Written by Henry Kester Ewruje

Ninety minutes on a football pitch can make a world of a difference. That the Super Eagles did not qualify from the group stage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is like a nightmare for most Nigerians. Football fans that have been looking over their shoulders since the match against Greece in Bloemfontein are now depressed as Nigeria ended the group matches with a 2 – 2 draw with South Korea in Durban and did not qualify for the knockout stages.

What is wrong with the Super Eagles? Many things are wrong with football in Nigeria. In truth, the Super Eagles team has never been at its best in recent years. Not all the matches played by the team in the past four years have been vintage performance. The squad only exhibited a steely determination to prevent a massacre in their 0 – 1 loss to Argentina in Johannesburg with an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

I talked to a hell of a lot of people. Managers, coaches, scouts, players and friends and what came back was uninanimous. They all felt that most of the players and Coach Lars Lagerback made mistakes in all their group matches. The technical ability of the Gaffer was tested in South Africa. He had to prove that his appointment was not a mistake. Personally, I doubted Lagerback’s ability to lead the Super Eagles to South Africa. He had nothing to offer because he was a spent force. He had not upgraded his coaching career in Sweden and failed to lead the Swedish national team to the world cup finals in South Africa which led to his resignation from the job showed that he was not the right coach and did not have the pedigree to take the Eagles to the next level in the world cup and beyond.

The gaffer failed technically and he adopted wrong tactics and formations in the three matches played. His starting line-ups were not the best. Not only that, in an apparent display of insufficient knowledge of the Nigerian players, he played some of the players out of their positions which affected the performance of the team. Most of the players had the reputation for shirking the grittier aspects of the game. The coach and the team made lots of mistakes. Even in the Pro Zone age of football where the coach’s team selections are influenced by the distance a player completes each game, there will always be no place for majority of the forwards he took to the world cup.

Nigeria is a country with a proud tradition of outstanding right wingers like Segun Odegbami, John Chidozie, Sam Okpodu, Tarila Okorowanta, Clement Temile, Dimeji Lawal, Pius Ikedia, Tijani Babaginda, Julius Aghahowa and Finidi George. However, the coach decided to field a player in the right wing whose lackadaisical style and a moment’s exhibition of madness earned him the red card and cost the team the match against Greece. Even the most creative elements of Lagerback’s side did not show any willingness to sacrifice themselves for the team. They could not ally graft to their craft.

.Now, the players are talking and complaining about Lagerback and his tactics as well as the playing time given to them. They are also complaining about the quality of players Largerback picked for the world cup. These same players had praised the coach after they played three friendly matches before the world cup. These players failed the nation and they are masters of the dark arts of media manipulation. These players are the delight of journalists. They are open mouths in search of a microphone. This a joke but nobody is laughing. The players to the South Africa 2010 world cup were not the best Nigeria can provide. Only the best players should don the nation’s colours in future competitions

So what is the way forward before the next world cup in Brazil in 2014?

I suggest that all the senior professionals in the Super Eagles who have been talking about throwing in the towel, should quit international football now. Most people might think that some of the senior pros are playing too well to retire from the national team. They might say this decision is a bit too hasty. But the players are big enough to be aware that they are taking a risk with football supporters because a few average performances will raise questions about their retirement from the national team.

The older players are the standard bearers. They are the ones that set the standard. The senior pros have to be the ones to show what it is all about and there is no better example than to quit now. The next world cup is in 2014. The younger players in the team should be groomed with new invitees to the Super Eagles to play in the next Nations Cup Competitions and then the world cup.

While people are taking the mickey out of some players, it is the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) that is mainly responsible for the problems of football and it needs a total overhaul. Every association has its values and at the moment, the NFF miss that. I think it is important for the nation’s football that the NFF should be overhauled because with the present players and coaches in the national team, we will never be a leading football country in the world in the coming years. Criticisms of the game are good for Nigerian football.

Presently, the NFF secretariat in Abuja must be littered with e-mails, faxes and letters from supporters who cover every generation. The message to the NFF is that they have failed the nation. The new chants on the streets are “give us a new NFF in the next elections”. Surely, the NFF cannot overlook the stream of correspondence. They should resign immediately and not wait until their elections in August, 2010. The NFF has failed to launch a bold plan to revolutionise the country’s football since they came to office. They have been unable to draw a strategic plan with enough concrete proposals to tackle the nation’s underachievement head-on. The plans of the NFF if any sound bland and boring. Their strategy lack obligatory buzzwords such as vision, purpose and values.

There is nothing uplifting and positive about the NFF with all its lies, deceits, crooked agents and absurd financial structure. The conduct and utterances of the NFF always send people laughing. While the zany twittering of the NFF is sending people into fits of giggles, I am not amused at the amateurishness that is rife in football coaching in Nigeria.

Amodu Shuaibu was sacked by the NFF as the coach of the Super Eagles for doing a commendable job by qualifying the team for the 2010 world cup and for winning bronze at the Nation’s Cup in Angola. He was accused of getting the results but not performing. This excuse was the cruellest joke. It will be recalled that millions of Nigerian football fans and other stake holders called for the removal of Coach Amodu. It would be remembered that the Presidential Task Force (PTF) recommended for Amodu’s sack and a sound foreign technical adviser to be employed. When Amodu was fired, the NFF sent people into reels of laughter by concluding the second-coming of former Super Eagles technical adviser, Frenchman Phillipe Troussier, whose most famous television documentary was how he spilled the blood of a hapless chicken in a bowl for his Burkina Faso players to lick ahead of a match.

The NFF is guilty of epitomizing triumph of style over substance. The NFF should be overhauled immediately. The new NFF should have an approved coaching qualification. Nigeria is the only major football country that does not have it. The new professionalism will spell the extinction of dinosaurs that prefer big talk to tactical awareness. They should launch a school for managers as part of plans to overhaul the game. Aspiring bosses should not be allowed to manage their clubs unless they have an NFF approved qualification. The important thing is to raise standards. Every other country has a mandatory coaching qualification. This scheme backed by the league managers association will also help the coaches get jobs abroad. Only Samson Siasia and Augustine Eguavon improve themselves by attending coaching courses and seminars abroad at their own expense.

Christian Chukwu failed technically during the France 1998 world cup qualifiers that the then captain of the team, Austin Okocha had to arrange coaching lessons for him under Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers football club in England.

The new NFF should clamp down on agents by overseeing all transfer negotiations. Clubs should have their finances reviewed annually to make sure that all deals are above suspicion. Agents who cream millions of naira from the game should come under a bung-busting unit. Clubs should be required to tell the NFF where all the money in a transfer has gone and which agent is involved. Teams often get less than foreign clubs pay. But making all international and domestic transfers to go through the NFF will thwart such dodgy practices.

The new NFF should plan a radical shake-up of the games in the grassroots. A national football center should be opened. The quality of coaching in the soccer academies should be attacked and a professional women’s league set-up. Super clubs should be nurtured. A non-league club should have lots of sides of all ages under his wing. This will improve football at the community level and produce fantastic young players. The aim is to give the various national teams, the raw materials to be more successful. The hows, whys and wherefores should not be vague. Stakeholders should organize seminars and meetings for the NFF to go to, people to talk to and a new football culture to be introduced. The country’s youth development should be the envy of Africa. We already see the benefits of soccer academies and the youth teams of some organizations and clubs in the country.

This should be a wake-up call for an association that has been standing still. The NFF should not rest until there is a fundamental overhaul of the game. Nigerians are waiting.

 Gives sex workers 2-day quit notice

Worried by the sharp increase in their activities, sex workers in the Federal Capital Territory have been given a 48-hour ultimatum by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, to leave the nation’s capital or face the wrath of the law.

The minister, who decried the steady rise in the population of prostitutes in Abuja, noted that they constitute a nuisance as their services add no value to the beauty of the city.

He gave them a stern warning to heed the ultimatum, noting that the FCT Special Task Force would be out as from today to arrest them.

The minister, who issued the ultimatum through the FCT Secretary for Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, while on a visit to the call girls at their respective joints on Saturday night, also warned men who patronise the girls to desist from the act as he promised that anyone caught would be treated like the prostitutes.

He said that to drive home the importance of the assignment to the FCT, the Task Force would commence arrest from today and warned the prostitutes not to take the matter lightly.

At Emprest Hotel, “which is the headquarters” of the commercial sex workers in Wuse District, where over 600 call girls were seen parading the streets waiting for prospective customers, the secretary lamented that most of the girls involved were under-aged.

In her message to the girls she said, “I’m out to instruct the girls that the FCT minister has given them 48 hours to vacate the city and quit the job. They constitute a nuisance in the city and the FCT administration will not tolerate them.

“We are also sending warnings to all those men patronising them to stop. Some of the girls are under-aged; it is child abuse. If we get you doing that we will get you arrested, lock you up and treat you like the prostitutes are treated.”

A patron of the call girls who spoke to reporters under condition of anonymity gave reason why he patronised call girls, saying it was due to the weather which made it difficult for him to spend the night alone.

“As you can see, it is rainy season now, it is not good for a man to just go home and sleep alone,” he said.

The man argued that the ultimatum given to the girls would lead to an increase in the charges of the girls who presently charge between N5,000 and N7,000 per night.

He said, “This decision now will make them to increase their price. Normally we take them home for N6,000 or N7,000 but now with this decision, they will increase it to N15,000 or more than that.”

At the hotel, one of the girls who refused to give her name disclosed that she relocated to Abuja when the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, demolished her apartment in Lagos. She however expressed her readiness to quit the job if given an alternative, lamenting that Emprest Hotel is like a sex camp where two prostitutes pair up in a room and pay N5,000 each daily while those who have more patronage take up a single room and pay N7,000 daily.

The secretary, after addressing the girls at Wuse Zone 4, made a donation of N50,000 to the girls after they complained to her that they had not eaten all day and she advised them to desist from selling their bodies for money but try to go into a more decent occupation.

Other places visited by the secretary where activities of sex workers thrive included Banex Plaza, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Rockview Hotel, Gimbiya Street, Area 11 and Agura Hotel.

A total of N3 billion will be required for every policeman to get two pairs of the new uniform, Police Force Public Relations Officer ACP Emmanuel Ojukwu has said.

Ojukwu told Daily Trust in Abuja that the new uniforms comprising of light blue shirts worn on black trousers mainly used by senior police officers now are pricey.

There are over 370,000 policemen in the country.

He said the black uniforms currently in use can only be changed when the police authorities accept the new uniforms being used by senior offers for assessment.

“It has been assessed initially that the new uniforms are difficult to maintain especially by officers that often mix together and struggle with suspects. Police authorities will determine whether or not the new uniforms will be adopted to replace the dark grey ones being used which people regard as black,” he said.

Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo had said that the black uniforms are not comfortable in hot humid weather even though they are easy to maintain. “We are testing the new light blue shirts and it is unlikely if they will be adopted because they are difficult to maintain,” he said.

If the proposal of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) passes through, unemployed Nigerians will earn N25, 000 monthly in a welfare scheme.

 

Ahead 2011 general elections, INEC is set to conduct pilot “Diaspora voting” in four countries to enable Nigerians living abroad to have the opportunity of participating in Nigeria’s electoral process.  The INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, disclosed this in Abuja at the weekend while addressing stakeholders in the electoral process. He said that the commission had concluded plans to conduct elections in four English-speaking countries, including Britain and the US. “On Diaspora voting, all we need to do is to amend Section 77(2) of the constitution just to remove one clause that says only Nigerians resident in Nigeria can register for an election, not even vote. If we do that, that would be okay. “We chose Britain and others for the pilot project because these are countries where we have many Nigerians and there would be no language problems,’’ Iwu said. Responding to the move, Chairman of House of Representatives’ Committee on Diaspora Affairs Rep. Abike Dabiri-Erewa said the decision was apt because of the contributions of Nigerians living abroad to the country’s development. Dabiri-Erewa said that with an annual remittance of 11 billion US dollars, Nigerians in the Diaspora were capable of mobilising substantial investments and development capital for Nigeria. (NAN)

by Alyona Topolyanskaya (Pravda correspondent)

A 22-year-old Russian woman was detained on Thursday in western Moscow after she attempted to sell four African women into sexual slavery. The Russian woman accepted nearly $2,000 from an undercover police officer posing as a pimp, in exchange for the women, who came from Nigeria and Ghana.

Moscow police said they arranged a sting operation after receiving a tipoff that someone was trying to sell four women from Africa.

Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the young woman, a Muscovite, whose name was not released by police.

The detained woman offered to find jobs in Moscow for the Africans, police said.

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Listen to both interviews…

• January 2010 interview (latest)


• then listen to the October 2007 interview…
  

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The Nigerian President has been away for months receiving medical treatment abroad. His critics say his absence is crippling day to day government and business activity. Following a foiled terrorist attack on an American passenger plane by one of his citizens, the country is now being penalised. In a BBC HARDTALK interview on Friday 22nd January 2010 Jonathan Charles asks Nigeria’s foreign minister Ojo Maduekwe what measures are being put in place by the government to prevent any further attacks.

Broadcast on: BBC News Channel, Friday 22nd January 2010 (Duration: 30 minutes)

Click here to listen to … Hard Talk: Chief Ojo Maduekwe Nigerian Foreign Minister

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BONUS interview from 2007


In a Hardtalk programme first broadcast on Monday 8th October 2007, Stephen Sackur talks to Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe.

BONUS October 2007 Interview



Discusses how… Nigeria’s new government has ambitions to become a global economic and diplomatic power.

Its soldiers and diplomats are already playing a significant role in Darfur.

How can Africa’s most populous country fulfill its regional potential when it is dogged by political and economic corruption at home?

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Some More… Interview with Sahara reporters

Leading member of the Abacha-era Strike Force Sergeant Barnabas Jabila, alias Sergeant Rogers, has been crippled from the waist down and has just been discharged from the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada after a vehicle incident that occurred along the Jos-Abuja highway last November, Daily Trust learnt yesterday.

Sergeant Rogers, who is a principal witness in the ongoing trial of Major Hamza Almustapha and four others for the 1996 murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, suffered head and spinal cord injuries in the accident.

There were contradictory accounts of the incident. While sources told Daily Trust that Rogers’ car was rammed by another car along the Jos highway and it somersaulted, his brother told our reporters yesterday that a mechanic who worked on Jabila’s vehicle before the accident failed to tighten the bolts of the back tyre. He said, “While he was on motion within Abuja, the back tyre pulled out and the car somersaulted and crashed in November 2009.” Although Jabila was in hospital for some weeks, family members managed to keep it a secret, until yesterday.

There were also conflicting reports on the severity of Jabila’s injuries. Hospital sources said he suffered serious spinal injuries and is now paralysed from the waist down, but his brother said the family has concluded plans to take Rogers to another hospital to undergo a CT scan because of the pains he complains about in his shoulder region. According to him, the consultant handling his case discharged him yesterday so that he can recover fully at home.

At the accident/ emergency ward unit of the hospital yesterday morning, plain-clothes military intelligence officials carrying guns were seen providing security in the ward where the accident victim was and only close family relations were allowed to see him after going through strict clearance.

From a distance, our reporter sighted Jabila lying down on a hospital bed inside the ward and a nurse said that medical officials in the ward had earlier been warned by intelligence officers not to allow people to go near him or reveal his identity.

Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr Peter Alabi expressed surprise to learn from our reporters that Rogers was admitted in the hospital. He made several phone calls before confirming Jabila’s admission in the hospital.

The chief medical director declined further questions, while other hospital officials said the accident victim had declared his intention earlier not to speak to anybody outside his immediate family members.

Nigerian-owned Mainstreet Technologies’ Main One Cable will connect countries in Africa to those in Europe, becoming the second competitive cable (after the Glo-1 Cable) in West Africa by June 2010.

The Main One Cable Company has concluded the shore-end laying of its undersea fibre optic cables in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana respectively.
The shore-end cable laying is a critical intermediary procedure to install the undersea cables on the shores of countries in which the cable system is expected to berth.
This in preparation for the end-to-end laying of the full stretch of the fibre optic cable from its origin in Portugal.

Funke Opeke CEO, Main One Cable

Funke Opeke CEO, Main One Cable; Main One Cable is the Second Competitive Cable Planned to Give Broadband Access to West Africa by 2010.

With the Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in 1981, Opeke proceeded to Columbia University, New York, United States of America, where she obtained a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1984.
Funke has been described as an industry veteran of highly competitive environments with over 20 years experience as a telecommunications executive.

She is a highly accomplished and results-oriented engineer who has worked in several major telecommunications companies in the United States with her most recent appointment prior to her return to Nigeria being as the Executive Director, Performance Assurance, Verizon Communications, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.

Opeke joined Verizon Communications as Executive Director in 2001. Between 2001 and 2005, she managed different portfolios including the Business Architecture and implementation of Verizon’s global backbone network; Global Managed Network Services, and Performance Assurance for the Wholesale Services Line of Business.

She had held senior positions at several other companies in the United States including Telcordia Technologies (Bellcore), Piscataway; AlliedSignal Corporation, Morristown; PA Consulting Group, Highstown; and RCA American Communications.

Following that she moved to MTN Nigeria where she was the company CTO, her responsibilities included the planning and management of the entire MTN Nigeria network.

At the time of her engagement, MTN Corporate Services was quoted as saying that Opeke’s appointment is evidence of MTN’s commitment to recruit the best Nigerian brains and to contribute to the development of Nigerian human capital.

• Czech citizen loses over one million Euros in 419 investment Scam

• Kills Nigerian Diplomat in cold blood

• Ambassador to Poland, Nuhu N Bajoga Audu still waiting for instructions from Abuja

• Proceedings instituted against FGN for non payment of trial fees.

Huhuonline.com can report that for five years, all correspondence sent to government by the law firm, were neither acknowledged nor responded to, but as soon as our story captioned “Murder of a Nigerian diplomat: FG & Law firm in Money brouhaha” broke;
Sickly President Umaru Yar’adua, days preceding his health hiatus, directed David Edevbie, his principal secretary to write to the Minister of foreign affair, Chief Ojo Madukwe directing him to critically examine the issues raised in Mr. Asu’s letter and advise His Excellency, Mr. President accordingly .

The content of a state house memo, listed as restricted, dated November 2nd 2009 with reference number SH/PSP/ 09/A/148, obtained exclusively by Huhuonline.com, reads:

“I write with reference to a letter dated 21 October 2009(copy attached), addressed to the office of His Excellency, Mr. President, from Mr. Edward Asu, and regarding the above mentioned subject matter”.

“I should be grateful if you would critically examine the issues raised in the letter and advise His Excellency, Mr. President accordingly”.

“Please accept, Honorable Minister the assurances of my highest consideration”

However, the lingering question now is will Ojo Maduekwe reverse the status quo and make appropriate recommendation that will serve as a guide to Mr. President’s action, or will he prolong the hardship endured by the family of the slain diplomat/law firm by towing the ministry of foreign affairs five year dismissive stance, it is a wait and see game.

Issues raised in the letter

As Huhuonline.com previously reported, the year is 2005. A Czech citizen allegedly loses over one million Euros in a 419 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) investment scam said to have been masterminded by some Nigerian con men. Unable to recover his money, the Czech citizen storms the Nigerian embassy in Prague, Czech Republic where he opened fire, killing a Nigerian Diplomat inside his office in cold blood. The Federal Government through the Nigerian Embassy in Poland with concurrent accreditation to the Czech Republic retains a group of Nigerian lawyers to represent the Nigerian Government and the family of the deceased; in the substantive matter of MUDr. Jiri Pasovsky, Case No. 45 T 21/2004 at the Municipal Court in Prague, as well as before appellate jurisdictions in the murder trial.

The case goes to trial and the suspect charged with the killing of Mr. Michael Lekare WAYI is sentenced to eight (8) years imprisonment. Outraged by the paltry sentence, the lawyers inform the FGN of their intention to appeal within the statutory 8-days deadline. The FGN says wait for instructions from Abuja; the lawyers also ask to file a civil suit against the culprit and the Czech government for damages to the deceased’s family. They were again advised to wait until the statutory three-year limitation has run out. To crown it all, the FGN has not honored its obligations towards the Counsel they retained and after four years of trying to navigate the bloated Nigerian bureaucracy, the Presidency informed the lawyers that the FGN was not aware that one of its Diplomats had been killed in the Czech Republic, let alone being familiar with the retention of the legal services in question.

This is 2009 and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is Umaru Musa Yar’adua; the Foreign Minister is Ojo Maduekwe and the Justice Minister is Michael Aondoakaa. Together with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Poland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these cast of clowns who are actors in the unfolding tragic-comedy of errors. Nigerians are not in doubt that the people pretending to be managing the affairs of the nation are irresponsible. Our people know for a fact that Yar’adua’s PDP government are doing far more than disservice to the people, far more selfish than the nation has ever known and far more unreliable and undependable to put in anything for the good of the nation; They do not care about anything; they just steal, steal and steal.

The facts of the five-year long saga remain intriguing and reveal a government that has absconded its responsibilities towards its citizens as well as immobilism and lack of coordination amongst various government departments – from the Presidency to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to the Nigerian Embassy in Poland. The Federal Government is now facing a payment order lawsuit to the tune of 150,913.21 Euros being unpaid legal fees for professional legal services rendered by Law Allianz firm retained to represent the Federal Government of Nigeria and the family of the deceased; Mr. Michael Lekare WAYI in the substantive matter of MUDr. Jiri Pasovsky, Case No. 45 T 21/2004 at the Municipal Court in Prague, Spalena as well as before appellate jurisdictions in the murder that took place inside the Nigerian Embassy, Prague, Czech Republic.

Documents obtained exclusively by Huhuonline.com indicate that on February 10, 2005, the Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Nuhu N Bajoga Audu duly contracted the Law Allianz firm by signing a certificate of authority authorizing the attorneys to hold brief for the government and the deceased in the case. The task was executed as mandated and the lawyers have been engaged in a frustrating exercise to get payment for their services. In another petition addressed to President Yar’adua’s office, the lawyers explained that after four years of futile efforts to get the Nigerian government pay their bills, they were left with no other option than to file the payment order lawsuit before the statute of limitation runs out. The petition, signed by Edward Asu Esq, lead counsel, enjoined President Yar’adua to use is high office to seek an amicable solution to the matter.

Said the petition: “We filed the first demand for payment through the Nigerian Embassy in July 2005 and received a response Ref. No. ENP/PER/44/Vol 1 (Exhibit G). We replied timely. After this reply, we heard nothing from the NE Poland. When the NE Poland ceased to communicate with us, we filled the same demand for payment a second time directly to HMFA, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, the Nigerian Embassy, the Director, NIA and the HMJ, Chief Akinlolu Olukinmi and your honourable office, the Presidency. About a Month or later we received a single and only correspondence from your honourable office, Ref. No. SH/COS/09/A/154 dated 12th July 2005 and signed by Ado Ma’aji, for the Chief of Staff to the Presidency. (Exhibit H). We were basically called names as the author claimed that your esteemed office did not know about such a case and neither was your office familiar with the retention of our professional services. This response begs the question, how come the highest office in the land does not know about the assassination of one of its senior diplomats inside her territory? Assuming the office of the Presidency is not aware of this incident as the writer claims, then, it introduces an even more vexatious question, why were the Permanent Secretary of MFA and deputy director of NIA in attendance at the trial? Is it feasible that the MFA and NIA did not advise the office of the Presidency about these events? We think not. There seem to be more questions than there are answers. Our opinion is that our demand for payment was intercepted and returned the MFA to prevent embarrassment; but like every light lamp that cannot be hidden under a bowl but placed on a lamp stand, this correspondence shall return to hunt them…

Under Czech rules, the statute of limitations for filling suit is three (3) years, thus, based upon counsel’s advice we were forced to file a payment order suit prior to this date. We advised NE Poland in writing prior to filing this payment order suit. We cannot and refuse to be at the mercy of the FGN for services that we already rendered and expenses paid out of our own pockets. It is noteworthy to state that at trial, the facts and evidence manifestly showed that the late WAYI may have been murdered because the FGN allegedly did not fulfilment (alleged) legal financial obligations – repayment of the investment – to the culprit, MUDr. Pasovsky. Do you see a connection there? In the words of the statesman Benjamin Franklin, “to try and fail is at least to learn. To fail to try is to suffer the loss of what might have been.” Apparently, irrespective of whatever anyone might think, there seem to be a nexus and pattern of behaviour here. Having being forced to file suit we have nothing to loose as it stands but we continue to hope that the FGN resolves this matter amicably and out of court by settling our invoices. In this light, our position remains unchanged. And as the late Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) would say, “Stand up for what is right even if you are standing alone”. Unfailingly, we shall continue in this regard.”

“We reiterate that it is not our intention to humiliate or tarnish the image of Nigeria but as already explained herein, we have run out of all other options and had to institute legal proceedings due to the statute bar provisions, even though we tried our utmost best to refrain from brining legal action. Given the circumstances we rather choose to exhaust all avenues for consultations and amicable resolution of the matter which have proved unsuccessful till date because all our demands have not been dignified with an acknowledgement or response including our second demand for intervention to your esteemed office”.

Please find attached, David Edevbie’s’letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs

http://www.huhuonline.com/huhudocuments/edevbieletter.jpg

Until now, Nigeria has been a fairly easy place for foreign nationals to melt into the population without anyone bothering them.

But that’s set to change; the Immigration Service plan to introduce biometric registration for all non-citizens.

It seems to be a reaction to Nigeria’s inclusion on a US list of countries whose citizens will have to undergo extra security checks.

Focus on Africa’s Chris Ewokor has more in this despatch from Abuja.

 A Nigerian resident in the United States, who was beaten by soldiers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja on Sunday has concluded arrangement to sue Jacob Olajide, a retired Brigadier General, who ordered his maltreatment.

He also plans to sue Arik Airline for complicity.

Uche Onyeanusi, brother in-law to the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, was beaten into coma by two soldiers on alighting from Arik flight W3161 which he boarded in Lagos.

Onyeanusi told Daily Independent that disagreement broke out between him and Olajide where they queued along with other intending passengers to buy flight tickets at the Arik counter in Lagos.

Onyeanusi said he came to Nigeria to spend the holidays with his relatives and attend to other issues.

He narrated that he incurred the wrath of Olajide when he prevented him from jumping the queue, a challenge which led to an exchange of words between them, during which Olajide threatened to deal with him severely on their arrival in Abuja.

Onyeanusi said Olajide’s aides descended on him and gave him the beating of his life immediately he disembarked from the plane. Other passengers looked on in awe as he was being pummelled.

An eyewitness who was on the flight, Michael Ihemaguba, a medical practitioner also based in the U.S. (and an American citizen like Onyeanusi), said he was surprised that a policeman at the scene prevented him (Ihemaguba) and others from rescuing the victim.

He recounted that Onyeanusi ran into the office of the State Security Service (SSS) when he was pursued by the soldiers, but the door of the office was forced open by the soldiers as the lone female SSS operative in the office attempted shutting the door against them.

Ihemaguba said he and other passengers had to risk their lives to save him from being beaten to death, as they rushed and held the two soldiers when one of them took a bottle and was about to smash it on the head of Onyeanusi who lay on the ground bloodied and unconscious.

The soldiers took Olajide’s luggage and left the airport without anybody arresting them after Olajide had identified himself as a Brigadier General to airport security personnel.

The incident was caught on tape by the airport security, and was reported to the airport police.

Onyeanusi was revived by Ihemaguba and the airport medical team.

Arik employees who witnessed the incident made statements to the SSS before proceeding to the police station.

However, efforts by the police to unravel the true identity of the soldiers for prosecution are being impeded by Arik and the airport security, both of which refused to co-operate with the police officer investigating the case.

Arik reportedly told the officer that it is not bound by law to release its passenger manifest through which the name of Olajide could be ascertained.

The airport security also allegedly refused to release the video tape of the incident.

It was learnt that the military Commandant at the airport has been shown the tape and has identified the culprit but refused to disclose the true identity of Olajide.

After watching the tape, he told Onyeanusi and the police that the name of the General was wrong, but confirmed that the man is no longer in service .

Calls made to the commandant’s mobile telephone line were picked by his aide who said his boss was not available for comment.

It was learnt that the policeman investigating the case made an official application to the airport security to release the tape, but the request was denied.

Pressure is being mounted on Onyeanusi to drop the case as he was told to see some serving senior Army officers who are prepared to settle the matter amicably.

But he has refused to bulge, and stated his readiness to pursue the matter to a logical conclusion by getting a lawyer to sue Arik for failing to release the passenger manifest to the police.

He said he will also report the incident to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

However, Arik Spokesman, Banji Ola, argued that the airline should not be blamed because it did not have control over what happened on the tarmac.

He also said for security reasons, Arik cannot be compelled by individuals to release its passenger manifest.

In line with international standards, only the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) or the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can compel an airline to release its passenger manifest, Ola explained

 Written by Rotimi Akinwumi