http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/06/national-06-11-2010-003.htm

The Vice President, Namadi Sambo has described as crime against humanity the attack on journalists sometimes resulting in death. Sambo also stressed the need for high premium insurance policy for journalists. The Vice President, who unveiled the Nigeria Union of Journalists Insurance Scheme at the Ladi Kwali Hall of Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, yesterday charged employers in the media to support the scheme to ensure all journalists benefit from the packages the scheme offers.

Meanwhile, the event that has been described as unprecedented and a watershed in the practice of journalism in the country, witnessed a very low turnout as the two ministers in charge of the Ministry of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili and Labaran Maku as well as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were all absent.
Had the Vice President and the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko not made it, the event would have been a flop as media chief executives in both the public and private sector were also absent.

Vice President Sambo also disclosed that the Federal Government has earmarked N1.3 trillion to be spent to equip the police in the next five years to checkmate insecurity in the country like armed robbery and kidnap.
While reiterating government’s commitment to journalists’ security and press freedom, he said recent developments in the country heightened the anxiety hence the need for the issue of security to be taken seriously.

The VP, however,, urged journalists to remain the watchdog of the society, describing the profession as unique and beautiful though laced with hazards.
He noted that journalists have influence that can either be good or bad hence the need for them to be fair, truthful, objective, security conscious and patriotic in their reportage.
He used the occasion to assure of the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to free and fair elections next year.
In his remark, the chief presenter of the occasion, the Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, who donated N10 million to NUJ and also paid one year premium for all the registered journalists in his state, said the scheme was an eternal shame to those who want to try to muzzle the press in the country.

On Tuesday March 17, 2009, the Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili launched a campaign tagged ‘Re-branding Nigeria’ alongside a new slogan ‘Nigeria GOOD PEOPLE GREAT COUNTRY’.

It is no surprise that ever since she first muted the idea when she was sworn in as Minister, Nigerians have not been too impressed with the whole thing. For one, they see it as another way of siphoning money into private pockets not after all the noise the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration made with the HEART OF AFRICA project and the billions of naira that went into it with the advert running on CNN for months.

According to Akunyili, the launch is a major step towards changing the negative perception of Nigeria and her people both locally and internationally. She also said the campaign targets “re-orienting Nigerians, changing the negative attitudes of Nigerians, making Nigerians to believe in themselves, inculcating optimal spirit of patriotism in Nigerians and at the same time, celebrating our very best before the international community”.

The minister said the core of this campaign would be a return to the cultural values of Nigerians as a people, as well as, how Nigerians see the nation. “Countries that have excelled held on to their cultural values. Nigeria has rich and robust cultural values good enough to make the country better and to project to the world.” “Unfortunately, the actions and inactions of a few of us and the skewed reportage by the international media have either tarnished our image, or mis-branded this country and that is why we want to re-claim the lost glory by re-branding our image”, she said.

That is where the problem lies. Agreed, the western media has not been too fair in reporting the African continent most especially Nigeria but blaming the image problem on the media and its reportage to me is myopic. When you have a country where nothing works, talking about good road is mirage, having good healthcare facilities is like something from the moon, where public officers drive against the traffic, where it is news to find a good school with quality teachers, books and infrastructure in some states of the federation and yet her so called leaders lived in stupendous wealth. How can you re-brand a country like that? When you have a House of Representatives that spend public funds with reckless abandon, for instance buying cars far above the cost price and at no discount, are they not part of the image problem Nigeria has? When you have lawmakers even in the face of economic melt down injecting funds into fictitious projects in the budget in other to corner it later, are they not contributing to the image problem? When you have public office holders stealing public funds and stashing away in foreign banks, are they are part of the image problem? When you have ministers in a cabinet who know next to nothing about their ministry and embarrass us in public functions when they meet with their counterparts from other climes who seem to fully gasps what he/she is talking about, is that not part of the image problem?

According to Dr. Davidson Lawoyin, a reader who dropped a comment in one of the news items on re-branding Nigeria, “re-branding Nigeria should not just be a slogan but rather a sustained effort to rally Nigerians to a cause they can believe in. It must start at the top. Leaders must not only talk patriotism but must project it. Nigerians must be made to have faith in their leaders to do the right thing. Creativity, ingenuity must be recognized and be rewarded at home. Infrastructure must be in place for Nigerians to shoot for the sky. The “419ners” should be ruthlessly pursued and eliminated. As it stands, the whole world sees every Nigerian as a con artist and this is our brand until that menace is uprooted. Drug barons must be made to feel the heat and pushed out of our borders. Our embassies abroad must be retooled to function at the 21st century level. Re-branding is a serious project which can only succeed if the full resources of the federal government is brought to bare on it”

We thank God for the likes of Babatunde Fasola, the Governor of Lagos State who has proved beyond reasonable doubts that with vision, focus, determination and proper channelling of resources you can indeed achieve what you want to achieve. He has done so well that for once, other state governors are beginning to have a rethink about looting public funds and actually providing infrastructure. Nigeria can truly change her image when the leaders begin to live by example then the citizens will have no choice but to follow suit.

Nigerians feel they should be held because of their greed and the outrageous budget N37 billion budgeted for the championship despite the fact that we have all the basic infrastructure including world standard stadium across the nation to host a championship of that magnitude. They have gotten used to government always shouldering responsibility of that magnitude without demand for accountability when such jamboree is over. But this time around they were caught unawares and right now it is too late for anything to be done to remedy the situation.

The Federal Government of Nigeria had after its weekly Federal Executive Council Meeting, on Wednesday October 22^nd, announced its withdrawal hosting next year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The Information and Communication Minister John Odey had on behalf of government said the championship was not on its priority list blaming the withdrawal on the present global economic crisis.

Odey had however left an opening, if the private sector can take up the challenge it will gladly back it.

““I need to let you know that we have some funding challenges and government will not be able to fund the U-17 Football World Cup championship. If the private sector is able to come in, we will let you know,” he said.

But the Minister of Sports and the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Abdulrahman Gimba has finally extinguished whatever faint hopes members of the Local Organising Committee for Nigeria’09 had that the tournament might still be rescued when he said it was too late for the private sector to save the competition.
So the glimpse of hope created by comments by the Minister of Information and Communication after FEC meeting that the competition could still go ahead if the private sector was willing to pick up a sizeable chunk of the N37 billion budgeted for the event finally was extinguished.
Gimba on his return from Zurich, where he had gone to submit the letter stating Nigeria’s withdrawal said it was too late for the private sector to come in, laying the blame squarely on the doorsteps of the private sector.
He said the private sector had not made itself available for hosting of the championship.

Government’s withdrawal has drawn several reactions many of which have are happy with government’s withdraw.

The only negative reaction is coming from CAF. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) which has described the withdrawal as shocking. In a letter sent to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFA) and dated October 22, CAF President Alhaji Issa Hayatou pointed out that the action was not only an embarrassment to the football governing body but to the whole of the African continent.

According to the CAF boss, who is also a Vice President of the world governing body, FIFA, he was ‘shocked and disappointed’ when the news was broken to him on his arrival at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Tuesday for the World Cup draws for the final phase of the African qualifying series, which took place a day later.

In a last minute effort to persuade President Umaru Yar’Adua to have a rethink, Hayatou said: “I would like to remind you that the FIFA Executive Committee decided to award the U-20 and the U-17 World Cups to the African continent in 2009 since our continent is hosting for the first time in 2010 the Senior World Cup. Only African candidatures were accepted for these two events.”

“We count on your wisdom to review this decision since Nigeria in its capacity as one of the powerhouses of the African continent is one of the African countries which can make Africa proud whenever hosting world sporting events.”

But as it is, it is doubtful if Nigeria is going to make a u-turn right now.

One prominent Nigerian who has thrown its weight behind government’s call for the championship to be private sector driven is, the Chairman of the African Independent Television (AIT) Chief Raymond Dokpesi. While appealing to government not to pull out he also expressed shock that the nation was budgeting so much money on broadcast equipment barely five years after it expended so much to the same items for the All Africa Games.
“It sounds very funny that a country that hosted the World U-20 Champion in 1999 and the All Africa Games in 2003 is applying to procure the same equipment and materials that were used barely five years ago.”

Dokpesi assured that the Daar Communications PLC had all it takes to cover the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup without incurring the N14 billion that has been budgeted for it.

Advising government not to withdraw, Dokpesi said: “If the government decides to withdraw it would be detrimental to the youths of this country. It would be detrimental to our national interest. In our own interest, which the Federal Executive council is protecting, I wish to appeal to them to allow the private sector to work out the modalities with the LOC”.

It is pertinent to state that this is not the first time Nigeria will be hosting a championship of this magnitude.

We had in 1995 hosted the African Youth Championship, in 1999 we co-hosted the FIFA U-20 Championship with Ghana and in 2003 we held the All Africa Games in Abuja otherwise known as COJA 2003.

In all these hosting, rather than make profit from the games we had also run into debts into billions of dollars. This must have informed President Yar’Adua’s action.

Officials in charge of these games have been accused time without number of cornering the whole money meant for the championship to themselves, girlfriends, families and kids. That of the 2003 All Africa Games was the most disturbing bearing in mind the number of private sector that came into partnership with the organisers and yet at the end of the day, thousands of contracts were left without payment.

It was also during that Games that six modern fire fighting equipment were bought with the aim of distributed to various stadium across the country but was left for a long time to rot at the Area 10 sports center in Abuja.

The local organising committee for the 2009 U-17 World Cup in Nigeria have just confirmed the fears of Nigeria that the budget earlier presented to the federal government which must have scared the government to back off had been inflated.

The LOC have reduced the cost of hosting from N37 billion ($132 million) to N17 billion (about $160m) a day after government had announced its withdrawal.

General-manager of the LOC, Emeka Inyama told brilafm website that FIFA had told them there was no need for broadcast allocation in their budget.
He denied that they ever requested for 37 billion naira (about $312m) as speculated in the media saying they asked for 35 billion naira rather.
“What the LOC presented was 35 million naira, not 37 million,” he stated.
“The budget was presented a breakdown of components for what is needed to organize a smooth and successful competition,” he insisted.

Inyama expatiated that the total budget is now 17 billion naira, since the FIFA team has advised that the allocation for broadcast was not necessary.
In the same vein, media officer of the committee, Emeka Odikpo explained that of the initial estimate, only 12 billion is for services of the LOC.
He explained further that 14 billion naira is for broadcast equipment, seven billion naira for facilities upgrade and four billion for ITC, then confirmed that FIFA has told Nigeria to present three options for hosting the competition.

“FIFA is expecting Nigeria to present the options in Zurich, with a view to ensuring that Nigeria hosts the event with an understanding between the government and FIFA to reduce the cost,” Odikpo expatiated.

This reduction by the LOC has led Nigerians to back the Federal Government in its action even though they know the implication of this.

Frank, reacting to the reduction on Kickoffnigeria.com website said “Aha! The truth is coming out gradually! Even if it was 35billion it’s still outrageous given sundry other matters that require funding. Now that the President has ‘swallowed’ them the budget has suddenly plummeted. In saner climes the private sector plays significant roles in matters of this nature but not ours. They’d rather be encouraged to put their money else where. Let me stop before the patriots start with their retributions”.

Well, the day did not just end like that as the Federal Government did something ‘remarkable’. It renamed 77 streets in the Federal Capital Territory after some notable Nigerians and foreigners for their various roles in the development of the modern day Nigeria.

The list, which cuts across all strata of life from the politics to human right activist includes, the former vice president Atiku Abubakar who had a street in the popular Asokoro district named after him.

At least at last our  Nobel Laurel winner, Wole Soyinka, late Chike Obi, Claude Ake were finally recognised with streets names after them.

Also considered for the honour in the list of Diaspora were Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican activist and African nationalist, Malcom X, Rosa Parks who single-handedly confronted discrimination and Martin Luther King Jnr.
All the same we are happy to have turned 48.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY!

Addressing newsmen at its headquarters in Abuja, the director general of NBC, Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa said the commission suspended the TV’s broadcasting licence in all locations for what it termed “breach of provisions of the National Broadcasting Commission Act. No. 38 of 1992 (as amended) and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code”.

Many see the suspension as the replication of the dark years of the Babangida and Abacha regimes (both military heads of state). In the Abacha years, any report against the government could end you life imprisonment that is if you are spared to be alive. 

Acoording to Simon Kolawole in his column on sunday “it was hell to be a journalist in Nigeria. I was working with the TheNews/TEMPO group then, and, honestly, it was not a cup of tea. We were regularly hounded by security agencies. Routine arrest and detention of our editors was a prominent item on the agenda. Our offices were habitually occupied by state agents. We had to device “guerrilla” means to survive.

“Ultimately, our colleague, Bagauda Kaltho, disappeared in mysterious circumstances until the police came up with a fantastic story two years later that he died while trying to plant a bomb at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna. One of the founding editors, Kunle Ajibade, walked into the office one day in 1995 only to be arrested by security agents who had actually come for Dapo Olorunyomi, then the Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Pronto, Ajibade was arraigned before the Patrick Aziza military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment for taking part in a plot to overthrow the great Abacha!”.

Kolawole continues: “The Ibrahim Babangida administration was “media-friendly” until he woke up one day in 1987 and proscribed Newswatch for six months. Then, it became a very sweet pastime to bully the media. By the time Babangida left office in 1993, there was no newspaper in Lagos that had not received a kick from his jackboot. In fact, OGBC, the Ogun State radio station, was closed down for broadcasting newspaper reviews that offended “His Excellency”.

With this background and with Yar’Adua’s  taunting that his government belives in “the rule of law”, you can understand why the belated efforts of NBC in promising to work with security agencies to ensure that all journalists detained in connection with the false report about President Umaru Yar’Adua’s purported planned resignation after the cabinet reshuffle, are released, did not impress the the Nigerian media.

Addressing newsmen at its headquarters in Abuja, the director general of NBC, Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa said the commission was also working with security agencies to ensure that all journalists detained in connection with the false report about President Umaru Yar’Adua’s purported planned resignation after the cabinet reshuffle, are released.

The NBC boss, who refused to entertain questions from journalists after reading the text of the press release, stated that the suspension was lifted because Channels Television accepted responsibility for the broadcast and had tendered an apology.

The text of the NBC DG’s speech reads: “Subsequent to the suspension order, the commission continued its investigations into the immediate and remote causes of the breach and is satisfied with the findings.
“Channels Television caused to be broadcast, an unwholesome news item which could have been detrimental to national interest and lead or likely to lead to a breakdown of law and order in the country contrary to the provisions of the National Broadcasting Act and Nigeria Broadcasting Code to which Channels Television has accepted responsibility and tendered an apology.
“Consequently, the National Broadcasting Commission, in consonance with the provisions of paragraph 13.5.1.1 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and without prejudice to the duties of security services to carry out their ongoing investigations to a logical conclusion, hereby lifts the suspension order and directs Channels Television to put in place effective mechanisms to confirm news items and sources before broadcast.
“The National Broadcasting Commission is also working with security agencies to ensure that all journalists detained in connection with the false report about the president are released.”

The Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) before the lifting of the suspension said Channels TV airing of the news item was a professional mistake but not enough to end it a suspension more since they retract and apologised 10 minutes after they ready the mischivous email.
According to a press statement signed by BON’s chairman and the director general, Voice of Nigeria, Abubakar B. Jijiwa and the Executive Secretary of BON, Osita Nweke, “BON considers the incident that occurred as a professional slip and not a deliberate action by Channels Television to embarrass the Federal Government of Nigeria or its intended viewers.”
The statement described Channels Television as an “accomplished organization with a track record of professionalism, excellence and credibility, especially in news reportage, a feat that enabled it win several awards and laurels since its establishment.”
The statement said BON would ensure that its member stations strengthen their gate keeping processes and procedures to ensure that no sensitive news item is aired without authentication from the relevant authorities.
It also said that BON members have been directed to urgently review existing editorial procedures to achieve harmony and balance within the critical areas of timeliness, discretion, diligence and credibility.
A former House of Representatives Committee chairman on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Hon. Dayo Bush described the federal government’s treatment of Channels Television as “breaking the law in the process of effecting it.”
Bush said as much as he agreed that the news item was wrong and misleading, the government also threw caution to the wind by wielding such a big stick, especially on a news medium that has done the nation proud over time.”
The lawmaker said he expected the government to sanction the media outfit and not clamp down heavily on it, especially for a government that subscribes dearly to the rule of law.

Channels Television ran into troubled waters on Tuesday when it aired a news report that was attributed to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) bulletin stating the president would resign on health grounds after reshuffling his cabinet.
The story turned out to be a hoax and led men of the State Security Service to shut down the offices of Channels Television in Lagos Abuja. Some of its senior editorial staff along with staff from NAN and AFP, which first flashed the story on its newswire service, were arrested for interrogation but had not been released at the time of this report.
The next day after it aired the erroneous story, NBC, the industry regulator, wielded the big stick by suspending its licence.

Many blamed the mischief on YarAdua’s Aministration which has been described as a ‘slow coach’, hush-hush on health issues.

A contributor in the Freedom of Information Coalition (FOI) sums it up like this “It is quite unfortunate that after nine years of democratic practice, the rabble-rousers,political jobbers,militricians masquerading as democrats and advocate of the rule of law including their co-travellers that have kept this blessed country in a permanent state of arrested development are yet to purge themselves of the Praetorian guard mentality of the military era. For a country that lay claim to democratic practice, the illegal closure of the award-winning Channels television, the best news medium in this clime is not only shameful but a serious affront on press freedom and the right of Nigerians to know”.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=122996

Though everybody, presidential staff, aides, security personnel and the journalists had tried to make light the matter but at the end of the day, the movement of the Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. John Odey, some top politicians including the governors from the President’s party (Peoples Democratic Party), it was clear it was not a joking matter.

Someone had decided to use the News Agency of Nigeria (government owned wire service) to play a dirty trick on Nigerians capitalising on the President’s ill-health which has been a hush-hush fair at the end of which, some editors are in detention while a private television known for its unique style of reading news (you could refer to it as the Al-Jazeera of Nigeria) – Channels TV licence has been revoked.

The President’s Spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had earlier in the day described the story as “absolute rubbish”.

The mischief maker had circulated the news via email to selective few media houses like the to Comet, Vanguard, nanshep@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , mosetu33@tahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , AIT, Pointer, FRCN, Abujanews, USIS Abidjan, dsessocietynews@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,  Cross River Radio, didnov@yahoo.com.

The flash news, had emanated from the “Newsagency Nigeria” with the e-mail address newsagencynig@yahoo.com., announcing that “President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua may resign after carbinate (cabinet) reshuffle, on health ground”.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The local and international broadcast media had quickly picked up the story and broadcast it to the whole world.

Managing Director of NAN, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, in a swift reaction had declared in a statement that the agency had nothing to do with the story. “The e-mail address is not that of NAN. The poor grammar, as indicated in the wrong spelling of “cabinet” could not have been that of NAN.

“The agency vehemently disowns the story in its entirety and will not have anything to do with speculative or unfounded reports,” blaming some mischief makers, bent on using the NAN platform, for the email.

Oyo had advised its valued subscribers to ignore such unpatriotic stories and to confirm from the agency, in future, “if any such stories are sent by mischief makers”.

Apparently to forestall the use of web-based e-mails addresses to spread rumours in its name, NAN Tuesday sent e-mails to media houses to announce the authentic e-mail addresses of the agency.

The mail, signed by Alli Hakeem, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Abuja Metropolitan Desk, read: “Dear esteemed subscribers, With effect from today, September 16, 2008, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has rested the following e-mail  addresses: nanabujahq@gmail.com and nancommunication@gmail.com to send its news items.
“NAN will no longer use any yahoo, or gmail, or hotmail.com address from this moment on. The only authentic address NAN will be using from now on is: newsroom@nannewsngr.com, repeat: newsroom@nannewsngr.com.

“This has become necessary to ensure that NAN news items can be readily identified as opposed to those sent to you by mischief makers.

 “We use this medium to let you know that NAN will  not have anything to do with any story from addresses other than newsroom@nannewsngr.com”
Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Adeniyi, said following inquiries that came in the wake of the report, the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua “has no intention of resigning from office”.

Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, had emphatically denied the rumour, saying it was the handiwork of those who do not wish Nigeria well.

He President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua “has no intention of resigning from office”.
Adeniyi said: “The Presidency wishes to affirm that there is no truth whatsoever to the suggestion that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is contemplating resignation from office.
“Since NAN itself has categorically denied being the source of the report that the President may resign, it can only be assumed that the report is the handiwork of persons who do not wish the country well.

“For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, President Yar’Adua has no intention of abandoning the mandate given to him to lead Nigeria further along the path to restoration, growth and development.

“He will therefore continue to discharge his responsibilities to the best of his abilities.
“I urge my colleagues in the media to be much more alert to the antics of persons and groups who have now made it their business to spread baseless rumours and untruths about the President in furtherance of their selfish schemes and ambitions.
“The doors of the administration remain open to the media at all times and practitioners are welcome to cross-check the veracity of any dubious report before publication,” he said.

The State Security Service which had Tuesday taken over Channels TV office had explained why it shut down its the Lagos and Abuja offices, saying it carried “a certain false news story that is against the well-being of Nigerians”.

An SSS official had disclosed that the editor of the TV station had been invited to explain how they got the story but was yet to show up as at the time the paper called to get the SSS side of the story. 

It was reported that the SSS had also invaded the premises of NAN in a commando style, allegedly seizing all the security men at both premises and beat up those who insisted they must identify themselves.

But by this evening, the National Broadcasting Commission has revoked the licence of Channels Television.

In a statement signed by the Director-General, Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, NBC said the revocation was in consonance with the provisions of paragraph 8(d) of the Third Schedule of the NBC Act No. 38 of 1992 (as amended) and paragraph 13.3.3.1(g) of the National Broadcasting Commission Code.

The statement reads:

“The National Broadcasting Commission in consonance with the provisions of paragraph 8(d) of the Third Schedule of the NBC Act No. 38 of 1992 (as amended) and paragraph 13.3.3.1(g) of the National Broadcasting Commission Code, which states:

“A licence may be revoked by the Commission in the following cases that is: – where in the opinion of the Commission, the station has been used in a manner detrimental to national interest…

“The Commission shall revoke a licence where a broadcast station commits any of the under-listed offences: – where the licensee broadcasts information immediately leading, or likely to lead, to a breakdown of law and order in the country.

“In furtherance to the above, following the News Broadcast of 2.00 p.m. on the 16^th of September 2008 by Channels Television, the National Broadcasting Commission hereby invokes the law and suspends with immediate effect the operations of Channels Television in all locations in Nigeria.

This action is without prejudice to any further action that may be taken by the National Broadcasting Commission as investigation is on going” the DG said.

As would be expected many human rights activist have reacted condemning the action of government. International Press Centre describes the action as “highly repressive and anti-democratic, anti-press freedom, anti-freedom of expression measure
”IPC holds that it is a complete negation of the government’s so-called rule of law and a certain throw back to the military dictatorial era.

IPC further holds that the ultimate aim of this attack is to silence the independent and private media. We demand that it should be immediately reversed”.

But the question on everybody’s lips is that why is NAN’s licence not being revoked considering the fact that this is the second time similar incident is happening. Why would NAN resort to sending emails using gmail or a yahoo account when it has a machine meant for that purpose? Who really is behind this and what is the motive of creating tension in the land? NAN is a government’s wire service that every media house in Nigeria relies on. It is the Reuters and AFP of Nigeria, which made those who picked the news flash (AFP and BBC inclusive) to do so in the first place.

In as much as many journalists are saying, the guilty party here (Channels TV) should have put across to the MD of NAN being in mind she once headed the Nigeria Guild of Editors and the immediate past spokeswoman to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, many still insist it was not a deliberate act by Channels TV hence and should not be punished.  

We wait and see where this leads us.

The increment sees their basic salary jumped by more than 100%. Teachers had to down tools for a whole month before authorities reluctantly upped their salary by 27.5%.

Nigerian workers in the past have had to practically go on strike to get a salary increase and it seems they will continue to employ that tool as long as government continue to treat them with disdain.

Each time workers have had to ask for salary increase, they have been told it will cause hyper inflation and yet when it came to the law makers, no such fears were raised even though we all go to the same market.

Labour leaders have recently argued that the new pay rise for lawmakers, judicial and political officers should be extended to Nigerian workers. They insist the increase should also lead to equal increase in wages for public servants.

Labour leaders have therefore, called on the Federal Government not to hesitate in increasing salaries and allowances of public servants for industrial peace to prevail.

According to reports in Nigerian media, a document on Remuneration Packages by the RMAFC for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders in Nigeria stated that the review was a function of changes in the basic fundamentals of the Nigerian economy, external reserves, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growth rate, rate of inflation and need for a living wage.

The new increase backdated to last year, reveals that the annual basic salaries of legislators at the Federal, State and Local Government levels have gone up by more than 100 per cent thus: the basic salary of a Senator has increased from N993,697 to N2,484,242.50, (naira is 175 to a euro so you do the calculations) while that of a member of the House of Representatives has been jerked up from previous annual salary of N794,084 to N1,985,212.50.

Similarly, a member of the State Assembly is now to earn N1,985,212.50 instead of N794,085 taken previously.

Also, the benefits and allowance for accommodation have been increased between 45 per cent and 200 per cent of their basic annual salary. The differential, the document said, was meant to address accommodation problems between less and most expensive cities in Nigeria.  (Can you imagine that? Right now I am cracking my head on how to raise my rent which is about $4,000 per annum! And no more gives a hoot.)

Other allowances that were affected include, vehicle maintenance, which was increased from 30 per cent to 75 per cent; entertainment, from 10 per cent to 30 per cent and utility allowance from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Also increased are: personal assistant, 25 per cent, wardrobe, 25 per cent, domestic staff, 75 per cent, recess allowance, 10 per cent, newspapers, 15 per cent and constituency allowance which is graded between 15 per cent and 250 per cent for legislators at Local Government, States and Federal Government levels.

In the same vein, furniture allowance is now 300 per cent of annual salary paid once in tenure at the commencement of duty. However, the severance gratuity after their tenure in office remains at 300 per cent while motor vehicle loan is 400 per cent repayable in six years.

The last increase was done in 2000.

Reacting to the increase, Secretary General, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Mr Solomon Onaghinon, said government had only shown the way for workers to commence agitation.

“I am happy about the increment. The decision is laudable, because the reasons they gave for the pay rise is also applicable to civil servants. The workers are equally affected by economic indices and need a living wage to ensure honesty and dignity of the office holder,” he said.

According to Onaghinon, public servants are more than qualified for an increase in salary and allowances since teachers, politicians and lawmakers have all received theirs.

Now, this is one show down I will be willing to participate even though I work in the private sector

I got into my apartment on Saturday August 30^th at about 10 p.m. (Nigerian time) and decided to keep mute about my return. I wanted to rest until Monday but that was not to be.

Immediately I put on my mobile phone I got a call to confirm the rumours making rounds that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is dead. The decision of those in charge of information to keep mute about his state of health is giving room to alot of speculations and the atmosphere is tensed.

I calmly told the caller that as far as I was concern I was still in Berlin and will neither confirm nor deny any report. Of course he was mad but that did not deter me. I have learnt to be very careful about these speculations because the man has been rumoured dead a dozen times and each time he comes out alive and well.

I remember a particular incident, the Saturday editor of my publication had called that she had it on good a authority that the President was dead and expected a minute by minute account of what happened. Of course a let out a very long laughter that she did not find funny at all and demanded both an apology and reasons of my making fun of her. I replied “Editor, I am looking at the man now being driven out to the Mosque for the Jummat Service”. She exclaimed: “Are you sure is not a ghost you are seeing?”

With this picture in mind I was not keen to make any phone calls confirming the story. One thing is sure, if the man is dead as a Muslim it won’t be long before the truth comes out. He will be buried same day or next. The President is not yet back and Nigerians are not finding it funny.

The next ugly encounter was at the Defence Headquarters where I had gone to attend a press conference debunking the claims by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) that 29 soldiers and six of its own members were killed in the exchange of fire between it and the Joint Task Force at Odiama Creek in Bayelsa, Opia River in Delta and the confluence of Bonny and Andoni River in Rivers State.

The Spokesman had summarily accused the media of being in the payroll of MEND which explains the wide and prominent coverage by the dailies on all MEND activities without recourse for clarification.

The Spokesman was miffed that the media contacted only the Spokesman of JTF in Rivers State, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa to confirm the report (who by the way never replied the text messages from the media seeking clarification which fueled whatever must have been the outcome of the said story. Before now he is known to be very proactive) and but never contacted the JTF Spokesman in Bayelsa State Navy Captain Senebi Hungiapuko.

I had to bear all the venom poured on my newspaper just because the story was the lead story on the frontpage. Imagine returning from a two months training devoid of newsroom crisis and stress into the embrace of such attack? But I took it calmly though and tried to argue my points and insist that the story will only be one-sided if efforts were not made to contact the military at all. When I was not getting any head way the heat was getting hotter, I had to call my editor on his mobile. Of course he stood by what I just told the spokesman but I could tell he was not happy.

So that was how I returned into the embrace of fire. What I welcome I got! 

The Painful goodbye!

I have written about this in my blog but is not a bad idea if I repeat a bit of what I have written. The goodbyes we said to each other - participants, trainers, assistants and the management of IIJ of InWEnt was indeed a painful one. Yes we had tried to keep a straight face and pretend that we were so excited to be heading home, I bet we all (excerpt Arthur who is heading home to get married) ached in our hearts that it had all come to an end suddenly.

I describ the last moments as sweet and bitter. Sweet because we were going home after two months and bitter because the friends we had made in two months we were not going to see no more at least not in the immediate future except InWEnt invites us back as a group.

It was two months well spent. We had laughed and quarrelled together. Of particular interest was the extent to which the bitter fight went to the extent that some people did not find it funny when they were lumped together in the same group for an assignment but work they did. I’m glad we parted as friends but I’m sure this will affect the way we remain in touch.

The Surprise!

The dinner at a Cuban restaurant was totally awesome. The food was fantastic, the camaraderie great but I’m glad we had the chance to present our token gifts as a mark of appreciation to our trainers (Peter and Jan), IIJ of InWEnt team, organisers of the Multimedia and Online Journalism course. It was a surprise well appreciated.

Proof

The final presentation of certificates was the high point of our course. It is a prove that all those sleepless nights, anxiety, frustrations producing the big project was not in vain.

I will miss Tung’s naughtiness, Said’s long explanations (atimes very annoying), Roadwin’s big boss attitude, Lehn’s shyness in class and yet very alive outside the class, Jehan’s take a picture slang, Thuy’s ‘Nooooooo Neeed!’ and search for cheap stores, Grace’s excellent presentations, Sid’s demand for content management and his stress on his being in charge of a team of 10, Arthur’s “Sorry Peter, Sorry Jan, I…..”, Jelal’s cool nature and short answers to questions, Van Ahn’s coolness and love for adventure, Regina’s short contributions and craze for pictures, Richard’s ’hi dude’ and excellent presentations and his annoying attitude atimes (hahaha).

I will miss Peter’s love of ‘okay’, Jan’s craze for iphone, unusual stuff etc., Tobias, Tennas, Ketrin and Andrea. It was an action packed two months I will not forget in a hurry

During my stay in Berlin, I had started a new blog (my old blog www.julianataiwo@blogspot.com had taken a back seat). I have learnt more about a Adobe Photoshop and all the wonders I could do with it, how to embed pictures or youtube video to my blog, I have learnt how to write for the web using (headline, cliffhanger, news summary and question), and how to update news for the web at intervals (all the secrets that makes BBC, CNN, Reuters etc tick). I have also learnt to do a slideshow using movie maker and podcast.
It was no mean feat working for the big project especially when it came to gathering materials. Most of the guys approached for the emigration story were unwilling to talk so you can imagine my frustrations. I have also learnt how to become a design freak like Jan.

My Saddest Moment

My saddest moment was during the second week of the course. It was very a disturbing one for the Nigerian Journalists participating in the various summer programmes by InWent IIJ in Germany. A New Age Political Correspondent had disappeared from his hotel room in Berlin while on study tour from Hamburg. Initially, IIJ officials were worried that something bad had happened to him but it became clear and very disappointing when they went to his room and found out his belongings disappeared with him too.
Incident like this hurt the chances of genuine journalists seeking for capacity building opportunities like the one offered by InWEnt. I hope not!

Strained relationship

At the beginning when we arrived, we were all together and did things in common. We had fun going to institute together in the morning but as the days turned into weeks, we formed clicks, quarreled, kept malice and the relationship strained. Towards the end though, perhaps bearing in mind we will not be seeing each other again (is a small world so you never know, which was why the incident saddened me), few managed to settle their squabbles. But at least we settled.

Big Thank You!
Thanks to InWEnt, IIJ, the trainers (Peter, Jan, Ulf and Christian, Regina and Line). It was not fun producing podcast, making a video, producing a slideshow but after seeing the final work, every stress was worth it. A big thank you to Andrea, Tobias, Katrin and Tannas. We must have been a pain at some point but I assure you that your selfless service will be remembered for a life time.
The ball now is in my court!

It was one hectic but action packed week devoid of blogging but enough time for twittering and checking mails. I even had my first swimming experience.

The tour was of four cities in Germany. Hamburg, Darmstadt, Bonn and Köln. Believe me when I say I am left speechless. Speechless because of the incredible innovation at the various places visited like Google.de, Financial Times Deutschland (ft.de), Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa), Stern.de, tagesschau.de, T-Online, Ifra, InWent and Deutsche Welle. These guys are credibly humble to admit when they are going down and also proud to sing their successes.

 It took us approximately two hours on the ICE train to get to Hamburg. We had arrived at the weekend when there were loads of celebrations in the air especially at the harbour (with the arrival of ships from all over the world) and gay movement.

 Peter Berger, the lead trainer had said Friday before our departure on Saturday that Hamburg was indeed the place to be but some skeptics amongst us had felt he was probably saying so because he lives there.

 We had seen a bit of the harbour on Saturday evening during our three hour walk from the city centre and we were wowed by the big ships, the number of tourists from all over the world (they were so many that if it were back in Nigeria, you will think it was the gathering of political party faithfuls) and of course the brisk business that was going on from sweets, to ice cream, to memorabilia for tourists who wanted a reminder of the visit to harbour in Hamburg.

But on Sunday, we had a boat ride put together by Port of Hamburg. We took a ride into the areas the big ships could not dare enter.

 It is important to note that the Port of Hamburg is already setting a course for growth in the first half of the 2008. With overall handling of 71 million tons and container handling of five million TEU (20-foot standard containers), Germany’s largest universal port is also remaining on a course for growth in 2008.

 The offices of G&J owners of Stern.de and FT.de are in the harbour area and in fact these offices are so huge that I lack words to describe them. Suffice it to say that there are incredibly big offices with all the modern equipments you can think of. One thing is clear, the latest technology are being employed in the German media to beat competition as well as reck in the money.

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