Qatar Airways aircraft incident caused by bird strike, says NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the air return made by a Qatar Airways aircraft on Feb. 9 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was caused by a bird strike on one of its engines.

The NCAA made the clarification in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Relations, Mr Sam Adurogboye and obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

“The Qatar Airways Airbus A330 with Registration no.A7 – AED, Flight no.1408 scheduled operation from Lagos to Doha ,received a push back to take off from the MMIA at 14.45hrs UTC.

“On board were 256 passengers and 10 Crew members.

“At 16.18hrs UTC, the Pilot-in-Command (PIC) made an air return to MMIA. He took this decision after the aircraft suffered bird strike in flight.

“The bird strike hit the No.1 Engine. On its safe return to MMIA, diligent inspection was carried out on the aircraft. However, finding disclosed no damage,” Adurogboye said.

He said since there was no damage, the aircraft was cleared and it recommenced the operation and departed at 17.30hrs UTC.

According to him, it is pertinent to point out that the Aircraft Pilot adhered to the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in undertaking an air return.

Adurogboye said this was to carry out an assessment of the impact of the bird strike before continuing the flight.

“The NCAA wishes to assure Nigerians that it will continue to ensure robust safety oversight of the industry for safe and secure air transportation,” he added.

Why Govt Fired Lead Prosecutor In Supreme Court Justice’s Trial, By AGF

The Federal Government said yesterday that it fired Charles Adeogun-Phillips, the lead prosecutor in the trial of Supreme Court’s Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, for alleged conflict of interests. This is contrary to the claim by the former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he withdrew. Adeogun-Phillips led the prosecution team until February 9 when he announced his withdrawal from the case. He was silent on what informed his decision.

The Federal Government said yesterday that it fired Charles Adeogun-Phillips, the lead prosecutor in the trial of Supreme Court’s Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, for alleged conflict of interests.

This is contrary to the claim by the former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he withdrew.

Adeogun-Phillips led the prosecution team until February 9 when he announced his withdrawal from the case. He was silent on what informed his decision.

He was the leader of ‘Team 16’of the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) saddled with the prosecution of the case involving Justice Ngwuta and three officials of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Registrar, Ahmed Gambo Saleh.

Saleh, Muhammad Abdulrahman Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal (both officials of the Supreme Court’s Accounts Department) were charged with alleged diversion of about N2.2billion and acceptance of gratification from contractors engaged by the court.

On February 7, the office of the AGF withdrew the nine-count charge, marked: CR/13/2016, filed against Saleh and others before the High Court of the Federal Capital territory (FCT) on November 3 last year. State’s lawyer, Mrs. Hajara Yusuf was silent on the reason behind the withdrawal.

Subsequent media reports, quoting some sources close to Adeogun-Phillips, however attributed his sudden withdrawal from Justice Ngwuta’s trial to his disagreement with the office of the AGF over its decision to discontinue the trial of Saleh and others, which is believed to have involved the largest amount of money – N2.2b.

But, the office of the AGF yesterday faulted such reports, claiming that the lawyer was sacked because he allegedly withheld information about his involvement in a case against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Salihu Isah, Media aide to the AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said in a statement yesterday that it was wrong for the AGF to retain Adeogun-Phillips while he was representing a private interest against a government agency.

Isah also faulted insinuation that the decision to discontinue Saleh and others’ trial had religious and ethnic undertone.

He said the charge against the Supreme Court officials was withdrawn because Saleh had agreed to serve as prosecution witness in Justice Ngwuta’s trial, which resumes today.

He said a letter disengaging Adeogun-Phillips sent to him on Februrary 6 was acknowledged on February 8.

The letter partly reads: “Contrary to impressions given by Charles Adeogun-Philips, the lead prosecutor in the suit against Supreme Court judge, Justice Sylvester Nwali Ngwuta in various reports, suggesting that he withdrew from the case on his own volition, the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) that engaged his services actually withdrew thefiat issued to him to prosecute the case over non-disclosure of conflict of interest and for other sundry reasons.

“The reports in a section of the media last Friday that he left in protest due to last week Tuesday’s dropping of charges earlier instituted against the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ahmed Gambo Saleh and two other officials of the apex court, Muhammad Abdulrahman Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal which he is also handling for the Federal Government and withdrawn against his consent, cannot be relied upon.

Charles Adeogun-Phillips

“The insinuation that the AGF withdrew the case against the three Supreme Court officials because they are Northerners is also unwarranted due to the fact that the dropping of the suit was done in good faith and in the context of plea bargaining to achieve greater goals in the prosecution of the other bigger cases that are ongoing against Justice Sylvester Ngwuta among others.

“So, it is wicked and childish for anyone to allude undue colouration to an action taken in the national interest and reduce it to a North/South thing with a view to confusing the discerning public.

“This is not the first time such process will be entered into in law, especially so as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 allows plea bargaining in line with national interest.

“And as a precedence, there was a time in the history of this nation that the allegations against Sergeant Rogers who was accused of killing Kudirat Abiola were stepped down for him to be used to testify against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha in the case between him and the Lagos state government over the killing of the wife of the acclaimed winner of the 1992 presidential election, late Chief M.K.O Abiola.

“It has now clearly shown that either corruption is fighting back or simply that some people want to be mischievous and to hoodwink and divert the attention of Nigerians from the core issues at stake.

“Charles Adeosun-Philips is handling a brief in an ongoing suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which amounts to a conflict of interest, which he failed to disclose when being engaged.

“The suit in question involves a bank executive, who is alleged to have laundered  $40m on behalf of former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke as part of the $153, 310, 000.00 she is alleged to have siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

“The EFCC is currently prosecuting the case before the Honourable Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos under Section 17 of the Advanced Fees Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 as well as Section 44(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federation of Nigeria.

“It would be recalled that the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) chaired by the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) was inaugurated by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on May 27, 2016, at the Presidential Villa.

”It is charged with assisting the Attorney-General of the Federation in the exercise of his prosecutorial powers under Section 150 and 174(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; especially as it involves high profile criminal cases,” he said.

Isah, who is also the Head of Communication and Public Affairs at the NPCC, said information about Adeogun-Philips’ sack was conveyed to him vide a letter titled, ‘Withdrawal of your name as a member of Team 16 of the National Prosecution Team handling charges No. FHC/ABJ/C/232/16-FRN vs. Sylvester N. Ngwuta’ dated 6th February 2017 and signed by the Special Assistant to the President on Research and Special Projects, who doubles as the NPCC Secretary, Sylvester O. Imhanobe.

He said Adeogun-Philips acknowledged receipt of the letter through an email message dated February 8 where, according to Isah, he said: “Your letter of 6 February 2017, is received with great relief. I wish you and/or your colleagues at the NPCC, success in the continued prosecution of your ‘high profile’ cases.  With my very best wishes.”

Isah said, in view of its experience with the Adeogun-Phillips’ case, the NPCC “plans to carry out a critical surgery on the present composition of the entire prosecution team to weed out those with question marks around them, because they had been informed before hands that anyone found wanting would be eased out since it is a continuous process.

“Meanwhile, the other members of Team 16 of the NPCC comprising Hajara Yusuf, Dr. M. Lawal Yusufari and Ibrahim Waru remain intact as only its leader is affected.

The roots of Nigeria's religious and ethnic conflict

Modern Nigeria emerged through the merging of two British colonial territories in 1914. The amalgamation was an act of colonial convenience. It occurred mainly because British colonizers desired a contiguous colonial territory stretching from the arid Sahel to the Atlantic Coast, and because Northern Nigeria, one of the merging units, was not paying its way while Southern Nigeria, the other British colony, generated revenue in excess of its administrative expenses.

It made practical administrative sense to have one coherent British colony rather than two. It also made sense to merge a revenue-challenged colonial territory with a prosperous colonial neighbor, so the latter can subsidize the former.

The amalgamation made little sense otherwise and has often been invoked by Nigerians as the foundation of the rancorous relationship between the two regions of Nigeria. Northern Nigeria, now broken into several states and three geopolitical blocs, is largely Muslim. It was the center of a precolonial Islamic empire called the Sokoto Caliphate, and its Muslim populations, especially those whose ancestors had been part of the caliphate, generally look to the Middle East and the wider Muslim world for solidarity and sociopolitical example. The South, an ethnically diverse region containing many states and three geopolitical units, is largely Christian. The major sociopolitical influences there are Western and traditional African.

These differences have been a source of political disagreements and suspicions between the two regions since colonial times.

To add to this cauldron, each of the two regions contains ethnic and religious minorities who harbor grievances against ethnic and religious majorities they see as hegemonic oppressors. These grievances are sometimes expressed through bitter political complaints, through sectarian crises stoked by political elites and incendiary media rhetoric, and through violent insurgencies.

Between 1947 and 1959 Nigerian nationalist leaders from different regional, ethnic, and religious communities came together in a series of conferences and parliaments to negotiate the transition to self-rule and to map out a common future. During these interactions and in the first few years after independence in 1960, the jarring effects of arbitrary colonial unification manifested as seemingly irreconcilable differences of aspirations, priorities, and visions. So deep were these religious and ethnic antagonisms that one Northern Nigerian Muslim nationalist leader declared Nigeria “the mistake of 1914” while a prominent Southern Nigerian Christian nationalist figure called Nigeria “a mere geographic expression.”

In Nigeria’s national politics, Christian anxieties about Muslim domination of the national political space and the accompanying fear that politically dominant Muslims would use their privileged perch to Islamize national institutions and impose Islamic Sharia law on non-Muslims date back to colonial times. Muslims, especially those from Northern Nigeria, for their part, have sought to fend off what they regard as unbridled Westernization and have sporadically sought refuge in parochial religious reforms.

Mismanagement of national resources and misrule by multi-ethnic and multi-religious coalitions of successive rulers since independence have impoverished and denied opportunities to the majority of Nigerians. As a result, religious rhetoric blaming members of other religious communities and proposals for religious reform as a solution to society’s ills have found purchase among the masses. This genuine, if misplaced, quest for a religious utopia has given some opportunistic political gladiators an excuse to curry legitimacy through politicized appeals to piety and religious fervor.

The desperate advancement of religious solutions to socioeconomic and political problems has deepened social fissures and spawned extremist and violent insurgencies such as the ongoing Boko Haram Islamist terrorist camp.

NIGERIA: A Nation in Search of Peace

Wikipedia defines peace as “a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the freedom from fear or violence. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the establishment of equality and a working political order, that serves the true interests of all.”

Peace in the Nigerian context has been redefined to mean the absence of war, absence of militancy or absence of agitation of any kind under any guise. In Nigeria it is very common to hear both government officials and ‘ordinary’ citizens say a particular region is peaceful, simply because gunshots are not heard nor are bombs exploding in such places. We continue to live in the illusion that ours is a peaceful nation, ignoring the basic fundamentals of peace as defined above, forgetting that without efforts to sustain peace, there would eventually be no peace.

Peace is therefore not only the absence of war but the creation and maintenance of a just order in the environment and by extension the society. Without a working justice system that establishes and maintains equality, serving the interests of everybody, (no matter how poor or lowly placed in the social order), peace cannot be achieved even in the absence of wars and fighting.

In Nigeria, what is commonly referred to as peace is nothing but a facade. What actually exists is the oppression and suppression of a people who have not yet found a way of making themselves heard or still trying to convince themselves on why they should not engage in violence or in some cases planning on what form or method their agitation will take.

A nation that understands the importance of peace will NEVER take matters of economic and social welfare of its citizens for granted, because its leadership is fully aware of the inextricable link between ‘meaningful’ development and peace.

‘REAL’ peace can only be achieved and sustained when: There’s justice, fairness and a working political order that serves the interests of ALL. Furthermore, a peaceful Nigeria is possible when the Confucius concept of REN (translated as benevolence or humaneness) is adopted by all citizens. Confucius defined REN as “not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself”.

Our leaders have to realize that without justice, fairness and equality, there can be no REAL peace and for our nation to move forward in all ramifications there MUST be REAL peace after which it becomes the duty of everyone to

 sustain the peace through REN.

 By Enenim Ubon

Boko Haram: Behind the Rise of Nigeria's Armed Group

An investigation into the origins and ideology of the rebel group and its bloody rise.

Since 2010, people in northeastern Nigeria have lived in constant fear of being attacked.

In the past years, Nigeria's rebel group Boko Haram  has repeatedly attacked schools, churches, mosques and markets, but state institutions such as police stations and military facilities have remained primary targets.

 

The group provoked global outrage in April 2014 when they kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. The kidnapping received global condemnation and sparked the solidarity campaign #BringBackOurGirls.

In August 2016, Boko Haram split into two factions after long-time leader Abubakar Shekau rejected an attempt by ISIL's Abu Musab al-Barnawi to replace him. Al-Barnawi is believed to be the son of late Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf and used to be Boko Haram's spokesman. Sporadic fighting broke out between the two factions, one headed by Shekau and the other by al-Barnawi and some believe that the division could break the spine of the Nigerian rebel group.

Since the start of the insurgency, the violence has resulted in more than 32,000 deaths and over two million people displaced.

But how did Boko Haram emerge and rise to power? What motivates them and why do they continue to thrive?

This questions needs to be answered 

Nigerians deported from U.K arrive Lagos safely (photos

At least, dozens of Nigerians were this morning deported from the United Kingdom. They arrived at the cargo terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos in an unmarked Air bus aircraft which touched ground at exactly 7:40 a.m yesterday . Among the deportees are prisoners who would complete their jail terms in Nigeria.





 

The Cost Effective Way to Save on Luxury Accommodation:

Top 5 Lagos Luxury Hotel Deals
As we all know, things haven’t gotten any better economically for the country but let’s face it, this isn’t just the case with Nigeria. It is the same all over the world, several countries are faced with the fear of a global recession and the best thing to do will be to cut costs as much as you can.
The effects of a recession lasts a lot longer than the duration of a recession. Ultimately, almost everyone suffers during an economic meltdown. Families can survive by adapting to a new lifestyle, working together, and making changes to improve their future.
We curated a list of the top Lagos hotel deals to help Lagosian save as much as they can during this economically trying times:

The Avenue Suites:

The Avenue Suites is a 5 star luxury apartment located in Victoria Island, Lagos. The hotel lies in close proximity to the Bar Beach and the Palms Mall in Lekki.  Its classic room is offering a 20% discount deal. Here is an opportunity to enjoy affordable luxury, well equipped with the state of the art facilities, it features a swimming pool and a gym. Guests have access to complimentary WiFi internet service and its restaurant boasts of surrounding skyline views and complimentary breakfast is served daily.

Hotel Bon Voyage:

Bon Voyage Hotel is a luxury beach hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. The hotel rooms offer a spectacular view of the ocean. Its onsite restaurant serves a variety of local and continental meals in menu and buffet options. Guests can also order a variety of drinks from the bar.   Bon Voyage Hotel is about 10-minute drive from the South African Embassy and very close to Afri Towers and Zenith Bank headquarters. The hotel offers 50% discount on its standard room.

Ibis Lagos Ikeja:

Ibis Hotel Ikeja is one of the coolest airport hotels in Lagos. You can easily access Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the popular Ikeja City Mall from here. The hotel is also fit for business travellers as it is equipped with conferencing facilities, a business centre, an onsite ATM and well-groomed rooms. Outdoor dining is available for guests and a gym and an outdoor pool are also available for use. The standard room at Ibis Hotel is available at 44% discount only on Jumia Travel.

Protea Hotel Victoria Island:

Located strategically close to the Eko Hotel Roundabout, Protea Hotel is one of the best hotels in Lagos. It boasts of an outdoor swimming pool and wireless internet access for all guests throughout its premises. The hotel offers daily complimentary breakfast service. Luggage storage service, laundry, conferencing facilities and an on-site parking are available provided. Airport shuttle, car hire and city shuttle services can be provided on request. Enjoy the comfort of this prestigious hotel by taking advantage of the 24% deals on its classic rooms.

Maison Fahnrenheit:

Maison Fahrenheit is a luxury hotel in Lagos situated within the corporate and social hub of Victoria Island, Lagos. The hotel is well equipped with various comfort facilities. Free wireless internet service is available for all guests and the restaurant at the hotel serves both local and continental meals. A rooftop bar is also open for guests to enjoy cocktails, variety of wine and spirits.
Maison Fahrenheit offers car hire and laundry services on request. Its conference hall is suitable for workshops, seminars and meetings. Enjoy deals as high 32% off hotel rooms in Maison Fahnrenheit.