Nigeria has recoverable gas reserves estimated
at between 124 -187 trillion standard cubic feet (Tcf) and
additional undiscovered natural gas potential conservatively
estimated at about 45-100 Tcf. Nigeria is a “gas surplus”
country with gas life expectancy projected to last 109 years.
At present, about 75% of associated gas produced as a
consequence of oil production activities is flared.

The Nigerian market offers significant opportunities for U.S.
firms with a keen interest in expanding their operations
internationally, and the oil and gas industry remains one of
Nigeria’s most lucrative and viable investment opportunities.
Business observers believe that the oil and gas sector offers
consistent opportunities for marketing essential capital
equipment and technology, for both extraction and
production. Drilling equipment appears to hold the most
promise for U.S. exporters.
The Nigeria’s oilfield supplies and services is continually expanding as the country’s oil and gas
industry expands into new terrain, including the deep
offshore. The government of Nigeria annually budgets an
average of about $12 billion for the oil and gas industry,
which offers tremendous potential for investment to local and
international operators. The oil and gas industry remains one
of Nigeria’s most lucrative and viable investment
opportunities, with oil and gas machinery and services a key
market because of its unrivaled potential as a source of
investment opportunities
Best Prospects/Services
Oil and gas machinery is number one due to its unrivaled
potential as a source of investment opportunities for
businesses in Nigeria. Business observers believe that the oil
and gas sector offers consistent opportunities for marketing
essential capital equipment and technology, for both
extraction and production. Drilling equipment appears to
hold the most promise for exporters, with total sales in this
sub-sector projected to exceed $500 million in 2008 and to
increase over the next four years. This is mainly due to
production activity in the offshore deep-sea region, which
accounts for about 27% of total daily production and is
estimated to peak by 2018. The lubricant segment of the oil
sector remains most lucrative, as there is yet no price control.
Training services is another area where service companies
have comparative advantage especially in exploration and
production, engineering and seismic techniques.

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Muhammed Pate, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday.

The states include Edo, Nassarawa, Plateau, Ebonyi, Taraba, Yobe,Ondo, Rivers, Gombe, Anambra, Delta and Lagos.

Pate said the disease was first reported in endemic states of Edo, Nasarawa and Plateau from where it was subsequently exported to Lagos, Port Harcourt and Yobe.

He described Lassa fever as an acute febrile illness, with bleeding and death in severe cases, caused by the Lassa virus.

It has an incubation period of  between six and 21 days to manifest in patients.

“The ministry through its surveillance system started to see cases of this in isolated manner but those cases accumulated. So far there are 397 suspected cases of which about 40 individuals have lost their lives unfortunately, as a result of this viral disease.

“We are very fortunate that we have reference laboratories in our country that can actually diagnose this illness in good time,” he said.

“The Iwu Specialist Hospital in Edo State and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital are very well equipped and have been able to identify and diagnose these cases and that has contributed to the promptness of our response in terms of this cases of Lassa fever.’’

Pate said the ministry had taken drastic measures to curtail further spread of the disease and reduce mortality among the affected persons, adding that the ministry had released adequate quantities of ribavirin injections to all the affected states for prompt treatment of cases. Ribavirin injection is the specific anti-viral drug for Lassa fever.

Pate added that relevant health personnel had been sensitised and mobilised in areas of patient management and care.

“The ministry has also distributed protective gloves as safety equipment for healthcare workers because if health workers are not protected when handling a case, they can also get infected and that is an area that we can prevent”.

“What we are doing here today interacting with the media is part of the effort to sensitize Nigerians; we don’t want to know when a situation has gotten worse and what protective measure people can take”.

“Do not allow the rodent, the host of this virus to come into contact with either food or with human habitation, and there are practices that can be taken to prevent that from happening.  For instance,“the rodent live in bushes around houses, these are not the usual rats that live with people. These are rodent that live outside the house and when people either burn bushes or allow bushes to grow around their houses.  The rodent may be forced to come into contact with their food, with where they live or with water that get them to start to transmit this to people. People need to be aware of that,’’ he said

Pate said all health facilities in the country had been directed to emphasis on routine barrier nursing precautions and to ensure free treatment of patients.

He advised family members and healthcare workers to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for infected persons.

“It is important to note that, the virus is not spread through casual contact, including skin to skin contact without exchange of body fluids.’’

It would be recalled that the Rivers State Health Ministry formally raised an alarm on the  outbreak of Lassa Fever in the state which claimed the life of a nurse while six others were infected.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has inaugurated a Rapid Response Team, comprising medical experts from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH and the Ministry of Health to help contain the disease.

Besides, the state Health Commissioner, Dr Sampson Parker assured that the 110 primary Health Centres spread across the 23 LGAs in the state have been equipped and supplied with necessary medical needs required to contain the epidemic.

Administrator, Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPCDA), Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam and the Managing Director, Lubrik Construction Company (LCC),Mr Gilbert Sassine, signing the contract for phase I of the M10 Freeway to Onne Sea Port from Greater Port Harcourt City in Port Harcourt, recently.

The Tide confirmed that Governor Amaechi arrived Port Harcourt, yesterday from a national assignment in Abuja, in time to preside over an emergency state Executive Council meeting today.

The state Assembly had on Monday unanimously passed the 2012 budget which has  an increase of N11 billion over the original estimate of N427 billion.

The additional funds, The Tide learnt would be put in the pool to take care of unspecified projects that may arise in any ministry or agency of government.

Explaining the rationale behind the setting aside of money for unspecified projects, the Speaker noted that about N87.2billion was requested as additional budgetary allocation which was too high to be met.

Leader of the House, Hon Chidi Lloyd lauded members for their painstaking approach in addressing the items in the budget proposal, assuring that the government would implement the budget religiously.

It would be recalled that  the 2012 budget estimate of N427 billion was presented to the Assembly in December 2011, by the state Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for consideration and approval.

Chief Press Secretary to Rivers State Governor, David Iyofor, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State , Barrister Wogu Boms; Chairman Local Organising Committee on Ojukwu’s Funeral, Rivers State, Tony Chukwu and the President-General of United Igbo Community in Rivers State, O. I. Ezenekwe at the media briefing to announce the public lecture Rivers State will hold in honour of the Late Odumegwu Ojukwu in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

The state Commissioner for Sports, Hon Fred Igwe made this disclosure while address players and officials of the club before their  CAF Champions League triumph against el Nguema of Equatorial Guinea in Malabo at the weekend.

According to him, the state Governor, Chibuike Amaechi had visited the reception issue, which is  awaiting immediate action.

“I need to tell you that the governor has asked for the file concerning the team’s reception and I assure you that the reception will soon take place, Igwe said

It would be recalled that Dolphins Football Club emerged winners of the Nigerian Premier League last year after edging out Sunshine stars on the last day of the season.

And, as has been the practice, the team and officials have been waiting for their sponsors, the Rivers State Government to acknowledge their feat.

Meanwhile, the commissioner has explained that the coaches have been given free hand to recruit players for the club in order to have a formidable team that will succeed.

“We don’t want to disappoint ourselves and our fans, that is why we gave the coaches free hand to do their recruitment for the season. I am happy that the team is also doing well this season”, he added.

Dolphins last weekend recorded an impressive 3-0 away victory over host el Nguema in the first leg , first round preliminary match of the 2012 CAF Champions League.

Tonye Orabere

A FIFA Club World Cup action between Oceanician Auckland City and CAF’s TP Mazembe, last year

In the first leg match played under extreme cold conditions last night, Real was coasting to a lone goal victory, courtesy of a 28th minute Cristiano Ronaldo strike before the homers equalized at the very last minute.

Real was less than 30 seconds from the three minutes added time and the referee’s final whistle before Wernbloom’s half volley off a poor clearance by Xabi Alonso beat Iker Casillas to send the Muskovites into celebration.

Indeed, Real had dominated the game with 13 shots at goal to CSKA’s eight but had the homer’s goalkeeper standing between them and more goals.

Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa had a lively game for the Russians before being substituted.

Coach Mourinho will now hope to finish off the work back home at the Bernabeu when CSKA calls for the return leg.

CSKA Sofia, the 31-times Bulgarian champions, were the first foreign team to play in Libya after the uprising against Gaddafi’s rule erupted on February 17 last year.

Although the “Benina Martyrs” stadium in the eastern city of Benghazi was not full, about 1,000 Libyan men, women and children came to support the two home sides Al Ahli Tripoli and Al Nasr Benghazi.

“We feel more comfortable now. We watched football matches without interest during the revolution. But it is different now and it feels great.” A Libyan fan, Saad Mohammed al-Breghathy, said, “I wish the Libyan national team all the best as well for Libyan football in general.”

Waving the red, green and black flag of Libya’s new National Transitional Council, as well as those for local teams, the crowd watched three 45-minute games, cheering loudly when the first goal by Al Ahli Tripoli was scored.

Al Ahli Tripoli beat CSKA Sofia 1-0 but the Bulgarian team went on to beat Al Nasr Benghazi 1-0 in the second match. The two Libyan teams then played each other, with Al Nasr Benghazi beating Al Ahli Tripoli 1-0.

During the game, men in the crowd beat drums as the crowd chanted slogans such as “Raise the Libyan flag” and “Whether you like it or not, Benghazi was the spark”, referring to the start of Libyan uprising in the eastern city, which lies about 1,000 km from the capital Tripoli.

The crowd set off small fireworks during the breaks and sang Libya’s national anthem.

Ali told our correspondent yesterday in Lagos that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) current drive to reposition athletics was a step in the right direction.

Ali was recently appointed as a Zonal Co-ordinator by the AFN, in its drive to harness the talents that abound in the country.

The former champion said it was necessary to go back to the drawing board, to scout for potential “world class talents’’, hence the appointment of co-ordinators to achieve the objective.

He said the only way to regenerate the country’s drive to greatness in the track and field discipline was to revert to secondary schools.

“If you look back to the early beginning of Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, they featured in schools sports, likewise  when I went to the Moscow Olympic, I was still a student”.

“If we can get students to take more interest in athletics, we can produce world class talents in the mould of Bolt. Through such a gradual programme, the recurring incidence of age cheats in sports would be reduced to the barest minimum. We need to get them young.’’

Ali stressed the need for mentoring of athletes from an early stage, to enable them to take the course in their career growth and not deviate to other pursuits.

“We should enact a pyramidal structure of sort, whereby a distilling process is adopted to pick out the very best talents from the thousands invited for the various competitions.

“Nigeria has the same terrain and structure like Jamaica, so I see no reason why we cannot produce more world beaters like them,’’he added.

Ali commended the National Sports Commission (NSC) for its efforts to keep the country’s sports on its feet.

Sokoto is believed to be the mastermind of the bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, in which over 40 persons died.

His escape led to the sacking of the former Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and the suspention of the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Zakari Biu.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagu, presented the report of the investigative committee set up by the Senate to probe the circumstances surrounding the escape of Sokoto from the custody of the police.

Nwagu told the Senate: “Police intelligence revealed that prior to his arrest on January 14, 2011, Kabiru Sokoto had been in the check-list of Boko Haram sect’ members.

“Sokoto was reported to have been noticed within the vicinity of Snake Island, Lagos and left Lagos sometime on December 13, 2011 and disappeared from surveillance monitoring until January 11, 2012. He was later traced to Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory.

“Police detectives traced him from Abaji to Abuja on the same date and further traced him to Asokoro-Abuja where he was finally apprehended at about 0240 hours (2.40am) on January 14, 2012 at the Borno State Governor’s lodge at Iro Dan Musa Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

“The arrest was conducted by a combined team of police officers and men comprising operatives from the Force Analytical Tracking and Intelligence Centre as well as Combat Teams from the Police Mobile Force totaling 58 officers and men.

“The suspect was subsequently handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Zakari Biu, who was in charge of handling terrorist cases, in charge of suspects and general follow-up, for further investigation.

“Investigation activities led detectives comprising five officers to visit the residence of the suspect in Abaji to conduct a search on January 15, 2012.

“On arrival at the residence of the suspect at Bulletin Quarters, Abaji, the team met one Adamu Salihu, the son of the Onah of Abaji, the traditional ruler of Abaji in the FCT who was a neighbour of the suspect”.

“Salihu, who was later discovered to be a close associate of Kabiru Sokoto as well as a suspected member of Boko Haram, suddenly went into his room, came out with a copy of the Holy Quran, cited Quranic quotes and with a loud shout of “Allahu- Akbar (God is Great)”, mobilised nearby youths who attacked the police with hard objects and forcefully took  the suspect to an undisclosed location.

“Immediate efforts to recover the suspect indicated that the duo of one Jibrin Aliyu alias Kaska and one Abdullahi Sidi alias Bamanga had informed one Mohammed Gambo that the principal suspect was with Jibrin Aliyu.”

Following the arrest of Kabiru Sokoto on January 14, 2012 and his mysterious escape the next day, not a few Nigerians were irked, considering the death of many Christians last December 25 Boko Haram bombing of a Catholic Church in Suleja, Niger State, which he allegedlly masterminded.

The Anambra Commander of the agency, Mr Timinipre Zikiye, told newsmen in Onitsha that the seized hard drugs comprised mostly of cannabis, popularly known as Indian Hemp.

He said that the command was able to reduce the use of hard drugs and trafficking in the state through its collaborative efforts with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

According to him, the success achieved indicates that the partnership and enlightenment programmes undertaken by the agency in collaboration with other stakeholders are yielding positive results.

Zikiye said the state recorded reduced hard drugs confiscation from a massive 2,011kg in 2010 to 192.62kg in 2011, adding that the more than 900 per cent reduction in seizure represented reduced demand for the hard drugs.

“The year ended on a good note, we made impressive achievements, I would say. We were able to, in spite of the odds, effect a total arrest of suspects amounting to 361 last year. And with a total drug seizure weight of 192.626 kg; out of this seizure weight, is mostly cannabis”.

“Then, we had 618.4 gm of cocaine, heroin was 4.9 gm; all these added up to the total seizure weight of 192.626 kg. That was what we were able to achieve last year. And out of the 361 suspects, 301 were males, while 60 were females.

“ Out of this number, we were able to counsel about 250 suspects, who were considered drug users; that is, we consider them as being sick.”

The commander expressed gratitude to the state government for providing the command with two operational vehicles and paying the rent for its Awka Area Command office.

He, however, appealed for more support for the renovation of its state headquarters, provision of more vehicles and checking the erosion threatening its headquarters building.

The plan was made public by Governor Chibuike Amaechi who spoke through the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Worgu Boms in a chat with newsmen yesterday, at Government House, Port Harcourt.

Governor Amaechi who is also a member of the Justice Chuwudifu Oputa-led Central Burial Committee set up  to organise the final obsequies of the late Ibo leader, noted that the lecture forms part of the inter-state activities to honour the late military governor.

Governor Amaechi remarked that” Chief Ojukwu was iconic and iconoclastic leader and was a man of high humility saying no wonder they called him the Dike-diaoranma of Ibo land”.

He said that, the lecture which would be attended by the governors of states in the former Eastern Region comprising Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Enugu and Bayelsa, will be held at the auditorium of the State House of Assembly with the theme,” Eastern Region: Reminiscences.”

Governor Amaechi noted that,” this state was an integral part of that region and we are carrying on in a manner a state carries on when a former governor dies”.

The programme would be chaired by former Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili, while former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh and former Nigeria Bar Association President, Chief O. C. J Okocha are expected to present lead papers.

Rt. Hon. Amaechi  enjoined all Rivers people and well wishers to attend the programme, as Chief Ojukwu would be finally laid to rest in his home State, Anambra  on the 1st of March, 2012.