The Nigerian Government has said it hopes that a suspended polio vaccination campaign in the north of the country will resume soon. Immunisation was halted in three states last year following fears that the vaccine was contaminated. The World Health Organisation, WHO, has warned that unless the spread of the disease is checked, it would undermine eradication efforts.

As the corruption trial of three former ministers Alhaji Hussaini Akwanga, Chief Sunday Afolabi, Dr. Mohammed Shata and others resumes this morning in Abuja, Independent Advocacy Project (IAP), the good governance group, has called on the federal government to demonstrate its genuine commitment to the fight against corruption by signing and ratifying the African Union (AU) Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. In a statement released in Lagos, IAP says this case is being widely regarded as a key test of President Olusegun Obasanjo's resolve to deal with endemic corruption in the country, but that for the trial not to be seen as "playing to the gallery" or "window dressing," it is imperative that Nigeria signs, ratifies, domesticates and implements the AU Convention.

Nigeria launched an anti-corruption drive last week when five former government officials charged with accepting bribes appeared in court for a test case of the country's desire to clean up its image. One of the judges did not turn up and the trial was postponed. But this nevertheless signalled a new determination by President Olusegun Obasanjo to tackle graft on the same day he visited London for Commonwealth talks.

The management of the state-owned Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (OSRC), in southwestern Nigeria, suspended nine senior journalists on January 21 for an indefinite period of time. The affected journalists include news director Seinde Omokoba and his deputy, Sanya Adeleye. The others are Taiwo Fagbuyi, Akinwale Oshodi, Franklin Olaleye, Daisi Ajayi, Remi Olagookun, Daiso Ifaleyimu and Bola Akinrunjomo, all of whom hold various positions as editors, reporters and newscasters. The suspension letters, which were signed by OSRC board chairman Clement Adebambo, accused the journalists of "dereliction of duty." In a telephone interview, however, Oshodi told the Media Foundation for West Africa-Nigeria that the journalists were suspended for giving prominent airtime to an aborted strike over increases in petroleum product prices, which had been planned by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for 21 January.

Nigeria's creditors have for the first time acknowledged the country's pressing need for debt relief. The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO) Muhtar Mansar said: "The IMF have done a very detailed study on debt sustainability analysis, taking into account Nigeria's budget projection situation and it shows that Nigeria really needs debt relief." He also said that there was a lot of sympathy for Nigeria on the issue, particularly from the UK, the country's largest creditor from the Paris Club. Twenty-five per cent of Nigeria's Paris Club debt belongs to the UK.

Smarting from the second bribery scandal of its term, the Senate is making efforts to establish a code of conduct through which the actions and inactions of its members will be assessed. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, said his committee was perfecting the code of conduct that would serve the Senate. He said his committee would be relying on Order 96 (4c) empowering it to "recommend to the Senate from time to time such administrative actions as it may deem appropriate to establish and enforce standards of official conduct for the senators."

Given the important role journalism and mass communication play in the development of the society, scholars and experts in the twin-fields recently called for an urgent review of their curricular to meet changing societal needs. The call was made at the end of a 3-day National Workshop on Curriculum Review of Mass Communication Training Institutions, organised by the Commonwealth Association for Education in Journalism and Communication, which took place in Abeokuta, Ogun State recently.

As part of reforms to build investor confidence in Nigeria, the nation's envoys, as well as trained law enforcement agents, are to be co-opted into the war against e-mail scams. The e-mail scam is one method used to defraud victims by luring them with promises of business deals running into millions of Naira.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has rated Nigeria among the nine countries with the highest rate of illiteracy in the World. Education Minister, Professor Fabian Osuji, dropped the hint at a press conference in Owerri at the weekend.

When a student-led Islamic sect launched an armed uprising last month with the aim of setting up a Taliban-style Muslim state in northern Nigeria, the authorities were swift to quell the insurrection. However, political analysts and security officials fear the emergence of the Al Sunna Wal Jamma (Followers of the Prophet) group may be an indication that extremist Islamic groups have found enough foothold in Nigeria to make Africa's most populous country a theatre for worse sectarian violence than it has seen in recent years and acts of terrorism.

The Nigeria Labour Congress announced Wednesday that it was suspending a nationwide stay away that had been called to protest against a fuel price increase. The strike was scheduled to begin on Wednesday. However, a court of appeal in the capital, Abuja, ordered the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to withdraw its call for a stay away. This followed government's appeal of an earlier judgement that the strike could go ahead. In the latest court decision, Justice Ayo Salami said the strike action could not proceed before Jan. 26, the date which has been set aside for hearing the government's appeal.

The Minister of Health, Prof Eyitayo Lambo, has stated that the result of the baseline assessment study of Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector indicated that there was inadequate supply of key drugs at public health facilities, a situation which he said demanded radical health reforms. The minister said the results of the study indicated inadequate record keeping, especially at the primary health care level, irrational prescription of drugs, and higher utilisation of private sector facility than the public sector.

Authorities in northern Nigeria’s Kano State said on Sunday the suspension of polio immunisation in the state would remain in force until their fears about the vaccines used were adequately addressed. Reacting to a declaration signed on Thursday by Nigeria’s Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo, pledging to immunise all Nigerian children against polio, Kano State spokesman Sule Yau Sule said vaccination could only resume in the state when authorities were convinced that the vaccines were safe. Kano State was among three northern states that halted polio immunisation in October following allegations by Islamic leaders that the vaccine to be administered to thousands of children was contaminated with HIV and anti-fertility agents.

Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) officers interrogated Tony Eluemunor, the "Daily Independent" newspaper's Abuja bureau chief, on 12 January in connection with the newspaper's 8 January lead story. The story alluded to links between the presidency and an alleged plot to unseat Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige. On 9 and 10 January, SSS officers made repeated visits to the newspaper's Abuja offices to inquire as to the whereabouts of Eluemunor. When they were informed that the reporter was out of town, they left strict orders for him to report to the director of special operations (DSO) at the SSS headquarters in Abuja.

The successful candidate will serve as the technical and programme leader for this high profile, $200 million, five-year HIV/AIDS prevention and care programme. MPH/MS/MA and at least 10 years experience managing large-scale health programmes, to include at least five years senior level field management experience in Africa.

Nigeria has endorsed the new mass immunisation campaigns that aim to vaccinate 250 million children against polio announced after an emergency meeting at the World Health Organisation. Nigeria's Health Minister was the first to sign the declaration followed by Afghanistan, India, Egypt, Niger and Pakistan - the remaining polio endemic countries.

Helpscape, a youth serving, non-governmental organisation with offices in Ibadan, Oyo State and Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria is pleased to announce the 2004 Budding Leaders' Summit (BLS). The BLS is a quarterly summit that draws participants from Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions. It is a career and educational/counselling programme for youths in the 12-25 years category. In 2004, there will be five summits in five cities across the country namely: Ibadan (January 28), Lagos (March), Jos (June), Uyo (September) and Abuja (December).

A government programme in Nigeria to provide anti-retrovirals, the drugs which help people infected with HIV/Aids, has run out of supplies. At least 12,000 people have been receiving the drugs from clinics at about a tenth of market value for more than a year.

At least 10 people died when ethnic Ijaw militants traded gunfire with government troops in Bomadi, a small town in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger delta, residents said on Friday. The clash occurred last Thursday when soldiers trailing a group of Ijaw militants surrounded the town and engaged the armed youths in a gun battle, the residents told IRIN.

A major landmark in the nation's response to HIV/AIDS was recorded in Nigeria as it launched a comprehensive baseline survey that depicts reproductive health and HIV indices in the country. Tagged "2003 National HIV/AIDS & Reproductive Health Survey" (NARHS), the survey was conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Society for Family Health (SFH), a non governmental organisation dedicated to the alleviation of suffering and poverty in Nigeria by improving reproductive, maternal and child health) and other development partners.