BREAKING NEWS: Explosion In Lagos (Photos)

Many people were injured and cars destroyed when a multi-storey building packed with fire crackers and other types of goods went up in flames on Wednesday morning on Lagos Island.
Witnesses said the explosion went off around 9.30a.m as the city marked Boxing Day amid a lull in business activities.
The building is said to be located on Oko Awo Street in the popular Jankara area of Lagos, close to King Ado Secondary School.
Fire fighters and rescue agencies swiftly deployed on the scene and battled the huge blaze.
Within minutes of the explosion, the fire spread to a nearby building, sending hundreds of residents, traders and shoppers fleeing in the usually boisterous market area.
There were initial speculation around the country that a bomb had exploded in Lagos while a report said a plane crashed in the city.

The casualty figure is yet unknown although many injured persons have been rushed to the hospital with serious burns.
Fire crackers are banned in Nigeria although it is a common fare during Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country.
Naijaurban

I am afraid of making costly mistakes – President Jonathan explains his ‘slowness’

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President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said the apparent slowness of his administration in deciding on major national issues was to avoid costly mistakes.
Jonathan,  at a Christmas Service held at the Cathedral Church of The Advent, Life Camp, Gwarinpa, Abuja, said  experience had shown him that when rushing to take decisions, serious mistakes could be made.
Reading the second lesson of the service, the President  said he would not because of the public perception that his administration was slow begin to rush decision-making process.
He  however assured Nigerians that when issues that needed  fast decisions arose, his administration would rise up to the occasion like it did during the recent flood disasters in many parts of the country.
Jonathan  said, “Sometimes, people say this government is slow. Yes, by human thinking, we are slow,  but I can say that we are not slow.
“Government must think things properly before it acts. When you don’t think through things properly, or  when you   rush, you will make mistakes.It is more difficult to correct errors. You can ask those who build houses.
“Government will not, because of the perception, begin to rush. But where we are required to act very fast, we will do so, just like we did during the recent flood disasters.”
He assured Nigerians that his administration would not retrace any of  the  steps taken towards “laying a solid foundation for the nation’s transformation.”
Jonathan said he would work hard to ensure that “the successes” so far recorded in the agricultural  sector, transport and electoral process  were  sustained.
Speaking on his administration’s transformation agenda, the President said it was arrived at after a full day debate ahead of the declaration of his presidential ambition in 2010.
Jonathan, who  said no nation could be properly transformed without  reformed citizenry, stated that  the church had a great role to play  in making the transformation agenda a  success.
He said, “You can’t transform a country without the people being reformed. I call on the church to come up with  programmes on  how  Nigerians can be reformed.
“People play politics with things that affect their own lives. That is why somebody will vandalise power equipment in order to ensure that power reform fails. Such people need to be reformed.”
He assured  Nigerians that he was committed to keeping faith with all the promises he made during electioneering.
The President  said Nigerians’ orientation must change, adding that the change must reflect in the way they thought and  did things.
In his sermon, the Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, urged all religious, traditional and political leaders to emulate Jesus Christ whom he said had the masses at  the centre of  his agenda.
“The ordinary people should continue to be the subject of leaders’ agenda because God takes interest in the poor.  Emphasis of leadership is the poor, the downtrodden. Their welfare and relief must occupy the agenda of (our) leaders,” he said.
The Primate said Christians must learn to embrace peace, even amidst the provocation that might come with the violence witnessed in the country.
He said, “There must be peace between man and man, especially in this country.
“We are labouring and praying for peace. Tit for tat is not recommended for the various killings in the country because Christians are peace bearers.
“Irrespective of the provocation, we must promote peace. It is also a solution to tribalism that has affected us and caused chaos.”
He commended the Federal Government on its cassava revolution, rice production and railway rehabilitation.
Okoh expressed the hope that in the coming year Nigeria would witness perfect security.
Shortly after the service which was also attended  by  the President’s wife, Patience; his mother, Eunice, other members of his family and top government officials, Jonathan played host to Christians who paid him visits at the Presidential Villa.
The visitors were led by Vice-President Namadi Sambo and his wife, Amina.
Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onayeikan, in his remarks at the reception, urged Nigerians to be closer to one another and to relate more with God.
Sambo and the Minister of State, Federal Capital Authority, Jumoke Akinjide, later presented Christmas cards to the President.
In his vote of thanks, Jonathan said his administration would continue to grow the economy in the New Year.
YNaija.com

UK-based group petitions Jonathan over alleged plot to intimidate former Kogi Governor

A UK based organization, The International Lawyers for Justice and Peace in Africa (TILJPA) has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over an alleged plot to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to intimidate a former Governor of Kogi State,Prince Abubakar Audu.
The petition signed by Paul Smith alleged that the invitation of Prince Abubakar Audu by the EFCC for interrogation and subsequent arraignment was an abuse of court process.
Smith said: “We wish to draw your kind attention to our concerns on the many petitions from our members in Nigeria on recent actions of the Economic Financial Crime Commission of Nigeria and the shocking allegations against it.
“This is coming after extensive study and consultations on the many petitions forwarded to our office by our members, including a well-circulated press release by Chief Mike Ozekome (SAN) Chambers, regarding the escalation of threats of harassment and even physical attacks against Prince Audu, a former Governor of Kogi Sate.
“The petition condemned EFCC’s letter No: CR: 3000 / EFCC / ABJ / ISOS / TM.11 / VOL. 7/ 37 dated 11th December, 2012 inviting Prince Audu for an interrogation over an undisclosed on-going investigation activities involving the former Governor, with a view to freshly arraigning him before a Court in Abuja in the face of a pending charge duly initiated by the same EFCC at the High Court of Justice presided over by Justice S. T. Hussaini with respect to the same offences allegedly committed by the Prince Abubakar Audu during his tenure as Governor amounts to a gross abuse of the process of court”.
“Any organisation that is serious about fighting corruption in Nigeria should know that Prince Abubakar cannot legally be arraigned and / or prosecuted by the EFCC or any other person or authority within the Federal Republic of Nigeria in respect of offences allegedly committed during his tenure as Governor of Kogi state between May 1999 and May 2003 when there is subsisting a charge pending before the High Court of Justice, Lokoja presided over by Hon. Justice S.T. Hussaini and the Court of Appeal, Abuja in Appeal No: CA / A / 381c / 2011, alleging the same offences committed during the same period and arising from same facts as the pending and extant charges.”
“The unlawful invasion of the residence of Prince Abubakar Audu in the early hours of 11th December, 2012 without any prior invitation and without a valid search warrant or warrant of arrest, under the pretext of arresting him and the subsequent wide publicity accorded the invasion by the EFCC in the print, electronic and internet media without any prior invitation to the effect amounts to crass irresponsibility, undue sensationalsim, humiliation, intimidation, and invasion of the former Governor’s right to privacy and family life contrary to the provisions of Sections 37 of the Constitution if the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is a shame that a responsible organisation like the EFCC should know that the Supreme Court decision delivered on November 23, 2012 overruling his appeal “did not effectively and finally terminate his trial on the – 80 count charge at the High Court of Justice, Lokoja.”
“We therefore protest in the strongest terms against the purported use of the EFCC for the purpose of harassment and intimidation. The information made available by our members in Nigeria shows that the current involvement of the EFCC in the matter may be rightly interpreted as promoting institutionalized intimidation in a democracy”. “While we applaud and endorse any initiative by the EFCC to fight corruption in Nigeria, we however do not believe that criminalising political opponents can ever serve that purpose. “We strongly feel that a focused organisation like the EFCC under the leadership of highly respected Ibrahim Lamorde should take decisions based on merit, not politics or the party involved.”
DailyPost

Failing health: Chime attended 17 events out of a possible 111 in 5 years – Investigation

A content analysis of newspapers reports of Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime’s programmes and activities since he became governor on May 29, 2007, on Tuesday showed that he had attended only 17 events out of a possible 111 physically.
Our correspondent and statisticians in Enugu State, who had shown concern for the governor’s failing health, especially since he had been on a hospital bed in India for more than three months, coded the data findings.
The data showed that commissioners in the state had always represented Chime on occasions, and Chime had always come “very late” to the few events he attended.
It is on record though, that the Enugu State governor attended every of his electioneering rallies and campaigns in 2007 and 2011.
He, however, collapsed in March 2011 during a campaign rally in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
“Before collapsing in Nsukka in 2011, he had relapsed twice in Enugu, in 2008 and in 2009,” said a protocol officer at the Enugu State Government House.”
The protocol officer, who sought protection of his identity, said, “Most people have always blamed the governor’s absence from events on other things. The true situation is that the medical team has to be very sure that the governor is medically sound before he goes out for an event.
“The medical team had been embarassed several times when the governor kept falling at events and the protocol, security and aides had to block him so that many people would not notice.”
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, despite reports in the media that the governor is recuperating in an India hospital after being transferred from a London Hospital, has continued to claim that all was well with Chime.
Ugwoke had refused to speak to The PUNCH and would not reply any text message from our correspondent.
When the story of Chime’s ill health and absence from the state first broke in the October 14, 2012 edition of the Sunday PUNCH, Ugwoke had said, “Chime was enjoying his vacation, the first he has taken since he was sworn into office five years ago.
“Chime had actually presided over the State Executive Council meeting on September 18, 2012 where he announced to all the members that he was proceeding on his annual leave and constitutionally handed over the reins of power to his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, who is today the Acting Governor of the state.”
The commissioner had further pointed out that, “Chime also attended a meeting of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 and travelled out the next day on his vacation,” adding that, “all these facts are verifiable.”
He had added, “Having said all these, we want to reaffirm that the Government of His Excellency, Sullivan Chime, will continue to promote freedom of expression while also maintaining its cherished reputation of civility and accommodation of all shades of opinion, including constructive criticisms from the media and other quarters.”
YNaija.com

My Anger Is Over – Osaze Odemwingie

Out-of-favour Super Eagles striker, Osaze Odemwingie, is done being angry with coach Stephen Keshi and the Nigeria Football Federation following his dramatic exclusion from the team ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.
Osaze Odemwingie was in a rage on Twitter when he learnt of his exclusion alongside significant players like Dynamo Kiev’ Taye Taiwo and Levante’s Obafemi Martins.
But on Monday, Osaze Odemwingie wrote on same social network, saying his anger was over and needed to focus on club action.
“Anger is over. Full focus on WBA season and next game. I don’t need any distraction, neither the Eagles camp. Both independent,” he wrote.
“Thanks for the support! Had to be disappointed with how they did it. Didn’t have to see that in press. Respect is reciprocal.”
Meanwhile, ex-international Olusegun Fetuga, has advised the excluded players not to take issue personal, saying the selection was for the best.
“There’s no reason anyone of them should insult the coach or the NFF for being excluded from the team. If a player doesn’t make the cut now, he can be in the squad in the future,” Fetuga said.
“Osaze’s outburst was totally unnecessary because you can always call the coach and express your feeling; going to the social network will further damage the relationship between him and the coach.”
Fetuga added, “Ordinarily, the coach owes no player any explanation on why he would not make a team. Both Keshi and Osaze Odemwingie need not take the dispute to the press, it’s unprofessional.”
Naijaurban

Garba Shehu: Governor Yero’s Wrong Start

Governor Yero

The crowd of grieving family members, State Executive Council Members and other VIPs including former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon must have cried “oh my God!” when the newly-installed Governor of Kaduna State went off-track throwing punches at imaginary enemies at the valedictory meeting of the government to honor his boss, the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.
In my mind’s eye, he was like that foreman who removed his hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, removed his gloves to launch a rain of punches on unsuspecting co-workers. It was unwarranted.
Speaking last week at that valediction, Governor Yero complained that some commissioners almost succeed in getting the late Yakowa to sack him and that this plot had indeed thickened just a few days to Yakowa’s death.
This is not so much in opposition to the new Governor’s choice of forum or occasion. But surely, a grieving moment such as that the state was in did not warrant a flagrant display of triumphalism. If commissioners under Governor Yakowa did not treat him with respect as deputy Governor, what is new in that? This is something that is common to deputy Governors and even Vice Presidents all over Nigeria. One Governor, Chief Ezeife, then of Anambra State dismissed them as spare  tyres. A deputy Governor under a then Governor Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of
Katsina State, Tukur Jikamshi had the courage of his conviction to resign from the position. He addressed a press conference thereafter, at which he said the office should be abolished because it had become useless. In Akwa Ibom Sate, Nsima Ekere, the deputy Governor until a few months ago threw in the towel saying there were better things to do with his time.
Editors on a mission to Enugu State then under Chimaroke Nnamani were shocked to see the governor ordering around his deputy asking him to fetch this or that thing. What happened in Kaduna is no news. That Deputy Governors and Vice Presidents are not respected is a fact. Not only that, they are despised and looked down upon in all but a few State Houses. Governors do this deliberately because they are building a cult around their personality and sometimes family. Don’t blame the commissioners who are merely used as pawns. The Governor must be seen
to be haughty, even imperious. He is authoritative, even authoritarian; decisive, even ruthless and strong, even invincible.
These are the ingredients of cult personality. Some Governors, as you move around the country are manifesting a form of endowment with muscular virtues. Didn’t Governor Ohakim beat a journalist and at another time a priest inside the State House?
The single-mindedness which some endeavor to project themselves as supreme leader does not give room for a commissioner to divide his loyalty between Governor and his Deputy. In the period he was Governor, Patrick Yakowa singly wore the crown. It was not on shared heads. Ibn Khaldun, the Maghreb philosopher addressed this very well nearly a thousand years ago. The crowd, all of the people follow the crown, not the man. If the crown moves from one head to another, they
will follow it wherever it goes. Given that Nigerian democracy is cultured in a single political leader, there is nothing unique in what happened to Ramalan Yero as deputy Governor.
Late Yakowa rode to power three years ago amidst an avowedly anti Hausa-Muslim mantra among his people in the South, as well as deep fear and suspicions of him by the Hausa in the the North and the Central senatorial districts. Yakowa walked a tight rope. He won in 2011 chanting a soothing, development mantra although the anti Hausa Muslim tirade in the south was muted but not altogether absent. This
was the background to the post-election violence which tasked the late Governor and it took his kind of humility, hard work, experience and sincerity of purpose to earn the trust and confidence of Muslims and Christians alike. The new Governor’s challenge is to match that record even if he does not surpass it.
The dreadful thing about the new Governor’s subtle manifestation of triumphalism and vengeance and a sense that he has outwitted all his rivals and the “seat is now mine”. Should that happen to be the case, it will be reckless and insensitive of the new Governor. It is the wrong way to go about it. Governor Yero didn’t make himself Governor.
No, it is Providence that made him so. To that degree, he should not think that he has won against anyone. He must not seek vengeance but rather lower his head and be humble.
Any attempt to suggest that he won by outwitting his rivals or that he seeks vengeance will be a grave mistake. That would suggest trouble for the cabinet members and the ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in that volatile state. It could also be an eye-opener for those who play tribal, religious and regional or sectional cards to survive in politics. I don’t know the new Governor’s brand of
politics. But it would be graceful of Governor Yero to embrace all of the commissioners and advisers the former Governor left behind, the ones who loved him and the ones who despised him all alike. He should then strain every nerve of his to impose himself on the whole state and ensure that all the cabinet falls in line. This may be easier said than done but don’t forget that Kaduna is on a slippery slope. Nobody should play games here. If he fails to get the government behind him, he will face a bigger hurdle of uniting the divided state which Yakowa did not fully succeed in doing and this, in spite of his track record as administrator-par excellence. A failure to unite the government could also spell doom to the tenuous hold of the PDP in that and many other states.
When he took power from the late Shehu Kangiwa in the Second Republic in Sokoto State, the new Governor at that time, Garba Nadama faced a somewhat similar situation to Yero’s in his relationship with other cabinet members. Nadama as deputy Governor suffered years of denigration in silence. He was mostly ignored and despised under Kangiwa. Death came and it took away the dashingly youthful, ambitious and well-educated Governor. Nadama thought exactly as Yero did from
day one. He felt he had to sack the entire cabinet to replace them with loyalists of his own. The party, the National Party of Nigeria, NPN which also governed at the center warned him to desist from doing so or else the state risked being lost to the opposition. Governor Nadama took this advice. He carried all commissioners along and led the party to another round of victory in 1983. When he reconstituted the cabinet after the election, nearly all the commissioners made it back to office, reason being that each of them had a chance to prove their loyalty and capability to the new governor. Yero should avoid hasty and vindictive decisions.
DailyPost

As Oshiomhole closes his case... (II)

by  Tony Afejuku

A friend of mine, a Professor of Gynecology, who has been following very closely the Airiavbere-Oshiomhole case as I am, has described the Comrade Governor as a strange character. Incidentally, himself and the latter are ethnical neighbours. When he so described his ethnical neighbour as stated, I humorously added that were the former Nigeria’s Number One labour leader a woman, one would have ascribed the peculiar type of strange behaviour with regards to the current allegation against the accused to some defect. What a jocular chat we had!
As Governor Oshiomhole closed his case in the tribunal, his stranger behaviour sparkled. But I must for now resist the temptation to call him Oshiomhole the effervescent. Before you query my logic and jocularity you must follow me to the end.
His accuser did not just call witnesses to argue his allegation against the governor, he also entered the dock to be examined and cross-examined by all the silk-donning legal luminaries on parade. In my opinion, by the time the PDP gubernatorial candidate closed his case, he had made his case against his opponent. Perhaps I’m wrong.
Now Oshiomhole dodged the dock to defend his case or to contest the case of certificate forgery levelled against him. Very strange. Perhaps pathetically and pathologically so. I salivated in wait for a bite or a taste of the oratory or garrulity of the governor. I salivated in vain. The governor did not enter the dock to give his accuser a devastating blow. But the governor and his team deserve a huge chunk of praise from me. Why? You must gallop with me till we reach shortly destination-welcome-and-good-bye.
It is worthy of note here that the governor, rather than enter the dock himself got a witness to do so. And the testimony of the witness, a Professor, is way interesting. A newspaper of Wednesday, December, 12, 2012 (page 58) reported his statement, among other ones, as follows: “I know Oshiomhole in 1963 when we both entered St. Blessed Martins Modern School, Jattu, Uzairue. We were classmates between 1963 and 1965 when we completed that modern school and left” I hope the Professor was correctly quoted. If so, I ask: how old was Oshiomhole at that time? And when did he complete his primary school education? At age nine/10/11? Or? And how many years did he spend in primary school at a time the right palm must go over the head for the fingers to touch the left ear before a prospective pupil was deemed to qualify for a place in school?
Professor Agbebaku was also reported to have said, this time in another newspaper of Wednesday, December 12, 2012 (Page 10), as follows: “My Lord, Industrial Relations, Industrial Sociology and Industrial Economics are all university courses and are far higher than their Senior Secondary School Certificate subjects and cannot be taught in a school lower than the equivalent of a university.” This is the Professor’s personal opinion which he is rightly entitled to. But I disagree with him.  Any subject or course or topic, including any of the ones he listed, can be taught at any level of education or of schooling. What differs from one level to another is the area of emphasis. There are other considerations as well, but I will skip them. In any case, I don’t see how this “testimony” of Professor is relevant to the allegation. And what was Airiavbere’s lawyer’s response to Agbebaku’s evidence above or other aspects of his evidence in the tribunal? None of the dailies that reported the proceedings addressed this issue.
Now I must say it loud and clear:  I have nothing personal against the Comrade Governor. If I have any grouse against him, it is because I firmly believe that to whom much is given, much is expected. He must live and govern in accordance with our high expectations of him. He must demolish the allegation levelled against him to our great satisfaction and exceeding relief. He and his team must not see me as an inveterate nitpicker. (I chose to rest my case here until some other auspicious time).
Merry Christmas.
NigerianTribune