AFTERMATH OF FLOODS: FOOD,EPIDEMIC CRISIS LOOMS

Recent incidences of flooding in several parts of the country, especially the North, are preludes to lurking food and health crises, the federal government said on Wednesday.

It explained that the flood incidences submerged thousands of farmlands, thereby necessitating serious action against famine and epidemics.

Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, speaking with State House correspondents after the week’s edition of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), called for a national debate to address the impending challenges

“Where you have in a country well over 5,000 farmlands washed away, then chances are that there is cause for attention. It is of national interest; it is a national emergency. It calls for sober reflection. It does calls for open debate of who did that and what,” she said.

“We have also seen a number of infrastructures, both federal and state-owned that have been submerged. The consequences are that there are huge loses of farmland; there are likely threats to food security; we are likely going to have challenges that have to do with the health of people in some areas.

“Some of these things are beyond mere saying that we need to move; we need to also adapt and change our attitude. You can see that all over the world, this is the reality we face today.”

However, Mailafia refused to accept that the consequences of the “natural disaster” were that damning due to government inefficiencies, saying, “The flooding we are experiencing in the country does not in any way fall into what you can term man-made.

“This is a natural phenomenon that cuts across the globe. With the kind of technology put in place in the United States, they still had flooding there, and in China. Even in one of our neighbours, Niger Republic, which is an arid land, they are experiencing flooding.

“For anyone to think that government has not done enough, or there was something that we needed to do that we have not done, is a title bit awkward because there is a limit to which you can fight nature.”

She explained further that government has been busy these past months “consistently” educating people and “calling the attention of government and individuals to the need to move away from flood plains.”

Nigeria Senate urges appeal of Cameroon Bakassi award

The Senate on yesterday passed a resolution calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to appeal an international ruling which handed the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to its neighbor Cameroon a decade ago.

Nigeria relinquished control of Bakassi in 2008, six years after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled it belonged to Cameroon. 

The ruling followed years of political disputes, legal skirmishes and violence that killed dozens of people.

The Senators argued that the judgment was "erroneously based on agreement between the British and Calabar Chiefs in 1884" and that "there has never been a precedent in history where any case of this nature was executed without a referendum as enshrined by the United Nations," the resolution said.

They also said that an agreement between the neighbors that Nigerian nationals have their rights protected was not being respected by Cameroon, but gave no further details.

The ICJ gave Bakassi to Cameroon in 2002, based on a 1913 treaty between former colonial powers Britain and Germany.

The two African countries, which nearly went to war over Bakassi on several occasions, had agreed to work together to explore for oil in the region, which could help boost Cameroon's declining production of around 90,000 barrels per day.

Around 90 percent of the population of the Bakassi peninsula, estimated at 200,000 to 300,000, are Nigerian fishermen and their families who do not want to be Cameroonians.

A movement called the Bakassi Self-Determination Front last month declared independence from Nigeria or Cameroon, hoisting a flag and setting up an FM radio station. It is not clear how big the movement is or whether it poses a security threat.

"It is the wish of this Senate that Bakassi Island should not be ceded to Cameroon and that Nigeria should appeal the judgment of the International Court of Justice," Senate President David Mark said.

There was no immediate reaction from Cameroon.

Reuters

Quarantine of over 900 female pilgrims in Saudi may lead to diplomatic row

The detention of hundreds of female Nigerian pilgrims heading to Mecca at Saudi Arabia's busiest airport over a rule requiring them to travel with a husband or male relative is threatening to bring a diplomatic dispute between the two nations.

Saudi authorities are holding 908 Nigerian women in poor conditions "with some needing urgent medical attention" at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah and threatened to deport them, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria said in a report submitted to Nigerian lawmakers Wednesday.

The report said female pilgrims who had landed in a smaller airport in Medina had been unaffected.

However, Fuwaiba Muhammad, a pilgrim, told reporters at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in the northern Nigerian city of Kano that she had been deported Wednesday from the Saudi Arabian city of Medina, along with dozens of others.

Uba Mana, a spokesman for the National Hajj Commission, said no pilgrim had been deported by Saudi authorities yet, but that the commission had asked for female pilgrims who did not meet the Saudi immigration officials' requirements to temporarily be brought back to Nigeria to avoid deportations.

"Medina is a small airport," Mana said, "and if we allow people to get deported from there, the pilgrims won't be able to return to Saudi Arabia for another five years, and by no fault of their own," he said.

This is the first time pilgrims have faced the possibility of mass deportation over the male escort issue, the commission has said. 

According to the report, an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria exempts female pilgrims from requiring a male relative to escort them for the mandatory Hajj pilgrimage, which costs about $4,000 per person.

Until now, state pilgrimage officials had been allowed to stand in the place of a male relative or husband. Muhammad, for instance, said that she had been traveling with a Hajj official who is not her relative.

But Saudi authorities have proven much stricter this year. They even stopped women who did travel with their husbands.

"Islam allows wives to bear the names of their parents and not necessarily that of their husbands," the report argued.

All able-bodied Muslims who can afford it are expected to perform Hajj at least once in their lives, leading people to go to great lengths to make the trip.

Some pilgrims sell their cows and jewelry and others save for months or years to pay their own way to Mecca. Muslim philanthropists and politicians in Nigeria will typically sponsor some pilgrims annually.

Mana had said Monday that the escort situation had been resolved through diplomatic channels, but the commission's report Wednesday said Saudi authorities have "remained adamant."

The report said top Nigerian officials had held meetings with Saudi officials in Nigeria and in Saudi Arabia in a bid to come to reach a compromise.

Nigeria's Foreign Ministry sent a letter of undertaking guaranteeing the return of the female pilgrims after Hajj, it added, but Saudi authorities still did not release them.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan put together a high-profile delegation late Wednesday to travel to Saudi Arabia "as soon as an appointment is finalized with the appropriate authority," a government statement said.

Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, and Saudi Arabia are both members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an umbrella organization representing 57 Muslim nations.
Meanwhile,President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan  has approved the constitution of a Presidential delegation to interface with the Saudi Authorities over the issues surrounding the detained Nigerian female pilgrims at King Abdul-Azziz International Airport, Jeddah.

This was contained in statement issued last night by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
Anyim stated that the delegation would be  composed as follows: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu  Tambuwal who would lead the delegation;   Dr. Nuruddeen Mohammed,Hon. Minister of State II for  Foreign Affairs;   Ambassador Shehu Galadanchi;  Sheikh Sherif Saleh and   Muhammad Bello,    Chairman, National Hajj Commission
The SGF further stated that  the delegation will depart for Saudi Arabia as soon as an appointment is finalised with the appropriate Saudi authorities. He directed all members of the delegation to  stand by.
It would recalled that about 1000 female Nigerian pilgrims have been detained by Saudi authorities upon arrival at the Jeddah Airport since last Sunday.
The Federal Government on Wednesday also gave the Saudi Arabia government 24 hours to expedite action in resolving the issues surrounding the detention of some Nigerian female pilgrims.
Vice President Namadi Sambo gave the ultimatum when he summoned the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Khaled Abdrabuh, to his office.
The over 900 Nigerian female pilgrims in Saudi Arabia adjudged by the authority to be without male companion (Muharram) have been detained in Jeddah and Madinah.
Sambo expressed the country’s displeasure over the treatment being meted out to Nigerian pilgrims performing this year’s pilgrimage in the holy land.
He said reports available to him suggested that only Nigerian pilgrims were being subjected to such dehumanising treatment.
Sambo, therefore, requested the Saudi Arabian authorities to apply caution and flexibility to allow the pilgrims undertake their sacred religious duties.
“Should the Saudi authorities not desire our pilgrims to perform this year’s Hajj, they should let the country know.”
He said that no reasonable and responsible government would sit and fold its arms while its citizens are manhandled.
The vice president, therefore, requested the Ambassador to do all within his powers to ensure that the issues were resolved within 24 hours, and the outcome communicated to him.
While explaining the position of his government, Abdrabuh said that Nigeria was not being treated in isolation, and that all the countries participating in the Hajj were affected.
He said that the issue of Muharram for female pilgrims was not a new policy, but that the Saudi government decided to be flexible in the past.
He revealed that the Ministries of Hajj, Foreign Affairs and Interior and the governor of Mecca were meeting in Riyadh, the country’s capital, with a view to resolving the impasse speedily.
Abdrabuh expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved within 24 hours.

Nigeria Islamists kill state lawyer, ex-prison official

Suspected members of Boko Haram killed the attorney general of the state of Borno in northeastern Nigeria overnight, authorities said today(Tuesday), a day after a security source said the military had killed the Islamist sect's spokesman.

Unknown attackers on Monday also shot dead the former controller general of prisons in the northern state of Bauchi, police said.
Headquartered in Borno, Boko Haram models itself on the Afghan Taliban and is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's largely Muslim north. It has killed hundreds of people in gun and bomb attacks.
Borno Attorney General Zanna Malam Gana was shot dead in his home town of Bama, in Nigeria's remote northeast, on the threshold of the Sahara Desert, the state's justice ministry said in a statement.
Police spokesman for Bauchi state Hassan Auyo said gunmen shot the former prison controller Ibrahim Jarmam on Monday evening, and he later died of wounds in hospital.
On Monday, a Nigerian security source said its forces had killed two militants, including Abu Qaqa, Boko Haram's main spokesman.
There has been no response from the sect. Nigerian forces have claimed to have killed or captured him in the past, only for the militant to issue a statement denying it.
Boko Haram traditionally targets authority figures or security forces, but two weeks ago started attacks on mobile phone installations across the northeast which it said were being used to help track down its fighters.
They have destroyed around 30 phone masts and MTN Nigeria said on Tuesday there had also been cuts to its fiber cable in the region, impacting service to customers.
"Security concerns have prevented not only repair work to damaged equipment, but routine maintenance, causing disruption to the lives of millions of Nigerians," MTN Nigeria General Manager of Corporate Affairs Funmi Omogbenigun said.
A military crackdown in the north appears to have damaged Boko Haram's capabilities, although it remains deadly in many parts. At least 186 people died in coordinated attacks in the north's main city of Kano in January.

LASU students on rampage, disrupt exams

One hundred (100) level students of Lagos State University, LASU, (Main campus) early today(Tuesday)(, protested alleged decision of the school management not to reduce their school fees.

Our sources said the students were reacting over the rumour making the rounds on the campus that the management had no intention to effect a cut in tuition as promised during their admission into the school.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State government, as part of moves to douse the rising tension caused by the increase in the tuition of LASU students, said the proposed fees would only be paid by incoming students that would gain admission into the school in years to come.
The student were however, directed to pay N193,750 for Arts/Education; N223,750 for Social and Management Sciences; N248,750 for Law while those in Communication/Transport, Sciences, Engineering and College of Medicine paid N238,750, N258,750, N298,750 and N348,750 respectively as against old fees which ranges between N25,000 and N62,500.
The protesting students it was gathered, were supposed to be writing one of their GNS papers today but have refused to take the paper so as to register their grievances.
It was also gathered that the Students Union Government, SUG, the umbrella body of students in the institution has dissociated itself from the protest.

Bombs, ammunition discovered as JTF raid"Qaqa’s home" in Kano

-Recovers bombs, arms and ammunition
Operatives of Joint Task Force(JTF) on Monday night in Kano raided the residence of suspected top media coordinator of radical Islamist group at Rimi Kebe and Rijayar’zaki general area of the municipality and recovered arms, ammunition.
In what look like a coordinated military operation by the JTF resulted in the arrest and killing of a top media coordinator Monday morning in Kano and product of preliminary investigation by the troop to secure the ancient city under heavy military presence.
A statement by the Spokesman of Joint Military Taskforce in Kano, Lt Ikediche Iweha, titled "update on capture of Boko Haram terrorists on 17th September 2012, copy made available to Vanguard "this latest encounter with the terrorist group has foiled its planned attack to wreck havoc on the good people of Kano state.
JTF stated that the raid has equally further "depleted the capacity of the terrorist group to operate", as it expressed its resolve to continue to work assiduously towards the protection of lives and property in the state.
Giving an insight into the latest operation on the "heavily wired IED’s hideout" Lt Ikediche Iweha revealed that the heavy weaponry, bombs, and media related hard and soft ware were recovered.
According to the JTF spokesman, two AK 47 rifles, two Pump Action Rifles, one Berretta Rifle, one Smoke Discharger, 433 rounds of 7.62 Nato ammunition, 80 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition, two AK 47 magazines, 36 Prepared IEDs, 13 Laptops, two motorcycles.
Other items recovered includes, four printers, one photocopier, one 33 slots Zenith disc writer, one TG 3900Ez generator set, religious books, large quantity of CD plates, two decoders, two satellite dish, one 21" television set, one DVD player, 2 bags of Urea fertilizer, one Elite dry cell 12v battery, one blue gate UPS, one stabilizer, 10 hand held Motorola radios and 5 battery chargers.
Iweha appealed to Kano dwellers to intensify their prayers on sustainable peace in the city and its environ, stressing that "the relative peace which Kano enjoys today can be attributed to the collective effort and prayers of the good people of Kano State".
The Army spokesman assures that JTF will continue to count on the city dwellers for the provision of information and further assures of treating such sequence with utmost confidentiality.
Lt Ikediche Iweha therefore enjoin the residence to go about their normal lawful business activity without any fear as security agents are ready and will respond swiftly to any threat to life and property in any part of the state.

Saudi blocks Syrians from hajj

　
Saudi Arabia has barred Syrians from entering the country to perform the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage, Syrian state media said on Tuesday, marking the latest break between the two Arab nations.
"The Syrian High Committee of hajj has announced the halt to the pilgrimage this year, due to a failure to reach consensus with the Saudi authorities," the official Sana news agency reported.
The Syrian committee "took all necessary steps for the 2012 hajj season, but the relevant ministry in Saudi Arabia did not sign the accord as it does every year," Sana said.
The hajj to Mecca - the world's largest annual human assembly - is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those Muslims who are able to.
A decision to suspend Syrian participation in the holy pilgrimage, which has not yet been confirmed by Saudi Arabia, would be the latest in a string of moves adopted by Riyadh against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
The OPEC kingpin and other energy-rich nations of the Gulf have long demanded that Assad step down while voicing support for the Syrian rebels.
For its part, Damascus has repeatedly made thinly veiled accusations that "some Gulf nations" are supporting "terrorist" groups in Syria, the regime's blanket term for the opposition.
In early August, the opposition Syrian National Council confirmed that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing light arms to Syria's rebels, but not enough to take on the regime's army.
The Syrian uprising, which has steadily militarised in the face of government repression, has left more than 27 000 dead since it erupted in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Civilians have born the vast brunt of the toll.
The United Nations puts the toll at 20,000.



source:AFP

Anxiety Heightens Over First Lady’s Health: Presidency goes spiritual, seeks special prayer

Perturbed by the continued absence of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, from the country as a result of ill-heath, the Presidency has resorted to prayers to quicken her recovery and return to the country.
Dame Jonathan, a serving Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa, her home state, was reportedly flown to a German specialist hospital two weeks ago for an undisclosed medical treatment.
But the Presidency has kept mum over her health condition and whereabouts.
When the media broke the sudden disappearance of Mrs. Jonathan from the country, the Presidency was forced to admit that ‘she went to take a rest’ but neither disclosed the country where she was observing the rest nor when she was expected back at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
While a section of the media speculated that she went for an operation, others claimed she was admitted for food poisoning treatment.
But Sunday Vanguard learnt yesterday that the condition of Dame Jonathan, who was reported to be recuperating and expected back in the country since last week, was still causing some concerns to her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, and her handlers.
It was gathered that the Presidency had asked close associates and friends of the First Lady to continue to render unceasing intercessory prayers for the woman to recover from her ailment.
A source close to the Presidency confirmed that the daily morning devotion, which Jonathan and her wife usually attend at the Villa, is being used to offer special prayers for the First Lady.
The source said, “The President, as you know, is a very devoted person who has been praying for the wife and those of us who are close to them do not stop to pray for her as well.
“Yesterday (Friday), a special prayer session was conducted for her and we know that God Almighty has already healed her of whatever is afflicting her and that she will soon join us as she used to do every morning.”
There were speculations, last night, that the woman would soon be back in the country but none of the presidential spokespersons was willing to talk on the issue.
Calls put to Dr. Reuben Abati, the Presidential Media Adviser and Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Special Adviser on Public Affairs, were not responded to.
While an online news portal has maintained that she underwent a surgery in Germany, others speculate that she had food poisoning and had been admitted in Italy.
Despite the claims and counter-claims over Dame Jonathan’s condition, her spokesman, Mr. Ayo Osinlu, has insisted that the President’s wife traveled out of the country to take a “moment’s rest.”

ACN to the Presidency: ‘Speak out on First Lady’s health’
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)has challenged the Federal Government to tell Nigerians the truth about the illness of the First Lady, saying  the people deserved to know.
The National Publicity Secretary of  the ACN ,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, threw the challenge yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State at a welcome reception for former members of the  PDP, ACPN and Accord Party who defected to the ACN.
He posited that Nigerians deserved to know the exact situation of the First Lady’s  health status.
The ruling PDP, Mohammed insisted, has never been truthful to Nigerians on any national issue ,citing the “many lies the PDP government churned out to Nigerians on the illness of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua”.
The ACN spokesman, who also pointed out that the PDP Federal Government government has no solution to the nation’s problems, accused the government of lacking the capability to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
Mohammed said the PDP-led government’s ineptitude has resulted in the alarming rate of youth unemployment, epileptic power supply and general infrastructural decay.

Eni says oil spill contained in Nigeria's Delta

Italian oil firm Eni said on yesterday an oil spill near its facilities in the Niger Delta had been contained, but local people said the pollution had spread and damaged their fishing.
Eni said the spill occurred last week about 10 km (six miles) from the Obama flowstation in Bayelsa state.
"We do not yet have information either on the causes or the amount of oil affected," an Eni spokesman told Reuters.
Oil spills are common in Nigeria, where enforcement of environmental regulations is lax and armed gangs frequently damage pipelines to steal crude.
Local community leaders said the spill came from an Eni pipeline and had spread into creeks and waterways. They complained oil companies had not properly cleaned up previous spills.
"Oil companies operating in the Niger Delta are now using harmful chemicals ... which is injurious to both sea foods, living organisms and human beings," said Nengi James, Chairman of the Oil and Gas Committee of Nembe Kingdom.
Decades of oil production in the delta, where Africa's second-longest river empties into the Atlantic, have turned parts of it into a wasteland of oily water and dead mangroves. Thousands of barrels are spilled every year.


Reuters

Gambian President suspends execution of prisoners on death row

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh yesterday suspended executions of prisoners on death row.
This came after intense criticisms by the public condemning his planned resumption of capital punishment.
“The general public at home and abroad is hereby informed that President Yahya Jammeh has decided to put a moratorium on executions as a result of numerous appeals to that effect from the council of elders, women groups as well as youth groups across the country,” his office said in a statement.
“It is hereby made clear that it is only a moratorium on executions and what happens next will be dictated by either a declining violent crime rate in which case the moratorium will be indefinite or an increase in the violent crime rate in which case the moratorium will be lifted automatically.”
The move came after the first batch of nine convicts were executed by firing squad following Jammeh’s August 19 announcement that the country planned to execute all death-row prisoners by mid-September.
Jammeh’s office said pressure from Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal — which surrounds Gambia, except for a strip of coastline, and had two of its citizens among the nine executed prisoners — had played a part in the decision to suspend executions.
But the presidency insisted that “no amount of bad mouthing or pressure can make the president shy away from upholding the oaths that he has sworn as president.”
Rights groups estimate another 38 convicts face the firing squad in Gambia, where Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, rules the country with an iron fist and brooks no criticism.
Jammeh, who claims he can cure AIDS and other illnesses, is often pilloried for rights abuses and muzzling journalists.

Nigerian Immigration Service deports 9 Nigeriens

Alhaji Aminu Abdulkarim, Comptroller of

Nine nationals illegal immigrants from Niger Republic have been deported by Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
This was disclosed yesterday in Minna by Alhaji Aminu Abdulkarim, Comptroller in charge of Niger State command.
He told journalists in Minna that the illegal immigrants  were arrested on Sept. 11,  in Minna without valid residence permits.
“We arrested nine Nigeriens on Sept. 11, 2012; right now they are on their way back to their country.
“They constitute nuisance to members of the public because they do not have any source of livelihood.”
Abdulkarim said that the immigrants claimed to be water vendors, adding, “they are not;  they only use selling of water as a cover up.”
The Comptroller said that investigations revealed that they entered the country through Zango-Daura in Katsina state.
He said that the exercise of checking illegal immigrants was a continuous one and called on the state government to support the command financially.
The command had deported 400 illegal immigrants mainly Nigeriens, and some Ghanaians and Beninoise from the state between January and September, 2012.

Court Cancels Zimbabwe Prime Minister’s Wedding

A court in Zimbabwe has cancelled the wedding of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, set for Saturday, after two women separately filed interdicts.  One of them - a South African - says she is engaged to Tsvangirai and was promised marriage, while another one claims she married him in November of last year and that that marriage is still valid. 
The court has ruled that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had an existing marriage with a woman he wed last November.  Everson Samkange, the lawyer for the woman was visibly happy when he left the court.
"The day has been the best day ever.  It has recognized the rights of an African woman, and the marriage license that had been issued to the premier of Zimbabwe has been cancelled because there is a lawful impediment to the intended wedding," Samkange said.  "The impediment is that there is an existence customary law union between the premier and Locardia Karimatsenga, my client."
As the drama was unfolding in court, some African leaders were jetting in for the wedding set for Saturday, among them King Mswati III of Swaziland.  Friday, state media said Tsvangirai risked being arrested for bigamy.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said his legal team would leave no stone unturned in trying to legally go ahead with the wedding planned for Saturday.
“What is now happening is that our lawyers are going to the High Court to appeal against the cancellation,” he explained.
Tamborinyoka hoped the High Court appeal would be heard late Friday or on the day of the wedding, Saturday.
 The drama started last November when Tsvangirai publicly divorced his then wife, Locardia Karimatsenga, after 12 days in customary marriage, citing pressure from the bride’s relatives and political pressure from the ZANU-PF party, which is the party of Tsvangirai's political rival, President Robert Mugabe.
Earlier this year, he announced that he had found a new love to replace the wife who died in a car accident three years ago.
On Tuesday, Karimatsenga sought an interdict saying her marriage from last year was still valid.
A South African woman who claimed she was engaged last year to Tsvangirai, and was promised marriage, filed for an interdict as well.  On Friday, the media was awash with photos of Tsvangirai and the South African woman on holiday in Seychelles.


source:VOA

Obama mourns US victims of Libya protest

Their flag-draped coffins behind him, a solemn President Barack Obama hailed the service of four Americans killed during an attack on the US consulate in Libya, pledging to honour their memory and not 'retreat from the world'.
At a formal ceremony in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, yesterday, Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid respects to the four men as their remains were returned to US soil.
Clinton spoke first, her voice wavering as she delivered individual tributes. She described Ambassador Christopher Stevens' 'goofy but contagious' smile, and his out-sized courage.
'He risked his life to help protect the Libyan people from a tyrant,' she said, 'and gave his life helping them build a better country.'
Obama called all four men - Stevens; Sean Smith, a foreign service officer; and two former Navy SEALs, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty - patriots who loved their country, 'chose to serve it and served it well'.

'They had a mission, and they believed in it,' Obama said. 'They knew the danger and they accepted it. They didn't simply embrace the American ideal, they lived it, they embodied it: the courage, the hope and, yes, the idealism. That fundamental American belief that we can leave this world a little better than before.

'That's who they were, and that's who we are,' he said. 'If we want to truly honour their memory, it's who we must always be.'

Obama, who met with the families of the four men before the ceremony, known officially as the Transfer of Remains, repeated a vow to see that the perpetrators of the attack are brought to justice.

Republicans have criticised Obama's handling of the violent unrest in the Middle East.

Obama noted at the ceremony that the deaths and the continued turmoil in the region have raised questions about US involvement there.

He argued for a continued presence and recalled seeing a sign held by a man in Libya that read: 'Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans.'

Clinton, too, argued for continued involvement, saying: 'There will be more difficult days ahead, but it is important that we don't lose sight of the fundamental fact that America must keep leading the world. We owe it to those four men to continue the long, hard work of diplomacy.'

And she called on leaders in those countries to do 'everything they can to restore security and hold accountable those behind these violent acts.'

'The people of Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia did not trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob,' she said.

After Obama's remarks, the president and Clinton clasped hands momentarily, then joined Vice President Joe Biden to watch as each casket was placed into a waiting hearse by military pall bearers.

The remains were to be transported by an Air Force C-17 aircraft to the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta also attended the ceremony.

The military ceremony came amid a continued spate of anti-American protests at embassies in the Middle East, Africa, London and elsewhere over a vicious anti-Muslim video.

At the White House, officials defended Obama's stewardship, saying that the administration had no 'actionable intelligence' that would have prevented an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.


source:SkyNews.com

Nigeria’s Naira Snaps 2 Days of Gain on Importer Demand

The naira weakened for the first time in three days as importers sought dollars and the central bank cut supply of the U.S currency at an auction.

The currency of Africa’s top oil producer fell 0.1 percent to 157.65 a dollar in the interbank market as of 3:56 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Central Bank of Nigeria sold $180 million at a foreign- currency auction today, the lowest since Aug. 29, the Abuja- based bank said in an e-mailed statement. The West African nation relies on imports to meet more than 70 percent of domestic fuel needs because of a lack of refining capacity, according to the Petroleum Ministry.

“The naira lost ground against the dollar at the beginning of last week as bids, which were not fulfilled at the CBN’s auction on Monday, spilled over into the interbank market, creating a liquidity imbalance,” Celeste Fauconnier and Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, strategists at Rand Merchant Bank, wrote in a report today.

The yield on Nigeria’s 7 percent domestic bonds due 2019 retreated four basis points to 13.78 percent, according to Sept. 7 data on the Financial Markets Dealers Association website. Yields on the nation’s $500 million of Eurobonds due 2021 were little changed at 4.869 percent today.

Ghana’s cedi gained for a fourth day by 0.2 percent to 1.8980 a dollar in Accra, the capital, its strongest since June 4.

Nigeria: As PDP Fails Nigeria, What Chances Are There for ACN-CPC? Alliance?

By Abdullahi Bako,(Abuja)

To spell out the limits of any proposition is not to give a dog a bad name, but a way of expanding the future outcome of an enterprise. PDP emerged after the elections of 1999 with a huge, seemingly undeflatable balloon of national goodwill. Meanwhile, no sooner had Nigerians settled down in the post-election years with the aim of savouring the PDP's much-talked-about democracy dividends than the party started deflating the big balloon, the beautiful banquet presented to it by the electorate, until it is left with no content.

The party's moral platform in government has been the anti-corruption crusade, yet it is where the failure is most disastrous. In this culture of graft that has been taken to an unprecedented level, no institution or organ of government is spared. Siphoning or tinkering with the commonwealth is now in trillions, with PDP chieftains leading the leagues followed by the Police Force, PHCN and Education striving to outstage them. These have dire consequences for our democratic process, internal security, infrastructural basis of the transformation agenda and, of course, the future of generations yet unborn.

True, there is no more bombing of minority groups as it happened in Odi during the Obasanjo era. The state's penchant for watching killings in Jos to get to the sky before declaring a state of emergency has ceased to be. The guns are silent in Ife-Modakeke, Aguleri-Umuleri, and the Niger Delta amnesty has worked, at least, up till date. All these seem to be more of security threatschanging colour than any dependable progress.

PDP's addition of the least imaginable chapter to this chequered history - paying trillions of naira to perpetrators of insecurity - is absolutely a wrong signal to other splinter groups: the genuinely disenchanted or loafers. The chief state actor's unacceptable thesis is that armed uprising is an easy route to the state's largesse under the auspices of PDP mis-governance. Years on, the eloquent absence of a clearly articulated security policy on Boko Haram has become a singular cause of loss of hope as regards the PDP government's commitment to security of life and property in Nigeria. Who knows how much of these is a part of the largest party in Africa's grand strategy for 2015!

If the party's first inaugural speech in 1999 is anything to go by, one would be convinced that the party knows what to do. Back then, even in Obasanjo's subsequent references, the nation was convinced that the party had been aware that mainstreaming of intelligence gathering was internal security strategic constant, yet, till date, this party of salad has refused to act accordingly.

The infrastructure under the PDP-led governments are prostrate and an expression of record mismanagement of resources and opportunities. PHCN is the third most corrupt institution in the country. The fact is that electricity is not supplied to households, the cost of running small-scale businesses gets prohibitive, and the planned prospecting for other sources of energy in the last 12 years has failed.Take the Independent Power Projects (IPPs),for instance. FERMA is making some contributions but an estimated N80 billion loss is recorded annually due to neglect of national road networks; additional N35 billion operational cost is a criminal denial of resources to national development enterprise.

In the area of Education, performances at all the levels are dismal. When corruption in terms of all manner of bribery and examination malpractice is added to it, the picture becomes scary. A CBN report shows that Nigerians' loss of confidence in the Education sector enriches the Ghanaian economy with a whopping N155 billion annually. This accrues from school fees paid by young Nigerians schooling there.

What keeps this coat of many colours, the PDP, as an apparel is the belief of politicians desperate for power that, unless you belong, you cannot win. Its instruments are rigging, perpetrating election-related violence and disobeying court orders, among a few other antics, in the name of political tactics. Other rude ways of PDP abuse of the psyche of Nigerians include candidates' substitution regardless of the stage of the election process.

Abuse of the constitution is flagrantly done by the party. An instance that remains the most amusing was the way INEC ignored the election petition of recall concerning Senator Ibrahim Nasir Mantu in December 2005. This petition was signed by 208,408 registered voters out of 388,833. The PDP did not see anything wrong with this, hence its desperate bid in the 2007 election to rig him back to the National Assembly.

What signal the end of the road for this uncivilized tradition are many: the most telling are lessons from global best practices brought to individual groups and families by international election monitors/observers, conventional and social media etc. The seeming absence of an alternative party that can take the PDP head-on and wrestle power from it is a sad commentary on the struggles that culminated into the birth of the Fourth Republic. Therefore, it has become imperative for all patriots to facilitate the coming to life of this phase of alliance (called merger) between the ACN and CPC.

In the light of the foregoing, the chances are bright for the alliance. In addition to discrediting itself is the fact that increasing numbers of the children of chieftains of the ruling party are rejecting them not as parents but as perpetrators of unacceptable values. The governors of ACN-CPC are re-inventing the electorate's beliefs in feasibility of good governance. Meanwhile, the threats cannot also be dismissed with a light shake of the shoulder. Any sign of ACN-CPC mismanaging the process will spell unpalatable consequences.

Alliance, coalition or merger has saved nations from self-inflicted doom or suffocation of alternative voice. In the same vein, there were alliance attempts in history that raised the hopes of citizens and subsequently smashed beautiful opportunities. Limited was our expectation in the Buhari-Atiku attempt in 2007; that of over-hyped 2011 Buhari-Tinubu initiative generated interest; the clincher is the current one. We must invest new energy and sacrifices for the common good.Let's not scuttle it.

Illegal Arms: State Security Service Says Interior Minister Was Cleared In Error

… Memo Demanded Immediate Resignation Of Minister

Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba Morro should not have been cleared for a ministerial portfolio, the SSS said in an internal memo to the National Security Adviser (NSA) dated April 24th, 2012.

The memo from the Internal Operations of the SSS stated that Minister is being tried in a Magistrate Court for illegal possession of firearms during his tenure as Chairman of Okpoku Local Government Area of Benue State.

The SSS memo seen by THEWILL, said Abba Morro had neither licence nor Presidential fiat to bear personal firearm, which led to his arrest by the police in Abuja.

The memo further recommended that the NSA advise Presidential Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to demand his immediate resignation “as the office he occupies remains sacrosanct to national security; more so, with development in our internal security situation as it were.”