Sunday, September 30, 2012

Blatter accuses S’Africa of poor World Cup preparation



FIFA President, Sepp Blatter

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
| credits: File copy

Sepp Blatter has accused South Africa of being too busy dancing to properly organise the 2010 World Cup.

The Fifa supremo was speaking about the past failings of countries who have held the prestigious tournament, which is next being hosted in Brazil in 2014.

Blatter has revealed that the world footballing governing body had to push South Africa to persuade them to get to work on the World Cup.

“When we came to Africa, the Africans – they got the World Cup in May 2004 – they were dancing during one year,” he told reporters. “They were just dancing because they got the World Cup.

“Then we had to call them and say, ‘Please, start to work!’ and we had to push a little bit to start to work.”

Eight years earlier, South Korea and Japan had co-hosted the 2002 iteration of the tournament and, although he praised their enthusiasm, Blatter has admitted his disappointment at the vast array of unused stadiums in the East Asian nations.

He added: “In South Korea and Japan they were so eager to organise the World Cup that they could have done two!

“Because they were ready with so many stadiums in Korea and the same number in Japan, in my opinion it was overdone.

“And now, in one of the countries at least, they have some stadiums which are white elephants – this is not the aim of the World Cup.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo
Yakubu Aiyegbeni

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Four-year-old girl kidnapped in Ebonyi



A four-year-old girl, Faith Okorie, was on Saturday kidnapped by gunmen in Okposi, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

An eyewitness, who wished to be identified as Ijeoma, said, “It was like lightening; the young men numbering about five drove into the compound of the girls’ father, Mr. Chukwuka Okorie, with sophisticated guns.

“Before anybody could ask what the problem was, the criminals collected the phones of all members of the family at gunpoint. After collecting the phones, they snatched Faith and drove away with her.”

Ijeoma said the incident was reported at the Police Divisional Headquarters, Obiozara.

A family member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the kidnappers had contacted the family.

 “The kidnappers have established contacts with the family and they are demanding N5m ransom before releasing the girl,” he said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sylvester Igbo, said he had yet to be fully briefed by the DPO of Ohaozara.

He, however, said the criminals would be apprehended and brought to book very soon.

More Stories in Metro

Fire
Scene of the plane crash
Mgbemeje (3rd from left) with others during the campaign

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Judiciary since Independence




Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar
| credits: pmnewsnigeria.com
ADE ADESOMOJU, in this piece, writes  on  the prominent features of the nation’s judiciary since it became independent of English Privy Council in 1963.
Nigeria attains its 52nd year of independence today, but the independence of its judiciary only coincides with the period the nation became a republic in 1963.  The Nigerian judiciary had no independence until 1963 when the country finally proclaimed itself a republic. Prior to 1963, decisions from the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria were not final as final appeals still had to be laid before the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the House of Lords in England. That meant that final decisions of Nigerian courts were still subject to judicial views handed down from England- through the Privy Council. A case that changed that was the Akintola v. Adegbenro case in which the Privy Council gave a decision at variance with that which the Nigerian Federal Supreme Court gave. After that decision, Nigeria became a Republic and the independence of the Nigeria judiciary from Britain’s Privy Council was effected.

 The personnel of the Nigerian judiciary, including the Chief Justices and Judges, were reflective of the colonial past until the appointment of  the late Justice Adetokunbo Ademola as the nation’s first indigenous Chief Justice. That gradually paved way for the weeding out of foreign influences from the personnel of the Nigerian judiciary until what is today a judiciary peopled by largely Nigerians.
Also, prior to becoming a Republic, decisions and cases decided in England were largely binding on Nigerian courts by virtue of the influence of the Privy Council on the Nigerian judicial heirachy system. However, since 1963 and over the years, the Nigerian courts are no longer bound by decisions made in English courts or any foreign court for that matter. At best, decisions made in English or other foreign courts can only be cited in Nigerian courts for persuasive effect. They are not binding on Nigerian courts.
In the areas of jurisprudence and the espousal of legal principles, Nigerian courts have taken advantage of opportunities offered by some Nigerian cases to propound legal theories to suit our localised dynamics. For instance, the issue of ‘local standi’ now have Nigerian cases, such as Fawehinmi v. Akilu, Abraham Adesanya v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fawehinmi v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  etc; decided on the applicability of the doctrine in Nigeria; as against the former practice of relying on British cases and foreign jurists’ opinion on such matters.  Also, on the issue of judicial integrity and bias, the practice before independence was to rely on the views of English jurists, especially Lord Denning’s view in such cases like that of Metropolitan Properties Co. ltd v. Lannon (1963) 3 All ER 304 at 310. However, today, Nigerian jurisprudence has evolved and cases such as Adigun v. A.G. Oyo State (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt.53) 678 at 719 – 720, L.P.D.C v Fawehinmi (1985) 2 NWLR (pt.7) 300 at 346-347, have had Nigerian judges propounding brilliant theories on the subject of judicial bias and integrity such that recourse to English jurisprudence on the subject is now often dispensed with.
Generally, the question of the competence and integrity of judges was hardly in doubt as at the time of independence but it appears that as the system declined, the judiciary also commenced its downward slope into corruption.

Some factors have been argued to have contributed to the decline in both competence and integrity on the Nigerian bench since independence. One of such is the process of appointment of judicial officers. At independence, merit was considered more important than place of origin. It was such that renowned academics such as Dr. Taslim Elias, who was Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, got appointed to the Supreme Court and even went to the World Court as Nigeria’s representative on the International Court of Justice’ Bench. Today, appointments in the judiciary has been afflicted by the turn-by-turn syndrome of a decaying bureaucracy.

The country is being administered as a fragment of ethnic nationalities so its appointments to the judicial arm of government have witnessed an unhealthy rise of the primordial sentimental considerations which have caused a steady decline in the quality of judgments and the society is the worse for it.
Over the years, military rule also contributed to the corruption of the judiciary. The military decrees many times attempted to abrogate and oust the jurisdiction of the courts. The military largely turned the courts to toothless bull-dogs and even where judgments were handed down against arbitrary government actions, they were hardly obeyed thus contributing to the peoples’ apathy towards the capacity of courts to do effectual justice.
Nigeria’s judiciary has rendered capacity-building assistance to fellow African countries such as Liberia, Gambia, Sierra-Leone etc. For instance, the Late Justice Akinola Aguda was once the Chief Justice of The Gambia. Similarly, the incumbent CJN, Justice Aloma Mukthar, would have been the Chief Judge of another African country, but for the fact that she declined and otherwise preferred to continue to render her services to the Nigerian judiciary.

Petrova wins Pan Pacific




Russia’s Nadia Petrova beat defending champion Agnieska Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 on Saturday to be successful on Pan Pacific Open.

Radwanska double faulted twice from the eighth game from the last set when Petrova broke her to go ahead 5-3 before winning the match in the following live game with a smash to the corner.

Petrova won her 12th title and for the 1st time in her career beat three best-10 gamers in the full week: No. 7 Sara Errani, No. 9 Samantha Stosur and No. 3  Radwanska.

The 17th-seeded Russian acquired a sore back again at the start of the tournament but got stronger & stronger with each win.

‘’Being straightforward with you, I don’t know exactly where I found the power and the willpower to combat in the third set,’’ Petrova claimed. ‘’This could be the main tournament I’ve previously won. That is an excellent accomplishment.’’

Radwanska was bidding to turn out to be the initial player right here to win back-to-back titles given that Lindsay Davenport in 2003-04.

Petrova acquired away to an excellent commence, breaking Radwanska in the initial game of the match following being down 30-love. She would break her opponent two a lot more occasions from the 1st arranged and appeared collection for a simple win.

But Radwanska bounced again in the second collection, successful the initial 5 video game titles though breaking Petrova twice.

The two gamers traded video games from the ultimate collection just before Radwanska’s serving difficulties inside eighth game led on the only break of the set.

‘’I believe I was just trying to do too much,’’ Radwanska claimed. ‘’For confident, I shouldn’t try this at that point within the match but there may be very little I can do about it now. ‘’

It was Petrova’s 2nd title of the season. She won a title earlier this 12 months at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in Netherlands.

Greek government in ‘basic agreement’ on cuts



Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras says the three parties in the country’s governing coalition have reached a “basic agreement” on the austerity package for 2013-14, British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The measures are likely to be presented to Greece’s international lenders on Monday before going before parliament.

The cuts are necessary if Greece is to continue receiving bailout funds.

Earlier, Greece announced plans to sell most of its 34 per cent stake in the gaming monopoly Opap.

Stournaras said there were “very few details left to work out” on the austerity package.

The deal comes the day after 50,000 anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Athens.

The spending cuts are reported to be worth at least ¤11.5bn ($14.8bn; £9.1bn) and are a condition for Greece to receive the next ¤31bn instalment of its international loans.

 

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Army foils Independence Day attacks



The Nigerian Army on Sunday said it foiled a plan by the Boko Haram sect to carry out massive suicide bomb attacks on Zaria, Kaduna and Suleja.

The army spoke in reaction to the killing of two suspected Boko Haram operatives in Gaskiya Layout of Tukur-Tukur, Zaria on Sunday morning by a joint team of State Security Service agents and soldiers.

The National Emergency Management Agency said two suspected extremists were killed while the injured were rushed to hospital.

Several people, including a woman, were arrested during the operation and the troops seized and destroyed a building which was heavily loaded with explosives, online medium, Saharareporters reports.

A statement signed by the Army Public Relations Officer, Cap. Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the gunfight took place in the early hours of Sunday when the militants engaged the joint team in a fierce gun battle in Gaskiya Layout.

Abdullahi said the engagement followed a tip-off that Boko Haram was planning a major suicide mission in Zaria, Kaduna and Suleija to coincide with Monday’s Independence Day celebrations.

A joint operation was then launched on a residential building in Gaskiya Layout to flush out the extremists.

The statement did not say whether any innocent people were killed, or whether the militants were the only residents of the building.

Abdullahi said the IEDs were intended for the various operations the sect was to carry out, and to inflict maximum casualty on army troops.

“As a result, a controlled detonation was carried out by Army Engineers so as to save other law abiding residents of the area and to stop further planning and execution of the nefarious, destructive, criminal and deadly activities of the sect,” the statement said.  

Investigations will determine the extent of the involvement of the individuals who were arrested during the operation.

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UK builder unveils management services company



Leading United Kingdom builder, Barratt, has announced that it is to launch an in-house management services company for London developments.
Called Barratt Residential Asset Management, the firm said it aims to ensure Barratt’s customer service is extended through the life of the company’s developments.
Barratt London is the first developer outside the retirement sector to launch an in-house management company and this builds on the company’s commitment to customer service which already includes Barratt’s unique five year warranty, according to propertywire.com.
The objective will be to give the company a competitive edge in large leasehold developments where the management of common areas and service charges can become an issue. It is structured not to be profitable in its own right.

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Energy fuels euro inflation



Euro zone inflation accelerated in September as energy costs soared but core prices stayed low, likely leaving the European Central Bank on track to cut interest rates soon, Reuters reported.

Consumer prices in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said on Friday in a first estimate that marked a rise from 2.6 per cent in August.

Markets had expected inflation to ease to 2.5 per cent.

Energy prices jumped 9.2 per cent after a 8.9 per cent rise the previous month.

Core inflation, excluding both energy and unprocessed foods, fell to its lowest level in a year of 1.7 per cent in August, the latest month for which the data has been published.

Together with recent data indicating that the euro zone economy entered a recession in the third quarter, Friday’s inflation reading kept intact expectations that the ECB will not wait long before delivering a growth-boosting rate cut.

“It seems highly likely that the ECB will take interest rates down from 0.75 per cent to 0.50 per cent in the fourth quarter,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

“While the ECB could act as soon as its October meeting next Thursday, we lean towards the view that they will probably hold off to November.”

Just 14 of 73 economists polled by Reuters this week expect the ECB to cut rates when it meets next Thursday but a majority expect the bank to have lopped off 25 basis points by the end of the year.

The ECB kept its main interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75 per cent at its meeting earlier this month, taking another policy-easing route by agreeing to launch a new and potentially unlimited bond-buying programme.

More Stories in International Business

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

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Judiciary since Independence



Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar

Nigeria's first female Chief Justice, Mariam Aloma Mukhtar
| credits: pmnewsnigeria.com

ADE ADESOMOJU, in this piece, writes  on  the prominent features of the nation’s judiciary since it became independent of English Privy Council in 1963.

Nigeria attains its 52nd year of independence today, but the independence of its judiciary only coincides with the period the nation became a republic in 1963.  The Nigerian judiciary had no independence until 1963 when the country finally proclaimed itself a republic. Prior to 1963, decisions from the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria were not final as final appeals still had to be laid before the jurisdiction of the Privy Council of the House of Lords in England. That meant that final decisions of Nigerian courts were still subject to judicial views handed down from England- through the Privy Council. A case that changed that was the Akintola v. Adegbenro case in which the Privy Council gave a decision at variance with that which the Nigerian Federal Supreme Court gave. After that decision, Nigeria became a Republic and the independence of the Nigeria judiciary from Britain’s Privy Council was effected.

 The personnel of the Nigerian judiciary, including the Chief Justices and Judges, were reflective of the colonial past until the appointment of  the late Justice Adetokunbo Ademola as the nation’s first indigenous Chief Justice. That gradually paved way for the weeding out of foreign influences from the personnel of the Nigerian judiciary until what is today a judiciary peopled by largely Nigerians.

Also, prior to becoming a Republic, decisions and cases decided in England were largely binding on Nigerian courts by virtue of the influence of the Privy Council on the Nigerian judicial heirachy system. However, since 1963 and over the years, the Nigerian courts are no longer bound by decisions made in English courts or any foreign court for that matter. At best, decisions made in English or other foreign courts can only be cited in Nigerian courts for persuasive effect. They are not binding on Nigerian courts.

In the areas of jurisprudence and the espousal of legal principles, Nigerian courts have taken advantage of opportunities offered by some Nigerian cases to propound legal theories to suit our localised dynamics. For instance, the issue of ‘local standi’ now have Nigerian cases, such as Fawehinmi v. Akilu, Abraham Adesanya v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fawehinmi v. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  etc; decided on the applicability of the doctrine in Nigeria; as against the former practice of relying on British cases and foreign jurists’ opinion on such matters.  Also, on the issue of judicial integrity and bias, the practice before independence was to rely on the views of English jurists, especially Lord Denning’s view in such cases like that of Metropolitan Properties Co. ltd v. Lannon (1963) 3 All ER 304 at 310. However, today, Nigerian jurisprudence has evolved and cases such as Adigun v. A.G. Oyo State (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt.53) 678 at 719 – 720, L.P.D.C v Fawehinmi (1985) 2 NWLR (pt.7) 300 at 346-347, have had Nigerian judges propounding brilliant theories on the subject of judicial bias and integrity such that recourse to English jurisprudence on the subject is now often dispensed with.

Generally, the question of the competence and integrity of judges was hardly in doubt as at the time of independence but it appears that as the system declined, the judiciary also commenced its downward slope into corruption.

Some factors have been argued to have contributed to the decline in both competence and integrity on the Nigerian bench since independence. One of such is the process of appointment of judicial officers. At independence, merit was considered more important than place of origin. It was such that renowned academics such as Dr. Taslim Elias, who was Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, got appointed to the Supreme Court and even went to the World Court as Nigeria’s representative on the International Court of Justice’ Bench. Today, appointments in the judiciary has been afflicted by the turn-by-turn syndrome of a decaying bureaucracy.

The country is being administered as a fragment of ethnic nationalities so its appointments to the judicial arm of government have witnessed an unhealthy rise of the primordial sentimental considerations which have caused a steady decline in the quality of judgments and the society is the worse for it.

Over the years, military rule also contributed to the corruption of the judiciary. The military decrees many times attempted to abrogate and oust the jurisdiction of the courts. The military largely turned the courts to toothless bull-dogs and even where judgments were handed down against arbitrary government actions, they were hardly obeyed thus contributing to the peoples’ apathy towards the capacity of courts to do effectual justice.

Nigeria’s judiciary has rendered capacity-building assistance to fellow African countries such as Liberia, Gambia, Sierra-Leone etc. For instance, the Late Justice Akinola Aguda was once the Chief Justice of The Gambia. Similarly, the incumbent CJN, Justice Aloma Mukthar, would have been the Chief Judge of another African country, but for the fact that she declined and otherwise preferred to continue to render her services to the Nigerian judiciary.

 

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Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philips.
Femi-Falana_-2-jpg

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Jonathan to address Nigerians on Independence Day



Nigeria @ 52: President Goodluck Jonathan tis expected to make a national broadcast on Monday, October 1 at 7a.m, as part of Nigeria’s 52nd Independence Day celebration.

There will also be a ceremonial Change of Guards by the Nigerian Army at 9.30a.m at the State House.

On Sunday, Jonathan attended an interdenominational service in Abuja, where he declared that God would see Nigeria through its current challenges.

More details later.

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EFCC advises travellers not to exceed $10000 forex limit



Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Sunday advised persons travelling out of Nigeria not to exceed the statutory $10,000 foreign exchange limit.

EFCC Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Akomaye, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said any traveller carrying any amount above the limit should be prepared to declare it to Customs.

Akomaye blamed Nigeria’s fraud, terrorism, money laundering and drug vulnerability on its cash-based economy and commended the National Assemby for showing commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws.

The commission on Thursday arrested a 24 year-old Nigerian, Abubakar Tijani Sheriff, for allegedly attempting to travel out with the sum of $7 million (N1,120,000 billion).

He was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos as he was trying to travel to Dubai aboard a United Arab Emirates flight.

After his arrest, he said that he had a total sum of $4.5million.

But when he was thouroughly searched, he was found to have $7,049,444 on him.

He later confessed that he was a courier for 20 individuals who hired him to take the money for them to Dubai.

Authorities said they were working on the theory that he was a money laundering courier.

He has reportedly named 20 individuals who sent him on the errand.

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US greets Nigeria at 52



United States has sent a message of congratulations to Nigeria on its 52nd Independence anniversary.

The message was delivered by US Secretary of State, Hillay Clinton, and made available to PUNCH in a statement issued by the Department of State.

Nigeria marks its 52nd anniversary on Monday.

The message reads,

“I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Nigeria as you celebrate your Independence Day this October 1.

“The strong ties between Nigeria and the United States are grounded in our shared values and mutual interest in fostering good governance, increasing economic growth, and promoting regional stability. We value this partnership and remain dedicated to working together to meet the challenges of the future.

“On the 52nd anniversary of your independence, I wish all Nigerians a peaceful and prosperous year.

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Nine-year-old boy killed, three others injured as terrorists attack church in Kenya



A nine-year-old boy was killed and three other children wounded when a hand grenade was thrown into a Sunday school session in a church in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, police and medical staff said.

Kenya has suffered a series of grenade attacks since it sent troops across the border into Somalia last October in pursuit of Islamist al Shabaab militants who it blamed for kidnapping its security personnel and Western tourists.

The attack on the church came days after Kenyan troops launched a surprise offensive on the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the last stronghold of the al Shabaab, forcing the rebels to flee, Reuters reports.

Police said attackers threw the grenade into the Sunday school service in St. Polycarp’s church on Nairobi’s Juja Road.

The grenade exploded, spraying the children with shrapnel and fatally injuring the boy.

“We suspect this blast might have been carried out by sympathisers of al Shabaab,” said deputy police spokesman Charles Owino.

“These are the kicks of a dying horse since, of late, Kenyan police have arrested several suspects in connection with grenades,” he added.

Masked assailants launched simultaneous gun and grenade raids on two churches in the northern town of Garissa in July, killing at least 17 people.

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

I travelled by road from London to Nigeria — Newton Jibunoh



Newton Jibunoh

Dr. Newton Jibunoh is a man of many parts. An arts enthusiast and environmental activist, the 74-year-old founder of Didi Museum and Fight Against Desert Encroachment, a Non Governmental Organisation, wears his passion like a badge.

Surrounded by art in different forms at Didi Museum, venue for the hour-long chat, the former chairman of Costain West Africa, speaks animatedly about his interests that have since become his identity.

On the museum, he says, it is an educational institution which he traces its genesis to a small room in Apapa.

“As a child, missionaries referred to these artifacts as taboos and tried to get my people to get rid of them,” he recalls. “What shocked me was that the missionaries were taking away some of those things. When I got to London in the early 60s and visited the British museum, I found most of these works there. So, I decided to start a campaign to keep our history. When I returned to Nigeria in 1966, I started collecting works. Moreover, because I was also finding myself in the midst of artists like Segun Olusola, Akin Yuba, Wole Soyinka, Dr Ekpeyong, I learnt a lot from them.

“Dr Ekpeyong, who was the director-general of the National Museum, would come to my house and see the works. He always commended them and urged me to show it to the public. That was how I started from a parlour exhibition to a room exhibition and to what it is now.”

Famous for his trips across the desert, Jibunoh rhapsodises on his first trip which he made when he was in his 20s. “When you are in your 20s, that is what I will regard as your formative era, when you decide who you are and where you are headed. One of such examples was the arrest and trial of Nelson Mandela. He said on the day he was sentenced, ‘this is my cause, this is what I believe in, and I will continue to do so even if I die in the process.’ The other statement was that of John .F. Kennedy, who was challenged for trying to explore the space and the moon because of the huge amount of money America, was investing in it. He told his opponents that it was only by doing hard things that good things come out. That also stayed with me and that inspiration started in earnest. I decided that I was going to be part of my era and the only way to do that was to try the impossible. It took me six months to get to Nigeria from London.”

You wonder why he still takes the risk of going on expeditions at his age. In a fit of amusement, he enumerates the reasons for his sustained interest.

“It is like going to the moon and what they have achieved by going to the moon. To go on an expedition like this, you have to put your life on the line and be ready to die. You do not do things like this for nothing; you have to have a course because many times people have asked what this whole thing is about. It is about the air we breathe, it is about the water we drink, the food we eat and it is about the land we came out from and will go back to when we die. How much are we doing to protect and preserve the land that is so important for life?”

Recounting his several near-death experiences, he tells without mincing words that he is undeterred. “If you are stuck in the sand and you cannot get your car out of the sand and you do everything (maybe for four or five hours) and you are 600 miles from help, what do you do? You just stay there and die. Alternatively, when you are attacked by bandits, they wonder why you are there, and they want to kill you, what do you do? You either surrender or try to talk them out of it.

“I have gone through so many near-death situations but somehow, I think it is the fact that once you are ready to die for anything, death stays away from you. It is when you are scared of dying and you are faced with death that you panic.”

In spite of all these, he still finds time to relax. “I do relax but maybe when I go to that six feet beneath, I will relax. I do many things and I cycle around a lot. When I am in London, I use my bicycle to go everywhere because there are bicycle tracks. In my village in Delta, I ride my bicycle. The same applied in Amsterdam, wherever I go to visit my daughter and grandchildren. In Lagos, I don’t ride often and when I have to, I take my bicycle to some island or one of these estates where it’s a lot safer.”

Bu his childhood was not as pleasant. Hear him: “I did not know I was an orphan until I was seven years old. What my sister and I were told was that our parents travelled. Family and friends offered to put us up here and because of that, I went to so many schools.”

His educational sojourn brought him to Lagos. “After secondary school, I came to Lagos, where I did a number of courses at the emergency science school now known as YABATECH. First, I got a job with the Federal Ministry of Works and I found out that I could sit for scholarship examinations. I failed the first time and passed the second time. That was how I travelled out of Nigeria to study building engineering in 1961 and I graduated in 1965. I then came back to Nigeria in 1967 and went back to the Ministry of Works where I worked for a little over a year. I found that I was not sufficiently challenged and I left there for a private sector organisation, which was like a subsidiary of Costain. From there, I moved on to Costain and whilst there, for 36 years, I worked there — I was CEO for 16 years.”

Married to Elizabeth, he remembers their meeting many years back. “It was a Christmas day. I did not have what you would call a family, so, I liked moving around during Christmas. That Christmas morning, I saw two young women and it turned out that the other lady had spent the night at my wife’s place. So, she escorted her to her parents’ place to explain why she spent the night.

“On my way back, I saw my wife alone and I greeted. She ignored me but I repeated my greeting and I followed her. She continued to ignore me and I followed her to the house where she just walked in. At night, I went back to that same house and met her mother, who was pleased with my honesty. Today, we have five children and nine grandchildren.”

Ask him what he would like to be remembered for and he stares back at you in amazement and says, “Anytime I am asked that question, I am at a loss. When I am gone, I am gone. I think it is my legacy that will determine. I do not think I want to predict. First, I do not know when I am going and I do not know how I am going to go. When I hear people talk about what they would like to be remembered for, I am not impressed.”

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Minister warns publishers against corruption



Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has warned publishers against conniving with schools to sabotage Federal Government’s efforts at improving the quality of education.

He gave the warning in Abuja on Friday in a meeting with publishers awarded the contract to produce free instructional materials for the Universal Basic Education programme.

“I summon this meeting just to let you know how serious we are and that it is no longer going to be business as usual. Every effort being made by Federal Government to improve quality of education at the basic level is being sabotaged by various people,” he said.

The minister explained that the meeting became necessary as the government had awarded contract for the purchase of materials for core subjects for public primary and junior secondary schools.

Wike pointed out that government was aware that publishers colluded with State Universal Basic Education Boards to sabotage government efforts through corrupt practices. He added that most times, the usual number of books that were supposed to be supplied were not supplied, saying, “Instead, cash is being exchanged,” he said.

He warned the publishers to refrain from such act, as the government had set up monitoring teams that would supervise the supply of the books in the states.

“This will also check what the Universal Basic Education Commission is doing; we want to actually know if the commission is part of the sabotage.”

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N’Assembly should stop funds for 511 LGs — Igini



Hon. Speaker, House of Representative, Aminu Tambuwal

Hon. Speaker, House of Representative, Aminu Tambuwal
| credits:

The Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr. Mike Igini, has urged the National Assembly to stop the monthly allocations to 511 local government areas across the country that are being run by caretaker committees.

Igini, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Calabar on Friday, said it was against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the affairs of LGAs to be managed by unelected officials.

He lamented that the widespread use of caretaker committees by governors to run the affairs of LGAs was a movement away from democracy, saying it is for that reason that majority of the LGAs had remained unaccountable to the people.

Igini said if the National Assembly could take the step of suspending the allocations to LGAs run by caretaker committees, there was the likelihood of the grass roots being back on the track of democracy.

He said, “Nigeria is under partial democracy. We have three tiers of governance; the federal, the state and the local government tiers, but evidently, the LGs have been turned into vassals of the states held in thrall by party and executive structures that have confiscated the local government tier and strangulated development at the point where it is nearest to Nigerians.

“Of the 36 states and the FCT, only 13 have elected local governments, namely, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Sokoto, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kwara, Taraba, Jigawa, Ogun, Niger and Zamfara,other states are therefore in breach of section seven of the constitution; an impeachable offence with the implication that a whole 511 LGAs where Nigerians are domiciled do not experience democracy at the moment because it is only 263 LGAs out of 774 that have elected councils.

“The setting up of caretaker committees is a movement away from democracy and this has resulted in the failure of that tier of government. Accountability in all its facets must start from the LGAs. The National Assembly should ensure that there are no allocations to those LGAs in order to reverse the trend.”

The REC said there was an urgent need to review state electoral laws and electoral management at local government levels to reflect the aspiration of voters at the grass roots.

For instance, he said governors should not be the determinants of what the budget the state independent electoral commissions should be.

According to him, this urgent and crucial governance deficit justifies the need to tackle it to a logical conclusion.

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Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson
Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr Abdulateef Adegbite

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Panic as Qatar Airways plane makes emergency landing in Lagos



There was panic on Saturday afternoon as a Qatar Airways plane inbound Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos from Doha made an emergency landing.

Reports said the plane lost a tyre midair while its landing gear also developed a fault.

Aviation and National Emergency Management Agency officials swiftly rushed to the runway of the airport to handle any emergency.

The plane eventually landed at the airport and after some anxious moments, came to a halt.

The pilot of the Airbus A330-200 plane had sent a distress call to air traffic controllers on duty at Lagos airport, telling them that one his tyres was having low pressure.

 The aircraft carrying 248 passengers touched down on runway 18R of the airport at about 1:15pm and one of the tyres tore opened.

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Ogunbiyi

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Winners emerge in 2012 WISE education award



The interior of the solar-powered floating classroom

The World Innovation Summit for Education has announced six groundbreaking projects from around the world as winners of the 2012 WISE Awards, under the theme “Transforming education.”

The six winning transformative educational project presenters will go home with $15,000 each at a presentation award ceremony to be held later this year in the United Arab Emirates.

The WISE Awards was inaugurated in 2009 to identify, showcase and promote innovative educational projects from around the world.

To date, 1,600 applications have been received from 128 countries, resulting in 122 finalists and 24 winning projects.

The 24 successful projects have come from a variety of countries around the world, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

These “real world” initiatives are progressively building a pool of sound practice, which is having a local or global impact on education.

Now in its fourth year, the WISE Awards identify, showcase and promote innovative educational projects from all sectors and regions of the world in order to inspire change in education. 

The chairman, WISE, and chairman of the WISE Awards Jury, Dr. (Sheikh) Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, in a statement explained that the 2012 winning projects, which were selected for their concrete and positive impact upon society would receive global visibility and a prize of $15,000 each. 

The winning initiatives, he stated, came from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, Denmark, India and the United States of America after they scaled the pre-selection process, whereby works of 24 participants from 14 countries were judged.

According to him, winning projects have been selected for their tangible and positive impact on the society and their innovative approach to solving important global educational problems.

“Since 2009, the WISE Awards have recognised successful, transformative projects in education in order to generate a pool of sound practices and to inspire their adoption and adaptation elsewhere.

“When determining the best projects, we look at what is being achieved as well as how it is done. The winning initiatives were selected not only because they are successful, but also because of their innovative approach. These are not ordinary education efforts,” he said.

He added that the diverse projects offer unique solutions to today’s most important challenges, from poverty to climate change.

The solutions proffered by the winners, he said, include unconventional business models to provide low-income families with affordable education, as well as original ways of bringing high-quality education to remote and destitute parts of the world.

One of the six winning projects is a solar-powered floating school designed for unreached pupils in Bangladesh during monsoon. The device, Nigerian educationists said, would be useful for people in riverine and flood-prone areas.

The project was presented for the awards by a Bangladesh -based non-profit organisation, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha.

According to a statement introducing the project, “the solar-powered floating schools are to ensure children’s education even during the height of the monsoon. The boats collect students from riverside villages, dock at a final destination and provide on-board, small-group instruction.

Finalists and winners of the WISE Awards will, according to the organisers, participate in the annual WISE Summit taking place between November 13 and 15 at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar, under the theme “Collaborating for change.”

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I Used To Wash My Wife’s Pants, Stained With Other Men’s Semen-Hubby Tells








A 39-yr-aged property agent, Mr. Ibukun Oluwadamilare, induced a lot laughter when he told a Lagos Grade A Customary Courtroom, sitting in Agege, that he used to wash his spouse’s pants, which smell of other males’s semen.

He claimed: “Every time she returns at evening from an outing, I always perceive sperm odour and she always returns dwelling with pink lips, which indicated that a man have tough manage her and also kissed her lips.”

Ibukun informed the courtroom that he married Mrs Adesuwa Oluwadamilare in the yr 2000 and the union is blessed with three small children and that Adesuwa had two children from her past marriage.

He claimed that his wife packed out of his property four years in the past after she gave birth to their last born, adding that Adesuwa out of the blue became uncontrollable.

He alleged that Adesuwa went to lodge in the hotel located someplace in lju-lshaga.

Ibukun also informed the court that his wife would have killed him with some fetish substances she robbed on her face, all her body and her private part..

However, lbukun begged the court not to dissolve the marriage, since he nonetheless loves her.

Previously, 33-year old -Mrs Oluwadamilare informed the court that she mistakenly got pregnant for lbukun in 2000, and he refused to remit her bride price even after three little ones.

Adesuwa said why she informed  the court was to make her  husband come to the village in Edo State and marry her in accordance to the custom and tradition of their land.

She claimed that lbukun continually accused her of dating young adult males and capitalised on the situation to abuse her.

She explained: “There was a day he beat me at a bus station and tore my garments to shreds. I left there stark unclad.”

She said her husband often monitors her where about and would not give her peace of mind.

Meanwhile, the court President, Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle adjourned the matter till October 22 for more hearing.



Photo Of A Giant Sea Turtle Captured In Oniru Beach, Lagos




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