Concerns mount as 134 million Nigerians pay rent

Concerns are mounting over the statistic that 80 percent of Nigerians, representing 134 million persons, of the 167 million population live in rented accommodations.This is typical of city life, where one person owns a block of 10 flats, with each flat accommodating at least six persons, meaning that there are about 60 people tied to a landlord.

Analysts say that because Nigerians are most times not able to own houses of their own, they live as tenants.In some more developed countries, implementation of housing policies aimed at helping the vulnerable, enables such group to own their own homes.

Johnson Chukwuma, an estate manager, who gave this statistic in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, noted that because there are no form of mortgages in Nigeria, people don’t have the capacity to buy, and so, have to rent.

The Nigerian Housing Policy of 1991 entitles, among other things, every adult Nigerian to a decent residential accommodation at affordable price and it is its non-implementation that has kept home ownership in the country at this abysmal level.

The non-implementation of the policy is also responsible for the low success rate of the contributory National Housing Fund (NHF) and even the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) as government organs set up to increase housing stock and home-ownership.

“If therefore this 80 percent tenants had access to mortgages, things would be better and the quality of life would be much improved. For quality of life alone, something just has to be done about mortgage because there are many people who have capacity to buy but are renting”, he lamented.

Nigeria has a very disturbing housing situation with only 10.7 million housing stock; Ten percent home-ownership level; about 5.5 percent annual urbanisation rate, and a staggering 16 million housing units deficit.

Chukwuma laments further that Nigeria is the only country where a home seeker may have about N5 million, an equivalent of $35,000, yet he cannot present it as down payment for a decent accommodation, explaining that “this is because something that you can call middle class property starts from N20 million”.

Timothy Nubi, a professor at the Faculty of Environment Sciences, University of Lagos, gave further insight into the nation’s pathetic housing situation.

According to him, about N12 trillion is required to finance the housing deficit. Nubi added that housing in Nigeria is estimated to be 2.3 per 1,000 inhabitants, with over 70 percent of the population lacking decent quality urban life.

Nubi whose views were contained in a paper he presented at a forum organised by the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) also disclosed that more than seven cities in Nigeria have populations above one million, lamenting that the country has lacked real estate -backed capital market instruments and significant social housing and new town development initiatives for several decades.

Emeka Eleh, president of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), agrees, insisting that social housing is critical, but has to involve government.

Eleh, who spoke in an interview with journalists in Lagos, argued that “if government is talking about housing for all, there is no way it will not have a social housing component”.

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA), he noted, was established to provide social housing, pointing out that the authority should be seen to be performing that function. “You cannot achieve an equitable society without providing for those who don’t have; those who lack the basic things they should have”, he said.

He further said that his institution supports social housing, disclosing that they were in Abuja for the public hearing to support the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development’s bill on social housing.

According to him, even though the housing sector is better driven by the private sector, government still has to enable equitable distribution of housing, to ensure that the vast majority are properly housed, stressing that there has to be an element of social housing that is encouraged by government “because this is what is done all over the world. In India, for instance, there are the Council Flats with all manner of social housing components”.

Eleh noted that there were many ways in which government could enhance access to housing, explaining that it could do that by giving people land titles without charging too much money; providing mortgages; providing infrastructure, so that developers don’t have to spend money on that.

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Cassava bread and diabetes

Available evidence does not support the erroneous belief that cassava bread is not healthy for consumption. Some people have even linked cassava bread with diabetes. This clarification becomes necessary against the backdrop of the purported rejection by the House of Representatives of a bill seeking to mandate bakers to make cassava flour part of the ingredients for making bread. I was wondering why the House would take such decision, knowing that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, added with the fact that the produce, which has the potential to earn thousands of Nigerians significant income, is not fully exploited.

Diabetes is a global disease and, at present, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has substantial data on it. It is noteworthy that Nigeria is not one of the countries with high prevalence, and not even among the top ten countries that will record high prevalence by 2030, according to a research report conducted by Sarah Wild, Gojka Rojlic, et al (2004), which was administered on WHO member countries. India, China, USA, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Japan, Philippines and Egypt are countries that, by 2030, will have between 7 million and 79 million people diagnosed as having diabetes. Coincidentally, these countries are the leading wheat producers in the world.

Another medical indicator which is now being used to dissuade people from embracing cassava bread is the Glycemic Index (GI). The GI measures how much each gram of available carbohydrate raises a person’s glucose level following the consumption of the food, and it is measured in 100. GI low range falls within 55 and below, medium within 56 and 69, while 70 and above represents the high GI range.

According to the rumour making the rounds, which though has been dispelled by Akinwunmi Adesina, the minister of Agriculture and Rural development, cassava has a very high GI, meaning cassava bread consumption exposes the consumer to the risk of diabetes. However, from available facts, the GI of cassava is moderate, which does not constitute danger to consumers; and cassava flour has a GI of 59.34, which puts it in the medium GI range. On the other hand, white bread, most white rice, corn flakes, cereals, glucose, maltose and white potato are classified as having very high GI, according to Wikipedia, while yam flour was found by a group of researchers from the University of Ibadan to have a GI of 49.81.

Furthermore, it is instructive that cassava bread is a staple food in Central and South America, where it is popularly known as Pão de Queijo in Brazil, Pan de Yuca in Ecuador, Pan de Bono in Colombia, and Ereba in Belize.

As a country with high number of poor people, cassava offers the nation a way out of poverty if it is optimally utilised. At present, not much value is being added to cassava, which explains why Nigeria does not earn much foreign exchange from it. Many people heaved a sigh of relief when the Agric minister rolled out his transformation programme to include the production of cassava flour and subsequent inclusion of same in bread making.

There is no doubt that those who have controlled the flour market in Nigeria might not like the idea that a new set of businessmen will challenge their authority by introducing a product that will reduce their market share. And with the way the bill was purportedly rejected, it is clear that some very powerful people do not want the cassava bread project to see the light of the day. Hence, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture needs to be ahead of these forces if truly the project is important to it. That is why Nigerians must be constantly orientated so as not to kill this brilliant idea.

Nigerians are the ones that consume cassava, including cassava flour. Therefore, they should be the focus of the orientation programme of the federal government. In this regard, I will suggest a three-phase orientation programme. The FG should focus on the supply and demand sides in the form of town hall meetings, starting with those in Lagos, Benue, Kano and Port Harcourt. It should, as a matter of urgency, design a sample production plan that will practically show huge disparity between the cost per unit of producing cassava and that of producing wheat bread of the same quantity. The supply side involves the farmers that produce cassava flour, who should be educated on the need to embrace the highest hygienic practices; while the demand side relates to the bakers, their distributors and consumers. By so doing, the bakers will rest assured that the cassava project aims to enhance their profitability.

This becomes even more necessary now that an increase in fuel price and the new electricity tariff regime will impact negatively on the ability of the bakers to make profit. Since not all the costs incurred by firms can be transferred to the final consumers, especially as many Nigerians are very poor, there is the need to cut the cost of input, and cassava flour provides a better way of doing this.

The next thing is to mount rigorous campaigns on the radio and television, while the last stage is to conduct a field research with a view to gathering new set of information that will help government sustain the project. Eventually, passing the cassava bill will only be a thing of formality.

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Jonathan’s Brazil trip, abdication of duty — Reps

Members of the House of Representatives yesterday criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for travelling to Brazil for the United Nations conference on climate change when hundreds of Nigerians are being killed and maimed in several cities, saying he abdicated his duty.

The members stated this while debating a motion sponsored by Rep Yakubu Barde (PDP, Kaduna) who came under matters of urgent national importance over the Sunday bombings of three churches in Kaduna State and the reprisal attacks that followed.

The legislators unanimously voted summoning President Jonathan to come back home from Brazil. The House resolution invited the President and the security chiefs to address the House at a closed-door session on the insecurity situation in the country.

Representative Emma-nuel Jime (PDP, Benue) said: “There is an abdication of responsibility on the part of the President. So far what we have is a statement by his spokesman to say that he is too engaged with state issues than to talk about Boko Haram,” Rep. Jime added.

Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos) also criticised the President for contravening the oath of office he swore on May 29th 2011 by travelling “to far away to Brazil to engage in climate conference when a state capital is under siege for hours.”

“We must begin to look elsewhere for solution, drastic situations calls for drastic measures. We have power of oversights not only on the National Security Adviser but also on the President himself”, the Minority Leader said.

In her submission, Rep. Olajumoke Okoya-Thomas (ACN, Lagos), said if the President knows that he can’t handle the situation ‘he should step down’. “We should issue marching order to the President in view of the security situation,” she said.

Rep. Jerry Manwe (PDP, Taraba) said:  “Is Mr. President scared? Is the IGP scared? Are there some people that cannot be arrested? If the President knows who is behind Boko Haram he should go after them otherwise nobody should come and tell us that they are on top of the situation”.

“Ali Modu Sheriff is today walking the street of Nigeria, Jonathan must now demonstrate that he has the will power to handle it, he can no longer be telling us that this is a phenomenon. He said even in his cabinet there are Boko Haram symphatisers but it means that he is the only person who has the custody of information about their sponsors,” Jime said.

Speaking shortly after the motion was passed, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal lamented that he was quoted out of context when he issued statement on the Sunday bomb blast and reprisal attacks in Kaduna state through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam saying, “my stance has always been known on issue of terrorism; I have always spoken against the perpetrators, therefore I crave the indulgence of those desperately looking for what to use to smear my name to please leave me alone”.

Although no date was set for the appearance of the President before the House, this would be the first time that the House has summoned the President since assuming office in February 2010 after he was declared Acting President by a resolution of the both chambers of the National Assembly.

Meanwhile three opposition parties; Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) also condemned the President Jonathan for embarking on the Brazil trip while Yobe and Kaduna States when dozens of Nigerians wee being killed and maimed. ACN said it is a sign of incompetence and confused leadership.

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Pension scam: N273 billion looted in 6 years - Disband task force, prosecute officials — Senate committee

From 2005 to 2011, top government officials in charge of pension funds in the country stole N273.9 billion, the report of the recent investigation into the alleged mismanagement of the funds by a Senate panel has revealed.

A copy of the report, obtained yesterday by our correspondent, shows that out of the total sum of N1.025 trillion received as pension funds by the various pension offices and boards within the period, only N751.4 billion was expended, with N273.9 billion looted.

According to the report, out of the N213.3 billion pension funds received by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, only N154.6 billion was disbursed; while the Military Pension Board disbursed only N294bn out of the N317.6bn it received.

The report also reveals that the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office paid only N57.4bn out of the N85.2bn released to it; the Department of State Service Pension Office, N9.4bn out of N34.7bn; and the Police Pension Office, N88.2bn out of N131.4bn.

The report further shows that within the period under review, out of the N176.4bn received by other parastatals as pension funds, only N100.6bn was expended; while only N46.9bn was spent out of the N55.8bn released for the payment of retirees of universities across the nation.

In the report, the Senator Aloysious Etok-led Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and States and Local Government Administration observed what it described as ‘syndicated and institutionalised corruption, fraud and embezzlement in the management of pension funds in the country’.

This was made possible, according to the committee, because of beneficial collusion and conspiracy by government officials.

The committee recommended, among other things, that the chairman of the Pension Task Team, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina and all members of the team be arrested and prosecuted by the police for “the crimes of embezzlement, fraud, misappropriation, misapplication, illegal virements, contract splitting, award of contracts to non-existing companies, outright stealing of police pension funds, among others”.

It also recommended that the team be immediately disbanded “as its continued existence and usurpation of statutory functions and violation of extant laws is illegal, as also recommended by the two former Heads of Service, Chief Steve Oronsanye and Prof. Adedapo Afolabi as well as the incumbent, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali”.

The crimes committed by Maina’s team, according to the committee, include: illegal contract splitting and award to the tune of N1.8bn; spending N1.6bn as running cost of the police pension instead of N80 million appropriated; spending N830.8 million purportedly for the payment of June 2010 pension using cheques instead of e-payment system; dubious enrolment of pensioners into the payroll, 49,395; spending N234 million on the already 90 percent completed biometric capturing with no files, data and documents from the pension department; spending N17 million on the biometric verification of less than 30 pensioners in Diaspora without recourse to the Nigerian Embassy/High Commission responsible for such.

The committee also noted that 5.01 million workers, in both public and private sectors, had so far been registered by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) under the new contributory pension scheme, with a total of N2.45 trillion pension assets as of last December.

It added that a total of N604.27 billion had been credited into the contributory pension accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria out of which N449.35 billion was remitted into the Retirement Savings Account of the federal employees with the various pension funds administrators.

Senate President David Mark said the report would be debated today.

Our correspondent reports that it took the committee about four months to conclude the investigation.

In a bid to put an end to the plight of pensioners in the country, the Senate late last year mandated the committee to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the perceived mismanagement of pension funds in the country. The committee began the process of the investigation in February with a visit to the headquarters of the various geo-political zones.

At the series of public hearings held in Abuja between February and May, the committee invited various stakeholders including former and serving chairmen of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Lamorde,  as well as former Heads of Civil Service of the Federation, Professor Adedapo Afolabi, Chief Steve Oronsanye and the incumbent, Alhaji Sani Bello Sali. The management of the Pension Reform Task Force, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, officials of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Auditor-General of the Federation also appeared at the hearings.

Daily Trust recalled that the investigation first attracted attention of the public in March with the discovery that over N26 billion meant for the payment of police retirees was traced to six commercial banks where it was domiciled. Perhaps, more shocking was the revelation that the Pension Reform Taskforce opened 70 bank accounts to allegedly siphon pension funds and transferred same to the various banks without the authorization of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

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8 filling stations face sanctions over adulterated products

Mobil Filling Station in Osisioma and Dan Dollars Filling Station on Ikot Ekpene road are among the eight filling stations in Aba to be penalised by the Abia State Ministry of Petroleum and Solid Minerals for allegedly selling adulterated diesel to the public.

Officials of the ministry, whose duty it is to ensure that sanity reigns in the sector, found the eight filling stations culpable.

Don Ubani, commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals, who confirmed this in a telephone interview with CityFile, revealed that adequate punishment would be meted out to the culprits to serve as deterrent to other marketers.

“They would be punished to stop others from engaging in illegal activities. We won’t allow such people to sabotage our efforts to ensure sanity in the system,” he affirmed.

Simple Nwankpa, chairman, Aba depot re-activation committee, affirmed that the Aba chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) frowns at such illegal activities, noting that the body at different forums had warned its members not to involve themselves in product adulteration.

He, however, attributed the development to the inactivity of the Aba depot, noting that such practices would be completely eliminated as soon as the depot resumes operation.

“The Aba depot is still under rehabilitation and so, our members source products from different places and sometimes buy adulterated products from wrong sources,” he noted.

The Aba depot was cut-off from supply of petroleum products by the PPMC in 2006, due to the activities of vandals.

Source:Businessdayonline

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Army arrests 14 tanker drivers

The 2 Brigade Command of Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, said on Tuesday that it arrested 14 truck drivers for operating "at odd hours".The command's spokesman, Capt. Sunny Samuel, said in Port Harcourt that the drivers were arrested at Iriebe, Port Harcourt, between 12.15 a.m. and 5 a.m.

He said attempts by men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to search and verify the genuineness of the products were resisted by the drivers.

Samuel said that other truck drivers in solidarity with their arrested colleagues parked and abandoned more than 50 trucks along the Port Harcourt -Aba expressway, causing heavy traffic.

``Most of the drivers are suspected to be carrying illegally refined diesel, they will need to present their documents for verification,'' Samuel said.

He called on truck drivers to respect standing orders and other laws of the land in the course of their duties.

The Port Harcourt-Abaroad was totally blocked by the trucks, thereby causing other road users to suffer.

Many workers and children who boarded public vehicles were forced to disembark and walk long distances to their destinations because of the blockage.

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University expels 6 students, rusticates 20 others

The Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, on Monday said that it expelled six students and rusticated 20 others for examination malpractice.

Prof. Segun Awonusi, the institution`s Vice-Chancellor, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun.

He said the disciplinary action was taken against the students after they were found guilty of the offence by the Senate of the university.

Awonusi said that the institution had zero tolerance for examination malpractice and cultism, adding that it would not compromise its stand on it.

He said, ``We have zero tolerance for examination malpractice and cultism. It is no go area.

Once you are caught, you are on your own because that is the way we can instil discipline in our students, who we believe, will take over from us tomorrow.

“We are not saying the vices can be wiped off over night but gradually we will get there.'' 

On the issue of cultism, the vice-chancellor said the institution had started building hostels to curtail the menace.

He said this was because research had shown that cultism thrives more in non-residential institutions.

The vice-chancellor said, ``Research has confirmed that cultism thrives more in non residential institution than in the residential ones.

``And that is why we started building hostels for students within the campus in order to return to the residential format, which we believe will in one way or the other minimise the act of cultism.''

Awonusi said that the institution had been saved the spectacle of students' unrest in the past few years, said that the university would not allow anything that would jeopardise the peace in the institution.

The vice-chancellor, however, urged the students to desist from all acts of social vices that were capable of jeopardising their future. 

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Four killed in Shalom Church,,,

A suicide bomber yesterday attacked Shalom Church International in Trikaniya, Chikun Local government Area of Kaduna state, killing four people and injuring many others.

A witness who is a member of the church said the victims included a soldier who stopped the bomber from entering the church.

According to the witness, the bomber came in a red jeep and drove towards the church trying to force his way into the main building.

“One of the security men of the church who was trying to stop the suicide bomber was hit before the bomb exploded. The suicide bomber could not enter the main building but he succeeded in entering the premises,” she said.

She added that shortly after the incident, soldiers came and started shooting to cordon off the area.

“I know that the incident took place at about 10am; about 10minutes after the pastor started preaching,” she added.

Daily Trust however gathered that part of the main building of the church was destroyed, while bomber and his jeep were shattered.

Our correspondent reports that the incident took place when majority of people were still in church and were not able to go back home owing to fear of the unknown.

The attack led to violent protests by youths in Trikaniya, and later spread to Kakuri, Sabon Tasha, Romi and Gonin Gora communities.

When our correspondent visited Maraban Rido, Kakuri, Sabon Tasha, Romi and Gonin Gora in the afternoon, security agents were seen dispersing youths who had mounted roadblocks. A combined team of the police and military succeeded in removing the roadblocks after few minutes.

The protesting youths had however burnt about 10 cars and motor bikes before the arrival of the security personnel. Most of the vehicles burnt belong to passers-by.

Angry youths of Goningora, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis, burnt the town’s mosque. Our correspondent who visited the Goningora mosque gathered that it was not burnt completely but the back side of the mosque was broken and brought down while items in shops near the mosque were brought out and burnt.

Angry youths were said to have burnt mosques, houses, shops and cars, among others belonging to Muslims in Maraban Rido after which soldiers allegedly killed two of the protesters.

As at the time of filing this report, a military van was escorting vehicles plying the Kaduna-Abuja expressway.

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Israel launches African migrant deportation drive

Israel is set to deport a planeload of migrants to South Sudan early on Monday, the first of a series of weekly repatriation flights intended as a stepping stone to dealing with much greater influxes of migrants from Sudan and Eritrea.

About 60,000 Africans have crossed into Israel across its porous border with Egypt in recent years. Israel says the vast majority are job seekers, disputing arguments by humanitarian agencies that they should be considered for asylum.

"It's a drop in a drop (in the ocean), but it's an important start," Interior Minister Eli Yishai said at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.

Many in Israel see the Africans as a threat to public order and to the demographics of the Jewish state.

Street protests, some violent, have put pressure on the government, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of Africans "flooding" and "swamping" Israel, threatening "the character of the country".

The government has seized on the few hundred South Sudanese migrants, whose de facto refugee status was rescinded by an Israeli court this month, and whose government, sympathetic to Israel, is happy to take them back. Attempts to return migrants to Eritrea or Sudan are unlikely to be met with similar cooperation.

South Sudan received clandestine Israeli help for decades before its secession from Sudan last year, and is counting on Israeli investment in its struggling agriculture and oil sectors.

HANDOUTS

Most of the migrants agreed to leave voluntarily in return for handouts of 1,000 euros (808 pounds) per adult and 300 per child.

But not all were pleased to be going. Justyna Wanis, being sent to South Sudan with her husband and three young children after five years in Israel, told Israel's Army Radio in Hebrew:

"I have no family. I have nobody there. But I am going ... I don't know where I'll go. I don't know what I'll do."

Some of the migrants have accused government right-wingers of racist incitement and inflammatory language.

Some Israelis too, are uncomfortable with the idea of rounding up members of a different racial group and holding them in camps, seeing a betrayal of Jewish values and even distant echoes of the Nazi Holocaust, all in a country built by immigrants and refugees.

Clement T. Dominic, the South Sudanese official overseeing the airlifts, said the migrants would receive "a good package that will allow these people to get reintegrated when they come back to South Sudan".

He said South Sudan would set up its embassy in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv, becoming the only country to recognise the Jewish state's claim on the undivided holy city as its capital.

William Tall, representing the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said Israel had assured his agency that South Sudanese who resisted repatriation would be given a hearing by humanitarian authorities.

Dominic said he expected only a small number of such applications, citing 10 South Sudanese who had taken up studies in Israel, and another six who had married locals.

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Breaking News: At least 24 dead, 125 wounded in Kaduna violence

Todaysgist(TG) has confirmed that at least 13 people lost their lives in the bomb attacks on three churches in Kaduna this morning.

In addition, about 11 others have been killed in reprisal attacks across the town.

According to Dr. Taylor Adeyemi, the acting Chief Medical Director of St. Luke's hospital in Wusasa, 40 victims, mostly children were brought into their hospital follwoing the blast at ECWA in Wusasa. Of this number, three were dead on arrival.

From the blast at the Christ the King Cathedral at No. 80 Yoruba street TG confirmed 10 dead and over 50 injured. TG is yet to get details of the casualties from the Trikania attack.

Three churches were attacked this morning by suicide bombers in Kaduna. One went off at the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) church, Wusasa and another at the Christ the King Cathedral Catholic church at No. 80, Yoruba Street, Sabon Gari, Zaria, just behind the Army Depot, Zaria where all Nigerian soldiers receive their basic training. The third church, Shalom Church at Trikania close to Abuja Fly over and extile Labour house, was hit by multiple explosions around 10:17am.

Also, about 35 victims of the reprisal attacks that followed the bombing have been taken to St. Gerard's Hospital within the metropolis according to the hospitals public relations officer. Seven of them were dead on arrival, burnt by their presumed assailants.

The explosions sparked violence in Kaduna as christian youths retaliated, moving around with cutlasses and sticks among other weapons. Sources say the youths  burnt a mosque at Television area and another at Goningora was broken into and vandalised in retaliation for the attacks on the three churches. 

Men of Operation Yaki are said to have taken charge of the situation, especially around Goningora which is along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway and where Christian youths were beginning to get violent. An eyewitness told TG he saw four dead bodies near the Goningora mosque. Other trouble spots so far identified are Sabo, Trikania, Television area, Tudun Wada and Unguwan Rimi.

Road blocks have been set up at strategic areas and traffic along the expressway has been halted. Other areas of Kaduna metropolis are experiencing an uneasy calm.

The Abuja-Kaduna expressway links many states in the North to Abuja.

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Starcomms reduces on-net call rate tariffs for two weeks

Subscribers to Nigeria’s leading Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, Starcomms Plc, can now enjoy unlimited calls for as low as N5 for every on-net calls as against the existing rate of N9 per minute. 

According to the Starcomms Chief Executive Officer, Logan Pather, the offer will run for two weeks, starting from June 13th and it is applicable to all tariffs and customer base excluding Awuff plus and members ofs staff of the company.

He added that the move will encourage huge increase in on-net traffic, voice subscriber base (increase in voice market share) and voice churn reduction.

He said Starcomms has more than enough network capacity to accommodate increase in voice usage (traffic), hence, the urgent need to increase the network utilization, adding that to this end, the on-net tariff rate has been reduced to N5 per minute.

He noted that customers on per second tariff would, during the promo, be charged on per minute for on-net calls, adding that, there will be no fees charged for activation of de-activated subscribers within the promo period.

“The tariff would roll back to normal tariff as soon as the on-net promo has ended. No other tariff changes would be implemented during the period of the promo,” he said.

Pather also explained that the offer allows for increase in subscriber base through activations generated from the subscribers’ interest in on-net promo, increase in recharge card usage as well as increase in customer engagement and retention of prepaid voice customers.

He however stressed that the company reserves the right to truncate the promotion without prior notice, adding that it has the right to alter the rate as deemed necessary.

Starcomms is a leader in Nigerian economy in the provision of mobile data services and has received consistent recognition and accolades for services in this space since 2007.

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Man, 55, arraigned for parading himself as traditional ruler

 Ganiyu Ajiboye, a 55-year-old man has been arraigned before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrate’s Court, Ibadan for allegedly parading himself as a traditional chief ( Alago of Ago Oja) in Oyo town. 

This was contrary to an earlier order of a court, which had restrained him from doing so.

The charge alleged that Ajiboye committed the offence and through it attempted to cause a breach of the peace in the ancient town.Upon the prosecutor reading the charge to his hearing, Ajiboye pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

Sikiru Ibrahim, the prosecutor, in the charge marked MY/88c/2012, heard by Bose Omotoso of Iyaganku Chief Magistrate Court 10, said Ajiboye on June 7, 2012 allegedly paraded himself as the “Alago of Ago Oja” thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 484 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000”.

The accused on the same day and at the same time “did conduct yourself in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace by parading yourself as “Alago of Ago Oja” when there is court order restraining you from parading yourself as such, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249 (d)’ of the same law of Oyo state,” the prosecutor told the court.

For allegedly disobeying the restraining court order, the charge noted that Ajiboye committed another offence under Section 133 (9) of the same law.

Having pleaded not guilty to the alleged offences, and granted bail, the magistrate ordered that one of the two sureties must be a civil servant not below grade level 07 while the case was adjourned till July 7 for mention.

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Corruption in National Assembly shames Nigeria - PPA

 The Progressive People's Alliance (PPA) on Thursday expressed disappointment over the spate of allegations of bribery rocking the National Assembly.The National Chairman, Sam Nkire, who made the condemnation in an interview in Abuja, described the allegations "as not only shameful but also a terrible commentary on the nation's legislative institution".

According to him, it is quite disgraceful that the leadership of both legislative houses have never sanctioned members implicated in any of these allegations.

He called on the leadership of the National Assembly to redeem its image by suspending all those members who had cases to answer.

The chairman said this had become imperative in order not to leave the public with the impression that it condoned corruption.

`` The NASS should realise that the public is anxious to know what steps it will take in respect of its members implicated in the power, SEC and fuel subsidy probes," he said.

He urged the Federal Government to make sure that those involved in looting the country did not go unpunished.

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Tokyo named world's most expensive city,Lagos moves up to,,

Tokyo has regained the dubious honour of being the world's most expensive city, where a cup of coffee will set you back £5.25, a newspaper £4 and a litre of milk £2.Tokyo has overtaken Luanda, Angola, as the world's most expensive city for overseas staff after the cost of imported goods rose in the wake of last year's earthquake.

Lagos moves up to number 39th,after last year's 41st position.Click to check rankings.

An annual cost of living report, released Tuesday by U.S. consulting firm Mercer, showed several Japanese cities had moved up in the rankings after the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar. Two other Japanese cities rank in the top ten: Osaka comes in third with Nagoya in 10th place. Elsewhere, Luanda drops to second, Moscow is forth, with Geneva in fifth place. Researchers looked at 214 cities around the world, analyzing data from March 2011 to March 2012. 

"We compare the cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment," senior researcher Nathalie Constantin-Métral said in a video on the company's website. The survey uses New York City, which dropped one spot to 33rd on the list, as their base city when evaluating foreign cities. 

As a result of the on-going European financial crisis, many cities across Europe fell in the rankings. London dropped seven spots to 25th this year, while Paris moved down 10 spots to No. 37. "Countries badly hit by the Eurozone crisis, including Greece, Italy and Spain, have also experienced drops in rental accommodation prices," Constantin-Métral said in the report. 

In Italy, Milan dropped 13 spots, while Rome fell eight spots to No. 42. By contrast, cities in Asia and the Americas moved up as their currencies strengthened. The cost of housing remained the strongest indicator for the cost of living in all cities.

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Record Breaker: Bola Adebisi Caught In US Airport With Swallowed 180 Pellets Of Heroin!!!

The dream to acquire a Mercedes Benz, own a house in Lekki/Ajah and become one of the party attendants within and outside the country has been dashed as a Nigerian woman, Bola Adebisi, set an unenviable world record for amount of ingested heroin ever recovered when she tried to smuggle five pounds of heroin in 180 pellets into the U.S. The previous record was four pounds of heroin ingested in 100 pellets.

Airport authorities at the Dulles International Airport, say that 52-year-old Bola Adebisi ingested an incredible 180 thumb-sized pellets filled with heroin.

Airport officers became suspicious when she was questioned after arriving on Ethiopian Airlines flight 500 from Adis Ababa.

Adebisi claimed she was visiting her brother in the U.S., but she was unable give details of her "brother" and his address. A routine pat-down showed that her belly was suspiciously rigid, and an X-ray revealed to astonished officials that she had in her stomach 180 thumb-sized pellets with a total weight of five pounds.

Steve Sapp of the Customs and Border Protection, said: “We were kind of shocked and surprised at the sheer number of pellets she ingested.

We usually see men twice her size ingest about half of what she did.”

According to International Business Times, Adebisi broke a previous record for ingested drugs set on March 30, 2011, by another Nigerian man, 46-year-old Yomade Aborishade of Lagos, Nigeria, who was arrested for ingesting four pounds of heroin in 100 pellets.

The lady was taken to the hospital where overnight, she passed out all the pellets containing heroin worth an estimated 150,000 pounds.

Christopher Hess, director of Customs and Border Patrol for Washington D.C. said: "The amount of pellets and heroin this woman ingested is incredible, a serious health risk, and very troubling if these numbers become the new normal."

Authorities say drug mules often attempt to smuggle heroin and cocaine, and sometimes ecstasy by swallowing latex balloons, often condoms or fingers of latex gloves or other special pellets filled with the drugs and later recovered from faeces. It is a medically dangerous way of smuggling small amounts of drugs and a mule can die if a packet bursts or leaks before exiting the body. Statistics from 2003 show over 50% of foreign females in UK jails were drug mules from Jamaica, with Nigerian women making a large contribution to the balance.

Adebisi, according to MSNBC, will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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Jamaica drug kingpin 'Dudus' Coke jailed for 23 years

Notorious Jamaican drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke has been sentenced to 23 years in a US prison, the maximum sentenced he faced.

Coke, 43, pleaded guilty to drug and gun-trafficking charges in August 2011.

A five-week operation to capture him in 2010 saw clashes in Jamaica's capital, Kingston, in which scores died.

His Kingston-based criminal organisation trafficked marijuana, cocaine and firearms and enjoyed protection from Jamaica's ruling party.

When Coke was first indicted in the US in 2009, Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding initially fought his extradition, arguing that it was based on flawed evidence.

Mr Golding's parliamentary constituency is in West Kingston's Tivoli Gardens, the district Coke's Shower Posse and the Presidential Click had controlled.

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“

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I am a good person”

Christopher Coke

• Jamaica divided on role of 'Dudus' Coke

But after months of delays and amid growing local and international criticism, Mr Golding agreed to extradite Coke and signed an arrest warrant.

Coke was handed 20 years on the trafficking charge and three for conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon.

Coke had written a letter to the judge ask for leniency, describing good deeds he said he did for slum-dwellers in Tivoli Gardens.

In court on Friday, he sat stoically in grey prison clothes, and briefly told Judge Robert Patterson: "I am a good person".

Prosecutors argued Coke terrorised and destroyed anyone who interfered with his drug operation, and several women abused by his gang in Jamaica begged the judge for a harsh punishment.

But many of his supporters in impoverished parts of Kingston describe him as a benefactor.

Earlier this week, prosecutors had said Coke was so powerful that he enjoyed "virtual immunity from the reach of law enforcement."

Coke's lawyer, Stephen Rosen, said he believed Coke would be released in his 60s and allowed to return to his home country.

He said his client will not appeal against the sentence.

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Alleged N4.5bn fraud: Court grants Sylva bail

An Abuja Federal High Court has granted bail to former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, who was on Tuesday remanded in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over money laundering offenses amounting to N4.5 billion.

Justice Adamu Bello granted him bail in the sum of N100 million with one surety in like sum.

The surety must be a responsible citizen resident in Abuja and must own landed property within Abuja worth the bail sum, the title deeds of which should be deposited with the Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) of the court.

Sylva will also deposit his travel documents, including his international passport and diplomatic passport (if any) to the DCR and will not travel without seeking permission from the court.

The former governor, who is alleged to have defrauded his state of billions of naira, pleaded not guilty to 6 counts of money laundering offenses proffered against him by EFCC.

He is alleged to have conspired with others who are now at large, to convert resources and properties belonging to Bayelsa State worth N2 billion between 2009 and 2010.

He is similarly alleged to have conspired with others who are now at large, to obtain a N2 billion loan from Union Bank for Bayelsa State government, under the pretence of using the money to augment salaries between 2009 and 2010.

He is equally alleged to have conspired with others who are now at large, to convert the sums of N380 million, N50 million and N20 million belonging to Bayelsa State government, through the FinBank account of one Habibu Sani Maigida, a Bureau De Change operator, a First Bank account of Enson Benmer Limited and a UBA account belonging to one John Daukoru.

The case has been adjourned till September 19 for tentative hearing.

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