Nigerian vice president visits violence-hit city

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:28:00 -0500

KANO, Nigeria – Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday urged his countrymen to "stop the carnage" of religious violence after a visit to a city where Muslim-Christian clashes claimed more than 300 lives.

In the first official toll, police said earlier Tuesday that at least 326 people had died in days of bloodshed which broke out on January 17 in the central city of Jos and spread to other areas.

"The federal government is saddened by this unfortunate development. We should talk to ourselves and stop this carnage. It is not going to help anybody," Jonathan told journalists after touring flashpoints and camps set up to house people displaced by the violence.

"In a crisis like this, nobody gains. We have been meeting with the leadership of the Plateau State government to ensure that this will be the last crisis in the state," he added.

Jos, capital of Plateau State, has long been the site of religious violence in a country whose 150 million-strong population is divided almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

Estimates from medical and aid workers and religious and community leaders have put the toll from the recent bloodshed at more than 550.

In Kuru Karama, a former mining village and Muslim enclave in a Christian district south of Jos, attackers who killed more than 150 villagers disposed of the bodies systematically.

Corpses were stuffed in water wells, pits, and sewer and irrigation canals, while others were burnt.

The military was deployed to quell the violence when it became apparent the killings were spiralling beyond the control of the local security forces.

Jonathan was accompanied on Tuesday's visit by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, minister and state governors.

"Since the incident happened, we have been meeting every day at the highest security level so as to ensure that the crisis does not spread to other parts of the country," Jonathan said.

Police said 313 people have so far been rounded up for suspected roles in the Jos killings.

Nigerian naval helicopter crashes; 4 feared dead

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:21:00 -0500

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – A Nigerian naval spokesman says one of its helicopters crashed in the Niger Delta, likely killing the four people onboard.

Commodore David Nabaida says the helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon while searching for a ship that supposedly ran aground in the region.

Nabaida says the helicopter went down near Port Harcourt International Airport. The three officers and a seaman onboard are feared dead.

The commodore says an investigation will uncover what caused the crash, but he says the navy had no evidence it was brought down by hostile fire. Militants and oil thieves have attacked pipelines and security forces in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Senate debate on Nigerian leader's health inconclusive

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:18:00 -0500

ABUJA – Nigerian senators' marathon closed door debate on President Umaru Yar'Adua's health was inconclusive on Tuesday, the lawmakers' spokesman said.

The parliamentarians expected to wind up the discussion on Wednesday,

"We have been behind closed doors for the past five hours trying to look at the issues before us, especially regarding the health of Mr. President...and all other developments surrounding the matter," Ayogu Eze told reporters.

"We are going to conclude and come out with a position at the end of tomorrow," he said.

The powerful secretary to the federal government, Yayale Ahmed, last week briefed the Senate on the president's state of health. No details of the meeting were known.

The 58-year-old president has been treated for a heart condition in Saudi Arabia since November 23.

A Federal High Court on Friday gave the cabinet a two-week deadline to decide if Yar'Adua was fit to stay in office.

The Cabinet holds its weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Yar'Adua-appointed cabinet has so far resisted opposition demands that it take action over the president's absence, insisting in a previous statement that he is in full possession of his faculties.

Yar'Adua's mentor, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, last week suggested Yar'Adua step aside because of his failing health.

Police: 326 killed in Nigeria religious violence

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:05:00 -0500

JOS, Nigeria – Sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria left 326 people dead last week, a state police commissioner said Monday, pledging to bring those responsible for the killings to justice.

Acting Plateau State Police Commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba said officers have arrested 303 people in connection with the rioting in Jos, a one-time tourist and mining town that straddles Nigeria's Christian south and Muslim north. Of those arrested, 139 have been taken to Nigeria's capital, Abuja, for questioning.

Aduba said more suspects remained at large, including those who took part in killings that nearly wiped out a small village on the southern outskirts of Jos. Volunteers there discovered bodies shoved into communal wells and sewer dumps. Others lay dead in the bush outside the village, victims of gunshot and machete wounds.

Aduba also promised those arrested would face trial in Jos. Government leaders in Jos have complained that those involved in previous riots later made bail in Abuja and never faced justice.

Sectarian violence in this central region of Nigeria has left thousands dead over the past decade. The latest outbreak came despite the Nigerian government's efforts to quell religious extremism in the West African country.

There are conflicting accounts about what unleashed the recent bloodshed. According to a state police commissioner, skirmishes began after Muslim youths set a Christian church ablaze, but Muslim leaders denied that. Muslims say it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home in a predominantly Christian neighborhood that had been destroyed in November 2008.

5,000 displaced after violence in northern Nigeria

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:33:00 -0500

JOS, Nigeria – The Red Cross says violence between Christians and Muslims in the city of Jos in northern Nigeria has displaced 5,000 people and left 69 others injured.

Jos-based Red Cross official Auwal Muhammad Madobi says rioters burned down churches, mosques and homes during the attacks Sunday. On Monday, police and soldiers manned road blocks and conducted searches on those traveling through the city.

A local police spokesman said the city was calm Monday. He said officials began collecting bodies from the streets and hospitals, but could not say how many were killed in the violence. Witnesses said Sunday night that they saw 10 bodies in a local mosque.

In 2008, two days of religious violence in Jos left more than 300 people dead.

Nigerians protest president's absence in capital

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:22:00 -0500

ABUJA, Nigeria – Hundreds of Nigerians concerned about the ill president's long hospitalization abroad protested in the capital Tuesday after the leader said in a radio interview that he hoped to recover and return to power.

President Umaru Yar'Adua left Nigeria on Nov. 23 to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. He has long been troubled by a kidney ailment, and doctors have said the 58-year-old is now suffering from acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.

Protesters rallied Tuesday in Abuja, where the Nigerian House of Representatives also planned to discuss Yar'Adua's long absence from power. One held a sign that asked: "Umaru, Where Are You?"

The BBC quoted Yar'Adua as saying he hoped to make "tremendous progress" and resume power in Africa's most populous nation.

"At the moment I am undergoing treatment, and I'm getting better from the treatment," the broadcaster quoted Yar'Adua as saying.

Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka acknowledged the president's radio comments at the rally, but accused corrupt government officials of embezzling millions during Yar'Adua's absence.

"It doesn't matter if President Yar'Adua walks in on his own two legs today," Soyinka said.

Three separate federal lawsuits also are challenging Yar'Adua's absence, asking for the country's vice president to officially lead the country.

Yar'Adua did not formally appoint an acting leader before he left, as the constitution requires. The constitution puts Vice President Goodluck Jonathan next in line, but it's unclear if the Muslim-dominated north would allow the Muslim Yar'Adua to be replaced with a Christian, as Jonathan is.

The Nigerian presidency alternates between Christian and Muslim leaders, and Yar'Adua still has two years left in his term.

Last month, a group of 50 prominent Nigerians also issued a petition calling on Yar'Adua to resign if he's medically incapable of running the country.

British refugee elected king in Nigeria

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:13:00 -0500

A businessman from Derbyshire has been crowned king of a Nigerian province.

Christopher Ejiofor fled to Littleover from Nigeria as a war refugee nearly 40 years ago.

The 63-year-old built up a successful aircraft maintenance firm and sent thousands of pounds back to Ezeagu, in Enugu state, where he was born.

In recognition of his contributions he was elected the first Christian ruler of the province and crowned in an elaborate coronation at his £4m palace.

The coronation saw thousands of guests bring him gifts including rams, giant portraits and a cow.

Mr Ejiofor said he initially turned down the role because of the distance, but was persuaded to take it when the other candidates dropped out.

The committed Christian has now built a 10-bedroom palace where he plans to retire with his wife and four children.

As king he will organise a local government, oversee conservation projects, pardon criminals and bestow knighthoods.

Mr Ejiofor was forced to flee the country in 1970 after being arrested because he was a military adviser on the losing side of a civil war.

He started work at East Midlands Airport and was handed British citizenship.

He said: "It's a great honour and privilege to recognised by your people.

"I did not want this position but in the end I was convinced to put my name forward and I was unanimously elected.

"When I left Nigeria it was on the last plane, which was being shot at.

"We were refugees in Gabon and had lost everything.

"But hard work has been part of my ethos and although we were very deprived, we worked hard.

"England was a place of recuperation. It provided me with the platform to recover and expand my life portfolio because there are so many opportunities.

"I hope the experiences I have gained from England will help me to bring some sort of order out of the chaos which exists in this part of the world as there is so much potential."

Nigeria Begins Another Round of Elections amid Uncertainty over President’s Health

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:34:00 -0500

Nigeria begins another election cycle in three weeks with a governorship race in the southeastern state of Anambra. But the month-long absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua has led to delays in enacting laws on electoral reforms. Also on hold are court challenges to elections held three years ago.

The country is not ready to conduct free, fair and credible elections, says Ike Ibe, who was a candidate in the last governorship elections in the southeastern state of Imo.

“If the much trumped up electoral reforms are not undertaken, I don’t see how we can conduct another successful election,” he said. “Mr. President himself said to the whole world that the election that produced him was terribly flawed and that it will be his first challenge."

Unfortunately, said Ibe, it has been almost three years and “nothing seems to be done. Everybody is just beating about the bush about electoral reforms.”
He said as long as the country fails to enact reforms, the outcome of all elections will be subject to court challenges.

“We cannot sow cassava and reap yam, it does not work that way. If we don’t conduct the electoral reforms as promised by the president and as expected by the international community, (if we) do 1,000 elections in Nigeria by the same people and operators, we are going to get exactly the same results.”

NNPC, big headache to Govt – Finance Minister

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:48:00 -0500

LAGOS — The Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muhtar has said that the downstream sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry is haemorrhaging as a result of inefficiencies in the system.

The minister, in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, said NNPC posed a challenge to the Federal Government.
He added that the corporation recently submitted to his office claims on subsidy amounting to N1.2 trillion.

According to him: “NNPC presents a big challenge to us. Again, I think there are some issues to be considered here.

Why NNPC can’t remit N450bn

”NNPC has outstanding claims against the government in relation to petroleum subsidy, which has not been paid over the years.

”In addition, as an organisation, it also has taken some money to repair pipelines vandalised by the militants.

“These, over the years, have risen considerably. What the corporation has been telling the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, is that it is unable to remit the money because government has not settled obligations or the outstanding liabilities due to it. I said it is a big challenge.

“It is not just about NNPC, really, but how we manage the entire downstream sector of the petroleum industry because of the inefficiencies, which have led to the haemorrhage, not leakage, that we currently experience in that sector.

”Few days ago, I got an invoice from NNPC. I got this invoice with the amount of N1.15 trillion in relation to money owed NNPC, and about N880bn of that amount represents outstanding subsidy payments.

“We have, of course, some additions. Even if we net out the N450bn, NNPC will, in the circumstance, still has a claim against the Federal Government and the states.

”That is why we keep saying that we really have to frontally address and resolve this issue,” he stressed.

Why projects appear in every budget

On why some projects appear in each year’s budget, the minister said: “In relation to some of the money that was in the budget for which it appeared that the projects had been completed, I have enquired about this.

”In many instances, what happens is that basically, the project execution, especially in the construction of roads and other construction projects, where you have a long-term commitment of government, say a two, three-year project, there are times when execution is ahead of payment and there are many outstanding certificates to be issued.

“Many times, when you make a budget, you use some of it to pay outstanding certificates and there are specific instances, where these jobs have actually been completed by the end of the year.

”When you have the budget and anybody goes to see it and say, ‘ah, but, this road has already been completed and drivers are plying the road, so, why is this road in the budget? You have to look at all the details.

“The other thing that people forget is that many contracts have built-in provision for what is called the retention fee.

”It means, like this building (Ministry of Finance), we have a provision that even after we finish building and the contractor completely hands over, there is a six-month period or so during which we would not pay the outstanding money of a certain amount until we certify that we are satisfied with the quality of work. It is among the items that reflect on the budget.

“It is also impossible that there may have been some mistakes in the budget process itself. We are not infallible. You are talking about numbers — thousands and hundreds of thousands of entries.

”Certainly, we cannot rule out the possibility in the budget that someone may try to smuggle in some numbers. For us, really, we always make sure that the budget submissions are defended line by line.

Dr. Muhtar speaks more on accountability, click below to read more
Nigerians should hold us accountable – Finance Minister

How Jonathan runs FEC meetings

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:47:00 -0500

Some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) are beginning to adjust to the reality of the long absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua from the country and especially the weekly meetings of the council currently chaired by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

Although the meetings are scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, they sometimes don’t start until 12 noon because some of the ministers have formed the habit of “ambushing” the President for various reasons before the meeting.

But with Jonathan, according to Sunday Vanguard sources, there is little, if any at all, of such ambushing.

Thus the meetings now start promptly at 10 a.m..

Besides, it was gathered that some ministers who were hitherto showing little interest in debates now appear to have found their voice as they all want to prove their relevance in government.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the President’s absence has not hindered Vice President Jonathan from giving approval to or standing down memos debated by the council.

One of the sources wondered why work would slow down in any ministry on account of the President’s absence.