EYESFUD

Victims of a chemical attack in Syria show symptoms consistent with reaction to a nerve agent, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.
"Some cases appear to show additional signs consistent with exposure to organo-phosphorus chemicals, a category of chemicals that includes nerve agents," WHO said in a statement, confirming the death toll at at least 70.

The United States has said the deaths were caused by sarin nerve gas dropped by Syrian aircraft. Russia said the poison gas leaked from a rebel chemical weapons depot struck by Syrian bombs.
Sarin is an organo-phosporus compound and a nerve agent. Chlorine and mustard gas, which are also believed to have been used in the past in Syria, are not.
A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman did not say what agent was used in the attack but suggested the rebels had used the same chemical weapons in Aleppo last year.
The WHO said sufferers had no apparent external injuries and died from a rapid onset of common symptoms, including acute respiratory distress.
It said its experts in Turkey were giving guidance to overwhelmed health workers in Idlib on the diagnosis and treatment of patients, and medicines such as Atropine, an antidote for some types of chemical exposure, and steroids for symptomatic treatment had been sent.
A United Nations Commission of Inquiry into human rights in Syria has previously said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have used lethal chlorine gas on multiple occasions.
Hundreds of civilians died in a sarin gas attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus in August 2013. Assad's government has always denied responsibility for that attack.
Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Moscow and Washington. But Russia, a Syrian ally, and China have repeatedly vetoed any United Nations move to sanction Assad or refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
"These types of weapons are banned by international law because they represent an intolerable barbarism," Peter Salama, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said in the statement.

At least one child has died in a stampede at a primary school in China when the pupils rushed to the toilet before a morning exam, domestic media said.
Another two children were in a critical condition and at least a further 18 were injured in the crush at the school in Puyang, in central China’s Henan province, reports said.
Chinese schools are often poorly designed and built with sub-standard materials.
Teachers at the Third Experimental Primary School told the Beijing News that the stampede happened just after 8.20am after children rushed to use the toilet in a ten-minute break between a reading class and a monthly exam.
The newspaper said two children were killed, and that a wall in the toilets collapsed due to the pressure from the pupils.
The k618.cn news portal cited local family planning officials saying there was one death, although it is unclear how old the children in the stampede were.
The headmaster was removed from his post, said the newspaper, which is affiliated with the local government.



Local authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Chinese schools have previously seen deadly stampedes, and some have resulted in parents protesting against education officials.
Six pupils were killed and another 25 injured in 2014 in a stampede at a primary school in Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan.
The children, who were aged six and seven, died when they were trampled on or crushed on a stairway.
That incident came after fourteen people were killed and 10 injured in a stampede at a mosque in the northern province of Ningxia.
China’s deadliest stampede in recent years occurred in 2015 during the New Year celebrations on Shanghai’s riverfront.
A total of 36 people died during the crush, with many victims’ families blaming lax security and poor event planning for the accident.

Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim IdrisIhuoma Chiedozie and Ogbonnaya IkokwuSome members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, who took to the streets and markets inEnugu to call on residents to embark on a sit-at-home protest, have been arrested by the police.One of our correspondents learnt that the IPOB members were apprehended at the popular Ogbete Main Market in Enugu.Twelve members of the pro-Biafran group whose names were not disclosed by the police were arrested during the incident.The Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the development, said the secessionists would be prosecuted.It was gathered that the IPOB members invaded the market with public address systems and pamphlets, urging traders to close their shops and stay at home on Friday, September 23, to press home their demand for the release of the group’s leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.Amaraizu said 21 mobile telephone handsetswere recovered from the arrested IPOB members, as well as Biafran flags and emblems.Pamphlets, which the suspects distributed inthe market, were also confiscated by the police.Some of the pamphlets read, ‘IPOB, for the betterment of your children and yourself’, ‘Please stay at home on 23/9/16’, ‘There will be no work, no school, no business, no market’ and ‘Free Nnamdi Kanu, free Biafra.’The sit-at-home protest, which IPOB is canvassing in all parts of the South-East andSouth-South, is part of the group’s plan to stage rallies ‘in major cities of the world’ on September 23.IPOB had, in a statement released by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on Monday, disclosed plans to “further compound Nigeria’s economic misery” by stopping all economic activities inthe South-East and the South-South through a sit-at-home protest in a bid to demand Kanu’s freedom from what it described as an“illegal detention.”IPOB said letters and petitions demanding Kanu’s release would be submitted to governments of various countries where the planned rallies would hold on September 23.The secessionist group pleaded with the international community to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to free Kanu, failing which “things would fall apart” in the country.However, the police said it had beefed up security in Enugu to stop IPOB from disrupting commercial activities in line with the planned sit-at-home protest.According to Amaraizu, the arrested IPOB members threatened to disrupt commercial activities if the people failed to heed the sit-at-home plea.The police spokesman said security agencies were ready to forestall possible breakdown of law and order on the day of theplanned protest.

Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday assured Barack Obama, the American President, that Nigeria was making steady progress towardsresolving the Niger Delta region problem, which had led to economic sabotage on a grand scale.The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,  Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement said the president gave the assurance at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st edition of the UN General Assembly, holding in New York.The statement reads, “We are making definite progress on how many factions of the militant groups exist, their leadership andoperational basis, and we have equally sought the cooperation of the oil majors.“In a short while, I believe the issues would be resolved.”He thanked America for assisting Nigeria in provision of armaments, training for Nigeriantroops, and sharing of intelligence, which hadled to the degradation of Boko Haram in the North East.Buhari said the country was open to support in combating the humanitarian crisis currently ravaging the region.He said the farming season was good in 2016, with the prospect of good harvest, and “Nigeria is on the road to food self-sufficiency soon.“We shall be able to feed ourselves, and utilize the billions of dollars spent on importing food on other productive areas.’’The president reiterated that his administration came to power on the tripod promises of security, battle against corruption, and revamping of the economy.He stressed that there would be no let-up in fulfilling those electoral promises.Responding, Obama described Buhari as a man of “integrity and honesty,’’ saying “we have confidence in your leadership.He added, “There are some difficulties you face, but this administration is willing to assist in the short time we have left.“You have made real progress in defeating the brutal organisation called Boko Haram, and that was achieved because of your leadership.”

Supporters of leftist leader
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clashed briefly with
opponents of his Workers' Party on Thursday
outside the presidential palace, where he was due to
be sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of
staff.
Police said they used pepper spray to stop a clash
between the rival groups and move away some 300
opposition protesters who were trying to enter the
square, occupied by more than 300 pro-government
demonstrators.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters calling for
Rousseff's impeachment and Lula's arrest also
blocked the central Avenue Paulista in Sao Paulo,
Brazil's largest city and economic hub.
Brazil's currency and stock market gained sharply on
Thursday, as a second day of protests calling for
President Dilma Rousseff's ouster boosted bets on
her removal.
The appointment of Lula to the cabinet, a move
seen by his critics as a way to shield the former
president from prosecution in a corruption
investigation, triggered large protests in several
Brazilian cities on Wednesday.
With Brazil's economy mired in its worst recession
in a generation, popular anger at Rousseff is
mounting as an investigation into bribes and
political kickbacks at state oil company Petrobras
taints her inner circle.
The corruption scandal that threatens to topple
Rousseff has divided her governing coalition and
moved her main partner, the PMDB party, closer to
breaking with her government.
Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB,
will not attend the swearing-in of Lula, his aides
said, because Rousseff appointed a party lawmaker,
Mauro Lopes, as civil aviation minister even though
a party convention on Saturday banned its members
from taking new posts in her government.

South African
President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday that all
cabinet ministers were appointed by him, responding
to allegations that a wealthy family close to him
had influence over political appointments.
South Africa's government was rocked on
Wednesday when Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi
Jonas said the Gupta family offered him the
position of finance minister.
Zuma denied any involvement.
"If Jonas says he was offered by the Guptas, I think
you will be well-placed to ask the Guptas, or Jonas.
Don't ask me. Where do I come in?" Zuma said in
response to questions in parliament.
"I never offered Jonas the ministry. That's why he is
the deputy minister."
(Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa and Tiisetso
Motsoeneng; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Ed
Cropley)

The revelation by Nigeria's auditor general that
$16bn (£11bn) of oil revenue went missing in 2014
has emphasised the scale of the task facing
President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts to clean
up the oil sector. Neil Ford, an expert on oil, crime
and security in Nigeria, outlines some of the ways
in which huge amounts of money are stolen and
assesses the president's chance of success.
The influence of oil on Nigeria is well known. From
the soils of the Niger Delta to government revenues,
it permeates the country's economy, politics and
environment like nothing else.
It also encourages corruption and organised crime to
such an extent that other African governments warn
of the need to avoid becoming "another Nigeria".
There are many ways of illegally tapping oil
revenues, and crime in the oil sector is easily the
second biggest industry in the country after oil
production.
President Buhari was elected last March on a
platform to tackle this crime but similar promises by
his predecessors have had virtually no impact.
The man, who some called Baba Go-Slow, has
taken swift action on one of the biggest problems:
Corruption and inefficiency within the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Opaque oil company
The state oil company is involved in oil production
but also regulates the sector and handles government
oil revenues, creating conflicts of interest and
opportunities for theft.
Last May, Mr Buhari chose Emmanuel Kachikwu
as the man to sort it out. As former executive vice-
chairman at ExxonMobil Africa, he is well aware of
the Nigerian oil industry's shortcomings.
Now as NNPC group managing director and junior
oil minister he has replaced the heads of all eight of
the firm's divisions and said the corporation's
monthly losses have been reduced to $15m (£11m).
On 3 March, the government announced that it
would break the NNPC up into different companies
to be run on commercial lines whilst remaining
state owned. However, the country's powerful trade
union movement opposes the plans.
Ensuring good governance has become even more
important as oil prices have tumbled and are now
between $30-40 (£21-28) a barrel.
Nigerian oil exports were worth $78.3bn in 2014,
followed by gas at $12.9bn. The next biggest
exports were coffee, tea, cocoa and spices at just
$1.2bn.
Oil theft
The theft of oil in the Niger Delta will be an even
tougher nut to crack.
Oil theft - or bunkering as it is known in Nigeria -
grew out of protests against the lack of benefit that
people form the Delta were getting from oil
production. They saw little investment and received
few skilled jobs but experienced water, soil and land
pollution.
Estimates vary, but bunkerers now take about
200,000 barrels of crude oil a day and even more
production is kept out of use by attacks on pipelines
and other infrastructure.
As a president from the north, Mr Buhari will find
calming the southern Delta region almost impossible
in this divided country, particularly as some security
and political officials have been accused of being
involved in bunkering.
A more recent spin-off of bunkering has been piracy
in the waters off Nigeria and neighbouring states.
Pirates have attacked tankers to either rob crew
members or take the crude or fuel products for sale
elsewhere in the region.
Subsidy fraud
Some of the least reported but most lucrative forms
of crime in the oil industry revolve around fuel
imports.
Although Nigeria is an important crude oil exporter,
it imports most of its refined petroleum products
and there are many ways to exploit the subsidies
paid on these shipments.
One of the most popular is called round tripping,
where fuel that has already been imported and a
subsidy paid is taken just outside Nigerian territorial
waters and back in again to double the subsidy.
The government has long paid subsidies on more
fuel than Nigeria actually consumes.
Recovering stolen money
Mr Buhari's government is also seeking to recover as
much oil money as possible that was spirited out of
the country by corrupt officials and relatives of
former rulers.
Top of the list are the billions of dollars reputed to
be held by relatives of former military leader Sani
Abacha but banking sector secrecy does not make its
recovery easy.
Measuring success
The entire fuel distribution and refining sector will
have to be rebuilt from the ground up, if Mr Buhari
is to end the corruption and theft.
A good method of judging his success will be if the
NNPC's four refineries are brought back into full use
or replaced.
Most fuel imports are only necessary because all four
have been out of use or operated intermittently for
many years, generating a lot of money for those
behind the scams.
The enormity of the task makes it unlikely that the
president will manage to tackle all forms of crime in
the oil sector, even if he serves two four-year terms
of office.
Given Nigeria's track record, he would do well to
win the battle on even one front.
But his tough reputation on corruption means the
chances of success are greater than they have been
for many years.

US student Otto Warmbier has been given 15 years
hard labour in North Korea for crimes against the
state.
Warmbier, 21, was arrested for trying to steal a
propaganda sign from a hotel while visiting North
Korea in January.
He later appeared on state TV apparently confessing
and saying a church group had asked him to bring
back a "trophy" from his trip.
North Korea sometimes uses the detention of
foreigners as a means of exerting pressure on its
adversaries.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in South Korea says the
15-year sentence is high compared to those given to
foreigners in the past.
This could be due to the particularly high tensions
at the moment between North Korea and the US, he
says.
'Worst mistake'
North Korean state news agency KCNA said
Warmbier was convicted under an article of the
criminal code relating to subversion. The verdict was
handed down by the Supreme Court.
Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia,
was arrested on 2 January as he was trying to leave
North Korea. He was accused of committing "hostile
acts".
KCNA said at the time he had gone to North Korea
"to destroy the country's unity" and that he had
been "manipulated" by the US government.
At the end of February, at a tearful press conference
in Pyongyang, he said he had "committed the crime
of taking down a political slogan from the staff
holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel".
"The aim of my task was to harm the motivation
and work ethic of the Korean people. This was a
very foolish aim," he was quoted as saying.
He said it was the "worst mistake" of his life.
North Korea detainees often recant their confessions
once out of the country.
US tourism to North Korea is legal but the US
State Department strongly advises against it.
The sentencing comes a day after veteran US
diplomat Bill Richardson met North Korean officials
at the UN in New York to try to push for
Warmbier's release.
Mr Richardson has previously been involved in
negotiations to secure the release of Americans from
North Korea detention.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the
sentence: "North Korea's sentencing of Otto
Warmbier to 15 years hard labour for a college-style
prank is outrageous and shocking" said Phil
Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division,
in a statement.
North Korean state media took a less lenient view:
"The accused confessed to the serious offense he had
committed against the DPRK, pursuant to the US
government's hostile policy toward it, in a bid to
impair the unity of its people, after entering as a
tourist," reported the KCNA news agency.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
is North Korea's formal name.
North Korea has ramped up its hostile rhetoric in
recent weeks, after the UN imposed some of its
toughest ever sanctions.
The sanctions were a response to the North
conducting its fourth nuclear test and launching a
satellite into space, which was seen as a covert test
of banned missile technology.
Pyongyang has also been angered by the US and
South Korea carrying out their annual military
drills, which this year involve some 315,000
personnel.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has threatened
"indiscriminate" nuclear attacks against the US and
the South, and has said his country will soon test a
nuclear warhead.
However analysts still doubt whether the North has
the capacity to carry out a nuclear attack.

Government and commercial online services could
become the next frontier for illegal activity in
Africa, security experts are warning.
As more people get access to the internet across
Africa, governments and businesses are increasing
their online presence but there are questions about
how secure these websites are.
The email scam using a message from someone
pretending to be a relative of a dead African leader
asking for bank details is well known, but now
tactics have changed.
Today's cyber-criminals do not need users' approval
or awareness to access valuable data, which could
lead to the theft of a large amount of money.
For example, a recent cybersecurity report on Kenya
says businesses are losing about $146m (£96m) every
year to cyber-crime.
Kenyan cybersecurity analyst Freddy (not his real
name) showed me how the average Kenyan website
lacks adequate protection.
Working on a dummy site with a typical level of
security, he showed me how it was possible to hack
into it.
"This will take me about 15 minutes," he said as he
typed away, writing code.
As predicted, in just a quarter of an hour, he had
full access to the database and was able to change
the administrator password and upload his own
material.
Freddy is one of the good hackers who advises
companies and defends them from attacks rather
than exploits the problems, but he feels the response
to the online risks is inadequate.
This situation is replicated across the continent.
South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper reported
that hackers launched 6,000 cyber-attacks against
South African infrastructure , internet service
providers (ISPs) and businesses in October alone.
Bright Mawudor, a Ghanaian cybersecurity expert at
Pukyong National University in South Korea, says
that most African banks, government agencies and
ISPs, in the face of competition, prioritise what
their website can do and how fast new features can
be released to the public.
Security is an afterthought, he argues.
"These websites are usually outsourced to software
development companies who get pressured to deliver
quickly," he says.
"Something that should take about a month has to
be delivered in a week and is thus sub-standard.
They always make a mistake and the hacker just
has to find one."
Government website threat
Rather than creating their own systems from
scratch, there is a tendency to take a shortcut and
use existing popular templates, which Mr Mawudor
says can easily be breached.
He says he knows of several African governments
that use these for their websites that can contain
sensitive information including individuals' personal
details, which can be used for identity theft.
According to the recent Kenyan cybersecurity report,
most African-based businesses, particularly small
and medium-sized enterprises, are unable to
withstand cyber-attacks.
"If there was the threat of a physical attack you
would see a lot of fences and guards," says William
Makatiani of Serianu Limited which was behind the
report.
"Unfortunately with cyber-attacks, very few people
can detect them and you can go for up to a year
without knowing you've been attacked."
At the Serianu offices in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, big screens show world maps with yellow
spots appearing in different countries representing
cyber-attacks happening in real time.
As these continue, Mr Makatiani suggests the main
reason some companies are waking up to the threat
is because they are losing money, but he says they
are only disclosing these incidents discreetly.
The types of crimes are also becoming more
sophisticated - moving from password theft, to
stealing credit card details to attacks on computer
networks.
Even if the worst-affected businesses like banks and
insurance companies improved their security, the
ISPs are accused of not doing enough to create
sufficient security for the small businesses they
serve.
South Africa recently opened a virtual cybersecurity
hub in its capital, Pretoria, to help business,
government and civil society work together on
responses to these incidents.
Research firm Columinate suggests that South
Africa is one of the world's cybercrime hotspots.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo pointed out
that for the country to be adequately protected, there
needs to be more awareness of the threats.
Challenging hackers
This situation is mirrored across the continent and
has led Mr Mawudor to help found Africahackon, a
forum bringing together cyber-security experts, from
university to corporate level, to discuss how to take
the initiative on these issues, rather than wait for
the security gaps to be exploited.
The group works with a lot of young people with
newly-acquired computer skills who might otherwise
be tempted to use them for illegal activity online.
"You can never stop cyber-attacks but you can
employ the best practices to curb them," says Mr
Mawudor.
"This will be a process over time and not a one-day
event."

The head of Bangladesh's central bank, Atiur
Rahman, has resigned after cyber-thieves stole more
than $100m from the country's foreign currency
reserves.
Mr Rahman submitted his resignation to Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina after it emerged that
unknown hackers had stolen the money from the
bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.
The theft happened in February, but Mr Rahman did
not tell the government.
Finance Minister A M A Muhith said he had learnt
of it from press reports.
According to media reports quoting banking
officials, the gang behind the raid used stolen
credentials to make requests to transfer cash look
legitimate.
If all the requests had gone unchallenged, the gang
would have got away with about $1bn.
However, the transfers were stopped when the
volume of requests raised suspicions at other banks.
Spelling mistake
To commit the attack, the gang spent time studying
the internal processes of Bangladesh's central bank,
so they could convincingly pose as officials when
requesting the transfers.
However, the sheer number of transactions and a
spelling mistake helped alert bank staff to the theft.
The spelling mistake in the name of one recipient of
funds led Deutsche Bank, which was helping to
route the cash, to ask for clarification from the
central bank, which then stopped the transaction.
At about the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York had alerted the Bangladesh central
bank to a series of suspicious requests to transfer
money. The requests are believed to have been
flagged because they were to private accounts rather
than other banks and because there were so many of
them.
The money that the hackers did steal ended up in
accounts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Part of the money was recovered from Sri Lanka,
but the rest was laundered through casinos in the
Philippines. The central bank said it was working
with authorities there to recover the remaining
amount.
Bangladesh's government has publicly blamed the
New York Fed for not spotting the suspicious
transactions earlier.

Nigerians, from next month, non-EU migrants
in the UK earning less than £35,000 will be
deported.
The new Home Office policy, which comes
into force on April 6, applies to all overseas
workers who have been in the UK for five
years on a Tier 2 visa.
If they can’t prove that they’re earning
more than £35,000, they will be denied
settlement and will face deportation.
Teachers, IT professionals and journalists
could all be badly affected.
A petition launched at the beginning of the
year called for the threshold to be reconsidered
– it gathered more than 100,000 signatures
and was debated in parliament last week.
So what’s actually changing?
To settle in the UK as a skilled worker, non-
EU migrants need to have a Tier 2 visa. For
this you need:
An offer for a job in the UK that pays at
least £20,800
Have had at least £945 in your bank account
for 90 days
A certificate of sponsorship from your
employer (which can cost between £536 and
£1,476)
To pay a £200 annual healthcare surcharge
To prove your English language proficiency
After five years on this visa, skilled workers
are able to apply for ‘indefinite leave to
remain’ – and this is what is about to
change.
From April, anyone applying for indefinite
leave to remain will need to earn at least
£35,000.
Nurses are temporarily exempt from this
threshold, along with PhD-level jobs and any
professions that have been on the official
‘shortage occupation list’ while the person
has been living here.
However, the earnings threshold could be
applied to migrant nurses in the future.
Teachers aren’t exempt (unless they are
professors in certain disciplines). Even David
Cameron’s mum has lost her job because of
Tory cuts
In fact, the Home Office’s own analysis of
the policy in 2012 revealed that the new
threshold would have a significant impact on
teachers, IT professionals and marketing
managers.
What if I’ve been in the UK for more than
five years?
Then you won’t be deported – the new rule
doesn’t apply to anyone who entered the
country on a Tier 2 visa on or before April 5
2011.
I’ve been here for a decade, will I be
deported?
No – as long as you’ve been living here for
10 continuous years, you can apply for
indefinite leave to remain with no salary
threshold.
So if you came here in 2006 as a student visa,
then moved directly onto a skilled workers’
visa, you can apply to settle here regardless of
how much you earn.
The only condition is that you can’t have
left the UK for more than 180 days at a time,
or 540 days in total.
I’m here on a marriage visa, will I have to
leave?
No, the changes only apply to people on a
Tier 2 visa.

The Office of the Auditor-General of the
Federation (AGF) yesterday submitted a
damning 2014 audit report of all ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) to the
leadership of the National Assembly.
The submitted audit report also captures
embassies and foreign missions.
The AGF, Mr Samuel Ukura, who presented a
copy of the report to the clerk to the National
Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikaswa, for both
chambers, gave highlights of how monies were
diverted or spent by MDAs during the period
under review.
According to the AGF, the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not remit
N3,234577,666,791.35 to the Federation
Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in
January 2014.
The report states that the sale of gas to
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to the
tune of $235,685,861 was not paid to the
federation account; rather, it was transferred
to some undisclosed Escrow accounts.
“Relevant documents were not made available
for verification,” AGF noted in the report.
The report also indicates that the acquisition
and payment of N3,630,000,000 property was
made without a Certificate of Occupancy (C of
O).
According to the report, a total payment,
amounting to N73,547,759,436, was made
contrary to established purpose of the funds.
Other revelations of the audit report include:
“The sum of N36,432,423,968.73 was
released to the Office of the National Security
Adviser (ONSA) for the rehabilitation and
construction of dams instead of the Federal
Ministry of Water Resources.
“The sum of N2,894,531250.00 was spent for
the procurement of hand sanitisers for schools
and critical public places.
“The sum of N31,324,952,239.87 was
payment of subsidy on fertilizer and youth
employment in agricultural programmes.
“The sum of N2,395,851,978.00 was
payment for Group Life Assurance Premium
for Armed Forces budget in 2013, but not
backed. The sum of N500,000,000 was made
as payment for agricultural programmes.
“These were variances with the purpose of
the fund. No evidence of these lines of
expenditure in the 2014 Appropriation Act,”
the AGF revealed in the report.
Ironically also, the management of the
National Assembly, headed by the Clerk, made
payments of N9,514,568,222.62 without
raising payment vouchers, which, according to
the AGF, violated the nation’s financial
rules.
In the same period under review, personal
advances were granted to 112 staff of the
National Assembly from recurrent votes and
50 members of staff from general service votes
from July to December, 2014, for various
purposes, all amounting to
N1.162,009,305.00.
In the audit report, the AGF revealed how the
Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC,
United States of America, realized Internally
Generated Revenue (IGR) of $3,705,428
between 2012 and March 2015, but expended
the whole amount on sundry expenses.
The audit report also indicted the leadership of
the Nigerian Prisons Service. The AGF, in the
report, said the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax
of N2,036,758,176.75 was deducted and was
said to be remitted to Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS), but there is no evidence of
remittance and nothing was produced for audit
confirmation.
At the time of filing in this report, our
correspondent could not ascertain when the
Clerk to the National Assembly woul forward
the report to the leadership of both chambers
for further consideration.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is
conferred with Highest National Honor
(Grand Coller of the Order of Independence) as
he attends programme of State Banquet hosted
in his honor by H.E. Mr Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic
of Equatorial Guinea during his 2 day visit to
Malabo Equatorial Guinea on 14th Mar 2016.

It was the French intellectual and writer, Albert
Camus, who once wrote, "I love my country too
much to be a nationalist".
Those words seem to have particular relevance to
India's contemporary political milieu.
What most activists and intellectuals across India
seem to have forgotten is that those who forged
India's constitution were ardent liberal democrats.
They would have a tough time recognising the
tortured debate about nationalism and free
expression in India taking place today.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government
seems to have convinced itself that it has a
monopoly in defining what constitutes nationalism.
To that end, it has chosen to hound intellectuals,
students and activists who hold a vision of India
that differs from that of their own.
Self indulgent
The latest episode, of course, that has galvanised
both the government and the opposition, involves
the harassment of some student leaders at India's
premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
The students have been accused of organising an
event commemorating the hanging of 2001
parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru, where "anti-
India slogans" were allegedly raised.
Admittedly, much of the sloganeering, which
precipitated the harsh actions of the government,
was naive and self-indulgent.
Guru, a Kashmiri militant, was executed in 2013
after all his legal challenges were exhausted, and a
presidential clemency plea denied.
The decision to dismiss his pleas, it needs to be
underscored, had in any case, taken place under a
different political dispensation. Commemorating his
death anniversary hardly constituted an act of
sagacious judgment.
The government could have simply condemned the
callousness of the event and let matters rest.
Opposing reactions
The rants of the students may well have been
reprehensible. However, the government hardly
covered itself in glory in resorting to the colonial era
sedition law to try and cow these dissidents.
Worse still, it showed scant regard for the rights of
the accused when it created permissive conditions for
a group of lawyers to physically harass the student
on his way to court.
These appalling actions have elicited two strikingly
opposing reactions.
On the one hand, a segment of the country's
intelligentsia has uncritically lionised the students.
JNU, which for decades was a bastion of left-wing
sentiment, has suddenly been hailed as an arena of
spirited intellectual freedom and debate.
The stridency of these assertions notwithstanding,
they are, quite frankly, disingenuous.
From the time of former prime minister Indira
Gandhi, JNU has given scant space to the
consideration of any viewpoints that smacked of
ideological conservatism. Those of that persuasion
were ostracised.
The other reaction, however, is more disturbing.
The students may well have been difficult to control
and were hardly models of common sense. That
said, their speeches still fell firmly within the ambit
of free speech.
Suggesting that such naive proclamations either
challenge the foundations of the Indian republic or
constitute a threat to Indian nationalism is
nonsense.
Sadly, such a parochial vision of nationalism is the
stock in trade of the ruling party.
Its concept of nationalism challenges the liberal
democratic vision embodied in the Indian
constitution.
Instead, what it is peddling is a parochial,
primordial conception of nationalism that privileges
the majority religious community, brooks no dissent
and seeks to marginalise, or worse still, muzzle the
views of those it finds distasteful.
Of course, it would be dishonest to suggest that this
government alone has been hostile towards views
that it finds disagreeable.
Fearful of the wrath of orthodox Muslim groups,
they too have displayed pitiable fortitude in
defending artistic expression that some found
objectionable.
These failures had already eroded India's liberal
democratic ethos.
Indeed India towards the end of the last decade of
the 20th Century had already become a far cry from
the land that its founders and constitution framers
had envisaged.
What the country is currently witnessing is simply a
more naked and blatant version of some deeply
illiberal, hyper-nationalistic trends.
Virtually every political party, regardless of
ideological stripe, has to varying degrees been
complicit in the closing of minds in India.
Even the organised political Left, which is so
vociferously crying foul over the government's high-
handed actions in the name of nationalism,
maintained a curious and deafening silence when
unpopular views and ideas were under attack earlier.
The tragedy that now stalks the land is that many
of those decrying the chest-thumping nationalism of
the BJP were themselves complicit in constricting the
arena of free speech.
Consequently, their strident denunciations of the
BJP's ham-fisted tactics tend to ring a bit hollow.
And the BJP, which has never had much use for the
pluralist, secular tenets embedded in India's
constitution, now feels at liberty to intimidate and
bully those who dare question its ideological writ.
It is a pity indeed that few, if any, Indian
intellectuals, let alone its political class, would
make common cause today with Camus' brilliant
formulation - a sentiment that many of India's
constitutional framers might actually have
embraced.
Sumit Ganguly holds the Rabindranath Tagore
Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at
Indiana University, Bloomington.

A Ukrainian pilot on trial in Russia over the killing
of two journalists has addressed the court and says
she will continue a hunger strike she has been on
for five days.
Nadia Savchenko was making her closing statement
in the trial.
She denies directing artillery fire at the Russian
journalists in June 2014.
She is reported to have refused all food and drink
since 4 March when the hearing was adjourned
before she could make her final statement.
At one point in her appearance on Wednesday, she
leapt onto the bench inside the cage and showed the
judges her middle finger, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford
reports from the court in Donetsk in southern
Russia, where the trial is being held.
She mocked the judges in Ukrainian, saying they
were proving that Russians were "fascists".
A translator read out her formal, final statement in
which she proclaims her innocence and describes her
trial as a "farce".
The EU and US have both called for her immediate
release.
A verdict in the case is due on or around 21 March
but her lawyers have said she will not survive that
long unless she is force-fed.
Access denied
She was captured in 2014 at the height of the
fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian
rebels.
She was charged with involvement in a mortar
attack in June 2014 in which two Russian state TV
journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin,
were killed.
Ms Savchenko was accused of handing the location
of the journalists to Ukrainian troops, which she
denies.
The 34-year-old insists the whole case against her is
politically motivated, and she has become a symbol
of Ukraine's resistance against Russia.
She says she was kidnapped by rebel fighters at
least an hour before the attack in which the two
Russian TV journalists were killed.
Ukrainian consuls in the Russian region of Rostov
say judges in the case are refusing to issue any more
permits to visit Ms Savchenko in prison.
Her relatives have also used up all their visiting
permits, meaning a group of Ukrainian doctors en
route from Kiev to visit her will also not be given
access.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine - along with
its Western allies - have deteriorated following
Moscow's annexation of the Crimea peninsula in
2014 and its support for pro-Russian rebels in
eastern Ukraine.

Donald Trump has won three more states,
Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, in his bid to be
the Republican White House nomination.
In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders had a
surprise victory in Michigan, but Hillary Clinton
increased her overall lead with a big Mississippi
win.
Ted Cruz won a Republican-only race in Idaho.
The states are the latest to choose candidates to
compete in November's presidential election.
It was a terrible night for Republican Florida
Senator Marco Rubio, who came in a distant fourth
in both Michigan and Mississippi, a week before his
must-win contest in his home state.
Mr Trump, a businessman with no experience of
elected office, leads the polls in Florida, from where
he delivered his victory speech on Tuesday night.
"One of the things I am most happy about is the
turnout has been just massive… I think it's the
single biggest story in politics today," he said at a
press conference in Jupiter.
With his victories, Donald Trump has solidified his
position as the Republican front-runner,
withstanding a barrage of negative advertisements
questioning everything from his business acumen to
his use of vulgar and profane language.
Rather than deliver a conventional victory speech,
the billionaire held a news conference and conducted
what looked in parts like an infomercial, arguing
that products that bear his name, like bottled water
and wine, are commercial successes.
But it's the Trump political brand that's not only
proving highly popular but also resilient to attacks
from establishment Republicans who have intensified
their attacks in the hope of slowing his momentum.
Showing how the normal political rules do not
apply, Trump reckoned that one of the attack ads,
bleeping out various swear words he's uttered during
the campaign, actually boosted him because it
showed that he's not bound by political correctness
and tells it like it is.
He also said he would be more presidential than
anybody except Abraham Lincoln and that "no one
is more conservative than me".
The Democratic opponent Mr Trump is most likely
to face if he gets the Republican nomination, former
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressed
voters in Ohio after her Mississippi win.
"Running for president shouldn't be about delivering
insults," said Mrs Clinton, in a thinly veiled dig at
the outspoken Mr Trump.
"It should be about delivering results."
Mr Sanders' win in Michigan came as a shock after
weeks of polling that suggested Mrs Clinton was
well ahead.
"I am grateful to the people of Michigan for defying
the pundits and pollsters and giving us their
support," Mr Sanders said in a statement following
his win.
"This is a critically important night. We came from
30 points down in Michigan and we're seeing the
same kind of come-from-behind momentum all
across America."
Analysts say conservative firebrand Mr Cruz appears
to be the only candidate capable of stopping Mr
Trump, who has been fiercely criticised by the
Republican establishment.
The party's 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, described
Mr Trump as a bully and a fraud who would lose a
general election because of his extreme positions on
immigration and Islamic State.
A central plank of Mr Trump's campaign is to
deport 11m undocumented migrants and build a
wall on the southern border, paid for by Mexico.
The primary and caucus elections determine the
number of delegates assigned to each of the
candidates.
The delegates then endorse their candidate at the
party conventions in July. To secure their party's
nomination, a candidate must win a majority of
delegates.

Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles
Wednesday, state media reported, just a day after
its missile tests that Washington suspected violated
a U.N. resolution .
The two Qadr missiles were fired from the Alborz
Mountains in northern Iran . They hit targets 1,400
kilometers (870 miles) away in the southeast part
of the country, Press TV reported.
One of the missiles, the Qadr-F, had a range of
2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) and the other, the
Qadr-H, had a range of 1,700 kilometers (1,056
miles), according to the report. It cited Brig. Gen.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps' aerospace division.
The missiles, capable of reaching Iran's archenemy
Israel , were marked with a statement in Hebrew
reading "Israel must be wiped off the arena of
time," Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency
reported.