Ex-Militants Bomb Five Agip Oil Wells

allAfrica
2 April 2012

Ex-Militants Bomb Five Agip Oil Wells

While Christians trooped to the churches, yesterday, to mark Palm Sunday in commemoration of the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, suspected ex-militants stormed the National Agip Oil Company, NAOC, with explosives and bombed five cluster oil wells belonging to the company.
The oil wells, according to information available to Vanguard, are located between River Niger and Tailor creek in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
It was reliably gathered that the bombing of the oil wells was led by an ex-militant leader, identified as "Commander" Cairo.

Okonjo-Iweala not pursuing the World Bank’s top job

Elombah.com

22 March 2012

Okonjo-Iweala not pursuing the World Bank’s top job       

Amidst reports that Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo are set to be nominated to lead the World Bank, Elombah.com sought to verify from Mrs Iwealla herself whether she is leaving Nigeria for the world bank's top job. While the Minister was too busy to speak to us on time, elombah.com succeeded in chatting with Paul Nwabuikwu, her spokesman.

The following discssion ensued:

Elombah.com: Is the Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pursuing the World Bank’s top job?

Nwabuikwu: Not at all. She has not put herself forward and she is not purusing any such position. The campaign is the initiative of EDs from Africa, emerging markets and other developing countries who believe this is the best time to end the 60 year domination of the WB presidency by the US and allow Okonjo-Iweala and other highly qualified persons to contest. They have asked the president in line with tradition to give his blessing. It is a great honour that a citizen of this country is attracting this kind of passionate support across the globe but we need to keep in mind the fundamental fact that America still has the best chance of producing the next WB president because of her clout and Europe's likely support...

Elombah.com: Thanks...but will she accept the post if offered?

Nwabuikwu: She is focused on her current job...

Elombah.com: Thank you, your feedback is quite appreciated.

Nominations are due Friday at the World Bank for candidates to succeed president Robert Zoellick, who is stepping down at the end of his term in June.

Jonathan Hits Back At ACN Over Koluama Gas Explosion

allAfrica
20 March 2012

Jonathan Hits Back At ACN Over Koluama Gas Explosion:

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday faulted the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN's) criticism of his handling of the recent Koluama oil fire incident. It would be recalled that the ACN had stated that "the response of the government has deepened the pains of the residents and raised the fears that they could face a repeat of the 1953 disaster that wiped off the ancient Koluama community".

Asari Dokubo says N74billion is not enough for amnesty programme

Channels TV
20 March 2012

Asari Dokubo says N74billion is not enough for amnesty programme

The former President of the Ijaw Youth Council and Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has insisted that the N74 billion budgeted for the rehabilitation and retraining of the Niger Delta ex-militants in the 2012 budget was not enough.

NIGER DELTA MINISTRY : The quest to fulfill a distant mandate

Vanguard

18 March 2012

NIGER DELTA MINISTRY : The quest to fulfill a distant mandate

By MITAIRE IKPEN

The setting up of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs four years ago by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was expectedly greeted with mixed feelings. While some people hailed the move as a right decision bearing in mind the difficult terrain of the region which should require a special attention, others believed that the creation of the Ministry would unnecessarily slow down the pace of development because of bureaucratic bottlenecks.

Those who held the latter view felt that since the creation of the Ministry was a mere political gesture to placate the people of the region, its operations would be bedevilled by the bureaucratic hiccups that usually trail government establishments. Perhaps their fears have not been misguided thus far.

Derivation: North’s position a joke, say S/South, S/West leaders

The Nation

18 March 2012

Derivation: North’s position a joke, say S/South, S/West leaders

THE fire ignited by Dr. Junaid Mohammed and the Coalition of Northern Leaders, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen continued to rage yesterday as many activists and leaders from the South picked the gauntlet to dispute the contention of the North on revenue allocation to Niger Delta States.

Former leader of the Ijaw National Council, Professor Kimse Okoko told The Nation on telephone that the North’s position stemmed from indolence and increased lack of initiative. Reacting to the coalition’s contention that about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s oil revenue derives from off-shore locations, Okoko said, “they are merely trying to reap from where they did not sow.”

Norma's Letter from Jos: 15 March 2012 - After the attack on St. Finbar's

Vegetable orders

Thursday, March 15, 2012

From: Norma,  Zamani Farms

Hello customers,

As you can imagine, we have had an extremely stressful week here in Jos after the Sunday suicide bomb blast at one of the biggest Catholic churches in Jos. Immediately this happened, reprisal attacks began in various parts of the city, and in some form or another they are still continuing. Gangs of angry youth attacked a Muslim settlement close to the church, and killed some farmers who were irrigating their crops and some achaba operators who were passing on the road and who were totally unaware of what had happened.  Since Sunday, Christian youth gangs have been engaged in the indiscriminate killing of Muslims who find themselves in certain areas, and Muslim youths have protested against the killing of several motorcycle taxi operators, and have also been killing Christians who venture into Muslim areas. No one knows the total of those killed, but they are many, and every day we hear more stories of killings. So we are back to the troubles in Jos, and of course life here has been very difficult and stressful.

People are afraid to move around freely, most shops and markets are not functioning normally, and many people are not going to work.

It was with some difficulty that we managed to put your orders together for today's delivery but we finally did so, and as I write Audu is on his way to Abuja with your veggies. We hope he will arrive safely and you will get your produce in good condition.

On the farm, the situation is better than in Jos town. Our workers are full of generalised tension, and there have been a couple of villages attacked in the Riyom area, but generally things in the rural areas are not so violent and most people are going about their lives, although they are fearful of traveling far from their homes. As a result most markets are hardly functioning and traders are not moving foodstuffs into Jos town.

Throughout all of this we have been trying to concentrate on doing some work. Our crops can't afford to be left without water or care, so we have to do what we can to keep them going. We have been planting new items, and as you can see from the order form, some new things are available for next week.

Tension in Jos As Death Toll Rises to 19

Vanguard

13 March 2012

Tension in Jos As Death Toll Rises to 19

Anger is growing in central Nigeria, as attacks become a weekly occurence in several states in the region. The death toll from Sunday's suicide bomb attack on St Finbarr's Catholic Church, Jos and the ensuing reprisals rose to 19 yesterday as more corpses were taken to hospitals.

This came as tension enveloped parts of the city following renewed hostilities between Christian and Muslim youths on revenge mission over reprisal killings that started since Sunday. There were unconfirmed reports of more silent killings in various parts of the city..

The Annexed Tier of Government

Leadership

14 March 2012

The Annexed Tier of Government

editorial

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) recognises local government as the third tier of government. Thus, 774 LGAs, including the six area councils that comprise the Federal Capital Territory, are duly enshrined in the constitution whose Fourth Schedule lists the functions of a local government council to include: "The provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of minerals; the provision and maintenance of health services; and such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of a state."

The same constitution stipulates that the tenure of the local government executive shall be for a term of three years and renewable for only one term, if such official stands for an election that is conducted by the respective State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

However, present developments in the administration of the LGAs point to the contrary. Recently, this newspaper published an investigation which revealed that a total of 540 out of the 774 LGAs in the country were being administered by sole administrators appointed by the respective state governors. Worse still, these sole administrators have been in office for more than three years without any indication that elections would hold anytime soon.

It is wrong and against the grain of democratic norms for governors to annex local government administration as an extension of their state functions, especially by using the appointment of the local government officials as a bait for personal political patronage. Fostering of political lackeys as sole administrators of the third tier of government is not only a disservice to democracy but a gross violation of the constitution state governors swore to protect. It also stifles competition among political parties. There is absolutely nothing in the statutes that says that the ruling political party in any state must win the election in all the local government areas of their state.

We know that the constitution provides for states and local governments to operate joint accounts. Nevertheless, the provision has been overly abused. What obtains now is that state governors solely operate those accounts and only remit to their stooges in the local governments pittance to pay monthly salaries and minor overheads. This is not only a breach of the constitution, it is a financial crime because the constitution mandates the local governments to perform certain responsibilities for which funds are provided. Little wonder rural areas wallow under poor infrastructure. Consequently, social unrest has become deeply rooted.

For the dividends of democracy to trickle down to the masses, LGs must be allowed to exercise their constitutional responsibility. The federal government should call the state governors to order, while the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) should ensure that state-LGA joint accounts are operated equitably.

Two Soldiers, Three Cops Shot Dead in Kano, Mubi

Leadership

14 March 2012

Two Soldiers, Three Cops Shot Dead in Kano, Mubi

Yola/Kano — Gunmen riding two motorbikes opened fire on a security post in Kano yesterday, killing a soldier and two policemen, less than 24 hours after attackers gunned down another soldier and a police inspector in Mubi, Adamawa State.

In the Kano incident, witnesses said the gunmen approached the checkpoint along

Malam Aminu Kano Way

as if they were ordinary passengers. They then drew guns and fired at the security men at about 5.30pm.

There was no official confirmation of the incident, but agency reports quoted security sources as saying two policemen and a soldier lost their lives in the attack at the Gwammaja area.

Witnesses said security men at the checkpoint returned fire, killing one of the attackers.

Tension Mounts in Jos

Leadership

14 March 2012

Tension Mounts in Jos

Two days after a bomb attack on a church and reprisal killings, Jos, the Plateau State capital, was again shut down by rage and violence early Tuesday morning as Hausa Muslims and Igbo traders were locked in a showdown at Old Bukuru Park.

Also, the students of the University of Jos barricaded the Bauchi road and Faringada highway protesting the stabbing of two of their colleagues along Bauchi road on Monday night.

With the ensuing violence, shops, banks, primary and secondary schools in the metropolis were shut down, with parents rushing to pick their wards from schools, thereby crippling commercial and other activities in the state capital.

The streets were immediately deserted as everyone hurried home.

THISDAY gathered that a corpse of an Okada rider believed to be a Hausa boy was recovered and brought to his house at Massalaci Jumat area.

This triggered anger among the Hausa community who mobilised and pounced on the Igbo traders that were in their shops.

Tempers flare as suicide bombers hit Jos again

Guardian

12 March 2012

Tempers flare as suicide bombers hit Jos again .

 .Soldiers tackle youths at scene of mayhem

Jonathan condemns attack, vows victory over terror

ST. Finbarr’s Catholic Church, Rayfield, Jos, Plateau State, has been a place of worship and sanctuary for many Christian faithful over the years. Although the city has been in the throes of violence for some time now, not many who went to the church for yesterday’s service would have thought that it could turn gory. Regrettably, it did. Indeed, a battle scene couldn’t have been gorier!

Barely a fortnight after suicide bombers attacked the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) headquarters in Jos killing at least six people, St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church, Jos, was yesterday hit by another suicide bomb attack, which claimed 11 lives and left several others injured.

Apparently peeved by the latest attack against the backdrop of several assurances from the government and security forces after earlier bomb blasts in the city, irate youths in the Rayfield area were involved in a face-off with the Special Task Force (STF) personnel who raced to the church following yesterday’s blast. The youths also threatened to attack reporters who made to gain access to the scene.

Norma's Letter from Jos 8 March 2012: Revived Tensions Slow Farm Operations

Vegetable orders

Thursday, March 8, 2012

From:Norma, Zamani Farms

Hello customers,

It has not been an easy week for us on the farm. All our crops are growing well, and we have some new items for you for next week. We have been battling with rabbits who have been eating our broccoli, both the heads as well as the young seedlings, and with bush rats who are digging up and eating our red radishes. But all of these relatively minor problems are pushed into the background, because the spectre of violence in the rural areas around Jos has returned after some months of peaceful conditions. Over the weekend a woman was killed on her way to the farm at Rim village, in Riyom Local, Government, which is the next local government to the one where the farm is located. Another two women were attacked in another district, one was killed and the other escaped with matchet wounds. The youth in Riyom area then attacked some Fulani herds and killed 47 cows. They also held a demonstration along the Abuja road, and the army closed the road for some hours. Things are now quiet, and we are hoping this is just an isolated incident. But based on past experience we know we have not seen the end of this problem.

These incidents have an real effect on our work on the farm. Our workers have to travel far through the bush to get to work, and of course they are afraid of being attacked. We did not have enough carrots on the farm for your orders this week, so we asked a farmer we know to bring us some to supplement what we have. He was afraid to go to his farm to dig up the carrots, so as a result most of you got only half of the carrots you ordered for today's delivery. One of our former Fulani workers phoned me from Bauchi where he has been living as a refugee since the January 2010 crisis. He was crying. He was very upset about the events, because he had his heart set on returning to work on the farm next week, but we know that with the insecurity and tension this incident has caused this is not possible for now. As usual in these situations, it is the innocent that suffer -- the guilty ones always escape to wreak havoc another time.

Meanwhile we are trying our best to focus on the farm work, and we do have lovely vegetables for you.

How the North cornered Nigeria’s oil blocs

Elombah.com

9 March 2012

How the North cornered Nigeria’s oil blocs        

Written by Ogbuefi Blogs    

Unknown to many, more than eighty percent of ownership of the nation’s oil reserves is in the hands of some influential northerners who acquired marginal fields, Oil Mining Licenses (OML) and Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPL). Curiously, such acquisitions were under the different military regimes of Generals Ibrahim

 Babangida (rtd), the late Sani Abacha as well as Nigeria’s last military leader, Abdusalami Abubakar.

According to available documents, most of those to whom the nation’s juicy oil reserves have been conceded are individually richer than some African oil-producers such as Ghana and Sudan.

Derivation: Controversy steers Nigeria towards national confab

Vanguard

10 March 2012

Derivation: Controversy steers Nigeria towards national confab

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, Deputy Political Editor

AFTER years of opposition and or evasive action by the government, especially in the last 13 years, convocation of a national conference for Nigerians to discuss the basis of their continued association is gradually becoming unavoidable. 

Years of neglect of the agricultural sector that sustained the country’s economy for over 60 years before crude oil took over, over dependence on crude oil, ongoing furore over sharing of the 13 per cent derivation to oil and minerals producing areas and the Boko Haram insurgency among others, have pushed agitation for Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to the front burner.

Although, the government has consistently opposed the idea of SNC on the grounds that you cannot have two sovereignties in a nation and the National Assembly insists that it can address defects in the 1999 Constitution, unfolding events in the country indicate that a confab is inevitable.

US to Nigeria: Develop north to beat Boko Haram

Reuters

5 March 2012

US to Nigeria: Develop north to beat Boko Haram

* U.S. planning to establish consulate in violent north

* Washington says holistic approach needed to defeat sect

* Nigeria says kills 5 Islamists trying to burn down school

ABUJA, March 5 (Reuters) - The United States urged Nigeria to tackle an Islamist insurgency in the north by bringing jobs and development to the deprived region, and it pledged to support Abuja in the task.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said on Monday that the United States was looking to establish a consulate in Kano, Nigeria's biggest northern city and a recent target of attacks, as well as a number of other ways to help it fight radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.

New audit template for oil/gas sector out

Vanguard

9 March 2012

New audit template for oil/gas sector out

LAGOS—Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has introduced a new audit template aimed at capturing all revenues coming into the oil and gas sector extensively.

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Executive Secretary, NEITI made this known in Lagos, yesterday, at  a two-day special workshop by NEITI to sensitised oil and gas companies on the newly introduced data template in capturing the oil and gas data and information based on their operations.

Ahmed said that the workshop was designed to acquaint major companies and key players in the oil and gas sector on the contents, requirement, impertinence process and the use of template by NEITI.

She noted that one of the essences of the workshop was for companies to furnished NEITI with valid information and data required for its audits of the oil and gas industries that is about to commerce across the country.

Nigeria's Battle for Stability

National Interest

February 28, 2012

Nigeria's Battle for Stability

By John Campbell

RECENT EVENTS in Nigeria, including its presidential elections last April, have produced two narratives on the current state of that oil-rich West African nation with a history of civic turmoil. The first is that events there have unfolded rather favorably since its elected president, Umaru Yar’Adua, fell ill in late 2009 and the country was left leaderless. That raised fears of a military coup, but then Goodluck Jonathan emerged to fill the power vacuum, first as an extraconstitutional “acting president,” then as a constitutional successor after Yar’Adua’s death and finally as the elected executive following the 2011 elections. This optimistic narrative notes that those elections were praised by international observers as better than in the past—and hence they reflected the will of the national majority. An amnesty for militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta, combined with disarmament, training and reintegration, ended a long insurrection there.

One serious specter, however, still haunts the country—the expansion of the Islamic “terrorist group” Boko Haram, with its global connections. Hence, Nigeria’s security challenge has become internationalized, and Westerners grappling with Islamist movements need to keep a sharp eye on that situation. This is the narrative of conventional wisdom embraced by many in President Barack Obama’s administration and in Congress, the business community and the media.

The other narrative is quite different. It posits that, despite a veneer of democratic institutions, Nigeria has suffered from dysfunctional governance for decades. The 2011 elections, according to this view, generated serious violence and polarized the country. Militants in the Niger Delta are regrouping. Boko Haram, hardly an Islamist threat to the world, is an indigenous uprising spawned by persistent alienation in the largely Muslim North, which is stricken with poverty and official corruption. The country’s Middle Belt is beset by ongoing ethnic and religious conflict between Christians and Muslims, with attendant ethnic cleansing. ....

Ribadu Taskforce Conflicts With NEITI

Tribune

3 March 2012

Ribadu Taskforce Conflicts With NEITI

The high expectations Nigerians had over Mallam Nuhu Ribadu‘s appointment as the chairman of the Revenue Taskforce for the Oil Sector may not be easily met as the responsibilities assigned to the taskforce are by law the mandate of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

This development is coming as the main committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting this week to fashion out its mode of operations to achieve the mandate spelt out for it by the petroleum Minister, Mrs Dieziani Allison-Maduekwe.

NEITI was set up by an Act of the National Assembly with a statutory responsibility to track revenue inflows in the oil and mineral sectors with a view to enforcing transparency and accountability in the sector, the same task that is now assigned to Ribadu committee.

While the Ribadu committee is only a ministerial committee, NEITI has a force of law with an international dimension as it was stipulated for all oil and mineral rich nations as a way of eradicating corruption from the extractive industry sector.

Investigations by Saturday Tribune showed that since the appointment of the Ribadu committee, NEITI and its inter-ministerial team have become uncomfortable as there was no reference to NEITI in the making of the Ribadu committee.

MEND attacks worsen piracy in Gulf of Guinea •Nigeria coast rated second to Somalis’ •Trans-national mafia fingered

Tribune

4 March 2012

MEND attacks worsen piracy in Gulf of Guinea •Nigeria coast rated second to Somalis’ •Trans-national mafia fingered

Recent attacks on security personnel by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) may have worsened Nigeria’s rating on the handling of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea even as a United Nations report has compared pirate attacks off Nigerian coast as close to that of Somali pirates.

The attacks which claimed the lives of senior military and police personnel came few days after a group of pirates hijacked a crew of Russian ship in the Gulf of Guinea even as MEND has directly threatened to attack any ship that refuses to allow its men to board it.

The two incidents came at a bad time for the Nigerian Navy which in the last one week had been conducting a nine-nation naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea involving American, European and several African nations.