Corruption is a major obstacle to development, lowering investment and retarding economic growth, Center for Public Accountability (CPA), chief executive officer Prince Bowo Olateru-Olagbegi has said. He advised government to give adequate attention to addressing the issue of corruption because of its adverse effects on the nation's socio economic development.

Scores of people were feared killed at the weekend in clashes over land rights near the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt in the troubled Niger delta, according to police. Fighting broke out on Saturday between two rival groups seeking control of Bakana, said state police spokesperson Barasua Ireju.

Amnesty International and the Nigerian Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEPAD) on Monday expressed deep concern about human rights violations and an increase in political violence in the run-up to Nigeria's federal and state elections, scheduled for April and May 2003. In a joint statement, the organisations said that reports of political violence, including the assassination of political leaders, clashes between supporters of different political persuasions - both within political parties and between rival parties - and the intimidation and harassment of candidates and sympathisers had risen considerably in recent months.

The presidential candidate of the Progress Action Congress (PAC) Mrs Sarah Jibril, has accused the nation's mass media of not giving adequate publicity to the so-called smaller political parties and their candidates. Jibril, who spoke in Abuja at a workshop on election reporting organised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said the press have tended to report "richer" parties more to the disadvantage of others.

Center for the Right to Health (CRH) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to the full realization of the right to health in Nigeria and the promotion of ethics and human rights in healthcare policies and practises, especially for vulnerable groups such as people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). CRH has its head office in Lagos and a Voluntary Counselling and Testing office in Abuja. CRH presently seeks to recruit top level Nurses to join her multi-sectoral programme staff in tackling HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support and in defending the human rights of PLWHA.

A coalition of political parties in Enugu State has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun alleging a plot to foment violence by the state government at the April elections using 135 senior and junior police officers aided by thugs.

Nigeria's Electoral Commission, Inec, last week announced that with 64 million voters registered, it was on course with preparations for next month's elections. Officers promised that providing there is security in the country, the vote would go ahead. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed is secretary to the Commission.

An armed group of eight men broke into the Port Harcourt home of Ledum Mitee on March 22, searching for him unsuccessfully. Mitee is president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and has been a strong critic of the Rivers State government. Human Rights Watch said the attack highlights the need for additional efforts to protect government critics in the crucial pre-election period.

The Global Civil Society Portfolio of the Ford Foundation has set aside $US1 million to promote civic engagement in global governance and to encourage global civil society actors to address the democracy deficits apparent within global governance. With this call for proposals the Ford Foundation is seeking civil society organisations that have a strategic plan to strengthen or promote accountability mechanisms between global governors and global citizens.

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo began his campaign for re-election in "hostile" territory this month. Makurdi, the city in central Nigeria where, on 1 March, he addressed his first rally since winning the ruling party's nomination in January, is the capital of Benue State, where troops acting on his orders raided several villages in October 2001, killing hundreds of civilians in reprisal for the killing of 19 soldiers by a local militia.

More than a week after an outbreak of ethnic violence in the oil-rich Delta region of Nigeria, the army sent by the government to quell the disturbances claims to have tightened its control on the volatile conflict zone. At the heart of the conflict are youths in the Niger Delta from the local Ijaw community, which claims to be the majority ethnic group in the area. They complain that they have been marginalised by central government and receive virtually none of the benefits from the oil wealth, which they say comes from their traditional lands in the region.

A research study of media response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in the year 2002 has revealed a steady increase in the quality of coverage and understanding of key issues by journalists. The study also found high levels of sensational reporting and common use of inappropriate and stigmatising by newspaper reporters. The preliminary findings of the study, covering print media reporting on the epidemic between March and December 2002, was presented at a ceremony marking the 2002 Red Ribbon Awards on HIVAIDS, held at the NiteShift Coliseum, Ikeja in Lagos on March 8, 2003.

Three journalists narrowly escaped being lynched recently by irate youths at the office of assassinated All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP) Chieftain, Marshal Harry, in Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta region. The journalists, Emmanuel Ugwu of The Punch, Kelvin Ebiri of The Guardian and a photo journalist, Femi Makinde, had joined other sympathizers to keep vigil at the office located in the premises of a hotel. But an attempt by Makinde to take the photograph of one of the weeping sympathizers drew the ire of the Kalabari youth who descended on him. Makinde was beaten and his digital camera confiscated.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved ruling to a later date in the appeal filed by the Daily Times of Nigeria PLC, challenging the ruling of a Lokoja High Court that issued a bench warrant for the arrest of its Managing Director, Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo and Sunday Times Editor, Tunde Ipinmisho.

Problematic characterization and images of Africa resonate in the recently released Hollywood movie, “Tears of the Sun”, which stars Bruce Willis. Shot in the “jungle” of Hawaii in the US the film is about the rescue of Dr. Lena Kendricks, an American citizen by marriage who was caught in the middle of civil unrest in Nigeria after a military coup. Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists were sent to rescue Dr. Kendricks from a village in Nigeria before a newly installed military leader, a Muslim Fulani, start “ethnic cleansing of Christian Igbos” in the village.

An appeal, due to begin in northern Nigeria for a Muslim woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning, has been postponed because the judges failed to turn up. The case of Amina Lawal, has provoked strong opposition from human rights organisations across the world, many of whom sent representatives to attend the hearing.

In northern Nigeria - far away from the military action in the Gulf, there appears to be overwhelming condemnation of U.S. President George W. Bush and his intentions in Iraq. AllAfrica correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton is travelling around the northern states of Nigeria to report on the current election campaign, ahead of polls next month. In the influential states of Kaduna and Kano, she heard the views of local people apparently deeply concerned about the war.

The US has denied that it has suspended military assistance to Nigeria following Nigeria's opposition to the US-led war on Iraq. US Nigeria ambassador Howard Jetter said: "This is not the case. The US government has not sought to influence Nigeria policy on Iraq through the suspension of military assistance. While some US military assistance to Nigeria has been affected by US legislation that went into effect on February 20, those limitations were in no way related to Nigeria's stand on Iraq."

The eradication of the polio virus in Nigeria in 2003 is still possible with adequate political commitment to overcome resistance to immunisation, says UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Director for West and Central Africa, Rima Salah.

Violence has escalated in southern Nigeria's Niger Delta, with militants from one community attacking villages populated by a rival ethnic group and storming an oil facility, officials and residents said on Tuesday.