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.