Killer floods, violence, new minimum wage palava reported in Nigeria - The torrential rain that 'soaked' and 'sacked' Lagos, the continuing menace by the Boko Haram Islamic sect, and labour's decision to begin a three-day warning strike next Wednesday over the new minimum wage were the main stories this week in Nigeria. For two days (Monday and Tuesday), the Independent newspaper entertained readers with its weighty headlines, saying on Monday 'Heavy rain sacks Lagos', with the rider 'Fashola shuts down public schools' and on Tuesday screamed 'Lagos flood kills 10, renders thousands homeless', with the riders 'Residents, businesses count losses' and 'The most devastating so far, says NEMA'. According to the Independent, the heavens opened up, pouring torrential rain that soaked and sacked Lagos all through Sunday, drenched those who managed to go to church, and submerged homes and roads with flood water.

The rain began at 5 a.m. Lagos time and fell continuously till late in the night and by Monday morning, houses and vehicles had gone under.

The Guardian headline on the story was 'Nightmare as heavy rain sacks Lagos... Other states hit, flights cancelled'. The story said 'The days of the Biblical Noah were almost re-enacted Sunday in Lagos as flood took over the entire metropolis.

'Panic-stricken residents were forced to move out their belongings to safer areas. It was, indeed, a nightmare for many residents as those who had ventured out were held up on the roads. Many more were holed up in their homes and churches by flooding caused by the heavy downpour, which started in the morning and continued until late into the evening.'

Later, the Lagos State government issued an official statement advising residents to avoid moving out of their homes.

According to the paper, although all the southern states experienced the rainfall, the situation was worse in Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Rivers, Edo, Enugu, Cross River, Anambra and Oyo states, as the rains made movement impossible in most towns in the states.

The downpour, the longest so far this year, literally shut down Lagos metropolis, forcing people to stay indoors and leaving some major roads and highways flooded.

The incident also affected air travel. At the local and international wings of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, passengers were stranded as flights were disrupted.

The runways were flooded, thereby making landing dangerous for any aircraft.

Air traffic controllers told The Guardian that the rain forced them to divert aircraft to other airports until the runway was drained of flood.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had predicted that Lagos and other coastal states would be seriously flooded during the rains this year.

Medical experts issued alert that the rains usually come with imminent threat of cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid fever, and other water and food-borne diseases.

The Nation captioned its stories on the floods as 'Floods of fury in cities' and '10 dead in Lagos floods', reporting that 'No fewer than 10 people, including a woman with a baby strapped on her back, died in the floods that ravaged the city and its suburbs after Sunday’s downpour.

The floods destroyed public and private property worth billions of naira and the Lagos-Abeokuta express road caved in, causing great discomfort to motorists.

Thisday screamed 'Flood sacks Lagos, kills Seven in Katsina, Destroys 120 houses', saying that apart from the disaster in Lagos, it was even worse in Katsina State as seven persons, including a primary school pupil, were killed and 120 houses destroyed last weekend.

The Nation added: 'It could get more complicated: further heavy rainfalls are predicted in the major cities Monday – Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu, among others – as this year is fast turning out to be the wettest in recent years.'

'Flood sacks Lagos, Oyo, Taraba as Fashola orders workers, school children to stay at home  and Plane overshoots runway at Benin airport', according to the Tribune on Monday.

And the Sun on Tuesday said: 'Lagos floods: 19 drown, 10 recovered'.

On violence, the papers reported the continuing bombing of targets by the Boko Haram Islamic sect despite the measures taken by both the Borno State and the Federal governments to tackle the menace.

While the State government had banned commercial motorcycle because the terrorist mostly operate on motorcycles, the Federal government has deployed policemen and soldiers to the State to deal with the sect members although Abuja had indicated it would dialogue with the terror gang.

On Wednesday, the Sun headlined its story 'As Borno shuts down...FG to dialogue with Boko Haram...Minister says Aso Rock ready to meet with Islamic sect', saying that 'For the second time within 48 hours, daring Boko Haram members Tuesday bombed a Joint Task Force (JTF) patrol van, killing four people and injuring two soldiers in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.'

As the security situation keeps worsening, thousands of residents are fleeing the city to other parts of the country. Most private and public schools in the metropolis that had earlier commenced their third-term examination on Monday, were forced to close even as the Federal Government said it was ready to dialogue with the sect for the sake of peace.

In view of this development, many State governments are now evacuating their citizens from Maiduguri where the sect is based.

And on Thursday, the Sun ran another story on the sect under the headline 'As FG seeks dialogue...Boko Haram gives conditions'.

It said 'From daring Boko Haram came a threat Wednesday that the Islamic militants have listed the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as target. Their spokesman, Mallam Abu Zaid, who spoke to journalists on phone in Maiduguri, Borno State, also called for the removal of troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) from the state, maintaining that their presence was a sad tale for innocent people.'

The group said that it knew its targets, adding that members of the sect may consider temporary ceasefire should all the soldiers on the streets of Maiduguri be withdrawn.

Zaid admitted that their men carried out attacks on some banks in the state, adding that they were compelled to attack the banks because they were not operating within the precepts of Islam.

He stressed that the sect would determined to carry on with their agitation should those in government fail to accede to their conditions.

Boko Haram abhors western education, insisting that the sharia laws should be practised across the northern part of the country.

In another story on the sect, the Sun's headline was 'Boko Haram: MEND vows to resume attacks' with the riders 'Accuses FG of double standards' and 'More states evacuate citizens'.

The paper said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has vowed to go back to the trenches, saying it was recruiting new militants to fight the Federal Government over its double standards in its dealing with Boko Haram suspects.

The government had through the State Security Service (SSS) said recently it would not prosecute about 100 Boko Haram suspects, who had made Borno and other states in the North ungovernable.

More people were evacuated from Maiduguri, Borno State, to avoid being caught in the war between the Islamic fundamentalists and the Joint Task Force (JTF) troops.

MEND which stated that the new fighters were being made to join the various camps, vowed that its resumption of hostilities would be felt nationally and internationally very soon.

MEND said it noted with “scorn” the recent statement by the SSS spokeswoman, Mrs. Marliyn Ogar, which stated that the 100 Boko Haram members arrested in connection with the June 16, 2011, bombing of the police headquarters in Abuja would not be prosecuted.

It pointed out that attempt to resolve the issue politically amounted to blatant disregard for Christians and an insult to Niger Delta natives “falsely and unlawfully arrested over the October 1, 2010, bomb blasts carried out by our field operatives”.

Here are more headlines on the story -- Tribune - 'Boko Haram: Maiduguri residents flee. Another bomb blast in Suleja'; the Guardian - 'UN worries as death toll in Boko Haram crisis rises', 'Tension mounts, states evacuate indigenes from Borno'; and  'Violence Rages In Borno, Boko Haram Bombs Police Vehicle'; the Independent - 'Our target is Aso Rock, Boko Haram declares', 'NYSC to redeploy corps members from Borno', and 'More states evacuate indigenes'; and the Vanguard - 'Boko Haram: Borno Corps members redeployed'; the Nation - 'Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo indigenes flee Borno'.

On labour's threat to go on a warning strike, the papers went to town all week with scary headlines.

The Sun headline was 'Reps put pressure on FG over minimum wage', reporting that the leadership of the National Assembly continued mounting pressures on the Federal Government to comply fully with the implementation of the 18,000 naira (US$ 120) minimum wage.

It said following the intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly, indications emerged on Thursday that the federal government might have no option but to accept full implementation of the Minimum Wage Act.

President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Minimum Wage act on March 2011, and the refusal to implement it had forced the Labour movement to issue a warning strike beginning from next week.

The paper had earlier run the story under the headline 'Minimum wage: Labour goes on warning strike July 20'. The other papers also ran the story under similar headlines.

The Trust with the headline 'NLC/TUC call 3-day strike next week', quoted the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as saying that it will shut down the nation from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 July, 2011 to protest government’s “insincerity” in the implementation of the new minimum wage of N18,000.

The new national minimum wage jerked up the previous wage of 5,500 naira to 18,000 naira.

But when government released an implementation table which forecloses any federal worker above Grade Level 06 from enjoying the increment, claiming that all officers already earning 18,000 naira and above are not eligible, Labour threatened, rejecting the table and payment circular.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) also confirmed that its members will join the strike action.

The Tribune headline was 'NLC, TUC reject FG’s implementation circular' while Thisday said 'Minimum Wage: Industrial Action Looms as Labour Threatens'.

The other headlines are as follows -- Punch (Minimum wage: Workers to down tools from next week); the Nation (NLC issues strike notice over minimum wage); the Guardian (Labour fixes Wednesday July 20 for strike over new wage), and the Independent (Labour begins three-day warning strike July 20).

The papers also reported the swearing in of new ministers by President Jonathan who went on to read the riot act for them.

The Independent headline was ''May your road be rough,' Jonathan tells Ministers' with the rider 'Orders EFCC, ICPC to probe MDAs, states, LGAs'. It said that Jonathan had directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to comb the books of federal, state, and council agencies to unearth sleaze dating back to 2007.

He gave the directive at the Villa when he administered the oath of office on nine more ministers, bringing to 40 the members of the cabinet.

Jonathan acknowledged the task ahead, and told the ministers, 'May your road be rough.'

He described Nigeria’s global corruption index as embarrassing, “the monster we need to confront,” and stressed that, “the war against corruption in this dispensation will start at the centre.”

Jonathan urged the new ministers to follow due process and be above board, noting that their rigorous selection went beyond Nigeria’s shores because of their expertise, integrity, experience, and qualifications.

The Punch said 'No room for corrupt ministers – Jonathan, Sambo', reporting that President Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo, at the opening of a presidential retreat for members of the Federal Executive Council on Friday, warned ministers to beware of the unsavoury consequences of violating their code of conduct.

Jonathan made it clear to the ministers that he would not hesitate to disown any of them whose integrity was called to question as a result of the mismanagement of public funds.

On his part, Sambo, who delivered a paper entitled, Roles and Responsibilities of Ministers,” said any minister, who disagreed with any decision of the FEC had only one option – to resign their appointment.

According to the Trust, 'Jonathan to ministers: Steal and go to jail'. The paper quoted Jonathan as telling the ministers and presidential aides that his government would never offer protection to anyone in government with questionable integrity and corrupt tendencies.

He said that his government was determined to sincerely wrestle and win the battle against graft.

The Guardian wrote 'We’re on probation before Nigerians, says Jonathan', reporting that tough times await ministers who may run foul of the law through actions that are unbecoming of their offices.

It quoted President Jonathan as telling members of his cabinet that they would be the focus of the reinvigorated anti-corruption crusade, admonishing them to be the “change agents that Nigerians need.”

Pana 16/07/2011