Nigeria's new cabinet to be inaugurated on Tuesday

Two weeks after dissolving the country's cabinet, Nigeria's acting president Goodluck Jonathan says he will swear in 38 ministers to a new cabinet on Tuesday.

The announcement, which is expected to ease political uncertainty in Africa's most populous nation, comes as the country's Senate confirmed a list of 33 ministerial nominees for the new cabinet earlier on Wednesday.

"The acting president will on Tuesday, April 6 swear in the newly appointed ministers at the state house," spokesman Ima Niboro said, adding that Jonathan would assign them portfolios immediately afterwards.

Only nine ministers from the former cabinet have been included in the recently-approved list.

Former oil minister Odein Ajumogobia, ex-justice minister Adetokunbo Kayode and former Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe are among those scheduled to be retained in the cabinet.

Former vice president Jonathan took over as Nigeria's acting leader a month ago, seeking to fill a power vacuum imposed on the country due to President Umaru Yar'Adua serious illness

Eugene Allen, White House butler for 8 presidents, dies at 90

By Wil Haygood
Washington Post Staff Writer

Eugene Allen, who endured a harsh and segregated upbringing in his native Virginia and went on to work for eight presidents as a White House butler, died March 31 of renal failure at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park. He was 90.

Mr. Allen and his wife, Helene, were profiled in a Washington Post story in 2008 that explored the history of blacks in the White House. The couple were excited about the possibility of Barack Obama's historic election and their opportunity to vote for him. Helene, however, died on the eve of the election, and Mr. Allen went to vote alone. The couple had been married for 65 years.

Afterward, Mr. Allen, who had been living quietly in a simple house off Georgia Avenue NW in the District, experienced a fame that he had only witnessed beforehand. He received a VIP invitation to Obama's swearing-in, where a Marine guard escorted him to his seat. Eyes watering, he watched the first black man take the oath of office of the presidency.

Mr. Allen was besieged with invitations to appear on national TV shows. There were book offers and dozens of speaking requests, all of which he declined. He also received hundreds of letters, some from as far away as Switzerland, from people amazed at the arc of his life and imploring him to hold on while thanking him for his service to the nation. People in his neighborhood would stop him and explain to their children the outlines of his life.


"He liked to think of himself as just a humble butler," his only child, Charles, said Thursday. Aside from his son, Mr. Allen is survived by five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Mr. Allen was born July 14, 1919, in Scottsville, Va. He worked as a waiter at the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va., and later at a country club in Washington. In 1952, he heard of a job opening at the White House and was hired as a "pantry man," washing dishes, stocking cabinets and shining silverware for $2,400 a year.

He became maitre d', the most prestigious position among White House butlers, under Ronald Reagan. During Mr. Allen's 34 years at the White House, some of the decisions that presidents made within earshot of him came to have a direct bearing on his life -- and that of black America.

Mr. Allen was in the White House when Dwight D. Eisenhower dealt with the Little Rock desegregation crisis. Eisenhower once asked him about the cancellation of Nat "King" Cole's TV show, which the president enjoyed. Mr. Allen told him that the show had difficulty attracting advertisers, who were worried about white Southern audiences boycotting their products.

When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Mr. Allen was invited to the funeral. He declined for the most generous of reasons: "Somebody had to be at the White House to serve everyone after they came from the funeral," he told The Post. When first lady Jackie Kennedy returned to the White House afterward, she gave him one of the president's ties. Mr. Allen had it framed.

Mr. Allen served entertainers including Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey and Elvis Presley. He flew aboard Air Force One. He sipped root beer at Camp David with Jimmy Carter and visited Eisenhower in Gettysburg after he left the White House. There were always Christmas and birthday cards from the families of the presidents he had served.

He looked up one evening in the White House kitchen to see a lone figure standing in the doorway: It was Martin Luther King Jr., who had insisted on meeting the butlers and maids. Mr. Allen smiled when King complimented him on the cut of his tuxedo.

Mr. Allen served cups and cups of milk and Scotch to help Lyndon B. Johnson settle his stomach when protesters were yelling outside the White House gates during the Vietnam War. He longed to say something to Johnson about his son, who was serving in Vietnam at the time but dared not -- save for acknowledging that his son was alive when Johnson asked about him.

It pained Mr. Allen to hear vulgar words, sometimes racially charged, flowing from Johnson's mouth; and it delighted him when Johnson signed the historic civil rights bills of 1964 and 1965.

Sometimes Mr. Allen's own life seemed to stop beneath the chandeliered light. First lady Nancy Reagan came looking for him one afternoon, and Mr. Allen wondered whether he or a member of his staff had done something wrong. She assured him that he had not but also told him that his services would not be needed at the upcoming state dinner for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Mr. Allen tensed, wondering why.

"She said, 'You and Helene are coming to the state dinner as guests of President Reagan and myself,' " he recounted in the Post interview. Mr. Allen thought he was the first butler to receive an invitation to a state dinner. He and Helene -- she was a beautiful dresser -- looked resplendent that night. The butlers on duty seemed to pay special attention to the couple as they poured champagne for guests -- champagne that Mr. Allen himself had stacked in the kitchen.

Mr. Allen was mindful that with the flowering of the black power movement, many young people questioned why he would keep working as a butler, with its connotations of subservience. But the job gave him great pride, and he endured the slights with a dignified posture.

"He was such a professional in everything he did," said Wilson Jerman, 81, whom Mr. Allen hired to work at the White House in the early 1960s. "When my wife, Gladys, died in 1966, he told me not to worry about a thing. I didn't think I could get through that period, and he just took me by the hand. I'll never forget it."


Mr. Allen retired in 1986, after having been promoted to maitre d' five years earlier. He possessed a dazzling array of framed photographs with all of the presidents he had served, in addition to gifts and mementos from each of them.

The last item to be framed and placed on Eugene Allen's basement wall was a condolence letter from George W. and Laura Bush. It arrived from the White House just after the death of Helene.

3 dead, 4 hurt in blast, fire at Wash. refinery.

By GEORGE TIBBITS, Associated Press Writer George Tibbits, Associated Press Writer

ANACORTES, Wash. – An explosion and fire at a Washington state oil refinery shook homes and shot flames into the night sky early Friday, killing three people and critically injuring four others.

The fire struck the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, about 70 miles north of Seattle, at about 12:30 a.m., the company said in a statement. The blaze occurred at the naphtha unit while maintenance work was being performed and was extinguished in about 90 minutes, the company said. The naphtha unit is a step in refining crude oil into gasoline and other fuels.

Four employees are hospitalized with major burns over the majority of the bodies. Susan Gregg-Hanson, a spokeswoman for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said they are two women, 29 and 36, and two men 34 and 41.

Nearby residents, some five miles from the complex, called Washington TV stations after midnight with reports of an explosion, saying flames were being blown by high winds.

"My house shook, big time," Lisa Wooding told KOMO-TV. "There were flames. First high, then low to the ground and broad."

Tesoro human resources manager John McDarment told The Associated Press he didn't know exactly how the fire started.

"This is a very sad time for our organization. Everyone in the Tesoro family appreciates the impact that this will have on the families involved, and we are responding quickly to ensure the safety for our employees, contractors and the neighboring community," said Bruce Smith, Tesoro's chairman, president and CEO.

Tesoro said the Washington Department of Labor and Industries had been notified.

Activity around the complex had calmed down considerably as dawn approached. Guards were turning reporters away from the gate and there was no apparent sign of the fire that had lit up the skies only hours earlier.

San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. The Anacortes refinery, located about 70 miles north of Seattle on Puget Sound, can refine about 120,000 barrels of crude daily, primarily into gasoline, jet fuel and diesel to markets in Washington and Oregon, according to the company.

Big energy consumers align with Opec on intervention. Supply and demand stabilization. Price stabilization.

By Carola Hoyos in Cancún, Mexico

Many of the world's biggest oil-consuming nations have come to agree with the Opec producers' cartel that global prices should be determined by state intervention as well as market activity to reduce volatility, it has emerged at a meeting of energy ministers in Mexico.

The change in attitude marks a significant shift in political relations between Opec, other producers and the large oil-consuming countries.

Opec's efforts to control the market once made it the enemy of the US and many European nations.

Noé van Hulst, secretary-general of the International Energy Forum, told the Financial Times the dramatic market volatility of 2008, when oil prices rose to a record $147 a barrel and collapsed to $30 a barrel within six months, had for the first time fostered agreement, in the energy security dialogue, that countries needed to do everything possible to stabilise prices, including market intervention.

"I think there is much broader acknowledgement now that we need to do everything we can to avoid that kind of excessive volatility," he said.

Talking about what kind of oil price was needed to foster investment should be part of the energy security dialogue, he said. "I think that what is no longer taboo in the dialogue is talking about everything, including prices, which previously was a bit of an issue that most countries would like to avoid."

Opec's members try to stabilise prices by agreeing to lower their output when prices are perilously low and increasing it when they are so high they threaten economic growth and shifts to renewable energy.

In fact, the cartel's decision in late 2008 to slash its production was one of the main reasons oil prices rose from a low of about $30 a barrel back to $70-$80 a barrel,at which they trade today.

In the past Opec has come under heavy criticism, especially from the US and European capitals, when it has cut production to boost prices.

But such negative reactions have been absent for much of the past year.

Lord Hunt, the UK minister for energy and the environment, acknowledged the need sometimes to intervene in the market for oil and other energy sources.

"What happened in 2008 was a wake-up call because oil price volatility causes real problems in terms of the global economy and it does not create the right conditions in terms of long-term stable investment. And the fact is, we are going to need that investment," he said.

"Looking to the future, sometimes there has to be intervention," Lord Hunt added, referring both to the renewables and to the oil industry.

But there was one important dissenter this week. At least publicly, the US insisted at the discussions that markets needed to be left to determine the oil price.

Daniel Poneman, US deputy secretary of energy, said: "The goal of the US is a clear and long-standing one, and that is to let the laws of supply and demand set prices."

But such strict market economics did not apply to alternative energy, such as wind, at least for the time being, he admitted.

FACTBOX-Risks to watch in Nigeria. Great overview of Nigeria as of today!

By Nick Tattersall
Global Markets

LAGOS, April 1 (Reuters) - Uncertainty over the shape of Nigeria's new cabinet, how a presidential succession will play out and the threat of unrest in two of its most turbulent regions are clouding an otherwise bright investment outlook.
Africa's most populous nation remains a compelling frontier market for foreign investors but its volatile political climate, which poses risks to everything from oil production to banking reforms, means many remain on the sidelines for now.

Following are some of the factors investors are watching.


NEW CABINET

The Senate has confirmed 38 new ministers proposed by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, including the country's former junior oil minister and a senior Goldman Sachs (GS.N) executive, but portfolios have not yet been assigned. [ID:nLDE62U1PW]

The move came two weeks after Jonathan sacked the cabinet in a bid to assert his authority a month after assuming executive powers in the absence of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, who remains too sick to govern.

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia, tipped as a possible oil minister, and Olusegun Aganga, a London-based executive at Goldman Sachs seen as a contender for a finance ministry post, were among those confirmed.

Jonathan's backers hope the installation of his own team will enable him to accelerate priorities including electoral reform, reviving an amnesty in the oil-producing Niger Delta and providing more reliable power supply in the 14 months left of this presidential term.

But new names in key ministries could also slow business down as newcomers get to grips with their roles, analysts say.

What to watch:

-- the new oil minister. Outgoing oil minister Rilwanu Lukman was the architect of wide-ranging reform plans for Nigeria's energy industry. A newcomer may want to make further adjustments to the legislation.

-- the new finance ministry. Goldman Sachs banker Aganga, former junior finance minister Remi Babalola, and a former finance minister, Shamsuddeen Usman, are among the nominees.

Aganga's appointment would come as Nigeria seeks to woo foreign investors into its capital markets and pushes ahead with bank reforms, but some have questioned whether a stellar private sector career is preparation enough for political office.


PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION

President Umaru Yar'Adua returned from three months in a Saudi clinic on Feb. 24 but remains too sick to govern.

Jonathan has moved fast to assert his authority, appointing respected ex-military general Theophilus Danjuma as a top adviser and Aliyu Gusau as national security adviser, another retired general seen as a potential presidential candidate in elections due by April next year. [ID:nLDE6272CK]

Jonathan is a southerner, meaning he is unlikely to stand in the elections because of an unwritten agreement in the ruling party (PDP) that power rotates between north and south every two terms. Under the system, the next leader should be a northerner.

What to watch:

-- Yar'Adua dies or is declared incapacitated. If a two thirds majority of Jonathan's new cabinet declares Yar'Adua permanently unfit to rule, he ceases to hold office.

This would mean Jonathan being sworn in as substantive president and the appointment of a new vice president, likely to be a northerner who will be the ruling party candidate in the next elections. [ID:nLDE5BF1G3]

-- Elections brought forward. Nationwide polls, including the presidential race, are due by April 2011 but could be brought forward to as early as the end of this year if reforms before parliament are passed. That could mean the key ruling party primaries taking place as early as August.


NIGER DELTA

An amnesty programme brokered last year by Yar'Adua led thousands of gunmen to lay down weapons, the most concerted effort yet to win peace, bringing more than six months without significant attacks on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

But the programme stalled in Yar'Adua's absence and while Jonathan has made getting it back on track one of his top priorities, the peace has started to fray around the edges.

The main militant group MEND has said it is still waiting to assess progress by Jonathan before deciding whether to reinstate a ceasefire. But it detonated two car bombs outside amnesty talks earlier this month as a warning. [ID:nLDE62E0WH]

A splinter faction claimed two attacks on Shell (RDSa.L) and Agip (ENI.MI) in early March. [ID:nLDE6231CC]

Nigeria's light crude is popular with U.S. and European refiners as it is easily processed into fuel products, meaning disruption to supplies can have a quick market impact. Attacks on the country's energy infrastructure helped lift global oil prices to record highs near $150 a barrel in 2008.

What to watch:

-- Peace talks. Jonathan has made reviving the amnesty a priority and officials have said he will meet with key militant leaders. Decisive action by government could encourage MEND to reinstate its ceasefire.

-- Sidelining Jonathan. Any perception that Jonathan is being undermined by Yar'Adua loyalists could trigger a reaction in the delta in the form of a warning strike against an oil installation, security experts say.

-- Attacks on oil services companies. Firms including Shell (RDSa.L), Chevron (CVX.N), ExxonMobil (XOM.N), Total (TOTF.PA) and Agip have born the brunt of past attacks but MEND has warned any new unrest could also target suppliers and contractors.


ETHNIC OR RELIGIOUS UNREST

Clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs in central Nigeria, the country's main ethnic and religious fault line, have killed hundreds of people since the start of the year. [ID:nLDE6281QO]

The violence is rooted in decades of resentment between Christian villagers and Muslim settlers from the north, who compete fiercely for control of fertile farmlands as well as economic and political power.

But the region is seen as a microcosm of the wider country, highlighting how sensitive it is to shifts in the balance of power between its main ethnic and religious groups.

The government has come under criticism for failing to address the root causes of the unrest -- poverty and discrimination -- and for failing to prevent violence from continuing despite the deployment of the military in January.

What to watch:

-- Further outbreaks of violence. Many Nigerians believe that such clashes are engineered by politicians. The last thing Jonathan needs as he steers government through a difficult period is further bloodshed at the heart of the nation.

-- Increased use of military. As much as three quarters of the rank-and-file in the Nigerian army are from the "Middle Belt", the border region between Muslim north and Christian south, and deployments in the region are highly sensitive, with the potential to expose the military's internal divisions.


POLICY AND MARKETS

Nigeria's financial markets have so far largely shrugged off political uncertainty but there is a risk of key reform bills, including the Petroleum Industry Bill needed to overhaul the mainstay energy sector, being delayed.

Parliament last week passed a 4.6 trillion naira ($31 billion) 2010 budget alleviating fears about government paralysis, but raising questions about whether the expansionary plans will translate into efficient spending, particularly with the electoral campaign period approaching.

Jonathan has approved the disbursal of $3 billion from the country's windfall oil savings since assuming executive powers, limiting the country's ability to insulate itself from volatility in world oil prices. [ID:nLDE62B22Q]

But the naira currency NGN=D1 remains broadly stable against the dollar and analysts say equity valuations look attractive. Tax breaks on corporate and sub-national bond issues have also stoked interest in the debt market. [ID:nLDE62L10Q]

What to watch:

-- Passage of the Asset Management Company (AMC) legislation. The AMC would soak up bad bank loans, key to making those rescued in a $4 billion bailout last year saleable and restoring lending.

-- Credit flows. The central bank has made getting credit flowing to the real economy again its top priority but so far the impact has been muted, with lenders still reluctant to extend credit, keeping a lid on private sector spending.

-- Earnings season. Strong financial reports from the country's top banks could do much to restore confidence in the wider economy and support a continued equities rally.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Giles Elgood)

Gaddafi Apologises Over Comments.

Daniel Idonor

APPARENTLY remorseful over his misguided comments on Nigeria, Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi yesterday began an apologetic moves aimed at healing wounds inflicted on Nigeria, following the diplomatic row that resulted from his call for the splitting of Nigeria along religious lines.

This is coming on the heels of the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan's warning that African leaders should exercise restraint while making statements that affect the psychology of the people and governments of other countries of the continent, insisting that leaders must be very diplomatic in their comments and utterances.

Ghadaffi's move was announced at a meeting between Jonathan and the Liberian President, Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson who led a high power delegation of the Libyan government headed by that country's special envoy and the Secretary General of World Islamic Call Society based in Tripoli, Muhammed A. Sherif.

Another member of the Libyan peace mission to Nigeria is Mr. Rafa Al-Madani, the Executive Secretary Forum for Arab-African, a Non Governmental Organisation, NGO, also based in Tripoli and three embassy staff in Nigeria.

Briefing newsmen at the end of the diplomatic talks, the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, said the move "is actually an initiative on her (Liberian president) part to broker rapprochement between Nigeria and Libya."

US navy nabs pirate suspects near Seychelles

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US warship operating in the Indian Ocean captured five suspected pirates Thursday after an exchange of gunfire in international waters near the Seychelles, the Pentagon said.

The frigate USS Nicholas took the piracy suspects into custody after the warship sank a skiff, and confiscated a suspected mother ship, said a statement from US Naval Forces.

"While operating west of the Seychelles in international waters, Nicholas reported taking fire at 12:27 am local time from a suspected pirate skiff and returned fire before commencing pursuit of the vessel until the disabled skiff stopped," the statement said.

"At 1:59 am personnel from Nicholas boarded the disabled skiff and detained three personnel. The boarding team found ammunition and multiple cans of fuel on board."

After taking the suspected pirates on board, the Nicholas sank the disabled skiff and captured two additional suspected pirates on the confiscated mother ship.

"The suspected pirates will remain in US custody on board Nicholas until a determination is made regarding their disposition," the statement said.

The lifting of the winter monsoon in the region has spurred a fresh spate of attacks by pirates able to venture hundreds of miles from their bases and approach their prey on relatively calm seas.

The Seychelles economy relies heavily on tuna fishing and tourism and the country has had several ships hijacked since 2008.

In a separate incident, six Seychellois fishermen rescued from Somali pirates were returned home Wednesday after three days of high-seas drama which saw the Seychelles coastguard sink several pirate boats.