Pretoria apologizes to Abuja over deportation row

South Africa has apologised for the deportation last week of 125 Nigerians over suspicions that their yellow fever certificates were fake.

The action quickly turned into a diplomatic spat - with Nigeria refusing South Africans entry and the foreign minister branding Pretoria xenophobic.

South Africa has rejected that claim - and promised new procedures to avoid a repeat of the "regrettable incident".

At one stage Nigerian carrier, Arik Air, suspended flights to South Africa.

Yellow fever is spread through infected mosquitoes and has a wide array of symptoms from nausea and vomiting to kidney failure, jaundice and bleeding.

According to the UN World Health Organization, about half those who develop severe symptoms of the haemorrhagic illness and are untreated die from the disease - about 30,000 people each year worldwide.

"We wish to humbly apologise to them, and we have," South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ibrahim said.

"We are apologising because we deported a number of people who should not have been deported," Mr Ibrahim said - adding that he does not expect an apology from Nigeria for the tit-for-tat deportations of South African nationals.

He blamed airport authorities for what a joint statement with Nigeria described as a "regrettable incident which the South African government believes could have been handled better".

The Nigerians were turned away on 2 March because the yellow fever certificates were not check properly, according to the deputy minister.

South Africa is considering reopening a travel clinic at Johannesburg's airport - so that travellers without a yellow fever certificate can be vaccinated on arrival rather than deported.

And from now on, mass deportations will need the permission of foreign ministry officials, the deputy minister said.

On Tuesday, Olugbenga Ashiru, Nigeria's foreign minister, said the deportations was evidence of xenophobia.

"What you see playing out is what we call xenophobia by South Africans against all Africans - not just Nigerians," AFP news agency reported him as saying.

In 2008, South Africa saw a wave of xenophobic violence which shocked the nation and shook up the world's view of the "rainbow nation".

Mr Ibrahim said on Thursday that South Africa is not a xenophobic country.

The two countries say the yellow fever row will not undermine bilateral relations - and they are moving towards strengthening them.

Nigeria is one of the biggest markets for South Africa's MTN mobile phone operator, while retailer Shoprite and Standard Bank also have profitable operations there.

The Kony Files: Fact or fiction....

A former Catholic altar boy from northern Uganda, Joseph Kony has waged war against the government of President Yoweri Museveni for almost two decades.

His Lord's Resistance Army movement has been demanding that Uganda be ruled according to the Biblical 10 Commandments.

Wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mr Kony has failed to sign a peace deal with Uganda's government, seeking assurances that he and his allies will not be prosecuted.

But after more than two years of delicate peace negotiations, regional governments appear to have lost patience with Mr Kony, mounting a new attack on LRA bases in eastern DR Congo.

Born in the early 1960s in Odek, a village east of Gulu, Mr Kony is remembered as an amiable boy.

"He played football and was a brilliant dancer," one of his former classmates said, recalling the rebel leader's days at Odek primary.

He is thought to be the cousin of Alice Lakwena, a former prostitute who formed the Holy Spirit Movement in 1986.

This group represented the Acholi people who felt excluded from power after the overthrow of the northern leader, Milton Obote, by Mr Museveni.

Ms Lakwena promised her followers immunity from the bullets of the Ugandan army, but Mr Museveni's troops defeated her movement in 1988 and she fled to Kenya.

After this defeat, Mr Kony founded his own rebel group which over the next 19 years went on to abduct thousands of children to become fighters or sex slaves.

Mr Kony himself is thought to have at least 60 wives, as he and his senior commanders take the pick of the girls they capture.

He sees himself as a spirit medium.

Young abductees, who have escaped from the LRA, say that Mr Kony would tell them he got his instructions from the Holy Spirit and would often preach in tongues.

"I will communicate with Museveni through the holy spirits and not through the telephone," he once said.

He has created an aura of fear and mysticism around himself and his rebels follow strict rules and rituals.

"When you go to fight you make the sign of the cross first. If you fail to do this, you will be killed," one young fighter who escaped from the LRA told Human Rights Watch.

"You must also take oil and draw a cross on your chest, your forehead, and each shoulder, and you must make a cross in oil on your gun. They say that the oil is the power of the Holy Spirit."

Mr Kony appears to believe that his role is to cleanse the Acholi people.

He uses biblical references to explain why it is necessary to kill his own people, since they have - in his view - failed to support his cause.

"If the Acholi don't support us, they must be finished," he told one abductee. 

Source: BBC Africa News

Most common traits of bad leaders....

Poor leadership in good times can be hidden, but poor leadership in bad times is a recipe for disaster. To find out why leaders fail, we scrutinized results from two studies: In one, we collected 360-degree feedback data on more than 450 Fortune 500 executives and then teased out the common characteristics of the 31 who were fired over the next three years.

In the second, we analyzed 360-degree feedback data from more than 11,000 leaders and identified the 10% who were considered least effective. We then compared the ineffective leaders with the fired leaders to come up with the 10 most common leadership shortcomings. Every bad leader had at least one, and most had several.

The Worst Leaders:

 

Lack energy and enthusiasm. They see new initiatives as a burden, rarely volunteer, and fear being overwhelmed. One such leader was described as having the ability to “suck all the energy out of any room.”

Accept their own mediocre performance. They overstate the difficulty of reaching targets so that they look good when they achieve them. They live by the mantra “Underpromise and overdeliver.”
Lack clear vision and direction. They believe their only job is to execute. Like a hiker who sticks close to the trail, they’re fine until they come to a fork.

Have poor judgment. They make decisions that colleagues and subordinates consider to be not in the organization’s best interests.

Don’t collaborate. They avoid peers, act independently, and view other leaders as competitors. As a result, they are set adrift by the very people whose insights and support they need.

Don’t walk the talk. They set standards of behavior or expectations of performance and then violate them. They’re perceived as lacking integrity.

Resist new ideas. They reject suggestions from subordinates and peers. Good ideas aren’t implemented, and the organization gets stuck.

Don’t learn from mistakes. They may make no more mistakes than their peers, but they fail to use setbacks as opportunities for improvement, hiding their errors and brooding about them instead.

Lack interpersonal skills. They make sins of both commission (they’re abrasive and bullying) and omission (they’re aloof, unavailable, and reluctant to praise).

Fail to develop others. They focus on themselves to the exclusion of developing subordinates, causing individuals and teams to disengage.

These sound like obvious flaws that any leader would try to fix. But the ineffective leaders we studied were often unaware that they exhibited these behaviors. In fact, those who were rated most negatively rated themselves substantially more positively. Leaders should take a very hard look at themselves and ask for candid feedback on performance in these specific areas. Their jobs may depend on it.


Source: Harvard Business Review

Apple victorious in China iPad dispute

Apple can for now continue to sell the iPad tablet in Shanghai after a court ruling over naming rights was suspended on Thursday.

Chinese firm Proview had called for the courts to prevent Apple - who it accuses of infringing its trademark - from selling the device in the city.

A local court agreed to Apple's request to suspend the decision until a bigger case is heard later this month.

Apple insists it acquired worldwide rights for the iPad name in 2009.

Proview had requested that the court impose a provisional injunction to take the iPad off Shanghai's shelves - which would have included three of Apple's own stores.

Proview claims the rights to the iPad name in the Chinese market after registering it back in 2000 - years before Apple released its tablet computer.

The company is threatening to continue the battle in US courts.

Although Proview's Taiwanese affiliate registered the name "iPad" in a number of countries, including China, Apple subsequently bought the rights to the global trademark.

However, Proview claims that its Taiwanese subsidiary had no right to sell the rights to the name in China.

The tussle has seen Apple's device taken off the shelves in some parts of the country - while Proview has also sought to block the import and export of the product.

Apple had previously lost a similar case in the southern Chin city of Shenzhen, where Proview is based.
That decision will be appealed by Apple at Guangdong High Court on 29 February.

On Thursday, the Shanghai judge said a ruling on sales in the city will not be made until that other judgement has passed.

His decision follows heated exchanges between the firms' lawyers in court earlier in the week.
Apple lawyer Qu Miao dismissed Proview's "IPAD" device, saying: "They have no market, no sales, no customers. They have nothing."

He argued that the US company's device was of benefit to China, providing jobs and tax revenues.
Proview lawyer Xie Xianghui said this factor was irrelevant.

"Whether people will go hungry because you can't sell iPads in China is not the issue," he said.

"The court must rule according to the law. Do you absolutely have to sell the product? Can't you sell it using a different name?''

In a written statement, an Apple spokesman re-iterated the company's position on the dispute.

"We bought Proview's worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago," he said.

"Proview refuses to honour their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter.

"Our case is still pending in mainland China."

Mid-week morning brew: Wall Street falls on disappointing retail data

The S & P 500 index retreated yesterday from near a seven-month high after weaker-than-expected January U.S. retail sales data curbed investors’ appetite for risky assets.

Leading the fall was the financial sector, with two of the top three biggest decliners on the Dow being Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase.

Citigroup downgraded Bank of America Corp to “neutral” from “buy,” saying earnings headwinds would continue at the company even as capital concerns subside. Bank of America shares were down 1.1 percent at $8.16 and JP Morgan shares fell 1.5 percent to $37.70.

The 0.4 percent rise in retail sales fell short of the 0.7 percent increase expected by economists polled by Reuters and reflected cutbacks in car purchases and online shopping.

“The data shows that consumers are still hanging in there, just not as strong as we expected,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James at St. Petersburg in Florida.

“It shows that we are still battling some headwinds here, but the economy is definitely in a recovery mode.”

The disappointing data added to concerns stemming from Moody’s Investors Service downgrade on Monday of credit ratings on six euro-zone countries.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 42.54 points, or 0.33 percent, at 12,831.50. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 6.30 points, or 0.47 percent, at 1,345.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 12.93 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,918.46.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose near a seven-month high, up more than 25 percent from a low in early October. The benchmark index has encountered strong resistance in the 1,355 -1,360 area.

In other data, U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent in December, slightly lower than an estimated increase of 0.5 percent in December.

A third report showed import prices rose a touch more than expected in January as petroleum and food rebounded strongly, but underlying inflation pressure from imports remained muted.

Late Monday, Moody’s put Britain’s Aaa rating in jeopardy for the first time and warned it may cut France and Austria as well. Moody’s also downgraded six euro-zone nations, including Spain and Italy.

But data from Germany on Tuesday suggested that Europe’s bulwark economy is picking up pace again. The ZEW economic think tank’s monthly poll of economic sentiment jumped to 5.4 from minus 21.6 in January, well above the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts for a rise to minus 12.0.

Apple Inc plans to announce a fourth-generation (4G) version of its iPad in the first week of March, a Wall Street Journal report said, citing a person briefed on the matter. Apple shares rose slightly to $503.41 after hitting above the $500 mark for the first time on Monday.

Nigeria’s jobs website in Forbes top 10 Africa tech list

By Tope Templer Olaiya

NIGERIA’S number one jobs website, Jobberman.com has been ranked 8th among Africa’s top 20 tech start ups in the latest February 2012 edition of Forbes Africa, making the jobs board the only Nigerian company on the list, amongst other African Internet businesses.

Forbes, an influential global business magazine, assessed the organisations using the following criteria; relevance in helping to overcome Africa’s problems, especially in communications and skills shortage, online presence on social media, pan African presence and organisations less than a decade old.

This assessment places Jobberman as Africa’s number one stop-shop for recruitment and advisory services. Currently, Jobberman ranks as the 5th most visited Nigerian website according to alexa.com and receives 5,000 job applications per day – all achieved in less than two years since it was started by three undergraduates from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

Whitney Houston: The end of an affair....

Whitney Houston - RIP

By the Editor-in-Chief

She was blessed with something no one else ever had, save for a former arch-angel of Heaven; a beautiful voice that engendered a sense of reflective nostalgia.

She was so easy to listen to. But even far more endearing to millions across the globe, was the effortless ease, with which she reached those soaring heights of vocal nirvana. And she would smile as well, while in that rarefied zone.... as if to assure us all that it was really quite a thing of pleasure, for her to bring so much joy, into the lives of many.

Musical legend and multiple Grammy winner Whitney Houston passed away, way too soon. Her demons (or those bequeathed to her by ex husband Bobby Brown) finally got the best of her.

It was a tragic end to an infamous chapter in her glorious life, that many (including this writer) had hoped would be expunged.

Born into the regal glory of a distinguished musical family, Whitney's life was one that seemed scripted to not only go well, but end well.

Her mother, Cissy Houston was a gospel singer and Whitney began singing in the choir at an early age. It was there she was discovered.

With a unique voice and grace that embodied the best of her mother, her aunt, Dionne Warwick and her godmother, Aretha Franklin, Houston stormed onto the scene and made an impression that would shape generations of soul and pop female singers, still to come.

While some would sadly remember her struggles with drug addiction in her latter years, it is important that the totality of who she was and what she represented at her very best (both professionally and personally), is the focus of all and sundry, for years, decades and generations to come.

From her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in 1991 to her numerous musical hits and inspirational movie roles, she truly was an American original; the likes of which we may never see again.

May her precious soul rest in perfect peace and my heartfelt condolences go out to her family, especially her young daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

Brazil sues Twitter over police speed-trap alerts

The Brazilian government has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, demanding that the firm remove accounts in the country that warn citizens of police speed traps and roadblocks.

The authorities are concerned the service is undermining its efforts to tackle drink-driving in the country.

The lawsuit also orders Twitter to pay 500,000 reals ($290,000) for each day that it does not comply with the request.

Twitter is not commenting on the case.

The lawsuit comes after Twitter announced in January that it could block messages that contravened local laws if requested by governments.

It said it would publish all censorship requests it received to the website Chilling Effects, but nothing relating to the case has been submitted yet.

The lawsuit was filed by the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), Luis Lucena Adams, to a federal court in the state of Goias. It claims accounts that provide information to road users violate both traffic and criminal laws.

Chief Prosecutor Celmo Ricardo Teixeira da Silva said: "The prosecution responded to a necessity to ensure the effectiveness of action on surveillance of the federal highway police."

There are several popular accounts that warn road users of incidents in Brazil, with one, @LeiSecaRJ, followed by more than 285,000 users.

Another, @RadarBlitzGO, which has almost 12,000 followers, has already ended its service in light of the filing.

"We are suspending the updates until justice has ruled," it said.

Jonathan appoints man once cited for Islamic fundamentalism as new IGP

Acting IGP Mohammed Abubakar

Controversy seems to be trailing the appointment of Mohammed Dikko Abubakar as Nigeria's new Inspector General of Police.

Abubakar's appointment has thrown up many posers instead of dousing fears over the nation's security as he had been in Plateau State crisis a year ago. The Justice Niki Tobi panel constituted in September 2001 by former Governor Joshua Dariye on the Jos crisis had recommended the retirement of Abubakar from the police force.

In a White Paper released in Jos, the panel suggested that Abubakar should be dismissed if he refused to retire.

The panel said: "Religious fanatics should not be posted to head state police commands. The commission recommends that for his ignoble role during the September 2001 crisis which resulted in the loss of lives, the former Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, Alhaji M.D. Abubakar, be advised to retire from the Nigeria Police Force and in the event of his refusal to do so, he should be dismissed from the service."

The Niki Tobi panel had reportedly indicted Abubakar, who is from Zamfara State, for alleged sponsorship of Islamist militant group when he was Commissioner of Police in Plateau State.

But a source said yesterday that the appointment of Abubakar as the Acting IGP was actually a testimony to his competent handling of the Jos crisis, his brilliance and respect for all parties in the Plateau crisis.

The Guardian gathered that a lot of consultations were made before the choice of Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar was made as the Police High Command boss.

It was unanimously agreed by the Federal Government that the person who should succeed Hafiz Ringim must be an operations man, therefore, the government combed the entire hierarchy of force and decided that Abubakar, who had distinguished himself in crises in various states should fit in into the office.

The Presidency was also said to have contacted veteran retired police officers like Mike Okiro, Parry Osayande and others who unanimously agreed on the choice of Abubakar. Also, traditional rulers including the Emir of Kano and the Oba of Lagos, a retired police officer himself  was said to have preferred Abubakar as IGP.

Until yesterday when he became the Acting Inspector General of Police, Abubakar was an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

President Goodluck Jonathan  who yesterday  approved the appointment of Abubakar as Acting IGP also relieved  six Deputy Inspectors General of Police of their jobs.

Presidential Spokesman, Reuben Abati, said in statement announcing the appointment of Abubakar that it "is a first step towards the comprehensive reorganisation and repositioning of the Nigeria Police Force to make it more effective and capable of meeting emerging internal security challenges."

Abubakar enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on July 30, 1979. He was the AIG in charge of Zone 12 Headquarters in Bauchi, before his new appointment.


Source: Nigerian Guardian

"Dr Death" faces South Africa charges

Face of a killer - Wouter Basin (AP File)

A South Africa court has rejected an application by "Dr Death" Wouter Basson for a discharge on four charges of unprofessional conduct.

Dr Basson is charged with producing illegal drugs in the apartheid era.

As head of the military's chemical and biological warfare division, he is accused of creating viruses that would only attack black people.

The Health Professions Council (HPC) has ruled that he does have a case to answer.

He could lose his medical licence.

The HPC granted Dr Basson a discharge on two of the charges and part of a third charge against him, but ruled that the hearing on four remaining charges should continue later this year.

HPC professional conduct committee chairman Jannie Hugo said it could not be said that there was no evidence on which a reasonable man could convict Dr Basson.

The man dubbed Dr Death escaped a criminal conviction in 2002, arguing that he had acted under orders of the South African Defence Force (SADF).

He is now a cardiologist in Cape Town.

But the HPC is investigating whether he should be struck off the doctor's roll for providing soldiers with cyanide capsules.

He is alleged to have provided security forces cyanide to help them commit suicide, "weaponising" thousands of 120mm mortar bombs with teargas, and providing drugs that would disorientate SADF prisoners

Dr Basson brought an application saying no evidence of wrongdoing had been brought against him.

"I closed this chapter 20 years ago," he told reporters outside the hearing at the HPC offices in Pretoria last year.

"All I want is to continue serving the country as a medical professional," he said at the time.

The hearing will continue on March 27.

Dr Basson's attorney Wynanda Coetzee, said she was "satisfied" with the ruling but had not yet decided if he would testify, reports say.