Monday, January 9, 2012

Jonathan’s speech shows govt’s insincerity on subsidy removal -ACN



The Action Congress of Nigeria ACN) has said that President Goodluck Jonathan's televised speech defending his government's decision to withdraw fuel subsidy only succeeded in deepening the people's mistrust of the administration, as it failed to address the pertinent issues.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the deficit of trust between the Jonathan administration and the Nigerian people was the main reason the people did not take the president's speech seriously, as shown in organised labour's response that the strike would go ahead in spite of the speech.
It recalled that while the president promised to consult with all stakeholders across the country and collate their views before taking a decision on the fuel subsidy issue, probably in April, he rather decided to ambush Nigerians and ruin their New Year celebrations by rushing to withdraw the subsidy after just one stakeholders' meeting in Lagos.
“If the president did not stand by his earlier promise to Nigerians on this issue, why should they believe him now to do all that he has promised in his speech?” the party queried.
ACN, therefore, re-stated its opposition to the removal of the fuel “subsidy,” saying all that the government subsidises were corruption and inefficiency.
It also hailed the governors of ACN states for their courage in standing on the side of the people and labour, in their quest to get the government to rescind its decision to remove fuel subsidy.


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Protest Day Images





Protesters try to pull away a man who refused to move away from Ikorodu Road during a demonstration against soaring petrol prices following government's decision to abolish decades-old fuel subsidies, on January 9, 2012 in Lagos.
Protesters try to pull away a man who refused to move away from Ikorodu Road during a demonstration against soaring petrol prices following government's decision to abolish decades-old fuel subsidies, on January 9, 2012 in Lagos.





A man carries a placard beside a bonfire during a demonstration against soaring petrol prices in Lagos (AFP, Pius Utomi Ekpei)




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Labour rally: Ekiti NBA offers free legal services to arrested victims



Ekiti State branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has promised to give free legal services to anyone arrested by the police during today’s protest in Ado Ekiti.
Also the two labour centres in the state, have reiterated their commitment to the strike billed to commence today.
Chairmen of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) Comrades Ayodeji Aluko and Kolawole  Olaiya respectively, in a joint press conference in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday, said, “the strike action scheduled to commence today will be total in Ekiti State.”
They called on traders, students, commercial motorcyclists, pro-democracy and civil society groups to come out enmasse and join in the strike and “to be orderly and peaceful during the protest.”
At the coalition press conference, chairman of Ado Ekiti chapter of the NBA,Mr Owoseeni Ajayi, gave the assurance that the body would participate fully in the protest going by the directive of the national secretariat of the body.
“Now that the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, had approached the Industrial court , when he has flagrantly ignored and disobeyed the order of the Court that all the parties should maintain the statusquo pending the determination of the suit filed against it.
“To me, I can foresee judicial anarchy and a great abuse of Court process, in the country if the oil subsidy removal is allowed to stay,”
The NLC chairman specifically  advised the president to better focus on the issue of insecurity in the land rather than resorting  to oil subsidy removal that would further unleash terror on the country.



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Security agents foil attempt to bomb church in Kaduna



But for the vigilance of security men stationed at the Living Faith Church in Barnawa, Kaduna, an unidentified man would have caused havoc at the popular Living Faith Church in Barnawa, Kaduna  with about 30,000 worshippers attending Sunday service.
The suspected bomber was said to have  rigged a car with explosives on the premises of the church and had earlier, passed the security checks into the church before anther team of security officials spotted him.
According to an eye-witness, at about 8.00 a.m., when the first service which started at 7.00 a.m. was in session, a brand new Peugeot 406 beat the security checks before the church’s entrance entered premises and went straight to the central location of the church, when some of the church securitymen accosted the driver who was alone in the car.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State police command, DSP Aminu Lawan, confirmed the incident, saying “there was a report of an incident of a man who came to Living Faith Church with a Peugeot 406 car and did not subject himself for search initially, and while they were trying to search him, forced his way out of the premises.”
Church officials, however, declined to make comments on the  matter but an eyewitness told newsmen that the driver was ordered to relocate the vehicle to the parking lot tagged “Shiloh park,” but he insisted that he would not move from the position the vehicle was stationed.
“At that point, the securitymen accused the driver of not subjecting his car to checks and  screening at the main gate and ordered the man to open his boot.
“While the security-men were trying to open his car booth, the driver zoomed off in full speed and forced the car out of the main gate, breaking the iron of the gate. Those around the entrance threw stones at the car, breaking its rear windscreen, but the driver escaped. He was, however, given hot chase with another car.”
The police were able to arrest the person that blocked the securitymen who chased the alleged bomber.
According to the PPRO, “as he was running away, he broke the main gate to the church. If you go there, you will see the gate broken. And they said as the man was trying to escape, he was given a hot chase, and suddenly another vehicle came from nowhere and crossed those who were chasing the suspect and allowed him to escape.
“We have apprehended the man who allowed the suspect to escape. He is now in our custody. The police have commenced investigation and we are on the trail of the suspect.”


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Fuel subsidy removal: Expect 50% hike in drugs cost -PSN



Following the  removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, pharmacists in Nigeria, under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria(PSN), have warned Nigerians to expect a 50 per cent increase in the cost of drugs.

According to a statement issued in Lagos, at the weekend and signed by the PSN president, Mr Azubuike Okwor, the removal of subsidy on petrol which has affected virtually all sectors of the nation’s economy, would lead to increase in the cost of producing drugs which would ultimately affect the cost.

He explained: “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria after a thorough evaluation of the possible impact of the subsidy removal on the pharmaceutical sector predicts at least a 50 per cent hike in the cost of basic drugs in Nigeria in the weeks ahead if the subsidy removal is not reversed. This is traceable to increases in running costs of machinery and equipment, vehicles and overall logistic plan related to professionally handling of drugs by manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers.”

The PSN said it believed strongly that  government’s approach towards boosting financial liquidity at this time should have been directed at reducing expenditure, the remuneration of political office holders and ensuring the development of a sustained capacity to refine all petroleum products for local consumption and export.



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Security agents foil attempt to bomb church in Kaduna



But for the vigilance of security men stationed at the Living Faith Church in Barnawa, Kaduna, an unidentified man would have caused havoc at the popular Living Faith Church in Barnawa, Kaduna  with about 30,000 worshippers attending Sunday service.
The suspected bomber was said to have  rigged a car with explosives on the premises of the church and had earlier, passed the security checks into the church before anther team of security officials spotted him.
According to an eye-witness, at about 8.00 a.m., when the first service which started at 7.00 a.m. was in session, a brand new Peugeot 406 beat the security checks before the church’s entrance entered premises and went straight to the central location of the church, when some of the church securitymen accosted the driver who was alone in the car.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna State police command, DSP Aminu Lawan, confirmed the incident, saying “there was a report of an incident of a man who came to Living Faith Church with a Peugeot 406 car and did not subject himself for search initially, and while they were trying to search him, forced his way out of the premises.”
Church officials, however, declined to make comments on the  matter but an eyewitness told newsmen that the driver was ordered to relocate the vehicle to the parking lot tagged “Shiloh park,” but he insisted that he would not move from the position the vehicle was stationed.
“At that point, the securitymen accused the driver of not subjecting his car to checks and  screening at the main gate and ordered the man to open his boot.
“While the security-men were trying to open his car booth, the driver zoomed off in full speed and forced the car out of the main gate, breaking the iron of the gate. Those around the entrance threw stones at the car, breaking its rear windscreen, but the driver escaped. He was, however, given hot chase with another car.”
The police were able to arrest the person that blocked the securitymen who chased the alleged bomber.
According to the PPRO, “as he was running away, he broke the main gate to the church. If you go there, you will see the gate broken. And they said as the man was trying to escape, he was given a hot chase, and suddenly another vehicle came from nowhere and crossed those who were chasing the suspect and allowed him to escape.
“We have apprehended the man who allowed the suspect to escape. He is now in our custody. The police have commenced investigation and we are on the trail of the suspect.”



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Soyinka condemns Jonathan on subsidy removal



NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has declared that the removal of oil subsidy by the Federal Government is a demonstration of the fact that the Goodluck Jonathan administration has alienated itself from the people it is meant to serve.
Soyinka, who made this known in a statement dated January 6, 2012, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday, also said that the palliative measures put in place by the president were a step too late, noting that they ought to have been done before the removal of the subsidy.
Describing the measures as “medicine after death,” he said, “A serious government would have emplaced the ‘palliatives’ first, worked assiduously to ensure that they were effectively enforced, with, at the very least, a guaranteed stabilisation of the existing level of Nigerian subsistence.”
He also condemned the Federal Government for seeking an injunction from the National Industrial Court (NIC) restraining the labour unions from embarking upon strike in protest against the fuel subsidy removal.
Stating that it was an irony of history for the government to have sought the court’s intervention to stop the labour unions, “seeing how little consideration the same government paid to the judiciary as an institutional bulwark in the case of Justice (Ayo) Salami.
“If labour, therefore, chooses to ignore the order, it has impeccable precedents - it is merely the chickens coming home to roost. While Jonathan’s predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, repeatedly pummeled the judiciary into a state of coma, Goodluck Jonathan has driven an iron stake through its heart.
He also bemoaned the fate of the masses in the increasing downward trend in the national economy, declaring that the people had been, for a long time, placed at the mercy of the market forces.
“Equally impaled is the Nigerian civic polity, the barbed stake of economic incontinence – and electoral prodigality - through its productive sinews. The people are placed once again at the mercy of rampaging market forces.
“That patient beast of burden called the Nigerian citizen is overloaded; its knees are buckled; only its spirit refuses to be crushed. No wonder the gasp that emerges from its constricted throat is that cry of historic desperation: enough is enough!,” he said.



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UN disowns official over comment on subsidy removal



A REMARK made by Prof Jeffrey Sachs, the Special Advisor to the United States (US) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, on  the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government has created a gulf between the world body and the official.
The UN yesterday distanced itself from the remarks credited to Sachs on the dispute created by fuel subsidy removal.
During a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan last week, Ki-Moon’s aide had described the fuel subsidy withdrawal as a “bold and correct policy.” 
He was quoted as saying that the funds accruing from the removal would be ploughed into rapid infrastructural development.
But a statement issued by the UN System in Nigeria yesterday said that Prof Sachs’ comment did not represent the position of the UN.  
The statement reads: “Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ remarks relayed by the press on January 6, 2012 require clarification. Contrary to some press reports, Professor Sachs was not representing any official United Nations position on the removal of subsidy on petroleum products. 
“Professor Sachs was visiting Abuja to discuss and assist in Nigeria’s programs for the Millennium Development Goals and poverty alleviation. 
“The United Nations System in Nigeria takes this opportunity to stress its continued commitment to contributing to peace and stability in Nigeria.”
 The UN also reiterated its belief in the principles of peace, human rights, democratic governance and solidarity as essential ingredients for equitable and sustainable development.
The statement further reads: “The United Nations System in Nigeria highly appreciates the support of the government and people of Nigeria in delivering its mandate in the country.”




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Cash-less Lagos: We’ll address lapses -CBN •Bank customers groan over inability to withdraw cash from ATMs



IN view of the hiccups bedevilling the cashless Lagos policy since it was introduced on January 1 this year, the promoter, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has said there is no cause for alarm as such initial hitches were not unexpected.
Speaking at a public forum in Lagos at the weekend, the Deputy Governor, Operations, CBN, Mr Tunde Lemo, said the apex bank, commercial banks and other partners were well prepared to address the lapses as they come.
“I don’t want Lagosians to be discouraged because of these initial hitches. In agreement with our partners, we are ready to promptly address the issues as they arise. We really do not expect everything to be perfect on the first day. We will surely get there,” he said.
He, however, expressed regret over the way some government agencies, such as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), were frustrating the policy, stressing that the NCS was largely responsible for the non- availability of POS machines for the cashless Lagos scheme as they were being held in the port.
According to him, the agency has classified POS terminals as “cash registers” and so it is demanding 20 per cent administrative charges on each terminal being imported by the commercial banks, and coordinated by the CBN instead of the usual five per cent.
Meanwhile, even before the commencement of the nationwide indefinite strike, rallies and mass protests, called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and civil rights groups, bank customers are already feeling the impact as they could not access their funds at the weekend.
In most of the banks visited by the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos on Sunday, customers were seen looking dejected at the various automated teller machine (ATM) points as cash was unavailable.
In some of the bank’s branches that have about five points, only one point was dispensing cash, a development that left the customers spending hours on the queue before effecting cash withdrawal.
One of the affected customers, who gave his name as Peju Adefila, said he had come to the bank for cash to enable him do some shopping because of the impeding strike but was disappointed as the ATMs were not functioning.



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I regret voting for Jonathan —Don-Jazzy



DURING preparations for the last general election in 2011, Michael Elebeli Collins, popularly called Don Jazzy and the Mohits crew were loud in their support and endorsement of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Nigeria's next president after the death of President Yar'adua.
In fact, during one of his pre-election campaigns, one of Mohits members, D Banj, interviewed the President who was then an acting president to give him a forum to express his good intentions for Nigeria.
Recent events in the country have however turned these friends into enemies as Don Jazzy has openly condemned the President’s act on a public website.
According to him, "I hardly regret decisions I make. That my one vote is part of the votes that put the current government in power. It is one decision I regret with all my heart.
What I don't know is if the man we all voted for deceived us knowing [that] he would turn out like this or he is not the one leading us. May God help us.
“God knows that this government has not given Mohits any penny like I have always told you guys. I am boldly putting [it] out here for anybody to contest.  We all voted for the guy [President Jonathan] because at the time, we thought and believed he would be the one to move the country forward.



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Police seize military uniforms in Kano



The Nigeria Police in Kano on Sunday night impounded a large consignment of military uniforms shipped into the country through the Nigeria/Niger Republic border in Katsina State.

 The military uniforms were seized from a warehouse, close to the Kano Pillars Stadium in the Sabon Gari area of Kano State and it is believed to have been smuggled into the country.
Some terrorists operating under the emblem of the radical Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram are suspected to have received training and support accross the borders.

Police Commissioner in Kano State, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, who confirmed the seizure in a chat with our correspondent, pointed out that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has opened investigations into the matter.


The police also confirmed the arrest of some suspects in connection with the uniforms, pointing out that they are being interrogated by the police.

Idris further said that the suspects presented documents indicating that the consignments were authorized by the Ministry of Defence.


“So we are trying to establish the authenticity and authorship of the document purported to have come from the Ministry of defence.


“Right now, we cannot say much about this incident until we have carried out the investigations,” the police Commissioner stated. 


Recall that recently the Kano/Jigawa command of Nigerian Customs Services also impounded large quantities of military uniforms, comprising of Air Force uniforms and army camouflage. 

The suspects Magaji Mohammed and Mohammed Auwal were apprehended by Customs agents at the Malam Aminu Kano International airport (MAKIA).


The Customs Area Comptroller, Kano/Jigawa Command, Sanusi Umar has since transferred the impounded uniforms and the suspects to the state Police Command.



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Niger Delta group alleges plan to assassinate Jonathan, Mark, COAS •Warns of disintegration of Nigeria



NIGER Delta leaders on Sunday alleged that some people were planning to assassinate President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate president, David Mark, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Onyeador Ihejirika and warned that the country would face crisis if any harm came to their son.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, president of the Ijaw Youth Council, Miabiye Kuromiama also alleged that the planners of the assassination want to hide under the guise of hardship caused by the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol to execute their plot.
Kuromiama, who declined to answer questions after the briefing, was accompanied by Alhaji Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force and other leaders of the South-South group.
Text of the address reads: “Leaders of the Niger Delta involved in the long struggles to re-invent and revive the dire political and socio-economic conditions of this country Nigeria, draw the attention of all Nigerians and the global community to an advanced conspiracy and plot to destabilise and disintegrate the country in the coming days and weeks.
“The promoters of this plot seek to achieve their aims by assassinating the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and also eliminate very senior military and security officers from the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria, including and particularly the Chief of Army Staff General Ihejerika; the Senate President David Mark and the National Security Adviser General Owoye Azazi (retd).
“Those identified in this sinister plot include retired senior military and security officers who are working quietly with some serving officers, some “powerful” opportunistic businessmen who benefit from existing incentives for corruption and profiteering in the economy, including current subsidy on PMS otherwise called petrol and whose business is  threatened by current government policy.
“Also in alliance with them are corrupt and disgruntled politicians who are for once currently outside the corridors of Nigeria’s political power reality after over 40 years of monopolising power and manipulating the people.
“This plot is now almost perfected by certain disgruntled elements in Nigeria and their co-conspirators.
“They are currently unconcerned that the nation is at economic crossroads and are actively playing on the emotions and pains of fellow Nigerians by politicising, sponsoring and organising activities to heat-up the polity through strikes, civil disobedience and legislative activism to prepare the ground for the plans.
“Having been aware and studying the development of the situation since the emergence of a Niger Delta son in the leadership of this country, we have resolved to take serious steps to guarantee the security and survival of our people in the Niger Delta. We also advise all Nigerians to be aware of this plot, its deeper motivations, implications and the consequences that will befall all of us.
“Accordingly, we strongly and unequivocally warn that a plot against the life of the president and the  derailment of this government is likely to spell disaster for this country and bring untold and sustained hardship to the masses far worse than any temporary pains of a deregulated downstream petroleum sector is likely to cause.
“We have always been aware, as many other Nigerians and the world over, that the struggle for power and control of government  in Nigeria by political forces in the name of ethnic, religious, regional or group-based interest has been to access and control the oil and gas resources from the Niger Delta by this kind of persons.
“Nigerians currently have time and space for two peaceful opportunities: re-negotiating a new basis of our continued corporate co-existence as a nation; negotiating a peaceful dissolution of the Nigerian State as was the case with USSR, Ethiopia, and Czechoslovakia.
“Or do we allow the country to slide into a bloody disintegration of Africa and the Black race’s largest democracy, as did Sudan and Yugoslavia? As it appears now, the Sudan and Yugoslavia option is now very apparent and fearfully looming as the anarchy and potential loss of innocent lives, including plans to assassinate or overthrow the government of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan portrays. This is totally unnecessary.
“If and when the plan is executed, Niger Delta nation and peoples know exactly what steps to take and will not hesitate to progress with necessary measures towards such steps forthwith.”



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Insecurity/fuel crisis: Mass exodus of Northerners from South



AHEAD  of today’s mass protest, panic has gripped  northerners  residing in the southern part of the country, as they move  in their hundreds to their various states.
The Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road, which serves as gateway between the South and the North, has been very busy in the last four days, as a result of movement of vehicles, from the South to the North and vice-versa, as a result of the present political situation in the country.
In the last four days, articulated lorries, on a daily basis, convey  the northerners and their property from the South to the North, as a result of the Boko Haram and fuel subsidy crises rocking the nation.
Investigations revealed that most of them had left Imo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.
Some of the Hausa people who spoke with Nigerian Tribune, said they decided to leave for their  states to avoid any problem as a result of the crises.
According to them, the Boko Haram issue was one of the main factors that placed their lives in danger in some parts of the South.
They said that despite the fact that governors of most of these states assured them of safety, they had decided on their own not to take any risk.
When our correspondent asked if they would still like to return to the South, most of them answered in the affirmative, but added that the present situation in the country should be resolved first.
As a result of the tension, an Air Force helicopter now hovers over the state capital, Lokoja and the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road.
Efforts by our correspondent to know the motive behind the presence of the Air Force helicopter was unsuccessful, as none of the security agents was ready to speak about it.
On Friday last week, no fewer than 30 persons lost their lives in Okene, when an articulated lorry ran into a gully, leaving many others injured.
Most occupants of the articulated lorry were northerners, who left Bayelsa State, heading for the North, probably as a result of political tension in the country.
In another development, the Ebira Youth Congress (EYC) in  Kogi State, has declared its total support for the NLC/TUC mass action.
In a statement issued by the congress and signed by its president general Comrade Kadir Gomina, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday, it called on youths in the area to join the protest to compel government to reverse its decision.
The group noted  the high level of corruption in government at all levels and the senseless accumulation of wealth by the leaders to the detriment of the poor masses, saying the trend must be reversed.
The EYC, which noted that the fuel subsidy removal was ill-timed, called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on President Goodluck Jonathan to reverse his decision, which, it said, was capable of grounding the nation.
Also speaking, an activist and former chairman of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Kogi State, Comrade Ibrahim Obansa, described the pro-subsidy removal protesters as a collection of paid charlatans  and political jobbers who had no business with the Nigeria project.
He said it was unfortunate that the administration of President Jonathan could degenerate into what could be regarded as the Abacha era by inducing some faceless people without credibility to support an unpopular policy of his government.
He likened the action by the government to the failed Abacha two million-man match and said that this would also fail, because it was an action against the poor people of Nigeria.
Obansa observed that the president wanted to rob Peter to pay Paul by planning to allocate subsidy proceeds to the same failed governors who he said had criminally mismanaged the resources of their various states.
The former labour leader called on the president to take the path  of honour by immediately reversing the fuel hike in the interest of the larger Nigerians he swore to protect.



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Ohanaeze urges Igbo to defend themselves



Following the killing of some Igbo by the Boko Haram sect in the North, the apex Igbo cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has urged its compatriots to remain wherever they are and defend themselves and their property.  
In a statement by President of the organisation, Ralph Uwechue, Ohanaeze noted that this became necessary since the Federal Government has failed to check the menace of the sect.  
It said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges Igbo, who, over the years, have established national fruitful presence in different parts of Nigeria, to remain where they are in this country that belongs equally to all its citizens and organise appropriately and effectively to collectively defend themselves and property wherever they are while awaiting appropriate steps by the Federal and state governments as well as other bodies concerned to put an end to this calamitous phenomenon.”
The statement reads: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo has observed with rapidly mounting concern the alarming deterioration of security in the northern part of Nigeria involving the wanton serial destruction of innocent lives, especially of Ndigbo living in that part of the country.
“The recent call ascribed to Boko Haram elements that Christians and southerners should vacate the North and for Muslim northerners living in the South to return to the North has brought the crisis to a dangerous climax.
“When in 2011 the United Nations Building in Abuja was bombed with massive loss of lives, Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemned that dastardly act, as it did over others preceding it, and asked the Federal Government to take effective steps to stem the tide. However, in spite of government’s efforts, the only change has been for the worse.
“It is now clear that unpatriotic political and religious elements are bent on making our country ungovernable. Ohanaeze Ndigbo is convinced that enough is enough and while reiterating its urgent demand on the Federal Government to arrest this dangerous development capable of destroying this nation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on Muslim leaders of our country to take immediate steps to rein in their hawks to prevent irreparable damage to the delicate ethno-religious harmony that all well-meaning Nigerians are strenuously striving to maintain.”




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All set for strike today


Labour Union



THE stage seemed set last night for today’s petrol prices strike.
A senators’ last-minute effort to stave off the strike failed. Labour mapped out details of its action and the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) called on lawyers to join the strike.
Besides, the House of Representatives advised the Executive to roll back the prices. But the Presidency described the resolution as inciting.
Petrol now costs between N138 and N200 per litre, up from N65 before the New Year’s Eve’s sudden withdrawal of subsidy.
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Acting Secretary General Owei Lakemfa issued a directive on the protest in Abuja. 
He said: “The NLC and TUC have directed that Abuja residents converge on Berger Roundabout daily by 8.00am from Monday January 9. Please pass on information to others by means.” 
Some would-be protesters arrived at the Eagle Square yesterday, carrying mattresses, blankets and tents – ready for the action.
The Lagos State council of the congress will begin its protest from the Labour House in Tejuosho. 
NLC Deputy President Promise Adewusi said he was not aware of any official invitation to a meeting with senators. 
Said Adewusi: “I am not aware of any formal invitation by the National Assembly. So, I will not attend a meeting without an invitation as that will be tantamount to gate crashing. We are not likely to go for any negotiation now without PMS pump price being firstly reverted to N65 per litre as that will amount to negotiating under duress. Nigerians have been fully mobilised by hunger, poverty, anger and angst and are primed for the start of the strike tomorrow. Like our President ordered, ‘no retreat, no surrender’.
NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) leaders shunned the Senate’s invitation for a meeting over the planned strike.
The Senator Wilson Ake-led Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity scheduled the meeting for 3p.m. yesterday. It was not to be.
A source said: “Members of the committee were actually at the Senate, expecting the labour leaders who did not turn up. After some time, the senators went to the Labour House to meet with the leaders but they were not there. Efforts to reach them on phone did not yield positive results as the phones were switched off.”
The Nation learnt that most of the labour leaders were in Lagos to perfect plans for today’s action when members of the Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity were waiting for them in Abuja. 
Labour leaders could not also be reached for comments.
Senator Ake had in a statement expressed worry over the consequences of a nationwide industrial action proposed by labour, civil society organisations and professionals against the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy.
He called for restraint, warning that an industrial action could be catastrophic. 
Ake dismissed the notion that the government was deliberately punishing Nigerians, saying all parties should cooperate in the collective interest of the nation.”
The nationwide indefinite strike begins today.
In Lagos, officials of Labour and Civil Societies Coalition (LASCO) met to put finishing touches to their plan for the strike. 
NLC Deputy President, Joe Ajaero said after the meeting that nothing has happened to change Labour’s position. The strike and protests will begin today, he stressed.
His words: “Nothing has happened to change our position, not even the House of Representatives session. The President’s speech was also empty; it did not address the issue. We are not intimidated. It is a challenge to the Nigerian people, not only Labour. Therefore, the strike begins tomorrow (today) as scheduled. If Government is ready to listen to the people, the president should invite us. We will meet with him.”
LASCO Secretary Abiodun Aremu named the co-ordinating centres for the peaceful street protests to include NLC Lagos Secretariat, Yaba, TUC Secretariat, Ikorodu Road, Textile Union House, Acme Road, Lagos State University, Ojo, and Agric Union House, Alaguntan, Iyana Ipaja.NLC is the central coordinating centre.
Protesters will converge on NLC office and set out from there for the street rally at 8am.
They will enter neighbourhoods to sensitise people on the action.
Ahead of the protests, the body enjoins security agencies not to provoke protesters, as the marches are meant to be peaceful. 
Aremu said: “The declaration of the indefinite strike/mass action has become necessary in view of the current hike in the prices of petroleum products, especially the PMS from N65 to N141, which the Jonathan presidency has said ‘there is no going back’, and the Nigerian people are also insisting their will, not to pay more than N65 for a litre of petrol, must prevail.
“The position of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) – the broad platform of Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Joint Action Front is unconditional reversal of the wicked hike in petrol to the official price of N65 per litre as enjoyed by Nigerians throughout the country since June 24 2007, following the struggle of June 20 – 24
He recalled that fuel prices were reverted then from N75 for petrol to N65, diesel to N70 and kerosene to N50; and VAT from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
The Action Plan for the strike is as follows:
Today, Monday, January 9 – Enforcement of strike with mass action in workplaces, markets, schools, neighbourhoods and major link roads.    Street protests/ procession from 8am. Lagos take off point is the NLC Secretariat, Yaba, while Abuja’s will be Berger Round About.     The procession will occupy focal points in all centres across the country. Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota is the focal point in Lagos.
The community sensitisation and street rally will hold everyday since the action is indefinite. Enforcement and monitoring for compliance is an everyday affair.




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Jonathan - Boko Haram Has Sympathisers in Govt



President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, has sympathisers in government, declaring that the current violence is worse than the 1967-1970 Civil War.


Jonathan was speaking at an interdenominational service on a day three literary icons - Professors Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and John Pepper Bekederemo-Clark - issued a joint statement asking Nigerians not to retaliate the sect's attacks.





"The situation we have in our hands is even worse than the civil war that we fought," he said at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, yesterday to mark the 2012 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration.


Although the casualty figure of the Boko Haram onslaught is nothing compared to that of the civil war, Jonathan said: "During the civil war, we knew and we could even predict where the enemy was coming from... But the challenge we have today is more complicated."


He said Boko Haram members and sympathisers could be found throughout the society.


"I remember when I had a meeting with elders from the North-east and some parts of the North-west where the Boko Haram phenomenon is more prevalent," he said. "Somebody said that the situation is bad, that even if one's son is a member, one will not even know. Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won't even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house."


He added that "some of them are in the executive arm of government; some of them are in the parliamentary/legislative arm of government, while some of them are even in the judiciary. Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies.


That is how complex the situation is. Our security services are trying because as the president, I know what they are doing. Nigerians may not appreciate their efforts especially when you know that we are under-policed. We have a police force that is about 300,000 in number".





Meanwhile, Achebe, Soyinka and Bekederemo-Clark have advised Nigerians to resist the temptation to retaliate the ongoing attacks on them, places of worship and private residences by Boko Haram in order not to provide room for celebration to the sect.


The trio in a joint letter, titled: "Let Not this Fire Spread, an Appeal to the Nigerian Nation Community", said: "This hard, demanding, but profoundly moral and heroic option will be recognised and embraced as the only option for the survival and integrity of the whole. All who claim to be leaders must lead - but in the right direction!"


They lamented that "the fears we have all secretly nursed are coming to realisation. The nightmare we have hugged to our individual breasts, voicing them only in family privacy or within trusted caucuses of friends and colleagues - lest they become instances of materialising evil thoughts - has finally burst through into our social, physical environment.


"Rumblings and veiled threats have given way to eruption, and the first cracks in the wall of patience and forbearance can no longer be wished away. Boko Haram is very likely celebrating its first tactical victory: provoking retaliation in some parts of the nation".





They admonished Nigerians to muster a collective resolve to tackle the challenges of insecurity in the country, saying: "All who possess any iota of influence or authority, who aspire to moral leadership must act now to douse the first flickers of 'responses in kind' even before they are manifested, and become contagious. We urge that, beginning from now, leaders become true leaders in all communities, utilise the platforms of their associations, professions, clubs, places of instruction and places of worship, NGOs and other civic organisations, that they relentlessly spread the manifesto of Community - capital letters! - as an all-embracing human bond, and refuse to be sucked into the cauldron of mutual attrition that is the purpose of the religious warmongers among us."


They added: "What is proposed here is not any doctrine of submission, of 'turning the other cheek', or supine supplication to divine intervention etc. etc. Very much the contrary! Self-defence is a fundamental human right and responsibility.


"However, we caution that we must place the total humanity of our nation above the methods and intent of a mindless, though programmed minority that are resolved to set religion against religion, community against community, destroy the internal cohesion of homes, render meaningless the very concept and imperatives of guest, strangers, the extended human family, and the universalist obligations of hosts as practised under the finest traditions of human encounters."


The writers further charged Nigerians, as a matter of duty, to "...denounce the killers among us, to deny them, right from source, the sump of blood that is their nourishment, the chaos that is their ambition, and the hatred that has poisoned their collective psyche. Our mission is to prove ourselves superior to them in understanding, to leap ahead of their perverse scheming and preserve our own humanity even as they jettison theirs - if ever they even were aware of its existence".



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