Lagos ATM Saga !!!

Police arrest man with 19 ATM cards

 

The Lagos State Police Command on Monday paraded, a driver with Zenith Bank, Dare Oladujoye, who was arrested for allegedly being in possession of 19 Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) ATM cards and the sum of N652, 000.

The suspect was using the cards to withdraw money from an ATM at Ogba branch of GTBank when a security guard raised the alarm.
Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, said as of the time of his arrest, the suspect had withdrawn N652, 000 from the ATM.
“On July 26, 2012, around 8:30pm, there was a distress call that there was commotion at GTB, Ogba branch. On getting there, the suspect was seen with 19 ATM cards” Manko said,

The Police boss revealed that the man is an employee of a commercial bank.
“He is an employee of Zenith Bank and we wondered what he was doing with the 19 cards. He was arrested and as of the time of his arrest, he had cashed N652, 000. The matter is under investigation.”
The suspect however denied stealing the ATM cards. He said whenever he lent people money, he would collect their ATM cards as collateral and return them after payment.
He said, “I usually loan people money and I’ve been doing it for over a year. Whenever I loan people money, I will collect their ATM cards and their Personal Identification Numbers. When they repay me, I return their cards to them.”
“However, if they don’t pay me back in cash, I go to withdraw money from their accounts through the ATM.”
When quizzed on where he got the money which he lent people, he said he was into various kinds of businesses.
He also said he had friends in the banking sector who helped him with funds.
He said, “I am a very hard working person. I joined Zenith Bank as a driver over three years ago and in less than a year, I bought a tricycle which I leased to another driver that gives me returns on a regular basis.
“The following year, I bought two tricycles bringing the total number to three. I make N150,000 monthly from the tricycles and N60,000 from my salary. I also get credit facilities through my connections in the banking sector.
“On the day I was arrested, I went to withdraw money on Thursday night with some of the cards when a security guard raised the alarm. I did not steal those cards. I know the owners of the cards and I have their numbers on my phone.”
Meanwhile, the command has warned members of the public to be very careful when buying vehicles so as not to buy stolen ones.
The warning became imperative following the arrest of two mechanics who allegedly received six stolen vehicles and even sold some to members of the public.
Manko said buyers could sense stolen vehicles by their cheap prices.

We Were Bribed with N20 Million To Kill Oshiomhole’s Aide – Suspect

A suspect in custody in connection with the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, the Private Secretary to Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, has reportedly told police interrogators that he was offered N20m for the job.
He said he was paid N200,000 as part payment with which he recruited four others.
Five suspects, including the Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Rev. Ugolor was picked up on Friday by the investigating team from the Force CID in Abuja. His office and residence were ransacked. He was arrested after the suspect named one “David” as the sponsor of the murder.
Police sources said the suspect identified Rev. Ugolor during an identification parade as the “David” that sponsored the killing.
It was gathered that the suspect told police investigators that the deal to kill Olaitan was sealed at a restaurant in Benin City and that Rev. Ugolor pointed Olaitan to him at a bureau de change where the late Olaitan had gone for a transaction.
He said they trailed the late Olaitan to a place where he (Olaitan) and Ugolor had a drink before following him home to carry out the killing.
Ugolor took the late Olaitan home the night he was shot and he was the person called by Olaitan’s wife to take him to the hospital after he had been shot.
Police sources said Ugolor and the suspect met on Sunday. Ugolor reportedly questioned him.
Ugolor, however, said he was being framed up for the murder of Olaitan.
The late Olaitan was murdered on May 4 at his Benin City home by unknown gunmen.

Muslim fasting Crippled Business ( Sexworkers Lament)

Commercial sex workers, otherwise known as prostitutes are angry, their anger, we gathered is not unconnected with the ongoing Ramadan fasting being embarked on by Muslim faithful across the country.

According to those in the business of bed-to-wealth, the fasting period has crippled their business. When one of their base is being visited in Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, the visibly angry ladies were seen siting at different locations, discussing their fate.
On enquiry, a lady identified as Rose from Edo lamented, “Oga, since morning, na only one person I don do, unlike before, I for don do like 16 or so. Na Ramadan . ” She said.
When prodded further, the enraged lady said, “Oga I no come count bridge for Lagos, if u wan support my ministry tell me, I go ‘do’ you well.”
In Ikotun, prostitutes lamented that their customers no longer pick their calls, “since Ramadan fasting started, my regular customer, Waidi refused picking my calls, and its painful and unfair. They should consider our own side too”, said Joy, a native of Akwa Ibom.
When asked about her service, the fair-complexion lady who said she’s a drop out of Delta State University, said, “it depends, at times, most of these big men don’t negotiate, if you do them well, they can give you even 50k per night. Now we don’t have choice because of Ramadan, we can agree for even 200 for a round.
Our efforts to reach the president, National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), Lagos state chapter were fruitless as the lady was said to have travailed out of the country.

Central Bank of Nigeria

CBN faces Huge Challenges in financial Inclusion Drive - World Bank

Nigeria’s financial sector regulators, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), have an uphill task in improving financial inclusion in the country. This is evident in the recently released World Bank Global Financial Inclusion Indicators.

Financial Inclusion implies access to a broad range of financial services including payments, savings, credit, insurance and pension products.

The CBN in 2012 rolled out a financial inclusion strategy, aimed at setting a clear agenda for significantly increasing access to and use of financial services in Nigeria by 2020, by which time the bank aims to increase the formal use of financial services to 70 percent, from the current level of 36 percent of the adult population.

The World Bank data reveal the depths of the problem.

The data show that Nigeria under-performs most of its sub-Saharan African (SSA) peers, with the widest disparity being in the category of percentage of adults who borrowed from a financial institution in the past 12 months.

While 24 percent of Nigerians say they have saved in a financial institution in the past year, less than 2 percent have been able to access loans, making Nigeria one of the worst performers in that category in SSA (see chart).

“The high interest rates in the economy have probably contributed to this situation, although there are more fundamental reasons that account for the banks’ reluctance to lend actively and at somewhat affordable rates to the economy,” said Samir Gadio, Emerging Markets Strategist at Standard Bank, London.

“The risk profile of borrowers and long-term infrastructure projects, the focus on Tier-I names at the expense of SMEs and retail banking, as well as the absence of a viable corporate bond market are certainly underlying issues that will need to be addressed for a qualitative shift in the credit market,” he added.

For other analysts though, the high interest rates in the country (which average 23 percent) do not tell the full story, as other structural issues with the Nigerian economy may be at play.

“I think we also need to be realistic about what is contributing to weak real-sector lending in Nigeria. High interest rates are only a part of it,” Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Bank, said, adding, “Often the problem stems from a high cost structure and the poor viability of SMEs in Nigeria.”

The CBN estimates the formal use of financial services in Nigeria is currently at a low 36 percent of the adult population, roughly 31 million out of an adult population of 85 million.

This figure compares to 68 percent in South Africa and 41 percent in Kenya.

The recent growth of mobile money in countries like Kenya, which has allowed millions of people who are otherwise excluded from the formal financial system to perform financial transactions, has for now not been that successful in Nigeria.

In Kenya, 68 percent of adults report using mobile money, while in Nigeria, the share using mobile money is less than 5 percent, according to the World Bank report.

The data also show that while only 26.67 percent of Nigerians have accounts at a formal financial institution, 42.34 percent of Kenyans and 53.65 percent of South Africans have the same.

Kayode Akindele, Partner at 46 Parallel, an investment firm, says there are many issues inhibiting financial inclusion in Nigeria, such as inability to efficiently and effectively identify and track borrowers and the slow and cumbersome process of adjudicating financial disputes through the courts.

“There are many schemes such as the new national identity card scheme, SIM registration, credit bureaus, etc, being developed to address these issues, but they are all still at their infancy,” he said.

Aero-Contractor Expands Boeing Maintenance

Air Line to save Cost as Aero Expands Boeing Mantenance

Nigerian airlines and those on the West Africa sub region may gradually be heaving a sigh of relief in terms of aircraft maintenance, which had been a major issue eating deep into their operating costs, as Aero Contractors, oldest surviving airline in Nigeria, conclude plans to begin C-Checks on Boeing 737 aircraft series in Nigeria.

Gov.Aregbesola Commision UniOsun Library

The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Sunday said his administration’s commitment towards the development of qualitative and sound education in the state is non-negotiable.
He stated this at Ejigbo during the commissioning of a library of the College of Agriculture at the Ejigbo Campus of the University of Osun (UNIOSUN).
The Governor also disclosed that contrary to rumours making the round, government has no intention to reduce or cancel any of the six campuses of the university, adding that the era of empty political promises to the people of the state has gone for good.
He however said that government had reservation of having that university at the time the university was established by the immediate past government.
The reason for such reservation, he stated, hinged on the fact that the state still has challenges with basic education at the primary and secondary levels in the state.
He promised that the government will use the available resources within its possession judiciously to develop and promote all the campuses of the university.
“The cost of running a university is enormous. It is a money-guzzling institution without corresponding revenue coming to the cover of the government.
“We will join you to make the university great. We have many things to do. We must ensure that we equip pupils from primary and secondary schools with sound education before sending them to this university.
“That is why we earmarked N30billion to make basic education functional and appreciative.
Meanwhile, the governor advised the people of the state to be self- reliant rather than looking up to the government for white collar jobs.
He observed this at the Ramadan lecture programme organised by Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN), in Osogbo also on Sunday.
He noted that even though job creation is part of governance, it is impossible for the government to provide employment for all.
He advised people most especially youths to be creative by thinking of how to start their own businesses thereby becoming employers of labour themselves.

Osun Sign 17.8Billion Ilorin -Osogbo Road Dualisation Project

Osun is Working Aregbesola is Working!!!!


Osun State government has signed a N17.8 billion contract agreement with SAMMYA Construction Company Limited for the dualisation of the 45 kilometers Osogbo-Ikirun- Kwara State Boundary Road.
The dualisation had been segmented into three phases of Osogbo-Dagbolu (International Market) to Alamisi Market in Ikirun (9.52 kilometers); Osogbo (Old-garage) to Ikirun junction road (20.5 kilometers) and Ikirun-IlaOdo- Kwara State Boundary road (16.5 kilometers).
In signing the agreement on Thursday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Transport, Engineer Oladepo Amuda, said that, in line with the agreement, the project would be completed within 24 months of which the work had already commenced. He said that the project was not the usual direct contract award, but a contractor-financing transaction, which came out of the confidence of the contractor in the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, saying that the money for the contract would be repaid across 36 months after the completion of the project.
A development financial institution, The Infrastructure Bank Plc (TIB) which is the Transaction Advisor, Fund Arranger and Financier of the project, is working in conjunction with the construction company and other stakeholders to fund the project.
He further said: “The road will link the market hub at Dagbolu with a spur from the major road to the market and from there to Alamisi Market in Ikirun.
The major one will go from Old Garage and directly to Ikirun and to the Kwara State boundary.

Not President Obama

No President Obama, It Was Private Business That Made Our Roads And Bridges Possible

Without big government, President Obama likes to suggest, we would all be poor, miserable creatures. For starters, he claims that business became possible only because government built roads and bridges.
Actually, Obama has it backwards. Private business came first, then roads and bridges.

Move up http://i.forbesimg.com tMove down

  

                                 

They weren’t originally developed by governments. They were developed by merchants who began establishing trade routes thousands of years ago. In the beginning, before the first Department of Public Works, there were innumerable trails.
Developing trails required that somebody travel, and kings generally didn’t travel unless they were conquering new territory. If they left their territory for an extended period, they would probably have returned to find somebody else ruling the territory that used to be theirs. So it was merchants, hoping to make money, who blazed the trails for regional and long distance trade. At their own expense, merchants determined the most worthwhile places to go and the most efficient ways of getting there.

Ogun Sate Organises Ramadan Essay Competition

The wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, has organised an essay writing, quiz competition and Quranic recitation for school children in all the 20 local government areas of the state.

According to a statement by the Coordinator of the Essay Writing/Quiz Competition & Quranic Recitation, Dr. Rashidat Salisu, the contest aims at providing opportunities for school children to enhance their knowledge of Islam and inculcate the virtues of the month of Ramadan.

Salisu said the topics for the essay writing competition for Junior Secondary Schools category is, ‘The Social, Moral and Spiritual Benefits of Ramadan’ while that for Senior Secondary Schools category is ‘Maximising the Gains of Ramadan.

10 People Kiiled By Gunmen In Kano,Damaturu Attack

Unidentified gunmen on Saturday, in Damaturu, Yobe state, ambushed a team of security agents on duty, killing a policeman and injuring one in the process.
The state commissioner of police Mr. Patrick Egbuniwe  said the incident occurred at 8:45 PM when the security men were on a routine patrol around Nasarawa ward of the state capital.
He also said “during the ambush, two members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) sustained injuries and they have being taken to the hospital for treatment.”
According to him, there was continuous gun battle between the security agents and the attackers, which lasted for several hours.
Mr Egbuniwe said the extent of destruction and loss of live on the part of the hoodlums is yet to be ascertained.
Meanwhile nine people have been confirmed dead in a series of gun battles between the police and suspected Boko Haram sect members in the ancient Kano city, the capital of Kano state.
Confirming the incident, Kano state police commissioner, Ibrahim Idris said suspected sect members had attempted to attack a mosque near the Bayero University on Sunday evening but were intercepted by a team of policemen. Four of the attackers were killed in the ensuing gunfight.
Spokesman of the Joint Military Taskforce, Lt. Ikediche Iweha also said gunmen on motorbikes earlier killed five people in two separate attacks including one targeting Air Force officers, in other areas of Kano.
Members of the sect have already killed hundreds this year in an increasingly violent insurgency.

Lets Celebrate Peace,Safety & Security In Niger-Dellta

Gentlemen of the Press
I have invited you to this special briefing for two reasons: first, I have invited you to join our worthy leader, His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, to celebrate three years of relative peace, safety and security in the nation’s oil and gas hub, the Niger Delta. Secondly, I have also invited you to pay tribute to great Nigerians who made and are still making huge sacrifices to achieve peace, safety and security in the Niger Delta.

In spite of the security challenges in a section of the country, I make bold to assert that it is not all gloom for our great country as peace, safety and security continue to prevail in most parts of the country, particularly in the Niger Delta. Today, on the watch and able guidance of President Jonathan, the tranquility in the once restive Niger Delta has led to an astronomic growth in the nation’s economy. From a paltry production level of 800,000 barrels crude oil per day at the peak of the Niger Delta crisis in the first quarter of 2009, Nigeria currently produces between 2.4 and 2.6 million barrels per day.

To further underscore the fact that the proclamation of amnesty for former agitators in the Niger Delta as well as the successful management of the post-amnesty Programme saved the economy of our great nation from a looming collapse, some clarifications may be necessary:

 With Nigeria producing as at today between 2.4 and 2.6 million barrels of crude oil per day as against the abysmally low between 700,000 and 800,000 barrels per day at the peak of the Niger Delta crisis in January 2009, the nation and its Joint Venture Partners are currently making production savings of up to 1.9 million barrels per day.

Computed with prevailing exchange rate of about N160 to $1, daily production savings for Nigeria and the JV partners currently stands at a minimum of N33.4 Billion per day.

Given that oil production in Nigeria hovered between 2.4 and 2.6 barrels for all of 2011, it would be safe to emphatically assert that savings for Nigeria and the JV partners for year ending 2011 is estimated to be a whopping N6 trillion.

Equally, but for the Amnesty Proclamation and the successful management of the post-Amnesty Programme by His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria and its JV partners would have lost by year ending 2011, the staggering sum of N6 trillion or much more.

But the peace in the Niger Delta did not come on a platter of gold. Rather it was a product of dialogue, patriotism and tenacity. It is on this note that I pay glowing tribute to our Late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and his then Deputy who is the current President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for their foresight and courage in proclaiming amnesty for former agitators in the Niger Delta. We also salute the courage of the leadership of the defunct militant camps in the Niger Delta for trusting in the Government to live up to its commitments and accepted to unconditionally embrace peace. They did not only lay down their arms, they submitted them to the Federal government and till date they have continued to abide by the tenets of the amnesty proclamation and have also been supporting to the fullest, the post-amnesty programme. As a seasoned conflict manager myself, I dare say that there is no alternative to dialogue. I also insist that there is no good war or bad peace.

Even more important, the former agitators in the Niger Delta have abundantly shown that their struggle was never to destroy Nigeria or any part thereof. They resorted to militant agitation after previous peaceful efforts failed to attract the attention of the authorities to the criminal neglect of a people from whose land and water so much wealth is being explored and exploited. For giving Nigeria so much they were rewarded with crass underdevelopment and deprivation as well as unconscionable environmental pollution and degradation. These were the factors that led to militant agitation in the Niger Delta. However, as a step towards resolving the protracted face-off, which had bred serious insecurity in the zone, the Federal Government of Nigeria exactly three years ago, June 25, 2009, proclaimed unconditional amnesty for the agitators. Like you all know by now, the terms of the amnesty included the willingness and readiness of the agitators to surrender their arms on or before October 4, 2009, unconditionally renounce militancy and sign an undertaking to this effect. In return, the government pledged its commitment to institute programmes to assist the disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of the former agitators.

At the expiration of the 60-day grace period - by Sunday October 4, 2009, 20,192 Niger Delta ex-agitators had surrendered large numbers of arms and ammunitions to the Federal Government and accepted the offer of amnesty. And Pursuant to the letter and spirit of the Amnesty Proclamation, the Federal Government instituted a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) package for the ex-combatants who accepted the offer of amnesty on or before the expiration date. Another 6,166 disarmed ex-agitators were added in November 2010 to constitute a second phase of the programme to bring up the total number of persons enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme to 26,358.

In May 2011, a closure was achieved in the disarmament phase of the Amnesty Programme when the Amnesty Office in collaboration with the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army publicly destroyed the arms and ammunitions submitted to the Federal Government by the Niger Delta ex-agitators who accepted the offer of amnesty in 2009. This exercise took place in Lokpanta, a boundary town in Enugu State. The public destruction, which was approved by Mr. President, was in conformity with extant DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) codes as spelt out by the United Nations. Further, the exercise became imperative given that the continued presence of the recovered weapons inevitably acted as a destabilizing influence in the country even as the potential of illicit trade remained high.

In line with the Amnesty Programme’s core objectives of demobilizing and reintegrating the former combatants into civil society, the entire 26,358 ex-agitators enlisted in the Programme have been fully demobilised, having successfully undertaken non-violence transformational training at the Amnesty Demobilisation Camps in Obubra, Cross River State and Akodo in Lagos State. For the demobilization exercise in the Camp, the Federal Government engaged experts from Nigeria, South Africa and the United States of America. The transformational/reorientation activities in the Camp were tailored to extinguish the belief of the ex-agitators in violence and provide them a more powerful alternative – nonviolence. Let me emphasis once more that following the conclusion of the demobilisation of the entire ex-agitators enrolled in the Amnesty Programme, Nigeria under the able leadership Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, entered history books as one of the few countries in the world that achieved a successful closure to the Disarmament and Demobilisation phases of its DDR Programme.  

Gentlemen of the Press, it has been established that what makes the difference between the rich and the poor nations of the world is the quality of the people, not just the resources buried under the ground or water. It is the people who explore and add value to natural resources; it is the people who think and innovate and trade. It is the people who create the wealth of nations. But for the people to do this at optimal capacity, they need to be skilled. Conscious of this fact, the Amnesty Office has successfully placed a total of 11,525 former agitators in skills acquisition/training centres as well as in formal education within the country and offshore. Of this number, 4,929 are being trained offshore while the balance of 6,382 have either been returned to formal education or have been placed in skill acquisition centres within the country. Similarly, 6,067 transformed ex-agitators are currently being processed for deployment to reintegration centres (both within the country and offshore) in the fiscal year 2012.

The good news is that a greater percentage of the former agitators are now able to adjust to life outside militancy with renewed vigour to eke out meaningful living. Even assisting in attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), In fact, last month one of the leaders of the ex-agitators, Chief Bibopiri Ajube (aka Shoot at Sight) invited eminent personalities including the Governor of Ondo State to Agadagba, Arogbo for the official commissioning of an ultra-modern Vocational Training Institute with Hostel facilities capable of accommodating a minimum of three hundred (300) trainees at a time in acquisition of General Vocational Training; Professional Welding Skills; Metal Fabrication; Computer and Information Technology Training; Oil, Gas & Marine Services. For all of its challenges and the doubts that the amnesty would hold, we have created and deepened peace and security in the region which is the mandate of the amnesty programme, which will no doubt help to encourage trade and investment in the region as well as propel development and sustainable economic growth to commence.

Gentlemen of the Press, the Presidential Amnesty Programme has so far graduated 6,549 Niger Delta youths in skills-acquisition fields such as Welding & Fabrication (2,216), Entrepreneurship (1,933), Pipe fitting (60), Carpentry & plumbing (103), Oil drilling & Marine related courses (700), Electrical installation (89), ICT (205), Crane and Heavy Duty (857), Boat building (49), Pipefitting (60) and others (263).

We are currently concluding plans with Fate Foundation, SMEDAN and Fortis Micro-finance to establish small businesses for over 80% of these graduates in relatively non-oil sector including equipment hiring and leasing.

Challenges

 The biggest challenge the Amnesty Programme currently faces is the rather distracting activities of thousands of youths from the States in the Niger Delta who are incessantly agitating to be included in the Programme. The truth of this matter is that a number of these youths were former agitators who initially scorned the offer of amnesty and refused to surrender their weapons to security agencies at the stipulated time. However seeing that the post-amnesty programme is working, these youths are now agitating to be included in the programme.Explanations by the Amnesty Office that they cannot be included in the Programme since they did not come out on or before October 4, 2009 to drop their arms and accept the offer of amnesty from the Federal Government, have not helped much. The Amnesty Office is currently persuading Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government to seek out ways of engaging or empowering thousands of unemployed and unengaged youths in the Niger Delta. The mandate of the Amnesty Office does not include providing training or manpower development opportunities  outside the 26,358 Niger-Delta ex-agitators enrolled in the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Similarly, the Amnesty Office is of the staunch view that security agencies in the country must continue to treat all militant agitations anywhere in the country as crime against our great country and thus stem this ugly trend with all the requisite doggedness and seriousness.

Another challenge facing the Presidential Amnesty Programme is that my office is not just grappling with how the beneficiaries will be gainfully employed and seek sustainable livelihood outside life of violence as the programme’s mandate can only lead to initiation and strengthening of peace and security but cannot grow the economy and has limited capacity to create jobs, we are also dealing with community healing and conflict resolution and reconciliation issues.

The Amnesty Office is open and willing to partner and collaborate with the private sector, ministries, agencies, departments and other stakeholders to find lasting solution to these problems in the region. Among the many challenges that we are looking for technical support to address are:

 Community based reintegration, programmes that will facilitate post conflict trauma healing and reconciliation effort. Some ex-agitators are not able to return to their communities to lead a normal civil life because of perceived fear of stigmatization and exclusion. If not properly addressed; this could lead to resurgence of violence.

Lack of broad-based social economic development programmes that address income generation and entrepreneurship development among local population. In order to address this, we need support to carry out a needs gap analysis of the economy of the Niger Delta. Owing to past experiences, where many initiatives had, most times been uncoordinated which had not helped in consolidating development gains and ensure guaranteed sustainable peace and security. In order to address this, we are desirous of pursuing coordinated efforts that would help create a joint platform to address the underlying causes of violence and under development in the Niger Delta

As the nation commemorates three years of the Presidential Amnesty Proclamation for former agitators in the Niger-Delta, permit me once again to salute the courage of the Chief Driver of the Programme, His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR. It must be recalled that as Vice-President, Dr. Jonathan was physically involved in major negotiations and consultations, which led to the brokering of the peace accord between the Federal Government and the Niger Delta ex-agitators. Dr. Jonathan defied all security advice and warnings at the time to undertake a visit to the militants-controlled creek areas of the Niger Delta, particularly the then dreaded Camp Five in Delta State. He risked his life and breached all protocols for the sake and objective of extracting peace commitment and ensuring total ceasefire in the region. So today, we salute the courage of President Goodluck Jonathan and also pay tribute to his predecessor, the Late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who graciously yielded to wise counsel and proclaimed amnesty for the former agitators on June 25, 2009. It is our fervent prayer that Almighty God will grant the soul of our late President eternal rest.

We also pay tribute to former chief executives of the Amnesty Programme: Major-Gen. Godwin Abbe (Rtd) and Chief Timi Alaibe for their pioneering roles in both the Disarmament and Demobilisation phases of the Programme. We salute the gallant officers of the Armed Forces of our great country who have since inception in 2009 been offering their services to the Programme. We are grateful. Above all however, we applaud the leadership of the former militant agitators in the Niger-Delta for believing in the Federal Government of Nigeria and consequently accepted the offer of amnesty. We thank them also for their unflinching backing for the post-Amnesty Programme. We thank also several eminent Nigerians who, for the love of our great country, staked their lives and toured the creeks of the Niger Delta to broker peace and achieve the disarmament component of the Amnesty Programme. The nation is indebted to you all.

Finally, permit me to reiterate our commitment to the vigorous pursuit of the vision of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to bequeath a clean, secure, peaceful and developed Niger Delta region that will eventually assume its place as the oil and gas hub of Africa. Thank you.

Two Former Nigerian Leaders Call for Talks to End Violence

Two former Nigerian leaders -- President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida -- on Sunday called for talks to end the deadly insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram.

In an unusual joint statement, the two former leaders reportedly said the violence in Nigeria has become unbearable and could put the nation's unity at risk.

They called for community involvement, in addition to security measures, to resolve the crisis.

Kabiru Mato, chair of the political science department at the University of Abuja in Nigeria, said the joint statement is a confirmation of the two former leaders’ commitment to the unity of Nigeria.

“President Obasanjo and President Babangida have always made their stance on Nigeria’s unity very clear. Each of them at different times have made abundantly clear that, if necessary to keep Nigeria together, they are prepared to wear their uniforms and go back into the trenches,” he said.

The two former leaders reportedly called on all Nigerians, including religious leaders and grassroots organizations, to get involved in the efforts to find a solution to the country’s violence.

They specifically said religious leaders had a greater burden to use the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to instill in Nigerians the “spirit of respect, humility and forgiveness”.

Mato said the call for community involvement is overdue.“I think the call by the two leaders, in my view, simply amplifies the growing national aspiration on the need to take more power from the center to local levels so that a lot of such issues that normally erupt from community are nib in the bud before they escalate,” Mato said.

The Boko insurgency has originated from Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north, targeting mostly Christians.

But, Mato said the fact that Mr. Obasanjo is a Christian from the southwest and Babangida is Muslim from central Nigeria does not matter.

He said the violence has persisted mainly because of the lack of political will on the part of the federal government to find a solution to the insurgency.

“I think where they are coming from is not really important. The problem in Nigeria has always been that of the weakness of the part of the leadership to and the failure to convene the citizenry that the leadership is responsible enough to hand and tackle the problems of the Nigerian people,” Mato said.

In their statement, the two former leaders reportedly said attempts should be made to “bring all armed belligerents to table for meaningful dialogue with the authorities for our future and that of our children and grandchildren”.

Mato said it is possible to bring all armed belligerents together for dialogue as was done by the late President Umaru Yar’Ardua with Niger Delta militants.

“We have seen the late President Yar’Ardua bring the militants in the Niger Delta area that had succeeded in disrupting oil supply and production in Nigeria to a roundtable and amnesty was granted to them, and Nigeria go back to its oil business. So, it’s all left to government to deploy the necessary will power to negotiate,” Mato said.

Fuel subsidy trial: More suspects to be arraigned today

LAGOS— Five days after they were granted bail by an Ikeja High court, sons of the incumbent and former chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mahmud Tukur and Ahmadu Ali and three other oil marketers who were docked last Thursday, are still in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
This came as more of the alleged oil subsidy scam suspects will be arraigned today. The three others arraigned alongside Mahmud and Ahmadu were Abdulahi Alao, son of Alhaji Arisekola Alao, an Ibadan based businessman; a Sierra-Leonean, Christian Taylor and Ochonogor Alex. They were accused of defrauding the Federal Government of N304 billion in the oil subsidy scam.
After their arraignment last Thursday, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of Ikeja High Court granted them bail in the sum of N20 million with two sureties in like sum. One of the sureties must be a level 16 officer in the Lagos State or Federal Civil Service. The other one must own a property worth N200 million.
It was gathered, however, that all their efforts to meet the bail conditions last Friday, the last working day, were futile.
As at Saturday evening, our correspondence was reliably informed that the accused were yet to fulfill the bail conditions, especially getting sureties on level 16.
Another major hurdle before them was the verification of the particulars of the sureties as ordered by the court as well as getting the state officials to verify the property they intend to use as one of the conditions stipulated by the court.
In Lagos State, it was gathered that the state officials will have to visit and value the property and ensure that the property is properly evaluated and that necessary land charges have been paid before approval for the bail.
Some of the counsel to the oil marketers were sighted at the premises of the High Court Ikeja at about 5.30 pm on Friday, moving from one office to the other, trying to perfect the bail conditions.
One of the court officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “the way things are going, I doubt if they will finish the process before Wednesday.
As I am talking, they are yet to get a level 16 officer to stand in for three of them.
“You know the process is long and cumbersome.
They are yet to get or clear the issue of tax clearance which is the most difficult aspect now in Lagos State. Apart from getting the tax clearance, the state officials will visit the property being used as guarantee and value it with their valuers and also ensure that proper ‘land use charges’ are paid on the property.”
My son is answerable for his actions —Arisekola Alao
Meanwhile, an Ibadan-based businessman, Alhaji Arisekola Alao has said his son Abdullahi who is facing trial in Lagos over oil subsidy scam is an adult and a businessman doing business like every other Nigerian. In a statement, yesterday, he said Abdulahi Alao “is answerable for his actions and transactions under the law of the land. As an adult and a true Muslim, there is no doubt that he knows what is wrong and what is right”.