Justice minister demands Abacha's assets

Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke has demanded that the $458 million worth of assets that former dictator Sani Abacha stole should be returned to Nigeria.

The assets were recently frozen by the United States.

Capital FM reports that the Nigerian government had been silent about the freezing of the asses until now.

According to the report, Adoke said he was impressed by "the efforts of the United States to recover the (funds) for the benefit of the people of Nigeria".

Sahara Reporters reports that funds from the forfeited assets are to be used to fund development projects.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Oropharyngeal Cancer - Fact Sheet

Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause serious health problems, including genital warts and certain cancers. However, in most cases HPV goes away on its own before causing any health problems.

 

What is genital HPV?

Genital human papillomavirus (also called HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the U.S. Most types of HPV are not harmful to people. There are more than 40 types of HPV that can infect the genital areas as well as the mouth and throat. Most people who become infected with HPV do not know that they are infected.

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What is oral HPV?

The same types of HPV that infect the genital areas can infect the mouth and throat. HPV found in the mouth and throat is called “oral HPV.”  Some types of oral HPV (known as “high risk types”) can cause cancers of the head and neck area. Other types of oral HPV (known as “low risk types”) can cause warts in the mouth or throat. In most cases, HPV infections of all types go away before they cause any health problems.

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What head and neck cancers can be caused by HPV?

HPV can cause cancers in the back of the throat, most commonly in the base of the tongue and tonsils, in an area known as the “oropharynx.” These cancers are called “oropharyngeal cancers.”

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How does HPV cause cancer?

HPV can cause normal cells in infected skin to turn abnormal. Most of the time, you cannot see or feel these cell changes. In most cases, the body fights off the HPV infection naturally and infected cells then go back to normal. But in cases when the body does not fight off this virus, HPV can cause visible changes and certain types of HPV can cause an oropharyngeal cancer. Cancer caused by HPV often takes years to develop after initially getting an HPV infection.  It is unclear if having HPV alone is sufficient to cause oropharyngeal cancers, or if other factors (such as smoking or chewing tobacco) interact with HPV to cause these cancers.  More research is needed to understand all the factors leading to oropharyngeal cancers.

What are the signs and symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer?

Signs and symptoms may include persistent sore throat, earaches, hoarseness, enlarged lymph nodes, pain when swallowing, and unexplained weight loss.  Some persons have no signs or symptoms.

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How common is oral HPV?

Studies in the U.S. have found that about 7% of people have oral HPV. But only 1% of people have the type of oral HPV that is found in oropharyngeal cancers (HPV type 16). Oral HPV is about three times more common in men than in women.

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How common are cancers of the oropharynx?

Each year, in the U.S., about 8,400 people are diagnosed with cancers of the oropharynx that may be caused by HPV. Cancers of the oropharynx are about three times more common in men than women.  

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How do people get oral HPV? 

Only a few studies have looked at how people get oral HPV, and some of these studies show conflicting results. Some studies suggest that oral HPV may be passed on during oral sex (from mouth-to-genital or mouth-to-anus contact) or open-mouthed (“French”) kissing, others have not.   The likelihood of getting HPV from kissing or having oral sex with someone who has HPV is not known. We do know that partners who have been together a long time tend to share genital HPV—meaning they both may have it.  More research is needed to understand exactly how people get and give oral HPV infections.

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How can I lower my risk of giving or getting oral HPV?

At this time no studies have explored how oral HPV can be prevented. However, it is likely that condoms and dental dams, when used consistently and correctly, will lower the chances of giving or getting oral HPV during oral sex, since they serve as barriers, and can stop the transmission of HPV from person to person. More research is needed to understand how oral HPV is passed on, how it can be prevented, and who is most likely to develop health problems from an oral HPV infection.

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Is there a test for me to find out if I have oral HPV? 

There is no FDA-approved test to diagnose HPV in the mouth or throat.  Medical and dental organizations do not recommend screening for oral HPV. More research is needed to find out if screening for oropharyngeal cancers will have health benefits. Talk to your dentist about any symptoms that could suggest early signs of oropharyngeal cancer.

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Can HPV vaccines prevent oral HPV and oropharyngeal cancers? 

HPV vaccines that are now on the market were developed to prevent cervical and other less common genital cancers. It is possible that HPV vaccines might also prevent oropharyngeal cancers, since the vaccines prevent an initial infection with HPV types that can cause oropharyngeal cancers, but studies have not yet been done to determine if HPV vaccines will prevent oropharyngeal cancers

IG sets up committee to resolve herdsmen, farmers crises

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, has set up a committee to resolve the lingering clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in some northern parts of the country.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja that the committee was headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of operations.

The statement said that the President-General, Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of the herdsmen, and three other members of the body were included in the committee.

It said that the president and executive members of Farmers’ Association of Nigeria were also members.

It said that community leaders of the affected areas in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara, some of the states affected by the clashes, were members of the committee.

The statement said that the committee followed an interactive meeting between the inspector-general and the leadership of Miyetti Allah at the Force Headquarters on Thursday.

“The essence of the meeting was to find an alternative dispute resolution mechanism geared towards finding a lasting solution to the lingering crises.

“In addition to the ongoing crisis management measures and strategies being implemented by the force, there was need to meet with stakeholders and parties to the conflict,’’ it added.

The statement directed the committee to visit all the affected states and liaise with the police commands as well as the governors and other stakeholders, to resolve the crises.

The statement called on the leadership of Miyetti Allah and other relevant stakeholders, to cooperate with the police in resolving the issues.

A road map for resuscitating our public universities

For our public universities to compete, we must promote undergraduate teaching to a global standard, produce research that solves problems, encourage faculty to be part of a global academy where research and productivity are measured in qualitative ways.”

- Prof. Toyin Falola, Convocation lecture, University of the State of Osun, March 27, 2014

 Each week, a columnist is confronted with a harvest of riveting issues and events to comment upon, more so in a country like ours where reality not only mimics fiction, but now and again, overtakes it in sheer, fascinating absurdity.

The chilling discovery of a horror chamber on the outskirts of Ibadan replete with decapitated human bodies, as well as men and women who have survived extreme torture make Yoruba novelist, D. O. Fagunwa’s “Forest Of A Thousand Demons” read like a nursery rhyme.  There was yet another tragic candidate for commentary, namely, the report that a catastrophic drop in power supply had necessitated the decision of government to import electricity from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that still bears the scars of a decade long, savage bloodletting.  The question to ask is: How did Nigeria get to this sorry pass?

But let us reserve that question and the topic of the evil forest for another day and come imaginatively with this writer to the University of the State of Osun where Toyin Falola, Distinguished Professor of African History and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mosiker Chair in the Humanities, at the University of Texas, Austin addressed the topic, “Public Universities: Vision and Knowledge Economies”.  The initial part of the lecture traverses a familiar ground by putting on the table the woes of the Nigerian university system. But it goes beyond familiar explanations such as underfunding, dishevelled infrastructure, the low morale of teachers to zero in on the internal dysfunctions of the system itself. The scholar laments, for example, a situation where there are more administrative staff in some universities than there are academic staff. He then asks acidly: “What are they doing? Carrying files? These are areas of gross wastage of resources.” That is not all. He tackles the Academic Staff Union of Universities over what he called their proclivity for strike actions urging the need for attitudinal change in our academics and a shift in their strategies and tactics. This, of course, is a sore point which has been much debated namely, has ASUU through incessant and protracted strikes, admittedly waged for edifying reasons, become part of the problem of the regression of our universities? Other issues of internal decay that come in for mention include the enormous amount of time devoted to committee meetings, signing files and routine matters by vice-chancellors whose time should have been freed up for strategic planning and issues touching on the long-term enhancement of quality.

    Obviously, Falola insists, we cannot separate the diminution of our public universities from the degradation of the public sector and the recycling of inept and visionless leaders especially at the centre. To quote him: “If the quality of leadership is mediocre, its vision and instructions will be severely limiting. If elite behaviour is morally bankrupt, its value will affect everything the institutions do.”

One area in which this point comes home is the contrasting perspective of leaders of the developmental states of Asia who devoted a substantial share of national revenue to funding education and the gross underfunding way below the 26 per cent stipulated by UNESCO

of the same by Nigerian leaders. According to the famed scholar, this has produced a situation where many Nigerian graduates are not just unemployed but are unemployable to the extent that employers are frustrated in many cases because they can hardly find fresh graduates with the right skill sets and work ethics that will add value to their organisation.

If our public universities are to be repositioned and take their place in the knowledge economy especial attention, Falola says, must be paid to the training and remuneration of teachers. To buttress the point, he alludes to the Japanese example where graduate teachers are the best paid public servants. Of course, as he recognises, there was a time in Nigeria when the salaries of professors was in tandem with that of a federal permanent secretary.  Today however, and despite the increased workload of professors, a distinct pay differential has emerged between apex positions in the civil service and those of senior academics.  Ironically, it is this sense of unfair disparity that has turned our academics into perpetual agitators with destructive consequences for the academic calendar.

One other pitfall identified is the bland and unimaginative uniformity noticeable in our public universities with every university offering more or less the same blend of courses and where salaries and emoluments are not graduated to reflect productivity. As Falola puts it: “Most public universities pay the same salaries to academics more on the basis of their designation regardless of whether or not one is more productive than the other.  The practice of paying everyone without measuring their productivity encourages lethargy, idleness, useless politicking and redundancy.” The point made here must be qualified by the fact that unproductive academics are likely to stagnate given that promotion is mainly tied to academic output. It is true, nonetheless, that there are incentive structures which the system can introduce to distinguish outstandingly productive academics.  For example, the practice in South African universities of paying the equivalent in Rands of N1m to academics who publish in top journals can be usefully copied but not under the current over-centralised and over-directed public university system.

Again, to cast a backward glance, our universities were not always so rigid and drab. If they were, former Vice-Chancellor of the then University of Ife, Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade, would not have been able to appoint Wole Soyinka to a chair of comparative literature in the late 1970s. Nor would, to cite an example mentioned in the lecture, Prof. Wande Abimbola, a former Vice-Chancellor of the same university, have been able to incorporate indigenous Yoruba poets, historians and herbal experts into the Ife university system with remarkable cross-fertilisation impact.

Perhaps, the most rewarding aspect of the lecture is the tool kit for re-imagining and repositioning our public universities. As the opening quote suggests, raising our prostrate universities to global standards while they remain locally appropriate should be the objective of any meaningful reform.  Here, the lecturer advocates a blending of indigenous knowledge with cutting edge global science to produce an innovate mix. In this connection, he refers to the Osun State Government’s Opon Imo project which as it is developed could be used, in Falola’s words, “as evidence that indigenous concepts  may be interposed with Western technology and made to generate an effective, consumable intellectually vibrant end product.”  In other words, an innovative and marketable knowledge industry, an ICT infrastructure-based revamping, education for self-reliance and for self-employment are critical ingredients of the paradigm shifts that the lecture espouses.

A sumptuous intellectual menu laced with several courses no doubt; the question remains, however, to what extent the policy suggestions and insights will become a part and parcel of the fabric of policymaking in the country.

Malaysia plane: Objects spotted in new search area

A plane has spotted “objects” in the new area of the Indian Ocean being searched for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian officials say.

The sightings would need confirmation by ship, which is not expected until tomorrow, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

Earlier it was announced the search would now focus on an area 1,100km (700 miles) north-east of the previous zone.

The Beijing-bound airliner disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The identity of the objects – spotted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion – were “to be established”, Amsa said.

The crew said they had spotted 11 unidentified objects, the BBC’s Phil Mercer reports from the western Australian city of Perth.

The images hold out the prospect of up-to-date information, as opposed to satellite images which are invariably days out of date by the time they are seen by investigators, our correspondent adds.

Earlier, the Australian and Malaysian governments said the focus on the new search area was based on further analysis of radar data that showed the plane had been travelling faster, thus burning more fuel.

Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 2,500km (1,550 miles) to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.

Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing plane flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.

Using satellite images, several nations have identified objects floating in the sea in that search area, but these have not been located and there is no evidence that they are related to the plane.

Acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the fact that the search area had moved did not discount the earlier satellite images of possible debris further south.

“Because of ocean drift, this new search area could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images over the past week,” Hishammuddin said.

Six killed in CAR grenade attack

Six people were killed and about 10 injured on Friday in a grenade attack in Bangui, the Central African Republic capital.

An eyewitness account said the attackers wore uniforms of Burundian peacekeepers, but they were suspected to be local and Chadian Islamist extremists disguised as peacekeepers.

It said the grenade was hurled at a group of people mourning a person who had been given a funeral the day before.

The fatalities belonged to the same family which included a two-year-old child, a pregnant woman and an elderly man.

Hospital sources confirmed that six bodies had been placed in the morgue, while other survivors with various degrees of injuries were being attended to.

Thai anti-graft office attacked ahead of PM hearing

Grenades were thrown at the offices of Thailand’s anti-corruption agency, which has summoned the prime minister to answer charges of dereliction of duty next week, as protesters trying to oust her prepared for a big weekend rally.

Nobody was injured in the overnight attack, the second on the agency’s offices this week, police said on Friday. It was not clear who threw the grenades. Supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been demonstrating at the building this week.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission is examining the alleged failure of Yingluck to stop corruption and stem huge losses in a government rice-buying program.

It is widely expected to recommend her impeachment by the Senate. If the Senate takes up the case, Yingluck will have to step aside while a deputy prime minister would be expected to take over. If she is found guilty by the Senate, she would be forced to step down.

Her supporters, who have been broadly restrained during five months of anti-government protests in the capital, are starting to mobilize and are planning their own big rally, or series of rallies, on April 5.

Anti-government demonstrators resumed street protests on Monday after lying low for weeks. Their rally on Saturday is expected to draw up to 50,000 people Paradorn Pattanathabutr, a security adviser to the prime minister, told Reuters.

“We don’t expect any violence at the rally but provocateurs might try to stir trouble to discredit the government side,” Paradorn said.

Thailand has been in crisis since former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, was ousted in a 2006 coup. The conflict broadly pits the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of the Shinawatras.

The turmoil entered a fresh phase in November, when anti-government protesters first took to the streets. Twenty-three people were killed during the political violence over the following months.

The protesters disrupted a general election on Feb. 2; the election results were annulled by the Constitutional Court this month.

Yingluck heads a caretaker administration with limited powers, unable to take any big policy decisions binding on the next government.

The political paralysis is hurting the economy.

Data on Friday showed factory output fell 4.42 percent in February from a year before, the 11th fall in a row.

Although customs data on Wednesday logged a 2.4 percent rise in exports in February compared with a year before, imports plunged 16.6 percent after a 15.5 percent drop in January, showing the weakness of domestic demand and the reluctance of industry to invest in capital goods because of the crisis.

Ukraine: Russia must pull back troops, says US

US President Barack Obama has urged Russia to stop “intimidating” Ukraine and reduce the number of troops it has on its border.

He also called on Russia to “de-escalate the situation” and begin negotiations with Kiev.

Russia is believed to have massed a force of several thousand troops close to the eastern frontier of Ukraine.

Obama told CBS News it may “be an effort to intimidate Ukraine, or it may be that [Russia has] additional plans.”

In a separate development, ousted President Viktor Yanukovych has called for a national referendum to determine each region’s “status within Ukraine”.

He fled to Russia last month after massive demonstrations against him and clashes between protesters and police in which more than 100 people died. The Kremlin says the new government in Kiev came to power illegally.

President Obama, in the interview recorded before he left Italy on Thursday, said President Vladimir Putin had been “willing to show a deeply-held grievance about what he considers to be the loss of the Soviet Union”.

But he warned that the Russian leader should not “revert back to the kinds of practices that were so prevalent during the Cold War”.

“I think there’s a strong sense of Russian nationalism and a sense that somehow the West has taken advantage of Russia in the past, ” Obama said. “What I have repeatedly said is that he may be entirely misreading the West. He’s certainly misreading American foreign policy.”

Obama said the US has “no interest in circling Russia” and “no interest in Ukraine beyond letting Ukrainian people make their own decisions about their own lives.”

Insecurity: North-East CAN holds 3-day fasting,prayers

The Christian Association of Nigeria, North-East Zone, on Friday said it would hold a 3-day fasting and prayers to seek God’s intervention over the prevailing security challenges affecting the zone.

The Chairman of the Association, Rev. Shuaibu Byel, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Bauchi.

Byel explained that the prayer would be held at the states and local governments level, from April 1 to April 2, 2014, and round-off at the Zonal level on April 3, 2014 in Gombe, Gombe State.

“The situation in our zone demand serious prayer for God’s intervention.

“We want to pray for the aggrieved ones to lay down their arms and embrace the path of peace, through dialogue, as effective means of resolving our differences.

“We want to also pray that if it is temptation, God should help us come out of it victorious, and if it is punishment, let’s repent and ask God to forgive us.

“On the part of leadership, we want to pray that those at the helm of affairs should lead with fairness, justice and righteousness, without discrimination.

“We want to also pray and call on all stakeholders to be cautious and respectful in dealing with human beings in crisis-ridden areas,” he said.

The chairman appealed to Nigerians to join CAN in praying for lasting peace in the country, adding that there could be no meaningful development in an atmosphere of insecurity.

“Nigerians should join us in prayer as we seek God’s intervention on the prevailing security challenges affecting the socio-economic development of the North-East geo-political zone.

“Government is doing its best, but it needs our prayers to succeed, especially in tackling the security issues in the country, particularly in the north-east zone,” he said.

ECOWAS calls for regional response to stem Ebola

The ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council has called for regional response in the appropriate management of the outbreak of Ebola haemorrhage fever in Guinea Republic.

A statement on Friday by the ECOWAS spokesman, Mr Sunny Ugoh, said that the council made the call at its 31st meeting held in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire on March 25.

The statement said the fever, which had equally affected other neighbouring countries, caused enormous loss of human lives.

It said the council considered the epidemic a serious threat to regional security.

The council appealed to the international community to assist in the management of the epidemic in the region.

In that regard, the council requested the President of the Commission, in consultation with the West African Health Organisation, to take relevant actions.

It said this would be geared toward mobilising stakeholders and the needed resources to stem the epidemic.

The statement said that the council expressed compassion and solidarity with the republics of Guinea and Liberia, as well as the bereaved families.

Ukraine faces hard road to economic recovery

Smarting from Ukraine’s U-turn towards Europe, Russia is likely to employ every weapon in its economic arsenal to ensure its neighbor’s road to financial recovery is as painful as possible, even when paved with billions of dollars in Western aid.

After months of anti-government protests and the overthrow of a government blighted by corruption and economic mismanagement, Ukraine is on the brink of bankruptcy, running wide external deficits and a current account shortfall of over 9 percent of gross domestic product.

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund threw a financial lifeline, agreeing to stump up $14-18 billion as part of a two-year bailout package in exchange for tough economic reforms.

The deal, combined with Kyiv’s signing of a cooperation pact linked to closer trade ties with the European Union, represents a serious blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dream of Ukraine joining a Eurasian Union of former Soviet states.

Moscow will not make it easy.

Russia has “the right to use selective protective measures against Ukraine if it creates a free trade zone with a third government, or for example with the European Union,” a Russian economy ministry spokesman said in response to a question from Reuters.

Ukraine is already feeling some consequences from its break with Russia. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday the price the country would pay for Russian gas, which accounts for over half of Ukrainian gas imports, would soar by almost 80 percent from April 1 as the seizure of Crimea had rendered a cheaper gas deal obsolete.

Russia’s Gazprom has suggested a new conflict over gas payments and supplies – like disputes in 2006 and 2009 that halted supplies to Ukraine and onward to Europe – could break out, though it added it had no interest in a resumption of such disputes.

“The better off Ukraine is under the new government, the more likely it will integrate into the West,” said Nicu Popescu, senior analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

“So disrupting the Ukrainian transition in political and economic terms is probably Russia’s primary foreign policy goal in the foreseeable future.”

Putin’s annexation of Crimea, which Kiev and the West say is illegitimate, is likely to push Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) down by 5 percent in 2014, according to Simon Mandel, Vice President for Emerging Europe at New York-based brokerage Auerbach Grayson.

While the tens of thousands of Russian troops thought to be massed on the border show no immediate sign of entering other parts of Ukraine, Russia has already flexed its trade muscles to upset the Western-backed Ukrainian recovery plan

DPP absolves Lagos pastor of murder of 12-year-old girl

The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions has absolved the founder of a church, Perfect Christianity Mission, Pastor Sign Fireman, of complicity in the murder of a 12-year-old girl.

This is contained in a legal advice by the DPP to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigations Department, M.A.K. Smith Street, Yaba.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the legal advice, dated Feb. 27, was signed by Ms Olayide Eboda on behalf of the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye.

NAN reports that Ogoja was allegedly strangled to death by one Ikechukwu Egbo in Badagry, Lagos State on Dec. 31, 2013.

Egbo had in a confessional statement claimed that it was Fireman, who asked him to murder the girl and obtain her excreta for a N100,000 reward.

However, the DPP cleared Fireman of the crime after the conclusion of Police investigations into the incident, while Egbo was found culpable.

The DPP said the facts in the file revealed that the suspect tricked the deceased to an uncompleted building and strangled her.

“The suspect claimed he was asked to strangle a young girl and bring her excreta.

“He intended to kill the girl and he carried out his intention, but was out of luck as he was apprehended by the security guards in the building where the incident occurred.

“After a careful consideration of the facts contained in the duplicate file, this office is of the opinion that a prima facie case of murder is established against the primary suspect (Egbo) only.

“In view of the foregoing, this office shall prosecute Egbo at the state high court for the offence of murder.

“On the other hand, the second suspect (Fireman) is to be released forthwith if he is still in custody as no case is established against him,” the DPP stated.

Fireman’s counsel, Mr Peter Oboyi, told newsmen on Friday that the exoneration of his client had shown clearly that Egbo had lied against him.

Oboyi said in the course of investigations by the police it was discovered that Egbo was not close to Fireman as he claimed.

He said the young boy could not identify the street, number and colour of the house of the cleric whom he had claimed to be working for or familiar with.

In his reaction, Fireman said the DPP’s advice was not unexpected because he knew nothing about the murder.

The cleric told newsmen that he would not file any suit against the police over his arrest, adding that they were only doing their job as law enforcement agents.

He said, “This incident is the handiwork of some people who are not happy with the successes being made by our ministry.

“We started this ministry in 2009 with only four persons, but today we have over 100 branches with about 60 in Lagos.”

Kwara earmarks N700m to tackle HIV/AIDS

The Kwara State Government has set aside more than N700m to tackle HIV/AIDS scourge in the state, the Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Issa Kayode, has said.

Kayode stated this in Ilorin on Friday at the inauguration of the State Management Team on HIV/AIDS.

Giving a breakdown of the amount, Kayode said N57m would be spent for the establishment of a new centre for HIV/AIDS treatment in the state.

He said N651.2m was also set aside as the government’s counterpart fund to the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) for the 2014 HIV/AIDs programmes.

He said the Kwara State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS had purchased various equipment and test kits for the programme.

This, he said, was to support government’s efforts in reducing the menace of the pandemic in the state.

Kayode said the inauguration of the State Management Team on HIV/AIDS programme would further ensure ownership and sustainability of the programme.

Project Manager and Secretary of KWASACA, Dr Johnson Adegboyega, said the meeting was organised to sensitise and educate the people on the workings of the team.

Minister for Interior Abba Moro accepts blame for NIS tragedy

The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro yesterday accepted blame for the poorly conducted immigration recruitment exercise that led to the death of 16 youths on March 15th. Mr Moro appeared before the Senate Committee on Interior Matters Panel instituted by the senate to investigate circumstances that led to the ill-fated exercise. While expressing his sympathy to those that died, Moro said as with most administrative exercises, the end result cannot be determined...

"Mr chairman and distinguished senators, we are deeply grieved and saddened by the way events turned out. We express our sincere regrets once again. However, permit me to state that our patriotic desire was the pursuit of a more honest, a more transparent, a more cost effective, a more efficient and equitable platform. We sincerely made appropriate and adequate preparations for a hitch -free exercise, but as most things in administrative and human conditions, the yield curve of expected outcome is mostly undefined .My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost their dear loved ones. I sincerely sympathize with those injured. I share in their grief. I share in their pains." Continue...

"May I, at this juncture, assure you, distinguished senators and Nigerians, of my respect for  the sanctity of human life. The loss of these young Nigerians, who are needed as a critical human resource factor for nation building is most regrettable. As the Minister of Interior, under whose purview this unfortunate exercise took place, I cannot abdicate my responsibility. The buck stops here.”

Also at the panel yesterday, the Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mr.  David Parradang told the committee members that he was sidelined by the Minister throughout the recruitment exercise and that he got wind of the exercise through a  newspaper advertorial. He said only N45million was released to the NIS for provision of test materials as against the the N201million released to the consulting firm, Drexel Technical Nigeria Limited. He said this caused a lot of logistic problems on the day of the test.

Some of the Commanders of the NIS who headed the test in some other states said asides the serious logistic problems, influx of those who were not supposed to write the exam was also responsible for the stampede experienced on that day..

215,000 displaced in Sudan in 2014 -UN

The UN African Union Mission in Darfur, on Friday, said more than 215,000 people have been displaced due to the increasing violence in Sudan’s Darfur region since the beginning of 2014.

UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative, Ali Al-Za’ tari, and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Joseph Mutaboba, issued a joint statement in which they expressed deep concern over the increasing violence in Darfur.

The two officials said in the statement that “last month, a wave of violence in Darfur affected tens of thousands of people.

“Since the beginning of 2014, more than 215,000 people in Darfur have been displaced from their homes; many people in Darfur have no choice but to flee their homes in fear.

“It is particularly troubling that in the face of this violence, the UN and the humanitarian community at large are being increasingly constrained from helping the majority of those affected.

“Due to the access restrictions and security constraints placed upon humanitarian agencies, even monitoring the numbers of people who have been displaced from their homes is increasingly challenging.”

The joint statement urged the Sudanese government and all actors and parties involved in the conflict and the international community to take robust measures to ensure the protection of civilians and unimpeded access of aid workers in Darfur.

Sudan’s Darfur region had been witnessing civil war since 2003 under mounting violence due to armed clashes between the Sudanese army and rebel groups in addition to tribal violence.

Bauchi to establish technology incubation centre -Govt

The Bauchi State Government on Friday said it had concluded plans to establish a Technology Incubation Centre that would train a minimum of 1000 youths annually in various trades.

The State’s Commissioner for Science and Technology, Alhaji Bala Abdullahi, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Bauchi.

He said that N24.19m contract had already been awarded for the renovation and fencing of the temporary site, before making arrangement for a permanent site.

Abdullahi said that the centre, if properly positioned, would reduce poverty through employment generation.

He explained that government’s intervention in that regard was to establish a positive environment that could nurture technology-based small and medium scale enterprises for sustainable development.

“The centre would generally focus on nurturing technology intensive enterprises and knowledge-based ventures.

“The target is mainly the youths, especially school drop-outs, to learn basic skills to fend for themselves.

“They would be trained on carpentry and joinery, metal work, electrical electronics and building technology, among others.

“They would not only be equipped with skills, but would also be trained on how to sustain the business, with a view to earning steady income and improving their living standard.

“By giving them this opportunity, the rate of poverty will drastically reduce in the state,” Abdullahi, said.

He called on stakeholders, especially the private sector, to support the state’s drive for technological advancement for sustainable development.

Thai anti-graft office attacked ahead of PM hearing

Grenades were thrown at the offices of Thailand’s anti-corruption agency, which has summoned the prime minister to answer charges of dereliction of duty next week, as protesters trying to oust her prepared for a big weekend rally.

Nobody was injured in the overnight attack, the second on the agency’s offices this week, police said on Friday. It was not clear who threw the grenades. Supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been demonstrating at the building this week.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission is examining the alleged failure of Yingluck to stop corruption and stem huge losses in a government rice-buying program.

It is widely expected to recommend her impeachment by the Senate. If the Senate takes up the case, Yingluck will have to step aside while a deputy prime minister would be expected to take over. If she is found guilty by the Senate, she would be forced to step down.

Her supporters, who have been broadly restrained during five months of anti-government protests in the capital, are starting to mobilize and are planning their own big rally, or series of rallies, on April 5.

Anti-government demonstrators resumed street protests on Monday after lying low for weeks. Their rally on Saturday is expected to draw up to 50,000 people Paradorn Pattanathabutr, a security adviser to the prime minister, told Reuters.

“We don’t expect any violence at the rally but provocateurs might try to stir trouble to discredit the government side,” Paradorn said.

Thailand has been in crisis since former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, was ousted in a 2006 coup. The conflict broadly pits the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of the Shinawatras.

The turmoil entered a fresh phase in November, when anti-government protesters first took to the streets. Twenty-three people were killed during the political violence over the following months.

The protesters disrupted a general election on Feb. 2; the election results were annulled by the Constitutional Court this month.

Yingluck heads a caretaker administration with limited powers, unable to take any big policy decisions binding on the next government.

The political paralysis is hurting the economy.

Data on Friday showed factory output fell 4.42 percent in February from a year before, the 11th fall in a row.

Although customs data on Wednesday logged a 2.4 percent rise in exports in February compared with a year before, imports plunged 16.6 percent after a 15.5 percent drop in January, showing the weakness of domestic demand and the reluctance of industry to invest in capital goods because of the crisis.

Insecurity: North-East CAN holds 3-day fasting,prayers

The Christian Association of Nigeria, North-East Zone, on Friday said it would hold a 3-day fasting and prayers to seek God’s intervention over the prevailing security challenges affecting the zone.

The Chairman of the Association, Rev. Shuaibu Byel, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Bauchi.

Byel explained that the prayer would be held at the states and local governments level, from April 1 to April 2, 2014, and round-off at the Zonal level on April 3, 2014 in Gombe, Gombe State.

“The situation in our zone demand serious prayer for God’s intervention.

“We want to pray for the aggrieved ones to lay down their arms and embrace the path of peace, through dialogue, as effective means of resolving our differences.

“We want to also pray that if it is temptation, God should help us come out of it victorious, and if it is punishment, let’s repent and ask God to forgive us.

“On the part of leadership, we want to pray that those at the helm of affairs should lead with fairness, justice and righteousness, without discrimination.

“We want to also pray and call on all stakeholders to be cautious and respectful in dealing with human beings in crisis-ridden areas,” he said.

The chairman appealed to Nigerians to join CAN in praying for lasting peace in the country, adding that there could be no meaningful development in an atmosphere of insecurity.

“Nigerians should join us in prayer as we seek God’s intervention on the prevailing security challenges affecting the socio-economic development of the North-East geo-political zone.

“Government is doing its best, but it needs our prayers to succeed, especially in tackling the security issues in the country, particularly in the north-east zone,” he said.

Jonathan mourns late national conference delegate

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday commiserated with members of the Association of Retired Police Officers on the death, on Thursday in Abuja, of one of their representatives at the ongoing national conference, Hamma Misau.

Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, extended condolences to the retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police’ family, the government and people of Bauchi State, as well as the Chairman of the National Conference, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd.) and all of the deceased’s co-delegates.

Abati said President joined them in mourning Misau who patriotically served his nation, state and community throughout his 34 years of distinguished service in the Nigeria Police Force.

He observed that even in retirement, the deceased continued to be actively engaged with efforts to move the nation forward as shown by his participation in the National Conference.

“As he is laid to rest in his home state today, President Jonathan urges all delegates to the National Conference to resolve to honour his memory by rededicating themselves to working conscientiously towards further strengthening national unity, and promoting peace, security, political stability and faster development in the country.

“The President prays that Almighty Allah will receive Hamma Misau’s soul and grant him eternal rest in Paradise,” the statement read.

Egypt gets new defence minister as Al-Sisi resigns

Egyptian military Chief of Staff, Gen. Sedki Sobhi, took oath of office on Friday as the country’s new Defence Minister to succeed Abdel-Fattah al- Sisi, who resigned to run for the country’s presidency.

The Egyptian Interim President, Adli Mansour, promoted Sobhi from lieutenant general to the higher rank of general, a preparatory step for the chief of staff to replace Al-sisi as defence minister.

Al-Sisi declared his widely-anticipated candidacy in a campaign style televised speech and vowed to fight for an Egypt “free of terrorism” and promised to build a democratic and modern country.

Egypt’s newly-approved constitution allows only civilians to run for president, which requires al-sisi to give up the military post to join the presidential race.

Sobhi attended his first cabinet meeting right after taking oath before the interim president.

Meanwhile, Mansour had issued a presidential decree promoting Maj.-Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy to the higher rank of lieutenant general and appointed him as new military chief of staff to replace Sobhi.

Bauchi confab delegate dies in Abuja

A delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Alhaji Mohammed Misau, is dead.

Although the details of his death were still sketchy, it was learnt that he died on Thursday night at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Misau, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police from Bauchi State, according his cousin, Mohammed Hamma, died after a brief illness at the age of 67.

The remains of the deceased were being taken to Misau, his home town in Bauchi State at the time of filing this report.

The deceased’s cousin said the body would be buried according to Islamic rites shortly after prayer.

The late delegate was helped to a seat by an aide last Wednesday afternoon, when he attempted to walk to where his car was parked but couldn’t muster enough strength to do so.

When contacted, the Assistant Secretary (Media and Communication) for the National Conference, Mr. James Akpandem,confirmed the death saying, “it is true.”

A delegate from the South-West, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said, “Yes, I heard of it that the man is dead.”

FG allocates N74bn to NYSC scheme -Official

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Youths Development, Mr Kamil Akinlabi, says the Federal Government allocates over N74bn to the National Youths Service Corps scheme annually.

He made the disclosure on Friday when he led members of the committee on oversight visit to the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp in Wamakko, Sokoto State.

He said the money, which is being regularly released, is for the payment of corps members’ allowances and other recurrent expenditures of the scheme.

“The Federal Government and the National Assembly members are fully committed to the sustenance of the scheme, which has immensely helped in cementing unity among youths in the country,” he said.

The committee chairman expressed happiness with what he described as the excellent state of facilities at the Wamakko NYSC Orientation Camp. He urged other state governments to emulate the state.

The state NYSC Coordinator, Mr Thomas Yamma, also commended Gov. Aliyu Wamakko and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, for their sustained interest and support for the success of the scheme.

NFF queries Keshi over attitude to work

The Nigeria Football Federation has asked Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to explain several incidents bordering on his attitude to work. The memo signed by the federation’s Technical Director, Emmanuel Ikpeme, on behalf of the General Secretary asks the coach to explain why he proceeded on leave without permission and thus missing a reception hosted by President Jonathan Goodluck in February among other issues.

Keshi has been asked to respond to the query dated March 26 within 24 hours.

A member of the NFF Technical Committee told The PUNCH that his attitude to his employers especially in the last few months has been quite disrespectful.

He said, “For a coach that preaches discipline, he has not performed according to what he says. Tuesday’s (March 25) behaviour was the height of it.”

On the said date, Keshi did not attend Tuesday’s technical committee session with the NFF in Abuja as he was in Lagos to take part in a round table discussion with Nigerian journalists. The Federation said they were forced to move the meeting to April 8 after Keshi said he could not return to the country before that day.

The NFF letter obtained by The PUNCH reads in part, “It has come to the attention of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), with total dismay, that you attended a function of Tom Tom in Lagos on Tuesday, 25th March, 2014 without the express permission of your employers, the NFF.

“Furthermore, this happened on the day you were expected to appear before the NFF Technical Committee to discuss your programme for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The reason you gave for not attending the said meeting and for which you were excused was that you will only be returning to Nigeria on 26th March, 2014 because of your inability to reschedule your flight back to Nigeria. Meanwhile, the Federation’s approval for your request for leave was to begin on February 15 and end on March 10, 2014. By not heeding to the approved date, you have seriously violated the terms of approval with attendant consequences.

“It is equally important we draw your attention to previous actions whereby you travel out of Nigeria without express permission of the NFF. Specifically, you travelled out of the country before the day President Jonathan received the home-based Super Eagles at the State House on Thursday, February 13, 2014, causing a very serious embarrassment to the Federation.

“As a responsible organisation, we have no other option than to issue you a query to explain how all these events unfolded.”

Keshi and his employers had been enjoying seemingly renewed cordial relationship until this memo. In the past they rowed over his unpaid salary and speculation about the appointment of a foreign assistant for Keshi – a move the FA eventually denied.

The peak of their stormy relationship since he became Nigeria coach in November 2011 was Keshi’s purported resignation after leading Nigeria to the African cup in South Africa in February 2013.

Sanusi shuns FRC panel, sitting suspended

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria on Thursday alleged that the Central Bank of Nigeria under the leadership of the suspended governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, spent N500bn as intervention fund in various sectors without obtaining the approval of its Board or the Federal Executive Council.

It also alleged at a sitting in Lagos in which the suspended governor was scheduled to appear that the bank under his watch spent N10bn to renovate five palaces of traditional rulers in the country under its education intervention projects.

Sanusi, however, refused to appear before the panel, which is currently investigating the activities of the CBN under his watch.

Sanusi, who said the invitation was in bad faith, has also sued the FRC, according to sources close him.

The FRC had invited Sanusi along with the deputy governors of the CBN to appear before it as part of the ongoing investigation into the activities of the CBN.

The deputy governors are Mr. Kingsley Moghalu, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, Mr. Babatunde Lemo (who recently retired from the bank) and the acting governor of the central bank, Dr. Sarah Alade.

Also invited to appear before the council were the Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Ms. Evelyn Oputu; Mr. Babatunde Dayo and Mr. Gabriel Okpeh.

While everyone showed up for the hearing, Sanusi and Alade did not come.

The Executive Secretary, FRC, Mr. Jim Obazee, later said the sitting of the panel had been suspended following a letter from Sanusi’s lawyer that the investigation was subjudice.

The council also alleged that CBN failed to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the acceptable financial standards.

Obazee said it was wrong for the CBN to have disbursed the N500bn intervention fund through the Bank of Industry and Deposit Money Banks without obtaining necessary approvals.

The deputy governors in attendance could not proof that the CBN obtained the approval of the board for the money to be disbursed.

However, Barau and Lemo denied that the CBN spent N10bn to renovate palaces.

Obazee also said the CBN’s financial statements revealed that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria risks constituted 27.3 per cent of its accounts.

According to him, the CBN ought to have properly briefed Mr. President about such level of risks.

Obazee also said the CBN under Sanusi acquired shares in the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation without the board’s approval.

Moghalu, Barau and Lemo could not prove that the IILMC transaction followed due process.

On why the CBN account was not acceptable, the FRC boss said, “The process we follow in the FRC is that we receive financial statements from entities by law. Organisations are supposed to submit their financial statements to the FRC and we review for compliance with the accounting or financial standards.

“Having reviewed their books, we report back to you by inviting you for a formal meeting like this.”

Heavy rainfall to hit S'China

Heavy rainfall will hit south China over the next three days, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on Friday.

The country’s weather observatory forecast that torrential rain or even rainstorms will pound southern provinces including Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang from Friday to Sunday.

Elsewhere, a cold front on Friday afternoon will disperse smog, which has blanketed north China for days in Tianjin Municipality, and Hebei and Liaoning provinces.

Italy seeks US help for marines held in India

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has asked for US help in resolving a long-delayed court case in India against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen.

“I thanked the US and the US government for the support that they have given us in this phase of the international discussion,” Renzi said on Thursday during a joint press conference after talks with President Barack Obama.

The new Italian premier said he had also asked to be able to count on Obama for “further support” in the case, which dates back to 2012 and has been hit by a series of legal delays.

“We want the issue to be dealt with at an ever more international level,” Renzi added.

As tensions have boiled, Italy last month recalled its ambassador to India and summoned the Indian ambassador to express concern at the delays in the court proceedings.

Marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of shooting the fishermen off the coast of Kerala while they were serving as security guards on an Italian-flagged cargo ship.

The pair, who have been given bail and are staying at the Italian embassy in New Delhi, say they mistook the fishing boat for a pirate vessel and only fired warning shots.

In late February, India dropped plans to prosecute them under tough anti-piracy laws, but prosecutors are now re-examining what charges to bring, which could include murder.

Italy insists the pair should be tried on home soil since the shootings involved an Italian-flagged vessel in what Rome insists were international waters. India asserts the killings took place in waters under its jurisdiction.

The United States for its part has had strained relations with India in recent months over the US justice department’s visa fraud case against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade over her employment of a domestic servant.

Pistorius trial: Defence case postponed

The defence in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has been postponed until April 7 as one of the assessors assisting the judge has been taken ill.

The athlete had been expected to take the stand on Friday.

The trial, in the South African city of Pretoria, has already heard 15 days of prosecution-led testimony.

Pistorius denies deliberately shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013, saying he mistook her for an intruder.

Prosecutors allege that he killed her after an argument.

Judge Thokozile Masipa announced that one of the assessors is ill and suggested the date of April 7 to resume the trial. The prosecution and defence teams agreed to the postponement.

Under South African law, there is no jury system and two assessors help the judge reach a decision.

The BBC’s Karen Allen in Pretoria says that, although Pistorius is not legally obliged to testify, he is the only witness to the alleged murder and is expected to testify when the trial restarts.

His lawyers had previously told journalists that it was “likely” they would call him to give evidence first, she adds.

Prosecution testimony has relied on accounts from neighbours and specialist ballistics, forensic and mobile phone evidence.

Steenkamp, a model, reality TV celebrity and law graduate, was hit by four bullets while in the toilet cubicle of Pistorius’ home in Pretoria.

People who were in the area on the night of the shooting have told the court they heard screams, shots and bangs.

However, Pistorius has said he believed Steenkamp was in bed when he shot at the toilet door, thinking an intruder was about to attack them.

Pistorius is a double amputee who holds six Paralympic medals and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games.

If found guilty, the 27 year old – dubbed the “blade runner” because of the prosthetic limbs he wore to race – could face life imprisonment.

14 injured in Beijing restaurant blast

Fourteen people were injured after a gas explosion in a restaurant in Tongzhou District, eastern Beijing, on Friday morning.

Police said the blast happened at about 7:20 a.m. causing the building to collapse, injuring people inside and passers-by.

The injured have been taken to hospital. Two people are in intensive care, while 11 others have been discharged after receiving treatment for minor traumas.

The restaurant is on a street that mainly sells food. Several other shops near the building were damaged by the explosion.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Police said the blast was likely to have been triggered by kitchen gas.

Confab: Will Nigeria disintegrate?

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, March 17, 2014, inaugurated the 494-member National Conference whose task is to redefine “the way forward for our nation”. The initial antipathy to the conference, it seems, has given way to cautious optimism.

Of course, there are still people who do not see the opportunity this conference offers. And on the other side, those opposed to the conference because it was convoked by the Jonathan administration. Their grouse is two-pronged: They do not “trust” Jonathan; and then, there is the other matter of a presidential election due early next year.

I understand the concern about the general election of 2015. If we dismiss those hankering after election because of selfish reasons, the reality is that – for those who genuinely believe in changing Nigeria – nobody can “fix” Nigeria the way it is presently structured.

Our concern, therefore, should go deeper. We can’t, for example, be fixated on an election – knowing that Jonathan appointed the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission– and at the same time dismiss the “Jonathan National Conference”.

For those who can’t see the forest for the trees, this conference can’t be about President Goodluck Jonathan. Whether called by Jonathan or not, a national conference to negotiate Nigeria has always been a historical imperative. Luckily, we are going to sit down to talk not because the country has descended into a full-blown civil war.

Make no mistake, this conference is not the cure-all for our problems; just as a Sovereign National Conference is not a silver bullet. Of course, nobody (not even the organisers) can say for certain how this conference is going to end. Nobody goes into a conference of this nature – with a surfeit of tension, anger and bitterness – knowing for certain how it is going to turn out. It may well signal the beginning of the end of what is today known as Nigeria.

Personally, I think in the year of our centenary, when the crisis of identity and nationhood is at its zenith, nothing can be more comforting, even rewarding, than a “peaceful” gathering of the “nationalities” and other stakeholders in Nigeria. It seems the logical thing to do when a country finds itself on the brink.

This conference offers us a great opportunity. Perhaps, it will help us come to the realisation that “nation-building,” as Chidi Odinkalu noted in the preface to the book, Nigeria is Negotiable, “is not a project for the faint-hearted or for those with a short memory.” It may also show that Nigeria was not meant to be.

Not many countries have a second, much less a third or fourth chance to get it right. After 100 years, it is time we stopped seeing ourselves as Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, Fulani, Tiv and everything in between. It is time we began seeing ourselves as Nigerians.

Nigeria has been run as a unitary state since 1966. Clearly, it has had its debilitating effect; but it has also served, to a great extent, in blurring the country’s ethnic fault line while exacerbating the contradictions between social classes. What we have seen is the emergence of “civic nationalities” in places where “ethnic nationalities” once thrived. For example, in the last four decades, the wealth of the Niger Delta has been used to “develop” different parts of the country and has also enriched individuals stupendously across the length and breadth of the country.

I am a Nigerian first and foremost. My birth in this geopolitical space should confer on me that identity. I am a Nigerian – unless that geopolitical identity changes tomorrow – before I am Igbo or a Christian. My parents are from Imo State in South-East Nigeria. I wasn’t born there. I didn’t grow up there. I live and work in Abuja and I am married to a lovely woman from Ogun State in South-West Nigeria.

Yet, I have to “claim” Imo State because in the crazy world of Nigeria, your “state of origin” confers on you certain privileges and opportunities depending on what you are looking for and where you find yourself. I am sure there are millions of Nigerians who share my unease; millions like me who want, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., to live in a Nigeria where citizens will not be judged by their ethnicity, “state of origin” or what religion they profess, but by the content of their character.

That is why we should go to this conference leaving behind our ethno-religious baggage. Agreed that the “building blocks” of Nigeria in 1914 were “ethnic nationalities”, Nigeria of 2014 is no longer the sum total of its “ethnic nationalities”. If we were having this conversation at independence in 1960, perhaps, it would have made some sense.

Undoubtedly, ethnic oppression exits in Nigeria. After 100 years of amalgamation, almost 54 years after independence, 44 years after an internecine civil war that cost more than three million lives to “keep Nigeria one”, it is time to break that oppression and forge a new, united and prosperous nation.

The National Conference, therefore, should not be a forum for the ventilation of narrow-minded religious, ethnic or tribal agenda. The social and economic realities make such an agenda futile. On the contrary, it should be an opportunity to focus on why with billions of naira accruing to the Federal Government every year, millions of our people live in extreme poverty; why millions can’t enjoy basic health service; why millions of school age children are not in school and those fortunate to be in school are victims of murderous fiends.

Of course, there is the troubling issue of those coming to the conference with the notion that Nigeria – or better still, parts of it – is there for the taking; and on the opposite side, those who think the country is just perfect the way it is and, therefore, does not require fundamental restructuring. If we isolate these fringe groups, clearly there seems to be a general understanding, if not agreement, that we want to live together as one country. The issue then is how to define the terms of our living together. That definition is central to any plan to reshape or redefine the new Nigeria we envisage.

One thing is certain: The so-called ethnic homogeneity in Nigeria today is a ruse. Our thieving and utterly hopeless ruling class, whether from the east, west, north or south, who are united by their greed and corruption have shown us that it is possible to put behind us our so-called ethnic and religious differences and forge a common identity; a nation united, not by greed and corruption but by justice, equity and egalitarianism.

Will Nigeria survive? It depends on who you ask. Of course, the world will not come to an end if Nigeria disintegrates. Do we need to re-examine the way we live? In other words, is Nigeria negotiable? The answer, of course, is yes. The future of Nigeria depends ultimately on what Nigerians want!

What the National Conference should focus on basically is the erection of federalism in its genuine sense as a contradistinction to its parody that exists today. Of course, the natural off-shoot of this evolvement is the decentralisation of power. Furthermore, the conference should look at how we generate and distribute wealth and redefine the meaning of citizenship.

Let constituent states manage their internal affairs, control their resources and generate their own wealth; let them decide the internal structure of governance – how many local government areas they want – and operate their own police alongside the federal police. Let every Nigerian be free to reside in and “claim” any state they want as long as they fulfill citizenship obligations.

While we may not have a common “origin”, we can still build a common future. While Nigeria was “forced” on us, we can emerge from the shackles and build a new nation with new national ethos. But it all depends on whether we are willing to do the right thing.

Nigeria is not the only country that was “created” by the British for economic and imperialistic reasons. Ghana, in West Africa, and Canada, in North America, are two examples. But both countries, the challenges of diverse ethnicities and multiculturalism notwithstanding, are functional states. We can attest to what Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister of Ghana, did to unify the country from 1957 when it gained independence.

In the case of Canada, according to Mary Vipond, the country “was created (by the British) in 1867 as a political and economic entity for pragmatic and imperial rather than nationalist reasons. Only after the formation of the Canadian state out of several different colonies was the attempt to create a Canadian nation begun. One of the principal means by which national unity was promoted was by the construction of networks of communication, beginning with the Canadian Pacific Railway.”

Today, we have the choice and opportunity to begin the process of building the Nigerian nation. We may be 54, or even 100 years late, but we can make it happen.

We hope those who are fortunate to represent various “nationalities” and interest groups in Nigeria at the National Conference went with an open mind, conscious of the fact that too many of our compatriots – including the 60 pupils murdered in their hostel in Yobe State a few weeks ago – have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the process of nation-building.

Let's talk about the Nigerian church

What we don’t speak against, we speak in favour of, and what we don’t act against, we act on behalf of. A man remains at the centre of evil if he speaks not to shatter the spine of evil. The four walls of the Nigerian church seem to be in romance with countless unwholesome activities.We speak to these ills not because it is a joy ride doing so, but because we understand that it is evil in itself when we maintain silent in the face of plethora perpetrations of wrongs.

It is factual that the Nigerian church and the Nigerian society are conjoined twins with calcified conundrums.The list of atrocities perpetrated within the four walls of some of our churches is endless.Evil in church is evil everywhere around it, and we cannot neglect what is going on in church and expect sanity to take place in the society at large. If judgment will begin from the House of God, according to God’s word, it means that which is right and righteous must begin from it. The church’s enemies are within and they are blasphemers and betrayers of Christ in the pew and on the pulpit. “O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared” (Martin Luther).

True men of God stand up to misdeeds, not promote them.  True men of God stand against what ails the society and lend a helping hand in the alleviation of it. True men of God are true and truthful and not harbingers of tell-tales and untruth. However, the behaviours of some men of God make them sound as if they are God who can do all things. There are some among us who think they are Deputy-God who will take over from God when He (God) dies.  Our God, however, is immortal. But I tell you, MEN OF GOD ARE NOT GOD OF MEN! They get hungry, and they get angry, they get broke, and they get the stroke. They get sick, and they get weak. They can be good, and they can be bad. They have tendencies to lie, and they also tell the truth, they have desires, and they do retire. They get sick and they do die from sickness, they pray prayers that God answers quickly, and they pray some that never receive an answer. Whether they fast 365 days a year, or blast in tongues for hours unending, MEN OF GOD ARE MEN FIRST, THEY CAN NEVER BE GOD OF MEN! Men of God must understand this.

Some preachers have set the bars so high on purpose as if they are specially-packagedangelic beings who were not born of a woman, and who are not clay in the hands of the Potter.The whole drill is still around manipulation for money, power and control. This does not help the church’s image. A Man of God must come down his high-horse and ride with the rest of the world he serves. We can sit up high on the altar, we can have our big offices and cars, we can feel big, talk big and look big, but God Himself will make us small in His own time if we don’t act like Jesus who went as low as possible to cleanse dirty, ugly feet. Man of God is not a gift to the body of Christ if he does not reflect the Giver of gifts.

I thank God for the big church, big congregation and big money; it is the prayer of many to attain that height too, and there is nothing wrong with the blessings. But how some of us flaunt the blessings and brandish the boisterous bling in the eyes of the bruised and the battered are what God abhors. What does a servant of God need bazooka and AK47-totting men for in church? What does a servant of God need a siren-blasting convoy and entourage for? What is the purpose? How do these things win souls into the kingdom of God?They are all irritants that keep men and women away from the Household of Faith.

In the US for example, nearly one out of five young people age 18-22 now self-identify as atheists. Christianity now has the slowest growth among religions.Between 1990 and 2001, Christianity grew only seven per cent; Mormonism grew by 112 per cent, Humanism by 169 per cent, Buddhism grew by 270 per cent, and Hinduism 337 per cent. The Wiccan religion that celebrates witchcraft and wizardry became the fastest-growing at 1,675 per cent. Although our God is real, but the actions and or inactions of many of the practitioners of Christianity are turning people away from the God of heaven.

The haughtiness and arrogant dispositions of some however inform why men hate the church and its shepherds. If some pastors carry the anointing of Jesus when he walked on water, they will advertise themselves as the Risen Redeemer. But God ensured that no man has ever walked on water except Peter for a few seconds. Even with blatant, in-your-face betrayal of Jesus by Judas, Jesus did not slap him; Judas slapped himself with suicide. With their mannerisms and manners, many pastors in Nigeria will be in trouble with the law if they run ministries in nations where their laws are not as loose as Nigeria’s.

In the life of some pastors, many things are not real.Some put on fake spiritual “wigs” with a comb in hand as if the hair is real, but what is there to comb? Many put on spiritual “false-teeth” and then smile in the public as if the teeth are authentic.You can be a pastor and still be yourself. You cannot be a Jew in the church and be a gentile somewhere else.We are all humans with weaknesses, but I believe that the man of God should settle with God first in the areas of his weaknesses before he mounts the pulpit. Immediately we mount the podium, we become an open book for the world to read without our permission. If a Christian is broke, he should get a job not start a church and become a pastor.The church is neither a business nor a job; it is an adequately-rewarded assignment from God for human services. Many Christian workers and church members should understand that respect and reverence are accorded a man of God for God we see in them, not because of their jeeps and wealth.Because you are a sheep does not mean you should be sheepish. We should be very sensitive to scriptural interpretations that trumpet manipulations.

Some great men and women of God in Nigeria are doing great works that we all see. There are some in our nation who have turned many lives of the needy and hopeless around, and many have taken up caring for widows in manners that make our hearts glad. There are men and women of God whose churches have put thousands of orphans through schools and impacted their lives forever. These are the ones we will always salute.

 Whatever I suggest here as a remedy next time I write will not be a one-size-fits-all. It will however jump-start a conversation that is long-overdue. This will be our focus in the concluding part of this write-up.My belief is that if we can get it right in church, the government, the governed and the governors will not have a choice but to sit up and do right as this nation forges ahead into the new century. If we cannot, however, the hope for restoration and sanity in our society will remain a pipedream.

Bacterial Vaginosis (BV)

Any woman can get BV.

• Some women with BV don't know they have it because they have no symptoms.
• Having BV can increase a woman's chance of getting an STD.
• Pregnant women with BV may deliver premature (early) or low birth-weight babies

HPV Vaccine Information for Clinicians - Fact Sheet

CDC and partners, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend HPV vaccination of both girls and boys at ages 11 or 12 years and suggest that clinicians strongly recommend HPV vaccination for preteens and teens who have not yet been fully vaccinated.

Background

Approximately 20 million people are currently infected with genital human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United States (U.S.). As many as half of these infections are among adolescents and young adults, ages 15 through 24 years of age. HPV is so common that most sexually active adults become infected at some point in their lives.
Of the more than 40 HPV types that infect human mucosal surfaces, most infections are asymptomatic and transient. However, certain oncogenic types that persist can cause cervical cancer and other, less common cancers, including cancers of the anus, p*nis, v*lva, v*gina, and oropharynx (back of throat including base of tongue and tonsils). Other, non-oncogenic HPV types can cause genital warts and, rarely, respiratory tract warts in children which is a condition called juvenile-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).
Every year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,000 women die from this disease in the U.S. About 1% of sexually active men and women in the U.S. have genital warts at any given time.
Two HPV vaccines are licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bivalent HPV vaccine (Cervarix) prevents the two HPV types, 16 and 18, which cause 70% of cervical cancers.  The quadrivalent HPV vaccine (Gardasil) prevents four HPV types: HPV 16 and 18, as well as HPV 6 and 11, which cause 90% of genital warts.  Quadrivalent vaccine has also been shown to protect against cancers of the anus, v*gina and v*lva. Only quadrivalent vaccine is licensed in use for males.
Both vaccines are administered as a 3-dose series.  HPV vaccines are routinely recommended for 11 and 12 year old girls and boys. The vaccine series can be started beginning at age 9 years. Vaccination is also recommended for 13 through 26 year-old females, and 13 through 21 year-old males who have not completed the vaccination series. Males aged 22 through 26 years may be vaccinated. HPV vaccine is also recommended for gay and bisexual men (or any man who has sex with men) and persons with compromised immune systems (including HIV) through age 26, if they did not get fully vaccinated when they were younger.
These vaccines have no therapeutic effect on HPV-related disease, so they will not treat existing diseases or conditions caused by HPV. The vaccines are made from non-infectious HPV virus-like particles (VLPs) and do not contain thimerosal or mercury as a preservative.
The two vaccines use different adjuvants. The quadrivalent vaccine uses alum (225 μg amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate) adjuvant, while the bivalent vaccine uses AS04 (500 μg aluminum hydroxide 50 μg 3-O-deacyl-4'-monophosphoryl lipid A).

HPV Vaccine Recommendations

Either HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for 11- or 12-year-old girls. Quadrivalent HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for 11- or 12-year-old boys. The vaccine series can be started beginning at age 9 years. Vaccination is also recommended for 13- through 26-year-old females and 13- through 21-year-old males who have not completed the vaccine series.
Quadrivalent HPV vaccine may be given to 22- through 26-year-old males. Vaccination is routinely recommended for both men who have sex with men (MSM) and immunocompromised persons aged 22 through 26 years. Vaccination with either the bivalent HPV vaccine or the quadrivalent vaccine is recommended for protection against HPV types 16 and 18, for the prevention of cervical cancers and precancers in females. Vaccination with the quadrivalent HPV vaccine is recommended for protection against HPV types 16, 18, 6 and 11, for the prevention of cervical, v*lvar, v*ginal cancers and precancers in females, as well as anal cancers and precancers and genital warts in both females and males.
Ideally, patients should be vaccinated before onset of sexual activity, when they may be exposed to HPV. Patients who have been infected with one or more HPV types still get protection from the vaccine types they have not acquired. 
HPV vaccines can be given to the following:

• Lactating women.
• Patients with minor acute illnesses, such as diarrhea or mild upper respiratory tract infections, with or without fever.
• Women who have had an equivocal or abnormal Pap test, a positive HPV test, or genital warts. However, these patients should be advised that data do not indicate that the vaccine will have any therapeutic effect on existing Pap test abnormalities, HPV infection or genital warts. 
• Patients who are immunocompromised, either from infection, disease or medication. However, the immune response to vaccination and vaccine efficacy might be less in immunocompromised people.

HPV vaccines should not be given to:

• Patients with a history of immediate hypersensitivity to any vaccine component. Quadrivalent HPV vaccine is contraindicated for persons with a history of immediate hypersensitivity to yeast. Bivalent HPV vaccine in prefilled syringes is contraindicated for persons with anaphylactic latex allergy. 
• Patients with moderate or severe acute illnesses. In these cases, patients should wait until the illness improves before getting vaccinated.
• Pregnant women. Although the vaccine has not been causally associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes or adverse events to the developing fetus, data on vaccination in pregnancy are limited. Any exposure to vaccine in pregnancy should be reported to the appropriate HPV vaccine pregnancy registry:
• The toll-free number for Gardasil is 800-986-8999
• The toll-free number for Cervarix is 888-452-9622

HPV Vaccine Safety

HPV vaccines were studied in thousands of people in many countries around the world, including the United States. These studies showed no serious safety concerns and found that both HPV vaccines were safe. Common, mild adverse events reported during these studies include pain where the shot was given, fever, dizziness, and nausea. More than 46 million doses of HPV vaccine have been distributed in the United States as of June 2012. Most doses distributed have been Gardasil.
Syncope can occur after any medical procedure, including vaccination.  Recent data suggest that syncope after any vaccination is more common in adolescents. Adolescents and adults should be seated or lying down during vaccination. Providers should consider observing patients in seated or lying positions for 15 minutes after vaccination.
For each of the vaccines, a detailed post-licensure safety monitoring plan, coordinated by the FDA and CDC, is in place. For more information about the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)

HPV Vaccine Efficacy Studies and Antibody Response

The main efficacy study of the bivalent vaccine was conducted in young women aged 15 through 25 years. Among women who had not been previously exposed to a targeted HPV type, the clinical trials demonstrated 93% vaccine efficacy in preventing cervical precancers due to HPV 16 or 18.  In all studies of the bivalent HPV vaccine, more than 99% of females developed an HPV 16 and 18 antibody response 1 month after completing the 3-dose series.
The main efficacy studies of the quadrivalent vaccine were conducted in young women and men (16 through 26 years of age).  Among persons not previously exposed to a targeted HPV type, the trials demonstrated nearly 100% vaccine efficacy in preventing cervical precancers, v*lvar and v*ginal precancers, and genital warts in women caused by the vaccine types, as well as 90% vaccine efficacy in preventing genital warts and 75% vaccine efficacy in preventing anal precancers in men.
In women already infected with a targeted HPV type, the vaccines do not prevent disease from that HPV type but protect against other vaccine types.  Immunogenicity studies of both vaccines have been conducted in girls, ages 9 to 15 years of age. Over 99% of vaccinated girls in these studies developed antibodies after vaccination.
HPV vaccines offer a promising new approach to the prevention of HPV and associated conditions. However, they do not replace other prevention strategies, such as regular cervical cancer screening using the Pap test, since the vaccines will not prevent all HPV types.

Duration of Vaccine Protection

Studies suggest that vaccine protection is long-lasting. Current studies (with up to about six years of follow-up data) indicate that the vaccines are effective, with no evidence of waning protection. This information will be updated as additional data regarding duration of protection become available.

HPV Vaccine Administration

Both brands of HPV vaccine should be delivered through a series of 3 intra-muscular injections over a 6-month period. The second and third doses should be given 2 and 6 months after the first dose.
The vaccines can be administered at the same visit as other age-appropriate vaccines, such as tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4), influenza vaccine, and hepatitis B vaccine.
Providers should consider a 15-minute waiting period for vaccine recipients following vaccination.
Cervical cancer screening recommendations have not changed for females who receive the HPV vaccine.

Why is HPV vaccination only recommended through age 26?

HPV vaccines are licensed for females and males through age 26 years.  Vaccination would have the greatest benefit when administered to girls and boys, aged 11 or 12 years.
As in trials in younger women, a clinical trial of quadrivalent vaccine in women >26 years found the vaccine to be safe. This study also showed that the vaccine was effective in women without evidence of existing or past infection with HPV vaccine types. However, the study demonstrated limited or no protection against disease in the overall study population. Neither vaccine is licensed in the United States for use in women over the age of 26 years.  Although women over age 26 years are not recommended to receive HPV vaccination, they should have cervical cancer screening as currently recommended.

Covering the Cost of the Vaccine

The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program helps families of eligible children who might not otherwise have access to vaccines. The program provides vaccines at no cost to doctors who serve eligible children. Children younger than 19 years of age are eligible for VFC vaccines if they are Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native or have no health insurance. "Underinsured" children who have health insurance that does not cover vaccination can receive VFC vaccines through Federally Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Centers. Doctors can charge a fee to give each shot. However, VFC vaccines cannot be denied to an eligible child if a family can't afford the fee.
State and private programs offering no- or low-cost vaccines may also be available for eligible persons. Contact your State Health Department to see if your state has such a program.

Vaccine providers should notify patients that:

CDC and partners, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend HPV vaccination of females and males at ages 11 or 12 years and suggest that clinicians strongly recommend HPV vaccination for preteens and teens who have not yet been fully vaccinated.

• It is important to get all 3 doses of HPV vaccine to get the full benefits.
• Vaccinated females will still need regular cervical cancer screening, beginning by age 21, since vaccination will protect against most, but not all, of the HPV types that cause cervical cancer.
• All vaccinated patients should continue to practice abstinence or protective sexual behaviors (i.e., condom use), since the vaccine will not prevent other sexually transmitted infections. Although condoms may not fully protect against HPV, they may lower one's chances of getting HPV and developing HPV-related diseases, when used all the time and the right way. They can also lower their chances of getting HPV by being in a mutually faithful relationship with someone who has had no or few sex partners, or by limiting their number of sex partners.

CDC has developed several other resources, which vaccine providers may find useful for educating and counseling parents and young adult patients. Cervical cancer once claimed the lives of more American women than any other type of cancer. But over the last 40 years, widespread cervical cancer screening using the Pap test and treatment of pre-cancerous cervical abnormalities have resulted in a marked reduction in cervical cancer incidence and mortality in the U.S. New technologies, such as liquid-based cytology and HPV DNA tests, are now commercially available and licensed for use in women for cervical cancer screening and management. As many as 82% of women in the United States report receiving a Pap test within the last 3 years.
Despite these advances, U.S. screening programs are not reaching all women in the United States. It is estimated that half of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer have never been screened for cervical cancer, and an additional 10% have not been screened in the previous 5 years. Cervical cancer disproportionately affects women of lower socioeconomic status, without regular access to health care, who are uninsured, and who are recent immigrants. These populations stand to benefit most from HPV vaccination.

Bacterial V*ginosis - CDC Fact Sheet

Any woman can get bacterial v*ginosis. Having bacterial v*ginosis can increase your chance of getting an STD.

What is bacterial v*ginosis?

Bacterial v*ginosis (BV) is an infection caused when too much of certain bacteria change the normal balance of bacteria in the v*gina.
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How common is bacterial v*ginosis?

Bacterial v*ginosis is the most common v*ginal infection in women ages 15-44.

How is bacterial v*ginosis spread?

We do not know about the cause of BV or how some women get it. BV is linked to an imbalance of “good” and “harmful” bacteria that are normally found in a woman's v*gina.
We do know that having a new s*x partner or multiple s*x partners and douching can upset the balance of bacteria in the v*gina and put women at increased risk for getting BV.
However, we do not know how s*x contributes to BV. BV is not considered an STD, but having BV can increase your chances of getting an STD. BV may also affect women who have never had s*x.
You cannot get BV from toilet seats, bedding, or swimming pools.

How can I avoid getting bacterial v*ginosis?

Doctors and scientists do not completely understand how BV is spread, and there are no known best ways to prevent it.
The following basic prevention steps may help lower your risk of developing BV:

• Not having s*x;
• Limiting your number of s*x partners; and
• Not douching.

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STDs & Pregnancy

I’m pregnant. How does bacterial v*ginosis affect my baby?

Pregnant women can get BV. Pregnant women with BV are more likely to have babies who are born premature (early) or with low birth weight than women who do not have BV while pregnant. Low birth weight means having a baby that weighs less than 5.5 pounds at birth.
Treatment is especially important for pregnant women.
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How do I know if I have bacterial v*ginosis?

Many women with BV do not have symptoms. If you do have symptoms, you may notice a thin white or gray v*ginal discharge, odor, pain, itching, or burning in the v*gina. Some women have a strong fish-like odor, especially after s*x. You may also have burning when urinating; itching around the outside of the v*gina, or both.

How will my doctor know if I have bacterial v*ginosis?

A health care provider will look at your v*gina for signs of BV and perform laboratory tests on a sample of v*ginal fluid to determine if BV is present.
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Can bacterial v*ginosis be cured?

BV will sometimes go away without treatment. But if you have symptoms of BV you should be checked and treated. It is important that you take all of the medicine prescribed to you, even if your symptoms go away. A health care provider can treat BV with antibiotics, but BV can recur even after treatment. Treatment may also reduce the risk for STDs.
Male s*x partners of women diagnosed with BV generally do not need to be treated. However, BV may be transferred between female s*x partners.
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Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

What happens if I don't get treated?

BV can cause some serious health risks, including

• Increasing your chance of getting HIV if you have s*x with someone who is infected with HIV;
• If you are HIV positive, increasing your chance of passing HIV to your s*x partner;
• Making it more likely that you will deliver your baby too early if you have BV while pregnant;
• Increasing your chance of getting other STDs, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. These bacteria can sometimes cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can make it difficult or impossible for you to have children.