After a week-long campaign, militants in the Niger Delta have called for a temporary end to the “oil war”, even as security forces closely monitor developments.The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), in an email message, said it had unilaterally decided to suspend hostilities, but warned that it would be pulled back into action by the slightest military operation against any of its camps.


“Effective 0100 hours (0000 GMT) September 21, exactly one week after we launched our reprisal, MEND will begin a unilateral ceasefire till further notice,” the group said in its message.


But Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Flush Out 3, while welcoming the development, said it would not lower its guards until it had ascertained that the militants were sincere in their peace proclamation.

It will be recalled that the offensive by militants in the Niger Delta all through last week against strategic oil facilities saw the nation's daily crude oil output dropping by about 150,000 barrels.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), yesterday said his administration will lay a solid foundation to enable future leaders fulfill the dream of a new Lagos. Fashola, who spoke at the New Lagos House, while receiving the executives of the National Association of Lagos State Students, University of Abuja, who visited him, said his administration, being time-bound, will certainly not fix all the problems.

"As a government, we are under no illusion at all that our tenure is time-bound, therefore, we cannot fix all the problems with all our best wishes. But the responsibility that we have set for ourselves is to lay a foundation that you can build on and take over from us. That is our hope, that is our dream, that will be our fulfilment, that the generation after us achieved our dream", the Governor told the students.

"We can set the vision, but it takes a gestation period for the vision to come true. Nothing will be more fulfilling than to see one or more of you here in the next few years carrying out this dream and moving this wheel forward", he said.

Recalling that some 20 years ago, he was a student just like them, the governor said: "It might seem a long time to come, but it is not. It may seem too far away, but it is not. In 1995, when General Babangida was the Military President of this country, I was a student. Now, I am Governor. So time flies so quickly."

He noted that this has informed his administration’s serious investment in education from primary to the tertiary level.

"We think that if this investment matures, Lagos will be a better place, Nigeria will be a richer country, because we believe clearly, without any doubt, that the greatest resource this country has is not oil but people", the Governor said, adding that when such people were well educated, the future of the nation was assured.

He cited China which, according to him, revived and re-energised an old culture and showed it to the world during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

He said the same could be replicated in Nigeria with the old Oyo, Benin and other ancient Nigerian kingdoms rising again if the population was galvanised into action through education.

Governor Fashola expressed delight that the modest effort of his administration was making impact not only on the residents, but also on "the generation immediately behind us", saying: "It is inspiring to know that we are raising your hopes. This is the reason we exist".

Thanking the association for honouring him with a Noble Award as patron, Fashola expressed delight that his administration’s policy for making the implementation of the students’ bursary less painful was already having an impact. He pledged to live up to expectation as the patron of the association.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, president of the association, Mr. Akapo Francis, praised the governor for his beautification programme that is transforming the state into a beautiful city, his achievements in the area of taxation, infrastructural development, transportation and in the education sector, among other achievements.

He was accompanied by seven other members, including the vice-president, Mr. Kehinde Akinrinsa, and the secretary, Miss Folashade Allen.