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.

JONATHAN VOWS TO TRIUMPH OVER CRITICS & GOLIATHS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has vowed to triumph over supposed enemies of his administration especially politicians in the oppositions who see nothing good in his performance since assumption of office.

He was at speaking at a special Sunday church service to commemorate Nigeria’s 51st Independence Anniversary at the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.

The President justified his administration’s approach to the many social, political and economic challenges facing the country and told his critics and some politicians he described as Goliaths, who he accused of doing everything possible to make his presidency fail, that they would be defeated by God that installed him President.

Jonathan said though he possessed not the traits of a ruthless dictator like King Nebuchadnezzar, a Lion, a Tiger or an Army General commanding troops as some Nigerians had wished, he knew that God that installed him President, through prayers would use him to change Nigeria better than he met her.

He told the congregation,:“I thank you for your prayers. It is because of it we are even seeing what we are seeing today. You have been praying for us and my request is for you to continue to pray for the government and together we will conquer the Goliath of our time.

“You have been praying for us, but others will not even want us to move an inch, especially those of us who are politicians. But, one prayer I will continue to request because if you listen to Nigerians or read their statements, some Nigerians still want the President of this country to be a lion or a tiger, somebody that has that kind of strength, force and agility to make things happen the way they think.

“Some others will want the President to operate like an Army General, like my Chief of Army Staff commanding his troops. Incidentally, I am not a lion and I am also not a General. Somebody will want the President to operate like the kings of Syria, Babylon, Egypt and Pharaoh, all powerful people that you read about in the Bible. They want the President to operate that way, the characters of the Goliath. Unfortunately, I am not one of those.”

“But God knows why I am here, even though I don’t have any of those attributes, or these characters I have used as an example. But through your prayers, God placed me here. The only thing I ask you to do for me, and that is the prayer I pray every time is for God to use me to change this country”.

“I don’t need to be a lion. I don’t need to be Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t need to operate like the Pharaoh of Egypt but I can change this country without those traits.

“You know these days for you to be an intellectual and for people to listen to you, you have to abuse government. Somebody was asking, is Nigeria on autopilot? Meaning a plane without a pilot and I say Nigeria is being piloted by God himself. It is not going to be easy, but with God using you and us, we will get to where we want to go.

“I just got back from the United States; the President of America is like the President of the world because it is the most powerful country. In most cases, if you go for UN General Assembly; if you are to speak immediately after the US President, then you are in trouble. Immediately he speaks, about two thirds of the hall will leave because everybody wants to listen to the President of America.

“When Obama spoke during the Security Council meeting outside the General Assembly, he commended Nigeria, but back home, we are being abused. When the President of South Africa and Gabon spoke, they commended Nigeria, but here, we are not being appreciated. But what I can assure you is that Nigeria is on course and with your prayers and the guidance of God, we will surely get to the destination we are going.

“It is not going to be easy because just like Rev. Yusuf Turaki said, there are Goliaths everywhere, very terrible Goliaths; the ones that can even kill their father and mother and even their children in order to stop government are willing to do it. So, we have these terrible Goliaths that are trying to frustrate us; but surely with God, we will conquer them.

“I remember one of the sermons Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor gave here; he said every Goliath has an exposed forehead. All the Goliaths that are stumbling blocks to the development and growth of this country, God will expose their heads for the stone of David.

“Brothers and sisters, we are celebrating Nigeria at 51 after Independence, but as a nation we are 97 years old because Nigeria was amalgamated in 1914. In 2014, we will celebrate the centenary, our 100 years of existence; we will do a big ceremony. Today, we are celebrating 51 years of independence.”

Setback for Sarkozy as French left captures Senate

France's left-wing opposition has won a majority in the Senate for the first time in recent French history in a major blow to conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy seven months before the country's presidential election.

France's left-wing opposition won an historic victory in senatorial elections Sunday, in a blow to centre-right leader President Nicolas Sarkozy seven months before he is to seek re-election.
The Socialist Party said that, with its Communist and Green allies, it had won enough seats to give the left control of the upper house for the first time in French history, a stepping stone towards a presidential win.
"Nicolas Sarkozy will go down in history as the president that lost the right its majority in the Senate," declared Francois Hollande, favourite to win the Socialist Party's nomination to run against Sarkozy next year.
"In a way it's like a premonition of what will happen in 2012," he said.
Sarkozy's prime minister, Francois Fillon, admitted the right had suffered from its divisions and that the left had made a "strong breakthrough".
"The moment of truth will come next spring. The battle begins tonight," Fillon said in a statement, calling on the right to unite behind Sarkozy's government in time to turn the tide before the late April vote.
Right-wing parties have controlled the Senate since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958, and Sunday's flip to the left could break the already weak momentum of Sarkozy's unannounced re-election drive.
Before the vote, outgoing speaker Gerard Larcher had admitted to AFP that if he was defeated by the left it would be a political "earthquake" and "the preparations for the presidential election would be singularly changed."
The historic Senate victory also opens the door to a possible Socialist hat-trick, given that opinion polls suggest the left will win next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
"For the first time, the National Assembly, the Senate and the president could be from the left, which would give them serious weight if they decided to modify the constitution," said political scientist Bruno Jeanbert.
The Senate is not chosen by universal suffrage but by a "super-electorate" of elected officials -- around 72,000 mayors, local and regional councillors, voting for figures on the basis of regional lists.
Around half the seats in the 348-strong house were up for grabs in the poll, and the left needed to add only 22 more seats to win a majority.
With many centrists, independents and non-party figures in the upper house, it might be a few days before the exact division of forces becomes clear.
The outgoing speaker, UMP stalwart Gerard Larcher, said before the vote that he was confident of maintaining at least a six- to 12-seat margin to win re-election to his post on October 1 when the new chamber meets.
Bel now expects to garner enough votes to unseat him, with the Socialists and their allies believing that they have a narrow majority.
Larcher did not initially admit defeat, howvever, with results still coming in, and insisted he would remain his party's candidate for speaker, hoping to cobble together enough centrist votes to squeak through.
But the mood in Sarkozy's camp was decidedly more sombre.
Budget Minister Valerie Pecresse said she regretted the result and said she was "sad" for Larcher and his team.
Claude Goasguen, a UMP lawmaker from Paris, admitted his party had had a bad day in the capital. "We have to take on board the consequences quickly," he said, calling for a root-and-branch renewal of the Paris party.
And the mood in the country appeared to have already had direct political consequences, with Pecresse confirming the threshold for top rate income tax might be brought lower.
The Senate vote has no direct bearing on next April's presidential poll, which will be open to all French voters and conducted over two rounds, the second a head-to-head run-off between the best placed candidates.
But defeat is an ill omen for Sarkozy, whose party is already nervous about his low poll ratings and the ongoing economic and financial crisis.
Sarkozy has attempted to play on his foreign policy credentials as the current leader of the G8 and G20 great power blocs and the main foreign champion of the Libyan revolution that toppled Moamer Kadhafi.
But whatever glory he may have picked up on the international stage has been drowned out at home by the implication of his closest allies in a series of high-level corruption and party-funding scandals.
Meanwhile, unemployment remains high and France's financial sector has found itself under attack on the markets, where traders fear its banks are overexposed to risky Greek and Italian debts.

Libyan fighters, NATO strike Gaddafi hometown of Sirt

Fighters for Libya's interim rulers entered Moamer Kadhafi's hometown Sirte on Saturday in a surprise assault that NATO said it backed to halt brutal acts by followers of the ousted regime.

National Transitional Council (NTC) chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said an interim government would be announced next week and that the new authorities had control over Kadhafi's internationally "banned weapons".

Misrata military council spokesman Abdel Ibrahim said seven NTC fighters were killed and 145 injured in what appeared to have been a pincer movement launched from the south and east.

Using tanks and pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, the NTC forces cleared away roadblocks set up by Kadhafi forces and drove toward the city centre before putting up their own defences in advanced positions.

On a beach road surrounded by craters and pock-marked buildings, a 106mm anti-tank cannon repeatedly pounded Kadhafi positions, backed by a barrage of mortars and multiple rocket-launchers.

"We are pushing them back" after a "surprise" order to attack issued by the NTC's military top brass, commander Mohammed al-Aswawi said in a radio truck monitoring units on the front.

"First we get the families out, and then the order is to attack and free Sirte," he told AFP.

"There is also an advance from the south," he added, as the Misrata Military Council said that front was being reinforced by NTC fighters who had taken part in "the liberation of Al-Jafra."

Frontline fighters in Sirte are convinced that one of Kadhafi's sons, Mutassim, is holed up in the city's southern outskirts.

"Mutassim is in there. We hear him on the radio giving orders," NTC operations commander Osama Muttawa Swehly told AFP on Saturday.

As the battle raged into the evening, another commander, Hassan Tarhar Zaluk, said NTC forces would have to resume the fight for Sirte on Sunday.

"We're going to stop for the evening. There's no light in there. We'll start again tomorrow," he said.

NTC fighters also came under heavy fire as they advanced inside Sirte's eastern gates, another AFP correspondent reported.

"Our troops went seven kilometres inside through the eastern gate and there were sporadic to sometimes heavy clashes with Kadhafi's forces," said commander Mohammed al-Marimi of the Fakriddin Sallabi Brigade.

The assault was launched after reports of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the city of around 75,000 inhabitants.

NATO forces struck at Kadhafi forces after reports they had moved against civilians there, endangering "hundreds of families", a statement from the alliance said.

"Among the reports emerging from Sirte are executions, hostage-taking, and the calculated targeting of individuals, families, and communities within the city," it added.

Heavy fighting also raged in Bani Walid, the only other remaining pro-Kadhafi bastion. Medics reported a total of 30 NTC troops killed so far on that front.

A pro-Kadhafi radio station called for a gathering at one of Bani Walid's squares, after a similar call from Kadhafi's most prominent son, Seif al-Islam, for people to rise up for the town's "liberation".

On the political front, the NTC held talks on forming a new government amid doubts over whether disagreements that prevented a deal last week could be immediately overcome.

"Differences in views" between members of the NTC and the executive council had delayed a deal, Abdel Jalil told reporters, but the composition of the interim government would be announced in the coming week.

That had been due to be set up last Sunday, but was postponed indefinitely because of haggling over portfolios.

Abdel Jalil said the new authorities had control over internationally "banned weapons" from Kadhafi's regime, when asked about the presence of such weapons in the south.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday confirmed the existence of raw uranium stored in drums at the southern city of Sabha.

"These weapons are between Waddan and Sabha," said Abdel Jalil, referring to the other central town.

"We will call for Libyan technicians and the international community to get rid of these weapons safely," he said.

While Libya's new authorities do not know where Kadhafi is, they are focusing on taking Sirte and Bani Walid, two places where some think he might be. Reports have also emerged that he may be in the south.

"General Belgasem al-Abaaj, who we captured on Monday, said that Kadhafi had contacted him by phone about 10 days ago, and that he was moving secretly between (the oases of) Sabha and Ghat," an NTC commander, Mohammed Barka Wardugu, told AFP.

Abaaj had said Kadhafi "is helped by Nigerian and Chadian mercenaries who know the desert routes," added Wardugu, spokesman for the Desert Shield Brigade.

Friday's statement from Kadhafi's daughter Aisha that said her father was well and fighting on the ground -- and denouncing the new administration in Libya as traitors -- got a sharp reaction from the Algerian authorities.

Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Mdeleci described her comments as "unacceptable", the country's APS agency reported. Her telephone message was broadcast by Syria-based Arrai television.

Algeria received Aisha Kadhafi, her mother and other members of their family when they fled Libya in August.

Algeria, which after criticism from the NTC in Libya defended its decision to receive the Kadhafis on humanitarian grounds, on Friday said it was willing to work with the new administration.

In New York, NTC prime minister Mahmoud Jibril told the United Nations General Assembly that a new Libya was coming to life.

But he added: "The asset freeze on our funds must be lifted as urgently as possible."

source:France 24

IKEJA L.G COUNCIL ELECTION

 CHAIRMANSHIP ASPIRANT PROMISES 

WELFARE PACKAGE IF ELECTED

                                      

Posted by Lateef Lawal 

The chairmanship aspirant to the  Ikeja local government council, Olarenwaju Oluwatoyin Osundairo has promised to establish a micro credit scheme for the resident of Ikeja in the metropolis.

Osundairo, who lamented the absence of visible projects in the Ikeja local government area o the state, pledged that if elected chairman of the local government he will make street lights, adequate drainage channels and job creation for youths his priority.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, the People Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant explained that because residents of Ikeja are attuned to business, he will create a platform through the setting up of cooperative societies to enable residents access funds to boost their
business, thereby creating an avenue to improve revenue.
He explained that the quality of representation in Ikeja, has been abysmal, hence the desire for him to throw himself into the race to
seek the office of the chairman of the local government to improve the life of the people. Osundairo blamed the challenge of ‘street urchins’ otherwise known as area boys on lack of access to quality education as well as unemployment, affirming that if voted into office as chairman of Ikeja LGA, he will utilise the council’s resources to empower the people through welfare and empowerment programmes.
He condemn the phenomenon of god fatherism in politics, affirming that one of the wheels in the clog of democratic progress is the
overbearing influence of godfathers, who as rent seekers continues to exploit those they sponsored into elected offices.
Osundairo however advocated for an upward review of the allocation formula, such that local government councils, could get more money to execute people oriented programmes, affirming that the joint state account between local councils and their respective state governments hinders the autonomy of local councils.
He however called on the national assembly to expedite the passage of the local govt council autonomy bill before it to give local councils muscle to carry out their statutory mandate.
He added: “When elected as chairman of the council, the challenges of bad road, streets not fully light, youth unemployment, will be given serious attention that is why l am calling for autonomy for local governments to improve their direct funding. Because local government is about the grassroots, l shall give my best to improve the quality of life of our
people”
He spoke of plans to establish Ikeja local government council transport services, street lighting projects which he affirmed will
improve security in addition to setting up a fire fighting department. Osundaira, however called for generational change in the PDP,
affirming that elders in the party should give room to the younger generation whom he said has the capacity to turn around the leadership of Nigeria

UN offices bombing:

Nigeria wants al-Qaeda-linked militant

Nigerian authorities announced on Wednesday that Mamman Nur, a member of the local Islamist sect Boko Haram, is wanted as the primary suspect behind last week's bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja that left 23 people dead.

Nigerian authorities said yesterday that a member of a local Islamist sect who has al-Qaeda links orchestrated the bombing last week on the U.N.  headquarters in Abuja that killed 23 people, and they declared him wanted.

“Investigation has revealed that one Mamman Nur, a notorious Boko Haram element with al Qaeda links who returned recently from Somalia, working in concert with two suspects masterminded the attack on the United Nations building in Abuja,” the Department of State Services said in a statement.

It did not give details of how it came to this conclusion, beyond mentioning that the two Boko Haram suspects were in detention and had given “valuable statements”.

“We implore ... the general public to cooperate with security agencies by providing useful information that could lead to the arrest of Mamman Nur, who is hereby declared wanted,” it said.

The bomb on Friday gutted a floor, smashed nearly all of the windows and also wounded 76 people, U.N. officials said—one of the worst attacks on the United Nations in its history and deadlier than a 2003 blast on its offices in Baghdad that killed 22 people. 

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sinful” in the northern Nigerian Hausa language, has become President Goodluck Jonathan’s biggest security headache/ It has carried almost daily shootings or attacks with homemade bombs against security services and civilians in the remote northeast.

Jonathan sought to reassure Nigerians on Tuesday that he was stepping up security to prevent more bomb attacks.

The U.N. bombing marks an increase in the sophistication of Boko Haram’s attacks, apparently with more powerful explosives, and an escalation from local to international targets, analysts say. Some suggest Boko Haram is developing global ambitions and may have connected with al Qaeda’s North African wing.

If Nigerian authorities are correct, it may also have linked up with jihadists in Somalia.

Some Nigerians worry that the oil industry – only just recovering from militancy in the southern Niger Delta region that mostly ceased with an amnesty in 2009 – might be the next target, although moving into the mostly Christian south would prove a huge challenge for Islamist militants.

“This latest attack ... aimed at the U.N. indicates an internationalisation of the struggle and bears hallmarks of an al Qaeda connection,” the Eurasia Group wrote on Tuesday.

“While this is a worrying development for investors, including western oil companies, the oil-rich Niger Delta will be much harder terrain for Boko Haram to operate in.”

Source:France24

Tripoli hit by food,water &fuel shortages

*As Search for Ghaddafi continues

By News Wires

The Libyan capital of Tripoli faced severe water and food shortages Saturday as the country's transitional authorities turned their attention to Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, which they vowed to take by force should negotiations fail.

Tripoli struggled with collapsing water and power supplies on Saturday as rebels now in control of most of the Libyan capital vowed to take Muammar Gaddafi’s home town by force if negotiations failed.

More evidence emerged of summary killings during the battle for Tripoli, which erupted a week ago.

A correspondent for Britain’s Sky News said he had counted about 53 bodies left in a burned-out warehouse, where they were apparently executed earlier this week.

“It is a scene of mass murder,” Stuart Ramsay said at the scene, quoting witnesses as saying 150 people were killed there on Aug. 23 and 24 as rebel fighters fought pro-Gaddafi forces.

A local resident told Sky the victims were mostly civilians and had been killed by Gaddafi’s forces.

Reports of cold-blooded killings by both sides have surfaced in the last few days, darkening the atmosphere in a city where many residents had greeted Gaddafi’s fall with joy.

Gaddafi’s own whereabouts remain unknown—rebels hunting him say the war will not end until the 69-year-old colonel who kept Libya in his grip for 42 years is captured or killed.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), told reporters in Benghazi: “We have no factual report about the whereabouts of Gaddafi and his sons.”

The NTC, which has told its fighters not to carry out revenge killings, is trying to assert its authority and restore order in Tripoli but its top officials have yet to move there from their Benghazi headquarters in the east.

Rebel commanders are still negotiating with Gaddafi loyalists to try to persuade them to surrender control over the coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s home town, Abdel Jalil said.

Libya is effectively cut in two by pro-Gaddafi forces holding territory stretching southwards from Sirte, 450 km (300 miles) east of the capital, deep into the desert.

A rebel commander said forces advancing from the east had reached the edge of Bin Jawad, a town about 140 km from Sirte.

“We are waiting for the people in Sirte to come out and talk but we’ve got no answer up to now. I’ve been waiting for three days,” the commander, Fawzi Bukatif, told Reuters, adding that Sirte must be taken eventually by force or peaceful means.

With rebel forces approaching from east and west, Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte could retreat into the desert and try to reach Sabha, another Gaddafi stronghold far to the south.

“If they pull south to Sabha, we’ll follow them. We’re determined to clear the whole country,” said Bukatif.

The rebels, still a long way from Sirte, have been using artillery backed by NATO air strikes on the town.

Behind rebel lines, shelling subsided but two small fires burned in the distance, giving off black, oily smoke. An ambulance raced away from the front, and rebels in a few trucks drove through a checkpoint, flashing victory signs.

Far to the west, rebels were in control of the border post of Ras Jdir after clashing with pro-Gaddafi forces on Friday, but there was almost no traffic through what is usually a lifeline for food, fuel and medical supplies for Tripoli.

Rebels there said this was partly due to rearguard attacks by Gaddafi’s soldiers and partly to roadblocks manned by pro-Gaddafi tribesmen on the Tunisian side of the border.

“It’s the Al-Shusha tribe, the Hawamid tribe, they love Gaddafi and are stopping the traffic, smashing cars and beating families,” said Walid Suleiman, 31, a rebel fighter.

NTC spokesman Mahmoud Shammam reported attacks near Zawara, about 160 km west of Tripoli. “The Gaddafi brigades are shelling the road, but we hope to be able to control it today,” he said.

The NTC and the Western powers that backed rebel forces with a five-month bombing campaign are acutely aware of the need to prevent Libya collapsing into the kind of chaos that plagued Iraq for years after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

Life remains far from normal in Tripoli, whose two million people are grappling with a breakdown in basic services, even as many of them celebrate the overthrow of a hated leader.

In one hospital, wounded patients lay on bare mattresses in bloodsoaked bandages amid a stench of blood and sweat. None was on an intravenous drip, although many had lost blood.

“There are widespread shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, particularly in the Nafusa Mountains and Tripoli,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in New York.

Tripoli’s supply problems have worsened, even though NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Thursday his forces had discovered huge stockpiles of food and medicine in the capital that would eliminate any shortfalls.

NTC spokesman Shammam said the council wanted staff at the National Oil Corporation, the de facto energy ministry, to get back to work and tackle shortages of petrol, fuel oil and gas.

He said diesel and cooking gas cargoes were on the way and that talks had taken place at the Zawiyah refinery to discuss ways to supply western Libya with gas and restart the refinery.

Mountains of rubbish

In Tripoli, stinking garbage was piled high in the streets. In some districts, people set it on fire to stave off disease.

Electricity and running water were scarce. Residents carried containers to mosques, which often have wells, hoping to fill up. Outside one mosque, a sign read: "No water left."

In Abu Salim, bullet casings littered a square. About 50 charred cars dotted the neighbourhood.

Dozens of decomposing bodies still lay in and around a hospital in Abu Salim that was abandoned by medical staff during the fighting. It was not clear how they had died.

Five bloated bodies lay on trolleys at the entrance to the emergency department, while 25 lay in the garden, wrapped in rugs and sprinkled with lime in a vain attempt to keep down the smell. Surgical masks and gloves were scattered on the ground. Ambulances were still parked in front of the hospital.

The rebel council is pressing foreign powers to release Libyan funds frozen abroad to help it restore security, provide services and revive the economy after six months of conflict.

The United States and South Africa struck a deal on Thursday to allow the release of $1.5 billion in frozen Libya funds for humanitarian aid and other civilian needs.

But Gaddafi’s long-time allies in Africa offered him a grain of comfort on Friday by refusing to follow Arab and Western powers in recognising the NTC as the legal government.

South African President Jacob Zuma, a vocal advocate for Gaddafi, said the African Union could have prevented deaths in Libya if it had been given the chance.

“We still believe that had the AU been allowed space to work, heavy loss of life would have been averted,” he said in a statement a day after chairing an AU meeting in Addis Ababa.

Many Libyans are eager to seal the victory of a popular uprising that was inspired by those in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia by seeing the deposed leader dead or behind bars.

“We hope we can catch Gaddafi and if we do I would like him to be put in a cage in the zoo with the animals, him and his family,” said Wajdi Ramadan, 30, a wounded fighter.


source:France24