I was offered $15m bribe by ex-governor - Ribadu

From Punch Nigeria:
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20090521453778

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, on Tuesday, told the Financial Services Committee of the United States' House of Representatives, how he was offered $15m by a governor in the Niger Delta to drop corruption charges against him.

Ribadu, whose dismissal from the Nigerian Police Force was still being challenged in the court, is a visiting fellow of the St. Anthony's College, University of Oxford. He was at the US House on invitation by the committee.

The former EFCC boss who insisted that the Niger Delta problem was being compounded by corruption, stated that the commission, under his leadership also made efforts to help tackle the problem.

He revealed that an unnamed former state governor from the oil-rich region had offered him $15m in cash to stop an investigation against him, adding that the commission still went ahead to charge the governor for the plundering of his state resources as well as the bribe offer.

He however lamented that the said governor was today a free man in Nigeria, where he wields power in the Peoples Democratic Party-led government and in the country as a whole.

He said that such instances of treating some corrupt state officials with kids gloves, by the current administration, was responsible for the dwindling success of the anti-graft crusade.

Ribadu said, "Indeed, one of the governors of the Delta that we investigated offered me $15m in cash to stop the investigation against him.

"We charged him both for the theft of state revenues and for the bribery attempt. Sadly today, he is still one of the most powerful political figures in both the ruling party and the country.

"This clearly highlights the problem of the Delta - money meant to have gone for development has gone to very few hands and is used for negative ends.Â

"In 2003/4, almost 100,000 barrels of oil was stolen daily; by 2005/6, we had managed to reduce this to 10,000 barrels per day. We also secured convictions for kidnappers in the Delta, who were driving the cycle of violence and bribery with the private oil companies.Â

Ribadu, who lauded the political will of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to pursue anti-corruption war, said that the current administration only paid lip service to the crusade.

He said, "But the policy today in Nigeria is to use all the right rhetoric - speaking of the need for rule of law and the fight against corruption - to cover-up their real campaign to completely undo the reform efforts of the previous government and so thoroughly confuse corruption and anti-corruption that no one can sort out which is which any longer.

"This is why today, many of the law enforcement agencies that used to work hand-in-hand with the EFCC are no longer willing to partner with the EFCC or the Nigerian Justice Department. The issue of integrity is paramount in such relationships.Â

"Corruption makes democracy impossible because it subverts the will of the people. A select few, with so much money and authority, continue to steal elections and make a mockery of the notion of government by the people or for the people.

"The unholy alliance between local political elites and western financial institutions has been the foundation of this narrative of shame. The best illustration yet is the now famous Halliburton/KBR scandal where, as a Nigerian newspaper recently reported, our leaders received "stacks of US dollar bills in briefcases and sometimes in bullion vans" until some $185m had been exchanged for a contract to build a liquefied natural gas plant.

"The other famous case is the Siemens scandal. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Siemens made approximately $12.7m in "suspicious payments" for Nigerian projects, including to government customers for four telecommunications projects. The total value of the four contracts was approximately $130m. There are many other instances.

Lagos Business School’s Africa’s Second Best – FT

The Lagos Business School, Pan-African University, has again retained its position among world leaders in executive education, as its ranked second best in Africa.
This was disclosed on Monday in the Financial Times’ 2009 Executive Education open-enrolment rankings published in London, according to information on the institution’s website.
Considered to be the pre-eminent international executive education ranking, the FT ranking is very competitive. The top school is Harvard Business School, followed by Darden School of Business, University of Virginia both in the USA. Only three African business schools were included in the FT rankings, with Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria in South Africa coming first.
The Financial Times’ rankings are compiled from responses to questionnaires administered to participants on open-enrolment programmes, as well as a survey of the schools. The questionnaires measure qualities such as the relevance of new skills and the degree to which participants’ expectations were met.
“Meeting participants’ expectations and being relevant to industry is important to us here at LBS”, said Dean of Lagos Business School, Prof. Juan Elegido, while reacting to the outcome of the FT ranking. “Our faculty strive to remain up-to-date and help participants develop the skills they need to deal with business challenges in an emerging economy like Nigeria’s”, he added.
The challenges created by the global economic crisis further underline the urgent need for man-power development, especially in Africa , to support public and private sector growth. With improved scope for innovation and new technologies, business schools in the developing world in particular, need to develop high-quality talent pools to take advantage of opportunities and lead their economies to recovery.
Expressing satisfaction with the achievements of the School, Elegido said LBS was created to meet the need for executive training in Nigeria and aims to have a significant impact on the practice of management.
“So far, with the support of the business community in Nigeria and alumni of the School, we have achieved some great results. We wish to use this opportunity to thank all our partners for their support over the years”, he added.
LBS is the only Nigerian business school included in the FT rankings, and this is also the third time that the school has been featured since 2007.


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=143248

What The Average Nigerian thinks about 419ners: A feedback from a reader

After the earlier post on the above topic, I got some verbal spanking from some other guys. I could not resist sharing this particular one with you guys. Enjoy! It appears 419 is legitimate means of livelihood for some people. Read!

'You have a "yahoo yahoo is beneath me and i can do no wrong" attitude.Your view of 419 makes it look like the worst crime ever.Talking about 419, there are two kinds.The local and international.I take it you are referring more to the international.Let me ask you a question.If yahoo yahoo becomes a capital offense in this country and the perpetrators are forced to carry arms and rob, would that make life easier for you to bear?Do you know how many families are dependent on these "yahoo boys"?Do you know how many graduates have come out of institutions due to the blessings of yahoo?Trust me, i am not a yahoo activist but if yahoo goes away, it will be replaced by something else.Why?Coz the country would still be in the same shambled state.Yahoo is not something for illiterates.To make money out of it, you have to have some decent level of education and most of the successful perpetrators are graduates.Do you think anybody would be happy committing fraud?If you have a decent job, better opportunities or maybe living abroad, well thank the good lord but dint come on here with your "holier than thou" attitude.If you have ever been really hungry and without a clue where your life was headed, maybe you and other careless talkers on here wouldn't be talking so freely.

If you watched the movie "Oasis", you will understand what i mean.The passengers of the plane were forced to eat themselves to survive.That is how Nigeria is today.Tens of thousands of graduates keep pouring out yearly with no jobs for them.After 2-5 years of sitting down at home doing nothing, they have to survive somehow.Now, what do you expect them to do?To weave baskets?To get into hand crafts?If that is what you are doing, i don't think you will be able to afford Internet browsing unless you are deceiving yourself and that's exactly what a lot of Nigerians do.They believe they are better whilst having skeletons in the cupboards,under their beds and the booths of the cars.'

I wonder if he also thinks of the other family that the perpetrator is depriving of livelihood. Another family somewhere trying to eke out a living without defrauding no one is suffering from the handiwork of a lazy mind who is looking for an easy way to get out of poverty.
There is no excuse for fraud. In as much as I blame some category of victims, such people who are greedy and would fall for a simple prank, it is still evil. If they had not received an e-mail soliciting for help and money in return, they may not be victims. Assuming I am to condemn such people, what about the innocent whose credit card details are stolen without their consent?

Talking about them being jobless graduate, the reason why the graduates come out of school with nothing to do is because they went through school with fraud. They cheat and bribe to get through. If your claim that most of them are graduates, then the quality of the letters they send are a good evidence of their intellectual poverty. I think they are able to get their likes to fall for them without having to hack.
You do not have to wait for the government to get you a job. Yahoo yahoo is not the last option. There are better options my friend.

Another friend confronted me with a story that may seem to nullify the jobless graduate theory of the above poster. This is a story of two guys who were raised by an orphanage. The orphanage sent them to the university when they turned 18 only for these guys to join Yahoo Yahoo when they were in second year. The orphanage is known to send her people to international schools. This implies that they were well catered for. I wonder if these guys joined 419 due to lack. If you ask me, I will tell you no. There is no morality behind duping people.

You have got hands and brains to be productive and not to deprive.

Farrakhan and Mike Wallace on Nigeria

Update on Andy Uba's supreme Court Drama: Appeal withdrawn

Lawyer to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 2007 election in Anambra State, Chief Andy Uba, yesterday withdrew the appeal at the Supreme Court which asked the apex court to overrule its earlier judgment which ousted Uba as the governor of the state.
But a spokesman for Uba told THISDAY last night that the action would not mark the end of the matter which seeks Uba being declared as “governor-in-waiting”.
In a notice of withdrawal of appeal dated May 6, 2009 and filed at the registry of the Supreme Court on May 7, 2009, the appellant claimed he would like to discontinue with the prosecution of the appeal.
The withdrawal notice signed by Mr. Taiwo Obe, counsel to Uba, stated inter alia: “Take notice that the appellants (PDP and Uba) herein do not intend to further prosecute this appeal and accordingly withdraw same.
“The effects of the notice of withdrawal of appeal according to order 8 rule 6 which deals with the withdrawal of an appeal at the Supreme Court is that an appellant may at any time before the appeal is called for service on the parties in the appeal and file at the registry of the apex court a notice to that effect that he does not intend to prosecute the appeal; and by order 8 rule 6[5] an appeal which has been withdrawn under this rule shall be deemed to have been dismissed.”
Reacting to the withdrawal of the appeal, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, hailed the decision as a sound one that would go a long way in preserving the sanctity of the Supreme Court.
He said: “We welcome the development. The withdrawal of the appeal by Andy Uba will go a long way to restore the sanctity of the apex court.”
The Supreme Court had, at the last adjourned date, ruled that it would constitute a full panel that would hear and determine the appeal brought by Uba in which he asked the court to set aside its earlier judgment that ousted him as governor of Anambra State.
The decision of the court to constitute a full panel was based on the request by all the parties who agreed that the best way to deal with the issue in the appeal once and for all was to have a full house of the court sitting.
Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, who presided during the last sitting of the Supreme Court, said there was no point wasting time on hearing the appeal piecemeal and that since parties to the suit already indicated readiness to have a full court, their request was granted.
On the panel that heard the constitutional interpretation of the appellant’s suit were Justices Aloysius Katsina-Alu, Dahiru Musdapher, Muktar Coomasie, Olufunmilola Adekeye.
Taiwo Abe represented the appellant; Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for the 1st respondent, which is the Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi; D.C. Awaleum for the 2nd respondent; and Orji Nwafor Orizu for the 4th respondent.
On his part, Ikpeazu said the appellant had filed a preliminary objection and wished it could be taken distinctly, adding that whereby it was not taken before the appeal itself, the 1st respondent would be asking for the constitution of the full court to take the constitutional matter.
According to him, "the present action by the appellant is a surreptitious request for the setting aside of the decision of the court taken in a full court."
However, counsel to the appellant, Abe, said that the 1st respondent had already finished his objection by not putting it in the brief he had filed and that it would be incompetent to bring up issue not contained in the respondent’s brief.
In his argument of the preliminary objection, Ikpeazu said the 1st respondent contended four grounds viz: that the court of appeal erred in not entertaining an application brought to set aside the notice and grounds of appeal said to be filed in the court on the 18th of April 2007.
He said that the propriety of filing the same notice was raised and sustained by the Supreme Court and the apex court had declined the invitation to set aside its judgment based on the same facts put forward by the appellant.
According to him, the court had the absolute authority to prevent the abuse of its process or scandalise its rules and having decided on the case, the appellant c ould not return to the court asking that the judgment of the court of appeal’s decision be reversed.
He said that there could be no other determination of any court including the Supreme Court based on the notice of the appeal, adding that the appeal was out to abuse the process and embarrass the court.
He referred to the ruling of the court where it was stated that the court had already given its final judgment in the issue being canvassed by the appellant thinking that he has another joker, stressing that they only reproduced the same application that had been decided.
Ikpeazu submitted that the objection struck at the very roots of the case and it was an invitation by the appellant for the court to overrule itself. He urged the court in the interest of justice and the country to strike out the appeal.
Justice Katsina-Alu then said that since all parties in appeal were dispossed to having a full court, it shall be constituted for it to be heard once and for all.
The Supreme Court had on June 14, 2007 in what could be termed a locus classicus in law reinstated Mr. Peter Obi as Governor of Anambra State and ordered Uba to vacate the Government House as, according to it, the tenure of Obi would lapse on March 17, 2010.
The court also berated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for going ahead to conduct election into the office of the state governor when it was aware of the pending suit.
The apex court in the unanimous decision of seven justices of the court stated that INEC erred when despite the pendency of the matter went ahead to conduct elections into the office of the governor of the state when the said seat was not vacant.
The court in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Kastina-Alu held that “there has been no dispute that Governor Obi took his oath of office on March 17, 2006, his tenure of office shall expire on March 17, 2010. INEC admitted that it was aware of the pendency of the suit and still went ahead to conduct an election into an office that is not vacant.
“The office of the Governor of Anambra State was not vacant as at the time of the elections, Andy Uba should immediately vacate the office for Peter Obi to complete his term of office,” he added.
Citing the provision of Section 180 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, Kastina-Alu held that a governor’s term of office begins to run from the day he took the oath of office.
Section 180 (1) of the 1999 Constitution reads, “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of Governor of a State until (2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date when-in the case of a person first elected into as Governor under this constitution, he took the oath of allegiance and oath of office.”
The court maintained that since Obi took the oath of office on 17th March 2006, he could not be said to have completed his four years in office as governor. Therefore the seat of the the state governor was not vacant as at 14th April 2007 when INEC went ahead to conduct election in the state.
According to him, “the plaintiff/appellant brought his case to invoke the powers of the court and noted that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the matter as according to his the matter predates the elections.”
On his part, Justice George Oguntade stated that, “much as I sympathize with people that spent huge resources to contest an election into an office that is not vacant, we are bound by the provisions of the Constitution; I agree with the lead judgment and order Andy Uba to vacate the office for Obi to take over immediately.”
Obi had gone to the Federal High Court in Enugu for the following declarations:
• A declaration that the four- year tenure of office of the Plaintiff as the Governor of Anambra State began to run from the date he took the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office being the 17th day of March, 2006.
• A declaration that the Federal Government through the defendant being its agent cannot lawfully conduct any Governorship Election in Anambra State in 2007 in so far as the Plaintiff as the incumbent Governor has not served his four -year tenure of office commencing from when he took the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office on 17th March, 2006.
• An order of injunction restraining the defendants, their agents and privies or howsoever from in anyway conducting any regular election for the Governorship of Anambra State until the expiration of a period of 4 (four) years from the 17th day of March, 2006 when the Plaintiffs tenure of office will expire.
Obi lost both at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu. Not satisfied with the decision of the two courts, he consequently filed an appeal at the Supreme Court where he raised the following issues for determination:
• Whether the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were correct when they upheld the decision of the Federal High Court declining jurisdiction and held that the prayers in the Appellant’s originating summons were election tribunal.
• Whether having regard to the proper appreciation of the Appellant’s prayers in the originating summons the Court of Appeal was right in not invoking the powers under Section 16 of the Court of Appeal Act.
After considering the appeal of Obi, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision on June 14, 2007 ordered Uba to immediately vacate the Anambra governorship seat for Obi whose tenure as governor was expected to lapse on March 17, 2010.
Dissatisfied with the apex court's ruling, Uba went back to the Supreme Court asking it to review its decision and return him back to office as Anambra Governor as, according to him, the notice of appeal was not filed at the registry of the Federal High Court, Enugu but at the registry of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division which he contended was an error in law and vitiates the judgment of the court.


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=142891

Nigerian Wins Internship for US Congress; More to come!

19-year-old Nigerian student in the United States, Miss Mma Okafor, has won a scholarship with three other American students to learn and work in Washington D.C under a new university-established congressional internship programme.
Okafor of Northern Illinois University (NIU) will be attached to Congressman Daniel Lipinski, an Illinois congressman of the Third District and report to work for more than 40 hours per week and complete the internship by August.
The other winners are Hunter Huffman and Matthew Venaas and each will be given $5,000 to defray the costs associated with the internships. The three NIU students will live in houses provided by George Washington University, located in the centre of Washington, D.C., just a short walk from the Capitol.
Okafor hopes to return to Nigeria one day and contribute to political developments.
Her words: ““I am interested in politics in Nigeria. I hope to return home and change the political system through grassroots involvement in politics just like President Obama has done here. But also on a broader scale, my goal is to advocate for development in Africa as a whole, through microfinance and other similar programmes.”
She added: “The focal point of my life, having come from humble means myself, is centred on giving back to the poor.”
Huffman will intern with U.S. Rep. Donald Manzullo (16th District); and Venaas with U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (14th District). Each of the students will report to work on May 25.
“At NIU, we value experiential learning,” a statement from the university quoted President John Peters, who is a political scientist by training, specializing in studies of public policy and Congress as saying: “These scholarships will allow some of our top students to work in the halls of Congress, network with our nation’s movers and shakers and participate in the inner workings of our democracy.”
NIU Political Scientist Matthew Streb and Department Chair Christopher Jones worked with President Peters and Vice-President for External Affairs Kathryn Buettner to establish the scholarship programme.
“This is simply an opportunity that we can’t provide in the classroom,” Streb said. “I can teach the theories of Congress, but I can’t show students the experience. And, from the point of view of members of Congress, it’s a great programme because we're giving them top-notch interns.”
“We’re hoping to expand the programme a year from now,” Streb added. “We already have lawmakers lined up.”
The scholarships are competitive. More than 20 highly qualified students applied for the three internships this summer.
Each of the scholarship winners is not only a top student but also is highly involved in university and service activities.
Born in Minnesota and raised in Nigeria, Okafor is a junior honors student (she started at NIU at age 16), majoring in political science with a minor in economics. She is a member of the NIU debate team and has been active in tutoring and peer advisory.

What The Average Nigerian thinks about 419ners.

An online discussion featuring Nigerians was asked if they would turn in a relative of a friend who is a fraudster. Sixty-two people participated in the discussion that featured 178 replies. We had 178 replies because some participants submitted more than one replies in other to support their positions. A poll attached to the discussion with 52 voters indicated that 68% would not while 31% would. My data came from the replies of participants not the poll.Out of the 62 participants, 71% said they would never turn in a 419ner. 21% said they would while 8% were undecided. Majority of those who said they would not blamed the economic condition which was occasioned by bad leadership for the emergence of internet fraud in Nigeria. They also believed that the leaders are fraudsters and should be turned in first before the yahoo yahoo boys. Also some of them argued that it is a futile effort turning in a fraudster to a fraudster stating that EFCC and the police are made up of thieves and fraudsters. They were of the opinion that it would be dangerous to do so because sooner than later, the fraudster who is a relative that you turned in will bribe his way out of detention and will never be tried. Worse still they said that the police or EFCC will also make sure that the fraudster knows who reported him to them, a situation which they pointed out as being dangerous. The naysayers think it is stupid and people around would look at you as being jealous rather being patriotic. The mindset amongst them is that an average Nigerian is a fraudster and it is therefore an exercise in futility to turn in a thief to a fraudster. If 71% of Nigerians think that an average Nigerian is a fraudster and therefore it is not illegal to defraud, then the future is bleak. It is distressing to see some respondents saying that the act of 419 is a talent. Ask them how they think Nigeria will progress with such mindset, they would say that they would pray for miracles. Why will we be praying for a miracle to come out of a situation which we walked ourselves into? At the slightest chance, they would call for the heads of the leaders who they claim are the cause of their woes. When they are told the leaders were once like them and believed that Nigeria is corrupt; that a corrupt populace can never throw up good leaders; they would say it is unfair to go after the small thieves(yahoo yahoo boys) while the big thieves(the leaders) are allowed to move around. That seems to logical however, it should not be forgotten that the society has what it takes to prevent the creation of the big thief. If the average Nigerian who thinks it is normal to be fraudulent changes his mindset, when he is eventually elected into office, he will go there with the mindset that corruption is evil and that it destroys the image and fabric of the society and that it prevents foreign investment and cooperation and leads to underdevelopment.
Nigeria a country with vast human and material resources is still neck deep in poverty and infrastural decay, erratic power and import based economy because the societal value is such that recognition is based on how much you have in your bank account not minding how such money got there. It is so bad that any individual who comes out of a public office with out amassing wealth is looked upon as an idiot. That led to the saying of a late politician who say in Igbo 'Onye ube ruru ya racha' meaning whoever the pear gets to let him eat all. Better put, it could be interpreted as the winner takes all.

The leaders knowing this go ahead to loot the public treasury dry. The leaders were once like you and I. They know they have the subtle support of a majority who will flock to their side to get the crumbs from their table. Why would they not feel free to loot when they know and feel the common man on the street does not care. in fact he will willingly lend himself as an instrument of looting. They leaders are from the society and they know the feeling. That is why we are where we are. if the leaders are aware that the society from which they come from do not tolerate double standard and looting, they would be careful on how the intend to loot. But as it stands now, it only a man of conscience who would want to serve the people he was 'elected' to serve. How many are they that still have conscience? It could be you tomorrow. Can you make a difference?
For the discussion, see the link below
http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-268128.160.html#top

The actress in EKITI REC: Mrs Adebayo

After the Ekiti state re-run election that took place on the 25th of April 2009, the mood in Ekiti environs was tense especially after the violence that greeted the process. The election result was being awaited. A day after the the election while the results were still being awaited, thev resident elctoral commissioner(REC)went missing. After another day, we recieved a purported letter of resignation from the missing REC. In the letter the 'honorable' woman stated that the conduct of the state election was too much for her to stomach.Aww! what a virtuous woman we all shouted. She became an instant heroine when rumour filtered in that her reason for resignation was due to the result from Ido-Osi which had been allegedly cooked up to favour the PDP.
Like a film stunt from a Nollywood movie(not Hollywood because it was badly rehearsed and the production was rubbish), after a little threat from Dora and Okiro, the heroine of the moment resurfaced and was chauffeur-driven to Aso Rock where God knows what transpired between her and Uncle Musa.
Sola came out to declare she was still part of INEC family refusing to acknowledge or refuse the ownership of the resignation letter. That was when keen observers noted that so much water has passed under the bridge.
It appears a different script written in Aso rock was handed to her for interpretation. I do not know the content of the script but I can guess one of the lines correctly. The line said, 'accept the Ido-Osi result as it is . . .... I do not know what completed it and do not ask me for the missing part.
Madam Sola from then forgot her christian faith. How fast things change? This probably gave credence to the lack of faith the Afenifere who earlier called for her resignation had in her. The story we have heard is that the once rejected result has been accepted by the religious REC. What has changed madam REC? How is it now acceptable to your christian faith?

It is even unfortunate that CAN started issuing a statement asking for her safety to be guarantee while she was probably busy re-negotiating her price. It is obvious that this woman resigned when neither PDP not AC were willing to meet her demand and i wonder what she is still looking for at 74.Isn't integrity the best legacy?
It is amazing how the FG that was threatening arrest can now say she acted according to her conscience. How things change? Nigeria we hail thee!

Anyway,it is a pity that she could end the episode the way she did. It came with the hype that preceeds a normal Nollywood advert only to find a 50 minutes movie divided into two 30 and 20 minutes parts. Her episode was very short like a part one or part 2 of a nollywood movie and more over it was not appealing to the audience. It was badly acted and we would ask the actress to spare us this kind of hype in the future if she was not ready for a thriller.
She should ask Fayose or Alams for tips.

Microfinance Banks, Soludo’s Greatest Legacy, Says Ogbeh

Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said weekend that the issuance of licenses for the establishment of microfinance banks was the best legacy of Professor Chukwuma Soludo as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.
He said the initiative had already impacted positively on the well being of peasants across the country.
Chief Ogbeh made this known at the commissioning of one of the microfinance banks, Mega Microfinance Bank in Abuja. He maintained that microfinance banking remained the bed rock for the development of the Nigerian economy as its primary aim was to give loan and credit facility to small scale businesses which according to him constitute over 70% of the real economic sector of the country.
“The conventional banks to some extent does not cater for the less privileged of the society, therefore, the microfinance policy is about the only policy of this administration targeted at eleminating the sufferings of the poor and has given hope to the peasant man and woman who had no place to go in the past and no body to tell their stories, now can access loans through the microfinance banks”, he said.
Chief Ogbeh, who is also the Chairman of the Mega Microfinance Bank advocated the creation of more microfinance banks in remote area of the country, especially in the volatile Niger Delta region to reach the very poor and to provide loans to some of the restive youths who may be willing to start micro business.
That way, he said, the violence and restiveness in the area could be reduced .
Earlier, the Managing Director of Mega Microfinance Bank, Mrs Dorathy Uko, in her remarks said microfinance banking was the solution to Nigeria’s ailing economy since a larger population of the country was poor and and involved in small scale business.
She, however, maintained that the bank in its short period of operation was able to give out N200 million micro loans to small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Abuja and that the bank already had about 5000 customers.
She further stated that the little fund raised by shareholders could not cater for all their customers who were in genuine need of fund for their businesses.

She therefore called on government and corporate bodies to make more funds available to microfinance houses for onward disbursement to small scale entrepreneurs .
Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Biodun Olujimi , one of the dignitaries at the commissioning described microfinance banks as the financial pillar of the poor and the center point of economic development of any country .
She commend Mrs Dorathy Uko for the initiative , saying that the bank would enhance the well being of the very deprived poor Nigerians as they now have hope of resuscitating their small businesses .

Swine flu: Nigeria listed among countries with capacity to diagnose infection(something positive)

The World Health Organisation has listed Nigeria as one of the countries with capacity in place to diagnose the Influenza A infections in humans.

Although Nigeria, like many countries on the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network, does not have enough National Influenza Centres, the world body said the country fulfilled certain criteria necessary to detect the influenza.

The criteria include countries that have scored 100 per cent in the last two or more of the WHO external quality assurance programme panels, and countries with a history of consistent correct results for earlier panels.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health signed by the Special Assistant (Communication) to the Minister, Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, the Asokoro District Hospital National Diagnostic Laboratory in Abuja is one of the facilities recognised as having satisfied the prescribed criteria.

WHO had changed the name of the new influenza virus hitherto called Swine Flu to Influenza A last Thursday to avoid any misunderstanding of the nature of the influenza as it relates to pigs and pork meat. The A influenza is usually transmitted from humans to humans. But as at Sunday, there was no reported case of the infection in Nigeria.

The health ministry said there was no risk of infection of the virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.

It, therefore, advised people to regularly wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness.

However, the ministry has advised people who are ill to delay international travels, asking those who may develop symptoms after international travels to seek medical attention immediately.

As at Sunday, 17 countries had officially reported 787 cases of influenza infection. Mexico has recorded 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200905041565790

Africa’s Genetic Secrets Unlocked:This is interesting!

A genetic map of Africa - the continent from which all modern humans originate - has provided information about its huge diversity of language and culture.
It is the result of the largest African genetic study ever undertaken.
The work revealed the continent to be the most genetically diverse place on earth, and identified descendents of our earliest human ancestors.
The international team of scientists describe their 10-year study in the journal science.
The team, led by Sarah Tishkoff from University of Pennsylvania, studied genetic material from 121 African populations.
They collected over 3,000 samples, and identified 14 “ancestral population clusters.” These are groups of populations with common genetic ancestry, who share ethnicity and similarities in both their culture and the properties of their languages.
“This is a spectacular insight into the history of African populations and therefore the history of mankind,” said Muntaser Ibrahim, a researcher from University of Khartoum, who was also involved in the study.
The team looked at individual ancestry, or genetic similarities in their samples, by comparing the frequencies of more than 1,000 DNA markers - sections of the DNA code that are known to reveal common genetic heritage.
"In the past, [geneticists] studied just a few Africans, and suggested they were representative of the continent, but we've found that no population is representative of all of this diversity," said Dr Tishkoff.

"Our goal has been to do research that will benefit Africans," she said. "I hope this will set the stage for future genomics research there, and future biomedical research." The completion of the study could enable such research, allowing the link between genes and disease to be properly studied. "The genetic variants we've identified may play a role in disease susceptibility and the different ways in which people respond to drugs," Dr Tishkoff explained. Her team had to gather genetic samples from some of the continent's most remote communities. To extract the important information from blood samples, they have to be "spun down", using a centrifuge to produce a pellet containing the DNA. "In the most remote areas, we used a centrifuge that plugged into a car battery," Dr Tishkoff recalled. Largely as a result of these difficulties, a large amount of the group's data comes from populations that have never previously been studied genetically. This is the first time we have had the genetic data to reconstruct migration events Sarah Tishkoff University of Pennsylvania This allows the map to provide an entirely new link between biology, and existing anthropology and linguistic information. The research also located the origin of modern human migration in south-western Africa, near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola. This is based on the widely-accepted theory that the highest level of genetic diversity is in the oldest population - the one that has had the longest to evolve. The site is the homeland of the indigenous San communities, Dr Tishkoff explained.

"It's not surprising but it's a very neat finding because the San have already been shown to have the oldest genetic lineages, suggesting they may be descendents of a population ancestral to all modern humans."

The data has revealed a great deal about the history of the continent. "This is the first time we have had the genetic data to reconstruct migration events," Dr Tishkoff commented.

Her team, which represented an variety of academic disciplines, showed how genetic and linguistic diversity have co-evolved. This analysis revealed some surprises.

"The Masai people [in Kenya], for example, have maintained their traditional language and pastoral lifestyle, but genetically they've mixed a lot with populations from Ethiopia [who speak a different language]," said Dr Tishkoff.

The researchers also took samples from four African American populations, and traced their African ancestry. This was, as expected, mostly pinned down to West Africa.

Mark Thomas from the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at UCL praised the study, and said that the level of diversity discovered was "broadly what we would expect". He added that because the origins of African American ancestry can be seen "all the way from Senegal down to Angola, it will be a long time before a DNA test will be able to identify someone's ancestral origin. "That's despite the ridiculous claims of some of these DNA testing companies." http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=142332

Africans when you begin to study yourselves?