Thursday, 7 February 2013

Fashola Decries FG’s Interference in Lagos Power Project


080412F2.Babatunde-Fashola.jpg - 080412F2.Babatunde-Fashola.jpg
Governor Babatunde Fashola
Gboyega Akinsanmi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has faulted the interference of the Federal Government in the independent power project (IPP) initiated by his predecessor, Senator Bola Tinubu.
Fashola, who expressed the disappointment at the distinguished visitors’ programme of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Abuja, lamented that the project would have brought major economic development to the state if it had not been aborted.
He explained that the Tinubu administration entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with Enron Nigeria Power Holding Ltd “to build the first independent power project undertaken by any state in the federation.” 
He said the initiative suffered needless political interference and Lagos still “bears the financial and economic scars for it. One can only imagine what type of Lagos and indeed Nigeria we would be living in today if 13 years ago that project had been allowed.”
According to the governor, “the level of development we would have attained; the volume of manufacturing and various types of economic activity that would be thriving today; the ideas and innovation that would have sprung out of the type of enabling environment that constant power supply engenders.”
He, however, advocated the culture of conservation and preservation of electricity among Nigerians, saying it was the only way to achieve real success in attaining the goal as the country strived to ensure constant power supply.
He explained that the state government’s water sector master plan “addresses the need for conservation and is currently developing a mechanism to address losses through leak detection, telemetry application; metering and water theft detection,” adding that plans are underway to launch an awareness campaign on cable theft and the dangers of destroying street light infrastructure.
“We have found to our chagrin that this is not enough. The only solution, in my view, is a holistic mindset change amongst Nigerian citizens so that they see public utilities, not as government utilities but as their utilities. Members of NERC have a greater role to play to educate, inform and create the awareness that can bring about that mindset,” he said.
He added that the state currently “has the most extensive power utility development plans in the country. In the last three years, this administration has successfully commissioned two power plants in Akute and Lagos Island respectively and one transformer factory in Badagry while two others – the Alausa Power Project and Ikeja GRA IPP - are under construction and at procurement stage respectively.
“The Akute Plant powers about 80 per cent of the water supply in Lagos while the Island Power Plant provides electricity to health facilities, schools and court buildings and public lighting within Lagos Island. The Alausa Power Plant, when completed, would supply electricity to the Alausa Secretariat while the Ikeja GRA IPP would power government establishments within the old secretariat amongst others.
“Through these power plants, we have witnessed vast improvements in our ability to deliver services to Lagos citizens, one of the most valuable of which is in the area of public lighting. It is our target to light up our streets, bridges and public places to reduce security risks,” the governor explained.
Fashola reiterated that the success of his administration’s pursuit of steady power and reliable water supply depended “not only on the ability of government to provide them but also on our sense of public ownership of these assets and our willingness to discharge the communal duty of protecting them.”
Fashola also cited Magodo Estate in Lagos which, according to him, consists of 3,276 houses that are powered by 4,656 generators with a total installed capacity of 51.2mw and a daily cost of diesel amounting to N8 million. This, he added, translated to N49.24 per kw/hr as against PHCN cost of N12.75 per kw/hr.
He explained that the state government’s power audit shows that the estate “requires only 30 mw and a total power cost per day for the estate will be N2 million. Ikeja GRA consisting of 789 houses is powered by 804 generators with total installed capacity of 68mw and daily cost of diesel put at N10.7 million. Our power audit shows that this estate requires 59mw and the total power cost per day for the estate will be N3, 040,000”.
ThisDay

Victor Moses: When Patriotism Conquered Pain


Victor Moses
By Adekoya Boladale
Eleven years ago in the city of Kaduna, Nigeria, a dreadful religious violence engulfed the entire state. Various religious bodies left the town in search of safe heaven, even Pastors and Imams flew when the crisis grew beyond comprehension.
But there were two couples who stayed behind, in spite of the fear, agony and hatred that filled the air, they were not moved. They stayed back to help the injured, they stayed back to preach peace, they stayed back to guide the misguided youths. Yes they were Christians, and truly they had a church but they made their home for all. Irrespective of the religion dispute, they gave the last moments of their lives to help when it mattered most.
Painfully they couldn’t live for long; death was coming so fast, yet still they didn’t run. Their Church was burnt, their property scattered and finally they were burnt alive. These couples were Mr Austine and Mrs Josephine Moses.
The parents of the Nigerian Super Eagle’s soccer guru, Victor Moses. Young Moses narrowly escaped death; he was out playing soccer, when the cold hand of death took his parents away. He was just eleven years old and with so much excitement from the football pitch he came back home only to meet his parents in ashes. He was taken to London by his uncle the next week after the incident to seek asylum. Victor couldn’t even get time to take the any pictures of his parents with him, due to the violence. He found himself in Croydon, England knowing nobody and having been taken in by a foster family.
He didn’t give up; he left the memory of his past behind him at such a tender age and started playing football again. He was spotted by Crystal Palace who got him into a top local school. With his excellent display of skills he made the English under 16, 17, 19 and 21 teams scoring eleven goals for England.  From there he moved to Wigan Athletics and now Chelsea.
On Sunday February 10th 2013, Victor Moses will be standing up in line singing the national anthem of the country that failed him when it mattered most, he would be putting all his effort to bring smiles to the faces of over 160 million Nigerians who knew nothing about the pain he went through to survive. He will do his best to bring to a country that couldn’t defend his parents, a nations cup it last touched nineteen years ago.
This is the story of a man who was betrayed by his country but yet couldn’t betray his country. This is a story of man who lost all due to the inability of some groups of people to live together. This is the story of a man who has tasted the bitter pill left by our various religious violence and inability to tolerate one another.
Just like Victor, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have lost their lives, future and hope just because two groups couldn’t say, I am sorry first. Hopes has been shattered, dreams killed and futures wasted due to our bizarre hunger for each other’s blood.
Yes the government has failed, but should we fail our country? The government steals our funds and still turns us against one another, yet we can’t be reasonable and think for once. Every part of our lives is dominated by greed, hatred, selfishness and nepotism. When we all could join hands together to make a better future.
Let’s take a clue from Moses, although I am not sure if I could do that. But it is a lesson, a very big one from a man who is drunk with patriotism, a man who sees himself as the pillar of his country, a man who above all things remembers Nigeria and not the federal government of Nigeria.
Yes he came back, in spite of all this. He came back, not to contest for political position or seek for appointment. He came back, not for revenge but for love. He doesn’t need a national honour, he doesn’t need to join the leagues of unpatriotic thieves who have dominated our national medallion. In our hearts he is a hero, in our soul he is hope. Let all Nigerians remember him, for he took nothing from us but this time he is given to us all.
Adekoya Boladale is a political scientist and wrote via adekoyaboladale@gmail.com
 Sahararporters

TOUCHING STORY Of Victor Moses That Will Make You Cry (MUST READ)



This is the story of a young boy whose parents were murdered during 2002 riots in Kaduna. He was aged 11 years at the time. His parents, Mr Austine and Mrs Josephine Moses, were missionaries until they met their untimely death. The boy left his house to play football but returned home to see that all his parents had laboured for had been razed down and he would never see his mother and father again.

He was taken to London by his uncle almost immediately after the incident. While in London, he began deploying his football skills.
Though his parents were murdered, his passion for football was never killed. He played football for his school and later for a local Tandrige League club until Crystal Palace FC approached him. From that point, his career progressed in leaps and bounds.
This player played for England's under 16, 17, 19 and 21 teams between 2005 and 2010 scoring 11 goals for England during this period. He later moved to Wigan Athletic and now he plays for Chelsea.
This footballer is called VICTOR MOSES.

His story is a touching one, I share his pains. I also share his courage. He had a choice not to step into Nigeria again but he didn't take that option. When the call to serve his fatherland came, Moses dumped England and embraced Nigeria...That is patriotism!
Today, we see a Victor Moses bringing joy to every Nigerian including those who may have inspired his parent's death...That is Love!
On Sunday, Moses would stand for the National Anthem and pledge allegiance to a country that couldn't defend his parents...That is faith!
Moses would deliver the "African Cup of Nations" trophy to Nigeria not minding what had happened in the past... That is forgiveness! Moses rose through bitterness and despair to the limelight of hope and courage.

He never gave up on his country. He persevered... That is purpose!

If someone like Victor Moses, despite the bitter past, never gave up on Nigeria, then why should we....! ONE NIGERIA
 TalkOfNaija

After Mass Sterilization In India, 100 Women Apparently Left In Field To Recuperate

The Huffington Post  |  By

spinner
More than 100 women in India were apparently left out in a field after a mass sterilization at a hospital in the Malda district of West Bengal, according to multiple reports.
"Helpers" were said to have moved the women -- many of them unconscious from anesthesia administered during the invasive medical procedure -- from the hospital and laid them out in an open field nearby. Medical officials told Agence France-Presse that there was not enough space at the hospital for them to recover indoors.
"Over 100 women, mostly poor, came to the camp for the surgery. Immediately after the procedure, the doctors asked the helpers to move each of them to the adjacent field," the state's director of health services, Dr. Biswaranjan Satpathi, told AFP.
According to the Press Trust of India, the mass sterilization was carried out on Tuesday at the Manikchak Rural Health Center.
Indian TV network NDTV captured footage of the women being carried from the hospital and placed on tarps outside. According to the broadcaster, doctors at the government-run hospital broke several medical rules, such as greatly exceeding the number of procedures that can be performed in one day -- said to be set at 25 per doctor. Reports differ on how many doctors carried out the procedures. NDTV, for example, claims only two doctors were responsible for the sterilizations; Tamil News Network says four doctors were involved.
Dr. Bidhan Mishra, the district's chief medical officer of health, has launched an investigation into the doctors involved, noting that proper post-operation procedures were not followed, the Tamil News Network reports. The National Human Rights Commission is also looking into the incident.
An NDTV reporter at the hospital in Kolkata described the scene, remarking that women were brought out on stretchers and dumped on the ground outside the hospital.
"Their relatives are massaging their feet, and that's about all the after-care they seem to be getting after the sterilization operation," she says during the video clip.
Sterilization is performed to prevent women from becoming pregnant. In India, government policies encourage women to have the tubal ligation procedure as a means of birth control, according to the Earth Policy Institute.
Adequate after-care and hygiene following the routine operation has been an ongoing issue in the country for years. While the U.K. pledged £166 million (about $260 million) to fund sterilization programs, the aid has been used to cover the costs of forced sterilizations of the poor, the Guardian reports.

Another Pension Fund Thief, Uzoma Attang, Desperately Moves To Avert Justice


Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang-Director of Finance and Accounts. Ministry of Interior
A serving Director of Finance and Accounts at Nigeria's Ministry of the Interior, Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang, has landed her in court amongst her peers who allegedly looted over N39 billion from the Police Pension Office, Abuja.
The unprecedented development followed consistent pressure on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
But there seems to be no certainty justice will ever be done.
Mrs. Attang was an Assistant Director at the Police Pension Office between 2005 and 2008 but was removed from that office in late 2008 while Esai Dangabar and Atiku Abubakar Kigo were posted to that office.
In March 2012, the first 16-count charge was filed by the EFCC against officials of the Police Pension Office in which the commission alleged that the officials looted about N39 billion from the pension fund, but Mrs. Attang was conspicuously missing from the line-up of persons accused of the rime.
Before that March 2012 charge was filed, Mrs. Attang had been having a running battle with a whistleblower, Mr. Chukwuemeka Aniagor, with whom she was reported to have enjoyed a previous business relationship.  He, however, blew the whistle on her numerous properties acquired while in Police Pensions.  Both parties then resorted to the courts where they traded blames and claims.
Soon after the bubble burst at Police Pensions, Mr. Aniagor approached investigators with records of properties owned by Mrs. Attang in Abuja and Lekki, a high brow area in Lagos state.
Mr. Aniagor's efforts towards getting Mr.. Attang to give account of her service while in Police Pensions suffered a series of setbacks as he was subsequently arrested and dragged before an Abuja Area Court on the strength of a petition authored by Mrs.. Attang.  In it, she claimed that Mr. Aniagor duped her of some money which she had given him to set up for her a company called Royal Diadem Business Logistics Limited.
The move was to keep the whistle blower out of circulation and stem the myriads of information he was divulging to investigators of the pension fraud.
That move however failed when Mr. Aniagor and his lawyer, Mr. Alex Oketa, took the case to an Abuja High Court which offered Mr. Aniagor a breather in his quest to bring Mrs. Attang to justice.
As the investigators of the pension fraud at the EFCC kept putting off the arrest of Mrs. Attang, the whistleblower filed a complaint the CCB.  He led officials of the Code of Conduct Bureau to Lagos to identify the properties owned by Mrs. Attang in Lagos and Abuja, as well as some bank accounts being maintained by the director in some commercial banks.
On the strength of those discoveries, the CCB invited Mrs. Attang and slammed her with a five-count charge.
On July 3, 2012, the Bureau, through its Legal Adviser and Prosecutor, Mr. Simon Egede, filed an application to commence the trial of Mrs. Attang before the Code of Conduct Tribunal pursuant to section 24 of the Bureau's Act.
The top civil servant was accused of engaging and participating in the management and running of private companies engaged in business and trade, in contravention of section 6 (b) of the Code of Conduct and Bureau Act.
The charge, alongside the Application to Commence Trial filed by Mr. Simon Egede, alleged that Mrs. Attang, in 2007, registered and participated as Director in the running of a private business concern known as Royal Diadem Business Logistics Limited, while in full time employment as a public officer in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Other companies linked to the Director of Accounts are Status Symbol Rentals Limited and Amazing Grace Property Development Company Limited.  The companies operate and maintain accounts in many commercial banks with amounts running into hundreds of millions of Naira in their credits.
Count 5 of the charge specifically accused Mrs. Attang of owning some 48,500,000 shares worth over a 100 million Naira in these companies, which income is not fairly attributable to her salaries and allowances as a public officer in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, a crime, according to the charge, that is contrary to section 15 (3) of the Act.
At that time, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, upon the receipt of the Application to commence trial of Mrs. Attang, fixed her trial to commence on September 13, 2012.
Curiously, on that date, the trial failed to commence, and investigations revealed that the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba, had personally withdrawn the case file from the Tribunal without any explanation to Justice Umar.
In response to an email inquiry, Mr. Egede stated that the charge he filed had not been withdrawn by him and that as far as he was concerned, the matter was still pending before the Tribunal.
Repeated inquiries at the Tribunal to ascertain the fresh trial date slated for the top civil servant's trial were futile as the Assistant Chief Registrar of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Mr. Abdulmalik Shaibu, confirmed his earlier stance that the case file was no longer with the Tribunal, as they had been withdrawn by the Bureau.
Further investigations revealed that indeed, the Bureau's chairman, Mr. Sam Saba, had authored and signed a letter to the Tribunal for the withdrawal of Mrs. Attang's case file to thwart her scheduled trial at the Tribunal.
Mr. Aniagor thereafter dragged the CCB and the EFCC before Justice A. R Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja asking the court to compel the anti-corruption agencies to do their job by prosecuting Mrs. Attang alongside her colleagues who were standing trial for embezzling funds from Police Pensions.
With the court minded to grant the orders sought by Mr. Aniagor through his lawyer, Mr. Oketa, the EFCC finally succumbed and amended the pension looters charge to accommodate Mrs. Attang and her former assistant while at the pension office, Mr. Christian Madubuike, a Grade Level 5 officer who also bought properties in Maitama district of Abuja, a place where his entire salary as well gratuity cannot pay for even one property.
Despite her inclusion in the charge, the powerful and influential director did not show up for her arraignment alongside those colleagues, including Mr. John Yahaya Yusufu, who pleaded guilty and got last week’s slap on the wrist which enraged the entire nation.  In that trial, Justice Talba Mohammed sentenced Mr. Yusufu, who was standing trial on charges of stealing N32.8billion in the Police Pension scam, to two years on each of three charges, and then gave him the option of paying $1,500 and going home.
In a manner supportive of ongoing insinuations that the serving director has powerful backers quartered within Nigeria's seat of power, the EFCC's lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacob, made an application for the name of the director to be temporary suspended from the charge to enable the others, Esai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs.. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, Sani Habila Zira, Christian Madubuike and John Yahaya Yusufu, to make their pleas.
It becomes obvious that the inclusion of this director in the charge and not having her show up for her arraignment is a calculated attempt by the EFCC to subvert the case instituted by the whistle blower to compel the agency to arraign Mrs. Attang.  No information was also given by the agency as to when Mrs. Attang will, if ever, be arraigned for her own plea.
In count one of the amended charge, Mrs.. Uzoma Cyril Attang is alleged to have, alongside others, committed a criminal breach of trust in respect of N20.155 billion belonging to the Police Pension Office.
In count 3 of the charge, she is also alleged to have conspired, with Esai Dangabar and Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, to embezzle another N14.197 billion, while count 6 accused her of conspiring with her aide, Mr. Christian Madubuike and Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, to embezzle N1.141 billion.
Count 16 also accused the threesome of conspiring and stealing another N1.140 billion from the pension office.
Another ominous point in the matter is that despite these counts which affect Mrs.. Attang directly, she has not been arrested by the EFCC and she still goes to work as if nothing is amiss.
Mrs. Attang, who is also the founder of Royal Harvest Assembly Ministry in Lagos, was initially arrested by the (EFCC), but was allowed her back at her duty post before her latest inclusion in the pension looters case.
Documents submitted to the CCB by Mr. Anagor include copies of Mrs. Attang's application for purchase of shops at the Area 11 Modern Shopping Mall dated 15th August, 2008, in which she listed her occupation as "Business"and giving her office as Royal Diadem Business Logistics Limited.
Receipts issued to her for the payment of shops number 16, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 42 (6 units) at the total sum of N45 million were also attached.
He pointed out that the Chairman of the Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba, detailed his Personal Assistant to go to Lagos with him during the investigation of Mrs. Attang where investigators saw the buildings purchased by Mrs. Attang in highbrow areas of the state.
The resounding question is why, in the face of glaring evidence, the anti-graft agencies are hesitant to bring Mrs. Attang to book in a country where people are routinely sent to jail for minor financial offences and where the current administration brags that it is combating corruption.
  Saharareporters

SSS; Senate President David Mark Implicated in Police Recruitment Scandal

David-Mark



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Feb. 6, 2013
OsunDefender- Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Service or State Security Services (SSS) has been hit by a recruitment scandal involving the violation of the principle of federal character.
Senate President David Mark is also implicated in the sordid affair.
Impeccable sources close to the SSS told News Express that during the last recruitment exercise embarked upon by the Service “David Mark alone sent in over 40 names of his kinsmen in clear and flagrant violation of the Federal Character principle.”
The sources alleged that “there were supposed to have been 155 cadets but federal character violators like the senate president increased the number to well above 300.”
The cadets are undergoing training at Ojo Barracks in Lagos, South-West Nigeria. The training, which began their around July last year, is scheduled to last for a year.
The manner in which the cadets were selected reflects the new but illegal practice of top Nigerian government officials sharing vacancies among themselves while more qualified candidates who have no godfathers roam the streets in search of non-existent jobs.
“Why is Mallam Abba Moro, the Minister of Interior, not screaming Federal Character violation?” asked a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He sacked erstwhile Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, over a similar offence while he has remained mute over the scandal at the SSS, a department which his ministry also supervises,” the source observed.
News+Rescue

AFCON: HOW SUPER EAGLES COUNTERED MALI’S JUJU – UNBELIEVABLE!


For those that don’t believe black magic plays a part in football, an official with the Super Eagles has informed how the Eagles of Mali players broke two eggs on the Moses Mabhida Stadium turf as they came for the warm-up section in Wednesday’s Semi-Final clash.
The official, who begged Sporting Life that his name should not be revealed, said: “I have never seen such a thing in my life though I have heard time without number that ‘juju’ can play a role in African football.
“As we set the pitch for the Eagles stars to begin the light warm-up section before the semi-final game, there I spotted two Malian players stoning to the ground eggs as they prepared for their own section.
“Another official who also witnessed the incident, called me and gave me a bottle of Anointing Water (from T.B. Joshua) to sprinkle to the spot. That I did. I was not surprised when the Malians made the Eagles look ordinary in the opening 15 minutes of the game.
“My joy is, God showed He is above every evil when, after the Mali Eagles dominance, we countered and scored our opening goal.
“We then went on to score four goals before they got a consolation.”

NairalandForum