Armed men have freed more than 200 prisoners from a jail in central Nigeria, in the third mass prison break in the country since November, police said.
More than 200 inmates were freed in the attack in Tunga, 250km northwest of the capital Abuja. At least 10 were recaptured by Sunday morning, Deputy Superintendent Ibrahim Gambari told the Associated Press news agency.
Saturday's incident was the third of its kind in the past two months in Nigeria, where jailbreaks are frequent and police only find a fraction of those who escape.
More than 300 inmates broke out of a prison bombed by gunmen in southwest Ekiti state this month and 144 escaped from south-central Kogi state on November 3 when gunmen bombed a prison wall.
Blame for many of the attacks has been levelled at Boko Haram. It is not known how many hundreds of Boko Haram suspects are held in Nigerian jails.
Herman Cohen, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, told Al Jazeera it was what unlikely Boko Haram were behind the raid, and since it was outside of the groups geographical area of operations, it was most likely orchestrated by corrupt officials and involved pay-offs.
"It looks like a standard prison break, organised from within," Cohen said.
"Ever since the civilian government came to power in 1999, the military and police have been neglected, with salaries not being paid... there needs to be a re-organisation otherwise the security situation will continue to deteriorate," he added.
Only 18,042 of 56,785 inmates have been convicted of a crime, according to statistics dated June 30 and posted on the website of the Nigeria Prisons Service.
Officials have said how appalled they are about conditions in the jails, where inmates often sleep on cement floors without mattresses or bedding, food is in short supply and most medical services are non-existent.
The vast majority of people held in Nigerian jails are awaiting trial, some of them for many years, even though it is illegal to hold someone for more than 48 hours without bringing charges or presenting them to a magistrate.
Aljazeera
Related story: More than 2,000 prisoners have escaped over the past five years in Nigeria
Monday, December 8, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
Nigeria cuts oil price benchmark due to falling global oil prices
The Nigerian naira weakened slightly on Thursday, staying below the central bank's new target band, as the government slashed the oil price assumed in its 2015 budget for the second time in a month.
The naira is under pressure as falling global oil prices have depressed Nigeria's foreign reserves and the central bank is struggling to keep the currency in a new target band set last week when it devalued the currency by 8 percent to protect its reserves.
On Thursday, the finance ministry said it had cut its oil price forecast on which its 2015 budget is based by 11 percent to $65 a barrel from $73, in light of lower world oil prices.
The naira closed at 180.10 naira to the dollar, staying outside the new target range of 160-176 naira to the dollar, and weakening slightly from 179.90 at Wednesday's close.
Dealers said trade was calmer on Thursday after the central bank intervened three times on Wednesday to lift the currency nearer to the target band. For the first time since the devaluation on Tuesday last week, the central bank did not intervene on Thursday to support the naira, but dealers said that did not necessarily mean that pressure on the currency was easing.
Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, counts on oil sales for 95 percent of its foreign reserves, which fell to $36.8 billion by Nov. 28 from $44.6 billion a year earlier, according to latest central bank data.
The cut in the government's oil benchmark was the second in a month, from an original estimate of $78 a barrel. Brent crude continued to fall on world markets, slipping below $69 a barrel on Thursday.
A much lower oil price will make it harder for Nigeria's government to meet its spending plans next year, stretching its already shaky finances.
Other oil exporting countries including Russia and Mexico have also said they expect oil prices to be lower next year than assumed in their budgets, which may be revised.
For Nigeria, fiscal problems risk reigniting inflation, which has been relatively stable at around 8 percent, and are a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks a second term in a presidential election in February.
Nigeria depends on oil for around 75-80 percent of government revenues and its finances have been hammered by a more than 30 percent drop in oil prices since June.
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said Nigeria still has funds to pay salaries and keep debt obligations, but with crude likely to fall, the government would increase taxes on luxury items and ban non-essential government travel to cut expenditure.
Analysts, however, said Nigeria's new oil price benchmark of $65 a barrel was workable. A Reuters poll forecasts Brent will average $82.50 a barrel in 2015.
"It ($65) is definitely more realistic," said Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, adding that at about $12 lower than the actual "gives them more headroom."
"But the next question is: what are you going to give up, from a long list of expenditure items, especially in the run up to the election? That's where the real trick will be."
The allure of Africa's biggest economy to foreign investors has been growing, especially for buyers of its attractively priced debt, but they worry about its tendency to squander its oil windfall in bloated government spending and patronage.
Nigeria's oil money is distributed between three tiers of government -- local, state and federal. The federal budget usually assumes a conservative benchmark price, so money over and above that is deposited into an oil savings account.
Okonjo-Iweala has sought to keep the benchmark low and accumulate savings, but the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has nonetheless declined by billions of dollars to around $4 billion over the past two years even while oil prices were at record highs, partly because of distributions to powerful governors.
Reuters
The naira is under pressure as falling global oil prices have depressed Nigeria's foreign reserves and the central bank is struggling to keep the currency in a new target band set last week when it devalued the currency by 8 percent to protect its reserves.
On Thursday, the finance ministry said it had cut its oil price forecast on which its 2015 budget is based by 11 percent to $65 a barrel from $73, in light of lower world oil prices.
The naira closed at 180.10 naira to the dollar, staying outside the new target range of 160-176 naira to the dollar, and weakening slightly from 179.90 at Wednesday's close.
Dealers said trade was calmer on Thursday after the central bank intervened three times on Wednesday to lift the currency nearer to the target band. For the first time since the devaluation on Tuesday last week, the central bank did not intervene on Thursday to support the naira, but dealers said that did not necessarily mean that pressure on the currency was easing.
Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, counts on oil sales for 95 percent of its foreign reserves, which fell to $36.8 billion by Nov. 28 from $44.6 billion a year earlier, according to latest central bank data.
The cut in the government's oil benchmark was the second in a month, from an original estimate of $78 a barrel. Brent crude continued to fall on world markets, slipping below $69 a barrel on Thursday.
A much lower oil price will make it harder for Nigeria's government to meet its spending plans next year, stretching its already shaky finances.
Other oil exporting countries including Russia and Mexico have also said they expect oil prices to be lower next year than assumed in their budgets, which may be revised.
For Nigeria, fiscal problems risk reigniting inflation, which has been relatively stable at around 8 percent, and are a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks a second term in a presidential election in February.
Nigeria depends on oil for around 75-80 percent of government revenues and its finances have been hammered by a more than 30 percent drop in oil prices since June.
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said Nigeria still has funds to pay salaries and keep debt obligations, but with crude likely to fall, the government would increase taxes on luxury items and ban non-essential government travel to cut expenditure.
Analysts, however, said Nigeria's new oil price benchmark of $65 a barrel was workable. A Reuters poll forecasts Brent will average $82.50 a barrel in 2015.
"It ($65) is definitely more realistic," said Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, adding that at about $12 lower than the actual "gives them more headroom."
"But the next question is: what are you going to give up, from a long list of expenditure items, especially in the run up to the election? That's where the real trick will be."
The allure of Africa's biggest economy to foreign investors has been growing, especially for buyers of its attractively priced debt, but they worry about its tendency to squander its oil windfall in bloated government spending and patronage.
Nigeria's oil money is distributed between three tiers of government -- local, state and federal. The federal budget usually assumes a conservative benchmark price, so money over and above that is deposited into an oil savings account.
Okonjo-Iweala has sought to keep the benchmark low and accumulate savings, but the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has nonetheless declined by billions of dollars to around $4 billion over the past two years even while oil prices were at record highs, partly because of distributions to powerful governors.
Reuters
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Nigeria plans to launch its own manufactured satelite by 2018
Nigeria announced yesterday that it would in the year 2018 launch a satellite manufactured in Nigeria into space.
Though details of the project are not yet very clear, Minister of Science, Dr. Abdu Bulama, said at a ministerial briefing in Abuja yesterday that the National Space Research and Development would facilitate the building and launching of the made in Nigeria satellite.
He said: "They (NASRDA) should be able to meet the target of 2018 to produce a Nigerian satellite."
Meanwhile, government said it had N171.85bn in the past five years through the scrutiny of technology transfer agreements entered into between organisations in Nigeria and foreign entities.
The Minister said the feat was recorded through the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).
He highlighted how NOTAP had been scrutinising applications for technology acquisition from operators in the Nigerian economy, adding that the exercise had saved the country N171.85bn in the past five years.
His words: "The intervention of NOTAP has led to financial savings for the country, which would have been unremitted due to over invoicing of technology transfer fees.
"Since the inception of NOTAP, it has made a financial savings in billions of naira, due to its intervention in the process of evaluation and registration of technology transfer agreements."
The Minister spoke on how the ministry was now focusing attention on enhancing agricultural raw materials through a number of activities:
"The Raw Material Research and Development Council procured 1.6 and 2.0 tonnes of Samcot, 11 and 13 varieties of cotton respectively from the Institute of Agricultural Research, ABU, Zaria and distributed them to members of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria in six States including Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo States," he stressed.
He went on: "This is targeted at increasing cotton yield to feed the textile industry that is almost comatose due to insufficiency of raw materials or reliance on imported cotton resulting in undue competition.
"The Oyo State Sugarcane Farmers Union Limited was provided with 60 tonnes of sugarcane seeds for their sugarcane farm clusters.
"These programmes are projected to create 20,000 jobs along the agricultural and industrial manufacturing value chain over a period of 5 years."
He added that improved oil palm seedlings for one hectare of land expected to have shorter maturity period and increase the oil yield were through RMRDC procured for AICO Projects Limited.
President Goodluck Jonathan had last year launched the National Space Council with a charge to design a made in Nigeria satellite.
Members of the Council include the President as Chairman, the Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Attorney General/Minister of Justice, Minister of Science & Technology, Minister of Communication Technology, Minister of Defence, Minister of National Planning, Minister of Education, Minister of Interior, National Security Adviser, Director General, NASRDA and Secretary to Council, Prof. V.O.S Olunloyo, Prof. Francisca Okeke and Prof. E.D. Mishelia.
Jonathan had charged the National Space Research and Development Agency to develop the capacity to design a made in Nigeria Satellite and launch the satellite from Nigerian soil in the very near future.
The National Space Council is the highest policy making body for space science and technology development in the country.
Guardian
Though details of the project are not yet very clear, Minister of Science, Dr. Abdu Bulama, said at a ministerial briefing in Abuja yesterday that the National Space Research and Development would facilitate the building and launching of the made in Nigeria satellite.
He said: "They (NASRDA) should be able to meet the target of 2018 to produce a Nigerian satellite."
Meanwhile, government said it had N171.85bn in the past five years through the scrutiny of technology transfer agreements entered into between organisations in Nigeria and foreign entities.
The Minister said the feat was recorded through the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).
He highlighted how NOTAP had been scrutinising applications for technology acquisition from operators in the Nigerian economy, adding that the exercise had saved the country N171.85bn in the past five years.
His words: "The intervention of NOTAP has led to financial savings for the country, which would have been unremitted due to over invoicing of technology transfer fees.
"Since the inception of NOTAP, it has made a financial savings in billions of naira, due to its intervention in the process of evaluation and registration of technology transfer agreements."
The Minister spoke on how the ministry was now focusing attention on enhancing agricultural raw materials through a number of activities:
"The Raw Material Research and Development Council procured 1.6 and 2.0 tonnes of Samcot, 11 and 13 varieties of cotton respectively from the Institute of Agricultural Research, ABU, Zaria and distributed them to members of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria in six States including Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo States," he stressed.
He went on: "This is targeted at increasing cotton yield to feed the textile industry that is almost comatose due to insufficiency of raw materials or reliance on imported cotton resulting in undue competition.
"The Oyo State Sugarcane Farmers Union Limited was provided with 60 tonnes of sugarcane seeds for their sugarcane farm clusters.
"These programmes are projected to create 20,000 jobs along the agricultural and industrial manufacturing value chain over a period of 5 years."
He added that improved oil palm seedlings for one hectare of land expected to have shorter maturity period and increase the oil yield were through RMRDC procured for AICO Projects Limited.
President Goodluck Jonathan had last year launched the National Space Council with a charge to design a made in Nigeria satellite.
Members of the Council include the President as Chairman, the Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Attorney General/Minister of Justice, Minister of Science & Technology, Minister of Communication Technology, Minister of Defence, Minister of National Planning, Minister of Education, Minister of Interior, National Security Adviser, Director General, NASRDA and Secretary to Council, Prof. V.O.S Olunloyo, Prof. Francisca Okeke and Prof. E.D. Mishelia.
Jonathan had charged the National Space Research and Development Agency to develop the capacity to design a made in Nigeria Satellite and launch the satellite from Nigerian soil in the very near future.
The National Space Council is the highest policy making body for space science and technology development in the country.
Guardian
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Nigeria Super Eagles can't land kit sponsors after failure to qualify for AFCON 2015
The Super Eagles failure to qualify for the AFCON 2015 tournament in Equatorial Guinea is beginning to take its toll on the country as kits manufacturing companies are no longer interested in doing business with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Daily Sunsports gathered that the NFF is finding it difficult getting a new kits manufacturing company to take over from Adidas that has since signalled its desire to pull out of her present deal with the soccer federation.
An impeccable source at the Marketing department of the football federation disclosed yesterday that the Super Eagles failure to land in Equatorial Guinea has spoilt the marketing fun of NFF. Our source said the NFF may have no option than to look in the direction of China to get the national teams kitted if any of the reputable sports wear manufacturing outfits fail to play ball. He stressed that the NFF will face what he called “kitting crisis” if no deal is reached before the first quarter of next year.
He berated Super Eagles players and their handlers for not respecting the present deal with Adidas, a situation which he noted was the main reason Adidas opted not to renew the contract. His words: “Adidas has been one of our best kit suppliers but the Super Eagles players and officials treated the contract with impunity during the World Cup. The most annoying aspect of the issue is that the rival company which they used to spite Adidas eventually rejected us now that we have approached them for a new deal.”
“As we speak, the NFF is already in discussion with a Chinese kit company because the rate at which we are going, we may have no option than to go to China to get a life line.”
The Sun
Related stories: Nigeria Football Federation accepts blame for Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
Nigeria fails to qualify for Nations Cup
Daily Sunsports gathered that the NFF is finding it difficult getting a new kits manufacturing company to take over from Adidas that has since signalled its desire to pull out of her present deal with the soccer federation.
An impeccable source at the Marketing department of the football federation disclosed yesterday that the Super Eagles failure to land in Equatorial Guinea has spoilt the marketing fun of NFF. Our source said the NFF may have no option than to look in the direction of China to get the national teams kitted if any of the reputable sports wear manufacturing outfits fail to play ball. He stressed that the NFF will face what he called “kitting crisis” if no deal is reached before the first quarter of next year.
He berated Super Eagles players and their handlers for not respecting the present deal with Adidas, a situation which he noted was the main reason Adidas opted not to renew the contract. His words: “Adidas has been one of our best kit suppliers but the Super Eagles players and officials treated the contract with impunity during the World Cup. The most annoying aspect of the issue is that the rival company which they used to spite Adidas eventually rejected us now that we have approached them for a new deal.”
“As we speak, the NFF is already in discussion with a Chinese kit company because the rate at which we are going, we may have no option than to go to China to get a life line.”
The Sun
Related stories: Nigeria Football Federation accepts blame for Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
Nigeria fails to qualify for Nations Cup
1.6 million people displaced by Boko Haram in Nigeria
After the Nigerian government soldiers fled and the Islamic insurgents arrived in his village with guns blazing, Peter Fabian ran away along with dozens of other villagers.
"Our homes have been burned, our churches," Fabian said. "Many of our brothers have been killed."
Arriving in a camp here with all his worldly possessions reduced to everything he could carry, Fabian has joined the ranks of 1.6 million other Nigerians who have abandoned their homes amid attacks by Boko Haram. The massive displacement is creating a humanitarian crisis in Africa's most populous nation.
"After Boko Haram pursued the soldiers from our village, they came after us too," Fabian recalled of the attack on Warabe, in the Gwoza mountain area of northeastern Nigeria. He and other villagers trekked across the border to Cameroon, where they stayed about one month. After living on the streets there, they hiked for two days back to Nigeria but did not dare to return to their homes.
Fabian and several other travelers, all carrying their belongings on their heads, walked into the Damare camp as Associated Press journalists were visiting. Thousands of people are staying in fields, construction sites and other improvised settlements in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state in eastern Nigeria.
The army of displaced Nigerians has been left largely to fend for itself to find shelter, food and water, according to the European Union, which last week pledged 5 million euros ($6.2 million) in assistance. The people are flocking to relief centers across the country's northeast, but find overcrowded facilities and a shortage of supplies.
"They are exhausted and vulnerable. We must find ways to help and protect them," said Christos Stylianides, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, who put the number of displaced Nigerians at 1.6 million.
He urged national and international organizations to join forces and address "this displacement crisis of a growing magnitude."
Nearly 10,000 people, with gloomy faces, maimed fathers and tired mothers, are now at the Damare camp amid a lack of toilets.
Sylvanus Papka, a top health official, said such a locale is a breeding ground for diseases.
Papka said outbreaks of diarrhea and measles are now under control thanks to a health clinic, but that the lack of sanitation poses a major challenge. The increasing influx of displaced people worsens an already fragile situation.
Some had fled their homes months ago, but it is dangerous to return even if the army wrests control of towns from the Islamic insurgents. Towns like Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April and struck again in November, aren't safe.
Meanwhile, more refugees are headed to Yola, including from Mubi, a town in Adamawa state that has been on the front lines.
"There are more than 10,000 displaced people from Mubi who are currently trapped in Cameroon republic and we are expecting them at any time in the camp," Papka said.
Huffington Post
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
"Our homes have been burned, our churches," Fabian said. "Many of our brothers have been killed."
Arriving in a camp here with all his worldly possessions reduced to everything he could carry, Fabian has joined the ranks of 1.6 million other Nigerians who have abandoned their homes amid attacks by Boko Haram. The massive displacement is creating a humanitarian crisis in Africa's most populous nation.
"After Boko Haram pursued the soldiers from our village, they came after us too," Fabian recalled of the attack on Warabe, in the Gwoza mountain area of northeastern Nigeria. He and other villagers trekked across the border to Cameroon, where they stayed about one month. After living on the streets there, they hiked for two days back to Nigeria but did not dare to return to their homes.
Fabian and several other travelers, all carrying their belongings on their heads, walked into the Damare camp as Associated Press journalists were visiting. Thousands of people are staying in fields, construction sites and other improvised settlements in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state in eastern Nigeria.
The army of displaced Nigerians has been left largely to fend for itself to find shelter, food and water, according to the European Union, which last week pledged 5 million euros ($6.2 million) in assistance. The people are flocking to relief centers across the country's northeast, but find overcrowded facilities and a shortage of supplies.
"They are exhausted and vulnerable. We must find ways to help and protect them," said Christos Stylianides, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, who put the number of displaced Nigerians at 1.6 million.
He urged national and international organizations to join forces and address "this displacement crisis of a growing magnitude."
Nearly 10,000 people, with gloomy faces, maimed fathers and tired mothers, are now at the Damare camp amid a lack of toilets.
Sylvanus Papka, a top health official, said such a locale is a breeding ground for diseases.
Papka said outbreaks of diarrhea and measles are now under control thanks to a health clinic, but that the lack of sanitation poses a major challenge. The increasing influx of displaced people worsens an already fragile situation.
Some had fled their homes months ago, but it is dangerous to return even if the army wrests control of towns from the Islamic insurgents. Towns like Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April and struck again in November, aren't safe.
Meanwhile, more refugees are headed to Yola, including from Mubi, a town in Adamawa state that has been on the front lines.
"There are more than 10,000 displaced people from Mubi who are currently trapped in Cameroon republic and we are expecting them at any time in the camp," Papka said.
Huffington Post
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
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