Sunday, 30 June 2013
Fashola, his Lagos, and the ‘bottom millions’
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, turned 50 last week. Not unexpectedly, it went without fanfare, in keeping with the man’s character.
What better time than now – on the occasion of his 50th birthday, and midway into his second and final term as Governor of Lagos State – to reflect on his impact on Lagos, and on the place of the city in the Nigeria of the 21st century.
Lagos is Africa’s second most populated city – estimates range from 12 million to 18 million, depending on who you’re asking – and one of the fastest growing “megacities” in the world; expected to add another five million inhabitants by 2025.
It remains Nigeria’s commercial hub, two decades after the relocation of the seat of government to Abuja; according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, 50 per cent of the cash in circulation in the country is in Lagos.
I’ve seen two different figures for the size of the Lagos economy; The Economist magazine, in a 2011 article, quoted $45bn. Renaissance Capital, in its most recent Nigeria report, put the Lagos economy at $32bn – the equivalent of the entire Kenyan economy, and larger than Ethiopia’s. (It is important to note that most of the Lagos economy is informal; artisans, market women, taxi drivers, domestic servants, and hawkers, among others whose financial transactions take place outside of formal banking and taxation systems).
Lagos is also the only state in Nigeria whose Internally Generated Revenue about doubles its allocation from oil earnings, and is the model every other state is copying in the drive to improve tax revenues.
But Lagos is also a deeply dysfunctional city – the accumulation of years of government neglect, while the city grew like a cancer. Someone pressed “Pause” for infrastructure and did “Fast-forward” for population, creating a 1970s’ city expected to cope with the challenges of a 21st century world.
Sometimes, one needs to listen to foreign commentators to get a sense of the intensity of the city’s malaise. Lagos conditions us to no longer notice these things – a classic case of familiarity breeding a false, dangerous, and strange comfort.
Of the city, a visiting foreigner said (quote taken from “Diary of a Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager” – a 2010 book inspired by the global economic meltdown):
“Lagos looked to me like a city where aliens had come and built the city and then left, and then just sort of let it decay […] You’d go one block off a main thoroughfare and the road is dirt. You go to a nice neighbourhood, all the houses are behind walls and outside the walls, there’s somebody cooking on a garbage fire, right outside the walls of some big house. It’s like nothing I’ve seen anywhere else.”
That aptly summarises the Lagos that exists – a city of paradoxes best explained in the startling, random, insistent juxtapositions of wealth and poverty.
It is this sprawling, festering metropolis that Fashola is expected to manage, and transform. As he himself acknowledged in a 2010 interview: “The deficit of infrastructure of about three decades can’t be turned around in just two years or eight years.”
Fashola himself brings to governance an intensely cerebral air (he seems more suited to a university classroom than an assembly of political chieftains), an understatedness that we do not typically associate with public office in these parts, and a knack for creatively talking and thinking about the solutions to the city’s problems (he has himself said all he’s doing is implementing the manifesto of his party. And indeed, many of his achievements should be seen in the light of structures rising atop foundations laid by Bola Tinubu, his predecessor).
Sometime in 2008, a year after he was first elected Governor, I happened upon his official SUV at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, and caught a glimpse of a pile of books and newspapers on the back seat. I was able to make out three titles:
“Planet of Slums” (by Mike Davis), “Giving” (by Bill Clinton) and “Economics For Dummies” (by Sean Masaki Flynn and Peter Antonioni).
I found the choices of the books instructive. Take “Planet of Slums” as an example – the message I got from seeing that book in the Governor’s car was this: An administrator concerned by the reputation of his city as a slum-factory (according to the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre, there are 120 different slum communities in Lagos today, a 3-fold increase from 30 years ago).
The Economist magazine’s 2011 profile of Fashola is titled “A rare good man”. It’s hard to disagree. But dogging that good man is an albatross, and quite a big one at that: The outlook of his government on Lagos’ poorest people – the “Bottom Millions”, to use the term made popular by Prof. Paul Collier.
It’s not that the governor has a pathological dislike for the poor – at least, I don’t think so. Listen to him talk about his realisation that there’s a place in the Lagos he envisions, for the not-so-well-off (in the 2010 interview quoted from above):
“I don’t see how we would have a Lagos without the man selling meat by the roadside. All we insist is that he cleans it up. I cannot imagine Lagos without those women peeling their oranges, that’s also part of the character of Lagos. You cannot imagine Lagos without the suya man at night, in Obalende, if you want to go there to eat barbecue meat.”
Alas, the road to the actualisation of that vision has been paved with broken dreams and lives and shattered hopes. Let me share a true story – an encounter I had a year ago, somewhere on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, as I waited to be picked up by a friend. This is how I narrated it in a column I published shortly after:
“Last week, I stood under an umbrella in Victoria Island, watching Lagos rush beneath a rain that couldn’t make up its mind whether it wanted to stop or not. Next to me were two elderly women, petty traders from what I could see. They were discussing Fashola, in Yoruba.
‘Fashola is wicked,’ said one. ‘He terrifies me.’ They shared stories of the state government’s sustained assault on the city’s poorest; the demolitions and evictions everywhere from Oshodi to Amukoko. They compared it to the wiping out of Maroko (in the early ‘90s). ‘When this rain is done, ‘they’ will find fresh victims, claiming that the houses are sitting on drainage channels,’ one of them lamented.”
Since that encounter, the Lagos demolition train has moved on to Ijora Badia, and who knows where else? In its body language, the Lagos we all know advertises and represents itself as “No Place for Poor People”.
From street hawkers consistently terrorised by Kick Against Indiscipline operatives to taxi drivers priced out of business by the government’s decision to phase out the trademark yellow-and-black taxis in favour of brand new cabs, to dumpsite dwellers at the mercy of a government that has no plans for them, to the multitudes forced out of the city into the hinterland under a puzzling ‘deportation’ programme. Are we asking ourselves this troubling question: All those former okada riders now out of work – where are they; what are they doing; how are they surviving?
There is what seems to be a disproportionate government focus on the wealthier sections of the city, at the expense of the poor, which disregards the fact that twice as many Lagosians live on the Mainland as on the Islands. On the low-income mass housing front, it doesn’t seem that the government is doing enough, compared to the attention being focused on developing, say, Eko Atlantic City. The impressive bid by architect Kunle Adeyemi to regenerate Makoko through innovative housing solutions is now in limbo, threatened by a state government that has declared it “illegal”. Yet, this is perhaps the only state government in Nigeria that can boast having an “Innovation Advisory Council”.
There’s also the fact that Lagos is not the most transparent of state governments, fuelling suspicion that there’s much more that the state could be doing with the resources it has. And then I don’t think the state government is putting enough pressure on the local government(s) – who are grandmasters of revenue collection but utterly hopeless at governance – to justify their existence.
I acknowledge Fashola’s dilemma. On the one hand is the vision to speedily subvert the decay and dysfunction that have long plagued the city, and set it on the path to becoming a city that stays ahead of its needs; on the other hand is the need to ensure that the envisioned Lagos is not leaving anyone, no matter how poor, behind. Fashola needs to temper the “Eko O Ni Baje!” vision with a “No One Left Behind” philosophy.
It’s very tricky, no doubt: On the one hand, Oshodi needed to be sanitised; on the other hand is the fate of its displaced masses; they can’t simply be wished into oblivion.
It’s a fine balance, and the way Fashola handles it will go a long way towards determining his lasting legacy when he steps down as Governor about 700 days from now.
Courtesy: Punchngr
Tobacco taxes, smoking bans set to save millions of lives
Anti-smoking measures including higher taxes on tobacco products, bans on adverts and controls on lighting up in public places could prevent tens of millions of premature deaths across the world, researchers said on Monday.
Similar steps taken by Turkey, Romania and 39 other countries between 2007 and 2010 were already saving lives, the independent study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
"If the progress attained by these ... countries were extended globally, tens of millions of smoking-related deaths could be averted," Professor David Levy, the study's lead author from Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, said in the WHO's monthly bulletin.
Wider use of the controls could also lead to lower health care costs and higher birth weights for babies, he added.
Tobacco-control measures already introduced in the 41 countries, that also included Pakistan, Argentina and Italy, were on track to persuade an estimated 15 million people not to smoke, the study said. That would prevent around 7.4 million smoking-related deaths by 2050, it added.
The researchers found the most effective measures were increasing taxes and banning smoking in offices, restaurants and other public places. The first method would prevent 3.5 million smoking-attributable deaths, while the second would prevent 2.5 million, they said.
"If anything it is an under-estimate," Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's department of noncommunicable diseases, told Reuters in an interview in his Geneva office.
"It is a win-win situation for health and finance ministries to generate revenues that have a major impact on improving health and productivity," he added.
Turkey's steps led to a sharp drop in smoking rates to 41.5 percent among men in 2012 from 47.9 percent in 2008, he said.
Six million people die every year from smoking and the toll is projected to rise to eight million by 2030, according to the WHO, a United Nations agency waging war on "Big Tobacco".
The WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into force in 2005, lays down measures to curb smoking and tobacco use. About 175 countries have ratified the pact, shunned by others that are home to large tobacco companies, including the United States, Switzerland and Indonesia.
Measures include raising taxes on tobacco products to 75 percent of the final retail price, smoke-free air policies, warnings on cigarette packages, bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and offering treatments to kick the habit.
"We know that in many poor countries, the poor spend a lot of money on tobacco. They would be able to use it for nutrition and education which is a huge opportunity cost," said Dr. Edouard Tursan d'Espaignet, from WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.
Coutesy: cbnnews
Grandson hits back in family feud over Nelson Mandela's burial site
Mandla Mandela's criticisms were the latest attack in a family feud that appears to be worsening as Mandela, 94, lies gravely ill in a Pretoria hospital. His condition, described as "critical but stable", was unchanged.
A legal battle that affects where Nelson Mandela will be buried is "disappointing", "baffling" and "contrary to our customs", the former South African president's grandson said on Sunday.
Mandla Mandela's criticisms were the latest attack in a family feud that appears to be worsening as Mandela, 94, lies gravely ill in a Pretoria hospital. His condition, described as "critical but stable", was unchanged.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his former wife, said there were no family discussions on switching off his life support, which includes a ventilator necessary for him to breathe.
"What is happening is God's wish," she said. She spoke after 16 of her former husband's relatives won a court directive ordering the return of remains of three of Mandela's children to Qunu, where the anti-apartheid activist lived as a boy.
Nelson Mandela previously said that he wanted his grave to be alongside two of his sons, who died in 1969 and 2005, and a daughter who died as an infant in 1948, and who had been buried in Qunu.
But Mandla, 39, ordered the bodies to be exhumed two years ago without the family's approval and they were taken to Mvezo, the village where Mr Mandela was born and where Mandla is chief. The remains are understood to be in simple graves on the compound of a cultural centre and museum built by Mandla in Mvezo, about 20 miles south-west of Qunu.
This appears to have been an attempt to put pressure on the family to agree to move the elder statesman's eventual grave site to Mvezo, which would then become a lucrative tourist pilgrimage site. Mandla, whose father was Mandela's second son, is expected to go to court on Monday in Mthatha, the nearest town to Qunu, to oppose the order.
"The way we are handling these matters is contrary to our customs and a deep disappointment to my grandfather and his ancestors," he said in a statement. He added that he was "sad" that his relatives had resorted to court action. He repeated remarks he has made before, that "we as a family [should] avoid actions and decisions that will infringe on the dignity of my grandfather".
The family has been involved in earlier legal battles over how to manage Mandela's legacy, which Mandla said at the time were "a clear squabble over [my] grandfather's monies".
A chief of the Thembu people of South Africa's Eastern Cape claimed that the remains must be returned to Qunu to allow Mandela to die peacefully. "Mandela's soul is not at peace," he told South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper.
"The ancestors will only be appeased once the remains of the Mandela family are reburied at Qunu. Only then will Tata be released."
Courtesy: dnaindian
Tributes pour in for Oliha
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NCC rules out extension of SIM registration deadline
INDICATIONS emerged Sunday that the NCC would not extend the deadline date for SIM disconnection in Nigeria. The commission had fixed Sunday, June 30 for the disconnection of unregistered SIMs in the country.
In The Guardian’s enquiry to NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Tony Ojobo, yesterday on possible extension date, Ojobo simply replied, “No extension”
Another NCC top official, who spoke to The Guardian on the condition of anonymity, said the SIM registration process has been on for the past two years, stressing that the process shouldn’t have lasted more than six months. “But, because of several pleas, it was extended. NCC seems to be very firm on its position. There won’t be any extension.”
The official said there is need to bring sanity to the system, saying, “Even the operators that are demanding for extension were very reluctant carrying out the SIM registration. NCC had to come in. When it is now time to put everything in order, they are seeking more time. I don’t think that will be possible. No extension in sight.”
This decision seems to have dashed the hope of telecommunications operators, who under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) yesterday appealed to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to extend the deadline date for Subscribers Identifications Modules (SIM) registration, which ended yesterday.
Specifically, the operators have asked the NCC for a three months extension, which to them would allow them ensure all that are supposed to register do the registration.
Specifically, the operators have asked the NCC for a three-month extension, which to them would allow them ensure all that are supposed to register do the registration.
ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo in a letter to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, said that in the light of the security and the general logistic problems, it has been difficult for subscribers, registration agents and members of the association to meet the June 30, 2013 deadline.
ALTON members include the mobile service operators - MTN; Globacom; Etisalat; Airtel, Visafone; Starcomms; Multilinks. Other include; Internet Service Providers, among others.
Adebayo’s letter made available to The Guardian at the weekend dated June 28, 2013 reads: “We write in respect of the SIM card registration exercise and the instruction for mass disconnection of unregistered subscribers with effect from Sunday, June 30, 2013 to our members.
“We would like to draw your attention that although the SIM card registration has been ongoing for sometimes but subscribers has embraced this exercise more in the past few weeks leading to the June 30, 2013 deadline.
“Also, in the light of the security situation in the country and the general logistic problem, it has been difficult for subscribers, registration agents and members of the association to meet the June 30, 2013 deadline.
“We appreciate the effort of the commission on this process and the attendant public awareness campaign over the past few weeks and we believe that the exercise will be more successful if an extension of time is considered.
“We hereby request for a three months extension to the SIM Card Registration exercise in order for its overall exercise.
“We thank you for your kind consideration of our request and we assure you of our support and cooperation at all times, as we remain yours faithfully.”
However, on April 22 at the launch of Mobile Number Portability scheme in Lagos, the NCC’s EVC said SIM registration remains an ongoing exercise, but was emphatic that the present SIM registration exercise would end, stressing that the commission wants to collate the data formally.
The NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Tony Ojobo had on May 10 informed that every unregistered SIMs in the country would be disconnected yesterday, June 30.
Indeed, investigations revealed last minute rush of subscribers, who besieged various networks agent to complete and ensure their SIMs were registered.
An Airtel agent in Oshodi, who simply gave her name as Bimpe told The Guardian that there has been massive turnout of people in the last 72 hours.
“The last 72 hours have been very hectic. The subscribers besieged us massively for registration. I can say that we registered five times the number we do register before.
“Before, about 70 subscribers in a day, but the last 72 hours were different. I think the authorities should extend it a bit.”
Courtesy: Guardiannews
NUPENG Commences 3-Day Warning Strike
NIMASA Vs NLNG: As The ‘War’ Over Levies Continues…
BETWEEN the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (NLNG), it is about who throws the next dice. What started like a little dispute between the two institutions of equal substance has assumed a major conflict that could inflict severe damage on the economy if allowed to continue.
The crisis over alleged refusal to pay statutory charges and levies deepened a week ago as NIMASA served detention notice to vessels belonging to/chartered by NLNG. While NLNG Niger described the action as violation of a court order, NIMASA said it was unware of any injunction and that it was enforcing extant laws, which empowers it to collect charges from maritime operators.
A statement by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, NIMASA, Isichei Osamgbi, read: “The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has today in its enforcement of Nigerian laws, served detention notices/orders on vessels belonging to/chartered by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (NLNG).
“This course of action was forced on NIMASA by the NLNG’s subsequent refusal or/and failure to abide by the outcome of the negotiated settlement arrived at through the mediation process it willingly instigated and subscribed to after reaching agreement with NIMASA on its outstanding debt and paying $20m out of it and its continued flagrant disregard for Nigerian laws.
“Contrary to NLNG’s position, NIMASA is not aware of any court order against it or any suit brought by NLNG against NIMASA.
“By its action, the NLNG has trivialised the mediation process and the position of the Federal Government of Nigeria whose Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation owns and holds 49 per cent of the shares in NLNG and which endorsed the agreement reached that NLNG should pay its taxes/levies and observe all its obligations under the laws of Nigeria in which it is operating.”
Spokesman of NLNG, Kudo Eresia-Eke, had described the action as a flagrant disregard for court order while disclosing NIMASA’s restriction of LNG Enugu, LNG Oyo and LNG Imo, were from leaving the company’s loading bay.
“The potential implications of this current action by NIMASA on Nigeria LNG operations are enormous and would impact negatively on its international customers,” she said.
NLNG said it paid about N3.2 billion in outstanding levies to NIMASA “under protest” and filed a suit on June 18 against the agency to seek judicial interpretation on the legality of the levies.
On May 18, NLNG was directed to pay outstanding levies to NIMASA after an arbitration panel ruled that the liquefied gas giant was not exempted from the levies due to NIMASA. The presidency and the Ministry of Transportation, at different stages, had waded into the feud that dates back to the days of Dr. Ade Dosunmu.
After a long-drawn negotiating process, the duo agreed to the payment of an estimated sum of about N26.8billion, out of the N32.8 billion NIMASA had estimated the arrears owed by NLNG from the period of the presumed expiration of the waivers granted the company by the Federal Government at inception.
Dosunmu had moved to mine the obviously huge funding option
via a letter dated August 20, 2007 and addressed to then Minister of Transportation (Water). The former NIMASA boss had informed the minister of the agency’s readiness to commence the collection of the three per cent “statutory levy on the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited sale/commercial shipment of its gas and other hydrocation products.
“At the inception of the NLNG project in 1988/89, the Minister may wish to recall that in recognition of its magnitude and in consideration of the huge investment to be made by the foreign joint venture partners, the Federal Government granted a package of incentives and tax relief through the NLNG (Fiscal incentives, guarantees and assurances) Decree No. 39 of 1990…
“On duration or period of the relief granted section 2 provides:
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10 of the industrial (Income Tax Relief) Act 1971, the tax relief period of the company shall commence on the production day of the company and shall continue for a period of 10 years.
Dosunmu explained that under the repealed National Shipping Policy Act 1987, attempts by the legacy National Maritime Authority (NMA) to collect the three per cent statutory levy in the early 1990’s made the NLNG Limited to compel the Federal Government to extend the incentives and relief to include exemption from the payment of the agency three per cent levy.
According to him, this was done through the NLNG fiscal incentives guarantees and assurances Amendment Decree No. 113 of 1993.
Dosunmu insisted that the period of incentives and tax relief granted the NLNG had since elapsed, which makes it one of the agency’s sources of funding under section 17 of NIMASA Act 2007.”
The NIMASA boss had written previously: “Following the expiration of the incentives and the relief period, the agency is notifying the Minister that there is need to put the necessary logistics in place for the collection of our statutory three per cent levy on NLNG/BGT gas sale as it is done to all other commercial shipments in or out of Nigeria.”
A report said a reply from the ministry endorsed by Dr. Aliyu Jimada and dated September 26, 2007, said: “I have been directed to refer to your letter Ref. No. NIWA.1937/DG/FMOT/C.63 dated August 20, 2007 and to convey the Minister’s approval for you to commence action for the collection of the three percent statutory levy on the NLNG commercial shipments. You are, however, to engage outside consultants in the collection of this levy through due process and to forward your recommendation for approval.
Yet, another letter was issued to the NIMASA DG from the Minister of Water Transportation On March 3, 2008. Signed by Mrs. P.G. Bajoga, the letter stated: “I am directed to refer to a letter addressed to the Chairman, President Committee on Grant of Waivers and Tax Exemptions, Abuja dated 5th of November 2007… a copy of which was forwarded to Minister of Transportation (Water) and to inform you that the Minister … is in support for your request to demand for the statutory three per cent levy from NLNG as empowered in your Act”.
Dosunmu was said to have also on September 21, 2007, written NLNG Managing on the matter. He explained in the letter that the waivers the company enjoyed had elapsed and that the agency had been cleared by the Government to commence the collection of the said the statutory levies.
“The management of the Agency will appreciate a meeting with the management of NLNG with a view to sorting out the modalities for the commencement of the discharge of this statutory responsibility. On April 21, 2008, Dosunmu wrote a remainder letter. He wrote subsequently detailing the transaction data of NLNG.
A response from the NLNG Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chima Obineche, on July 24, 2008, argued that the company had not achieved the threshold upon which it the government said its tax holiday would elapse.
“The foregoing notwithstanding, we respond to each of your specific requests as follows: Commencement date of production
Trains one and two – September 15, 1999, Train three – November 28, 2002, Train four and five – November 2005 (note that Train five start-up was actually achieved in February 2006),” the NLNG boss noted.
She also insisted that the date of first shipment was October 9, 1999 for Train one and two, December 17, 2002 for Train three, January for Train four and five, noting that “NLNG maintains an integrated operation” while vessels are nominated and scheduled on the basis of “availability and other necessary considerations…
“It might interest you to know that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) the only body or institution in Nigeria statutorily charged with the determination, assessment, computation and collection of corporate income tax from entities subject to Federal Government taxation, recently advised from the results of their computation that the $3/mmbtu threshold as far back as 2003 and re-affirms our painstaking explanation … that that the assertion was totally incorrect… As you may be aware, the next calculation date falls due on October 9, 2008 and we now request with this confirmation from FIRS that we be allowed to continue our business without further issues being raised on this matter through your persistent demands for payments not due to you.”
In another letter, the company noted: “Nigeria LNG Limited’s business (including its shipments) cannot be subjected to the provisions of the NIMASA Act, such law not being of general application to all companies incorporated in Nigeria, especially as much as it relates to the payment of the three per cent levy.”
Many expected Dosunmu’s successor, Temi Omatseye, to pick the gauntlet but for whatever reason he was rather quiet on the matter for the two years he was in charge of the volatile maritime sector.
As the battle of wits between NIMASA and NLNG continues, the former, in a recent advertorial, claimed that as a self-finding body, the action of the gas company is incapacitating its operations, arguing that the blatant refusal to honour its liability is instigating non-compliance from other operators. Apart from paying the charges nine after the grace was said to have expired, NIMASA accused NLNG of rejecting demands that vessels used by its subsidiary, contractors and customers pay the stipulated two per cent cabotage of the contract sum.
Courtesy: Guardiannews
China willing to work with int'l community to help Africa eradicate poverty, hunger
China is willing to work with the international community to resolve problems of poverty and hunger as well as to address food security issues in Africa, said Qin Jian, Charge D'affaires of Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia.
The diplomat made the remarks on Sunday at the African ministerial meeting on the premises of the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which opened a High-Level Meeting on ending hunger in Africa by 2025.
The ministerial session, which was preceded by multi- stakeholder meeting on Saturday, will be followed by the meeting of heads of states on Monday to deliberate on ways of eradicating hunger from the African continent by 2025.
The High-Level Meeting is convened jointly by the AU, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Brazil's Lula Institute for a unified approach to eradicate hunger from Africa.
During the day-long ministerial meeting, China, Brazil and Vietnam along with African countries shared their successful experiences in the agriculture and food security sectors.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chinese diplomat said it is common responsibility of the international community to eliminate poverty and hunger in developing countries.
He said the international community should promote technology transfer and improve capacity building of developing countries.
The Charge D'affaires also reiterated that China would continue supporting developing countries, especially African countries to address problems in the areas of agriculture and food security towards poverty and hunger alleviation.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to eliminate poverty and hunger and this is a key lesson from China, said Qin.
"Under the framework of South-South cooperation, China has also helped and supported developing countries, especially African countries to enhance their agricultural productivity, encourage their food production and enhance their capacity to address the issues of poverty and hunger," he said.
The diplomat also recalled that China has established a number of agricultural demonstration centers in Africa with the provision of agricultural equipment.
He stated that China provides all the necessary support to Africa under the framework of South-South cooperation, which the diplomat said is based on mutual equality and benefits.
Qin added that China also supports the activities of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Africa.
During the meeting today, key African speakers highlighted on the need to share experiences from and strengthen the South-South partnership to achieve the goal of hunger eradication in Africa.
Courtesy
:Globaltimes
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PDP Must Reverse Decline In South West – Atiku
175 inmates released in southern Nigeria jailbreak
AKURE, Nigeria, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 175 inmates were released on Sunday when unknown gunmen stormed the Olokuta Medium Security Prison in Akure, the capital of southwest Nigeria's Ondo State, according to sources and officials.
State controller of prisons Tunde Olayiwola confirmed to Xinhua the jailbreak and the number of escapees, describing the incident as unusual at the facility, which is only a kilometer away from the headquarters of an Army Brigade.
He said a prison official was injured during the attack and the victim is now receiving treatment at a government-run health facility in the state.
"I am assuring that those behind the attack will be brought to justice, although we cannot specifically identify or suspect any group of persons for now," Olayiwola said, dispelling rumors that the attack was carried out by a militant sect known to have its base in the northeastern region of Nigeria.
Another prison source who asked to remain anonymous shed more light on the incident, saying the gunmen gained entry into the prison by blowing off the wall leading to the inmates' cell.
"The gunmen shot sporadically in the air," the source said further, adding a part of the prison was riddled with bullets.
State police chief Patrick Dokumor, who was among early callers at the facility, led high-ranking government officials, including the Attorney General of Ondo State Eyitayo Jegede, to the attacked prison.
"The incident has nothing to do with terrorism. I will like to implore the people of the state to continue with their normal duty and also assure that the police will continue to protect lives and properties," Dokumor said, adding investigation had commenced on the jailbreak.
Culled from xinhuanet.
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Young protesters attack Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo
Hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of Cairo and cities around the country Sunday and marched on the presidential palace, filling a broad avenue for blocks, in an attempt to force out the Islamist president with the most massive protests Egypt has seen in 2? years of turmoil.
In a sign of the explosive volatility of the country's divisions, young protesters mainly from the surrounding neighborhood pelted the main headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood with stones and firebombs, and at one point a fire erupted at the gates of the walled villa. During clashes, Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside opened fire on the attackers, and activists said at least five protesters were killed.
At least five more anti-Morsi protesters were killed Sunday in clashes and shootings in southern Egypt.
Egyptians are "fed up with a president they blame for the country's economic woes and deteriorating security situation, including a spike in murders and sexual assaults," CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward reported.
Fears were widespread that the two sides could be heading to a violent collision in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a legitimate vote. Thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor and sticks.
An Egyptian protester waves a national flag as Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him.
The protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against Morsi, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president. But throughout the day and even up to midnight at the main rallying sites, fears of rampant violence did not materialize.
Instead the mood was largely festive as protesters at giant anti-Morsi rallies in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and outside the Ittihadiya palace spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.
Fireworks went off overhead. Men and women, some with small children on their shoulders, beat drums, danced and sang, "By hook or by crook, we will bring Morsi down." Residents in nearby homes showered water on marchers below -- some carrying tents in preparation to camp outside the palace -- to cool them in the summer heat, and blew whistles and waved flags in support.
"Mubarak took only 18 days although he had behind him the security, intelligence and a large sector of Egyptians," said Amr Tawfeeq, an oil company employee marching toward Ittihadiya with a Christian friend. Morsi "won't take long. We want him out and we are ready to pay the price."
The massive outpouring against Morsi raises the question of what is next. Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets until he steps down, and organizers called for widespread labor strikes starting Monday. The president, in turn, appears to be hoping protests wane.
For weeks, Morsi's supporters have depicted the planned protest as a plot by Mubarak loyalists. But their claims were undermined by the extent of Sunday's rallies. In Cairo and a string of cities in the Nile Delta and on the Mediterranean coast, the protests topped even the biggest protests of the 2011's 18-day uprising, including the day Mubarak quit, Feb. 11, when giant crowds marched on Ittihadiya.
It is unclear now whether the opposition, which for months has demanded Morsi form a national unity government, would now accept any concessions short of his removal. The anticipated deadlock raises the question of whether the army, already deployed on the outskirts of cities, will intervene. Protesters believe the military would throw its weight behind them, tipping the balance against Morsi. The country's police, meanwhile, were hardly to be seen Sunday.
"If the Brothers think that we will give up and leave, they are mistaken," said lawyer Hossam Muhareb as he sat with a friend on a sidewalk near the presidential palace. "They will give up and leave after seeing our numbers."
Violence could send the situation spinning into explosive directions.
The fire at the Brotherhood headquarters, located on a plateau overlooking Cairo, sent smoke pouring in the air, even as youths clashed with Brotherhood supporters at the site. Three on the anti-Morsi side were shot to death, and 60 were wounded, an activist who monitored casualties at the hospital, Nazli Hussein, said.
Southern Egypt saw deadly attacks on anti-Morsi protests, and five people were killed. Two protesters were shot to death during clashes outside offices of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, one in Beni Suef, the other in Fayoum.
In the city of Assiut, a stronghold of Islamists, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a protest in which tens of thousands were participating,, killing one person, wounding four others and sending the crowd running.
The enraged protesters then marched on the nearby Freedom and Justice offices, where gunmen inside opened fire, killing two more, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the press. Clashes erupted, with protesters and security forces fighting side by side against Morsi's supporters.
At least 400 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said.
culled from cbsnews
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Nigeria to vet coach Stephen Keshi's squad selection
28 June 2013
Last updated at 13:12 GMT
Nigeria to vet coach Stephen Keshi's squad selection
By Oluwashina Okelej
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Aminu Maigari has revealed coach Stephen Keshi will no longer be solely responsible for selecting the squad.
Maigari queried Keshi's selection for the Confederations Cup in Brazil, which Nigeria exited at the group stage, and said he is dissatisfied with the current set-up.
"The Confederations Cup is a big tournament and that's why the other teams brought their best players," Maigari told Supersport's Soccer Africa show.
"Spain brought their best players, but we did not. Why would you bring a local player to play Spain at such a big stage?
“
No-one has come to tell me who to pick and not to select - if the team fails the coach is responsible
”
Stephen Keshi
"This is unacceptable. We have experienced players that were not selected and this is where we have to step in.
'The coach doesn't have the sole responsibility on squad selection. We all have to contribute. This team belongs to 165 million people.
"Selections should affect all these people so we cannot continue to let this happen because we need to compete well with others."
Maigari received widespread criticism for his revelation that the NFF will interfere with team selection.
And Keshi has been quick to assert his belief that the NFF will not meddle in team affairs.
"I understand Nigerians are emotive and sentimental sometimes but all the players that went to Brazil deserved to be there," Keshi told BBC Sport.
"I'm the coach and I can honestly listen to constructive ideas on how we can improve as a team.
"But no-one has come to tell me who to pick and not to select. If the team fails the coach is responsible.
"As the coach, it's my decision and responsibility. For now, the local players have earned the rights to be in the team."
Back in February, Keshi offered to quit his post just hours after leading Nigeria to their first Africa Cup of Nations crown since 1994, following disputes with the NFF.
But he made a U-turn after an emergency meeting with Nigeria's Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi in Johannesburg
Super Eagles’ Handler: Keshi Or Foreign Coach?
29.06.2013, 9:46 
Football
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the Super Eagles of Nigeria early ouster from the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup in Brasil. While some described Eagles performance as satisfactory, others say the team is technically bereft and called for injection of foreign coach to restore the lost glory of the national team.
According to a former NFA chairman, Mr Kojo Williams, "I just think that we were technically bereft. I said it before that we needed sound technical guys to come in and work with our team, because if we left the job to the present coaches, then we would get more hammering in the future and that was what happened in Brazil.
Keshi and Renard "If we are contented being among the best in Africa I don't have problem with that. We can continue with what we are doing with Keshi but if we want to be among the best in the world then we must help Keshi with a good foreign coach", Kojo maintained.
Speaking in the same vein, Sports analyst and promoter, Martins Osaile said Keshi's managerial ability was poor as there was no reason for him to have left some of Nigeria's most experienced players out of the squad that prosecuted the Confederations Cup in Brazil. Meanwhile, Executive Chairman of Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick disagreed with both Kojo and Osaile.
According to him, coach Stephen Keshi should be celebrated and not despised for the Confederations Cup failure. Amaju said: "It is fundamentally wrong to assume that Keshi has reached his limit. Keshi should not be condemned but celebrated. He has been on duty for only two years and within this period we won the Nations Cup, something we were doing under an indigenous coach for the first time.
Everybody is celebrating Alex Ferguson for the feat he achieved with Manchester United. But how many years did he work before he won his first trophy?", he queried.
So where do you stand in this argument; for or against foreign coach? Should Keshi continue based on his performance or should we get a foreign coach?
15-year-old Canadian girl invents flashlight powered only by body heat and earns spot in Google Science Fair finals
By Ashley Collman
This girl's science project really puts your baking soda volcano to shame
A 15-year-old girl in Canada has invented a flashlight that only needs the warmth of the hand to turn on.
Ann Makosinski, a high school junior in Victoria, British Columbia, was trying to think of a way of harvesting untapped energy when she was inspired to make the flashlight.
She realized that the warmth generated by the human body was an overlooked energy source.
Her project objective was to create a flashlight that ran solely off the heat of the hand.
That objective was accomplished when she discovered Peltier tiles, which produce electricity when one side of the tile is heated and the other is cooled.
Makosinski realized she could use these tiles to create energy for her flashlight if she left the device hollow.
Holding the flashlight on the outside would cause the tiles to heat up on one side while the ambient air would cool down the tile on the inside of the flashlight.
The power created by the tiles was enough to power an LED light, but it did not create enough voltage.
To troubleshoot that issue she created a circuit that would allow for transformers, upping the voltage.
It worked! The flashlight does have one issue: it works better in colder temperatures since the inside is better able to cool down comparative to the person's body heat.
The flashlight has been able to maintain light for over 20 minutes which makes it a handy device in case of emergencies
All in all, the flashlight cost her $26 dollars to make, which is a little pricier than most flashlights but understandable considering it eliminates having to keep buying new batteries.
And she thinks that if her flashlight were mass produced, she could get the price down to even cheaper.
In September Makosinski will be one of fifteen finalists presenting her project at the Google Science Fair in Mountain View, California.
The winner gets a prize of $50,000 and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2351791/15-year-old-Canadian-girl-invents-flashlight-powered-body-heat-earns-spot-Google-Science-Fair-finals.html#ixzz2XfsCd9FZ
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WHO wants HIV patients treated sooner to save lives, halt spread
Kazakhs educate youth about drugs
TARAZ, Kazakhstan – Taraz municipal officials and police June 26 held an anti-drug event in a local park and burned more than 18kg of seized drugs, the Interior Ministry said in a June 28 statement. The event coincided with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Doctors and representatives of drug rehabilitation centres informed youths in attendance about the health dangers of using illegal drugs. Police told them about the legal consequences and described how they are fighting drug trafficking. They also demonstrated the speed with which sniffer dogs can detect hidden drugs.
After the drug incineration, the event ended with a concert.
culled from http://centralasiaonline.com
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