NAIJAFEED

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Umaru Yar'Adua back in Nigeria

President Umaru Musa Yar'adua's long medical sojourn in Saudi Arabia ended early this morning when two planes landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. While the first plane, an air ambulance, landed at 1.47am, a second one, the presidential aircraft, landed at 1.54am.

As soon as the first plane landed, the small convoy of cars already waiting at the Presidential Lounge drove to the tarmac and came to a stop near it. There were about five cars, one of which was a Ford ambulance recently acquired by the State House.

Soon after the two planes landed, Daily Trust learnt that a large group of security agents and Foreign Ministry protocol officials who moved towards them were chased away by presidential bodyguards. Only a handful of bodyguards and the planes' crew members were allowed near the planes as the president alighted, so it was not clear whether he walked into the waiting cars or was helped into them. The scene was also dark, but the ambulance was seen moving towards the parked planes.

Yar'adua had been away from the country for 90 days. He had earlier departed Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at 9pm Nigerian time [11pm local Saudi time] last night in a convoy of three different aircraft.

Indications that Yar'adua was about to depart the Saudi Kingdom first became manifest yesterday when a long convoy of royal cars and police escort vehicles were seen at the Royal Guest House in Jeddah, where he had been recuperating for several weeks since he left the King Faisal Hospital in December. At around 7pm Nigerian time yesterday, the convoy drove out to the airport, and two hours later the president's plane departed for Nigeria.

Signs of his return however became more visible as the night wore on, and our reporters saw columns of soldiers with armoured personnel carriers taking positions at Wuse, at the intersection between the Airport Road and Olusegun Obasanjo Way. Our reporters also saw a small convoy of cars sweeping into the airport's presidential wing at about 11pm. It included a Ford ambulance.

Yar'adua's return plans were a tightly-kept secret, as several government officials said last night that they were unaware of the president's impending return. However, there were indications that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan's office got wind of them, because some items on his itinerary for today were hastily cancelled. Jonathan's office had earlier invited media chiefs from all over the country to dine with him in Abuja tonight, but late in the afternoon yesterday, officials called and cancelled the dinner without advancing any reasons. Earlier yesterday, Jonathan held a long meeting with Niger Delta community leaders and state governors, following which he suspended the on-going Niger River dredging project.

Daily Trust also learnt that the 6-man delegation of Federal Ministers that arrived in Jeddah early in the morning yesterday delivered the Nigerian government's letter of thanks to the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal. The letter, addressed to Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, thanked him for his generous hospitality to Yar'adua while the treatment lasted.

However, the ministers' plans to fly on to Jeddah to see Yar'adua were aborted when they heard that the ailing president was already on his way to the airport, on his way home. The ministers then quickly changed their plans and are expected to return to the country this morning, in time for today's meeting of the Federal Executive Council, likely to be chaired by Yar'adua himself.

The ministerial delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Chief Ojo Maduekwe, comprised Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Health Minister Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, Petroleum Minister Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Agriculture Minister Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma as well as Attorney General and Minister of Justice Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN. Their trip was at the behest of the FEC, which directed them on Wednesday last week to undertake the trip, officially billed to thank the Saudi King and to see Yar'adua. Many observers however saw it as the first step in invoking Section 144 of the Constitution to declare Yar'adua permanently incapacitated from holding his office.

Yar'adua had been out of the country since November 23, last year when he left for Jeddah to treat an ailment later described as pericarditis, or inflammation of the heart's linings. The president also has a long history of kidney disease. Two weeks ago, when Yar'adua failed to transmit a letter of medical vacation, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution recognising Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President. He is expected to relinquish the role today with Yar'adua's return.

Daily Trust

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Video report on saving the last of Nigeria's rain forest

CNN's Christian Purefoy reports on the efforts to save the last of Nigeria's rain forest and the Cross River gorilla. The rarest and most endangered gorilla in the world.

Related story: CNN does special on Lagos

Goodluck Jonathan worried about prevalence of HIV

Acting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has expressed deep worry over the current prevalence of the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. He reiterated that the Federal Government will not relent in partnering and co-operating with relevant agencies to stem the health problem.

Meanwhile, over four hundred thousand children in Africa are born with HIV virus yearly, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) Michel Sidibe has said.

Receiving in audience UNAID Executive Director, Mr. Michel Sidibe, and the US Global AIDS Coordinator, Amb. Eric Goosby, at the State House, Abuja yesterday, Jonathan said the government is concerned about the HIV/AIDS scourge, particularly, the prevalence of mother to child transmission of the virus.

He emphasized the need to get the correct statistics on the disease and to harness resources from federal, states and donor agencies in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Jonathan appreciated the contributions of both the UN and US government in the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa and implored them not to rest on their oars.

Earlier, Sidibe canvassed increased funding by African countries of HIV/AIDS programmes noting that 94 per cent of funds for such programmes still come from outside the continent.

He also requested that Nigeria should use its position to influence African Union's Declaration on Prevention of Mother to Child transmission of HIV/AIDS. In addition, he said Nigeria and South Africa should collaborate to put up a preventive message on HIV/AIDS during the 2010 World Cup.

Amb. Goosby on his part said the US remains committed to Nigeria as a partner in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He said his country holds Nigeria in high regard and will sustain its campaign programmes on the scourge.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe also disclosed that 15 percent of HIV positive children born on the continent die before their first birthday due to poverty, ignorance and limited access to treatment. He described the situation as unacceptable especially when developed countries "record zero percent of children born with HIV".

Sidibe disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, at a high-powered meeting with the Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin , Minister of State for Health, Dr Aliyu Idi-Hung, Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief( PEPFAR), Professor John Idoko, Director General of the of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), and the US ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders.

According to the UNAIDS Executive Director,15 percent of HIV positive children born on the continent die before their first birthday due to poverty, ignorance and limited access to treatment. He described the situation as unacceptable especially when developed countries "record zero percent of children born with HIV".

While calling on Nigeria and other African countries to adopt the Universal Access approach in implementing strategies to manage HIV/AIDS, the UNAIDS boss explained that the meeting conveyed at the Federal Ministry of Health, on Monday, had become necessary if Africa is to stem the ugly trend where its future leaders are stricken by an incurable disease at birth.

He said that Africa has what it takes to produce its first HIV-free generation by 2015, citing examples of earlier health sector reforms adopted in Abuja, he declared that the Nigerian government played an integral role is the successes recorded in health care delivery and the response to HIV/ADS in some African countries which implemented the reforms locally.

He words: "I am convinced that if we don't engage Nigeria in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa we have failed. This because Nigeria spearheaded a number of health sector reforms in Africa and the world. The process for establishing the Global Fund started here in Nigeria. I am just coming from South Africa where Swaziland, Botswana, have implemented the Abuja Accord, setting aside not less that 15 percent of their annual budget for health care delivery".

Sidibe also warned that African countries must "take ownership of its national response". He said African governments have no option as 94 percent of its citizens receiving Anti Retroviral drugs are being financed by donor countries.

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Shell laments unfriendly business environment

Incessant disruption of the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Nigeria's Niger-Delta has become a major source of concern for the management of the oil giant as well as its joint venture partners, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

THISDAY gathered that the SPDC is hard hit by dwindling financial fortunes attributed to generally unfriendly business environment, particularly in the oil-rich region, the highpoint of which is the astronomical cost of repairing vandalised pipelines and other oil and gas installations.

The persistent disruption of the operations of the oil company also affects the activities of the NNPC, in terms of the depletion of the country's crude oil export quota as well as shortage of gas supply to its subsidiary, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), which has monopoly of industrial and gas supply in Nigeria.

The Federal Government recently expressed concern over the renewed threat to the nation's power generation capacity due to the shortfall in gas available to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) owing to the problem that has lingered in the Niger-Delta despite the relative success of the amnesty programme.

According to the out-going Executive Vice-President of Shell Africa, Miss Ann Pickard, SPDC has managed to stay afloat in the country by the grace of the generous financial lifeline recently offered by international Shell Group.

Pickard, who is proceeding on transfer to Australia, spoke at the weekend while leading her successor, Mr. Ian Craig, on familiarisation visits to some states in the Niger-Delta region, where the company's investments are located .

She noted that Shell Group had to dish out a whopping $2 billion to SPDC Joint Ventures to enable it stay afloat.

At the palace of the Orodje of Okpe, His Royal Majesty, Orhue I, she commended the people of the region for providing Shell with support over the last several years, noting that over 60 per cent of its scholarship awards were given to applicants from the region.

Pickard however lamented that the business environment had not been quite enabling, particularly in the last four years, saying this had impacted adversely on its operations, adding that paucity of funds had prevented expansion and more jobs creation.

She expressed the hope that the steps taken by the Federal Government through the amnesty and security initiatives would create the right environment for oil and gas business to thrive again in the Niger-Delta.

Also speaking, Craig expressed delight to be in Nigeria and called for a cordial relationship between the host communities and the oil giants.

While welcoming the delegation, the royal father urged the company to employ more personnel from the region , saying its operation is important to economy of the country.

He implored the company to build a flow station in Okpe Kingdom and pledged to always ensure the protection of Shell's facilities in his domain.

Besides, the royal father urged the management of Shell to be proactive, especially regarding environmental issues in its area of operations.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

We must achieve 6,000 megawatts - Goodluck Jonathan

Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that government's dream to actualise 6,000 megawatts of electricity had not gone down the drain. He challenged relevant institutions to wake up and ensure the dream was met.

To this end, Dr. Jonathan said government had set a daily target of one billion cubic feet of gas supply for the ministry of petroleum resources, so that complaints of gas shortage should not keep cropping up.

A reliable top presidency source, who confided in reporters said, the acting president had tasked the ministry to ensure that the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Shell, Chevron and other major gas producers in the country are compelled to provide the required quantity of dry gas.

This, the source said, is to meet the target of 6,000 megawatts of electricity for the country.

According to the source, "The Acting President is very unhappy with the ministry for its failure to generate gas to power the government's 6,000 megawatts of electricity. He has directed that all the gas producers in the country must provide the one billion daily gas target to the power plants," the source said.

Jonathan was visibly angry during last week's meeting of the Presidential Steering Council on National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), when he directed the minister of petroleum resources, Dr. Rilwan Lukman, to summon all the gas producers in the country to a meeting to iron out the grey areas in the one billion gas daily supply arrangement.

His approval of the appointment of an executive director to co-ordinate the operations of the Nigeria Independent Power Project, NIPP, is also, according to the source, another indication that he was dissatisfied with the progress so far made in the power sector.

"I think the time has come for the government to do what is right. Any gas producer who tells Nigerians that it is shutting its plant because it wants to evacuate condensates or maintain pipelines without recourse to due process, should be sanctioned. There should be penalties for this kind of sabotage. We must stop this nonsense perpetrated by these companies. It is either they do business here or they don't," the source added.

Our correspondent gathered that due to the nonchalant attitude of the ministry and other stakeholders, the country only gets about 250 million gas supply, leaving a shortfall of 750 million.