Mandela at 94, 12million pupils sings

 By The Nation: Reporter

 

•Mandela with his family during the celebrations…yesterday

South Africans rose in salute to their legendary former president, Nelson Mandela, who turned 94 yesterday, celebrating him with “67 minutes of good deeds”.
Leading the celebrations were no fewer than 12 million school children, who sang a specially composed birthday song for Madiba as Mandela is popularly known.
Each minute of the “67 minutes of good deeds” marks each year of Mandela’s struggle against white-minority rule. He was in prison for 27 years under the apartheid regime.
Mandela regained his freedom in 1990 and led the African National Congress (ANC) to victory in 1994 in elections that followed the post-apartheid years. He left office in 1999 after serving for one term.
Mandela marked the birthday quietly in his ancestral village of Qunu in the remote Eastern Cape province.
He spent the day with close family, friends and former United States (US) President Bill Clinton.
Clinton, accompanied by his daughter Chelsea, opened a new library for the No-Moscow Primary School in Qunu, ahead of his meeting with Mr Mandela. 
He told the children - believed in the future and not the past. 
“When I think about Mandela I always think about someone committed to the future,” Clinton said.
US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, also paid tributes to Mr Mandela. 
The US first couple hailed Mr Mandela’s “extraordinary life and steadfast commitment to the principles of democracy and reconciliation”. 
Mandela’s birthday is traditionally celebrated with the poor communities receiving help from those who are more fortunate. 
To celebrate the number of years Mr Mandela spent in public life, people are encouraged to spend at least 67 minutes of their time helping those who are less fortunate. 
The guest list for a private lunch with Mr Mandela was kept a closely guarded secret. 
South Africans celebrated with giant cakes, mass renditions of “Happy Birthday” 
But beyond the mawkish tributes to South Africa’s first black president, the day revealed the unseemly scramble among companies, politicians and charities for a slice of the reflected glory of “Madiba”.
The ANC released a 1,450 word eulogy to its totemic former leader, exhorting the country’s 50 million people to “continue to build the South Africa of Madiba’s dreams”.
Yet only last week, anti-apartheid heroine and Mandela ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was accusing the ANC in a leaked letter of “shabby treatment” of the family and wanting to wheel them out only “when we have to be used for some agenda”.
The “67 minutes” Mandela Day charity push has also re-opened old wounds amid criticism it is merely a vehicle for whites and the newly rich black elite to assuage the guilt of living at the top of what remains one of the most unequal societies, even 18 years after the end of apartheid.
Leading the charge was Luther Lebelo, head of an ANC branch in Johannesburg, who wrote an article in the Sowetan newspaper suggesting the day was about “little cosmetic charity activities” that only served to perpetuate class divisions.
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, as the official guardians of his image are known,
hit back in the same paper, taking particular exception to Lebelo’s reference to the “so-called Mandela Foundation”.
The jibe reflects a view widely held among South Africa’s overwhelming black majority that whites have managed to co-opt Mandela and his image since the first all-race elections in 1994.
The Mandela centre has also become embroiled in a commercial battle with members of his family over the selling of Mandela-branded clothing via its ‘46664’ fashion range, named after the number he was given during his 27 years in prison.

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World food prices dropped in May - FAO

By Agency Reporter 

 

 FAO Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva [ Photo: Getty Images

World food prices dropped in May for a second month in a row, hit by steep falls in dairy products, sugar and other commodities, and are likely to fall further in the coming months, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday.
Food prices grabbed attention of the world leaders after their spike to record highs in February 2011 helped fuel the protests known as the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa.
Food prices have fallen since.
Reuters says improvement in the security of food supplies amid the economic downturn was high on the agenda of a summit of leaders of the G8 industrial powers last month.
The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 204 points in May, down from 213 points in April, the FAO said in its monthly index update.
"We were expecting a decline in May, the surprise is the extent of it, which showed that markets for oils and fats, dairy products and sugar all had to make sharp downward adjustments," Abdolreza Abbassian, FAO's senior economist and grain analyst, told Reuters.
In May, an improved outlook for crops in some major producing countries, a strengthening United States dollar, which hits competitiveness of dollar-denominated commodities, and growing concerns about Europe's debt crisis pushed prices down.
"We're in a situation where supplies have improved and we've had quite a big spillover from other markets which were all down," Abbassian said.
"The steep price drop in May meant that even if further declines were seen in June, they would probably be less marked, " he added.
The index was driven down by a 12 percent fall in dairy prices, a nine percent drop in sugar and a seven percent decline in oils and fats.

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ThisDay: we won’t be deterred

By Our Reporter

 

Sympathisers in front of This Day’s office in Abuja...yesterday

ThisDay issued a statement last night on the attacks. The statement, signed by Managing Director Eniola Bello, entitled: “Simultaneous attack on ThisDay Abuja, Kaduna offices…an attck on journalism and free speech”,  reads: “At about 11:05 am today, a suicide bomber drove an SUV into the premises of our Abuja office, rammed his vehicle into the building housing our printing presses, igniting a massive explosion and fuelling speculations it was a suicide bomber. About the same time, our Abuja office was under siege, the building housing our office, along with two other newspapers’ in Kaduna, came under another bomb attack.

“In Abuja, we can confirm the death of our security man, by name Christopher Sadiq. Three passers-by and the suicide bomber also died. Eight of our staff, who sustained injuries, are receiving treatment at the National Hospital. The roof of the building was blown off, the power generator burnt, the printing plant damaged.

“We regard the coordinated bombings as an attack on journalism and free speech. However, we want to assure our readers and advertisers that we remain committed to the fundamental principles on which the newspaper is founded: democracy, free enterprise and social justice. We will not be deterred in our pursuit of truth and reason. No amount of threat or intimidation will weaken our resolve.

“While thanking all the government agencies, particularly Fire Service, VIO and FRSC, that rallied to put the situation under control and restore normalcy, we urge the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the obviously co-ordinated attacks and fish out the masterminds.”

Nigeria is going broke, says Okonjo-Iweala

By The Nation: Nduka Chiejina, Abuja 

 

Okonjo-Iweala

NIGERIANS got yesterday a rare insight into this country’s financial health.

But the news is not cheery. The country is going broke, with only $3.6 billion left in the excess crude account, Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. 

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy (CME) spoke when she met with members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja to discuss the government’s transformation agenda. 

In her view, governors’ insistence on sharing every revenue is unhealthy for the country. 

With just $3.6 billion left in the excess crude account after withdrawals to augment monthly allocations to the three tiers of government, Dr Okonjo-Iweala warned that “should the price of oil drop, we have no cushion”.

“The $3.6 billion in the excess crude account is not enough to sustain Nigeria for any period of time,” she said. 

Following the governors’ determination to share everything that comes into the federation account as stipulated by the Constitution, the minister wondered aloud: “how many governors have saved any money? They should understand the dynamics.” 

While she admitted that some governors have saved some money from their states’ allocations, Dr Okonjo-Iweala noted that “if we don’t have arguments of constitutionality and fiscal federalism, we will progress and we need to address this”.

By this, she meant that there should be less talk about what the Constitution says and the desire for fiscal federalism and concentrate on saving for the future. 

But, advocates of fiscal federalism insists it should be no problem, if the Federal Government agrees to reduce its share of the revenue allocation and allow the states and local governments, which carry bigger loads to have more cash.

The minister recalled that “it was difficult getting governors to agree to $1 billion savings for the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)”.

“Now that the price of oil is high, we should be happy but because the quantity we produce as a country has dropped, we are not selling expected quantities. So, not much money is coming in. We are selling below budgeted quantities,” she said. 

The Federal Government, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said, “is not dipping hands in anything”. I can tell you how much is in every account. We must save for the future because soon Ghana and Angola will join the league of countries that have savings, whereas Nigeria is fast depleting the little she has.” 

She went on: “Nigeria, because of fiscal federalism, cannot save. The Constitution says the President should manage the economy for the benefit of everybody; the decision to save is also part of the management of the economy for the benefit of the people of Nigeria. Every state can save, but the Federal Government can save for all Nigerians. The governors can insist on accountability in the management of the SWF as a guarantee against their apprehension.” 

To her, the governors are “100 per cent right to demand for transparency and how and what the money saved is spent”. “But, they are on the council of the SWF as well as Civil Society Organisations; there should be no fear. Saving is the right thing to do.” 

Nigeria, she said, is not leaving in isolation and it is a part of a global community that depends on a product sold internationally. The revenue that comes from the sale of this single product (crude oil), she added, comes periodically, stressing that “there is no money stacked up anywhere, which is why I am pushing for savings, in case the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) does not sell crude oil or cannot remit money as it’s being experienced in recent times.” 

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala argued that since “60 per cent of our money and products comes from and goes to Europe and USA, if they are not doing well, we suffer too. “Unemployment in the USA is at a crisis level same as in Europe,” she said. 

“That product determines how the economy grows and the nation’s expenditure fluctuates with revenue. Such volatile pattern of development crashes the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). To make expenditure smooth necessitated budget benchmarking.” 

She noted that the years between 2003 and 2007 were the only steady time in Nigeria’s recent economic life because it was when Nigeria saved and after the period (2008-2009), when the price of oil crashed, the government was drawing from savings to pay bills. 

The minister dropped another bombshell when she disclosed that the ministry does not know how much is spent on subsidy. What the ministry does, according to her, “is to get the accountants to verify what the importers present as their imports and pay them”.

She said there was no way her ministry could accurately determine how much petroleum products are imported and how much are actually sold in Nigeria. 

According to Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, “what we are doing is subsidising other countries”. “We have genuine importers, but must separate them from the smugglers who ferry petroleum products to other countries after claiming to import the products to Nigeria,” she said,  wondering if there is a way of stopping the smugglers.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said in 2006, N256 billion was spent on subsidy, but over the years, this has skyrocketed to the extent that governors became worried that they were being short-changed. 

The heavy deduction for subsidy, she said, was what resulted in the November and December 2011 refusal by governors to collect their allocations, until the subsidy was removed. 

Giving an insight into what to expect from the report of the subsidy removal probe by the National Assembly, the minister said: “when the report comes out, we will know those who are genuine importers and those who are not”.

To her, the government “did not explain itself well and did not wait long enough before removing the subsidy in January” – an admittance that the government acted in a hurry. Despite the protest and the government’s conceding to the wishes of the people, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said, the government is still paying subsidy, but partially. 

She also admitted that the economy that is growing at 7.9 per cent and yet claims to be creating jobs is not inclusive. She attributed this development to “challenges”, stressing that jobs must be inclusive and target rural areas. 

According to her, we are “growing at 7.9 per cent with no power. You can imagine what the growth will be like, if power was stable.” 

On the erratic electric power situation, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said privatising the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) should be fair and transparent and not under the table. She said: “Government has decided to get away from what it has not succeeded in doing in the past. Power that we get is heavily subsidised. Investors have insisted that tariff must match cost of producing power. They will not purchase the companies, unless the government announces the new tariff, but government is scared of the backlash from the masses, if it announces the new tariff.”

FG needs $2.5b to provide potable water for 75% of Nigerians - Minister

By The Nation Reporters (Yusuf Alli and Yomi Odunuga)

 

Mrs. Ochekpe

The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, on Tuesday said the Federal Government needs about $2.5billion to provide access to potable water for at least 75 per cent of Nigerians

She said only 58 per cent of Nigerians presently have access to potable water.

She also said government may soon regulate construction of boreholes nationwide to preserve the nation’s ground water.

Ochekpe made the disclosures at the 20th Edition of the Leadership Forum of Nigerian Pilot in Abuja.

She said: “In terms of access to potable water, we have coverage of about 58 per cent of Nigerians and 30 per cent for effective sanitation. These are figures for 2010 but we have commissioned a consultant to assess the coverage for 2011.

“Our target by 2015 is to have coverage of 75 per cent for water. From the MDG projection, we need about $2.5billion to be able to provide access to potable water for 75 per cent of our population.”

On Lake Chad, the minister admitted that it has sunk in the last 40 years.

She added: “From about 27,000 square kilometers in the past 40 years, Lake Chad has sunk into about 2,000 square kilometers. For us in Nigeria, that is quite alarming.

“There are about 57,000 hectares available for irrigation but with the water challenge in South Chad Basin, they could only do about 10 per cent of the land now. So far, Nigeria has committed about $5million for studies on Lake Chad. The report of the studies is almost ready for consideration by the Summit of Heads of States of Lake Chad Commission,” Ochekpe said.