HAMAS LEADERS LIVE IN LUXURY WHILE GAZANS' SUFFERS

Private jets, Hamas leaders are facing criticism inside and outside of Gaza for enjoying a comfortable lifestyle while Gazans suffer.

Gazans amidst ruins

Hamas leaders have been often seen in recent days talking about the suffering of the residents of Gaza. But while most Palestinians are faced with shortages and restrictions on movement in the Gaza Strip, this is far from the case for officials from Hamas, which has been the de facto ruler there since throwing out political rivals Fatah in 2007.

As reported recently in Ynet, Hamas has millions in assets, and it seems that the wealth extends to day-to-day life as well as investments and fat bank accounts. For them, life is about private jets and luxury, not war planes and hunger.

But as the IDF's Operation Protective Edge, triggered by Hamas rocket fire on Israel, continues, more and more voices can be heard inside and outside of Gaza attacking the movement and its leaders' ostentatious lifestyle.

On Sunday, Egyptian officials sharply criticized Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal, stating that "while the Hamas leadership lives in luxury hotels, it is abandoning the innocent Palestinian people, who are being killed in their dozens."

These claims are just the attacks - unprecedented in their intensity – directed at Mashal, Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, and the Hamas leadership outside the country, mostly by groups aligned to Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi.

According to sources in Hamas, the movement's leadership abroad was one of the opponents to the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza, while the leadership in the Strip, which is closer to the Gazan citizens, was more inclined to accept. But now, as part of the criticism against Hamas, old photos have resurfaced of Mashal in Qatar, exercising in the gym, playing tennis, watching TV and dining at a restaurant with full table in front of him.

Mashal's meal

There is even a new Twitter campaign entitled "No hello and no welcome, Khaled Mashal", directed against the Hamas political chief, which places images of Mashal in the gym against a background of Palestinian children killed by the IDF.
 

Mashal exercising in Qatar

One of the most prominent voices in this protest is Egyptian journalist Ahmad Musa, who is a clear al-Sisi supporter. On one of his

recent programs for the "Sda al-Balad" channel , Musa presented the same images of Mashal working out in Qatar, and reminded the Hamas leader that, "the jihad is in Gaza." Then, with the image of Mashal on an exercise bike in the background, Musa said: "This is the jihad before the meal to break the (Ramadan) fast. Before the meal he does sports, then he eats the honored meal, then he closely follows the television."
 

Relaxing in front of the TV

Then the Egyptian broadcaster posed a challenge to the Hamas political wing: "If you're a man and a hero, tomorrow get on the first plane and enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. Your followers in Gaza will greet you and get you into hiding with Ismail Haniyeh."

He then showed pictures of Haniyeh playing soccer, and mockingly called it jihad for Allah.
 

Ismail Haniyeh on the pitch

Another Hamas official who has in recent years carefully documented his travels around the world is Haniyeh adviser Taher a-Nunu, who recently served as spokesman for the organization. In photos he posted on social networks, you can see him at one of the upper floors of a Qatar hotel, or on a "hunting trip" off the Gaza coast.
 

A-Nunu in Qatar

 

Hunting in Gaza

Even a year ago, when the images of Mashal in the gym first emerged, some did praise him for keeping in shape, but there were also less enthusiastic comments.

"What's with all the air conditioners and the exercise machines, when the Palestinian people can't even get enough to eat?" one commenter wondered sarcastically. "Are these machines he took with him from Syria, or is it actually new funding from Qatar?"
 

Sporting life

The Hamas political leadership under Mashal relocated from Damascus to Qatar with the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, which created a rift between Hamas and Iran and its other allies Syria and Hezbollah, against a backdrop of statements by Hamas officials in favor of the Syrian rebels.
 

Private plane for Haniyeh

At the same time, Hamas' opponents renewed their attacks on the group, claiming it received its orders from Qatar and Turkey, and was actually a carbon copy of Muslim Brotherhood. After Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi was deposed, the criticism against Mashal and his associates has only increased.

Source:Ynetnews.

NIGERIA, LEVICK AND THE IMPERATIVES OF NATION BRANDING - By Tony Usidamen

In the past week or so, I have read quite a number of articles and comments about the “purported” award of a public relations (PR) contract to a foreign-based PR consultancy, LEVICK, which, as a local news site – www.thecable.ng - put it, was hired by the News Agency of Nigeria to manage the international information on President Goodluck Jonathan on the Boko Haram insurgency, especially after the battering he got in the foreign media over his handling of the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls.

Well, blame it on the Nigerian social media that, at best, sensationalize every news or report relating to the government or, at worst, fill their pages with unsubstantiated claims, half-truths and outright false and misleading account of events, I take every information I get with a pinch of salt until I can satisfactorily prove the veracity. Hence, my reference to the Levick story as a mere “claim”. It might as well be true!

But this article really isn’t about the truth or falsehood of government’s hiring of a PR agency (I couldn’t care less if it is foreign or local). No! It’s about the imperatives of nation branding for a country like ours. Like it or not, Nigeria needs a LEVICK, a “Quadrant”, a “Sesema” or an “Uburu” to help sort out its image problems!

According to one of the world’s leading voices on the subject of National Identity, Simon Anholt, a nation’s “brand” generally refers to the common images, perceptions and associations people have with that nation. Therefore, “nation branding’ is an important tool used by countries to create, change or promote a distinct self-image and international reputation.

And the value of a country's reputation is not hard to understand. It can attract people and money through foreign direct investment, trade, tourism and immigration, as well as provide “soft power” in the shape of political, diplomatic and cultural leverage.

To this end, Argentina handed a near seven-figure account to Bell Pottinger - a US-based agency - in 2009 to improve its reputation in Europe and the US. Russia used another US firm, Ketchum, to challenge its reputation of secrecy, and Dubai employed a number of foreign agencies to help repair its dwindling financial reputation.

In the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, China began an ultimately fruitless search for PR counsel that would help revive a faltering international image. And, as the 2010 World Cup drew closer, South Africa appointed international firms, MS&L and Dow Jones Insight, to its global communications effort.

All of these countries, says a PR Week report, are following a template that was only formalised in 1990. It was the global PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, to which Kuwait turned when it was invaded by Iraq. The agency was asked to create international sympathy and Western military support for what was essentially an oil-rich undemocratic regime in the Middle East. It worked!

The reality is that more and more national bodies, today, are turning to high-level communications counsel in order to revive flagging or damaged images (and rightly so). As Simon Anholt put it, “if there is a master marketing discipline for countries then it is certainly PR.”

Nigeria’s global reputation can surely benefit from deliberate, well-orchestrated PR efforts too. Beyond the shoddy handling of the Chibok abduction, which has, deservedly, projected the country in bad light, most Nigerians who live abroad, or who have had the privilege of visiting other countries understand how unfairly bartered our international image is.

Even from the preferential treatment meted to Nigerian citizens at regional and international gateways, you can tell how poorly Nigerians are perceived as a people.

Of course, like most countries of the world, Nigeria has her peculiar problems…and very serious ones too. But ‎listening to non-nationals talk about Nigeria, it would seem as though ALL Nigerians were crooks and terrorists. While some of the negative commentaries are true, most Nigerians are actually hardworking, peace loving and friendly people. There’s an obvious perception problem that needs to change!

Having said this, it is important to also note that the power of communications to change perceptions is ultimately limited by a country's behaviour. PR cannot create an image that doesn't correspond with reality. It can make the best of a country's capabilities and attractions but cannot invent what's not there.

A country is judged by what it does. By this I mean its economic performance, commitment to education, health and environmental matters, infrastructure development, technological advancement and production capabilities, security, justice systems, human rights issues such as child labour, gender inequality…and so on.

Changing global perceptions is, no doubt, a difficult challenge; stereotypes and beliefs about countries are often emotional and deeply held. But as Nigeria makes “deliberate” efforts to improve her ratings on the above indices through good governance, PR can be used more effectively to change the mindsets of people, home and abroad.

Movies, music, art and culture are great tools for national reorientation and influencing global perceptions. We must add these to the PR mix and, through these mediums, focus attention on all the positive developments coming out of the country.

A professional PR agency can add significant value by distilling the complexity of the country into a compelling story, and building bridges with the international community. LEVICK, or any agency tasked with managing the nation’s reputation, must be allowed to do its job, and the government must also understand that while PR is extremely important, it can only complement the change process. Only statecraft can drive it!

Tony Usidamen is Managing Partner at Uburu – a business communications consultancy. Email: tonyusidamen@yahoo.com

Netanyahu: IDF preparing to increase ground activity in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces is prepared to substantially expand its incursion into Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu made the announcement Friday during a cabinet meeting held at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

“My instructions, and those of the defense minister, to the IDF, with the approval of the Security Cabinet, are to be ready for the possibility of a significant expansion of the ground operation, and the Chief of Staff and the IDF have prepared accordingly,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling the Cabinet.

Netanyahu said Israel had secured a substantial degree of international support for the operation.

“Through constant, methodical diplomatic and media activity, we have been creating the international space — which is not self-evident –- so that we can take and strong action against this murderous terrorist organization and its terrorist partners,” Netanyahu told his cabinet.

“Unlike in the past, this time there are many in the international community who understand that it is Hamas – and Hamas alone – that is responsible for the victims,” he said. “This is important for the State of Israel.”

The IDF, which has been carrying out strikes in Gaza since the July 8 launch of Operation Protective Edge against Hamas, began ground operations in Gaza on Thursday night, after a failed attempt by 13 militants to penetrate Israel’s Kibbutz Sufa, which is near the border.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the IDF was targeting tunnels used by terrorists to launch attacks inside Israel.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked Netanyahu to focus on terrorist tunnels, the U.S. State Department said.

More than 250 Palestinians, including some civilians, and two Israelis, a civilian and a soldier, have died in the recent conflagration, which began when Hamas increased the volume of its rocket launches from Gaza into Israel.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said: “The operation will continue for as long as necessary; it requires patience until the task is completed. We will expand the ground activity if necessary.”

Corporate Social Irresponsibility: Primewaterview and Imperial Homes Collude Housing and financing in Nigeria

Written by CIA ADMIN

Basic housing still remains far from reality in Nigeria, with the country currently meeting only 3% of its annual housing needs, intimated the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN, 2012). The country’s yearly housing unit output is said to be 30,000, barely 3% of the Vision 20:2020 annual requirement of 720,000, the national mortgagbank emphasizes.

According to the various statistics on housing and home ownership in the country, there is an urgent need for development in the sector, in terms of financing and affordability. The apex mortgage bank in Nigeria says there is need to meet the annual national requirement in order to bridge its national deficit of 20 million housing units, as estimated by the United Nations. Lagos; Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre is estimated to have a need of about 4 million housing units to sufficiently accommodate its ever growing populace.

The challenge of financing necessitates the need for housing development beyond government provision, as can be witnessed the world over. As a result, the world over, a large percentage of housing projects are undertaken by private individuals and developers. Unfortunately, these forms of housing developments are not without their challenges as has been seen and is currently unfolding as what brought to CSR-in-Action’s attention.

Enter Primewaterview and Safe Court Estate

In 2007, a gated mini-estate which consists of 47 units of 3-bedroom penthouses (in blocks of flats) and 8 units of 4 bedroom semi-detached houses was promoted and developed by Primewaterview Limited with facility financing by Cornerstone Asset Management Limited on a 6,255.517 square metres parcel of land forming part of a much larger estate, out of which 30 of the housing units in the estate was said to have been purchased by Imperial Homes Limited (formerly GTHomes Limited), while 17 individual subscribers indicated interest and subscribed to the remaining units.

7 years afterwards, the individual subscribers are yet to get their apartments – a number having fully paid for theirs - while some have been even made to pay more. The questionable ethics on the part of the developers seem to have arisen when the developer could not pay off the loan the facility, as a result of frivolous expenditure as third party sources have cited.

“This matter is one of injustice and fraud perpetuated against the economic interest of good Nigerian citizens by 2 organisations, and their principals. The 2 organisations in question are: Primewaterview Limited (PWV), and Imperial Homes Limited”, said a subscriber of the facility, who pled anonymity seeing as the case remains in court. “They both colluded and fraudulently sold off to one another apartments that were purchased, while the buyers were not in breach of any contractual obligations at the time of their action. Further, the purported transaction was clandestinely carried out without the knowledge of us, the independent subscribers”, he further lamented.

A petition from the subscribers of this Estate shows that PWV embarked on the development of 47 apartments within Safe Court Estate and duly issued offers for subscription to different subscribers (in 2010, and in 2011). The condition was 50% down payment (upfront) and the balance 50% on completion, with completion time set for December 2010; which was subsequently shifted serially till sometime in 2013. Imperial Homes Limited as subscribers also paid for apartment(s) in the same development.

The Heritage

To embark on the development, Primewaterview took a loan (facility) from Cornerstone to develop the 30 units, suspected to belong to Imperial Homes and subsequently defaulted in payment of this facility, Cornerstone thus instituted a winding-up judgment on Primewaterview when the latter persistently defaulted in its payment obligations.

Imperial Homes thus intervened with an offer of servicing the facility in other to free Primewaterview from the impending crisis of being wound up, all of these were done with unclear negotiations and without the knowledge of the independent subscribers.

During this near crisis period, the pace of work slowed down considerably on the estate with the developers, PWV, alleging insufficient funding to complete the process. The principals of Imperial Homes solicited subscribers to make further payments (as against the original condition of full payment upon completion) to help push the work and complete the little scope that was outstanding. This was explained as being charges for electricity and water connections and were as much as N7,000,000 (Seven million naira) per flat. Subscribers were assured by the developers that once fully paid up, they would write to Imperial Homes (who was keeping all the title document(s) to the apartment as collateral, and their title documents would be consequently issued. Trustingly, subscribers went ahead to perform several upgrade works on the interior which included, painting, re-modelling, installation of A/C units, curtains, lightings, etc in their apartments in the last quarter of 2013.

The shocking reality

Come December 2013, when these subscribers, who had already completed payments, tried to gain access to their apartments, following ongoing positive reassurances from PWV, security agents of Imperial Homes barred them. To their surprise, Imperial Homes and its principals now claim to be the sole owner of the entire property, Safe Court Estate.

It is important to note that the alleged ‘take-over’ by Imperial Homes could have happened easily primarily because 2 brothers, the Ogunwusi’s, sit on the board of both organisations – Primewaterview Limited and Imperials. Imperial Homes have decried involvement in anything nefarious. However, that becomes less than believable considering that Tunji Ogunwusi is the Chairman of PWV, while Yeye Ogunwusi is a Board Member of Imperial Homes.

Fishy waters

A closer look begs the question of whether there is more to the earlier help to finance the facility given by Imperial Homes; a less than transparent process where a possibly illegal negotiation where the ownership of apartments due to the independent subscribers were transferred to Imperial Homes by Primewaterview as settlements of the debt it owed.

Unfortunate new home owner traps?

Private sector financing of housing development is one necessitated by the need to provide sustainable housing development and several laws are set in place by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Housing Authority to regulate the financing, however actual monitoring of fund management by developers and financers can be deemed lax. Directors of both Primewaterview and Imperial Homes have refused to make statements on the issue as they say it is still an ongoing case in court.

We as concerned governance watch dogs seek to know: Why Primewaterview continued to misrepresent the "status" of investments, and continued to demand for and receive payments without delivering the houses? Why Imperial Homes proceeded to perfect the title of the entire development in their name, immediately the re-financing took place, knowing there were other paying subscribers – ethical or bullish? Why both Imperial Homes and Primewaterview deny them the privilege of access to their apartments, knowing that these independent subscribers did not fault in their agreement and payment?

Justice should be served

The rights and privileges of these subscribers have been trampled upon by practices being utilized by both Primewaterview and Imperial Homes and subscribers are seeking redress in court individually. We look forward to a quick and amicable resolution of the matter in the law courts, one Lady Justice’s scales are equitably balanced.

Rockets targeting Ben Gurion Airport intercepted; Israel strikes scores of Gaza sites

Smoke and debris rise from a site in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike, July 9, 2014(YonatanSindel/Flash90)

(JTA) — The Iron Dome missile-defense system intercepted at least two rockets near Tel Aviv reportedly aimed at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday.

The rockets were intercepted during rush hour Wednesday morning, Israeli media reported, citing Palestinian sources. Heavy traffic stopped on main freeways into Tel Aviv as warning sirens were heard throughout the city.

Forty rockets from Gaza were fired at Israel by early afternoon Wednesday, with Iron Dome intercepting eight. Sirens were heard throughout southern Israel and in the center of the country, including in Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Modiin and Raanana.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the military struck about 160 of what it called “terror sites” throughout the Gaza Strip late Tuesday night as part of Operation Protective Edge, which began the previous night. Among the sites hit, the IDF said, were 118 concealed rocket launching sites; weapon storage facilities; 10 tunnels; six Hamas facilities; and 10 terror command positions.

Terror groups in Gaza shot about 45 rockets at Israel on Tuesday evening, striking major Israeli cities in the south and the center of the country. One rocket landed in Hadera, in northern Israel, some 70 miles from Gaza. The IDF said the rocket that hit Hadera was similar to the ones it found on the Klos-c, a vessel that contained an Iranian shipment of advanced weaponry intended for terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip that was intercepted by the Israeli military on March 5.

At least four Palestinians were reported killed in Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday morning, including an 80-year-old woman. Some 28 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the start of Protective Edge, according to the Palestinian Maan news agency.

Israel has been calling the homes of Palestinian civilians in Gaza to warn them to evacuate before launching airstrikes in their neighborhoods, The New York Times reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement that it will be operating with a skeleton staff until further notice due to the “July 8 rocket attacks on Tel Aviv and potential for further attacks.” The staff of Israel’s diplomatic missions will not be allowed to travel south of Tel Aviv without prior approval, according to the statement.

Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza Kill 7 Hamas Militants

A series of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip left seven Hamas gunmen dead early on Monday morning — the largest number of fatalities suffered by the Islamic group in a single military action since a border crossing into Israel in 2012 that resulted in 180 Palestinian deaths.

Israeli military authorities said in a statement that the drone strikes were targeted at nine “terror” areas in order to stop “rocket attacks against southern Israel” directed by Hamas, reports Reuters.

The Israeli military added that Hamas had launched 150 rocket strikes from its Gaza stronghold since mid-June. Hamas said the seven Palestinian fighters were killed at Rafah, a southern Gaza town near the Egyptian border, which has a large Hamas presence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned that any larger retaliation against Hamas was to be avoided, as the militant group had rockets capable of reaching far into Israeli territory including Tel Aviv, its financial center.

But he advised his Cabinet “to do whatever is necessary” to regain peace in the disrupted communities in southern Israel.

Rising tensions in the area have been catalyzed by several days of clashes in eastern Jerusalem following the July 2 murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, al-Jazeera reports.

Palestinians say the murder was revenge for the kidnapping and slaying in late June of three Israeli teens whose bodies were found near Hebron, a Hamas stronghold. Hamas has not claimed responsibility for the deaths.

SpiceJet flight escapes rocket attack in Kabul airport

About 100 people on board a SpiceJet flight from Kabul to Delhi escaped a rocket attack by militants at the airport in the Afghan capital yesterday.

The attack, aimed at the military airbase at the Kabul airport, was launched when the Boeing 737 was getting ready for takeoff.

Reports said the rocket hit a target on the military side of the international airport, which led to counter-attacks by the Afghan security forces guarding the airport and suspected Taliban insurgents.

The passengers, crew and the aircraft of the no-frill carrier were not affected by the strike but the departure was delayed from the scheduled 1140 hours (local time) to 1500 hours due to the cross-fire. The flight landed safely at the IGI Airport.

The attack has not deterred SpiceJet from stopping its services to Kabul, with an airline spokesperson saying it was "business as usual" for them.

SpiceJet operates to Kabul from Delhi one flight each on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. While Air India flies six days, barring Wednesdays, to Kabul, the only Afghan carrier which flies into Delhi is private airline Kam Air.

The attack, which came soon after a terror strike on Karachi airport and a shootout at the Peshawar airport, led to the closure of Kabul airport for a few hours. The runway, the refuelling facilities and other operations were suspended during the period.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is likely to hold a meeting to discuss the safety of flight operations to Afghanistan, official sources said.

NIGERIA AVIATION SECTOR: 174 BILLION DEBT BURDEN- HOW STELLA ODUAH CORRUPTED THE BOARD OF NCAA

That Nigerian Aviation industry is reeling in a debt burden of over N174 billion is an open secret.

Little do the public know that the immediate past Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah is still the prime beneficiary of this loot dressed in the costumes of debt! She works in concert with some of her cabal that she had carefully positioned in key position in the aviation industry before she was sacked. We are told the debt will be paid from income generated from the airports.

This is a needless alibi since the aviation sector is not supposed to be in debt in the first place.

However, before the former Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah was sacked, she laid the template and strategy to beat virtually all known mechanism to check corruption in the Aviation sector.

We all recall the 255million naira bullet proof limousine scam, which was never budget for but was authorized by the minster for purchase.

Even when she left office ingloriously, the former Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah is still firmly in control of happening in the aviation sector through her lackeys that are ever ready to continue to do her bid for pecuniary reasons.

All her lackeys before now were carefully positioned into prime positions within the aviation industry to handle channels of contract/ approval and collection of revenue at the airport.

Moreover, it is on record that the former Minister of Aviation Stella Odiuah influenced the complexion of the board of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

She recommended 11 members largely from her cabal for appointment against the letters of the constitution/ civil aviation act of Nigeria. With that in place all the scam contract naturally got approval without any scrutiny beside the fact that they were not advertised.

The Aircraft Operators Association of Nigeria (AOAN), pointed this out in their memo, signed by Captain Mohammed Joji, secretary general of the association . They stated that : “11 persons were announced and approved for the Board of NCAA ,which was a clear violation of the extant Act(instead of 8).

Part III: The Governing Board of the Authority; the Civil Aviation Act 2006, signed into law by the Senate on the 9th November 2006 and both the House of Representatives, the Clerk of the National Assembly and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 14th November, 2006 clearly stated the composition of the Board including the number of persons allowed to be on the Board.”
This was well reported in the media (http://www. nigeriacommunicationsweek.com. ng/logistics/ncaa-board- appointment-negates-civil- aviation- act-2006-aoan)

The memo also specifically frown at the appointment of Capt. Fola Akinkuotu as Director General of NCAA and a member of board whose business interest was at variance with his role on the board, Captain Edward Boyo, the Chief Executive of Overland Airways.

Capt Boyo was also the Proprietor of Landover Aviation, a consulting company that was given the concessioning of the new General Aviation Terminal in Abuja; A terminal that was built by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), with government funding. Furthermore, the concessioning did not go through the usual tender.

It was an open secret that the former minister’s relationship with Captain Edward Boyo was beyond official. The concern is that this relationship became the slaughter slap to share and cart away Nigeria’s collective patrimony in the aviation sector .

Captain Edward Boyo single handedly facilitated the appointment of the Capt. Fola Akinkuotu as DG of NCAA to protect the business interest of both lovebirds. Captain Edward Boyo was the chairman of board of the illorin Aviation school where Capt. Fola Akinkuotu worked.

Nevertheless, the former minister was abruptly sacked and President Jonathan, in March this year also sacked all the aviation chiefs in the troubled industry, just weeks after sacking Stella Oduah as the minister of aviation.

The Aviation buff affected by the sacked were the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, George Uriesi, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Namdi Udoh and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency, NCAA, Fola Akinkuotu and the Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, Chinyere Kalu.

With immediate effect Engr. Saleh Dumona (Director Projects, FAAN) replaced Mr. George Uriesi as Managing-Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) while Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam (General Manager, Procurements, NAMA) replaced Engr. Nnamdi Udoh as Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Also Capt. Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick (Government Safety Inspector & ICAO Focal Point for Nigeria on line Aircraft Safety Information Systems, OASIS) replaced Capt. (Mrs.) Chinyere Kalu as Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

Furthermore, Capt. Muhktar Usman (Commissioner, Accident Investigation & Prevention Bureau, AIPB) was to replace Capt. Fola C. Akinkuotu as Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) subject to confirmation by the Senate. Engr. Benedict Adeyileka resumed as acting DG, NCAA pending the confirmation by the Senate.It is worrisome to note that Capt. Muhktar Usman is yet to be confirmed by the senate due to the fact that the former minister Stella Oduah and the remnant of her evil cabal has been generating all manner of petitions to stall the confirmation of Capt. Muhktar Usman.

They are doing this because the coming in of Capt. Usman will not favour all the illicit deals they have packaged as he is not a member of their cabal and is not from the region of the country where he can be lured to swear to a diabolical oath in their typical grove.

They are more comfortable with an acting DG, for NCAA who is more likely to be eager to be accommodated in the deals knowing that he has a short time to stay before retiring- this is where Engr. Benedict Adeyileka becomes very handy in their plot.

During the recent supervisory minister’s tour, there was a lot of window dressing. Being a staunch PDP member, the reserved Supervising Minister of Aviation, Mr. Samuel Ortom, will not want to be drag into controversy, since the government has suffered enough embarrassment from happenings in the aviation sector and did everything to avoid negative comments on the debt burden of N174billion.

To show all is not well in the Aviation sector, there is no substantive minister and a DG for a prime and strategic institution like NCAA. The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has expressed displeasure over the delay in confirming the appointment of the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Murktar Usman.

The aviation workers have, therefore, served the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to confirm his appointment or risks industrial action.

The body stressed that the aviation industry had suffered and was still suffering from several decisions taken by the government that caused the agencies billions of naira to remedy as was the case in the six months in which an acting DG was appointed for the NCAA, prior to the confirmation of the former DG, Capt Fola Akinkuotu, in 2013.

Curiously it was during this period that the Former minister Stella Oduah staged her 255million naira bullet proofs limousine scam.

Most of the contract that today are bandied as debt are actually a duplication of poorly executed contract in the first phase of the so called Air port remodeling project.

Non of the said contract passed through due processes. Today Stella Oduah is still the prime beneficiary of the debt burden of N174 billion, as most of the contractors are actually her front. In the next coming week our group “#Stella Oduah- Bring back our Money Campaign” will bring to the public domain all the very shady deals in the aviation sector with documents to back up our entire write up.

This will not be the first time funds has been mismanaged in the aviation sector under stella Oduah . kindly visit the link(google the headline) below to read of the former ministers typical stealing spree:

How Aviation minister Stella Oduah, FAAN MD squandered $76m BASA Funds -
http://brandiconimage. blogspot.com/2012/08/how- aviation-minister-stella- oduah-faan.html

It is high time the senate president and the speaker of the house of representative prevailed on their Committees on Aviation, to hold a joint public hearing to unravel the various contract scams in the aviation industry that has added up to the 174 billion debt burden.

Jackson Udedibe
Convener
“#Stella Oduah- Bring back our Money Campaign”

CHINA BANS RAMADAN FAST IN MUSLIM PROVINCE

Students and civil servants in China's Muslim northwest, where Beijing is enforcing a security crackdown following deadly unrest, have been ordered to avoid taking part in traditional fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Statements posted Wednesday on websites of schools, government agencies and local party organizations in the Xinjiang region said the ban was aimed at protecting students' wellbeing and preventing use of schools and government offices to promote religion. Statements on the websites of local party organizations said members of the officially atheist ruling party also should avoid fasting.

"No teacher can participate in religious activities, instill religious thoughts in students or coerce students into religious activities," said a statement on the website of the No. 3 Grade School in Ruoqiang County in Xinjiang.

Similar bans have been imposed in the past on fasting for Ramadan, which began at sundown Saturday. But this year is unusually sensitive because Xinjiang is under tight security following attacks that the government blames on Muslim extremists with foreign terrorist ties.

Violence has escalated in recent years in Xinjiang. The ruling party blames violent extremists that it says want independence, while members of the region's Uighur ethnic group complain that discrimination and restrictions on religion, such as a ban on taking children to mosques, are fueling anger at the ethnic Han Chinese majority.

An attack on May 22 in the regional capital of Urumqi by four people who threw bombs in a vegetable market killed 43 people. On June 22, police in Kashgar in the far west said they killed 13 assailants who drove into a police building and set off explosives, injuring three officers. Authorities have blamed two other attacks at train stations in Urumqi and in China's southwest on Muslim extremists.

The government responded with a crackdown that resulted in more than 380 arrests in one month and public rallies to announce sentences.

The ruling party is wary of religious activities it worries might serve as a rallying point for opposition to one-party rule. Controls on worship are especially sensitive in Xinjiang and in neighboring Tibet, where religious faith plays a large role in local cultures.

On Tuesday, authorities in some communities in Xinjiang held celebrations of the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and served food to test whether Muslim guests were fasting, according to Dilxat Raxit, spokesman in Germany for the rights group World Uyghur Congress.

"This will lead to more conflicts if China uses coercive measures to rule and to challenge Uighur beliefs," said Dilxat Raxit in an email.

The ruling party says religion and education should be kept separate and students should not be subject to religious influences. That rule is rarely enforced for children of Han Chinese, who, if they have a religion, are mostly Buddhist, Daoist or Christian.

"Students shall not participate in religious activities; they shall not study scripts or read poems at script and choir classes; they shall not wear any religious emblems; and no parent or others can force students to have religious beliefs or partake in religious activities," said the statement on the website of the grade school in Ruoqiang County.

A news portal run by the government of Yili in the northern reaches of Xinjiang said fasting is detrimental to the physical wellbeing of young students, who should eat regularly.

In the city of Bole, retired teachers from the Wutubulage Middle School were called in to stand guard at mosques and prevent students from entering, according to a statement on the municipal party committee website.

Also in Bole, the Bozhou University of Radio and Television said on its website it held a meeting with working and retired minority teachers on the first day of the Ramadan to remind them of the fasting ban.

The forestry bureau in Xinjiang's Zhaosu county held an event the day before Ramadan at which party cadres signed a pledge they and their relatives would "firmly resist fasting," according to a statement on the website of the local party committee.

The Moyu Weather Bureau in the Hotan area said on its website that Muslim employees, both active and retired, were required to sign a letter promising not to fast.

The commercial bureau for Turpan, an oasis town in the Taklamakan Desert, said in a statement that civil servants are "strictly forbidden" to fast or perform the Salat prayer ritual in a mosque.