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

 

Amid all the media frenzy around the Nigerian underwear bomber and how America should have stopped him before he tried to blow up a passenger plane on Christmas Day, a critical piece to the counter-terrorism puzzle seems to have been missed:  where in the world is the Nigerian President? Normally, after such a horrific incident, President Obama would be on the phone with his counterpart, discussing what went wrong and agreeing on ways to work better in the future to prevent such attacks.  But this couldn’t happen because Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua left his country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia on November 23rd and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

 

Yes, you read that right:  the whereabouts of the leader of Nigeria—America’s most important strategic ally in Africa, the fifth largest source of U.S. oil imports, and home to 150 million people—are unknown.  It is also not clear if he is alive or dead.

The situation is so uncertain that Nigeria’s parliament is openly considering sending a delegation to Saudi Arabia to find out the truth.  A major opposition party yesterday demanded, quite reasonably, some “proof of life”.

 The mystery over Yar’Adua is so bizarre as to be comical—if the consequences weren’t so severe.  His absence has thrust the country into an immediate constitutional crisis.   The President failed to delegate authority to his deputy before travelling, effectively leaving no one in charge.  This 43-days-and-counting power vacuum is being swiftly filled by an insular cabal bent on exploiting the situation for their own gain.  

Complicating matters, the vice president—ironically named Goodluck Jonathan—is a Christian and an Ijaw, part of a minority group from the southern Niger Delta region and far from the power centers of the northern Muslim elites who expect one of their own to run the country.  There is much speculation that insiders are scheming now of ways to keep Jonathan from ever assuming power.   In an ominous sign, a new chief justice was quickly (and possibly illegally) sworn in last week.

These developments all put Nigeria’s future at great risk.  A decade of constitutional democracy is threatened by the specter of mass violence and a possible military coup.

The failed terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Flight 253 highlights that Nigeria’s power void is dangerous for the U.S. as well.  The foundation of a counter-terrorism strategy is to build cooperative partnerships with friendly nations.  This means sharing information and helping to build security capacity in places like Yemen, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.

But we cannot have a partnership if there is no one on the other end of the line.  Nigeria cannot be a reliable ally if it is consumed by its own corruption and political machinations.  In this way, Nigeria is rapidly becoming more like Somalia—a failed state with no real government to cooperate with—than a real partner.

What can the United States do?  First, it should insist on an immediate public declaration of President Yar’Adua’s health and fitness to govern.  If the President’s staff refuse to oblige, then the U.S. should encourage the national assembly to assert its constitutional responsibilities when it reconvenes on January 12.

Second, if, as seems likely, Yar’Adua is in fact incapacitated, the U.S. must demand that the constitution be followed and power transferred to the vice president.  The long-term security of Nigeria depends on entrenching the rule of law and this must supersede any palace intrigue or political bargaining.

Third, it is clear that whatever the outcome over the next few weeks, Nigeria will remain on a knife’s edge until elections in 2011.  Any hope for a more stable country hinges on a credible election next year.  Yar’Adua came to power in a deeply flawed poll in April 2007 and almost no steps have since been taken to fix the broken system.   The U.S. is in a unique position to push for and help deliver a better election that would strengthen the authority and legitimacy of the next government.

Last, the U.S. can support Nigeria’s vibrant civil society that is clearly fed up and is increasingly demanding change.

The case of the missing Nigerian President is a wake up call to the United States about the vulnerability of many of our global partners.  How we respond is not only crucial to the future of an important ally, but a critical test of our strategy for building partnerships in troubled places to combat the global ills of our time. 

Written by Todd Moss

Sunday: Unidentified men walk in front of the house of Umaru Abdul Mutallab, the father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Christmas Day terrorist, in Funtua, Katsina state, Nigeria. The house serves as family residence but is only attended to when there is a wedding ceremony because the extended family lives either in Kaduna, Abuja, or overseas. (AP Photo)

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The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has established a call centre to protect consumer rights. The call centre will also aid tracking of complaints and data collection as consumers are expected to call in and make complaints about products and services.

The centres will be managed by an Abuja-based IT solution provider, Interra networks.

Unveiling the centre yesterday in Abuja, the managing director of the council, Ifeyinwa Umenyi, said access to the centre, by over 140 million Nigerians, is just a dial away.

“Interra Networks is partnering to reach over 140 million consumers across the nation,” said Mrs. Umenyi.

‘Just a dial away’

“You can agree with us that there may not have any better move than this one made by CPC. All Nigerians now carry phones. So it is now easier to complain and get redress for your complaints. We are sure that in 2010, Nigerians will stop crying about not getting their complaints redressed. Now it is just a dial away.

“All Nigerians will no longer sit and complain about all the abuses that are all over the place. There so many adulterated products. Do not buy them, go home, sit down and lament, please do not lament again. It is just a matter of picking up your phone and dialing 0700callcpc or 07002255272.”

Mrs. Umenyi said the new portal is consumer-friendly because it has facilities for consumers to make complaints or give alert in English, Pidgin, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa languages. This is an addition to the existing hotlines.

“It is a lot easy to remember. It is not only for the educated, you can be attended to in all the three languages. Anybody can call. This is cheaper than mailing a complaint or entering taxi to nearest CPC office.”

Interra Network is also deploying E1 lines for the operation to avoid network congestion. E1 lines are believed to be the most efficient means of digital communications between the operators.

Consumer Information Response Centres

She also revealed that the council is establishing Consumer Information Response Centres across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria. This is being implemented in conjunction with the National Orientation Agency which is making some of its facilities and structures available for the initiative.

The project is aimed at providing consumer education services, redressing mechanism and collation of data on consumer complaints. This is in addition to the efforts by the council to expand its programmes to ensure that its impact is felt at the grass-root.

“For our impact to be felt by millions of abused Nigerians consumers, many of whom are in the grass-root, we identified the need for our spread, in terms of presence, across the country. To this end, the South-West Zonal Office, Oshogbo, was established this year to join the four zonal offices.”

The agency further disclosed that a total of 2,300 consumer complaints have been received this year. The Director General said about 85% of these complaints have been resolved. “Resolution of others is at advanced stage. The complaints were resolved through negotiation, mediation and conciliation meetings. In this vein, a total of 30 mediation meetings were held this year to resolve various complaints.”

‘They are in it for money’

A consumer, Christopher Sunday, said the initiative is a welcome idea and hopes it will be sustained.

Mr. Sunday noted that other agencies have made similar moves in the past, yielding no results. “Let me tell you, they are in this thing for money,” he said. “Forget what they are saying, the ones done by other organisations have yielded no results especially the call-in programmes on air. CPC should show that they are serious about this initiative this time around by making this particular one work. It is cheaper than going to their centres but let us hope that they will indeed be fast in resolving complaints from the consumers.”

 Written by Ngozi Sams

Groups to dig deep for leases

Three of the world’s biggest oil companies are poised to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to hold on to prime concessions in Nigeria following keen Chinese interest in the planet’s 10th richest crude reserves.

ExxonMobil, the largest US oil group, is to pay a “signature bonus” of as much as $600m after securing a new 20-year lease to three blocks it has operated for four decades and which currently produce 580,000 barrels a day, people familiar with the situation said.

Royal Dutch Shell is close to finalising similar renewals that might see it surrender some concessions, industry insiders said, while Chevron, the second placed US group, is yet to agree a deal even after some of its leases expired at the end of last month.

The negotiations underscore the importance of Nigeria’s oil, both to western groups whose traditional dominance is weakening, and to the country’s government, which depends on petroleum revenues for 80 per cent of its income.

Militant attacks in the oil-producing Niger Delta, coupled with under-investment, have seen production fall well below capacity in recent years.

The leases expired a year ago but were extended for 12 months. Shell took out a court injunction to prevent any change of ownership before entering talks.

Few people expected big oil groups, which have been the mainstay of the industry through its 50-year history, to be ejected from blocks they operate as minority partners in joint ventures. But one person familiar with Exxon’s renewal talks said they were like “a cliff-hanger”, and concluded only days before the leases lapsed.

Cnooc, the Chinese state-owned oil company, in June sought to buy stakes in 23 blocks – including some of those up for renewal – in order to secure as many as one in six of Nigeria’s 36bn barrels of reserves.

Cnooc is willing to pay up to $50bn for the stakes, Nigerian officials said, but it may be granted far fewer than it is seeking.

Odein Ajumogobia, minister of state for oil, has said the government would be willing to sell part of its own holdings in the joint ventures to the Chinese.

Several people with knowledge of the renewal talks said the competition from China – which has signed several big energy deals in Africa to fuel its growth – had strengthened the government’s hand.

The Nigerian government hopes to use the money raised from the leases to plug part of a $10bn deficit in next year’s budget, a senior official said.

The companies declined to comment.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.

By Henry Kester Ewruje.

Women in Nigeria recently won a major legal battle against attempts to subjugate them and tie them to the men’s every whim.

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, declared as unconstitutional the administrative policy of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), which compelled a married Nigerian woman to produce a letter of consent from her husband as a condition for issuance of international passport.

In his judgement, presiding judge, Justice G. K. Olotu, said the requirement was not only a violation of section 42 (1) (a) of the 1999 constitution but was also against Article 18 (3) of the African Charter on People’s Human Rights which disallows discrimination on grounds of sex.

Dr. Priye Iyalla-Amadi, wife of renowned author, Elechi Amadi filed the case against the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and its director-general, Chukwumah Udeh after she sought a replacement of her international passport and was told by Immigration Officials in Port Harcourt that she needed a written permission from her husband first. She wondered if they wanted to protect the institution of marriage and asked if the husbands were also asked to get letters from their wives, but they could not give her “a satisfactory explanation for this chauvinism”.

Dr. Iyalla-Amadi who was about to travel to Britain then, protested that a mature adult citizen of the country like her should not require the consent of any person before she could be issued a Nigerian passport. She did get her husband’s consent, got her passport and traveled to London. But for a lot of women, that requirement would have had a negative consequence. These kinds of little pieces of discrimination create practical problems in the lives of women. For example, if they don’t get along with their husbands or they are a domineering sort, then they won’t be able to get the passport, so Dr. Iyalla-Amadi did’nt think it was right.

In their defence, the NIS sought to justify the requirement of a letter of consent from the husband of a married woman who wants to be issued a Nigerian passport on the basis that Nigerian married women are classified alongside with minors by government as persons who require consent from the head of the family.
In its argument for the retention of a status quo, the NIS said that the requirement for consent was put in place to perpetuate the authority of the man over the wife, no matter the status she had attained in society. It also said the requirement was set to avoid the unnecessary breakdown of the marriage institution in the country.
Another argument advanced by the NIS was that obtaining a Nigerian passport from the federal government is a privilege; hence any person applying must fulfill all the conditions laid down by the sole agent of the government, which is the NIS. It also contended that married men are the bread winners of their families and therefore do not need the consent of any member of their families, including their wives to travel.

Justice G. K. Olotu, the presiding judge of the Federal High Court, in his verdict reportedly said “this kind of policy has no place in 21st century Nigeria”.
The Court concluded that “the defendant’s classification of married women along with children is a desecration of the provisions of the constitution.
The court held as absurd the defendant’s presumption that all married men are bread winners and so have license to move around the earth without hindrance. It asked, “What about the married women who are bread winners?” The court held the view that such married women should have the same license as their male counterparts.

The NIS was established in 1953.

This is another landmark case. I feel there is hope for the female folk in Nigeria. These kinds of things continue and persist because women only complain, they don’t take action. The discrimination against has been on for a long time.
The issue of men being the breadwinners is simply not true today. Women head quite a significant number of homes in Nigeria. Ways are now open for women to prove their capacity in various fields. Women should speak up and shouldn’t just grumble and let it be, or they will continue to be treated as children.

What do you think????????