Tuesday 3 December 2013

2013 World Corruption Index: Nigeria Ranks 144 Among 177countries

BERLIN, (AFP) – Nigeria has been ranked 144th most corrupt country as Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are seen as the world’s most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean, graft watchdog Transparency International said in a survey Tuesday.
Worldwide, almost 70 percent of nations are thought to have a “serious problem” with public servants on the take, and none of the 177 countries surveyed this year got a perfect score, said the Berlin-based non-profit group.
Transparency International’s annual list is the most widely used indicator of sleaze in political parties, police, justice systems and civil services, a scourge which undermines development and the fight against poverty.”Corruption hurts the poor most,” lead researcher Finn Heinrich told AFP.
“That’s what you see when you look at the countries at the bottom. Within those countries, it’s also poor people who get hurt the most. These countries will never get out of the poverty trap if they don’t tackle corruption.”
Among countries that have slipped the most on the group’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index are war-torn Syria as well as Libya and Mali, which have also faced major military conflict in recent years.
“Corruption is very much linked to countries that fall apart, as you see in Libya, Syria, two of the countries that deteriorated the most,” said Heinrich.
“If you look at the bottom of the list, we also have Somalia there. These are not countries where the government is functioning effectively, and people have to take all means in order to get by, to get services, to get food, to survive.”
Heinrich said Afghanistan, where most NATO-led Western forces are pulling out next year after a more than decade long deployment, is “a sobering story. We have not seen tangible improvements”.
“The West has not only invested in security but also in trying to establish the rule of law. But there have been surveys in the last couple of years showing the share of people paying bribes is still one of the highest in the world.”
Also at the bottom of the list is North Korea, “an absolutely closed totalitarian society”, said Heinrich, where defectors report that famine is worsening corruption “because you have to know someone in the party who is corrupt in order to even survive”.
Among the “most improved” countries, although from a low base, was Myanmar, where a former military junta has opened the door to the democratic process and, facing an investment boom, has formally committed to transparency and accountability rules.
“That’s the only way countries can avoid the ‘resource curse’, where the resources are only available to a very small elite,” said Heinrich. “Nigeria and other oil-rich countries are obviously very good examples.”
Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency, said “all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations”.
The group says that because corruption is illegal and secretive, it cannot be meaningfully measured.
Instead Transparency collates expert views on the problem from bodies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, Bertelsmann Foundation, Freedom House and other groups.
It then ranks countries on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means a country’s public sector is considered highly corrupt and 100 means its is regarded as very clean.
The latest survey “paints a worrying picture”, said Transparency. “While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50.”
The bottom-ranked countries, scoring 10 to 19, included Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan and South Sudan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
At the top, between 80 and 89, aside from Denmark and New Zealand, were Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption,” said Labelle.
“Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts which remain major corruption risks.”
The following is a list of the top- and bottom-ranked 10 nations on graft watchdog Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released on Tuesday.
The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by country analysts and business people and ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 100, which is very clean.
(The equals symbol means nations share the same rank)
TOP TEN
=1. Denmark 91
=1. New Zealand 91
=3. Finland 89
=3. Sweden 89
=5. Norway 86
=5. Singapore 86
7. Switzerland 85
8. Netherlands 83
=9. Australia 81
=9. Canada 81
BOTTOM TEN
=168. Syria 17
=168. Turkmenistan 17
=168. Uzbekistan 17
171. Iraq 16
172. Libya 15
173. South Sudan 14
174. Sudan 11
=175. Afghanistan 8
=175. North Korea 8
=175. Somalia 8


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/afghanistan-n-korea-somalia-top-world-graft-index/

Dokubo-asari: Buhari Would Have Done More For N/D Than Jonathan Has Done So Far

Ex-militant leader Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has warned that with the current state of affairs in the country, president Goodluck Jonathan might not get a second term in office in 2015 if the elections are free and fair.

He also berated the President for surrounding himself with people, who he said do not have Mr. Jonathan’s interest at heart but are in power to feather their own nests.

Dokubo-Asari cited the open-confrontation between President Jonathan and former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, saying the president was ill-advised. Although, he made it clear that he disliked the former president, the fact could not be ruled out that he was instrumental to Jonathan’s political success right from when he was deputy governor of Bayelsa State.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Dokubo-Asari, who was arrested in Benin Republic last week but was later released following Mr. Jonathan’s intervention, recalled that Obasanjo manipulated the process that illegally removed Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as governor of Bayelsa State, thereby paving the way for Jonathan to become governor.

He said that Obasanjo also made Jonathan Vice president, fought for him to become acting president and also fought for him to become president of Nigeria.

The former leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, also had harsh words for the Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, who he described as a sour point in the present political dispensation.

He said, “I want to start with an Ijaw proverb, which says: the eyes watched its seven children to death. Instead of advising them, it was just looking at them until they died, while the mouth talked its only child to life and success.

“We have continued as Ijaw people and the entire Niger Delta and South-South to support the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, but a time has come when silence cannot be golden.

“We mainly speak out on issues that are very critical to the survival of our people, the survival of the people of the South-South and the South-East, which happens to be the political base of Goodluck Jonathan.

“Jonathan is surrounded by very greedy people who are only in the Presidency to enrich themselves at the expense of Goodluck himself.

“This brings us to another Kalabari proverb, which says: where there are elders, a goat cannot be allowed to deliver tied to a stick.

“If we don’t talk and we continue to brush it aside, tomorrow we will be blamed and people will say: Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was around when Goodlcuk Jonathan was president and he didn’t talk.

“Then I will be an accomplice and accessory after the fact….

“It is alarming because the South-South must have its uninterrupted eight years tenure, which is constitutional.

“But with how things are going under Jonathan’s watch, we are afraid that we may not be able to have our eight years tenure because there will be no magic about it if it is going to be one man one vote”.

On why he is speaking out against the Jonathan-administration which he has immensely benefitted from, Dokubo-Asari admitted, “I have benefited immensely from Goodluck Jonathan with my stake, but benefit alone is not enough to make me to keep quiet when the period is very challenging for our people.

“So, some of us are tempted to ask this question: why are all these things happening?

“Why has the President allowed some Ministers like Godsday Orubebe to continue in government?

“Everyday people die on the East-West Road. If Orubebe is incompetent as he has shown himself to be, he should be removed.

“Nobody voted for Orubebe. And why is Orubebe so important to the President that he can’t remove him even in the face of his obvious incompetence and several allegations of corruption?

“We feel very ashamed and embarrassed. Orubebe was one of us” Dokubo-Asari fumed.

“He was attending meetings with us, sleeping in the ground with us, entering night bus with us and we nominated him to be appointed a Minister.

“We have gone to him and complained to him that we don’t like the way things are going in his Ministry and told him that if the President leaves in 2015 without the completion of the East-West Road, we are finished.

“And the man keeps telling us there is no money”.

He, therefore, wondered why there was claim of no money when a South-southerner, in reference to President Jonathan, is at the helm of affairs.

“When IBB (former military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) was there, there was money.

“When Abacha was there, there was money.

“When others were there, there was money.

“How come the money disappeared when Jonathan got there?” he asked rhetorically.

“Jonathan and orubebe will account for the lives lost so far on the East-West Road”, he added.

On the face-off between Jonathan and former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Dokubo-Asari said there was no need for it.

His words: “First, there was no need for Goodluck Jonathan to disagree with Olusegun Obasanjo.

“I don’t like Obasanjo.I don’t like his face. I hate him.

“But he was instrumental in bringing Goodluck Jonathan to power.

“And the greedy people around Jonathan have not managed him enough to the extent that the President and the people around him will allow Jonathan to disagree with Obasanjo openly

“And if you check, all the people who supported Goodluck Jonathan and fought to bring him to power, have openly disagreed with him.

“What are the causes of these disagreements?

“These are the questions we want to put to the president”, he said.

“Some people say Obasanjo is manipulating Goodluck Jonathan, that is why Jonathan is disagreeing with him and we ask, what has Goodluck Jonathan’s government achieved to show that it is a departure from other governments that have existed since 1956?

“For us, nothing has changed. It is still business as usual.

“So what are the advice that Obasanjo gave to Jonathan that were so difficult for him to fulfil, that made him decide to fall out with Obasanjo?” the ex-militant leader asked.

He recalled that “Obasanjo was instrumental and manipulated the process that illegally removed Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as governor of Bayelsa State and installed Jonathan as governor, made him vice president, fought for him to become acting president and also fought for him to become president of Nigeria.

“Apart from Obasanjo, there are so many people who supported Goodluck Jonathan; some have been pushed out by those who were not there to give him any support, while some others are trapped and they cannot talk.

“I have a feeling that Fulani man, Buhari would have done more for Niger Delta than Jonathan has done so far. Jonathan has done nothing for Niger Delta actually. It is getting more and more difficult to support him. The second niger bridge is another issue. Even his allies are denouncing him. What a shame!” Dokubo-Asari lamented.


http://www.informationng.com/2013/12/dokubo-asari-buhari-would-have-done-more-for-ndelta-than-jonathan-has-done-so-far.html

FUTO Sacks All Academic Staff

Following the orders by the Federal Government, urging all universities to re-open, the Senate of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) Tuesday sacked all academic staff with immediate effect.

The Federal Government had through the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike had vow to sack any lecturer who fails to return to class within seven days, and had directed vice-chancellors of federal universities that are currently on strike to immediately re-open for academic and allied activities.

The Public Relations Officers (PRO) of the institution, Mr Chike Ezenwa, speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Owerri, said the senate of the university had declared all the positions of academic staff in the institution, adding that they would be advertised starting from Monday, December 2.

The senate said it had already compiled the list of vacant positions in the school. The school authority have urged those willing to resume would be adequately protected.

Education Minister, Wike had said,“All Vice-chancellors of Federal Universities that are on strike should immediately reopen for academic and allied activities as directed by their Pro-Chancellors. Vice-Chancellors should ensure that staff who resume for work are provided with the enabling environment for academic and allied activities.

Though the order said any academic staff who fails to resume on or before December 4, 2013, automatically ceases to be staff of the institution and vice-chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions. One wonders why the FUTO order comes a day to government’s deadline..

Meanwhile the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos has also said the institution resumes Wednesday in-line with government’s directives but the ASUU leadership is not backing down, vows to continue strike.

http://newswirengr.com/2013/12/03/ASUU-strike-federal-university-of-technology-sacks-academic-staff/?

http://dailytrust.info/index.php/top-stories/11444-ASUU-strike-futo-sacks-lecturers

Bariga APC Secretary Drops Dead in Lagos


The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Bariga Lagos State was thrown into mourning on Monday when one of its own, Pastor Abiodun Adeboyejo, popularly known as JP, was found dead in his Akinramola Street office, Bariga, Lagos State, western Nigeria.

Until his demise, he was the party’s Financial Secretary in that area. Some residents who spoke to P.M.NEWS at the scene of his mysterious death said he was hail and hearty on Saturday evening when he exchanged pleasantries with friends in the vicinity.

LGA Chairman of the party, Otunba Dengel Anifowose, who is also the chairman of the Conference of LGA's chairnan APC Lagos State.
LGA Chairman of the party, Otunba Dengel Anifowose, who is also the chairman of the Conference of LGA’s chairnan APC Lagos State.

According to a son of Adeboyejo’s landlord, no one knew that the deceased was dead. His office was locked and nobody suspected anything until a foul smell filled the air around the part of the building he used as office. “We did not know he was dead inside his office until he started smelling. At first, we felt a rat had died there and we tried to call his line to inform him of the stench coming his office, all to no avail. It became clear that something was amiss when one of his wives came around to announce that their husband didn’t come home,” he explained.

“At that juncture, we called the police who eventually came to force the door open; and we found him dead on the floor,” he said.

Describing the deceased, the LGA chairman of the party who is also the Chairman of the conference of LGA Chairmen of APC, Lagos State, Otunba Dengel Anifowoshe, said the late financial secretary was pragmatic, disciplined  and dedicated. He referred to his sudden death as a shock and a blow to the party and people of Bariga. Otunba Dengel later organised for the evacuation of the corpse by an ambulance.

The deceased politician was also a member of the Estate Rent & Commission Agents Association of Nigeria, ERCAAN, Owututu, Ladi-Lak, Bariga branch.

Commenting on his death, the chairman of ERCAAN, Prince Taiwo Okeowo, described the late Pastor Adeboyejo as a man who was committed to the progress of the association, stressing that the news of his death was unbelievable and shocking.

The late Adeboyejo left two wives and children behind.

—Ayoride Dedeigbo & Irene Nwaro

Dos And Don’ts Of Relationships 3

We have come a really long way in considering what kind of relationships we should offer to our loved ones. Indeed it’s like a ‘world without end’ because you cannot possibly touch on all angles of need in one go.
Apart from the basic fact that people are different and yearn for specific attention; society, socialisation, education, globalisation and other factors have also come a long way to condition and influence the expectations of people over time.
Thus a man who grew up in a traditional home where the father is the head only and ignores domestic chores  may exude a different character after much interaction with other men who feel the home belong to both man and woman and should be handled that way.
Men who participate fully in home affairs are not only respected by their wives but the children also admire their involvement in their daily lives. Providing money is good and as a matter of fact, everyone needs financial provision to sustain the family but the joy of being able to fix dinner or pick up after the children can be amazing. This might not fit every family setting but it’ll be nice to do your best for all.
Women who are obsessed with the glamour of modern education may on their own terms want to take things to  the extreme by trying to define equality and responsibility. Yes there’s equality but there is no point singing it daily to your spouse. A reasonable man should know how to treat the one he loves. Slavery or negligence should not even be mentioned where two hearts are closely knitted. There might be occasions of slips in expectations and performance but love holds it out for careful regular examination to be conducted by each party.
External influences on relationships can spiral to unimaginable limits but a concerned partner will do much to make sure things work between them. Behaviours and habits you borrow from others should benefit your union instead of destroying what you should be protecting.  A little here and there of what has worked for others should also be imported with care and close observation: just in case it turns out not to be fruitful for you.
On the other hand, there should be a place of open discuss: share your thoughts and values and reach a compromise what exactly is the picture you are painting. Your home is unique and should not necessarily be like your neighbours’ or the other down the road.
•Be creative: Creativity in relationship is what really makes the difference in so many areas. This could span from bedroom to kitchen, socials to spirituality, recreation to production, etc. Being creative basically suggest being either original or copying smartly. You may chose to play around with a certain food you’ve been used to in a particular way: turn it around with a different touch and see what comes out of it. Same goes for other areas and I need not say that the downside of creativity is surprises. Sometimes you get it right but at other times, you are so embarrassed and cannot tell the story to a third party. But whichever way it comes find it in your heart to have fun; bring laughter into it.
•Learn about failure and success: The earlier you learn about failure and success as mere events the better your life will be. If you think your spouse is failing today, deal with the circumstance but take your love seriously. You cannot label him/her to be a failure; things change in life and if the same person succeeds tomorrow and makes it ‘big time’, where would you hide your shame? This is why people despise their spouses, walk away from the relationship but later beg to return when the situation looks favourable- should the one you love be treated this way?
•Add value: I’m not ashamed to say that a relationship that has not added any value to your life is difficult to cope with. Joining your intelligence, finance, strength, exposure, etc with someone else is supposed to make you better. The more you contribute to your spouse’s success, the stronger your bond will be. Some people might be quick to react here but what I mean is be determined to support your partner and see them become the very best of what is possible.
•Avoid Competition: Why should there be competition when you are supposed to work together as one? Destinies are not the same and some people are bound to be more productive than others either by virtue of their personality or opportunities life has offered them. If you find yourself in a place where your partner is financially stronger, be wise enough to position yourself and be part of that success instead of rivalry.
•Complement each other: You are better appreciated in places where you fill in the gap and do what others could not do. The law of complementing states that you concentrate at what you know how to do best which the others might not be and they in turn cover your weaknesses where and when necessary- what a joy! If you cover your spouse’s back they would appreciate you deeply.
•Communicate clearly and sincerely: Talking cannot be replaced by any other thing except you are not capable of doing so. Say what you mean and mean what you say in simple clear terms without confusing or intending to mislead the other. Ambiguity can sometimes be annoying; don’t play on his/her emotions.
•Be guided by love: I’m convinced this is the strongest of them all. Let all your actions and reactions be determined by the love you have for each other. Where there is love, you’ll be motivated to protect the interest of the other but where there is no love; anything evil can happen and I know you mean well for him/her. Love will make you do things that you’ll ordinarily not do and issues of accommodating, faithfulness, kindness, patience, humility, etc can easily dissolve into the fabrics of what you feel for each other. Have fun…………

Landlord Plucks Out Tenant’s Eye

A landlord who damaged one of the eyes of his tenants will know his fate tomorrow at the Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State, western Nigeria.
The court will tomorrow sentence the landlord, Rasaki Elegbede, who pleaded guilty to the offence of damaging his tenant’s eye during a fight.
The police in the charge sheet accused him of using an object to hit one of the eyes of his tenant, Alfa Fatai Adekola, during a fight over payment of electricity bill.

Adekola’s left eye was damaged and doctors confirmed that he cannot see with the eye again.
The victim told the police in his statement that his eye was damaged beyond treatment by the accused during a disagreement over electricity bill.
The incident happened at 15, Adelaja Ojo Street, Egbe in Ikotun, Lagos.
Elegbede was arrested and charged before the court where he pleaded guilty to the three-count charge of assault, wounding and conduct likely to cause breach of public peace under the Criminal Code. The presiding magistrate, Mr P. E Nwaka ordered that he should be remanded in prison custody at Kirikiri Prisons, pending his sentencing tomorrow.
In his statement to the police, the accused admitted collecting money from the tenants to pay the electricity bill but did not pay before their light was disconnected by PHCN officials.
A protest by the aggrieved tenants led to a fight during which the accused used a heavy object to hit Adekola in the eye.
When Elegbede was arraigned in court on Monday, he pleaded guilty to the charge and asked for leniency.
He told the court that he had already given the victim N20,000 out of the N65,000 needed for his treatment.
The court found him guilty as charged and adjourned till 4 December, 2013 for sentencing.
—Cyriacus Izuekwe

Nabbed on CCTV: Woman Intentionally pushes her own child to her death.




Found this heartbreaking news on UK Daily Mail. A 36 year old french mother named Fabienne Kabou, who felt her baby was 'incompatible' with her and boyfriend, strapped the little angel in a pram and calmly pushed her into a river. (pictured above right). Unbelievble!

A mother faces life imprisonment after confessing she drowned her 15-month-old daughter in the English Channel because the child was 'incompatible' with her love life.
CCTV footage has emerged of Fabienne Kabou, 36, from Senegal, pushing little Adelaide to the coast of Berck sur Mer on November 19. The next day, Adelaide was found dead, strapped in a pushchair submerged in the water, by a fisherman.
After ten days of searching nationwide, police used DNA from the pram to trace Ms Kabou to the home she shares with a 63-year-old man in Paris, where she was arrested.

Ms Kabou, a philosophy student, told police she took the drastic move after deciding motherhood was 'incompatible' with her love life with Adelaide's father.

The case has sparked outrage as hundreds took to the streets outside the court and on the coast in a White March - a French style of demonstrating against child cruelty.

Ms Kabou had told her boyfriend, a sculptor, that she had handed over the little girl to her grandmother who had agreed to look after her in Senegal, police claim.

On Saturday, Kabou was taken under Police guard to Boulogne sur Mer and questioned for four hours by an examining judge in a closed court session.

The judge placed her under investigation for murder. She was remanded in custody pending her trial.
Her lawyer Fabienne Roy-Nansion  who was present during the interrogation said that her client had made a full confession.

In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper the father of Adelaïde said that Fabienne Kabou had been 'a magnificent' mother to her child.Neighbours of the couple said they were at a loss to understand how the mother of the Adelaïde could have wanted to be rid of her.

Hundreds have taken to the streets in the past couple of days paying homage to the little girl in a White March.

The first White March took place on 1996 in Belgium as people demonstrated against Marc Dutroux, a serial killer and child molester.
Gerard Lopez, the president of the Institute of Victimology and legal expert at the Paris Court of Appeal, told 20minutes.fr: 'First and foremost, she wanted to save her marriage by killing her child.

'This would probably not have changed anything. 'She is not crazy. Her actions were premeditated.

'The investigation will now determine whether the woman was a victim of domestic or psychological violence from her partner. 'Some develop narcissistic and immature behavior at the birth of a child. 'By getting rid of the child, she may have been trying to meet the needs of her boyfriend who wanted more attention.'

From UK Daily Mail


Read more: http://omoooduarere.blogspot.com/2013/12/nabbed-on-cctv-woman-intentionally.html#ixzz2mR4AEm7H