TEXT OF ADDRESS BY PRINCESS STELLA ADAEZE ODUAH, NIGERIA's MINISTER OF AVIATION, AT THE ON-GOING 38TH ASSEMBLY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANISATION (ICAO) IN MONTREAL, CANADA

​It is indeed, my honour and privilege on behalf of the Nigerian delegation, first and foremost extend to you all, very warm greetings and felicitations from our President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR and the good people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Also let me join other delegations to congratulate the President of the 38th Assembly, Mr. Michel Wachenheim.

 

We are gathered here to reflect on the developments that have taken place in our industry and to seek new ways of improving civil aviation beyond the next triennial. These new Strategies should make air transportation more safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally friendly as well as ensure the growth and sustainability of the aviation industry globally.

 

​​In this regard, the recent ICAO high level conferences on air navigation, air transport and aviation security have made far reaching recommendations. Nigeria supports the endorsement by this Assembly of the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) and the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) as well as recommended Civil Aviation Security Strategies. Nigeria also believes that there is need to streamline ICAO policies regarding the protection of consumer interests. I also wish to seize this opportunity to commend the ICAO Council for the adoption of the new Annex 19 on Safety Management.

 

Distinguished delegates, it gladdens my heart to inform you all that Nigeria has remained totally committed to ICAO initiatives and collaborative efforts in achieving safety, security and environmentally friendly air transportation. This, we have demonstrated through the hosting and continuous support of our Regional Safety Oversight Organization, the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organization (BAGASOO) located in Abuja, Nigeria’s   Federal Capital City.

 

​​Similarly, Nigeria hosted in 2012 the African Ministerial Conference on Aviation Safety that adopted the landmark Abuja Declaration on Aviation Safety and also adopted far reaching Safety Targets. I wish to reassure you that Nigeria is determined to continue to champion the advancement of civil aviation in the African region through collaborative efforts amongst member States. Furthermore, Nigeria also wishes to express her commitment and continuous support for the comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan).

 

At this point, I wish to commend African States and the African Civil Aviation Commission for their renewed and vigorous dedication towards the attainment of safety of the African skies and the development of Air Transportation in our Continent.

 

7. ​​Mr President, Nigeria under the regime of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR embarked on the transformation of its aviation industry focusing on the rehabilitation, upgrade and development of aviation infrastructure; improving aviation Safety and Security; creating enabling environment for growth of airlines and other service providers as well as protecting the interest of aviation end-users. Towards this end, the Civil Aviation Policy was reviewed and a comprehensive Master Plan was developed to reform institutions; transform key airports into a network of domestic and international hubs; develop airport cities, (Aerotropolis); among others.

 

8.​​I am very delighted to inform you that the Transformation Agenda is yielding positive results. This coupled with the liberalisation policy of the Government, has led to significant increase in the operations of foreign and domestic airlines and utilisation of our airports, resulting in an annual traffic growth of over ten percent (10%) in the last three (3) years. In order to accommodate this and future growth, the Nigerian Government embarked simultaneously on the construction of five (5) new international passenger and fourteen (14) perishable cargo airport terminals. The effort of Government is to make air travel the preferred mode of transportation especially with a population of over 150Million and a large land mass.

 

9.​In the area of Safety, Nigeria has continued to work towards sustaining the success achieved in the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Category 1 Rating, through re-engineered Civil Aviation Authority conferred with the requisite powers and autonomy to properly regulate the sector.

 

10.​​With regard to aviation security; I am happy to inform this august Assembly that the on-going remodelling of our airports has provided us an opportunity to improve our security infrastructure through the installation of State of the art security equipment. I want to reassure you that Nigeria will continue to implement its National Aviation Security Programme and provide continuous up-to-date training to its Aviation Security Personnel. We will also continue to participate in the ICAO Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD), and support ICAO’s efforts to provide assistance to other West African States in their programmes to introduce e-passport.

 

11.​​I wish to use this opportunity to commend ICAO and Member States for the adoption of Resolution A37-19 at the last Assembly in 2010. This achievement demonstrates to the world the uniqueness of our industry and our ability to put aside our differences for the common good and sustainable development of air transportation. I therefore wish to appeal that this same spirit should be demonstrated in our deliberations during this Assembly in order to achieve a “Win-Win” situation.

12.​​Nigeria will continue to cooperate and collaborate with member States to come up with Resolutions that will support the implementation of measures that will reduce aircraft engine emissions without negatively impacting on the growth of air transportation industry, particularly in the developing and emerging economies.  We have continued to pursue a policy of fleet renewal and use of newer and more efficient aircraft by Nigerian operators. Additionally, we have implemented measures to enhance the efficiency of air traffic management including Performance Based Navigation (PBN).

 

13.​​Distinguished colleagues, Nigeria is indeed privileged to have been a member of the ICAO Council since 1962, and we truly  cherish the opportunity to collaborate with other member States to advance the work of the Organization for greater efficiency and effectiveness in line with ICAO’s strategic objectives.  In the same vein, Nigeria wishes to use this opportunity to solicit the support of ICAO member States for her re-election into Part 2 of the ICAO Council. In addition, Nigeria also humbly requests your support for the election and re-election of those African States that have been endorsed by AFCAC to the ICAO Council.

 

14.  ​​Nigeria is also delighted to refer to the Candidature of Dr. Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu for the post of the President of the ICAO Council in the next Council election. I wish to thank the African States for the endorsement of his candidature by the African Union (AU) We solicit and thank ICAO member States for their support of his candidature.

 

15.​​Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I want to specially congratulate and thank the President of the ICAO Council, Mr. Roberto Kobeh González, for his invaluable services to the organisation. I wish to also thank the Secretary General and the ICAO Secretariat for a well organized 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly. I also wish to express our profound gratitude and thanks to the government and people of Canada for the kind hospitality accorded us since our arrival in this beautiful city of Montreal.

 

16.​​I wish us all a most successful deliberation. I thank you for your kind attention and God bless.

 

FG tasks investors on non-oil export commodities

>As Oyo Govt. hosts ICAIS-3 Oct. 22 to 23 

The  Federal Government has advocated the active collaboration of all stakeholders in the promotion and development of Nigeria’s non-oil export commodities.

Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, spoke recently in Abuja at a press conference on the forthcoming 3rd International Conference on Africa’s Indigenous Stimulants (ICAS-3) to be hosted by Oyo State from October 22 to 23, 2013.

According to the Minister, Government alone could not bear the responsibility of developing non-oil export commodities, particularly the production of stimulant crops such as kolanuts, bitter kola, alligator pepper, moringa including aloe Vera, noting that, besides their medicinal values, stimulant crops are valuable raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Ortom explained that the conference aims at sensitizing the public on the investment opportunities in the stimulant sub-sector, which he said could reposition the economy for job creation, foreign exchange generation and poverty alleviation.

Also speaking, the President of the African Business Roundtable (ABR) and National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bamanga Tukur, said the ICAS series was one of the organizers’ joint-flagship events going round the country. Tukur, who was represented by Mr. Samuel Ayodele, the ABR Director of Operations, added that the conference also targets at exploring Africa’s underground wealth for economic development through expanding knowledge, awareness and stimulating greater consciousness of the country’s wealth and natural endowment.

On his part, the Executive Chairman of ICAS-3, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the stimulant subsector was an area that needed renewed national interest and attention, as “other countries have exploited this area of natural endowment to great advantage, boosting export, creating jobs for women, youth and the rural populace.

“With the inevitable decline of the oil sector and the increasing realization that agriculture and agro-enterprise must become the anchor of our economy; this area needs renewed attention”, Ogbeh emphasized.

ICAIS is an initiative of Vertical Inspirations Organization and the African Business Roundtable (ABR) with support from the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

Boko Haram suspected in mass murder of students

© Photo: AFP

Suspected members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram shot dead dozens of students, some of them while they slept, at a college in northeastern Nigeria in the early hours of Sunday morning.

 

Suspected Islamist militants stormed a college in northeastern Nigeria and shot dead around 40 male students, some of them while they slept early on Sunday, witnesses said.

The gunmen, thought to be members of rebel sect Boko Haram, attacked one hostel, took some students outside before killing them and shot others trying to flee, people at the scene told Reuters.

“They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved onto the next group and killed them. It was so terrible,” said one surviving student Idris, who would only give his first name.

“They came with guns around 1 a.m. (2400 GMT) and went directly to the male hostel and opened fire on them ... The college is in the bush so the other students were running around helplessly as guns went off and some of them were shot down,” said Ahmed Gujunba, a taxi driver who lives by the college.

Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has intensified attacks on civilians in recent weeks in revenge for a military offensive against its insurgency.

Several schools, seen as the focus of Western-style education and culture, have been targeted.

Boko Haram and spin-off Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-linked Ansaru have become the biggest security threat in Africa’s second largest economy and top oil exporter.

Western governments are increasingly worried about the threat posed by Islamist groups across Africa, from Mali and Algeria in the Sahara, to Kenya in the east, where Somalia’s al-Shabaab fighters killed at least 67 people in an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall a week ago.

Bodies were recovered from dormitories, classrooms and outside in the undergrowth on Sunday, a member of staff at the college told Reuters, asking not to be named.

A Reuters witness counted 40 bloody corpses piled on the floor at the main hospital in Yobe state capital Damaturu on Sunday, mostly of young men believed to be students.

The bodies were brought from the college, which is in Gujba, a rural area 30 miles (50km) south of Damaturu and around 130 miles from Nigerian borders with Cameroon and Niger.

State police commissioner Sanusi Rufai said he suspected Boko Haram was behind the attack but gave no details.

Revenge attacks

Thousands have been killed since Boko Haram launched its uprising in 2009, turning itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an armed militia with growing links to al Qaeda’s West African wing.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northeastern state in May, including Yobe, and ordered a military offensive to crush Boko Haram’s insurgency.

There was an initial lull in the violence as Islamists fled bases in cities, forests and mountains. Then the militants began revenge attacks on schools, security forces and civilians believed to be helping them.

In July, suspected Boko Haram militants killed 27 students and a teacher at a school in Potiskum, a town about 30 miles from the site of Sunday’s attack.

Several hundred people have died in assaults over the past few weeks. Some observers say the army offensive has only succeeded in pushing attacks away from well-guarded large towns and cities into vulnerable rural areas.

Boko Haram’s insurgency is also putting pressure on the economy of Africa’s most populous nation. Nigeria’s security spending has risen to more than 1 trillion naira ($6.26 billion) per year, or around 20 percent of the federal budget.

(REUTERS)

And so, the man is dead!

By Oba Olufemi Adewunmi Ogunleye, fnipr

I did not cry when I heard the sudden death of my friend, bother and colleague, Friday August 26th 2013. Not that I was hard hearted nor was I obedient to the tradition that Oba must not cry. No. The shock was beyond comprehension.

My friend and brother my mother never gave birth to, the quintessential nobleman and fine gentleman, Soniran Oluwole Sowemimo, a.k.a. S.O.S. shocked his friends and family most with this sudden departure without warning of a sort. Having spoken with him at about half-one in the noon on a proposal that just surfaced at the day’s Egba Traditional Council meeting, we both struck appointment to meet at our common rendezvous – Abeokuta Sports Club – in the evening to ventilate on the project.

For reasons I cannot now fathom I failed to honour the 6pm meeting at the Abeokuta Sports Club, even though I was busy preparing to host him and otherfriends the following day at a planned one year’s birthday anniversary of my twin son and daughter in my palace at Akinale. I was expecting a rebuke from another close friend and colleague who was privy to the scheduled meeting with SOS when he called me at about 11pm of the night but instead broke the unpleasant news that our own man, SOS was no more.

I waited for more calls to debunk the story but none came. I called other common friends, none responded. It finally dawn on me that I have lost a valued comrade and true friend.

Soniran , a high Egba Chief and Baba Ijo of Anglican Church, Oba Eerin, the township my friend so cherished and honoured that he commandeered all his loved ones to share in his desire to build a monumental church which has been completed to his credit and I, were colleagues in the Media since the early seventies. He,being in the electronic media and I being in the Print – FRCN and the defunct Daily Times respectively, our friendship and comradeship were solid.

I became closer to SOS when he was at the OGBC and I was at Nigeria Airways asthe Public Relations Manager. The death of my father and Baale Akinale in 1981 went further to solidify our union. I was out of town when Baale Johnson AkanniOgunleye died on Sunday December 21, 1981 but my absence notwithstanding, a great friend and mentor, Dr. Ore Falomo of Maryland Specialists Hospital, Maryland, Anthony, Lagos who was my father’s physician, had given my late wife, Adewunmi Abike an ambulance to convey my father’s corpse to Abeokuta General Hospital and so it was done, all in my absence. When I returned from Josin the evening, I proceeded to Abeokuta where I was shocked to find that my father was still being kept in the ambulance because the hospital authority said there was no room in their morgue.

My first port of call was the Abeokuta Sports Club where I found my friend, S.O.S. playing snooker. As I told him my father is dead, his reaction was “call the bar man”. I told him the bar should wait as my father was being denied place in the morgue at the General Hospital. My friend suddenly dropped his cue stick and led me straight to Dr. Majekodunmi, the then Club Chairman and Chief Surgeon of the General Hospital in his quarters opposite the club house.

To my surprise, Dr. Majekodunmi did not show any anger that his peaceful night was being disturbed, rather, he jumped into our car and led me to the hospital where several neat and well kept apartments in the morgue were opened for me to choose one for Baale Akinale. Sowemimo’s assignment had not finished, he wired the story of my father’s death on his walkie-talkie to Ogun Radio that night, andthe news opened the flood of kindness from everywhere for the burial of my beloved father.

Ever since I had a country home in Akinale, Soniran had remained faithful with me to mark my traditional new year party with friends and colleagues. The climax ofSowemimo’s loyalty to his friends and me particularly was when I was crowned an Oba in 2006. When the core Egba people, (and of course, s.o.s. is a conk Egbaman) - Ade wa l’Ake, Ase wa l’ogbe - almost seemingly isolated the Owu obas,s.o.s my friend would at any given opportunity pay me the traditional obeisance asKabiyesi. Throughout the period of our travail until finally the government approved our obaship and lately when I was promoted, s.o.s never left me bare ofthe traditional rite.

In 1992 when Oba Oyebade Lipede offered me a chieftancy title of Ekerin ApagunEgba, he euphoria was so great that the planning committee did not remember to demand from me what title had I hold from my home base of Owu. Impromptu, however, Apagun Pote Apomu Owu, the home of my paternal grandmother was arranged for me a night before I was to appear before Oba Lipede. Only S.O.S. my dear friend accompanied me to Jilafin compound, Apomu, Owu to receive the title.

I was among his friends he showed his letter of appointment as member of the Regent for Alake’s stool when Kabiyesi Alake was on leave and behold, I greeted my friend, Kaabiyesi, Alake Egba, to our delight!

Our joy eachtime we met was when we reminisced on our old days in the field of journalism. Times without number, I had mounted positive pressures on the catholic public affairs specialist, a cultural exponent, sociable personae and traditional chief of cosmopolitan Egba nation, to commit to writing, his life experience as a Nigerian veteran journalist who had passed through the mills of the “inky profession” and acquired varied experience from low and high positions. He had paid his dues.

Soniran took up the gauntlet to serve the public a teaser from his reservoir of knowledge in this book “Issues in the history of the Nigerian Mass Media” which though put together during his educational sojourn in far away Prague, Czechoslovakia some decades ago but with all the contents still as relevant, current and remain valid.

A Mass Communication expert who passed through the Lincoln University, Missouri, USA and University of 17th November, Prague, Czechoslovakia was a versatile reporter and sub-editor at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now FRCN) where he also lectured at the Corporation’s Training School, Ikoyi, Lagosbetween 1973 and 1977. He was later Chief Reporter, NBC Ibadan from where he became Editor in charge of NBC Abeokuta. Between 1977 and 1982, SoniranSowemimo had become the Principal Editor and Controller of News and CurrentAffairs in Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) Abeokuta.

Soniran’s success as Press Secretary to five governors of Ogun state in succession,Olabisi Onabanjo, (politician and an icon of the press) Oladipo Diya, OladapoPopoola, Raji Rasaki and Mohammed Lawal (all military officers) between1982-1989, can be aptly described as his exemplary acquisition of competence, credibility, confidence, courage and capability which made the governors and the governed to trust him so much. Judging from the divergence of styles, interests and ideologies of democracy and militocracy, the contending phenomena during his serving tenure, Soniran, as not only the spokesperson but the image maker of the government, obviously, was the flywheel between the two speeding forces, to strike the balance in the paradigm of governance and the governed.

Soniran was also appointed as Commissioner for Social Development, Youth and Sports in 1989 and Commissioner for Information and Culture in 1991.

Chief Soniran Sowemimo was the Akinpote of Egbaland and Babajo of Anglican Church, Oba-Erin, Abeokuta. He had also been a board member of the defunct Sketch Newspapers, Ibadan, Chairman, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Chairman, Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Chairman, Ogun State NUJ as well as Chairman the League of Veteran Journalists in Ogun State.

Although he did not have the opportunity to draw a graphic account of how hemeandered through the labyrinth of administrative logjams and  the socio-economic melee that pervade the system, yet without losing his head, nor tainted the body of the profession of his heart, no doubt, his legacy as known to us would be unforgettable.

I thank God for giving s.o.s a wonderful and remarkable life worthy of emulation. I pray his amiable wife and good children continue to be blessed in all ramifications.

Egyptian Court Removes Last Bar to Setting Mubarak Free

An Egyptian court on Wednesday ordered former President Hosni Mubarak released from prison, saying all appeals by prosecutors to keep him behind bars had been exhausted. Some accounts said his freedom could come within hours.

Al Ahram, the state newspaper, said on its Web site Wednesday afternoon that his release may be more imminent, quoting an unidentified judicial source. Other reports claimed the prosecution would still have 48 hours to appeal his release.

Even Mr. Mubarak’s opponents expected his release. “We are now facing a sound release order, and the prosecution will appeal and the appeal will be denied and he will walk out, and he has a right to do so,” said Khaled Abu Bakr, a prominent lawyer involved in the cases of protesters killed during the protests against Mr. Mubarak that preceded his downfall.

A judicial source told The New York Times that all appeals had been exhausted “and procedures for his release will begin to be processed right away unless he’s detained pending other trials.” Wednesday’s order, however, applied to the last of three prosecutions that Mr. Mubarak still faced. He had already been ordered freed pending trial on the two other cases, including a retrial on charges of complicity in the deaths of 800 protesters at the end of his regime in January 2011.

Mr. Mubarak’s release would inject a volatile new element into the political crisis convulsing Egypt, coming less than two months after the military coup that toppled his successor, the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president.

The juxtaposition of freedom for Mr. Mubarak while Mr. Morsi remains in custody would dramatically test the level of support for the military-led government among the many anti-Mubarak people who later sided with the decision to depose Mr. Morsi and crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

It was still possible that the prosecutors would find another reason to keep Mr. Mubarak incarcerated. Under the martial law rule the military-appointed government has declared, suspending judicial protections, it has the legal tools to do whatever it wants to do with suspects in detention.

But early indications were that prosecutors were not going to aggressively pursue Mr. Mubarak’s continued detention.

According to Al Ahram, the military moved the latest trial in Mr. Mubarak’s case to the prison where he has been held, rather than forcing him to endure the spectacle of a public court hearing as he has had to do in the past, citing security concerns.

The paper’s Web site quoted Gen. Mustafa Baz, director of the prison authority, as saying that Mr. Mubarak’s release paperwork would be submitted to the public prosecutor on Thursday to see if any further cases were brought against him.

The formal decision to release Mr. Mubarak was made by the Northern Court of Appeals in Cairo in the so-called Al Ahram gifts case. Mr. Mubarak was charged with corruption for accepting a series of gifts valued at 28 million Egyptian pounds (about $4.6 million) from Al Ahram, the state-owned news organization.

His lawyer, Mr. Deeb, however, argued that he should be released pending trial because he had already made restitution for that amount to Al Ahram.

Mr. Deeb had argued that keeping him in prison, where he has languished since April 2011, was abusive and exceeded the maximum limits for a prisoner awaiting trial. Chronically ill, Mr. Mubarak has been held most recently in the Tora Prison’s hospital wing.

Mr. Abu Bakr said that it is routine in Egyptian legal proceedings for prosecutors to automatically appeal release orders, and normally courts turn down those appeals. In past months, that procedural tradition was ignored because of political pressure to keep Mr. Mubarak behind bars, he said. “What happened before when prosecutors pre-empted Mubarak’s release with new charges to keep him held under Morsi is a mockery,” Mr. Abu Bakr said.

Mr. Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years with the support of the Egyptian military, until the military bowed to popular protests and removed him from office more than two years ago.

His ouster, and the disgrace of public trial in courtrooms full of opponents and television cameras, was deeply unpopular among some of Egypt’s allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, which helped put together a $12 billion aid package for Egypt after Mr. Morsi was deposed last month.

The money will help offset threats of aid cutoffs from the United States and European countries over the huge numbers of deaths in pro-Morsi protests.

Just in the past week, more than 1,100 people have been killed and many Muslim Brotherhood activists and leaders have been arrested.

Nigeria: U.K. Investigates Winners' Chapel Over Alleged Misappropriation of N4 Billion Tithes

The United Kingdom's Charity Commission is investigating the U.K. branch of David Oyedepo's Winner Chapel over the alleged misappropriation of at least £16 million (N4 billion) collected as tithes between 2008 and 2011, the U.K. Guardian is reporting.

Over N250 million (£1 million) of that amount is said to have been repatriated to the Nigeria headquarters of the church between 2009 and 2011, the church's account shows.

A spokesperson of the charity commission told the Guardian newspapers that investigations "regarding the charity's management and policies" are on-going.

"We have considered documents and information shared by the trustees and our case is continuing," she said.

The congregants of the U.K. branch of the church are allegedly given credit cards forms to make donations as they arrive for service. The forms are inscribed with a verse from the Bible's Book of Corinthians which reads, "God loveth a cheerful giver."

Documents submitted to the Charity Commission show the parent organisation of the church, £8 million rich World Mission Agency, makes paltry donations to charity causes. Its books shows it donated N2.6 million (£10,500) to Great Ormond Street Children's hospital and N2.2 million (£9,000) to Christian Aid for the Haiti earthquake appeal and N625, 000 (£2,500) to charities in the Lewisham area of London.

In contrast, it transferred N81.2 million (£324,683) and N165.8 million (£663,532) to world headquarters in Nigeria in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In 2009 and 2010 N48, 000,000 was set aside for "welfare assistance" for unnamed "certain member of the church."

The Church also claimed it spent N37.25million "for charitable activities in Africa."

David Oyedepo, who is believed to be the richest pastor in Nigeria, lives a life of opulence. He, through his church, owns at least three private jets and one of the most expensive private universities in the country. The Nigerian headquarters of the church prides itself as having the biggest church auditorium in the world. The auditorium sits over 50,000 congregants.

"All of us have a growing concern about any kind of mercenary response that puts cash at the centre of Christian faith. I challenge any movement, including Winners, to be open and account for its money wherever it goes because it comes originally from hard-working faithful people," said Joel Edwards, a senior figure in the British evangelical movement and director of the Micah Challenge which is running Exposed, a global anti-corruption campaign directed at churches, business and government.

No short cut to economic prosperity- President Jonathan.

President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to put in their best into whatever occupational activities they are engaged in, stressing that there are no short cuts to economic prosperity.

The President who spoke through Vice President Namadi Sambo at the 13th National Productivity Day Celebrations and Conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award, said, “No matter our calling, it is only through hard work, diligence and discipline that success can be achieved.”

President Jonathan acknowledged that improved productivity needed motivation and favourable working conditions, emphasised that his administration was working assiduously to re-engineer attitudinal outlook, which would “emphasise the dignity of labour, integrity, honesty, discipline and hard work in the workplace,” adding that, “We are also resolved to effect new service reward system that will promote productivity, efficiency and excellence.”

According to him, to achieve these, his administration was not only strengthening the National Productivity Centre, but was also addressing the infrastructure deficit through the development of a National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) and had also inaugurated the Board of the Nigerian National Competitiveness Council (NNCC) to improve competitiveness.

While expressing delight with the successes being made by the reforms the administration was carrying out and also observing that standard of living have direct correlation with productivity, the President maintained that Government was vigorously diversifying the economy to drive wealth and job creation.

“Our agenda of Transformation is productivity oriented.  Our vision and quest is to bequeath to future generations, a better and greater Nigeria underpin our action.   It is by securing higher and better quality output for any given unit of input, that we can increase our national wealth and raise the living standards of our people”; the President said.

He called on the awardees not to rest on their oars, while also calling on both individuals and organisations to emulate them by increasing their productivity.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, while thanking the President for personally signing the certificates, disclosed that the National Council on Productivity would soon be inaugurated, while also imploring individuals and organisations to key into the National Productivity Policy by increasing their productiveness.

Mr. George Uriesi, who spoke on behalf of fellow recipients of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award, expressed gratitude for the recognition, pledging that they would not fail the country, adding that it was a tonic that would propel them.

The 2011/2012 National Productivity Order of Merit Award, was conferred on twenty individuals and ten organizations, in recognition of their contributions towards national development. Since inception in 1991, 256 individuals and 58 organisations had received the honour.   This year’s celebrations had the theme “Productivity and Competitiveness: Determinants for Achieving National Transformation"

A man has been arrested in Nigeria over attempted real estate fraud in Western Australia

The alleged fraudster,Ntuen Ekenmini

A man has been arrested in Nigeria over the attempted fraudulent sale of a home in Western Australia, in what is believed to be the first arrest of its kind by Australian authorities.

WA Police worked with Consumer Protection and a real estate agent over eight months to intercept the sale of the house in Falcon, south of Perth.

The owners of the home are based in South Africa.

Ntuen Promise Ekenmini, 27, was apprehended by Nigerian authorities yesterday when he went to collect documents using a fake drivers licence in the name of the real home owner.

Police allege the attempted fraud began when a man contacted the property manager of a Mandurah real estate agency on 17 December, 2012, pretending to be the owner of a home being managed by the agency and requesting documents relating to the rented property.

He allegedly used an email address in the name of one of the real owners, who is a resident of Johannesburg, and requested all future correspondence be forwarded it to it.

On 18 January, 2013 the agency received a request to sell the property and a sales agreement with false signatures was returned to the agent, together with copies of fake passports of the two owners, a husband and wife, as well as a forged document purporting to be from the Australian High Commission in Pretoria confirming their identity.

The agent became suspicious and reported the attempted fraud to authorities.

In conjunction with the police, the agency engaged with the alleged offender - at one stage instructions were given to deposit $AU785,000 into a bank account in South East Asia.

Detective Senior Sergeant Dom Blackshaw says police are investigating whether the crime is linked to previous cases of real estate fraud in the state.

He says six of the seven cases involved owners who live in South Africa, have investment properties in Perth which are rented, and have had their identities stolen.

"There's every chance that these people are the same offenders, however we are working with the police in Nigeria to identify whether that is the case," he said.

"The offenders are very tenacious; they haven't given up. This has been eight months that they've been contacting the agent.

"They've been changing email addresses, telephone numbers, even to the point they've been threatening the agent when things have been delayed."

"We need to be constantly vigilant. We can't afford to rest now and think 'ok we've caught someone, that's the end of it'. There will be further attacks from further offenders in those countries and we need to be very mindful of that."

Mr Ekenmini is expected to be charged with fraud.

Egypt Imposes State Of Emergency After 95 People Killed

At least 95 Egyptians were killed on Wednesday after security forces moved in on protesters demanding the reinstatement of President Mohamed Mursi, and the government imposed a state of emergency as violence swept the most populous Arab nation.

Troops opened fire on Islamist demonstrators in clashes that brought chaos to the capital and other cities and looked certain to further polarize Egypt’s 84 million people between those who backed Mursi and the millions who opposed his brief rule.

In the streets around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in northeast Cairo, where thousands of Mursi supporters have staged a sit-in for the last six weeks, riot police wearing gas masks crouched behind armored vehicles, tear gas hung in the air and burning tires sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.

Several television stations ran footage of what appeared to be pro-Mursi protesters firing automatic rifles at soldiers from behind sandbag barricades.

At a hospital morgue nearby, a Reuters reporter counted 29 bodies, including that of a 12-year-old boy. Most had died of gunshot wounds to the head.

Violence spread beyond Cairo, with Mursi supporters and security forces clashing in the cities of Alexandria, Minya, Assiut, Fayoum and Suez and in Buhayra and Beni Suef provinces.

The health ministry put the overall death toll at 95 people, including both police and civilians, with other sources saying at least 17 were killed in Fayoum province and five in Suez.

Mursi supporters besieged and set fire to government buildings and several churches were attacked, state media said.

Mohamed El-Beltagi, a leader of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement that has led the protests, said his 17-year-old daughter had been killed in the clashes.

He warned of wider conflict, and singled out the head of the armed forces who deposed Mursi on July 3 following mass protests calling for his resignation.

“I swear by God that if you stay in your homes, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will embroil this country so that it becomes Syria. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will push this nation to a civil war so that he escapes the gallows.”

By 10 a.m. ET, only a few hundred protesters remained at the Rabaa site. A second, smaller camp near Cairo University was swiftly cleared in the early morning.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

The presidency announced a month-long state of emergency across Egypt and ordered the armed forces to help police enforce security. Rights activists said the move would give legal cover for the army to make arrests.

The interim cabinet, installed by the military to guide Egypt to fresh elections in around six months, also announced a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. in several provinces as well as Cairo and Alexandria.

Hosni Mubarak, the U.S.-backed autocratic ruler toppled in a 2011 uprising, imposed a state of emergency after Islamists assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981 and used it over the next 30 years to stifle dissent and crack down on the Brotherhood.

Lifting the state of emergency had been a key demand of the protesters who ousted Mubarak, and the military eventually did so last year.

The West, notably the United States which gives the Egyptian military $1.3 billion each year, has been alarmed by the recent violence in the strategic Arab ally that has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the vital Suez Canal waterway.

Wednesday’s assault prompted widespread condemnation. Turkey urged the U.N. Security Council and Arab League to act quickly to stop a “massacre” in Egypt, and Iran warned of the risk of civil war.

Nine hours after the start of Wednesday’s operation, crowds of protesters were still blocking roads, chanting and waving flags as security forces sought to prevent them from regrouping.

“At 7 a.m. they came. Helicopters from the top and bulldozers from below. They smashed through our walls. Police and soldiers, they fired tear gas at children,” said teacher Saleh Abdulaziz, 39, clutching a bleeding wound on his head.

“They continued to fire at protesters even when we begged them to stop.”

The move to break up the camps appeared to dash any remaining hopes of bringing the Brotherhood back into the political mainstream, and underlined the impression many Egyptians share that the military is tightening its grip.

The operation also suggested the army had lost patience with persistent protests that were crippling parts of the capital and slowing the political process.

It was the third time since Mursi’s ouster six weeks ago that security forces had opened fire on protesters in Cairo, killing dozens of people on each occasion.

The crackdown began just after dawn with helicopters hovering over the camps. Gunfire rang out as protesters, among them women and children, fled Rabaa. Armored vehicles moved in beside bulldozers which began clearing tents.

MARKETS NERVOUS

The government issued a statement saying security forces had showed the “utmost degree of self-restraint”, reflected in low casualties compared to the number of people “and the volume of weapons and violence directed against the security forces”.

It added that it would press ahead with implementing an army-backed political transition plan in “a way that strives not to exclude any party from participation”.

Mursi became Egypt’s first freely elected leader in June 2012, but failed to tackle deep economic malaise and worried many Egyptians with apparent efforts to tighten Islamist rule.

Liberals and young Egyptians staged huge rallies demanding that he resign, and the army said it removed him in response to the will of the people.

Since he was deposed, Gulf Arab states pledged $12 billion in aid to Egypt, buying the interim government valuable time to try to put the country’s finances back in order.

Egyptian stocks have rallied 23 percent since his ouster, but fell 1.7 percent on Wednesday. While the drop was relatively muted, market participants are becoming more nervous.

Emad Mostaque, emerging markets strategist at Noah Capital Markets, switched to a “sell” position from neutral on Egyptian equities.

“The organized nature of the Muslim Brotherhood and their chunky presence in society (let’s say 10 percent), means they can be far more disruptive than the 2011 revolutionaries,” he said in a client note.

REUTERS

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