PRESS STATEMENT: RE-ORGANIZATION IN THE MINISTRY OF AVIATION

His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has approved the following re-organization in the Ministry of Aviation: 

(i)Engr. Saleh Dumona (Director Projects, FAAN) to replace Mr. George Uriesi as Managing-Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

(ii) Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam (General Manager, Procurements, NAMA) to replace Engr. Nnamdi Udoh as Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

(iii) Capt. Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick (Government Safety Inspector & ICAO Focal Point for Nigeria on line Aircraft Safety Information Systems, OASIS) to replace Capt. (Mrs.) Chinyere Kalu as Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

(iv) Capt. Muhktar Usman (Commissioner, Accident Investigation & Prevention Bureau, AIPB) to replace Capt. Fola C. Akinkuotu as Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) subject to confirmation by the Senate. Engr. Benedict Adeyileka is to act as DG, NCAA pending the confirmation by the Senate.

(v) Dr. Engr. Felix A. Abali (Director Licencing, NCAA) to replace Capt. Muhktar Usman as Commissioner, Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB).

(vi) Dr. Tony Anuforo retains his position as Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMMET).

(Signed)

Sam Nwaobasi

Special Assistant (Media) to the 

Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

4th March, 2014

FORMER JUSTICE IDRIS KUTIGI NAMED AS NATIONAL CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN

TRUE to President Goodluck Jonathan’s earlier promise, the Federal Government Monday released the names of those to lead the upcoming National Conference, with eminent jurist, retired Justice Idris Kutigi, as Chairman.

  In a statement Monday evening from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) signed by the SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim, Prof. Bola Akinyemi is to be the Vice Chairman while Dr. Valerie Azinge would serve as Secretary.

  The statement confirms The Guardian’s exclusive report yesterday which had named Kutigi and Akinyemi as Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.

  The statement reads in part: “His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has approved the appointment of the leadership of the National Conference as follows: Honourable Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Vice Chairman and Dr. (Mrs.) Valerie Azinge, Secretary.

  “The appointees are to resume at Abuja on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 and would be received on arrival by the Secretary of the Federal Government.”

   It would be recalled that after the release of the modalities for the conference last month, the President during the presidential media chat last Monday promised to name the presiding officers yesterday and Nigerians had waited for the names of those to be chosen by the President to superintend the much-anticipated national dialogue.

  Idris Legbo Kutigi was born on December 31, 1939 in Kutigi, Lavun Local Council of Niger State.

  He attended his elementary school in that town and middle and secondary school in Bida before moving on to Government College, now known as Barewa College and then to Ahmadu Bello University both in Zaria, Kaduna State.

  He left Nigeria for England where he studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and the Gibson and Weldon College of Law before returning to attend the Nigerian Law School in Lagos, Lagos State.

  Kutigi served as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State before becoming a high court judge in 1976.

  He joined the Supreme Court in 1992 and served for 10 years before President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him to the position of Chief Justice to succeed Salihu Alfa Belgore on January 30 after being confirmed by the Senate.

  He was Chief Justice from January 30, 2007 until December 30, 2009 when he retired.

  Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi was born in Ilesa, in what is now Osun State.

  He attended Igbobi College in Yaba from 1955 until 1959; Christ’s School in Ado-Ekiti from 1960 to 1961; Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (U.S.), from 1962 to 1964; Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S., 1964 to 1966; and Trinity College, Oxford University, England, from 1966 until 1969.

  He taught at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, the Diplomacy Training Programme, University of Nairobi, Kenya; the University of Lagos from 1983 until 1985; and St. John’s College, Cambridge, England.

  Akinyemi was Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) from 1975 until 1983.

  Appointed Minister of External Affairs in 1985, Akinyemi, in that position, originated the Technical Aid Corps (TAC), a programme which sent Nigerian professionals overseas to engage in volunteer work. It was designed to “promote the country’s image and status as a major contributor to Third World and particularly African development”. He also came up with the concept of ‘Concert of Medium Powers.

  In 1987, Akinyemi stated his support for Nigeria developing nuclear weapons, referring to the proposal as the “black bomb,” and said that “Nigeria has a sacred responsibility to challenge the racial monopoly of nuclear weapons.

  During the short-lived Third Republic of 1993, he called on the military to overthrow Ernest Shonekan’s administration. When Defence Minister at the time, Gen. Sani Abacha later did so and assumed the position of head of state. Akinyemi was among those who opposed Abacha’s regime.

  The Secretary to the National Conference Dr. (Mrs.) Valerie Azinge, read Law, obtaining an LLM from the London School of Economics and later a Ph. D in Law.

  A daughter of the Nwodos, she is married to the Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) Dr. Epiphany Azinge.

  She is said to be very hardworking and would be assisted by a number of officers of directorate cadre from the Federal Civil Service.

  The Guardian gathered yesterday that Ebele Okeke, an engineer and Nigeria’s first female Head of Service and Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s daughter, Mrs. Onyekwu, were dropped for Dr. Azinge due to some other “over-riding considerations the President could not discount” as a source said.

Culled from the Guardian

BOKO HARAM ATTACKS BORNO KILLING 45 PEOPLE

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect have attacked
Jakana village killing about 45 people.

Reports say they arrived in 21 toyota Hilux Vehicles and motorcycles,
heavily armed with explosives and locally made petrol bombs.

2 Policemen were among the dead and properties worth millions of
naira were destroyed as they moved through the town.

The gunmen set ablaze tghe local police station, a primary school,
mosque and several houses and huts.

Jakana is 40 kilometres west of Maiduguri and located along the
Maiduguri-Damaturu road.

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF DEFENCE ABUJA PRESS RELEASE

DEFENCE HEADQUARTERS

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

P M B 309

GARKI - ABUJA

PRESS RELEASE

More terrorists have been arrested while 13 of them died following a raid on their make-shift camp sited between Borno and Adamawa states. Some of those who escaped from earlier raid have also been picked up in Maiduguri and environs.

Meanwhile, calm has returned to Shuwa after the pandemonium generated by the panic in the community this morning when people sighted the convoy of troops going after terrorists and mistook it for another round of attack. The confusion also led to the claim that the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako who had visited the community was attacked by terrorists. The military authorities have refuted the claim. The troops were on assignment to block a discovered entry and exit point of terrorists into the country through the state.  The community has been assured of their safety as normalcy has returned.

NO ATTACK ON GOVERNOR NYAKO’S CONVOY

The alleged attack on the convoy of Governor Nyako as presented in a breaking news report on some television channels this afternoon is not true.    The truth is that the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako visited Michika and Shuwa areas of the State to sympathise with the communities that were attacked by terrorists recently.  While returning, the convoy came across a noticeable pandemonium which resulted from the alarm raised by some people who had mistaken a convoy movement of troops on patrol at Kirchinga village, for another impending attack by terrorists.  In the ensuing stampede and confusion, people scampered into the bush ostensibly to escape from those mistaken for terrorists.

The incident which was presented as a “Breaking News” and scrolled on TV is therefore not a true reflection of what actually happened.  The report is capable of causing unnecessary anxiety and heightening tension. 

The military authorities therefore find it necessary to put the records straight and call on residents to go about their normal activities while remaining vigilant.  The operations in the North East are being consolidated and every effort is made to stop the terrorists from continuing their atrocities in that part of the country.

Chris OLUKOLADE

Major General

Director Defence Information

LETTER FROM CHIEF GANI FAWEHINMI'S FAMILY REJECTING CENTENARY HONOUR

February 27, 2014

Chief Anyim Pius Anyim,
Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria,
Presidency,
Abuja

Dear Sir,
RE: CENTENARY AWARD TO OUR LATE FATHER, CHIEF GANI FAWEHINMI (SAN)
We acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated February 24, 2014, which was routed through Mr Tony Akiotu, Group Managing Director, DAAR Communications, Abuja, wherein our late father, Chief Gani Fawehinmi(SAN) was chosen as one of the awardees of the Centenary celebrations of Nigeria by President GoodluckJonathan.

We want thank the Federal Government for considering our late father for this HONOUR.

However, for reasons stated here under, our family has decided it would be inexpedient to accept the award:

1. In the list of the awardees published by the Federal Government, was the name of former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida, who as military president, severally detained and tortured our late father. In the course of one of such illegal and inhuman detentions, our late father's cell was sprayed with toxic substances while in Gashua prison in 1987. The cumulative effect of that dastardly action led to our father, a non- smoker, contracting lung cancer which eventually led to his death on September 5, 2009. We therefore, find it morally incongruous and psychologically debilitating for our family to stand on the same podium with General Babangida to receive awards.

2. Our late father was empathetic to the sufferings of our people, particularly students. In the last 72 hours, 59 innocent students were mowed down by the blood- thirsty Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe state, while 20 other girls were similarly abducted by these same band of terrorists. These girls are still in captivity while their fate is unknown. If our late father were to be alive, would he be wining and dining with all the glitterati at a Centenary celebration under these circumstances? Certainly no.

3. In the past few weeks, the polity has been assaulted with putrid odour of corruption with the alleged $20 billion missing in NNPC, a development that became the Archilles heel of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the suspended Governor of Central Bank. As an anti-corruption activist, if he were to be alive, our late father would have confronted the issue head-long and possibly gone to court. With the issue still raging, would our late father have accepted this award at this critical moment? Certainly no.

4. Our late father was unrepentantly for the UNITY of Nigeria. However, with the level of profligacy in some of the events celebrating NIGERIA'S Centenary, our late father would have preferred these multi- million Naira expenditures channeled to our decrepit Teaching hospitals, than unproductive razzmatazz that do not improve the socio-Economic well being of our people.

Sir, for these reasons, our family respectfully declines to receive the award about to be conferred on our late father by the government.
Please, accept the assurances of our highest consideration.
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(Signed)
MOHAMMED FAWEHINMI, ESQ.
(For and on behalf of late Gani Fawehinmi family)

NAFDAC UNVEILS MOBILE WATER MONITORING TOOLKIT

By Amadin Uyi 28th Feb 2014
 
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC has unveiled a mobile water standards testing kit in Abuja.

The Director General of NAFDAC Dr. Paul Orhii said this marks the flagging off of the annual water quality standard monitoring in the country.

Mr Orhii says NAFDAC will go all out to sanitize the production of packaged table water especially sachet water production in order to protect the lives of Nigerians and fulfill its mandatory obligation which the protection of Nigerians irrespective of their position and placement in the society.

He also adds that the mobile kit will be deployed all around the country starting from Lagos state.                       

PEACE CORPS CONDEMNS ATTACK ON COLLEGE STUDENTS BY BOKO HARAM

By Amadin Uyi

 

The Peace Corps of Nigeria has condemned the recent attack on students in a federal government girls college in Yobe state by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko haram sect.

                                                           

The Commandant of the Corp, Mr Dickson Acho said the attack which took place in a unity school in Buni Yadi, where over 50 students lost their lives is despicable.

Mr Acho said that Boko haram has lost every sense of compassion for whatever cause they claim they are fighting and should be regarded as unfortunate killers over the recent and gruesome murder of young Nigerian students.

He called on the federal government to improve security in schools around the country and not only in areas prone to boko haram attacks because of the sect’s uncanny ability to strike at areas where they are least expected.