UK jails Nigerian ‘witchcraft’ sex trafficker for 20 years

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Read Time:1 Minute, 32 Second

LONDON, (AFP) – A Nigerian sex trafficker who used witchcraft rituals to silence the teenage girls he smuggled into Britain for prostitution was jailed for 20 years on Monday.

Osezua Osolase, 42, tricked three impoverished Nigerian orphans into travelling to Britain before attempting to sell them to gangs in Europe for prostitution.

The recycling plant worker, who lived in Kent, southeast England, used west African juju rituals to instill terror in the three girls, aged 14, 16 and 17.

“You are undoubtedly a very, very dishonest man,” said judge Adele Williams as she sentenced him at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent.

“You are arrogant and manipulative; you are devoid of conscience, devoid of any compassion to your victims.”

Osolase, who has HIV, was found guilty after a six-week trial on Friday of five counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation, one count of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.

The fact that he had raped one girl knowing that he has HIV was a “seriously aggravating” factor, Williams said.

It was recommended that Osolase be deported once he has served his sentence.

He had convinced the girls to travel to Britain with fake Nigerian passports by promising them an education and modelling careers, the court heard.

He was stopped at Stansted Airport, north of London, in April last year while attempting to board a plane.

His 16-year-old victim told police that he had performed a juju ritual on her in Nigeria in which blood was taken from her and hair was cut from her head and genitals.

She was then made to swear an oath of silence.

Police believe there were at least 25 victims of Osolase’s trafficking ring, which smuggled girls into Britain before passing them on to gangs in countries including Italy and Spain.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Teenage Girl Killed by Policemen is Buried. **Police were on illegal operations.

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Read Time:2 Minute, 6 Second

Family of Lucy Ukpong, the 18-year-old sales girl killed by some policemen in Apo, Abuja on October 12, have said nothing short of justice will be acceptable to them.

This is just as Lucy was buried amid tears at Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Saturday.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Friday that the police authorities had pleaded with the family to accept an amicable settlement of the matter.

But Lucy’s uncle, Tony Ukpong, who spoke with our correspondent in Etinan on Saturday, insisted that the family was more interested in justice.

Although he acknowledged that the police had made entreaties to the family, he said family members were still meeting and had yet to decide whether to dialogue with the police authorities or not.

Tony said, “Justice must be done because the way Lucy was killed is not acceptable to us; we demand justice and nothing less.

“We have no demand but we want to go into a dialogue. We have not stated any of our demands. Negotiation is ongoing within the family that is the best I can tell you.”

“If police are shooting, they might be telling us that they are shooting to defend themselves, but it is not within our power to say this is how it should go. We will continue to make sure that the right things are done for justice to be given to whom it is taken away from.”

A sympathiser, Okon Tom, said the killing had also shown that the police were not for the masses but for the rich and privileged members of the society.

He called on civil society groups to ensure that justice was done to Lucy by identifying and bringing the killers to justice.

Lucy, a sales girl at a photography shop, was hit in the chest by bullets fired by policemen from the FTC Special Anti-robbery Squad on October 12. She had only spent one month on her job before the incident.

The policemen claimed they had come to enforce the order on demolition of illegal structures by officials of the development control department of Abuja Metropolitan Council.

But the policemen, according to findings, were on illegal duty as the council had denied sending them to enforce the order.

Lucy’s remains were buried on Saturday at 1.13pm at her family’s compound on Udo Inyang Street, Etinan. Apart from her parents, she also left a son, Devine Godswill, behind.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Obafemi Martins Abandons Family **Lavishes £30,000 On Birthday **Rejects 4th Child’s Paternity.

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Read Time:1 Minute, 56 Second

Exclusive report Nollywood.codewit.com is getting from sources close to Nigerian footballer, Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins revealed that the former Super Eagles striker and Lavante Football club, Spain point man has allegedly abandoned his family in Nigeria to the mercy of penury and abject poverty.

Sources swore that after the former Inter Milan striker gained fame in 2004, he has virtually allegedly turned his back at his family members at Orile Aguda in Lagos. As Nollywood.codewit.com learnt, Martins allegedly dumped his family members soon after the death of his mother.

Sources disclosed to Nollywood.codewit.com that some have their family members have resorted to squatting with friends after their Orile family house was demolished by Fashola’s administration some years ago. Just recently, Martins bought two houses in VGC, Victoria Island, Lagos worth about N350million along with expensive cars.

Meanwhile, another source hinted us that Martins has denied the child he got from a woman who stays in London. According to what Nollywood.codewit.com reliably gathered, the lady named Katherine, had a child for Martins but the former Newcastle striker refused to accept the child from her.

Also, Martins’ late brother’s (Ladi) wife, Mariam, who had a baby for Ladi before his death, we learnt was never given any N5million as pay off as earlier reported in some sections of the media. Instead, Nollywood.codewit.com scooped that Martins allegedly chased the poor woman out of his VGC home when she visited him (Martins).

Sources claimed that the woman was reportedly chased away by Martins with her pregnancy. As we further learnt, this has rendered the woman homeless as Martins allegedly sold Ladi’s house and Range Rover Sport.

Nollywood.codewit.com also got that Ladi’s legal wife, Ugomma, who has two kids, is reportedly not living well in London where she works as a mortuary attendant.

Martins recently signed a big money contract from Russia to Spain. Another source exclusively informed Nollywood.codewit.com that Martins is one the verge of putting a top actress (name withheld) in the family way.
Efforts to get in touch with Martins to get his side of the story proved abortive as he could not be reached as at press time.

Watch out for more exclusive stories on Martins with exclusive pictures to back our stories up.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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INTERVIEW: Soyinka On Biafran Genocide, Islamic Militants, And Other Issues-Telegraph

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Read Time:7 Minute, 31 Second

Wole Soyinka: ‘If religion was taken away I’d be happy’
The Nobel prize-winner Wole Soyinka spoke this week at the Hay Festival in Mexico. In an extract from his talk, he tells Peter Godwin that now’s the time to tackle militants in Nigeria.

Peter Godwin Professor Soyinka, you’re not an ivory-tower kind of writer. You are not a stranger to danger, and in fact you’ve been imprisoned on at least two occasions, once in solitary confinement. Can you tell me what that was like?

Wole Soyinka: Writing in certain environments carries with it an occupational risk. When I was imprisoned, without trial, it was as a result of a position I took as a citizen. Of course I used my weapon, which was writing, to express my disapproval of the [Biafran] civil war into which we were about to enter. These were people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of its own. Unfortunately, the nature of my imprisonment meant that I couldn’t practise my trade because I was in solitary confinement for 22 months out of the 27, and I was deprived of writing material. So I had to somehow break through the barriers, smuggle in toilet paper, cigarette paper, scribble a few poems, pass messages outside. I was able to undertake exercises to make sure that I emerged from prison intact mentally.

Peter Godwin There have been high hopes for some African leaders after they were elected – Meles in Ethiopia, or Museveni in Uganda, or Kagame in Rwanda – but who then went to to show a more authoritarian bent. Are you an Afro-optimist or an Afro-pessimist?

Wole Soyinka: I’m an Afro-realist. I take what comes, and I do my best to affect what is unacceptable in society. I’ve remarked how similar in many ways Mexico is to Nigeria, and to a number of places: we have the same condition of unstructured, unpredictable violence, both from the state and from what I call the quasi-state. Whether the quasi-state is formed, as its basis, of theocratic tendencies, or secular ideological rigidity, you always have forces, even outside the state, competing for the domination of people. That’s what’s happening on the African continent today. That’s what’s been happening in the Arab states and what led eventually to the Arab Spring. Gradually people come to the recognition after decades of supine submission that they are not whole as human beings.
 Peter Godwin Your parents were Christians, Anglicans, I understand. How has your own religious belief evolved?
 Wole Soyinka: I consider myself very fortunate. I was raised in a Christian environment in Abeokuta, but another side of me was very much enmeshed in African values. I gravitated towards what I saw was a cohesive system of a certain relationship of human beings to environment, a respect for humanity in general. I came through a traditional system, where children not only had rights, but had responsibility. In the European world today, especially in America, it seems to be forbidden for children to have responsibilities…
I gravitated towards a deeper knowledge of the orisha, which represents the Yoruba pantheon, very similar in many ways to the Greek pantheon. You have reprobate deities, beneficent deities. I found that more honest than a kind of unicellular deity of either Christianity or Islam.
I don’t know if you’ve been following the news, but just a few days ago some of these Islamic fundamentalists butchered close to 50 students of a technical college. I cannot imagine the religion I was brought up in having such complete contempt for human lives. And yet these are supposed to be the world religions. So that’s why I consider myself rather fortunate that I’ve been able to see what other religions had to offer.
Peter Godwin: How should Nigeria deal with the Boko Haram, the Islamic militants in the north of the country?
Wole Soyinka: All religions accept that there is something called criminality. And criminality cannot be excused by religious fervour. Let me repeat something I first said at the meeting organised by Unesco a few weeks ago, which was prompted by the recent film insulting the religion of Islam and depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a very crass way.

The first thing to say is that we do not welcome any attempt to ravage religious sensibilities. That can be taken for granted. But you cannot hold the world to ransom simply because some idiot chose to insult a religion in some far off place which most of the world has never even heard of. This for me is a kind of fundamentalist tyranny that should be totally unacceptable. So a group calls itself the Boko Haram, literally:

“Book is taboo”, the book is anathema, the book is a product of Western civilisation, therefore it must be rejected.

You go from the rejection of books to the rejection of institutions which utilise the book, and that means virtually all institutions. You attack universities, you kill professors, then you butcher students, you close down primary schools, you try and create a religious Maginot Line through which nothing should penetrate. That’s not religion; that’s lunacy. My Christian family lived just next door to Muslims. We celebrated Ramadan with Muslims; they celebrated Christmas with Christians. This is how I grew up. And now this virus is spreading all around the world, leading to the massacre of 50 students. This is not taking arms against the state, this is taking up arms against humanity.
 

Peter Godwin: Is freedom of expression something you see as a universal right rather than as some Western construct?
 

Wole Soyinka: There are many cultures on the African continent where days are set aside, days of irreverence where you can say anything you want about an all-powerful monarch or chief. It’s a safety valve. It’s a recognition of freedom of expression, which perhaps has not been exercised, and bottled up grievances; this is the day when you express your grievances in society. So there is no society, really, which does not boast some form or measure of freedom of expression. Now, it’s true that freedom of expression carries with it an immense responsibility. Well that is why laws of libel exist – that when you carry things too far, you can be hauled up before the community, and judged to see whether you are right to call somebody a thief, or a hypocrite, and damage his reputation. But unless you establish that principle of freedom of expression, we might all just go around with a padlock on our lips.

Audience member: I read somewhere my freedom ends where your freedom begins. In Europe there have been cartoonists who have mocked the Prophet. Should they limit their freedom of speech?
 

Wole Soyinka: Religion is also freedom of expression. People want to express themselves spiritually. And they also exercise the right to try and persuade others into their own system of belief. Those nations that say it’s a crime to preach your religion are making a terrible mistake. All they’re doing is driving underground other forms of spiritual intuitions and practices.

If religion was to be taken away from the world completely, including the one I grew up with, I’d be one of the happiest people in the world. My only fear is that maybe something more terrible would be invented to replace it, so we’d better just get along with what there is right now and keep it under control.
The unrest which is taking place as a result of Boko Haram, in my view, has attained critical mass. When a movement reaches that state of total contempt even for universal norms, it is sending a message to the rest of the world, and to the rest of that nation, that this is a war to the end. The president of Nigeria is making a mistake in not telling the nation that it should place itself on a war footing. There’s too much pussyfooting, there’s too much false intellectualisation of what is going on, such as this is the result of corruption, this is the result of poverty, this is the result of marginalisation. Yes, of course, all these negativities have to do with what is happening right now. But when the people themselves come out and say we will not even talk to the president unless he converts to Islam, they are already stating their terms of conflict.

*This is an edited transcript of Wole Soyinka’s event at Hay Xalapa.
Details: hayfestival.org

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: Suntai Flown to Germany

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Read Time:4 Minute, 18 Second

Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai, who sustained serious injuries when his plane crashed, last Thursday at a Yola suburb, was Saturday flown to Germany for medical treatment.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Emmanuel Bello, who confirmed this in a telephone interview, said the governor was flown out of the country about 3pm Saturday.

Suntai was moved from the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, where he had been treated after the crash, Friday afternoon in an air ambulance to the National Hospital, Abuja. He was visited in Abuja by President Goodluck Jonathan who the governor was in a stable condition.

Bello also said the governor was stable and responding to treatment, adding that there was hope that he would soon return to the country.

“The governor was flown to Germany this afternoon for further treatment. His condition remains stable as confirmed by President Jonathan and we’re very hopeful that he would soon return to the country hale and hearty,” he stated.

The Swiss Air ambulance, a Challenger 604 with registration number HB JRC, in which the governor was conveyed, took off from the International Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, about 3pm.

Suntai, a pharmacist by profession and also a qualified pilot, who personally flew the Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ jet that crashed in Yola, was taken out of the National Hospital premises at 1:56pm in a State House ambulance with registration number SH 557, the same ambulance that had brought him to the hospital on Friday.

There was heavy security presence at the National Hospital at the time of the governor’s evacuation, which prevented people from getting close to the ICU. But THISDAY can confirm that the governor was stretchered into the ambulance with his body covered with a white cloth.

This lends credence to the suspicion that Suntai may still be in a critical condition, contrary to reports that he had been stabilised. Also, the fact that the whole area was cordoned off to human and vehicular movements, further raised concerns about the state of the governor’s health.

No official of the hospital was willing to speak on the governor’s condition, but an unofficial source said the governor was still in a bad shape.

Suntai was driven out of the premises of the National Hospital in a convoy of nine vehicles, led by a green BMW salon car with registration number NPF 45839 BMW, followed by a Toyota Prado SUV with registration number BS 677 RSH. In the SUV was a middle-aged woman, whose identity could not be determined, a police officer and two other men.

Also in the convoy were police operation vehicles, and private vehicles with registration numbers Abuja CZ 724 RBC, Abuja CU 184 RSH, and a government vehicle with registration number FG AD82A01.

Jonathan had dropped hints that Suntai would likely to flown abroad when the president told a delegation of Muslims led by Vice President Namadi Sambo that the federal government would do everything possible to ensure that the governor got the best medical attention even if it meant flying him abroad.

Officials disclosed that the governor, who was brought unconscious from the crash scene to the German unit of the Specialist Hospital, Yola, along with three of his security aides, had a broken shoulder and limbs as well as lacerations on his face. They were there for a while before been transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.

The other victims of the crash were Suntai’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) Dangana Tino; the Chief Detail, Joel Danladi; and his Aide-de-camp (ADC), DSP Iliya Dasat.

THISDAY gathered that plans had been concluded to move them from the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, to the National Hospital, Abuja.

‘I Remain Deputy Governor’

Meanwhile, the Taraba State deputy governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, has made a public broadcast to clear the air on a rumoured power tussle and controversy around the governorship stool, which will be vacant for the period of Suntai’s medical treatment.

There were unconfirmed reports about a botched attempt by the deputy governor to assume the positing of acting governor.

But Umar denied the reports, saying he remains deputy governor since his boss is only sick and not incapacitated.

Fielding questions from newsmen Saturday at his official residence in Jalingo, after the state broadcast on the crash and the state of the governor, Umar stated, “I was sworn-in as deputy governor of the state. The governor is only sick and not dead. He is in a stable condition, as confirmed by Mr. President and the Chief Medical Director of National Hospital, Abuja. I remain the deputy governor of the state.”

Umar called on the people of the state to continue to pray for the speedy recovery of the governor and his affected aides just as he called on the people to rededicate themselves to the ideals and values that unite them as a people.

“We are known to be a peace loving people, law abiding and very patriotic. These are the values that have helped us to grow as a state. As friends and brethren, I enjoin us to continue to uphold these cherished values of our people,” he stated.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: Preventing Future Losses From Floods

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Read Time:3 Minute, 41 Second

THE current floods being experienced along the River Benue and River Niger should not be allowed to occur in future. A new operations regime that will ensure safe operations at dams and their associated reservoirs should be put in place for all dams in Nigeria.

Dam owners/operators in Nigeria include the River Basins Development Authorities, RBDAs, PHCN successor companies, State Water Boards/Corporations.

The Federal Ministry of Environment held a round-table meeting with dam owners/operators in Abuja on May 23, 2012 and I addressed the participants at this gathering on the role and responsibilities of dam owners/operators in flood early warning system operations.

Dam owners/operators were told that their primary responsibility was to exercise control over the water behind their dams such that in years of heavy rainfall and for singular rainfall events, water going past the dam does not damage dam infrastructure or create floods.

In the first place, dams should not store water that is not required. One of the problems with dams under the control of the RBDAs is that some of them are designed for electric power generation but the existing law, the River Basins Development Authorities Act, does not include electric power generation in the functions of each Authority.

Thus the budgets of the RBDAs cannot include funds for power generation and distribution. Besides amendments to the law to permit RBDAs to generate and distribute electricity, procedures for safe operations of dams such that floods are not inflicted on interests and communities downstream of dams should also be specified in the law.

Communities downstream of a dam should be allowed by law to jointly monitor water levels behind the dam with the RBDA.

The release of water from Lagdo Dam on the River Benue in Cameroon leads to floods each year along the River Benue, both in Cameroon and in Nigeria. Again, it is emphasized that water which is not required should not be stored behind a dam.

The Cameroonian authorities should be approached to lower the critical operating water level in the Lagdo dam by 8m from 216m above sea level to 208m above sea level. With respect to Kainji Dam, PHCN has been operating this dam for over 40 years and PHCN should by now have a good hydrological model for operations at the dam.

Water entering Kainji Lake takes an average of 76 days before going past the dam. Some of the water reaching Kainji Lake takes about six months to arrive at the lake from Guinea. It should be possible to plan water release from Kainji Lake such that there are no significant floods in areas downstream of the dam.

The floods that occurred along the River Ogun in Lagos State and Ogun State during 2007, 2010 and 2011 should also not be allowed to occur again.

The Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority should lower the critical operating water level at Oyan Dam by 4m from 63m above sea level to 59m above sea level. Gates should also be provided at the Ikere Gorge Dam on the River Ogun as this will lead to better control of water releases into the main channel of the River Ogun.

An assessment of flood risk along the River Ogun in Lagos State and Ogun State shows that water release from Oyan Dam in the region of 10,000 million litres per day leads to the formation of a lake on the river between Magbon and Hate, that is between latitude 6°49’30″ N and 6°48’00″ N. A second channel takes off from this lake to the east of the main channel of the River Ogun and this channel carries water directly to the concrete viaduct on the Lagos to Ibadan Expressway at latitude 6°40’00″, then onwards into River Owuru which flows into Majidun Creek which discharges the water into the Lagos Lagoon.

The flood path from the main channel of River Ogun and the lake covers parts of Ogun State and Lagos State; it is over 27km long and it is up to 4km wide in places. It is, therefore, necessary to plug the second channel and other channels along the River Ogun through appropriate embankment construction.

Flood control studies should be carried out from Oyan Dam to Lagos Lagoon which studies will assess the needs of communities along the River Ogun, especially Abeokuta metropolitan area.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: A Case for Niger Delta Indigenous Oil Refineries

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Read Time:5 Minute, 57 Second

IN elementary economics class,we were taught that the preponderance of natural resources in certain locations is one of the major considerations for locating extractive industries in the area.

This justified the presence of a huge array of textile mills in Kaduna,a stone throw from Funtua in Northern Nigeria where cotton farming was endemic .

It also underscores the existence of Onyeama Coal Mines in Enugu ,where huge deposits of coal are buried under the earth crust, just as it is the reason for siting cocoa producing factories in Lagos-lbadan axis where it is the commonest cash crop in that region.

In those good old days, the textile mills and the coal mines were veritable providers of jobs for Northerners and Easterners who loath to venture far afield to Lagos where factories were more abundant with corresponding ample job opportunities.

Interestingly, the situation at that time was such that both big and small textile ,cocoa and coal mines thrived successfully without any threat to one another. Correspondingly, in the Niger Delta where oil/gas deposits were discovered in 1959,refineries and petrochemical industries are located in Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Warri in Delta State.

But contrary to the situation in the North, South East and South West where cotton,coal and cocoa were strictly private business, oil exploration is conducted under stringent control of government via the enactment of the Petroleum Act in 1969.

So, apart from the huge state-owned oil/gas firms run by the behemoth, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, no smaller firms were allowed to operate in the exploration and refining of crude oil in Nigeria at the initial stages.

The monopoly subsisted until distributorship permits were granted local operators when the refineries came on stream and oil/gas exploration licenses were, several years after, granted indigenous firms like Dubri Oil, Muni Pulo,Consolidated oil ,Midwest oil, SEPTA and a host of others which are now profitably mining marginal fields hitherto neglected by multi-national firms.

Disappointingly,the last time Nigeria built a refinery was in 1989′ which is 24 years ago in Kaduna, while the first refinery was built in 1965 in Port Harcourt.

Now Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke has just informed the National Assembly that tax payers funds in excess of N251 billion (or $1.9 billion) has been earmarked for turn around maintenance of the three ageing refineries which is more or less trying to revive the dead.

It has been argued by some that 18 licenses were issued for refineries establishment in 2002 and none has taken off till date but my counter-argument is that the licenses were issued to firms with business plans for replication of the four already existing monstrosities in terms of capital outlay and refining capacity which is mission impossible in a country where access to capital is highly limited,more so as the market is yet to be completely deregulated for market-driven prices.

Another difference is that what is being advocated in this article is not licenses for start up or green business but licensing for grey businesses which in other words are going-concerns.

Also worthy of note is the fact that the so- called “crude” refineries are still sprouting like mushrooms despite constant attacks from JTF and this suggests that they are serving a niche market -a relevant fact which can’t be ignored.

Obviously, the impropriety of consigning critical oil/gas assets to government and foreigners alone at the expense of indigenous investors is reflected in the dilapidated state of our refineries, leading to reliance on imported fuel which the recent petrol subsidy scam, resulting in excess of N2 trillion loss this year alone, is a by-product.

Thankfully, the Alison-Madueke-led Petroleum Ministry, in 2010, introduced the local content policy which simply stipulates that contracts in the oil/gas business must be awarded wholly or in partnership with willing Nigerian investors with capacity to deliver.

The visible gains from the partial liberalisation of the sector are technology transfer benefits,more indigenous oil/gas firms in the upstream sector now doting the landscape and more of the proceeds from that sector being retained in Nigerian banks as opposed to financial institutions in London,Paris and New York.

Put succinctly, the policy shifts that brought indigenous investors into oil/gas industry, first as explorers and currently as major contractors have been salutary and therefore should be extended into other areas such as refining that still remains exclusive to the Federal Government and her foreign partners.

Sadly, as lofty as the idea of getting indigenes involved in small scale petroleum refining appears,it is not captured in the draft Petroleum Industry Bill,PIB, which is currently receiving legislative attention.

Rather than encourage indigenous small scale investors, international oil companies,IOCs, like Shell,Chevron,Exxon-Mobil and Total Fina Elf as well as AGIP maybe compelled to establish refineries as pre-condition for retaining their oil blocks and if the current body language of the IOCs is anything to go by, building a refinery in Nigeria is not their priority.Since the big players are not keen for the reason that refining is not as lucrative as extracting crude oil from the earth crust and with a joint venture agreement that favours them to boot,who will fill the gap?

The indigenous operators whose local oil refineries have been operating under the radar have been filling the gap but are presently being destroyed daily in the Niger Delta by the Joint Military Task Force,JTF, at such an alarming rate that could further accelerate the impoverishment of the embattled people of the region which the Federal Government amnesty programme was meant to ameliorate.

Ostensibly,the reason for destroying the refineries is that they are illegal and are allegedly responsible for the increasing rate of crude oil theft.

While such allegations may be partially true, it does not appear to me that those small scale refineries have the capacity to refine the volume of theft that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala was referring to when she raised alarm that crude oil theft could negatively impact our country’s economic fundamentals this year.

Clearly, our crude oil theft has international dimension to it and effective maritime security, including the establishment of coastal guards serving the dual purpose of creating employment for Nigerians and blocking further theft are worthy of consideration.

As for the alleged theft by small scale refinery operators, licensing and allocating crude oil to them could stem the tide of theft as people rarely steal what they have legitimate access to.

Not allowing small oil refineries in Nigeria might have a been a policy borne out of the overbearing influence of the IOCs much the same way they persuaded government to cap marginal oil/gas fields which are now being profitably explored by indigenous investors after a long period of being fallow.

Having recorded appreciable measure of success in the exploration and contracting aspects, refining oil locally by Nigerians may be an innovative way of creating employment and boosting the economy of the Niger Delta.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: Electricity in Nigeria – A Disturbing Dimension

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Read Time:5 Minute, 9 Second

Each time Nigerians grumble over the failure of successive governments to provide them with electricity, government officials are quick at pointing out that Nigerians are impatient adding that ours is a nation seeking to enjoy within a few years in existence what the developed countries got after hundreds of years.

No one makes effort to verify the accuracy of such ‘official’ statistics. Instead, everyone tends to note the counseling by government with mixed feelings hoping for some change in the near future which has never come. Getting the true position is however not exactly as hard as we imagine in view of the ease with which this writer gathered from one journal a few days ago that electricity was first produced in Lagos, Nigeria in 1896 less than 15years after it happened in England.

Thus, we have as a community been dealing with electricity in the last one hundred and sixteen years. This revelation renders absurd, the charge that Nigerians are impatient about development and some level of improvement in their daily lives. Could it then be true that official deceit more than anything else, is our real dilemma concerning electricity? As we shall show shortly, a new trend in the disposition of elected office holders to the activities of the Power holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) tends to lend credence to the theory.

It would appear that because our leaders have ‘light’ most of the time, they hardly understand the common man’s unending pains of darkness. First, they are serviced by generators from our common purse. Second, virtually all of the little power the nation can produce is always given to those in the corridors of power. It was so when the subject was handled by the Public Works Department (PWD) from the beginning of colonial times till 1950.

There was no change from then till 1972 when it was under the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) and it has remained so since 2005 when the PHCN was established. Interestingly, the leaders have a tendency of not paying for services rendered to either their homes or offices. Whenever “there is a break in transmission” in their areas for a few minutes, a near war situation is declared on PHCN and their operatives are assaulted at will. This bizarre dimension is no doubt disturbing.

For example about a week ago, the management of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, KEDC, a subsidiary of the PHCN, accused the Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko of personally assaulting its workers. According to the Acting Managing Director of the Company, Mohammed Adamu, Governor Wamakko, flogged a PHCN manager for failing to supply electricity to his community.

Adamu at a press conference on the subject described the assault which took place on Saturday, 20th October, 2012, as an unusual and unfortunate event which was beyond his company’s comprehension. He explained that his business manager for Gwiwa Business Unit, Sokoto state, Moses Osigwe, was invited by the Governor to his personal residence, over the issue of lack of power supply to his hometown, Wamakko, as a result of a failed 2.5MVA transformer.

He added that as the business manager was trying to explain the problem, the governor brought out a horse whip (popularly known as bulala in Hausa language) and lashed him thoroughly. Two hefty mobile police men were allegedly ordered by the Governor to continue with the beating spree until the business manager fell on the ground and became unconscious. Two other PHCN operatives- namely, Isyaku Daura, Officer 2 (Electrical) and Nuruddeen Mohammed, Staff 1 (Lines) were similarly reportedly manhandled.

On its part, the government denied the allegation. According to the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Sani Umar, the Governor only demanded an explanation for the N17 million he gave to PHCN to install a new transformer in Wamakko which they failed to do. We would have doubted the PHCN version of the story because it looked too barbaric and uncivilized to be credited to a Governor but for the fact that the allegations were made at an open Press Conference.

In addition why should the lives of workers like Isyaku and Nuruddeen be in jeopardy on account of the PHCN’s alleged breaches? This is the second time this year that a report of assault by state government officials on PHCN staff has been made public. The first time was when officials of the Ekiti state Government allegedly beat up PHCN managers operating in Ado Ekiti.

The Managers-Messrs, Julius Ige, in charge of Marketing and Ilori Kayode Brown, Head of Public Relations were reportedly abducted in the night of Friday June 29 by aides to the state Governor and ‘brutally’ held till 1.15am of the next day because PHCN disconnected power supply to the Government House over repeatedly demanded but unpaid electricity bills. While there is nothing wrong in prodding PHCN to be proactive, to assault their staff in the process leaves the nation not just in the dark but indeed in the jungle.

Since no law permits government officials to manhandle fellow citizens, the above reports ought to draw attention to no less than 2 important issues. The first is the continued retention of immunity clause in our constitution which stops the common man from suing “Area-Boy” governors who unduly inflict pain on the less privileged.

The immunity clause in S308 of our constitution which is designed to discourage anyone from using litigation to distract elected executives cannot remain if we cannot evolve a specific provision to discourage the same executives from impunity. Does the immunity clause empower elected executives to take the laws into their own hands and abridge the rule of law? The second issue is the vexed subject of State Police. State Governors in Nigeria only remember that they have no powers over the Police when they are accused of not tackling insecurity in their States.

They don’t tell us why in spite of their acclaimed disability, they are always able to use the same federal police to harass their real or imaginary opponents. Can anyone imagine what would have happened to the PHCN officials in Sokoto if the Governor had what is called State Police?

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Bodies of Missing Teens Found Near River

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Read Time:1 Minute, 28 Second

A post from the Facebook page dedicated to the search for the missing teens Jake Ziegler and Ray Pierce, confirmed the worst Sunday night. 

The bodies of both boys were recovered in Kershaw County near the Wateree River off of I-20, the post stated.

It appears to be a single car accident. Earlier in the search, officials were looking in the Blythewood area for the boys who disappeared from Catawba County, NC. 

The post in its entirety follows: 

We are sadden to say that the bodies of Jake Ziegler 18, & Ray Pierce have been found approximately an hour ago. Search crews along the Wateree River found the bumper of the car off of I20 East near the 96 mile marker. According to Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews, the bumper had the license plate from the car as well. It seems to be a single car accident. There is no proof that another vehicle was involved. There are no other details at this time and you all will be updated as soon as we can. We could not update you at that time due to not all the family had been contacted.

For everyone who wants to send prayers to the family, please send a private message on here and when Sue Ziegler has time she will view them. We just ask for everyone to please give them a little breathing room at this moment. Please continue to pray for them for this will be the hardest thing they will go through in their life and we want to thank all of you wonderful Prayer Warriors to help them along the way. Again, when we know more, we will let you know. Thank you & God Bless.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Zambia/South Africa: U-17 Kiss Dust

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Read Time:2 Minute, 24 Second

ZAMBIA’s quest for a maiden appearance at the Africa Junior Championship was dashed yesterday when the Under-17 squad was humiliated by a determined South Africa to bow out of the 2013 edition 2-1 on aggregate.

The elimination comes barely a month after the Under-20 kissed goodbye to the Orange 2013 Africa Youth Championship after losing 5-2 on aggregate in the second round of the qualifying series to Mali, who forced a 2-2 draw at Arthur Davies before prevailing 3-0 in Bamako.

South Africa’s Amajimbos will now play the Black Starlets of Ghana in the third and final qualifying round next month for a berth at the Orange 2013 Africa Junior Championship which will be staged in Morocco.

South Africa took the game to Zambia and came close to scoring straight from the start when eventual goal scorer Siyanda Ngcoba, who was a menace all afternoon, forced a good save from goalkeeper Mangani Banda with a cross-cum-shot under a minute from kickoff.

The visitors then scored the all important goal from a goalmouth melee in the 53rd minute when Ngcobo nodded in skipper Ayabulela Mogqwaka’s square ball from the right flank, shockingly sending the local crowd into a rapture.

South Africa enjoyed rare maximum support from the Zambian crowd thereafter as the Osward Mutapa-coached lads crumbled in midfield in the absence of injured skipper Langson Mbewe and Chibwe Mulilo, who according to CAF records has two yellow cards to his name.

Zambia’s only clear-cut chance at goal was a disallowed goal, poked home by substitute Albert Kafwali in the 64th minute, barely four minutes after he replaced Juma Mutale in a double substitution that also saw Kingsley Mukuka coming on for Emmanuel Mumba.

Zambia, particularly skipper Banda, will regret defending the 1-1 draw from the first leg played two weeks ago in Johannesburg played at Moroka Swallow’s Dobsonville Stadium as the agile Young Zanaco goalkeeper resorted to time wasting from as early as the 15th minute.

South Africa dead ball specialist Bongani Kanyile forced another good save from Banda who cut a goal bound setpiece for a corner in the ninth minute while on the other end, Charles Zulu’s shot missed the target with Emmanuel Mumba volleying a loose ball over the bar on 20 minutes.

Mumba pulled a harmless low shot on the turn narrowly wide of the upright of the towering South Africa goalkeeper Jordy February who had an outstanding game.

The match was watched by FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya, Chipolopolo coach Herve Renard and his assistant Patrice Beaumelle.

Zambia coach Mutapa said the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow while his counterpart Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba congratulated his team and advised Zambians not to criticise the technical staff or the team, saying the raw age group was the most difficult to coach.

Zambia 0 South Africa 1

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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