Nigerian News De Jour - Tuesday, April 8, 1997

[Mobolaji E. Aluko]

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Nigerian News De Jour - Tuesday, April 8, 1997
A selection of public and private news on Nigeria

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OIL PRODUCING NIGERIA IMPORTS FUEL

African oil-producing giant Nigeria, was yesterday forced to allow fuel
imports as much of the country slowed to a near standstill from a
two-week-old petrol shortage. An official of the state-run Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the military government had
given the green light for the first petrol imports since September last
year. Many people in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, stayed home or were
stranded at bus stops yesterday. ``Most of my staff have not come to work
and I guess that this is because of the fuel situation,'' said Tokunbo
Martins at his travel agency in central Lagos. Long queues now a regular
feature formed at the few stations still selling fuel in Lagos and
motorists said after hours of waiting they had to pay far above the normal
price. Fuel shortages occur frequently in Nigeria and usually last a few
days but the current crisis shows no sign of easing. ``Petrol attendants
prefer to sell to touts who turn round and sell to people at inflated
prices,'' said civil servant Chuks Okoli, on a queue along Awolowo Road in
Ikoyi area of Lagos. A 50-litre (10 gallon) can of petrol was selling for
4,000 naira ($47), more than seven times the normal price. ``This is a
great shame for our oil-producing nation,'' commented an exasperated taxi
driver. ``The present problem lies with the supplier. Marketers are not
getting enough from NNPC,'' said an official of one of the main petroleum
products marketing firms in Nigeria. The government has given permission
for the importation of two cargoes of gasoline in a swap for crude oil, an
NNPC official said. Yesterday, the chief executive of the Warri refinery,
Ezenwa Dennar, said the shortage was due to a crisis in Warri, where
communal trouble had led to a dusk-to-dawn curfew that was impeding the
delivery of fuel. ``We are not getting vessels coming to the jetty. Dennar
said. Nigeria, Africa's leading crude oil producer and a major player in
the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumps around two
million bpd of crude oil and boasts of a sizeable chunk for home
consumption.

Meanwhile, NNPC overseas office is to move operations from London to Paris.
Government owned Daily Times, today, quoted authoritative sources as
saying one of the main factors in choosing Paris over rival candidates
Geneva and Vienna was the ``friendly posture of the French government to
Nigeria.'' Last month Nigeria ordered the closure of the London office of
the state oil company for financial reasons and said a smaller
coordinating office would soon be established somewhere else in Europe. The
Daily Times said half the NNPC staff currently in London would be moved to
the French capital and that arrangements had already been made for the new
coordinating centre to begin work. Relations between Nigeria and France
are better than with many other western powers which officially shun the
Abacha administration's abysmal human rights record and disrespect for
democracy.

UN TO DEBATE RIGHTS SITUATION IN NIGERIA TODAY

The 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission will today
debate the human rights situation in Nigeria and review the report of two
rapportuers whose visit to Nigeria was aborted for ``irreconcilable
differences``. Non government organisations including Amnesty
International are expected to take part in the debate. Amnesty is
spearheading a campaign for a dedicated rapporteur for Nigeria for
"continuing human rights violations by the military government``.
Nigeria's military government was among 29 countries accused by a U.N.
special investigator on torture, for employing the ``degrading treatment``
on opposition activists as a state policy. Nigeria was also likened to
South Africa under apartheid. Nigel Rodley, a British lawyer who serves as
U.N. special rapporteur on torture, issued his annual report listing 29
countries where torture was a fairly extensive problem.

RIGHTS GROUP SAYS GOVERNMENT TARGETS JOURNALISTS

Journalists in Nigeria are the target of frequent attacks ordered by the
government and have faced torture, unfair trials and arbitrary detention,
a report by British-based human rights group Article 19 has said. ``Under
General Abacha, Nigeria's media has been subjected to a level of
harassment and intimidation unprecedented even by the standards of
previous military governments,'' Article 19 executive director, Frances
D'Souza said. D'Souza said the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
should appoint a special investigator for Nigeria, and the Commonwealth
should put pressure on the country to improve its record on human rights.
``The international community must make it absolutely clear to the
Nigerian government that without full respect for human rights, including
media freedom, the current 'transition to civilian rule' can have no
credibility,'' D'Souza said. Military ruler General Sani Abacha, has
promised that constitutional rule will start by October 1, 1998. But
opposition groups have denigrated the programme saying its a ruse. Article
19, which also calls itself the International Centre against Censorship,
said its report documented cases of torture, suspected assassination
attempts on journalists, and censorship of newspapers. ``Newspapers and
magazines have been arbitrarily banned, subjected to mass seizures and
even arson attacks among other efforts to disrupt their circulation,''
D'Souza said. ``Leading editors...are either serving long prison terms
imposed on trumped-up charges or...are being detained without trial under
executive decree.'' The report urged Nigeria to immediately end all
attacks on media workers and begin a comprehensive programme of reform to
safeguard human rights, including media freedom.

POLICE OBJECTS TO BAIL FOR BOMB SUSPECTS

Bail application for opposition activists accused of throwing bombs in the
country has been challenged in a Lagos High Court by the police in a 29
paragraph counter affidavit. The police said the Lagos court should
decline bail for the 11 accused ``because they may abscond``. Meanwhile
the government has challenged a suit instituted by Nadeco member Otunba
Durojaiye. The government urged a Lagos court to stay proceedings on the
case until the determination of its appeal it filed at the Court of
Appeal. The government contended that the lower court which Durojaiye
filed a suit challenging his detention has no jurisdiction adding that the
State Detention of Persons Decree precludes the court from entertaining
the case. Lawyers representing the government further said the judge of
the lower court erred in law by holding the African Charter on Human and
Peoples Rights as superior to a decree promulgated in Nigeria. Justice
Gbolahan Jinadu adjourned the case till Thursday.

CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN CROSS RIVERS, OVER 100 KILLED

Lack of pipe borne water has unleashed another bout of cholera epidemic in
8 local government areas of Cross River state, killing over 100 persons in
7 days. The main areas of the epidemic are Calabar South, Etung, Ikon,
Otukpain, Yakurr, Ogoja and Obubra. Poor sanitary conditions, poverty,
and lack of basic health facilities are responsible for the outbreak of
epidemics including typhoid, meningitis and cholera. The regime admitted
last year that at least 20,000 people died as a result of a meningitis
epidemic in the northern part of the country.

FIFTH PERSON DIES IN ELECTION VIOLENCE IN LAGOS

A seriously wounded middle aged man who was involved in election violence
in Lagos is among 5 persons killed in the fracas. Government owned Daily
Times newspaper had reported that four people were killed and 29 declared
missing when fighting broke out between supporters of rival political
parties involved in re-run local polls last week. Police sources said
another person, the fifth casualty has died from serious injuries received
from the violent confrontation The clashes took place late last week at
Ibeshe village in the Amuwo-Odofin municipal district of Lagos between
supporters of the Democratic Party of Nigeria {DPN} and the Congress for
National Consensus (CNC), the newspaper said. Riot police were sent to the
district the paper said, without adding further details. No confirmation
was immediately available of the report. Municipal polls were re-run in
136 districts across Nigeria last Thursday following inconclusive polling
last month. Press reports indicated that the re-run vote did not take
place in some parts of the country due to the late or non-arrival of
ballot materials. Voting was to take place Friday in those areas where it
did not take place on Thursday, the press said. Electoral malpractices
were reported in some areas where voting did take place, the press said.

CRISIS HITS PARTY AFTER POOR PERFORMANCE

A Nigerian political party has been wracked by vicious in-fighting since
its poor showing in March 15 local elections, with rival factions
maneuvering for the leadership. Local press reports said the National
Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN) won about 40 municipal chairmanship seats,
trailing behind three other parties and beating only one. The United
Nigeria Congress Party, widely believed to be favoured by the regime, won
the majority of seats in that poll. NCPN official Emmanuel Bello said that
party chairman Senator Mogagi Abdullahi and secretary Kenny Martins, were
suspended at a meeting of the party's national executive committee on
March 26 in Abuja, for alleged "anti-party activities" and some acts of
impropriety. Yisa Buraimoh, an engineer, was appointed as new interim
chairman of the party and Senator Ibrahim Lame as the new acting
secretary, Bello said. However, Martins told the media that he was still
the legal national party secretary and that Abdullahi was also still in
his post. The rival claims have split the party executive, with some
members supporting Abdullahi and others Buraimoh. Last Tuesday, the row
heated up as the new chairman was locked out of the party national
secretariat in Abuja by security guards allegedly acting on the
instructions of Abdullahi, a source in the capital said. Earlier, a
faction loyal to Abdullahi, said the former national "leader" of the
party, Chief Don Etiebet, had also been suspended from the party for
alleged "anti-party activities" which contributed to the party's poor
performance at the municipal poll. Etiebet, a former oil minister, widely
believed to be seeking to contest next year's presidential election, was
arrested by security agents last month and kept under house arrest. Last
Friday, he inexplicably resigned from the party and joined another
campaigning for Abacha as its presidential candidate.

THREE TRADITIONAL RULERS IN TELECOMS PROJECT

At least three traditional rulers in the country have been granted licence
by the federal government to provide telecommunication services under the
name Nigerian Telecommunications and Television (NITTI) The traditional
rulers include the Ooni of Ife (Oba Okunade Sijuwade), the Emir of Kano
(Alhaji Ado Bayero) and the Obi of Onitsha (Obi Ofala Okagbue). The
traditional rulers have been given permission to operate radio and
television services and to provide one million new telephone lines to all
parts of the country.

NIGERIA RAILWAYS INAUGURATES CHINESE BUILT LOCOMOTIVES

Four diesel locomotives produced in China were yesterday delivered to the
Nigerian government as part of the efforts to rehabilitate the country's
railway system. Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Lu Fengding, on behalf of
the Chinese government, presented the keys of four Dongfeng brand
locomotives to Nigerian Transport Minister Major-General Ibrahim Mumel
amidst prolonged applause. At the reception ceremony held in the
Lagos-based Apapa port complex, Mumel, who just came back from a visit to
China two days ago, said the arrival of the Chinese locomotives marked the
formal beginning of the reconstruction of Nigeria's more than 3,000 km of
railways. "The reception of these locomotives is a prelude, a very
significant prelude to better things to come. It is a prelude heralding
brighter days for the railway industry, and indeed the transport industry
in Nigeria," said Greg Ilukwe, sole administrator of the Nigerian Railway
Corporation (NRC). Nigeria's rail transportation has been nearly at a
standstill because of the poor management of the railways. To revitalize
the railway system as part of the effort to improve its economy, Nigeria
turned to China for assistance. The two countries signed a contract in
late 1995, giving green light to the China Civil Engineering Construction
Corporation (CCECC) to come to undertake the project. According to the 526
million U.S. Dollars contract, the Chinese side will also supply Nigeria
with two locomotives and other rolling stock including 150 coaches, 500
wagons and 100 guard vans. The project, which is to increase the speed of
train from the current 75 km per hour to above 100 km, is scheduled to be
completed at the end of September 1998. The four locomotives were
transferred to the NRC this afternoon. According to CCECC officials, more
than 20 locomotives will be delivered to Nigeria within this year, while
the remaining 30 are expected before the September 1998.

FORMER LIBERIAN LEADER TELLS GOVT NOT TO SUPPRESS OPPOSITION

A former Liberian rebel leader who captured and tortured to death
then-President Samuel Doe said yesterday that the federal government
should not suppress the opposition adding that he had been "born again"
after an "encounter with God" and was no longer involved in politics. "I
am now redeemed and born again. I am here to bring the Gospel to the
people", Yormie Johnson said in an interview on the private Channels
Television, based in Lagos. The former rebel leader, who has been living
in exile in Nigeria for more than five years, said his sudden change of
heart was brought about through "divine providence" after an "encounter
with God." Johnson led the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia
(INPFL), a splinter rebel group that captured Doe and tortured him to
death in September 1990, less than a year after a brutal civil war broke
out in Liberia. Dressed in a well-tailored suit, Johnson said that his
religious beliefs meant he was no longer interested in participating in
Liberian politics. He said the war-ravaged country needed "spiritual
revival," which he would promote. The civil war in Liberia ended in August
1996 with signature of a peace accord in Abuja and presidential elections
are due to take place in May. Johnson urged those former warlords who are
unsuccessful in the election to accept their defeat in good faith. "A
leader that will emerge after the May election must be a reconciler, a
unifier," he said. He urged the country's new leaders not to suppress
opposition. "Great leaders must expect stiff opposition," he said.
Johnson also praised the Nigerian-led west Africa peace-keeping force in
Liberia (ECOMOG) for its efforts to restore peace.

IN BRIEF ...

Detained former oil minister Chief Don Etiebet has travelled to Lagos
after three weeks of house arrest in Abuja. Etiebet declined to answer
questions from journalists.

Relations of those who died in the November ADC airlines crash will
receive at least $25,000 from the plane's insurers for each victim. Those
in higher socio-economic groups will receive up to $50,000. All 132 people
on board the Boeing 727 died when it crashed into a lagoon near Lagos.

The Presidency may be delaying relocation of the London office of Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, pending investigation of alleged secret
bank accounts.

Four university lecturers have been abducted by security agents in a dawn
raid at their official quarters at the Federal University of Technology
Akure, last Friday. The victims Dr Esan Aderinmola, Dr Bayo Aborishade, Dr
Raymond Osemaran and Mr S.A. Akinyoju. No official reasons were given for
the action.

Nigeria's airspace remains among safest in world despite a spate of
accidents in recent months, Fidelis Kaigama, director-general at the
aviation ministry, says.

Traders sell a bag of cement above the 300 naira ceiling price fixed by
the military government in January.

The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, designed to encourage direct
foreign investment, will soon be inaugurated by government.

Speculative trading is to blame for big falls in the prices of several
blue chip shares trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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