The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reiterated its decision to embark on strike action on January 21, and asked the Federal Government to account for the income it generated from the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, even as it declared “illegal and unconstitutional” the fuel tax. The national executive of the NLC which endorsed the strike stated that “the duration and the character” of the strike shall be decided by the national administrative council of the NLC before the commencement of the strike.

The country's largest human rights group, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), has been clamouring for the death penalty to be abolished for several years. Chuma Ubani, who heads the group, says this is essential to prevent further miscarriages of justice. "One of the arguments we have against the death penalty is that once the punishment is inflicted, it is final. Even if at the end of the day it is found that it was done in error, there can be no remedy," he told IPS. After coming under pressure from European parliamentarians to do away with capital punishment, the Nigerian government has initiated a countrywide debate to gauge national opinion on this matter.

The government of Nigeria should adopt a proposed Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) in order to promote government accountability, transparency, and citizen participation in the democratic process, Freedom House said. Passage of the bill will grant Nigerians the legal right to obtain information and records that are currently inaccessible. The ability to request official files will allow any citizen to research government and business matters and verify if public claims are backed by official records.

Despite government efforts at improving the country's food security arrangement, a United Nation's (UN) report on agriculture has given a low rating to Nigeria. The report pointed out that in spite of the improved agricultural technology and increased hybrid varieties plants, Nigeria is still in the lowest ebb of poor food security arrangement. The report said that in Nigeria, dietary and protein supplies are in doubt as many Nigerians are still inadequately fed.

Following the throwing to the public domain the controversy surrounding the administration of the country's Top Level Domain by the Nigerian Computer Society, the Nigerian Internet Group has countered, declaring its right to administer what it describes as a national resource and thus making the dispute hotter than ever before. The domain name tragedy, the writer says, has become a source of embarrassment to Nigerian IT professionals, both at home and abroad.

Ethnic tension is rising once again in the volatile Niger Delta after unidentified gunmen attacked two boats near the oil city of Warri, killing at least 18 of the passengers on board. Delta State government secretary Emmanuel Uduaghan told reporters that all the men, women and children killed in the incident last Friday belonged to the Ijaw ethnic group.

Since its commencement in January 2001, the Nigerian government-funded national ARV programme has cost the federal government an estimated US$6m (six million US dollars). Although the programme set a target of providing ARVs for 10,000 adults and 5000 children, a little over 10,000 clients in 25 centres are currently on treatment, according to information available to Access Alert.

As Nigerians start feeling the impact of the recently introduced fuel tax, Independent Advocacy Project (IAP), the good governance group, has called for a radical rethinking of the administration of the nation's governance system, processes and procedures, including the nation's tax and procurement systems in a manner that would improve governance and consolidate the gains of democracy. Although the National Assembly is still considering the 2004 Appropriation Bill, petroleum marketers have added the N1.50k fuel tax to the pump price of petroleum products since the beginning of the year, with the price of petrol rising to N43 and above per litre in many parts of the country.

In a shocking declaration, President Olusegun Obasanjo seemed to have officially confirmed the widely held view that the Nigerian judiciary, owing to corruption within its ranks, is perhaps one of the major governance institutions in need of urgent reforms. The president said intelligence reports indicated that some judges collect bribes to pervert justice. He described this situation as “a disaster for the judicial system in the country.” This is according to the January edition newsletter of the Independent Advocacy Project, a good governance body.

I am a regular reader of the Pambazuka newsletter. I found your editorial highly educating and a fundamental challenge to us engaged with development work (Poverty reduction or poverty reinforcement? Pambazuka News 136). I intend to print this and share it with other colleagues and those who visit our organisation. I agree with the editorial completely and it is more painful when you consider the tyrannical manner African leaders pursue the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) policies. The Senegal example is quite heart aching, but I bet you, we are yet to see the reality. I am pretty certain that by the time Obasanjo is through with his so-called Jesus Christ approach, there will be no single Nigerian left to applaud his efforts. I hope they find electorates by 2007.

The 46th National Council on Health meeting taking place in Yenagoa has heard that Nigeria's health system ranked among the worst in the world. The Minister of Health, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, said in his address that the health situation had recorded appreciable improvement in the early 1990s but had then nose-dived to an all-time low. "Nigeria's overall health system performance was ranked 187 among the 191 member states by the World Health Organisation while most of the country's disease burden is due to preventable diseases."

Nigeria's House of Representatives will hold a public hearing next week on allegations that polio vaccines used in a recent nationwide vaccination campaign contained elements that could cause infertility and HIV/AIDS. Aminu Safana, chairman of the Committee on Health and Human Services of the lower house of the federal parliament, said in a statement on Wednesday that the hearing had been set for next Monday. Polio vaccination has faced widespread resistance in the staunchly Muslim north, where groups of Islamic fundamentalists have alleged that the vaccination programme was part of a plot by western countries to reduce the population of Muslims by spreading infertility and the HIV/AIDS virus.

Under the general guidance of the Chief, Planning and Communication, the successful candidate will be responsible for the design, management, execution, monitoring and evaluation of a behaviour change and social mobilization strategy in support of the country Programme Communication/Social Mobilisation activities for supporting Polio eradication, fast tracking of Girl’s Education and other programmes.

On 11 December 2003, Oluwole Adeboye, a reporter with "P.M. News", an afternoon daily newspaper in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, fled his Agege home and has since been in hiding. This follows the publication of a story with the reporter's by-line about the alleged unprofessional conduct of Bamidele Adeola, a police constable.

The Taraba state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has accused police commissioner Egbechukwu Nwachukwu of masterminding a campaign to intimidate and harass journalists in the state. According to the Media Foundation for West Africa-Nigeria, a statement signed by the local union secretary, Pojo Nafinji, complained that, following a series of uncomplimentary media reports about the police commissioner, Nwachukwu publicly threatened to "get even" with journalists who "might be involved in any matter brought before the police."

Do people living in Nigerian villages have clean drinking water? Do they have enough water to meet their daily hygiene requirements? The University of Edinburgh, UK, together with the Federal Polytechnic in Bauchi, Nigeria, looked at the supply of water to people living in rural communities in Taraba State, in eastern Nigeria. Since independence, Nigeria has spent a lot of money on developing water supplies. However there are still many health problems in rural areas due to polluted drinking water and a shortage of water for daily hygiene.

The violence that has engulfed parts of Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta this year is driven by disputes over both government resources and control of the theft of crude oil, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The 29-page report, “The Warri Crisis: Fuelling Violence,” documents how violence in Nigeria’s southern Delta State this year, especially during the state and federal elections in April and May, resulted in hundreds of deaths, the displacement of thousands of people, and the destruction of hundreds of homes.

The US-based oil giant ExxonMobil has been ordered to pay three Niger Delta communities 1.4 billion naira (US $10.1 million) as compensation for the effects of a 1998 oil spill, Nigerian and company officials said on Monday. In a judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Abdullahi Mustapha of the Federal High Court in Lagos held the oil company liable for damage done by floating crude oil to fisheries and the ecology of the coastal communities of Bonny, Brass and Andoni, a court official said.

Fears are mounting of renewed fighting between rival ethnic militias in Nigeria’s southern oil town of Warri following reports that one of the groups had broken a two-month-old truce, residents said on Tuesday. Residents of the town, which serves as a base for oil transnationals operating in the oil-rich Niger Delta, said a militia of the Itsekiri ethnic group had attacked six rival ethnic Ijaw riverside settlements last week, killing at least 10 people.

Long-delayed local council elections in Nigeria have been scheduled for 27 March 2004 throughout the country’s 36 states, officials said. James Omo-Agege, a retired high court judge, who is chairman of the Forum of States Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria, told reporters on Tuesday they were yielding to "mounting pressure from various stakeholders" including political parties and civil society groups.