Amidst growing criticism of the human rights record of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in recent months, the government has denied that there is any restriction on freedom of expression and personal liberties in the country. Meanwhile, Media in Nigeria reports that reporters and cameramen were brutalised at a protest meeting against the just concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, in Abuja.

In a bid to empower the people of the Niger Delta with tools for effective communication and social change, Ford Foundation in collaboration with four other partners have begun the training of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on Information Technology in the region. Under the scheme, 11 NGOs have already completed two months training on Information Technology in the Bayelsa State Capital, Yenagoa.

Amnesty International's delegation attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) welcomed the general commitments given to human rights objectives on democracy and development, particularly the commitment to promote "machinery to protect human rights" and greater partnership within the Commonwealth to achieve the objectives. The Aso Rock Declaration adopted by the heads of government urges the Commonwealth Ministers and the Secretary-General to work on implementation and requested a progress report to the next CHOGM in Malta in 2005.

A businessman, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, detained in the United States for allegedly conspiring with Mohammed, son of Sani Abacha, the late military dictator, to steal public funds, has agreed to transfer about $300 million (N40.566 billion) to the federal government. The said amount was deposited in Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Limited Bank on the Isle of Jersey.

State and national leaders of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the 19 northern states have signed on to the campaign against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, courtesy of a media training programme recently concluded in the ancient city of Kaduna. At the end of a four-day workshop attended by chairmen and secretaries of the union from 16 northern states, the union executives committed themselves to forming action committees on HIV/AIDS in their respective states.

As world leaders converged recently in Mexico to sign the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, Independent Advocacy Project (IAP), the good governance group, urged the federal government to sign and ratify this global instrument and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. The final text of the UN Convention was recently agreed by state delegates, while African Heads of State adopted the AU Convention last July in Maputo, Mozambique at their 2003 Summit.

Hopes of Nigeria recovering looted funds totalling about three million pounds from Britain - where it has been stashed away by Nigerians - have arisen. The indications emerged from a meeting President Olusegun Obasanjo had with British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair, who was in Abuja to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Nigeria's labour minister was sacked last Thursday after being named as a suspect in the highest-profile corruption investigation so far undertaken by the country's three-year-old anti-graft agency. President Olusegun Obasanjo fired Hussaini Akwanga shortly after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it was probing allegations that he and six others took bribes from French firm SAGEM (SAGM.PA).

National women leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs Josephine Anenih, has urged women politicians in the country to resist intimidation and face political challenges squarely. Anenih told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Amawbia, near Awka, that name-calling, blackmail, harassment and intimidation had become serious impediments to the active participation of women in politics.

Nigeria is still waiting for a national debate on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) after African leaders returned virtually empty-handed from a G8 summit in Canada where they were searching for the $64 billion needed to make NEPAD work. "The challenge really is what should the poor nations of Africa do when expectations turn into illusions in the global arena. Those saddled with the implementation of NEPAD in Nigeria should be conscious of this huge challenge," says this editorial from Nigeria's This Day newspaper.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, (CHOGM) billed to begin Friday in Abuja may discuss new benchmarks for democracy and development, the core of which are tackling corruption, ensuring democratic accountability of government revenue and expenditure and how to guarantee peace and security.

Human rights activists and their supporters marched through Lagos on Wednesday to protest against President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government and Nigeria's hosting of a Commonwealth summit, but they were dispersed by riot police. More than 1,000 activists belonging to the United Action for Democracy (UAD), a coalition of rights and pro-democracy groups, marched through the centre of Nigeria's biggest city.

The wife of the President, Stella Obasanjo, has dragged the Independent Communication Network Limited, publishers of The News magazine, to an Abuja High Court, claiming N1 billion damages for alleged libel published by the news magazine, reports Nigeria Media Monitor. In her statement, Mrs.Obasanjo said the publication in the magazine issue of October 27, alleging that she got a contract from Comite des Jeux Africains (COJA) officials for the furnishing of the Games Village was "based entirely on speculation, unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations."

The Nigerian government has been responsible for killings, torture, and harassment of its critics over the last two years, Human Rights Watch has charged in a new report. Human Rights Watch urged Commonwealth leaders meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja this week to raise concerns about the crackdown on freedom of expression in the country. The 40-page report, “Nigeria: Renewed Crackdown on Freedom of Expression,” documents killings, arrest, detention, ill-treatment, torture and other forms of harassment and intimidation of real or perceived critics of the government over the past two years.

A new National Policy on HIV/AIDS has been concluded and will be released before the end of the year, Chairman of the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, has said. Osotimehin told a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum on Monday in Abuja that the policy was an improvement on the first one adopted in 1997.

Nigeria will surrender ousted Liberian leader Charles Taylor to face a war crimes trial if Liberia asks, President Olusegun Obasanjo said Tuesday. Mr. Obasanjo's comments marked the first time he has publicly shown willingness to yield Mr. Taylor for trial.

The Nigerian government has included former government ministers in a long awaited report on a US$400 million corruption case involving Nigeria Airways, the national carrier.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) recently reported that Nigeria owed about $28 billion from 1980 to date. The entire process of debt renegotiation and rescheduling, says this editorial, may be fraught with shady dealings. Nigerians need to know exactly the status of both the domestic and external debt profile and the strategy for tackling it.

Tribal militants armed with automatic weapons have seized two oil platforms in the offshore waters of Nigeria belonging to the oil giant ChevronTexaco, taking several workers hostage.

A call has gone out to the Nigerian Federal government to endorse and adopt the African Charter on Broadcasting. The Charter proposes a three-tier structure of broadcasting for African countries, comprising a state radio sector, a private commercial sector, and a community radio segment. The charter was passed in 2001 by stakeholders in African broadcasting and endorsed by the African Union at its Maputo Summit in July this year.