, the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority carried out a security meeting with
various organisations and intelligence outfits in a bid to ensure
safety across Nigerian airports. The screening and security meetings
were as a result of the bombings recorded across Nigeria and
preparations for the forthcoming general elections.

Pope Benedict XVI
has advised the Nigerian government to take decisive steps to stop the
human carnage and violence in Jos, Plateau State.

He made the call
through his Apostolic Nuncio, Augustine Kasujja, a reverend, yesterday,
when he visited the Senate president, David Mark, in Abuja.

Mr. Kasujja said
that “the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is worried about the
incessant killings in Jos and wants the crisis put to an end.”

He also expressed
the Pope’s request that Nigeria should consider sending an envoy to the
Vatican saying, “Nigeria is too big not to have an Ambassador in the
Vatican.”

Under consideration

Mr. Mark promised that the country would consider the Pope’s request to deploy an ambassador to the Vatican City, Rome.

At the moment,
Nigeria’s ambassador to Spain oversees the affairs of the mission in
the Vatican. However, the Senate president said sending an ambassador
to Rome would facilitate and improve the bilateral relationship between
both countries.

He reiterated that Nigeria is a secular state where freedom of worship is encouraged.

“We practice
freedom of worship in Nigeria. There is no extremism. We inter marry
across religious lines and we live in harmony between and among
religious groups. That is why Nigeria is a unique country in Africa,”
he said.

Mr. Kasujja also
counselled that Nigeria should conduct its affairs in a manner that
would engender peace, progress and unity among the people. The
Apostolic Nuncio, however, expressed optimism that Nigeria has the
abundant human and economic potentials to lead Africa out of the
economic doldrums.

The Senate
president pledged that Nigeria will continue to play a leading role in
Africa. He added that President Goodluck Jonathan, as chairman of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is leading the
efforts towards finding a solution to the political impasse in Cote d’
Ivoire.

Concurrent envoy

However, the
spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry, Tony Ozonwobu, confirmed
to NEXT that the nation’s envoy in Spain is concurrently accredited to
the Vatican.

He noted that “it
is not for any other reason than the diplomatic distinction between the
resident ambassador to Italy and the Vatican, which is a different
state within the same state of Italy. The ambassador to Italy has his
own remit which is the Republic of Italy, while the envoy to Spain is
the one concurrently accredited to the Vatican.”

“When a diplomat is
accredited to a state, whether resident or not is of no consequence;
our ties and diplomatic relations are still engaging,” Mr. Ozonwobu
said.

He stated that he was yet to get the message from the Pope and declined to comment any further.

On what benefit
this relation will have for Nigeria, Gabriel Osu, the director of
social communication with the Archdiocese of Lagos, stated that
establishing the new embassy will save cost for Nigeria.

“It will in effect be easier and smoother for us to run our diplomatic relationship with the Vatican at a lesser cost.”

Monsignor Osu
wondered why the nation’s embassy in Spain is the embassy overseeing
relations with the Vatican while there is a resident ambassador in
Rome. He noted that most Arab countries all have their embassies in the
Vatican.

On how the Vatican
can help deal with religious crises, Mr. Osu stated that it “can only
appeal to the moral conscience and persuasions to the leaders of the
country who have refused to take decisive actions on the lingering
crises, particularly the one in Plateau State.”

Abdulfattah Adeyemi, an Abuja based Islamic scholar, welcomes the idea of sending an ambassador to the Vatican.

“It is part of
where Christians go to for pilgrimage; it will be a very good thing
that there should be a Nigerian ambassador there.”

He appealed to the
government to go out of the box in selecting the envoy, saying that
whoever should represent Nigeria in the Vatican should be someone who
can represent all sects of Christians, and the entire country’s image
with sound administrative qualities.

He also supported
the Pope’s call for a decisive action on Jos. He said the crises is a
national issue which cannot wait and that it should be handled with the
same manner the Niger Delta issue was resolved.

Four people have
been killed while several residential houses and places of worship were
burnt down in a fresh crisis that occurred yesterday in Tafawa Balewa
local government area of Bauchi State.

State Police
Commissioner, Mohammed AbdulKadir Indabawa, who confirmed the incidence
yesterday while answering questions from newsmen in his office in
Bauchi, said, “from the report we received, four people have been
killed and my unit commander recovered two of the corpses, we are
searching for the remaining corpses and several houses and places of
worship were burnt down by the rioters and the situation was brought
under control” Mr Indabawa further said “we have deployed adequate
mobile policemen to restore law and order we received reinforcement
from Gombe and Kano and we have curtailed the situation even though we
cordoned the area in order to prevent spill over of the crisis to other
parts of the state” He said they were on the way to visit the scene of
the incident together with other security operatives to ascertain the
situation. In his account of the incident, Police Public Relations
Officer, Mohammed Barau said the problem started last Wednesday at a
snooker joint, “because of snooker game, there was disagreement between
two persons which was resolved amicably unfortunately, there was a
spill over of the crisis yesterday, Thursday in the morning, we had to
deploy adequate security which brought the situation under control.” He
said.

A member
representing Lere Bula from Tafawa Balewa Local Government at the
Bauchi State House of Assembly Aminu Tukur commended the security
operatives for their effort in curtailing the crisis and advised them
to do more because the fracas is spilling to Fulani herdsmen in the
bush. “We have spoken to the securities they responded in good time to
control the situation”, he said.

Mr Tukur said he
cannot give the casualty figures at the moment but said he has received
a report that there are several displaced people in Gital and Bununu
villages.

29 arrested in Jos

Also, yesterday,
the Military Task Force in Jos asserts that twenty-nine people have
been arrested last night in Dorowa Village in Barkin Ladi Local
Government Area of Plateau State. A woman, her daughter and one aged
man were all killed by the invaders.

Among those
arrested is a Fulani Police officer serving in Abuja. They were all
said to be in possession of several weapons and petrol.

An Abuja High
Court, will on February 23, hear a preliminary objections file by Nasir
El Rufai and two others,seeking to quash allegation of fraudulent
allocation of land, during his tenure as minister of the Federal
Capital Territory Abuja.

Sadiq Umar, the
presiding Judge, yesterday adjourned hearing till February 23 to hear
the objections filed by Mr El Rufai contesting the charges.

It would be
recalled that a Federal High Court in Abuja last year threw out a suit
filed against former minister, over allegations of fraudulent
allocation of land.

The presiding judge
that threw out the suit, Adamu Bello,said that the charges had no legal
basis, having been filed under the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Act of 2000, a law that has
since been repealed. The judge quashed the charges and discharged Mr El
Rufai.

The decision is in
line with Mr El-Rufai’s defence. His counsel, Akin Olujimi, in a
preliminary objection, had said that because the law under which Mr
El-Rufai was charged was repealed in 2003, the federal court lacked the
jurisdiction to try the matter.“The prosecution acknowledges that the
charges stand on nothing,” said Mr Olujimi. “The effect of a repealed
law is that it is a nullity, and no charges founded on it can stand.”
In his defence, the former minister had also told the court that it
lacked the power to try him over allegations of abuse of office as
minister. He said that the proper court to try him was the Abuja High
Court.

Mr El-Rufai and two
others were accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of
illegally allocating land in the FCT to friends and relatives, some of
whom included: Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the daughter of former president
Olusegun Obasanjo. The other accused persons are Altine Jubrin, former
director general of the Abuja Geographical Information System, and
Ismail Iro, former general manager of the agency. All three men pleaded
not guilty.

The Federal
Government responded to the dismissal of the charges by filing fresh
charges at the Abuja High Court. At yesterday sitting,the prosecution
raised the matter of the absence of the accused persons.The defence
countered that their presence was not necessary since the validity of
the charges was at issue. The court ruled that the court needed to
first establish its jurisdiction and the competence of the charges.

The court decided to consolidate all the applications filed by the parties.