DAKAR, 16 March (IRIN) - CONTENTS: NIGERIA: Leading presidential candidate sidelined GUINEA-BISSAU: Cashew policy could bring back hunger, FAO warns MAURITANIA: Vote for new civilian president passes peacefully NIGERIA: Human rights groups welcome UN spotlight on police torture NIGER: Teachers and nurses go on strike AFRICA: Fighting meningitis a race against time

NIGERIA: Leading presidential candidate sidelined

Political tensions mounted across Nigeria with the announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the 24 candidates cleared to run in April's presidential election do not include Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who fell out with outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo and is currently being indicted on charges of corruption.

"Once you have been indicted, INEC cannot do anything about it," the chairman of the electoral body, Maurice Iwu, told reporters, citing Nigeria's 1999 constitution.

Iwu denied allegations that he deliberately froze out Abubakar and said that INEC would only authorise Abubakar's candidacy under court order.

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http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70728

GUINEA-BISSAU: Cashew policy could bring back hunger, FAO warns

As more than 100,000 tonnes of cashews begin to ripen on trees around Guinea-Bissau, agricultural economists have warned the government against making the same policy decisions as in 2006 that left many farmers unable to sell their produce, triggering hunger.

"The government should allow market forces to function and stop setting the price at which farmers should sell their cashews," said Marco Giovannoni, the Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) West African regional advisor on food security. He took part in a mission to Guinea-Bissau at the end of February along with an agricultural expert from the Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) to evaluate the country's food situation.

Analysts say the government sought to please farmers before elections in 2006 by raising the price per kilogramme of unprocessed cashews from the standard 250 CFA (about 50 US cents) to 350 CFA.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70672

MAURITANIA: Vote for new civilian president passes peacefully

Mauritanians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a civilian president and end what has effectively been 29 years of military rule.

"In previous elections we knew how the results would go but this time it's really undecided," said Harouna Tirera, a voter in the capital Nouakchott.

The Ministry of Interior said with votes counted for 82 percent of registered voters the two leading candidates are former cabinet minister Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdellahi and longtime opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah. Both are civilians.

Neither candidate appeared to have gained more than 50 percent of the vote so a run-off election is scheduled for 25 March.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70651

NIGERIA: Human rights groups welcome UN spotlight on police torture

Human rights activists in Nigeria have hailed recent public statements by the United Nations rapporteur on torture as an important step towards ending abuses perpetrated by the country's police.

"The rapporteur's report will help generate the kind of awareness we need about the practice in order to tackle it effectively," said Nelson Okechukwu, a representative of the Civil Liberties Organisation, a leading human rights group in Nigeria.

The rapporteur, Manfred Nowak, who on Friday ended a week-long visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the government, told journalists, "I have come to the conclusion that torture is systemic."

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70654

NIGER: Teachers and nurses go on strike

Classes were cancelled all across Niger and health centres were functioning at a minimum after unions called for workers to go on strike for 72 hours to demand higher salaries.

"Living conditions must improve now," said Chamsou Issaka, a spokesman for one of the teachers' unions, speaking on a local radio station on Wednesday.

The unions are seeking to improve salaries and benefits for 24,000 teachers who work on contracts rather than as permanent civil servants as do 4,000 others.

Contract teachers, students and health workers frequently go on strike in Niger, a vast, arid country with few resources.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70702

AFRICA: Fighting meningitis a race against time

International health specialists worry that a major meningitis epidemic could hit Africa within the next three years, claiming tens of thousands of lives, just as supplies of vaccines for the illness are at an all-time low.

Health officials say the rising number of cases this year is a worrying sign. In Burkina Faso and Sudan alone 1,013 people have died among 14,279 who have been infected, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Burkinabe officials.

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also experienced meningitis epidemics this year. Other countries with outbreaks include Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Benin, Ghana, Togo and Guinea.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70740

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