Changes In Bayelsa Failure.

                                                                                                                                                                                     Bayelsa   State- (slogan: the glory of all lands)

Location of Bayelsa State in Nigeria.

Country:      Nigeria.

Created:      1^stOctober 1996.

Capital:        Yenagoa.

                                     Government.

Governor:  Henry Dickson (PDP)

                                               Area:

Total:      21,110km 2(8,150 sq mi).

Area Ranked:  27^th.

Population: (2005 estimate)

Total:  1,998,349.

Density:  95/km2 (250/sq mi)

                                        Ranked 35^th.

ISO 3166 code (NG-BY)

(2007 estimates).

Total: $4.34 billion.

Per capital: $2,484

Brief:

Bayelsa state is a state in southern Nigeria in the core Niger Delta region, between Delta state and Rivers state as well. Its capital is Yenagoa.

The four main languages spoken by the people are Izon, Nembe, Epie-Atissan and Ogbia. Like the rest of Nigeria, English is the official language. The state was formed in 1996 from part of rivers and is thus one of the newest states of the Nigeria federation.

THE ECONOMY OF THE STATE.

              Bayelsa state has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in Nigeria. As a result; petroleum production is extensive in the state. However, the majority of Bayelsans live in poverty. They are mainly rural dwellers due to its peculiar terrain and lack of adequate transportation, health, education or other infrastructure as a result of decades by the central governments, state governments and petroleum prospecting companies (past).this has been a large problem in the state since its creation and successive governments have not been able to address and repair the issue due to their self desire for wealth. The state as a result, has an almost non-existent commerce.

Successive state governments have, however embarked on various industrial projects(even venturing into the oil and gas sector),and ‘’poverty-alleviation’’ programs to reverse this situation but they ends up squandering the revenue allocated for these projects into themselves, however citizens (non politicians) argue that there is absolutely nothing to show for the huge sum of money spent for the development by the so-called successive and present state government, but (politicians) don’t see it that way.

The local populations engage in fishing on a subsistence and commercial level. Bayelsa state government is otherwise the main employer of labor in the state.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE STATE:

Bayelsa has a river rein and estuarine settings. A lot of her communities are almost (and in some cases) not completely surrounded by water but the government finds it difficult to build good roads linking to those villages and as a result they travel by means of water. The state is the home to the Edumanom forest Reserve, in June 2008 the last known sites for Chimpanzees in the Niger Delta.

Other important cities besides Yenagoa includes;Akassa,Amassoma(the home of the Niger Delta University),Twon-Brass,Kaiama,Nembe,Odi(destroy under president Obasanjo rule),Ogbia,Okpoama-Brass,Oporama,Otuan,sagbama and Olugbobiri.

NOTABLE NATIVES

Notable sons of Bayelsa state includes Veterans, Novelist and poet Gabriel Okara; pioneering Nigeria journalist and pre independent freedom fighter Ernest  Ikoli; Nigeria civil war hero Major Isaac Adaka Boro(Nigerian Army) and Canadian Olympic gold medalist and world wrestling champion Daniel Igali,and former national  team footballers Finidi George and Samson Siasia,Olympic/under-20s coach.

                     VOTED GOVERNORS OF BAYELSA.

Phillip Ajaye,Habu duara,Omoniyi Caleb Olub0lade,Paul Obi,Diepreye Alamiesagha,Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(president of Nigeria),Timi-pre Sylva(convicted),Werinipre Seibarugo,Nestor Binado,Henry Dickson(present governor).

There are billions of naira moving into the state but there is absolute nothing to show for it as a sign of development, with all this revenue moving in, the Education sector of the state is still very poor, where government schools are out of date, tell me a child that will like to go to school where there are no chairs and also no enough teachers around, lack of disciplined student resulting to maximum number of them ending as cultist, only one laboratory is found in the whole state and its out of date, no laboratory for science student to carry out practical’s(state capital)not to talk of what other student in the local village are experiencing therefore rich parent are sending their children to private school with conducive environment to study. Take a few  seconds to ask yourself this question ‘’why are they sending their children to school outside this country, why not allow them school and probably feel the same way others are feeling if they think they are doing good thing by keeping the money to themselves and allow the poor to suffer? They are killing the dreams of our young poor ones.

It might also interest you to know that 99% of what we eat come from outside this state, the agricultural sector is dead, during the last flood that attacked the nation, the cost of everything was so high that some people could not afford to buy whereby some could not have their normal meal as it where before, because virtually none of the agricultural products where coming from Bayelsa for the people to buy not to talk about selling to other states, but yet they have food in abundance letting the poor to wallow in on hunger, even the environment of the state capital is a terrible disgrace compare to other states at large, the drainage found around the state are well taken care of therefore water could not pass through as a result gathered on places where people live rendering people homeless.

As big as Bayelsa state there is no company (rubber, slippers or even soap) where few things can be produced. The only infrastructure we can boost of is ‘’HOTEL’’ where they take the young girls to satisfy their needs………….Who do you think is going to bring the change?

FG bans sat phones in northeast after fresh attacks.

MAIDUGURI (AFP) – Nigeria’s military on Wednesday banned the use of satellite phones in much of the restive northeast after cutting mobile phone service, further isolating the area after a series of fresh attacks. The military claimed in announcing the ban that Islamist extremist group Boko Haram had used satellite phones to plan attacks on schools. The insurgents have attacked two schools in the northeast this week, leaving at least 16 students and two teachers dead.
“Therefore, effective from 19 June 2013, the (military) imposes a ban on the use and sale of Thuraya phones and accessories, including Thuraya recharge cards in Borno state,” said a statement from Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa. Thuraya is a popular brand of satellite phones. “Anyone seen with Thuraya phones, recharge cards and accessories will be arrested,” the statement said. It was unclear whether the ban would also apply to journalists, who have used satellite phones to communicate when visiting the region, where the military launched a sweeping offensive on May 15.The announcement applied to Borno state, the hardest hit in the region, and it was unclear if it would be extended. The military has claimed it has pushed out the insurgents with its offensive, but a series of attacks in recent days have raised questions over whether the gains were only temporary. On Sunday, suspected Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on a secondary school in Damaturu in Yobe state, killing seven students and two teachers. Two of the attackers were also killed, said the army. On Monday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, suspected Islamist shot dead nine students as they sat an exam in a private school. Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as “Western education is sin,” has carried out multiple attacks on schools in northeast Nigeria. The group has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in the country’s mainly Muslim north. Violence linked to the insurgency has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces, who have been accused of major abuses.

Yobe School Attack____Boko Haram Militants Kill 29 Students, Teacher.

The attack is a further sign that the extremist sect remains a threat to Nigeria despite a crackdown on it.
The attackers set fire to buildings and shot pupils as they tried to flee, the source said. A hospital was treating several of the students for burns, he added.

     It was the deadliest of three attacks on schools since the military launched an offensive in May to try to crush Boko Haram, whose nickname translates as “Western education is sinful” in the northern Hausa language.
Under the leadership of fiery militant Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram rejects all Western cultural influences like modern schooling and yearns for the days when much of West Africa was ruled by great Islamic empires thriving off trans-Saharan trade.
     Potiskum is in Yobe state, one of three covered by a state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in May, when he ordered extra troops into the region to try to quell a rebellion seen as Nigeria’s biggest security headache.
The police source responded by email as the mobile phone network was cut to much of the northeast as part of the state of emergency.
“We are really terrified … Everyone fear these school attacks are going to continue and even spread to other towns,” Bala Husseini, a resident of Potiskum who himself has two children not yet of school age, said in an emailed message.
In a separate attack hundreds of miles away in the town of Karim Lamido, Taraba state, suspected Islamist gunmen fired on a police station and a branch of First Bank, killing three policemen. A police official said the attackers blew up the bank’s vault with dynamite and made off with the cash.
Shifting tactics
     The hit-and-run strikes have raised fears the 7-week-old military offensive has pushed the insurgents fighting for a breakaway Islamic state into hiding, but failed to stop them launching devastating attacks.
Taraba, which has been only rarely attacked by the sect, is not covered by the military offensive, so the heist there may be a sign the assault has pushed the militants into other areas.
Suspected Islamist militants opened fire on a school in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri last month, killing nine students, and a similar attack on a school in the city of Damaturu killed seven just days earlier.
Shifting targets of its attack as it comes under pressure has been a consistent Boko Haram tactic since the sect launched an uprising in 2009, when hundreds of members, including founder Mohammed Yusuf, were killed by security forces.
    Nigerian forces say their offensive has enabled them to wrest back control of the remote northeast from Boko Haram, destroy key bases and arrest scores of suspects.
But critics say no amount of force can destroy what is in part a grassroots movement feeding off discontent at bad governance and widening inequalities between a depressed north and an economically booming south.
Jonathan’s administration has offered an amnesty and peace talks to members who renounce violence, but their leader Shekau has repeatedly rejected any negotiations.

Bank Staff Arrested For Robbery.

Robert Olusegun, a staff of a new generation bank who waylaid a customer and robbed him of N4.7 million was among 273 armed robbery suspects arrested by the Police Command in Kano, northwest Nigeria.
According to the state Commissioner of Police,
Musa Daura who briefed the press at the Command headquarters on Wednesday, Robert conspired with one other person now at large and attacked a customer of the bank where he worked with a pistol and knife on his way to the bank to deposit the money. "They robbed him of the sum of N4, 755, 200.00. The suspects were vigorously pursued by members of the community and Robert was arrested with the money. One revolver pistol loaded with three live ammunition's and a knife were recovered from him. Investigation is on top gear to arrest the fleeing suspect," Daura stated. The Command also smashed a kidnapping syndicate at Rogo Local Government Area where the held two worker s at Sorey Construction Company and demanded for ransom, "they were arrested on the spot by the Police, suspects have been charged to Court for prosecution," Daura added. Another suspect, Opheke Michael was arrested along Aba road, Sabon Gari while in possession of 63 units of N1000 notes discovered to be counterfeit. Also, the Police boss stated that Sa'adu Abdullahi of Badawa Quarters and Ismaila Ishaq of Kaugama in Jigawa state confessed to the Police to have plotted to vandalize pipelines, adding that they were in possession of one Toyota Camry, reasonably suspected to have been stolen and they were carrying with them, one pumping machine, one electric generator, two rolls of hose and other implements primed for pipeline vandalisation. The Command also smashed a seven-man gang of armed robbers who invaded Sheka community and robbed residents of assorted valuables including hand sets, clothes, and gold, just as 66-year old Alhaji Sani Mohammed nalias Maikaji confessed to the Police that he is the leader of an armed robbery gang that specialized in robbing tricycles and cars. According to the Police boss, Alhaji Sani told the police that his men use cable wire to strangulate their victims and robbed them of their possessions, "they had robbed four tricycles and five motor vehicles. He confessed to have one AK47 riffle and a pistol; on the way to recover the arms, he attempted to escape and was gunned down," Daura added. "The Command has from January to date conducted a series of raids at various criminal hideouts and black spots within the state. A total of 3241 suspects were arrested among which 2741 were charged to court for prosecution on various charges. "Exhibits recovered from the suspects include 583 bottles of Suck-and-die, 1289 tubes of rubber solution, 100 packets of trammel drugs, 39 knives, 15 swords, seven locally-made pistols, large quantity of Indian Hemp, sticks, axes. The aim of the raids is to rid the state of criminal activities," Daura stated. Other items seized from the suspected criminals include two AK 47 Riffles, 60 rounds of live ammunition's, nine locally made pistols, 74 cartridges, cutlasses, 30 motor vehicles 98 GSM hand sets, cattle's, 30 bags of rice, gold and jewelries, clothing materials, house breaking implements, pumping machines. electric generator and rolls of hose and cable wires. The Police boss also revealed that between January and June this year, 52 cases of armed robbery were reported to the Command, 273 armed robbery suspects were arrested, while 3241 suspected criminals were arrested in different hideouts across the state.

Midnight Raid: 52 Nigerians Raided In Malaysia, Now Awaiting Deportation.

In what was described as a midnight raid by the Malaysia Immigration Police, 52 Nigerians have been arrested and are now awaiting deportation
. According to reports, the Immigration police raided houses that were occupied by Nigerians, and properties were destroyed in the process. Clothed or naked, the Nigerians who were unfortunate enough to be at home during the raid were arrested. Although it wasreported that those who weren't home had their houses ransacked and vandalised.

I didn’t attempt to flush my baby – OAU student.

When news spread that Oyinlola Diana Rotimi, a 400 level student at the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, allegedly attempted to flush her child down the toilet, there were criticisms and counter-criticisms. This prompted this reporter to unravel
the circumstances that led to the incident.
The Public Relations Officer of the University, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, in a release, had debunked the rumour, saying that the lady never intended to terminate the baby’s life but gave birth before due date as she was said to be ignorant of child delivery. ”The truth,” the image maker said, “is that there was a delivery of a baby boy by an inexperienced mother who, in her naivety, thought she was pressed by call of nature while she was actually in labour pains. ”Prior to the child’s delivery, the young, inexperienced mother was bleeding and went to the toilet only to discover that something expelled into the water closet. ”It is overwhelming, it’s unexplainable; I can’t explain it. I don’t know how I feel but it’s really great and wonderful.” Those were the words of Oyinlola Rotimi, when our correspondent sought to know how she felt about the birth of the baby boy. She said the allegation that she wanted to flush the baby was untrue. ”It is not true at all. It is blatant lie. I was purging through out the night and I had no idea what labour pain was. Actually, I can’t call it labour pain because I was going to the toilet throughout the night till that fateful morning. ”I went through pain going to the toilet all through the night. I went to the toilet that morning to defecate. There was this force that just came out and the baby came out and entered into the closet. I was just there standing and bleeding. People came out when they saw blood coming out of the toilet to help me. It was a friend, Satope, who approached the toilet and found the baby that called an elderly cleaner for assistance. Oyinlola said she was scared because she was not expecting the baby that day. “Seeing the baby was terrifying because I was not expecting the baby to come out yet. She debunked insinuations that she attempted running away when one of the cleaners saw her. “That is untrue! Moremi hostel’s toilet is a public place where everybody comes in almost at the same time. People were everywhere while I was in the toilet. Just like me, everybody was scared when they saw me and they had to call the cleaner for help because she is an elderly person.

Two killed, 50 cows stolen bysuspected militia.

Jos – Two people have been reported killed and about 50 cattle stolen at Bakin Kogi in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State by suspected militia.
The attackers were said to have struck at Rebet
community in the village around midnight on Tuesday killing the duo identified as Yakubu Ishaya and Jawo Gang before rustling the cows. The attack threw the community and surrounding villages into confusion coming at a time when normalcy was thought to be returning to the area. Spokesman of the Special Task Force maintaining security in the state, Captain SalisuMustapha confirmed the attack adding that “two people were killed and some cattle were rustled.” He disclosed that two people had been arrested in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State in connecting with the attack and that investigations were still on.

US Supreme Court in historic rulings on gay marriage.

                                                  The US Supreme Court has struck down a law denying federal benefits to gay couples and cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California.
The justices said that the Defense of Marriage Act, known as Doma, discriminated against same-sex couples. They declined to rule on California's prohibition of gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, effectively allowing such unions to resume in the state.
  Opinion polls indicate that most Americans support same-sex marriage. Wednesday's decisions do not affect the bans on gay unions enshrined in the constitutions of more than 30 US states. Twelve US states and the District of Columbia currently recognize same-sex marriage. 'We are more free' The Doma decision means that legally married gay men and women will have access to the same federal entitlements that are available to opposite-sex married couples. These include tax, health and pension benefits and family hospital visits. The landmark 5-4 rulings prompted celebrations from gay rights advocates outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC and nationwide. The legal challenge to Doma was brought by New York resident Edith Windsor, 83. She was handed a tax bill of $363,000 (£236,000) when she inherited the estate of her spouse Thea Speyer - a levy she would not have had to pay if she had been marriedto a man. "Doma writes inequality into the entire United States Code," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the ruling. "Under Doma, same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways," the decision added. "Doma's principal effect is to identify a subset of state-sanctioned marriages and make them unequal." Lower courts had also decided in Ms Windsor's favour. US President Barack Obama, who is on a state visit to the West African country of Senegal, said: "When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free." 'No authority' Proposition 8 is a ban on gay marriage passed by California voters in November 2008, just months after the state's supreme court decided such unions were legal. Two same-sex couples launched a legal challenge against Proposition 8. As the state of California refused to defend it, the group that sponsored the measure stepped up to do so. But on Wednesday, the US Supreme Court said a private party did not have the right, or"standing", to defend the constitutionality of a law. "We have no authority to decide this case on the merits," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the ruling, which was not split along ideological lines. The court also said the party defending the ban could not demonstrate that they would suffer injury if the law were to be struck down. Their opinion leaves in place a ruling by a lower court, in San Francisco, that struck down Proposition 8. California Governor Jerry Brown is ordering country officials statewide to comply. The four dissenting Supreme Court justices said they believed they should have addressed the constitutional question of same-sex marriage before them in the Proposition 8 case. Further litigation could lie ahead for the California ban, analysts say. About 18,000 same-sex couples were married in that state in the less than five months same-sex marriages were permitted there. Doma was signed into law in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton after it was approved in Congress with bipartisan support. But it was subsequently struck down by several lower courts. In 2011, President Obama said that while hew ould continue to enforce Doma, his administration would not defend it in court. So Republicans from the House of Representatives argued in favor of the measure. House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said he was disappointed with Wednesday's ruling. "A robust national debate over marriage will continue in the public square, and it is my hope that states will define marriage as the union between one man and one woman," he said.

Obama heads to Africa amid Mandela gloom.

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday embarked on his first major tour of Africa that comes at a poignant moment, just as the world prepares to bid a reluctant farewell to Nelson Mandela.
    The possibility that the critically ill anti-apartheid icon could fade away within days has sparked
uncertainty about Obama’s itinerary, which is due to take him to Africa’s francophone west, democratic east and its southern tip. Plans to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania over the next week could be complicated, shifting the focus of a trip meant to ease the disappointment of Africans who saw expectations for Obama’s presidency fall short. The White House has said that it will defer to Mandela’s family on whether the president would visit his ailing 94-year-old political hero in the Pretoria hospital where he has been for nearly three weeks. And it has refused to say exactly what contingency plans are in place for the week-long trip, designed to highlight Africa’s emerging economic potential and growing middle class, as well as youth and health programs. South Africa’s foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that while Obama would have loved to see Mandela, a meeting with the former South African leader would be impossible. The men met in 2005, when the former South African president was in Washington, and Obama was a newly elected senator, and the two have spoken several times since by telephone. But there has been no face-to-face meeting between the first black presidents of the United States and South Africa since Obama was elected in 2008. The White House sees Obama’s visit as a chance to make up for lost time, as the president was unable to fit in a visit to Sub-Saharan Africa in his first term, apart from a brief stop in Ghana. There has also been disappointment on the continent, after Obama’s 2008 election caused euphoria and an expectation that the son of a Kenyan would put Africa policy at the top of his agenda. Obama hardly dampened expectations, declaring in Ghana in 2009: “I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family’s own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.” The current US president also travels in the shadow of his predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who are remembered fondly for their economic development and HIV/AIDS programs. US Africa policy has languished in recent years,with Obama battling an economic crisis, re balancing US attention to a rising Asia, facing revolution in the Middle East and consumed by his legacy project of ending US wars abroad. US officials are aware that emerging economic opportunities and energy resources in Africa have attracted a clutch of interest from rising rivals. Washington noticed that new Chinese President Xi Jinping professed a “sincere friendship” with Africa when he visited the continent on his first foreign tour, part of a Chinese economic and diplomatic offensive.                                                                                                                                                   There is one glaring missing stop on Obama’s itinerary: Kenya. Officials said that the indictment of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, over previous election violence, made it politically impossible for Obama to stop by on this tour. The president will stop first in Senegal, where he will meet President Macky Sall and pay an emotive visit to Goree Island and a museum and memorial to Africans caught up in the slave trade. The president will be joined on Goree by his wife, who will go to the all-girls Martin Luther King Middle School with Senegalese First Lady Marieme Faye Sall. “Africa has an extraordinarily large youth population, and it’s important for the United States to signal our commitment to investing in the future of African youth,” Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told reporters ahead of the visit. Obama will move on to South Africa on Friday for a weekend of talks and events, including a news conference with President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria.                                                                                                                                                     He will hold a town hall meeting with young Africans at the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg. Then, Obama will head to Cape Town where his events include a visit to Mandela’s jail cell on Robben Island and a roundtable with business leaders that will include senior members of the president’s economic team. The final leg of Obama’s journey will take him to Tanzania, where his program includes talks and a news conference with President Jakaya Kikwete and a visit to the Ubungo power plant. He will also lay a wreath at a memorial to 11 people killed in a US embassy bombing in 1998. Obama’s wife Michelle, the couple’s two children Malia and Sasha, and the first lady’s mother are traveling with the president to Africa.

Nigeria receives N2.08trn from global agencies.

Nigeria has received a total of N2.08 trillion ($13 billion) from international donor agencies under the Country Assistance Framework, CAF, as at the end of 2012, according to a report on CAF programmed for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


According to the report sighted by Vanguard, the fund was invested in key sectors of the economy, ranging from agriculture, water and sanitation, governance, environment, infrastructure, human development among others. The international donor agencies which constitute CAF are: World Bank, African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, United States Agency for International Development,Canadian International Development Agency, Embassy of Japan. Others are Embassy of China, European Union, High Commission of India, Japan International Cooperation Agency, United Nations System and Agency Francaise de Development. A breakdown of the distribution of the funds shows that Agriculture received $1.33 billion, water sanitation — $1.795 billion, governance-$1.89 billion, infrastructure-$3.72 billion, human development -$3.131billion , multi sector $15.74 million, private $553.15 million and environment -$540 million . According to the report, the lack of official data at state level, with harmonized definitions and classifications comparable to those for the federal government is an issue which the country needs to tackle. This further complicates the formulation of fiscal policy and the monitoring of its implementation at different levels of government. On the risk and migration strategies in Nigeria,the report noted that there are several risks to the CAF’s implementation, including insecurity, a politically fluid situation leading to the 2015 elections, vested interests, regional instability, as well as economic volatility related to the fluctuation of oil prices. It added that it also aims to be candid about identified risks and their impact – direct or indirect – on its implementation and states that the most important risk pertains to the security which remains challenging. On the lingering global financial crisis, the international donor agencies also affirmed that Nigeria made a major step in responsible macroeconomic management by creating the Excess Crude Account, ECA, as a fiscal reserve fund in 2004 which was subsequently used to finance a fiscal stimulus package that maintained economic demand and rapid growth. However, they noted that the remaining institutional vulnerabilities surrounding the ECA which surfaced visibly when political pressures led to excessive ad hoc withdrawals from the ECA, places Nigeria’s reserve position and financial stability at risk. The States Governors Forum is also part of what CAF seeks to support as a state-level platform for dissemination of knowledge and experience and provision of flexible support to strengthen the capacity of state-level systems.

Reps dump Jonathan’s 2013 Budget Amendment Bill

                                                                                    The House of Representatives, Wednesday, confirmed wide-spread speculations over its planned rejection of President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposal for the amendment of the 2013 Budget by throwing out the fiscal document on the ground that it was incurably bad.
      The House rejected the President’s budget amendment proposal after a report on it was presented at Wednesday’s plenary session by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business Hon.
Sam Tsokwa on behalf of the joint Committees on Rules and Business , Judiciary and Justice which was given the responsibility to examine and determine the legality of the President’s letter to the National Assembly last March.
Hon. Tsokwa had in the report informed the House that going by the content of the letter, the President was silent on what should be amended in the 2013 Appropriation Act adding that he should have presented a Supplementary Appropriation Act.
   Citing reasons why the lawmakers dumped the budget amendment proposal, Hon Tsokwa said: “A community reading of section 81 subsections (1) (2) and (4) of the Constitution creates a very strong impression and feeling in the mind that the Constitution does not favour,admit of or even contemplate the amendment of an Appropriation Act save through a Supplementary Appropriation Act. ”
According Hon. Tsokwa: “The document, the Appropriation Act 2013 Amendment Bill, which Mr. President’s communication forwarded to the House, apart from carrying the title “Appropriation Act 2013 Amendment Bill” and the Bill’s Long Title, has nothing again in it to show that it is a document seeking to amend or repeal and re-enact the 2013 Appropriation Act.

20 robbers strike in Ogun,kill six.

Hell was let lose on Saturday in Ifo community in Ifo local government area of Ogun State when armed robbers, numbering about 20, invaded the area and killed six people including five operatives of the Ogun State Vigilante Service.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that the robbers were members of a gang that specialized in robbing banks and allied institutions.

The robbers, who allegedly operated in an unmarked lorry, entered a filling station and shot the five men of the Vigilante Service guarding the place.
One of the petrol station attendants was also said to be unlucky as the robbers bullets hit him and he died on the spot.
The robbers were reportedly said to have engaged men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in a gun duel before they escaped.
When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident but stressed that only two persons were killed.

Fire consumes family of six in Port Harcourt

A family of six perished in an early morning inferno yesterday in Port Harcourt. Nobody could say what caused the fire but neighbors of the deceased
family members told Sunday Vanguard that the fire started at about 2pm. According to the landlord of the house, located at number 17, New Estate Road, Railway Quarters, they heard was a loud explosion. What followed next, he stated, were balls of fire.
The residents claimed they ran out of their apartments in the confusion, adding that the explosion came from the apartment of the deceased family members. They said three boys, a girl and their parents were those consumed in the fire. They put the ages of the children at twenty two, seventeen, nine and seven years. According to a source, two other daughters of the deceased parents were not at home when the incident occurred. Sunday Vanguard gathered that the two other children relocated from home to write the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE. Neighbors said the father was a taxi driver while the wife was a petty trader. At press time, there was wailing in the compound. The landlord, who did not want his name in print, could not hold back tears, saying he wished lives were not lost in the fire. “If the fire had only consumed the building leaving the lives, we would all have been consoled. But losing a family of six is a heavy loss”, he lamented. Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Angela Agabe, who confirmed the incident, said she was still awaiting details.

Power outage aborts Abuja flight landing in Uyo.

             An Arik flight, which took off from Abuja for Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday night, could not land on arriving at its destination due to power failure at the airport. The pilot was said to have hovered over the airport for about 30 minutes hoping that power will be restored, but, when it became obvious that he was wrong and the runway was dark, he decided to return to Abuja. Vanguard gathered that the man with the keys to the generator house was no-where to be found. Responding, FAAN’s Head of Communications, Yakubu Datti, said the airport was not under the agency (FAAN).
“The agency has no business with whatever goes on at the Akwa Ibom airport,”Datti said. Spokesman for Arik Air, Mr Banji Ola, confirmed the airline flight did make air return to Abuja due to power failure at the Akwa Ibom airport. Akwa Ibom State government said, last night, there was “a slight technical problem with the airport’s lighting system”, but added that it was “rectified shortly afterward”. ‘Thank God we survived’ Flight W3 533 passengers were reportedly full of praises to God for saving their lives as their plane returned to the nation’s capital.                                                                                                                                                On the   flight, according to a report, were about 50 passengers, including the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, and some unnamed federal lawmakers, believed to be heading to Uyo for a retreat. The report quoted Odinkalu as saying, “Thank God we survived. If it had been a rainy night with thunderstorm, anything could have happened to us. Some people need to answer questions over that incident.” The flight, originally scheduled for 6:25 p.m, left Abuja at about 7 p:m. It returned to Abuja at 9: 35 p.m. after hovering in the sky for over 30 minutes in expectation that authorities at the Uyo airport would be able to light the runway to enable it to land. Some passengers on the flight said the plane was only 500 meters from the tarmac in Uyo when the airport suddenly blacked out. “As he re-engaged the engines to go up, the pilot informed us that the control tower had told him there was a power outage at the airport,” a passenger on the flight said. “So they needed a little time to switch to alternative source. So we were told. “Meanwhile, the aircraft was in a holding pattern over Uyo.So we flew around and waited. After about 15 minutes, the pilot explained that the man responsible for turning on the back up power unit was about 10-15 minutes from the airport and had been reached. So he was on his way back to switch it on. So we kept holding.”                                                                             The passenger said after another 15 or so minutes, the American pilot announced that the control tower had informed him that the man expected to switch on the generator had arrived and that power would be restored to the airport in 10 minutes. So the plane held on, hovering in the sky. But fifteen minutes later, the pilot again informed passengers that even though the technician to switch on the generator had arrived, the airport authorities were unable to locate the keys to the source of the alternative power unit. Officials didn’t say who took the keys away and at what point they realized the keys were missing. They however advised the pilot to return to Abuja. ‘Lighting technical problem’ A statement by Akwa Ibom State government said, “On the reported lighting issue at Akwa Ibom Airport, there is no cause for alarm.                                                                                                                                                         There was slight technical problem noticed with the lighting system which was rectified shortly afterward. The control tower was in communication with the pilot who decided on air return in the interest of safety. We wish to state that the lighting system was immediately restored and all scheduled and unscheduled flights are landing and taking off from Ibom Airport. Air return is not a new thing in the industry. Safety of lives is the most important issue. Meanwhile government has directed full investigation into the matter.”

Obama to defer to Mandela family on possible visit.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will defer to Nelson Mandela’s family on whether he will visit the ailing anti-apartheid icon during his trip to South Africa next week, a top aide said Friday. The possibility of a meeting between the first black presidents of both South
Africa and the United States has been hotly anticipated for years.
                                                               But the declining health of Mandela, 94, who has been fighting a lung infection, and Obama’s failure to visit South Africa until his second term, have left the prospect in doubt. “We … are going to be very deferential to the Mandela family in terms of any interaction the president may have with the Mandela family or Nelson Mandela,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy US national security advisor. “Ultimately, we want whatever is in the best interests of his health and the peace of mind of the Mandela family,” said Rhodes. “We will be in touch with them. If he has an opportunity to see the family in some capacity, that’s certainly something that we may do.” Mandela spent his 14th day in a Pretoria hospital on Thursday, where he has been in a serious condition with a lung infection. Former South African president Thabo Mbeki said Thursday that Mandela’s health is improving, and that he is not going to “die tomorrow” despite a growing acceptance in his nation of his mortality.                                                                                                                                                       Obama will stay overnight in Johannesburg and Cape Town during his trip, and plans to visit Robben Island, where Mandela was once imprisoned. Rhodes said that Obama’s visit to the island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27years in prison, would be an “important and powerful symbol” of the president’s respect for Mandela, one of his personal heroes. Obama met Mandela soon after he was elected a senator in 2005, when the former South African president was in Washington. The two have spoken several times since on the telephone. Obama’s wife, Michelle, was able to pay a visit to the anti-apartheid icon during her trip to Africa two years ago, and she said it was the most moving moment of her visit.

ACF boss accuses Northern elders of betrayal

KADUNA—The National Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Alhaji Mohammed Aliko has accused some members of both the ACF and the Northern Elders Council, NEC, of betraying the north by endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office, contrary to the north’s position that it was their turn to rule the country in 2015. Aliko spoke in Kaduna yesterday during the opening ceremony of ACF’s annual general meeting. According to Aliko, some ACF and NEC members have betrayed the North by meeting President Jonathan and affirming their support for him for the 2015 general elections and decried the ongoing political campaign ahead the elections, saying it was affecting the quality of governance in the country. He said: “It is very sad that the Presidency has employed the divide and rule tactics against the North. It is very glaring, because we noticed with dismay that some members of this organization have gone to the President and assured him that he must contest for 2015 election. “We are really surprised that some northerners that went there are also members of ACF. I am speaking particularly of two gentlemen. The two gentlemen I am referring to, one is a member of the ACF and the other is of the Northern Elders’ Council.
The ACF member is General Lawrence Onoja, rtd. He was actually part of the group that went to see the President (with elders ofthe South-South). Also, one of the Northern Elders Forum, is Senator John Wash Pam. He was there. “We are surprised that they have really gone to see the President. We are particularly sad because General Onoja ishere with us in ACF. We went to Maiduguri together when we went to see Dr. Ahmed Datti, (the President, Supreme Council of Sharia in Nigeria, SCSN) and Onoja was with us. “He (Onoja), also made it possible for us when we went to Maiduguri to meet the leaders of the Joint Task Force, JTF, and we had a long discussion with them till the early hours of the morning.        The military had problems with the Maiduguri people and we thought that if we intervened, things would be better. “That is not all, we have gone with Onojato every meeting we have held and he knows what the North wants. Now for him to turn round to say the President must contest in 2015, using the word, must, is very sad for us in ACF.’’ Commenting further, he said: “It is the considered view of the ACF that starting politics of 2015 two years earlier is counterproductive, since apart from heating up the polity, such early start can distract governance, more so that INEC is yet to give the green light for political activities to begin.”

Traders ‘arrest’ 6 suspected Boko Haram members in Borno

Maiduguri — Traders at Gamboru market in Maiduguri, Borno State, Wednesday, rounded up six suspected Boko  and handed them over to soldiers of the Joint Task Force, JTF, eyewitnesses said. This is even as suspected sect members, yesterday evening, detonated an Improvised Explosive Devise, EID, in the metropolis, targeting the patrol vehicle of the JTF, in spite of the emergency rule imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, and the total ban on the use of GSM and Thuraya Satellite cell phones in the troubled states.
The gunmen, according to eyewitnesses,entered the market and were spotted by a trader that saw weapons hidden under their garments. A 36-year-old grocery merchant in Maiduguri, Babagana Aji, said: “It was a trader that alerted us when he saw them and we immediately trailed and rounded them up. “We caught them before they could bring out their guns. After we succeeded in disarming them, we beat them blue and black before handing them over to the soldiers.” Another trader, Sanusi Dantakai, said Gamboru traders had had it up their neck and were forced to take the bull by the horns. He said: “This Gamboru market had suffered several attacks.Boko Haram hastes it on fire twice and killed several traders and an orange vendor, among others. “We are tired of the losses we incur at every attack carried out by Boko Haram. That was why we summoned courage to catch them today.” Meanwhile, the sound of the explosion, which occurred at 6:30pm in the metropolis forced residents and traders to rush back to their houses to avoid being caught in the 6pm to 9pm curfew imposed on the state. Due to the total network black out, spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa and the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached for confirmation at the time of going to press.