The retired general a Baptist from the south walks a tightrope between
The retired general, a Baptist from the south, walks a tightrope between rival factions. He is under pressure from the Muslim north that, for nearly 40 years, produced most of Nigeria's military leaders. There is regular mischief-making by retired generals who fear the civilian government will undermine their privileges and influence. To add to Nigeria's tensions, it has more than 150 ethnic groups, some with secessionist ambitions.Reports say the 19 soldiers were abducted by tribal fighters on 12 October, humiliated and killed. They had been deployed to quell ethnic tension in Benue and neighbouring Taraba and Nasarawa states, mainly business and land-access rivalries between tribes, including the Tivs, the Jukuns and Fulanis.Amnesty International condemned the alleged "act of revenge" and requested an independent inquiry.
Benue senators asked the US, Nigeria's closest business partner, and Britain, the former colonial power, to press President Obasanjo to condemn the killings. Senator Daniel Saror and MP Gabriel Suswam said in statement: "It is clear the federal government of Nigeria has approved a plan to eliminate the Tiv people from Taraba and Nasarawa using the Nigerian armed forces of which he [Mr Obasanjo] is the commander-in-chief. Our prayer and appeal to you is that you please use your good offices to prevail on the Nigerian government to halt this gruesome act of ethnic cleansing.''This week, the President has been hosting a high-profile launch in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, of the New Africa Initiative, an EU-sanctioned "Marshall Plan'' to tackle the continent's problems. Observers have been shocked that he has not made a public statement, only talked on the phone to the Benue governor, George Akume. The governor said the killings were in "half a dozen Tiv villages'' and between 120 and 130 people died in one settlement alone, Gbeji. Local journalists said at least 200 were killed and some bodies were set alight.President Obasanjo's government is struggling in the worst cycle of ethnic and religious violence since the late 1960s, when the eastern Biafra region declared independence, detonating a civil war.
Hundreds have died in northern Nigeria in two years in violence between Christians and Muslims.Nigerian newspapers compared this week's events to a 1999 attack in the southern Delta region. They said Nigerian security forces massacred hundreds of people to avenge the killing of 12 police officers.. The glass-maker Pilkington yesterday warned that trading in the second half would be hit by the economic slowdown and mothballed plans to open a new £75m plant in Poland. The glass maker Pilkington yesterday warned that trading in the second half would be hit by the economic slowdown and mothballed plans to open a new £75m plant in Poland. The company went on to suggest that next year may not see any improvement.
"The world economic outlook is more uncertain than for many years; accordingly the management is taking a very cautious view of 2002-03," it said.The news cast a shadow over the first-half results for 2001 announced yesterday, which were what it called the best interim figures for a decade. Pilkington has gone through a major restructuring programme since 1997, which has seen it lay off large numbers of staff and improve efficiencies. The group said it was now well-positioned to ride out the downturn.Pre-tax profit was up 14 per cent, before goodwill and exceptionals, to £120m. The group has reduced production at some of its plants and it said that demand from car manufacturers was down.The broker CSFB said: "Even though we expect the coming year to be difficult, Pilkington should see some, albeit modest, growth.". The trustees of the Unilever pension fund have no right to compensation for its underperformance because they were fully aware of the investment house's unconventional style, Mercury Asset Management said yesterday. The trustees of the Unilever pension fund have no right to compensation for its underperformance because they were fully aware of the investment house's unconventional style, Mercury Asset Management said yesterday. Ian Glick, Mercury's QC, asserted in court that Unilever's trustees were repeatedly told in the 1990s by senior Mercury personnel, such as Carol Galley, that they choose to operate differently from the rest of the market.Unilever is suing Mercury for £130m after the company, which is now part of Merrill Lynch Asset Management, failed to meet performance targets on its pension fund between 1997 and 1998.In what is becoming an increasingly tense case between the two City giants, Mr Glick launched a day-long attack on Unilever's former chairman of the board of trustees, Hugh Stirk. Mr Glick will face Wendy Mayall, Unilever's formidable former chief investment officer, on Monday.Mr Glick pointed to numerous meetings with Unilever in 1994 and 1995 where Ms Galley and the fund's manager, Alastair Lennard, spelt out their habit of taking unusual market positions, such as being underweight in most of the biggest UK stocks."Ms Galley and Mr Lennard made it absolutely clear how they went about their business.
You didn't have to be an expert, for example, to realise that they were running the portfolio with only a small number of stocks," Mr Glick said.Mr Stirk, who appoined a trustee in 1990 and was in charge of Unilever's pension fund between 1995 and 1998, agreed that the trustees were familiar with Mercury's approach and acknowledged that it had paid off in the past.Mercury was Unilever's top performing fund manager for part of the 1990s. It was retained even when Unilever stopped using managers of other segments of its £4bn pension fund because it was unhappy with their returns.Unilever argues that despite Mercury's strong past performance, its approach was not suitable from 1997, when the two renegotiated their contract to include the benchmarks of not under-shooting an agreed index by more than 3 per cent and not taking risks to outperform it by more than 1 per cent. Unilever says these were to be in line with its requirements as a mature pension fund and alleges Mercury's approach was inappropriately risky.. Capital Radio yesterday extended its hold on the London youth market with the acquisition of a stake in Choice FM, which plays contemporary music, in a deal that values the station at up to £22.25m.