The Federal Government has allayed fears that any harm may have come the way of the nine expatriate oil workers kidnapped by hostage-takers in the Niger Delta.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mrs Oluremi Oyo told newsmen on 21 February at the State House, Abuja that “ all I can tell you is that they are alive and well.”

She said that President Olusegun Obasanjo was concerned about the safety and continued detention of the hostages while information at the disposal of the Federal Government was that the crisis would soon be resolved.

Mrs Oyo expressed President Obasanjo’s confidence in the ability of the committee set up by the Federal government and headed by Governor James Ibori of Delta state to secure the release of the hostages.

The Federal Government on 18 February condemned the latest seizure of nine oil workers in the Niger Delta region. Information and National Orientation Minister, Mr Frank Nweke Jnr, read the Government’s position as follows:

“The Federal Government has noted with concern and regret, the latest incidence of hostage-taking by criminal elements in the Niger Delta.

This incident is purportedly in response to an alleged attack by the Military but the Federal Government wishes to state that no such attack ever took place.

The Joint Task Force on security in the Niger Delta indeed took action on February 16, 2006 to demobilize five oil barges which it had good reason to believe were being used for stealing crude oil.

While on surveillance of the area the following day, men of the task force were shot at by unidentified persons but they did no more than return fire in self defense. This two verifiable incidents certainly do not amount to an attack on the local community as is being alleged.

The Federal Government therefore condemns this latest incident of hostage taking in its entirety as there can be absolutely no justification for what amounts to a criminal attempt to prevent people from going about their lawful business, create the perception of insecurity and crisis in the Niger-Delta and give further room for some persons to criminally enrich themselves from stealing the nation’s resources.

President Olusegun Obasanjo wishes to assure all stakeholders in the region that everything possible is already being done to secure the speedy release of the hostages through dialogue.

The President has held an emergency meeting with security chiefs, the governors of Rivers and Bayelsa States and the Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company and a committee has been established to ensure that the nine hostages are freed unharmed.

While the Federal Government reaffirms its commitment to fast-tracking development in the Niger Delta to make up for past years of neglect, it wishes to reiterate that criminal activities such as kidnappings and hostage-taking in the region can only retard and impede the implementation of plans and programmes for the benefit of the generality of the people.

These actions must be condemned by all persons of goodwill within and outside the country and no attempt should be made to glamorise their criminal perpetrators.
Government advises the so-called militants and hostage-takers in the Niger Delta to abandon their criminal activities in the overall interest of their people and take advantage of the several programmes that have been put in place in the region by the Federal, State and Local Governments for the good of all”.

Armed militants in Nigeria's southern oil region seized nine foreign hostages, damaged an oil export terminal and blasted a major crude oil pipeline in simultaneous weekend attacks that reduced the country's oil exports by at least 20 percent.

Militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for seizing nine foreign oil workers during a raid on a barge on Saturday morning belonging to U.S. oil service company Willbros on the Forcados River in the delta.

In an email, the militant group which claims to be fighting for local control of oil wealth in the impoverished oil region, gave the names and nationalities of the hostages including three U.S. nationals, a Briton, two Thai nationals, two Egyptians and a Filipino.

MEND also said it damaged Shell's Forcados oil export terminal, ruptured a major oil pipeline belonging to the oil giant near its Chanomi Creek oil pumping station and another gas pipeline belonging to the state-owned Nigerian Gas Company.

Shell spokesman in Nigeria, Donald Boham, confirmed the attacks and damages, saying the company has been forced to suspend crude oil exports from the Forcados terminal that handles an average of 400,000 barrels a day.

"We can't load crude at Forcados until the damage is repaired," he said.

Shell said in statement it evacuated and shut down its EA oil platform in shallow offshore waters where the militants seized four foreign workers in January. The hostages were freed unharmed after 19 days in captivity after President Olusegun Obasanjo rejected the militants' demands for the release of Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, a delta militia leader facing treason charges, and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former oil region state governor detained for corruption.

MEND said the latest attacks were in direct response to air attacks by the Nigerian military on ethnic Ijaw villages in the delta on Wednesday and Friday. The Nigerian military had said the attacks targeted barges used by criminal gangs to siphon crude oil from pipelines in the delta for sale to accomplice vessels waiting offshore.

Security agencies say the illegal trade in crude oil is the source of funds for armed groups flourishing in the oil region in recent years. Nigeria estimates losses at times to amount to as much as 10 percent of its daily exports of 2.5 million barrels a day to the illegal trade.

Obasanjo on Saturday met with top security officials, governors from the oil region and Shell Nigeria managing director Basil Omiyi, to work out ways "to ensure that the nine hostages are freed unharmed.through dialogue," Information Minister Frank Nweke said in a statement.

The President "wishes to reiterate that criminal activities such as kidnappings and hostage-taking in the region can only retard and impede the implementation of plans and programmes for the benefit of the generality of the people," the statement said.

More than 15 years of restiveness in the oil-rich delta, where impoverished locals accuse successive Nigerian governments and oil companies of depriving them of the wealth produced on their land, has escalated in recent months into guerrilla warfare, with armed groups seeking to take control of the oil resources by force.

Movement for the Empancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) accuses President Obasanjo of continuing oppression by successive governments, leaving the region among Nigeria's poorest despite its oil wealth, and wants all foreign oil companies in the delta to leave.

"Expatriates must realise that they have been caught up in a war and the Nigerian government can do nothing to guarantee the security of anyone," the group said in its statement. "They are warned again to leave while the doors are still open."

As birds perish by the thousands in the northern Nigerian state of Kano, farmers and local officials say they are still waiting for the government to confirm whether they are dealing with an outbreak of the killer H5N1 bird flu virus.

"We are sad that until this hour nobody from the ministry of agriculture has shown up," said Awalu Haruna, secretary of the Kano State branch of the Poultry Association of Nigeria. "We are only doing what we can to stop the spread of this disease, believe me nobody has told us that it is bird flu."

As he spoke, three kilometres away at Savet Farms, a commercial poultry operation, workers on Friday were busy picking dead chickens out from live ones using their bare hands.

No protective clothing was used. The piles of dead carcasses were burned or buried. Live birds remained on the farm.

Nigeria this week reported Africa's first confirmed case of the H5NI strain of avian flu, which has killed millions of birds and has jumped to humans, infecting over 100 people. Handling sick birds is believed to be one way of catching the disease.

The deadly H5N1 strain was confirmed in the neighbouring northern state of Kaduna on Wednesday, where tens of thousands of fowl are reported dead.

In Kano on Friday, where more suspect poultry deaths have been reported, Agriculture Ministry official Salihu Jibrin could not confirm there was an outbreak of bird flu. "I cannot tell you anything yet, we are still awaiting test results," he said.

The National Veterinary Research Institute has confirmed bird flu cases in poultry in Kaduna, Kano and Plateau states.

Experts have warned that unless the virus is identified quickly and contained it could spread rapidly, and countries across West Africa this week moved to ban imports of live fowl and poultry products from Nigeria and tighten border controls.

In the neighbouring state of Kaduna, where 40,000 cases of bird flu were confirmed on the poultry farm of Sports Minister Alhaji Samaila Sambawa, authorities have begun culling fowl.

"We are shooting them to stop the spread of the virus, we are still working on the issue of compensation for the owners," said Dantani Tanimu who supervised an ostrich cull on the minister's farm.

But some farmers fear they will miss out on compensation as they are not registered with the poultry association. "I don't know how to approach authorities to get paid," worried Ado Ibrahim. "I lost nine hundred chickens I cannot quantify the number of eggs."

In an impoverished region where poultry-farming is an important source of income and poultry products and eggs are affordable, the issue of compensation is key to reducing the risk of farmers trying to hide or sell birds infected or exposed to the virus.

Donors in January promised Africa US$ 150 million to tackle bird flu at a special conference in China, and part of those funds were intended for compensation but none of the funds have arrived yet, according to pan-African body the African Union.

Haruna said the Nigerian government has promised poultry farmers compensation of 250 naira, the equivalent of US $1.90, for each chicken killed due to bird flu. But that was too little, he said.

"The 250 naira offered per chicken is grossly inadequate. We sell full-grown chickens for up to 1,000 naira. This is aside from the fact we make some money selling eggs," Haruna said.

An IRIN correspondent saw frozen chickens that usually sell for 700 or 1,000 naira being sold for 250 naira in Kano town. And at the Tarauni market, poultry vendors complained the few customers they had were offering rock bottom prices.

"We are selling poultry products but sales have been on the decline since this thing started. Those who come to buy ask for live birds for ridiculously low prices," said Ibrahim Mai-Kaji. "I usually sell between 20 to 25 birds daily, but in the last three days I have been unable to sell more than six."

But by the roadside in Kano, streetside food-stall owner Maimuna Garba isn't sure what all the fuss is about. He's simply noticed he's not selling as many chicken or egg dishes."There is less demand for poultry products such as fried eggs and chicken. I hear people talk about a strange disease killing off chickens."

One of his customers, however, Halima Usman, wasn't going to be put off his favourite dish: "I haven't heard anything about the flu," he said. "I love chicken and I have not stopped eating it."

"Maybe I will stop if it's true that the virus in town."

HIV/AIDS is now the single greatest threat to future economic development of Africa. AIDS is really taking away Africa's present and taking away its future.

The Impacts of AIDS in our society is barely trying to barr us from achieving the Millennuim Development Goals and eradicating Poverty, because of unhealthy people!

What is a census?

A population census is the counting of all the people living in a country at a particular time. It collects information on the size, distribution, composition and other social/economic characteristic of population.

Why is a census necessary?

Information collected during a census is used to assess the current welfare needs of the population as well as to project future needs to assist planners to make realistic future development needs

The 2006 census will tell us

• The number of person in Nigeria
• The number of males and females
• The age composition of the population
• The level of literacy
• The level of employment/unemployment and types of occupation
• And other information.

Uses of census data

Education

• Data from 2006 census will assist government In determining levels of literacy and planning for education by providing information on:
• The number of people who can read and write
• The level of education attained by those who have been to school
• The number of school age children presently not in school.

Health

• Data from the 2006 census will assist government at all levels in planning for the health of the people by providing the information on numbers of people and their health needs.

Employment

• The 2006 census will assist in establishing the level of employment/un employment for future planning and job creation by providing the following information:
o Number of employed persons and type of work
o Distribution of unemployed persons
o Number of persons in schools that will require employment in due course?

Gender Empowerment

• Women are often marginalized and denied access to opportunities for educational, social and political fulfilment. The 2006 census will assist governments in formulating appropriate intervention strategies.

Assessment of development programmes

• Data from the 2006 census will provide basis for evaluation of the various development programmes undertaken by the governments and NGOs.

Foreign Policy

• The 2006 census will help the federal government in promoting our foreign policy objectives by providing information on:
o The number of foreigners living in Nigeria?
o The nationalities of the foreign population?

The private sector

• The private sector needs census data to plan production, marketing and make informed investment decisions in the country.

Housing

• For governments to come up with effective housing policies, as well as improve availability of houses and amenities, it is necessary to take stock of the current housing condition and amenities such as electricity and water supply.

Pre-census 2005 activities

• Enumeration Area Demarcation
• Design of Census Questionnaire
• Trial census
• Soliciting support of leader and the public
• Recruiting and training of census personnel.

Enumeration

• Only persons physically seen will be counted
• Persons will be counted in their houses
• All persons will be fingerprinted to ensure that nobody is counted twice.

Questions to be asked

• Names
• Age
• Sex
• Relationship to head of household
• Nationality
• Local Government of origin
• Place of usual residence
• Duration of residence
• Previous residence
• Disability
• Literacy
• Schooling status
• Education
• Marital status
• Work status
• Occupation.

Questions on housing

• Type of living house
• Type of housing units
• Number of sleeping rooms
• Main construction materials used for the floors and the roofing
• Tenure status (rented, owned etc)
• Main source of water supply
• Toilet facilities
• Cooking fuel
• Energy for lighting (electricity, gas, kerosene, solar, candle and others)
• Methods of waste disposal
• Ownership of household facilities (e.g. Radio, Television, Phone).

Confidentiality

• All information given to enumerators will be treated with utmost confidentiality.
• Enumerators who breach this confidentiality will be punishable by law.

Census 2006 will not be used for

• Taxation purposes
• Inflating numbers of certain communities.

Census offences

• To refuse to be counted
• To be counted more than once
• To give false information to the enumerator
• To obstruct the enumerator in the discharge of his/her duties.

Your role as a patriotic Nigerian

• Creating general awareness on the conduct of the 2005 census among our communities, families and friends
• Educating people on the methodologies to be adopted in the conduct of the 2005 census and helping them to overcome prejudices
• Being vanguard for the accuracy, reliability and acceptability of 2005 census.

Census 2006
Together we can make it!

The Millenium Development Goals is a challenge which destiny has thrown out to the world leaders and people. It is for us to grasp that golden opportunity to prove that we can end global poverty by 2015 and make it happen, if not for anything more, but for Africa and the people which you see and read about in the dailies and Media. It is a declarartion that must work and the time is now!

Dear Friend:

The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), Population Action
International (PAI), and the Sexuality Information and Education
Council
of the United States (SIECUS) invite you to join a Caucus of NGOs at
the
XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006 to
highlight
and promote comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to HIV prevention.


In recent years, serious concern has been raised by a range of HIV/AIDS
organizations in the U.S. and internationally about the failure of the
global community to coalesce around the promotion of sound,
evidence-based HIV prevention efforts. With the participation of
supporting NGOs, this Caucus will forge a coordinated effort to advance
a strong, evidence-based HIV prevention agenda that reflects scientific
consensus, rather than ideological or political positions that in many
cases have superceded it.

As organizers of the Caucus, amfAR, PAI, and SIECUS will secure a
central place for U.S.-based NGOs and their international counterparts
to convene, share information, and strategize throughout the
conference.
One of the key Caucus activities will be a daily morning meeting to
review highlights from the previous day's presentations, share
important
information about upcoming activities, and help to craft and
disseminate
unified messages and talking points about key HIV prevention research,
program, and policy matters. The overall goal of the Caucus in Toronto
and beyond is to generate support for comprehensive, evidence-based,
HIV
prevention efforts by drawing worldwide government, media, and NGO
attention to the issue.

If your organization will be in Toronto and is interested in joining
the
Caucus, please review the attached registration form and the Terms of
Reference, and email to Katie Porter, kporter@popact.org. By
registering for the Caucus, you agree to abide by the guidelines in the
Terms of Reference. The deadline for joining the Caucus is February
24th. Prior to the Conference, amfAR, PAI, and SIECUS will jointly
host
a meeting-most likely in Washington, D.C.-to discuss Caucus activities.
Information about this meeting will be forthcoming. Please let us know
if your organization will not be in Toronto but would like to stay
informed of caucus activities during the August conference.
Additionally, this invitation is non-transferable; please contact Katie
with any questions about the inclusion of an appropriate U.S.-based
partner.

Through a strong, unified voice, we hope this Caucus will help to
elevate the good work the NGO community has done to promote the need
for
scientifically accurate HIV prevention. We look forward to your
participation.

Sincerely,

Judy Auerbach
Vice President, Public Policy & Program Development
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research

Terri Bartlett
Vice President, Public Policy and Strategic Initiatives
Population Action International

Bill Smith
Vice President, Public Policy
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States

The rhetoric may be flying, with outbursts over "a fool's agreement" and "neo-colonialist and imperialist behaviour," but most observers believe the oil row between the Chadian government and the World Bank will end in a face-saving compromise.

The stand-off began in December when Chad's parliament passed an amendment to the law governing how oil revenues can be spent, prompting the World Bank to suspend $124 million of loans and cut the flow of petrodollars to the landlocked, impoverished country.

"Sooner or later they will be obliged to find an agreement. The world can't afford for Chad to become a failed state and President Idriss Deby knows it," said one Western diplomat. "He will likely be punished by the World Bank, but it will more discreet than official."

The Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, which cost US $3.7 billion to get off the ground, was vaunted as a model for making African resources work for the African people. Ten percent of revenues was to be set aside for future generations, and 80 percent of what remained was to be used on priority sectors like education and health.

The changes to Law 001 abolish the trust fund, double the amount of revenues flowing directly into Treasury coffers to 30 percent, and add security, justice and territorial administration as priority sectors, meaning a smaller share of the pie for schools and clinics.

In a country that was ranked the most corrupt in the world last year by Transparency International, much of the furore has focused on spending priorities, but there is one element of the legal changes that most observers agree is decidedly a good thing.

Whereas the original agreement covered only three oil fields, the amended law extends it to any operations that come on stream in future.

"The original law was introduced in 1999, four years before our oil even hit the market. It was a leap into the unknown," Finance Minister Abbas Mahamat Tolli told IRIN in an interview in N'djamena. "Today, knowing the realities on the ground, we realised the law needed revising."

Today's realities include a wave of army defections, rebel groups announcing they have regrouped in the east with the aim of toppling Deby, and the president's declaration of a 'state of belligerence' with neighbouring Sudan.

Then there are presidential elections this year, where Deby is allowed to stand for a third term thanks to an amendment to the constitution. And, chief among the international community's concerns, 200,000 refugees from war-torn Darfur are sheltering in camps along the eastern border.

One-year crunch?

Some observers in N'djamena say it is in 2006 that Deby urgently needs money and that next year the cash crunch will ease as other spin-offs from the oil project kick in.

As of 2007, the tax holiday for the oil consortium ends and the government will receive some indirect taxes. In addition, some of the financing for the oil project will have been paid off, so theoretically there should be more in the revenue pot to share around.

As for negotiations over the oil project, observers say much is at stake for both sides.

"There is not so much that divides them, there is more that unites them," a senior UN official said. "It seems one side is saying 'I want these changes now, I need this quickly,' the other is saying 'Let's take time, we need to look at this'."

An analyst close to the negotiations told IRIN that at one point last year, a deal had in fact been worked out in which Chad would have access to the future generations fund but only for 2006. But the pact fell apart.

Chad's parliament, where Deby's party holds an overwhelming majority, approved changes to the oil revenue law on 29 December. The World Bank announced on 6 January it was suspending loans. Five days later, Deby signed off on the amendment and within 24 hours, Bank President Paul Wolfowitz ordered a London-based transit account frozen.

Now, diplomats and analysts say, the two sides are going to have to figure out a way to find a compromise so that both can claim victory.

"Chad and the World Bank both have a lot at stake, they definitely would not like the whole thing to come down on them," an African diplomat said.

One solution might be a year's moratorium on the future generations fund; another is that any new oil fields would be exempt from the future generations rule; or there may be horse-trading about what constitutes a priority sector, whereby security is added, but justice and territorial administration are not.

Tight lips versus fiery words

World Bank officials in N'djamena are not talking to the press; neither are representatives of Exxon Mobil, the US oil giant leading the consortium.

All the words coming from Chad are fiery. Last month, the national assembly urged Deby to close the offshore Citibank account, transfer the country's oil revenues to the Bank of Central African States, and not be afraid of breaking ties with the World Bank altogether.

But last week, Chadian government officials held three days of meetings in Paris with representatives from the World Bank - talks described by the global lender as "constructive."

A delegation from Washington is expected to visit N'djamena in the coming weeks, but not everyone is confident of a quick and neat resolution.

"Deby's a double or quits sort of man," said Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, one of Chad's main opposition leaders. "And the damage has been done. It's given the idea that our country is one where the law is not respected. Why would investors come now?"

Michel Barka, a union leader who also holds one of the nine seats on the oil project oversight committee known as the college, also notes that for the risk Deby has taken so far, the sums of money involved are relatively small.

"The three years worth of future generation revenues accrued so far comes to about $36 million and that would not even pay five months of state salaries," Barka said.

What Barka fears is that Deby will now seize the amendment to Law 001 as justification for changing accompanying legal decrees.

"And that would be a backdoor way of reducing the power of the college to oversee what the oil money is spent on," Barka said.

Money, money, money

Finance Minister Tolli hesitates when asked for figures about how much extra cash the government needs.

The estimate he finally comes up with is about $700 million, some $200 million to $300 million more than government currently gets from its budget and external aid - a target that would still be massively out of reach even if the government's amendment had gone through unchallenged and it had more oil money at its disposal.

Analysts say this is perhaps one reason Deby has been clamouring for more than a year for foreign energy partners to renegotiate the entire oil deal signed by his predecessor, whom he ousted in a coup in 1990. It is a call he repeated on Friday.

"Chad gets only 12.5 percent of royalties from the oil revenues ... it's a fool's agreement," he said in an interview posted on the government website, without specifying how much more the country should get.

The president stood by the changes to Law 001, saying it was a matter of national sovereignty in which the World Bank had no right to interfere. But he also hinted at an eventual rapprochement, which diplomats say is the only realistic outcome.

"We think that only dialogue will allow us to make progress in terms of a mutual understanding," Deby said. "In the interest of Chad and also in the interest of the World Bank."

I am very proud to be in put my voice out against poverty discussion on the Millennium Development Goals. The goals and their challenges are not really new to us. It has been with us and we know them.

What is new is the fact that we have now a better understanding and appreciated the depth of the issues involved grounded with a thorough knowledge base of country experiences. I believe that since we have got the understanding and known what is facing us, we must focus our efforts and rise to perform much better. And as the poorest area in the world, African people need productive and working international partnerships to make a difference.