Jonathan mourns Atta Mills’ death

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday condoled with the government and people of Ghana over the death of their president, John Atta Mills.
In a press statement signed by the Special Adviser to the president of Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, Mr Jonathan said he “received with shock and immense sadness news of the sudden death of President John Atta Mills of Ghana.”
The statement said that Mr Jonathan on behalf of himself, the government and people of Nigeria, “extends sincere condolences to late President Mill’s family as well as the government and people of Ghana.
“The President assures the people of Ghana of the sympathy and solidarity of the people of Nigeria as they mourn late President Mills who did his best during his tenure to carry forward the process of democratic consolidation and socio-economic development in Ghana.”
Mr Jonathan said that he expects that “the excellent relationship which existed between Nigeria and Ghana during President Mill’s tenure will continue to be strengthened under the new leadership in Ghana in the mutual interest of both countries.”
A statement from the Ghanian president’s office on Tuesday announced the death of President Mills
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana,” the statement said.
Mills died at the age of 68, a few hours after he fell ill and was rushed to a Military Hospital.

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Ghana’s president John Atta Mills dies at 68

Ghanaian president, John Atta Mills is dead a statement from the president’s office announced on Tuesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana,” the statement said.
Mills died at the age of 68, a few hours after he fell ill and was rushed to a Military Hospital.
The statement signed by the Chief of Staff to the president, Mr John Henry Newman, stated that Mr Mills passed away at the 37 Military Hospital, Tuesday afternoon.
A presidential aide, who asked not to be named, said the president had complained of pains on Monday evening and died early on Tuesday afternoon when his condition worsened.
Previous rumours about Mills’s possible ill health had swirled in the last few weeks and he travelled last month to the United States for medical treatment.
On that occasion, he had joked with reporters on his departure from the capital Accra about rumours of his death, asking them: “Are you seeing a person who has died?”
Mr Mills was inaugurated as Ghana’s leader on the platform of National Democratic Congress (NDC) on 7 January 2009, defeating the ruling party’s candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 election.
He served as Vice-President from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings.
Trained as a lawyer and taxation expert, Mills had overseen Ghana’s emergence as one of Africa’s newest oil producers as the West African country started pumping crude oil two years ago.
The late president was expected to run for a second term in the forthcoming presidential election in December.
Ghana’s election commission said December’s presidential and parliamentary elections would go ahead as planned.
“The election calendar remains unchanged – it’s purely a party matter,” election chief Kwadwo Afari-Gyan told Reuters, explaining that it was up to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to find a candidate to replace Mills.
He is survived by his wife Ernestina Naadu Mills, and their son, Sam Kofi Atta Mills.
Ghana’s Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama is to be sworn in as the new president, Tuesday evening.
According to the country’s constitution, Mahama will complete Mills’s term.

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Ghana Denies Nigerians Entry Over Yellow Fever Card

A DIPLOMATIC row may soon arise between Nigeria and Ghana as the country is said to be denying Nigerians entry over alleged fake yellow fever cards.
Some Nigerian travellers to Accra told The Guardian that they were recently subjected to inhuman treatment at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, over yellow fever vaccination.
The Guardian learnt that all the yellow fever cards from Nigeria were presumed fake and international passports of such Nigerians seized and the Ghanaian immigration officials insisting that the affected persons get Ghana’s yellow fever cards at the cost of N2,000 before their documents could be released to them.
According to one of the affected Nigerians, “on June 29, 2012, there were two last flights by Aero and Arik that landed almost simultaneously at about 6.10 p.m. Nigerian time. Immediately, the health officials mounted an unconventional roadblock on the way to the immigration points. Every vaccination card issued in Nigeria was presumed fake. We were all asked to move to a side after all our international passports have been seized.
“New vaccination cards were issued to us after injecting us with the vaccine and a fee of N2, 000 charged for that which was paid in Nigerian currency. Charging for this in naira is curious. A pregnant woman was issued only with a card when she told them she is pregnant but after parting with N2, 000,” he added.
He said attention was not paid to new international arrivals consisting of whites and blacks on board, stressing that on inquiry, “the health officials claimed ignorance of such arrivals, disclosing that they were only after Nigerians.
“We were held for hours that day. To confirm extortion of money from Nigerians, why should they collect money from a pregnant woman who was not jabbed an injection? Why should we be paying in Naira and why should every yellow fever card issued in Nigeria be presumed fake? Do the health officials of foreign countries have the powers to seize the passports of travellers/visitors to their countries? he queried.

Source: Guardian Newspaper

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Renegade Mali soldiers announce takeover

Rebel troops have appeared on Malian state TV to announce they have seized control of the country, hours after attacking the presidential palace.

The rebels said that a nationwide curfew was in force and that the constitution had been suspended.

The renegade troops had staged a mutiny on Wednesday, trading gunfire with soldiers loyal to the government.

The mutineers say the government is not giving them enough arms to tackle a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs.

On Wednesday the mutineers had taken over the state radio and TV broadcaster in Bamako and took it off air.

After several hours of footage of traditional Malian music and dancing, a group of soldiers appeared on screen early on Thursday morning, with a caption identifying them as the "Committee for the Re-establishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State".

A spokesperson for the rebels, identified on screen as Lt Amadou Konare, said they had ended the "incompetent regime" of President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Lt Konare condemned the "inability" of President Toure's government to "fight terrorism", and said the soldiers would look to hand over to a democratically elected government.

There has not yet been any reaction from President Toure to the announcement.

Tuareg unrest

The unrest began on Wednesday as the country's defence minister started a tour of military barracks north of the capital.

Soldiers fired in the air during the inspection, prompting an immediate strengthening of security around the presidential palace.

Troops are upset with the government's handling of a Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country, and are also reportedly opposed to any potential talks with the rebels.

There was heavy gunfire in Bamako throughout Wednesday, and armoured vehicles had moved in to protect the presidential palace. Gunshots reportedly continued to ring out overnight.

A member of the presidential guard described the fighting to AFP news agency.

"We are in control of the presidential palace. People are shooting towards us and we are returning fire," he said.

The BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says it is unclear whether President Amadou Toumani Toure was inside the palace at the time.

In the northern town of Gao, young recruits were said to have begun rioting at a military base, according to the Associated Press.

Both the US and France have urged the soldiers and government to resolve their dispute through peaceful means.

The Tuaregs have forced the army out of several northern towns in recent months.

Earlier this week Ecowas, the West African regional organisation, urged its member states to support Mali with military equipment and logistics.

A presidential election was due to take place in the country in just under a month.

The government had so far refused to postpone the poll, despite the unrest involving Tuareg-led rebels.

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30,000 Nigerians to study in UK by 2015 – British MP

A Member of the British Parliament, Mr Iain Stewart, has said that about 30,000 Nigerian students would be studying in various universities across the United Kingdom by 2015.
He said this at a two-day seminar entitled: “Nigeria/UK Best Practice in Education.”
The seminar was organised by Focus Learning Support in collaboration with Global Development Partnerships, Sodji Sports Foundation and the University of East London at the Westminster, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
“There will be nearly 30,000 Nigerian students in the UK BY 2015,” the Europe correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Stewart as saying on Thursday.
“These numbers account for seven per cent of the total UK university population; this is a very significant number,” he added.
The MP who explained further that the international students market was worth nearly 10 billion pounds, urged the UK politicians and the academic sector to place more importance on the sector.
“It is a global market and we have to offer the very best courses and best academic practices if we want to continue to attract students in large numbers,” he stressed.
Stewart commended FSL for supporting many students from Nigeria to further their studies in the UK to enable them compete with the global demands.
Also speaking, Dr Sam Wodi of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, in his presentation on the Rivers experience, faulted the perception that the standard of education in Nigeria had fallen.
“This cannot be sustained as more than 40 Bachelors Degree graduates from various Nigerian universities sent on Rivers State Government scholarship to pursue masters degrees in the University of Coventry and Teesside, performed excellently with seven first class.”
Earlier, Chief Executive Officer of FSL, Dr Elizabeth Achinewhu-Nworgu, said the organisation in collaboration with the UK Border Agency had facilitated the admission of more than 600 students into the UK universities and colleges since inception in 2003.
“Out of this number 98 per cent have graduated and gone back home to better utilise the skills gained from the British education.
“In 2011, 33 Masters degree Rivers State Scholarship Board (RSSB) sponsored students graduated from the University of Coventry and Teesside and have since returned to work for their communities in Nigeria,” Achinewhu-Nworgu said.
She commended Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, for the scholarship initiative and urged other states to emulate the gesture.

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