Deadly floods hit Ghana capital Accra

Heavy floods have swept through Ghana's capital, Accra, killing nine people, officials say.
The floods destroyed homes, cut off electricity and forced the closure of schools and shops.
President John Atta Mills visited the affected areas, as emergency services rescued people who had climbed on roofs to escape the floods.
Flooding in October is unusual in Ghana, where the rainy season runs from June to August, correspondents say.
Ghana's National Disaster Management Organisation (NDMO) said the death toll had risen from six to nine after three more bodies were found.
Journalist Samuel Bartells in Accra told the BBC that with rain continuing on Thursday, some residents fear there could be more flooding.
However, the city is returning to normal, with schools and shops reopening, he says.


source:BBC News

Fashola congratulates 57 ACN chairman over victory at polls

*Canvass upward  review of revenue 
 formula for states, local councils 

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola yesterday felicitate with the 57 chairmen and councilors of the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) that emerged victorious at the polls. He however noted that beyond victory , the Federal Government needed to urgently review the revenue formula to allow the third tier of government access more funds to frontally tackle the statutory challenge of primary health care and education to the people at the grassroots.
Fashola explained that it might not be out of place to lay the claims of lack of performance at the feet of local council bosses considering that the paltry resources at their disposal as opposed to the Federal Government which takes 52 per cent of the revenues from the Federation Account with sufficient performance to match it.
Speaking in an interview at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on his return from Abuja from the emergency Governors' Forum meeting, Fashola explained that given the current revenue allocation formula it would be difficult  to sustain the system which is skewed against states and local government councils.
Fashola said : "I want to first congratulate the Action Congress of Nigeria my party and all of the council chairmen and the councilors for the success at the polls, I also congratulate candidates of other parties who were successful in the polls.
"But let me say that we have a flawed constitution and let me also say that given the flaws in the constitution some of the ways that we can invigorate the local government  to improve service delivery is first to focus critically on the responsibilities that we have given them and I will choose two, primary health care and primary education." "You know we continue to try in a sense swimming against the tide because we cannot afford not those two critical services health and education, now when you look at a local government that is saddled with salary obligations beyond what its capacity can deal with where is the money then to give service, now if you have a local government structure and a federation revenue allocation formula where the national government keeps 52 per cent  of the revenues the 36 states shares 26 per cent  and the local government  20 per cent .
"They are the fulcrum of hundred and seventy four and more of them are left to share just 20 per cent , just think of it. Now which is the government that is closest and most impact full  to the people but sadly it is the government that has the least revenue, now don’t take my word for it I think it is time to ask all of you journalist, do some investigations don’t accept what we say do some investigations seek also the opinion of economics and experts that can this kind of system work don’t accept what we say because we are involved do some independent validation and investigations and on the basis of that express your opinion for Nigerians to hear this system is not sustainable that is the truth".
We cannot afford not to swim but it will be nice to swim with the tide behind us that really is the problem because every time that there is a governmental failure let us look at the risk impact if you keep 52 per cent  once there is a failure at that level it is a 52 per cent  failure so whether you now aggregate the states and the local government together you can only get a 46 per cent success at the very best."
He further said : "Now if this country’s economic was working at 52 per cent  we won’t be agonizing the way that we are agonizing but those are issues that I think will provoke you to deeper thinking and analyses not just what we governors are saying or what we elected representatives are saying but what really is the fundamental logic in this skewed  agreement but having said that I believe that the governors forum has expressed his position yesterday.
And I align myself in that position again this is part of the problem that we have, we have an appropriation law that prescribe a certain amount of monies roughly over N240billion for the year for subsidies and by September we have exceeded the approved amount by an additional N1.2trillion, now that is monies that should have gone into the federation account and that should have constituted part of the assets  of each of the 36 states and the local government it has gone without lawful authorities to spend it without consultation with the stakeholders that is the federation that we are dealing with."

MUAMMAR GADDAFI DIES FROM GUN SHOT IN THE HEAD

(Reuters) - Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya's interim rulers said.

His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

"He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."

Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi, who was in his late 60s, was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. He said he had been taken away by an ambulance.

There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

An anti-Gaddafi fighter said Gaddafi had been found hiding in a hole in the ground and had said "Don't shoot, don't shoot" to the men who grabbed him.

His capture followed within minutes of the fall of Sirte, a development that extinguished the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader.

The capture of Sirte and the death of Gaddafi means Libya's ruling NTC should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would get under way after the city, built as a showpiece for Gaddafi's rule, had fallen.

Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians, was toppled by rebel forces on August 23 after 42 years of one-man rule over the oil-producing North African state.

NTC fighters hoisted the red, black and green national flag above a large utilities building in the center of a newly-captured Sirte neighborhood and celebratory gunfire broke out among their ecstatic and relieved comrades.

Hundreds of NTC troops had surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle that killed and wounded scores of the besieging forces and an unknown number of defenders.

NTC fighters said there were a large number of corpses inside the last redoubts of the Gaddafi troops. It was not immediately possible to verify that information.

Nigerian Leaders today are Selfish & Greedy

 -says Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State

The Governor of Jigawa State,Alhaji Sule Lamido recently spoke on various issues concerning his style of administration, especially his love for the downtrodden in the State, the introduction of social welfare package for the disable, plans to open up the State to would-be investors, education and civil responsibilities of citizens to the Nigerian State. It is acidic as well as humorous!

Governor Sule Lamido

OPENING UP JIGAWA STATE TO INVESTORS 

By the ratings of the so called market agencies, the in thing today is commerce and business and in commerce you have to move very fast. 

Since Jigawa is the most peaceful in the federation, it has all the potentials to make business thrive with availability of land and cheap labour and enabling environment and secure. It is investment destination. It is an emerging market with good climate.

What we desire most now is an airport in the State to ease movement of people and investors into and out of Jigawa State to transact business.

We are very close to Cameroun, in the east, very close to Chad in the north, Kano in the east .It has beautiful scenery, good climate and an investors haven.

People there are  anxious to reach the world and the only means today is to have an airport. For example, if you are coming from Abuja you by air, you have to drop in Kano and come to Jigawa State capital, Dutse by road and the roads linking us with Kano are very very  bad.

It is horrendous. The Federal Government has made a commitment to build an airport for the State. We are therefore looking forward for the fulfillment of that commitment.

If people like Bill Gates want to come to Jigawa as he has planned to come to assist us I the polio eradication campaign, he can not come now because there is no airport through which his plane can land.

By  whatever criteria Jigawa need an airport to open up our State to industrial development aside from the massive road network construction currently going on. Opening up Jigawa is part of adding to the economic potentials and the prosperity of Nigeria. We are building road network.

We are very low on Internal Generated Revenue (IGR). We depend largely on money from federation account. We depend on self help to develop the State.

We feel challenged and save ourselves. Lack of money should not be impediment. We are agric based. We have Onions, Sorghum ,Millet, Melon, Gum Arabic and…..nobody will come to Jigawa and help us. We have to resort to self help. Not even our sister State, Kano can.

Land is our own oil. we are willing to give land to interested investor. Within three months of applying for land you are through with your certificate of occupancy..in emerging economy, agro based industry is important. We have half a million  hectares of  irrigable land.

Federal Government is investing heavily in  Hadejia/Jamare river valley . Recently, during the visit of the vice president,  N10billion commitment was made to improve on the Hadejia/Jamare agro-based industry.

When you put a thing like this in place, you trigger economic activities, you think of how to preserve them and get them to the market.

Loans are being given to small scale farmers. Government is ever willing to support any investor in this regard .

Above all, the most important thing is that Jigawa is a peaceful State for investors because no matter the attractions you have on ground to woo investors, if the State is always engulf in crisis, no investor will want to come. We need to invest heavily in farming apart from other competing needs like health education.

By our culture, violence is not part of our culture. commitment from home is important, How do parent bring up their siblings. Parents must take charge of their ward. It is a collective thing.

A parent must be honest to his children. A child trust, but if he discovers that somebody he so much trust was lying, he feels dejected..this also goes into our larger society.

Our leaders…….if you look at the north was one single family Tafawa Balewa,Sardauna, Aminu Kano-----the north is of both Christian, Muslim north…………to them every northerners to them was one. For people who are lazy they import various things to divide us.

Our leaders then had commitment they are not greedy compare to what we have today. Today’s generation are selfish, we believe in using people as tools to attain selfish advantage. Nobody trust anybody anymore. That is why we have all this crisis.

On N7,000 per person monthly social welfare to disable persons in Jigawa

If you say because somebody is disabled and you neglect him, you are not being fair, even you who is healthy need support not to talk of somebody who is disable.

The money we make is for all. How then do you abandoned them, abandoned a part of you and turned them to unwanted specie.

They are our own people. The package is their right, they no longer beg, they look need and no longer looking  neglected. They must feed and feel part of the society. Its more evil to make them feel unwanted.

We have to care for them. The allocated to Jigawa State from the Federation Account is for all the sons and daughters of Jigawa, so because they are getting that money you can see that they are very clean, they can take care of themselves.

They no longer go hungry or go about begging for food. 

So our efforts to develop, our efforts to become more civilized people and the miracle you are talking about is because with this programme, they have been switched on as human being and not as before when they were switched off and un-catered for.

In the next 10years, Jigawa is going to be the best state in  Nigeria with the best doctors, engineers including Islamic sciences.

We’ve just sent 58 students to various schools abroad. In the past3yrs we've sent over 300 abroad on scholarship. As a matter of right, I want Jigawa to be a reference point to other states in Nigeria in all human endeavours.

Even Mallams, the council of elders(ulamas) and all sects who want to further their education in Islamic or western education are given scholarships so that they can debate intelligently and nobody can bamboozle them into  preaching hatred among the folks.So when you talk there will be knowledge and sense in what you say.  

G9-QUARTERS in Dutse

No nation grows without knowing where you are coming from. We must know our  history to be able to chart a way forward. History anchores you. G-9 is an appreciation to leaders who played a key role in restoring democracy in Nigeria.

In 1992 under Abacha, when he tried to transform into military president,  the oppositions  were engaging him from the tribal angle, it was difficult to really get a national appeal.

Abacha came up  with his own parties, we met the requirements, yet things were not falling into proper shape.

So, myself, Chief Bola Ige, Adamu Chiroma, Francis Ella, Abubakar Rimi, Iyorcha Ayu and Solomon Lar met in Lagos, somewhere in Raymond Njoku Street in1996, to rub minds on how to chart a way forward for the country aftermath of the crisis that engulf the country due to the annulment of June 12 presidential election.

We look at Nigeria and we looked at the roles being played by NADECO and we noted that the body was engaging Abacha from tribal point of view and because it was tribal, other Nigerians refused to go along. The more you hammer him(Abacha) from the tribal angle the more you strengthened him as people look at NADECO as mainly a Yoruba organization.

We now agreed to form a body that would have a nationalistic outlook so as effectively engage Abacha and stop him from transforming to become military president.

We now named the body G-9 later it became G-18 then G-34 and finally metamorphosed into PDP(Peoples Democratic Party).

To give Nigerians a sense of history, that is why the G-9 Quarters was built and named after leaders who played key roles in giving Nigerians democracy we are enjoying today, so that they can appreciate the sacrifices made by their leaders.

On 51 Anniversary the poor performance of government at the federal level

It is the typical past time of Nigerians to keep passing on their guilt to someone else. Ask those critics, what has been their own contributions to the development of Nigeria?

It is only in Nigeria that you see people relish in vilifying their country and ignoring what God has destined for them. We must be a responsible Nigeria first.

It is here you see a taxi driver complaining of lack of fuel and he will take you round and round in order to make money out of you, yet he will not pay his tax.

Those who are saying there is no electricity, ask them to show you their NEPA bill, they won’t show you and yet they want constant electricity. You want all the good things of life, yet you the most dis-honourable.  

They look for escape routes for their own failures. We must be responsible citizens first. Media men are involved. You know what to do.

Whatever you say about your country, is your own image you are seeing. It is deceit all the way. Go to parties and see the number of buffet you will see while their own people are suffering.

They have no concern for people behind them. An average Nigerian is selfish. Yet we keep on lamenting.

On President Goodluck Jonathan

You see in my religion, God says- I will give you leaders of your own reflection. Leaders who are like you. So what do you expect.

If you say Jonathan is a ‘go-slow’ president, you too you are also ‘Mr Go Slow’. Didn’t Nigerians called President Sheu Shagari ‘go-slow’? Didn’t they call President Olusegun Obasanjo various unpalatable names? Didn’t they call Babangida a ‘wayo man’.

But you see Jonathan is a very very honest man. You Nigeria want rule of law, democracy and yet you want him to behave like a pharaoh, like army general.

Jonathan is a very honest man. We should  give him a chance to perform and make good use of his talent.

On Sovereign Account

All monies accruing to the federation must be shared among all the three tiers of government, so says the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and anything to the contrary is null and void.  

Which money do you save when there are so much developmental work that are lacking and needed to be funded.

Which money do you want to save in the so called sovereign account they are talking about when there is no enough money to execute several developmental progammes and projects.

POSTED BY LATEEF LAWAL

Gov Lamido cautions critics of President Jonathan

Posted by Lateef Lawal
Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has cautioned critics of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan not to stampede him into taking actions against the rule of law.
He made the appeal while fielding questions from journalists on various national issues and his developmental programmes for his State.
The  governor took a swipe at those who condemned the recent celebration of Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary which did not take place at the usual Eagle Square in Abuja following bomb threats by the Boko Haram sect.
He challenged such critics to showcase their own  contributions to the development of the country within the period.
Lamido insisted that what Nigerians saw as slow nature of Jonathan was not to be but rather as his sincerity of purpose to ensure that he followed  due process.
Governor Lamido, who described President Jonathan as sincere and genuine, attributed the mis-conception of the critics of the president to the impatient nature of Nigerians who always complain at any slightest provocation.
His words: “In my religion, it is stated that Allah gives you a leader of your own reflection. Ten years ago, it was the same complaint. When President Olusegun Obasanjo was there they said he was carrying out a Northern agenda, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was also called names. Nigerians are always complaining and they are cynical in nature.”
While describing President Jonathan as a leader who wants to apply rule of law to whatever action he takes even when he has power to do otherwise, Lamido urged the critics to make the best use of the good qualities inherent in the president.
Lamido accused the oppositions of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) of being responsible for such criticisms.
“It is a typical way of Nigerians heaping blames of their failure on somebody else. It is only Nigerians that love vilifying themselves. Ask those who said Nigerians had no reason to celebrate the independence anniversary what they have contributed to the growth of the country”, he added.