ASUU asks CJN to resign, threatens mass protest

 Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysious Katsina Alu

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has advised the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Kastina-Alu, to immediately resign from office or be forced out.

The union said this would pave way for a thorough investigation into allegations of possible abuse of office levelled against him by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami.

ASUU National President, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, made the appeal in an interview in Abuja on Monday. He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to advise the CJN to resign or initiate the process to ease him out of office.

He said if the President failed to do so, he should be prepared for mass action by ASUU and civil society groups until the CJN vacated office. Awuzie noted that before now, prominent legal practitioners had warned that the judicial system had been compromised hence the need to sanitise it.

“What we are saying is that you know before now, some eminent jurists had said that the judiciary was corrupt, that something was wrong and it needed to be sanitised.

“They said it needed cleansing but we took it lightly. But the recent revelation or allegation by the President of the Appeal Court, Justice Isa Salami, that the Chief Justice prevailed on him to compromise the Sokoto governorship election was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“For that, the Academic Staff Union of Universities calls on the Chief Justice that while the allegation is pending, he should resign immediately as the Chief Justice of this country and then take necessary measures (to clear his name) if he feels he is innocent,” he said.

Awuzie said the mere mention of the allegation should have compelled Katsina-Alu to resign, “because that temple (the Supreme Court) if it is desecrated, then its implication for our democracy, the ordinary man and the judiciary itself is that it has been compromised and jeopardised.”

Awuzie said the issue had gone beyond the intervention of the National Judicial Council, the Nigeria Bar Association or any other body in the judiciary as the Supreme Court represents the last hope of the common man.

Awuzie said, “So what we are saying and I want to state that the National Judicial Council cannot hoodwink us or the Nigerian people by just telling us that the two of them should sheath their swords and that the President of the Appeal Court should withdraw the case in court.

“They cannot tell us that they have appointed three new Supreme Court justices; that is begging the question! It is leaving the substance and pursuing shadow.

“The substance is, there is an allegation hanging which the man (Salami) has made, which has not been denied. We should have sorted it out first before talking about appointing more people to the Supreme Court because it could also mean that we are appointing and sending more people who will now get desecrated by the same influence.”
Source:Punch

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Jonathan bans ministers from seeking hike in budgets

 Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has banned ministers from canvassing increased budgets from the National Assembly.

Different ministries have made it a habit of asking for more money from the various National Assembly committees supervising them during the defence of their budget proposals.

The problem stems from the Federal Ministry of Finance’s practice of slashing their budget proposals before they are submitted to the National Assembly for approval. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, was at the Senate last week to seek more funds for some capital projects.

He said while he proposed N81.8bn in 2011, the ministry slashed it to N44.1bn. He, therefore, asked the Senate Committee on FCT to provide more money for the ministry to execute its developmental projects.

But the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), told the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters that Jonathan had directed all cabinet members to desis from asking for more funds from the National Assembly.

He was responding to questions from members of the committee on the reasons why the ministry’s capital project was only N313m whereas its total recurrent was put at N11.68bn.

The committee had suggested an increase in the capital votes but Adoke declined, saying that he would rather make do with N313m, in line with the directive of the President. Adoke put the total budget of the ministry and its agencies at N11.99bn, with the personnel cost fixed at N5.53bn and the overhead at N6.15bn.
Source:Punch



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MMA2: FAAN, airlines disagree over relocation order

 
MMA2 Terminal building
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and domestic airlines have again clashed over a fresh order by FAAN that some of the carriers should relocate their operations from the General Aviation Terminal (old domestic terminal) to the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Terminal Two, Lagos.

The Chairman, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, the umbrella body of the domestic carriers, Dr. Steve Mahonwu, told journalists on Monday, that the relocation order, which evicted all airlines currently operating at GAT, except Arik Air, would create unnecessary monopoly for Arik.

Mahonwu, who said that the order was a violation of the contractual agreement between FAAN and AON members, warned that the body would not hesitate to ground domestic flights if FAAN forced the affected carriers out of the GAT.

By the directive, Arik is to continue its operations at the GAT, while the other carriers operating at the terminal will relocate to MMA2, a terminal that is being currently managed by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited under a build, operate and transfer arrangement.

Aerocontractors Airlines, Chanchangi Airlines and IRS Airlines had last week received eviction notices from FAAN.

A letter written by FAAN to the three airlines, on February 7, 2011, and signed by FAAN’s Regional Manager, South West, Mr. O.E. Aiyenuro, read in part, “The management of FAAN has directed me to inform you to move your passenger check-in activities from the General Aviation Terminal to Bi-Courtney Services Terminal, MMA2, effective from Tuesday, February 8, 2011.”

But AON, in a statement issued on Monday, said, “The Airlines Operators of Nigeria totally rejects the illegal relocation of our members, which immediately tends to create monopoly for one of our members, Arik Air, against three others or more. We believe in equity and justice and are committed to protecting all our members from the cudgels of any aviation parastatal to enhance harmony and judicious acts of governance.

“We have received complaints from some members of our organisation that they have been given notices of eviction from the General Aviation Terminal by the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.”

AON added, “FAAN has directed them to relocate their check-in counters and sales outlets to MMA2, which for now belongs to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services until the expiry date of their contracted Build, Operate and Transfer arrangement.

“FAAN has no right, therefore, to relocate our members to any terminal, which presently does not belong to them. The action of FAAN is a violation of the contractual agreement between FAAN and our members, which is tantamount to victimisation and unnecessary use of force.”

Arik had last year said that it would renovate the GAT and brand it as its own exclusive terminal if government allowed it.

The airline’s move was, however, criticised by stakeholders, who said that all domestic airlines, including Arik, were meant to operate from MMA2 in line with the BOT concession agreement between the Federal Government and Bi-Courtney.

Arik had, after the completion of MMA2 in 2007, said that it would never relocate its operations to the terminal. Although other carriers like Aero, IRS and Chanchangi relocated to MMA2 in 2007, they still maintained check-in counter sales outlets at GAT due to competition.

Mahonwu said that AON would only comply if FAAN wanted to renovate GAT for the purpose of fulfilling the BOT agreement between it and Bi-Courtney.

Bi-Courtney had since 2007 been fruitlessly battling FAAN to get airlines to relocate from GAT to MMA2 in line with its concession agreement.
Source:Punch

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Bankole: Finding another shelter in comfort zone

DIMEJI BANKOLE
ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN examines the metamorphosis of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, from his assumption of office to his current travails and concludes that he has a strong survival instinct.
In this season, when a lot of political ambitions are being truncated and politicians are running in every direction – from the Judiciary to outright defection­ from their party – to secure tickets for the April polls, one man’s name stands out as surviving the various blocks on the road that will take him back to the National Assembly in April.

He is Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. For Bankole and many other indigenes of Ogun State, the situation in the state is currently tense as two elephants – former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Gbenga Daniel are not only trampling the grass beneath their feet, they are also crushing every smaller animal that is caught up in their fight. There is a dichotomy of candidates’ lists as a result of parallel primaries conducted on both sides and up until now, it has not been concluded, which of the lists will eventually be used in April. Both Obasanjo and Daniel are sparring, aiming at each other’s chest and they are relentless in their efforts in trouncing the other as both sides have obtained court injunctions against each other.

Caught between Obasansjo and Daniel are Bankole and other Peoples Democratic Party’s candidates in the state. But unlike others, the speaker has managed to squeeze himself out of the friction between the warring factions based on various political calculations. The latest list released by the Independent Electoral Commission showed that names like Daniel and Mrs. Lola Abiola-Edewor, the daughter of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, were missing.

The name of a former Commissioner in the state’s Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Segun Alawode, appeared for the Abeokuta South Federal Constituency, which Bankole represents.

But when the list was displayed, there were indications that Bankole’s last card had not been played.

Bankole has played the two sides so successfully, that although he emerged victorious at the primaries for his constituency conducted by the Daniel group, his name was said to have appeared on the list submitted to INEC for clearance by the Martins-Kuye faction, which has the support of Obasanjo.

Either way, Bankole is deftly picking his way through the rubbles that are building up as a result of the Obasanjo/Daniel fight. He is obviously not going down with the two fighters because, on Sunday, Alawode, withdrew for him and now, Bankole will be coasting on the party ticket to contest the April election.

It is curious how Bankole managed to emerge as the candidate for both factions. It was less than a year ago when the rivalry between him and Daniel came to a head and he allegedly attacked Daniel in a bus fight.

There had been stories that Bankole was interested in Daniel’s office and was scheming to upstage the governor. There were series of fights between them, many of which they denied. On many occasions, Daniel made some very derogatory remarks about the Speaker. For example in July 2010, at the inauguration of the Ota bridge, the governor said that Bankole had no achievements in the state.

He was quoted as saying, “Tell the Speaker to stop claiming responsibility for the construction. The project was started by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and we want to thank him. Tell my younger brother, the Speaker, that he should do something before his tenure lapses. We all have less than few months to leave office.”

At a public ceremony last year, Daniel denounced Bankole, saying that he was a curse to Ogun State.

Today, both parties are allies with Bankole attending the state’s last Christmas service with Daniel. Even though the speaker led many politicians in the state to fight the governor, when the primaries were to be held, Bankole jettisoned his supporters and reconciled with Daniel.

The governor was not the only person he fought. There was also the case of a member of the House of Representatives, Independence Ogunewe, over a simmering issue between the two, which started with a lousy joke and nearly ended in an exchange of blows. Beyond all the fights, Bankole has faced several impeachment threats in the House.

Just in January this year, there was another impeachment threat against him, which, like the others, was eventually quashed.

Some members of the House, enraged that they didn’t get their parties tickets to return to the House, schemed against the speaker and threatened to remove him. Like so many other scandals, once again, Bankole survived this plot.

His appearance at the Ibadan presidential rally for President Goodluck Jonathan, where he was given a flag, was the initial indication that he had scaled another hurdle, which Daniel is still battling.

Bankole, was a bachelor and not so known when he became speaker; the man who wept before the representatives of the Children’s Parliament has transformed into an eel and is snaking his way through the various hurdles others have found difficult to scale.

Since he became the Speaker after Mrs. Patricia Etteh’s resignation, Bankole has gone through several challenges and has survived most, if not all of them. When he was taking over the mantle of leadership from Etteh, he was the youngest person to become the Speaker. Unlike another Speaker, Salisu Buhari, who had to resign over a certificate scandal, Bankole came in well educated that it fired a zeal among younger people that it was time for youths to begin to take over sensitive positions in the country.

Bankole himself said at his inauguration, “I am taking over the mantle of leadership at a very difficult time. But these are hard times, we need to build confidence again and assure the populace that we are still their representatives. I want an independent house that Nigerians will be proud of. This is my first task.”

The various crises he would encounter in office started coming one week after his inauguration. His political opponents claimed that Bankole did not complete his one year National Youth Service Corps Scheme, which is mandatory for all Nigerian university graduates of 30 years of age and below. Bankole scaled that hurdle and then faced another when the story broke that an executive session he presided over approved the purchase of 380 units of Peugeot 407 cars; five for each of the 76 committees of the House.

Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, which supplied the vehicles, allegedly supplied inferior vehicles at a much lesser cost than what was approved.

Although, the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, said the commission had sent a report of its findings to the Presidency, the latter denied ever receiving any report from the EFCC, and advised the agency to follow the rule of law as the Presidency was not supposed to vet law enforcement reports.

The N3.2bn car scandal, has more or less, died a natural death like other allegations.

Since then, one scandal after the other has erupted in the House. These include the N5.2bn rural electrification scandal and the alleged mismanagement of N9bn out of the N11bn allocation to the legislative house in 2009.

In June 2010, Bankole suspended 11 members, led by Dino Melaye, indefinitely for fighting in the house. The group of 11 has since gone to court and won. Initially, they were prevented from going into the lower chamber until public outcry rose against Bankole, forcing him and his men to backtrack on Melaye and the rest.

Now, with the April elections approaching, Bankole still has more battles to win on the political arena. He will need to contest and work hard enough to win and make it back to the House, not just as a Representative but as the Speaker to show just how politically astute he is. This time, if either of the southern candidates contesting as president makes it to Aso Rock, Bankole will need to employ his political wizardry to ensure the zoning formula ends up in his favour and takes him back to the seat he currently occupies.
Source:Punch


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How TV fuels teenage pregnancy

 Teenage pregnancy

Adolescent girls who watch television programmes containing high sexual content are more likely to become pregnant than their peers who watch fewer such programmes, according to a study.

The longitudinal study which tracked children from age six to 18, concluded that the children who are exposed to content intended for adults in television and movies become sexually active at the onset of adolescence.

The study suggested that exposure to sex on television might influence teen pregnancy by creating the perception that there is little risk in engaging in sex without using contraceptives and accelerating the initiation of sexual intercourse.

“Adolescents receive a considerable amount of information about sex through TV programmes which, however, do not highlight the risks and responsibilities of sex,” said Anita Chandra, the study’s lead author and a behavioural scientist at RAND Corporation, a United States non-profit research organisation which sponsored the study. “Our findings suggest that television may play a significant role in the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the US.”

The debate on whether exposure to the media affects behaviour has been raging for many years with researchers failing to reach an agreement. However, the study published in the journal, Paediatrics, is the first to establish a link between teenagers’ exposure to sexual content on TV and either pregnancies among girls or responsibility for pregnancies among boys.

“The amount of sexual content on television has doubled in recent years, and there is little representation of safer sex practices in those portrayals,” Chandra said. “While some progress has been made, teenagers who watch television are still going to find little information about the consequences of unprotected sexual practices among the many portrayals promoting sex.”

The rising rate of unintended teenage pregnancy has been a source of worry in many countries. However, authorities in these countries usually blame the rise on low use of contraceptives and never on the content of TV programmes.

For instance, a 2009 a report by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute found that unplanned pregnancies among Nigerian teenagers and young women have risen despite improvements in educational levels.

The study revealed that in 2003, 16 per cent of pregnancies among girls and women between 15 and 24 years had been unintended, compared with 10 per cent in 1990.

According to the study, nearly one-third of sexually active women aged 15-24 had had an unmet need for modern contraception in 2003. The institute blamed the rise partially on low use of contraceptives and lamented that Nigerian authorities had failed to promote sexual health information for young Nigerians.

“We are failing Nigerian adolescents when it comes to providing them with the information and services. They need to delay marriage and avoid unintended pregnancies,” said the report’s co-author, Prof. Friday Okonofua.

But the fact that it was during the period of the research that private TV stations opened for business in Nigeria (following the lifting of the ban on private broadcasting in 1992) and that it was also during the period that the home video industry blossomed makes the RAND study’s conclusion that there is a link between teenage pregnancy and exposure to high sexual content on TV seem plausible.

Indeed, many objects in the media that involve sex target teens. Reality TV shows and soap operas especially portray the fashionable people as the ones who are having sex.

For instance, a former member of cast of MTV’s Real World told the Washington Post, “I was upset about how they portrayed me. The only thing they went after was sex. When I complained, the producers told me, ‘Well, everything else was boring.” Again, there was much indignation in Nigeria in 2008 against the producers of Big Brother Africa reality TV for allowing lurid scenes to be broadcast in the show.

The RAND study was based on a national survey of about 2,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 who were recruited in 2001 and asked about their TV viewing habits and sexual behaviour. The participants were surveyed again in 2001 and in 2004. The analysis was based on results from about 700 participants who had engaged in sexual intercourse by the third survey and reported their pregnancy history.

The study found several other factors, in addition to TV viewing, that influenced whether adolescents were likely to experience a pregnancy. Adolescents living in a two-parent household had a lower probability of pregnancy, while girls, African-Americans and those with more problem behaviours such as discipline problems were more likely to experience a pregnancy. Youths who intended to have children early also were more likely to experience a pregnancy.
The researchers encourage parents to follow current American Academy of Paediatrics viewing guidelines such as no television in the bedroom, no more than one to two hours of screen time a day, and to co-view television programs and have an open dialogue about its content with your children. They also suggest that while the results demonstrate a longitudinal relationship, more research needs be done to understand how media influences children’s growing awareness of human relationships and sexual behaviour.

A Montessori education expert, Mrs. Ify Nwobosi-Anatune, also advises that TV programme producers should come up with more educative programmes that target children and adolescents, even as she advises parents to try and regulate how their children watch TV and what they watch.
Source:Punch





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Fire razes 100 shops in Lagos army barracks

 
Mammy Market
 Some traders at the mammy market behind the Arena Shopping Complex, Oshodi, Lagos wailed and wept on Monday following a fire outbreak, which razed no fewer than 100 shops.

Although the incident happened on Sunday around 1am, PUNCH METRO gathered that most of the traders were not aware of the disaster until on Monday when they reported for businesses.

When traders and buyers arrived at the shopping complex on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on Monday, they met stern-looking soldiers, who prevented them from entering the complex.

The puzzled traders subsequently went on protest after no explanation was offered by either the Ikeja Military Cantonment authorities on whose premises the complex was located or the executives of the complex.

Although the cause of the fire was not known, some of the affected people, who preferred not to be named, said they suspected that it was caused by an electrical surge.

It was also gathered that some people speculated that the fire was caused by explosives that detonated around the market.

The traders said that they lost goods worth millions of naira and appealed to the military authorities and Lagos State Government to come to their aid.

It was gathered that since the January 27, 2002 bomb blasts at the cantonment, the military authorities had not allowed people to sleep either at the mammy market or any other unauthorised place within the cantonment.

On learning about the incident and the possibility that explosives might have caused the fire outbreak, traders at the shopping complex insisted that they should be allowed into the complex to see the state of their shops.

When they went in, they discovered that the fire outbreak at the mammy market did not affect the Arena.

Spokesman of the cantonment, Olaolu Daudu, who confirmed the fire incident to PUNCH METRO, said that although no life was lost in the inferno, many shops were affected.

“Over 100 shops were burnt and what we are doing now is to assess the damage and the cause of the inferno. An investigation panel has been set up to examine the cause of the incident and also recommend measures that can be adopted to prevent a recurrence,” he said.

Asked why the traders were prevented from entering the premises, he explained that the step was taken for security reason.

“We were trying to prevent hoodlums to come through the complex and used the confusion in the mammy market to loot and cause trouble. As soon as the secretary of the complex arrived, he identified the traders and we allowed them in and as soon as we put security measures in place, we allowed the buyers in,” Daudu said.

He said that the incident was a pure fire outbreak and had nothing to do with explosives as was speculated.
Source:Punch

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Leveraging effective networking for business growth

 Business growth

Networking as a concept for growing businesses is becoming increasingly relevant with each passing day. However, many businesses, especially small scale ones, do not seem to be utilising this avenue, with its immense potential. Indeed, windows for networking both on the Internet and at the physical interaction level, is growing daily.

Networking in this sense, involves growing people, who are mainly targets for products and services provided by businesses. While not translating into sales immediately, it creates the room for massive sales in the nearest future.

Businessmen ought to network effectively, using club meetings, on the webs, at meetings and other event avenues.

The National Director of the Nigerian chapter of the world’s largest business networking organisation, Business Network International, Mr. James Agwu, says businesses should not just network, but network effectively.

He says, “So many people are networking without commitment. They are at the Ikeja Club, Ikoyi Club, and they attend events. But they do not keep track of or have any data on the people they meet for continuous relationship.”

Networking, according to him, is much more than selling. “Selling is one-way traffic; but in networking, businesses should look at forming a relationship that will lead to many selling opportunities,” Agwu says.

He notes that networking is effective through referrals, which are even more convincing than advertising. “A lot of expenses are involved in marketing, where only about 20 per cent turns into real sales out of every 100 converts. But in networking, expenses are eliminated, with people doing the marketing for you,” he says.

When businesses make plans for a new year, it is expedient that they should “plan big on how to become a people’s person r company,” advises Mrs. Janet Anwo, a renowned expert in personal finance and self empowerment.

The Chief Executive Officer, Character Moulders Limited, on which platform she has been raising raised entrepreneurs across Africa, Anwo says many people have poor social life. She says that in this present recessive economy, people must harvest from their abilities to build social networks.

She says, “Now this is not about partying or dancing. It is about how you can improve your relationship. Many do not know how to make friends, maybe due to poor complex. Now is time to do a self examination and improve on it.”

An advocate of zero capital entrepreneurship, Anwo says building relationships is one skill that is priceless and better than capital itself. With a well developed social relationship, she gives a list of vocations and businesses one can engage in without start up capital.

“When I tell people during training that they can start a business with zero capital, I expect to receive a ‘madam, that is not possible’ response. But I tell you that is very possible. A young woman, who is skilled in the art of dressing hair does not need a start-up capital. All she needs is a network of people whom she can service from house to house. Such a person would not need money to buy tools or raw materials because your customer provides all that you need to render the service to her,” she says

A management consultant and a personal finance specialist, Mr. Nuru Adesanya, also shares Anwo’s position on making fortune out of effective networking. Whichever way you want to go- getting a job or becoming self employed- people network is an asset.

He says, “If you want to do something new in 2011 or you need small capital to start a business, you don’t get such money from banks. It is still the informal relationship that you are able to keep from your club, or other associations that would help you. So people should be ready to tap from their ability to network among people. When you have people, there is really, hardly anything you can’t get, including money.

“Even when we want to talk about employment, you would discover that a large percentage of people got their jobs through their friends, relatives, or church members. Now if you are unemployed and you really need to get a job, the way to start this year is by connecting with people, especially beginning from the religious unit you belong to and then opening up to others such as connecting to employment consultants rather than sleeping at the cyber cafes or buying newspapers for vacancy advertisements.

“You would soon find out that your next job is not the one you will invest so much effort or even money in. In this country we know that up to 60 per cent of job placements are not usually advertised. The question is: how do they get people to fill those vacancies?”
Source:punch

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South-West ‘rascals’: I was misunderstood – Jonathan

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN
President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday explained that his comment on the people of the South-West, during his presidential campaign in Ibadan, was “grossly misunderstood.”

Jonathan, on his facebook page posting at 7.23am, which he titled, “I am grossly misunderstood” said that his comment was “twisted beyond the intended meaning,” adding that he did not disparage the zone.

He explained that during the campaign on Tuesday last week, he spoke about the level of education and sophistication of the region.

The President said, “In my opinion - and in the opinion of many informed Nigerians - the South-West is of critical significance to the economic and political advancement of the country. The progress of the zone is the progress of Nigeria. It makes perfect sense that such a critical segment of Nigeria is governed by those who have what it takes!”

In Ibadan, the president had said, “The entire South-West is too important, too sophisticated and too educated to be in the hands of rascals.”

But, he explained in his facebook posting that what he meant was that “unreliable or mischievous behaviour or notions ought not to be acceptable in any part of our body politics especially not in the South-West, where the population has had the privilege of a head start in education compared to other parts of the country.

“It is unhelpful to public discourse if we constantly twist words beyond intended meaning. Surely, even the most zealous detractor of the interest of the South-West would not desire that anyone would wish upon such a sophisticated part of our country, the activity of unreliable or mischievous intentions.”

The President said that his message was clear: “Abhorrence for such behaviour should be our proclivity, especially considering the disposition of the people of the Western States to governance standards.”

“But by laying so much emphasis on the latter part of the sentence we dither profoundly on nuances, and this typifies the general tendency to dwell on the negative which we must, as a country, refrain from.

“My qualification of the West as highly educated and sophisticated was easily dispensed with, while the fact that we should not expose such civilised and educated populace to rascality was played more upon, with emphasis on the rascality.”

“But we easily forget, perhaps because we have neglected for far too long the important role that our educational institutions play in development, that the foundations of our independence movement burgeoned its fruits from the discussions which emanated from the sophisticated ‘Ibadan School of thought’ as the liberal Arts faculties of the then University College Ibadan was then known.”

The President said that he had a high regard for the South-West, which he said was unique in its “unequivocal stand for justice.”

Jonathan stated, “As true leadership requires, I take responsibility for any misunderstanding of the context in which my statement was made. In a time of active politicking, when scoring political points have taken precedence over our overarching goal of nation building, we must not allow those strong bonds which tie us together as a nation...to be dispensed with by the mere nuance which we attach to words.”

The President said that he and Vice-President Namadi Sambo would continue to respect and pay tribute to the hard work and patience of all Nigerians.

Jonathan added, “I made a commitment to Nigerians that our campaign will be about issues and livelihood advancement. I am determined to remain true to this commitment.

“In this regard, we made the promise and will zealously deliver on, amongst other things, a stable, constant supply of electricity which will revolutionise the way business is done in our country.

“We will pay special attention to the security of lives and property. We will focus on access to good quality health and education for all Nigerians and job creation for our youths, for this is the only way we can defeat poverty.”

According to him, his administration will focus on agricultural and infrastructural development, the expansion of the economy and the complete transformation of the nation’s national security.

Jonathan had last Tuesday in Ibadan during the commencement of his campaign in the South-West, said that his party must take over all the states in the region.

According to him, “We (PDP) must take over all the states in the South-West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals.”

Specifically, the President noted that Lagos State, being the commercial and industrial hub of the country, must be governed by the PDP.

Three of the four states mentioned by the President are governed by governors elected on the platform of the ACN. They are Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) while Labour Party’s Olusegun Mimiko calls the shots in Ondo.

In their separate reactions, the Chairman of LP, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, wondered when Jonathan had started talking in an uncouth language.



He said he was sure that the President had been contaminated as a result of the people he associated himself with.

Also, the Presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, agreed with Nwanyanwu.

He added that the President resorted into foul language because he had nothing to showcase as his achievements. He also described the President’s comment as “unbecoming of a President” and “one that smacks of desperation.”

The ACN itself also condemned Jonathan for his statement, saying it was unbefitting of a President. The party said it believed that Jonathan was “giddy with excitement on the soap box,” and consequently jog his memory that he remained the President of all Nigerians and not that of the PDP and its supporters.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that if its governors were ‘rascals’, then Nigeria needed more ‘rascals’ in government in order to enjoy the dividends of democracy being delivered in the states mentioned by Jonathan, including Edo State which is not in the South-West but being ruled by an ACN elected governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.

In his reaction, Fashola said the office of the President of the Federal Republic was a very high office, adding that the kind of language coming from a PDP presidential candidate was un-presidential.

He said, “I have asked myself if the President is more concerned about who is the Governor of Lagos State or becoming the President. I think if the PDP is ready to swap candidates for the Governorship of Lagos, I will be ready to face him because his candidate is not talking about what he wants to do in Lagos.”

In his futile attempt to defend his boss, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, who reacted to the misgivings, said the President did not name any of the governors of the concerned states when he made the comment. He said, “Please note that the President didn’t call any names when he said the South-West was too important to be left in the hands of rascals. “So anyone who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do so.”
Source:punchng
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Talent in Nigeria is greater than in America Lillias Bode, Series Producer, Nigerian Idol

Lillias Bode with Timi Dakolo
For the on-going entertainment show on Nigerian Television stations, there is no doubt that raw talents will be smoked out of their obscurity from the remotest and tiniest villages. They will be sieved, refined, fine-tuned until they are made stars, and super-stars and their sonorous voices will one day, rule the world.

While these prospective award winning artistes are passing through the mills in the Ojodu, Ikeja-based Nigerian Idol studios, the only visible faces that are most commonly seen are those of the judges on the prime-time show while there are many other people who also see to the success of this show
Lillias Bode is one of those unseen faces. Although, she remains unseen, her voice is as important as some of the faces whose sense of judgement make or mar the contestants. Lillias, from South Africa is one of the technical minds behind the show. She is the series producer of the Nigerian Idol show.

Her romance with film and television started 30 years ago as a continuity girl. She progressed to production manager, and was a film editor at the South African Broadcast Corporation for about four years until she joined Peter Bode as a film editor and producer at Peter Bode Productions. Since 1997 she has been freelancing mainly associated with Videovision Entertainment as a Line producer and supervising producer on many of their television productions.
Recently, Woman of the Sun sought out Lillias Bode at their studios where she talked about the Nigerian Idol show and also bared her mind on her impression about Nigeria.
Here are excerpts:
Can you give me a sense of your background?
After graduating with a theatre arts degree I worked for several years in the South African feature film industry before joining the national television broadcaster as a film editor. I soon left and formed a production company with my future husband called Peter Bode Productions. We have been working together in the television industry ever since and have been lucky to have worked on most of the big television shows in South Africa
From what you have seen so far, what can you say about the Nigerian talents?
The Nigerian singing talent is without doubt amongst the highest in the world. I am sure any one of our top 10 in this season of Idols would comfortably have won the last South Africa Idol.
Would you say that you got the best people for the contest?
There are always people who are really good who slip through the cracks, but by and large we ended up with a really outstanding group of singers
From the 500 contestants you got from the different regions, do you think that luck has any role in the case of the final 10 contestants?
Yes, I do think that lady luck plays a part in any competition
Do you think that all the contestants, both those who win and the ones who pulled out on the way, have musical career after wards?
This is so dependant on the personality, drive and determination of each individual. We have seen internationally that the winners often fade away and those who came 2nd or 3rd do even better
From previous records, winners of such shows do not always end up taking music as their careers.

What do you make of that?
Again, I think it has to do with the committment of the winner. Everyone who enters these competitions thinks they will make a career of music if they win but that†is often not the case. Winning Idols is only the first step - the rest of the journey, up the ladder is up to each person’s own will and determination
Do you also not think that while screening the contestants that the best might have been lost while you were trimming down the number?
It is possible, but so much care went into the selection that it is unlikely. It is also very dependant on the taste of the judges and obviously some people got 2 or 3 no’s and did not make it through, but you or I may not have agreed with them

As a producer, what would you say are the major challenges in terms of infrastructure in putting up this show?
The most difficult thing about working in the Nigerian television industry is the scarcity of skills. The crews that we work with are all highly motivated and enthusiastic, but because the industry is so small there are not enough of them to go around. Specialised skills like set painting, video wall operators and count down production sectretary’s are very scarce and inexperienced.

How would you compare the discovery of talents in the American version of the show with what you have seen in Nigeria?
I think the talent in Nigeria is much greater than in America
Having been to Nigeria for about two years now, what interests you most about the Nigerian people and how do you feel being here?
WhatI love especially about Nigeria is the people. They are warm, welcoming, friendly, clever and what is so encouraging and heartwarming..... they want to learn, they get involved and listen with burning enthusiasm

What is your impression about Nigeria?
Nigeria is an irresistable country to live in - the pace is frenetic and the energy contagious. I think it is Africa best. If we could just get stable power and get rid of corruption I believe Nigeria will soar.
What Nigerian food do you like most?
I am addicted to jollof rice and yam chips! But I regret to say, all other Nigerian foods are very different and foreign to anybody who grew up outside of Nigeria.

You took up a Yoruba name, Bode, what influenced your choice of the name and in what circumstance did you adopt the name?
To be honest my name is not Yoruba - it is my husband’s surname and is of German origin! But we have now adopted it as a full Yoruba name and we delight in saying we are Nigerian because of our name! We consider ourselves very lucky.
Would you like to marry a Nigerian if you have not been married?
Definitely! I think Nigerian men are the sexiest in the world! Should I add.....In case he is listening .....after my husband.
 Source:234next

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Falconets wait on Jonathan

 As President Goodluck Jonathan intensifies his presidential campaign across the country, members of the Under-20 women national team, Falconets, have called on him to remember to fulfil his promise of hosting them.
Falconets were the pride of the country last year at a time, when Nigeria football was at its lowest ebb as the made the country proud by coming second behind the eventual winners and hosts Germany, at the FIFA Under-20 Women World Cup.

Six months after the girls returned from Germany, they are yet to be received by Mr. President in fulfilment of his promise to the girls. It would be recalled that the President, Dr Jonathan said at the time that he was looking forward to receiving the girls in Abuja.

The players and their officials are worried that they have been neglected and are now calling on Mr. President to make their dreams of having a presidential hand shake a reality as they are waiting on him to brighten their lives.
The girls, who are already mobilising themselves to perform their civic responsibilities by voting to ensure that President Jonathan retains his position as the president of the country, said they hoped that when President Jonathan would be sworn in, the reception which he promised them would be part of the celebrations to usher in his reign come May 29.
Source:234next


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Saraki, Nnamani, Dokpesi, Ciroma’s wife join Jonathan’s campaign Dangote, Otedola lead campaign donors

The  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  yesterday released the list of the Presidential  Campaign Council (PCC), a week after President Jonathan  had concluded  zonal presidential campaigns. The list has the former Director-General of the Jonathan/Sambo campaign organisation which operated from Plateau House as the Director-General  of the council.

The council, which is to be inaugurated today,  will operate from Legacy House. The list also revealed a harmonisation of members of the Plateau House, which handled the campaign outfit of President Goodluck Jonathan, while he was a presidential aspirant and national officers of the party to douse the cold war between those who led  President Jonathan’s campaign team  and national officers of the party at Wadata Plaza, the PDP national secretariat.

In  fulfilment of his pledge to accommodate members of his rivals, former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki and former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida,  the party  will today inaugurate the PCC with pro-Atiku and Saraki’s men as members.

Saraki was one of the four presidential aspirants screened by the Northern Political Leaders Forum, (NPLF) before the Mallam Adamu Ciroma  Committee of wise men picked Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as its anointed candidate.
According to the list of members of the PCC Governor Saraki is the chairman of the Reconciliation Committee with pro-Atiku campaigner and former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, as member.  The former Senate President was initially with former military president, Ibrahim Babangida and moved to the Atiku team, after  the latter’s emergence.

The Director General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and chairman of DAAR Communications, Chief Raymond Alegho Dokpesi, is a member of the PCC Publicity Committee and will wear a second cap as one of the resource persons for the presidential campaign.
The wife of Adamu Ciroma, leader of the NPLF, Inna, is also a member of the reconciliation committee, which also had the former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Segun Agagu, and former minister of information, Prof. Jerry Gana.  Others in the committee are Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alabo Graham Douglas, Senator Ladan Shunni and Ambassador Aminu Wali.

Former chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, will serve the PCC as campaign adviser while former national secretary of PDP, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, is secretary of the PCC. The six zones will be co-ordinated by serving governors that did same job for Jonathan before the January 13 national convention.

They are Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State (South-south), Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State (South-east), Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State (South-west), Gabriel Suswan of Benue State (North-central), Isah Yuguda of Bauchi State (North-east) and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State (North-west).
Senate President, David Mark; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu, and the Deputy Speaker, Usman  Nafada,   are all expected to co-ordinate the National Assembly for the presidential campaign.

The former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, will head the security committee while oil magnate, Oba Otudeko, is the chairman of the finance and fund raising committee.  The inter-party relations committee that will handle affairs concerning political parties that adopted President Jonathan as their flag bearer has Chief Ebenezer Babatope as the chairman.

Names of  Nigerian business executive,  featured under the list of donors to the presidential campaign with billionaire business mogul, Aliko Dangote, leading the pack. His business rivals, Femi Otedola and Mike Adenuga  also  made  the list of donors. Others are Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group;  Tony Elumelu; Alhaji Kashim Bukar; Chief Emeka Offor of Chrome  Oil; Alhaji Sayyu Dantata; Jim Ovia (former Zenith Bank chairman) and  a close ally of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Dahiru Manga and Kola Salako.

 Source:234next


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Nigeria gets 400,000 euros for HIV/AIDS prevention

The United Nations

agency, UNAIDS, has negotiated with European Commission for a

three-year grant of 2.4 million euros to strengthen the coordination of

technical support provision in six countries which include Benin,

Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Swaziland. Out of this sum,

Nigeria is benefitting about 400,000 euros.

David MacRae,

ambassador of the European Union delegation to Nigeria, who disclosed

this at the weekend in Abuja at the signing of the memorandum of

understanding between the National Action Committee on Aids (NACA),

European Union and UNAIDS said the MOU provides the framework for an

EU-funded project designed to strengthen national capacity to scale up

towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment and

develop a national technical support plan on HIV/AIDS.

“The EU has worked

to develop a programme for action to confront HIV/AIDS, malaria and

tuberclosis through external assistance, mobilize funding and develop

effective ways to provide assistance to our partners to raise awareness

and deliver prevention, treatment, care and support to the population

affected by the pandemics,” he said. “Nigeria is one of six countries

benefitting from such grant and will receive 400,000 euros under this

grant.”

Mr. MacRae stated

that putting HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases under control is

a challenge, adding that the EU is fully committed to making a major

contribution to the success of this undertaking and desires that with

this financial support, UNAIDS will support the NACA to develop its

technical support plans and coordinate its implementation in order to

save lives of millions of people.

Kwame Ampomah,

UNAIDS country coordinator, Nigeria said technical support is critical

to addressing gaps and bottlenecks in the implementation of the

national response, while observing that technical support provided to

countries before now have remained unplanned, ad-hoc, supply-driven and

uncoordinated.

“Recognizing these

technical support challenges, UNAIDS in December 2007 developed a

guidance note on technical support planning. The guidance note provides

a general framework to assist national aids coordination authorities to

effectively plan, coordinate and better manage the technical support to

scale up national HIV/AIDS responses,” he said. “It is for this reason

that MOU for the grant agreement is being signed today. The key

deliverables of the grant is the development and implementation of a

national technical support plan that will ensure better coordination of

quality technical assistance for national aids response.

Working together Mr. Ampomah

canvassed the support of all stakeholders for the initiative through

active participation in development and implementation of the technical

support plan, in addition to making financial contributions that will

sustain the EU, NACA and UNAIDS collaborative effort saying that they

must act fast to accelerate progress at achieving universal access to

HIV/AIDS prevention in Nigeria. John Idoko, director-general of NACA

stated that national response to HIV/AIDS will not improve without

adequate human capital in place.

“In order for us to

do all we want to do, we need to build human resources capacity and it

can be built not just by us but also by technical assistance. There is

a hidden gap you cannot see. You can see a gap of infrastructure, but

you cannot see the gap of intellectual knowledge skill. That has to be

in place to make the response more effective so as to achieve the

universal access we have been talking about,” he said.

He said that local government, states and national aids control agencies will benefit from the funds over a three-year period.
Source:234next

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Ogun PDP candidate asks Daniel-led faction for cooperation

 Tunji Olurin extends hands of friendship

The governorship candidate of the People's Democratic Party in Ogun State, Tunji Olurin, yesterday extended a peace offering to the opposition within the party led by the state governor, Gbenga Daniel, asking that they work together to move the state forward rather than sit on the fence.

Mr. Olurin spoke with journalists in Abeokuta shortly after a church service to mark the second year's anniversary of Chapel of Christ The Glorious King, located within the complex of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta.
"We are all citizens of Ogun State; there is no winner or loser in this issue. It is our responsibility to join hands together to develop Ogun State. Those who are in opposition, I will personnaly call them, embrace them to come together with me on board to develop the state," he said.
Accompanied by his running mate, Tunde Oladunjoye, the party candidate who emerged from the Olusegun Obasanjo faction of the party said his administration's focus would be to make rural areas attractive and stop rural-urban migration.
"By the time we make rural areas attractive, we will not have rural-urban migration anymore, because most of our children go to the cities to sleep under the bridges because they couldn't make ends meet in their villages," Mr. Olurin said. "We want to transform the villages, we want to give them the same facilities they could not get in the cities, so they can remain there, we shall accelerate development."
He said he is very confident about his ticket, just as he said he would embark on his campaign soon.
The Daniel faction of the party, however, appears to have foreclosed working with Mr. Olurin. The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy Sina Kawonise, said there was no going back on the stance of his group, which he said was to stick by the recent ruling of an Abeokuta High Court which declared the Obasanjo group as illegal, null and void.
"The court judgement still stands; the law is clear on that," Mr. Kawonise said, adding that the former president was earlier given a proposal to resolve the crisis, but rejected it.
Reports at the weekend alleged that Mr. Obasanjo had refused to entertain the plea of a reconciliation committee sent by the party to harmonise the list of candidates produced by the two factions. But the chairman of the PDP's harmonised executives, Dayo Soremi, described as false reports that the former president tore a purported peace list supposedly sent by President Goodluck Jonathan.
One list
In a press statement issued yesterday in Abeokuta, Mr. Soremi said: "Our BOT chairman and elder statesman has absolute respect for the office of the president, which he had occupied as a military head of state and as a two-term civilian president. We wish to state categorically that there were no two lists of candidates in Ogun PDP, other than the one submitted by the harmonised executives and approved by the national leadership of our party.
"The list containing our party's flagbearers have been submitted and accepted by INEC. The only alteration we made was the accommodation of Dimeji Bankole, as directed by President Goodluck Jonathan."
Mr. Soremi expressed his happiness over the reaction of people to the Olurin/Oladunjoye governorship ticket since it was confirmed with the presentation of flag in Ibadan last Tuesday.
"I can tell you that even opposition parties in Ogun State are already imploding since the ticket was announced," he said.
A socio-political organization, Gateway Democrats Coalition (GADECO) at the weekend described the gubernatorial candidacy of Mr. Olurin as a unifying force for the 2011 gubernatorial election in Ogun State. The group noted that the political situation in the state required a leadership that would return it to its prosperous past and restore hope in the citizenry.
"We believe firmly that Adetunji Olurin's candidacy will restore needed hope, peace and bring back the unity of Ogun State," GADECO National Coordinator, Adeola Shoaga, said. "The recovery of Ogun State from the scars of political crisis that has overtaken development activities in the state in the last five years depends solely on the election of a credible and "big picture" leader like Mr Olurin."
Source:234next

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Candidate steps down for Bankole

 Bankole can now be presented as the candidate of the party

The PDP candidate for the post of House of Representatives for Abeokuta South constituency from the Jubril Martins Kuye-led faction of the People's Democratic Party in Ogun State, Peter Olusegun Alawode, yesterday withdrew his candidacy in favour of the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole. Mr. Alawode, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Abeokuta, explained that his withdrawal was on the order of the party's leadership and that he had no ill-feeling over that, stressing further that he could not go against the wishes of the party authority.

"Thanks be to God Almighty, we have been able to resolve issues and that is based on the order of my leaders and elders, the likes of Buruji Kashamu. There is no way I could go against the wishes of the party and not only the party but the elders and the leaders," Mr Alawode said.
Denying speculations that he withdrew following financial inducement from the camp of the speaker, the former candidate added that the party leaders are in control.
"If I should be asked to step down for the speaker to go back to that seat, there is no big deal," he said. "I want to say yes, wilingly and without much pressure. I was able to say okay, I agree with you. No any ill-feeling. The decision of me serving in Olurin's cabinet is solely the affairs of the party and leaders."
Ongoing consultations
On the crisis rocking the party, Mr. Alawode said that the party leaders have been making efforts to resolve the issues.
"There are lots of consultations here and there in order to resolve issues because time is not on our side; we do realise that. My leaders and elders are trying their best in resolving these grievances," he said.
Mr. Bankole participated in the primaries of the party organized by the faction of the party loyal to the state governor, Gbenga Daniel. Although he won the ticket, his name could not be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission because the commission recognised candidates supplied by the Martins-Kuye faction of the party. These candidates were last week presented with the party's flag at the presidential rally held in Ibadan, Oyo State. Mr. Bankole received the flag on behalf of House of Representatives candidates, although his name was not on the INEC-recognised list. Mr. Alawode's withdrawal of his candidacy means that Mr. Bankole can now be presented as the candidate of the party.
Source:234next

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‘Nigeria should learn from Egypt revolution'

Nigerians should draw the right lessons from the 18-day revolt which saw the end of former Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak after 30 years and do the needful to effect a regime change in Nigeria at the April polls, presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) said .


Mr. Buhari who praised the resilience of Egyptians who made exceptional sacrifices to assert their collective will, said their tenacity has again confirmed the truism that no force on earth can stop a united people." He also said Nigerians must gird their loins and insist on free and fair elections that will usher in accountable leadership in April polls.
"Unlike the Egyptians who went through self-denial for 18 unbroken days to achieve their aspiration for leadership change, Nigerians just have to take their voter cards, and ensure that their votes count and are properly counted. It is time to demonstrate people's power to free our country from those who have held it hostage for the last 12 years and are threatening to keep it for the next 60 years," he said.
Peaceful doggedness
In a statement signed by his media aide, Yinka Odumakin, Mr. Buhari equally commended the organisational zeal of the Egypt demonstrators, their peaceful conduct and doggedness even in the face of intimidation and provocation.
"Christians formed rings round Muslims as they observed their Jumat prayers during the demonstrations. For us as a people, we need to also move from balance of hate to balance of faith as the Egyptians practically demonstrated on the field of battle for change. Rather than allow ourselves to be divided by our faith, we must emphasise what binds us together and collectively fight against that hydra headed monster of corruption . With all sense of modesty, this is part of what the Buhari-Bakare candidacy represents," he said.
Source:234next

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Party leaders distance selves from Nwodo's resignation

Former PDP chairman, Ezekwezili Nwodo

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party has denied complicity in the last month's resignation of the party's former chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo.

It, however, refused to state clearly if the former chairman left N7 billion in the coffers of the party when he was leaving office, as claimed.
Mr Nwodo's political adviser, Buhari Bala had in a recent media interview accused the Working Committee members of complicity in the resignation of his principal last month. He also claimed that Mr Nwodo left N7 billion in the party's account at the time he resigned.
The NWC, in a statement by PDP national publicity secretary, Ahmed Alkali on Sunday in Abuja, said that Mr Bala's comment was jaundiced, ill-timed, uninformed and in bad taste. "When we first heard of the story, we could not believe that an aide to a former chairman of our party could make such allegations. We therefore waited, thought that he must have been quoted out of context. But having waited up to this time without him retracting the statement, we have reasons to believe that the action was deliberately taken," Mr Alkali said.
"It is not the tradition of the leadership to join issues with our past leaders or those who worked with them. There is however need for us to make some clarifications in this case in order to put the record straight and avoid a situation where party members and especially Nigerians will be led to believe a lie." he said.
Intentional attack
The PDP spokesman said the committee finds it strange that Mr Bala could choose this period when the party had just concluded its presidential campaign at the zonal level and about to commence the door to door campaigns in the states, "to throw spanner on our collective efforts and determination to achieve success for our party in the forthcoming general elections." Stating that the committee will not go into the details of the circumstances that led to the resignation of Mr Nwodo, Mr Alkali, however, recalled that the former chairman himself said he was quitting based on the need to "maintain cohesion in the overall interest of the party." He added, "For an aide to the former chairman to turn around and make unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against the NWC of the party speak of mischief and indeed a deliberate attempt to create bad blood, hatred and odium between members of the NWC and the former national chairman whom we hold in high esteem. "We want to put it on record that since June 2010 when Okwesilieze Nwodo was elected the national chairman of the PDP, he enjoyed the highest level of cooperation from members of the National Working Committee who supported every single programme that he introduced.
Mr Alkali dismissed Mr Bala's claim that Mr Nwodo left N7 billion in the PDP's purse, saying that he (Bala) was never in a position to know the state of the party's finances and therefore not qualified to speak on the matter.
The PDP spokesman asked Mr Bala to give clarification on the allegations he raised, adding that this will determine the committee's next line of action.
Source:234next

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Atiku, Ribadu lament Port Harcourt tragedy

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar yesterday demanded investigation into the death of some Nigerians at the PDP presidential rally in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

In a message of condolence issued by his media office in Abuja on Sunday, Mr Abubakar, who lost to President Goodluck Jonathan at last month's presidential primaries of the party, described the death of the Nigerians as a tragedy.
No fewer than 16 people lost their lives during a stampede at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt where the PDP held its presidential campaign rally at the weekend.The former vice president, however, implored the ruling party and the government not to desert the families of the deceased as they are ‘heroes of democracy'.
The campaign organisation of the presidential candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu also described the deaths as avoidable and tragic loss. In a statement by its Director of Media and Communications, Ibrahim Modibbo, the organisation said it sympathises with the family of the deceased and prays that "God will grant them the fortitude to bear the loss."
The organisation however asked all political parties to ensure that adequate security measures are taken before, during and after campaign rallies and programmes. The organisation also called for the police to be more efficient in their duties, particularly during this campaign season as "more political rallies will definitely take place."
Medical assistance
In the wake of the tragic incident ,the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Obot Akpabio, has set up a team of medical experts to assist some of the victims of the stampede.
The governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Usoro I. Usoro, said that "a delegation headed by the Commissioner for Health, of the state, Louisa Ukpe, left Uyo for Port Harcourt, immediately after the incident, to offer medical assistance towards fore-stalling further loss of lives.
"The team is also expected to search all hospitals and other health facilities with a view to identifying all Akwa Ibom indigenes who might have been involved in the incident and offer immediate help to them." Mr. Akpabio said that the victims of the stampede were part of the teaming crowd of supporters that thronged the Liberation Stadium to show overwhelming solidarity to their son, Mr Jonathan.
The governor however urged Nigerians to vote overwhelmingly for Mr Jonathan as a mark of honour in memory of those who died in the incident. "Today and always, we will always remember their loyalty and support which they carried to the end. Our heart goes out to them. We mourn with the families of those mourning and pray with a deep sense of sorrow that the Almighty God should console them over this unexpected calamity", the governor said.
Source:234next

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Quiros wins in Dubai after eventful final round

 Spain's Alvaro Quiros produced a bizarre final round which included a hole-in-one to capture the Dubai Desert Classic by one shot on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Quiros, celebrating his fifth European Tour success, also chipped in for an eagle and took a triple bogey after losing a ball up a palm tree in a final-round 68 to finish 11-under-par.
Denmark's Soren Hansen, needing to birdie the last hole to deny Quiros, posted a 70 to end with a 10-under-par tally, the same as South African James Kingston.
Struggling Tiger Woods ended his desert campaign with a final-hole double bogey in a closing 75 for a four-under-par score.
Briton Lee Westwood dropped three shots in his closing two holes and posted a 72 but remains world number one after nearest ranking rival Martin Kaymer of Germany ended in a share of 31st place.
Quiros's ace, his fourth on the European Tour, came at the 11th.
"I played a three-quarter wedge shot and it was the perfect shot, but that happens just once a year," he said.
"I had fallen back to second or third so that hole-in-one was the positive point of the round. It gave me a good advantage." Starting his final round a shot behind the leaders, Quiros began with a bang after chipping in from five yards off the back of the green for an eagle at the second.
But he lost the lead when his drive at the eighth landed in bushes forcing him to take a penalty drop. However, Quiros's ball plugged in the waste sand from where he skied the ball some 30-yards into a palm tree.
A pair of binoculars was required before Quiros, in the company of Chief Referee John Paramour, could confirm that the ball in the tree was his. Quiros took a penalty drop but walked off with a triple bogey.
He quickly shook off his misfortune to birdie the ninth and the hole-in-one then put him back in front for good.
Woods misfortune
Woods heads home still seeking a first win since November, 2009. "It was a very frustrating day," the American said.
"But I got off to such a poor start, to be two-over through three holes and I just couldn't make it up from there.
"When it was calm this week, I hit the ball pure, and that's the thing. When the wind blows,
I have to shape shots and hit shots differently and all of my old feels are kind of out the window.
"That's the thing about making changes, as I've said, I've been all through this before with my last two instructors, and it will come around. I just need more work and more practice."
Source: 234next

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Leone Stars hit back at Siasia

Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia has been criticised for labelling the coach of the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone, Christian Cole, a comedian.

The Super Eagles handler, while answering questions at a post-match press conference after last Wednesday's international friendly in Lagos, which ended 2-1 win in favour of Nigeria, called Cole a "comedian coach". Siasia's comment was a reaction to an earlier statement by the Leone Stars coach, also at the press conference, that his side were better than the Super Eagles.
Cole, had accused the Beninese match referee, Crespin Acuidissou, of giving "undue advantage" to the Super Eagles, saying that such a move on the part of the referee "will not help Siasia and his team" ahead of future engagements.
He also said that if any future game between both sides were to be "taken to a neutral ground," his side "will beat the Eagles."
Head to head
The Leone Stars have only got the better of the Super Eagles on just two occasions in 21 meetings. The last time they won the Eagles was in April 2001 when they recorded a 1-0 win in a World Cup qualifier in Freetown. For their part, the Super Eagles have won 14 of these games.
‘Inappropriate comment'
Despite the statistics, the Leone Stars have demanded an apology.
The Sierra Leonean sports administrator, Gorge Wilson, feels Siasia owes Cole an apology. He added that the apology will help prevent animosity between both teams.
Wilson also told the Sierra Express Media that he would "like to throw a challenge to Siasia that Sierra Leone can beat Nigeria.
"Nigeria do not have a better side than the Leone Stars, we can beat them," he insisted.
"Siasia calling coach Christian Cole a comedian is insulting and inappropriate. Football is a game of sport, although you want your team to win each and every game, this is not always possible, however, determination, effort, and true sportsmanship goes a long way too.
"As a coach, Siasia should know better on how to address a fellow coach and to criticise in a professional way, not by throwing out some off-hand comment that has no foundation. In fact, Siasia in his capacity as head coach should display leadership qualities rather than childish derogatory comments."
Soource:234next

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