Nigeria’s truly national newspaper
News Kudos for Fashola on list of would-be commissioners P18 Sport Yobo allays fears over Nigeria’s Cup of Nations fate P41 Business Expect tough economic policies, says President P15 http://www.thenationonlineng.net
TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH
VOL. 6, NO. 1804 TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011
N150.00
Boko Haram kills three in Customs office attack Govt sets up Task Force to stop sect Amnesty urges end to killings
N
O fewer than three persons died yesterday when suspected members of the radical Muslim sect, Boko Haram, attacked a Customs office in Maiduguri. Authorities quickly blamed Boko Haram, which on Sunday night dropped bombs that killed 25 people at local beer parlours in the Borno State capital. Boko Haram wants strict Shariah law implemented across the North. The continued violence surrounding Maiduguri
OR: Burnt motorcycles after the Dalla bombings in which 25 people died on Sunday. HORROR •THE SCENE OF HORR From Abiodun Joseph, Maiduguri
has left the city in fear as the authorities seem unable to stop the group from attacking at will. The Federal Government has raised a Task Force,
headed by Major-Gen. Jack Okechukwu Nwaogbo, to hunt down the Islamic sect. Yesterday’s attack hit the Customs office as officials held a meeting, said Maj.Gen. Nwaogbo. The assault included explosion of bombs
and gunfire, which killed three people outside of the building, he said. No fewer than two Customs officials were wounded in the attack. On Sunday, Boko Haram members riding on motor-
PHOTO: NAN
cycles attacked three makeshift bars in the city. Witnesses and others said about 25 people died in the beer parlour attacks. Nwaogbo declined to offer a casualty information yesterday during a news confer-
ence. “What caused the killings of many people in the attacks were when about 10 gunmen riding seven motorcycles surrounded and Continued on page 2
18 more ministries likely in Jonathan’s cabinet President may scrap Pressure on senators minister of state to stop nominees
T
•Dr Jonathan
HERE may be no Minister of State in the cabinet – if the President approves a proposal to scrap the office, sources said yesterday. But President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to make up his mind on the proposal by civil service bureaucrats, who say the action will stop bickering among ministers. If the proposal is accepted by the President, there will be 36 ministries as against the present 18. Besides, none of the ministerial nominees, whose names the Senate is expecting today, will be a Minister of State.
SOME OF THE NEW MINISTRIES •Communication Technology •Rural Development •Social Development and Employment •Investment and Trade •Tertiary Education •Basic Education •Health •Primary Health Care •Railway •Science and Innovation •Special Duties & Inter-Governmental Affairs From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Abuja
Many government officials, including permanent secretaries, are in favour of scrapping Minister of State.
The proposal to allow every minister manage a portfolio followed constant wranglings between ministers and ministers of state, who are often seen as juniors. Fighting among ministers, which started in the 80s during ex-Presi-
dent Shehu Shagari’s era became pronounced when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was in power. The Yar’Adua administration raised a committee to define responsibilities for ministers and ministers of state. But this did not help matters as such wranglings occurred in President Jonathan’s last cabinet. The constant clashes led to a proposal from bureaucrats in the Presidency to scrap minister of state. A source in the civil service said: “The friction between ministers and ministers of state has always brought government machinery to a complete halt. We have had cause to suppress this cold war but the ministers ended up not achieving Continued on page 2
•POLITICS P17 •SPORTS P24 •PROPERTY P25 •ENERGY P37 •AVIATION P45