Fuel scarcity worsens as tanker drivers begin indefinite strike

HOPE of early end to the current fuel scarcity across the country was yesterday dashed as members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), began an indefinite strike over alleged extortion, harassment, brutality, arrest and detention of eight of their members by men of the Nigerian Navy at the Naval base, Apapa, Lagos.

But the Naval authorities have dismissed the tanker drivers allegations, describing tankers drivers as a group of unruly, undisciplined and people who have constituted a menace to other road users especially around the base.

Chairman of Western Zone of Chairman, Comrade Tokunbo Korodo, told Saturday Vanguard that members would not return to work until Naval authorities not only guaranteed the safety of members but also stop their men from extorting tanker drivers.

“For over a month now, men of Nigerian Navy, at the Naval Base Apapa, have been extorting tankers drivers before allowing them to pass through to NIPCO Plc depot to load products. Since the fuel scarcity started, they have been demanding between N5,000 and N30,000 from tanker drivers before allowing them to pass. Because of this, yesterday (Thursday), we held a meeting with their leaders who told us that if it is true that the tankers drivers are being extorted, we should take the identities of those involved and that if possible, we should take their photograph and get back to them.

So, this morning (yesterday), when they started, our members challenged them and resisted. The Chairman of NIPCO unit of PTD, Alhaji Ambali, who led others to challenge them was beaten to a coma. Eight of our members were arrested and detained at the Naval Base, Apapa, while many others were seriously brutalised. Other members had to run away to prevent the Naval personnel from brutalising and arresting them.

The Naval personnel were threatening to deal with any tanker driver seen around the vicinity. Because of that, members have decided to withdraw their services until further notice. So, members have since morning stopped lifting products.”

But the Naval authorities dismissed the tanker drivers allegation, describing them as a group of unruly, undisciplined and people who have constituted themselves into a menace on the road.

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard on telephone, Director of Naval Information, Commodore David Nabaida, said neither was any tanker driver arrested nor brutalised, stressing that even the allegation of extortion was unfounded.

He noted that contrary to the tanker drivers’ claims, “a tanker driver used his tanker to block the road and caused a heavy traffic. When our men came down to find out what was happening, the tanker driver abandoned the truck and ran away.

Our men had to tow the tanker to Naval dump site. This incident happened in the morning. Nobody was arrested or brutalised.

You know how these people behave. They are a group of unruly and undisciplined people who like to constitute menace on the road. Immediately, they started saying they would go on strike. Because they transport an important community needed by everybody, does that give them the right to block the road and prevent other road users from using the road?”

He challenged the tanker drivers to provide evidence of any extortion by his personnel and see if such officer would not be disciplined.
Vanguardngr

Iran Test Fires Improved Long-Range Missile

Iran has test-fired what it claims is an improved version of its Sejil 2 medium-range missile, Wednesday, amid ongoing tension with the West over its nuclear program.

State television showed video of the Sejil 2 missile launch Wednesday, calling the test a success. The Sejil 2 has a range of about 2,000 kilometers, making it capable of hitting Israel and U.S. bases in southeastern Europe.

Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi says the Sejil 2 is intended to defend the country against outside attack.

He says that the missile which tested Wednesday, is part of Iran's defensive forces, and that the test is intended to reinforce the deterrent capabilities of [Iran's] military. He says that the missile was built by Iranian scientists and is an upgraded version of the Sejil 2 [launched last May]. He adds that the newer version has a shorter launch time, better deterrent capability, and that it is a two-stage rocket using solid fuel that is highly maneuverable.

Both the test-firing and the sanctions vote come in the midst of an ongoing conflict between Iran and the West over its nuclear program. Tehran has not, as yet, agreed to the terms of a UN-draft deal to trade 70 percent of its low-grade uranium for highly enriched uranium from France and Russia.

The head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, told the country's Press TV, Wednesday, that "Iran prefers to procure the fuel (for its research) reactor through the (International Atomic Energy) Agency, .but, we can't afford to wait for long."

Meir Javedanfar of the MEEPAS center in Tel Aviv says that the Sejil 2 missile is nothing for the West to worry about. He says it is more a sign that it's taking the military option seriously, now that negotiations with the West appear to be faltering:

"There's nothing new about this rocket that should worry the West," he noted. "Iran has already tested solid fuel missiles before and Israel is already within the range of Iran's missiles. I think it's the political implications of this missile test that are noteworthy-and that is that Iran views the (nuclear) talks as dead-it doesn't view the talks positively, and now it's bracing for sanctions and quite possibly for war, and this missile test is a sign that Iran takes the military option very seriously and is ready to reciprocate if it's attacked."

Such tests, he adds, may also be aimed at frightening other countries in the region, like the Gulf States, or southern European nations that have U.S. or other Western bases on their soil, and might be involved in the logistics of an eventual attack.

President Barack Obama has said that the United States will not "wait indefinitely" for a response from Iran over the U.N. draft nuclear deal.

Iran's test-firing, comes a day after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impose sanctions on companies providing refined gasoline to Iran. Tehran is a major oil-producing country, but has just one domestic refinery, forcing it to buy much of its gasoline from abroad.
VOA News

CBN won’t allow stocks to crash again – Sanusi

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has said it would not allow the stock exchange to crash again adding that economic growth is now the focus of its policy
CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi said this at the on going Nigeria Economic Summit holding in Abuja.

“The (equity) market will go back up but if it goes back to 2007 (levels), I will stop it. I will starve it of oxygen. I will shut down money supply,” he said.
“Now our primary concern is to ensure the economy does not go into recession and to stimulate growth. It is not time to put on the brakes,” he said.

Sanusi said credit to the private sector rose 20 percent between March and November and had risen successively each month in that period.

Consumer inflation rose to 12.4 percent year-on-year in November from 11.6 percent the previous month, the Bureau of National Statistics said earlier, as volatile fuel prices pushed up transport costs.
Vanguardngr

Tiger Woods to take 'indefinite leave' from golf

US golfer Tiger Woods is taking indefinite leave from professional golf to try to work on "healing" his family.

In a statement on his website, he said he was aware of the disappointment "my infidelity" had caused his family.

He said he wanted to "try to repair the damage done" and asked for privacy so his family "could heal".

In the UK, lawyers for the world number one golfer obtained an injunction preventing certain information purportedly about him being published.

On his website, Mr Woods said he was "profoundly sorry" and asked for forgiveness.

I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person
Tiger Woods

He said: "I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding.

"What's most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing.

"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person."

He has been married to his wife Elin for five years and they have a two-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son.

In a statement the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour said it supported the golfer's decision, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said the celebrity's "priorities are where they need to be".

"We look forward to Tiger's return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him," he said.

Intense speculation

The UK injunction was granted by a judge at the High Court in London, and concerns alleged information which cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.

Last week Woods apologised to his family for "transgressions".

Speculation about his private life has been intense since he was involved in a car crash outside his Florida home.

Newspaper allegations followed about extra-marital affairs.

Woods has not been seen in public since the accident, in which his car hit a tree and fire hydrant.

The golfer, who was found bleeding and semi-conscious, was later charged with careless driving, which carries a $164 (£98) fine and four points on his driving record.

Woods has become an international sporting icon since winning his first major in 1997 at the age of 21.

At 33, he is just four short of equalling Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major victories and is regarded as one of the world's all-time great golfers.

BBC News

Beckham: I'm prepared for finals snub

David Beckham has admitted "nothing is guaranteed" when it comes to his hopes of playing for England at the 2010 World Cup finals. The former Three Lions captain will join AC Milan in January in a bid to prove his form and fitness to boss Fabio Capello but Beckham is prepared to be left out if he is not performing.

David Beckham
GettyImagesDavid Beckham captained England to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals.

The LA Galaxy midifelder has been in the public eye all week as he played a central role in helping steer England's 2018 World Cup bid back on track in South Africa, before participating in the draw for next summer's finals in Cape Town.

But with the likes of Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and James Milner - who scored for Aston Villa on Saturday - all in contention for the right midfield berth, the former captain acknowledges that his participation in the main event is not guaranteed.

"I do not fear being axed for the World Cup. If I don't make the squad it's not going to stop me supporting the team,'' he said.

"Nothing is guaranteed, I have discovered that is true in my career. But if I can be part of it then it will be amazing.

"Everybody knows how much I love playing for my country but the manager will pick a squad he thinks will win the competition. That has to be the way.

"If I am not part of that, of course I'd be upset but it is something I would still respect. It would be because the manager felt it was right in terms of his system and having the best players in the team.

The 34-year-old has played at three World Cups for England, captaining the side in both the 2002 and 2006 finals, and while he admits his move to Serie A should improve his chances of selection, he is under no illusions as to Capello's policy for not picking in-form players.

"It still hurts that I was left out by Steve McClaren after I had resigned the captaincy but being picked for next summer is not something I take for granted.

"Going to Milan doesn't guarantee anything. It gives me a chance of being in the squad but it doesn't guarantee it.''
ESPNsoccernet

Sanusi incompetent to manage CBN

His Royal Majesty Timtiniko Enodien is the monarch of Eket, Akwa Ibom State. The monarch feels so bad about what goes on in the banking sector, especially the way the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) battles commercial banks and still threatens to do more.

Enodien is not just the ordinary observer of the development. He is a knowledgeable citizen in banking with a PhD in Public Finance, two previous degrees in Economics from universities of reputation in Europe and USA. He worked and retired as Permanent Secretary in the presidency and Federal Ministry of Finance. During his working years, he represented government interests as director in several banks. Therefore, he is at home with banking and its policies.

He feels livid with the way the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi manages the nation’s economy and is sure if the man is allowed to continue his way, the nation is economically doomed.

The old economist does not think Sanusi should be watched helplessly. It is either the president and finance ministry call him to order or he ruins the banking sector and ultimately the economy as he told Saturday Sun in his palace at Eket.

The question of how best the CBN can manage or correct itself on its present policies on commercial banks is a large one. But it could be broken down with time as our discussion progresses. The bottomline is that the CBN through its activities has been killing the banks and that is not proper. I begin to wonder whether the management of the apex bank actually knows what they are doing. Because the first thing to learn about banking is that bank is the most sensitive establishment or business outfit in the sense that you only need a rumour – real or imaginary to kill the bank totally. It is as easy as that and a good management of the apex bank will go by the rules. And the rule is that a bank is considered insolvent or inadequate if it doesn’t meet the depositors’ liability. Customers come to the bank and drop their money on trust that whenever they need it no stories would be told about it.

Therefore, if there is any problem in the banking sector, the CBN should rather manage it wisely instead of making a public show of it, otherwise you are invariably killing what you should protect. Listing a number of banks and declaring them insolvent before the public is in fact killing them before their real death. Assuming something was wrong, there are ways to handle it. There is what is called liquidity ratio in banking – the ration of cash and other easily realizable assets are mostly held by the CBN. Whenever there is imbalance in this or when it is not favourable, it is the duty of the CBN to find ways of correcting the anomaly and putting the bank back on track.

That intervention is intended to prevent the affected bank from going under. For instance, we heard of rescue measures by government in several economies during the meltdown. But meltdown is just somebody’s invention or coinage. It simply means a recession – a situation where there is less and reduced economic activity. Consequently, there is not enough money to buy goods and services and a backlash of further dull and slower economic activity as people lose their jobs. It leads to job loss, which swells the unemployment ratio that possesses the spending power that keeps the economy going.

That is why I wonder whenever I read that the CBN governor boasts that there are still more banks to go under his hammer whether he understands the implications of his actions. No good central bank does that or speaks that way as if to scare people, even foreign investors, or cause stampede in the economy. If things get so bad, the CBN investigates, looks at the liquidity ratio and looks at the books and calls the involved banks to order.

Banks survive on confidence. For instance, there is the N100 note. The value is nothing as a piece of paper. The real value is that confidence by the owner of a commodity who you give it in exchange for his goods who collects it because he knows the plantain seller, for instance, will not reject it in exchange for plantain. Any time he understands that the confidence of the seller of what he wants over the N100 he has is destroyed by any economic force or reason or policy of state, the N100 possesses no value at all. It actually turns to a piece of worthless paper. That is exactly the same with banks. When the confidence is destroyed, then nothing is left for the economy to survive on and that is exactly what the present CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is doing.

So, I keep wondering where we are going in a nation that talks about Vision 20: 20-20. I can assure you that with the CBN style of killing the banks it will not be real. In fact we have to heal the banks CBN governor killed before we talk of recovery, which will take so long. I say it many times over that the sector has been killed because the confidence has been thoroughly shaken. I still wonder and ask other Nigerians whether this CBN governor is solving the problem of the banks or helping in killing them.
I didn’t know of any such haste or policy change in the CBN management before Sanusi came in.

For instance, we heard of investigation of the banks before or after the announcement of sack of bank managing directors, yet certain things as we hear make us question that investigation and its outcome. But I know that the rule is after a team is sent out for investigation, you sit down with it and see the findings before taking action. Now the developments in the CBN try to show us there must have been procedures not properly followed or hastily executed.

Even when you find out from a proper investigation that something went wrong or that your investigations are accurate, you have no need blowing the outcome open to the public. You first of all sit down with the directors of the bank/s and reason with them on the best way to tackle the problem. If for instance the liquidity is poor and needs to be shored up or there are other problems, the CBN agrees with the directors on how to correct the anomaly. It will be the duty of the apex bank to give the affected bank limited time to comply and since they know the consequences of non-compliance, there are under obligation to do just that and find way of healing the bank. But if at last there is no common ground on finding solution to this problem, nothing in the books say the CBN should take over the banks or sit down somewhere and announce the sack or removal of the director or head of the banks. All these measures are set in place not to encourage unethical practices in the sector, but to guard against steps that could cause chaos and engender more damage to the economy by blowing it open that Bank A, K, or P is down and out.

Okay, there is the bank board of directors, and I ask in these drama we have witnessed, were they properly and adequately involvement before the action was taken. The board is answerable to the shareholders and that order should be respected and allowed. But for one man to go ahead and adopt all the powers as if the management of the CBN is one man’s business is unheard of. It can never happen in any enlightened and orderly society. So, the whole thing smacks of, I am sorry to say, ignorance. And the way banking system is run elsewhere I don’t think these managers of our CBN would have been allowed to continue with actions that would send us and our economy so many years backwards.

I have to tell you honestly that with this CBN style of banking sector management, nobody should continue to think of the actualization of the Vision 20: 20-20 dream.

Yes, there could be mismanagement of the bank by the management, but in what sense? Is it in unsecured loan? If that is the problem, then the board of the bank is still to be involved in finding ways of tackling the problem. An MD has limits in grant of loans, and every loan has accepted collateral to secure it. If a manager flouts the rule, the board has the power to discipline him, find a way of securing or recovering the loan or other reasonable steps that may be necessary. But blowing it out of proportion does not in any way solve the problem.

If the management went wrong by staffing the bank with unqualified manpower, that is another problem still left for the board to handle and there is a way out it. But there is never a time the solution will be someone sitting somewhere in Abuja and talking as if he has the ultimate and monopoly power of knowing everything about banking.

I was once a director representing the Federal Government in quite some banks, and sometimes, we jokingly discuss that most times when banking examiners come it is for the sake of formality. And if it is the same class of people I used to know who are after personal interest in their examination, I can’t imagine them being so patriotic to deliver a report of the real situation or state of the banks. I knew them as people who wrote a lot of irrelevances maybe because the people involved refused to play ball.
I feel so bad about this attitude of the CBN governor and to some extent about the Federal Ministry of Finance, because if the office knew what should be done the governor should be called to order before he does worse damage as he is boasting about taking on more banks. He has actually done so much damage that will take us generations to heal, what is the need watching him do more to bring total ruin to the economy beyond remedy.

What super humans are they in the Central Bank to take over and take charge of these banks and they are still bragging to do more. The boards of the banks are not there for nothing.
Even at my level then in the Ministry of Finance I used to advise the CBN governor on policies one felt was not too good. Sometimes he might visit me in my office or ask that I see him in his own office for a discussion on that. Nothing says the CBN governor knows all and should act as if he is the only one with knowledge of what should be done and at last expose the economy to serious problems instead of solving existing ones.

As a matter of fact, if the banks would tell you the truth, since the CBN started this destruction, deposits must have plunged drastically, and I am sure the culture of saving money under the pillow at home must have taken a rise because the depositor doesn’t trust the bank any more. Our meltdown, which others are already recovering from, is just commencing. I tell you that the CBN governor has caused our own local recession, which nobody knows when we will get out of it because he is still unrelenting in his ways and nobody wants to call him to order. We are certainly heading towards such crisis unless someone stops them. What is certain is that since the CBN governor has been allowed to continue the way he carries on, we are surely heading for worst times.

It looks to me like the CBN governor is probably knowledgeable in micro banking, bookkeeping, bank management and a good relationship in dealing with the customer. But the knowledge of the real banking, economic and monetary policies, which I will call macro banking is actually what you need to manage the CBN. It is a different case altogether because it is more of banking, monetary and economic policymaking and the effective combination of all.

However, I would not suggest to his employer to remove him, but if I had the power to do that myself or were his employer, I would not keep him.

And after doing this much damage, he still boasts and announces that many more banks will still go. If what we read about him is true, that means the CBN Governor does not mean well for the economy or does not know what to do or how to manage the economy of a nation with his position.
As I said earlier, there is recession – a time for downturn when activities slow down and production develops a negative trend. The major thing governments in other places do is to embark on projects that help to pump money back into the system and create jobs like real estate development.

Real estate or building projects is always the best option because it creates a lot of jobs, involves so many others sectors of the economy in procurement of items needed and creates assets that don’t depreciate in value easily. The materials they require from those sectors get them back on their feet. They don’t just dump money in banks as a way of fighting recession like we saw the CBN governor do after going against banks. I am even surprised that the Federal Government is not asking the governor questions on the reckless release of money to the involved banks.

I even ask if the banks the CBN is accusing were as reckless in issuing loans like the CBN has been in releasing money to them. What collateral has the CBN from the banks they are dumping money in to secure the liquidity? Because to retain these large sums of money in these same banks accused of non-prudent management is a question the CBN has not answered. At last we will find out that the problem will be worse than the one the accused banks created. The banks may have taken collateral for loans which are inadequate, but the CBN has ignored a basic rule of ensuring the banks have adequate facility to secure the money them pump into them to sustain the cash ratio balance.

To sustain my argument that the CBN investigation of the banks were grossly inadequate, I want to recall to you that few days after the CBN announced a bailout of N420b to the first five banks it moved against, these same banks said they didn’t need them because there were liquid enough. That goes to say that it is only in Nigeria what CBN is doing would be allowed to continue without a check. The FG in my view would have asked independent examiners to look at the books of the banks instead of allowing the CBN to run this type of show thereby making them the accuser, the jury and the judge.

The Federal Government for purposes of balance should not just accept everything they say as gospel truth.

My final word on this is that if the CBN is allowed to continue the way it does, I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel for the commercial banks to retain their boldness, enjoy the confidence of the customer and play its vital role in the economy. That is why I keep saying that the federal government should put its feet down and save the situation from the hands of the CBN. The FG cannot save this economy without correcting this present inadequacy in the central bank. CBN is definitely not helping the economy or moving in the direction to do so. But if someone thinks otherwise and we decide to fold our arms and watch, we will see the doom very soon.
Sun News

Eagles to battle Argentine in South Africa 2010

The 2010 World Cup draws took place in Cape Town, South Africa, Friday, before a world live and television audience of close to 200 million people with Nigeria, for the third time in 15 years, facing Argentina in Group B.

eagles3

After a colourful ceremony which started with a recorded message from South Africa’s 91 year old former president, Nelson Mandela and a welcome by President Jacob Zuma and FIFA president, Joseph Sepp Blatter, the draw proper started with FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke conducting affairs.

Ethiopian legend, Haile Gebrselassie made the first pick from pot three and it turned out to be Nigeria but with Valcke saying that two African teams could not be in the same group, Nigeria had to automatically move to Group B where Argentina seeded in the group will play the opening match with the Super Eagles.

Moments after the draw, Super Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu told Supersports that he and his wards will not pay any special focus on Argentina because other teams in the group, Greece and South Korea are equally strong.

“I don’t want to focus on Argentina because other teams in the group are equally strong. We have to prepare well for all the teams and I think it will be nice to start well with Argentina,” Amodu said.

Continuing Amodu, who the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has pledged total support for on the Eagles job told his interviewers that “It is possible to beat Argentina, they are beatable but it depends on how we prepare.”

Pressed to say how good his team is, Amodu quipped “I think the Eagles we are building now can come out of the group and possibly get to the quarter finals or semi finals.”

This will be the third time in World Cup history that both countries will be meeting each other in the same group. In Nigeria’s debut appearance in 1994 in the United States, Argentina, parading the great Diego Maradona, beat Nigeria 2-1 but the Clemens Westerhof-tutored side still went ahead to qualify for the second round.

Again in 2002 in Korea/Japan after Amodu was shoved aside for Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, the Eagles comprising rooky players like Femi Opabunmi and Barthlomew Ogbechie, stretched the former world champions to breaking point before the much more experienced Argentines drew from their bag of football tricks to pip the Nigerian side 1-0.

After the 1994 loss in the USA, Nigeria were pitched again with Argentina in the final of the Atlanta ‘96 Olympic Games football event where Nwankwo Kanu inspired his team mates to beat Argentina 3-2 for Africa’s first Olympic gold in football.

Nine years after the Olympic loss, Argentina took their revenge at the U-20 level in the Netherlands when Lionel Messi, re-enacting the Maradona prowess singlehandedly tore the Flying Eagles defence to help his country to the FIFA U-20 Wrld Cup crown, winning 2-1.

Again in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, Samson Siasia who was in-charge in 2005 in the Netherlands had the ill-luck of confronting the same Argentina team with Messi supported by Sergio Aguero, a son-in-law of Maradona in the final of the football event and lost 1-0 to pick the gold.

Recalling the 1994 loss, Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi who was part of the USA’94 squad said after the draws yesterday that “we lost 2-1 to Argentina, a defeat we caused for ourselves”, but added that for the other group opponent, Greece who they equally met in 19994, “we beat Greece 2-0 in 1994 but football has really changed in that country now.”

Greece shocked the whole world in 2004 in Portugal when they beat stronger teams to emerge the European champions but in last year’s edition of the same championship, they were a shadow of themselves.

In the other pairings for the 2010 World Cup, host South Africa have a tough opening match with Mexico in Group A which also has Uruguay and France whose qualification is smeared in a Henry Thierry ‘hand of God’ assist that gave them the ticket.

England that have been rebuilt by Italian coach, Fabio Capello are in Group C with USA, Algeria and Slovenia while Africa’s first 2010 qualifier, Ghana are in Group D with Germany, Australia and Serbia. Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

The mot successful World Cup country, Brazil are grouped in G alongside North Korea, Cote d’Ivoire and Portugal while current European champions, Spain will test their might against rising football country, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.

Respected former South Africa president, Nelson Madiba Mandela said South Africa is “privileged and humbled” to be staging football’s greatest event, the Fifa World Cup in 2010.

According to him, “Sport has the power to inspire and unite people. In Africa, soccer enjoys great popularity and has a particular place in the hearts of people, which is why it is so important that the Fifa World Cup will, for the first time ever, be hosted on the African continent in 2010.”

“We feel privileged and humbled that South Africa has been given this singular honour of being the African host country. We must strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup, while at the same time, ensuring that we are going to leave a lasting benefit to all our people.

“The people of Africa learnt the lesson of patience and endurance in their long struggle for freedom. May the reward brought by the FIFA World Cup prove that the long wait for its arrival on African soil has been worth it… Ke Nako! It’s time.”

The groups tables are as follows

Group A – South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France
Group B – Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic and Greece
Group C – England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia
Group D – Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana
Group E – Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon
Group F – Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia
Group G – Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d’Ivoire and Portugal
Group H – Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play Argentina in the opening match.

Vanguardngr

Nigeria farmers sue Shell over oil spill

A group of Nigerian farmers is suing Royal Dutch Shell, claiming that the oil firm polluted their land in the Niger Delta region.

The four farmers allege that oil spilt from the supply lines of a subsidiary of Shell contaminated fish ponds and farms, ruining villagers' livelihoods.

They will ask a court in the Netherlands for compensation and to force Shell to clean up the area.

Shell denies responsibility and says the court has no authority in the case.

In a separate case earlier this year, Shell agreed to pay millions of dollars to a group of Nigerians over alleged abuses of their rights in the delta region.

Although Shell paid compensation, it did not accept responsibility for rights abuses.

The current court case concentrates on a leak from a high-pressure pipeline on 26 June 2005 in Bayelsa State.

Lawyers for the farmers, who are backed by environmental group Friends of the Earth Netherlands, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that leak had effectively impoverished people in the delta.

"What we want is first that Shell should be compelled to go back to the communities and do a thorough clean-up of the environment," said Chima Williams.

"Then that Shell should pay adequate compensation to the people for loss of livelihoods."

Shell said it regretted the spillage, but said it was not responsible because the leak was caused by sabotage.

Several militant groups have been fighting in the delta region for years - often sabotaging pipelines and stealing oil to finance their activities.
BBC News

Stop me if you can Ngige dares Obi, Soludo

With electioneering campaigns getting to feverish pitch in Anambra State ahead of the February 6, 2010 gubernatorial election in the state, former governor Chris Ngige, a medical doctor, says he is sure of victory.

Dr Ngige who is hinging his hope to return to the Awka Government House on his performance during the 33 months he held sway as governor of the state after the 2003 general elections, said that no other governor had served the Anambra people better than he did.

In this exclusive interview with Daily Sun, the former governor looked at the political credentials of the other prominent candidates in the race and their political parties, saying that he is the man to beat in the February polls, adding that even if he chose to run under a “Goat Party” he will still win as the Anambra people have confidence in him.

Ngige, whose 33 months in office was turbulent as a result of severe opposition, blamed this on his estranged god-father, Chief Chris Uba, who, he said, had the backing of the Federal Government to make his administration difficult.

He told Daily Sun that his travails came because he refused to keep to the agreements his detractors extracted from him under duress.

He also looked at the Governor Obi administration, saying that the governor has not justified the huge allocation he has received going by what is on ground as dividends of democracy to the people just as he revealed the odds against the other candidates in the race. Excerpts:

You were here as governor for 33 months, what’s your experience like?
Well, the experience is one that is already in the public domain and with you people in the media you know what transpired in this state at that time. It was a 33 years which the opportunity presented itself to me whether to align with my people or to desert the people. I had a difficult choice to make and I chose the first option which was to stay with the people, but at very great cost, and the cost was serious in that it even entailed my placing my life on the line.

I came into office on 29th May 2003, and I met a state that was run down. The debt situation was a gigantic one, and the people lost faith in government business, they were helpless, so to say. Schools were closed down, hospitals were closed down, the economy of the state was lying prostrate on the ground, and I had to use my clinical mind to diagnose what was wrong and then applied some treatment as a clinician. There was a political clinical problem at that time. Luckily, and with great thanks to Almighty God I was able to do it because he had equipped me in my life’s journey with worthwhile experiences that I could not have bought in any market or any supermarket.

I had training as medical doctor, I had training as a civil servant for 18 years, I had training as a businessman for about seven years and I had training as a party officer in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I was Assistant National Secretary for another five years before I mounted the saddle. So, I was very much equipped and I decided to tackle the problem. The problem was god-fatherism and the parasitic elite. They held a stranglehold on the treasury of the state and believed that the state will be at their beck and call, to service them and their needs, I said no, and the battle ensued.

The Federal Government gang-up with my then godfather
Unluckily, for me they had the backing of the Federal Government at the time and so the thing snowballed into a fight between me and the Federal Government. The then Federal Government threw caution to the wind and decided to fight dirty, including at a point withdrawing my police security because a spurious judgment was gotten by my opponents. At one time they sent hoodlums here; they burnt down the paltry money of the state, public buildings were torched, my own office was burnt, and my government lodge was burnt while I was trying to sleep one fateful 18th November.

Anyway, I didn’t mind, I didn’t want that to distract me because I knew that at the end of the day only Chris Ngige will be held responsible for what happened when he was in charge of governance. So, I faced the issue of security with all boldness and when the police were withdrawn I had to faction out a local arrangement by which I got some men and we guarded the state and guarded my Government House. Those patriotic Anambra people, they volunteered themselves and their services and after that when the police came back, we synchronized them with the Nigeria Police. I am happy to tell you that the crime rate was very low here then, there were no kidnappings at that time and there were no violent robbery of homes or even cash at the banks like it is happening today.

In terms of infrastructural development, the people here move about a lot, they are mercantile people, they are traders and they would like to move from one market to another. So, I have to do an arterial network of roads that are interlinked…

How was the opposition in Anambra created?
They were created by many forces; first of all, some of them were created by the military. It’s not a secret that it was during the past military regimes that people got jobs for which they didn’t do and pocket the money. So, it continued, and so when my predecessor Mbadinuju (Chinweoke) came here they came out again. As a matter of fact they tried it with Okwadike, that’s Chukwuemeka Ezeife, but Okwadike you know is a strong fellow and strong willed, and, of course, they looked at him and saw that there was even no money in the state at the time so they left him.

If you remember then Okwadike could hardly pay salaries and he told people to choose to come to work three times in a week so that the salaries would be reduced.

But during Mbadinuju’s time, they became more ferocious, it was a pure civilian regime, during Okwadike it was a diarchy with Babangida at the helm of affairs. So, they wrestled Mbadinuju to the ground and he surrendered and with that surrender a lot of things started going wrong. So, the creation started from the military, but was accentuated during the civilian democracy of Chief Obasanjo (Olusegun). He believed in god-fatherism, he believed in cutting corners, he believed in so many things that are not straight forward and so the people had a field day not only in my state, but in other states.

But my own was more pronounced because I resisted and they became violent and decided to remove me by force whether I liked it or not. That resulted in the famous or notorious July 10 abduction as they called it, and my forceful removal from office and my deputy was called to take over. So, one would have thought that after that they would keep quiet, but they continued.

But all that is now history, the history books have recorded everybody, they have recorded me, they have recorded them, they have recorded Chief Obasanjo and none of us can change it. Historians keep on writing, so I had my eyes on history and I decided to do the right thing to be on the right side of history.

If the federal authorities at that time did not support your opponents, do you think you would have served out your tenure?
Of course yes, I would have served out my tenure. A lot of unorthodox things happened at that time, INEC was under the Federal Government, and if you are going for election petition, you would, of course, need INEC to support their result and in my case it was not so. INEC was totally against me, even the results my field officers did not collect, for us to get ours from INEC to make our defense at the tribunal became a very difficult thing. It was impossible and we never got it.

The federal authorities then connived, that’s my opponents, my tormentors in-chief, connived with the present day governor, Mr Peter Obi, and I don’t know what they did, they knew what they did, but you cannot hide anything for too long. There was collusion between the two of them, they worked together at the tribunal and they worked with INEC, they worked with them even up to the Court of Appeal to the extent that INEC even made a detour, singing a new tune at the Court of Appeal for a cancellation of the entire results. All these were based on the fact that they wanted a fresh election and they believed that in a fresh election PDP will be pressed not to present me, that also culminated in my famous suspension from PDP and eventual expulsion for no just cause. Expulsion without trial, expulsion that even the courts quashed and said that it was wrongly done. But the role of the then Federal Government was that of a Federal Government that wanted to annex every state and for me they regarded me as a state that has refused to pay tribute and pay royalty to the head of the fiefdom.

My battle with Chris Uba
I said no, the Igbo spirit in me will not even allow that because I am a pure and refined Igbo man, I am a proper Igbo man. A lot of people do not understand what happened, they talk about agreement, no agreement, Ngige didn’t keep agreement to do this or that. Which agreement, an agreement that was illegal, an agreement that was procured under duress? We never talked about payment of money or even signing off of political offices when I started, but all these were just brought later when the elections were near and even at gunpoint. And, of course, if you are a good tactician; a good general must be alive to plan for a fresh battle. So, I have to be alive, therefore, I have to agree to what they were saying for me to be alive and then draw a new battle plan.

That battle plan I drew especially when they tried the abduction.
I was even ready to give some commissionership and things like that; I was ready because at the end of the day it is Anambra people that must be appointed.

The only thing I said was that on quality of the people I gave my specification, qualification and wealth of experience; that was what I did. I said that you can appoint, but, for example, my Attorney-General should be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). If you bring Commissioner of Finance, no problem, but he must be a chartered accountant, that was my prescription for the man for the job and, of course, they misunderstood it and said oh, he doesn’t want us to appoint somebody we liked. They now formed themselves into a cabal and started plotting for my removal from office, if possible even to kill me. We give thanks to God that all those things came to naught.

You have told us that when you became the governor of this state in 2003, what you met on the ground was nothing to write home about, that everything was in disarray. Incumbent Governor Obi also made the same claim. Does it mean that you left the state like that, what were your major achievements?
The incumbent governor knows that he was lying, it’s either he was lying or he is ignorant of the workings of government or both. I think it was a case of both, I’m more inclined to believe that because even the blind saw that my government worked, they felt my government’s action with their feet, with their hand and with their ears they could hear. So, how can the governor say that, the governor was trying to score cheap political points at that time.

And, of course, he came in with bitterness, he was bitter, he had complained loudly that I took away his mandate for 33 months and that he was only left with 17 months to serve. During that time he believed that he was to serve out the residue of my tenure of four years. If you remove 33 months from 48 months, you have about 15 months. So, he was jittery and bitter and was looking for excuses to haul abuses on me. Otherwise, I left N4.8 billion here for him on credit, a thing that is not done in Nigeria.

People meet empty treasury, but I had in the bank cash of about N8.5 billion. I had counterpart funding with voluntary agencies, with the Universal Basic Education Commission and others to the tune of about N3.3 billion, making it N11.8 billion. I had in excro account money, because I went to court for a court injunction stopping the payments of those monies to those who took LPOs from two, three phoney contractors who were being paid monthly even though their jobs were no longer going on, I had about a billion naira there.

Proof of monies I left in Anambra treasury and my legacies
So, when the governor started saying there was nothing here, there was nothing he didn’t accuse me of. He set up a committee led by Hon. Justice Ononiba, a former retired Chief Judge of this state, with members like Dr. Tim Menakaya, eminent people like Engr. Ajulu Uzodike and the rest of them. The committee came out with their report and said in all the books of Anambra State government, in all the bank accounts of Anambra State government, in the counterpart funding of Anambra State and treasury, they found N11.8 billion as what was left by Dr. Chris Ngige’s administration.
Sun News