The National Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) Bamanga Tukur

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  AfricCon News
  AfricCon Latest Nigerian Report: Tukur Fires Political And Personal Aides
  
  Africcon Media, Nigeria
  
  The PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur
  
  The National Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) Bamanga Tukur, today reportedly fired all his political and personal aides.
  
  In a statement on Friday in Abuja, Mr. Tukur said he took the action because of the need to re-organise his office for service delivery.
  
  This is the second time the PDP boss will be firing his aides in the last one year.
  In June last year, Mr. Tukur fired his first principal secretary, Habu
  
  Fari, who was accused of usurping the functions of the suspended national secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
  Mr. Oyinlola was later sacked by a Federal High Court early this year.
  
  

ACN, PDP Trade Blame Over Edo Local Government Poll In Benin

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  AfricCon News
  AfricCon Latest Nigerian Report: ACN, PDP Trade Blame Over Edo Local Government Poll
  
  Africcon Media, Nigeria
  
  Benin — Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of doing everything possible to stop the Local Government election in the state, saying it has so far stopped the conduct of the election twice in Esan North East Local Government Area.
  
  The Governor said the PDP is using instruments of the federal government to harass and intimidate the voters.
  
  Speaking during the swearing in ceremony of the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Esan West Local Government Areas in Benin City yesterday, the governor said, "twice the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) tried to conduct election in Esan North East and twice the PDP disrupted it.
  
  "The evidence was clear on that Saturday in Esan land, in Uromi you had canopies belonging to ACN , the other canopy for PDP supporters and just looking at the canopies you can see where the majority are and that was why he insisted that election must be postponed and he misused federal instrument to force that postponement in clear breach of the electoral act," the governor noted.
  
  According to him, "today, we could have sworn in a candidate from the local government but again he used hired thugs to confiscate election materials, carry fake result sheets and even detained people at Uromi police station."
  
  The Governor appealed to the opposition to allow the ballot to prevail because primordial sentiments will not work in the state again.
  
  Comrade Oshiomhole disclosed that "even the worst critics will agree that the election of the three local government chairmen was easily the most peaceful, most transparent and the security agents were unanimous that it was the best election ever."
  
  But reacting to the allegations the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has singled out Governor Adams Oshiomhole for what it described as a shoddy conduct of last Saturday local government election in the state and the cancelation of the election in Esan North East Local Government Area.
  
  Speaking with journalists at the headquarters of the party in Benin City on Friday, Edo State chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, said "the conduct of the election has confirmed the fear of many people in Edo State that the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), as composed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole, lacked the capacity to conduct a free and fair election.
  
  "It was clear from the beginning that Oshiomhole and the ACN were not interested in conducting a free and fair election but we went ahead because we wanted to deepen democracy in this state and send a signal to the ACN that the PDP is still alive and kicking.
  
  

CBN Governor Give Opinion Of How To End Insecurity In Nigeria

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  AfricCon Latest Nigerian Report: How To End Insecurity In Nigeria – CBN GovernorFrom: Africcon Media, Nigeria
  
  AfricCon Nigerian Online News Published; The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
  The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on Wednesday said huge spending on security and use of guns by security forces would not guarantee security of lives and property of Nigerians.
  
  The governor said this in a lecture paper he delivered at the Abia Youth Empowerment Summit in Umuahia.
  
  He called for a more proactive measure to curb insurgency in the country, stressing that government owe it a duty to provide means of livelihood for the citizens.
  
  “No matter how much we spend in security, no matter how many guns we give to security forces, there will not be security until these people have food on their table.
  
  “Addressing security problems without addressing the fundamental economic causes is only a short-term measure.
  
  “Yesterday it was Niger Delta militancy, today it is Boko Haram, tomorrow it will be something else.
  We have to address the problem of youth and their future across the country.”
  
  He also advocated “difficult” structural reforms to grow the nation’s economy to scale.
  
  He noted that more than 90 percent of religious, social, and political crises in the country had their roots in the economy.
  
  “It’s about unemployment; it’s about poor infrastructure; it’s about an economy that is essentially dysfunctional; this is a country that imports what it can produce and exports what it does not produce.
  
  “So the solution is simple. It’s about the difficult structural reforms that are required to grow the economy on scale.”
  
  The dignitaries at the event included former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara and the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, among others.

Dangote Cement Raises 2012 Profit By 25.9% To N153Billion

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  AfricCon: Nigerian Online Report: Dangote Cement raises 2012 profit by 25.9% to N153b
  
  From: Africcon Media, Nigeria
  
  Africcon Media Online News Published Dangote Cement’s (Dangcem) fourth quarter (Q4) 2012 results with sales jumping by 14.5% to N77.371 billion which added up to N285.635 billion in full year 2012 at 18.3% growth.
  
  Profit after tax (PAT) in Q4 was put at N46.466 billion, a 59.0% growth against the same quarter in 2011 while PAT for the full year was N152.924 billion, a 25.9% increase.
  
  Total cement dispatches (on a consolidated basis) for the full year was 10.4m tonnes, up around 20% y/y compared with the 8.7mmt shipped in 2011. Of the total Cement Dispatches, the Nigerian operation contributed 10.1mmt or approximately 97% of total cement dispatched. Approximately 2.7mmt of cement was dispatched in Q4. This represents a growth of around 19% y/y (12% q/q) over the 2.3 m tonnes dispatched in the comparable quarter of 2011.
  
  The Obajana plant with total cement sales of 5.7mmt or 56% of total sales in Nigeria was the largest contributor to group sales and achieved a utilisation rate of 55.6% for 2012.
  
  Cement sales by Obajana line 3 was around 1.8mmt in 2012 with about 1.6mmt of that coming in Q4 2012. Both Ibese and Gboko delivered full year sales of 2.8mmt and 1.6mmt respectively. In terms of sequential trends, we estimate that the Obajana plant delivered cement despatches of 1.6mmt in Q4 2012 while about 0.7mmt and 0.28mmt was delivered by Ibese and Gboko respectively.

Minister Of FG Needs About N920Billion To Complet On-Going Road Project

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  AfricCon; Latest Nigerian Report: FG Needs N920 Billion To Complete On-Going Road Projects, Minister
  Africcon Media – NewsFrom: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Report - The Minister of Works, Mike Onolemeihmen has said that N920 billion will be required to complete Federal road projects that are on-going across the federation.
  The Minister, who briefed journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said, if government were to depend solely on its annual budget of N190 billion, “it will take another eight years before the projects can be completed.”
  
  Mr. Onolememen, spoke alongside the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, hinting at a plan of a loan to cover the shortfall.
  
  “To ensure timely completion of all the projects, a multilateral approach was under way as well as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme that will add about 6,000 kilometres of road nationwide is being explored,” he said.
  
  The minister said in the past twelve years, the federal works authorities spent N1.397 trillion on road works in the six zones of the country. Breaking it down to details, he said: the federal ministry works had completed 31 road projects in the north central zones, covering 1,054 kilometers at the total sum of N262.3 billion.
  
  The north east has a total of 30 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,461 kilometer at the contract sum of N332.9 billion. The northwest has a total of 23 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,028 kilometer at the contract sum of N255.5 billion.
  
  The south east has a total of 40 ongoing projects covering a total of about 978 kilometer at the contract sum of N149.6 billion. The south south has a total of 34 ongoing projects covering a total of about 876 kilometer at the contract sum of N159.4 billion. The south west has a total of 37 ongoing projects covering a total of about 1,230 kilometer at the contract sum of N236.9 billion.
  
  “Out of this total portfolio size of ongoing project that has been put at N1.397 trillion, a total of about N523.6 billion has been certified and only about N475.5 billion has been paid, leaving a balance of about N921.4 billion of that portfolio.
  
  “Which means that cumulatively unto the time that portfolio is completed we will be requiring about N921.4 billion to complete all the over 195 ongoing projects in the country” the minister said.
  
  For the last year alone, Mr. Onolememen said his ministry received a total capital budgetary provision of about N143.5 billion, and paid out N101 billion. He added that the ministry received a marginal N85.5 billion allocation from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, through which six projects were currently being funded including the Lokoja- Abaji-Abuja Road.
  
  He commended President Goodluck Jonathan, saying “in the last two years, the road sector has received direct attention from Mr. President,”
  The Minister was complemented by his junior minister, Bashiru Yuguda, who disclosed that the ministry no longer paid contractors on presentation of certificate but on completion of a section of the road project.
  
  “This is what we have done to make sure we get value for our money” Mr. Yuguda said.
  
  The Information Minister, Labaran Maku, described the 2012 performance report of the ministry as “heartwarming” hinting that the presidency was happy with it, and that “this nation can be sure that the federal ministry of works is moving ahead to deliver major roads in the country.

14-year-old Nigerian Boy Launches Social Networking Website

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: 14-year-old Nigerian Boy Launches Social Networking Website
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  According to AfricCon News, A 14 year-old boy, Terkura Unongo, has launched a website, www.theimongo.com, for social networking. Terkura, an eighth Grade Student of Hillcrest Middle School, Jos, Plateau State, who claimed to be IT-savvy right from the day he started using a computer, said he sharpened in 2011 when his computer teacher basically showed him the fun in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). The teenager said he choose the name imongo for his social platform from his native Tiv dialect which means “gathering’.

We are not going to surrender APGA’s certificate for merger —Umeh

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Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report:We are not going to surrender APGA’s certificate for merger —Umeh
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From: Africcon Media – Nigeria

National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Mr. Victor Umeh, speaks about the court judgment restoring his executive and the party’s refusal to join the newly formed All Progressive Congress with JOHN ALECHENU

 What is your take on the ongoing merger talks among opposition political parties?

Our position on this has always been very clear. APGA is not part of any merger discussion with any party; our party is disposed to alliance discussions with other political parties when such alliance discussions became necessary.

The court just issued a judgment in your favour. However, a convention was held before the judgment, what will now happen?

The constitution supersedes any other law we have in Nigeria. The Court of Appeal gave a judgment that people should maintain the status quo and it returned me as the national chairman of APGA. The judgment of the Court of Appeal will subsist and is binding on everybody. It doesn’t matter what you want or what you make of yourself, the decision of the court cannot be made in vain. Whoever is saying that the decision of the Court of Appeal is an enterprise in futility is exhibiting unseriousness and it cannot happen in Nigeria. Public institutions like the Independent National Electoral Commission will obey the decisions of the court especially the Court of the Appeal. Don’t forget, those claiming to have held a convention did so illegally. Even INEC can tell you that those usurpers impersonated me. A court of competent jurisdiction in Enugu has also issued an order restraining those who claim to have emerged as party leaders from that illegality from parading themselves as such.

Two of your governors are claiming to represent the authentic APGA while the governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has declared for APC, what’s your take on this?     

What I can tell you is that, as of today, Governor Peter Obi and Governor Rochas Okorocha are members of APGA. Peter Obi is the one leading a rebellion against the party. This does not mean that I have a personal problem with him. If we have a disagreement on policy issues that affect the party, I don’t want the Nigerian public to see such a disagreement as a personal disagreement. The party produced him as the governor of Anambra State, he didn’t produce himself. He must subject himself to the leadership of the party. The leadership of the party is supreme over its members, no matter how highly placed such members are. It is an aberration that in Nigeria, somebody will humbly come to a political party, seek support to get nomination, the party works for him, the person wins elections, gets access to public funds and begin to use the public funds available to him to destroy the same party. It is immoral and undemocratic and that is what we are resisting. In Nigeria, nobody can say he does not know or she does not know that it was our leadership of APGA that made Obi what he is today in politics. If we ask him to do what is right and he refuses to do it, we will not allow that. On the issue of merger, Okorocha said it publicly that he is in the merger talks in his capacity as Rochas Okorocha, the governor of Imo State and that he is not representing APGA in the discussions. He made it clear. That does not mean he is still not a member of APGA. He is entitled to pursue his political ambition but when it comes to the issue of dragging APGA to the merger, APGA will decline. For now, there is no party called merged party, so we cannot begin to talk about Okorocha not being a member of APGA, until when Okorocha declares that he has joined that party. It is only after he has done that that we can say he has left APGA. Before he does that, I am sure he will tell me, as at today, he is still a member of APGA. There is no one involved in that merger talk that is not still claiming membership of his or her individual political party. Members of the Action Congress of Nigeria, are still operating as officers of the ACN, until it changes; officers of the All Nigeria Peoples Party are still operating as officers of ANPP until it changes. Lai Mohammed issues statements regularly as spokesperson of ACN; he has not issued statements as national publicity secretary of the APC or any other party. So, this issue of their membership is not in contention.

On the issue of merger, you know that the Electoral Act and the constitution both require parties that will come together in a merger to submit the certificate of their registration to the INEC. The APGA certificate of registration is in our possession and we are not surrendering it to anybody or for any purpose other than for the purpose for which it was registered. The certificate is in the safe. We are not taking it along to any merger. In view of recent developments, the court has restored my chairmanship of APGA and those people who purportedly went somewhere and did things in the name of the party did so illegally. I am aware that a Federal High Court in Awka has issued an order restraining them from parading themselves as officers of APGA. Nigerians know now that they are not leaders of APGA.

With this crisis, do you see the party winning elections   in 2015?

APGA is the most popular party in Nigeria today. There is no newspaper you open today and you will not see something about APGA. Whenever people are publishing or talking about the crisis in APGA, they are promoting the party and creating awareness among Nigerians.

We know we are building our party even in the middle of this crisis and I don’t think that the crisis in APGA is out of proportion considering what is happening in the Peoples Democratic Party and other political parties today. We are strengthening our position to contest the elections that are to come. Governor Peter Obi should allow peace to reign in APGA. He should stop disrupting the party, if he stops disrupting the party, we will win the 2014 governorship elections in Anambra State. I am making this emphatic statement.

You have been accused of being a sit-tight ruler. Is it true?

I am not a sit-tight leader because I was elected at the convention of the party in 2006 and the constitution allows for a second term in office which is another four years. At the second convention we held in 2011, I was again elected; my second term will expire in February 2015. Those who are accusing me of being a sit-tight leader have forgotten that Governor Obi became a governor before I was elected at the convention of 2006 as the substantive national chairman of APGA and Obi has not finished his second term in office which will end in 2015.  So, how will my eight years end before his eight years end? This is all propaganda by people who don’t have anything to say. Some have said I have been chairman for 14 years; APGA itself has not reached 14 years since it was founded. This is 2013, by the constitution of the party I am still within my tenure.

Have you started the process of reconciliation?

Those who rebelled against the party initiated the rebellion on their own. There was no justification for the rebellion. If they come back to their senses, they will come back to the party but if they continue with their anti-party activities, the party will protect itself against destruction. We will not allow it. For those who Obi has misled in the past particularly those small people who he intimidated especially in Anambra State, we have said we don’t blame them because Obi was the emperor intimidating hapless party members ‘We don’t intend to move against anybody. But those of them who are not constitutionally allowed to remain in office will have to go. There are some who are holding government appointments and still holding party positions,’ the party constitution forbids that. It is like holding dual citizenship which our constitution does not recognise. Those who are serving in the Anambra State Government automatically lose their party offices. For us, all those people that Obi purportedly removed during the illegal convention will still have their positions; I urge them all to return to work.

For the PIB, horse trading begins

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: For the PIB, horse trading begins
  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Oluwole Josiah examines the politics behind the introduction of a bill seeking to establish the National Frontier Basin Exploration Agency
  
  The House of Representatives has gone much farther ahead. A zonal public hearing has been slated and it would seek to address the different issues in the Petroleum Industry Bill. The Senate is yet to take further steps besides constituting a joint committee on the consideration of the PIB. Debates for second reading at both chambers of the National Assembly expectedly generated substantial seismic reactions. The consensus of enacting the petroleum industry law has been settled. The controversy is basically the sharing of the resources accruing from the exploration of Nigeria’s oil and gas.
  
  It will be noted that during the debates, legislators rarely talked about taxes and royalties; gas exploration and utilisation; investments in the oil sector and the review of oil exploitation licenses. The discussions generally avoided the technical and legal issues in the bill and concentrated more on the politics. The crux of the debate reverberated around the perception of legislators about how certain provisions of the PIB affected their sections of the country.
  
  These contentions raged on just before the lawmakers went on break. Now that they have returned to business, a resumption of the hostilities is expected, however, on a different level. As both chambers warm up for comprehensive public hearings, presentations are likely to take the configuration of the bill’s second reading. What will be interesting will be how lawmakers will deploy strategies to promote their interest not too far away from what they canvassed on the floor.
  
  The politics is chiefly about North and South. There are no middle grounds. It is a struggle between northern senators and southern senators. This is playing out in the different high powered meetings being held by the two groups.
  
  It was learnt that a meeting of southern senators held last Wednesday, was to fine tune strategies to win the support of more senators to support the bill as presented. This is because there were fears that while some northern senators were soft on the bill during the debates; their less contentious stance is suggesting that they may have been bought over by their southern counterparts. This, political observers contend may put them under pressure to try to prove to contrary by becoming less friendly to the bill. Although the leadership of the Southern Senators Forum is yet to officially speak on the details of Wednesday’s crucial meeting, indications are that the PIB and how to get it to sail through the stormy sessions, was the singular agenda.
  
  Northern senators, on the other hand, have been consistent as to what they desire as far as the PIB is concerned. Senator Ahmed Lawan, who had been outspoken on this demand, stated clearly that the north was not against the PIB. He said the PIB is not only a legislative piece, but also political and economic. He said, “Every Nigerian has an interest in it and that is why it appeared so controversial and everybody was talking about it.” He argued that given that senators represented different sections of the country, it was necessary for lawmakers to canvass views that met the expectations of their senatorial districts and took their interests into account.
  
  According to Lawan, the bill is not pan-Nigerian enough. He argued that it apparently has very narrow interests and as such, the bill would need to be reworked to meet the aspirations of all Nigerians.
  
  He said, “I have interest in the aspect where the funding for the Petroleum Equalisation Fund will cease to exist. In the judgment of the minister, it is not necessary, but I think that so long as petroleum products will have to be taken across the country there would be need for some funding to make the product fairly available and at affordable rate. So we have disagreement with that and we did not emphasise it, but during the public hearing and other legislative forum that will ensue after the second reading, definitely that area will be touched.
  
  “There are so many other areas, but what the debate focused on was essentially areas where people feel very strongly about. Other areas are important but essentially I just believe that at the end of the day we are supposed to have an oil industry that works for all us. I believe that those who worked on the bill before it came into the National Assembly had the interest of Nigeria, but I think somehow, they did so many things and may be they did not take into cognizance, certain interest. I am not under any assumption someone definitely wanted to shortchange the people. I will not accept any provision that will shortchange the people I represent.”
  
  One of the issues raised by northern senators was the placement of the National Frontier Exploration services inside a Directorate to be created by the PIB, and they held that it was a demonstration of government’s lack of commitment to exploring the several basins in the northern part of the country for crude oil.
  
  That objection is snowballing into something concrete as a bill showed up on the floor of the Senate during the week, specifically aimed at removing the frontier services from the PIB and establishing it by an Act of the National Assembly, an agency for prospecting for crude oil in the northern part of the country.
  
  The bill is titled ‘A Bill for Act to Provide for the Establishment of the National Frontier Basin Exploration Agency to Execute, Promote and Oversee Exploration Activities in the Inland Sedimentary Basins and for Other Related Matters’. Its long title clearly explains the  objectives and functions which had been the longing of many northern lawmakers as expressed in their contributions during the debates.
  
  Section 2(1) of the bills spells out its objectives thus: “The objective of the agency shall be: (a) to promote efficient, sustainable exploration of hydrocarbons in the frontier basins of Nigeria; (b) evaluate all unassigned concessions in Nigeria and (c) undertake activities stimulate exploration interest of local and international oil companies towards increasing Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves.”
  
  The agency is expected to have a non-executive chairman heading the board and a Director General and the Directors of Service. The President is expected to make the appointments.
  
  This bill has been considered as a major tool for compromise on getting the needed support for the Petroleum Industry Bill. The calculation is that if the agency comes on stream and a genuine search for oil in the basins comes to fruition, the current tensions over oil revenue would not arise. It is not clear if northern lawmakers are falling for this talisman. It is believed that the agency would address the fears of the north, given that southern communities are making more demands from oil revenues which form a greater part of contributions to the federation account.
  
  Sponsor of the bill, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said it would ensure that the proposed agency would work to guarantee different sources of crude oil from the different parts of the country. According to him, with oil production in the north, the attendant economic activities would check the high level of poverty in the region.
  
  He said, “If oil could be found in Niger and Ghana, it is possible that we can discover oil in the north. We cannot continue to have one region contributing to the national coffers, while others do not. But if the different parts are contributing, then there would be equity and general sense of belonging.”
  
  But Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, who represents Oyo South Senatorial District, was forthright about his opinion on the PIB. He said in spite of the heightened politics, the debates on the bill at the different levels were unlikely to be different from what was experienced during the second reading. He argued that the South-South lobbying for 10 per cent of profit for host communities and the north’s demand for the National Frontier Exploration Agency, it is most likely that the debates would move away from the regional setting to specific needs of constituencies.
  
  There are no doubts anymore that the 7th National Assembly is serious about getting the bill enacted irrespective of the opposition. What is clear is that it would certainly witness a comprehensive legislative treatment such that some crucial aspects will be touched. Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, underscored the renewed commitment of the Senate in getting the bill passed as quickly as possible. He said the PIB remained on the front burners of Senate legislative activities during the period. While politics may not be avoided in the matters highly charged with sentiments and sectional considerations, over politicizing the bill could be counterproductive and certainly, any threats to the survival of the PIB is not in the interest of Nigeria’s oil sector.

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report:
  

  Govs, family agree to bury Achebe May 23

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  The South-East Governors Forum on Sunday fixed May 23 for burial of the literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe.
  
  Chairman of the forum and Anambra State Governor Peter Obi announced this after a meeting of the governors and members of the Achebe family.
  
  The meeting held at Enugu State Government House, had all the governors in attendance, except Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, who represented by his deputy, Mr. Eze Madumere.
  
  Okorocha is in London, where he is receiving treatment following an auto crash on Friday.
  
  The PUNCH had two weeks ago reported that the burial of the renowned author would be held on May 23.
  
  Meanwhile, Obi, who spoke on the burial arrangements, also noted that plans were underway for the construction of the Enugu International Airport.
  
  He said, “We met today and took decisions on security as well as the Enugu International Airport.”
  
  He said, “I want to announce to you that we also met with Achebe’s family today and we have fixed his burial for May 23, 2013.”
  
  Obi said President Goodluck Jonathan would soon be in Enugu to turn the sod for the airport construction projects.
  
  Speaking with journalists, Ikechukwu, son of the late author, described his father as “a great family man”.
  
  He commended the Federal Government and the South-East governors for their support to the family since his father’s demise.
  
  He said, “The governors have also accepted to assist in his burial; we are very grateful. President Jonathan was also the first to commiserate with us when our father died; we are grateful to all of them.”
  
  On whether the family would accept a post-humous national honour on behalf of the novelist and poet, he said, “We have not come to that yet. When such comes, we shall take a decision on that.”
  
  He, however, added, “My father would definitely be remembered for what he stood for – a Nigeria that is fair to everybody, a Nigeria that meets the expectations of her citizens.”

Real Madrid overtakes Manchester United as the richest club – See list of top 10 teams

• fricCon Sport
  Africcon Sport Report: Real Madrid overtakes Manchester United as the richest club – See list of top 10 team
  
  
   Africcon Media – Sport  News
  
  From: Africcon Sport  Media
  
  Real Madrid have usurped Manchester United as the richest football club on the planet for the first time since Forbes magazine began their rankings in 2004.
  
  The Red Devils have sat at the top of the list for nine years in a row but Jose Mourinho’s men are now worth $135 million more (€103m) at $3.3 billion (€2.429bn), while Sir Alex Ferguson’s side sit second in the business magazine’s most valuable club list.
  
  Barcelona are perched comfortably in third – $565m (€434m) behind United but $1.274m (€978m) ahead of fourth-placed Arsenal – and rose 99 per cent in value over 12 months.
  
  Bayern Munich fill out the top five having made the Champions League final last season as well as finishing second in the Bundesliga. Their value is sure to rise further in next year’s rankings with the added interest of Pep Guardiola as coach, not to mention their triumph in this season’s Bundesliga and a potential treble of trophies.
  
  AC Milan are the top-placed Serie A side in sixth and the highest-placed club to be valued below the €1bn mark this year. However, they are also the only club in the top 10 which have gone down in value over the last 12 months.
  
  Chelsea’s Champions League-winning season saw maintain their place in the list and boost their value by 18%, not so contrasting to the team below them, Juventus, who saw their value rise by 17% after returning to Scudetto-lifting ways in 2012.
  
  Manchester City rose from 13th to 9th in Forbes’ list after winning the Premier League last season and qualifying for the Champions League for the second successive campaign.
  
  An English team not faring as well are Liverpool, who were fourth in April 2008 but find themselves 10th five years later as they continue to suffer from not competing with the European elite.
  
  Outside of the top 10 sit Europa League quarter-finalists Tottenham in 11th, Bundesliga side Schalke in 12th, Champions League semi-finalists Borussia Dortmund in 13th, Italian giants Inter in 14th and Olympique Lyonnais in 15th.
  
  The final five in the list are South America’s sole entrants Corinthians in 16th, Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli in 17th, German side Hamburg in 18th, Olympique de Marseille (who dropped 18% in value, the biggest drop in the top 20) in 19th and Newcastle United perched 20th.
  
  Interestingly, despite being considered one of the richest clubs in the world, Paris Saint-Germain fail to make the top 20, while La Liga’s top-three duo are the only Spanish sides to make the list.
  
  1st
  REAL MADRID
  Last year: 2nd Value: €2.532bn 76%
  2nd
  MANCHESTER UTD
  Last year: 1st Value: €2.429bn 42%
  3rd
  BARCELONA
  Last year: 3rd Value: €1.995bn 99%
  4th
  ARSENAL
  Last year: 4th Value: €1.017bn 3%
  5th
  BAYERN MUNICH
  Last year: 5th Value: €1.005bn 6%
  6th
  AC MILAN
  Last year: 6th Value: €725m 4%
  7th
  CHELSEA
  Last year: 7th Value: €691m 18%
  8th
  JUVENTUS
  Last year: 9th Value: €533m 17%
  9th
  MANCHESTER CITY
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  LIVERPOOL
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Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez bites Chelsea defender during match

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  Africcon Sport Report: Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez bites Chelsea defender during matchAfriccon Media – Sport  NewsFrom: Africcon Sport  MediaSo Liverpool striker Luis Suarez today Sunday April 21st bit the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during their Premier League match. The Uruguayan striker sank his teeth into the Serbian defender’s arm after a tussle during the second half of the match. Suarez didn’t get penalised for the bite because the referee didn’t see it. He went on score the equalizing goal for Liverpool. He has since apologized for his actions, but I’m sure the English FA will still penalize him.

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  11 feared dead, 15 injured in Asaba, Abuja road accidents

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Five persons were killed on Sunday and seven others severely injured in an accident involving two articulated vehicles and two private cars along Asaba-Onitsha Expressway in Delta.
  The Public Education Officer, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Julius Bassey, confirmed the incident in Asaba.
  He said the accident, which occurred around 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, was as a result of brake failure of an articulated vehicle belonging to Dangote Company.
  “Sixteen people were involved, five died on the spot while seven others were injured; the wounded and the corpses have been taken to Federal Medical Centre in Asaba,” Mr. Bassey said.
  He said FRSC officials were at the scene to clear the obstruction and control traffic in that axis of the town.
  He advised drivers to always keep to stipulated speed limit for the sake of other road users.
  Only recently on April 13, four persons died in an accident that occured at Agbor along Asaba-Benin highway.
  Meanwhile, six people were reported dead and eight others injured in an accident involving 19 male adults in Kwaita along the Gwagwalada-Abaji road.
  According to the FRSC, the vehicle involved was a Toyota Hiace bus YEN 801 XB. Seven of the injured victims were taken to the Kwali General Hospital and one was taken to the University of Abuja teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
  The remains of the dead victims were deposited at the Kwali General Hospital Morgue.

Bible a ‘copy’ of Koran, bombing suspect told neighbor

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: Bible a ‘copy’ of Koran, bombing suspect told neighbor
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  He deceased Boston bombing suspect recently described the Bible as a copy of the Koran during an argument about religion, a former neighbor claims.
  Al Ammon, whose apartment is in the same building in the Boston suburb of Watertown where Tamerlan Tsarnaev once lived, told CBS television’s “60 Minutes” that the dispute between the two took place about three months ago.
  “I remember the first thing I said to him was that it’s always good to have an open mind towards other religions. And then he went into the Bible and the Koran,” Ammon said in an excerpt of an interview set to air later Sunday.
  “He was explaining how the Bible is actually a copy of the Koran and how it’s used for the American government as an excuse to invade other countries.”
  Christianity predates Islam by 600 years.
  Tsarnaev and his 19-year-old brother Dzhokhar are the main suspects in Monday’s double bombing of the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and wounded about 180.
  While Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police, Dzhokhar was captured alive and taken to a Boston hospital where authorities say he is in serious condition.
  Tamerlan began posting militant videos on social media sites in recent years, and made a six-month trip to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, in 2012. Both Russian regions host separatist rebel groups

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  185 killed as Boko Haram and soldiers fight in Borno – Officials

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  
  Fighting between soldiers and Boko Haram members killed at least 185 people in Baga, a fishing community in Borno, officials said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians.
  
  The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad.
  By Sunday, when government officials finally felt safe enough to see the destruction, homes, businesses and vehicles were burned throughout the area.
  Authorities had found and buried at least 185 bodies as of Sunday afternoon, said Lawan Kole, a local government official in Baga.
  He spoke haltingly to Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima in the Kanuri language, surrounded by still-frightened villagers.
  Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye, also on the visit, did not dispute the casualty figures. Edokpaye said the extremists used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the assault, which began after soldiers surrounded a mosque they believed housed members of the radical extremist network Boko Haram.
  Edokpaye said extremists used civilians as human shields during the fighting – implying that soldiers opened fire in neighborhoods where they knew civilians lived.
  “‘When we reinforced and returned to the scene the terrorists came out with heavy firepower, including (rocket-propelled grenades), which usually has a conflagration effect,” the general said.
  Sunday afternoon, the burned bodies of cattle and goats still filled the streets. Bullet holes marred burned buildings.
  “Everyone has been in the bush since Friday night; we started returning back to town because the governor came to town today,” grocer Bashir Isa said. “To get food to eat in the town now is a problem because even the markets are burnt. We are still picking corpses of women and children in the bush and creeks.”

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  The Boko Haram Amnesty Conundrum- Pastor Chris Okotie

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  As you read this, President Goodluck Jonathan may be on the verge of granting amnesty to the Boko Haram insurgent group at the behest of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), who met with him during the week to discuss this sensitive issue.
  
  Advocates of amnesty for Boko Haram are pointing to the Niger Delta precedent to justify this call which is clearly symptomatic of the frustration of the governing elite in the face of a stalemated war that has no borders, or a specific target or a discernible, civilised objective.
  Other than the abolition of western education and the imposition of Sharia in the North, the group isn’t saying anything worthwhile; even these demands are as idiotic as they are unreasonable. How do we begin to turn back the clock of civilisation because of a few misguided armed marabouts?
  Amnesty, meanwhile, seems an easy way out of a crisis that appears to be turning gradually into a quagmire like is the case of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq where living with terror has become a way of life. It was once a virtual impossibility to imagine that Nigerians would be living with terror, but that, for us, is now a terrifying reality. And the ruling elite have themselves to blame for this embarrassing war.
  There’s no shred of evidence that the Jonathan administration, despite its lackadaisical approach, is not doing its best in the fight against terrorism and other violent crimes. The escalation of violence of all shades- armed robberies, kidnappings, ritual killings, domestic violence, face book-related attacks and terrorism, is a clear indication that its best efforts are not enough. It is time to change gear.
  How this insidious evil became a murderous terror machine, that it is today under our eyes, is a question the nation’s ruling elite is unable to answer; the option of a general amnesty may be a vivid testimony of the growing exasperation of the elite with an evil it birthed but could no longer control.
  Since the Boko Haram insurgent group declared war against the country under the Yar’Adua administration, government has responded, using conventional methods to contain an unusual enemy which operates by the unconventional methods of urban guerrilla warfare.
  In trying to nip it in the bud at the initial stage of the crisis, he police allegedly killed the acknowledged leader of the group, Yusuf Foi, an ex-commissioner in Borno State. That’s one of the main grudges of Boko Haram and it is believed that the summary execution of Foi actually removed the lid from the tinder box.
  Since the elimination of the leader, the group has splintered into different dangerous factions under faceless leaders with varying and conflicting agendas, but all united under the banner of political Sharia. Today, having developed into a well – funded international terror organisation, we have no idea who controls which of its various tentacles, but one thing is certain: Boko Haram has managed to hook up with Al- Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, with dire implications for the security of the sub-Sahara, apart from Nigeria.
  With Boko Haram so fragmented and dangerously polarised along ideological, theological and political divides, including some criminal elements here and there, it has become a loose cannon that threatens everybody but themselves.
  Running an unprecedented violent campaign first, against internal rivals, then the police for an alleged injustice and now against everyone in sight, Boko Haram is the biggest agent of destabilization in the country apart from corruption in high places.
  Now, the argument for Boko Haram’s amnesty cannot stand on the logic of the one granted to the Niger Delta militants because both armed groups may have levied war against their country, Nigeria, their individual motives and corporate objectives are as different as their tactics and targets.
  Boko Haram turned their guns against innocent worshippers mostly in churches, and a few mosques, bombed police and military targets and caused massive blood bathe through their reckless attacks on public buildings, residential districts, public and major business outlets, and industrial installations.
  Generally, Boko Haram is a vampire on the loose whose objective is not just to Islamise Nigeria, but to rid it totally of western influence. The group is now present in every part of Nigeria, getting set for a bloody campaign down South. Talk about a bull in a China shop!
  In contrast, the Niger Delta militants are environmental activists and armed campaigners for economic justice for the alienated people of the Delta region, whose lands have been destroyed by decades of oil exploration without any visible positive impact on the people’s welfare.
  The wild boys of Niger Delta never threatened those outside the realm of their agitation. They didn’t bring religious or tribal sentiments into their campaign or align with foreign terror groups to levy war against their own people to attain some mindless, esoteric objectives.
  The Niger Delta amnesty cannot possibly be a template any more than the pardon of Abacha’s coupist justifies Alameyesiegha’s clemency. Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militants are two of a kind but unique in their different colourations. We knew and still know who the Delta militants are; but we don’t know the faces behind Boko Haram. That is why the government is unable to negotiate with them.
  Nobody can justify an amnesty for a group that is not committed to dialogue. If Boko Haram’s body language speaks of peace, the Federal Government, tired of battle with the recalcitrant Islamic militants, would have no choice than to bring amnesty as a bait on the table.
  Amnesty is justifiable under an atmosphere of jaw-jaw or during a carrot and stick situation, not when one side to the conflict is invisible, implacable and unwilling to accept anything but its own terms, which in the case of Boko Haram, cannot stand on any civilised logic.
  Nevertheless if the northern leaders strongly believe amnesty is a way out at this stage, it is worth giving a try. However, beyond clamouring for amnesty for the terror group, the NEF must give some form of assurance that it would actively participate in enforcing the peace we all expect.
  Chris Okotie is a pastor and politician.

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  Country Reports On Human Rights: US Blasts Impunity And Recklessness of Jonathan Government

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  The United States has denounced pervasive impunity and corruption in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
  “Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government,” the State Department said in its annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” for 2012.
  
  Noting that the government brought only a few persons to justice for abuses and corruption, the report said that police and security forces generally operated with impunity.
  
  The government or its agents committed numerous arbitrary or unlawful killings, it said. “During the year Joint Task Forces (JTFs), composed of elements of the military, police, and other security services, conducted raids on militant groups and criminal suspects in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, and Yobe states, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries to alleged criminals, militants, and civilians.”
  
  It further stated that authorities did not investigate the majority of cases of police abuse or punish perpetrators. “Authorities generally did not hold police accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody.”
  
  It said that the most serious human rights problems in Nigeria during the reporting period involved abuses committed by Boko Haram, the militant Islamic sect which “conducted killings, bombings, kidnappings, and other attacks throughout the country, resulting in numerous deaths, injuries, and widespread destruction of property; abuses committed by the security services with impunity, including killings, beatings, arbitrary detention, and destruction of property; and societal violence, including ethnic, regional, and religious violence.”
  
  The report also drew attention to the use of arbitrary arrest by security forces personnel during the year. “Human rights groups accused the government and security forces of arbitrarily arresting male inhabitants of Maiduguri or family members of suspected militants following Boko Haram attacks,” it said, adding that while the number of such cases remained unknown, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch catalogued examples of such cases throughout the year.
  
  “Police routinely detained suspects without informing them of the charges or allowing access to counsel and family members. Provision of bail often remained arbitrary or subject to extrajudicial influence. Judges often set conditions of bail too stringent to be met. In many areas with no functioning bail system, suspects remained incarcerated indefinitely in investigative detention within the prison system. Authorities kept detainees incommunicado for long periods. Numerous detainees alleged police demanded bribes to take them to court to have their cases heard. If family members wanted to attend a trial, police often demanded additional payment.”
  
  Full text of the report: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=20…
  Excerpts:
  The most serious human rights problems during the year involved abuses committed by the militant sect “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad” (Hausa: Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad)–better known by its Hausa name Boko Haram (“Western education is anathema”)–which conducted killings, bombings, kidnappings, and other attacks throughout the country, resulting in numerous deaths, injuries, and widespread destruction of property; abuses committed by the security services with impunity, including killings, beatings, arbitrary detention, and destruction of property; and societal violence, including ethnic, regional, and religious violence.
  
  Other serious human rights problems included extrajudicial killings by security forces, including summary executions; security force torture, rape, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of prisoners, detainees, and criminal suspects; harsh and life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; prolonged pretrial detention; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringements on citizens’ privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and movement; official corruption; violence and discrimination against women; child abuse; female genital mutilation/cutting; the killing of children suspected of witchcraft; child sexual exploitation; ethnic, regional, and religious discrimination; trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution and forced labor; discrimination against persons with disabilities; discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; vigilante killings; forced and bonded labor; and child labor.
  
  Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. The government brought few persons to justice for abuses and corruption. Police and security forces generally operated with impunity. Authorities did not investigate the majority of cases of police abuse or punish perpetrators. Authorities generally did not hold police accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody.
  
  Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
  
  The government or its agents committed numerous arbitrary or unlawful killings.
  
  During the year Joint Task Forces (JTFs), composed of elements of the military, police, and other security services, conducted raids on militant groups and criminal suspects in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, and Yobe states, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries to alleged criminals, militants, and civilians. According to credible eyewitness accounts, JTF members committed illegal killings during attempts to apprehend members of the extremist group Boko Haram in several states, including Borno, Kano, Kaduna, and Yobe states and surrounding areas. Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), international human rights groups, and political and traditional leaders from the affected states accused the security services of indiscriminate and extrajudicial killings, illegal detention, inhumane treatment of detainees, and torture during the year.
  
  On October 9, witnesses in Maiduguri claimed members of the JTF “Restore Order,” based in Maiduguri, went on a killing spree after a suspected Boko Haram bomb killed an officer. Media reported the JTF killed 20 to 45 civilians and razed 50 to 100 houses in the neighborhood. The JTF commander in Maiduguri denied the allegations. On November 2, witnesses claimed the JTF shot and killed up to 40 people during raids in Maiduguri. The army claimed it dismissed some officers from the military as a result of alleged abuses committed in Maiduguri, but there were no known formal prosecutions in Maiduguri by year’s end.
  
  Reports also surfaced during the year that the JTF based in Maiduguri illegally detained and killed suspected members of Boko Haram in the Giwa barracks in Borno State. Former detainees accused security forces of torture and mistreatment, which in some cases led to the death of detainees. Authorities publicly denied the claims, describing them as inaccurate or unbalanced.
  
  During the year both Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) released reports critical of the conduct of security forces in these raids.
  Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices and provide for punishment of such abuses, torture is not criminalized, and security service personnel, including police, military, and State Security Service (SSS) officers, regularly tortured, beat, and abused demonstrators, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners. Police mistreated civilians to extort money. The law prohibits the introduction into trials of evidence and confessions obtained through torture; however, police often used torture to extract confessions.
  
  JTF use of excessive force during raids on militant groups and criminal suspects in the Niger Delta and many states in the North resulted in deaths, injuries, mass rape, displacement of civilians, and other abuses.
  
  Prison and Detention Center Conditions
  
  Prison and detention center conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisoners, a majority of whom had not been tried, were subject to gross overcrowding, food shortages, inadequate medical treatment, and infrastructure deficiencies that led to wholly inadequate sanitary conditions. Reports indicated guards and prison officials threatened inmates with extortion or levied fees on them to pay for the maintenance of the prison and subjected them to physical abuse; in some cases female inmates faced the threat of rape. Female prisoners pregnant at the time of incarceration gave birth to and raised their babies in prison.
  
  Domestic and international human rights groups reported the existence of unofficial military prisons, including the Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri, Borno State. HRW and AI cataloged cases of illegal detention, inhumane and degrading treatment, beatings, torture, and extrajudicial killings in these prisons. AI estimated 200 to 500 people were detained at the Giwa barracks. Those interviewed for the reports claimed families and lawyers did not have access to suspects detained in these facilities, and authorities moved detainees frequently and without notice, making it difficult for families or lawyers to locate a detainee. The government claimed Giwa barracks was only used as a military barracks, and did not serve as a detention center. Boko Haram suspects were reportedly held in inhuman conditions at the Special-Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) detention center, also known as the “abattoir,” in Abuja. On November 26, suspected Boko Haram militants attacked the SARS detention center, freeing an estimated 30 detainees, possibly including Boko Haram members.
  
  Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention
  
  Police and security forces have authority to arrest individuals without first obtaining warrants, if they have reasonable suspicion a person committed an offense, a power they often abused. By law police may detain persons for 48 hours before charging them with an offense. The law requires an arresting officer to inform the accused of charges at the time of arrest, transport the accused to a police station for processing within a reasonable time, and allow suspects to obtain counsel and post bail.
  
  Police routinely detained suspects without informing them of the charges or allowing access to counsel and family members. Provision of bail often remained arbitrary or subject to extrajudicial influence. Judges often set conditions of bail too stringent to be met. In many areas with no functioning bail system, suspects remained incarcerated indefinitely in investigative detention within the prison system. Authorities kept detainees incommunicado for long periods. Numerous detainees alleged police demanded bribes to take them to court to have their cases heard. If family members wanted to attend a trial, police often demanded additional payment.
  
  Police held persons who happened to be in the vicinity of a crime for interrogation for periods ranging from a few hours to several months. After their release authorities frequently asked them to return for further questioning.
  
  Security force personnel arbitrarily arrested numerous persons during the year. Human rights groups accused the government and security forces of arbitrarily arresting male inhabitants of Maiduguri or family members of suspected militants following Boko Haram attacks. The number of such cases remained unknown, but AI and HRW catalogued examples of such cases throughout the year.
  Denial of Fair Public Trial
  
  Although the constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial branch remained susceptible to pressure from the executive and legislative branches and the business sector. Political leaders influenced the judiciary, particularly at the state and local levels. Understaffing, underfunding, inefficiency, and corruption continued to prevent the judiciary from functioning adequately. Judges frequently failed to appear for trials, often because they were pursuing other sources of income and sometimes because of threats against them. In addition court officials often lacked the proper equipment, training, and motivation to perform their duties, with the lack of motivation primarily due to inadequate compensation. During the year
  
  Supreme Court judges called for a more independent judiciary.
  In August 2011 the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended to President Jonathan he suspend the president of the Court of Appeals, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, after the latter refused the NJC’s directive to apologize to the NJC and to then chief justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. Salami had accused Katsina-Alu of interfering in the proceedings of the 2007 Sokoto state gubernatorial court case. In an attempt to settle the dispute, the NJC set up three panels to investigate the disagreement. The panels declared neither justice was at fault, declared the issue resolved, and requested Salami apologize to the NJC and Katsina-Alu. The Nigerian Bar Association reached contrary findings, and Salami refused to apologize. After the NJC suspended Salami, President Jonathan used his constitutional authority to recommend the compulsory retirement of Salami and appointed Justice Dalhatu Adamu as acting president of the Court of Appeals.
  
  On May 10, in response to a petition from an organization called Stakeholders Judicial Reform Committee, the NJC reversed its earlier recommendation and called on the federal government to reinstate Justice Salami. However, since Justice Salami had filed an appeal of his dismissal before the Court of Appeals, the federal government refrained from taking action while the case was pending. On September 5, Appeals Court Justice Hussain Muktar dismissed Justice Salami’s appeal without prejudice, ruling Justice Salami had failed to provide sufficient records of the proceedings against him for the court to reach a decision. There was no indication the federal government would take any action to reinstate Justice Salami as long as his appeal was pending. The case raised questions regarding the partisan nature and level of independence within the judiciary. Salami appealed the ruling, and the court case continued at year’s end.
  
  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
  
  The law prohibits such actions, but authorities infringed on these rights during the year, and police entered homes without warrants. Human rights groups and the media reported security forces raided homes without warrants while searching for suspected Boko Haram militants. In some instances this occurred immediately following a bombing or attack by suspected militants. In others the security forces conducted searches and seizures during planned sweeps through neighborhoods in which they suspected Boko Haram militants resided. During the year the government did not punish family members for alleged offenses committed by individuals. However, reports indicated security forces arrested and detained the family members of suspected Boko Haram militants.
  
  In Abuja the Federal Capital Development Authority continued to threaten eviction of residents in communities not deemed in compliance with the Abuja city plan. The FCT government typically claimed demolished homes, businesses, or churches lacked proper permits, even if owners were able to produce paperwork indicating the structures were built legally. No transparent legal process existed for deciding which homes would be demolished, and persons who lost homes lacked recourse to appeal and received no compensation. Many observers viewed the demolitions as motivated primarily by corruption and discrimination based on socioeconomic class, since mostly lower- and middle-class persons lost their homes and property. Once vacated, authorities sold these properties to wealthy persons with connections to government officials.
  Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts
  
  The JTF committed numerous killings during the year. The government claimed these JTF members faced disciplinary charges, but there were no reported cases in which a JTF member faced a discharge or criminal charges. The JTF allegedly committed numerous killings in Bauchi, Borno, Kano, and Yobe states after attacks by Boko Haram.
  
  Security forces used excessive force in the pursuit of Boko Haram suspects, often resulting in arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, or extrajudicial killing of civilians. For example, on March 9, members of the JTF shot and killed Ali Muhammad Sadiq while he and others sought shelter in the service pit of a gasoline station in Kano following an earlier Boko Haram attack on a police station in the city.
  
  Freedom of the press
  Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, including for members of the press, the government sometimes restricted these rights in practice. Security forces beat, detained, and harassed journalists, sometimes for reporting on sensitive issues such as political corruption and security. Journalists were killed in the field while reporting stories. Journalists practiced self-censorship, and local NGOs claimed newspaper editors and owners did not report some killings and other human rights abuses, due in part to intimidation by security forces. Militant groups such as Boko Haram threatened, attacked, and killed journalists in connection with their reporting of the sect’s activities.
  
  Violence and Harassment
  Security forces beat, detained, and harassed journalists. On numerous occasions security forces and police arrested and detained journalists who criticized the government. Reporting on matters such as political corruption and security issues proved to be particularly sensitive.
  
  Political Parties
  Establishing a political party remained relatively easy if supporters paid the required fees. Parties generally formed around individuals rather than ideological grounds. Allegations continued the PDP established new parties to confuse voters with large numbers of candidates.
  Membership in the majority party, PDP, conferred advantages, primarily in employment. On occasion police arbitrarily arrested opposition leaders or opposing voices within the PDP.

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  CBN On Naira Notes Again: Plans To Change N5, N10, N20 and N50 from polymer to paper

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  CBN is poised to stop the printing of small denomination Naira in polymer notes because they fade quickly.
  
  Its Deputy Governor, Mr Tunde Lemo, told newsmen on Sunday in Washington on the sideline of the ongoing Spring Meeting of the World Bank and the IMF.
  “By the middle of the year, we will start to produce the second generation of lower denomination notes, now in paper not in polymer.’’
  
  “My plea is that Nigerians should exercise patience with us; it wasn’t the fault of the CBN, it was just because we had to go back to the drawing board to rethink `Project Cure’ in the light of the wish of the public that we should not go ahead with the N5000 notes and lower denomination.
  
  “We will correct that in the course of the year. Polymer certainly will be phased out. In fact, we are phasing out polymer. No new note is being printed in polymer now.’
  Lemo told NAN that when the CBN was going to introduce the polymer currencies, its search showed that they could last longer than ordinary paper notes.
  
  “However, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably should not have dumped polymer because, yes, the substrate lasts longer, but the in-consubstrate began to fade; we didn’t realise that at the time of introduction.
  
  “ So, part of `Project cure’ actually was actually to move away from polymer substrate to paper, unfortunately we had a push-back because of the issues around N5000 note and coins.
  
  “The entire program was put in abeyance, otherwise by now we should have stopped producing polymer.’’
  He said that the CBN had awarded a contract for the printing of the higher denomination notes to a foreign company because of low capacity at the Nigerian Printing and Minting Company.
  
  He said the CBN would begin to receive the fresh notes from June.
  
  On the campaign on the careful handling of the naira, Lemo said that it was unfortunate that the campaign was not successful, but noted that it was a criminal act to abuse the naira going by the CBN Act.
  “Unfortunately, CBN is not a law enforcement institution; we left that in the hands of the law enforcement institutions and that has not kicked in.’’
  
  I still go to parties and see people spraying money, stepping on money, I see touts distributing mint-fresh money that should go to customers.’’
  
  Lemo also revealed that the CBN had talked to the police to step up its surveillance to reduce the abuse of the naira adding that the bank had no right to arrest people who sold the naira on the streets.
  
  He said that the act of abuse and sale of the naira by touts had defeated the clean note policy of the bank, but assured that efforts were being made to tackle the problem. NAN

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  FCT minister, Akinjide, kicks-off Jonathan re-election campaign

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Ms. Akinjide said the president is the most women-friendly in Nigeria’s history.
  In an apparent campaign effort, the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Jumoke Akinjide, at the weekend, described President Goodluck Jonathan as the most woman-friendly leader in Nigeria’s history, urging Nigerian women to work to secure a second term for the president.
  Ms. Akinjide, who spoke at her Aremo, Ibadan constituency office, said her stance is informed by the number of women currently serving in the Federal Executive Council of the nation.
  “President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet has thirteen women as Ministers, the United Nations’ representative, the Chief Justice of Nigeria- also being women. He has been very religious in the allocation of 35 per cent share to women in all ways, and he has promised to make it 50/50 by 2015 if re-elected,” she said, urging all Nigerian women to work towards securing a second term for the president.
  The president has yet to admit he is standing for office in 2015, repeatedly denying hints he will run. His aides say the president is “focused” on delivering his current mandate. The minister’s remarks appear to unsettle such claims.
  Ms. Akinjide, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Oyo state, gathered party faithful at the constituency office where she distributed thousands of bags of fertilizer to farmers in all the 33 local government areas of the state, as well as some tractors to the Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Oke Ogun II zones of the state.
  She said the fertilizers are to be given to farmers in every local government of the state free of charge, and regardless of party affiliations.
  “These must be given directly to farmers. It is not to be sold or given to politicians who will sell them. I don’t want anybody to be discriminated upon in the distribution,” she said.
  “Please, give it to everybody, irrespective of political affiliation, I mean, including ACN. Those, who did not vote for us might through this benefit, vote for us in the next elections.
  “The tractors, which are also free of charge, this time around, will be given to people in Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Oke Ogun. Whenever we get to power, we are not going to discriminate in our welfare package to our people,” she told the people.
  Ms. Akinjide also urged her guests to work together and ensure that the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria is unseated in the next governorship election in the state.
  “We are grassroots politicians and so I am advising that all of us should be united so that we can take government from the Action Congress of Nigeria or the APC. Our government is a party of many people. It is a party, which recognizes the masses of the grassroots, market women, civil servants, taxi drivers, plumbers, and others,” Ms. Akinjide noted.
  Also speaking on the occasion, Taofeek Arapaja, the former deputy governor of the state and current Nigerian Ambassador to Jordan, extolled what he described as the political and social values of Ms. Akinjide, saying she is not only a Minister, but a woman of virtue, a mother and a grassroots mobilizer.
  He implored all members of the state PDP to support the minister in her effort to stabilize the party in the state and the country at large.

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  Jesse Jagz leaves record label Chocolate City, issues public statement

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  
  The talented rapper released a statement last night saying he has left his record label, Chocolate City. I hear the statement caught everyone at Chocolate City, where his brother M.I is a Vice President, by surprise. Jesse and Chocolate City have been having issues for a while but no one really expected him to make it public. I also hear he left because he wasn’t happy about the way they were handling his music career. See his press statement below…
  To whom it may concern:
  I, Jesse Garba Abaga (also known as “Jesse Jagz”) an artist formerly signed to Chocolate City Music label hereby wishes to notify my fans and the general public about my voluntary exit from the label.
  After my initial two year contractual agreement with Chocolate City, I do not wish to renew my contract with them and as such have proceeded to continue my music career with my new team at Jesse Jagz Nation. I still maintain a cordial relationship with the management of Chocolate City and my former label mates and I wish them the best in all their future endeavors. Any further information will be passed across through my publicist but until then, have a good day. Look out for my sophomore album JagZNation Vol. 1 coming out in July 2013.
  All for the best, Jesse Jagz.

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report:
  

  7 habits to adopt to become ultra wealthy

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Those who are “business brilliant” have, on average, more failures than members of the middle-class. But they use those failures to help them succeed on the next attempt.
  
  How many times has your success depended on knowing something that most people don’t? The survey research I did for my new book, Business Brilliant, uncovered just how frequently highly-successful people think and act differently from the great majority of people with identical levels of education and smarts.
  
  There are certain elements of success that everyone agrees on–ambition, hard work, persistence, and a positive attitude. But my survey showed how some people have “business brilliance,” a distinctive take on getting ahead that is often at odds with the more pervasive mindset.
  
  If you want to get an edge and separate yourself from the common herd, take some cues from the seven beliefs and habits of the most successful people:
  
  1. An equity position is necessary to get wealthy.
  
  Ninety percent of the super-successful say this is true, versus fewer than half of the masses. More importantly, 80 percent of “business brilliant” people say they already have an equity stake in their work. Just 10 percent of the middle-class have an equity position of any kind, and the vast majority (70 percent) say they’re not even trying to get one.
  
  2. I’m always looking to gain an advantage in my business dealings.
  
  About 90 percent of “business brilliant” individuals say they are always trying to grab an edge, compared with just about 40 percent of the middle-class. Gaining even small advantages in a series of deals can have a cumulative effect on your wealth, but since most people aren’t even looking for one, they’re that much more likely to end up on the disadvantaged side of every deal.
  
  3. Doing things well is more important than doing new things.
  
  Getting wealthy usually means you’ve taken an ordinary idea and executed it exceptionally well. That’s what 9 in 10 “business brilliant” people believe. Most other people, though, think that wealth requires a big, new idea. Unfortunately for them, big ideas are rare and risky. Too many people are waiting on the sidelines for the perfect big idea to come along, while the most successful people have jumped in the game, and busily honed their skills at execution.
  
  4. I hire people who are smarter than I am.
  
  Exceptional execution requires those who are business brilliant to focus on the two or three things they do very well. So they get their work done by building teams with complementary capabilities. Surveys show that most people, though, would rather learn to do tasks they’re bad at than get others to do them. The business brilliant know that you get to the top because of your strengths, not your weaknesses.
  
  5. It’s essential I really understand my business associates’ motivations.
  
  If you’re dependent on other talented employees, you’d best know what makes those talented people tick. That’s the belief of about seven in 10 people in my “business brilliant” cohort, compared with fewer than 20 percent of the middle-class. My survey suggests that your willingness and desire to really get to know and understand your business associates is a sure marker of success–and one that most people don’t have.
  
  6. I can easily walk away from a deal if it’s not right.
  
  The “business brilliant” know that bad deals, like bad marriages, can be painful–and costly. So if the deal on the table isn’t right, 71 percent say they have no problem cutting bait and moving on. Only about 22 percent of the middle-class say the same. Most people are willing to take their chances on deals that don’t seem right from the start, even though it’s less risky to walk away.
  
  7. Setbacks and failures have taught me what I’m good at.
  
  Those who are “business brilliant” have, on average, more failures than members of the middle-class. But they use those failures to help them succeed on the next attempt. Just 17 percent of the middle-class say they learn from their failures in this way, which is really a shame. Everything worth trying contains an element of risk, after all. If you fall on your face, you might as well learn from the experience to help you succeed on your next try.

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  Man Who Constantly Rapes His Daughters and Grand Daughter Arrested

  
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  A seven-year-old girl (name withheld), has accused her 49-year-old father of rape.
  
  The girl said her father, Sylvester Ehijele, had on numerous occasions had sex with her, adding that he used to promise to buy her goodies and toys before the actions.
  
  She said he usually had sex with her on a daily basis whenever her mother was not home.
  
  She said, “Whenever my mum is not at home, he grabs me, forces his hand over my mouth and then inserts his penis into my private part. He promises to buy me a car, cake and biscuit but he doesn’t buy anything for me.
  
  “He also threatens to use a knife to gouge my eyes out anytime I threaten to report to my mother.”
  
  Sylvester’s wife, Margaret, told PUNCH Metro that he (Ehijele) also raped their 23-year-old daughter when she was much younger and recently, he raped their one-year-old granddaughter that lives with them.
  
  She said, “I am a caterer. In 2006 I went to Abuja for a catering job where I spent five days. But at about 1am, my first daughter, who was about 17-years-old at the time, called me on the phone crying that her father raped her that night.
  
  “When I returned, I confronted him but he beat me up and he continued to molest our daughter and each time I confronted him, it earned me a beating. I had no choice but to leave him when I got fed up with seeing him molesting our daughter and later sleeping with me. I took my six children and we relocated.”
  
  She said in 2011, Sylvester’s family settled their differences and urged the couple to reconcile for the sake of the children.
  
  She said her husband swore never to touch any of his daughters again and she reluctantly returned to her husband’s house.
  
  Margaret said she was however disappointed to find out that less than a year after moving in with her husband, he went back to his old ways.
  
  She said, “We reconciled in May 2011 and I really thought he had changed but in August last year, I caught him in a compromising situation with our seven-year-old daughter. I called her out and she told me how her father had constantly been abusing her.
  
  “Again, I confronted him and he beat me up. I had to pick my daughter and ran to his brother’s house, where I stayed for three days before I went back home.”
  
  Mrs. Ehijele said she continued to cope with her husband’s ways until he finally raped their 15-month-old granddaughter.
  
  She said, “Because my oldest daughter works, we decided to put her daughter baby at a day care in Ejigbo. I have always been the only one that brings her back at 6pm everyday from the day care. But on that particular day, my husband went to the day care and after an altercation with the teacher, he took the baby home.
  
  “He took the baby home and hours later the baby was crying profusely. When I got home, the baby was still crying and I wondered what was wrong. When I finally took off her diapers so I could bathe her, I noticed she was bleeding in her private part. When I raised the alarm, my husband was unnerved. That was when I suspected him.
  
  “I rushed down to the Ejigbo Police Station and reported the matter.”
  
  Margaret said she had been married to the suspect for over 23 years and lamented that he had had carnal knowledge of all their daughters.
  
  “I have two daughters, four sons and a granddaughter. Sadly, my husband has raped all of the females,” she said.
  
  The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the suspect would soon be charged to court on charges of defilement.
  
  “The suspect is in the habit of sleeping with his daughters and now his granddaughter. We have the doctor’s report which shows that the girls have been defiled,” she said.
  
  A copy of medical report issued by the Isolo General Hospital reads in part that, “The vaginal hymens of the girls are no longer intact.”
  
  Sylvester however denied the allegation, adding that it was his wife that poisoned his daughters’ minds against him.
  
  He said his wife left him initially because he had refused to pay her dowry.
  
  He said, “If I was the one that raped them, let me die. My wife and I were separated for four years and it was because her family said I hadn’t paid her bride price. After we reconciled, she told my daughters to tell lies against me in order to disgrace me.
  
  “Even my oldest daughter confessed to my family that I never raped her and that it was my wife that told her to lie.”
  
  When quizzed about the medical report, Sylvester said it was not authentic.

Obasanjo had a killer squad as president — Former associate

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: Obasanjo had a killer squad as president — Former associate
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  A former associate of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Richard Odusanya, on Saturday alleged that the former chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees was in charge of a killer squad that was formed under the military regime of late Gen. Sani Abacha.
  
  Odusanya reportedly worked behind the scenes when Obasanjo was in power.
  
  In a live interview, with an online news portal, Sahara Reporters, Odusanya  alleged that the former President lodged the killer squad at a State Security Service headquarters, known as ‘Yellow House.’
  
  He appeared on the programme alongside Mr. Segun  Seriki, a PDP member in Ogun State and a member of the House of Representatives in the Third Republic, under the Social Democratic Party.
  
  According to Odusanya, the squad was used for political assassinations and was responsible for the unresolved killings of politicians under Obasanjo’s administration.
  
  He further alleged that Obasanjo knew about the murder of the former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige, and a South-South politician, Chief Harry Marshall.
  
  Odusanya said, “I believe that a killer squad created during the Abacha regime was kept by Obasanjo and housed at SSS headquarters, known as Yellow House, and was used for political assassinations.”
  
  Explaining Obasanjo’s alleged link with Ige’s death, Odusanya said, “The night Chief Bola Ige was assassinated, a top PDP member confided in me that Obasanjo told him Bola Ige was down.”
  
  Concerning the murder of  Marshall, he said, “I also took a gift to Marshall and he was assassinated just a few weeks later.”
  
  Odusanya also alleged that the ex-president benefitted from an account with the defunct Trans-International Bank and that from the funds in the account,  Obasanjo,  asked him to deliver a Peugeot 607 and the sum of N500,000 to  a woman (name withheld).
  
  When contacted for Obasanjo’s comments, his Chief of Staff, Mr. Victor Durodola, said his boss was not available to react to the allegations.
  
  He challenged those who made the allegations to come out with their evidence.
  
  Durodola said, “The former president is not available. Therefore, he is not in a position to respond to the allegations.  However, my personal comment is that these are people who indulge in blackmail.
  
  “Why are they using online television? They should come to Channels, AIT, or NTA; these are television stations that are known.
  
  “Definitely, that is not Obasanjo’s character they are describing and everybody knows that. Of all the military rulers, the issue of killer squad cannot be attributed to him. That was not his style. He is not around now but I doubt if he would even give it any attention whatsoever.
  
  He stressed that the ex-president could not have been responsible for the unresolved killings under his administration.
  
  He further argued that Obasanjo had no reason to be involved in Ige’s assassination.
  
  “We would like to see it (the interview) but these are issues you know cannot be possible. The killings were unresolved, yes, but you know that nobody could have attributed that to him. He would kill his minister for what? So that he (Obasanjo) could be minister?” Durodola said.
  
  Another Obasanjo aide, Vitalis Ortese, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that the allegation was a non-issue.
  
  He said, “I don’t know them. Let them prove the allegation. I don’t know any Segun Seriki or Richard Odusanya.”
  
  Also reacting to the allegations, Bola Ige’s eldest child, Mrs. Funsho Adegbola, told SUNDAY PUNCH that her father’s killers are still alive.
  
  Adegbola, a lawyer, called for the reopening of the Bola Ige murder case.
  
  She said, “I can’t put anything past them. I haven’t seen the interview. I don’t know the content of the report but I can’t put anything past them. I believe the people who killed my father – the foot soldiers and the people who sent them – are alive. They are not people from Mars.
  
  “A murder case can go on for 30 years or more. If there is political will and the government wants to show that people should pay for their crimes, this can be done. The family can’t do anything about it because it is the state versus the suspects. The family can’t sue; it is the state that can take action.”
  
  Ige, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was shot dead in his Ibadan home on December 23, 2001.
  
  Following a mass protest over the killing, the Federal Government had deployed troops in the South-Western state to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
  
  While security agencies had arrested some suspects allegedly involved in the murder, including the then deputy governor of Osun State – Ige’s home state – Mr. Iyiola Omisore, they were however discharged and acquitted.
  
  Just like Ige, Marshall Harry, who was the National Coordinator, South-South geopolitical zone of the All Nigerian Peoples Party Presidential Campaign was murdered by at his  No,28 Karaye Close, Garki II, Abuja residence on March 5, 2003, barely a month to the presidential election in which Obasanjo was re-elected.
  
  The ANPP chieftain was said to have been killed in the presence of his daughter and his niece, Loliya Harry.
  
  The only security guard in the house, Mr. Polini Aniya, said the assailants numbering about five forced their way into the ANPP chieftain’s residence around 3am.
  
  The ANPP, and it presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, had insisted that agents of the PDP and Federal Government assassinated Harry.
  
  At Harry’s burial ceremony, Buhari, alleged that in its desperation to rig itself into power, the PDP-controlled Federal Government bankrolled assassins to eliminate political opponents.
  
  After the incident, the police arrested four suspects in connection with the murder.
  
  However, after seven years in detention, the accused standing trial for the murder were discharged and acquitted by an Abuja High Court.
  
  The court cited lack of enough evidence to sustain the charge against them.

Kidnappers release Bamigbetan – Report

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: Kidnappers release Bamigbetan – Report
  Africcon Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  There are indications that the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Authority, Kehinde Bamigbetan, who was kidnapped last Monday, might have been released on Saturday.
  
  Although his abductors had reportedly demanded $1m (about N155m), it was not clear if ransom was paid to secure his release.
  
  An online news portal, Premium Times, reports that the Head of Information Unit of the council, Mr. Rabiu Hassan, confirmed the release.
  
  The council chairman was kidnapped near his house in Ejigbo around 11p.m.
  
  When contacted, the acting Police Public Relations Officer, Damascus Ozoani, said he was not aware that Bamgbetan had been rereleased.
  
  When our correspondent contacted Hassan for more confirmation, his phone was switched off.
  
  Also, a local government chairman in the state, who preferred anonymity, said he was not sure if Bamigbetan had been released.
  
  “What we heard was that he had been released but as I am talking to you, nobody is sure. We are yet to see anybody to confirm that he or she had seen him,” he said.
  
  Another LG chairman, who also did not want his name to be mentioned, said, “What I heard was that he had been released and had contacted his family members. But I have not been able to get in touch with him.”
  
  Bamigbetan, a former Chief Press Secretary to former Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos, was kidnapped while being driven home by his driver.
  
  The kidnappers reportedly shot into the air around 11pm as Bamigbetan was being driven into his street in Ejigbo. The kidnappers beat his driver before taking the council boss away.

My father attended state functions with personal spoon — Olubadan’s son

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  Africcon; Nigerian Talk Report: My father attended state functions with personal spoon — Olubadan’s son
  Africcon Media – News From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  Prof. Femi Lana is the first child of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1. He tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI what most people don’t know about the 99-year-old king
  
  What value does the Olubadan hold dearly?
  
  He preaches literacy all the time. My father served in the education ministry and what he wanted mostly was education for every child. He ensured that his children went to school and he helped others to get quality education.
  
  What level of education did you attain?
  
  I owe everything I have to my father because his discipline has brought me this far. It was hard to take those lessons many decades ago but today, they are what I cherish most.
  
  I am a professor of Agricultural Biology and the first child of the Olubadan. After my early education in Nigeria, I went to the US for further studies between 1964 and 1973 and got a doctorate degree. I came home to lecture at the University of Ibadan from 1973 to 1981, before travelling to Germany, Holland, Tanzania, UK and Botswana as a lecturer and researcher. I later moved up to the management ladder at the Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, as Director, Institute for Rural Development and Community Engagement. I retired recently as a senior director and professor at the age of 65 and returned to Nigeria.
  
  What role did you play in the development of South African education?
  
  In South Africa, my department was given the job of establishing partnerships with all stakeholders in promoting science, engineering and technological innovation, particularly with high school learners as well as in accounting in the Umlazi environment. It was a vast responsibility which was executed carefully with finesse and caution because it has direct impact on the society.
  
  Did it come to you as a surprise when your father became king?
  
  Right from my school days, my father was already in line for the throne of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, so it was not a title that came to us as a surprise. He got the Jagun title, which is the first major step to the Olubadan throne, in 1973. He then climbed 23 steps in over 30 years before becoming Olubadan in 2007.
  
  How did he feel about your prolonged stay abroad?
  
  He was used to my lifestyle which was dictated by my profession. He loved seeing his children around him even though it was not possible to have all of us together at the same time. But I realised his desire to see his children often, and because I cherish his presence around me, I created time to come home and see him often. The purpose of my coming home was to see him and my mother who died in 2000. I am at home permanently now so we see every day. To bridge that gap when I was away, my father formed the habit of talking to me on the telephone all the time. He did the same to all his children. He was never tired of calling me. Whenever I came home, he would hug and eat with me at the royal table and soon, he would start asking questions about my work. He always wanted to know if coming home was not affecting my work or my savings. He also queried my choice of spending money on travelling just to come and see him when we could have talked on the telephone. He is such a disciplinarian and he did not want me to hide under the pretext of coming to see him as an excuse for taking time off work or spending money unnecessarily. So, you never know what you would get from him.
  
  Does it mean that he wouldn’t care if you chose to stay away from home forever?
  
  My father cares a lot but he is a practical individual who does not shy away from telling the truth. He was a soldier, politician and traditional leader who hardly had the time to sit down with his children because of his callings. But he is a natural father who would have loved the conventional family lifestyle.
  
  He once called me 22 years ago when I became a professor and asked if I would ever return home. The tone in his voiced showed that he was worried about something he did not say on the telephone. I told him not to worry and that I had a career target of becoming a vice-chancellor before I retire. I did not attain that goal despite coming close to it but he was proud of my desire. It made him happy and I reassured him that he would still have my attention after my years of service. It’s great that I came back to meet him.
  
  What habits does the Olubadan detest?
  
  My father hates liars and lazy men. He wants people to stand up for their beliefs and fight for the right cause. He hates corrupt people and hypocrites. There was a time he sent some of his children away from the palace because they were not being sincere. Some time ago, some people were collecting money from people under the pretext that they would facilitate their rise in the traditional order. When my father heard about it, he was angry and he sent them away from the palace.
  
  What is his best food?
  
  My father liked amala and ewedu.  Because of his age, he is on a special diet now but he still asks for his best food.
  
  How did he discipline his children?
  
  He beat any child that misbehaved. When we were young, my father beat any child that failed in school. He would check how well we fared in every subject and warn us when we scored a little above average in a subject. He demanded excellence in everything and gives the same quality till today. We used to run to our grandfather when we offended him or failed class work. We would not return home until our grandfather agreed to go with us. But he was a great father and he still demonstrates his love for all his children.
  
  Your father fought in the Second World War and other wars. What came to your mind each time he went to war?
  
  He fought the Second World War but we did not know it. Each time he went to war, the children didn’t know. We were young in those days, so we hardly knew why he was away. But when I grew up, I saw the medals and commendation letters written to him from the Nigerian government and Allied Forces. That was when I realised that my father had served in many war fronts. But he was modest about it. Unless you are close to him, you will not know that he had done such great humanitarian service.
  
  How close are you to him?
  
  I am his oldest child and the closest to him despite staying abroad for so long. When I was still around, we talked about many things. He loved to discuss politics and traditional matters with me. He liked discussing his friends, enemies and life with me also. He taught me a lot of lessons about life and they became my watchword when I grew up and lived abroad. We still speak on topical issues.
  
  My father loved to laugh whenever I visited home. I realised the impact of this on his health so before I visited him, I would have rehearsed the gist that would make him laugh. Sometimes, he would check his wristwatch and ask me to go home because it was getting dark. That was a way of telling me that he had had enough laughter for the day. But I am around now, so he laughs all the time. Something happened on his 99th birthday last Sunday. I was reading congratulatory messages of people to him from the newspapers at the palace. I told him that I was surprised at how people who once stood against his views on civil matters are now his closest friends, who paid to congratulate him in the newspapers. He laughed and said it is important to make people understand one’s ideas even when there is disagreement. He said there are no permanent enemies and that they will come back and praise you after they have realised the truth in your argument. It was a lesson I learnt that day. With him, you learn a new thing every day.
  
  What was the most memorable thing he has said to you?
  
  I was going abroad and as I bade him farewell, he asked when I would return. I sensed that there was more to the question. At almost 100, he could leave us anytime, so it dawned on me that he was a bit worried that I might not see him again. I almost cancelled the trip but because of its importance, I summoned the courage and left.
  
  How close is the king to his grandchildren?
  
  He has not had the opportunity to see my children regularly because of their education.  I have to be frank here; our generation is different from theirs. The priority of a parent is his immediate family and not the extended family. But my father understands the social changes that are affecting the family bond in our life. People must go about nurturing their careers and in most cases, it takes them away from their loved ones.
  
  Or are you trying to shield your children from the traditional set-up in the palace?
  
  That is not the case. I have no reason to shield the children from royal exposure. They are independent and free to come home when they wish. But they are in the formative stage of their career which demand their presence at the workplace and even in the schools they attend. We had a close-knit family structure in those days but what we have now is a loose family structure because of factors such as generational changes, distance, responsibilities etc.
  
  The king was once a boxer. What are his other hobbies?
  
  He liked hockey, playing the piano and singing. Because of his fondness for keeping records, he liked to be the secretary of every organisation he belonged to. In his library, he has records of activities dating back to the 1940s and he remembers them all till today. If you give him a piece of paper containing important information, he would keep it for decades and produce it on demand.
  
  What are the things that make him exceptional?
  
  I am not sure that many people have the type of his memory. He does not forget dates, times and names. He remembers facts and that is why he is a unique historian. He is the oldest person to be crowned Olubadan and he is still the oldest person to sit on that throne at 99.
  
  What does he want to be remembered for?
  
  He wants Ibadan to become a state and a new palace to be built. He also wants to be remembered for bringing social changes to the city. All these are in the making, so his wishes are within reach.
  
  Are there things he is yet to achieve?
  
  There was nothing he set out to achieve that he did not achieve. He has a unique way of looking at things. He told me during one of our discussions that whatever he failed to achieve was an act of God. It’s a way of expressing contentment.
  
  What qualities did you imbibe from him?
  
  There are many of them but what I cherish most is his humility. I was with him when he went to the office for the first time as the Minister of State for Labour. We met a cleaner in his new office and my father prostrated for him as a sign of respect. The cleaner was an old man but my father was the head of the ministry. Despite the gap in status, he still demonstrated respect. The cleaner was amazed and he prayed for my father that he would always be the head. It is a quality I inherited from him.
  
  As a minister, did you notice changes in his social life?
  
  He did not change his lifestyle. Instead of enriching himself, he gave his wealth to others-paying their schools fees and hospital bills. When he became the chairman of education committee in the 1960s, he was in charge of scholarship and he gave them out to the people, instead of making his family members the beneficiaries. If he wanted to be rich, he had the opportunity because he served in high places.
  
  How often did he attend parties when he was minister?
  
  He attended the parties because of his position but he would not eat there. On a few occasions when he ate at state functions, he took a spoon with him with which he ate.
  
  How about  the women in his life?
  
  The truth is that most men like women but others hide their admiration for them. My mother was his first wife. He might have had girlfriends which we did not know of, but he married a second wife.
  
  How healthy is he at 99?
  
  Physically, he is an old man but his ideas are fresh. He told me that being a professor has taken away my social life and I just laughed. He was a very tough man when he was young but despite his frailty now, he still talks tough to show anger when he is annoyed by someone’s behaviour.
  
  10 things you didn’t know about my father
  He has  a sharp memory at 99
  
  He still loves to eat amala and ewedu
  As minister, he went  to state functions with a personal spoon
  He does not delegate his duties as Olubadan
  
  He liked to be secretary of everybody he belonged to
  
  He once sent some of his children away from the palace for being insincere
  He fought in the Second World War and other wars
  
  He like hockey, playing the piano and singing
  He doesn’t have ‘permanent enemies’
  
  He is an ex-boxer