ABUJA, 13 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Nigeria is on the verge of eliminating guinea worm, a debilitating water borne disease, after cases dropped by 99 percent since 1988, said visiting former United States president Jimmy Carter, who has led an international campaign against the disease.

Despite the massive fall in the number of cases, Nigeria is one of only three countries in the world –- the others being Ghana and Sudan -- where guinea worm remains endemic.

“When we began the eradication here [in Nigeria] in 1988 we had 653,000 cases. The latest result we have is 115 cases only,” said Carter from the Nigerian capital Abuja on Monday while on a three nation tour of Africa.

DAKAR, 13 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Samba Sene stands between rows of beached pirogues in front of Dakar’s main fish market, eyeing the horizon nervously in anticipation of his younger brother’s return from a multi-day expedition.

“This year hasn’t been as profitable as previous ones,” he says, his unfishermanlike white kaftan in marked contrast to the rainbow of boats around him.

So what does he think of plans by his government to focus more resources on aquaculture? Blank stare. Having fished these waters for more than three decades, Sene knows a lot about living off the sea. But the idea of marine fish farms is news to him.

JOHANNESBURG, 13 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Relief agencies have expressed concern over escalating maize prices in Zambia and reiterated calls to close the gaps in food-deficit areas.

Muweme Muweme, coordinator of the economic and social development research project of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), said in some areas the price of a 25 kg bag of maize-meal, Zambia's staple food, has shot up from US $7 to $10 within two months.

"We are concerned that as we enter the lean period, the price of food has been going up," said Jo Woods, spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Zambia. The lean season in southern Africa, when the previous harvest has been consumed and the next one has yet to come in, traditionally lasts from December to March but drought has hastened its arrival.

CONAKRY, 12 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - In a strong show of unity, Guinea’s opposition has called on ailing President Lansana Conte to step aside in favour of a government of national unity.

At a press conference held on Saturday, leaders of the opposition coalition Republican Front for Democratic Change (FRAD) claimed the president’s immediate departure was necessary to stem the country’s feared slide into chaos.

“You have become a brake, an obstacle to Guinea’s development,” said Jean-Marie Dore of the Union for Guinean Progress (UPG), in a statement addressed to the head of state.

“You are not what the country needs. You are sick. You must make the wise decision to leave now before others make it for you.”

The seven-party FRAD also includes groups headed by former prime minister Sidya Toure and Alpha Conde, a popular leader who spent two years in prison for allegedly plotting the president’s overthrow during the 1998 election campaign.

NAIROBI, 12 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, will begin facilitating the repatriation of approximately 150,000 refugees from Tanzania to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on October 15, according to a statement it issued on Friday from Kinshasa.

"It is expected that a large part of them will voluntarily return over the coming two years," UNHCR said.

The agency also announced that the governments of the DRC and Tanzania had agreed with UNHCR on how the relocation should take place. UNHCR and partner agencies will take the refugees from the Lugufu 1, Lugufu 2 and Nyaragusu camps to Tanzania's port of Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika and then to the DRC.

JOHANNESBURG, 12 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - The ruling African National Congress (ANC) is taking steps to end the standoff between former deputy president Jacob Zuma, who faces charges of corruption, and President Thabo Mbeki.

Zuma's supporters - among them the vocal leadership of the ANC Youth League and the ANC Women's League, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - have alleged that Zuma was the victim of a political conspiracy and that state institutions were being used to block his bid to succeed Mbeki.

Mbeki fired his deputy after Zuma's former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, was found guilty of fraud and corruption related to South Africa's controversial arms procurement programme, and sentenced to an effective 15 year jail term in June this year. The judge presiding over Shaik's trial described the relationship between Shaik and Zuma as "generally corrupt".