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Oil Sector: Diezani Laments Poor In-country Capacity Growth 50yrs After

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has lamented the preference for foreign companies to indigenous companies in the execution of jobs in the oil and gas industry. The minister particularly attributed the development to the con...

Continue ReadingOil Sector: Diezani Laments Poor In-country Capacity Growth 50yrs After

‘Pray For Me,’ 76-yr-old Pope Francis Asks The World

The new Pope has been unveiled as Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who will take the name Pope Francis I.

The 76-year-old was welcomed by tens of thousands of overjoyed Catholics in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City after his election was revealed this afternoon at 6pm GMT when white smoke poured out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

Pope Francis becomes the first South American Pontiff and the first Jesuit to hold the title. His South American origin is a significant move for the Church, taking the Papacy to a continent in which 42 per cent of the world's Catholics live.

The reformist becomes the third non-Italian Pope in a row, having being born and spent his life in the Argentinian capital.

He began his address to the crowd with a joke, saying that his brother cardinals had gathered to pick a bishop of Rome 'and they have chosen one from far away but here I am'.  He then asked for prayers for his living predecessor.

He said: 'First and foremost I would like to pray for our emeritus Pope Benedict XVI that Christ and the Madonna watch over him.

'Let us being this journey together, this journey for the Roman Catholic Church. It's a journey of friendship and love and faith between us. Let us pray for one another, let us pray for all the world.'

Then he asks the crowd to be silent for a moment and pray for him as he accepts this new position.

Pope Francis is multilingual, speaking German, Spanish and Italian.

Tens of thousands cheered in St. Paul's Square at the sight of the symbolic plumes, announcing that the successor to Benedict XVI had finally been chosen after two days of intense voting.

After hours braving the cold rain, the huge crowd chanted 'Habemus Papam' and 'We have a pope' - as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica and other churches across Rome pealed.

As excitement grew before the Pope Francis's imminent appearance on the loggia, the crowd repeated the refrain 'Viva il Papa' - translated as 'Long live the Pope'. 

The new Pope was dressed in his papal robes and joined in prayer with the other cardinals before his appearance.

The conclave was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned last month for health reasons, sending the church into turmoil and exposing deep divisions among cardinals tasked with finding a replacement to address issues within the church.

Chants of `Long live the pope' arose from the throngs of Catholics, many with tears in their eyes and the crowds buzzed with excitement as the Vatican and Italian military bands marched through the square and up the steps of the basilica.

They were followed by Swiss Guards, dressed in silver helmets and full regalia.

A result on only the first full day of voting in the Papal election surprised many who thought that the process would take several days.

This was because there appeared to be no clear front runner in the election of the 266th Pontiff. It was also thought it may be longer conclave as the previous Pope had not died.

The election of the new Pope had one more ballot as that in 2005 when Joseph Ratzinger was elected and became Benedict XVI in what was one of the quickest elections of all time.

On the first evening of that election black smoke appeared from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney before a further two votes the following morning did not get a result either. However the third ballot saw Benedict XVI elected after only 26 hours of debate.

The election of the new Pope is likely to be among the fastest of all time, alongside the conclave that saw Pius Xii chosen after 20 hours in 1939.

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Continue Reading‘Pray For Me,’ 76-yr-old Pope Francis Asks The World

BREAKING NEWS: Argentina’s Bergoglio Named Pope

Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been named pope. His new title is Francis I.

Earlier, White smoke poured from the roof of the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St. Peter's Basilica pealed, signaling that cardinals had chosen a new pope to lead the troubled Roman Catholic Church after only five ballots.

The decision by 115 cardinal electors came sooner than many faithful expected because of the large number of possible frontrunners identified before the vote to replace Pope Benedict, who resigned in February.

The name of the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics was expected to be announced in around half an hour from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

The secret conclave began on Tuesday night with a first ballot in the Renaissance splendor of the chapel and four ballots were held on Wednesday. The white smoke indicated the new pontiff had obtained the required two thirds majority in the fifth ballot.

Following a split ballot when they were first shut away amid the chapel's Renaissance splendor on Tuesday evening, the cardinal electors held a first full day of deliberations on Wednesday. Black smoke rose after the morning session to signal no decision.

Cheers arose from hundreds of people sheltering from incessant rain under a sea of umbrellas in St. Peter's Square as the white smoke billowed from the narrow chimney.

The cardinals had faced a tough task in finding a leader capable of overcoming crises caused by priestly child abuse and a leak of secret papal documents that uncovered corruption and rivalry inside the Church government or Curia.

The wave of problems are thought to have contributed to Pope Benedict's decision to become the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.

Additional report from Reuters

                                    

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Nasarawa Assembly Passes N110bn Appropriation Bill For 2013

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly on Wednesday passed the state's 2013 appropriation bill of N110 billion into law.

The Majority Leader of the House, Mr Godiya Akwashiki, moved the motion for speedy passage of the bill to enable the State Government deliver dividends of democracy to the people.

Akwashiki (PDP-Nassarawa Eggon West), urged his colleagues to pass the bill to enable the government execute development projects for the benefit of the people.

He said: ``The total amount approved is N110 billion comprising recurrent expenditure of N42.3 billion, representing 38.4 per cent, and capital expenditure of N67.7 billion, representing 61.6 per cent, for the 2013 fiscal year.”

The Minority Leader of the House, Alhaji Adamu Maikatako (CPC-Lafia Central), seconded the motion for speedy passage of the bill.

Maitakato said the passage of the bill would also enable the government to complete various ongoing projects and embark on new projects for the development of the state.

After listening to various contributions, the Speaker, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, directed the clerk to produce a clean copy of the bill for the governor's assent.

Ahmed (PDP-Nasarawa Central), urged the executive to ensure proper implementation of the budget and prompt release of funds to  various ministries and agencies.

The speaker commended his colleagues for passing the budget into law, urging them to closely monitor the implementation of the fiscal policy for effective result.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Gov. Umaru Al-Makura had on Dec, 12, last year, submitted a budget estimate of N107 billion for the 2013 services for approval by the assembly.

NAN also reports that there was an increase of three billion naira from the initial budget, submitted to the house to enable the executive complete some abandoned projects across the state.

A breakdown of the allocation shows that works got the lion share of N15.7 billion, housing N6.6 billion, education N4.2 billion, commerce N3.9 billion, health N3.7 billion as well as land and survey N3.1 billion.

Other sectorial allocations are: water resources N2.9 billion, sports N1.7 billion, information N1.6 billion, agriculture N1.4 billion and judiciary one billion naira.

Meanwhile, the house has also passed into law a bill for a law to establish the College of Selectors of Chun-Mada and a bill for a law to amend the Nasarawa State Local Government Laws 2003, to create additional chiefdoms in the state.

 

Continue ReadingNasarawa Assembly Passes N110bn Appropriation Bill For 2013

Gov Obi’s Successor Can Come From Anywhere – Bishop

The people of Anambra should allow God's own candidate to emerge as successor to Gov. Peter Obi, regardless of the senatorial district he or she comes from.

The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, made the call on Wednesday at the Regional Priests Recollection held at Assumpta Parish, Nimo, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

The cleric’s call is coming against the backdrop of Gov. Obi’s preference that his successor should come from Anambra North Senatorial district.

Obi is of the view that the district had been marginalised in the politics of the state.

Ezeokafor said: ``Let us pray for the right candidate who would not only consolidate on the good work of Gov. Peter Obi, but would also strive to do better than him.

``Obi has changed the face of the state, restored the people's confidence in governance and has done a great job in all sectors of the state's economy.

``But let us forget about where his successor would come from. The bottom line is that we need a leader and not a ruler, we need somebody who would be ready to improve on Obi's qualities.”

On the mystery bodies discovered on Ezu River on Jan. 19, the Cleric urged the state and Federal Governments to unravel the mystery and fish out the perpetrators of this `heinous act'.

Ezeokafor, who contended that political killings were on the increase in Nigeria, warned that if allowed to continue, the country would end up achieving nothing.

``Nigerians should seek the face of God; I see no reason why some people would decide to be taking people's lives without recourse to God and humanity.

``Why should we allow these ungodly and unscrupulous person's waste people's lives,” he asked.

Ezeokafor said that the Regional Priests Recollection would provide opportunity for clergymen to have spiritual cleansing and have a sense of redirection which they are expected to impact on their parishioners. (NAN)

Continue ReadingGov Obi’s Successor Can Come From Anywhere – Bishop

No Rift With NFA Anymore, Says Keshi

Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, said on Wednesday that the rift between him and the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has been bridged.

Keshi made this known in Abuja at the team’s interactive session with the media.

He said that his intention was to correct the anomalies that would have jeopardised the team’s chances of success at the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in South Africa.

``We are all grown up people; we have our own different ideas and opinions and we have our different ways of seeing things; I wasn’t comfortable with what I saw in South Africa and I just let them know and that is it.

``It’s not about an individual, saying that I don’t like you and you don’t like me, it’s all about moving Nigeria football forward; that is it.

``But, we are together, everything is resolved and that is why we are here.”

Keshi said that contrary to what was widely reported, the list of the players invited for World Cup qualifying match with Kenya, did not generate any form of disagreement within the technical committee of the NFA.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that former members of the Technical Committee Austel Elumelu and Paul Bassey had expressed reservations over the invitation of some players to the camp.

They had argued that the technical committee needed to see a player’s profile before he is invited to the national team.

Keshi, however, said that the NFA had scrutinised the list before it was made public.

``There was nothing like that between NFA and i over the list. We made the list and gave to the NFA and it is there position to let it out to the public and there was never a problem.

``NFA and I don’t ve a problem. We need to be together to move this team forward otherwise there is no rift between us.

``I have watched Babatunde Micheal play; he is going to be a fantastic player and John and we have a lot of them outside there, young ones that are hungry to play for this country that you guys need to help build.

``You guys need to give the courage and confidence that they can do it. We can't keep relying on older players every day and we say we want to move forward; let us have people that will take over when this group leaves.

``We should forget what happened in South Africa, we need to look forward to the game on March 23 against Kenya.

``That is the most crucial match for us now and we need to be focused and make Nigerian proud.

``We have our own strategy. Every player in that squad is good so we need to prepare ourselves in a way that we can be better in the game on March 23.

``The most important thing is for my team to understand and know their role, task or function probably we will be good.’’

Keshi pointed out that the team needed all the support it could get from Nigerians to enable it to pick a 2014 FIFA World Cup ticket.

The Eagles’ handler said his foreign based players had been given up to March 19 to report to the camp.

According to him, the idea is to have few days of training to enable the home and foreign based players to blend before the encounter with the Harambee Stars.

 

Continue ReadingNo Rift With NFA Anymore, Says Keshi

INEC To Sanction Political Parties For Financial Recklessness

Hajia Amina Zakari, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Political Party Monitoring Committee, says the commission has concluded plans to sanction political parties for financial recklessness.

She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the recent audit reports indicated that most of the political parties had poor record keeping procedures.

According to her, a summary of the external auditor’s reports on the accounts of political parties for 2010, indicate that most of the parties did not follow financial guidelines.

Zakari said there were strict financial guidelines as stipulated by law and henceforth any party that failed to update their account books would be penalised.

She said the action became necessary before the commencement of general elections.

``Don’t forget that we have to handle the elections within a short time, we are improving the party processes, so we are not pampering the political parties.

``We are still in the process of refining the political parties and we are constantly reminding them about the implication of excessive spending.

Zakari said the commission could not wait any longer to apply the big stick on political parties for financial misconduct.

``We are not shying away from the fact that our internal capacity are not up to the required standard.

``We are in the process of building an internal capacity to be able to manage the process adequately.

``We have de-registered a lot of parties that do not meet the requirements as stipulated by the law, so also there are sanctions for political parties with poor record keeping procedures.

Zakari, however, warned political parties against reckless spending during the forthcoming AMAC elections.

``There must be money in politics but it must not be reckless, and not at the expense of the community,’’ she said.

 According to her, the parties should not use government money for campaign, they should be able to source for their money in a transparent manner.

``That is why the commission is always requiring to check their account books to ensure transparency and financial discipline,'' she said.

Continue ReadingINEC To Sanction Political Parties For Financial Recklessness