NEWS 7
THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 10, 2013
Ugolor seeks Jonathan’s action in Oyerinde’s murder From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja HE principal suspect in the first degree murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, the principal Secretary to the Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene and order a proper investigation of the murder case. The Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, who was arrested by the police and detained at the wake of Oyerinde’s murder told journalists in Abuja yesterday that it is high time the police boss came out clean in the much celebrated murder case. He lamented that activities of the police has been shrouded in insincerity since the unfortunate incident happened. Ugolor said there was the need to conduct a proper investigation into the case to unravel the manner in which the Police under the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Peter Gana who was the leader of investigation and the Deputy Commissioner of Police DC Ezekiel handled the case.
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Govt okays collaboration of TAC with global agencies
From Oghogho Obayuwana, Foreign Affairs Editor OLLOWING breaking of new frontiers of cooperation, the Federal Government has given approval for collaboration by the Technical Aids Corps (TAC) with global agencies and international organisation with the aim of advancing Nigeria’s foreign policy
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objectives. Aside from the United Nations (UN) Volunteer Service, the other international agencies for which a go ahead has now been given for collaboration, include the Japan Agency for International Cooperation (JICA) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
And besides fresh requests by newly independent South Sudan and Timorlees governments to join the TAC scheme, Nigeria is also now striving to consolidate on its drive of helping in the effort by the African Union (AU) to establish an African Union Volunteer Service. These and other disclosures
were made yesterday in Abuja by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri at the start of the 2012-2014 Biennium TAC orientation exercise where in the end, no fewer than 1,700 are expected to be deployed to mostly African Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Since its inception, 26 years
Edo ACN tasks council chairmen on performance From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City DO State leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday read the riot act to elected chairmen of the councils, urging them to replicate the developmental strides of the state government in their councils just as it threatened to sanction any of them who do otherwise. Chairman of the party, Thomas Okosun stated this when he met with the elected chairmen in Benin City just as he condemned the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s criticism of the council election. He said the PDP was not on ground in the state; “it is funny because they only exist on the pages of newspapers in Abuja but nowhere to be found in Edo State”. Okosun told the chairmen that “the reason why we are celebrating victory today is because of the performance of the comrade governor and that is exactly what we demand from you as chairmen. We will entertain no excuses for failure. You must be disciplined, the party has remained united till today due to discipline in the party”.
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From Ali Garba, Bauchi HE Bauchi State Commissioner, Ministry for Water Resources, Alhaji Sani Muhammad Bura has tasked journalists in the state to enlighten and educates rural communities on the importance of clean environment, saying that people are not safe without cleanness. Speaking during a courtesy called by group of journalists known as Journalist for Water and Sanitation in his office yesterday, Bura said that the group has the responsibility of creating awareness and mobilising communities with the aim of reducing water borne diseases and droplet in their domain.
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Swedish Finance Minister, Anders Borg (left); Main One CEO, Funke Opeke; Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru; Swedish Development Cooperation Minister, Gunilla Carlsson; and Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Svante Kilander during the visit of the Swedish Ministerial Delegation to Main One’s Corporate Office… on Wednesday.
Arik made me lose money, lawyer tells court By Joseph Onyekwere LAGOS-BASED lawyer, Mr. A Ikechukwu Chiaha yesterday opened up his testimony in the suit he filed against Arik Air Limited at the Federal High Court, Lagos, saying the Airline made him loose money. The lawyer had filed a N125 million damages suit over alleged cancellation of his flight to Abuja and lost of income. Led in evidence by his counsel, O. Oloyemi, Chiaha told the court that due to the cancellation, he missed a legal brief worth N50 million after his client accused him of being unserious. The lawyer who sought to tender some documents opposed to by defence counsel, A.B Ogunsusi, insisted that the airline is liable to monetary compensation to him, haven made him lost legal brief. The documents he sought to tender are The Punch and Peoples Daily newspapers and a letter from his chambers. The lawyer asked the court to order the airline to refund him the lost N50 million, pay him N18, 000 as cost of the air ticket, and N75 million as general damages. He also sought interest on the total sum at 21 per cent from September 1, 2010 until judgment is delivered, as well as cost of the action. But the trial judge, Mohammed Yunusa in a bench ruling said the plaintiff needs to obtained certified true copy of the documents he sought to tender so as to make it comply with the requirements of the evidence Act 2011 and adjourned the matter to
June 18 for continuation of trial. Chiaha said he bought an Arik air ticket through Zenith Bank on August 31, 2010 and was issued a boarding pass, numbered ETKT 7252416610757-1. The flight was billed to depart Lagos for Abuja at 7.30 a.m. on September 1, 2010. He explained that he arrived at the airport as early as 5.45a.m. and was checked in by Arik officials, and eventually took his seat aboard the plane but that the plane never took off when it was 7.30 a.m. as scheduled. He and other pas-
sengers waited till 10 a.m., yet the plane did not take off. According to Chiaha, Arik Air officials later told passengers that the plane was prevented from flying that day because the airline has not paid navigational charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). The plaintiff said he was forced to travel to Abuja by another airline, but by the time he arrived, he had been debriefed by his client who said the lawyer did not show seriousness by honouring the meeting time and therefore
was not a man of his words. The lawyer said the flight cancellation caused him “untold and unquantifiable” hardship as he lost the N50 million brief, suffered psychological trauma, loss of goodwill, waste of precious time and foreclosed his chances of getting further briefs from his client – Joofid Technical Company Limited. Chiaha said the airline’s failure to pay the navigational charges, which occasioned the cancellation, was widely reported in national dailies on September 2, 2010.
ago, about 10,000 volunteers had served in more than 40 countries that include The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya (Shelter Afrique) and Ethiopia. Others are Namibia, Mozambique, Seychelles, Eritrea, Congo Brazzaville, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Fiji Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, Belize and Commonwealth of Dominica. The Nigerian TAC scheme currently has about 1,040 Nigerian professionals contributing significantly to the socio-economic development of the ACP countries. Addressing the Nigerian volunteers, the minister stated, “As you go out as ‘development ambassadors’, note that you are to project the good image of your country through excellent performance and comportment. You are therefore going to act as a good catalyst in promoting Nigeria’s bilateral relations with individual recipient countries. “Let me assure you that government will continue to support this programme which has become an effective and veritable instrument of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy as well as the delivery of Technical Assistance to sister African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The success of the scheme can also be measured not only by the increasing number of requests from recipient countries but the increasing demand for high calibre manpower from recipient countries, away from the middle level manpower being requested earlier. The government will therefore continue to do all it can within its limited resources to ensure that the scheme continues to grow from strength to strength,” she added. The Chief Executive Officer of TAC ambassador Mamman Daura also disclosed yesterday that owing to its successes and increasing acceptability, the scheme has already attracted the interest of the Commonwealth, which has since signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government in this regard.
Olanipekun lists corruption, impunity as dangers to Nigeria By Joseph Onyekwere HE former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has said that the issues of security, constitutionalism and corruption must be critically addressed for the corporate existence of Nigeria. The revered lawyer explained that Nigeria is gradually becoming a country where laws are emasculated with impunity, adding that the situation has become very worrisome. Olanipekun made the postulations in a paper he presented at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in honour of the first Director General of the Institute, late Dr.
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Akinola Aguda on Tuesday tilted: Law as an endangered specie. He said: “Three critical areas have been examined within the context of this paper, that is, security, constitutionalism and corruption. Each of the three of them is critical to the corporate existence of Nigeria. God forbid our entering into the Guinness Book of Records as the foremost country where law is emasculated with impunity. “Apart from the actual threat of terrorism, which we face, how does one rationalise the audacity of over 5,000 ex-kidnappers seeking amnesty and demanding for compensation from the government because they voluntarily surrendered their arms? How do we also ratio-
nalise or defend the retention in our statute books of an antiquated law which stipulates a penalty of N750, 000.00 for someone convicted of corruptly making do with or dissipating pension funds amounting to N23.3 billion? The mockery to which our laws is further subjected to can be clinically analysed if we compare that within the same clime, a hungry man or an unemployed youth who stole the telephone handset of a serving governor was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 45 years by an Osogbo High Court.” He warned that in any country where the laws are not obeyed, anarchy would set in, adding that the populace would go
astray and become rudderless when law is inefficient. “A hapless law attracts a hopeless citizenry; a bankrupt law breeds impotent people; when law is inefficient, then the country becomes rudderless; if law is so frail, then the society is encircled by a gathering of unruly crowd; when and where law is disrespected, the populace would go astray and whenever it is subjugated, anarchy becomes enthroned; at any given situation where law can no longer tame, criminals are born, bred and raised to the positions of leadership in every facet of national life; when law becomes the servant, it automatically metamorphoses to an endangered specie.