Pope Describes Palestinian President Abbas ‘Angel Of Peace,’ Israel Angry

May 16, 2015

Pope Francis has described the Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas as “an angel of peace,” even as the Holy See has announced that it is preparing to sign its first treaty with Palestine, two years after officially recognising it as a state.

These developments are coming today; days after the Vatican said it was preparing to sign its first accord with Palestine, the pronouncement that angered Israel.

Pope Francis had met Mahmud Abbas today for about 20 minutes for a private audience, a meeting that comes a day before the pope is due to canonize two Palestinian nuns, who will become the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

A bilateral commission is putting the final touches to the agreement, on the Catholic Church’s life and activities in Palestine, which then “will be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a debate in the near future for the signing,” the Vatican said.

Some observers speculated that the agreement could be signed during Abbas’s visit.

The news of the treaty immediately drew the anger of Israel with its foreign ministry official saying: “Israel heard with disappointment the decision of the Holy See to agree a final formulation of an agreement with the Palestinians including the use of the term ‘Palestinian State.

“Such a development does not further the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct bilateral negotiations. Israel will study the agreement and consider its next step.”

The agreement, 15 years in the making, expresses the Vatican’s “hope for a solution to the Palestinian question and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians according to the Two-State Solution,” Antoine Camilleri, the Holy See’s deputy foreign minister, said in an interview earlier this week.

In an interview with the Vatican’s Osservatore Romano newspaper, Camilleri said he hoped “the accord could, even in an indirect way, help the Palestinians in the establishment and recognition of an independent, sovereign and democratic State of Palestine.”

The Palestinian Authority considers the Vatican one of 136 countries to have recognised Palestine as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

Abbas’s visit came a day before two nuns who lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 19th century will be made saints at a Vatican ceremony.

Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem and Mariam Bawardy of Galilee will become the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

Ghattas was born in Jerusalem in 1847, and died there in 1927. She was beatified — the final step before canonisation — in 2009.

Bawardy was born in Galilee, now in northern Israel, in 1843. She became a nun in France and died in Bethlehem in 1878.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Although there are several saints who lived in the region during Christianity’s early days, Bawardy and Ghattas are the first to be canonised from Ottoman-era Palestine.

The canonisation of a third Palestinian — a Salesian monk — is still under review by the Church. [myad]

Omotola Takes Trekkers To The Cleaner, Says They Are Silly Youths Trekking Their Future Away

Greenbarge Reporters

May 16, 2015

Renowned Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has taken young Nigerians who have embarked on trekking to honour politicians in the country in the wake of the 2015 general elections, saying that they are ‘silly youths trekking their future away.’

Omotola, in a post on her Twitter page, expressed displeasure with the actions of the youths who she said should rather have been trekking to bring awareness to their suffering instead of doing so to honour politicians.

“Silly youths trekking their futures away: you don’t trek to bring awareness to your suffering plights but trek to celebrate politicians? Smh!”

In 2014, she was honoured by the government as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) for her contributions to Nigerian cinema

Since the end of the 2015 elections, more than seven Nigerians have trekked for either President Goodluck Jonathan or President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari. [myad]

Ogun, Lagos States Give Demolition Notices To 60,000 Houses, And Communities Cry Out

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Ogun and Lagos State governments have given a seven-day demolition ultimatum to landlords and occupants of the 60,000 houses, including mosques, churches and public schools within the Water Pipeline area in Akute, Baale Akin-Osin and Oke-Aro communities in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, even as elders and community leaders have sent a Save-Our-Souls appeal to the governors of the two states.

Among the affected buildings is the one housing the headquarters of News Express online newspaper.

Information reaching us showed that shock from the sudden notice by the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Board has already claimed the lives of two landlords while several others have taken ill.

The plight of the citizens, some of who have been residing in the area for over two decades, was the subject of a press conference held yesterday in Akute. It was addressed by leaders of the joint Community Development Councils (CDCs), who identified themselves as dual citizens of Lagos and Ogun states, controlled by the same All Progressives Congress (APC), which they claimed to have overwhelmingly voted for in the last general elections.

The community leaders and elders said that they are not against the Adiyan Water Project by the Lagos and Ogun State governments which is designed to benefit the public.

But, the grand patron of the CDCs, Alhaji Ganiyu Busari said that the communities want the Ogun State government agency to re-consider the measure of the specified area to be demolished instead of the expansive 50-metre “set-back” which could conveniently be reduced to 20 metres “set-back,” so that less houses would be affected.

“We wish to intimate the government that most of the affected house owners are aged and retirees who have no steady means of livelihood. Pulling down their homes will further aggravate their predicament. We also wish to call the attention of the government to the fact that any meaningful project should be people-driven.”

They said that accepting the 20 metres set-back would ensures effective synergy of the government water project as houses marked for demolition do not by any means constitute obstruction to the project.

The Community elders noted that most of the 50-metre expanse shall be reserved for machinery and equipment during construction work which, thereafter, may be abandoned, making it a hideout for hoodlums and social miscreants who constitute a burden for the law enforcement agents and threat to peace in the communities. [myad]

Enugu Court Threatens To Send Inspector-General Of Police To Prison For Contempt

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has threatened to commit the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to prison for allegedly flouting the court’s order in the enforcement of fundamental rights matter brought before the court by Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly. This is as the crisis in Enugu State House of Assembly which has pitched 15 lawmakers against Governor Sullivan Chime rages on.

The threat was contained in a Notice of Consequence of Disobedience of Court Order (Form 48), signed by the Registrar Federal High Court Enugu and addressed to the Inspector General of Police, Force Headquarters Abuja.

A copy of the Form 48 obtained by reporters reads: “Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this Court order, you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

The Court, presided over by Justice D.V. Agishi had on Monday, granted an ex-parte motion brought by Hon. Odo in suit number: FHC/EN/CS/99/2015, which has eight members of the House of Assembly, the Commissioner of Police and the IGP as 1st to 10 respondents respectively.
The motion included an interim injunction restraining the 9th and 10th respondents (Commissioner of Police and the IGP), whether acting by themselves or through their officers from inhibiting, curtailing or in any way imperiling the applicant’s right to personal liberty as enshrined in Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pending the determination of the substantive motion.
The Court further restrained the 9th and 10threspondents from preventing the applicant from accessing the precint of the State House of Assembly, especially his chamber with 15 other members of the House, except the 1stand 8th respondents to carry on their lawful duties including the constitutional functions vested on them by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, pending the determination of the substantive motion.
The Court also granted an order compelling the 9th and 10th respondents to withdraw all police officers deployed to the Enugu State House of Assembly, except the applicant (Odo) otherwise requests for their presence pending the determination of the substantive motion.
Notwithstanding the Court order, restraining the Police from curtailing the liberty of the Speaker, the State Police Command on Thursday invited him over the impeachment notice issued to Governor Sullivan Chime by 14 members of the House.

It was gathered that the invitation may not be unconnected with some of the allegations raised against the governor by the lawmakers in their impeachment notice.

Odo who confirmed the development to journalists said that the police extended an invitation to him and former National Auditor of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ray Nnaji and some members of the House.
Odo recalled that he had procured a court order directing police to restrain themselves from curtailing the liberty of his humble self and 14 other members of the House of Assembly.
“This order was served on Wednesday and Commissioner of Police has received same. I wish to formally bring to your notice that up till this morning, the Commissioner of Police has not obeyed the order.
“Instead, in the evening of yesterday, the Commissioner of Police through his office on account of a petition that was written by His Excellency, the Governor, invited me to appear at the State Police. [myad]

Federation Account Committee Accuses NNPC Of Foot-Dragging In Remitting $1.48 Billion Into Its Account

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of failing to remit $1.48bn (over N200 Million) into the federation account as directed by PriceWaterHouse Coopers in its audit of the corporation’s accounts.

Chairman of the Forum of Finance Commissioners of FAAC, Timothy Odaah,who spoke on the matter during an interview with journalists after this month’s allocation committee meeting today, insisted that no amount had been transferred to the account.

“The most important thing is for the public to know that we campaign and demanded it because it is money meant for both the states and Federal Government as well as local government.

“Entirely, it is the nation and Mr. President that have directed that the money be paid to the federation, account, including the minister of petroleum, but it is important to know we have not seen anything.”

PwC was last year hired to carry out the exercise following an allegation by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $20bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had written a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan that $49bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

But following the controversy which the letter generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the account. Sanusi later said the unremitted fund was $12bn. He later again changed the figure to $20bn.

PwC, in the report, had stated that while the total gross revenue, generated from crude oil lifting, was $69.34bn between January 2012 and July 2013 and not $67bn as earlier stated by the Senate Reconciliation Committee, what was remitted to the federation account was $50.81bn and not $47bn.

Within the $69.34bn, the audit report revealed that $28.22bn was the value of domestic crude oil allocated to NNPC, adding that total the amount spent on subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit amounted to $5.32bn.

FAAC had, at its last meeting, constituted a committee to find out the reasons for the delay in making the funds available to the three tiers of government.

Barely had the committee swung into action than the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, said that the NNPC had begun refunding the $1.48bn into the Federation Account as recommended by the audit firm.

“The PriceWaterHouse Coopers forensic audit that was done a few weeks ago, in its recommendation, mentioned that $1.48bn was owed by NPDC for a block that had hitherto been assigned from the NNPC to NPDC, which is its subsidiary.

“They felt that the right process would be that NPDC will refund that money to the Federation Account. NPDC has apparently started those refunds and it is also in discussion with NNPC and DPR on same. So the refund has actually begun,” she had said

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda, today, said that N388 billion was shared among the federal, states and local governments as statutory allocation for the month of April, 2015.

Yuguda announced this in Abuja when he addressed newsmen on the outcome of this month’s FAAC meeting.

“The total revenue distributable for the month of April, including VAT of N75.1bn, is N388bn.”

Giving the breakdown of revenue among the three tiers of government, Yuguda said the Federal Government received N132.1bn, representing 52.68 per cent; while the 36 states got N67bn, representing 26.72 per cent.

The local governments, he said, received N51.6bn, amounting to 20.60 per cent of the amount distributed.

He announced that N23.1bn, representing 13 per cent derivation was shared among the oil producing states. [myad]

‘Lagos Politician’ Gives AK-47 Guns To People To Kill Me, OPC Leader, Adams Alleges

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Leader of the O’dua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, has alleged that a top Lagos politician whose name he did not give, has distributed modern arms including AK-47 guns to kill him.

According to Adams, his close associates are also been targeted for elimination after the May 29 handover date from President Goodluck Jonathan to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.

A statement signed by his Director of Media and Publicity, Barrister Yinka Oguntimeyin, said that Adams was worried that after a failed attempt to remove him as the leader of OPC by some expelled members of the Congress, the un-named politician has mobilised a group to create a chaos that would implicate him.

He said the group, which has been allegedly funded heavily planned to use the media to publish negative stories against Adams, adding: “tt is sad that despite the efforts of Otunba Adams to promote the culture and tradition of his race, and upgrade the status of the Odua Peoples Congress to a socially responsible one, and the formation of Odua Progressive Union (OPU) which is presently active in 57 countries, a platform for Yorubas in diaspora to interact and channel their energy towards the propagation of the culture and tradition of the Yoruba race and in turn build a clear cut tourism platform and image perception for Nigeria,” this dangerous plan is being put together by the politician. [myad]

Burundi Coupists Arrested, Others On The Run, As US Warns Nkrunziza Against Seeking Third Term

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

There are indications that top military personnel who launched the coup in the central African nation earlier in the week have been arrested and others have been forced on the run by loyalist troops even as the United States issued Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza a stern warning against running for a third term.

General Godefroid Niyombare, who led the coup was reported to have offered to give himself up.

The dramatic end to the coup attempt ended 48 hours of uncertainty over who controlled the small, landlocked and impoverished nation, which has been gripped by a political crisis over Nkurunziza’s controversial bid to run again for the presidency.

But the US said that such move for third term would exacerbate the country’s instability and threaten international aid, adding there was potential for further violence after Nkurunziza returned to the country.

According to Jeff Rathke, a State Department spokesman: “The US position is that President Nkurunziza should not stand for a third term.”

The president’s decision to run “has and will continue to exacerbate instability in the country,” Rathke warned, only a day after he had stressed that Washington still regarded Nkurunziza as the legitimate president.

“This threatens the viability of the Burundian government, and it increases the risk of violence and instability that can threaten donor support.”

Rathke renewed calls on all sides to exercise restraint, after the State Department late Thursday ordered the families of all US government staff to leave the country.

Amid continuing uncertainty, the US embassy was closed today even as Rathke warned anyone thinking of any revenge attacks that “the world is watching and that they should be held accountable.”

Washington could slap visa bans on anyone seen as responsible for such violence. [myad]

Dangote Cement Smiles To Bank With N74.7 Billion Profit In 2015 First Quarter

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Nigeria’s largest cement producer, Dangote Cement has announced a gross profit of N74.7 billion for the three months ended 31st March 2015, indicating an increase of 10.5 percent over N67.63 billion recorded in the same period in 2014.

According to the cement giant’s unaudited results for first quarter of 2015, revenues rose by 10.8 to ₦114.7billion compared to N103.57 billion in the corresponding in 2014. The improvement in the first results was buoyed by with maiden contributions from non-Nigerian factories

Net profit was up 44.1 percent to ₦68.6 billion in contrast to N47.62 billion in 2014 while earnings per share grew by 45.7 percent to ₦4.09.

Group cement sales volumes was up by 3.4 percent to 3.8 million tonnes driven by contributions from South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon and new lines in Nigeria. The margins from Nigeria increased by new pricing, improved gas supply and more use of coal. Dangote Cement Plants are now operational in Zambia and Ethiopia. The new plants are expected to impact positively on the financials of the cement giants.

Speaking on the first quarter results, Chief Executive officer, Dangote Cement, Mr. Onne van der Weijde, said: “Our African projects are now beginning to deliver revenue growth for the Group and even at this early stage we are seeing good potential in all the countries into which we are expanding.

Senegal has made an excellent start, Cameroon is poised for a strong entry into an exciting growth market and Sephaku Cement is clearly shaking up the South African market as the first new entrant in many years.”

“Although sales fell in Nigeria, we improved both revenues and margins thanks to pricing actions in December following the collapse of the oil price and currency devaluation. We are making a significant investment to improve our logistical capabilities and I am pleased to report a much more favorable fuel supply in the first quarter of 2015.”

“We have invested for growth in Africa and each new factory that opens will generate good returns for shareholders as we deliver on our promise to become Africa’s leading cement company.”

Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with three plants in Nigeria and recently opened factories in South Africa, Senegal and Cameroon. It is a fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer with production capacity of 29 million tonnes in Nigeria at the end of 2014.

The Cement Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.25 million tonnes capacity across four lines. The Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12 million tonnes. The Gboko plant in Benue state has 4 million tonnes capacity.

It would be recalled that Dangote Cement’s plants in Senegal and Cameroon were inaugurated in January when they began production and the company’s premium 42.5 grade was launched into the markets in the two countries.

The Ethiopia and Zambia plants have also began production as the company inches close to its determination to clock 40 million mtpa before the end of 2015. [myad]

In Social Media, Everyone Is A Journalist, By Ruth Choji, Tony Egbulefu

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

Social media platforms have changed the face of journalism as almost everyone with an active Internet computer or smart phone charges into news reporting on the World Wide Web.

It is undeniable that the social media has helped shrink the world further into a global village. The relative selling point of social media comes with the instant interactiveness it offers account holders on its different platforms. Remarkable also is that the social media has carved a niche for itself as news and information dissemination vehicles, which it discharges in an instant, to a mass of global audience in real time. While all these have impacted the face of present day journalism and reportage, it has equally posed a huge challenge to traditional media platforms, given that the social community shares in a flash, news stories, information, images and videos which the traditional media offer with a great deal of time lag. Timeliness is of essence in news reporting, and the one-up in this regard is not for the old media.

Today, there is a litany of social media platforms, that include, Facebook, Whatsapp, 2go, Wechat, Badoo, Twitter, Instagram, Twoo, Myspace, Linkedin, Friendster, Classmates, Meetup, Mylife, Flexster, Blackplanet, Netlog, Xing and a myriad of strictly dating sites. More than half of the world’s total population is hooked on these media networks for just about anything. Dating sites such as ‘Match’ boasts of 35 million subscribers, ‘Plentyoffish’ 23 million, ‘Zoosk’ 11.5 million, ‘Okcupied’ 11.1 million, ‘Eharmony’ 7.1 million, ‘Christianmingle’ 5.5 million, while monthly active users of Facebook is officially put at 1.23 billion people. Apart from the dating sites, all other social media platforms play a role in reshaping the face of journalism.

Speaking on the impact of the social media on present day reportage, a former reporter, now a media consultant, Julie Chollom, said: “I see the advent of the social media as an advantage to the news world. In my days, reporting was difficult because you have to be on the spot to report some stories, but now with a click, you can get all the information you need. So, I believe it is good”. As an interactive platforms, the social media she says, “Gives the reader easy accessibility and an opportunity to make their contributions. It also has a way of integrating us. But it has its own disadvantage which young people might not see or agree with”, she disclosed.

Unlike how it has been with the age-long reading of newspapers, watching television or listening to radio, many people have come to an untimely death or suffered different types of harm or losses following their interactions with other social media users.

“If you look at a site like Facebook and the rest, it gives you room to find and connect with anyone and this has exposed families to dangers. Some have even lost their lives to these connections. It has also affected bondings that existed in families because children no longer stay closer to their parents, they will rather be chatting up with friends through the medium”, Chollom said.

Social media journalism has also leveraged licentiousness. While it crawls with nudity and porn, predators such as pedophiles and other anti-social elements inundate the platforms with information that make vulnerable young people fall prey to their antics and devices. “Another thing I notice with the social media is that, most people don’t have privacy anymore”, she observed.

Mercy Nimzim, a reporter with a broadcast states that, “The social media helps me a lot to know what is happening and where it is taking place. I also get foreign news through it. Today, we now know personal details on our stars and prominent people in the society. I love it because it has made my job easier”.

Lucy Daniel, a practising journalist said, “Whether we like it or not, the social media has changed the way we report and it has also helped to enlighten people on their society. I know that it will get to a stage where people will stop buying newspapers or even listen to news broadcasts because they will have all they need at their fingertips. I am just afraid that it will make some of us lose our jobs”, she feared.

Haruna Abdullahi, who works for an online publication said, “I love the social media because it keeps me abreast of what is happening all over the world. But as with all things of life, it has its own negative side and I also believe it can never take the place of the real old fashion hard news coverage and reportage. The social media connect us to our long lost friends. It gives us easy and quick access to information and allows us to chat with friends and families. The social media can also manipulate people. It can be used to incite or create havoc by evil minded people. It easily manipulates people into thinking in a certain way on a given matter. A good example is the way Islamic culture is being perceived by people because of the social media. Islam is now being regarded as a religion that breeds terrorism because of the negative influence of the social media”, he said.

Indeed, no rule applies on the social media journalism by members of the online community. No one bothers with balance or fairness. It is where fictions are elevated as facts, without scruples. Everything just goes.

“The social media does not balance its reports unlike the old fashion newspaper and TV that will get both sides of the report before dishing it out. I agree that It has now made us to see the real world as it is, and make some of us more knowledgeable but it is becoming a big time consumer, making young people lazy. It has also led to breakdown in families and marriages. The social media is being used to report sensationalism that appeals to emotions, instead of reporting facts”, Abdullahi said.

This is the new trend that online journalism or what is now popularly known as the socia media has brought on the pen profession. Analysts are of the views that regulation needs to be enforced on its usage.

I love the social media because you can also react to news and event unlike the stagnant news you get from TV and newspaper.” (Culled from Leadership.ng). [myad]

We Won’t Be Friends If You Are Corrupt, Anti-Graft Agencies Warn Incoming Lawmakers

Greenbarge Reporters

May 15, 2015

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic And Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) have made it clear to the incoming lawmakers that they can only be friends if they refrain from corruption in their legislative business.

The anti-graft bodies asked the lawmakers to beware of areas such as contract award and soliciting appointments into public offices for their constituency members.

Chairmen of the ICPC and the EFCC, Ekpo Nta and Ibrahim Lamorde respectively, spoke to the lawmakers at the induction certificate course organized for newly elected lawmakers from the Houses of Assembly, in Abuja.

Nta said that lobbying and recommendations from legislators on contract awards and public office appointments constitute abuse of public office for private gain, adding that they should leave award of contracts and appointments for the executive as it was their statutory duties to which there are laws guiding the conduct.

Nta made it clear that he was not at the retreat to threatening them, but to intimate the incoming lawmakers on some areas they need to be careful with while performing their duties, considering the many requests and much pressure that will come from members of their constituencies.

“What I’m saying is that I’m giving you an advice now. If you take that advise, we will remain friends, but if you don’t take that advise and do things which under the law are not correct, we will now have to invite you to come and address us on petitions we have received in respect of an infraction.

“As members of the National Assembly, you will be under very severe pressure to undermine all the provisions of the laudable laws you have passed or will pass.

“Your constituencies will remind you constantly that you are here through their votes and that in return, you must fund all their future marriages, naming ceremonies, burials, provision of scholarships, potable water and electricity, jobs in selected government offices either as your PA or full time employment.

“All the roads leading to your communities must be tarred, and if already tarred provided with street lights, sponsor medical treatments abroad or locally. How do you intend to fund all these activities? The answer is yours to provide. How you can avoid all these? Hold all the agencies that should provide social services strictly accountable by demanding accountability and openness”, he urged.

Nta did not mix words on the position of ICPC, if any one of them is suspected of any corruption offence, he said; “it is the position of the law that the lawmakers themselves made and made certain Acts punishable under the law and we are not the one who will punish.

“We simply present the facts to the court that this is what has happened in this instance, and the court will decide whether we were right or they were right in doing it.

On his part, Lamorde said the EFCC might not wait for petition to take step against any public official including the lawmaker if it noticed that they were living above their means.

Represented by Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Osita Nwajah at the event, he said that the commission is empowered to do so by virtue of section 7 of the establishment Act.

According to him, it will be easy for the EFCC to move into such a situation without petitions since the income of legislators is no secret. [myad]

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