African Development Bank Recruitment for Young Professional Program (YPP) 2011.

Graduate Recruitment at African Development Bank

The YPP targets motivated and talented young professionals under thirty-two (32) years of age, who are committed to making a difference on the African continent and who will spend between two (2) and three (3) years of their professional career in a multicultural, and professionally stimulating environment at the African Development Bank.
Position Title: Young Professional Program 2011

Objectives
The Bank seeks individuals skilled in the areas relevant to its operations, such as infrastructure, regional integration, health, education, agriculture, climate change and environment, gender, finance and risk management, governance and private sector development.

The Bank hires approximately twenty (20) young professionals each year. These YPs complete yearly rotational assignments in different organizational units and sectors in the Bank, during a minimum of two and maximum of three rotational assignments.

Selection Criteria
Graduate Recruitment 2011 at African Development Bank
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

The following established eligibility requirements guide the recruitment of the Young Professionals, and at no time will the Bank make an exception for any candidate:
Citizen of a member country (regional or non-regional) of the AfDB
A maximum of 32 years of age by December 31st of the selection year (i.e 2011)
A minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Engineering, Social Sciences, International Development, Business Administration, Finance, Banking or any discipline that is relevant to the business of the Bank
Multi-disciplinary background and a minimum of three years relevant work experience
Outstanding academic credentials
Demonstrated commitment to African development (field experience on the continent and/or in other developing countries is an added advantage)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English or French with a working knowledge of the other language (working knowledge of a third language that is relevant to the Bank’s operation in the African continent is an advantage)
Ability/motivation to work in a multicultural work environment
Demonstrated leadership potential
Demonstrated strong analytical skills, dynamism, results-orientation, and problem-solving capability

Features of the Program
The program mandates completion of two (2) out of three (3) yearly rotations with a possibility of securing a regular staff position during the third term of the program.
Additionally, the program affords coaching and mentoring opportunities for each Young Professional.

Professional Experience:
The 1st rotational assignment will be a ‘stretch’ or ‘learning’ rotation, responsive to the Bank’s needs and priorities. It is intended to provide exposure to the Bank’s various departmental and developmental programs and processes. Individual work programs should reflect on-the-job learning that is central to the YPP.
Where possible, the 2nd rotational assignment should take place in the area of expertise or organizational unit in which the YP hopes to remain for the mid to long term if selected on a competitive basis.
The work program should provide a suitable bridge between the development focus of the 1st rotation and the specialist nature of the 2nd rotation and the level of responsibility required in a higher level position.
As required by their work programs, and at the request of the organizational unit hosting the rotation, YPs are expected to participate in missions and assignments in Field Offices for a certain period of time.

Application Deadline: 14th May, 2011

Method of Application
Interested candidates for the Young Professional Program 2011 should Click here to Apply Online

Sterling Bank Vacancy (Relationship Managers & Officers)

Job Title:

Relationship Managers & Officers

Department:

Lagos Mainland 1

Description:

Business Development

Liability generation

Risk asset creation

Remedial management

Recovery

Relationship Managament

Brand Ambassador

Mentoring

Job Conditions:

Normal Sterling Work Conditions

Reporting To:

Business Manager

Required Skills:

Good communication skills

Selling/Marketing Skills

Credit appraisal/analyses

Industry Analysis

Negotiation skills

Relationship Management

Accounting

Qualification:

B.Sc, B.A, HND

Location:

Type:

Any Type

Expiry Date:

Friday, May 13, 2011

follow this Link to apply

Jonathan seeks approval for new Justices

President Goodluck Jonathan has sent a list of three justices of the Court of Appeal for elevation to the Supreme Court. They are to replace three other retiring justices of the apex court.
The nominees are Ngwuta (South East), Mary Peter-Odili (South East) and O Ariwoola (South West).In a letter to the Senate dated April 19, 2011, President Jonathan stated that the appointments were necessitated by the recent retirement from the Supreme Court bench of Justices G. A Oguntade, J.O Ogebe and Niki Tobi.
Similarly, in a letter dated April 12, 2011, the President has written to seek the confirmation of Alhaji Lawal Inde Abdullahi (Katsina State) as a commissioner in the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for a period of five years.
Another communication from the President to the Senate was for the approval of the 2011 budget proposal for the Federal Capital Territory which was conveyed through a letter dated March 15, 2011.
Also among the President’s communication to the Senate was a request for the confirmation of appointments of chairman and members of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

FCTA to investigate land allocations by area councils

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is set to reposition the six area councils to enhance efficiency and delivery of democratic dividends to residents.

The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed who disclosed this also said all land allocated by the area councils since inception of the FCTA will be investigated to determine their authenticity for subsequent issuance of Certificates of Occupancy.

He spoke while receiving the FCT elected political office holders in Abuja who paid him a thank-you visit in his office.

They also used the medium to send their congratulatory message to President Goodluck Jonathan on the success of the just-concluded general elections.

Mohammed stressed the need to reposition the area councils to make them responsive on delivering improved healthcare, qualitative education, sound environment, sanitation and well-coordinated transportation network.

The minister also disclosed that the FCTA had started issuing licences to new bus operators, adding that their services will be subsidised by the government to ensure effectiveness and sustainability.

He remarked that the administration has concluded plans to assist the FCT Command of the Nigeria Police Force by getting it re-positioned for greater challenges.

The Minister revealed that his administration had recruited over 1,000 informal informants who are usually paid stipends to nip criminal activities on the bud.

Senator Mohammed stressed that the FCT area councils will soon enjoy delegated powers to allocate certain categories of plots of land in the Territory to reduce the pressure on the centre.

NBA wants attack on Election Petition Tribunal in Bayelsa probed

The Yenagoa branch of the Nigerian Bar Association has called for the institution of a high powered investigative team with the required independence to probe last weekend attack on the registry of state Election Petition Tribunal within the High Court complex by suspected thugs who carted away documentary evidence before it and the sum of N70,000 belonging to the staff.

Chairman of the Yenagoa branch of the NBA, Barrister Stanley Ike Damabide who spoke to newsmen in Yenagoa at the end of the body’s deliberation condemned in strong terms what he described as the desecration and insult of the judiciary and the ignoble played by the state government security outfit, Operation Famou Tangbei which allegedly gave cover to the rampaging thugs.

He said, “it is with great concern that the Yenagoa branch of the Nigerian Bar Association is addressing you today, as an unprecedented crude and abominable conduct with desecrating effects on the sanctity of the judiciary in Bayelsa State, has just occurred.”

Akala stops Alaafin as Permanent Chairman of Council of Obas

The feud between the Alaafin of Oyo , Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III and the out-going governor Adebayo Alao-Akala has taken a turn for the worse with the signing into law a bill which stops the Alaafin from occupying the position of the state Council of Obas and Chiefs in permanent capacity .
The action of governor Akala came just less than two weeks after losing the governorship election to the opposition party , Action Congress of Nigeria { ACN} which was favoured by the royal father and this became evident in the victory of ACN in all the four local government covers made up Oyo town.
Before the election, there has been no love lost between the monarch and the governor , especially when the Alaafin raised an alarm that the governor was planning to terminate his life .
Adeyemi has hitherto been the permanent chairman of the council.
But a statement by Alao-Akala’s spokesman, Mr. Dotun Oyelade, on Tuesday indicated that the signing of the law tagged Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs Amendment Law 2011 supercedes similar law enacted in 2000 by the Alhaji Lam Adesina’s regime.
By this development, the chairmanship of the council has become rotational among the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Soun of Ogbomosoland and the Alaafin of Oyo in that order.
The council’s deputy chairmanship also becomes rotational among the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Eleruwa of Eruwa, Okere of Saki and Aseyin of Iseyin in that order.

NDLEA uncovers 3.2kg cocaine concealed in candles

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, have discovered 3.2 kilogrammes of high grade cocaine concealed inside some candles.
It arrested a 45-year-old suspect, Aina Fausat Olanrewaju, for carrying the drug, which street value was put at N30 million. NDLEA discovered the suspect’s “innovation” on Sunday during an inward screening of passengers on an Emirate flight from Brazil.
The drug was industrially packed inside six big candles, four of which were black and the other two green.
Answering questions from narcotic officers, Olanrewaju said the candles were meant for spiritual use.
But the curious NDLEA officers broke the candles and discovered that they contained cocaine.
The suspect was arrested following the discovery of the cocaine-laden candles in her luggage, which also contained female shoes, bags and clothes.
NDLEA said the single mother of two children might be working for an international drug cartel with stronghold in Brazil.
She has been taken on follow-up operations in Nigeria to arrest others linked with the crime.
Two persons have reportedly been arrested for the unlawful drug importation, but NDLEA said it has begun investigation to determine their level of involvement.
NDLEA Airport Commander, Alhaji Hamza Umar, said: “There is no limit to the tricks of drug trafficking syndicates. The candle mode of concealment is simply amazing.”
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Ahmadu Giade urged the officers to continue to expose drug barons’ tricks through meticulous search operations.

Nigeria budget office sees tighter 2011 budget soon

Nigeria's government is in talks with parliament over the country's 2011 budget proposal and expects to agree an amended version with a narrower deficit within weeks, the head of the budget office said on Tuesday.

President Goodluck Jonathan initially proposed a 4.226 trillion naira ($27.32 billion) budget in December but parliament inflated the spending plans, passing a 4.972 trillion naira version three months later.

Government has said the 2011 budget is supposed to mark the beginning of a period of fiscal consolidation in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy and Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga described the amended version, which would push the deficit to over four percent, as "unimplementable".

He vowed in March to take the issue up with parliament.

"We are very, very deep in the negotiations, we have gone very far," Bright Okogu, director general of the budget office, told reporters on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) event in the commercial capital Lagos.

"We have both recognised in all our preliminary discussions that there is a need to come back to a more realistic budget deficit level," he said.

The original budget plan presented by Jonathan implied a deficit of around 3.6 percent. Okogu said the final version would push the deficit "back in that direction".

Presidential, parliamentar

Obi assists corps members, says aide

Senior Special Assistant to Governor Peter Obi on Media and Publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, has assured the people of Anambra State that Obi would remain committed to the welfare of all the segments of the society, including the youth.
In a statement on claims by some people that he was not responsive to the plight of the stranded Anambra youth corps members in some parts of the country recently, Obienyem said it was statements made in ignorance.
According to him, once the post-election crisis started, Obi was the first to establish contact with security agencies and was working directly with the Director of the SSS and the State Commissioner for Police on the security situation as it affected not just the Corps members but Igbo people in the affected areas as the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum.
He worked essentially with other South-East Governors. This, he said was his pattern, which saw him in the past visiting Jos twice to see Eastern victims of the crisis there and talk to them.
Obienyem contended that some people are making all sorts of claim, when they do not even know the genesis of the Dana flight that brought some of the corps members back.

Uduaghan assures workers on payment of minimum wage

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, basking in the euphoria of his victory at the April 26 governorship polls, has assured workers of the preparedness of his administration to implement the new minimum wage of N18, 000.
Uduaghan in his May Day address read on his behalf by his deputy, Prof Amos Utuama (SAN), told the workers at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) joint rally in Asaba on Sunday that once guidelines were worked out for the new minimum wage, he would start implementing it.
“The issue of N18,000 minimum wage has already become a law and we have approved it in principle but we are awaiting the necessary guidelines for its implementation.
“We have largely kept our promises to our workers having implemented promotion packages, employed new workers where necessary and paid salaries and allowances as at when due.
“We have fully implemented all salary structures, which include those of medical and health workers, the judiciary, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities and the main civil service. We will not let workers down believing that a worker is entitled to his wages. “Despite the tight financial environment under which we are operating, we will continue to meet our obligations to the workers of Delta State as at when due. All we expect from you in return is greater dedication, patience and loyalty to the government.” Uduaghan pointed out that his administration besides the major projects like the Asaba International Airport, the various road dualization, was working on its vision of creating a virile and strong Delta State that could survive without the vagaries in the international oil market.

APGA gathers more evidence for election tribunal in Yobe

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) said on Monday that more evidence that would warrant outright cancellation of the gubernatorial election in seven local government areas of Yobe State had been gathered by the party.

Alhaji Abubakar Maraya, Yobe gubernatorial candidate of the party, told newsmen in Damaturu that: “We have received more evidence of electoral malpractice in zone C comprising seven local government areas.

“The evidences is both tenable and convincing that the provisions of the electoral law were abused to favour some political parties and their candidates in the gubernatorial election.

”This evidence is in addition to the miscalculation of our votes at the collation centres which we are prepared to tender before the election petition tribunal,” he said.

Maraya noted that the emerging evidences showed “flagrant abuse of the Electoral Act by the ruling All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Yobe.”

“We find it difficult to believe this daylight robbery of scores entered into result sheets that were contrary to scores obtained at the polling units but, we will pursue our rights through the civilised constitutional means at the court, he said.

No plan to hike fuel price, says NNPC •Fuel scarcity witnessed in some parts of the north

The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has strongly dismissed rumours that the Federal Government has concluded plans to hike the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, which has led to the build up of queues in petrol stations in Abuja and other parts of the country.

A press statement by the Group General Manager of the Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, disclosed that the NNPC has well over 39 days sufficiency of PMS and other petroleum products in stock. He described the rumoured hike in fuel price as baseless and unfounded and urged the petroleum tanker owners to release their trucks for loading of petroleum products at various depots and loading facilities in Lagos now that the elections have been rounded up across the country.

“The NNPC wishes to inform Nigerians that the rumoured hike in the price of PMS by the Federal Government is false and a mere figment of the imagination of detractors of the nation. The corporation also urges petroleum tanker owners and drivers to resume loading of petroleum products in order to avoid any artificial scarcity of petroleum products as the corporation has over 39 days of product sufficiency,” Dr Ajuonuma added.

The NNPC spokesman called on members of the public to desist from engaging in panic buying of PMS.

Meanwhile, acute scarcity of petrol, diesel and kerosene has hit Minna and other major towns in Niger State as revealed by Nigerian Tribune’s investigations.

The scarcity was first noticed on the eve of Easter but later became pronounced with virtually all the filling stations going for days without the commodities.

Corruption: Ex-minister advocates creation of special courts

TO stem the growing rate of corruption in the country, former Minister of State for Health, Chief Silas Ilo, has advocated the establishment of special courts to try political and government officials suspected to have enriched themselves with public funds.

Speaking with journalists in Enugu, on Monday, on the state of the nation, Chief Ilo noted that special courts would speed up the trials of cases on political corruption in the country, noting that cases bordering on corruption by political office holders had been abandoned half way due to lack of political will.

Chief Ilo urged President Goodluck Jonathan to go beyond rhetoric, wondering why so many alleged corrupt governors in the last regime came back to contest elections in this year’s general election.

Prophet Elijah Akinade for burial May 27

THE final burial date for the late General Overseer of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Lion of Judah, Prophet Elijah Olufemi Akinade, has been announced.

The one-week burial arrangement will be held between Monday, May 23 and Friday, May 27.

Prophet Akinade, the gospel singer/preacher, died on Saturday, April 30, at the age of 56 years.

According to a statement released by the church authorities, the burial programme for the late General Overseer would start with service of songs in all the branches of the church on May 23 and 24.

On Wednesday, there will be lying-in-state at the Lagos State Television (LTV), Ikeja, Lagos, while on Thursday, May 26, the corpse will move to Ibadan, for lying-in-state in the morning, while Christian wake will be held in the evening at the church headquarters, at Dizengoff, Iyana-Church, Ibadan.

On Thursday, there will be a praise night by all the gospel musicians across the country.

The funeral service will be held on Friday at the church headquarters in Ibadan, which would be followed by interment at the same venue.

Meanwhile, sympathi-sers have continued to throng the headquarters of the church, to sympathise with the family and the church
Clerics who had visited the church included Lady Evangelist Bola Are, Pastor Ijaopo, Pastor J. Akintola, the Adegbodu Twins, Prophet Michael Fakile, Pastor Jayeola, among others.

Slain corps members: Yuguda’s comment unfortunate -Anglican bishop •I was misquoted -Bauchi gov

Dissatisfied with the statement credited to the governor of Bauchi State, Mallam Isa Yuguda, over the nine slain corps members in the state, the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Jos, Reverend Father Benjamin Kwashi, has described such a statement coming from a state governor as most unfortunate.

He said that the governor, who should be a leader, should refrain from making such a comment to what he called “a very sensitive matter. l pray that his own child may not be a victim and killed like that.”

Mallam Yuguda was reported to have said that the nine corps members who lost their lives in the mayhem that trailed the presidential election in Bauchi State was their destiny, adding that he faced such attacks while serving as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member in Oyo State in 1979.

The cleric, who disclosed that if what happened after the election was not properly dealt with “ then a serious protest with a larger proportion is expected to occur in 2015 without anybody stopping it.”

Meanwhile, Malam Yuguda has denied having mocked members of the NYSC, who died in the state during the recent political riots that trailed the presidential election in some parts of the North, saying he was quoted out of context.

A national newspaper had, at the weekend, quoted the governor as saying he too was attacked as a corps member in the South-West in 1979 and that his own house was also burnt in the riots, thereby down-playing the gravity of the corps members’ death.

Ajimobi’s election: Managers desert motor parks

Some park managers appointed by the outgoing government in Oyo State have resigned their appointments, just as others have deserted the parks.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the park managers, who were appointed at the peak of the leadership crisis in the state chapter of the proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), had left their duty posts following the election of opposition candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, in the last gubernatorial election in the state.

At most of the motor parks visited in Ibadan on Monday, there were indications that most of the park managers were not on duty.

Investigation revealed that most of them left for fear of being attacked by members of the factional leader, Alhaji Akinsola Oloruntoki, also known as Tokyo.

A source at the popular Iwo interchange garage told the Nigerian Tribune that since last Tuesday, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Ajimobi as the winner of the election, most of them had stayed away.

It was further gathered that most of them left the parks without any official notice, while others decided to put in their resignation letters.

At the Agbowo garage, on the Ojoo-Iwo road, there was crisis over who controlled the park.

Alao-Akala sets up transition c’ttee

Gov. Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State has set up a transition committee to liaise with the in-coming administration in order to ensure a hitch-free hand over.

A statement issued,Saturday in Ibadan by Mr Dotun Oyelade, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Communication, said the committee had 21 members.

The governor, according to the statement, charged the committee members to cooperate with their counterparts to be selected by the governor-elect.

It quoted the governor as urging the committee members to “ furnish them with all information without hindrance.’’

The committee, which consists mainly of permanent secretaries, is headed by Alhaji Tajudeen Aremu while Mr David Olatunde, a director in the Cabinet Office, would act as secretary.

Akala lost his second term bid to Sen. Abiola Ajimobi of ACN in Tuesday’s governorship election.

Ajimobi scored 420,852 votes to defeat Akala of PDP who polled 387,132 votes.(NAN)

Tears as bodies of slain corps members return home

They came alive to Bauchi State to serve the nation, but yesterday when it was time to leave, they left as dead heroes.
The remains of the nine National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members killed in the state in the aftermath of the April 16 election violence were yesterday moved from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) mortuary to their various places of birth for onward commitment to mother earth.
It was not a beautiful sight to behold as sympathizers, friends, compatriots and relatives who were at the morgue to bid them goodbye could not control their emotions as the reality of the tragedy dawned on them.
The murdered corps members were evacuated by officials of the National Directorate Headquarters of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), Abuja led by Mr Yakubu Jok, a Deputy Director of NYSC. The officials got to the mortuary as early as 6 am and waited for the corpses of the fallen youthful and energetic heroes to be dressed in their full NYSC attires before they were loaded into the nine ambulances line up for their transportation amidst wailing and prayers.
The nine corps members, among whom seven were murdered at Giade Police Station had a female corps member who was pregnant, but was raped by her killers. The murderd corps members were Adewumi Seun (Ekit Statei), Teidi Olawale Tosin (Kogi), Adowei Elliot (Bayelsa), Okpokiri Obinna (Abia), Gbenjo Ebenezer Ayotunde (Osun), Ukeoma Ikechuwku Chibuzor (Imo), Nwazema Anslem Chukwuonyerem (Imo), Adeniji Kehinde Jehleel (Osun) and Akonyi Ibrahim Sule( Kogi).
The seven killed in Giade Police Station had run there for safety but the killers overpowered the policemen on duty, also beheaded a woman police corporal and the corps members with machetes and sticks before setting the police station on fire.
Adowei Elliot, Ukeoma Ukewchuwu Chibuzor and Aknoyi Ibrahim Sule were of Batch A who were supposed to leave the Wailo NYSC Orientation Camp at the end of March 2011 but were not allowed to go home to proudly show off their NYSC colours to their parents and siblings because they were engaged as INEC ad hoc staff for the general elections.
Barely few hours after NYSC officials ferried the nine corpses away enroute their states of origin, another female corps member who also sustained serious injury during the same post-election violence at Dambam Local Government Area and was hospitalsed, gave up the ghost, thus bringing the death toll to 10.

Protest trails Uduaghan’s re-election

Incumbent Govenor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Thursday, emerged the winner of the gubernatorial election by polling a total of 525,793 votes to beat his rival, Chief Great Ogboru of Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) who had 433,834 votes. Obarisi Ovie Omo Agege of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) placed third with 15,526 votes while a former member of the state House of Assembly and candidate of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Dr George Oyefia, came fourth with 7,893 votes.

Kwara ACN heads for tribunal, rejects gov results

FOLLOWING the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just- concluded gubernatorial election in Kwara State, the state chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said it will not accept the results, as the party head for election tribunal.

Addressing newsmen at the state secretariat of the party, on Thursday, the state chairman of the party, Mr Kayode Ola-wepo and the gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Muhammed Dele Belgore, said there were evidences to back up all their claims of electoral malpractices and brigandage by the PDP, which was desperate to perpetuate itself in power by all means, despite its dismal record of performance in the last eight years.

“The people of the state were totally tired of misrule and corruption and most of them voted for change, despite that PDP thugs, in active connivance with the police and, in some instances, soldiers, were everywhere intimidating the people.

“People were beaten up in some places, such as in Baruten, Malete (in Moro) and Marafa Safele (in Ilorin East), where police and State Security Service (SSS) operatives looked the other way while students and voters were being manhandled by PDP thugs,” they said.

The chairman alleged that in Irepodun, there was inflation of accredited voters, multiple thumb-printing and intimidation of voters and opposition, also by PDP thugs.