Paul Ohia

Death toll rose to 39 Sunday after bomb exploded at a Catholic Church in Nigeria’s town of Madalla in Niger state just as another church bombing and two suicide attacks were witnessed in other northern cities.
The explosion at St. Thesera’s Catholic occurred after a Mass to celebrate Christmas while the second church bombing took place in a Mountain of Fire church in central city of Jos where constant clashes have taken place between Muslims and Christians.
Also on Sunday, police in cities of Damaturu in Yobe state and Maiduguri in Borno state said the number of wounded are still being counted as a suicide bomber attacked the two restive cities.
The carnage in Madalla left at least 17 cars damaged by the bomb which killed those who queued up to drive or board commercial vehicles to their homes.
The increase in number of deaths from an initial 25 came as more died in hospitals where they were taken to for medical attention.
“The owners of these vehicles queued up to drive home after the early morning mass where the message of love, peace and joy was delivered to herald the Feast of Nativity. Sadly, what we met was this ugly situation.” the pastor of the church, Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi said.
One of the victims was found on the roof of the church while several dead bodies were littered in gutters and other parts of the premises.
“The victims have been moved to different hospitals but at St. Lucas hospital, nine of my parishioners were recorded dead. At Diamond Hospital, a little baby of 5 years who was injured could not locate his parents.” Achi said adding that some other victims were commercial vehicle operators who came in to pick passengers home.
Angry youths gathered to protest after the attack but were dispersed by the police.
The explosion in Jos killed a police officer and while three vehicles were destroyed.
The spokesman for Islamic radical sect, Boko Haram, Abu Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks.
“The officers of Search and Rescue Team of NEMA in collaboration with stakeholders have evacuated at least 10 dead bodies from the explosion scene at Madalla to hospitals.”spokesman for he National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Yushua Shuaib he said,
According to him, the evacuation exercise was still going on and military men were also involved.
In Yobe state, the police commissioner, Mr. Tanko Lawan said a suicide attacker targeted the headquarters of the oil rich African country’s secret police, State Security Service (SSS).

Boko Haram sect, which wants to install an Islamic government, has been waging war on Nigeria state in its quest to fulfil its ambition but the Nigerian military also battles them especially in their northern stronghold.
More than 100 people mostly their members were killed last week when the army engaged them in gun battles in Damaturu, Maiduguri and Potiskum.
Nigeria is a circular state with Muslims and Christians having equal share of the 150 million people in the country.
Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for several bombings and shootings in the north and capital city of Abuja.
A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in July killed 26 persons and injured more than 70.
The group’s leader, Muhammed Yusuf was killed in 2006 during an insurrection which claimed more than 800 lives.

Almost a fortnight ago, the Diaspora Commission Bill ran into a hitch in the House of Representatives when it was reported that members mistook it for an earlier rejected Diaspora Voting Bill. They disagreed with every point on the bill which was about to be passed into law thereby prompting the timely intervention of Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon Emeka Ihedioha who shelved it for another day.
During the discussion, most of the parliamentarians aligned our citizens in the Diaspora to some black sheep who engage in internet and credit card scam, a very unfortunate generalisation.
They forgot the teaming number of Nigerians who left the shores of this country because of unfavourable economic climate and are using their innate talents and intellects to contribute to the prosperity of the countries where they reside. And thanks to the government’s policy on dual citizenship, they’re still Nigerians.
Several of these persons are celebrated abroad and even pampered with red carpets rolled out for their reception in the societies that understand their importance. Such nations, if they have their way may never let come back here when they finally wish to return.
For some time now, I engaged on a mission to enlighten our citizens about these individuals especially those who braved the rough climate at home and came home to contribute to the betterment of the populace. I approached corporate Nigeria and some Nigerians for sponsorship but got only one or two positive responses. They prefer to sponsor competitions like singing talent hunts and sundry reality shows as if making a Michael Jackson out of Nigerian youth would suddenly transform our economy and make us join the BRIC nations overnight. The writing or book on the making of this project would be left for another day after the project which must be completed has been carried out.
At present, my mission here is to urge the members of the house to let this wonderful be created because, it would synchronise the contributions of our fellow compatriot who left several cities, ranging from Kano, Aba to Ogbomosho for greener pastures abroad.
It is not only those who left, there’s a third generation Nigerian group made up of their children who are eager to come home and offer their quota to national development.
A country like India discovered the magic of this move and today, their diaspora are the driving force behind the information technology development of the country. They tap the secrets of the foreigners and take them home to add to their own ingenuity and today, the country is a big player in the global economic arena.
Therefore, the lawmakers ought to understand that the few bad eggs who spoil Nigeria’s name abroad do not represent the larger Nigerians who live honestly abroad and without doubt, I can say that every person in that hallowed chamber must have a child, cousin, uncle, niece etc abroad. Those relatives of theirs, I am sure, are not part of the criminal minded ones painting the country’s image black.
There is a frequent statement that Nigerians are the most educated ethnic group in the United State which is also applicable to other countries. That underscores the fact that if the Diaspora Nigerians decide to channel their energies back home, a lot would be achieved in terms of development.
And they have really decided but there must be an avenue to streamline and also recognise their efforts and that is what the commission is all about.
Their importance for national development was the main reason why the House of Representatives itself created a committee to handle their affairs and this body, chaired by Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has done a very good job by presenting this bill.
Every Nigerian, including those in the Diaspora has been full of anticipation because of this and I have no doubt the respected House members themselves would leave up to their good name by passing the bill into law just as they did when they made everybody hilarious by passing the Freedom of Information Act.
It is no gainsaying the fact that the present set of honourable members of the House appear set to etch their name in the annals of our country’s history as those who did their work in a way that deserves veneration.

South African High Commission in Nigeria has approved 50, 665 visas for Nigerian in the past one year after outsourcing the issuance of entry documents to the country.
Breaking down the figures in weekend during the commemoration of one year of partnering VFS Global for this project, the country’s high commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Mamabolo Lagos centre which received the 44,443 applications got 34,692 approvals while Abuja which received 16,618 applications got 15, 973 approvals.
The high commissioner who was represented by the counsellor immigration, Ms Tampane Molefe-Sefanyetso, also disclosed a spike in the number of applications the VFS were able to process daily to 200 to 250 on an off the peak season to about 250 to 350 on a peak season compared to 50 to 60 which the high commission was able to process in the past when it handled the process alone.
However, he said an earlier commitment that the visa process will take up to six working day s to finalise witnessed an initial challenge which necessitated their putting some systems in place “in the back office to ensure that our response is within the stipulated time frame.”
He complained of the challenges posed by fraudulent applicants who present false passports and documents.
“One of the challenges that we have to deal with at any given time is the submission of less authentic (fraudulent, forged) documentation by the applicants; situations where applicants misrepresent themselves.” he said adding that this can happen in four out of every ten applications processed.
According to the envoy, it can take a minimum of two days to a maximum of ten days to process and finalise an application.
He said some applicants failed to turn up to claim their travel document which resulted in the centre having 350 uncollected passports which have been sent to Nigerian Immigrations Service (NIS).
In his judgement, visa issuance has improved considerably with a well organised environment where an applicant is attended to in a professional, humane and respectable manner.
The new regime, he said, has created an atmosphere where the use of touts and agents by applicants became unnecessary even as the two centres in Lagos and Abuja serve applicants every day for the submission of visa applications as well as collection of passports.
This, he continued, varies from the past when intending travellers were attended to on certain days of the week and the two centres also provide a one stop shop which enables the applicant submit their applications, make photocopies when required as well as make visa payments at the implant GTbank.
He explained further that information is readily available and staff of VFS are able to clarify and advise where possible just as the facility provide for an executive lounge for those clients who need urgent attention.
“As you may recall, we also have value adding services that were aimed at improving the services to the applicants. These included amongst others, the sms alert, the track and trace system, (computer enabled); as well as the call centre.” he stressing that the call centre was set up to allow the applicants to send their queries/complaints/enquiries

A gun battle between radical Islamic group, Boko Haram and members of the Nigeria police in northern city of Kano has led to the arrest of 14 of its members amongst them one of the sect’s leaders, Mohammed Hamza.
Police also engaged the extremists in a gun battle and seized several explosives even as three officers were shot dead during the fight.
Fours suspected members of the group were also gunned down by the police.
Hamza’s house was placed under surveillance by the police following a tip-off and as soon as he realised this, he mobilised members of Boko Haram who drove into his compound in three cars to engage the police in prolonged gun duel.
Police commissioner in the state, Mr. Ibrahim Idris confirmed the incident disclosing that 50 litres of petrol and gas canisters were found at the house of suspects.
They also recovered several AK-47s, shot guns, 1,125 rounds of ammunition, detonators, wires and locally made casings with explosives.
“During a search conducted by police in the house of Mohammed at Darnamawa Quaters, one Honda Henesy loaded with 50 litres of petrol, 50 kg cylinders prepared for suicide bombing was equally recovered.” the police chief said.
Boko Haram claims to be on a mission to install Islamic sharia rule in northern Nigeria and its principles abhor western education.
It has claimed responsibility for several bombings and shootings in the north and capital city of Abuja.
A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in July killed 26 persons.
Boko Haram’s leader, Muhammed Yusuf was killed in 2006 during an insurrection which claimed more than 800 lives.

Nigeria launched two observation satellites into the orbit at Yashny in the Russian Federation, the African country’s President Goodluck Jonathan announced on Wednesday describing the move as another milestone in the country’s effort to solve national problems through space technology.
According to him, one of the satellites, Nigeriasat-x was designed and built by Nigerian engineers and scientists, and while the other, Nigeriasat-2, was built in collaboration with international partner, the Surrey Satellite Technology Limited of the United Kingdom.
“They have been launched at 7.45 hours GMT, today, Wednesday 17th August, 2011 at Yasny in the Russian Federation.” he said adding that the oil rich African country will continue to emphasize on investment in science and technology as a tool to drive the transformation agenda of this Administration.
“With our satellites in orbit, I urge Nigerian professionals, Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the private sector to take advantage and optimise the use of these national assets.” Jonathan said.
Similar satellite launched by the country in China, NIGCOMSAT 1 packed up in space in 2007. It was meant to enhance broadband communication but the present has several uses including military operation as it can detect objects wider than 8.2 feet.

I often wonder if our missions abroad work the way foreign missions located within this country do because the missions in Nigeria work round the clock to promote the image of their home countries.
The strive to seek for investment opportunities, advertise what we can purchase from them, promote their cultures and education amongst other things.
Strikingly, Nigerian mission buildings abroad are so magnificent that they could compare with any other located along Walter Carrington Crescent in Lagos, Diplomatic Drive, Abuja or elsewhere.
Missions located within Nigeria have different departments with adequate staff who harness different leverages offered by the environment to jack up the already good advantages they have in respect of many develped countries or tap into any available clouts to win our patronage or friendship in regards to some developing nations.
Flurry of activities in these missions which starts from people looking for visa to business men seeking opportunities and information tells you that they are really succeeding.
Are we doing the same abroad? That is the question that crosses my mind whenever I see these activities moving on. I was at a session where the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru narrated how he organised a forum for South African investors during his tenure as an ambassador in that country. According to him, this led to many business people from that country investing in Nigeria.
Certainly, that could be the motivating factor for his new foreign policy focus which aims to attract investment into the country and create jobs for our teeming unemployed.
True, this is a laudable effort but how is he going to enforce this? It seems to me that the next line of action the ministry might take would be to issue memos to the effect that all foreign missions must comply with this rule. But that could be very simplistic because what the ministry must do is to map out strategies for this move.
And the minister also said he will work with the Ministry of Trade and Investment for this purpose. For me, that is the first strategy. We need to look around us and see what other missions are doing in order to tap into their already established reservoir of experience and tactic.
We may not shy away from the establishment of Nigerian cultural centres abroad because by promoting our culture, the admiration of the potential investor is kept away from stereotypical wrong notions held about our country.
Information centres need to be activated in all our missions abroad for adequate and prompt dispersal of messages and information about the country else they may depend on foreign media information.
In this regard, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson here needs to start speaking. On a daily bases, I get emailed messages from different foreign ministries right from the home country but going by my experience, squeezing information from our foreign ministry is like trying to get water from dry sand.
Compulsorily, the missions abroad must be able to identify essential business people in their location and tell them what opportunities abound here. They must not wait for them to approach our missions first because such persons may be distracted by other lobbying countries. Then on the issuance of visa, Ashiru has agreed that good investors must be given visa after they’re presented appropriate documents.
Trade missions have to be encouraged from here to several countries and the chambers of commerce must participate in these missions.
The missions abroad only serve as intermediaries between our country and their places of abode and therefore may not be able to fashion out these policies themselves.

The unnecessary anxiety raised before the April election by the international community has turned to become a blessing in disguise for Nigeria.
At the moment, it appears as if the whole West is heading down here with the visit of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister, David Cameron and some officials from Canada and other countries.
And from what I heard through diplomatic grapevine, many of them are still coming this way.
Maybe we can stand aloof, behave like an overshadowed beautiful bride flattered by many suitors and wait for our knight with a glamorous amour to appear or accept everybody as friends.
It seems to me that what we need at this point in time is nothing but a heuristic strategy and good enough, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) ended a meeting last week and stated that attracting investment is the core principle of Nigeria’s foreign policy now.
For me, this pronouncement was not necessary because the investors seem ready to come despite security issues posed by Boko Haram or Niger Delta militants at home probably because businessmen are risk takers.
What they often desire is stable government and not a country jumping from civil into military rule or peace into crisis, a situation which often make them to lose all they have invested.
Now, on the strategy I stated earlier, it may be good to make possible investors shoulder some social responsibilities like helping in our rail transportation system which has been difficult to tackle for years. They can also help in building roads in areas where they’re located since their products must be transported through such routes.
But the most important strategy would be to make investors spend on areas that would increase our terms of trade and create employment or on the other hands help us develop such through their expertise.
However, this issue could be tackled better by our readiness to produce what they need and export such to the countries.
I confronted a certain top diplomat whose country is eager to invest in ours with the question of balance of trade and coincidentally he had called me on phone earlier requesting for phone number or contact of a company that produces palm oil.
He told me his reason for seeking for this contact was because the people of his country wanted to import palm oil from Nigeria but could not find any company which exports such.
Fired by the zeal to deliver, I chased after a top producer of the product only to be told that it cannot satisfy the internal market and have no capacity to export. And this is a vital area where the government or rather banks have to come in and finance certain companies.
The company told me that it would be ready to work with the country if there’re investors willing to come in and set up palm-produce companies.
Of course, this tells a lot about our lack of readiness to balance trade because other countries, while chasing after foreign investors, also engage in aggressive trade promotion through their chambers of commerce.
All told, my profession is not economics but common sense tells me that if we encourage many companies to produce what the intending suitors nay investors wish to import, it could be a win-win situation if we negotiate with them on the terms that they must import our products outside crude before we allow them in.
Let’s take heed of an early statement which appeared in Discourse of the Common Weal of this Realm of England, 1549: “We must always take heed that we buy no more from strangers than we sell them, for so should we impoverish ourselves and enrich them.”
An observer was telling me the other day that we should tell the leaders heading to Nigeria no to promise aids for fight against malaria or HIV/AIDS but to bring our concrete proposals for the economic advancement of the continent. Of course, the visitors already know what they want and have since refocused. Therefore we should also refocus and make the best use of this opportunity.
Inasmuch as we may need them to see us as partners in progress rather than aid seekers, we must also act in that line because whether the present circumstances make us to believe it or not, Nigeria nay Africa is a continent of the future because the resources here are enormous even though we’re still exploring.

Nigeria’s secret police said it has arrested 100 members of an Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram which has claimed responsibility for several killings and bombings in the northern part of the country and the capital city, Abuja.
A spokesman for State Security Service (SSS), Ms Maryin Ogar said the men were arrested in six states in North-East and North-West of the country; Borno, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Yobe and Adamawa.
“President Jonathan had decided to use carrot and stick approach on suspects of Boko Haram, the service would not go contrary to such strategy and that is why the arrested suspects of the fundamental Islamic sect would not be prosecuted.” Ogar said.
Bomb blasts and shootings have become almost a daily occurrence in the oil rich African country that concluded a general election in April followed by an inauguration on May 29.
On Sunday, s bomb blast at a bar near a police barracks killed five persons and left about 10 others injured in northern town of Maiduguri.
The same day suspected sect members killed a local government chairman, Mr. Mustapha Ba’ale in his house at old Borno.
On Saturday, the assailants killed two brothers and another person in Maiduguri during a house to house search for Christians.
Boko Haram sect believes that Western education is a sin and wants to install Islamic Sharia rule in the country of 150 million people whose population is shared equally amongst Muslims and Christians.

Nigerian ace entertainer and former president of Performing Musicians of Nigeria (PMAN), Mr. Charles Oputa (AKA Charlie Boy) is iconoclastic and does things in certain ways that may be considered weird by some people.
He has a programme that runs on televisions called Charlie Boy Show and one interesting aspect of it is the Candid Camera segment whereby a camera man films a person or some persons without the filmed knowing it.
On a particular day, Mr. Oputa’s team dropped a bunch of money on the ground and focused their camera at the spot. Obviously, they were trying to get hold of any person who would pick the money and one middle-aged woman did.
This woman has the typical appearance of a Christian mother, devoted Muslim woman or a faithful lady of any religion but upon questioning on whether she is the owner of the money she said yes.
She started rambling and defending her ownership of the large amount and how it fell off her handbag in a surprising manner that one would have been convinced if not that the money was dropped by the show producers.
All her seemingly frank explanations were to get hold of the bunch of money that doesn’t belong to her and that is the characteristics of Nigerian leaders.
Last week, suicide bombing which I had boasted in a past write-up was peculiar to the Middle East and Asia has taken place here. One of such used a car and detonated a bomb at the Nigerian police headquarters in his attempt to kill the police chief, Mr Hafiz Ringim. I had insinuated that no Nigerian had the liver to blow himself or herself up with a bomb while attacking others or government institutions and I have been proven wrong because I may have misread the scope of human dynamism.
I’m afraid that in past difficult situations like the bombing, we have seen government officials behave like the woman caught up in Charlie Boy’s candid camera.
As soon as those situations arose, we got the best types of urgent explanations and panaceas meant either to save ones’ job or to keep the tide going until the official loots as much government money as he could and disappear from the scene. Then the rot is left for the incoming person who also followed the same process if he encounters some new problems.
Because of this I was not impressed when I read on the pages newspapers that Nigeria would involve intelligence or security operatives from the United States, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to fight the new suicide scourge.
The very hazardous consequence of this type of grandstand is that if nothing is done, a deeper problem would arise and in some cases tracking or solving them become as complex as finding a solution to the AIDS/HIV scourge.
We’re all aware that terrorism and other crimes of international dimension like corruption, organized criminal elements, document fraud, drug trafficking,
are fought in conjunction with foreign intelligence and security services.
Of course, we have benefited from this in the past and we’re still benefitting from such.
Mid-January, 500 police officers of the anti-terrorism and Insurgency Centre of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) graduated after a counter-terrorism training in Jaji. They were trained were said to have been drilled on the employment of various techniques to stop insurgency.
As far back as 2001, military pilots and crew members attached to the presidential Air Fleet (PAF) the elite flying wing of the air force attached to the presidency, underwent anti-terrorism training.
Recently, instructors from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) commenced a trained operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on anti-money laundering and control of terrorist financing.
In a nutshell, we have heard much about counter-terrorism training and collaboration from outside that the size of this column will not allow me mention therefore such training should be localized and put to use to their fullest capacity.
Talking tough and doing little now in order to finish our terms as government executives and leave would expose all of us to harm.

Reflections on Albertina Sisulu, Other Anti-Apartheid Icons
On- by-one, the apartheid fighters are passing on and according to Nelson Mandela in his speech to Nontsikelelo Albertino, the wife of Walter Sisulu, he could imagine Albertino meeting other comrades who had gone before her like her husband, former anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo and former activist Helen Joseph.
Indeed, that would be a great celestial reunion as they would rejoice that in their lifetime they succeeded in fighting a course they believed in and they equally won.
Albertina Sisulu died aged 92 as he watched TV at home last Thursday night.
After the end of apartheid, she was elected to the first democratic parliament in1994 but after serving for four years, she retired.
Albertina a nurse and a midwife served as the deputy president of the ANC Women’s League and participated in the formation of the United Democratic Front, the 1956 anti-pass march to the Union Buildings and the launch of the Freedom Charter.
She was called, “Mother of the Nation” because of a maternal characteristics she developed early in life and brought to bear throughout the fight against apartheid. At a young age, her mother was sickly and being the eldest of eight girls, she took over the responsibility of catering for her siblings and this sacrifice made her stay two years behind in school as she had to drop often to take up employments.
The leadership qualities and maternal instincts she developed thereof underlined the respect she earned during the struggle.
She excelled at school in cultural and sporting activities and displayed headship skills at an early age when she was chosen as head girl in standard five.
After some years of excellent high school performance and even scholarship to college, she graduated and later met Walter Sisulu, a lawyer in 1941 while working at Johannesburg General Hospital as nurse when the later was a young political activist.
During their marriage in in 1944 Nelson Mandela was the best man.
Her husband, who died in 2003, spent 25 years in custody on Robben Island together with Nelson Mandela. She was successively in and out of jail for her political activities despite this, she continued to resist apartheid.
The fight against apartheid is the highest struggle by African nationalists after that of independence but it was more spirited than the later.
Looking at the continent now, it seems not as if the nationalists had ever succeeded against such past phenomena that looked very overbearing. Why, because poverty and several other pandemics are still endemic on the continent and poor governance is still here with us.
If Africa must move ahead and conquer these, we need a renewed patriotism by some younger minds to fight off, poverty and even neo-colonialism with the same vigour with which Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah, the Sisulus brawled against apartheid and colonialism.
Let us not rest on our oars thinking that the war is over because, there are more wars to be fought than the ones that have been fought