Nigerian striker Odafe on fire in India

KOLKATA Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie fired a brace as Mohun Bagan got past Air India 3-1 in an Indian-League football match at the Salt Lake Stadium onWednesday.    
While Odafa scored once in each half - in the 41st  and 84th minutes, Ashim Biswas found the target in the 80th minute while Md. Safi struck the only goal for the airmen.
After a dozen outings, Bagan now have 24 points, while Air India stay on 19.    
Odafa drew first blood from a Hudson Lima pass. The Nigerian outwitted two defenders and placed home.   
The airmen upped the ante in the second session and Safi scored in the 54th minute to make the scoreline 1-1.  But the deadlock was broken yet again as Ashim Biswas trapped a Rakesh Masih pass and beat Air India’s Sengalese defender Lamine Tamba to send the ball in with a rasping shot from a narrow angle.   
Six minutes from time, Odafa launched into a solo from outside the box, beat a maze of defenders and found the net for the final goal of the match.     

Nigerian Christians will defend self if bombs continue

   
LAGOS Pentecostal church leaders in Nigeria said on Wednesday their members will defend themselves if authorities do not protect them from attacks, after Christmas bombings blamed on Islamists killed 40.
The bombings attributed to Islamist group Boko Haram, with two churches targeted on Christmas day and a third on Christmas Eve, have sparked fears that they could ignite a fresh round of sectarian violence.
"In the year 2012, if these unprovoked attacks continue, and Christians remain unprotected by the security agencies, then we will have no choice but to defend our lives and property," a coalition of Pentecostal churches said in a statement.
The coalition, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, claims its membership is in the millions in Nigeria. Evangelical churches have been growing rapidly in Nigeria.
Asked what defending themselves meant, an official with the organisation said they were not advocating violence.
"We are not advocating taking up of arms," said coalition national secretary Wale Adefarasin said.
But we are asking our members to defend themselves with whatever they have that is within the law -- take necessary steps to defend yourself within the law. We cannot just become sitting ducks for these people."
Some neighbourhoods in Nigeria hard hit by ethnic and religious violence have long had so-called vigilante groups, though community leaders say they are not armed and report potential trouble to the police.
"There is no end to the wanton destruction of lives and property by this terrorist group," the coalition said of Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks, mainly in northeastern Nigeria.
The church coalition said it was concerned that the sect and its supporters have continued to wage "war" against Christians "in the furtherance of their Islamisation agenda," especially in the north.
It listed pastors and Christians it claimed have been killed along with churches and properties allegedly destroyed by sect members since 2009.
 "Over the years, so much violence has been committed against the church. They have done this with reckless abandon and with no serious check by the government," Adefarasin, head of Garden of Light Assembly church, said.

The State of Qatar Condemns Nigeria's Attacks

DOHA The State of Qatar has expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the series of Christmas Day attacks on churches in Nigeria that killed a number of innocent civilians, and considered them as contravening moral and human values and religious tolerance principles.
An official source at the Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on Tuesday Qatar's sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and the injured reiterating Qatar s solidarity with the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The source renewed Qatar's firm position that condemns and rejects terrorism in all its forms and types regardless of its source.

Nigerians flying to Malaysia face heightened drug screening

      
  LAGOS  Nigerian authorities have placed a red alert on all passengers flying to Malaysia because of an alarming surge in the number of suspected drug traffickers arrested on that route, an official statement said.
Nigeria's anti-drug agency NDLEA said its boss, Ahmadu Giade, took the measure due to "the increasing number of arrests made on the route and the need to prevent obstinate drug traffickers from smuggling drugs to Malaysia where drug offences attract capital punishment."
Giade appealed to airlines and passengers travelling to Malaysia to submit to intensified security screening.
"The increasing number of arrests on the Nigeria-Malaysia route is alarming. We must be prepared to make sacrifices in protecting the image of the country and prevent the execution of our nationals abroad on account of drug crimes," he said.
The figure of suspected drug traffickers travelling to Malaysia arrested at Lagos airport rose sharply from two last year to 21 so far this year, NDLEA spokesman Ofoyeju Mitchell said.
A 38-year-old South African woman, Nene Fikile Happy-girl, and a Nigerian, Onyemaechi Remigus Chibuzor, 29, were arrested last week at the Lagos international airport as they tried to board an Emirate flight to Malaysia.
They were found in possession of methamphetamine, the agency said.

Nigerian expats in Qatar condemm Christmas day attacks

Nigerian residents in Qatar have condemned the Christmas day suicide bombings which have claimed the lives of some 35 people in Nigeria, while calling upon the government to bring the perpetrators to book.
According to agency reports, the attacks included a church blast outside the capital - Abuja - killing at least 30 people, a bomb blast outside an evangelical church in the central city of Jos, that killed a police officer, and another explosion targeting a church in the northeastern area of Gadaka on Christmas Eve, but no one was reported killed, while two other blasts hit the northeastern city of Damaturu on Christmas Day, including the suicide bombing.
Some of the residents, a majority of whom are Muslims,  yesterday condemned the incidents while blaming them on political sentiments rather than religious divisions.
They blasted the government for condoning the deadly acts of a mastermind group “Boko haram”, which has been blamed for a series of attacks in different parts of Nigeria and also claiming responsibilities for the latest bombings in the country.
A good number of the people believed that the elements within the “Boko haram” group are the creations of the politicians, who have used them to actualise their electoral goals and thereafter refused to meet their requirements, an action which they said has turned the group into what they are today.
“It is very unfortunate that such incidents are happening in Nigeria and also unfortunate that they are being perpetrated in the name of Islam as those behind the dastardly acts always claim,” Nigerian Muslim Community in Qatar (Nimco) Amir Mohamed Basheer said.
He condemned the attacks and asked the Nigerian government not to be biased in fishing out the masterminds while also cautioning the use of violence against them in order to get to the root of the matter.
“While all well-meaning Muslims in Nigeria and abroad are against events like these, we will also advice the Nigerian government not to employ force in dealing with the so-called Islamist group. Instead, they should be invited for dialogue where they can air their grievances and seek possible solutions to end the bloodshed as soon as possible. I believe this might also bring to an end all these propaganda against Islam,” Basheer suggested.
Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation- Qatar chapter (NIDO-Qatar) secretary general Godfrey Awinoron, who is a Christian, asked the Nigerian government to deal decisively with the insurgent group saying “they are already a threat to the country’s stability”.
“The government should seek all legal means to remove the threat constituted by this group and seek avenues that will guarantee security of all Nigerians,” he suggested.
Another Nigerian Muslim, Abdulrahmon Olukade also absolved Islam from the group saying “they are not in any way related to Islam”.
“These particular group of people do not represent well-meaning Muslims in Nigeria and what they are doing is out-rightly against the teachings of Islam and it is very sad that many people find it difficult to believe this,” he lamented.
Olukade believed that the group behind the bombings must have the backings of some highly placed politicians, who were possibly sponsoring them.
“It is sad that innocent people are being killed while celebrating Christmas but I see those attacks more of being politically-motivated than what Boko haram can handle. This is just another sign of total lack of security of lives and properties in Nigeria,” Isa Ojetola , a Muslim, said.
A Nigerian Christian, Adeboye Dehinbo, said he was sad upon hearing the news. “Our government is not doing enough to ensure the  safety of the lives and properties of its people ,” he said.

More explosions, gunfire hit northeastern Nigerian city

   
KANO A fresh round of explosions and gunfire hit the Nigerian city of Damaturu on Friday as authorities battled suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram, a day after unrest killed six people.
Residents reported seeing trucks of soldiers arriving in Damaturu and said authorities gave them 30 minutes to evacuate the neighbourhood of Pompomari. Some took refuge at the city's central mosque, one resident said.
"Our men have been battling with Boko Haram members," said Lawan Tanko, police commissioner for the northeastern state of Yobe, where Damaturu is located.
"Our men have been making attempts to go into the house they have been using as a hideout to defuse explosives, but they are facing some resistance from the Boko Haram elements who are detonating explosives and firing shots."
"We have all fled our homes," one Pompomari resident said by phone, adding he had taken refuge at the mosque. "We were given 30 minutes by soldiers to evacuate and they were about to launch an offensive on the Boko Haram members."
Unrest broke out on Thursday in Damaturu and two other northeastern cities, Maiduguri and Potiskum. The death toll from Thursday was at least six, an official and a medical source said.
"From reports I have received from Potiskum, five people were killed in last night's attack -- four policemen and a civilian," said Ibrahim Farinloye, northeast coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency.
"Three police vans were also burnt in the attack."
A hospital source in Damaturu had said late on Thursday that a soldier was killed and seven police officers were wounded there. He said a 10-year-old boy was being operated on after being hit by gunfire.
 Tanko had said on Thursday night that suspected Boko Haram members had carried out bombings and shootings in Damaturu.
 He said he did not have details on casualties, but added that a church and a military patrol van were burnt. He said the attackers had been repelled and pushed toward Potiskum.
A military spokesman in Maiduguri said multiple blasts hit the city on Thursday, but could not give further details. An army source said six explosions were heard.
Maiduguri has borne the brunt of the violence attributed to Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks in the north as well as the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed at least 24.

Yaya Toure wins African Player of the Year

ACCRA Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure has been named African Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in the Ghanaian capital Accra.
The Manchester City player won ahead of Mali and Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, with Ghana forward Andre Ayew who plays for French club Marseille third.
Harouna Doula won Coach of the Year at Thursday's annual Confederation of African Football awards after he led Niger to its first African Cup of Nations finals, qualifying from a group containing South Africa and record seven-time champion Egypt.
Botswana won Team of the Year after it also qualified for its first African Cup.
Former Nigeria international Jay Jay Okocha and Morocco's Mustapha Hadji were honored with African legends awards.

Turkish policeman jailed for Nigerian immigrant killing

   
ISTANBUL A court in Turkey jailed a policeman for four years and two months on Tuesday over the killing of a young Nigerian immigrant who was shot while in custody, according to agency report.
Cengiz Yildiz was convicted of homicide through negligence by a court in Istanbul, some four years after the death of Festus Okey, a 21-year-old asylum seeker, in a city police station.
 The case became something a cause celebre in Turkey, a country where African immigrants are often the target of discrimination.
Turkey is a major gateway for immigrants trying to reach Western Europe, particularly from the Middle East and Asia.
According to recent statistics from the Turkish police, more than 32,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in Turkey last year.
 

Malaria accounts for 655,000 deaths in 2010

            

GENEVA Six countries including Nigeria account for 60 percent of deaths from Malaria. The others are Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkino Faso, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and Mali.

Malaria caused the death of an estimated 655,000 people last year, with 86 percent of victims children aged under five, World Health Organisation figures showed on Tuesday.

The figure marked a five percent drop in deaths from 2009.

Africa accounted for 91 percent of deaths and 81 percent of the 216 million cases worldwide in 2010.

In its annual World Malaria Report for 2011, the WHO hailed as a "major achievement" a 26 percent fall in mortality rates since 2000 despite being well short of its 50 percent target.

The UN health agency aims to eradicate malaria deaths altogether by the end of 2015 and reduce the number of cases by 75 percent on 2000 levels.

International funding for the fight against malaria peaked at $2 billion (1.5 billion euros) this year but the WHO estimates $5 billion will be needed each year until 2015 if its targets are to be reached.

The cash has funded an big increase in the number of households with insecticide-treated mosquito nets, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where 50 percent now have the nets compared with just three percent in 2000.

To finance the fight, the WHO suggested a tax on financial transactions or the rolling out of a tax on airline journeys which it said, if extended to other countries, could generate significant extra funds.

 "Other country-specific schemes, such as tourist taxes, may offer opportunities to raise funds for control programmes in malaria endemic countries," the report said.

WHO director general Margaret Chan welcomed the "significant and durable" progress in the fight against malaria but said parasite resistance to drugs was causing concern in parts of South-east Asia.

"Parasite resistance to anti-malarial medicines remains a real and ever-present danger to our continued success," said Chan.

"There is an urgent need to develop an Asia-wide framework to ensure sustained and coordinated action against this public health threat."

According to the WHO, malaria is endemic in 106 countries and is currently transmitted in 99 of them.

Of the 99, 43 recorded a fall in reported cases of more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Europe had an estimated 176 cases of malaria in 2010 with no reported deaths.

         

Nigerian-born Spanish hurdler Onyia banned for two years

     
 MADRID  Spanish 100m hurdler Josephine Onyia has been suspended for two years by her country's athletics federation (RFEA) after a second positive doping test, the IAAF confirmed on Tuesday.
It is a second two-year ban for the Nigerian-born athlete, who tested positive for a stimulant and then an anabolic agent within 11 days of competition in September 2008.
The RFEA cleared Onyia of any doping violation in 2008, but athletics' world ruling body, the IAAF, successfully filed two appeals through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"The IAAF has received the documents from RFEA for the provisional suspension of Onyia for two years on November 22," an IAAF spokesman said.
 "The case is still under review and IAAF has 45 calendar days (starting from November 22) to file an appeal.
"If there is no appeal from IAAF side, Onyia will be eligible to compete again on August 3, 2013."
   

China executes S African woman drug smuggler

            

JOHANNESBURG China executed a South African woman by lethal injection on Monday for drug smuggling after rejecting last-minute pleas for clemency from her government, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said.

Janice Linden, 35, was convicted of trying to sneak three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of methamphetamine into the country in her luggage through the southern city of Guangzhou in 2008.

"The execution took place around 10:00 am South African time (0800 GMT),” spokesman Clayson Monyela said.

 "Our embassy officials were there with her family. She had two sisters who were there. "We are disappointed since we would have preferred the death sentence to be commuted to a life sentence instead of the execution."

Convicted in 2009, Linden had exhausted all possible appeal processes.

South Africa had made several appeals to have Linden's sentence converted to life imprisonment, including on the sidelines of the United Nations COP17 climate talks in her eastern hometown, Durban, which ended on Sunday.

"Even on the COP17 sidelines the (foreign) minister summoned the Chinese ambassador," said Monyela. "We pleaded for clemency repeatedly."

Chinese foreign ministry representative Liu Weimin said in Beijing that the law had been followed.

"On handling drug criminals, the Chinese government's position has been consistent and clear," said Liu. "Whether they are foreign or Chinese, China will handle their cases according to the law."

Chinese authorities would hand over Linden's ashes to her family on Monday, said Monyela.

Linden steadfastly insisted on her innocence, an unnamed family member told The Mercury newspaper in Durban.

"She said she didn't know how the drugs got into her luggage. She thought she was framed."

According to the rights group Amnesty International, China executes more people every year than the rest of the world combined.

Executions in China have traditionally been carried out by shooting. However, increasingly lethal injections are being used.

         

Libya arrests 400 'illegal immigrants'

      
TRIPOLI  Libyan authorities on Monday said its forces had prevented more than 400 Africans including Nigerians from illegally emigrating to Italy when it intercepted a boat off the coast of the North African country.
 A young Nigerian, Emmanuel, said the Libyan officials had taken all their documents.
"They took everything... money, passport, phones. They told us 'you don't need all this in Europe'," he said, accusing the former rebels of "organising this set-up."
 Forty-year-old Rania, an Ethiopian, said she had been fooled for the third time in a row.
"Each time one takes the boat, a patrol comes to stop and escorts us to the port," she said.
 "You see the captain (of the boat) is still there," she said pointing to a Libyan the boat at the Tripoli docks.
 She said it was Libyans who offered to take them to Europe.
 "They hid us for two months on a farm in Tajura (an eastern suburb of Tripoli) and each time they told us we must wait as the weather was too bad to go to the sea," she said.
"Last night they asked us to board and we had not spent more than two hours at sea when police boats surrounded us and escorted us to the port. I want to leave to Europe. I do not know where they plan to take us," she said as a Libyan official pressed her to board a bus chartered by the authorities.

They said Monday's incident was a set-up.
 Many of the immigrants said they had become victims of a fraud planned by Libyans to swindle them after they had each paid people smugglers between 1,000 and 1,500 dollars.
 In the port of Tripoli some 420 immigrants were being guarded by former rebels who toppled Gadafi as well as being monitored by interior ministry officials, according to report.
Among them were Ethiopians, Ghanaians, Ivorians and Nigerians.
According to General Joma al-Meshri, a group of former rebels and officers intercepted the boat early on Monday 10 miles off the coast of Tripoli.
A commander of the ex-rebels, Khaled al-Bassir, said they had received information about the vessel's departure, and that three patrol boats had set off to intercept it.

 For several years, Libya has been a transit country for hundreds of thousands of African immigrants trying to reach Europe in search of a better life.

Nigerians abroad amongst top migrant remittances: World Bank

  
GENEVA World Bank 2011's Migration and Remittances Study indicates that Nigeria remains in the top-ten category globally, of countries with high remittance-recipient ratio, is as heart-warming as its positive impact on the nation's fragile economy.

 Currently, remittances amount to at least $11 billion dollars annually from the Diaspora. Considering the poverty-alleviating effects this impacts on the cash-strapped recipients and the manner in which it helps to reduce social tension in the country we commend the donors. Many of the families who have benefited from their loved ones have been able to provide roof over their heads and see their children and relations through school as a result. While the others have taken care of the sick and the elderly members of their families in the absence of any social security buffer from the government.
 As shown in the recent study released during the fifth meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva. The top recipients of officially recorded remittances were India, which took in $58 billion, followed by China ($57 billion), Mexico ($24 billion) and the Philippines ($23 billion).
Other top beneficiaries were Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, Egypt and Lebanon.
"Despite the global economic crisis... remittance flows to developing countries have remained resilient, posting an estimated growth of 8 percent in 2011," said Hans Timmer, director of the bank's Development Prospects Group.
 "Remittance flows to all developing regions have grown this year, for the first time since the financial crisis."
The World Bank expects a 7.3 percent rise in such payments in 2012 and a 7.9 percent increase in 2013.

Against the dark backdrop of a corruption-riddled economy, characterized by unstable power supply, lack of good access roads, and a banking sector that cannot offer loans to the real sector, sending money in hard currency by Nigerians in the Diaspora is salutary.



     

Nigerian forward Obasi barred from team

 
BERLIN German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim Nigerian forward Chinedu Obasi has been dropped from its  team main squad for showing up late for training.

Also barred is Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino who same way like Obasi failed to show up for training.
The Bundesliga club's general manager Ernst Tanner told a German newspaper Bild the two are "employees who are not badly paid but come late to work."
Both played in Hoffenheim's recent game with Firmino  scoring in the 1-1 home draw against Freiburg on Saturday. Neither is expected to play in Friday's game against Bayer Leverkusen.
Tanner says he and coach Holger Stanislawski agreed on suspending the two because they are repeat offenders.

Nigeria Senate approves anti-gay marriage bill

ABUJA A Federal senator in Nigeria and some section of the public has called for harsher penalties for being gay. Speaking during a debate at the National Assembly in Abuja Senator Baba Dati said, “Such elements in society should be killed.”

Meanwhile, the senators in Nigeria voted on Tuesday to criminalize gay marriage, passing a law that incorporates a prison sentence of more 10-years for violations in a nation where gays and lesbians already face a discrimination and abuse.

During the debate, televised live from National Assembly in Abuja, Senate President David Mark said Nigeria would not bow to international pressure on any legislation.

"Anybody can write to us, but our values are our values," Mark said. "No country has a right to interfere in the way we make our laws."

The bill heads to Nigeria's House of Representatives, who have to approve the bill and send it to President Goodluck Jonathan for his signature before it becomes a law.

Under the measure, couples who marry could face up to 14 years in jail, and witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. That is an increase over the bill's initial penalties.

Homosexuality is already technically illegal in Nigeria, a country evenly divided between Christians and Muslims that is nearly universally opposed to homosexuality.

Across the African continent, many countries have made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences. Ugandan legislators introduced a bill that would impose the death penalty for some gays and lesbians, though it has not been passed into law two years later. Even in South Africa, the one country where gays can marry, lesbians have been brutally attacked and murdered.

The proposed law also has drawn the interest of European Union countries, some of which already offer Nigeria's sexual minorities asylum based on gender identity. The British government also recently threatened to cut aid to African countries that violate the rights of gay and lesbian citizens. However, British aid remains quite small in oil-rich Nigeria, one of the top crude suppliers to the United States.

International opinion also did not seem to trouble lawmakers.

Prostitutes rape Pastors in Asaba

Two men of God were over the weekend allegedly lured to patronise sex workers at a popular brothel at Cable Point, Asaba, the Delta State capital, when they went there to preach to the ladies of easy virtue.

Reports have it that the pastors from a very popular church along Ibusa Road in the state had visited the area to convert and win over the sex workers to their church, but they were themselves seduced by the prostitutes who had sex with them and later burnt their Bibles and clothes.
Sources said the men of God (their names withheld) had resolved in one of their meetings to win many converts, especially the prostitutes who stay in brothels, in order for them to grow their church membership.
Cable Point is a notorious stop-over for hoodlums and has the largest number of brothels and casinos in the south-south region.
An eyewitness said that preachers had gained audience with the harlots but after a period of time they were disoriented by the sudden display of breasts and other revealing body parts which reportedly hypnotized the preachers. Their hosts then took them into their rooms where they were said to have performed quickies.
It was revealed that fight broke out when the evangelists regained their composure and insisted on not paying the prostitutes' bills, arguing that that was not their original mission. During the scuffle, they ladies reportedly burnt the pastors Bibles and clothes.

Jailed Nigerians in Nepal seeks govt intervention

Nigerian prisoners in Nepal, a country sandwiched between China and India, have called on the Federal Government to rescue them from what they described as dehumanizing treatment.
  Their counsel, Mr. Okechukwu Okpara, told journalists in Abuja on Saturday, that one of the inmates died recently while another was suffering from mental problem.
"Some of these young men are in the prime of their youth and have been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and more. The conditions in Nepal prisons are horrible and dehumanizing. One of the Nigerian inmates has died and another is now mentally ill. They are not allowed any visitations and not entitled to any parole no matter how well they behave there," Okpara added.
He claimed that efforts to open an official communication channel with the Nepalese authorities on the welfare of the 23 concerned Nigerians had failed, leaving them (inmates) isolated and open to more abuses.
The counsel therefore called "on the Nigerian government to immediately open a line of communication with the Nepalese government in order to give these 23 Nigerians access to fair trial."
He said, "There is also an urgent need to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Nepal to transfer the 23 inmates to Nigeria to serve out their sentences if the need arises.
"The truth is that nobody knows what their offences are because nobody has actually gotten through to Nepalese prison authorities. I have only managed to hear from them through an email that they sent to me.
"That was in August this year. Since then, I have made written applications to the offices of President Goodluck Jonathan, the President of the Senate , the Deputy President of the Senate, Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Senate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
Okpara added, "But we have received no responses so far except from the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who has shown interest in the Nepal 23.
"These are Nigerians incarcerated in a foreign country. Whatever their offenses are, their continued incarceration is in breach of consular relations because international conventions provide that they be given adequate legal representation and the Nigerian government and their families must be notified of their cases.
"But these were not done as the trials were conducted in a language that the prisoners did not understand and no translation was provided whatsoever and they were made to sign some documents under duress."

France loans Nigeria $100 million for buses

   
PARIS France has promised it will loan Nigeria $100 million to set up a bus network in its sprawling commercial capital Lagos, the foreign ministry said on Friday during a visit by Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan.
 "In coordination with Nigerian authorities, the French development agency, on the ground since 2008, has made urban development one of its operational priorities in this country," a statement said.
 France said the loan would be made to the Nigerian federal government but then passed to Lagos State. It will help fund the city's new $330 million urban transport plan, which is co-financed by the World Bank.
Lagos is sub-Saharan Africa's greatest metropolis and the commercial hub of Africa's oil-exporting largest nation, but its public infrastructure struggles to cope with its vast population.
Jonathan and his finance minister former World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are on a working visit to Paris to drum up trade and investment from France, which has growing oil interests in Nigerian fields.

Nigerian man stabbed to death, has ears cut off in Moscow

            

MOSCOW A Nigerian man was found stabbed to death in southern Moscow with his ears cut off in a grisly murder, investigators said on Tuesday.

The body of the 28-year-old man, named as Akintola Olufemi, was "found with numerous stab wounds and with his ears cut off," lying close to rail tracks, the Investigative Committee wrote in a statement published on its website.

The man had been stabbed at least eight times, a spokesperson for the committee, Viktoria Tsyplenkova, told the Interfax news agency.

Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported that the victim was a student in the northern city of Arkhangelsk and that the crime appeared not to have been a robbery as his papers and wallet were left at the scene.

Attacks against foreigners of non-European appearance occur regularly in Russia, although the authorities say that numbers have been dropping amid a crackdown on extremist organisations.

An NGO that monitors hate crimes, Sova, said in a report released in March that there were 37 hate killings in 2010, while 382 people were injured in attacks with racist or neo-nazi motives.

Nigerian senator arraingned over links to Boko Haram

ABUJA Nigerian authorities charged a senator on Tuesday over suspected links to a man accused of being a spokesman for Islamist sect Boko Haram, blamed for attacks including the bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja.
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume was charged in magistrate's court alongside the alleged spokesman, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, with breaching public trust and criminal intimidation.
The charges claim that between September 15 and November 3 in the cities of Maiduguri and Abuja, "Mohammed Ali Ndume and Ali Sanda Umar Konduga did conspire to commit" the alleged crimes.
Ndume, a senator from Borno state in the country's northeast, where most of Boko Haram's attacks have occurred, pleaded not guilty. Konduga pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced at a later date.
The case was adjourned until December 6.
The senator is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, which dominates national politics but is not in power in Borno state.
He also served on a presidential committee that sought earlier this year to determine whether dialogue was possible with Boko Haram.
 It was unclear whether Konduga, the alleged spokesman, had reached a deal with authorities. Secret police announced his November 3 arrest only on Monday and said he confessed to various crimes as well as his links to politicians.
"His arrest further confirms the Service (police) position that some of the Boko Haram extremists have political patronage and sponsorship," secret police spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar said on Monday, referring to Konduga's arrest.
Speculation has been rife over political links to at least certain factions of Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks, including an August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja which killed at least 24 people.
Such speculation has pointed to explanations ranging from local politics in Borno state to opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan in the mainly Muslim north.
There has also been intense speculation, particularly among Western nations, over whether the group has formed links with outside extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda's north African branch (AQIM).
Boko Haram is believed to have various factions with a number of different aims, and the alleged confessions of Konduga seemed to involve mainly local politics.
Authorities claim that Konduga was the Boko Haram spokesman quoted in the news media under the alias Usman al-Zawahiri.
The secret police statement claimed that Konduga was "a former political thug," referring to the practice of Nigerian politicians of recruiting or forming local gangs to help rig elections.
 The statement said one benefactor promised to pay him 10 million naira ($60,000, 45,000 euros) to work for his party, but then died on his way to deliver half the sum to Konduga.
Konduga allegedly confessed that a member of Nigeria's National Assembly then took over the running of his activities. The statement did not name the person.
The statement also claimed that Konduga was behind threatening text messages sent to election tribunal judges with the aim of having the government in Borno state tossed out.
 Other threats were made to politicians including former president Olusegun Obasanjo, it said.
It claimed that Konduga told security agents that threatening messages sent to the chairman of an election petition tribunal in Borno state "were scripted and relayed to him by the National Assembly member."
  

Nigerian embassy in Qatar soon, said VP Sambo

(From left) Senator Ikechi Nwogu, Senate committee chairperson on gas,  Raymond Bob-Ume, NIDO-Qatar VP, Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo and  Bashir Yuguda, minister of state for works

Nigeria’s Vice-President Namadi Mohamed Sambo, who was in Qatar for the just-concluded Gas Summit for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), has promised Nigerian residents that the government will look into establishing an embassy in Qatar within the next year. He was speaking to Nigerian professionals working in Qatar during a reception held in his honour at the Doha Sheraton by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar chapter (NIDO-Qatar).

 

Speaking at the occasion, Sambo said “The government of Nigeria will look into all the issues you have highlighted and we are going to ensure you have an embassy in Qatar soon.”

“The Nigeria government would also look into ways to boost its relations with Qatar,” he added.

The vice-president also thanked the Nigerian community for a warm reception given to him.

Cross section of Nigerian professionals resident in Qatar

In addition, present at the occasion were former Nigeria Ambassador to the UAE and Qatar, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, Chairman Senate committee on gas Senator Ikechi Nwogu, members of the vice president’s entourage and representatives of the Nigerian press.

Earlier in his welcome address, Vice President of NIDO-Qatar Raymond Bob- Ume thanked the vice-president for giving members of the community an opportunity to meet him. He also highlighted the needs of the community, especially establishment of Nigerian embassy in Qatar.

He said that absence of an embassy in Doha has been creating difficulties for the members of the community in getting consular services. “As much as we appreciate the effort and the support being rendered by the Nigerian embassy in the UAE, which is concurrently serving Qatar, the entire NIDO-Qatar desires an embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Qatar,” he said. “An embassy in Qatar will bring sound synergy between Nigeria and Qatar as both are members of OPEC and as well as Gas Producing nations.

It will also create opportunities for investment and trade potential with Qatar, being presently a nation with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world and has investment in up to one hundred nations in Asia, Europe and Africa,” Bob- Ume added. Jide Adedeji, a Nigerian Quantity Surveyor, said Nigerian government should look into Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with Qatar Airways, as Nigerians in Qatar could no longer buy tickets online.

Speaking at the meeting, former UAE-Qatar ambassador designate, who is presently the Nigerian minister of state for works, Bashir Yuguda urged the community to continue to be good citizens and be law-abiding.

Sambo attends Gas summit in Doha calls for fair price

Nigerian Vice-President Namadi Sambo joined other leaders of the world's biggest gas suppliers in an inaugural gas summit in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday by calling for a fair gas price. Meanwhile, Iran, whose president was absent from the ceremony, warned that Western taxation will derail the energy market.

The summit was opened by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani who called for "innovative solutions" to the challenges facing the gas industry for the benefit of both consumers and producers.

According to organisers, the summit was to discuss "the priority of long-term contracts as the basis of security for exporters and consumers of natural gas."

It was also seek ways to establish a fair price for gas under a gas-to-oil indexation, with the aim of overcoming the disparity between crude oil and gas prices, organisers said.

The leaders would review cross investments and technological collaboration between GECF members.

Besides Oman which was admitted on Sunday, the GECF also comprises Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Kazakhstan, Norway and the Netherlands are observers.

Russia is the world's largest gas producer and sits on 30 percent of global reserves, while Qatar is the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter with a production capacity of 77 million tonnes a year.

GECF has been working for a fair gas price which its leaders say is the fastest growing energy source, but they deny it aims to control prices or become a cartel like the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The producers want "a fair price for gas that is linked to an energy commodity, especially crude oil ... Gas prices are not yet in parity with oil," Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada told reporters on Sunday.

 “Fair prices are determined by demand and production (supply). It is not the duty of this forum to determine prices," he said.

 "The summit wants to send a message (to the world) about reliable gas supplies," Sada said.

 Gas prices are currently determined either in long-term contracts between sellers and buyers, which some exporter’s index to oil, or on spot markets.

World gas demand dipped in the wake of the global financial crisis but the GECF says it rebounded last year, rising 7.3 percent, mainly due to Japan boosting LNG imports after its March tsunami and nuclear crisis.

The International Energy Agency estimated last month that around $10 trillion of investments would be needed in the gas industry until 2035, or about $400 billion a year.

Nigerian forward Ujah scores brace in Bundesliga

Nigerian forward Anthony Ujah scored his first two Bundesliga goals as struggling Mainz came from behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1 in a match featuring two red cards on Friday.
Mainz, without a victory in nine outings, turned the form book inside out to defeat sixth-placed Stuttgart who were unbeaten in five games.   
 The home team had Eugen Polanski sent off in the 83rd minute and Stuttgart defender Maza was also dismissed in stoppage time.     Cacau put visiting Stuttgart in front six minutes after the break but two minutes later 21-year-old Ujah, signed from Norway's Lillestrom in the close season, headed the equaliser.  
 Mainz went ahead on the hour following a harshly-awarded penalty for handball by Maza that was converted by midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz. 
Four minutes later the Austrian set up Ujah for his second goal.     Mainz are 15th in the table with 12 points from as many games while Stuttgart have 18, two behind Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach. 

Emenike grabs hattrick for Spartak Moscow

  

MOSCOW Nigerian forward Emmanuel Emenike scored a hattrick as nine-time Russian champion Spartak Moscow trounced thrashed 3-0 city rivals Lokomotiv to stop the railway-backed side's 12-match unbeaten streak under Portuguese manager Jose Couceiro.

Spartak started in lively fashion, clinching the lead in the second minute through Emenike, who sent the ball into an unguarded post from three metres following Aiden McGeady's short cross.

Lokomotiv poured on the attack seeking an equaliser but Emenike made it

2-0 for Spartak in the 15th minute firing home from the edge of the box.

Emenike completed his hat-trick six minutes after the interval, scoring again from the edge of the area past Lokomotiv Brazilian goalie Guilherme.

In the closing stages Lokomotiv's Nigerian striker Victor Obinna reduced his team's chances of saving the day as he was sent off for two bookable offences, the pair of yellows received within just two minutes.

Meanwhile, Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos, the co-manager of big-spending side Anzhi Makhachkala, finally notched his first win in the Russian league with a 2-1 success over visiting Amkar Perm on Saturday.

Russian international left-winger Yury Zhirkov, who joined Anzhi in August from English Premiership side Chelsea, put Anzhi into the lead, firing home a rebound after a corner with a help of a ricochet three minutes before the break.

Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o added a goal with nine minutes to go, firing into the top right corner from 20 metres to secure Makhachkala a well-deserved win.

Amkar's Ukrainian forward Ilya Mikhalev netted a late consolation in injury time with a 10-metre header but failed to save a point.

The win ended Anzhi's five-match winless streak and assured the side a top eight placing, sending them through to the title phase.

"We dominated the playing and should score much more goals today," Zhirkov said.

"But after missing a series of chances we lost the initiative and allowed Amkar to score. Luckily we managed to keep our lead through and clinch a place in the upper half of the league to play for the title next year."

             

Nigerian join other immigrants to take oath of US citizenship

Zuyu Nu, (second from right), from China and serving with the US Navy, congratulates Adeniyi Ismail Rufai from Nigeria also serving with the Navy before they took the oath of US citizenship along with 125 others during a naturalization ceremony beneath the Statue of Liberty  during ceremonies marking the 125th anniversary of the Statue at Liberty Island in New York, on October 28,  2011.

NEW YORK Scores of immigrants including a Nigerian (Adeniyi Ismail Rufai) serving with the United States Navy waved tiny flags after taking the oath of United States citizenship at the foot of the Statue of Liberty on Friday, 125 years after the beacon welcoming visitors and immigrants was dedicated.

"We are a nation of diverse people," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said during the naturalization ceremony on Liberty Island. "And that diversity strengthens our nation."

The new Americans, 125 immigrants from 46 countries, pledged to renounce foreign power, then posed for photos with their citizenship certificates.

"I feel like if you live in a place, you should have a say in the politics," said Paul Currie, who moved to the United States from South Africa eight years ago. "Otherwise, you're an outsider."

Silvia Hodges, who came to the U.S. from Germany in 1999, said the ceremony made her feel "like I belong here — and I really want to vote."

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, was conceived to symbolize the friendship between the two countries and a shared love of liberty. President Glover Cleveland dedicated the statue on Oct. 28, 1886.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "If anybody around this world wants to pick up their family and move so that their family can have freedom ” freedom to speak, freedom to be in charge of their own destiny, all the freedoms that we have incorporated into the Bill of Rights ” they always welcome to America."

Qatar ready to offer Capello megal deal to build football league

 If reports are anything to go by, England manager Fabio Capello is set to be offered a staggering £30million to transform the footballing scenery in Qatar.

 The mooted four-year deal could force the FA into swift action as Qatar want the Italian in place in an initial consultancy role as early as January.

 Qatar currently have no professional league and want to use Capello’s expertise to assist in launching one.

And according to the Sunday Mirror, they see the English national boss as the type of iconic figure to give them major credibility in the market.

 Capello’s contract with England will come to an end after next summer’s European Championship finals.

 He has ruled out extended that deal and talk of retirement, despite receiving numerous offers to return to domestic club management in Europe.

But the Qatar offer is something entirely different and could extend well beyond the initial four-year offer.

They have already started to branch out with major financial projects with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in Spain and Paris St Germain in France.

 But their ultimate aim is to launch their own league and entice the biggest players in the world to showcase it.

Iconic Australian team to train in Doha, Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi and Doha will play host to the Carlton Football Club, one of Australia’s most distinguished sporting teams, who have chosen Qatar and UAE as their training base for a week-long high performance, pre-season camp.
 The club, which is based in Melbourne, is the most successful team within Australia’s largest and most popular domestic sporting organisation - the Australian Football League (AFL).
 In its first ever visit to the region, the club is spending two weeks based at the ASPIRE Academy for Sport Excellence in Qatar with the delegation of 50 players, coaches and fitness staff then set to arrive in Abu Dhabi on November 3.
 The team will utilize the world-class training facilities at the Emirates Palace and will have the opportunity to experience a vast array of recreational activities across Abu Dhabi for team development and bonding.
 “We are honored to be part of this event and to host Carlton Football Club at Emirates Palace and in Abu Dhabi which is certainly becoming the region’s sports city and hub,” said Bugra Berberoglu, Emirates Palace General Manager. The club will find all it needs with the wealth of facilities and services the Palace will offer especially with our sports facilities that are second to none.”
 Top of the team’s agenda will be hosting a unique community sporting event on Friday November 4 at the Emirates Palace. 
 The day will include an open training session aimed at educating the public about AFL, followed by an introductory youth training session held by the players for children aged five to 12.
 Former AFL premiership player, now Carlton’s Senior Coach, Brett Ratten said the team was very excited about their first visit to Abu Dhabi and was looking forward to spending time introducing the concepts of AFL to the locals.
 “Our time in Abu Dhabi will be divided between our pre-season training commitments as well as promoting our team and our game within the region,” Brett said.
 “There is a lot of interest in our trip from our members and supporters, so we are look forward to experiencing all the gifts the UAE has to offer and promoting this back to Australia.”
 Carlton’s visit has already generated much attention from Australian media and will provide a direct boost in promoting Abu Dhabi tourism opportunities into the Australian market. 
 The visit was a direct outcome of a previous Emirati delegation trip earlier this year to Australia, by the Department of Municipal Affairs, who were looking at infrastructure management and world’s best practice. 
 “As a football team we are looking for every advantage to ensure that we can move to the top of our game, which is why we decided to hold our first overseas pre-season training camp here,” Brett said.
 “With a wealth of training and leisure facilities, Abu Dhabi is a top international sports hub for elite sporting clubs across the world, who are looking to push the benchmarks of their pre-season training.”

Resurgent Qatar SC comeback to beat Ahli 4-

DOHA Three goals in the second half from Abdullah Oaddou, Sebastian Soria and Mohammed Omer ensured Qatar SC cancelled Al Ahli’s first half lead to win 4-3 during a round five-fixture of the Qatar Stars League at the Al Arabi Stadium on Saturday.

Qatar SC was trailing 1-3 in the opening 45 minutes but a resurgent performance from Qatar produced three goals in the second half to script an unlikely 4-3 win as coach Abdulla Mubarak of Ahli watched in disbelief.

Al Ahli's Dioko Kalutiyuka scored two goals in the 7^th and 29^th minute while his teammate Hicham Aboucherouane scored one in the 34th minute. After Marcinho Jose de Oliveira's goal in 11th minute, Qatar SC hit back through Abdullah Oaddou in the 57^th minute, Sebastian Soria scored a spot kick in the 65^th minute and Mohammed Omer completed the comeback with a goal in the 68^th minute to seal the 4-3 win.

Kalutiyuka scored the curtain raiser in the seventh minute of the match, following a defensive blunder by tall Moroccan defender Ouaddou, the striker benefited from the defender and goalkeeper’s lapse of concentration. After collecting a long ball from the centre of the pitch, Kalutiyuka charged towards the Qatar goal even as Ouaddou lunged at the Al Ahli striker.

Ouaddou mistimed his lunge allowing Kalutiyuka to take the ball forward, go past the goalkeeper Mohammed Mobakar and flick the ball into the empty net.

In the 11^th minute, Marcinho leveled the score for Qatar following a lob pass from the right flank, which evaded Ahli’s Abdulla Mustafa Saif, giving the striker space to shoot the ball from close range.

As the match progresses, Ahli was opening the defense of Qatar with well timed passed that usually exposes the inept defending of its back four.

And the chance came in the 29th minute, another defensive lapse allowed Ahli to take the lead for the second time.

Kalutiyuka picked up loose ball from the feet of defender Mohammed Omar and smartly hit the ball over the head of goalkeeper Mobarak for his second and Ahli's second goal at the half-hour mark.

In the 34th minute, the mental agony for Qatar SC coach Al Sheeba increased manifold as defender Khaled Saleh failed to mark Aboucherouane who flicked one from close range as Al Ahli went 3-1 up.

After missing a sitter in the 53rd minute, Ouaddou scored four minutes later off a snap-header following a pass from Yousef Safri positioned near the corner flag.

Ahli had their chances in the second half, Aboucherouane failed to make any use of a free kick from the edge of the box on the hour mark.

In the 65^th minute, the referee spotted an infringement inside the box after Marcinho was fouled. He awarded a penalty, which Soria converted calmly to bring the score to 3-3.

Qatar SC scored its winning goal in the 68th minutes, following a move initiated by Soria, which opened space for defender Omer to neatly dispatch a rebound ball from close range for his side’s fourth goal.