Nigeria says too much boom time oil savings spent on state governors

Nigeria's finance minister said on Thursday that a significant portion of the billions of dollars drained from the oil savings account over the past two years was distributed to powerful governors instead of being saved for a rainy day.

Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, is grappling with financial difficulties owing to a 30 percent fall in the price of oil since June, which has added pressure on the government's already depleted fiscal buffers.

The central bank devalued the naira by 8 percent on Tuesday because it was running out of forex reserves with which to defend the currency.

The Excess Crude Account (ECA) had around $9 billion in December 2012, but it has since fallen to around $4 billion, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted in a speech to capital market authorities. Most of the falls occurred during a period of record high oil prices, when oil savings are supposed to accrue.

Okonjo-Iweala said some of the money had been needed to cover revenue lost due to outages caused by oil theft and pipeline vandalism, thought to drain hundreds of thousands of barrels a day.

"Some of it (the ECA) was then legitimately used to offset revenue shortfalls arising from quantity shocks and to narrow the fiscal deficit," she said. "But against our advice, significant portions were also used to augment monthly allocations," to local and state authorities.

"States argued that rainy days were already at hand and in fact (the rain) was already pouring, so the money needed to be used right away," Okonjo-Iweala said.

Nigeria's oil revenues are the source of around 80 percent of government spending and are distributed each month to the three tiers of government: federal, state and local.

Money from oil sold over and above the finance ministry's benchmark price is in theory deposited into the ECA, which can later be used to protect against oil price shocks or to plug the deficit.

However, there are disputes about who should control this money, and state governors often argue the central government is hoarding the money and should distribute more to them.

The president, being the country's most powerful person, can usually have the de facto last say on how ECA funds will be distributed.

President Goodluck Jonathan, approved two dispersals of $1 billion last year to state governments.

State governors are some of the country's most powerful people and their support is crucial for winning presidential elections -- President Goodluck Jonathan faces re-election in February 2015.

State governors requested $2 billion from the ECA this month to complete projects and provide security ahead of the February elections. [ID:nL6N0T91BH]

The request has not yet been approved.

OPEC DECISION ADDS PRESSURE

Demands from local governments for more funds are likely to intensify in the run-up to the election, but the falling oil price means government finances are likely to be squeezed further.

The government has already revised down its assumed oil price for next year's budget to $73 a barrel, from $78 a barrel. But OPEC's decision on Thursday not to cut output has put further pressure on the oil price, potentially worsening Nigeria's problems.

Okonjo-Iweala said on Thursday that government plans to review tax incentives and waivers and plug customs loopholes while also increasing surcharges on luxury goods, should raise 480 billion naira ($2.7 billion) over the next three years.

She also said the government planned to save 160 billion naira by weeding out 60,000 "ghost workers" from the payroll, although she did not give a time frame.

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Nigeria's Fake Doctors

Take a drive though any city or large town in Nigeria and the chances are you will come across numerous privately owned health clinics, doctor's surgeries and hospitals.

They are so widespread because Nigeria's state-run health system – ranked at 197th out of 200 by the World Health Organisation – is chronically underfunded and so overstretched that it simply cannot meet all the demands made on it. Private medicine fills the gap and in the best cases, at least for those who can afford it, it can provide a valuable alternative service.

But while there are many legitimate private health providers, there are many more that are completely bogus; unaccredited, unregulated 'quack' doctors - con artists and criminal scammers for the most part - who ruthlessly exploit the credulity, ignorance and desperation of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society. Indeed they are so prolific that a survey carried out in Nigeria earlier this year found that more than 50 percent of the population had received 'treatment' from the quacks at one time or another – even people with very serious diseases such as typhoid and malaria.

Professor Alex Dodoo, who monitors patient safety for the World Health Organisation in West Africa and has dealt with quacks for years points out the obvious dangers of dealing with fake doctors:

"If one is not licensed by the state, anything that one does is illegal. Going to see them is dangerous. Period. Would you sit in an aeroplane where the pilot says 'OK hello, I'm the pilot, but I've not been licensed!' No way! You put your health at risk and you can die."

But it is something that has long bothered Rosemary Nwaebuni, a reporter who lives and works in Nigeria's Delta State. She has encountered many people who have suffered at the hands of fake doctors, particularly women who have been the victim of botched abortions, and she is frustrated that the authorities have not done more to stamp them out.

For this this episode of Africa Investigates, she joined up with Anas Aremeryaw Anas, an award-winning journalist from Ghana, to track down the quacks and gather evidence of their scams.

The duo's eye-opening investigation quickly unearthed a host of 'doctors' and 'nurses' using forged and fake qualifications and with little or no medical training.

The premises these fake medics operate from are invariably unsanitary and the manifestly phoney 'treatments' they offer patients risk ending in blindness, poisoning, perforated wombs and even life-threatening disfigurement and death from surgical procedures carried out by people lacking even a modicum of skill or experience. Others fall victim to the quacks' complete inability to diagnose even the most obvious diseases and conditions; mistakes that are more likely to kill or injure their patients than they ever are to heal them.

Going undercover in the guise of a patient, Rosemary was offered treatment for typhoid and malaria (even though she is perfectly healthy) and an illegal abortion (even though she is not pregnant) by quacks who had no medical qualifications whatsoever but who pretended to be experienced and licensed practitioners.

In one remarkable sting, the Africa Investigates team rented a house and invited local quacks to come and do 'home visits'. The 'patient' was again Rosemary, who – with the help of a qualified medic – had learned some symptoms that any genuine doctor would immediately recognise as indications of heart disease. Instead, one after another, the 'quacks' turned up and after cursory examinations wrongly claimed that Rosemary was suffering from typhoid and malaria (two commonly cited conditions) for which she need expensive drugs that only they could prescribe.

What the fake doctors did not know was that the house was rigged with secret closed circuit cameras and that their every move was being scrutinised by a genuine medical practitioner. The doctor was local to the area and asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, but he was unequivocal in his condemnation of the fakes.

"This is absolute quackery," he said of one of the fakes. "All he did was just glance at the patient and then made a diagnosis and prescribed medications … To take all barrage of medications for this patient with malaria and typhoid. This is wrong, this is all wrong. These drugs are poison. They cause real damage."

The team took this this and other evidence to Dr Alfred Ebiakofa, a senior medical officer working for the Nigerian Ministry of Health. He had always lacked the resources and proof to go after fake doctors but now was able to act. He called in the police to work with Anas who, as the investigation heads to a climax, devised a dramatic scheme to trap one of Nigeria's most notorious quacks in the act.

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Gunmen bomb and shoot at mosque worshippers in north Nigeria's Kano

Gunmen exploded bombs and opened fire on worshippers gathered at the central mosque of north

Nigeria's biggest city, Kano, for Friday prayers, witnesses said, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

"These people have bombed the mosque. I am face to face with people screaming," said Chijjani Usman, a local reporter who had gone to the mosque in the old city for prayers himself.

The mosque is adjacent to the palace of the emir of Kano, the second highest Islamic authority in the country, although the emir himself, former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi, was not present at the time.

A staff member at the palace who also witnessed the attack said: "After multiple explosions, they also opened fire. I cannot tell you the level of casualties because we all ran away."

A police spokesman in Kano declined to make any immediate comment. There was also no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on Boko Haram, which has for five years waged a campaign to revive a medieval Islamic caliphate governed by sharia law.

Boko Haram's fighters have killed thousands in gun and bomb attacks on churches, schools, police stations, military and government buildings, and even mosques that do not share their radical Islamist ideology. Hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes.

They regard the traditional Islamic authorities in Nigeria with distain, seeing them as a corrupt, self-serving elite that is too close to the secular government.

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Fabregas hits back at Ramos in Spain commitment row

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said he was offended by Spanish international

teammate Sergio Ramos questioning his commitment to La Roja after pulling out of games against Belarus and Germany earlier this month through injury.

Ramos, who missed Spain's previous two Euro 2016 qualifiers due to a calf injury, then sent a thinly veiled barb at Fabregas and club teammate Diego Costa, who also pulled out of the squad to an ongoing hamstring problem.Fabregas was allowed to return to London by Spain's medical team despite scans failing to prove a significant injury just two days after completing the 90 minutes in Chelsea's 2-1 win at Liverpool.

"I would like the players to have the same commitment to the national team as to their clubs," said the Real Madrid defender.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho also dismissed Ramos's complaints earlier this week, pointing out that he doesn't have a "masters in medicine."

However, Fabregas was so infuriated by those comments he said he called Ramos to clarify the situation.

"I have played 94 times for Spain and for many years I have always come with a smile from one ear to the other," he told Spanish radio station COPE.

"It annoys me that they doubt my commitment. I have played many matches and came to many squads without playing.

"It is true I felt offended, I have already told Sergio what I thought. We have spoken on the phone and everything is fine.

"I said to him we have played together since the under-21 team and he didn't need to send messages through the press."

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The Dark Side of the Nobel Prizes

For more than 100 years, the Nobel Prizes have recognized the finest in human achievements, from literature and science to the Nobel Peace Prize, which is given "to the person who shall

have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses," according to the last will and testament of founder Alfred Nobel.

But the origins of the Nobel Prizes, and the life of Alfred Nobel, tell a very different story, one tainted by the deaths of untold thousands of people.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was an inventor and engineer who struggled financially for much of his life. Forced to declare bankruptcy, Immanuel left Sweden and began working in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he impressed the czar ith one of his inventions — submerged explosive mines that could thwart a naval invasion.

Finally achieving a measure of success, Immanuel brought his wife and eight children to St. Petersburg. His sons were given a formal education, and Alfred shined under strict Russian tutelage, mastering several languages as well as chemistry, physics, poetry and natural sciences.

Because the elder Nobel disapproved of Alfred's interest in poetry, he sent his son abroad to further his training in chemistry and engineering. While studying in Paris, Nobel met Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero, who in 1847 invented nitroglycerin, the oily, liquid explosive made by combining glycerin with nitric acid and sulfuric acid.

Innovation from tragedy

Though nitroglycerine was considered too unsafe to have any practical use, the Nobel family — which now had several profitable enterprises in Russia and Sweden — continued to investigate its potential for commercial and industrial uses.

But their inquiries had tragic results: In 1864, Alfred's younger brother Emil and several other people were killed in an explosion at one of their factories in Sweden. The disaster encouraged Alfred to try to find a way to make nitroglycerin safe. Success didn't come easily: Early experiments included the creation of "blasting oil," a mixture of nitro and gunpowder, which resulted in several deadly explosions and once killed 15 people when it exploded in a storeroom in San Francisco.

Finally, in 1867, Alfred Nobel found that by mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth (known as kieselguhr in German), the resulting compound was a stable paste that could be shaped into short sticks that mining companies might use to blast through rock. Nobel patented this invention as "dynamite," from the Greek word dunamis, or "power."

The invention of dynamite revolutionized the mining, construction and demolition industries. Railroad companies could now safety blast through mountains, opening up vast stretches of the Earth's surface to exploration and commerce. As a result, Nobel — who eventually garnered 355 patents on his many inventions — grew fantastically wealthy.

'Merchant of death'

Dynamite, of course, had other uses, and it wasn't long before military authorities began using it in warfare, including dynamite cannons used during the Spanish-American War. Though he's widely credited with being a pacifist, it's not known whether Nobel approved of dynamite's military use or not.

Nonetheless, he found out what others thought of his invention when, in 1888, his brother Ludvig died. Though some journalistic error, Alfred's obituary was widely printed instead, and he was scorned for being the man who made millions through the deaths of others. Once French newspaper wrote "Le marchand de la mort est mort," or "the merchant of death is dead." The obituary went on to describe Nobel as a man "who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before."

Nobel was reportedly stunned by what he read, and as a result became determined to do something to improve his legacy. One year before he died in 1896, Nobel signed his last will and testament, which set aside the majority of his vast estate to establish the five Nobel Prizes, including one awarded for the pursuit of peace.

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New Camera Sensor Eliminates Need for Flash

No flash? No problem. A new imaging sensor could soon make it possible for photographers to take clear, sharp photos, even in dim lighting.

Created by a team of researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, the new sensor is highly sensitive to both visible and infrared light, which means it could be used in everything from the family Nikon to surveillance and satellite cameras. 

The sensor, which is 1,000 times more sensitive to light than the imaging sensors of most of today's cameras, gets this high photoresponse from its innovative structure.

It's made of graphene, a super strong carbon compound with a honeycomb structure that is as flexible as rubber, more conductive than silicon and which resists heat better than a diamond.

Graphene, which is a one atom-thick layer of the mineral graphite, has already earned a reputation as the building material of the future. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov took home the Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 for their work with the compound.

The inventor of the new sensor, Wang Qijie, an assistant professor at NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said this is the first time that a broad-spectrum, high photosensitive sensor has been made using pure graphene.

"We have shown that it is now possible to create cheap, sensitive and flexile sensors from graphene alone," said Wang. "We expect our innovation will have great impact not only on the consumer imaging industry, but also in satellite imaging and communication industries, as well as the mid-infrared applications."

Wang said the key to his new sensor is the use of "light-trapping" nanostructures that use graphene as a base. The nanostructures hold onto light-generated electron particles for much longer than conventional sensors.

This results in a stronger than usual electric signal, which can be processed into an image, like a photograph captured by a digital camera.

Most of today's camera sensors use a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor as a base. But Wang said that his graphene base is far more effective, producing clearer, sharper photos.

And, according to Wang, he even took current manufacturing practices into account when designing this new sensor. In principle, the camera industry will be able to keep using the same process to make its sensors, but simply switch out the base materials for graphene.

If the industry chooses to adopt his design, Wang said it could lead to cheaper, lighter cameras with longer battery lives for all.

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Samsung Galaxy Note Edge review: Stroke of genius in a black slab world

We don't see a ton of innovation in smartphones today with most of them in the black slab form factor. However, Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Note Edge with a unique curved edge/secondary display that adds real value to the smartphone experience.

I reviewed the Galaxy Note 4 last month. The Galaxy Note Edge is practically the same device with the new premium Galaxy design, S Pen functionality, and industry leading specifications, but priced $120 more for the unique right side design.

Specifications

• Processors: Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 2.7 GHz quad-core CPU
• Display: 5.6-inch quad HD Super AMOLED screen with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and small 2560 x 160 edge display
• RAM: 3GB
• Storage capacity: 32 GB internal with microSD card slot
• Cameras: 16-megapixel rear with optical image stabilization (OIS), and 3.7 megapixel front facing
• Radios: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2 MIMO)Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, near-field communications (NFC), ANT+, infrared, GPS
• Battery capacity: 3,000 mAh with ability to fast charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes
• Dimensions: 151.4 x 82.3 x 8.4 mm, and 174 grams (6.1 ounces)

These are the top specifications available in any smartphone today. In comparison to the Note 4, you will see that the main display is slightly smaller and the device slightly wider to accommodate the second edge display.

On the hardware

Clearly, the most distinct aspect of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is the second display that runs along the right edge of the phone. I've never seen anything like it before and I highly recommend you visit your local carrier store to check it out in person.

The Galaxy Note Edge has the same premium metal edge as the Galaxy Note 4 around three sides. On the right side, this metal edge extends down and along the back. The metal frame runs along the entire back with the removable back cover meeting up to it.

There is no physical transition on the front of the display, the glass just wraps around down the right side from the front. When you turn on the Note Edge, you will see that the lock screen image actually extends all the way down and across the secondary display. There is a line to differentiate this secondary display and after you unlock the phone the edge display lights up with the widgets that you have setup in the settings.

The edge display can be activated in a 'tabletop' mode when the display is off by stroking the edge. Simply rub your finger up and down the edge display, like coaxing a genie out of the bottle, and a widget will launch with the items that you have selected. You can also enable a night clock mode that appears on the edge display during your selected hours.

The edge display has palm rejection technology built into it so you shouldn't accidentally active it while holding your phone. I have yet to launch anything unintended after using the Note Edge for a week.

The rest of the Note Edge is the same as the Note 4 with a fantastic display, excellent camera, solid battery life, and productive S Pen performance.

Pros	Cons
Gorgeous, industry-leading Super AMOLED quad HD display	Non-functional fingerprint scanner
Innovative secondary edge display	No water resistant rating
Premium metal frame	Overpopulated notification area
High quality camera and useful front facing camera software
Advanced S Pen functionality
Removable battery and microSD storage expansion

On the software

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge runs Android 4.4 out of the box. TouchWiz is minimized in these latest Note devices and the only thing in the software that still really bugs me is the overwhelming notification shade. I hope that Samsung implements the Lollipop quick actions or does something to minimize the screen real estate their quick actions consume.

Thankfully, the secondary display helps address some of my notifications area concerns because notifications can be setup along the edge display so my time with the shade has been reduced. Those who hold their phones in their right hand will be pleased to know that Samsung includes a toggle for 180 degree rotation. This lets you turn the Galaxy Note Edge upside down so the edge screen is on the left. It's a great solution for unique hardware the only thing really odd is getting used to having the physical home button at the top of the display instead of the bottom.

The secondary display is a highlight of the software package as well as the hardware package. There is a small arrow at the bottom of the edge to provide access to the edge screen settings. In these settings you can manage the panels, add a personal touch to the panel that appears when the display is off, setup the information stream, define night clock times, and rotate the screen.

11 panels are available by default with support for having up to seven active panels at one time. You can download panels as well, with seven currently available for Note Edge owners. Available panels include shortcuts, notifications and weather, Yahoo! Sports, Milk Music, S Health, Twitter, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! News, contacts (up to 10 can be added), and games.

In the shortcuts panel, simply tap the star at the top and then drag and drop whatever app shortcut you want to the edge. You can even setup folders to appear on the edge. This capability makes the edge screen one of the most efficient ways to launch apps on a smartphone.

Panels are viewable on the home screen and within apps. The edge screen appears by default on the home screen. If you are in an app, simply swipe from right to left to have you edge screen appear and then continue swiping to switch between panels. I love seeing the ticker tape scrolling of sports scores on the edge screen and look forward to further development.

Samsung also includes a handy widget panel that is accessible by dragging down the two lines from the top of the edge screen. The widget panel includes a ruler, stopwatch, timer, flashlight, and voice recorder. The ruler is simply fantastic and lets you measure things up to four inches or 10 centimeters in length.

I might be worried about limited support for the edge screen, but given Samsung's active developer support I believe we will see even more available panels. If not, the ones they have available now provide enough functionality to justify buying a Note Edge over a Note 4.

The edge screen is also used for controls in other applications. For example, camera controls and video player controls appear in this area so you get more usable display.

The S Pen is present, along with all of the advanced software functionality provided by Samsung.

The review unit I am using now is an AT&T model so it unfortunately is loaded to the hilt with bloatware. Given Samsung's success in the Android market I would think they had power like Apple to limit carrier bloatware. I don't mind having a carrier area where owners can choose to download these apps and services if they want them, but having them clog up a device out of the box is unacceptable.

Pricing and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is available from most carriers now. The full retail price ranges from $870 to $950 with subsidized pricing starting at $400 with a 2-year agreement. This is $120 more than the Note 4 for the full price and $100 more subsidized.

The competition

The more I use these Note products, the more convinced I am that the S Pen makes these the best true phablets. Many manufacturers are going large just to offer more screen real estate, but Samsung actually offers additional value with the Note Edge and Note 4.

Looking at phones with displays greater than 5.2 inches, we have the LG G3, Apple iPhone 6 Plus, Nokia Lumia 1520, Xperia Z3, new Moto X, and more. They are all excellent smartphones, but the Note Edge stands out with the top specs, unique form factor, and S Pen functionality.

Conclusion

As a smartphone user who enjoys high end specifications and unique features, I have to say I am seriously considering a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. My wife is a Samsung Galaxy S5 user and as soon as she saw the Note Edge she said she wanted one. I would love to upgrade her S5 to the Note Edge so she could get the better camera and Note experience.

The Galaxy Note 4 is a fantastic device and one that sets the bar for large screen smartphones. There is indeed added value with the Note Edge additional display, enough to justify the $120 price premium. The edge display is unique and will turn heads. People I have showed it to have all reacted with genuine surprise and interest.

The Galaxy Note Edge was announced at IFA and then we heard it was going to have limited release. It turns out that all major US carriers are launching the device and that's a great thing. Those interested in the Note line should definitely consider the Note Edge. With the amazing specs, S Pen, and secondary display, the Note Edge is the most advanced smartphone available today.

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Boko Haram grave digger’s horror

I single handedly buried over 40 corpses, woman escapee from Gwoza recalls

At only 35, this woman has more hellish tale to tell than could be imagined. Her hell is that, created and

operated by Boko Haram, particularly in Gwoza, Borno State.

In Gwoza and other Boko Haram blighted parts of the North East of Nigeria, the culture is that men are massacred and women spared to dig the grave and bury the bodies of their men as a routine.

That she lived in the innermost part of hell after members of the terrorist group captured their village in Gwoza, Borno State, might be an understatement, as she did not only witness the brutal killings of her beloved ones, she was conscripted by circumstance to bury their bodies. They kill the men but because only the women were left, they could not stand the debilitating stench from the decomposing bodies of their loved ones scattered all over the town. The women therefore,  deviced the service of burying the dead bodies because the killers only fell them and went their ways.

To adhere to this brief, she was meant to dig the graves and bury about 40 bodies of her kinsmen and relatives slaughtered by Boko Haram. Many of the bodies she interred were already decomposed and in bad shape.

At the last count, she had buried over 40 and when she could no longer stand the horror, until she and other captured villagers escaped to Adamawa, where they lived in one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), camps before she got free transport that brought her to Abuja.

Today, she and some other escapees from the North East, live at the Dagba Village, near the Area 1 Church Village in Garki.

New life in Dagba

A mother of five, Hajia Hauwa Dauda, who now lives from hand to mouth having lost all that she had, lives in one of the makeshift buildings with two of her children.

Even though life has not been easy especially when she has to cater for herself and her two children, Hauwa, says she is happy to be away from the heavy gunfire and free from the horrible sight of the Boko Haram boys who patrol the their villages with heavy weapons.  And most of all, she says she is happy for escaping the gory sight of how these insurgents slaughter their fellow human beings especially the men. Before the crisis in Gwoza, the young woman was doing pretty well in her little enterprise and well off in her own standard with a modest transportation business with two tricycles (Keke NAPEP)

She also operated a little business with grinding machines for grains from her shop where she sold daily need food items.

Impoverished

But all she had gathered to make a living came crumbling soon after the terrorists invaded their village. That is how she lost all that she had laboured for.

Hauwa Dauda who vends food at a spot in Dagba Village told Abuja Metro how she had in the past lived in Lagos, Port Harcourt and some other cities and later relocated to her village to settle down but got chased out by the terrorists.

In a culture where women have no business engaging in the burial of corpses, which is strictly for men, this woman has not only engaged in burying the bodies of her loved ones, but also turned a grave digger as a duty alongside other women since most of the men of their village had been killed while the few that managed to survive escape for dear life leaving only the women and children.

And so with no men in the village and several dead bodies littered all around, Hauwa and her fellow women decided to take the bull by the horn, to give their dead relatives and fellow villagers a befitting burial even though she said they could not dig the grave as deep as it should.

Narrating her ordeals in the hands of the deadly terrorist group, she said: “I am a native of Gwoza town, in Borno State and I have lived in Dagba for about three months now.

“I had to escape from my village following the invasion by the Boko Haram terrorist group. I have lived in Lagos where I did business and also in Port Harcourt, before I finally decided to return home. I am married, and I had five children but three of them are dead, not as a result of Boko Haram, while two are alive, a boy and a girl.

After relocating to my village having stayed out for so long, I engaged in businesses that will bring me money so I bought three Keke Napep.  I also bought big grinding machine which I used to grind grains and other things.  I also had a provision shop and was doing well and living peacefully until Boko Haram took over our village.

Death to all men

It was a terrible thing because they killed our boys and our men randomly. Sometime they shot them with guns, and at other times they kill them with cutlass as if they were goats.

It was really terrible because they killed our young men daily for the slightest offense of not respecting them and so when the thing got too much, some of them decided to escape from the village. They used to carry heavy guns patrolling the village without any molestation and go into houses to search for men and if they find any, they kill them within seconds.

They did not engage in killing the women and so when all the men ran away, it remained only the women and the children and dead bodies littered everywhere.

Sometime we do not come out of our houses for five days for fear of being killed or beaten and when we feel that the town is a little bit safe, we come out to get fresh air.

In the four or five days that we stay inside our house because of fear, we don’t sleep, we just stretch ourselves on the wall and remain like that until whenever God hears our prayers.

Endless horror

And each time we came out, we would discover so many dead bodies in every corner of the village. Some would have been there for over one week and since there were no more men in the village and the insurgents were  only interested in killing but not burying, we the women decided to start burying the bodies of those killed.

We start by digging the ground and carry the bodies to the grave. I never got involved in burying any dead body earlier. But I had seen where dead bodies are buried, so I used the picture of what I have seen and put it to practice.

Asked if they carry out the usual rituals of bathing the corps or holding funeral service before they bury these bodies, she said “where is the time to do all these? All we are interested in is to bury the bodies as fast as we can.

I alone counted about 40 dead bodies that I buried apart from the ones that other women and I buried jointly. The situation was so bad that when we saw that we were not making headway in the mass burial task as a team, we  had to split and did it individually.

Tired of burial

We lived constantly in panic until one day when I joined other villagers to escape. We escaped through the bush and trekked for three days and three nights to Madagali, and other villages until we got to Adamawa from Gwoza.

When we got to Adamawa, we were taken to a camp where we stayed for some days and from there they provided us with government transport that brought us to Mararaba, and dropped us there that we will be safe.

I stayed at Mararaba for some days before I heard about this place, Dagba, and that most of the people here are from Gwoza, so I decided to come down here with my two children.

For now I cannot say things are easy with me having lost everything that I had, but I thank God that I have peace here and so to keep body and soul together and to be able to provide for my children, I sell cooked food. I sell beans and rice and it is not much because the people buy on credit, they don’t pay cash because they too are not finding things easy.

I cook only one mudu of beans and rice because I cannot afford a huge quantity. And it is from what I cook that I and my children feed, so life has not been easy.

But I pray that peace returns to my village so I can go back home because there is nowhere like home. Even though I have lost everything that I have, I know that I can bounce back if normalcy returns to our village.

I am also appealing to the government to please assist some of us with whatever they can so we can start life all over again.

Look at the kind of place that I live in with my children, it is not good enough, compared to what I have in the village but I just have to manage in the situation.

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Nurse who had Ebola asks bridal shop for refunds

A Dallas nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola is requesting refunds from the Ohio bridal shop she

visited, but the store says the reimbursements aren't feasible because it had to temporarily close and lost significant business.

Amber Vinson's Dallas attorney asked that Coming Attractions Bridal & Formal refund $480 in dress payments by several of Vinson's bridesmaids, the Akron Beacon Journal (http://bit.ly/1xS8jiX ) reported.

Attorney Stephen Malouf said Vinson, who has recovered, saw the publicity of her case harm the store and decided to get bridesmaids' dresses elsewhere to avoid further scrutiny for the business.

Owner Anna Younker said Vinson's change of heart and the refund request feel like a slap in the face after the shop lost tens of thousands of dollars because of its connection to her.

Malouf said that wasn't Vinson's intention.

"I'm sorry that the shop is upset," he said. "This was an effort to help the shop and Amber. ... This was a purely innocent request and I'm sorry it wasn't received in the spirit in which it was sent."

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FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2014, file photo, Amber Vinson, 29, the Dallas nurse who was being treated f …

Younker said she occasionally makes exceptions to her store's usual policy against refunds, but that it's not feasible in this case.

"It doesn't make sense," Younker said. "I'm out a lot of money."

The blow to the business was among the ripple effects of Vinson's diagnosis, which also led to several weeks of health monitoring for more than 160 people in Ohio, including a few who were quarantined. None showed symptoms.

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How Niger Delta unrest stalls $16bn gas park project

Prolonged communal clashes between the Itsekiri people of Ogidigben, Warri South Local Government area in Delta State and the Ijaw of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region is said to be responsible for

the inability of the Federal Government to commence work on the Gas Revolution Industrial Park (GRIP)

‎The $16 billion GRIP project is known to be one of the largest Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in West Africa. The project which is situated in Ogidigben in Delta State is sitting on 2,560 hectares‎ of land.

‎The government has over the years had difficulty in addressing the communal dispute between the Itsekiri of  Delta State and the Ijaw militants mostly of Gbaramatu Kingdom‎ in Bayelsa State to commence building of the project as the two ethnic groups equally lay claims of ownership to the piece of land allocated for the project.

‎For the second time, completed arrangement for the ground breaking ceremony of the GRIP

was botched at the last minute.

‎Few week ago, the rescheduled date for the ceremony which was billed to take place on November 14 was again cancelled abruptly, raising more anxiety, confusion and frustration from the major stakeholders who are mostly International Oil Companies (IOCs) on whether the project would commence at all.

Aside the growing concern of the participating companies, is the tension the postponements have caused among the warring groups.

A terse statement ‎issued in Abuja on November 13 and signed by Dr.  Jamila Shu’ara the Permanent Secretary‎ of Petroleum Resources Ministry, noted that the minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke explained that the decision to cancel the event was taken after consultations with the Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

The reason for the cancellation was ‘unresolved disputes among host communities.’

As expected, he promised that a new date would be communicated to investors and the public as soon as possible.

But the new twist into the crises that emerged is the ultimatum given by the Itsekiri leaders on President Goodluck Jonathan and the Delta state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan to resign ‎their positions as President of the Nigeria and governor of the state respectively for their inability to address the rift between the communities and stop the Ijaw ex militant and warlord ‘Tompolo’ from threatening to scuttle government’s efforts to commence the project as scheduled.

The Itsekiri in a statement issued on Friday November 14, the date slated for the project after awaiting in vain demanded the resignation of President Jonathan and Governor Uduaghan for their inability to curtail “rampaging ex-militants” who seized the Delta waterways and prevented the much-awaited ground breaking.

The Ijaw leader, Pa J.O.S. Ayomike according to reports insisted that: “It is the responsibility of every sitting president and governor to ensure that they are not cowed by threats; otherwise all manner of groups will rise to overpower the government and if President Jonathan couldn’t curtail the ex-militants whom they claimed the president had spent billions of public fund in rehabilitating, then he is not fit to rule Nigeria because, he is easily frightened by a “threat from Tompolo.”

Historically ours

Giving details of where Ogidigben is situated in the EPZ map, Itsekiri leaders said that the closest Ijaw enclave which lies to the south is Yokiri and it is about 14km from Ogidigben, adding that the only town which lies to the North of Ogidigben is Kpokpo.

“Between Kpokpo and Ogidigben are other Itsekiri villages like Madangho, Ajudaigbo and others. It is this Kpokpo that even has no geographical contiguity with Ogidigben that the Ijaw of Gbaramatu are using as bridge-head to lay claim of ownership to certain parcel of land earmarked for the EPZ just as the Ijaw of Ogulagha are using Yokiri too,” they said.

Citing a court judgement on the ownership of Kpokpo, the Itsekiri leader said that Kpokpo is an Itsekiri settlement owned by the Ugborodo community and its ownership has been settled judicially in suit Nos MCC/4/71: Godspower Okoturoh (of Ugborodo) Vs Ogbaburo (of Ijaw) and MCC/37/71: Godspower Okoturoh (of Ugborodo) Vs Burutu (Ijaw) as belonging to the Ugborodo people.

The Itsekiri leader stated that the Ijaw of Gbaramatu, wholly live on lands owned by the Itsekiri people of Omadino and Ugborodo communities as customary tenants as pronounced over the years by a competent court.

They affirmed that “Okerenghigho” (now called “Okerenkoko” by the Ijaw) on which the Marine Dockyard and the Maritime University is built is on Omadino (Itsekiri) land.

‎According to him, if a President keeps on succumbing to threats by his own people and he cannot curtail them, then he has goofed and should resign as it is done elsewhere in the world,” Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, a formidable group of national and Diaspora groups of Itsekiri leaders said in a statement.

Governor Uduaghan is from the Itsekiri tribe, while President Jonathan is an Ijaw from Bayelsa State, the only 100% Ijaw State in Nigeria.

Specifically, the leaders said that Ijaw ex-militants have demystified Governor Uduaghan who, according to them, had boasted in the media that no one can stop the President’s scheduled flag-off of the multibillion dollar project.

The leaders said that they are surprised over the failure of President Jonathan to handle the ground breaking due to the threat from Ijaw militants mostly of Gbaramatu Kingdom.

Rising from its emergency meeting, the group headed by Ayomike, a historian, said it is unfortunate that Jonathan didn’t heed their warning to ignore “baseless” threats of war, rather, he “pitched his tent with his Ijaw warlords and did the wrong thing.”

In a statement the Itsekiri leaders said the Itsekiri people, Nigerians and indeed the world now know that President Jonathan is pursuing an Ijaw agenda.

“This agenda is to exterminate the Itsekiri in their God-given land but we will resist it and we will never be intimidated by threats of war and genocide against our people .

“We have repeatedly called on our Ijaw brothers, including President Jonathan, to build bridges across ethnic divides not only in the Niger Delta but in Nigeria. But alas, he has by this action joined the Ijaw militants in building fences among the ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta and Nigeria. And time will tell the outcome,” the statement said.

According to Pa Ayomike, “Itsekiri as a nation is protected by the British crown, and so we will go to the international court and push for secession.”

Intimidated president

He said “Jonathan has been intimidated by the “militants” and he is dancing to their tunes; that’s why the flag-off was stalled otherwise the Ijaws have no basis for this agitation.

To further buttress their point, they cited the case of 1962 where the Itsekiri people of Omadino in suit No. W/30/1962: Chief E.E Sillo & 2 Ors Vs James Uluba & 2 Ors sued for possession of title to Okerenghigho, rents and injunction and judgement delivered on October 3, 1969 which was in favour of Itsekiri people of Omadino.

They also held that Oporoza, the headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom and Tompolo’s abode, is in Ugborodo (Itsekiri land). According to them, the Ijaw settled there with the permission of the Itsekiri people of Ugborodo citing the case in suit No. W/124/76: Babine Ereku & 3 Ors (members of Ugborodo) Vs Osuke Akonu & Ors, adding however that they are surprised at how a customary tenant overnight turned around and began to lay claim to the land of his landlord

Jonathan is fair

President Jonathan had on Monday, November 17 noted with regret the unneccessary controversy and acrimony trailing the postponement of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Gas Revolution Industrial Park at Ogidigben in the Warri South West Local Government Area which would lead to attack on his person and the office he occupies.

Jonathan in statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “President Jonathan is deeply saddened by the very unjust, uncharitable and unwarranted accusations of nepotism and partisanship that have been made against him in the wake of the postponement.”

Abati maintained that “the president is particularly dismayed by the unseemly resort to the abusive denigration of his personal integrity and the whipping up of divisive ethnic sentiments by parties to the totally needless communal disagreement that resulted in the decision to reschedule the ground-breaking event.”

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34 killed as 2 female bombers shut down Maiduguri

•54 victims hospitalised

…Youths on rampage, blaming security for attack

Maiduguri, Borno State capital, was yesterday shut down as twin explosions believed to have been perpetrated by two female Boko Haram bombers near a major market, killing 34 people, while 54 victims were on hospital admission.

A female suicide bomber, who pretended to be insane, detonated the explosives along the crowded One-Way behind the Maiduguri Monday Market at about 11am yesterday. “The bomb went off just by the roadside near a shop, killing some people. The blast attracted the attention of people around who moved closer, but the second explosion occurred again. “The second one killed more people,” says Mamman Garba, a trader around he area. Residents blamed Boko Haram for the attack.

Abba Mohammed, a youth volunteer, said he participated in the rescue operation, adding that most of the victims were blown off by the force of the blasts. Sporadic gunshots by troops around the area were heard minutes after the explosions. A military source said the gunshots were meant to scare away potential bomber or attacker from wreaking further havoc.

An official, who did not want his name in print, said hat 21 people were evacuated at the scene of the blasts, but hospital sources said about 34 deaths were recorded among “those fatally injured.” Bodies of the victims were evacuated by the youths vigilante and an official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). They were deposited at the State Specialist Hospital, about 300 meters away front he scene.

Most of the major roads leading to the heart of the city were cordoned off by security operatives while most shops, banks, financial institutions and business premises were closed down for most part of the day.

However, angry youths yesterday alleged complicity in the blasts. They also attempted to prevent the Commissioner of Police, Mr Clement Adoda from accessing the area. One of the youths, a vigilante, Abba Musa, claimed that the military had ordered the closure of the market earlier on Monday and directed the youths vigilante to leave the area by 6pm, wondering why the military directed them to discontinue their surveillance around the area only for the suicide bombers to operate. The development forced soldiers and some anti-riot policemen around the area to shoot sporadically into the air to disperse the youths.

The blasts came barely five months after a similar explosion occurred near the same market, about 500 metres away from the scene of the July 1 explosion which killed 21 people. Maiduguri has experienced heavy security checks and surveillance by both military and youths vigilante in what a source described as quick response to security threat.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary, in the state Ministry of Health, Alhaji Sandar and Executive Secretary, Hospital Management Board, Dr Salisu Kwaya Bura, told Gov Kashim Shettima during his visit to the victims at the State Specialist Hospital that 54 people were admitted. “Out of this number, 14 of them who were critically injured have been referred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for proper treatment, while 20 have been discharged,” he said.

Alhaji Sandar, also said 24 bodies were brought to the hospital even as hospital sources said the casualty was higher as some bodies could not be identified. Gov Shettima described the bombers as wicked, wondering why they have chosen the poor traders and children as targets.

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