Army razes Egbesu camp in Delta

Despite the amnesty programme that was granted militants in the Niger Delta, which led to the disarmament of many various groups, a regrouping militancy camp located in the creeks of Delta State was, on Tuesday, demolished by the Joint Task Force, under the 19 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Koko, Warri North Local Government.

The demolition did not go without soldiers of the battalion engaging in a gun battle with the creek boys before success came the way of the soldiers, after which one suspect was arrested.

The destruction of the camp was effected as a result of the abduction of five oil workers in an overnight attack on an oil facility in Bayelsa State by an unknown militant group.

The regrouping militants were said to be involved in escalating spate of various illegal bunkering activities and kidnapping facilities.

This major military onslaught on militant camp would be the first in Delta State as nearly all militant leaders and their foot-soldiers surrendered their arms with their camps destroyed after they agreed to embrace peace in a “cash-for-arms” amnesty brokered by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua began in August 2009.

Nigerian Tribune gathered, however, that the camp was the remnant of ex-militant warlord, ‘General’ Ezekiel Akpasibowei-led notorious Egbesu Force, which was said to have been resuscitated, fortified and expanded.

Commanding Officer of 19 Brigade of Sector 1 of the JTF situated in Koko, Frank Etim, informed that the task force had been monitoring intelligence report on the presence of the militant camp in Adagbrasa/Itagbene in Warri North Local Government Area.

Etim, who could not give the name of the leader of the militant camp, said the camp was suspected to be that of ‘General’ Ezekiel that was apprehended during the amnesty days and had been resuscitated by this group of renegades.

According to him, the militant group could be linked to the recent abduction of three oil workers of the oil surveillance team on routine duty along the Benin River.

He said the exercise was carried out professionally without any casualty of any civilian in the neighbouring communities.

Boko Haram Strikes Again; Kill Traditional Ruler in Borno

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect have killed the District Head of Lawanti Ward in Bale, which is under Borno Emirate in Borno State, Alhaji Baba Zarabe.

The gunmen were said to have besieged the palace of the district head at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday night and shot him on the head and chest before fleeing.

It was gathered that while the traditional ruler was killed, his wives and children were compelled to watch the gory scene.

Bale district is 165 kilometres south of Maiduguri, and is located in Damboa Local Government Area.

Speaking to journalists on phone Wednesday, a palace staff said the gunmen came in two Golf Volkswagen vehicles and two motorcycles from Damboa on the Gwoza-Damboa road and demanded to see the district head.

The palace resident noted that the gunmen did not betray their intentions to kill everyone as they fired several gunshots into the air as a warning that they meant business.
The palace staff further added that immediately they saw the traditional ruler, they shot at him in the chest and head.

“All of us at this palace were shocked and terrified and had to run into various directions for safety into our houses and shops, before one of the gunmen chanted, God is great and fled towards Damboa, in the same vehicles used in the attacks and killing of our District Head yesterday (Tuesday),” the palace staff told journalists.

He further added that: “No other person was killed or injured, as the gunmen appeared to have come for our district head.”

The district head of Pulka, Alhaji Ali Pulka, was last month killed at his palace, while three district heads in northern Borno were also killed by suspected gunmen at their respective palaces last December and in January this year.

Confirming the incident, the state police command spokesman, Mr. Gideon Jibrin, said there was an attack at one of the district head’s palace in southern Borno, where the traditional ruler of Bale was feared killed by suspected armed hoodlums.

He said no arrests had been made, but stated that investigation was ongoing.

No plan to impeach Amaechi – PDP

PUBLIC outrage, on Wednesday, trailed the alleged plot to impeach the embattle Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi by five members of the state House of Assembly after the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suspended 27 out of the 32 members.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree, had raised the alarm about the alleged plot by the Felix Obuah-led PDP to impeach Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, in what appeared a climax to the worsening crisis in the state.

In a statement, the speaker had claimed that a fake mace was smuggled into the state to enable five members of the house who allegedly belonged to the Nyeson Wike’s faction to hold an emergency session and impeach the governor.

A frontline politician, Alhaji Balarabe Musa described the purported move as complete madness, which all Nigerians must not only condemn but also resist in the interest of democracy and stability of the country.

He drew a parallel between the unfolding “absurdities’’ and what happened in neigbouring Bayelsa State in 2012, where Governor Timipre Sylva was forced to flee the government house in controversial circumstances.

The Second Republic governor of Kaduna State stated that the current problem have serious implications for the political career of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Balarabe said, “It is more than madness. It is another attempt to undermine democracy and further create instability in the system. Nigerians must not fold their arms and think it cannot happen. We must remember what happened to Sylva in neighbouring Bayelsa and how Jonathan treated the case of Sylva.

“But Jonathan must understand that he is indirectly trying to destroy his base and chances. He and Amaechi have said they are friends, which means there are no fundamental differences between them than the race for the 2015 presidency.

“However, if Jonathan cannot guarantee stability and peace in his constituency, which is the South-South, where else can he get support for his ambition? So, Nigerians must resist the ongoing plot in Rivers State against Amaechi.”

In his reaction, CPC national Publicity Secretary, Chief Rotimi Fasakin likened the development to an incident that occurred in the then apartheid South Africa when Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu could not help but quip: “our leaders have gone mad”

According to Fasakin, “What started as an un-managed spat between the President’s wife and the Rivers State governor has now snowballed into temporary suspension of governance in the polity.

“Undoubtedly, what is sorely needed in Nigeria at this time is an enviable leadership that is able to rise above pedantic pettiness and confront the myriad of issues besetting the Nigerian state. It is an infernal show of crudity that a President can work strenuously, using the coercive power at his disposal, to plot the illegal removal of a state governor. There is a thick plot to use five members of the state house of assembly to impeach the governor after the suspension of 27 members of the state legislature!

“We thought our nation’s democracy has progressed beyond the dark era of Obasanjo’s presidency but alas, another PDP- Federal Government has showed us that dark cloud continues to hover over the political horizon. Is this a show of incipient fascism to be expected from Jonathan’s presidency as we journey towards 2015?

“Should this not mean that the nation’s brand of Federalism is fundamentally defective?

“This is not just bullish but irresponsible politicking. It is another show of impunity which the Nigerian people must not allow to stand.”

Expressing a similar view, the Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin stated that the current development was a playback of how the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo treated the former governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, but urged Nigerians to quickly stop those behind the said plot to impeach Amaechi.

“If that happens, it would be an encore of what Amaechi’s father figure, Obasanjo did with Dariye during his inglorious years. But that would also signal a dangerous descent into the era of impunity with reckless abandon.

“However, I’m tempted at this point to believe that the speaker just raised the alarm to stir up the ante. The suspension of 27 members by the PDP does not, in any way, mean their suspension from the assembly, as they were elected by their constituents and not the party.”

Odumakin added that “all the shenanigans going on in Rivers State are about 2015 and intra-elite fight for power and control. It is not that either of the sides holds any vision different from what is plaguing us. Amaechi in particular has been trying to curry public sympathy over the grounding of his plane without as much caring a hoot about the level of ethical collapse that makes a governor to face the public; he is flying private jets all over the place while the people of his state are wallowing in abject poverty. Nigeria is on a free fall and its shameless managers continue to nauseate more and more.”

In his reaction, chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Monday Ubani said “if it is true that there is such move by the minority to impeach Governor Amaechi, it shows that the country is descending into anarchy again. Remember that it was under the government of President Obasanjo that such absurdities played out at such various state houses of assembly. We know that the courts at the appropriate time pronounced such desperate actions illegal and unconstitutional. My advice is that President Jonathan should avoid travelling on this familiar road again. It will heat up the political temperature of the country.

“However, if they dare it, I am hopeful that the Nigerian judiciary will live up to expectation by pronouncing such action unconstitutional and unlawful at the appropriate time.”

The newly sworn-in chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Felix Obuah, has denied having hands in an alleged plot to impeach the state governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

Speaking at a press briefing at the party’s state secretariat in Port Harcourt, Obuah noted that there has been only one PDP in the state with no faction, thus calling on the people of Rivers to ignore a call by the leader of the state’s Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, to protest.

Obuah said as long as he remains the leader of the PDP in the state , the governor in his own right is the leader of the entire state, explaining that his leadership of the party was never aimed at dividing it, but to further unite it and ensure nobody is left out.

He, however, charged the state governor, Amaechi, to ensure that the resources of the state are well used to take the dividends of democracy to all the people in the 23 local government areas of the state, adding that the party under his leadership would give him needed support.

On the allegations that he is working with the Abuja-based members of the PDP to ensure that the state governor is impeached from office, Obuah noted that he is a law abiding citizen and that he has not been placed in such a position to effect the removal of a state governor.

“An article being carried in the national dailies, a serious allegation being levied against me and my executive council, I have invited you here today to put the records straight. I have read in the media that I have hatched a plan to impeach the governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, I want to debunk such an allegation here that at no time have I nurtured or call any meeting of my executive or planned to impeach the governor of Rivers state.

“My intension is not to create problem in this state in any form or shape. Like I said in my inaugural speech, my aim is to bring everybody together, to form a united front to fight for the upcoming elections. I have also maintained that I will not and cannot work in isolation of the governor of Rivers State. It is on record that we have not had any disagreement that I should ask beyond my powers.

“I am a state PDP chairman, that does not give me the power to impeach a serving governor who is a product of my party, PDP. I have said we are ready to work together to move this state forward. So, wherever the allegation is coming from or whoever insinuated it for his personal interest, I am not part of it, neither have we planned such things as being alleged.

“I want to still repeat it that PDP is one family, we are calling everybody to let us join hands together to make sure that this party remains supreme. Like I have maintained, we have not come to divide the party, we have come to unite everybody.

“We are also calling on the governor to be transparent in his leadership style and carry on with his duty to make sure that the wealth of this state is used for the development of the 23 local government areas of this state.

“As a party, we will give him all the enabling environment, we will support his government, we can only disagree with him when he falls short of delivering the dividends of democracy,” Obuah said.

On the leadership of the party in the state, Obuah said he is the leader of the party in the state, while the governor is the leader of the people of the state.

Deals agreed: Mourinho & Falcao are Chelsea-bound

After months of negotiations the European champions have reached a breakthrough in their efforts to bring back the Special One and recruit the prolific Atletico Madrid striker

Jose Mourinho has agreed a deal to re-join Chelsea as their manager this summer – and is poised to bring €59 million striker Radamel Falcao with him.

Goal.com understands that the Real Madrid boss is expected to be unveiled in the Stamford Bridge hot seat at the end of the season following a breakthrough in negotiations with the club over the last week.

The Chelsea high command, led by Roman Abramovich, have been in talks with Mourinho’s camp for months about a sensational return for the man who led the club to two Premier League titles during his first spell in charge from 2004-2007.

Negotiations have centred on how much control Mourinho will have in recruiting players and staff, as well as his place in a management structure where low-profile technical director Michael Emenalo holds the levers of power.

It is believed that, following a series of twists and turns during discussions, an agreement in principle has been reached for the Portuguese to take over from interim manager Rafael Benitez this summer.

Mourinho is expected to put pen to paper and formalise the deal when he ends his three-year spell in Madrid at the end of next month.

A report in Germany last week claimed that Chelsea were on the brink of landing both Mourinho and Atletico Madrid’s spearhead Falcao.

Goal.com understands that the European champions have since made further progress with both deals and are confident that Mourinho will announce the prolific Colombian, who is also represented by super agent Jorge Mendes, as one of his first signings.

BEN HAYWARD, GOAL.COM INTERNATIONAL
Jose Mourinho has been here before. Just under three years ago, also at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Portuguese lifted his second Champions League trophy, with Inter, and then moved on straight away – just as he had done with Porto six years earlier.

After leading Inter to their first European Cup success since 1965, Mourinho revealed he was moving to Madrid, but was much more coy in the press room moments later. “I haven’t decided yet,” he told the international media. And in any case it would be hard to leave, because he loved Inter, he explained.

But his mind had been made up and something similar happened on Tuesday night. “Would he be staying at Madrid?” he was asked. “Maybe not – I love to be where people love me to be,” was his reply. So anywhere but Spain, then, given all the problems he has had with players, press and just about everybody else.

Down in the press room itself, he was less forthcoming and claimed he may still be at the Spanish side next term. But he won’t be. His earlier words gave the game away – he has never truly felt the love at Madrid and now is the time to move on to a place where he really does feel appreciated. So Chelsea seems ideal.

Chelsea, who came close to landing Falcao last August and then again in January, have been in talks with Atletico top brass for weeks about the structure of a deal which is complicated by uncertainty over the future of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who has been extremely impressive since joining the Spanish club on loan at the start of last season.

Chelsea are prepared to allow the Belgian keeper to continue his development by staying in Madrid for another season if it eases Falcao’s path to west London.

The Blues have made it clear that they are willing to activate the €59m release clause in the striker’s Atletico contract.

The deal is a complex one because of third-party ownership issues – with Mendes part of a consortium holding an interest in Falcao – but Chelsea have intensified their efforts to land the front man in a bid to ensure the transfer can be completed.

The London club have made Falcao a contract offer and it is believed that personal terms have already been agreed on a deal that is likely to make the striker one of the highest paid players in Premier League history.

Goal.com exclusively revealed in March that the former Porto man is chasing a deal worth around €295,000 per week.

Mourinho and senior Chelsea officials regard the Colombian, who has scored 32 goals in 36 games for Atletico this season, as an upgrade on current front men Fernando Torres and Demba Ba.

Falcao has the pedigree and star quality which Chelsea thought they had acquired with the £50m purchase of Torres in January 2010, but the Spaniard is now likely to be put up for sale to help fund the purchase of the player earmarked to be his replacement

I Told Jonathan PDP Has Failed… – Oshiomole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State Tuesday intimated President Goodluck Jonathan of the political liability that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has become in Edo State despite the 11 years it spent being in the saddle there.

This is against the recent backdrop of his taking on one of his predecessors, Lucky Igbinedion.

Oshiomhole, who attributed his various victories over the PDP to divine intervention, was at the State House to confer with Jonathan privately.

“For eleven good years PDP local governments had the head way uninterrupted and they cannot boast of one school. Edo people are not fools, how will they vote for ruffians?” he asked.

He observed that Edo people are disenchanted with the corrupt nature of the ruling party, particularly its penchant for using money to lure voters, saying that he told the president that: “those days are gone.”

He also indicated: “All they have tried to do in this election is clear and that is what I went to tell the president.”

He urged the media “to recognise that what the PDP leaders have done here is to give the impression that rigging is inevitable, preparing for the future. But they will be shocked that Nigerians are not in the mood for any rigging to take place. So, let me assure you I remain committed to the principle of one-man-one-vote because that is the irreducible minimum.”

The governor accused the PDP of trying to create the impression that Edo was ungovernable. “They tried to use some criminals, some armed gangs to create trouble here and there and the police was looking the other way.

Enumerating his achievements so far, Oshiomhole said his administration has scored high marks in the areas of building roads, schools and provision of portable water while the PDP wasted its time earmarking money for projects that were never accomplished.

He recalled that last year he contested election “and I won in all the 18 local government areas including Chief Anenih’s local government”.

He said his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), clinched majority of the seats of the National Assembly and won 20 out of 24 house of assembly seats in addition to two senators.

“So, God has used us to dismantle the PDP in Edo State. If it is evil, it can’t stand. Where is the strength of PDP?,” he queried.

The governor explained that following the strings of defeat the party has suffered since he came into office “more and more people have decamped from PDP because they were completely demoralized.”

“The chief legal coordinator of the PDP candidate decamped to join ACN a month ago. The chief agent of the PDP gubernatorial candidate at INEC decamped to join ACN, citing their reasons as failure of the PDP to manipulate the election.

Oshiomhole also noted that he also floored the PDP in the local government elections “because we chose to fight on the side of democracy because that has been our lives.”

He alluded that: “If an armed robber is complaining of being robbed, it is your choice as to how much weight to place on his complaints. The history of rigging election in Nigeria is as old as PDP.”

“They have lived on it, they have perpetuated it, they have deepened it, they have feasted on it, and they have even celebrated it. I Thank God He has used me and all other patriotic people to dismantle PDP rigging machine in Edo State,” he said.

Going down memory lane, he said when while some the PDP politicians were in cahoot with the military, he and his likes were busy fighting for the entrenchment of democracy.

“For us, it is not a choice that we launch the campaign of one-man-one-vote, we need it and without it, Nigeria’s democracy is not on. And so when they are talking, I ask them a simple question and you can ask them, who among those talking came to Edo State to campaign?,” he asked.

Meanwhile, the state government yesterday alleged that it had uncovered a sinister move by politicians in the PDP to recruit thugs masquerading as students to cause disaffection in the state over issues bordering on bursary award and scholarship.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr. Peter Okhiria, claimed that “the ‘students,’ who held a clandestine meeting at the Students’ Union Government (SUG) building at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), threatened to mobilise students to agitate on the streets of Benin City, after a seven-day ultimatum to the government to commence payment of bursary expires.”

“We want to state clearly that the payment of bursary is not a ‘birthright’ as the ‘students’ claim and is not compulsive on a state government as there are many states in the federation which do not pay. Some states which are generally described as disadvantaged in terms of western education pay bursary to encourage their students go for higher education.”

Jonathan ready to forgo second term –Presidency

THE Presidency on Wednesday said President Goodluck Jonathan was ready to forget his ambition to run for second term in 2015 if the Senate passed its proposal for a single non-renewable six-year tenure into law.

Though Jonathan had made half-hearted denial of his ambition for another term in office, the body movements of the President and his loyalists had clearly shown that he was preparing to run in the 2015 general election.

But the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said the ambition to stage a return would be shelved if Senators decided in favour of a single term for the President and state governors.

Gulak who spoke to The PUNCH in Abuja said, “Nigerians will remember that it was President Jonathan that suggested an idea of a single term tenure from the beginning. So if the proposal becomes a law, the credit should go to the President.

“If it becomes a law and is enshrined in our constitution, the President and everybody will be bound by the provision of that law. Let us wait and see what happens.

“We are not seeing the move as a way of stopping President Jonathan from re-contesting in 2015. The law cannot be made because of one individual.

“When it takes effect, everybody will be bound by it.”

Our correspondent had asked Gulak on the response of the President to a proposal by a Senate committee to introduce single-term tenure and whether the Presidency felt the proposal was targeting at derailing Jonathan’s 2015 ambition.

The PUNCH had on Tuesday reported exclusively that the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution had recommended non-renewable single six year tenure for the offices of President, Vice-President, governors and their deputies.

The Senate panel’s recommendation disqualifies Jonathan and incumbent governors from benefitting from the new arrangement if the recommendation becomes law.

In justifying the move, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, was quoted on Wednesday as saying that the development was the outcome of public hearings across the country.

If passed into law, Jonathan will not be eligible to contest the 2015 presidential election.

Gulak noted that the President should even be given credit for being the originator of the single-term proposal.

Jonathan had in 2011 suggested a single-term of seven years for elective offices to avoid the wrangling often associated with second-term bids.

In a related development, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, said on Wednesday that the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution would answer questions about the nature of Nigeria’s unity.

Tambuwal spoke at the opening of a retreat for members of the House AdHoc Committee on Constitution Review in Abuja.

The committee, headed by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, organised the retreat to allow House members appraise the report of the People’s Public Sessions on the constitution and prepare them for the next stage of the review process.

The public sessions were held across the federation on November 10, 2012, where Nigerians voted on a 43-item template on sections of the constitution they desired amendments.

Tambuwal acknowledged that Nigeria was facing many challenges, which had forced the citizens to ask questions on the nature of the country’s union and assured that the fears expressed by the people would be addressed by the new constitution envisaged.

He said, “As you well know, our country today faces many challenges and some of our people have been asking questions about the very nature of our union.

“We hope eventually to provide Nigerians with a constitution that will answer some of these questions and further cement our hard fought unity.”

The Speaker claimed that reactions from Nigerians since the House publicly tendered the report of the People’s Public Sessions on April 18 suggested that they had confidence in the National Assembly to do a thorough representation of their views in the constitution.

However, he warned the committee members against cutting corners or attempting to impose their own views on the people in the course of appraising the report.

“So far, you have all shown remarkable patriotism but I must again emphasise the need for your work to be free of all personal bias.

“You must work only on data provided by the nationwide public hearing and your conclusion should reflect the aggregate opinion of fellow Nigerians”, the speaker stated.

But the deputy speaker said, “The results of the Peoples Public Sessions as unveiled by the House would be subjected to proper legislative action as required by the Standing Orders of the House and by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

“There are no short-cuts. This retreat will give members of the committee acting on behalf of the entire House the opportunity to brainstorm on the language of the amendments where consensus has been reached.

“It is pertinent to note that the National Assembly is one. For this process to work, the House and Senate Constitution Review Committees must work together to propose the same bills and vote on the same issues.

“The Senate and the House of Representatives must an reach agreement before any section of the constitution is amended. Indeed, two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly must agree (as well).”

Oshiomhole begged to join PDP; but we refused-Metuh

The spokesperson of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, has claimed that the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on several occasions, begged the leadership of the party to let him decamp to the PDP.

He said the governor was consistently turned down by the Nigerian ruling party.

Mr. Metuh, who spoke via a statement on Wednesday, “urged the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to be bold enough to tell Nigerians how many times he begged to join the PDP but was turned down”.

” The same PDP which Adams went on all fours, begging to join on several occasions has suddenly become the ” party of rogues” because of his desperation to justify the massive rigging and democratic aberration that was local government elections in Edo state.

” In 2007, Adams (Oshiomhole) begged to be given an opportunity under the Umbrella but we considered his governorship aspiration an assault on the existing zoning formula in the state and quietly turned him down. Again in 2012, Adams once more came cap in hand and our great Party again rejected him,” Mr. Metuh said.

Speaking further, Mr. Metuh said, “Is Adams just realizing how bad our party is and was all the while begging for membership,”.

ACN leaders are the real rogues

The statement also claimed that it is Mr. Oshiomhole’s Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, that is the real brood of rogues as their actions in the conduct of local government elections in Lagos, Ogun and now Edo show.

“First is that Oshiomhole is governor primarily because of the unflinching commitment of the PDP to the rule of law and credible elections. No amount of falsehood by the ACN can obliterate this. Governor Oshiomhole therefore carries a huge moral burden when as the largest beneficiary of these democratic values guaranteed by the PDP led Federal Government, he went ahead without scruples to deny his people the opportunity to elect the leaders of their choice.

“And when Oshiomhole referred to the PDP as corrupt,” the statement continued, “it is very needful to remind him that corruption is home to the states under the ACN.”

” Without guessing the disquieting cases of corruption in Edo State, we wish to ask Governor Oshiomhole to explain how less than a 7 kilometre Benin Airport road fraudulently awarded at six billion naira is yet to be completed after four years and how six hundred million naira was used to change the roof and repaint the walls of Idia College in Benin.”

The statement further said it was nothing but corruption that could cause the buildings at the central hospital in Benin to collapse under construction after the project was awarded at the whooping sum of N2 billion

The PDP also challenged the Edo Governor to unmask the face of the printer behind the sub-standard ballot papers used for the local government polls for which hundreds of millions of tax payers’ money was spent.

Barca 0 – 7 Bayern; Barcelona suffers worst defeat, its all German Final

Having loss 4 goal to nothing in Germany last week, Barcelona has suffered their worst defeat in recent time as the German giants, Bayern Munich scores another 3 goals to compound the woes of Barca right in their home ground, Camp Nou.

A wonderful strike from Robben, Muller’s effort and Pique’s unfortunate own goal sealed a crushing victory for Die Roten, who move on to the first all-German clash in the final

A marvellous strike from Arjen Robben put Bayern Munich’s passage into the Champions League final beyond doubt, as the Bavarian side cruised past Barcelona 3-0 in the semi-final second leg to set up a clash with Borussia Dortmund. The Dutchman released a perfect left-footed effort past Victor Valdes, before an own goal from Gerard Pique and Thomas Muller’s strike added insult to injury for the hosts as they crashed out 7-0 on aggregate.

The Spanish giant, Real Madrid was also eliminated yesterday by another German team, Borussia Dortmund that qualified despite 2goal loss to Madrid but won 4goals to 3 on aggregates.

May Day bombshell: Activists have failed Nigerians – Kokori, ex-NUPENG boss

As the workers celebrate the May Day today, a labour veteran and pro-democracy activist, Comrade Frank Kokori, has said that politicians who came out of the 1993-98 struggle for the entrenchment of democracy, have failed the country. The former Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), now Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, also stated that the present government is incapable of making the nation’s refinery work.

Chief Kokori in an interview at the NUPENG Special Delegates Conference in Lagos, lamented that the politicians have failed to live up to the expectation as true democrats. “There is no doubt about it that the Nigerian politicians which came out of the struggle for democracy which we had between 1993 and 94, to 98 have let us down”, he said. He noted that it was not only the veterans in the struggle that the politicians have let down but the entire people of Nigeria.

He said: “Everybody, they’ve let us down. Actually we were thinking that by now a lot of things would have changed in Nigeria. First of all the issue of corruption, corruption is annoying, it’s becoming obscene and people are very sad about it and any government that could not attack corruption and allow those people who have looted to go unpunished, there is no message being given to the people.” On what would make the refineries work, Kokori, who was once a major stakeholder in the industry, stated matter of fact that the present administration do not have the ability to make the Nigeria refinery work.

He reasoned that though he was a great crusader and advocate that government should do everything, but have now seen that government cannot only do everything. “In other words, this privatization that they are saying, normally, if you own something, you take care of it”, he said. He, however, stated that the government’s inability to make things work was aged long neglect of most infrastructure, which dates back to military rule.

“But a powerful government should have been able to take care of the refineries, stop corruption and run them properly, but this government is incapable, it’s not this government. Right from the time of the time of military, the government had shown incapability of running refinery”, he harped. The former labour leader believed that present-day politicians and leaders have been having a field-day in corruption because the new crop of labour leaders have failed in their responsibility towards the people. “Labour is not doing its role very well. Labour should monitor the government properly. Labour should be seen scrutinizing every aspect of governance”, he said.

On the problem of crude oil theft in the downstream sector, Kokori said that the cause is largely due to unemployment and government inability to take care of the people. “When you leave so many people you called agile young people, that are in the stage of activity, unoccupied. When you are in your twenty to thirty, that is when you are really productive, some of us when we were in our twenty, we were already calling the shots, like me at 26, I was already heading a section in the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), which we now called PHCN, NEPA.

At 26, I was heading a section in Ijora here. If you don’t past through me as the head of that section, you can’t even have a meter in Lagos. Why should I go and be a militant or go and be an armed robber when I was already breeding children, married and everything. When the country take care of you, then you take care of the country, but when the country does not take care of its youth, then the youths have no regard for that country.”

WORKERS’ DAY EXTRA: 9 Things You Can Do When The Boss Takes Credit For Your Work

You pitch a brilliant idea to your boss; she rejects it. Weeks later she presents your idea—the one she previously shot down—to the executive suite. They love it, and your boss takes all the credit.

Why does this happen so frequently?

“Power grabs can happen in any corporate environment because the system is simply set up for competition,” says Lynn Taylor, workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant. “However, there is healthy and unhealthy competition. This variety breeds backstabbing and a pandemic of the glory hog syndrome. The uncertain economy and still relatively high unemployment also creates fertile ground for job insecurity and credit stealing. So the practice becomes a misguided insurance against being on the chopping block.”

Taylor says bosses may think, I have to be accountable for all the bad news and mistakes, why not take credit for all the good? “Unfortunately, those moments of glory and style of management will be fleeting. It will soon erode the dedication and results of the hard working staff behind all the kudos.”

Teri Hockett, the chief executive of What’s For Work?, a career site for women, says some workplaces instill a strong commitment to teamwork and employee recognition to prevent this type of situation. “This allows the very best ideas and people in the organization to rise,” she says. “On the other hand, it’s not uncommon for bosses to take credit for the work of their employees, for many different reasons.”

One, some bosses believe that they are entitled to own everything their team produces, Hockett says. “And since many deal with plenty of challenges, from poor earnings to upset customers and delayed projects, at some point they’ll want to showcase something positive as their own, even if their employee produced the work.”

Reason two: Many companies allow this type of behavior by not having clear guidelines and value statements in place that stress the importance of recognizing employees for their work, Hockett adds.

“Then there are bosses who feel threatened by certain employees,” Hockett says. “Maybe the employee is smarter or produces ideas that others find valuable.” If a boss feels threatened, they might take credit for their employee’s work to prevent exposing their own shortcomings.

Finally, she says, a boss might take credit because of the competitive job market and high unemployment rate. “Some bosses believe they must protect their role at all costs, so the idea of elevating their employee’s work contribution makes them uncomfortable.”

While many employees want to get credit for their ideas or a job well done, most never do anything about it. But they should.

Taylor says every employee deserves to be acknowledged for their efforts. “When the boss steals your glory, it’s stressful and a disincentive for you to put forth any extra effort,” she says. “Recognition for great performance is equally important as is monetary reward for most employees. Just be sure you weigh the severity of the situation and pick your battles.”

For instance, if you’re interested in climbing the ladder within your company, and your boss seems to take credit for work that might give you an opportunity for a promotion, you should absolutely speak up, Hockett says.

Or, if you feel you’ve made an important contribution or headed a large project, only to witness a congratulatory pat on your boss’s back, or other public acknowledgment by a senior executive based solely on your efforts, it can be crushing, and you should definitely take action, Taylor says. “When your self-worth at your job plummets, and you feel unnoticed or unimportant, [it’s time to do something about it].”

Here are 9 things you should (and shouldn’t) do when the boss takes credit for your work:

1. Don’t assume the worst. “Avoid assuming that the boss did in fact take credit for your work intentionally,” Hockett says. Sometimes bosses will speak in such a way that they take ownership, but in fact it’s just part of how they encompass all aspects of their team when sharing feedback with others.

Alexander Kjerulf, an international author and speaker on happiness at work, says, “It may be an honest mistake or a misunderstanding or a bad habit–and if so, the only way to fix it is to talk about it. Some bosses can learn if you talk to them.”

2.Have a heart to heart. Approach your boss sooner rather than later. “Waiting will make resentment fester,” Taylor explains. “Start and end the conversation on a positive note and discuss various projects. After your positive comments about the job, say something like, ‘I wanted to mention something that has been on my mind, if this is a good time…It set me back a bit when you mentioned earlier to Joe that you just secured the Smith account. I worked for three months to bring the account in, and it was discouraging. Maybe you had a particular reason for doing that, but I’d like to discuss it with you…’ Remember, always end on a positive note!”

3. Document your work. If the problem persists, make a point to document your work, especially important projects, Hockett says. “If you keep good records, and later find yourself in a position where you’re asked to provide more information or show how you came up with the idea, you’ll be prepared.”

4. Show the boss how it’s done. “Your boss may be insecure about her position or not be adept at letting others shine,” Taylor says. “But you can be a catalyst for showing her the light. Tell her how proud you are of other team members for their specific contributions, and how those are helping her. Over time it will help her see more of the benefits of giving credit; how savvy that makes you look; and how indispensable a team is to her own success.”

5. Get your boss involved. If your boss is involved with the project, he may be less likely to try and steal the show, Taylor says. “He will see firsthand the hours and effort you’ve put into it. It may be more difficult for him to have an indifferent attitude about stealing your thunder.”

6. Don’t share ideas exclusively with your boss. “Don’t rely on sharing your ideas with your boss alone; make sure to share them with your team and others, too,” Hockett says. “That way, others will come to know that you were the author of the idea, should it ever make its way throughout the organization by your boss.”

7. Praise your boss publicly. “If your boss is seeking visibility, you might be able to provide some, keeping the exposure away from your separate and distinct projects,” Taylor says. “You don’t need to kiss up, but you may be in a staff meeting and be able to announce that your department has now achieved x, looking to your boss proudly. Or you might send an e-mail congratulating her on an achievement.”

8. Be open about your current projects and ideas. Be visible about your team’s work (and yours) by posting something in your cubicle or office, using good taste. “Perhaps it’s a photo of your team at work; a slogan; your mission; etc., with updates,” Taylor says. “This will have a several benefits: It will help to bond your team; make you feel good about being part of your sub-community; and it will subtly let others in the office know what you’re working on. Just don’t go overboard and self-promote your latest epiphanies.”

9. Get a new boss. If it turns out that the credit-stealing is intentional and malicious—and your boss continues to do it after you speak to her about it—get out as fast as you can, Kjerulf says. “The kind of leader who steals credit from others is exactly the kind you never ever want to work for. If you boss is that kind of a jerk, the only reliable solution is to get away to another position in your company or to a completely different workplace.”

Taylor concludes: “It’s important to get credit and acknowledgement for your hard work. Just be careful not to focus excessively on how much credit you get versus the quality of work you do–or that in and of itself could derail you from providing optimal results.”