The Nation Newspaper

Tag: security

  • Jonathan reassures international community on security

    President Goodluck Jonathan has  assured the international community that his administration will continue to do everything possible to enhance the security of lives and investments in Nigeria.

     Speaking at an audience with a 45-member trade delegation from the United States of America on Tuesday in Abuja,  President Jonathan reaffirmed that the Federal Government was working very hard to overcome the country’s  current security challenges, saying  that an intensive effort was underway to curb terrorism and other criminal acts such as kidnapping and hostage taking.

     The President also assured the delegation  led by the President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, Mr. Steve Hayes and the Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Ms. Mimi Alemayehou that his administration will continue to empower the private sector to serve as the main drivers of the federal government’s agenda for national economic growth and development.

     He  told  company executives on the delegation with interests in aviation, power, food processing, ICT, construction, housing, textiles, infrastructure and finance that they could be very confident of the safety of their present and future investments in Nigeria as the country already had one of the most liberal legal regimes for the movement of capital and profits.

     “We welcome your interest and commitment to Nigeria. You are coming at a time when sectors previously dominated by government monopolies are being opened up to the private sector because we fully believe that that is the best way forward and the best way to create greater efficiency, employment and economic prosperity.

     “You all know Nigeria’s potentials. With its very huge market and the conducive investment climate we are working hard to foster, it is a country where your companies can do very fruitful business and I assure you of the full encouragement and support of the Federal Government for your investments,” the President told the delegation.

     The co-leader of the delegation, Mr. Hayes thanked President Jonathan for his efforts to promote greater trade and economic cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.

     He assured  that the Corporate Council on Africa and its members fully recognized Nigeria’s immense economic potentials and will do their best to support his agenda for national transformation.

     Ms. Alemayehou told the President that the delegation had had very fruitful interactions with members of the Federal Executive Council, including the Ministers of Works, Housing, Transport, Agriculture and Communications Technology. She assured President Jonathan that Nigeria will get more investments from the American private sector.

  • UNILORIN ASUU accuses varsity of using security to harass members

    Varsity: ‘It’s not true’

     

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) chapter, has accused the authorities of using security personnel to disrupt its national congress.

    The union decried the use of the police and the university security personnel to harass academics from other public universities and prevent them from entering the campus.

    ASUU, in a resolution after its congress, berated the odious, anti-intellectual and retrogressive conduct of a few UNILORIN academics and the security operatives of the university, who allegedly disrupted the peaceful meeting of the ASUU UNILORIN Congress held in one of the vacant lecture rooms in the Faculty of Law.

    The resolution was signed by Dr. Kola Babarinde, the convener of the NEC Visitation, Dr. Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju, ASUU Chairman, UNILORIN branch, Dr. A.B. Makanjuola and Dr. K.N. Afolayan of the Departments of Behavioural Sciences and English.

    The congress “observes that the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right of association and assembly and the absence of such in the university is a sign of bondage, which is unacceptable to the union.

    “It condemns all forms of lawlessness and requests NEC to adopt efforts to address the unending violation of court orders by the UNILORIN authorities and some individuals in the university.

    “Congress, however, remains undeterred and resolves to meet frequently towards ensuring that the branch reclaims its revered position in the union and addresses welfare issues.”

    Reacting to the allegation, the Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Kunle Akogun, said the accusation was baseless and lacking in truth.

    Said he: “There is no iota of truth in the allegation that the university harassed anybody with its security personnel let alone men of the Nigeria Police. What happened on February 27 was a case of a group bent on holding illegal meeting at a venue where postgraduate students were writing their examinations.

    “The group that claimed to be representatives of the ASUU national body had earlier phoned to seek permission to visit the Vice-Chancellor for an undisclosed mission. But the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Felix Oladele, told them that the VC was not around and that they should be patient until he returned.

    “Despite this explanation, ASUU members still came to the university. Their visit coincided with the meeting of a group of academic workers of the university that goes by the name, ‘Concerned Academics’. This raised some curiosity.

    “It should be emphasised that every member of the university community is aware that meetings are held in lecture halls/theatres after formal permissions to use such halls have been sought and given. But these ‘Concerned Academics’ neither sought nor got permission to use any hall for their proposed meeting.

    “Despite this, nobody interrupted their clandestine plan until they got to the proposed venue, the Faculty of Arts Lecture Theatre, where they saw that exams were ongoing. They then moved to the Faculty of Law Theatre but the Dean politely told them that a postgraduate exam was about to take place there.

    “They then met under a tree and resolved to go to Henry George Hotel to hold the meeting. There was no argument whatsoever, let alone harassment or intimidation.

    “It should be emphasised that the University of Ilorin recognises academic freedom, which the institution is doing everything to promote. We are aware that this is the key to industrial harmony, which has yielded dividends to the university these past few years as evidenced in its unrivalled academic excellence and feats in all areas of learning, research and community development.”

  • Peace, security brought Games to Port Harcourt — Amaechi

    Peace, security brought Games to Port Harcourt — Amaechi

    The Rivers State governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi has noted that what led to the choice of Port Harcourt as the venue of the 10th Nigeria Police Games is the relative peace and security being enjoyed in the city.

    Speaking to the Press at the opening ceremony of the Games in the Garden City on Saturday, Amaechi boasted that even the Inspector-General of Police himself can testify of the secure atmosphere having driven round the city on his own without meeting any urgent security challenges.

    He said: “I think it is the peace and security that everybody here is enjoying. Everybody is free. The I-G told me that he drove round the city himself two nights ago, I’m sure he saw it also for himself that the place is secure to host the Police Games and wherever there are security challenges, they would be responded to immediately”.

    The governor encouraged the athletes and officials of the games to ensure a fair atmosphere that will allow healthy competition and rivalry so as to enable the Police achieve their aim of getting athletes that will represent the country internationally.

    “At least, a fair atmosphere where everybody will compete freely. Freedom of competition and rivalry, I mean healthy rivalry because this game will bring out for the Police those that will help them compete internationally”, he said.

  • Security vital for growth, says Aregbesola

    Security vital for growth, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said security is a pre-requisite for national development.

    He said Osun is safe for investors.

    Aregbesola spoke at the weekend in Osogbo, the state capital, after receiving the 2012 Banker’s Award for Good Governance from the Osogbo Banker’s Clearing House Committee.

    The governor, who was represented at the Dinner/Award Night by the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, said Osun is the most peaceful place in the country.

    He said: “Very soon, the state government will complete its arrangement to provide area surveillance, which will help the security personnel to move quickly to crime scenes and rid the state of criminals. This will be funded with the derivative fund.

    “It requires a collaborative effort, especially between the banks and the government. We will call on you soon when it is time to inaugurate our Security Trust Fund (STF). We will need the apex and commercial banks to partner with us.

    “I urge you to provide sufficient fund to ensure that residents and their property are safe. I assure you that the government will create the enabling environment for business to thrive.”

    Aregbesola thanked the Controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Osun branch, Mr. Joseph Oyinbo Atteh, for the support for his administration and pledged to improve on their relationship.

    A Deputy Director at CBN, Mr. Samuel Agagu, delivered a lecture, entitled: “Adequate security: Pre-requisite to national development- The role of banks and the CBN”.

    Agagu said the insecurity in the nation has caused poverty, hunger, diseases, fear, uncertainty and disregard for the sanctity of human life.

    He urged commercial banks to cooperate with CBN in the monitoring of financial institutions.

    Atteh said banking and security were indispensable twins that are critical to national development.

    He said: “Today, security is a major challenge in our nation. The challenges are multifaceted across geo-political zones. There is a positive relationship between security and development. It is time public interest became a paramount factor in both banking and security arrangements, not as ends, but because the two sectors are vulnerable and they facilitate national development.”

  • IT gadgets for security outfit

    The management of University of Calabar (UNICAL) has donated a set of computers to the Calabar airport division of the Police Neighbourhood Security Relations Group. The donated computers included one HP desktop computer, Mercury Uninterrupted Power Supply appliance, one Laser Jet Printer and a Mercury 2000W stabilizer.

    Speaking during the presentation, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof James Epoke, stated that the gesture was a demonstration of the institution’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and partnership in joint welfare and security assurance initiative.

    The VC, who was represented by his deputy on Administration, Prof James Utsalo, explained that crimes were bound to happen in any community made up of people from different backgrounds. He appreciated the efforts of the team in combating crime around Etta-Agbor-Airport axis and hoped that both parties would benefit maximally from the partnership.

    Responding, the chairman, Community Safety Partnership Community Policing, Dr Awak Anam, noted that the partnership was an off-shoot of the community policing project launched by the Federal Government in July 2004.

    Anam explained that the project was aimed at bringing the police to partner with genuine members of the public for effective crime control and prompt service delivery. He disclosed that sensitisation workshops with members of the public started after about 14 internal workshops intended to partner the community chiefs, elders, youth leaders, churches, schools, neighborhood support groups as well as hotels and motor park operators.

    He enumerated some achievements by the group to include checking police brutality and lack of respect for human rights as well as unlawful arrests and detention of citizens.

  • Tighten ports security

    The Federal Government has been urged to give greater attention to security at the ports, especially the Tin Can Port, Lagos where touts and ‘port rats’ are disturbing people.

    In an interview with The Nation, the Chairman, Maritime Risk and Management, Mr Johnson Ebenezer, said over 500 unwanted persons enter the port daily despite the recent efforts by Customs.

    Ebenezer said the call became necessary because the sector is seen as the second largest source of revenue for the country after the oil and gas industry.

    Besides, he said multinationals and others who invest in the maritime industry, pay huge revenue in form of taxation or duties and import charges into the Federal Government account.

    He said poor facilities, incessant sea piracy and insecurity at the ports could scare away massive investment from the country and hamper ports operations.

    Managing Director, Sea Solution, Mr Benjamin Rapheal, said importers were not left out of the menace as many of them have aslo suffered.

    He said the access roads to and within the ports and insecurity are some of the major problems that need to be addressed by President Goodluck Jonathan if the Federal Government intends to sustain investment growth in the sector.

    “The high level of insecurity in the nation’s seaports has become so widespread that every importer must have at one time or the other experienced losses arising from theft within or on the roads that lead to the ports. As a businessman, who has travelled outside the country, I think it is not too much to ask the government to wake up to its responsibilities,” he added.

     

     

     

  • Demuren seeks increased security at airports

    Demuren seeks increased security at airports

    There is an improvement in security at airports nation wide because of counter terrorism measures in place, the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, has said.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Demuren listed some of the measures to include primary and secondary screening of passengers, intelligence information exchange, installation of imaging body scanners at airports for out bound and inbound passengers, more training for aviation security personnel as well as increasing surveillance on the activities of personnel who work at the airports.

    He said some aeronautical agencies, including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), are putting measures in place to checkmate the possibility of penetration by mischief makers who are poised to use the sector for their dastardly activities.

    Demuren said the threat to security and safety around the nation’s airports had become disturbing because terrorists were seeking ways to penetrate the sector.

    He spoke of plans to foster inter- agency collaboration at airports through exchange of intelligence information as well as more training for security personnel.

    He said those targeting the sector had enough time to plan. He called for more vigilance by stakeholders.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Resignations, mandates and security

    Resignations, mandates and security

    I take what I call a triple-two approach in analyzing the topic of today and you don’t need to wonder much before seeing what I mean. On resignations I take on the recent one of a Pope and a successful Nigerian soccer coach and show that each actor has performed contextually brilliantly in spite of the abrupt and negative connotation of resignation. This is despite the withdrawal of the resignation of the soccer coach moments after and the fact that the Pope’s departure from the Vatican is not immediate but till month’s end. On mandates I examine the lamentation of an African leader on the inability of ECOWAS leaders and their armies to bail out Mali, leading it to former colonial master France to be the avenging angel for the African state in its hour of need.

    I contrast this with the political merger of opposition parties involving 10 governors in Nigeria to form a mega party – All Progressives Congress – APC – to counter the dominance of the ruling PDP in Nigeria. Thirdly I look at the issue of security from the perspective of the emotional appeal on gun control by US President Barak Obama in the US Congress this week, in his first State of the Nation address and compare that with the comments of BBC journalists who covered a train journey from Lagos to Kano in Northern Nigeria and the implications of their comments and jokes for the security of the newly introduced train services linking the north and south of Nigeria.

    Back to resignations again . The resignations of Pope Benedict XVI and Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi caught the world by surprise for different reasons. Firstly the Pope has been one of the most respected Popes and someone who has been in the Vatican for over three decades .He was the anchor man throughout the papacy of his predecessor Pope John Paul ll for -23 years – and it was difficult to imagine him being any where else till his death. Now that has changed and we have been told he will spend his last days in a monastery studying and meditating as the first Pope to resign in 600 years! Let me say that the outgoing pope will be remembered for his strong views on birth control and homosexuality as he insisted in all his writings on theology as a professor that the church should not bow to the fashion of the times but must maintain the faith always. He was no friend of the former Archbishop of Canterbury and accommodated Anglican priests and their families that left the Anglican Church after gay bishops were ordained in the US. He was no friend of the Obama White House either with its promotion of gay rights.

    Before hearing the reason for the Pontiff’s resignation, which turned out to be his failing health, I had indulged in some speculations of my own. Let me confess that although I am not a Catholic, I am an admirer of this Pope who had just resigned because I listened in 2005 to his sermon as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger then aged 78, at the funeral of Pope John Paul ll and thought then that he spoke like a saint and his sermon was like a modern beatitude. I was later pleasantly surprised when he was elected Pope by the Conclave of Cardinals and chose the name Benedict XVI immediately. I later bought a biography of him written by an author who featured prominently this week on CNN on the coverage of Benedict XVI’s most unexpected resignation.

    That book featured six reasons why Ratzinger could not be elected Pope and included reasons like he was a disciplinarian Cardinals in the Vatican and had stepped on toes and the Cardinals would not vote for him; he was an academician and not a priest; the myth that a fat pope had never succeeded a fat one; his being a German and not an Italian and his that his predecessor was from Poland and there was need for an Italian Pope. All these came to nought however and Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope by the Cardinals in Rome in 2005. This made me to believe a claim in the book that the Cardinals had been schooled to believe that when the time comes to elect a Pope, the potential pope will exhibit exceptional and unusual spiritual qualities that will stand him out from other candidates; and I believe that Ratzinger’s actions at the funeral of his predecessor clinched his election as pope by his fellow cardinals eight years ago.

    However this also created problems for Benedict XVI as some American Catholic bishops who fled the US at the beginning of the shameful pedophilia crisis on which the Catholic Church paid a huge amount to placate victims in the US, were seen playing crucial roles at Pope John Paul ll ’s funeral at the Vatican . Indeed I had thought a fall out of this had led to Benedict XVI’s resignation before I learnt with great relief of the real reason, which was his failing health. Please help me wish my favorite Pope a happy retirement.

    In Stephen Keshi’s case his resignation was a shock because he had just won the highest football trophy-the AFCON Cup – for Nigeria and made history in the process as the first Nigerian player to captain his nation to win the coveted trophy as he did in 1994; and to do so again as a coach as he just did in S Africa, in 2013. Although Keshi has been persuaded to withdraw his resignation his reason for this was apparently a standing threat by his employers to engage foreign technical advisers for the team he had just guided most unexpectedly and most professionally to a fantastic victory in S Africa. I think Keshi used the adage that an actor quits while the ovation is largest to get the better of his bosses and this has worked well for him and I think the nation and the Super Eagles.

    I also think Keshi’s fears and anxiety were apparent earlier at a press conference after the Mali Match in S Africa when he seized the microphone literally and spoke in French to say he did not hate white coaches but that they should be qualified before coming to Africa. In addition Keshi had been fired before by Togo after leading that nation to qualify for the last world cup and that experience must have emboldened the Nigerian coach not to be a sitting duck this time around and once bitten quite shy became a good strategy to show his concern and get not only official redress and recant on his fears, but overdue national approbation and commendation .I wish Stephen Keshi and the Super Eagles the same success they have earned in S Africa, in spite of the doubts of all of us, at the coming Continental competition and the World Cup and assure them that their victory in AFCON has earned them the respect of all Nigerians willy-nilly for these important events.

    I listened to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni this week on BBC saying that it was a shame that African nations could not help Mali till France came to do so. Museveni wondered what the armies in the region ECOWAS were in uniform for and why they could not perform . This to me was a genuine African indignation with which I associate myself. Museveni definitely knows what he was saying. He was a history teacher who came to power as guerrilla who went to the bush to fight after he had been rigged out of elections in Uganda . He has kept a tight rein ever since on the Ugandan army which is well trained.

    Museveni also knows his onions as he and his friend President Paul Kigame of Rwanda are the regional guarantors of stability in their part of Africa, notorious for incessant rebellion and they have maintained order and stability in spite of frequent violent military assaults and disruptions in the area. His indignation on the non performance of ECOWAS leaders and army is a righteous one and is an indictment of those responsible for national and regional stability and security in the ECOWAS sub region.

    It is in that light that I see the challenge of the 10 governors who have formed a mega party -APC – ostensibly to prevent the decline or castration of Nigeria into a one-state under the ruling PDP. The fact that some of the governors are from the ruling party, shows that all hope is not lost in fighting the slide to corruption and infamy that has characterized the present political dispensation which has eroded the integrity, respect and leadership of Nigeria at regional level resulting in the Museveni outburst. Without saying it, the Ugandan leader was wondering what Nigeria was doing on Mali. But then no one or nation can leave the fire on its thatched roof to be putting out that of his neighbor. That is why the challenge of the 10 governors is a step in the right direction to retrace Nigeria’s steps both at home and abroad and restore her to her rightful position, hopefully after winning the 2015 presidential election, for which I wish them God’s speed and goodluck . I mean the genuine and real one, this time around

    Lastly at his state of the nation address President Obama whipped up emotion in support of security measures aimed at curtailing the violence and senseless killings with guns in the US. To a long and standing ovation the American president harangued his audience that the victims of poor gun control deserve a vote and mentioned the various locations of the gory killings. This was made more moving and poignant by the presence of the slain victims’ relatives at the occasion. The emotional appeal nevertheless brought home vividly the insecurity inherent in the inadequate gun control measures in the US right now. Which means that the National Rifles Association-NRA, the main opposition lobby to gun control has an uphill task in countering the high pitch Obama salesmanship for better gun control in the US at his last state of the nation address this week.

    To round up l want to compare Obama’s use of emotion to secure better security on guns in his country, with the BBC crew coverage last Wednesday of the newly introduced Kano – Lagos train line, a journey which took 31 hours according to the BBC traveler. Which is an improvement as one of those interviewed said he had spent three days before to get to Kano. The programme was a fine travelogue but for the fact that it gave the impression that the service was an easy prey for a potential Boko Haram attack. Yet, I admire the spirit of Nigerians interviewed, who showed such danger never crossed their mind especially the policeman who said the presence of the police was to secure the service at all cost.

    To me that program was marred by the insinuation in the BBC programme that Boko Haram could sabotage a link between the north and south, a fear the Nigerians interviewed never exhibited from their cheerful response to leading questions from the traveler. In addition the presenter at the end of the program jokingly called the traveler a ‘coward‘ for returning by air from Kano which to me was coarse humor at the expense of the gravity of the Boko Haram menace in Nigeria. Definitely I do not think it is part of the BBC mandate to alert Boko Haram to potential waiting targets in Nigeria. I had goose pimples listening to that program with its utter disregard for the security implications of the comments of the BBC journalists. Definitely more care needs to be taken in the future on such extravagant comments as life has no duplicate.

  • Students urge management to tighten security

    Students urge management to tighten security

    Students of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) have cried out to the management over theft incidents at the university’s main library and Computer-based Test (CBT) centres. Students have lost their bags, laptops, wallets, mobile phones and other personal effects at the facilities since first semester exam commenced.

    Students complained that stealing was particularly rampant at the CBT centres, which they said was no longer safe for them to keep items barred from taking into the hall during exam. “Stealing of bags is not restricted to only CBT centres; the thieves also go to the university library to steal bags of students dropped in the portal room,” a 300-Level student complained.

    A 300-Level Geography and Environmental Management student, whose bag was stolen at the CBT centre last Thursday, spoke to CAMPUSLIFE. She said: “My bag was stolen with my friends’ bags when we went into the CBT centre for exam. My course mates and I kept our mobile phones in my bag when we were ready to go in. Before we came out, the bag was nowhere to be found. My wallet, my laptop and the two note books were in the bag.”

    Some of the victims urged the management to strengthen security on the campus, especially during the examination period. The students also wanted management to deploy security personnel to the affected centres to check the theft.

  • New political deals, security and sports

    New political deals, security and sports

    Last Thursday British PM David Cameron hosted the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan in London in a conference aimed at brokering a peace between the two neighbors and subsequently achieving peace with their common enemy, the Taliban, in the region. Similarly during the week the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, announced that his organization was ready to form a government of national unity with the leader of the PLO, Mamoud Abbass with whom Hamas clashed to set up its own government in Gaza sometime ago.

    Also, an assassination of a politician in Tunisia, the first since the Arab Spring Revolution began in January 2011, set the tone for the formation of a government of technocrats without political affiliation in that nation from where the Arab Street revolutions started two years ago. Thirdly, Nigeria’s qualification for the finals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time since it won it last in 1994 and the way and manner Burkina Fasso beat Ghana to get to tomorrow’s final in spite of the refereeing at that match last Wednesday, throw up issues of fairness justice and security both off and on the pitch in sports and politics.

    David Cameron’s peace broker’s role probably stems from a desire by not only Britain and the US to stop money down the drain over the war on terror in that part of the world, but also to maintain domestic peace in Britain given Britain’s large Pakistani population and the huge resources committed to the Afghan war from which the Allies are committed to withdraw from 2014 . But if David Cameron is sincere in intention, the same cannot be said of the two characters he parleyed with in London this week. This is because the two presidents from Kabul and Islamabad carry heavy luggage in terms of corruption and legitimacy to the talks and these have always dogged or sabotaged their communications with the final objective of the Cameron peace, which is the Taliban.

    President Karzai was elected to a second term recently in Afghanistan, in an election which even the US that midwifed it conceded was far from free and fair. But it was the best available option to keep the Taliban at bay while at the same time propping up a puppet government in a semblance of democracy. This has not however stopped Karzai from telling the Americans that he is free to visit any nation and receive any head of state including that of Iran, the sworn enemy of the US, the sole guarantor of the same Karzai government in Kabul.

    The government of President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan faces a different challenge and carries a peculiar burden. The Pakistani president faces money laundering charges in Switzerland for which a warrant has been issued for his arrest and for which his incumbency as president initially provided immunity. In fact his party or indeed the party of his wife Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated on her return from exile to contest parliamentary elections, won the last general elections riding on the wave of sympathy for the wife’s assassination. That however was when the judiciary needed the politicians in Pakistani’s volatile politics to drive away the military dictatorship of Parvez Musharaff who wanted to shed military fatigues to become a civilian president.

    The CJ of Pakistan then ruled against Musharaff’s ambition as illegal and the politicians rallied round the beleaguered CJ who was reinstated after Zardari’s party came into power. Now it seems the relations between the CJ and the government in power has soured as the CJ has dismissed two PMs for contempt charges for failing to initiate criminal proceeding against Zardari for his earlier money laundering charges.

    The army is standing aloof in all these because it has lost face in Pakistan over the way the Americans came and killed Osama Bin Ladin literally in its backyard. In addition outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has always taunted the Pakistani authorities – military or politician – alike with hypocrisy and treachery in taking US dollars while hiding the where about of Bin Laden – a situation made worse and more embarrassing in the way and manner of the killing of Bin Ladin.

    So in effect, what sort of peace can Cameron broker with these leaders broken in integrity and credibility in their own socio political environment? Can such a peace be respected by the Taliban who hold the two leaders in contempt and boast that but for the Americans and their allies they would have made short work of these leaders? This is what the British should ponder about after all the fanfare and hullaballoo of the London Peace conference on Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    In the case of a truce between Hamas and the PLO in Palestine, this is a clear case of political pragmatism prevailing over deep rooted mutual resentment. The Hamas leader had left his base in Syria in a hurry after criticizing the Assad regime in the way it has been killing its people . He took refuge in one of the Gulf States but it seems life has not been cosy. This again is because one of Hamas own backers and sponsors – Iran – has been tight fisted in providing funds because of the Hamas leader’s criticism of its surrogate and ally, the Assad regime. Now the Hamas leader knows that there is no where like home and even though the Israelis are always looking for the Hamas leader to do him in, a truce of sorts with the PLO will provide some form of cover and shelter for the Hamas leader, at least in Palestine. This too should remove the bottom from the Netanyahu charge and argument that the Israelis are not ready for peace because they are divided. Which really is a wicked excuse for building on the occupied territories against UN resolutions and international law that Israel is violating with impunity. The Hamas rethink is therefore a welcome development that gives peace a new chance in the Middle East. It therefore should be encouraged.

    With regard to the assassination in Tunisia of opposition leader, anti Islamist Chokri Belaid who was shot in the neck and head by unknown people on motor bikes in front of his house this week, one can only tremble at the prospect that holds for democracy and stability in post – street revolution N Africa. I heard a lamentation on BBC that the assassination means the end of democracy and is a betrayal of the revolution in the Middle East. Which is really sad and makes one shudder that the huge human price to remove dictatorships may well end in anarchy and instability which again makes a mockery of the entire Spring Revolution that started in Tunisia two years ago.

    Most Tunisians have held the government Islamist Party in power – Ennahada – responsible but all hope is not lost that such anarchy will prevail in Tunisia. This is because the PM of Tunisia, Hamadi Jebadi has now said he will form a government ‘of competent nationals without political affiliation. Which resonates the concept of zero party politics similar to the one Museveni introduced in Uganda some time ago as well as the type practiced in Nigeria also some time ago. That also creates some fear as well that a sectarian majority may not be the goal of the Spring Revolution in N Africa even though on paper this should be a fait accompli given the census and statistics of the region as well as the fact that there is one religion prevalent.

    That was the problem the President of Egypt Mohammed Morsi was reacting to when he told the CNN – there is no Islamic Democracy but democracy. Which again shows that first Egypt and now Tunisia have become a case or battle ground for the clash between religion and democracy in the quest for freedom, stability and security in post revolution N Africa – and one can only watch and pray.

    Lastly the AFCON final tomorrow between Nigeria and Burkina Fasso promises to be a thriller and is a befitting end to a series of soccer games that have made Africa proud in terms of standard of play and discipline, except the refereeing . It was bad enough that CAF sent home the referee of the Nigeria – Zambia match for the penalty against Nigeria and for – ‘ trying to rewrite the rules at the competition‘. But the referee in the Burkina Fasso – Ghana match was the ‘twelfth player’ for the Ghana team. He was so biased against the Burkina Fasso team that it was a wonder they were able to defeat Ghana after extra time and penalty shoot out. One can only wait to see what CAF will make of such officiating as a form of deterrence.

    Let me say clearly that as a Nigerian I want Nigeria to win. But let me also, like most Nigerians say boldly, that the Nigerian team has surprised all of us in getting this far, given the way they played their first two drawn games against Burkina Fasso and the outgoing champion Zambia. But it is in the way that the Nigerian team has lifted its game since those two dismal draws that I doff my heart to the team and its coach Stephen Keshi.

    Nigerians lost confidence in the team after its first two games but the team held its own, kept its head and focus, and gave a brilliant performance against Ethiopia and Ivory Coast to win the hearts of all Nigerian who are now rooting for them to win today. It is therefore the Super Eagles and it coach that deserve kudos for believing in themselves, against the 11th hour, new found supporters of today who were yesterday‘s doubting Thomases and who now expect them to win today, as I am sure they will, all things being equal.