death toll in borno attack rises to 142

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61976

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

•We recovered 55 bodies on Wednesday and 87 on Thursday — State EPA official

Death toll in Bornoattack rises to 142

Continues on page 5

COLUMNISTS:

LES LEBA•P.44

•P.21

DELESOBOWALE

•P.36

KOKORI ‘INVASION’:How wantedkidnapper, Kelvin,breached security

BY UDUMA KALU,WITH AGENCY RE-

PORTS

LAGOS—THE deathtoll from last week's

attack in Borno State thatsaw insurgents dressedas soldiers, set up check-points and gun downtravellers on a highway,has risen to, at least, 142.

Abdulaziz Kolomi, anofficial with the Environ-mental ProtectionAgency in the state said,

•Pgs.58 &59

ALLURE AWARDS—From left: Senator Florence Ita-Giwa being presented with the Patronof the Year Award at the Allure Style Awards held, yesterday, at the Native and Vogue InternationalFashion Week in Port Harcourt, Rivers State by Allure Editor, Mrs Remi Diagbare and Editor-In-Chief/General Manager Publications of Vanguard, Mr Gbenga Adefaye.

Legendary poet,Kofi Awoonorkilled in Kenyaattack 55

Whysecurityagentsdescendedon Apoquarters

8

Discos'newownersto inject$1.8bn— BPE

8

CMYK

CMYK

2— Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013—3

CMYK


POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE


LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Death toll in Borno attackrises to 142

Continues from page 1

Some people believe holding on and hanging inthere are signs of great strength. However, thereare times when it takes much more strength to knowwhen to let go and then do it —Ann Landers

WE are all constantly changing and evolving. The universe around you is changing. Just

because something was right for you in the pastdoesn’t mean it still is. This could be a relation-ship, a job, a home, a habit, etc. It happens to youslowly as you grow.

You discover more about who you are and whatyou want out of life, and then you realize there aredeliberate changes you need to make to keep upwith the changes happening around you and withinyou.

You are the average of the people you spend themost time with. In other words, who you spend yourtime with has a great impact on the person you areand the person you become. If you are around cyni-cal and negative people all the time, you mightbecome cynical and negative.

If the lifestyle you’ve been living no longer fits, itis time for a change, a change for the better, a moreproductive attitude to life. If the specific people androutines you’ve known forever no longer align withyour values, try creating new ones. Cherish all thememories, but find yourself letting go and movingon. If you’re currently dealing with this process youmay feel a bit awkward, and that’s okay. This feel-ing is normal and necessary for reaching beyondthe stars.

Say something kind and encouraging to every-one you meet, and people will always be happy tosee you coming. Weak people revenge. Strong peo-ple forgive. Intelligent people ignore!

yesterday, that “we re-covered 55 bodies onWednesday and 87 onThursday”. The previoustoll from the attack lateTuesday in the Benisheikarea was 87.

The insurgents, sus-pected to be from Islam-ist extremist group, Boko

Haram, also burnt scoresof homes and buildingsin the assault and leftcorpses littering theroadside.

The motivation behindthe assault was not im-mediately clear, but BokoHaram members have re-peatedly carried out re-venge attacks againstresidents over the emer-

gence of vigilante groupsthat have been formed toassist the military.

Army General Moham-med Yusuf, who briefedthe state governor, AlhajiKassim Shettima on theattack, said troops ranout of ammunition while

combating the assault,adding that the insur-gents were armed with“anti-aircraft guns.”

In one of the latestknown attacks, BokoHaram fighters armedwith Kalashnikov rifles,rocket launchers andhomemade explosivesreportedly raided YadiBuni Town in Yobe Stateon September 18, settingfire to a makeshift policestation, telecommunica-tions masts, parts of thelocal government head-quarters and the home ofthe divisional policehead, whose wife wasburnt to death inside thebuilding.

Son of the Yobe PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP)youth leader was alsoreportedly killed, whileone soldier and nine sectmembers died in an en-suing shoot-out. On Sep-tember 17, some 143 com-muters were killed andseveral abducted whenwell-armed Boko Haramgunmen in military fa-tigues and bullet-proofvests ambushed vehiclesalong the busyMaiduguri to DamaturuExpress Way in the earlyevening, said ChristianSolidarity Worldwide(CSW), an advocacygroup investigating thesituation.

Travellers were report-

edly asked to producetheir identity papers,then were lined up andshot. One survivor wasquoted as saying thatpeople from the BornoState capital, Maiduguri,were singled out for ex-ecution. The gunmenwent on to overrunBenisheik Town, 75 kilo-metres (44 miles) west ofMaiduguri, killingaround 14 people andtorching over 100 homes,businesses and vehicles,CSW said.

It quoted one report assaying that most of thedead were members orotherwise associatedwith the Civilian JointTask Force in charge offighting militants, andwere beheaded. Three

policemen and two sol-diers were also reportedto have died in whatwere seen as reprisal at-tacks by Boko Haramagainst those opposed tothem.

The phone network inBorno has been switchedoff since the emergencymeasures were imposed,a move the military saidwas aimed at blockingthe Islamists from coor-dinating attacks.

Some have suggestedthat the lack of phoneservice has prevented ci-vilians from soundingthe alarm during attacks.It has also made it diffi-cult to verify informationfrom the region.

PDP CRISIS: nPDP gains ground in NASSBY EMMANUEL

AZIKEN, POLITICALEDITOR

ABUJA—THE apparent decision of

the Presidency to gohard on non-compliantmembers of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, inthe National Assemblyappears to be favouringthe factional new PDP.

It emerged, at theweekend, that thefactionalisation of thePDP may have becomeformalized with the en-rolment of the requestletter from the NationalChairman of the nPDP,Alhaji Kawu Baraje for ameeting with membersin the votes and pro-ceedings of the House.

The change towards ahard line stance was for-malised last Friday withthe removal of SenatorJoy Emodi as the SpecialAdviser to the Presidenton National AssemblyMatters.

With the development,there were fears in somegovernment circles at theweekend that plans topresent the 2014 budgetproposals to the NationalAssembly next monthmay be deferred until a

conclusive solution isfound to the PDP crisis.

There were concernsthat the tilt could jeop-ardize the early presen-tation of the 2014 budgetproposals and possiblylead to the loss of theparty majority in theHouse of Representa-tives.

Sources in Abuja dis-closed that under tenta-tive plans, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan wasto present the 2014budget plans in the sec-ond week of October.

That proposal it waslearnt may no longer beguaranteed after mem-bers inclined to theBaraje faction put theBamanga Tukur led- PDPon notice that the inter-ests of the administrationcould no longer be guar-anteed.

Listing ofBaraje’s letter

The road to the formallegal recognition of theBaraje faction of the PDPwas paved with the list-ing of the letter fromBaraje seeking audiencewith members in theVotes and Proceedings of

the House.The letter which was

read on the floor of theHouse last Tuesday wasenrolled in the Votes ofthe House and approvedon Wednesday.

“If the letter was notread on the floor it couldnot have been listed inthe Votes and Proceed-ings but since it wasread, it is now recog-nized as a faction, “ asource disclosed.

With the development,members of the nPDPwho defect could cite theauthority of the Votesand Proceedings of theHouse as the basis oftheir defection from theparty.

The decision of thepresidency to go hard onthe legislators is raisingconcern among some loy-alists of the president inthe House. Sources in theHouse point at the HouseLeader Mrs MulikatAkande-Adeola and herdeputy Leo Ogor whodespite their inclinationstowards the presidentare cautious against thenew hard line posture.

“Mulikat is fully in sup-port of Tambuwal in thismatter, have no doubt

about that,” a very au-thoritative source close toSpeaker AminuTambuwal said yesterday.

It was learnt that theHouse Leader and otherloyalists of the presidentwere afraid that theTukur faction of the PDPcould turn into the mi-nority party should thenPDP formally combineforces with the AllProgressives Congress,APC on the floor.

“Mulikat would be-come minority leader if afight breaks out on thefloor and she knows that,but besides that, she isfully with us,” the sourcewho spoke on the basisof anonymity said.

In the same vein,Emodi’s ouster is raisingconcern among PDP loy-alists in the legislature.

Her departure it waslearnt, was being wel-comed by the hawks inthe administration whosaw her diplomatic en-gagements with the lead-ership in the two housesand the members as in-auspicious and incom-patible with the hard-line posture of extremistsin both arms of govern-ment.

ALLURE AWARDS—Joyce Jacob being presented with the Make-UpArtiste of the Year Award at the Allure Style Awards held, yesterday, at theNative and Vogue International Fashion Week in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,by Allure Editor, Mrs Remi Diagbare and Editor-In-Chief/General ManagerPublications of Vanguard, Mr Gbenga Adefaye.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

DSS rescue NNPC staff, arrest3 kidnappers

BY ONOZURE DANIA

Manaccusedof rapingneighbour's8-yr-olddaughter WARRI—OPERATIVES of

Department of StateServices, DSS, have rescueda 51-year-old staff of WarriRefinery and PetrochemicalCompany, WRPC, a subsidi-ary of Nigerian National Pe-troleum Company, NNPC,Mr. Atoyebi Toyin, abductedlast week.

Meanwhile, three of the kid-nappers have been arrestedin a forest in Osubi village,Okpe Local Government Areaof Delta State.

Mr. Atoyebi, who is fromOro in Kwara State, narratedhis experience to Vanguard,at DSS’ office in Warri.

He said that he was ac-costed at 6:45pm last Mondayin company of his wife andfour children, close to theirresidence in Otokutu village,Udu Local Government Areaof the state, by a gang of fourarmed men in his AcuraHonda Jeep and taken to anunknown place.

He said that he was put inthe booth of his car, while hiswife and children were left togo home. But the wife thenproceeded to report the inci-dent at the office of the DSSin Warri, which promptlyswung into action the nextday and rescued him after afierce shoot-out with the kid-nappers at a notorious forestin Osubi village, Okpe coun-cil.

He added that three of theabductors were apprehended,while one escaped with bul-let wounds. He said a cut-to-size locally-made gun wasrecovered from them.

Atoyebi said that his car keywas with one of the kidnap-pers, who handed it over tothe security personnel andtold them where the jeep wasparked.

Atoyebi said before rescuecame his way, he was movedto three locations, while

blindfolded.Atoyebi added that he was

kept in the forest withoutcover for the whole night,while a ransom of N10 mil-lion was made to the wife and

family members, adding thatthey were threatening to killhim if the money was notbrought immediately beforesecurity operatives swoopedon them.

BY EMMA ARUBI

BENISHEIK: A villager speaks next to Governor Kashim Shettima of of Borno State (mid-dle), during the governor's visit to Benisheik after an attack by Boko Haram members inmilitary uniforms left over 100 people dead. AFP PHOTO.

Ogun police arrest 21 robberysuspects, recover 22 vehicles

A BEOKUTA—O G U NState Police Command,

yesterday, said men of theSpecial Anti-Robbery Squad,SARS, arrested 21 armed rob-bery suspects and recovered22 vehicles.

The Command’s Public Re-lations Officer, OlumuyiwaAdejobi, disclosed this whileparading the suspects and thevehicles at the SARS office,Magbon, Abeokuta.

Adejobi said that some ofthe suspects had confessed tothe crime.

He said that the suspectswould be charged to court onconclusion of investigation,while assuring members ofthe public of the Command’sreadiness to make the state acrime-free one.

Kill four suspectsin Abeokuta

He also said that fourarmed robbers were killed lastWednesday in Ija-Ofa area ofAbeokuta, while trying to rob abusinessman of N5 million.

Items recovered from the sus-pects, include locally-madepistols, cartridges, pump actionrifle, AK-47 rifle and charms.

Adejobi said: “Ogun PoliceCommand will not relent in itseffort to make the state a crime-

free one. All the formations inthe command are workinground the clock to ensure thesafety of the people of the state,especially during these ember

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

Kafanchan's Christianshold services at home

A 32-year-old driver,M u h a m m a d u

Alabi, has been ar-raigned before anAbule-Egba Magis-trate’s Court, Lagos, ona charge of alleged rapeof an eight-year-olddaughter of his neigh-bour.

The accused lives at34, Emmanuel AinaStreet, Aboru, Ipaja, La-gos. He, however,pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, In-spector RachealWilliams, told the courtthat the offence wascommitted at the resi-dence of the defendanton September 3.

According to the pros-ecution, the accusedcalled the child to hisroom to send her on anerrand.

Williams said the sus-pect, however, raped thechild and that herscreaming attractedneighbours, who thenrescued her and re-ported the incidence tothe police.

The prosecutor saidthe offence contravenedSection 137 of the Crimi-nal Law of Lagos State,2011.

The Magistrate, Mr.Tajudeen Elias, grantedhim bail in the sum ofN2 million with twosureties in like sum.

Elias adjourned thecase to October 8, formention.

BY EBERE NWAFOR

months.“The arrest of these robbery

suspects is a signal that theCommand is ready to deal de-cisively with criminals.”

Policeman docked for bribery

LAGOS—A 43-year-old dis-missed Police officer,

Christopher Omeleze, attachedto the state Traffic Division,Ikeja, Lagos, has been arraignedbefore an Ikeja Magistrate’sCourt, for allegedly taking bribefrom a motorist.

The defendant, who was ar-raigned before MagistrateAkinde, is facing a two-countcharge bordering on bribe.

Omeleze, who was said to beon duty when he committed theallegd offence, pleaded notguilty to the charges againsthim.

The prosecutor, Sergeant

Chinalu Uwadione, told thecourt that the defendant com-mitted the alleged crime whileon duty on July 31 at 9:30amon Oba Akran Road, Ikeja.

He said that the police of-ficer used his office to de-mand for N25,000 from a mo-torist that was yet to be iden-tified.

According to the prosecutor,the offence committed is pun-ishable under Section 69, 63,(1) (a) of the criminal law ofLagos State of Nigeria 2011.The Magistrate granted himbail in the sum of N50,000,with one surety in like sum.

She adjourned the matter tillNovember 4, for mention.

CHRISTIANS resident inKafanchan in Kaduna

State, yesterday, could notattend the usual Sundaychurch service as a result ofthe curfew imposed on thecity.

They had to stay in theirhomes in compliance with therestriction on movementswithin the city, following the24-hour curfew imposed onthe city on Friday, due to thecivil unrest in the area.

Some of residents toldnewsmen that the presenceand strict measures adoptedby security agents made it im-possible for them to go to theirrespective churches.

Mr. Wisdom Adams ofAnwuan Galadima said, how-ever, it was an obligation forhim as a Christian to respectconstituted authority.

He said: “I stayed at homewith my family to observe

Sunday service. I had a goodtime with my family, as wesang songs and offeredprayers for peace for our com-munity and the nation.”

Mrs Grace Dauda of Garajesaid other neighbours joinedthem in their house.

She said: “The situationbrought families and friendstogether to offer prayers forlasting peace in Kafanchan.”

Dauda urged the local gov-ernment authorities to relaxthe curfew to ease the hard-ship faced by the residents,who are largely Christians.

Mr. Stephen Anche, a cleric,said that God heard and an-swered prayers irrespective ofwhere and when they wereoffered.

He said: “We urged Chris-tians to offer prayers in theirhomes while the curfew lasts.God hears the prayers anytimeand anywhere.”


Cleric defrauds friend of N9.5m

BENISHEIK: Burnt vehicles and shops in a street of Benisheik, Borno State, after an attack by Boko Haram membersdisguised in military uniforms left over 100 people dead. AFP PHOTO.

40-yr-olddockedoverN14.2mstolenvehicles

BY EVELYN USMAN& IFEANYI OKOLIE

YENAGOA—THE succes-sion crisis rocking the oil

rich coastal town of Agrisabain Nembe Local GovernmentArea of Bayelsa State, hastaken a new twist followingthe alleged invasion and at-tack on the palace of the Re-gent, Chief Sampson Awudul,by armed youths from outside

A 34-year-old man, whoposes as a Muslim cleric

to defraud gullible Nigerianshas been arrested by opera-tives of the Special Fraud Unit,SFU, Ikoyi, Lagos, for alleg-edly defrauding one of his vic-tims of N8 million.

The suspect, identified asIsiaka Adeleke, popularlyknown as Alfa, was said tohave collected the sum from achildhood friend, who camefor prayers for the expansionof his business.

The complainant, who re-portedly took the N8 millionloan to expand his dwindlingbusiness, told operatives thathe confided in Adeleke thathe intended to use the moneyto buy a truck for his business.

However, in the process,Yusuf was said to have de-manded for the money to en-able him go into the spiritualrealm to tackle spiritual forceshindering the success of hisfriend’s business.

However, the victim returneda week later as instructed,only to discover that Yusuf hadchanged residence.

Spokesman for the Unit,Ngozi Isintume-Agu, said thatYusuf ’s arrest was effected inIlorin, Kwara State, followinga petition by the complainant.

She said: “The complainantstated that he was defraudedin March and effort to reachYusuf had been abortive as hisphones were all switched off.

“The complainant furtherstated that the Alfa, under thepretense of selling a LEXUS300 Car imported from USA tohim, obtained additional N1.5million and later registeredthe said vehicle in his name.He alleged that the total

money collected from him by the suspect was N9.5 million.” ‘How I spentthe money’

Adeleke, who was paradedweekend, admitted to havecollected the sum andpleaded to be given time torefund the money.

Asked what he used themoney for, he said: “I usedpart of it to buy two cars, aToyota Camry and aMercedez Benz and also com-pleted my building project inIlorin, while I shared the bal-ance among my fellow Alfasin Ila-Orangun, Osun State.

“I tricked him into believingthat I can double the money.I instructed him to put themoney inside a box in myroom and leave it for sevendays, while he takes the keywith him.

“However, unknown to him,I had a spare key which I laterused to unlock the box andabsconded. All I beg for is tobe given time to pay back themoney.”

Isintume-Agu advisedmembers of the public to bewary of the likes of Yusufwhen seeking spiritual helpfrom so-called religious cler-ics, “as most of them arewolves in sheep’s clothing.”Alfa Isiaka Adeleke.

the community.The attack, which was re-

portedly launched penulti-mate Friday, during a meetingof the traditional heads of thecommunity to elect a new kingfor the community, allegedlyled to the beating up of someprominent chiefs of the com-munity, including ChiefDennis Odoni and ChiefWilliam Ginah.

Some community sources

claimed that the attack wasallegedly sponsored by someprominent indigenes of thecommunity in the corridors ofpower in the state.

Others claimed that the at-tack was carried out by youths,clad in military and policeuniform, allegedly in the pres-ence of the men of the JointTask Force, codenamed Op-eration Pulo Shield and theNembe Divisional Base of the

Nigerian Police.The embattled Regent and

Chairman, Chiefs' Council ofthe Agrisaba community, ChiefSampson Awudul, in a state-ment in Yenagoa, alleged thatthe attack was sponsored bypeople, who used their prox-imity to power in the state toharass and intimidate thechiefs and the youths leader-ship in their quest to foist a newleadership on the community.

Youths attack Bayelsa Regent, chiefs over kingship tussleBY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

LAGOS—A 40-year-old motor mechanic,

Monsuru Bashiru, hasbeen arraigned before anIkeja Magistrate's Court,Lagos, for allegedly re-ceiving stolen vehiclesworth N14.2 million.

Bashiru, who resides atBassher Airport area ofAbuja, is facing an-eightcount charge borderingon conspiracy and receiv-ing of stolen property.

The prosecutor, Ser-geant Chinalu Uwadione,told the court that the de-fendant received one un-registered Toyota High-lander Jeep, worth N3million, from one FrancisOdunayo.

He said that the suspectalso received one ToyotaSienna Bus with registra-tion number BV 132 GWA,valued N2.2 million fromthe same FrancisOdunayo, in March 2012.

Uwadione, alleged thatin the same month ofMarch last year, the de-fendant at 10pm, at AllenAvenue, Ikeja, receivedone Honda Accord Salooncar worth N2.5 million,which is unregistered,from Odunayo, knowingthat it was a stolen prop-erty.

The prosecutor alsoclaimed that in May 2012,at 10:20pm at OshodiUnder Bridge, the suspectdid received one stolenToyota Camry with regis-tration number HX 942ABC, valued N2.1million,from the same seller.

Other vehicles whichwere received by Bashiru,include Toyota SiennaBus valued N850,000 andone Mazda Saloon Carvalued N800,000.

BY ONOZUREDANIA


Pressure mounts on FG not tohike electricity tariff

MEETING—From left: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador GodknowsIgali; Technical Committee Chairman, National Council on Privatisation, Mr. AtedoPeterside; Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Benjamin Dikki and SeniorSpecial Assistant to the Vice President, Mr Umar Sani, during a briefing after meeting onNational Council on Privatisation at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.

Editors, NGOs, others endorse petition to UN

PRESSURE being mounted onthe Federal Government to

reverse the recently introducedhigh electricity tariff is rising as theNigerian Guild of Editors and othergroups in the country haveendorsed the petition sent to theUnited Nations on the matter by acoalition of civil society.

The petition was initially sent tothe UN by Socio-Economic Rightsand Accountability Project, SERAP;Wole Soyinka Centre forInvestigative Journalism, WSCIJ;Nigerian Union of Journalists,NUJ, Lagos State Council;Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC,Lagos State branch; Nigeria BarAssociation, NBA, Ikeja branch;National Union of Food Beverageand Tobacco Employees, NUFBTE;and Joint Action Front, JAF.

Others are: Women AdvocatesResearch and DocumentationCentre, WARDC; WomenEmpowerment and Legal AidInitiative, WELA; Partnership forJustice, PJ; Campaign forDemocratic Workers, CDWR;Democratic Socialist Movement,DSM; Civil Society NetworkAgainst Corruption, CSNAC, andEducation Rights Campaign, ERC.

Other groups that have endorsedthe petition are the Gender andConstitution Reform Network, acoalition of over 250 women’sgroups, GECORN; Human andEnvironmental DevelopmentAgenda, HEDA, and One VoiceNigeria, a coalition of civil societygroups.

The petition dated September 6,2013, called on the UN to send anurgent appeal to the FederalGovernment to delay the increasedfixed rate electricity tariff until thegovernment is able to put in placemechanisms to ensure regular anduninterrupted electricity supply inthe country.

The petition is also demandingan impact assessment of theincrease on people living inextreme poverty.

The coalition said: “Byintroducing fixed rate electricitytariff, the government is complicitin violating the human rights ofpeople living in poverty andundermining their personaldevelopment and prosperity. Webelieve that it is premature for thegovernment to increase electricitytariff prior to taking effectivemeasures to guarantee and ensureregular and uninterruptedelectricity supply across thecountry.”

The coalition also requested theSpecial Rapporteur to visit thecountry to “conduct an in-depthinvestigation into the effects of theincreased electricity tariff on peopleliving in poverty,” and to urge thegovernment to “take all reasonablemeasures to protect, respect and

fulfil the rights of people livingin poverty and social exclusionacross the country.”

Adetokunbo Mumuni,SERAP Executive Director said:“Endorsements to the petitionare growing, and the Special

DisCosnewowners toinject$1.8bn— BPE

BY EMMA UJAH,ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

ABUJA—THE newprivate sector investors

who bought the electricityDistribution Companies,DisCos, are to inject a totalof $1.8 billion into theoperations of thecompanies.

The Director_-General ofthe Bureau of PublicEnterprises, BPE, Mr.Benjamin Ezra Dikkidisclosed this at apresentation on the futureof the industry in Abuja.

A statement issued by thespokesman, Mr. ChigboAnichebe quoted Mr. Dikkias explaining that the fundsinjection would be for“metering, expansion,connection of newconsumers, safety, healthand environmental issues.“

The BPE boss alsoexplained that the decisionof the Federal Governmentto engage Manitoba HydroInternational, MHI, asmanagement contractors forthe Transmission Companyof Nigeria, TCN, was toplace TCN on the path ofbest practice, reliability andself sustenance to ensurepredictability and security ofthe transmission system.

He said that a well-managed TCN was criticalto the success of the multi-billion Naira NationalIntegrated Power Project,NIPP, which is expected togive the nation’s electricitypower supply a quantumleap in the next few years.

He added that themanagement contractors“would bring in invaluableexperience on the sectordevelopment, provide cleartargets and incentives, buildcapacity of TCN staff toprepare them for futureroles, post_managementcontract and completion ofthe unbundling andindependent operation ofthe system and marketoperator functions into anindependent systemoperator, thus allowing theentities to concentrate ontheir core functions”.

He disclosed that thecontract which was in thesecond year of the contract,had so far delivered 18milestone reports ondifferent facets of how TCNwould be transformed.

Rapporteur is now dealing withthe petition. We are very positivethat the Special Rapporteur willtake concrete action on thematter because it is in theinterest of justice and fairnessto do so. The petition is still

opened for further endorsementsby individuals and organisationsand can be signed onto by sendingan email to:in fo@serap_niger ia .o rg .Endorsements received will beforwarded to the UN.”

Why security agents descended on Aporesidents

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH

ABUJA—SECURITYagents insisted last night

that they came under fire fromsuspected terrorists in Apo, nearthe official residential quartersof Nigerian lawmakers, beforethey opened fire to repel them.

The explanation came asanger rose against the killingof no fewer than nine personssuspected to be squatters in abuilding said to be owned byan army General, whoallegedly called in soldiers toclear the illegal occupants.

Already, many prominentNigerians, including formerVice President, Atiku Abubakar,have called for probe into thekillings, which came while themurder of the popular “Apo 6”is yet to be resolved.

A security source, who spokewith Vanguard last night,painted a picture of what led tothe shooting in the area, sayingthat various categories of armswere also recovered from thesuspects.

“Our attention was drawn to

the arms buried in the area andsecurity agents backed bysoldiers went to recover thearms.

“But while the operation toexhume the arms was going on,unknown persons started firingfrom the uncompleted storybuilding. We don’t even knowthe owner.

“When the security personnelcame under attack fromunknown elements, the naturalthing to do was to respond andthat is what led to the casualties.Without the attack fromunexpected quarters our menwould not have responded,”the source explained.

Responding to a question, thesource said that during theoperation, 11 assorted weaponswere recovered from thebuilding before the securityagents were fired on.

The cache of arms was madeup of four Ak-47, four revolverand three locally made pistols.

Residents of Abuja werethrown into panic on Fridayfollowing sustained exchangeof gunfire in the Aponeighbourhood that shatteredthe peace of the area, claimed

lives of many and injured dozensin the process.

The spokeswoman for theDepartment of State SecurityService, DSS, Marilyn Ogar, saidthe development was triggered byan attempt by suspected terroriststo stall the recovery of buried armsfrom a building in the area.

While Ogar claimed that 12persons were injured in a gunfightwith security agents, the police saidnine persons were killed.

Ogar said: “In the early hours oftoday September 20, 2013, about0030 hours a combined securityteam went for an operation behindthe Apo legislative quarters.

“The operation was sequel toinformation obtained from two BokoHaram elements, Kamal Abdullahiand Mohammed Adamu, who hadearlier been arrested for terroristactivities. They led the security teamto uncompleted buildings wherearms were purported to have beenburied underground.

“No sooner had the teamcommenced digging for the arms,than they came under heavygunfire attack by other Boko Haramelements within the area, whichprompted immediate response fromthe security team."

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 — 9

PDP crisis: Doubts hang over Oct 7meeting between Jonathan, G7 govs

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH

Governors may boycott talks in protest

ABUJA—THERE wereindications last night that the

peace talks slated for October 7,2013 between the Presidency andthe leadership of the People’sDemocratic Party, PDP, on onehand and the protagonists of thebreakaway faction, might not holdafter all.

Vanguard learnt that there werefears that the Presidency wassuspicious that the forces behindthe nPDP were not sincere inresolving the crisis.

The suspicion of the Presidencystemmed from allegations that thefaction was merely trying to buytime to consolidate its positionand destabilise the mainstreamparty while bracing for the 2015election.

The G7 on the other hand isbelieved to have written off theseries of peace talks as a ploy bythe Presidency and the BamangaTukur-led faction of the PDP todistract them from gaining moresteam and put the faction indisarray ahead of the nextelection.

One of the G7 governors, whospoke exclusively to Vanguardyesterday, said they were notconvinced that the Presidency waskeen on peace.

The governor made it clear thatthey might boycott the peacemeeting based on emergingindications that the Presidencywas actively working to stall thepeace move.

The governor said: “We arelooking at every evidenceemerging from the Presidencyand the party leadership and itmay become imperative for us toshun the peace meetings slatedfor Monday, October 7, becauseof the attitude of the leadershipof the Bamanga Tukur faction ofthe PDP.

“It is clear to us that thePresidency faction is notgenuinely interested in anamicable resolution of the crisisbecause of the various actionsthey have taken while pretendingto be pursuing peace with us.

“Look at the setting up of acaretaker committee in Kano bythe Tukur faction while they areclaiming that the structures of theparty be returned to thegovernors.

“As at today, there is noindication that the party structuresin Adamawa have been handedover to the governor in accordancewith the decision in our lastmeeting.

“Now they have even gone

ahead and precipitate crisis in theNational Assembly, which hasclaimed the job of Senator JoyEmordi.

“Do all these actions suggest toanyone that these people arecommitted to peace?” the governorasked.

Vanguard learnt that while thegovernors had tactically droppedtheir opposition to Jonathan’s

second term, they were notready to abandon GovernorRotimi Amaechi and MurtalaNyako, whose states’ partystructures had been hijacked.

They are also not willing toconceded the victory ofAmaechi as the Chairman ofthe Nigeria Governors’ Forum,NGF.

Deputy National Chairman

of the Kawu Baraje-led factionof the Peoples Democratic Party,Dr. Sam Jaja, however, gaveassurance that his group wouldattend the October 7 peacemeeting with PresidentJonathan. According to him,"there is no way we will shunan invitation to a meeting by thePresident of the country, we willsurely attend the meeting."

Police nabsuspectedATMrobber

BY KINGSLEYOMONOBI

THE Federal CapitalPolice Command,

weekend, arrested asuspect who specialisesin vandalising ATMmachines in themetropolis and collectingall the money in them.

Police sources toldVanguard that luck ranout on the robber whendetectives attached toUtako Division of thepolice receivedinformation at about 10am on Saturday from abank located at Jabi thatan ATM machine hadbeen broken and themoney removed.

Policemen from thedivision immediatelystormed the scene andafter a check round thebanking hall andenvirons, discovered thatparts of the rooftop wereremoved which enabledthe suspect to disconnectthe CCTV cameramonitor.

Further search by thepolice on the toiletsshowed that some doorswere locked from behind.When they forced openthe doors, the policediscovered the suspect,27-year-old JamiluHassan, said to be a staffof Burger RoundRecreation Gardenhiding inside and wasarrested.

Upon interrogation, thesuspect confessed to thecrime, saying he learnedhow to open a safe andtemper with machines onYou-tube.

He confessed toremoving the N6.873million, which wasconcealed in some inbags.

Also recovered from himinclude gloves, chiselsand spanners of varioussizes.

During interrogation,the suspect said heentered the bank at about2 am on Saturdaymorning, adding that itwas through one of thewindows upstairs hegained access to thebank.

FCT Police Commandspokesperson, DSP AltineDaniel, while confirmingthe incident, saidinvestigations were stillongoing.

Nasarawa mayhem: Senators Ewuga,Adokwe disagree over emergency rule

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU & JOSEPH

ERUNKE

ALL Progressives Congress,APC, Senator Solomon,

Ewuga, Nasarawa North, and hisPeoples Democratic Party, PDP,counterpart in the Senate, SenatorSuleiman Adokwe, representingNasarawa South, have disagreedover the latter ’s call for adeclaration of emergency rule inthe state.

Ewuga, in a telephone interviewwith Vanguard yesterday, saidalthough he was deeply concernedthat the communal crises in thestate had remained unabated,despite several peace efforts madeby the federal and Nasarawa stategovernments, religious, traditionalleaders and concernedindividuals, he was still optimisticthat continuous dialogue with thewarring parties, than coerciveforce, would bring the situation toa permanent end.

Although he welcomed troops’deployment to the state by the

Federal Government to helpbring the situation undercontrol, Ewuga, however,feared that military force couldfurther escalate the situation.

While noting that the latestcrisis was primarily inAdokwe’s senatorial district,Senator Ewuga disclosed thathe would hold private talkswith his Nasarawa Southcounterpart, saying theoutcome would give him thenext direction on the matter.

Recall that Senator SuleimanAdokwe, who representsNasarawa South, had lastThursday, at a briefing inAbuja, appealed to the FederalGovernment to declare a stateof emergency in the state,saying the series of crises inthe state had reached the levelthat could no longer be treatedwith kid gloves.

Adokwe said: "I am going toback the members of theNasarawa State House ofAssembly who have already

called for the declaration of astate of emergency in the state.”

Ewuga and Adokwe’sdisagreement came as twoPeoples Democratic Partychieftains in the state, IbrahimSaleh and Kawu Dalhatu, inseparate statements in Abuja,expressed concern that twoweeks after the latest violence,Minister of Information andsupervising Minister ofDefence, Mr Labaran Maku, aprominent indigene of the state,was yet to undertake anassessment tour of the crisisarea.

The Federal Government hadsince deployed military troopsto the state to restore peace andorder after the latest crisisbelieved to be betweenOmbatse militia youths ofEggon extraction and Alagoethnic nationality, left manypeople dead, many othersseriously injured and propertyworth several millions of nairadestroyed.

JONATHAN IN US—From left: Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof AdeboweleAdefuye; Nigerian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof Joy Ogwu; Ministerof Foreign Affairs, Prof Viola Onwuliri, welcoming President Goodluck Jonathan and theFirst Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan at the JFK International Aiport, for the 68th session ofthe UN General Assembly in New York, yesterday. State House Photo.


Alleged vandalisation: 5 NUBIFIEleaders regain freedomSURE-P trains

287 youths

BY MONSUR OLOWOOPE-JO

Lagosians spend N36bn on Owambeannually —Fashola

Aviation workers threaten strikeBY LAWANI MIKAIRU& DANIEL ETEGHE

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

Ogun movesagainst illegalsale of alcohol

LAGOS—GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos

State, weekend, said more thanN36 billion was spent annual-ly by Lagos residents in organ-izing different social events.

This came as the governorsaid the solution to the unem-ployment crisis in the countrydid not require any foreignidea, saying “the answer is aMade in Nigeria strategy.”

The governor spoke at thefourth edition of theLagos Ignite Enterprise andEmployability project, a jointyouth empowerment pro-gramme between the govern-ment and the Afterschool Grad-uate Development Centre,AGDC.

The event attracted hundredsof youths, ex-Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Nigerian Com-munications CommissionNCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, AliBaba among other dignitaries.

Fashola explained that thefigure was collated after a care-ful study of social events espe-cially party life in Lagos.

According to him, “this wasthe study of night life carriedout by the government in fivelocal governments includingAgege, Mushin, Ifako-Ijaiyeand Ikeja and another local

LAGOS—FIVE leaders of the National

Union of Banks, Insur-ance and Financial Insti-tutions Employees, NUBI-FIE, who have been incustody were weekend re-leased after spending overtwo weeks in Police celland Ikoyi Prisons.

They were arrested onFriday, September 6, 2013and detained at the state’sCriminal Investigation De-partment, CID, Lagos,based on petition by themanagement of Diamond

LAGOS—AVIATIONworkers under the ae-

gis of Nigerian Air TrafficControllers’ Association,NATCA, yesterday, threat-ened to withdraw theirservices by the end of themonth should domesticairlines fail to pay up out-standing ticket and cargosales charges, TSC, to avi-ation agencies.

LAGOS—THE FederGovernment through

the Subsidy Reinvest-ment and EmpowermentProgramme, SURE-P,and the Federal Minis-try of Youths and SportsDevelopment in collabo-ration with ValdiviaServices Ltd have organ-ized a two-week skillsacquisition training Pro-gramme for 287 youthsin South-West region ofthe country.

The youths were drawnfrom the CommunityServices, Women, YouthEmployment project ofthe SURE-P programmeand the public respec-tively.

The training took placeat the National YouthsDevelopment TrainingCentre, located in Ow-ode-Egba area of Abe-okuta in Ogun state.

46 participants fromLagos state took part inthe training programme.

Out of these, 24 wereselected from Communi-ty Services, Women,Youths Employmentproject.

ABEOKUTA—THEOgun State Gov-

ernment has threatenedto sanction liquor sellersin the state who donot register their busi-nesses with appropriateagencies.

It also advised them toacquaint themselveswith relevant regulationsand endeavor to formal-ise their activities withapproved and recog-nized bodies in thestate.

Director, PrimaryHealth Care Develop-ment Board, PHEC-ADEB, Dr. Kafayat Law-al while speaking dur-ing a meeting with ex-ecutive of liquor sellersassociation in Abeokuta,warned that anyonecaught contravening thelaw on the sale of liquorwould be prosecuted.

She urged liquor sellersto adopt acceptable hygi-enic practices to safeguardthe life of consumers, say-ing that government re-mains committed to ensur-ing healthy living.

She said: “The presentadministration in the stateis not unconscious of its re-sponsibility at providing ahealthy society, particular-ly in the consumption offood and drinks.”

government. It showed thatmore than N36 billion was spenton 1555 parties held within theperiod.

“We did a study between Oc-tober and November last year,we took just five local govern-ments in Lagos; Agege,Mushin, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja andanother one.

“We studied from Thursday,Friday and Saturday nights,

three days every week for fourweeks which was 12 nights.

“In 12 nights, 1555 partieswere held in these local gov-ernments. In terms of drinks,food and all other engage-ments during such parties,about N1.2 billion was spentand when we dis-aggregatedthem we saw how much wentto DJ, MC, food and drinks,the total picture in the state

now and I don’t want to giveyou a wrong number but it’ssomething in the region of aboutN3 billion monthly on that sideof our life and people are play-ing and impacting on that sideof our economy.

The governor noted that cloth-ing materials worn during suchparties popularly called “Aso-ebi” gulped at least N1.2 billionmonthly, saying the market ishuge with much yet to be tappedfrom it.”

MALTINA DANCE ALL: From left: Human Resources Director, Victor Famuyibo, Nige-rian Breweries Plc, winners of the Maltina Dance All Season Seven, (MDA -7) Briggs family,and Corporate Affairs Adviser, NB Plc, Kufre Ekanem, at the grand finale of the familydance reality show in Lagos, yesterday.

Bank Plc, which accusedthem of vandalizing itsproperty valued at N200million and assaulting itsemployees.

The offences were alleg-edly committed during apicketing of the banks bythe labour leaders and civilsociety allies on July 10,2013, for perceived unfairlabour practices especial-ly the sack of 400 NUBI-FIE members includingthe bank’s unit officials ofthe union.

The union leaders areOlalekan Adebambo(Chairman, DiamondBank branch of NUBIFIE),

Eniola Ilesanmi (ViceChairman), Michael Ola-jide (Secretary) Ben-jamin Onyia (Treasurer)and Onyeonoro Favour(Auditor).

Though they weregranted bail by an Ig-bosere Magistrate’sCourt, on Monday 9,since then they battledfrom perfecting the bailconditions to alleged ab-sence of the judicial offi-cials to sign necessarypapers before their re-lease.

The court had askedeach of them to payN200,000, provide taxclearance among oth-ers.

The workers lamentedthat the huge debt by do-mestic airlines was crip-pling aviation agencies inthe country, warning thatif nothing was done safe-ty could be compromised.

In the statement, Presi-dent and General Secre-tary, Victor Eyaru and Ban-ji Olawole respectively,said: “We are concern overthe looming danger to airsafety in the country as a

result of non-remittanceof TSC running into bil-lions of naira collected onbehalf of aviation agen-cies, NAMA, NCAA,NIMET and NCAT bydomestic airlines.

“These organizationsrequire huge funds toprocure, maintain andtrain their manpower foreffective discharge theirduties.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 — 11

NATIONAL Pension Com-mission, PenCom, week-

end, said the ContributoryPension Scheme, CPS, hadgenerated over N3.5 trillionwith no fewer than 5.61 mil-lion workers now in thescheme.

Acting Director-General ofPenCom, Mrs. ChineloAnohu-Amazu, announcedthis at the commissioning ofthe South-West zonal office ofthe commission in Lagos.

Governors BabatundeFashola of Lagos State;

Pension fund hits N3.5trn, 5.6m workers registeredIbikunle Amosun of Ogun andKayode Fayemi of Ekiti stat;Senate President, Mr. DavidMark, represented by theChairman, Senate committeeon Establishment and Pension,Senator Aloysius Etok, Sena-tor Gbenga Ashafa andBabafemi Ojudu, Vice Chair-man of the House Committeeon Establishment and Pension,Mr. Samson Okwu and otherdignitaries.

According to her, the com-mission had “over N3.50 tril-lion invested in various finan-cial instruments in the coun-try. As at June 2013, the valueof pension funds’ investment

in state government bondswas N169.73 billion.

“Most of the states haveutilised the proceeds fromthe fund towards the provi-sion of vital infrastructure forthe well being of its citizens.

“Since inception, 5.61 mil-lion workers have been reg-istered into the new scheme.

“States in the country, es-pecially the South-Westzone, that are yet to completethe necessary process of fullimplementation of CPS,should renew their commit-ment and fast track action onall outstanding issues toavail their employees of all

the benefits attached to thenew scheme.”

Governor Fashola,others react

Governor Fashola urgedthe National Assembly todeal expeditiously with thePension Reforms Act 2004,which had been returned toParliament for re-examina-tion, saying “we continu-ously have to reflect and re-think and that is why thebill is back in Parliament.”

Similarly, GovernorAmosun noted that the re-sponsibility of every gov-

ernment was to encourageits workers to realise the dig-nity in labour adding “hisadministration has demon-strated in many ways thatthe government is concernedabout the welfare of itsworkforce.”

On his part, GovernorFayemi said his governmentwas willing to adhere to theenabling rules and regula-tions set out by the PensionReform Act 2004.

Ondo State Head of Service,Mr. Toyin Akikuotu, ap-plauded the commission fordecentralising the administra-tion of pension in the country.

BY MONSUROLOWOOPEJO

Afenifere Renewal tomonitor S'West govs

ADO-EKITI—LEADERSHIP of the pan-Yorubasocio-cultural and political organisation,

Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, has declared that itwill be monitoring each of the governors in the South-West region in their implementation regional inte-gration.

This came as it endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemiof Ekiti State for a second term as governor of thestate.

Speaking, weekend, in Ado Ekiti, ARG’s NationalChairman, Olawale Oshun, said the group had com-mitted itself to the welfare Yoruba and would nothesitate to go an extra mile to achieving this goal.

He said: “We have been meeting the governors inthe all the Yoruba-speaking states on how to imple-ment the regional integration and there is no regreton this, even Governor Mimiko in his acceptancespeech, promised to join his colleagues in the South-West region to pursue this regional agenda.”

Speaking on endorsement of Fayemi for secondterm, Oshun said: “There is nothing wrong in al-lowing a performing governor or any elected offi-cial to continue in office.

“This is the practice in advanced countries of theworld like United States, where presidential systemof government is practiced. No member of the Demo-cratic Party contested against President BarrackObama for the last presidential race.”

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

Oyo partners UPDCon housing scheme

IBADAN—AS part of his administration transfor-mation programmes, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of

Oyo State has gone into partnership with UPDC Plc,a subsidiary of UAC Nigeria, for the re-develop-ment of existing government residential quarters inIbadan.

Under the public-private partnership, PPP, ar-rangement, 45 housing units in Quarters 790, 791,792 and 793, covering an area of approximately2.035 hectares on Oba Biladu III Road, Agodi GRA,will be developed in two phases.

According to a statement by Special Adviser onMedia, Dr. Festus Adedayo, the first phase of theproject, which had been approved by the State Ex-ecutive Council, consists of 26 housing units.

The second would cover 19 units, with the wholeproject slated for completion in 12 months.

The statement recalled that a total of 219 housingunits, belonging to the state government, had beensold to private individuals by the immediate pastadministration of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala.

BY OLA AJAYI

The General public is hereby notified that the above – named union has applied forregistration under part ‘C’ of the Companies and Allied Matters Acts, 1990 to CorporateAffairs Commission,Abuja.

1. Da Ibrahim Longmut2. Da Dauda Davwet3. Barr. Danjuma Maina4. Rev. Brig. Gen. Linus Bulus (Rtd)5. Mr. Markus Dachen Shikaham

1. To promote unity, love, economics interest and empowerment of its members anddescents with a view to eradicating poverty and ignorance amongst members.

2. To promote sustainable development of Bwai in terms infrastructural, educational,political, cultural and health development.

3. To be in network with other sister organizations, the organized Private Sector Federal,State and Local Governments and their agencies in order to achieve its set objects andgoals for the general development of Bwai.

Any objective to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, CorporateAffairs Commission,Abuja within 21 days of this publication.

THE TRUSTEESARE:

THEAIMSAND OBJECTIVESARE:

Signed: Barr. Zephaniah GarbaSuit B1, 1st Floor, 389 Old Ojo Road, Abule-Ado, Satellite Town, Lagos.

Tel: 08034100825, 08072554886.

BWAI PROGRESSIVE UNION

PUBLIC NOTICE

This is to inform the general pubic that the above named Church has applied toCorporateAffairs Commission (C.A.C) for registration under part “C” of the CompaniesandAllied MattersAct, 1990.

1. To propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ2. To network with other Churches to foster the spread of the Gospel of the Kingdom

of God.3. To establish and maintain structures for the needy.4. To inculcate moral values and principles, et al.

1. PastorAlloy Okafor (President)2. Mrs. Grace Chinyere Okafor3. Mr. Samuel Nnamdi Izuchukwu4. Mr. Onyebuchi Isaac Okafor5. Mr. Jude Emeka Izuchukwu (Secretary)Any objection to the registration of the Church should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi IronsiStreet, Maitama,Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

AIMSAND OBJECTIVES

TRUSTEES

Signed: John Aroh Esq. LLB (HONS), BL.LL.MLegal Practitioner (08033057982)

THE LORD’S HARVEST CHURCH INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICE


Delta Central by-election to hold Oct 5

BY FESTUS AHON

Edo APC, PDP leaders shun differences, celebrate withIdahosa at 60

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

GhanaianEnvironmentMinisterstormsBayelsa forCEPEJ AwardUGHELLI—THE by-elec-

tion to fill the vacant Del-ta Central senatorial seat in theNational Assembly, which be-came vacant following the sud-den death of Senator PiusEwherido, has been fixed forOctober 5, 2013.

Speaking during a meeting ofstakeholders’ election forum forDelta Central by-election inUghelli, weekend, Delta StateResident Electoral Commission-er, Dame Gesila Khan, said thatthe election would be held in1,263 polling units, 85 registra-tion areas and eight local gov-ernment areas in the senatorialdistrict.

Khan said: “The Senate hasformally notified the commis-sion of the vacancy in DeltaCentral senatorial district. Con-sequently, Independent Na-tional Electoral Commission,INEC headquarters, has direct-ed the Delta State office to com-mence the process of conduct-ing a by- election into the sen-atorial district.

“The publication of personalparticulars of candidates andlast date for submission ofnames and addresses of partyagents would be September 28,while publication of final list ofcandidates nominated for theelection, will be September 30,2013; last date of campaign, Oc-

tober 4, 2013 and possible run-off, October 9, 2013.

“ In accordance with the pro-posed time table for the elec-tion, the last date of primariesby political parties for the nom-ination of their candidates andsubmission of the list of candi-dates for the election has beenfixed for September 25 and 26,2013 respectively.

“INEC is not unmindful ofthe publics’ high expectations.I, therefore, assure the peopleof Delta Central senatorial dis-trict that the commission willleave no stone unturned to en-

sure a free, fair and credibleelection. A situation whereany of the participants wouldappear to foment trouble andconstitute a cog in the wheelof peace and progress will notaugur well for the system.

“The issue of electoral vio-lence will also cease to flour-ish or reduce to the barest min-imum when the political par-ties, their supporters and pol-iticians in general shun theurge to recruit thugs to un-leash terror during the elec-tion.”

She appealed to political par-

... to be held in 1,263 polling units, 8 LGAs

BENIN—LEADERS of AllProgressives Congress,

APC and Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Edo State, week-end, abandoned their politicaldifferences to attend the 60thbirthday anniversary of the Po-litical Adviser to the Governorof the state, Chief Charles Ida-hosa in Benin City.

This comes as the MinorityWhip of the House of Repre-sentatives, Mr. Samson Osag-ie, urged Nigerians and Edo

State indigenes in particular, todefend the change that thecountry needs ahead of the2015 presidential election, say-ing “Nigeria needs a changeand APC is the symbol ofchange. We are hoping andworking hard to ensure that in2015, the much needed changewill come our way and Nigeri-ans will be better for it.”

The birthday anniversary,which commenced with achurch service at St Peter’s An-glican Church, Benin City, hadin attendance the state deputy

governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, Iya-se of Benin Kingdom, ChiefSam Igbe, Senator EhigieUzamere, Samson Osagie, Ras-aq Bello Osagie, Speaker ofthe state House of Assembly,Uyi Igbe, Chief of Staff to theEdo State Government, PatrickObahiagbon among the manydignities that graced the occa-sion.

The colorful event also hadin attendance, the state Pub-licity Secretary of PDP, Mat-thew Urhoghide, Edo SouthPDP Woman Leader, Uwa Os-unbor, Chris Agbonawegbe

and twin brother to the senatorrepresenting Edo Central sen-atorial district, Akhere Ugbesia.

Idahosa, who expressed grat-itude to God, said that he wasglad that people abandonedtheir political differences to at-tend the ceremony, adding“this celebration is worth it be-cause I would have died at theage of 14, but God saved mylife. I thank everybody includ-ing the governor, Mr. AdamsOshiomhole, who also is abridge builder and a performerwith regard to the developmentof our state.”

Itsekiriyouths laudUduaghan ondevt

GHANAIAN Dep-uty Minister for

Environment, Science,Technology and Innova-tion, Dr. Bernice Heloo,has called on stakehold-ers to participate in thepeace and environmentseminar tagged Bayelsa2013, slated for Septem-ber 25, being organisedby the Centre for Peaceand Environmental Jus-tice in collaboration withthe Bayelsa State Govern-ment.

She made the call whenofficials of the Centre vis-ited her Ministry in Ac-cra, Ghana to solicit herparticipation in the semi-nar. Dr. Heloo said thather Ministry was con-vinced that CEPEJ was aserious-minded non-gov-ernmental organisationand promised to be inBayelsa State for the sem-inar.

ITSEKIRI youths,under the aegis of It-

sekiri Communities YouthDevelopment Inactive,ICYDI, have commendedDelta State governor, DrEmmanuel Uduaghan,over what they describedas his “impressive effortin improving the lot ofyouths of the state”through his youths em-powerment programme.

National President ofthe group, Prince OjogorAderson, in a statementin Sapele, Sapele LocalGovernment Area of thestate, said that the groupwished to convey its ap-preciation to the governorfor a job well done.

ties to engage in elaborate andextensive voter education cam-paign, adding that “the partieshave a dominant role to playtowards achieving the desiredfree, fair and credible electoralprocess.”

INEC condoles withEwherido family

Condoling with the family ofthe late Senator Ewherido overtheir son’s death, Khan said:“Senator Ewherido was a quin-tessential legislator, who left noone in doubt of his abilities, ca-pabilities and passion to deliv-er on the mandate from hispeople during his tenure in theSenate.”

LECTURE: From left: Mr Femi Adesina, President, Nigerian Guild of Editor; Mr. ChidoNwakanma, President, PRCAN and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, during PR-CAN’s annual Public Relations Gold Medal Lecture, in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe.


Delta Central by-election: I’ve all it takes to representUrhobo in Senate —Omo-Agege

BY FESTUS AHON

NUPENG begins strike in A-Ibom overMobil’s alleged plans to sack workers

Delta community sends SOSto Police over criminal gang

BY EMMA AMAIZE

W A R R I — U G -BORIKOKO

community in Uvwie Lo-cal Government Area ofDelta State has sent aSave Our Souls, SOS,appeal to the state Com-missioner of Police, Mr.Ikechukwu Aduba, overan alleged reign of ter-ror unleashed on the peo-ple by a gang of crimi-nals.

The community, in apetition to the Commis-sioner, by their solicitor,C.E. Itohan, alleged thatthe community was un-der siege by a viciousgang that shot andwounded three persons,namely, RichmondOdafe, Marvis Otiewoand Emmanuel Edijala,last Wednesday.

According to the peti-

tion, the criminal ganghad not only preventedthe Ugborikoko Commu-nity Management Com-mittee from operating,but overran and turnedthe community’s secretar-iat to a stronghold, whereit carried out attacks oninnocent Urhobopeolpe.

“Since its inaugura-tion, the UgborikokoManagement Commit-tee, which is the internalorgan of Ugborikoko peo-ple for maintaining lawand order and sustainingpeace in the communityin conjunction with thestate security agencies,has been deprived offunctioning properly bythese gangsters, whonow occupied and use itssecretariat for their nefar-ious activities,” it said.

UGHELLI—FORMERSecretary to Delta State

Government, Obarisi OvieOmo-Agege, has said that hehas all it takes to represent theUrhobo ethnic group in theSenate.

Speaking in Oghara, Sape-le and Ughelli, Omo-Agegelamented that the Urhobo havebeen short-changed for toolong, adding, “My mission isto salvage the Urhobos politi-cally at the national levelworking in conjunction withthe leadership of the UrhoboProgress Union.”

Reiterating his resolve to en-sure the revitalisation of themoribund Delta Steel Compa-ny, DSC, Ovwian-Aladja, ifelected into the Senate, hesaid that he was in the sena-torial race to rescue theUrhobos from the seemingpolitical low tide they are ex-periencing in the current po-litical dispensation.

He added that his decisionto join the senatorial race was

after much pressure mountedon him by some political pres-sure groups and Urhobo lead-ers of thought, decrying thatthe Urhobos, as the fifth larg-est ethnic group in Nigeria,have nothing to show for theirenormous contributions to thecountry’s wealth.

Noting that the Urhoboshave no member in the Fed-eral Executive Council, hesaid that if elected, he wouldensure that they get their fairshare in the political schemeof things in the country.

He also promised to ensurethat government addressedthe problem of unemploymentin Delta Central senatorialdistrict, emphasising that “Iwill initiate good legislationsthat will promote youth em-ployment and empowermentof both women and men in thearea in particular.

“I will influence goodprojects that will add value toour socio-economic lives inthe district, if I am elected intothe Senate,” adding that hewould see to the building ofthe Okwagbe sea port that was

approved since 2009 by theFederal Government.

While soliciting the prayersand support of the people to

enable him achieve his desireto render good service to hisethnic nationality, Delta Stateand Nigeria as a whole, he

said that he has the capacityto resolve the seeming politi-cal marginalisation theUrhobos were going through.

BY VICTORAHIUMA-YOUNG

MEMBERS of theNigeria Union of

Petroleum and NaturalGas Workers, NUPENG,will today begin an in-definite strike in AkwaIbom State to protestalleged plans by MobilProducing Nigeria Un-limited to sack its mem-bers.

NUPENG, in a state-ment by its General Sec-retary, Isaac Aberare,claimed that labour con-tract staff in Mobil Pro-ducing Nigeria Unlimit-ed’s employment hadbeen systematically sep-arated and replaced withnew ones with new con-tracts that negated theCollective BargainingAgreement, CBA, signedwith NUPENG.

According to NU-PENG, “These new em-ployees use Mobil Pro-ducing Nigeria Unlimit-ed’s tools, equipment,machinery and vehiclesto carry out their dailyroutine, yet they are de-nied the benefits as stip-ulated in the CollectiveBargaining Agreement.”

The union alleged thatthe plan was to disen-gage 80 percent of thelabour contract workersand replace them with

the so-called serviceemployees by the end ofSeptember, 2013.

The union said: “Wefind this plan unaccept-able, unjustifiable, un-fair, crude, barbaric andwicked. It will be resist-ed by the Union.

“It is sad to note thatMobil Producing hasrefused to give mandate

to their labour contrac-tors to have Joint Con-sultative Council, JCC,meeting, held quarterlyand wage re-openerwhich was due sinceJune, 2013 and charterof demand submitted inMarch, 2013.

“We cannot watch ourmembers being sackedindiscriminately.”

ANNIVERSARY: From left: Elder Samuel Ikon, Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of As-sembly; Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, his wife Unama and Lady ValerieEbe, Deputy Governor, Akwa Ibom State, during an inter-religious service to mark the 26thanniversary of the creation of Akwa Ibom State, at Ibom Hall ground, Uyo, yesterday.


6 alleged cultists arraigned forrobbery, attempted murder

BY VINCENT UJU-MADU

Anambraacquires 30ambulances

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

Catholic Bishops kick againstImo abortion law

Anambra North not marginalisedpolitically —Ubah

BY TONY EDIKE

AWKA—THE government of Anambra

State has taken delivery of30 state-of-the-art ambu-lances for distribution tohospitals in the state. Commissioner for Health,Dr. Lawrence Ikeakor, hasalready taken delivery ofthe ambulances. According to the commis-sioner, the ambulances canbest be described as com-plete hospitals as they areequipped with the mostsophisticated gadgets.

The commissioner addedthat they met the standardsprescribed by the WorldHealth Organization,WHO.

Ikeakor said the ambu-lances were part of the con-signments of hospitalequipment purchased bythe state government fordistribution to selected pub-lic and missionary-ownedhospitals in the state.

OWERRI—SIX suspects, alleged to be

members of a secret cult,known as Buccaneers andaged between 19 and 21,have been arraigned be-fore an Owerri Chief Mag-istrate’s Court for armedrobbery and attemptedmurder.

Those standing trial forthe alleged offences in-clude Miracle Orji, 19,Chukwuezi Chijioke, 20,

OWERRI—CATHOLIC Bishops in Imo

State have called on Gov-ernor Rochas Okorochaand members of the StateHouse of Assembly to re-move all anti-life sectionsin state’s Abortion Lawnumber 12 of 2012, whichharbour liberalist-abortionprovisions.

However, as the Catholicbishops kick against thelaw, some pro-abortionwomen and groups de-scribed those opposing thelaw as “ignorant andwicked people.”

Rising from a meeting inOwerri, the Bishops’ callwas contained in a commu-nique signed by the Arch-bishop of Owerri and theBishop of Orlu, Dr.Anthony J. V. Obinna andDr. Augustine Ukwuomarespectively as the womentook their protest to theState House of Assembly.

The group, known asAdvocacy Coalition on Vio-lence Against Women,ACOVAW, not only gavetheir support to the law butalso described it as “a won-derful and proactive pieceof legislation that should beapplauded rather than sub-jected to all sorts of misin-terpretations and misrepre-sentations.”

ENUGU—GOVERNORSHIP candidate

of Labour Party, LP, inAnambra State, Dr. IfeanyiUbah, weekend, dis-missed insinuations thatthe people of AnambraNorth senatorial zonewould not support his can-didature, having produced

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

As women group supports Law

The group’s leaders in-cluded President of Inter-national Federation ofWomen Lawyers, FIDA,Hauwa Evelin Shekarauand Chairperson, NationalCouncil of Women Socie-ties, NCWS, Mrs. LoisOsueke.

The bishops argued thatany law which failed torespect the right to life andhuman dignity was auto-matically null and void asthey contradicted naturaland divine laws.

“A law to prohibit vio-

lence against women, le-gitimate as it is in princi-ple must, with all the morereason, prohibit violenceagainst helpless unbornchildren from conceptionto natural death withoutexception. Thou shall notkill,” the Bishops stated.

It was also the consid-ered opinion of the bish-ops that “we must not en-throne the culture of deaththrough the legalization ofabortion, with it’s conse-quent sexual permissive-ness of all, which will rav-

age our society morallyand spiritually as it hasdone in Europe,America and else-where.”

The bishops arguedthat the right to life andhuman dignity belongedto human nature andwas inherent in everyperson by the creative actof God.

“These rights do notdepend on individuals,parents, church, societyor state. They are guar-anteed by natural laws,divine commandmentsand affirmed in theconstitution of the Fed-eral Republic of Ni-geria,” the bishopssaid.

Ezino Ikenna, 19,Maduabuchi Nnadi, 21,Maduforo Chinonso, 20,and Ugochukwu Iheme,20.

Part of the two-countcharge read that the sus-pects and others still atlarge, on August 18 and19, 2013, at Umuonyechein Owerri MunicipalCouncil, robbed a numberof people at gunpoint, in-cluding one EuniceOkereke.

They were accused ofrobbing Okereke of herNokia phone valued atN7,500, Asha 201 val-ued at N15,000, a blackshoe valued at N3,500,recharge cards worthN3,000 and N62,070cash at Waterside Pri-mary School, Owerri.

The suspects were alsocharged for robbing oneChinenye of her Black-berry phone valued atN55,000.

the governor of the statesince the state was created.

He stated that eventhough the zone had notproduced the governor ofthe state since inception,all past leaders that hadserved in different capaci-ties at the national level,including the first Nige-rian president, Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe, all came

from Anambra North.Ubah said the senato-

rial zone could not claimto be politicallymarginalized on accountof not being able to pro-duce the state governor,as the people of the zonehad had a fair share inpolitical appointmentssince the inception of thestate.

SEMINAR: From left: Mrs. Oluremi Ayeni, representative of DG, Stand-ards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, guest speakerand Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Presiding Bishop, The Redeemed EvangelicalMission, TREM, at the annual breeding leaders for empowerment and na-tional transformation seminar in Lagos, yesterday, Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

CMYK


N2TRN SEIZED ASSETS: Reps accuseEFCC, Customs, A-G of plot to derail probe

Fresh BokoHaramattacks worryOkiro

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIEBY GABRIEL EWEPU

ABUJA—FORMERInspector General of

Police, Sir Mike Okiro, hasexpressed worry over re-cent attacks by the BokoHaram sect, following thehuge casualties recordedalmost on daily basis, de-spite the declaration ofstate of emergency inBorno, Yobe and Adamawastates by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in May2013.

Okiro said this after hewas conferred with NationalPeace Award 2013 by theGlobal Peace Foundation,GPF, in commemoration ofthe United Nations’ Inter-national Day of Peace onSaturday, September 21.

He expressed concernover the ruthlessness of thenew trend of insurgency instates where security op-eratives were adequatelydrafted to enforce the Presi-dent’s declaration of waragainst terrorism.

ABUJA—THE House ofRepresentatives, yester-

day, accused the Economicand Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, the NigeriaCustoms Service and Ac-countant General to the Fed-eration, AGF, of deliberateattempts to derail investiga-tion into the N2 trillion worthof seized and recovered as-sets by the commission sinceits creation.

Resolution

The House had earlier lastJuly, passed a resolutionwhich mandated its commit-tee on crugs, narcotics andfinancial crimes to carry outan investigative inquiry intothe matter and report backwithin four weeks.

The committee, headed byJagaba Adams Jagaba ,PDP,Kaduna, had started the in-vestigation last July when thespeaker, Aminu WaziriTambuwal, directed that allcommittees’ activities be sus-

pended to allow members par-ticipate fully in the voting onconstitution amendment proc-ess.

But Jagaba in a statementsaid of the severalstakeholders from who thecommittee requested informa-tion, EFCC, Nigeria CustomsService, Accountant General'sOffice and Real Estate Deriva-tives had continued to delib-erately withhold from the com-mittee the much needed infor-mation.

Nigerians takenfor granted

He explained that it was inview of this development thathe could categorically statethat the National Assemblyand, indeed, all Nigerians hadbeen taken for granted.

He said: ”This is not onlyshocking and unfortunate buthighly disappointing comingfrom an agency set up by anAct of the National Assemblyto fight corruption.”

Vows to continueinvestigation

Jagaba, however, vowedthat the committee would notrelent in its investigation, add-ing that “for the avoidance ofdoubt, the committee is nothappy and will not hesitate toinvoke the powers conferredon it by the constitution to thefullest to compel the afore-mentioned agencies to com-ply.”

It would be recalled thatformer chairmen of the Eco-nomic and Financial CrimesCommission, Mallam NuhuRibadu, and Mrs. FaridaWaziri, as well as ManagingDirector of Assets Manage-ment Company of Nigeria,AMCON, Mr Mustafa Chike-Obi, shunned the investiga-tive hearing into seized assetsallegedly worth over N2 tril-lion on July 14.

Past EFCC chairmenabsent

Both past chairmen of the

anti-graft agency were ab-sent at the hearing.

Also absent was the gover-nor of the Central Bank of Ni-geria, CBN, Mallam SanusiLamido Sanusi.

This development did notgo down well with membersof the committee who tongue-lashed the CEOs for failingto appear before them.

Jagaba had to threaten tosummon them or issue abench warrant before theyappeared the following daywith a catalogue of excuses.

Till the two-day public hear-ing drew its curtain on July17, both Nuhu Ribadu andFarida Waziri refused to showup.

The AMCON MD andother stakeholders, however,appeared after Jagaba’sthreat to clear themselvesand their agencies.

Some of the seized assetsinclude posh cars, privatejets, mansions scattered allover the globe, communica-tion equipment and ware-houses.

CMYK


Al-makura begs 7,000 fleeing citizens to return

BY MARIE-THERESE NANLONG

GOVERNOR TankoAl-makura of Na-

sarawa State, has calledon over 7,000 Nas-sarawa State citizens

who fled the troubledObi, Assakio and Ada-bu-Alabu areas of thestate due to the recentviolent conflict to returnto their homes as meas-ures have been put inplace to ensure their

safety. Governor Al-makuramade the call during anon- the-spot assessmentof the camp in Namu,Qua’an-Pan Local Gov-ernment Area, PlateauState, where the victims

have been taking refugesince Wednesday lastweek. According to him, “Iam here to assure youall that the state and thefederal governmentsare aware of your plight

and we are here to dem-onstrate our deep con-cern. But most impor-tantly, I am here to in-form you that peace hasbeen restored to the trou-bled areas because thefederal government hasdeployed adequate se-curity personnel in theareas to guarantee safe-ty of lives and property.I, therefore, urge you allto return home immedi-ately. Those of youwhose houses wereburnt in the crises, canbe rest assured that gov-ernment has concludedarrangement to assistyou in re-building theburnt houses.” He urged the refugeesto put the crisis behindthem and forgive thosewho might have hurtthem and remain lawabiding citizens in theinterest of the state. Meanwhile, relief ma-terials consisting of fooditems, clothing, toilet-ries, blankets and mat-tresses were distributedto the victims by the Na-tional Emergency Man-agement Agency,NEMA. Sole administrator ofQua’an-Pan Local Gov-ernment, Mrs. Vou Dido,who received the mate-rials on behalf of the ref-uges, promised onwarddistribution to the vic-tims.

...says govt has taken measures to ensure their safety

Gov Ahmedtasksstakeholderson reductionof maternal,childmortality rate

BY DEMOLAAKINYEMI

ILORIN—GOVER-NOR Abdulfatah

Ahmed of Kwara Statehas called on stakehold-ers to partner with thestate in its efforts to re-duce maternal and childmortality rate.

The governor spoke inIlorin, weekend, whiledeclaring open a one-day training for healthworkers on maternalmorbidity and child mor-tality reduction, tagged,Safe motherhood.

Represented by Com-missioner for Health,Kayode Abdul Issa,Ahmed said: “We aremaking frantic efforts toensure that maternalmortality is reduced toits barest minimumthrough the employ-ment of skilled healthbirth attendants in allhealth facilities, provi-sion of free mosquitonets and implementationof the biannual maternaland newborn childhealth week, as well asprovision of free malar-ia treatment for preg-nant women and chil-dren under 5 years inour health facilities.”

He expressed theneed for skilled obstet-ric care for mothers andeffective prevention ofmother to child transmis-sion of HIV/AIDS toachieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goal(MDG), of reducing ma-ternal and child mortal-ity rate by two-thirds ofthe pre-MDG levels bythe year 2015.

The governor said:“Safe motherhood, as aconcept, refers to a situ-ation in which no wom-an going through thephysiological processesof pregnancy and child-birth suffers any injuryor loses her life or thatof the baby. It is onrecord that about 59% ofNigerian women deliv-er without attending anyhealth clinic or any an-tenatal care. The es-sence of promoting safemotherhood is that out ofone hundred pregnantwomen, 75 of them willhave normal deliveries,five will have to be op-

erated upon, and 15 willhave complications. It issad to note also that it isdifficult to ascertainthose that will developcomplications or will re-quire operations until

the delivery day.”There is the need for

skilled obstetric care formothers and effectiveprevention of mother tochild transmission ofHIV/AIDS in order to

achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goal of re-ducing maternal andchild mortality rate bytwo-third of the preMDG levels by the year2015. So far, the propor-

tion of birth attended toby skilled personnelhad dropped from 41.6%in 2000 to 36.3% in 2005indicating a verygloomy likelihood of at-taining the MDG.”

TarabaSpeaker’sattack:Policeescortsreceivetreatment inKeffi

THE two injured po-lice escorts attached

to the Speaker of TarabaState House of Assembly,Mr. Haruna Tsokwa, arenow receiving treatmentat the Federal MedicalCentre, Keffi, NasarawaState, an official of thehospital has said.

Mr Jamil Nagogo, thePublic Relations Officer ofthe hospital, told theNews Agency of Nigeria,NAN, that thepolicemen were admitted inthe hospital due to theinjuries they sustained inthe attack on the Speak-er.

CMYK


CMYK

THE Council on ForeignRelations enjoys a well-

earned reputation as a keylaboratory for the cutting edgeideas that shape the strategicpolicy of the United States ofAmerica. However, the CFR is notknown only for its services to itshome country. It is also highlyregarded as a critical voice in theshaping of global policy. Withouta doubt, CFR is one of the premierglobal think tanks that set theagenda for the globalconversation, and has for manydecades played a vital role inenlightening the world on theintricate dynamics of internationalrelations. Once again, I thank youfor inviting me.

I have been asked to speak onthe subject of ‘Leadership inDeveloping Democracies’, withthe rider “A Nigerian Perspective’.I want to believe this rider tomean that in addressing this topic,I am expected to draw illustrationsfrom the experience of my countryNigeria, a prominent member ofthe developing democracies’ club.I want to emphasise that the riderdoes not mean that my comments

powers of the state are vested inthe people but exercised on theirbehalf by their electedrepresentatives.

This of course is the system ofgovernance known simply as‘democracy’, that system ofgovernment succinctly defined byAmerica’s 16th President,Abraham Lincoln as “governmentof the people by the people andfor the people”. Developingdemocracies may also be referredto as ‘emerging democracies.’

Developingdemocracies

One characteristic of developingdemocracies is that in thesenations, the institutions ofdemocratic governance are not yetmature, but are still evolving.Conversely, mature democracieswould be those nations where thedemocratic governanceinfrastructure has evolved over aperiod of time.

Considering that developingdemocracies across the globe areall part of the group of developingnations, while the developed

Because of this relative youngage, and their attendantsusceptibility to exigencies, thepractice of democracy indeveloping democracies such asNigeria may still rightly bereferred to as an ‘experiment’.

Earlier on, I referred to thisroundtable as both timely andhighly topical. It is particularlytimely and topical for me becauseat this very moment, Nigeria, likemost developing democracies, iswrestling with the complexdynamics of the democraticsystem of governance. Nigeria,again like most developingdemocracies, is discovering thatthe road to true democracy is athorny road indeed.

In recent years, especially sincethe turn off the millennium, agrowing number of developingnations have embraceddemocracy as the preferredsystem of government. Thesenations, most of whom had at somepoint in their history laboredunder the yoke of dictatorship,whether military or civilian, arebeginning to realize the truism inthe words of Winston Churchillthat “democracy is the worst formof government, except for all theothers”.

Preferred systemof government

There is no doubt that alldeveloping democracies find thedemocracy experiment a hugechallenge. Similarly, democracyas a system of governance findsin developing nations a highlychallenging environment tothrive. But neither democracy norany developing nation that hastasted its charms is truly inclinedto call off the relationship. I donot know of any nation that,having tasted democracyvoluntarily chooses to revert todictatorship. I can hear somepeople murmuring about Egypt,but we consider Egypt a nationin transition. And so we chooseto withhold judgment at thistime.

On Leadership: Maybe we

should in the spirit of fairnessdefine the word ‘leadership’,since we have already tried todefine democracy anddeveloping democracy. The word“Leadership” is a derivative of theword “lead.” As we learn from theNew Webster Dictionary ofEnglish Language lexicon, theword ‘lead’ means to show theway by going first or to direct andguide. Thus a leader is someone

constituencies. The success orfailure of any enterprise or entitydepends on the quality of itsleadership. The progress of anyendeavour towards theattainment of its objectivedepends on the vision of itsleadership. Democracy is nodifferent. The importance ofleadership is perhaps bestcaptured by the saying attributedto Alexander the Great that “anarmy of sheep, led by a lion, isbetter than an army of lions, ledby a sheep”.

The sacred role and duty of theleadership in developingdemocracies is to tackle thechallenges of democracy andremove obstacles to thedevelopment of the system, towork to demolish especially thebarriers that stand in the way ofwidespread popular participationin the democratic process.

This critical assignment ofstrengthening the foundation onwhich the edifice of democracy iserected can only be achievedthrough committed leadership.

The quality of any leadershipis seen in its response to thechallenges that confront thesystem. This is whatdistinguishes good leadershipfrom bad leadership. Good,

Leadership indevelopingdemocracies:A Nigerianperspective

Being a paper delivered by Hon. Aminu WaziriTambuwal, CFR, speaker of the House ofRepresentatives at the Council on Foreign Relatons,Washington DC, USA

here today represent the officialviewpoint of the government ofthe Federal Republic of Nigeria.

On ‘Democracy’ and‘Developing Democracies’: Weunderstand developingdemocracies to refer to thosedeveloping nations (mostlysituated in the Southernhemisphere) that practice a non-monarchical system ofgovernment where the supreme

democracies invariablybelong to the group ofeconomically advancednations, it becomes clearthat economiccircumstance is acontributory factor in thematuration process of thedemocracy experience. Another contributoryfactor is of course age.Developing democraciesare relatively new to thepractice of democracy,compared to the developed

democracies. And as toddlers,they are taking faltering steps.The United States of Americarepresents a classical example ofa matured democracy with adeveloped economy and over twocenturies of practice, while mycountry Nigeria is a goodexample of a growing democracywith a struggling economy andless than 30 years cumulativeexperience in democracy practice.

who acts as a guide or a directinghead. The word ‘leadership’ hasa double meaning as both theposition of a leader and the qualitydisplayed by a leader.

The necessary attributes ofleadership: Some of the vitalqualities that the leadership ofemerging democracies mustpossess in order to be effectiveand productive include honesty,patriotism, passion, commitment,focus, patience, fortitude, atemperament for consultation,consensus-building andcompromise, the courage to takethe right decisions, even ifunpopular, to step on powerfultoes, and to sacrifice sacred cowswhen the occasion demands.

A pre-disposition to consensus-building and compromise is aparticularly crucial attribute in theleadership of emergingdemocracies. Most developingnations are characterised byethnic, sectarian and classcleavages. Good leadershipworks assiduously to repair thefractures, de-emphasise thedifferences and emphasisecommon interests of the diversecomponent segments of therepublic. Bad leadership on theother hand deepens the fissuresand hardens the mutualresentment.

It is the attribute of good leadersthat they understand that oncethey are elected into office, theynow represent the aspirations ofthe whole of the people and notjust the interests of their particular

leadership will aim to leave thesystem in a better shape than itmet it and will therefore commititself to plugging as manyloopholes as possible within thelimited time at its disposal.

Apatheticelectorate

Poor leadership on the handwill leave the system either in thesame state it met it, or in an evenworse state.

The worst leadership, theimmoral variety, will seek to takeadvantage of the challenges tothe system to advance its selfishinterest. Confronted for instancewith an apathetic electorate, thiscategory of leadership will seekto capitalize on the apathy of thepeople to perpetuate itself inpower. Fully aware that a morevigilant, more engaged electoratewill not be long tolerant ofincompetent or dishonestleadership, it will do its utmost todiscourage broader popularparticipation, and keep away fromthe people the knowledge andinformation they need to makeinformed political decisions.

Where good leadership seeksto expand the political space toattract and accommodate as manyparticipants as possible, immoralleadership would rather seek thecontraction of the political space,and a deterioration in popularparticipation.

,

Map of Nigeria

To be continued

Nigeria, like most developingdemocracies, is discovering that the road totrue democracy is a thorny road indeed

AMINU AMINU AMINU AMINU AMINU TTTTTAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBUWUWUWUWUWALALALALAL

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY,SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Boko Haram: Inches away to total victoryBY OLA LOOKMAN

WITHOUT doubts, the Nigeriansecurity apparatchik is recording

tremendous success in its efforts to rootout insurgency in different parts of thecountry, especially the North East. Trueto its promise, the Joint MilitaryTaskforce, JTF, has continued to launchoffensive against criminal elements andterrorism in the country.

Recently the Nigerian Army an-nounced the killing of over 150 BokoHaram insurgents at Kafiya Forest ofBorno State. The Director of Army Pub-lic Relations, DAPR, Brig-Gen. IbrahimAttahiru, who made the disclosureadded that a key commander and ahigh value target of the insurgents, oneAbba Goroma was also killed. The chiefinsurgent commander had a N10 millionbounty placed on his head.

Within the same week members of theyouth vigilante group otherwise knownas civilian JTF captured over 50 sus-pected members of the Boko Haram sectin some parts of Borno and Adamawastates. The arrest of suspects came af-ter days of massive hunt of the fleeinginsurgents.

So much strategies seemed to be putin place in this war on terror. The Di-rector General of the State SecurityService, SSS, Ita Ekpeyong, at theofficial passing out parade and commis-sioning of 385 new officers of the servicedeclared that the Service and other se-

curity forces were gradually wiping outthe Boko Haram insurgents in the coun-try. Ekpeyong said: “We can confident-ly say that we have decimated the ter-rorists’ top and middle level leadership,its foot soldiers, thereby dislodging itscentre of gravity.”

Though there were a number of casu-alty on the side of the Nigerian securitypersonnel and the civilian volunteers,nevertheless the positive developmentreinforces our belief in the ability of theresponse agencies working tediously inprotecting us.

WE were all living witnesses whenthe dreaded Boko Haram terror

groups operated almost freely in someNorth-Eastern states before State ofEmergency was declared in the trou-bled states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Their freedom have been curtailed.Hardly a day passes that the news me-dia will not come out with stories of theJTF clamping down on members offleeing Boko Haram terror group. Thesefaceless and bloodthirsty elements havelong fled areas they once operated likethe Lord of the Manor and unleashedterror on helpless and innocent Nigeri-ans. The story has since changed. It isnow the other way round. These ele-ments have since been chased away.

The recent creation of an Army divi-

sion is another ambitious step taken to-wards ridding the North East of inse-curity. The government should leave nostone unturned in its resolve to makeNigeria a safe and secure nation. De-spite the hydra-headed nature of theinsecurity conundrum, the governmentshould leave nothing to chance gettingto the root of the matter.

Creating a division of the NigerianArmy specifically to fight insurgency inthe North Eastern part of the country isa commendable initiative. It is an indi-cation that government very muchattaches much premium to the safety oflife and property of its citizens.

While it will be considered rather tooearly and ill-timed to sing victory songin the war against terror, it is not out ofplace all together to say we are close toachieving 100 percent success. We areinches away from completely cleansingterror from our land. Credit must begiven to our devoted and committedofficers and men of the Nigerian Armyand other security establishments whohave sacrificed their comfort, pleasureand time to guarantee peace in the land.The amount of stability we have so farwitnessed in areas once brandedflashpoints is an indication of the factthat the military is not relenting in itsavowed determination to root out ter-

rorism in the country.The unprecedented inroads recorded

by the JTF are not without the match-less support and unwavering commit-ment of the Federal Government. Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathan has neverminced words in his avowed determi-nation make Nigeria inhabitable fortrouble makers and enemies of Nigeriawith provision of adequate resources toour security.

The JTF, with support from their civil-ian counterparts, is truly on top of theinsecurity situation in areas once dom-inated by members of the Boko HaramIslamist sect. While we must acknowl-edge and commend security and vol-unteers in this war against terrorism,we must rise to fight terrorism by wordsof encouragement, while we are also se-curity conscious at all times.

Aside creating the 7th Division of theNigerian Army in Borno State, the gov-ernment should equally provide theArmy with necessary support for fulltake-off. We cannot continue to watchalmost helplessly how bloodthirsty in-dividuals visit terror on Nigerians. It isour responsibility to make Nigeria safefor Nigerians and foreigners alike. Ni-gerians are peace-loving people. Let usoffer our individual supports to securi-ty agencies to enable them succeed.

•Mr Lookman, a member YouthsAgainst Disaster Initiative, YADI, wrotefrom Abuja.

ANYONE who expects Nigerians to embracemore biometric data exercises does notunderstand the frustrations they entail onseveral fronts – time, money, long queues andwaiting under inclement conditions.Before the police’s Biometric Central Motor

Registration, BCMR, organisations that hadcaptured biometrics of Nigerians included:·National Civic Registration Commission,

national identity card in 2002· Independent National Electoral

Commission, INEC, voter’s card since 2007· Nigerian Immigration Service with the e-

passport from 2007· National Population Commission, 2006

census· Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, the new

driver’s licence· National Communication Commission and

telecommunications companies in 2010· Banks have biometrics of their customers

from 2010.· Some States have begun biometric

registration of residentsNigerians are facing tremendous difficulties

with these time consuming procedures. Thehuge public funds they guzzle and theattendant scandals since the national identity

WWWWWe Need Biometrice Need Biometrice Need Biometrice Need Biometrice Need BiometricData BaseData BaseData BaseData BaseData Base

card project began in 1977 are enough reasonsto oppose the BCMR.Earlier biometric captures, with the

exception of the e-passport, all failed. Thetelecommunications companies losesubscribers’ data and cut off their lines to forcethem to re-register. Nobody is in-charge of allthe data collected, there is no central data bank.No law states how the data can be used.The police need biometric data to work. They

cling to Section 3(2-6) of the Road Traffic Cap548 LFN, 1990 which mandates the InspectorGeneral of Police to maintain Central MotorRegistry of all vehicles issued under Traffic Actas the enabling law for BCMR.Public angst with BCMR does not question

its usefulness, though in the hands of ill-equipped police personnel, the results are

predictable. It is even doubtful if the policehave the capacity to collect the data.The public wants the police to use existing

data. Police’s cooperation with other agenciesis important for effective security. Biometricdata capture exercises have serious securityimplications that should bother the police.They expose individuals to cybercrimes. Ifmore people have access to the data, thechances that the data could be abused wouldincrease. Claims that the BMCR would be usedto fight crimes are vacuous. The police arecapturing only vehicle owners, possibly lessthan one per cent of the population. Ifcriminals operate with stolen vehicles or byfoot, or motor boats or aircraft would the policehave their biometrics?Nigeria needs an integrated national

biometric data base. Agencies that haveconducted biometric data capturing, wouldfeed the base. Duplication of effort, as all theagencies are doing, is wasteful, and favourscriminals.The police do not seem to understand that to

fight criminals, they need more data than thenarrow BCMR platform provides. The data areauthenticated and cheaper to acquire fromagencies that have them.

CMYK

CMYK


48— 48— 48— 48— 48— Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23,,,,, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

Boy, 13, has no reproductive organs

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

SINCE he was born March5, 2000,13-year-old Uchenna Ekezie has

lived with a genital deformity. He wasborn with what is described in medicalparlance as maldeveloped externalgenitalia. In lay terms, he has novisible external male reproductiveorgans whatsoever. All he has to showis a rudimentary stump that is less thanan inch long.

No thanks to this congenitalabnormality, Uchenna can not urinatenormally,. Worse still, his hopes ofbiologically fathering children in thefuture currently hang in the balance.

Although Uchenna, who hails fromthe Ejike Ezekie family of UmuariamObowo LGA of Imo State, hasundergone series of major surgeries atthe Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia,he requires a total of N4.5 million toundergo two more outstandingsurgeries to complete his restoration.

The first surgery is for correction ofthe continuous dripping of urine, whilethe second surgery is for elongation ofthe rudimentary stump.

It was gathered that in the attempt toto correct the birth defect, Uchennasuffered further damage in certain veinsand arteries around his genital area. A medical evaluation by an Indian

Hospital in Abuja sent to Fortis EscortsHospital, New delhi, India, from theDepartment of Surgery, FederalMedical Centre, Queen Elizabeth

Amend, don’trepeal VAPPlaw, say Imowomen

Weekly that efforts to seek financialassistance from the Imo Stategovernment has not yielded fruit.

Speaking through the Queen of PeaceCatholic Church, Umuariam, Obowo,LGA, Celestine observed that anestimated bill of $12,000 (about N2million) has been issued by the hospitalfor the corrective surgery, but observedthat an additional N2.5 million wasbeing sought to cover medicals, returntickets, evaluations, tests and postsurgeries and rehabilitation.

The Indian hospital is all set to correctthis abnormality and restore Uchenna’sexternal genitalia to normal, but theobvious financial constraint is astumbling block. Lamenting his son’splight, Celestine appealed for urgentfinancial assiatance to enable the life-saving surgeries to commence.

“We have no kobo or even a fractionof this amount. Already we have spentall we have on his treatment and thefamily is broke. I even had to sell off allthe cement bocks I moulded to buildabout four rooms, as well as the old carI was managing to provide for myfamily. We are now completelydependent on the response of generousNigerians to out plea. Please helpprovide Uchenna with a better qualityof life and offer us hope in humanity.”

•If you are touched and wish to assistUchenna, kindly send your donationsto Celestine Ejike Ekezie, First Bankof Nigeria Plc, 3303010231336, or call08060658913 and 08136506718 formore details.

Hospital, Umuahia, explained thatUchenna had the first surgery eightdays after birth.

In the report, signed by Dr. E.N. Agwuon behalf of Dr. G.U. Ugbam, the ChiefConsultatnt Paediatric Surgeon, theprocedure, known as posterior iliacosteotomy, was followed by the repairof the exomphalons at two months ofage, and followed to months later byrepair of epispadias.

At four months of age, Uchenna had aherniotomy and bladder augmentationat six months. All surgeries wer carriedout at the FMC, Umuahia. Uchenna’sfather, Celestine, told Good Health

WOMEN groups in Imo State havecalled on the Lawmakers not to

repeal the Violence Against PersonsProhibition, VAPP, law signed byGovernor Rochas Okorocha in May thisyear.

Making the call in Owerri during ajoint media chat, the women groupscalled for amendment of thecontroversial sections of the law ratherthan an outright repeal.

They agreed that the law protectswomen against violence and empowersthem in the sense that it gives them theright and privileges they never enjoyed.

The groups include National Councilfor Women Societies, NCWS,International Federation of WomenLawyers, FIDA, and the Federation ofMuslim Women Association ofNigerian, FOMWAN. Others areUmuadaigbo, St. Priscillia AdventistChurch of Nigeria, Joint NationalAssociation of Disabled Persons, JNADP,and Mothers’Union of the AnglicanCommunion.

Chairperson of the NCWS, Mrs. LoisOsueke described the VAPP law as oneof the best things Imo State House ofAssembly has achieved. "Imo womenare saying they should not repeal thelaw but make amends where necessaryso that our children and children’schildren will enjoy it,’’ she said.

In the view of Hajia Rakiya Ahmed ofFOMWAN, it would not be fair to throwaway the whole law because of oneclause which expanded the choices forabortion for women who got pregnantthrough incest, rape and sexual assault.

"Please leave the law the way it is. Itis good for us . We know we will keepobeying our husbands till death but weneed this law for our protection," saidthe State Coordinator of UmuadaigboNigeria and in Diaspora, Mrs MabelAnyiam.

A member of the Catholic WomenOrganization, Gertrude Iroeme whospoke at another meeting earlier,observed that attempts to repeal the lawwas an attempt to subject women toperpetual punishment adding that thesection on bad widowhood practicesshould be sustained in order to giverespite to women who go throughhorrors when their husbands die.

• Requires N4.5m for corrective surgery in India

What you need to know about fibreand diabetes

IF you have type 2 diabetes, there isa need to check the fibre content in

your meals immediately, since qualityis just as significant as the quantity.

New research indicates that peoplewho have type 2 diabetes are advisedto increase their intake of fibre -richfoods. Fibre is not digested by the body.Therefore, it will not raise blood sugar.Fibre-rich food can help blunt the ef-fects of carbohydrates, because the in-testines will take more time when itcomes to digesting fiber-rich foods.

This will result in a slower release ofglucose in one's bloodstream.

New studies show that 50 grams offibre is recommended for daily con-sumption. The problem is that 50 gramsis a lot of fiber for the average Ameri-can. According to the American HeartAssociation, the average person onlyconsumes about 15 grams of fiber a day,while the American Diabetes Associa-tion recommends that an average per-son consumes 25-50 grams of fibre eachday. Although the recommended fibreintake may be difficult to achieve, it isnot impossible. Good sources of fibremay include whole grain products, driedbeans, oats, apples and pears.

Keep in mind that not all fibre are thesame. Because of this, not all fibres of-fer the same health benefits. However,all fibres generally help improve thecontrol of blood glucose by keeping

blood sugar spikes in check.There is soluble fibre and insoluble

fibre. Soluble fibre is the kind that dis-solves in water easily. This kind helpslower cholesterol, since it will bind tothe cholesterol and be excreted from thebody. Insoluble fibre is the one that isnot easily digested by the body. Thiskind of fibre keeps the digestive tractworking longer. They make an indi-vidual feel full for a longer period oftime.

Both kinds of fibres are good for thebody. They can help an individual whenit comes to feeling full faster and longer.They also help keep the body from over-heating. Fibre supplements may workfor some people. The biggest drawback,is that one is only getting the fibre andnot the other nutrients offered by fibre-rich food.

• Uchenna Ezekie

• Fibre -rich foods

CMYK

CMYK



OPINION

,,

PEACE has always been a much sought-afterphenomenon by every living creature. The subject

and search for true and lasting peace is one that hastranscended every bound, and extended to every humanendeavour and concern. Simple as the concept maysound, the exigencies and the mode of life in the modernand civilized world of today make such a search aprecarious one, coming only at the behest of concertedphysical, emotional, spiritual and psychological effort.One of the most outstanding efforts of the pursuit of peaceon the global scale has been the establishment of theUnited Nations Organisation in 1945, the need of whichwas so expedient given the global involvement of thecountries of the world in an all-encompassing,destructive, needless and wasteful war, and that was thesecond time in coming. An indication of the dearth of thecommodity of peace will always lie in the level andnumber of conflicts that are still prevalent despite theconsensus of virtually all the countries of the world thatpeace was of the essence if development was going to beanywhere in sight.

Peace has been aptly and practically described notjust as the absence of conflict or physical violence andbreakdown of order, but an enthronement of justice,equity, and the various other ingredients that perpetuateand ensure the life of the phenomenon of peace. One ofthe most fundamental components of this discoursewould be the promotion, upholding and the aggressive

Peace as an ingredient for developmentsupport of the fundamental human rights of the citizenor individual in question. It, of course, goes without say-ing that the infringement or downplaying of an individ-ual’s right to life, right to fair hearing, right to freedomof association, right to freedom of worship and most re-cently, right to quality education, is an integral compo-nent of the destructive chain that would snowball in timeinto the total loss of peace in the region or locality, ofcourse with the attendant physical, material, mental andsometimes financial casualties. Instances where suchseemingly inconsequential denials have led to mutiniesthat have lasted months and even years are all too freshin our memories; even if it is not, the Arab spring willstand out as one of the most significant in this regard.

The link between human rights promotion andadvocation, peace promotion and the sustenance of truedemocracy, which undeniably is a form of governmentthat is easily the most popular in the world today, isobviously a strong one. The engendering of a soundhuman rights programme is an ingredient, if not chiefly,for the birth and nutrition of sound peace, which nowprovides the leverage and footing on which generalopinion, for the people and by the people can now thrive,and in turn deliver dividends of development, progressand an enviable pride of place in the comity of nations.

All too often, the pursuit of peace has been aphenomenon which has involved policy formulation,

human and material contingencies, and sometimes ac-tual combat to quell certain manners of uprising, differ-ent shades and hues of peacekeeping operations, and allthese have, in the plausible and noble cause, excluded acritical mass of the population of the world whose con-tributions have neither been sought nor seen to be ofimportance-the aged and elderly. In viewing the elderlyas prime agents of peace and nation building, we musttake into account the fact that the society they are nowsuffering exclusion from was moulded and shaped bythem, and the wealth of experience they possess wasdrawn from the same society. Elders are an alternateconflict resolution resource, as well as prime agents ofpeace, and that is one factor that has been ignored forlong enough.

The United Nations, in the same spirit ofheightened chase for world peace, has christenedSeptember 21 International Day for Peace, and thetheme has been strategically and timely chosen:"Education For Peace". It is so glaring the need for akind of education other than, and above perfunctorystudying of books and solving of sums in this desirefor a peaceful world. The kind of education that shunsinordinate slavery of any kind and form, due, mutualand fair respect for people’s views and opinions, isthe kind of education that is needed, and will markthe crux of peace in this 21st century.

*Mr Nwobu, a management consultant, wrote from Abuja.

BY IKE WILLIE NWOBU

IT is said that when the time for an ideacomes no force can stop it. For the

Nigerian ruling class, the idea of asovereign national conference, SNC, wasviewed as treasonous just 20 years ago.SNC, along with such progressive conceptsas “true federalism” (or decentralisationof political power to the federating unit),was seen as cleverly and cowardly dressed-up ploy towards secession or disintegra-tion of Nigeria.

This ruling class, which emerged afterthe civil war (and is firmly rooted in theNorth), has always asserted with arrogantand bombastic aplomb, that Nigeria is “anindivisible, indissoluble nation underGod”.

Things appear to be changing rapidly inthe direction of a national conference toexamine the reason the nation is notworking effectively. Some of the footsoldiers of the establishment, who foughtin the war front to bring about the currentorder, are voicing their support for change.Former military president, GeneralIbrahim Babangida, surprised many in2010 when he was aspiring for presidentwhen he supported devolution of powers.Also, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retired) has dissolved his Congress forProgressive Change, CPC, into the All Pro-gressives Congress, APC, thus lying on thesame bed with the defunct Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN, a political party found-ed on the Awoist principles of “true feder-alism”.

The new thing in town is that the driversof the current administration appear seri-

Closer to a national conference?ethnic nationalities”.

I considered that speech epochal, com-ing from Mark. He is one of the youngerfaces of the ruling establishment who had,before now, kicked against every attemptto tamper with the shape of things as weknow it. Mark, even as President of theSenate, has stiffly gone against the ideaof a conference as well as vehemently op-posing the establishment of state police.But just before the long recess of theNational Assembly, Mark was on recordsaying he had started seeing the need forstate police.

I am willing to believe that Mark’s callfor national conference is a kite-flyinggambit that is not coming from him alone.It is likely he is doing so on behalf of theruling party, with President Jonathan inthe background. Perhaps, if it goes downwell with the generality of Nigerians, thePresident is likely to come out openly with

something along that line. When he willdo so we wait to see. But I hope he will notbe doing it in response to personalpolitical pressures. That would beObasanjo all over again, and we knowwhat became of Obasanjo’s conferencewhen he wrapped his selfish interestsaround it.

UnavoidableIt has become clear to everybody that

we can no longer sidestep a national con-

ference at this time in our history. Fortythree years after the Nigerian civil war,everybody is unhappy. Everybody is com-plaining. There is no Nigerian group that

regards itself as privileged; not even those(especially the North) whom the systemwas carefully configured to benefit most.In spite of the fact that the North has beenawarded “majority” status in the popu-lation, given the largest number of states,local governments, electoral wards, fed-eral constituencies and thereby collectedby the far the largest amount of federallyallocated funds, it is still the poorest re-gion.

The grinding poverty has driven itsyouth nuts and some of them have turnedto religious extremism and terrorism toget back at the system. The Igbos havefought and lost the Biafran war. TheYorubas fought and lost the June 12struggle, but had the presidency given tothem through one of their rejected sons,Olusegun Obasanjo. It was a slap in the

face, but because the gift was President,Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Re-public of Nigeria, and the person giventhe gift was an Oodua son, they took it andwere mollified, which is not the same thingas being satisfied.

The Niger Delta fought an armedstruggle for resource control and wasforced to accept amnesty in return forunconditional surrender. But they werealso fortunate to suddenly find thepresidency falling onto their laps. Still,there are clear signs that the lull in thecreeks is but a mere ceasefire as the zoneis not done with their quest for “resourcecontrol”.

With such a high level of pervasiveunhappiness across the table, the onlyviable peaceful means of solving theproblem is a national constitutionalconference. The conservatives rulingNigeria always insist that Nigeria willwork if we get “good leaders”. But thesystem has proved itself incapable ofthrowing up good leaders since the rulingclass will not allow a leader who will upsettheir applecart to take over.

It is also clear that the seriously faultyConstitution we operate cannot be reme-died through amendments. Every attemptto amend the Constitution ultimatelyrenders it more convoluted. We spend val-uable time and lots of money only to comeback to square one.

A new constitution at this time willenable us to put the first century ofNigerian history characterised by nationalinstability and discontent behind. It willgive us a clean slate to fashion a new orderby ourselves, rather than having colonialor military dictatorship breathing downour necks as we discuss.

It is a real opportunity for us to evolve aconstitution that we can boldly preamblewith the magical words: “We, the peopleof Nigeria…”.

The second century of my dreams is onein which we, the people of Nigeria, will begoverned in a system not dominated bysectional, ethnic or religious super master.It is one in which the Nigerian citizen willbe truly free to live out the best of his life’spotentials without being hamperedbecause of the peculiarities of his origin.It a new century in which Nigerians, asone people will stand together and marchtowards the great future for which we aredestined.

Indeed, as Israeli General Ehud Baraksaid when he recently visited Nigeria:“when we stand together, no force on earthcan stop us”!

It has become clear to everybody that we can nolonger sidestep a national conference at this timein our history; forty three years after the Nigeriancivil war, everybody is unhappy; everybody iscomplaining; there is no Nigerian group thatregards itself as privileged

ously inclined towards a national confer-ence. Penultimate Sunday, The Guardianreported in its lead story that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan might succumb topressure to get the conference going anytime from now. However, the most tellingsignposting towards a national conferencecame from the President of the Senate,David Mark on Tuesday, September 17,2013. In the keynote address to open thenew legislative session, he dwelt at lengthon the need for a national “conference of

Senate President David Mark


CMYK

,

,

LET me state from the outset that after I read, in be-

tween the lines, the piece ti-tled: “PDM, PDP and the Bat-tle Ahead” in THISDAY, theSunday newspaper of Septem-ber 8, 2013, I came to an in-teresting conclusion that thereis no battle ahead, after all,between Peoples DemocraticMovement, PDM, which hasjust transformed into a politi-cal party, and the ruling Peo-ples Democratic Party, PDP.

What, however, lies aheadfor the new PDM is a crisis ofidentity! I say new PDM be-cause many founding leadersof the aboriginal PDM havedistanced themselves from thesecret registration of theMovement as a political partywith the Independent Nation-al Electoral Commission,INEC. So, what this meansfor the new PDM is that thesoul of the Movement is, un-derstandably, still in the PDP.

The new party is, therefore,at best, a splinter group fromthe aboriginal PDM, whichworked with other political as-sociations to form the PDP in1998. And the resolve of thefounding fathers of the Move-ment was to keep it at the lev-el of a pressure group and notto transform it into a politicalparty. This is why it has re-mained so within the PDPsince 1998.

Even Olumide Adefarakan,the writer of the piece, who isa public affairs analyst andreporter admitted the fact ofthe resolve, especially when

he said that “it will be recalledthat the PDM was a major ful-crum in the formation of thedefunct Social Democratic Par-ty, SDP, and also in the forma-tion of the PDP in 1998.”

But his claim that the oldergeneration of the originalPDM members has betrayedthe ideals of the Movement asa bastion of democracy isfraudulent. It was clear thathe chose to be fraudulent inorder to prepare the groundsfor the rationalisations offeredby the purported Interim Na-tional Chair of the PDM par-ty, Malam Bashir IbrahimYusuf, for the registration ofthe Movement with INEC be-hind the backs of the found-ing leaders.

In a bid to justify the secretregistration of the PDM, Yusufwas quoted to have said “dur-ing the days of the founder ofthe party (Movement), therewere many times the Tafida(the late Shehu MusaYar’Adua) held a contrary po-sition to those of his lieuten-ants. I cannot recall any suchtime when the Tafida lordedhis opinion on the rest of thegroup. Decisions were alwayssubjected to the test of democ-racy and, in a like manner, alldecisions and actions in thePDM passed the test of de-mocracy.”

What a spurious assertion!Was Yusuf saying that the de-cision to transform the Move-ment into a political party aproduct of consensus by lead-ers and members of the Move-ment? The decision could nothave passed through the

transparent, credible anddemocratic test; otherwise itwould not have been a subjectof controversy that has trailedits transformation into a polit-ical party.

So, on what moral basis washe accusing the original PDMleaders of betraying the pro-motion of the ideals of democ-racy? Whereas, the reporterin Olumide Adefarakan be-trayed his bias for the newPDM with his spins in para-graphs 26, 27 and 28, all in aclever bid to divert attentionfrom the involvement of formerVice President Atiku Abubakarfrom the rebellion that led tothe registration of the PDM asa party.

Read the concatenation: “Al-though, a senior member ofthe PDM family has on sever-al occasions dissociated him-self from being the force be-hind the registration of thePDM, and many of his corepolitical associates have alsodistanced themselves from thenewly registered political par-ty, there are fears in some

quarters, especially propo-nents of a Jonathan secondterm that the newly registeredparty may yet be a fallback forsome interests if the PDP gaveJonathan its presidential tick-et without going through pri-mary election or if there is nolevel playing (sic) field in theemergence of the ruling par-ty’s flagbearer…”.

Let us read Adefarakan’spurported sources close to thePDM, whom he claimed saidthat “all efforts by the newparty to have the former VicePresident on board as part ofits 2015 permutations havefailed as Atiku has insisted thathe is staying put in the PDPto slug it out and create a lev-el-playing (sic) field in theparty.”

INDEED , there is noamount of pseudo-repor-

torial dissembling that will di-vert attention from Atiku asbeing the face of the PDM re-bellion. The leadership of theaboriginal PDM knows that hewas the one who encouragedand promoted the registrationby proxy as a fall-back platformfor his never-waning presi-dential ambition.

No one reckons with hisclaim that he remains in thePDP, especially after playingan opportunistic role in join-ing some aggrieved governorsto break out of the SpecialMini-convention ground atthe Eagle Square on August31, 2013. That was Atiku’sarchetypal politics of rebellingagainst constituted authoritiesin promotion and defence ofhis personal political interests.

He is not new to the game ofrebellion and betrayal. He isnot one of the aggrieved gov-ernors who have issues intheir states against the PDPleadership, but having gainedaccess to the venue of the con-

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BY SUNNY IKHIOYA

The lessons from Ozekhome'skidnap

CHIEF Mike Ozekhome (SAN), afiery Lagos lawyer and human

rights activist came out of the kidnap-pers den with a message for those inauthority: “ Grant the kidnappers am-nesty”. How he wants the governmentto execute this is difficult to tell butone thing is sure: its modalities willbe more complex than that of theBokoHaram which is yet to see the lightof day.

From Ozekhome’s account, the menwho kidnapped him are well read andarticulate, which implies that they areeducated young men, maybe amongstthe many unemployed graduates roam-ing about cities in Nigeria.

When the educated takes to crimelike armed robbery and kidnapping, itis a cause for concern as the averageNigerian educated man does not fallinto the profiling category of hard crim-inal. White-collar criminality, whichhas brought this country almost to herknees, is still flourishing because itinvolves educated men and women.

What is the lesson(s) fromOzekhome’s message? We must beginto address the issues of unemployedyouths, especially the species of edu-cated graduates.

Granting of general or blanket am-nesty to kidnappers will not solve theproblem as that will be an endorsementof criminality. The only solution to allof these, that will be permanent, is forus to be our brothers’ keepers. It is notall those roaming about the streets thatcannot work. It is just the environmentin which they find themselves made itimpossible for them to flourish. Thosewho are fortunate to lay hands in thepublic till are termed successful andingenious; perhaps the unfortunateones are termed failures. The rich inthis country must begin to think outways by which the underprivilegedcan be taken care of. Let me make thisclarification. A few privileged and richNigerians already run programmesthat address the situations of the underprivileged poor but the majority do notcare. When I say rich, I mean thosewhose income far outstrips their needsand wants.

IT is to avoid the chaos that comeswith such that Great Britain and

other developed countries introducedwelfare programmes for their citizens,those who cannot afford to go to workare given weekly cheques to take careof their basic needs.

Most successful businessmen in this

country, live on governmentpatronage(s); even our banks cannotmake successful headway without gov-ernment inputs, in the form of depos-its and policies. The question then is:If the rich ones are getting all thesepatronage(s) from government, eitherin the form of contract awards, ten per-cent-for civil servants- or outrightstealing in the form of bribery, why arethey not giving back to society?

Instead of ploughing the money backinto the economy to regenerate, ourmoney is taken abroad to generatewealth for foreign economies. Howselfish we can be! It is clear that therewill be problem if the balance betweenthe rich and the poor is tilted towardseither side of the divide. Our rich haveabandoned the poor in the society andthe poor are paying back through in-

volvement in kidnapping, Boko Haramand such activities.

The rich, especially our politicians,also encourage criminality throughelection malpractices. You will not seetheir children on the streets indulgingin brigandage and the likes, they re-cruit and brainwash the poor to do itfor them.

To begin with, Nigerians must be en-couraged to bring their monies stashedabroad back into this country. This willhelp to strengthen our Naira - as westill depend a lot on imports fromabroad - and help to reflate the econo-my.

Government must execute job cre-ation programmes –not lip service;craft and skilled centres must be es-tablished in every zone in the countryfor those who cannot further theireducation and loan facilities madeavailable for small businesses. Openup the rural areas through networksof roads for the agriculture industry toflourish.

There are various ways to create jobsfor our unemployed graduates, but,first, the issue of power has to be sortedout, for without power, production isimpossible and a country that cannotproduce, cannot create employment.

Also, our leaders must begin to setgood examples through their livingstandards. The problems of the underprivileged must be the concern of all.

*Mr Ikhioya, a commentator on nationalissues, wrote from Lagos

vention as a statutory dele-gate, he was to lend himself tothe act of joining the aggrievedgovernors to stage a walk-outfrom the convention venue.

That was not the first timeAtiku would present himself asa rebel with personal cause. In2003, as sitting Vice President,he had collaborated with somenine governors, with whom hehad wanted to upstage theapplecart of his boss Oluseg-un Obasanjo’s second termpresidential bid.

But for the deft moves of thelike of former Minister ofWorks and Housing, ChiefTony Anenih, who had just leftthe cabinet to oversee Obasan-jo’s re-election campaign asthe de facto National Coordi-nator, and the political brink-manship by the presidency,Atiku might have had his way.He had obtained the presiden-tial nomination form and askedfor time extension to enable himsubmit it.

Relying on his famed controlof the state governors whomhe had planned to use toswing delegate votes either tohimself if he ran eventually orto former vice president AlexEkwueme who eventually ranagainst Obasanjo, he had putthe scare into Obasanjo. WhatAtiku wanted was retention asvice president after reports hadindicated that Obasanjo wasgoing to drop him as runningmate for a North East gover-nor due to his disloyalty.

He was able to negotiate hisretention as running mate, butimmediately the presidentialelection was won, Obasanjowent after him for his ownpound of flesh. The influencehe wielded in his first term asvice president was deliberate-ly whittled down by the Eboraof Owu (Obasanjo).

BY JOHNSON MOMODU

*Mr Momodu, a politicalobserver,wrote from Abuja.

Facade of a rebel andfuture of PDM No one reckons

with his claim thathe remains in thePDP, especiallyafter joining someaggrieved gover-nors to break out ofthe Special Mini-convention groundat the Eagle Square

Granting amnesty tokidnappers will notsolve the problem asthat will be an en-dorsement of criminali-ty; we must begin toaddress the issues ofunemployed youths,especially the gradu-ates

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

KENYAN securityforces have

launched a major assaulton a shopping mall in thecapital Nairobi to freehostages being held byal-Shabab fighters.

Armed men belongingto the Somali group hadstormed the Westgateshopping centre a dayearlier using grenadesand assault rifles, leavingat least 68 people deadand more than 150wounded, according tothe Red Cross.

Gunfire and an explo-sion were heard from theshopping centre afterdark yesterday, as secu-rity forces intensified ef-forts to end the standoffamid fears that the deathtoll could rise sharply fol-lowing the discovery ofmore corpses by securitymen inside the building.

Military helicopterswere flying low over thearea, and there were re-ports that security servic-es had blown open a holein the wall to get accessto the building, AlJazeera’s Peter Greste,reporting from the scene,said.

Kenyan forces move to end mall siege“There’s a lot of politi-

cal pressure, a lot of pres-sure from relatives of thevictims, to end the stand-off quickly,” he said. “Butit seems that security ser-vices are prepared to playthe long game here ifneed be.

Meanwhile, al-Shabab, which hasclaimed responsibility forthe siege, said on its Twit-ter feed that the “Kenyangovernment shall be heldresponsible for any loss oflife as a result of such animprudent move. Thecall is yours!”

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel

has won a third term inelections, even thoughher conservatives may beforced to govern in a“grand coalition” withthe centre-left SocialDemocrats (SDP), exitpolls said.

The surveys came min-utes after polls closed inGermany where tens ofmillions of voters cast theirballots for yesterday’sparliamentary elections.

Merke hailed the “su-per result” and said “to-gether we will do every-thing in the next fouryears to again make themsuccessful years for Ger-many”.

Public opinion polls inthe past week had shown

Exit polls favours MerkelGermany’s three majorleft-of-centre parties run-ning neck-and-neck withMerkel’s centre-rightChristian DemocraticUnion (CDU) and its co-alition partner in the cur-rent government, theFree Democratic Party(FDP).

According to the polls,the FDP got 4.7 percentof the vote, short of thefive percent needed toretain seats in parlia-ment.

Withe FDP fallingshort, a coalition of Ger-many’s two biggest par-ties, the CDU and SPD,seems likely, in a repriseof the tandem that ruledGermany from 2005-2009, during Merkel’sfirst term as chancellor.

RUSSIA accused theWest yesterday of

trying to exploit a chemi-cal weapons deal withSyria to push through aU.N. resolution threaten-ing force against Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad.

Assad’s governmenthas handed over informa-tion about its chemical ar-senal to a U.N.-backedweapons watchdog,meeting the first deadlineof the ambitious U.S.-Russia accord which theU.N. Security Council isdue to endorse in thecoming days.

But major powers on thecouncil, who have dis-agreed throughout a con-flict which has killed100,000 people, remaindivided over how to en-sure compliance with theaccord.

The United States,France and Britain want

Russia accuse West of ploting to attack Syriaa council resolution is-sued under Chapter 7 ofthe U.N. charter, whichcould authorize sanctionsor military intervention ifDamascus reneges on itscommitments.

Russia, which alongwith China has blocked

three draft resolutions onSyria since the 2011 up-rising against Assaderupted, opposes West-ern threats of forceagainst an ally whichMoscow has continued toarm and support duringthe civil war.

At least 75 people havebeen killed in northwestPakistan in a twin suicidebombing, police havesaid.

The two attackers struckat the end of a service atAll Saints Church in Pe-shawar, the main town inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwaprovince yesterday.

A hospital spokesper-son said that at least 120people had been wound-

Pakistani church bombings kill75, injuries 120

ed in the attack. The attack occurred as

hundreds of worshipperswere coming out of thechurch in the city’s Ko-hati Gate district after ser-vices to get a free meal ofrice offered on the frontlawn, said a top govern-ment administrator, Sa-hibzada Anees.

“There were blasts andthere was hell for all ofus,” said Nazir John, whowas at the church with atleast 400 other worship-pers. “When I got mysenses back, I foundnothing but smoke, dust,blood and screaming peo-ple. I saw severed bodyparts and blood allaround.”

The white walls of thechurch, which firstopened in the late 1800s,were pockmarked withholes caused by ball bear-ings or other metal ob-jects contained in thebombs to cause maximumdamage.

Pakistan’s Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif con-demned the “cruel” at-tack, saying it violatedthe tenets of Islam.

IVORY Coast has saidit plans to try ex-first

lady Simone Gbagbo in itsown courts, instead ofhanding the case to theInternational CriminalCourt (ICC).

The wife of former Pres-ident Laurent Gbagbo isbeing prosecuted for al-leged crimes against hu-manity following disput-ed presidential polls in2010.

Last Friday, Ivory Coastministers voted to dismissthe ICC’s arrest warrant.

Some 3,000 people

Ivory Coast dismisses ICCwarrant for Simone Gbagbo

died in violence afterMrs Gbagbo’s husbandrefused to accept defeatin a run-off vote.

He is already awaitingtrial at the ICC in TheHague on four charges ofcrimes against humanity.Mr Gbagbo, 67, who in-sists he is innocent, is thefirst former head of stateto have appeared at theICC. The West African ex-leader was ousted in 2011with the help of Frenchand UN forces backingPresident Alassane Ouat-tara.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013—53

JUSTICE MuhammedSalihu of the Federal High

Court sitting in Awka has setaside the interim order madeon Monday last week whichdirected the submission of thenames of Dr. Chike Obidigboand Dr. William Obiano as

Obiano sole candidate of APGA — Court

CHIEF Tony Nwoye andPrince Kenneth Emeakayi

have sent a strong signal ofthe readiness of PDP to dobattle on November 16.

Talk of brilliant ideas on howto make a difference in themobilization of people forrallies, both Nwoye andEmeakayi have it in

THE interim chairman ofAPC in Anambra State,

Mr. C. J. Chinwuba says heis worried about unfaircomments about the partyattributable to some membersof APC.

Addressing reporters inAwka, Chinwuba said he wasappalled that people whoclaim to be members of APCcould go to the media todisparage the party in thestate, even when the wholenation applauded thepeaceful manner with whichAPC conducted its primaries.

He said: “A cursory look atthe characters behind thepublication shows that theyare impostors. None of thesepersons are leaders of thedefunct political parties thatmerged to become APC in thestate.

“For instance, Pastor CCNnoli and George Onyechiclaimed to be ANPP and CPCchairmen respectively, but itis common knowledge thatChief Pat ChukwuemekaOjiakor was the chairman ofthe defunct ANPP, while Mr.Chuks Ikeagu was thechairman of the defunct CPC.

“These men never featuredin the party when I wasleading the Governor RochasOkorocha group of APC. TheAPC in Anambra state is oneindivisible party under myleadership and we have onecandidate for thegovernorship election ofNovember 16, which isSenator Chris Ngige.

“For purposes of clarity, ourcongresses were held on theinstruction of the nationalleadership of our party. Theparty made a schedulebeginning from the wardcongresses on Aug. 28, localgovernment area congresseson Aug. 30 to state congresseson Aug. 31.

“The same schedule gavethe date to our governorshipprimary on Sept. 2, and allthese were all communicatedto INEC in Abuja and thepublished widely innewspapers. The statecongress was held at Suncity

APC chairman worried about internal criticisms

STORIES BY VINCENTUJUMADU

APGA governorshipcandidates.

The court discharged theorder following motionexparte brought by ChiefOnwuka Ukwa, Alhaji TayoSowumi and Barrister IfeanyiMbaeri against the suit filedby Dr. Chike Obidigbo, ChiefMaxi Okwu and others.

The court said it lacked thejurisdiction to make the orderin the first place, adding thatit was against the expressprovision in the Electoral Act2010 as amended.

It noted that the Plaintiffs/Respondents concealedmaterial facts to the court,thereby deceiving the court

into making the interimorders.

National Chairman ofAPGA, Chief Victor Umeh hadalready on September 3, 2013,submitted the name of Dr.William Obiano to INEC asthe APGA candidate in thecoming governorshipelection.

Hotel, Awka and it was dulymonitored by authorities andduly conducted where I and

other executives were dulyelected.

“I am not imposing myself;

•Obiano

Nwoye sends strong signal

abundance.When PDP held its

reunification rally in Awkabefore the primaries thatthrew up Nwoye, residents ofthe Anambra State capital sawa large number of peoplenever witness at an arena inAnambra State. And whenNwoye returned to AnambraState on Friday, the crowd atthe reception ground at theAmansea border town almostequaled that of Awka.

Motorists plying the Enugu–Onitsha road were subjectedto a traffic gridlock for severalhours and when the receptionended about 5pm, it was theturn of motorists in the hearsof the town when Nwoye’sconvoy drove through thepopular Zik’s Avenue to thehigh profile Udoka HousingEstate where both PDP and itscandidate have their offices.

If attendance at rallies is afactor towards winning thegovernorship election, thenother political parties shouldbetter go to the drawingboard.

•Ngige

THE Governorshipcandidate of Advance

Congress for Democrats, ACD,Dr. Ifeatu Ekelem who wasyesterday presented with theparty ’s candidate forNovember 16 Governorshipelection from the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, with a proclamation thathe was in a rescue in Anambrastate.

Addressing newsmen inAbuja, Ekelem who, disclosedthat he has spent well overtwenty years in the UnitedStates as a medical practitioner,however, alleged that AnambraState was the worse in Nigeria.

He alleged that the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, the AllProgressive Grand Alliance,APGA, and other parties wereresponsible for the woes in theState, even as he said that hedecided to join the ACDbecause according to him, itwas an unpolluted party for hiskinds.

I am the authentic chairmanof APC in Anambra state.Since my election, I have beenrepresenting APC in allmeetings.

I take exception to anybodysaying that I am paradingmyself as chairman. I am not.I am acting in full capacity aschairman of the party forchange.”

INEC clears Ekelem as ACD candidate

BY HENRY UMORU Flanked at the briefing byACD FCT chairman, Mrs. ObyOkafor, ACD National PublicitySecretary, Breakforth Abraham,Party Leader, Chris Owoichoand National Secretary, MangaAsha, Dr. Ifeatu Ekelem, amedical doctor and Specialistin new-born intensive care andpaediatrics said that against theadvice of some friends, in viewof assassination andkidnappings, “I insisted oncontesting because it is myhome and can’t run away fromthe process of reviving it. Iopted for this party because Ican’t join parties that are knownfor constant crises. I hold thepol parties for the demise of mystate.

”Not APC or PDP. I don’t wantanything to do with parties thatare dripping with the blood ofinnocent children and citizensdue to inept leadership.Beautiful and wonderfulchildren die daily in anambrabecause of constant decadence.

”ACD is poised to wipe outpoverty and empower thepeople. My candidacy is a

serious candidacy, I don’t wantto be paid off. I don’t want anymoney from ana state, I havemade enough money in theUS. I benefited a lot fromanambra and I believe I shouldgive back and should not be theworst state in Nigeria; I’mdetermined to make it the firstin Nigeria.

The candidate who promisedto address the unemploymentproblem in the state, with plansto pay N20, 000 for 40 hours incommunity policy a week forunemployed adding that thiswill help solve securityproblems because they willlalso engage in vigilante andcommunity policy, even as hepromised to build an airport inAwka, pilot training school inAnambra state, moreuniversities, five new govtcolleges, among others.

He continued, “ I amdetermined and passionateenough to make thisgovernorship although I will berunning against so-calledbillionaires. Some of them haveill-gotten wealth." •Nwoye

54—VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

,

,

Continues on page 55

AS a founding member ofthe PDP and former

N a t i o n a lOrganizing PublicitySecretary of the party, whatis your assessment of thecrises rocking the partycurrently?

What we are seeing in theparty today is the tension thathas built up within the partybecause of its enormousinternal combustion capacity.We are going through thenormal throes and birth painsof a rebirth in the party whichseems to challenge thecomfort redoubt of someelements in the party.

It would have been businessas usual for them to just tellMr President that we don’twant you to do a second termbut because the party isevolving and increasinglyembracing the virtues oftransparency in the conductof its business, they are moreor less miffed, outraged andfrustrated by the direction theparty is now taking towardsdismantling the normal

PDP CRISIS: Obasanjo is the instigator — Sen Okon

SENATOR Anietie Okon is a founding member ofPeoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview withVanguard, he bares his mind on the crises rocking thePDP just as he maintained that members of the nPDPare out to intimidate President Goodluck Jonathanfrom running for a second term in office. Okon, whofingered former President Olusegun Obasanjo in thecrisis also speaks on other sundry issues. Excerpts:

BY GBENGA OKE and, therefore, their main aimis to hound, intimidate orotherwise creating a picture ofdespondent of the Presidentvis-a-vis his second terminterest.

So, I do not think in ourcaucus that Bamanga Tukur isanything other than a thornin the chess game they areengaged in. The ultimatething is to create an apparentbuild up of giving impressionthat there is resentmentagainst President Jonathanrunning for his constitutionalsecond term bid.

Some people have allegedthat part of this quagmiregoing on within the PDP hasbeen because PresidentJonathan has refused todeclare his stand on 2015. Asa national caucus member,do you totally agree withthat?

I think President Jonathanis being disciplined about hisapproach to the issue ofsecond term run for the office.He was elected on a mandatethat demands of him to meetsome of the basic expectationsof Nigerians and I think the

do believe that his score-cardallows him a credible ratingto run.

But there are peoplearguing over his eligibility torun for another term inoffice...

(Cuts in) Those who talkabout his eligibility appear tohave mixed up the issues,which is quite unfortunate.Some come up withpedestrian interpretations ofthe constitution that a mansworn in twice cannot besworn in the third time. Ibelieve they have notexamined the basic contextinterpretations on that. Forexample, some governors arebeing sworn in, they aredragged to Court, the Courtnegates their initial victoryand along with it, whateverlength of time they have done,unless the Court finds anyprovision within the law thatallows them to makedetermination that it will bea continuation of the initialswearing-in.

There are also someinstances like that of governorof Kaduna State, who was

supremacy and prevalenceand reach of strongholdswhose modules could not fitinto the new open andtransparent manner of doingthe party’s business.

The G7 governors and theBaraje faction of the nPDPhave been saying that peacewill return to the party onlyif President Jonathanreverses his decision to runfor another term in office andthe Chairman, AlhajiBamanga Tukur is removed.What do you have to say tothat?

The chairman is essentiallya bridge they need to cross toget to the Jonathan shores

season for him to actuallycome and tell Nigerians thathe is going to run has notcome yet.

Sometime in 2014 will be anice, proper and descent timefor him to announce thatbecause at that time, he willplace before the people of thecountry his score-card, whichis so far, encouraging andimpressing and it will be leftfor the people to determinewho continues in 2015 and Ibelieve that as a rankingmember of this party,constitutionally andconventionally, he faces nodebarment from running andon the basis of performance, I

sworn on the basis of demiseof his predecessor. He wouldagain stand for election, arewe going to say because hehas been sworn-in before, thathe will not be sworn in again?

By extension, it is the samecase we have in that ofPresident Jonathan, his ownis particularly peculiarbecause he was sworn-in asan acting President throughthe application of Doctrine ofNecessity because of thesituation the country founditself and so they propoundedthe doctrine.

Prescribedtenure

There is no place in theConstitution of the countrythat covers that period as partof his prescribed tenure of aholder of office of President ofNigeria, the reason entirelyencapsulated and defined alimit of that tenure, is definedby the same instrument thatsaw him into office and sincethe Constitution of the countryleft some gap, it wasnecessary to construct a

legislation to allow MrPresident complete the tenureof late President Yar’Adua.

So, the only interpretationyou could give to the tenurecovered by the legalendorsement thrown upthrough the Doctrine ofNecessity, may be describedas indirect necessity and itcannot be counted. So MrPresident is properly,constitutionally eligible foranother term in office andwithin the party, we do notenvisage and going by partyconventions that there will beanybody opposing him fornomination within the PDP.He still enjoys the right ofrunning for another term inoffice.

Having said that, part of thedeal for peace moves withinthe party is that Mr Presidentmust provide a level playingground in case anotheraspirant springs up within theparty. How do address thatvis-a-vis his intentions?

There will be a preclusionbecause I don’t know wherewe will be drawing that

•Okon: Fingers Obasanjo for the crisis in PDP

So Mr President is properly,constitutionally and eligible for anotherterm in office and within the party, we donot envisage and going by partyconventions that there will be anybodyopposing him for nomination within thePDP

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, , SEPTEMBER 23, , SEPTEMBER 23, , SEPTEMBER 23, , SEPTEMBER 23, 20132013201320132013—55—55—55—55—55

Dzogbese Lisa has treated me thusIt has led me among the sharps of the forestReturning is not possibleAnd going forward is a great difficultyThe affairs of this world are like the chameleon faecesInto which I have steppedWhen I clean it cannot go.I am on the world’s extreme corner,I am not sitting in the row with the eminentBut those who are luckySit in the middle and forgetI am on the world’s extreme cornerI can only go beyond and forget.My people, I have been somewhereIf I turn here, the rain beats meIf I turn there the sun burns meThe firewood of this worldIs for only those who can take heartThat is why not all can gather it.The world is not good for anybodyBut you are so happy with your fate;Alas! the travellers are backAll covered with debt.Something has happened to me

The things so great that I cannot weepI have no sons to fire the gun when I dieAnd no daughter to wail when I close my mouthI have wandered on the wildernessThe great wilderness men call lifeThe rain has beaten me,And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knivesI shall go beyond and rest.I have no kin and no brother,Death has made war upon our house;And Kpeti’s great household is no more,Only the broken fence stands;And those who dared not look in his faceHave come out as men.How well their pride is with them.Let those gone before take noteThey have treated their offspring badly.What is the wailing for?Somebody is dead. Agosu himselfAlas! a snake has bitten meMy right arm is broken,And the tree on which I lean is fallen.Agosi if you go tell them,Tell Nyidevu, Kpeti, and KoveThat they have done us evil;Tell them their house is fallingAnd the trees in the fenceHave been eaten by termitesThat the martels curse them.Ask them why they idle thereWhile we suffer, and eat sand.And the crow and the vultureHover always above our broken fencesAnd strangers walk over our portion.

“I AM on the world’s extremecornerI can only go beyond andforget.My people, I have beensomewhereIf I turn here, the rain beats meIf I turn there the sun burns meThe firewood of this worldIs for only those who can takeheartThat is why not all can gatherit.The world is not good foranybody”

IN one of his celebrated poems entitled Songs of sorrow,

legendary Ghanaian poet, KofiAwoonor, wrote “the world is notgood for anybody.”

The world as described by thepoet decades ago is still applica-ble today as the world’s literarycommunity was, yesterday,thrown into deep mourning fol-lowing the killing of Prof. KofiAwoonor, 78. The former UN en-voy was among the 39 killedduring a terror attack on West-gate Mall on Saturday in Nairo-bi, Kenya. He died from injuriessustained in the attack.

The Kenyan President UhuruKenyatta also lost his nephew andthe nephew’s fiancee to the ter-ror attack. The news which iscoming barely few months afterthe death of Africa’s literary gi-ant, Chinua Achebe, was seenas another great loss to the en-tire literary community.

Greatauthor

Awoonor was a great authorwhose work combines the poetictraditions of his native Ewe peo-ple and contemporary and reli-gious symbolism to depict Africaduring decolonization. ProfessorAwoonor was one of Africa’sgreatest voices and poets and hisworks will forever inspire knowl-edge and strength and hope.

The Ghanaian government con-firmed Awoonor’s death, yester-day. Awoonor’s son had beenshot in the shoulder during theattack, for which Somali militantgroup Al-Shabab has claimedresponsibility. Awoonor’s sonwas treated and discharged fromhospital late on Saturday. In ad-dition to the 39 people killed, itis estimated 100 were injured inthe attack.

Awoonor was in Nairobi tospeak at the Storymoja Hay Fes-tival, a four-day celebration ofwriting, thinking and storytell-ing. Along with Ghanaian poetsNii Parkes and Kwame Dawes,he was due to perform on Satur-

Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonorkilled in Kenya attack

By JAPHET ALAKAM,UDUMA KALU, JIMOH

BABATUNDE, with agencyreports

day evening as part of a show-case of award-winning poemsfrom both sides of Africa.

He said during the festival thatthe event had “the best represen-tation of Ghanaian authors thatwe have ever had” and com-mended the fellow authors andwriters there: “Together we arediscussing the birthing pains ofcountries,” he had noted.

During a poetry masterclassthat Awoonor held at the festivalhe discussed mortality and saidhe was unafraid of death. JulieMuriuki, a writer who attended,posted on a blog afterwards: “I’vebeen looking for my writing voiceand Awoonor has shown mewhere to find it. I’m eternallygrateful.”

Reactions

Reacting to his death, chairmanof Association of Nigerian Au-thors, ANA, Remi Raji, describedthe killing as an indication of theterrible situation in Africa. Hesaid: “It is an indication of theterrible situation we have in Af-rica. For the continent to lose sucha great writer in such a way issad.”

Raji descibed him as a greatwriter in the generation of otherwriters like Ayi Kwei Armah, KofiAnyidoho, Ama Ata Aido andothers.

Prof. Tony Afejuku of the En-glish and Literature Departmentof the University of Benin de-scribed the death of Kofi Awoonoras a big blow to African literaryclan. Afejuku who said that Afri-can literature cannot be complet-

ed without the mention of Kofiadded, “I remember his novel,This Earth, My Brother and hispoem Songs of Sorrow.

Afejuku said the novel is sig-nificant in African literary expe-rience, adding, “It is a novel thatI always want to read and readagain. His death coming after thedeath of Chinua Achebe is real-ly a big blow to African literature.I will be honouring him by read-ing the book again tomorrow.”

Award winning poet and col-umnist Ogaga Ifowodo, whilecondenming the attack in thename of God said ‘Ah, “Thisearth, my brother!” Awoonor,please ask this God what he hadin mind when “creating” the sortof fanatics that bedevil ourworld.”

For novelist and critic, Prof.Okey Ndibe, “Kofi Awoonor wasone of the most learned, mosthumble men I ever met. He waswitty, passionate about literature,full of life, a renaissance manwho capped it all with wisdom,a man of the world who had anabiding love of the earth wherehis umbilical cord was buried. Iwas fortunate to know him, tolearn so much from him, to callhim a friend and inspirer. In thewords of your countryman andrival, I say, why are we so blest?Invoking the title of his extraor-dinary novel, I say, This earth,my brother...May you continueto soar from beyond the grave.The indomitable Awoonor, en-chant heaven with your songs!”

Another award winning poet,Uche Nduka, who describedAwoonor as a poetic master, said

the news is horrible, while the2012 NLNG winner Chika Unig-we, said,”My heart goes out tothe victims of the Nairobi mallshooting.”

Prof. Olu Oguibe, in a dirge forAwoonor, ‘Wake for Awoonor’wrote, “May his murderers die athousand deaths/A thousanddeaths to his murderers/Worldwithout end.” Another poet, ObiIwuanayanwu, wrote a dirge forAwoonor.

Prof. Kofi Awoonor was born inGhana on March 13, 1935 whenit was still called the Gold Coast.He was a poet and author whosework combined the poetic tradi-tions of his native Ewe peopleand contemporary religious sym-bolism to depict Africa during theera of decolonization. He wentto university there and went onto teach African literature at theUniversity of Ghana. He startedwriting under the name GeorgeAwoonor-Williams. While at theUniversity of Ghana he wrote hisfirst poetry book, Rediscovery.Like the rest of his work, Redis-covery is based on African oralpoetry.

In Ghana he managed theGhana Film Corporation and

founded the Ghana Play House.He then studied literature at theUniversity of London, and whilein England he wrote several ra-dio plays for the BBC. He spentthe early 1970s in the UnitedStates, studying and teaching atuniversities. While in the USA hewrote This Earth, My Brother,and My Blood. Prof Kofi Awoonorreturned to Ghana in 1975 ashead of the English departmentat the University of Cape Coast.Within months he was arrestedfor helping a soldier accused oftrying to overthrow the militarygovernment and was imprisonedwithout trial. After ten months hewas found not guilty and re-leased. The house by the Sea isabout his time in jail. After im-prisonment Awoonor becamepolitically active and has writtenmostly non-fiction.

His other works include; Comesthe voyager at last; The AfricanPredicament; This earth mybrother; Until the morning after,A Political History from Pre-Eu-ropean to Modern Times(1990) The Breast of the Earth: ASurvey of the History, Culture,and Literature of Africa South ofthe Sahara and others.

Songs of Sorrow by Kofi Awoonor

•The late Prof. Kofi Awoonor

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY:

Continues from last Friday

WHAT I do is to roundgeo-political zones, work

will national orientationagencies, civil societyorganizations. I have been toLagos no fewer than six times.

It’s either we have powerconsumer assemblies or we areconvening special meetingswith estate developers andresidents for making enquiriesinto this issue of estimationbecause it’s one of the biggestissues.

We use this information asfeedback to go and sit with ourcolleagues in Abuja to designpolicies and one of the policieswe designed is pre-paidmeters. The preferred means ofmetering is pre-paid metersbecause if you don’t have lightyour meter will not run.

Cost ofmetering

Nobody will come and cutyour light. We have given atarget of eighteen months fromJune 1 this year and the cost ofmetering has been factored in.We brought all the distributioncompanies to Abuja, askedthem to show us how they arebilling people and there is nostandard way even officiallytalk less of on the lower levelwhere they are planning billsanyhow.

If you pay them somethingnext month then your bill willcome down and when the guyis broke he will come with abigger bill. There is a standardmethodology for which anycustomer will be billed or does

yesterday they were only ableto generate about 500-600MWso you can see the inefficiencybut there is another company,a private company withinstalled capacity of 200MW.There is no day I open my chartthey don’t generate more than200. Egbin hardly meets 50%of capacity.

MorenikeHence your belief in private

sector intervention.Abba

ourselves but we don’t havesufficient turn out.

There is a huge, huge gap asSeye mentioned and nogovernment can resolve it onits own. It requires otherstakeholders’, a lot of privatecapital which is not evenavailable in Nigeria so youmust have the right kind ofenvironment to attract foreigndirect investment.

MorenikeDoes that answer your

question?AlomoIt throws more light on the

direction. There are enormousopportunities. We have costefficient solar power systems.You consume from what yougenerate. If you generateexcess you can always channelback

MorenikeAs Mr. Bassir said there is a

lot of waste when people aregenerating electricity forthemselves and it is importantto have community projectswhereby these wastes can beminimized.

Alternativeenergy

Let’s talk first of thecommercial, what percentageof your business cost comesfrom power?

SeyiFrom the feedback we receive

it is about 30%MorenikeEngr. Alomo and Mr. Kayode,

do you really believealternative energy is cheaperrealistically?

KayodeIt’s not cheaper . Relative to

conventional energy that isNEPA

MorenikeEven now with the increased

tariff?KayodeYes. The cost of battery, which

is approximately 50,000 per12V 200amps. One of thereasons that it is so high is thecost of duty. If government cancut down on cost ofduty…bringing battery fromeither Asia should attract lessduty if we want alternativeenergy to be encouraged.

AlomaKayode, I don’t quite agree

with you that alternative powersource is not relatively cheap.I will take it from this angle.Looking at either wind, solar,biomass- they are still the majoroptions. Here in Africa what wesee of alternative power sourceis majorly demonstration orjust mere deployment while in

advanced countries it isrenewable technologydevelopment.

There is a huge gap betweenRenewable TechnologyDevelopment (RTD) anddemonstration or meredeployment. A lot of people arenot aware of RTD at all. Takefor example a researchcommissioned by the EuropeanUnion for over 74 countriesacross Asia, Latin America,Africa and other parts of theworld revealed that in Africawe only indulging indemonstration. The solarradiation on a daily basis if wellharnessed is more than theenergy we require in the wholeworld for annual consumption.

MorenikeBut we are talking about cost.AlomoYes. Take for example I-beta-

pass-my-neighbour. 1000W. Ifyou use an average of N300 toN500 fuel on a daily basis. Ifyou must run that generator for365 days what does it amountto? If you have a 1KVA inverterand rechargeable 200W solarpanel with just normal 200Wbattery will consistently give

, ,Customer service is a key aspect ofany service you are giving

Engr. Alomo AbelProject Engineer PSCIndustries (Alternativeenergy providers)

Mr. Bassir SeyeManager, Project Finance,Asterios Capital(Financiers)

Dr. Ibrahim AbbaCommissioner, Government& Consumer AffairsDivision, NigerianElectricity RegulatoryCommission (Regulators)

Mr. Nelson UbongIn-house contributor

Mr. Ogundipe KayodePragmatic Technologies

(Alternative energyproviders)

Mr Ojurongbe SeyiCoordinator- Programmes Department,Leadership, Effectiveness,Accountability &Professionalism (LEAP)Africa. (Representatives toSMEs)

Ms Orakpo EbeleIn-house contributor

Barr. Salu OlawalePrincipal partner OlawaleSalu&Co ( Constitutionallawyer)

Mrs Taire MorenikeModerator

Participants:-


not have a meter and you canchallenge it. We are openingoffices for customer complaints.We had opened an office herein Alausa in September. Eventhe governor was with us. It’scalled the Forum Office. Wehave one in Eko, which hasbeen in existence for a fewyears. People that felt theircomplaints have not beenaddressed can go to the forumand I can assure youmembership is independent,credible people from the area.

We have membership fromthe Manufacturers Associationof Nigeria, representative ofthe Chambers of Commerce,Nigerian Society of Engineers,an NGO and another nomineewho is resident there. We arehoping we can have themacross the country

Customer service is a keyaspect of any service you aregiving. Out of the powergenerated in Nigeria about25%of the very little comes fromnatural gas like Egbin whichis the biggest in the countrygenerating to full capacityabout 1, 320MW but as at

Exactly. If you look at Shellthey have a 660MW plant atAfam. Constantly they aregenerating about 490MWeveryday and they are not ableto make it to the grid becausethey don’t have the lines. Agiphas 250. If you look at their trackover a year they generatealmost that 250 throughout. Ifyou look at our own station itmight not be operative even forone year because of inefficiencyand corruption.

Coming back to you Abel, wehave issues with Kainji becausewe do not control the watersthat come in. In the wholeworld today apart fromGermany, Nigeria has the bestwholesale tariff/trailer powergeneration.

For Egbin, 9,600/MW is whatthey get when they generate ahundred MW. If you install asolar plant for every MW youwill get N57,000. So having abalance of energy- gas, hydro,solar, wind- is what a countrywould want but we are acountry that has abundantnatural gas. We can utilize thatgas to generate electricity for

Discussants

Renewable energy masterplan the solution

Discussants

you 24/7 equivalent load whichyou use the I-beta-pass-my-neighbour to run for more thantwo, three years.

UbongI thought you were going to

talk about the initial cost.AlomoIf you calculate the cost factor

of N300 of daily fuelconsumption for 365 days andthe cost to produce just a 1KVAinverter.

UbongLet me give you an analogy. It

is like somebody who wants tolive in Ikotun and somebodywho wants to live in Surulere.The amount of money you useto come to work here can evenbe less but you might not havethe money to get a house inSurulere immediately. That isthe same thing.

WaleHe has a very good point

because we are also not lookingat the after effects of these thingswe are putting in place:pollution. The pollution effect ofusing the generator outweighsthe advantage and the aftereffects. We are talking aboutcancer.

AlomoThe fact remains that it will

give you far more benefit thanthe normal generator. There areso many ways to it. You candivide the cost.

MorenikeAn area that is of particular

interest to me in this discussionis that of government policyregarding being able to generateelectricity. We all generateelectricity, anyway. An exampleis the Enron matter with theTinubu administration someyears ago which caused a hugefurore which was to be thebeginning of the political coldwar between the administrationand the then Obasanjo

administration. Is there reallyan active policy in place.

AbbaWe have a regulatory

framework which is one of thebest in the world thatencourages renewable energydevelopment in Nigeria.Government will come up withthe Renewable Energy Masterplan just as we have beentalking about gas master planin Nigeria. I agree renewable

don’t do it we can penalizethem, we can sanction them.

Just like CBN.So also will bethe new operators. Thecompany must have certainnumber of years, the background , the experience, keymanagement. We are what NCCis to telecoms and CBN to thebanking sector.

WaleWe need decentralization. I

for one think that energy should

filling stations; it’s N97, butsome people are selling it for110. I’ve just put up a petitionto DPR against about threefilling stations but the thing isthat DPR itself is not evenhelping matters. .

AbbaWale, I must tell you clearly

the electric power sector reformis very different. We are not asbig as America, which has whatwe call FERC (Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission). If yougo to the US each state has itsown utility regulatorycommission. If you go to DCthey have the DC Public UtilitiesCommission.

They regulate telecoms, water,gas, sometimes transportationall in one. You mentioned gasflaring. The petroleum industryin Nigeria is a different animalon its own. DPR as far as I amconcerned is part of the ministryof petroleum. We are not part ofthe ministry of Power; we areindependent, we wereappointed by the president, wehave five-year term. We werescreened and cleared by theNational Assembly, we report tothe National Assembly and thepresident.

That’s why if we don’t agreewith the position of any ministerwe can come out and say so andthat’s the way an independentregulatory agency should berun. DPR Director can nevercome and say “no” to theminister- the next day theperson is out and they aresupposed to be the regulatorsof the petroleum sector.

Seye

The worry about regulation isI think quite valid also from theperspective of the private sectorfrom the investing communityor the investing class. There willbe minor reviews every sixmonths and major reviews andthe tariffs will be revisedupwards or downwards asnecessary. The downward, wewill wait for.

We won’t know theeffectiveness of the regulatoruntil the regulator has to raisethe tariff and the presidentmakes a strong political pushagainst it because it might notbe in the government’s interest.It is only when we get to thatpoint that we will know thevalue of the regulator. Judgingfrom the quality of Dr. (Abba), Iknow Dr. Amadi, I know quitea few of the people there, theyare very well trained,international class, the rules arequite clear, they conductthemselves in a very good way.

AbbaWe should be reducing by a

little before the end of this year.Where we needed to say no toeven the powers that be I canassure you we said no and wewill continue to say no and weknow nothing will happenbecause of the nature ofindependence.

Nature ofindependence

If nobody I can vouch for mychairman. He is renowned, heis in the media, a very vocalperson; and so far even in themedia I have never heardanything negative and that’sthe culture of the commission.

We have expended a lot ofresources in training our staff.No matter what we are going todo the right thing for thiscountry. It affects our families.Even the NEPA people, thethings they are doing affect us.

WaleIf we don’t get it right now I

don’t think we can get it right.There is this issue of the statespartnering together to bid andat the end of the day it wasgiven to some privateindividuals and the statesstarted shouting that they wereoutsmarted. I felt that statescoming together to bid shouldbe in the interest of governmentbecause it will be their own.


energy will be cheaper on thelong run not medium termbecause of the high capitalinvestment required. If we hada single digit people can borrowover a long term and it will bemore competition. If we look atplaces like Canada, I have beento a house where they havesolar panels, they have whatthey call a smart grid. Whenenergy is generated they utilizein the house. When they don’tutilize it goes back to the gridand they sell it. Sometimes theyutilize everything. Sometimesthey even earn money. Our gridis not yet even standard talkless of being smart but we hopewith the private sector-led partof it we will start improving. Itis the story of telecoms.

Abba When we have PHCN as we

do today, the biggest challengeis that of inefficiency andcorruption. Wherever they canhide and make more money theywill, we know that. There is arule making process thateverybody must follow. If theytry that they must answer yourcomplaint within 14 days. If they

be decentralized andbusinesses should be allowedto have a framework of theirown because you are not talkingabout a country like Togo orGhana. Nigeria is a very bigcountry and in order to try andget to the nooks and cranniesof this country we needdecentralization. When you aretalking about gas flaring,Nigeria at one time gave themultinationals a date to stopand that was not the case. Theyare still flaring. Why can’t theysanction them? Go to all the

,

,When you are talking about gas flaring,

Nigeria at one time gave themultinationals a date to stop and thatwas not the case

To be concluded

Dr. Ibrahim Abba Morenike Taire

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY:Renewable energy masterplan the solution



Kevin is a criminal, Kokori not underdeveloped—Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, SSG

By EMMA AMAIZE, RegionalEditor, South-South & FESTUS

AHON

SECRETARY to the Delta State Government,Comrade Ovuozorie Macualay, spoke to Van-guard, weekend, in Asaba, on the latest threat tothe security of the state by the most wantedkidnapper and armed robbery kingpin in thestate, Kelvin.

The linchpin, who has been on the wanted list ofthe police in the state, appeared from the blues,last Tuesday, and issued a 60-day ultimatum to theState and Federal Governments to developKokori, his community in Ethiope East LocalGovernment or his new group, Liberation Move-ment of the Urhobo People, LIMUP, would blowup oil facilities in the area.

The SSG said Kokori community has had its fairshare of development in the state and the stategovernment could not employ all Deltans. But itis, however, creating necessary environment forthe private sector provide employment for thepeople, while unemployment is not, and cannotthe basis for kidnapping and others forms ofcriminality. Excerpt.

•Delta SSG, Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay

•Kelvin's LIMUP gang...waiting for amnesty

KOKORI, one of the six sub-urban ‘states’ of Agbon

kingdom in Ethiope East LocalGovernment Area of Delta Statewith a population of between50,000 and 100,000 persons, oc-cupying about 196 square kilo-metres, has been in the newslately for a wrong cause.

For more than a year, the DeltaState Police Command, had de-clared Kelvin Ibruvwe, wanted.The police described him as the“most wanted kidnapper androbbery kingpin” in Delta State.And since he was declared want-ed, Kelvin, who, lately, wants tobe identified as a freedom fight-er, has remained mysterious tothe police and other securityagencies in the state.

After the March incident inwhich the suspect, who is on thewanted list, allegedly ambusheda Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS,Hilux van, conveying suspects toWarri, and shot dead three ward-ers in an audacious attempt torescue his gang members await-ing trial, he became a top priori-ty suspect in security circle in thestate.

Because of the perceived infor-mation that he is “powerful” and

How most wanted kidnapper,Kelvin, breached security

KOKORI ‘INVASION’:

has commercial motor-cyclists inhis area, who pass informationto him on would-be victims andmovement of security agents, onhis payroll, the state government,some months ago, banned com-mercial motor-cycle transporta-tion in Kokori and other parts ofEthiope-East Local Government,just like it had been banned inWarri, Effurun, Asaba and otherparts of the state.

The police raided Kokori lastApril, and demolished a familyhome of Kelvin, suspected to bethe operational headquarters ofhis kidnap gang.

Support tosecurity agencies

The police also arrested morethan 50 persons in a bid to trackhim down, but he seemed not de-terred. Kelvin is not only wantedfor kidnap cases, which are le-gion in the state, but for also kill-ing soldiers and police.

Delta State government is giv-ing all vital support to securityagencies in the state to trackdown Kelvin. The governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan, had in-vited leaders from Kokori, somemonths ago, for discussion onhow to fish out the kidnap king-pin, but everybody kept sealedlips. Indeed, the fear of Kelvin

is the beginning of wisdom inKokori. Nobody crosses his pathand goes free. He is the defactoruler of Kokori. The traditional

ruler was allegedly kidnappedby the gang and tortured, afterwhich, he sees no evil, and hearsno evil about the gang.

Nobody dares to speak or actopenly against Kelvin in Kokori.Those who did in the past, in-cluding one 'Oyibo', regrettedtheir actions. For some months,both the police and army havebeen in a massive manhunt forhim. In fact, his group was saidto have been confronted by sol-diers and policemen in outskirtsof Isiokolo, the headquarters ofhis local government the day heambushed prison warders in War-ri.

Some of his men were injuredin the bloody battle, but he es-caped, just as he had on someoccasions in the past. Sometimeago, he was even apprehendedby men of the Joint Task Force,JTF at about 7.00 pm at theboundary between Isiokolo andKokori. He was arrested in anambulance and handcuffed to apatrol pick up van.

However, his boys on gettingthe information mobilized andcame to his rescue. Some per-sons, including a soldier werekilled in the inevitable gun bat-tle that followed. He wasrescued. Police believe he haspowerful charm to protect himand some confessed secretly thatthey do not want to be deployedin any battle with Kelvin becausehis gang is armed to the teethwith superior weapons.

Kelvin was said to have astronghold in Ibadan, and Port-Harcourt and frequents Lagosand the South-East. The reportthat he also hibernates in a hotelbelonging to a top politician inthe state has not been confirmed.

FOR some months now,one can say that the inci-

dent of kidnapping has reduced

in Delta State; will you say thestrategies put in place by gov-ernment are working?

Straightaway, I will say yes, thestrategies the government had


CMYK

put in place are working. For avery long time, we felt the boyscould see reason not to do whatthey were doing. If you remem-ber, the governor was more on thepart of appeal, he called variousstakeholders meetings, calledcommunity leaders across thestate, traditional rulers across thestate, as well as youths. He wenton appealing to them. But I cantell you, nobody was ready to co-operate, either for fear of what willhappen to them if they bring upinformation concerning any of their people or on the hand, someof them are collaborators becauseof the benefit they are getting. Sothe governor went back and tookcertain steps, which I believe arebeing implemented today.

But it looks as if there is goingto be problem soon, as one of the most wanted kidnappers inthe state, Kelvin, not only resur-faced in Kokori, his countryhome, last Tuesday, but dared thegovernment by giving them a 60-day ultimatum to develop Kokorior his group, would blow up oilfacilities in his area?

Well, I am happy you used theword one of the most wanted kid-nappers in the state. It is a knownfact that there is a Kelvin, who isterrorizing the state. He has verywide outreach of fellow criminalsspread across the state. For sometime, he was on the run, the po-

There is not part of this countrythat is not talking about under-development, even in the feder-al capital territory, Abuja, every-body is talking about underdevel-opment, but the answer to it is notcriminality. Having said that, Iwant to talk pointedly on wheth-er Kokori is developed or is notdeveloped, today, I know thatKokori has network of roads. Thethings that people in other partsof the state are benefitting, Koko-ri is equally benefitting it. I knowthat we have a Housing Estate,close to former CommissionerOjakovo’s house, also in that area,you know, Kokori is just a smalltown in Agbon clan, Ethiope EastLocal Government Area, whichhas Isiokolo as headquarters.

People in virtuallyall administrations

The whole Agbon clan is oneand so, you cannot just talk aboutKokori with a population of be-tween 100,000 to 150,000 peoplealone. You cannot isolate it andthey have produced people invirtually all the administrations.Ojakovo, the former Commission-er for Finance, one –time Com-missioner for Housing is fromthere, the present Senior SpecialAdviser to the Governor on In-vestment, George Orogun is fromthere, Rt Hon Emeyese, whowas a member of the House ofAssembly for eight years before


Kevin is a criminal, Kokori not underdeveloped—Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, SSG

How the kidnapper breached securityContinues frompage 58

Delta State Police Commissioner of Police,Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who received a callone day from Kelvin, pleading for amnesty,between February and March, thought theboy was serious and even notified the In-spector General of Police, but few days af-ter, he allegedly led the Warri Prisons ward-ers’ attack.

What, however, stupefied Deltans is thatthat suspect, who is on the wanted list, couldappear boldly in his community, where heis supposed to be under watch, and addressthe people for more than one hour withoutchallenge by security agencies. Accordingto our source, “The most dreaded kidnapkingpin, Kelvin, last week Tuesday, ap-peared in his Kokori home town amidstcheers by over 3000 women and youths.Kelvin, at about 5.00 pm, addressed thepress in the presence of kin, fully armed toteeth in anticipation of any altercation fromsecurity agents.

“All through the period where Kelvin de-manded among other things for amnestyunder aegis of the Liberation Movement ofthe Urhobo People, LIMUP, there was nointerference from security agents.”

When Vanguard spoke with Commission-er Aduba some hours after Kelvin’s powergame on Wednesday on phone, he said itwas not true that the most wanted kidnap-per, who police were looking for everywhere,could appear just like that to address thepeople. His words, “As far as I am concerned,Kelvin has been declared wanted by the se-curity forces in Delta State. It is inconceiv-able that an event of such magnitude willtake place in Kokori and the police will notget wind of it. The DPO in charge of thearea says nothing of such took place. I amof the opinion that the event was stage-man-aged by some elements using the media.

“Why did the media, who were present atthe event, not alert the police of the event.Is it not a criminal offence to aid and abet acriminal?

In Kokori community, we have a detach-ment of police and army, yet we are toldKelvin addressed a news conference. Theconference was held with some women sup-porting members of the kidnap group, theyeven allowed their photographs to be tak-en.”. One of the journalists who attendedthe conference told Vanguard, weekend, “Ido not know what makes Aduba think that ifa journalist is invited for an event, he wouldcall him to brief him about where he is go-ing to and who.

Moreover, the fact that his men and sol-diers are not aware or choose not to be awareof the press conference does not mean thatthe event did not happen. He should gethis facts right as a police chief before speak-ing.”

Breaching ofsecurity

A source hinted that the issue of Kelvinwas discussed at the last State Security Coun-cil meeting held in Oghara and some of thesecurity chiefs maintained that Kelvin didnot resurface as reported by the media. Somesecurity chiefs were reportedly unhappy withthe extreme positions of their colleagues,who did not want to accept the truth that awanted criminal barefacedly breached se-curity and appeared in his hometown, whichwas under watch.

A reliable source said the security menwere compromised, adding, ‘That was whyKelvin was able to enter Kokori, did all hedid and left without him being arrested.There are soldiers and policemen in Kokoriarea, they cannot say they are not aware ofthe incident.”

It was gathered that with what appears tobe compromise of the security team onground in Kokori area, security chiefs, whoare working out fresh measures to protectoil installations in the area, following the 60-day ultimatum by LIMUP, were also plan-ning a shake-up of their operational squads.

lice had declared him wanted andI hear he had suddenly appearedand issued a threat. Well, he hadissued a threat to the federal gov-ernment and I want to believe thatthe federal government has thecapacity to deal with the threat.

The major ground for the threatis that Kokori is not developed,what is your take on this?

First, we must differentiate theseissues, how do you relate the is-sue of no development to crimi-nality. It is a clear case that thesepeople are carrying out criminalactivities, kidnapping people, amsure that some Kokori people havealso suffered in his hands. I re-member the man, who is now thetraditional ruler of his kingdom,His Royal Majesty Omeruo, oncesuffered in the hands of kidnap-pers. I know that some time, ear-ly this year, one of their boyscalled Oyibo from Kokori was alsokilled. So why did they kill Oyi-bo, is that development in Kokoriis only in his house, that is whythey went to attack, kill him andothers. So, we should not relatecriminality with the issue of de-velopment.

he became a member of the Na-tional Assembly is from there.

The present Commissioner forFinance is from there, a lot of theirsons and daughters have been ingovernment, so it will be out ofplace for a Kokori person or anyperson from that local govern-ment, Ethiope East, particularlyAgbon clan, to come and complainthat his area is not being devel-oped. It is one of the areas thathave the best network of roads inthe state today, and by the way,after oil was found in Oloibiri in1958 in this country, the nextplace where oil was found isUzere. Uzere boys have not tak-en to kidnapping because Uzereis not fully developed, a gas sta-tion is in Uzere up till today, andsome of the biggest wells in thiscountry are still in Uzere till to-day. So will Uzere say that be-cause they did not put air condi-tioner in every street, the sonsand daughters of the state andpeople who come to invest in thestate should not have peace? So Ithink it is a diversion, but as I saidearlier, I believe that the federalgovernment has the capacity to

,The most dreaded kidnap kingpin, Kelvin,

last week Tuesday, appeared in his Kokorihome town amidst cheers by over 3000women and youths

,

deal with it. So, what is the stategovernment doing to reign inKelvin because there are jittersover his threat?

When you use the word stategovernment, I have always ex-plained, we must get our facts

right, when you talk about thestate government, you are talk-ing about the governor of thestate, his cabinet, legislators, ju-diciary, as different from the se-curity agencies. This is purely thejob of the security agencies, the

governor does not have an armyof its own, and he neither con-trols the police, the army, nornavy. So, you should be talkingabout the security agencies, gov-ernment can only give support interms of logistics to these agen-cies. And you will bear witnesswith me that in the whole of thiscountry, and I want to be correct-ed and challenged by anybody,that there is no state, includingthe federal government, that hasgiven the type of assistance thatwe give to our security agencies.Whether vehicles, logistics, namethem, we give them as they askfor it, the only thing we do not dofor them in this state is that we donot pay their salaries.

•LIMUP gang being cheered by Kokori women

To be concluded

Continues frompage 58


,

,

‘Balogun had nothunderous shot . . .’

I ARRIVED the country from a CAF assignment inDolisie, Congo Brazzaville to hear that Nigerian

sports writers were spoiling for war with the NigeriaFootball Federation ( NFF ) over “an insult heaped onthe media by the NFF over some record keeping”

The argument had to do with player Utibe Archibongof Akwa Starlets who NFF credited with scoring thehighest number of goals in the Challenge Cup. Themedia said no, that it was Warri Wolves player MusaNajare who should have that distinction only for theNFF to tell the journalist to go and do their homework…..whereas the journalist are insisting the NFFerred.

When therefore Godwin Enakhena sought myopinion, I said to him that the media was the watchdog of the society and the media has responsibility tonot only inform and entertain, but to also educate themasses, and if the media is convinced it is right, itshould press for its case. Also the NFF should stopand review its position and if faulty should apologiseand move on, after all no one is perfect, says a popularadage.

However, let it be said here, that in sports, facts aresacrosanct, sacred. In sports, timing is done to theone thousandth of a minute and you dare notexaggerate. Ask Manchester City which won thePremiership in 2011 by goals difference. It thereforefollows that if there was any tinge of controversy incompiling those points as the league ran to a close,then hours will be wasted trying to set the recordsstraight.

I have used this example because the league tablein Nigeria is still subject to the medium you are readingor hearing it from, whereas it should not be different,not even by a goal difference.

When Wayne Rooney scored his 200th goal forUnited, soccer statisticians were ready. They did nothave to go back home to research and come back laterto tell us that he has scored 200 goals.

Just yesterday, the FIFA web site informed andincredibly too, that despite Barcelona’s 4-0 victory overRayo Vallecano, they had only 45 percent matchpossession, bringing to an end for the first time inover five years and 316 matches, their possessiondominating streak dating back to their 4-1 defeat toReal Madrid in May 2008. Wow ! Wow!

What about Mikel Obi’s first league goal for Chelsealast Saturday? After a barren run of 185 matches ?....thatis sports reporting for you, embellished by records,

facts and dates to the letter.Even the NFF, realize this fact when they advised

journalists not to “create artificialcontroversies….through needlessspeculations….without seeking to establish the

facts……thereby filing stories of inexistentcontroversy….by shamefully going to the press…..”and these are the very words that the journalist wantthe NFF to take back.

This brings me to the subject of my topic this week.At the last meeting of the Association of SportsVeterans, Nigeria of which I am by the grace of Godthe Secretary General, Alhaji Demola Alli, ( Pleasedon’t forget to spell my Alli with a double L ) aliasFireman, famed ex National table tennis player,journalist and long time serving image maker of theNigeria Olympic Committee, drew my attention to therepeated “misinformation” by my colleagues that“Thunder” Balogun was so named because he had akiller shot. Far from it, Fireman screamed.

“ If there was anybody that had a thunderous shot itwas Etim Richard Henshaw.” He said.

Fireman took me through a preview written by lateBonar Ekanem in the Daily Times (considered thegreatest Nigerian sportswriter to date by Alli) before

the famed UK tour of 1945.“ I will never forget that preview because I crammed

it. It was beautifully crafted. While going through thelist of players selected, Bonar wrote…. “And theforwards. Ah they are drawn from the giant killers ofLoco Yard. Golden Boy Okere ( captain of Railways)Diamond Toe Baby Anieke, popular goal merchantBalogun, Burma Devil Dokuboh, Silver footed Anosiketo spear down any stubborn defence. Among them isthat terror of all Nigerian goalkeepers H-E-N-S-H-A-W a name written with golden letters across our soccerhistory. His cannon shots dare not touch anygoalkeeper because there is bound to be a funeral.He is perhaps the only one who can escape the law ifhe kills.

“ Our soccer crown would have sunk into the earthif Henshaw was not in the team. Now thank God he isthere. And Mazembe Otu…why not Friday Okoh?”

So where did the appellation Thunder come from? Iasked “ Misrepresentation,” Alli argued. “TheThunder represented his speed…lightning speed. Hewas so fast, like a flash, he could dart left and right inone second, confuse players and leave defendersstanding. Fleet footed and scored incredible goals,but shot? No way he had no shots. Shot nothing. Ratherfrom where you sat, you could hear goal keepersscreaming “….mark Henshaw….MarkHenshaw…they were so scared of his cannon shots.He was licensed to kill.”

Receiving the support of Veterans President ChiefJ.B Ogufere and former NFA scribe Herbert Omokhayealias Alibay, Alhaji Alli went on to say that “ in thetrials to the Tour, it was Henshaw who retired hisMarine team mate goalkeeper Tony Hart when in thematch between Probables and Possibles, Henshaw’sshot hit the post and rebounded to clip Hart’s ear andblood flowed. I remember vividly Bonar Ekanem’sheadline in the Times the next day. HENSHAWDRAWS FIRST BLOOD..”

Alli like the NFF wants us to be more thorough ineducating especially those who rely on us for facts.Like the NFF too I wonder whether anyone will standup to dispute this revelation of Thunder Balogun neverkilling anybody with his Thunderous shots as we weremade to believe in a long standing fact that Alli nowclaims is a myth.

See you next week.

If there was anybodythat had a thunderousshot it was EtimRichard Henshaw

WWWWWorld scrabble Chairman lauds Nigeria on Akpabio Classicsorld scrabble Chairman lauds Nigeria on Akpabio Classicsorld scrabble Chairman lauds Nigeria on Akpabio Classicsorld scrabble Chairman lauds Nigeria on Akpabio Classicsorld scrabble Chairman lauds Nigeria on Akpabio ClassicsGODSWILL Akpabio

I n t e r n a t i o n a lScrabble Classics hasbeen adjudged as thebest Scrabblecompetition in the world,so says the Chairman ofthe World EnglishLanguage ScrabblePlayers Association (WESPA ) Mr ElieDangoor.

In a Goodwill messageaddressed to thePresident of the NigeriaScrabble FederationChief Toke Aka and sentto the organizers of theClassics which enters its7th year this Wednesday in Uyo, Mr ElieDangoor described theClassics as “prestigious”

“The big names thatare earmarked for thisevent are testament tothe stature it carries inthe scrabble world. Theicing on the cake is therapprochement betweenthe top players and theofficials in charge of ourbeloved game inNigeria “ he wrote.

He added that“….things are alwaysbest when every oneworks together, and it isimportant for everyoneto recognize thecommitment and

dedication it has takenboth officials and playersto bring scrabble to suchgreat heights in Nigeriaand the wider Africancontinent. It takes two totango and that is notless true here thananywhere else.”

The Scrabble big gunwho is looking forwardto his Uyo visit, endedhis goodwill message bythanking GovernorGodswill Akpabio“…….for keepingScrabble in his heart and

long may this continue”He prayed.

The Godswill AkpabIoInternational ScrabbleClassics( GAISC ) was in2012 rated as the mostPrestigious ScrabbleEvent in the world, witha whooping star prize of(USD 15,000) as againstthe Kings Cup, with astar prize of (USD10,000).

This makes the GAISC,the biggest and onlyscrabble event, thatNigel Richards has been

unable to attend andtriumph as the WorldScrabble Champion,hence his decision toappear in Uyo this year.In 2012, being the 6thedition of the GAISC,Pakorn Nitremanasuk,won the GAISC for thefirst time, after 2attempts, where heplaced 3rd positiontwice.

It was actually in 2009,after being humbled atthe 3rd edition of theGAISC, that Pakorn

PLAY TIME . . . Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom (right) playsscrabble with a Thailand player, Pakorn Nemitrimansuk, at the recentlyconcluded Akpabio International Classic Scrabble in Uyo.

stormed the scrabbleworld, to win the worldscrabble championshipat Malaysia.

It is still on record thatafter 6 editions ofGAISC event, no

scrabble player has beenable to win a double atthe event.Whether this feat will beerased in Uyo fromWednesday is left to beseen.

Mali, Gabon, Togo confirm forCCSF International TaekwondoOpen

MALI, Gabon, Togoand Congo

Brazzaville have joinedthe league of foreignnations confirmed forthe second ChikaChukwumerije SportsFoundation (CCSF)International TaekwondoOpen holding nextmonth in Abuja.

The four nations haveimproved the list offoreign teams expectedto participate in the two-day tournament.

13 athletes will hoistthe flag of Mali, whileCongo Brazzaville’s hasRoland Didangacompeting in the men’s-80kg category.

From the list of teamsmade available, asidethe seven countries, 24states, five universities,seven clubs, three

paramilitary, NigeriaPolice and 23individuals made up of169 athletes have so farregistered for thetournament.

The 281 athletes aremade up of 195 maleand 86 female whileentries are still expectedthis week fromparticipants.

According to theorganisers, over 34athletes are expectedfrom neighbouringnations as thecompetition continues togain more status acrossthe continent and globe.

With the arrival of newequipment to be usedand distributed to theparticipants, theorganisers are planninga colourful tournamentthis year.

Vanguard, MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 — 61

golfContinues from BP

that he was destined towin given hispreparations for theevent.

“I worked hard for thisvictory and I am happythat my hard work hasbeen rewarded with thisgolden victory”, saidAdeleke.

Bola Ahmed emergedchampion in the men’shandicap 15-28. Hisclosest challenger,Temitope Alonge, whosehaul of 31 points, wasfour points shy ofAhmed’s points.

In the ladies category,Abiodun Hassan fromthe Abeokuta golf clubwas declared champion.Joyce Nicole finishedsecond while BethelUmeh came third.

Speaking afterward toSports Vanguard,Hassan said she wasmotivated to dig deep

for the victory by thebeautiful and impressiveSmoking Hills GolfCourse, which shedescribed as the best inthe country.

“I have been aroundthe country and seen allthe golf courses that arehere but what I saw herehas really impressed mea lot. The greens andfairways are just toogood. This for me is thebest in the country. Eventhe IBB golf course doesnot match-up to thestandard of this golfcourse in Ilara-Mokin”,said a victoriousHassan.

In other categories,Alfred Diete-Spfffinished top in theveterans section,Thomas Franklinemerged champion inthe men’s longest drivewhile Grace Lucasscooped the ladiesequivalent.

MikelContinues from BPdo today was to win,

we got the three pointsand my goal was just abonus,” Mikel said.

Mikel howeveradmitted his delight atscoring his first leaguegoal after 185 games,disclosing that histeammates had already

started teasing himabout it.

“I am pretty happy, ithas been a long time,”Mikel admitted.

“The guys have beenkilling me about it. It isgood to get my first goalin the Premier League,I have scored in the FACup a couple of times.”

Why Ethiopia will be dangerous —Why Ethiopia will be dangerous —Why Ethiopia will be dangerous —Why Ethiopia will be dangerous —Why Ethiopia will be dangerous — Onye

(l-r)Arsenal Legend and former France International, Robert Pires, CEO/MD, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya and Director, CorporateCommunication & CSR, Emeka Oparah at the Airtel Rising Stars U-17 AfricaChampionship hosted by Nigeria at the Agege Township Stadium, Lagos onSunday.

BY ONOCHIEANIBEZE

KINGSLEY Onye isworried about the

reports that he has beenreading from Nigeria onthe last 2014 World Cupqualifier againstEthiopia.

Generally, Nigerianshave been celebratingthe draw. They havewritten off Ethiopia,going by their commentsin the media. Onye, whowas battered in a matchviolence in Ethiopia in1984 reacted this wayfrom his base in London:

“The reactions that Iread daily from Nigeriaon the World Cup drawscare me. I’m even moreworried now than theday the draw was made.Nigerians are easilywriting off Ethiopia.May I strongly tellNigerians that anybodywho thinks the tie withEthiopia will be a walk-over for the Eaglesshould have a rethink.Nigeria will be missingthe point to think thatthey are in Brazilalready. They are notthere yet and they willnot get there easily. Iplayed against them andI know what the effectsof weather are like therewhen you are playing.Your throat is dry andyou burn out of energyin time. But aside that,the Ethiopians wewatched in the NationsCup are better now.They have improved.They are hungry anddetermined. Money willnot motivate them. Whatmotivates them is thefact that they are playingNigeria. They arehungry, determined andwill not be exhausted athome or in Nigeria.They can pass the ball.They can hold the balland that could be aproblem. I want StephenKeshi and his technicalcrew to disregard thecomments of those whohave predicted an easyride. Ethiopia will not beeasy to beat. For a teamto qualify after losingthree points fordefaulting means thatthey are strong. We sawtheir resilience duringthe Nations Cup. We sawtheir passing game.What they lacked then

was shooting. They arebetter in that area now.They play collectivelyand they are veryhungry. That makesthem dangerous. Theymay not be stars butthey are a good teamthat may surprise anyteam including Nigeria.Let’s not allow that tohappen.”

Nigeria’s Flying

Eagles beat Ethiopia 3-0 in Lagos in 1984 in oneof the qualifiers for the1985 Under 20 WorldCup. The return legended 1-1 but theNigerians were badlybattered in a violencethat ensued after thematch. Onye suffered adeep cut on the eyelidand collapsed afterlosing a lot of blood.

Reports had spread inEthiopia that Nigerianfans three pieces ofbread at them in Lagosto spite them about thehunger in their countryfollowing the months ofdrought. The news hurtthem badly and whenNigeria visited theplayers were so beatenthat it was a miracle thatno life was lost.

SET TO PUTT....Frank Ezenwah about to putt atthe Ist Smokin Hills golf tournament in Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State on September 21. PHOTO;Kehinde Gbadamosi

Quadri wins PortugueseSuper Cup

NIGERIA’S ArunaQuadri at the

weekend led hisPortuguese club, G. D.Toledos to win the PortugalSuper Cup after beatingCP Oliverinha 3-0.

An excited Quadri said:“Winning the super cupdid not come easy at all asI left Nigeria immediatelyfor preparation for thetournament. We had takenpart in the first round ofEuropean Table TennisUnion (ETTU) Cup inCyprus and we won all ourmatches to qualify for thesecond round as part ofbuild up for the PortugueseSuper Cup. I want to saythat we prepared enoughfor the encounter.”

He added: “We won inan unbelievable mannerby winning all our matches3-0 each which endedwithin 40 minutes. Wemade history inPortuguese Super Cup bywinning the trophy within

just 40 minutes, it hasnever happened before asthe previous ones endedfor hours.”

Narrating how the matchwent, the Oyo State-bornathlete said: “I gave aperfect start by winningBruno Silva 11-3,11-4 and11-5 to set a clean lead formy team while Andre Silvaincreased the lead bybeating Rui Filip by samescoreline 11-6,11-3 and 11-8. Diego Silva completedthe rout by defeating JoaoBrandao 11-4,11-4 and 11-7 to end the match and forus to be crowned thechampion.”

For Quadri, winning thecup has added to hisdiadems in the leaguehaving won double lastseason with the PortugueseCup and league title, hesaid: “Winning the SuperCup took me to next levelin my career and I am sohappy for winning mythird titles in just one year.

Niger defends ARS U-17 African title•Tanzania wins in female category

D E F E N D I N GChampion, Niger

valiantly fought hard toemerge the 2013champions of the AirtelRising Stars U-17 AfricaChampionship even as thecurtains fell on the biggestage-grade competition inthe continent.

The Nigeriens defeatedZambia 7-6 in a penaltyshoot-out after the matchhad ended 1 apiece duringregulation time whileTanzania needed just alone goal against Kenya toclinch the medals in thefemale category.

A lone strike from DonisiaDaniel was all theTanzanian female teamneeded to emerge theChampion of the seasontwo of the Airtel RisingStars U-17 AfricaChampionship and endthe country’s twenty-yeartrophy draught in anyinternational competition.

The Tanzanians hadcome into the competitionas underdogs in a group

that had Sierra Leone,Malawi and Uganda. Theyhowever shocked bookmakers in the groupopener when they

defeated Sierra Leone 2-1.That was their only victoryat the group stage as theywent on to lose to Uganda0-1 and drew with Malawi1-1.

CMYK


TABLESEPL G W D L F A Pts1 Arsenal 5 4 0 1 11 6 122 Tottenham 5 4 0 1 5 1 123 Man City 5 3 1 1 12 4 104 Chelsea 5 3 1 1 6 2 105 Liverpool 5 3 1 1 5 3 106 Everton 5 2 3 0 6 4 97 Southampton 5 2 2 1 3 2 88 Man United 5 2 1 2 7 6 79 Swansea 5 2 1 2 7 7 710 Stoke 5 2 1 2 4 5 711 Hull 5 2 1 2 5 7 712 Newcastle 5 2 1 2 5 8 713 Aston Villa 5 2 0 3 6 6 614 West Brom 5 1 2 2 4 4 515 West Ham 5 1 2 2 4 4 516 Cardiff 5 1 2 2 4 6 517 Norwich 5 1 1 3 3 6 418 Fulham 5 1 1 3 3 7 419 Crystal Palace 5 1 0 4 4 8 320 Sunderland 5 0 1 4 3 11 1

BUNDESLIGA

1 Dortmund 6 5 1 0 16 5 162 Bayern Munich 6 5 1 0 13 2 163 Bayer 6 5 0 1 15 7 154 Hannover 6 4 0 2 10 8 125 Mönchengladbach6 3 0 3 15 11 96 Wolfsburg 6 3 0 3 9 8 97 Mainz 05 6 3 0 3 9 12 98 FC Augsburg 6 3 0 3 6 9 99 Werder 6 3 0 3 5 8 910 Hertha 6 2 2 2 10 7 811 Hoffenheim 6 2 2 2 15 15 812 Schalke 6 2 1 3 7 13 713 Stuttgart 5 2 0 3 10 8 614 Eintracht 5 2 0 3 7 9 615 Nürnberg 6 0 4 2 6 9 416 Hamburger 6 1 1 4 10 17 417 Freiburg 6 0 3 3 8 12 318 E’ Braunschweig 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

LA LIGA

1 Barcelona 5 5 0 0 18 4 152 Atlético Madrid 5 5 0 0 16 4 153 Villarreal 4 3 1 0 10 5 104 Real Madrid 4 3 1 0 8 4 105 Athletic 4 3 0 1 8 6 96 Espanyol 4 2 2 0 6 3 87 Sociedad 5 1 3 1 4 3 68 Levante 5 1 3 1 4 10 69 Celta Vigo 4 1 2 1 7 7 510 Granada 5 1 2 2 3 4 511 Real Betis 5 1 2 2 5 5 512 Málaga 5 1 2 2 7 4 513 Valladolid 5 1 1 3 3 6 414 Getafe 4 1 1 2 4 6 415 Rayo 5 1 0 4 4 16 316 Osasuna 5 1 0 4 4 10 317 Almería 5 0 3 2 10 13 318 Elche 5 0 3 2 4 8 319 Valencia 4 1 0 3 5 9 320 Sevilla 4 0 2 2 5 8 2

SERIE A

1 Roma 4 4 0 0 10 1 122 Inter Milan 4 3 1 0 13 1 103 Fiorentina 4 3 1 0 10 4 104 Juventus 4 3 1 0 8 3 105 Napoli 3 3 0 0 9 2 96 Livorno 4 2 1 1 6 3 77 Torino 4 2 1 1 6 5 78 Lazio 4 2 0 2 6 7 69 Verona 4 2 0 2 5 6 610 Cagliari 4 1 2 1 6 7 511 Milan 3 1 1 1 6 5 412 Udinese 4 1 1 2 6 6 413 Genoa 4 1 1 2 5 7 414 Chievo 4 1 1 2 4 8 415 Atalanta 4 1 0 3 3 6 316 Bologna 4 0 2 2 4 8 217 Sampdoria 4 0 2 2 4 8 218 Parma 4 0 2 2 2 6 219 Catania 4 0 1 3 1 7 120 Sassuolo 4 0 0 4 1 15 0

ARSENAL went tothe top of

the Premier League tableafter a 3-1 victory at hometo Stoke City.

Victory left the Gun-ners two points in front ofboth Chelsea and Liver-pool. But north Londonrivals Tottenham Hotspurwill join them on 12points if they win away toCardiff City later on Sun-day.

Wales midfielder AaronRamsey, made it sevengoals in eight gameswhen he gave Arsenal afifth-minute lead at theEmirates Stadium.

Stoke, however, wereback on level terms whenUSA international GeoffCameron scored his firstgoal for the club in the26th minute.

Arsenal though were 2-1 up before half-timethrough centre-back PerMertesacker’s loopingheader.

Bacary Sagna thenscored his first goal in 19months in the 72ndminute from another free-kick by £42.4m clubrecord signing Ozil. SECOND-HALF

goals from Federi-co Balzaretti and AdemLjajic handed Roma aprecious 2-0 derby winover Lazio to send theGiallorossi top of the Ital-ian Serie A on Sunday.Roma go temporarily topwith a two-point cushionover Inter, who had gonetop earlier on Sunday fol-lowing a 7-0 rout awayto Sassuolo.

Fiorentina, in third,and fourth-placed Juven-tus are also just twopoints shy of Rudi Gar-cia’s league leaders,with Napoli one pointadrift in fifth.

Arsenal see off Stoke, go top

PEDRO Rodríguezstole the show at Val-

lecas, rediscovering hisMidas touch to turn his ev-ery contribution into gold.And in football that meansgoals.

The 26-year-old grabbeda hat-trick thanks to a trio ofassists from different play-ers; Leo Messi laid on theopener, Cesc Fàbregas sethim up for the second, andNeymar da Silva gave himthe simplest of tasks to wrapup a magical evening froma personal point of view.

This was the second tre-ble of Pedro’s career, withthe other coming for Spainagainst Belarus. The pacyforward now has five ‘LaLiga’ goals for the season,just behind Leo Messi at thetop of the scoring charts.

Pedro hits firstBarça hat-trick

Roma down Lazio, Inter routSassuolo

MANCHESTERCity ensured

David Moyes’ first derbyas Manchester Unitedmanager ended in abjecthumiliation with a crush-ing victory at the EtihadStadium.

In contrast to the de-spair of his opposite num-ber, it was a day of de-light for new City bossManuel Pellegrini as hewatched the rampantBlues make a powerfulstatement about their Pre-mier League ambitions.

Sergio Aguero andYaya Toure gave City acommanding half-timelead and any slim hopes

City crush Man U in derbyof a United recovery weresnuffed out by furthergoals from Aguero andSamir Nasri within fiveminutes of the restart.

Wayne Rooney’s latefree-kick offered nothing

in the way of consolationfor Moyes or United on aday of embarrassment thatwill sit uncomfortablyalongside City’s 6-1 winat Old Trafford two sea-sons ago.

GARETH Balemissed out on a

home debut for RealMadrid on Sunday aftersustaining an injury inthe pre-match warm-up.

The Wales internation-al was set to make hisBernabeu bow followinghis world-record movefrom Tottenham over thesummer but instead wasforced to miss the Prime-ra Division fixture withGetafe.

Bale injuredCELEBRATION: Inter's Saphir Sliti Taider (l) celebrates a goal with a teammateduring yesterday's Serie A match against Sassouolo at the Mapei Arena stadi-um. Inter won 7-0. PHOTO : AFP

OOZING WITH CONFIDENCE....Arsenal's MesutOzil runs with the ball during the match against StokeCity at the Emirates stadium on September 22. Arse-nal won 3-1. Photo: AFP

•Bale

BAYERN Münchenproduced their most

polished display so farunder Pep Guardiola torun out 4-0 winners atSchalke.

Goals from Bastian Sch-weinsteiger, MarioMandzukic, Franck Rib-ery and Claudio Pizarro

helped the Germanrecord champions to awell-deserved victoryagainst the Royal Blues.

Kevin-Prince Boatengstruck a shot from distanceafter five minutes whichManuel Neuer parried,and Adam Szalai couldmerely flap at the re-bound.

Brilliant Bayern!

CMYK

CMYK


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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 , 2013

Mikel on cloud nine!JOHN Mikel Obi is

delighted at scoringhis first Premier Leaguegoal for Chelsea in their2-0 win over Fulham onSaturday.

The 26-year-oldpreferred to take acollective approach by

emphasizing on theteam’s ability to get backto winning ways after apoor run of defeats intheir last three games.

“We had lost twogames in a row and themost important thing to

Continues on Page 61

DEMOLITION DERBY! Aguero strikes two while Yaya and Nasri rub salt into Moyes’ wounds as new boss endures embarrassmentat the Etihad (and Van Persie watches horror show from the stands)

Adeleke,Hassan winSmoking Hillsgolf

BY JOHNEGBOKHAN

THE Ist Smoking HillInvitational golf

tournament has endedin Ilara-Mokin, OndoState, with winnersemerging in sevencategories.

The one-day event,which featured about 82players, saw BayoAdeleke emerging thechampion in the men’shandicap 0-14. He had36 points to beat YinkaOlaniyi, with 35 points,into the second positionwhile Moses Ojofinished third with 33points.

An excited Adeleke,while saluting hiscompetitors for puttingup a brave fight, said

Continues on Page 61

Why Ethiopia will be dangerous — Onye (P.61)

Espanyol v AthleticBilabao 9 pm

Today’s La Liga Match Man City crush Man Utd 4 - 1 in derby (P.62)

ACROSS: 3, Lever 9, Career 10, Vulgar 11,Eaten 12, Epee 15, Once 17, Worried 20, Ton21, Dined 23, Tools 25, Grit 26, Rated 28, God30, Reflect 33, Anew 35, Late 36, Gamin 38,Exuded 39, Newest 40, Melee.

DOWN: 1, Screw 2, Order 3, Lee 4, Erased 5,Ever 6, Run 7, Agent 8, Green 13, Portion 14,Error 16, Contact 18, Diver 19, Beg 22, Droll24, Lap 27, Define 28, Gazed 29, Debut 31,Eager 32, Teeth 34, Wade 36, Gem 37, Nee.

ACROSS3 Bar (5)9 Rush (6)10 Coarse (6)11 Consumed (5)12 Sword (4)15 Formerly (4)17 Concerned (7)20 Weight (3)21 Ate (5)23 Implement (4)25 Courage (4)26 Assessed (5)28 Deity (3)30 Mirror (7)33 Again (4)35 Tardy (4)36 Urchin (5)38 Oozed (6)39 Freshest (6)40 Skirmish (5)

DOWN1 Twist (5)2 Command (5)3 Shelter (3)4 Deleted (6)5 Always (4)6 Manage (3)7 Representative (5)8 Verdant (5)13 Slice (7)14 Mistake (5)16 Touch (7)18 Frogman (5)19 Plead (3)22 Amusing (5)24 Circuit (3)27 Delineate (6)28 Stared (5)29 Outcoming (5)31 Keen (5)32 Cogs (5)34 Paddle (4)36 Jewel (3)37 Born (3)

TWO WEEKS TO LIVE

death toll in borno attack rises to 142

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