Saturday, May 28, 2011

Ohakim Hands Over Two Days Early, Plots Escape From Nigeria.



Disgraced former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, today hurriedly handed power over to his successor, Rochas Okorocha, in Owerri. The impromptu ceremony took place at about 2 :00 PM Nigerian time.

Ohakim later drove to the airport where he entered a flight to Lagos. Upon his arrival in Lagos, he was sighted at the Arik Airline office in Ikeja.  He was reportedly negotiating to hire a chartered flight to escape from Nigeria before Sunday, when his immunity expires.

After his negotiation with Arik Airline management, Ohakim drove out in an unmarked Range Rover car to lodge at the Sheraton hotel in Ikeja.

EFCC Discovers $1 billion In Speaker Bankole's Proxy Account In UBA, Jonathan Wades In To Halt His Arrest.



Naija News Desks’ investigation of the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has unearthed that he owns a startling $1 billion stashed away in a domiciliary account at the United Bank of Africa (UBA). Our investigations revealed that the account is being operated for Mr. Bankole by his Principal Officer, Morris Ekpeyong.
The account was opened in 2009 and had since been operated on behalf of Bankole by Mr. Ekpeyong.

Our investigation confirms that the 41-year old outgoing Speaker had diverted funds into the account from budgetary allocations to the House of Representatives.

Sources at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told Naija News Desk that their investigators were stunned by the massive scale of Mr. Bankole’s money laundering activities. Two officials of the anti-corruption agency as well as a source in the Presidency disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan was standing in the way of the EFCC’s plan to arrest Mr. Bankole in response to his latest scandal financial scam as well as a spate of other money laundering activities in their docket.

The outgoing Speaker, who has made extensive real estate deals since he became Nigeria’s third most powerful man, is considered to be one of the most corrupt officials in public service today in Nigeria.

He has grown immensely rich as Speaker, routinely using a variety of proxies in his extensive deals. Through such willing individuals, he has bought several houses in South Africa and the US.

The outgoing Speaker, who was trounced in his re-election bid, also recently bought the 32-storey NITEL building in Lagos for N4 billion, and is the owner of a N7 billion hotel resort undergoing construction in the Akodo area of Lekki in Lagos.

Our investigations revealed that one of Mr. Bankole’s key and most trusted money-laundering pals is Ade Gbadebo, the son of the Alake of Egbaland. Our sources disclosed that Mr. Gbadebo has helped Bankole move about $500 million through several bank accounts.

The Speaker and his father also recently completed seven duplexes after he tore down his father's old house in Abeokuta.  Our investigations show that Mr. Bankole has built a huge mansion in Abeokuta that is completely hidden from the public through the use of tarps and construction covers.



In an investigative report in September 2010, Naija News Desk had identified two ladies being used by Mr. Bankole in a N5 billion scam.  The women, Angela Oselukwu and Uduak Akpan Israel, are now fugitives and have been declared wanted by the EFCC. They were involved in stealing N5 billion from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

Speaker Bankole and his siblings used the two fugitive women to open accounts at the UBA. Payments were then made into the accounts for the benefit of four companies belonging to the Bankoles: Vulysteke Metallic Construction Ltd, Parthenon Acropolis Nig. Ltd, Complete Trade Nig. Ltd, Zobra Global Services Ltd and F-Plus Concept Ltd.

As Speaker, Mr. Bankole was also notoriously embroiled in a N2.3 billion car scam as well as the misuse of the N9 billion capital budget of the House for 2008/2009.

Last year, the EFCC boss announced that the commission had concluded its investigation of the issue and sent its report to the presidency, but nothing further was heard from the presidency.

Mr. Bankole is also currently entrapped in another scandal in which he used the House of Representatives as collateral to obtain a personal loan of N10 billion from UBA. The loan is yet to be accounted for. The EFCC summoned Mr. Bankole to appear for interrogation last Thursday, but he did not show up.  Instead, he sent a letter to the agency pleading that he was tied down by “inauguration” activities.

A baffling turn in the story is that the embattled Speaker has persuaded Mr. Goodluck Jonathan to order that the investigations against him be stopped. Naija News Desk learned today from different sources within the EFCC and the Presidency that Mr. Jonathan, who will be inaugurated tomorrow for a term of four years as President, assured the outgoing Speaker that he would prevail on the EFCC leadership to end the investigation against the speaker.
 
Mr. Jonathan’s intervention on behalf of the speaker contradicts pledges he made during his presidential election campaigns. Mr. Jonathan had vowed never to interfere with the work of any anti-corruption bodies.


Nigerian ambassador in wife battering scandal. The claims are false, the children say.


THE wife of the Nigerian High Commissioner Mrs Tess Iyi Wigwe has accused her husband Chief Dr Chijioke Wilcox Wigwe of  causing her serious bodily harm. Wigwe, the High Commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles is also the permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations Environmental Programme and the UN Habitat in Nairobi.
A letter from lawyer Judy Thongori to Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere dated Monday (May 23) says Tess sustained injuries on the face, neck, fingers and spine after a quarrel which resulted in the beating on May 11. Tess asked the Police Commissioner to arrest the Diplomat for assaulting her. Lawyer Thongori who is acting on behalf of Tess said they would demand that Wigwe’s diplomatic immunity be lifted so that he could be prosecuted. “Though Dr Chijioke Wilcox Wigwe is a diplomat, we are of the considered view that any diplomatic immunity that he enjoys is subject to him upholding and respecting the fundamental rights of others as enshrined in the Constitution,” Thongori said in her letter to Iteere citing the rights which include freedom from torture, freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment.
In an exclusive interview with The Star on Thursday, Tess said she was rescued by her 20-year-old son and 23-year-old daughter who rushed her to hospital while bleeding profusely. The diplomat’s wife said she was admitted to the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi, on May 11, operated on and discharged on Sunday, May 15.
The couple is said to have been married for several years and have five children — four boys and a girl aged between 32 and 20 years as well as five grandchildren. Tess said she had left Wigwe in 1999 due to womanizing and frequent beating. However the Nigerian High Commissioner has denied Tess’s allegations of having beaten her up, Wigwe admitted that he had married two other women during the nine years he and his wife lived separate lives as she went to the UK to work. In his exclusive interview with the Star, he said “I’m really shocked that the wife of an ambassador could degrade herself to this level. Those were self-taken photos she took ten days ago in front of me and the two children she claims took her to hospital,”. Wigwe said his wife was capable of anything and accused her of breaking into his bedroom and taking away some of his Rolex watches, he said Tess had a motive and claimed that she wants money.
Interestingly, the two children who were said to have rushed in to save their mother do not seem to corroborate either story. Nelson contradicted his mother’s claim that he had come to her rescue.
“I was in my room resting when l heard a commotion. When l came out, l found the two of them arguing. I do not know who or what happened.” Nelson and his sister said they wanted to set the record straight and came to the Star offices to do this. “The fact is, while the relationship between our parents has been tumultuous, from past instances l feel that reports of the event are far from the truth,” said Nelson. Adda said she accompanied her mother and two of her friends who arrived to take her to hospital.
Earlier on Thursday, a woman who spoke in deeply accented English and identified herself as Rhoda Akambi, the High Commission’s principal communication officer, said that Tess’s injuries were “fake”. Akambi said the bloodstains and injuries seen on the face of the diplomat’s wife was tomato sauce which she had applied on herself in her attempt to blackmail the diplomat.
The High Commission last night issued a statement expressing deep concerns about the allegations against the High Commissioner. “While refraining from commenting on the status of the union of Chief Dr Chijoke Wilcox and Mrs Tess Iyi Wigwe, the Nigeria High Commission wishes to assure the public that the allegations made against Dr Wigwe are to the best of its knowledge, malevolent, far from the truth and unsubstantiated.”
The statement continued, “All we ask the public at this stage is to allow us time to ascertain the truth of the matter, before his hard-earned reputation and lifetime achievements are destroyed by these accusations .
Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino said the police were addressing the matter. “We are very concerned about this matter. We just want to deal with it so that we have all the details. We are however sorry that no report was made to any police station and recorded at the occurrence book initially,” Owino said about the incident which Tess said was reported to the Spring Valley police station.
Last night, the Federation of Women Lawyers of Kenya issued a statement signed by its chairperson Naomi Wagereka condemning the incident and asking for the diplomat to be removed. Fida asked the government to declare Wigwe persona non grata (not welcome); arrest and prosecute him. Fida asked the Nigerian government to withdraw Wigwe’s diplomatic status and immunity and provide immediate protection and care to his wife.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Journalist detained in Syria released by Iran.


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Missing journalist Dorothy Parvaz, who was held by Iranian authorities after being detained in Syria, arrived in her company's home base of Qatar on Wednesday after winning her freedom.

Parvaz's fiance, Todd Barker, said she called him early Wednesday from Qatar as she was clearing customs. Her employer, Al Jazeera, confirmed the release, saying she is "safe and well and back with us" in the capital Doha.

"I looked at my phone, saw it was her number and God, it was as unreal," Barker told The Canadian Press.
The Iranian-born Parvaz, who also has Canadian and American citizenship, was detained in Syria while on assignment for the Doha-based Al Jazeera's English-language channel.

Parvaz, 39, went missing after leaving Qatar on April 29 for Damascus to cover the anti-government uprising in Syria. Syrian authorities said Parvaz was deported to Iran shortly after her arrival.

Iran had not commented on Parvaz until Tuesday, when its foreign ministry spokesman said she had attempted to enter Syria with an expired Iranian passport and without proper press clearance. However, the Iranian official, Ramin Mehmanparast, stopped short of admitting she was being held in Iran.

He only said Parvaz was traveling with several passports when she was detained. Iran does not recognize multiple nationalities for Iranians. Iranians do not need advance visas to enter Syria. Those entering on Canadian and U.S. passports do require them.

Officials in Tehran could not be reached for further comment on Wednesday.

Barker said Parvaz told him that she was "treated very well, she was interrogated, but she's fine."

He said Parvaz would be returning to Canada at some point, but could not say when that might be.

"She can't get to Vancouver fast enough, in my opinion," he said.

Al Jazeera said Parvaz landed in the Qatari capital on Wednesday on a flight from Iran.

"She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now to find out more about her ordeal over the last eighteen days," an Al Jazeera spokesman said. The network said she was not allowed any contact with the outside world while she was detained.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach officials at Canada's embassy in Kuwait, which handles consular matters for Qatar. The U.S. embassy in Qatar did not immediately comment.

After Parvaz went missing in Syria, a Facebook page entitled "Free Dorothy Parvaz" was created and attracted about 16,400 followers. Her brother, Dan Parvaz, announced her release in a post on the page early Wednesday.

"While I'm grateful to the Iranian government for her treatment and release, I'm more grateful to all of you." he wrote. "You kept the faith, made phone calls, wrote letters, rallied, watched the media ... and never lost hope."

Barker said he had no prior indication that Parvaz would be released and described her phone call as "out of the blue."

"When you don't hear from somebody you love for 19 days ... you don't know if they're dead, don't know if they're alive, you don't know if they're being tortured."

In Syria, the government of President Bashar Assad has banned most outside journalists and placed strict controls on the few media outlets remaining in the country.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said about 20 local and international journalists have been assaulted or detained in Syria or expelled from the country since the protests against Assad broke out in March.

Two Associated Press journalists were expelled from the country with 45 minutes' notice. Five Reuters journalists also faced detention and intimidation, including one who was expelled by Syrian authorities on March 25 after five years as the agency's correspondent in Damascus.

Monday, May 16, 2011

War crimes prosecutor seeks arrest of Gadhafi.


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants Monday for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son and the country's intelligence chief for authorizing the killing of civilians in a crackdown on anti-government rebels.
Gadhafi's government denied the allegations.

The call for the inquest was the first such action in the Netherlands-based court linked to the Arab uprisings. It opened another potential front against Gadhafi's regime even as the autocratic leader stands firm against widening NATO airstrikes and rebels with growing international backing.

A Libyan government spokesman appealed for a ceasefire and said authorities were likely to release four foreign reporters held in a Tripoli after they face trial in an administrative court, expected later Tuesday.

Early Tuesday, NATO airstrikes pounded two government buildings in downtown Tripoli, setting them on fire. One of the buildings was used by the Interior Ministry which is responsible for internal security.

NATO has stepped up its airstrikes in Tripoli in an apparent attempt to weaken Gadhafi's chief stronghold, the Libyan capital, and potentially target the leader himself.

The international warrants could further isolate Gadhafi and his inner circle and potentially complicate the options for a negotiated settlement. But they also could harden Gadhafi's resolve to stand and fight, since the legal action has been seen in Libya as giving NATO more justification to go after him.

Because the United Nations Security Council ordered the ICC investigation, U.N. member states would be obliged to arrest him if he ventured into their territory.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was seeking warrants against Gadhafi, his son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for ordering, planning and participating in illegal attacks.

The younger Gadhafi has become one of the public faces of the regime through frequent interviews with the media.

Moreno-Ocampo said he had evidence that Gadhafi's forces attacked civilians in their homes, shot at demonstrators with live ammunition, shelled funeral processions and deployed snipers to kill people leaving mosques.

Judges must now evaluate the evidence before deciding whether to confirm the charges and issue international arrest warrants.

Still, an earlier case where the ICC did step in at the request of the U.N. didn't result in the desired arrest. Although Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted for crimes including genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, at least three countries have let him visit without detaining him.

Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli that the regime would pay no attention to arrest warrants that could be issued against Gadhafi or the others, saying the prosecutor relied on faulty media reports and "reached incoherent conclusions."

In the eastern city of Benghazi, headquarters for the opposition movement, rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said the rebels welcomed the ICC case.

"It is these three individuals who are primarily running the campaign for genocide of the Libyan people and the criminal activities that have taken place so far," he said at a news conference.

He said, however, that the opposition would like to see Gadhafi tried first in Libya, then before the world body.

Under Gadhafi's more than four decades in power, the regime "has committed many crimes against the Libyan people, and the Libyan people want to see him punished for that," Ghoga said.

In Brussels, NATO said Moreno-Ocampo's announcement was "further proof that the international isolation of the Gadhafi regime is growing every day."

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu added: "It is hard to imagine that a genuine transition in Libya can take place while those responsible for widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population remain in power."

She said NATO's mission to protect civilians in Libya would remain unchanged.

Members of the NATO coalition also welcomed Moreno-Ocampo's decision to seek warrants.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said NATO and its allies were prepared for a long campaign. He told lawmakers Monday that contingency plans were in place for various scenarios — including many months of operations — but said he hoped Gadhafi would bow to international pressure and quit.

Fox also confirmed NATO was discussing what additional facilities could be targeted under the United Nations Security Council resolutions authorizing the campaign.

Early Tuesday, government escorts took reporters from their hotel to the site of the overnight airstrikes.

Smoke and flames engulfed the top floors of the Interior Ministry building as dozens of young men, many of them armed with assault rifles, milled outside the shuttered gate.

Nearby, black smoke poured out of a complex of several buildings that officials said included offices used by authorities overseeing corruption cases. Soldiers collected half-burnt papers strewn amid the smashed glass and twisted metal as fire fighters sprayed water on the flames.

Government spokesman Ibrahim suggested the building was targeted because it contained files on corruption cases against senior officials of the Benghazi-based rebel leadership.

"If they (NATO) are really interested in protecting civilians ... then we have called upon them to stop and start talking to us. It can prove whether people are genuine in their efforts for peace or not," Ibrahim said.

After the airstrikes, sporadic gunfire could be heard near the hotel where reporters are staying in Tripoli. Police closed off a road near the hotel with three cars but the reason for the gunfire wasn't clear.

Libyan TV said NATO airstrikes hit Tajoura, a neighborhood in Tripoli, and Zawiya, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the capital. State TV said a number of people were killed and wounded. It did not elaborate.

Late Monday, at least three explosions believed caused by NATO strikes shook windows around the Libyan capital. It was not immediately clear what was targeted, but a government spokesman said he believed the jets were aiming for Gadhafi's compound.

The rebel forces appeared to have expanded their hold on Misrata, the only major opposition stronghold in western Libya. Most of the rebel forces are concentrated in the east.

A video posted Sunday on the Libyan rebels' Facebook page showed more than 200 SUVs and rebel vehicles at the southeastern gate of Misrata. That would give the rebels tighter control of the access points into the city.

Abdel Salam, a rebel militia fighter, told The Associated Press that opposition forces were able to advance on the location after NATO bombings in recent days. Reporters have had a difficult time reaching the city, and it was not possible to verify the claims independently.

Misrata has been the focus of an international aid effort to help thousands of civilians caught in the fighting. Some 1,000 people have been killed in the two-month siege of the rebel-held enclave by Gadhafi's forces.

Moreno-Ocampo said the targeting of opposition figures is continuing in areas under Gadhafi's control.

"Gadhafi's forces prepare lists with names of alleged dissidents. They are being arrested, put into prisons in Tripoli, tortured and made to disappear," he said.

"These are not just crimes against Libyans, they are crimes against humanity as a whole," he added.

In another development, spokesman Ibrahim said late Monday that four reporters held for the past few weeks by the Libyan government will face trial and likely be released.

The identities of the reporters were not immediately available, but Ibrahim said they included at least two Americans and a Spaniard.

They will appear before a judge in an administrative court on Tuesday, Ibrahim said.

"It's not a big deal. They should be fined a certain amount of money ... and then they should be released," he said.

Among the reporters missing in Libya and thought to be in government custody are James Foley, a photojournalist working for GlobalPost, a Boston-based news agency; Clare Morgana Gillis, who was covering the fighting for The Atlantic and USA Today, and Manu Brabo, a Spanish photojournalist was taken with them. They were captured April 5.

It was not clear that Ibrahim was referring to those four. He said a South African journalist reported to have been captured by Libyan forces has not been found.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Jonathan And The Scramble For Political Appointments.


Jonathan-2

BY REUBEN ABATI 

“JONATHAN, PDP Governors in cold war over ministerial list,”; “Nomination tears party apart in Osun” (The Nation, May 14, p.1); “Ministerial Posts and Federal Appointments: Fresh Crises hit PDP state chapters…Reps kick against Ekiti ministerial nominees” (Punch, May 14, p.1)…How sad.  The biggest enterprise in Nigeria after every election is not necessarily the work of the election petition tribunals, nor an educative stock-taking of the electoral process, but the mad, utterly mindless struggle for political appointments. The sociology of it beggars belief, for it is  rooted in the Darwinian struggle for survival, where the strong and the smartest  outwit every other competitor to get a place in the new dispensation. And it has started. 

President Goodluck Jonathan, and all elected Governors are under pressure to appoint this or that person to a public position. In the National Assembly, even ahead of the inauguration of a new Assembly, ambitious elements have started scheming, and wheeling and dealing and trying to protect their selfish interests by proposing to amend the Standing Orders. In this search for political appointments, there has been over the years, a set of strategies which Nigerians never fail to deploy. These include the following:

(a)     The name dropping strategy: This is how it works. Make sure your name gets dropped in the appropriate places. This is done in the hope that you may well be noticed. But it is not enough to name-drop, it has to be associated with something that is sellable. May be you were very active as a votes mobilizer in the last election, and so His Excellency the Governor or the President only needs to be reminded that you are one of the reliable party men, who can be trusted with higher responsibilities. Suggest it to him or those who are close to him.  It doesn’t matter at all that all you did during the elections was to snatch a ballot box, or co-sponsored a paid advertisement in the papers congratulating His Excellency on his victory at the polls. For your name to gain the recognition that could translate into the good fortune you seek, you may also need to be regarded as a man who knows a lot within the party, even if the only thing you have going for you is your false  pretence. In Nigeria, these are the kind of people who easily get government jobs. It helps if during the elections, you were generally seen sweating all over the place and assuring the inner circles that you and the boys were in charge. INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega and his team, the security agencies and the monitors/observers and party agents were in charge of that election, but it doesn’t matter: Nigerians would lie with their mother’s names just so they can get a government appointment. And of course, if you are a woman, you don’t even need to drop any mane, play the beauty game, the oldest trick in the books!

(b)    The Godfather strategy: This is a well tested Nigerian strategy. Around this period, there are many Godfathers who may have donated money to the campaign causes of their Excellencies, and who without expressly saying so expect returns on investment. It is the fashion that Godfathers recommend people for appointments. The Godfather could be your biological parent.  If you are one of those lucky ones who since 1999, have been occupying one major public position or the other, for no reason other than that their father is an influential man of means in politics, you stand a very good chance. Daddy will do it again!  It is amazing the number of complete non-starters who have served as Ministers, Commissioners, Deputy Governors, Directors-General simply because they have a popular family name. Where the relationship between the Godfather and the appointee is not filial however, then a client-master relationship can be established. You will have to assure the Godfather that you will be a good boy, a very good stooge in the corridors of power, his dependable proxy.  Too many people out there want a job in government so desperately, they wouldn’t mind, so why should you waste the opportunity? It is the Nigerian way. You could even be made Minister of Petroleum Resources even if the only thing you know about petrol is that it is sold at filling stations.

(c)     Prepare a CV: We are in the CV season, right now in Nigeria. Political appointment seekers are busy hawking their CVs all over the country. One Governor in the East, overwhelmed by the number of applications for political jobs, once had to announce that those who wanted to be commissioners would have to sit for a test and attend interviews. If the Governor thought this would discourage the applicants, he was mistaken. More applications and resumes landed on his desk. The tests were organized and all kinds of shameless people showed up to write it. Where on earth do people take exams for the position of a Commissioner in government? In Nigeria! With the kind of pressure that President Jonathan is now facing for example, were he to announce the exam option for would-be Ministers and Directors of Departments and Agencies, he will receive more than enough applications. There will be a terrible scramble that will be worse than the scramble for the partitioning of Africa. If the application attracts a fee, the applicants will be more than willing to pay, including paying the officials in charge to create an artificial scarcity in order to shut out other competitors!

(d)    The Traditional Ruler strategy: This is certainly a very busy season for our traditional rulers who at moments such as this receive a lot of pleas from persons who want a word in the right ear on their behalf. The assumption is that a traditional ruler is entitled to a certain quota of public appointments which the Governors and the President in Abuja must acknowledge. And if the traditional ruler who is willing to give you a note is as influential as he makes out (traditional rulers like to think that they wield enormous influence!), you may get the job you want. But if you do, the traditional ruler expects that he will automatically be placed on your pay roll for as long as you are in that position. He is a traditional ruler yes, and everybody in his kingdom is his son or daughter, but he is also a Consultant and he consults for government, because he also needs to “eat”.

(e)     The wives/relatives strategy: Every man in government, Governor or President, has a wife, or wives, siblings, relatives, parents where he is not yet an orphan, and all of these people play very key roles in determining who gets what position, at all levels. The elections have just been concluded, family members usually have access to their brother or sister in power, and they can be trusted to put in a word. Only God knows how many of them have already received resumes from persons who just want any job in government. The wives are special targets. A First Lady, in any of the states or in Abuja, although not a government official, is regarded as a major power broker. She is the apple of the big man’s eyes, and so she should be able to get what she wants. Once a woman becomes a First Lady, she becomes the mother of the community and virtually everyone wants to get close to her: women who want appointments or contracts for their husbands or sons, or for themselves; men who want access to her husband through her recommendation and so on. Is anyone surprised therefore, that Mrs Patience Jonathan is regarded as a very powerful woman in Nigeria today? Or that Turai Yar’Adua was once so powerful she held the whole country to ransom, when she denied Nigerians access to their President? We used to hear of Ministers and Special Advisers appointed by Turai and who belonged to her kitchen cabinet. Mrs Jonathan obviously also wants a cabinet in her kitchen and there will be many willing maidservants saying: “Madam, I am here to serve you and your husband”.

(f)      The media strategy: Every year, some media houses play the funny game of compiling a list of Ministers for the President, and even Commissioners for state Governors. The persons so identified are described as pacesetters, men and women of vision who will take Nigeria to the future and transform it. The usual footnote is that these are the names being considered for leadership positions. In the last two weeks, such names have been circulated via SMS, advertised as names that came up during President Goodluck Jonathan’s post-election retreat at the Obudu Cattle Ranch. How the names came up? Or how they were considered, nobody can ever tell. But Nigerians believe such stories all the same and those whose names are mentioned actually look forward to an appointment. You better believe it: pastors and prophets and imams also get involved in this appointments game: they offer prayers and make predictions. One pastor wanted to be Vice President in April and failed, some other Pastors turn themselves into the President’s official prayer warriors and star gazers.

(g)     The Diaspora game: It has become fashionable these days to wave the diaspora card too. Once you live anywhere abroad, you are almost at liberty to pretend to be better than everyone at home: Stupid, unpatriotic thieves who don’t have regular electricity supply, no access to quality healthcare, or potable water, so you put down everybody, and with a President who has a Facebook platform, you can visit the site everyday and sound off as much as you can;  if you sound disagreeable enough on the internet you may just be noticed. Then you can put on airs. You have all the solutions to Nigeria’s problems. 

“We should join the civilized world. Nigeria needs to be transformed and we need quality people.” This is how they talk, the Diaspora set, so try the same style too. Nobody needs to know that you have many unpaid bills, and that you are barely struggling to survive in the matchbox where you and your family are holed up in some downtown quarter. Make big claims. You could get a job in Abuja, may be not as Minister, but you can take a Special Assistantship position and start rebuilding your life from there.

Why the desperation? Why not? Serving commissioners and Ministers are currently busy lobbying to be retained: if they supported the Governor or the President during the 2011 elections, they too should be retained so the self-serving argument goes. In fact, a major phrase in Abuja at the moment is “continuity”, don’t bother to ask continuity of what, it has worked after all for Senator David Mark who seems set to reclaim his position as Senate President. If the Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole had won his re-election bid, he too would naturally have returned to his seat as Speaker.  

Would-be former Governors who have completed two terms in the states are also lobbying furiously to become Ministers in Abuja, and those who lost out during the election would like to be rehabilitated by the President with a Ministerial appointment. If that works out, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala could soon show up in Abuja as Minister of Education and Governor Ikedi Ohakim as Minister of National Planning.

The reason for the desperation is not far to seek. In Nigeria, the only job that pays premium dividends is a political job. Everyone wants a bite out of it. Even those who are not interested encourage their friends to show interest in political appointments: have you sent your CV? Have they called you? Why don’t you  ask someone to put in a word for you? If they call you, you must not say No oh? It is considered a taboo for anyone to reject the offer of a political appointment. 

It is seen as the ultimate meal ticket. It is all about what people can get for themselves not what difference that they can make. One of the interesting developments in the past week for example, is the plan by some persons who had left the PDP just before the elections to return to the same party, in order to take part in the sharing of political appointments, and should they receive an offer, they will not only jump at it, they will rationalize it and we are all expected to understand. This is the way it is.

But it is also the reason Nigeria has not been able to make progress. Persons are offered leadership positions for the wrong reasons. They get to high positions for which they are ill-suited. The PDP Governors and party leaders who are engaged in a “cold war” with President Jonathan over the Ministerial list are not acting in the national interest: they want to impose their own nominees on the President, usually the flotsam and the jetsam from their states definitely not the best (state Governors would rather send their errand boys to Abuja and not potential stars who could become a threat to them). Most of the people who are shopping around with their CVs just want to “chop.” When President Yar’Adua assumed office in 2007, most of his Ministers were appointed for him by the state Governors. He didn’t know many of them. He had no idea who they were, and he never really knew them till he died.

How will President Goodluck Jonathan walk the tightrope then? It will be unrealistic to think that he can ignore the Governors. He owes them: in his relationship with the Governors, there are IOUs that he needs to pay. The Governors stood by him during the PDP primaries; they also worked for him in their states during the Presidential campaigns. There are also Godfathers that Jonathan may not be able to ignore. But this is where his first major leadership challenge lies.

Since his victory in the April 16 Presidential polls, nearly every political commentator has stressed the point that Jonathan must depart from tradition and appoint only the best and the brightest into his cabinet. He is required to embark on business unusual, look the fortune-hunters straight in the eye, and disappoint them. This is what he must do. He should beware of the strategists and their tricks. To save Nigeria is a job that must be done; only the best is good enough, this time, Jonathan.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Missing Al-Jazeera reporter a driven journalist.


TORONTO (AP) — Dorothy Parvaz called her fiance on April 28 and told him something he didn't want to hear: She was going to Syria to report on the uprising and the government's ruthless efforts to quash it.

The Iranian-born Al-Jazeera reporter, who spent her teen years in Canada and studied and worked in the U.S., had been in challenging situations before, including returning to the land of her birth to report on changes there for a U.S. newspaper. But nothing in her reporting history compared to the crackdown in Syria, where many reporters had already been detained or expelled by the time she set off.

"Nothing I could say would change her mind," said her fiance, Todd Barker, who was driving from Arizona to Los Angeles that night. "I could tell by the tone of her voice that it was gonna happen. She is very committed. She believes reporting the truth is a force to make people's lives better and she lives and breathes that."

The next day, Barker heard nothing from his fiancee, whom he normally communicates with several times a day.

"I went to bed on the 29th and I couldn't sleep," he said. "I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. And then I got the call from Al-Jazeera at 3 a.m. It was like a nuclear bomb exploding in your life."

Parvaz hasn't been seen or heard from since she left Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, on April 29. On May 4, Al-Jazeera said Syrian authorities confirmed she was detained.

On May 10, Syria said she had not been in the country for more than a week. A day later, the government said she had been deported to Tehran, Iran, following her detention in Damascus, the Syrian capital. There has been no comment from Iranian officials.

Parvaz has Iranian, Canadian and U.S. citizenship. She used her Iranian passport to enter Syria because she couldn't enter with either of the others.

"The details of what's happened to her are not clear at all," said David McCumber, who worked with Parvaz for more than 10 years when he was the managing editor at the now-defunct Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "But Dorothy is enormously resourceful. If anyone could handle a situation like this, it would be her."

Parvaz, 39, is among at least five journalists Syria is holding, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Others include Ghadi Frances, who writes for the Lebanese daily As-Safir; Al-Arabiya correspondent Mohamed Zayd Mastou; and freelance photographer Akram Darwish. Sara and Mastou were first detained more than a month ago, CPJ said.

"Damascus must account for all detained journalists and release them immediately," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the group's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

CPJ said that since the social unrest erupted in Syria in March, about 20 local and international journalists have been physically assaulted, detained or expelled.

Syria has imposed a media blackout intended to limit coverage of the unrest by refusing to issue visas to foreign journalists and preventing access to trouble spots. President Bashar Assad — and his state-run media — have blamed the unrest on terrorist groups and foreign agitators.

Two Associated Press journalists were expelled from the country with 45 minutes' notice. Five Reuters journalists also faced detention and intimidation, including one who was expelled by Syrian authorities on March 25 after five years as the agency's correspondent in Damascus.

If Syria has sent Parvaz to Iran, that could reinforce allegations that Iranian authorities are working closely with Assad's government to crack down on protesters and choke off independent media coverage.

A statement by Al-Jazeera urged Iranian authorities to provide details on Parvaz, who works for the news network's English-language channel. The network said it is "deeply concerned" for Parvaz's welfare.

The State Department in Washington also expressed concern and said it was striving to get further details. Department spokesman Mark Toner said U.S. officials were seeking assistance from Swiss diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iran.

Parvaz's work has taken her to Qatar, Iran and most recently to Japan to report on the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami for Al-Jazeera. She also won a prestigious Nieman Fellowship in 2009, spending a year at Harvard University before moving to Britain, where she earned another fellowship at Cambridge, where she focused on the media and Iran.

Her American mother and Iranian father divorced when she was 5, and she left Iran at age 10 in 1981, two years after that country's revolution. She lived for a time in San Diego with her mother, but eventually moved with her father, Fred Parvaz, and stepmother, who had immigrated to British Columbia.

"We are close," said Fred Parvaz. "Very close. She wanted to come to Canada because she didn't want to be apart from me."

Growing up in a bedroom community in North Vancouver, Dorothy wrote for her high school literary magazine.

She was "interested in world events and making sure those around her knew what was going on," said childhood friend Sheelagh Brothers. "She was somewhat quiet around others, unless she felt that they were being ridiculous, in which case she let them have it, with sometimes biting, witty comments."

Fred Parvaz said his daughter came home from high school one day and told him she was going to be a journalist.

"I asked her to consider other options because it's hard to get a job as a journalist. But there's no changing her mind when she decides something. I'd like to say that determination is genetic," he says.

Dorothy Parvaz earned an undergraduate degree in English literature from the University of British Columbia, then headed to Japan to work for the English edition of the Asahi Shimbun. She later completed a master's degree in journalism at the University of Arizona before moving to Seattle, where she worked for The Seattle Times and then for the Post-Intelligencer before it folded.

One month after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, she donned a hijab — something she hadn't worn since she was a girl — for a story for the Post-Intelligencer. She reported on how much differently she was treated as she walked around Seattle wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf, and wrote about being not only a Muslim, but the only practicing Muslim in her family.

"It was her idea, something she wanted to do," McCumber said. "I was proud of her for having the idea and the courage to execute it, and I thought she did an excellent job."

In 2006, Parvaz went to Iran on her own time to report on how her birth-country had changed since the revolution. McCumber said she produced "a magnificent series of stories" on her experience.

Yasmine Ryan, a friend and Al-Jazeera colleague, said she wasn't surprised that Parvaz wanted to report from Syria. "She seemed a little nervous on the eve of her trip but was still joking around as usual," she said.

"It's an awful feeling having someone you know just disappear. Something you hear about and report on a lot about as a journalist, but not something you expect to experience firsthand," Ryan said.

Barker, the Parvaz family, colleagues and friends have been steadfastly campaigning for her release.

Parvaz's detention has highlighted the worsening relations between Syrian authorities and Al-Jazeera. Its reporters had been allowed to stay in Syria as other reporters were expelled, but two weeks ago the station said it was scaling back its Syrian operations, citing harassment by security forces.

Elsewhere as unrest sweeps the Arab world, regimes struggling to hold onto power have waged widespread crackdowns on the media.

In Libya, foreign journalists working in the capital Tripoli are under strict controls by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, and several have been detained. In the Gulf state of Bahrain, opposition media have been closed and journalists and bloggers arrested as the U.S.-allied monarchy tried to muzzle dissent.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Goodluck Jonathan Stoned By Crowd In Uganda, Police Kill One Attacker-AP.


Museveni, Zuma and Jonathan
By Associated Press
KAMPALA, UGANDA—Ugandan police shot at a crowd in the capital Kampala after it attacked a car carrying Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan who had attended President Yoweri Museveni's inauguration, a government spokesman said.
At least one person was killed in the incident.

“The car belonging to Goodluck Jonathan was stoned by mobs,” said Fred Opolot, director of the government media centre. “The security shot around the area, and one person was shot dead.”

The 25-year leader was sworn in to a fourth term.

Opposition leader Kizza Besigye over the last month has been leading “walk to work” protests over the rising cost of food and fuel. Besigye, whom Museveni defeated in his February re-election win, said the marches are also to protest government corruption.
Those marches have been the most serious unrest in sub-Saharan Africa since protests swept out leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. Museveni says he will not be swept from office by Egypt-style protests.

A 21-gun salute rang out before a crowd of thousands who watched the country’s chief justice administer an oath to Museveni. Leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe attended the ceremony.

Museveni appeared to make reference to Besigye in a speech, saying that opponents wanted to cause chaos but that their “disruptive schemes” will be defeated.


Museveni said the country would begin pumping oil within three years, and that Uganda would no longer need to rely on imports.

He also sought to highlight the country’s progress in the last 25 years, saying that 8 million primary students are in school today compared with 2.5 million in 1986. He also promised to fight corruption.

Museveni also indulged in a moment of self-congratulations, saying: “I thank the Ugandans for overwhelmingly voting for me with 68.3 per cent.”

Although official returns showed Museveni winning that amount, Besigye says the results were falsified, and that Museveni and Besigye both received a bit under 50 per cent of the vote, an outcome that would have required a runoff.
Uganda has seen sharp spikes in food and fuel prices the last several months, making car or bus travel unaffordable for many. Anger over the increases has fuelled Besigye’s protests, and security forces have clashed with protesters around the country. Human Rights Watch says government forces have shot and killed nine people during crackdowns on protests.

Museveni, an ex-rebel commander who seized power at the head of a guerrilla army in 1986, once criticized African rulers who clung to power. In 2001 he promised to retire from politics despite lifting a two-term limit on the presidency so he could run again in 2006. But now Museveni says he is fostering peace, stability and growth.

African strongmen of old are under increasing pressure. Moammar Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya since 1969, is battling attacks from Libyan rebels and NATO. Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, who attended Thursday’s inauguration, has been in power since 1980. He has refused to accept a 2008 election defeat.
With files from the Associated Press.

Mystery loans:Drama as Bankole survives after weeping, begging colleagues…Why Etteh intervened to save him.




There was high  drama at the inner chambers of the House of Representative today. Naija News Desk learnt that Speaker Dimeji Bankole who was accused yesterday of securing loans that led to the heavy indebtedness of the lower arm of the national assembly appeared before his colleagues  as expected.

At the end of the closed door session Bankole announced that the crisis is a family affair and the salaries and allowances of those yet to be paid would be paid. He explained that nobody collected any secret loan for personal use In the words of reporter that was an open indication that the speaker survived the crisis. Unofficially the loan is known to be about billion, but there has been no official confirmation of the amount yet. 

Earlier in the day as soon as the prayers were made in the morning Honourable Ettah Enang moved that the House should go into a closed door session. This drew an uproarious ‘no’ from the lawmakers. But the speaker hit the gavel and approved the closed door session.

Sources said the closed door meeting today was characterized by pathetic, dramatic scenes as Bankole who actually attempted explaining what happened was said to be incoherent throughout his presentation. In fact, at some point Bankole wept as he begged his colleagues for forgiveness over what happened. A source said the speaker was so disorganized that at a  point behind the scenes, he was given some water to drink to calm down. 

The high point of the  drama, said a source was when Mrs Patricia Etteh  intervened, seeking  a soft landing for Bankole; because she believes the Yoruba nation must not be disgraced. In deed that was an ironic twist in the tale  because Etteh had been ‘dethroned’ over alleged financial impropriety-a crisis which later led to Bankole’s emergence as her successor. They are both from the South West zone.

Dino Melaye known to be Etteh’s key loyalist yesterday raised the allegation yesterday that an alleged indebtedness of the House of Representatives to a bank led to the inability of the bank to pay him and others their backlog of financial entitlements. He called for the suspension of the speaker to facilitate a thorough probe;but lawmakers yesterday insisted that Bankole should rather be allowed to explain himself today.

No further details of the closed door meetings have emerged yet. But this latest development indicates a worsening of the plight of the outgoing speaker who recently lost  his reelection bid. Worse still the EFCC is believed to be investigating the Speaker over analleged N3 billion car scam that rocked the lower chambers of the House of Representatives some time ago.

Related:

Mystery loans:Drama as Bankole survives after weeping, begging colleagues…Why Etteh intervened to save him.




There was high  drama at the inner chambers of the House of Representative today. Naija News Desk learnt that Speaker Dimeji Bankole who was accused yesterday of securing loans that led to the heavy indebtedness of the lower arm of the national assembly appeared before his colleagues  as expected.

At the end of the closed door session Bankole announced that the crisis is a family affair and the salaries and allowances of those yet to be paid would be paid. He explained that nobody collected any secret loan for personal use In the words of reporter that was an open indication that the speaker survived the crisis. Unofficially the loan is known to be about billion, but there has been no official confirmation of the amount yet. 

Earlier in the day as soon as the prayers were made in the morning Honourable Ettah Enang moved that the House should go into a closed door session. This drew an uproarious ‘no’ from the lawmakers. But the speaker hit the gavel and approved the closed door session.

Sources said the closed door meeting today was characterized by pathetic, dramatic scenes as Bankole who actually attempted explaining what happened was said to be incoherent throughout his presentation. In fact, at some point Bankole wept as he begged his colleagues for forgiveness over what happened. A source said the speaker was so disorganized that at a  point behind the scenes, he was given some water to drink to calm down. 

The high point of the  drama, said a source was when Mrs Patricia Etteh  intervened, seeking  a soft landing for Bankole; because she believes the Yoruba nation must not be disgraced. In deed that was an ironic twist in the tale  because Etteh had been ‘dethroned’ over alleged financial impropriety-a crisis which later led to Bankole’s emergence as her successor. They are both from the South West zone.

Dino Melaye known to be Etteh’s key loyalist yesterday raised the allegation yesterday that an alleged indebtedness of the House of Representatives to a bank led to the inability of the bank to pay him and others their backlog of financial entitlements. He called for the suspension of the speaker to facilitate a thorough probe;but lawmakers yesterday insisted that Bankole should rather be allowed to explain himself today.

No further details of the closed door meetings have emerged yet. But this latest development indicates a worsening of the plight of the outgoing speaker who recently lost  his reelection bid. Worse still the EFCC is believed to be investigating the Speaker over analleged N3 billion car scam that rocked the lower chambers of the House of Representatives some time ago.

Related:

Southeast loses speaker bid as PDP ratifies power arrangement.


Lead Image
President Goodluck Jonathan (M) flanked by his vice, Namadi Sambo (L) 
during PDP presidential rally in Owerri, Imo state. Photo: NAN

 

The southeast geo-political zone may have finally lost its bid to produce the next speaker of the House of Representatives. This is because the National Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party, which met on Tuesday night at the Presidential Villa, has adopted the current zoning arrangement.

Sources at the meeting, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan, and his deputy, Namadi Sambo, said the caucus also resolved to pick a new national chairman for the party in March 2012. The meeting was also attended by members of the National Working Committee and Board of Trustees of the party.

Minor adjustments
Sources told journalists in Abuja that the enlarged caucus retained the current zoning formula with minor adjustments. These include the zoning of the position of the national chairman to the northeast zone and the secretary to the government of the federation to the southeast, in addition to the position of the deputy senate president.

With the decision, the north central zone will produce the senate president while the speaker of the House of Representatives will come from the southwest zone. Mr Jonathan and his deputy are from the south-south and northwest zones, respectively. Representatives of the southeast in the caucus were said to have made a strong case to produce the speaker of the lower legislative chamber.

Their demand, they said, was anchored not only on the huge support the zone gave the PDP during the elections but because they believe that the country stands on a tripod. They also said that they were not comfortable with the position of secretary to the government of the federation as it does not command much power like the other key offices like the senate president and the speaker. The National Executive Committee of the party is expected to meet soon to ratify the agreement.

Expectant southeast
The Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, was reported to have said the north central zone did not see anything wrong with the current zoning formula. The forum had met in Abuja on Tuesday where they backed the retention of the subsisting zoning formula.

The caucus was also said to have passed a vote of confidence on the acting national chairman of the party, Haliru Bello Mohammed and members of the National Working Committee. Consequently, the forum endorsed his stay in office till March 2012 when members of the National Working Committee would be completing their four-year tenures. They were elected in 2008. The caucus also mandated the committee to start consultation with all segments of the ruling party and stakeholders with a view of explaining the reasons behind the new zoning formula to them. The committee was also asked to ensure discipline in the party.

A returning senator, Uche Chukwumerije, has however warned that the decision not to zone either the senate presidency or the speakership of the House of Representatives to the southeast geo-political zone may be dangerous.

‘An insult'
Addressing leaders of the Abia North Senatorial District who visited him in his office in Abuja, Mr Chukwumerije said the zoning of any of the offices will be compensation to the people of the zone for massively supporting President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP. He argued that it would be against natural justice for the zone to be sidelined, noting that time had come for it to take its rightful place in the country.

"We have now reached a critical turn. After giving the highest percentage support to the national party and the federal project in the last four elections, the southeast and Ndigbo have nothing else to do to prove their prime candidacy for a frontline position in Nigeria," he said.

"The least which we should get now is a high leverage appropriate to this performance record. The minimum due to us is either senate president or speaker of the House of Representatives. This insult of ‘monkey work, baboon chop' must stop - a game which invariably leaves us holding the wrong end of the stick."

Scramble for chairmanship post
Meanwhile, as a result of the minor adjustments to the current zoning arrangement in the PDP, some of the party's chieftains in the northeast geo-political zone have reportedly indicated interest in the chairmanship of the party.

Those interested in the position include a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Aliyu Modibo Umar, and the immediate past governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Mu'azu. Mr Umar, who is currently abroad, served as minister twice under former President Olusegun Obasanjo before he was appointed FCT minister by the late President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Before his appointment as a minister by Mr Obasanjo, Mr Umar, a political scientist and former journalist, also served as deputy chief of staff in the presidency.

Mr Mu'azu, on his part, was governor of Bauchi State until 2007 and he is said to have given an average performance.

It was also learnt that the national vice chairman (northeast), Paul Wampana and the outgoing Gombe State governor, Danjuma Goje, who is a senator-elect, may join the race. Mr Goje was reportedly interested in the senate presidency, but the zoning arrangement adopted by the national caucus has ended that dream.

The position had been zoned to the southeast in 2007, and it produced two chairmen in the last two years - Vincent Ogbulafor from Abia State and Okwesilieze Nwodo from Enugu State. Mr Nwodo resigned last January under controversial circumstances; the crisis in the Enugu State chapter of the party as well as litigations trailing his membership of the party. Since his exit, his deputy, Haliru Bello Mohammed, has been presiding over the ruling party in an acting capacity.