Relatives relatives of the victims of the multiple auto accident which occurred near Otedola Millennium Estate along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway besieged the scene on Monday in search of clues to the whereabouts of their family members.

Mr. Biodun Abensile, was in tears as he sought to know the whereabouts of his younger brother from officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority, the Federal Road Safety Commission and policemen who were busy clearing burnt vehicles and other forms of debris from the scene.

Abensile said his brother, Taiwo, was billed to be in Ibadan, Oyo State, where his twin brother, Kehinde, was waiting for him.

He said, “I have been trying to get in touch with my brother, Taiwo. He was travelling to Ibadan on Sunday with his wife and his mother-in-law in a Honda saloon car. His twin brother, Kehinde, had already arrived in Ibadan and was waiting for them.

“I have made many calls to Taiwo’s telephone number; but the number has not been responding. Right now, I don’t know what has happened to them. I am finished.”

Another relative of one of the victims, who gave her name simply as Tarila, said she has not been able to reach her cousin, James, who was on his way to Benin, Edo State when the accident happened.

“As I talk to you, I can’t say where Tarila is. I have not been able to talk to him because his telephone has not been responding. I have been to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja and the state emergency centre by the old toll gate. I have also visited some hospitals around here (scene) and I have not had any clue.

“I came here (scene) with the hope that I may be directed to where to find him either alive or dead, but nothing positive seems to be coming from the people I have asked.”

Abensile and Tarila were not the only ones who had such stories to tell tens of others at the scene shared similar tales as they sobbed and watched the burnt vehicles and debris being loaded in batches into trucks that conveyed them to a dumpsite at Olusosun, off Kudirat Abiola Road, Ikeja, Lagos.

Unlike Sunday when the charred bodies of about 40 people that died in the accident, debris and hundreds of sympathisers were a common sight, the situation was calm on Monday as there was free flow of traffic.

Officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and the Federal Road, Safety Corps and policemen, assisted by some residents of Shangisha and the nearby Omole Estate first off loaded the industrial sugar in the burnt trailer suspected to have caused the multiple accident.

A LASTMA toll van later removed the trailer to an undisclosed location.

One of the policemen at the scene told one of our correspondents that the security officers worked all through Sunday night to ensure that many of charred bodies and burnt vehicles were cleared off the road.

“The situation was really terrible, it took the joint effort of the police, LASTMA, the FRSC and the fire service to clear the road. As you can see, traffic is now moving unlike yesterday (Sunday) when this road was impassable.”

Our correspondents reported that officials of the Lagos State Government were also at the scene to assess the clearing of the debris.

Hours after the assessment by a team led by the state Commissioner for Transportation, Bamidele Badejo, the Special Adviser to the Governor Babatunde Fashola on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, said that no decision had been taken on the “15 burnt corpses” from the scene.

Opeifa, who told one of our correspondents that the burnt bodies had been deposited at the mortuary of LASUTH, added that 18 survivors were currently receiving treatment at the same hospital.

“Fifteen unrecognisable bodies are lying at the mortuary in LASUTH. The only way to ascertain who they were is by forensic tests. As of now, there is no decision on the burial of the charred corpses,” he said.

Opeifa also said investigations so far carried out showed that the accident had been caused by a trailer belonging to Dangote Group.

He urged Lagosians, who were yet to hear from their relatives that travelled out of Lagos on Sunday morning to report cases of missing persons to the accident and emergency centre.

However, the special adviser’s claim on the cause of the accident as well as the admission of some survivors in LASUTH differed from those of the Police and the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Femi Olugbile.

Olugbile had told one of our correspondents on Monday that no victim had been brought to the hospital.

“The information I received was that nobody was brought here (hospital). I understand that they were taken to the state accident and emergency centre,” Olugbile said.

Ealier on Monday, the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force, had denied reports that a police checkpoint caused the Sunday accident. However, they did so with conflicting statements.

The Force Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, said that police officers who were said to have manned the checkpoint were on a legitimate duty and were not responsible for the tragedy.

Ojukwu, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, said that the accident was being investigated.

He blamed incident on the inability of the trailer driver to control his truck when its break failed.

The FPRO said, “The policemen were doing their legitimate duty at the checkpoint and they can’t be blamed for the accident which was caused by break failure.

“The police is investigating the accident, but not the police officers at the checkpoint because they didn’t cause the accident,” he said.

However, the Lagos State Police Command on Monday, maintained that its personnel played no part in the accident.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Frank Mba, said in a statement that the reports that police checkpoint caused the accident was untrue.

He said, “The truth of the matter is that Lagos State Police Command has no road block mounted on our highways and none could probably have been mounted on top of the bridge where the accident occurred. If policemen were on road block duty at the time of the accident, they also would have formed part of the first victims of this carnage.

“Preliminary police investigations revealed that the accident was caused by a reckless trailer driver whose vehicle had suffered a break failure.

“The trailer driver lost control, and consequently rammed through a long line of other vehicles before eventually going up in flames.

“This position was also corroborated by the report of a Vehicle Inspectorate Officer, who examined the trailer soon after the accident.

“According to the VIO, ‘the driver of the articulated vehicle drove recklessly on high speed, thereby hitting a commercial bus which went up in flames on impact.’ This led to multiple collision, ” Mba said.

The police also reduced the number of the accident victims to 15 from the 20 given by the Area H commander, Mr. Godwin Nwobodo, on Sunday.

Mba said, “A total of 15 bodies, including that of an infant, who died as a result of the accident, were picked up by the police.

“Most of them were burnt beyond recognition. Eighteen other persons sustained injuries of various degrees and are being treated in various hospitals. In addition, 10 vehicles of different makes were burnt beyond repairs, while about ten other vehicles were damaged as a result of accident.”

Nigerians in Johannesburg on Tuesday staged a 90-minute march across the city to protest the killing of one of them and to demand better treatment from the police.

Theophilus Anielefo, a real estate agent, was allegedly killed by South African police on July 31, in questionable circumstances.

A large number of Nigerians carrying placards and singing protest songs, marched through the streets, escorted by South African Police and traffic officers, as they aired their grievances.

The protesters marched from Rossetinville Road to Booysons Police station, a distance of about 12km, where they submitted a protest letter to the authorities.

The widow of the deceased, Cynthia Aneliefo, and her mother participated in the protest march.

Speaking at the Booysons Police Station, President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Jason Osuafor, said the peaceful demonstration was to show disaffection with the killing of Mr. Aneliefo and other cases of maltreatment of Nigerians..

"We are your brothers and are law abiding, contributing our quota to the development of the economy," Mr. Osuafor said and urged the Police to put a stop to such extra judicial killings.

He said the murder of Aneliefo was unfortunate and charged the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Mr. Osuafor said the harmonious relations between both Nigeria and South Africa displayed at governmental levels should also be seen among the people.

He noted that there were many inter-marriages between citizens of both countries and stressed the need for brotherliness.

Shadrack Khoza, an colonel and military officer who received the protest letter, assured them that their grievances would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Nigeria's High Commissioner to South Africa, Buba Marwa, in a visit to the home of the deceased on Sunday, promised to take up the issue with the appropriate authority.

"We are not taking this issue lying low," Mr. Marwa said, and urged the widow to take heart.

Mr. Marwa described the killing of Aneliefo as a "grave injustice" and assured Nigerians living in Souh Africa of the mission's determination to ensure that their rights were protected.

He said the mission had sought audience with the South African National Police Commissioner,

Bheki Cele to make a formal protest over maltreatment of Nigerians.

The Nigeria Police made a total of N20.35 billion between January last year and June this year from extorting money from motorists at illegal checkpoints, a report by the global organisation, Human Rights Watch has revealed.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, the chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law presented the report in Lagos said checkpoints in the South East yielded the highest sums. Giving a breakdown of what is made from the different regions, Mr. Umeagbalasi said N9.35 billion was realised from the South East, South-South brought in N4 billion, while the South-West nets the police N4 billion. In the North Central, which includes Abuja, N2 billion was made, while the North East and North West brought in N500 million each..

"Of course that shows that the extortion is highly concentrated in the southern part of the country," said Mr Umeagbalasi.

Yesterday, the Nigeria Police dismissed the report as "embellished innuendoes and suggestive graphics aimed at reaching a preconceived conclusion". A statement by Emeka Ojukwu, Force spokesman, said the report lacked merit and should not be relied upon.

The report titled, ‘Everyone's in on the Game: Corruption and Human Rights Abuses by the Nigeria Police Force,' said, "one civil society group in Anambra State estimated that in 2008 the police collected approximately N540 million ($4.5million) in illegal ‘tolls' from some 70 police checkpoints along the state's roadways." Eric Guttschuss, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch, called on the appropriate authority to ensure that legislations are put in place to end the extortions. The group said the sum did not include the "wetin you carry" money, the pre-trial bail fees, and commercialisation of criminal enquiry, but concentrated on just the N20 illegal toll, so the figures do not represent the entire extortion sum.

"What the Human Right Watch is saying is that yes we know that police is corrupt and killing outside the law, now, what are the factors that make them corrupt and kill outside the law? This is where corruption comes in. The situation is if you are able to pay you will be released and if not you will die, the situation is that worse," Mr. Umeagbalasi said.

Corruption unlimited

The report observes that corruption in the force ranges from armed officers extorting money at checkpoints to top officials embezzling police funds, thereby depriving people from living in a more secured environment.

The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria claims yesterday that 34,000 individuals have been killed outside the law, "in the last 11 years, over 13,000 people have been killed within the context of ethno religious crisis in Nigeria, and then we now say that outside this about 10,000 might have died over police related unlawful killings. I am sure you know police can kill, but there is a legal stipulation, otherwise we say unlawful killing. Then another 10,000 died as a result of vigilante killing."

The 102-page report said there was lack of political will to reform the force and the impunity in the system means Nigerians are more likely to encounter police threatening them and demanding bribes than enforcing law.

"Good policing is the bedrock for the rule of law and public safety," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The long-term failure of the Nigerian authorities to address police bribery, extortion, and wholesale embezzlement threatens the basic rights of all Nigerians." The report is part of the group's findings from a field research conducted in Lagos, Anambra, Abuja and Kaduna; and telephone interviews in Rivers and Ebonyi states, all representing different geo-political zones in the country.

The report revealed that in major Nigerian cities, armed police set up checkpoints every evening ostensibly to control high levels of crime, including armed robbery and kidnapping, but the checkpoints are in reality tolls at which officers attempt to force motorists to pay money by all means, using familiar slangs that are familiar with commercial motorists.

A long way

Mr. Ojukwu, said he believes that the Nigeria Police have come a long way from "its colonial era of oppression and has survived many years of neglect and under-funding." He said that the force has faced enormous challenges in meeting its obligations of ensuring safety and security.

He said in its efforts to sanitise the system, the force has in the last one year sanctioned 764 senior officers and 8,831 junior officers for various acts of indiscipline.

An HIV-positive German pop singer went on trial on Monday accused of failing to tell sexual partners about her condition, causing one of them to become infected.

Nadja Benaissa, 28, former singer in the girl band No Angels, is charged with causing grevious bodily harm and attempted bodily harm, a court spokesman told CNN.

Benaissa had unprotected sex on five occasions between 2000 and 2004 with three people and did not tell them she was infected, Agence France-Presse reported the charge sheet as saying. She had allegedly known her status since 1999.

Benaissa admitted not telling sexual partners she was HIV-positive but denied intending to infect anyone, according to AFP. "I am sorry from the heart," she told the court, according to media reports.

One of the three men Benaissa allegedly slept with has since been confirmed as having HIV, prosecutors told an earlier hearing, AFP reported.

German newspaper Bild reported that Benaissa's attorney read a statement in which she said she believed there was little chance of her passing on the virus and did not want it made public because of the harm it might cause her daughter and the band.

Bild also reported that one of Benaissa's alleged victims told the court he had unprotected sex with Benaissa on about three occasions. He said he went to the doctor after learning of Benaissa's condition from her aunt, and discovered he had contracted the virus.

He told Benaissa: "You have borne so much suffering in the world," according to the newspaper.

No Angels became Germany's most successful all-female group after being formed on the international television show "Popstars" in 2000.

The band reformed in 2007 and competed in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Benaissa is appearing in youth court because she was 17 at the time of the first alleged offence.

The fact that Benaissa was HIV-positive was not made public until her arrest in April last year, AFP reported. She spent 10 days in custody after her arrest before being released on bail.

The trial is expected to last five days and hear from witnesses including fellow members of No Angels.

The police have issued a warning for harassment against an airport worker after he allegedly took a photo of a female colleague as she went through a full-body scanner at Heathrow airport.

The incident, which occurred at terminal 5 on 10 March, is believed to be the first time an airport worker has been formally disciplined for misusing the scanners..

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police received an allegation regarding an incident that happened at Heathrow Terminal 5 on March 10. A first-instance harassment warning has been issued to a 25-year-old male."

BAA said: "We treat any allegations of inappropriate behaviour or misuse of security equipment very seriously and these claims are being investigated thoroughly," a BAA spokesman said. "If found to be substantiated we will take appropriate action."

The incident is likely to reignite privacy concerns over the scanners by civil liberty groups. The Equality and Human Rights Commission last month warned that the government needed to take action to bring its policy for body-scanning passengers at UK airports within the law.

The commission said it had concerns about the apparent absence of safeguards to ensure the scanners were operated in a lawful, fair and non-discriminatory manner. It raised doubts as to whether the decision to install them at all UK airports was legal.

The scanners were introduced at Manchester and Heathrow last month after the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit in the US. The £80,000 Rapiscan machines show a clear body outline and have been described by critics as the equivalent of "virtual strip searching".

While American transport authorities offer passengers a choice between going through the full-body scanner or going through a metal-arch scanner and a physical search, the British government has said that a refusal to go through the body scanner would bar passengers from boarding aircraft.

Earlier this month two women, one a Muslim, became the first people to be barred from boarding a flight at Manchester airport because they refused to go through a full-body scanner. The women, who were booked to fly to Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines, were told they could not get on the plane after they refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons.

A House of Commons home affairs committee report on airport securitytoday welcomed the scanners' deployment and said it should have come sooner.

"Having witnessed these full-body scanners working at first-hand, we are confident that the privacy concerns that have been expressed in relation to these devices are overstated and that full-body scanners are no more an invasion of privacy than manual "pat-downs" or searches of bags," the committee said.

"Air passengers already tolerate a large invasion of their privacy and we do not feel that full-body scanners add greatly to this situation. Privacy concerns should not prevent the deployment of scanners."

• This article was amended on 11 June 2010 to remove information about a BAA employee, along with a quote, reported from another media source, that has since been contested

With more than 500 million people now on Facebook, it's inevitable that you'll be friended by someone you know, but with whom you don'twant to share your online life. Once you've accepted them as a friend,how do you avoid them without the awkwardness of unfriending them?

Facebook has made it easy to hide other members' status updates. Place yourmouse over an update from, say, Charlie, and a light blue X appears tothe upper right corner of the update. Click the X, and Facebook willpresent you with three buttons from which to choose: Hide Charlie, Markas Spam and Cancel. If you click Hide Charlie, you'll never seeCharlie's updates again. (Click Spam and the message disappears and anotice gets sent to Facebook's servers and analyzed by spam filteringsoftware.)

But how do you keep Charlie from reading your updates? Skirting your way around someone you've accepted as a Facebook friend istrickier. When you write a status update of your own, look for thelock-shaped icon below and to the right of the text input box. Click onthe lock, and Facebook will pop up a menu. Click the bottom option,Customize. That will pop up a dialog box labeled Custom Privacy thatlets you filter who will see your update.

There are two ways to exclude people. The quick and easy way is to type their names into thebox labeled "Hide this from these people" at the bottom of the dialogbox. To hide all future updates from these folks, click the checkbox atthe very bottom that says "Make this my default setting." Then click thebig blue Save Setting button. From now on, evil Charlie won't get yourupdates.The more sophisticated solution is to replace this blacklistwith a list of people you do like. That way you can accept any number ofnew friends without having to accidentally share your updates withthem..

To do this, click on Friends in the left margin of Facebook's interface. You'll see a button at the top of the Friends pagelabeled "+ Create a List". Click that and use the dialog box that popsup to make a list of the friends you want to share with. Call it, say,True Friends.

Next time you post an update, follow the instructions above to bring up the Customize dialog box. But instead oftyping into the "Hide this" field, click the menu at the top labeled"Make this visible to these people." Select the option Specific People. Atext input box will appear. Type the name of your new list, TrueFriends, into this field. Click "Make this my default setting" and thenSave Setting. From now on, only your True Friends list will see yourupdates. Complicated and annoying, yes, but probably much less so thanit was going to high school with Charlie.

BY OLA AJAYI, IBADAN

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested some armed robbery suspects who allegedly specialize in robbing cattle rearers.

About 10 stolen cows were said to have been recovered from them during their arrest on Oke-Ogun area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, while parading the suspects with others said one Saliu, 50yrs old, Abdulahi Umaru, 25yrs and Buba Bello, 30yrs, from Ijio town via Iwere – Ile were nabbed after a gun duel with the police dispatched to the robbery scene.

He said, that the command also recovered seven exotic vehicles stolen by robbers outside the state.

According to him, the cars included black Toyota Camry, with registration number ES 981 APP, Toyota Camry marked AL 428 KJA, Nissan Maxima, EF 211 SMK, and another black Toyota Camry 1997 model, with number plate EJ 857 SMK, and two other cars with no registration numbers.

Speaking further on how the police were able to recovered the cars, Bolanta said, “a distress call was received from Lagos State that a black Toyota Camry was robbed at gun point somewhere in Lagos and that it had been tracked to somewhere in Alakia Adelubi area of Ibadan” .

“Based on the receipt of the information, my personnel at Alakia Adelubi Divisional Police headquarters sighted the vehicle around Olorisa Oko, Wakajaiye area of Ibadan where the vehicle was given a hot chase and traced to a fenced compound where the seven vehicles were found.

Other items recovered from the suspects include three pairs of damaged number plates, One locally fabricated master key, five pairs of undamaged number plates, Eight vehicles head lights, Eight wheel covers, Seven windscreen with different engraved registration numbers.

UYO—AN unprecedented flood in the history of Akwa Ibom State has sweptthrough Itak Abasi fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area ofthe state leaving in its trail six persons dead and 17 others missing.

No fewer than 40 fishingboats were also swept into the Atlantic Ocean by the flood. The villagers who described the incident as atsunami, said the flood swept more than three quarters of their oncelively community into the ocean.

Governor Akpabio who visited the island, weekend, expressed sadness over the disaster, assuring that he would take care of the victims andensure that they were relocated in a safe settlement.

The governor also directed the Local Government Council to gazette names of all victims affected and to forward the list to his office.

Akpabio who was touched by the plight of the victims, asked the council Chairman to arrange a make shift shelter for the people who hadbeen suddenly rendered homeless as the agony of those who lost theirloved ones lingered.

However, Vanguard learnt that Akwa Ibom State Government might not be able to address what appeared to be its worst flood disaster alone,except the Federal Government and the other agencies collaborated withit.

Executive Director, Projects, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Arc. Esoetok Etteh who hails from the area toldVanguard that the 15, 000 strong citizens of the settlement needed helpas the flood had wrecked havoc on them.

Some of the residents told Vanguard that they were worried because the flood had washed away nearly all their fishing materials and hadtaken over their only primary school and health centre.

Vanguard was told that the attention of ExxonMobil, a U.S. international oil company was drawn to the impending danger, but thatthe company was allegedly insensitive to their plight. Vanguard alsolearnt that in 2002, Hon. Nduese Essien, the current Minister, Housingand Urban Development had advised the people of Ibeno to channel thematter to NDDC and the National Assembly through him.

In 2008, the Senate Committee on Environment visited the area with Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, andrecommended what should have been done in the area.

Vanguard investigation revealed that NDDC had allegedly awarded the contract to reclaim the land, said to be receding at about four metresyearly to a certain firm at the contract value of N6 billion, but threeyears after, nothing had been done even when the said firm had loadedshoreline protection equipment that had long been rotting at Upenkangvillage in Ibeno.

Councilor representing Ward II of the local council, Patrick Usenekong, who was evacuating some of the people trapped by the flood,told Vanguard that some of the people trapped by the flood now lived ontop of their houses or on roof tops.
Usenekong said: “We haven’t seen anything like this in a decade. The last this happened was 25 years ago.”

At press time NDDC had donated relief materials worth about N500,000 comprising 700 tubers of yam, 60 bags of rice, 60 gallons of groundnutoil and other food items.
NEMA also donated materials worth N5 million including 300 mattresses,300 bags of rice, 300 buckets for carrying water, 30 bags of beans,while ExxonMobil was said to have only made promises of support.

Prayer Warrior's nation.

Prayer Warrior's nation.

You must be wondering who “they” are! Well, ‘they’ would be the political gladiators and the men and women who hold sway in Nigeria as the custodians of our destiny.

I know you would also want to ask me where they want to have us. Well, they want us to feel dejected, believe there is nothing we can do. If you go through most of the write ups by op ed writers and blogs, you find a common theme of calling on God (predominantly amongst those who believe in a supreme being) to come and liberate us from the celestial human lords who hold sway in Abuja and all the nook and crannies of Nigeria.

But do you blame Nigerians? Even the most liberal of critics, in private, discuss the state of hopelessness. One public thinker recently opined that only a bloody Jerry Rawlings model revolution can save us from the blood sucking vampires we call political leaders in Nigeria

Those who have tried every democratic option from civil disobediences, open letters, lobbying, campaign, blogging are now so tired that some simply say they will not mind a Thomas Sankara model military coup to save us from a leadership long on facebook promises and short on delivering even the most basic of needs and electoral promises.

What is most appalling are those who surround the current president of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan. The same men and women who fret at the mention of the name of certain cabals of few months past, have now turned themselves into a new cabal. They who kept quiet when the constitution of our Country was being trampled upon, are now the ones who feign surprise when we question the profligacy of the new man in the saddle.

Like Musa Yar’Adua, the current President appears to be a prisoner of some sort - imprisoned by a greedy cabal. Let us be clear, we seem to have replaced a mild gluttonous cabal with thirsty vampires. They flock together and do whatever they like. The voice of the people is of no consequence. The legacy of the current government would probably be a post mortem of Waste! Waste! Waste! And more Waste!

Let us take a look at the borrowing from the World Bank. A proposal to get a loan of One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion Naira from the World Bank was justified by the minister of finance Segun Aganga with some Goldman Sach coated explanation before you could say Goodluck Nigeria. Anyone calling for a review was seen to be lacking in the understanding of how modern economics work.

In Britain, from where the minister was borrowed, the government is cutting down on waste and saving for the future. Well the opposite is the case in Nigeria, a government going cap in hand to international financial institutions decided to budget a huge sum of money on a 50th anniversary celebration. By the time President Goodluck Jonathan “consulted” with his over 150,000 fans on face book and coordinated some gyrations with the PDP controlled law makers, the ‘owambe’ bill had risen to 17 billion Naira.

They were not finished yet, the President’s Power committee set up to look into the power palaver in Nigeria had budgeted almost 900 million naira on food, cars and hotel bills for 73 members of staff for an assignment that will last 12 calendar months. Not completely satisfied, Mr President and the men and women who swore to protect us, fancied some modern executive jets.

If the men and women of God in churches can play with executive jets, why not spend 23.2 billion naira ($154.3 million) on a a Gulf stream G550 and two new Falcon 7X Aircraft. What is wrong with the jets bought by Olusegun Obasanjo? They say it’s Tokunbo, how about the jets bought by Babangida? Not good enough? Well did Abacha not buy some too? They can’t find them.

We are in trouble, but we should not be overwhelmed, the battle to save Goodluck Jonathan from his own blood sucking cabal is now. After all, Goodluck did not fight to protect our constitution; neither did his array of special advisers. It was ordinary Nigerians who marched on the streets of Lagos, Abuja, New York, London and many more who rightly called on Turai to release power to a man who was only used to being in the shadow of his ogas.

His inexperience of taking the reigns of power have been brought to the fore in his allowance of some sycophants that have introduced the ethnic card, saying Goodluck Jonathan is spending “our oil money.” Niger Delta money? Is he spending it on the people of the Niger Delta? No. This man and those who surround him are milking your common wealth. If Jonathan loves the Niger Delta so much, we should have witnessed oil clean up exercises going on in all nook and crannies of that blessed region. Like President Barack Obama did in America, our President would be taking a dive in at least one of the local rivers in the Niger Delta. But No! Mr President wants Jets, He wants to Party and He wants more money from the IMF.

Our president is either in bondage, confused or at best unconcerned as it is “our time” to have a bite of the National Cake - oh sorry, the Niger Delta cake.

But it is not too late.

The president can change. He will be excused if he spends a greater percentage of the money to clean up the mess in the Niger Delta, a place neglected by his government and governments before him. Surely, the President knows that loads of Ghana must go bags filled with millions of Naira given to some self styled militants won’t solve the problem in the Niger Delta.

He must stop all the waste, the unnecessary spending. He should pick on one issue - be it holding credible elections, or even nationwide security, we will be forever grateful to him. He should not fail Nigeria the way those before him have failed our nation. GEJ can put his foot down and write his name in gold. No one is denying him his God given right to contest in 2011, but he should not sacrifice Nigeria’s development for his own ambition by abandoning governance to the politics of “catch me if you can, will GEJ run or not run?”

For those of us who get frustrated by the minute, it is not the time to moan, it is the time to let go of our differences, support this government when it is doing what is right but stand in its way when it is going down the wrong path. Unfortunately at the moment, it appears to specialise in doing more wrong than right.

We must not be overwhelmed; we can not give up on Nigeria. We don’t have a Rawlings waiting in a Nigerian barrack ready to liberate us from our fellow Nigerians. We are our own Rawlings when we start holding them to account. For every one “liking” Jonathan’s Facebook page and telling him he is the best thing after the discovery of mobile telecommunications, you should not complain when he starts taking you for granted.

We can not afford to fail our children; the campaign for change must not stop. We can go a step further, identify programmes for change. In Nigeria, the Puritan is scarce but we can get something close to a revolution as a prelude to the full blown revolution. Maybe GEJ can still change to change Nigeria. That is a long shot maybe but the least change we need is enough change to stop this slow death. Siddon look is what they want us to do; being onlookers as they milk us dry will be a disservice to generations yet unborn.

Stallone knocks out Julia Roberts at box office

The opening, which was in line with bullish expectations, marks a boost not only for Stallone, who directed and co-wrote the project as well, but also for Lionsgate, whose Lions Gate Entertainment Corp parent is fending off a hostile takeover from investor Carl Icahn.

The film, predictably, played strongest with older men who are nostalgic for ‘80s action flicks with high body counts and loud explosions. A sequel is reportedly in the works.

Julia Roberts, whose career has been almost as cold as Stallone's in recent years, followed at a distant No. 2 with "Eat Pray Love." The big-screen adaptation of a bestselling memoir about a woman's international search for herself, opened with $23.7 million, also in line with expectations.

The drama, which was targeted at older women, was released by Columbia Pictures. The Sony Corp unit topped the box office last weekend with "The Other Guys." The Will Ferrell cop comedy fell to No. 3 with $18 million, taking its 10-day total to $70.5 million.

A third newcomer, the comic-book adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs The World," bombed at No. 5 with $10.5 million. It marks the second disappointment this month for General Electric Co-owned distributor Universal Pictures, following "Charlie St. Cloud."

From left: Former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife; FirstRepublic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi; Anglican Bishop, MaxwellAnikwenwa and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu at the South East PoliticalSummit in Enugu.

ENUGU—SOUTH East geo-political zone, yesterday, unanimously adoptedPresident Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate for 2011 atthe South-East Political Summit attended by prominent Igbo leaders andleaders of various groups from the five states in the zone.

They declared that Jonathan’s presidency would not only further the Igbo cause, but bring the much needed development to the South Eastregion.

This came just as former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has promised that for unity, fairness, justice and progress of the country,he would only serve for one term if he won the election and handover tothe South.

Chief convener of the summit, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, who read the communique issued after the event that lasted for five hours, however,said the Jonathan ticket would depend on negotiation that would enableNdigbo table their expectations.

Mbazulike stated that in consideration of the national quest, Ndigbo would no longer accept to play second fiddle and considered irrelevantin a country where they played leadership roles during the struggle ofits independence.

The communique read: “At independence Nigeria was made up of three regions which later became four regions that were further divided intostates by military fiat over which Ndigbo had little or no say.

“The North has ruled the country for 33 years, the West 12 years, zoning or no zoning, rotation or not. The old Eastern region, for thesake of equity and justice, shall produce the next president ofNigeria. \

The region that produced over 90 percent of the wealth of the country should for a change, have a prime position in the governance ofthe country.

“That given the fact that what is now known as Bayelsa State used to be Brass District of Eastern Region, and that the Eastern andMidwestern regions have been marginalized in the presidency of Nigeria.Consequently, the summit has decided to endorse the presidentialaspiration of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan.”

The communique added that Jonathan’s endorsement “would depend on a successful negotiation of terms and conditions and agreement over otherdetails.”

In his remarks, member, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, suggested that Igbo leaders should meet with Jonathan tonegotiate for the collective interest of the South East zone andpersonal and selfish interest of individuals.

Iwuanyanwu who declared that Igbos did not want the position of Vice President as the zone was likely to get the presidency depending on thedecision of PDP, added:

“When PDP adopted zoning as a party policy, it did not take into consideration that a president may die in office and in the presentsituation, the party should look at the Nigerian constitution whichempowers a Vice President to take over administration of the country inthe event of a president’s death.

I will govern for one term, handover to the South, Atiku

Few hours after declaring his interest to contest the 2011 President election, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has promised that forunity, fairness, justice and progress of the country, he would onlyserve for one term if he won the election and handover to the South.

He said: “I will relinquish power to the South on May 29, 2015 to encourage the unity and progress of Nigeria.”

Atiku noted that the road map to the emancipation and development of the Niger Delta was enshrined in his 2007 policy statement because heassembled and personally commissioned technocrats and experts from thearea whose works and recommendations tally with the position of theNiger Delta Technical Committee Report.

Running for one term

Speaking with a political pressure group, Princewell’s Political Associate, PPA, after adopting him as their South-South candidate forthe 2011 presidential race, the former Action Congress presidentialcandidate said: “On the issue of running for only one term in office,it was at the 1994/5 Constitutional Conference moderated by the lateGeneral Shehu Yar’Adua.

The Southern delegates brought the principle of zoning/rotation of power between the South and the North was first mentioned and it wasaccepted by all. So to me, the principle of zoning or rotation of poweris sacrosanct and inevitable and abiding on me.”

Atiku who said he was committed to issuing a white paper on the Niger Delta Technical Committee Report if he became the President said:“One other thing that was achieved during the 1994/5 ConstitutionalConference was the increase in the derivation principle.

From my checks with CBN, what the Niger Delta States have collected in the past ten years exceeds what the entire country has collected forthe past 40 years.

“What I intend doing is to ensure respect for fiscal responsibility through which funds made available to States are judiciously used forthe development of the States.

“On the creation of Oil Producing Commissions, to me that is a good idea but I will prefer to set-up an ombudsman which will be moreeffective and better to monitor so as to ensure that the revenuesderived from oil are used to develop the communities that produce theoil.

“This will require amendments, but I will send a bill to the National Assembly on this as the best option that will enhancedevelopment of the region. States can not be told what to do but theycan only be encouraged.

“I am happy that I have been adopted as your South-South candidate so I am a son of the region, but be rest assured that after dueconsultation with the various interests in Nigeria the best for ourpeople in the region will be implemented.

I have lived most of my life in the region and my businesses run by the Niger Delta people within the region are there for all to see. Theregion shall be well protected during my administration.

“On religious conflict the truth is that we must stop it wherever it exists. One way to do so is to demonstrate that there are consequencesfor such actions. That does not appear to be the case at present. Thatwill change.

However I must say that many times what appears to be religious conflict is more social in nature and can be linked directly to thepoverty we talked about earlier.

“This can only be achieved by addressing the social issues and this is what I will seek to do. Having a desire to improve the lives of thepoor in itself does not make it happen.

Leaders need the capacity to do so. I believe I am your man. Just as I have contributed to making people politically, I have also done socommercially and educationally.

I can make Nigeria a better place; I just pray that I am given a chance to.”
Earlier, the PPA Secretary General, Osima Ginah, after adopting Atikuas their presidential candidate presented six major demands on thepresidency of Atiku Abubakar on behalf of the South- South region.

These included, that “Atiku Abubakar on assumption of office come May 29, 2011 should, within one month issue a white paper on therecommendations and findings of the Ledum Mitee led Niger DeltaTechnical Committee Report and take reasonable steps in implementing itas the future of Niger Delta rested on the implementation of that roadmap towards justifying the wrongs and wickedness the people havesuffered in the hands of past administrations in the country.

THE stir caused by a female student who allegedly preached against Islam during a Jumat service in the University of Ibadan mosque, hasled to the paralysis of all academic and commercial activities in theinstitution.

A religious crisis was averted on Sunday by the efforts of the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Olufemi Bamiro who condemnedthe action of the female law student and appealed to the muslimstudents who cried foul of the action.

Led by the Muslim Youths leader, Ajibola Akeem, thousands of Muslim students in the institution staged protest round the campus yesterdayblaming the school authority for releasing the student to her parent.

As a result of the protest, all gates leading to the institution were blocked by the protesting students who spread their mats on majorroads within the campus vowing to continue doing so until theinstitution acceded to their demands.

Other demands of the students who trooped out as early as 6am were that the female student, Miss Adegunsoye be expelled outrightly fromthe institution adding that her continued presence would beantithetical to peace on campus and a threat to the muslim community;that her fellowship, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry (MFM)should be asked to vacate the institution.

They also demanded that “preaching and disturbing forms of worship should stop in lecture rooms, halls, cabs, buses, cafeteria,laboratories, common rooms and other public places outside designatedareas; that the free period on Jumat day should be between noon and 3pmirrespective of the period it is”

While pleading with the students to calm down, the Vice Chancellor said, “it was the height of provocation. It is unbelievable. It hasnever happened in the history of this university because what thisadministration has been doing is to ensure inter-religious harmony oncampus”.

“This one that happened beats everybody’s imagination. When it happened, the muslim community invited me to the mosque to appeal tothe students. What we promise is that this administration will do allwithin its power to get to the root of this matter and that is what weare doing”, he explained.

He said the affected student had already been suspended from the institution and that investigation into the matter would continue.

Bamiro added, “I assure the muslim students that justice will be done at the end of the day. This is what I am re-assuring them. I havebeen at the mosque and I know the gravity of what the girl has done.”

The protest denied academic and non-academic workers of the institution entry into
The school premises and this resulted into traffic snarl-up asmotorists on the ever busy Ibadan-Ilorin road had hectic time fromgoing to their destinations.

The students marched from one faculty to the other under the watchful eyes of the security agents with the angry students crying forthe removal of the Chief Security Officer of the institution.

Ajibola said the protest was to register their grievances on alleged injustice of the school authority in handling the case of the 400level student who allegedly disguised into the mosque to preach againstIslam.

The lady, whose name was given as Oluwaseun reportedly deceived other Islamic faithful with a veil and sat among other females at theupper chamber of the mosque last Friday.

Immediately, after the Jumat service, muslim students who were predominantly male had gathered to beat the lady but the situation waschecked by the security personnel in the institution.

She was said to have been protected and moved away from the angry muslim students.

Bamiro described the incident as very surprising and unfortunate. He said, “We will look into the matter and ensure that justice is done. Wewill take a drastic step. We must prevent this kind of occurrence,”.

It was further learnt that the incident prompted some Islamic faithful to stage a peaceful protest yesterday morning.
As at the time of filing this report, there was tension and themanagement of the institution was having a closed door meeting on theissue.

Lamido who spoke in an interview with CNBC Africa Television also said that he would be satisfied with 9.0_9.5 per cent inflation rate inthe country and that creating economic growth was the priority of CBN.

He said in the television interview: “When you have a country of 150 million people with 70 percent below the poverty line, it is extremelyimportant to provide a stable environment to ensure that growth of theeconomy is not hampered by some desire to pursue a very lowsingle_digit rate of inflation.

Lamido Sanusi

“We have brought inflation down in the last one year, from 16 per cent to 10 per cent. We think we can do single digits and that is goodenough, nine or 9.5 per cent, would do for me.”

Sanusi who said that two foreign institutions were involved in the bidding process for the rescued banks, as well as several local banksand private equity firms in partnership with foreign banks, added: “Theadvisers have finished analysing bids already received for four of thebanks. We expect the bids for the others to have been completed by theend of this month.”

He, however, gave no further details as to who the bidders were.

The nine rescued banks are Afribank, Bank PHB, Equitorial Trust Bank, Finbank, Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank, Spring Bank andUnion Bank. Wema Bank and Unity Bank were also judged to haveinsufficient capital but did not receive an emergency cash injectionbecause it had a healthy liquidity position.

Foreign banks

The foreign banks that had openly expressed interest in investment opportunities in Nigeria include South Africa’s First Rand, StandardBank and Nedbank. Nigerian banks considering a bid for a rescued peerinclude First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank and Diamond Bank.

Chief Executive of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, told CNBC Africa television recently: “We need more distribution, we need morecontact points with our customers. The institutions we are interestedin are institutions that have the retail network.”

Vanguard gathered that CBN and Ministry of Finance were in the process of finalising the setting up of an asset management company,AMCON, which would purchase non-performing loans with collateral andchase the recovery of the bad loans in the rescued banks. AMCON wouldalso inject funds and take equity stakes if there were unsecured loanswhich needed absorbing.

Sanusi said much work had been done in the last month to value the bad loans and gauge how much of them were unsecured..

He said a recommendation had been made to the President on the constitution of AMCON’s board and was confident that once that wasapproved, deals to buy non-performing loans from the rescued bankscould quickly be announced.

Sanusi said: “I don’t see any reasons why AMCON can’t take these decisions in the next few weeks,” noting that the recovery of badassets would take much longer.
He added: “As far as the details are concerned, it will take a year togo and audit every asset, to do every valuation, do legal duediligence, set up systems and processes.”

Interest rates have been on hold at 6.0 per cent for more than a year and inflation is in double digits.