...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62076

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014**

Mr & Mrs•P.54

COLUMNIST:

ASUU accuses FG ofreneging on releaseof N20bn

FG to generate 10,000mwof electricity by 2015

By EMMANUELAZIKEN, PoliticalEditor, EMMANOVUAKPORIE &

LEVINUSNWABUGHIOGU

Continues on page 5

I was shot,Abe insists

BiancaOjukwu

becomesAPGAleader

•P.9

NPAN condemnswire tap draft law

8

ACCIDENT. Two vehicles, a Pathfinder Jeep with number plate Lagos FKJ 516AL and a Lagos commercial bus (Molue) withnumber plate FKJ 201XH were involved in an accident at Pleasure Canal, Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos yesterday. Two people were confirmeddead following the accident. Chassis of the vehicles being removed. Photos: Lamidi Bamidele

•P.17-48

Dangote, othersdisagree on gradeof cementprescribed for sale

GOVT SHUTDOWN:

Reps lift embargoagainst budget•There is more than one way to skin a cat —Rep Gbajabiamila,APC House leader

PLANS by theHouse of Repre-

sentatives to shut downthe Federal Governmentthrough stalling of its2014 budget are to betemporarily lifted tomor-row following the remov-al of Mr. Mbu Joseph

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—5

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Reps lift embargo againstbudget

Continues from page 1

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Never test the depth of a river with both feet.Take life one step at a time.

SUCCESS is to be measured not so much bythe position that one has reached in life as by

the obstacles which he has overcome —Booker T.Washington

And from Alain Botton from his TED presenta-tion about a kinder gentler philosophy of success,he says that one of the interesting things aboutsuccess is that we think we know what it means. Alot of the time our ideas about what it would meanto live successfully are not our own. They’resucked in from other people. And we also suck inmessages from everything from the television toadvertising to marketing, etcetera. These arehugely powerful forces that define what we wantand how we view ourselves. What I want to arguefor is not that we should give up on our ideas ofsuccess, but that we should make sure that theyare our own.

We should focus on our ideas and make surethat we own them, that we’re truly the authors ofour own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough notgetting what you want, but it’s even worse to havean idea of what it is you want and find out at theend of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what youwanted all along. And remember that your ownresolution to succeed is more important than anyother.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu presentinga souvenir to HRM Aholu Menu-Toyi 1 the Akran of Badagry,during a courtesyvisit to his palace in Badagry, weekend

Mbu as the Rivers Statecommissioner of police.

The removal of Mbuwas one of the condi-tions the opposition APCinsistedon before askingits members to stall thebudget.

The decision to pro-ceed with the budgetwas to be endorsed by asix man committee con-stituted by SpeakerAminu Tambuwal to ad-vise him on legal bottle-necks earlier raisedagainst further deliber-ation of the budget lastWednesday.

The House had,Wednesday, put off fur-ther consideration of the

2014 budget of the Fed-eral Government ontechnical grounds raisedby Rep. EmmanuelJime, one of the 37 mem-bers of the House whodefected from the Peo-ples Democratic Party,PDP to the All Progres-sives Congress, APC,last December.

Jime, from BenueState, had alleged thatthe budget violated pro-visions of the Fiscal Re-sponsibility Act by notdetailing the budgetaryestimates of the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN,and the Nigerian Na-tional Petroleum Corpo-ration, NNPC.

Upon his observation,

Speaker Tambuwal hadconstituted a six mancommittee styled as thesix wise men to advisehim on the decision totake on the issue.

However, Jime’s actionwas traced to a directiveby the National Execu-tive Committee, NEC, ofthe APC which had, lastmonth, asked its mem-bers in the National As-sembly to stall the bud-get following what itclaimed was the reign ofimpunity in Rivers Stateallegedly perpetratedthrough the former com-missioner of police, Mr.Mbu.

Flowing from the re-moval of Mbu lastThursday, the APCHouse leader, Mr. FemiGbajabiamila, and othersenior members of theparty welcomed it as apositive developmentthat would remove theobstacle to the consider-ation of the budget.

Debating thebudget

Mr. Gbajabiamila saidin a posting on his face-book page at the week-end, “Now we can de-bate the so-called bud-get. As I said earlier, ex-traordinary and desper-ate situations call for ex-traordinary measures.We have been vindicat-ed that there is morethan one way to skin acat.”.

In the posting datedFebruary 7, 2014, headded, “As a party wehave adopted a less at-tractive but legitimateway when all else failedand it has worked. Thepeople of Nigeria arethe beneficiaries.”

One of the six wise

men constituted by theSpeaker, Rep. SundayAdepoju, APC, OyoState, told Vanguardthat Nigerians should behopeful on the outcomeof the work of the com-mittee.

He said, “We are stillworking on it. By Tues-day, you will be able tohear what will happen.Wait and see what hap-pens on Tuesday. We arestill meeting. Let Nige-rians be hopeful. We willdo what is expected ofus. You will know every-thing on Tuesday.”

Asked if the removal ofMbu as the commission-er of police in RiversState as demanded bythe APC would ease theconsideration of the bud-get, he said, “The issueof removal of Mbu is onecase, the budget is an-other. That of Mbu hasbeen complied with. Ourparty gave us directiveson what to do. Now, ithas become an issue forthe entire House. So,Tuesday, Nigerians willhear what will happen.I can not tell you any-thing. Just wait till Tues-day.”

Another source in theAPC caucus told Van-guard, yesterday, thatthe removal of Mbu asthe commissioner of po-lice has brought to anend, the regime of impu-nity and restored peacein Rivers State as de-

manded by the APC na-tional leadership. Ouraim has been achievedand we are now ready towork for the best inter-est of Nigerians irre-spective of party affilia-tion.” The source addedthat the whole idea be-hind the constitution ofthe six man panel ofwise men was to dousetension.

The APC whip, Barris-ter Samson Osagie, onhis part described theremoval of Mr. Mbu asa positive developmenteven as he maintainedthat the report of the sixwise men committeewould influence the di-rection the House wouldtake on the budget to-morrow.

He said, “It is a wel-come development, it isa matter that was longoverdue and it shows

the triumph of reasonover impunity and wehope that Tunde Ogun-shakin who is takingover from Mbu will nottread the partisan pathof Mbu and that peaceand normalcy, fairness,equity and justice wouldbe brought to the peopleof Rivers State. We as aparty are very happywith that developmentand it shows that our ef-fort has paid off and thatall the pressure webrought to bear has paidoff.”

Rep. Seconte Daviesrepresenting Bonny/De-gema Federal Constitu-ency spoke in the samedirection saying that thelegal issues raised mustbe sorted out first beforethe commencement ofdebate and eventualpassage of the Bill tosecond reading.

ABUJA—SENATEPresident David

Mark, yesterday, raisedalarm over what he de-scribed as the antics ofsome desperate personswho he accused of usingpolitics and religion todestroy the sanctity ofthe unity and peace ofthe Nigerian nation.

Senator Mark allegedthat the trend now wasfor politicians to sponsoror promote violence, andturn round to make pro-vocative utterances inthe name of politics or re-ligion, noting that suchdevelopment was total-ly unacceptable andmust be condemned inthe strongest terms.

The senator who spokeat the installation cere-mony of the Metropoli-tan Archbishop of theMethodist Church of Ni-geria, Joseph Oche Jobin Abuja asked Nigeri-ans of all faiths to be

Mark accuses politicians of fanningembers of religion

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU

committed to the work ofsocial justice, peace andreligious tolerance.He also cautioned thosefanning the embers ofwar or disunity to thinkotherwise as the “cur-rent insecurity and po-litical confusion areavoidable distractionswe certainly do not neednow.”

The Senate Presidentwho said that God didnot make mistake in cre-ating Nigerians as Hischildren under one na-tion, requested all Nige-rians to continue to prayfor the unity and peaceof our country.

While frowning at thefact that most peopletended to use politicsand religion for thewrong reasons, Markadvised that what thenation needed now wasto embark on serious po-litical and inter-reli-gious dialogue with thespirit of frankness, hon-esty, openness, accep-

tance and understand-ing in order to move for-ward.

He said the NationalAssembly would be do-ing everything possibleto contain the securityand socio- economicchallenges in the coun-try.

The Senate presidentcongratulated the newArchbishop on his eleva-tion and urged the cler-gy to continue to prayfor the nation stressingthat “with prayers andconcerted efforts, thechallenges we are facingcan be overcome.”

In his homily, Arch-bishop Job expressedfirm belief in the unity ofthe country, saying thatirrespective of the chal-lenges, Nigeria wouldnot disintegrate.He, however, called forfairness, equity and jus-tice in the administra-tion of the country sothat all the sectionswould have a sense ofbelonging.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

Kelvin, Delta kidnap kingpin's kinsmenbeg God for forgiveness

BY EMMA AMAIZE

KOKORI — REMORSEFUL kinsmen of Kelvin

Oniarah, the suspected DeltaState kidnap kingpin fromKokori, Ethiope East LocalGovernment Area of the state,currently undergoing trial,have decided to go to God inprayers, asking Him with bro-ken hearts and tears to havemercy on them and rebuildtheir land.

Last weekend, over 2000men, women and childrenfrom within and outsideKokori, in a spiritual pro-gramme tagged, "Kokori Sol-emn Assembly," coordinatedby Rev. Abada ObodoManuwa, a retired Chief Su-perintendent of Police, con-gregated at the heart of thetown to pray for the return ofpeace to their community.

Among the influential indi-genes that attended theprayer retreat were thePresident-General of the com-munity, Mr G. S.Avbunu-Diogba, a lawyer,Achoja of Agbon Kingdom,Olorogun Sunday Umunade

Rev. Manuwa, who led thefirst prayer cited the book of

Rev Abada Manuwa leading the prayer session.

Four Akala boys killed as NDLEAraids drugs haven in Mushin

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

LAGOS— FOUR personswere feared dead, Sat-

urday night, at the notori-ous drug haven of Akala inMushin area of Lagos,when armed hoodlums at-tacked a combined team ofNational Drug Law Enforce-ment, NDLEA, and somesoldiers during a raid.

Vanguard gathered thatthe NDLEA operatives andsome soldiers, stormedAkala, a notorious hideoutfor criminals in Lagos andattempted to arrest somedrug barons, peddlers andusers, operating in the area.But they met stiff resistancefrom some hoodlums whoattacked them with bottlesand other dangerous weap-ons.

Eyewitness said some ofthe hoodlums, who werealso armed with guns, firedat the NDLEA officials andthe soldiers, prompting a re-taliation.

According to reports, fourpersons were reportedlygunned down in the ensu-ing shootout, while someNDLEA officials sustainedsevere injuries.

The NDLEA, in a state-ment, said four other hood-lums were arrested by itsoperatives, while cannabisweighing 541.9kg and 32pinches of substance thattested positive to heroinewere recovered.

The statement signed bythe agency's spokesperson,Mitchell Ofoyeju, did notdisclose the number of per-sons killed in the encoun-ter, but said: “A combinedteam of National Drug LawEnforcement Agency,NDLEA and army officers atthe weekend met with stiffresistance from hoodlums atthe notorious Akala,Mushin area of Lagos dur-ing a drug raid operation.

"The team of officers ledby NDLEA Assistant Com-mander, Operations and In-telligence, Mr. OjoOgbechema, recovered can-nabis weighing 541.9kgand 32 pinches of substancethat tested positive forheroin. Four suspects werealso arrested."

According to the NDLEALagos Commander, Mr SuleAliyu, the operation wassuccessful in spite of the re-sistance from drug barons.

Sule said: "A combinedteam of NDLEA and armyofficers participated in theoperation. It was a very suc-cessful raid because bags ofcannabis weighing 541.9kg

and 32 pinches of heroinwere recovered.

"During the operation,there was an attack on theofficers by a large number ofhoodlums who threw bottlesand stones at the officers.The road was also barricadedbut the officers shot into theair to disperse the crowd."

The commander added thattwo officers who sustained in-jury had been treated.

Meanwhile, residents ofIdi-Oro area of Mushin havecalled on the state govern-ment to eradicate the trade inillicit drugs from Akala andits environ if it wants lastingpeace in the area.

Joel where the people ofJudea lost all they had, butturned to God for restoration.

He said: "The calamity thatbefell the community can belikened to that of Judea, welost livestock, poultry, fish-ponds were destroyed, houseswere razed, property de-stroyed, our community wasdeserted, but I tell you theBible says if we the people ofKokori turn away from ourwicked ways, and turn to theLord, He, God, will heal ourland."

The prayers were heraldedwith praises, dance and wor-ship songs to the Lord by themass choir on the road, run-ning from the market to theAnglican Church in the com-munity closed to vehiculartraffic.

Reverend J E Edojah whocontinued with the prayerssaid it took the sin of the peo-ple for God to turn His backon them.

His words: "We will beg Godfor forgiveness, let every onekneel before Him and ask forforgiveness from God. Thechildren have offended Him,the women offended Him, themen offended Him, we have

wronged Him, and it is for ourwrongdoings that this calam-ity has befallen us."

Strongly believing that thereturn of peace to Kokori de-pends on how they beggedGod for mercy, most of thepeople wept as they prayed.

Other messengers of the gos-pel who led in different prayersessions were Pastor J. O.Akpojivi, Rev. Victor OvieMichael, Rev. Daniel Menta,Rev. J. E. Eke, PastorEmmanuel Onokparunu, Rev.Canon Odechume, PastorStephen Oharebe, PastorEmmanuel Abasi, PastorLumumber Idiabana and Rev.Peter Onowaukpor.

Rev Manuwa while conclud-ing the prayers announced a de-cision reached by the pastors tomake every February 1 "KokoriPrayer Day."

President-General of Kokoricommunity, ChiefAvbunu-Diogba in a chat withnewsmen, called on residents thatfled the community to returnhome, saying: "There is peace inKokori, am calling on residentsof Kokori to come back home,even the soldiers are saying theyshould come."

The residents also describedthe activities of drug dealersand users in Akala as a ma-jor strength behind bloodyclashes in Mushin. Theyadded that Akala is the onlyarea in Lagos State where il-licit drugs are sold openly.

Manabandonspregnantwife afterscanrevealedtriplets

ADO-EKITI— ABRICKLAYER, Mr

Adewale Omole, hasabandoned his wife in thehospital after he heardthat she was expecting tri-plets. He did not evenwait for the woman to givebirth before he vanished.

Narrating her story, thewife, Mrs AbosedeOmole, who already hadtwo children, said her hus-band abandoned her andthe babies. She said herhusband started behavingstrange after she went fora scan in Lagos where shewas told that she was ex-pecting triplets.

Abosede, delivered thetriplets, weekend, at EkitiState University TeachingHospital, EKSUTH.

She said: "My husbandabandoned me even be-fore I gave birth and hehas refused to perform hisresponsibility as a father.He left me without food.That is why I had to relo-cate to this spiritual homewhere I have receivedspiritual succour and fi-nancial assistance.

"Since the sudden dis-appearance of my hus-band, life has not been thesame again, as I, the twochildren and the newlyborn triplets are finding itdifficult to survive. I ambegging him to come backfor the sake of these inno-cent babies."

Abosede appealed toGovernor Kayode Fayemiof Ekiti and well-meaningNigerians to come to heraid.

Confirming the story, thematron in-charge of the ma-ternity at EKSUTH, MrsAdenike Oluyide, called onwell-wishers to assistAbosede, as the triplets arecurrently at the SpecialBaby Care Unit of the hos-pital.

A member of SabbathMission Church, Omiolori,Okesa, Ado-Ekiti, whocame to the hospital to seethe woman and her chil-dren, confirmed thatAbosede came to thechurch and was taken to thehospital from there.

The church member, whopleaded anonymity, saidthe leadership of the con-gregation felt she could ben-efit from the free medicalprogramme of Ekiti Stategovernment for women andchildren.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—7

APC REGISTRATION: Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State registering as a memberof the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Owerri, Imo State on Saturday.

$20bn not missing, NNPC, NPDC insist

BY MICHAEL EBOH &CHRIS OCHAYI

We have no control over kerosene price - NNPC

NIGERIAN NationalP e t r o l e u m

Corporation, NNPC,weekend, denied claims that itfailed to remit $20 billion crudeoil revenue to the FederationAccount, adding that itsubmitted all the documents ondomestic crude and subsidyclaims to the Federal Accountand Allocation Committee,FAAC.

Also, the Nigerian PetroleumDevelopment Corporation,NPDC, a subsidiary of theNNPC, disclosed that theallegation that $20 billion wasnot remitted to the FederationAccount is false, blaming theloss of revenue on inadequatefunding of oil explorationactivities by the FederalGovernment.

Mr. Iyowuna Briggs,Managing Director, NPDC, whostated this in Benin, noted thatthe Federal Government’sinability to fund oil exploration,over the years, is depriving thecountry of billions of dollars inoil revenue.

He maintained that the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, lacksunderstanding of the workingsof the oil sector, saying thatmajority of the funds that shouldhave accrued to the federalgovernment from the sale ofcrude oil was paid to its technicalpartners who provided thefinancing for its operations.

According to him, the growththe country is seeking in thepetroleum sector is no longercoming, adding that Nigeria’s

goal of producing about fourmillion barrels of crude dailywould have been attained if theissue of funding and securityhad been addressed.

He stated that the FederalGovernment, by not fundingoil operations, is bringingthird parties to lay claims tocrude oil revenue, saying thatproceeds from the sale isgotten, a substantial part of theproceeds is used to pay backthe person who provided thefunding for the operation.

He said, “What does thismean, it means if I produceone million barrels per day,five years ago, at $100 perbarrel, government getscertain revenue. Five yearsafter, government is no longer

funding the way it should, if Iproduce the same one millionbarrels per day at the sameprice, guess what,government gets less.

“By not funding, you arebringing a third party to lay aclaim. By funding, all of thatone million barrels, when theypay, it goes to government.By not funding, when theypay, part of it is the cost to payback the person who providedthe funding, part of it is thecompensation to pay back theperson who has funded. Bynot funding, you don’t expectto get the same amount.”

Also speaking in Abuja, Dr.Abiye Membere, GroupExecutive Director, Explorationand Production, NNPC, said the

issue raised against it by MallamSanusi Lamido, Governor, CBN,would be vividly tackled at thenext public hearing of the SenateCommittee on Finance.

Membere vowed that theNNPC would inundate theSenate Committee with delugeof documents detailing alltransactions, adding that, theNNPC works with thePetroleum Products PricingRegulatory Agency, PPPRA,and other agencies ofgovernment, which scrutinize“all our documents.”

He declared that the missingmoney was never in the handsof the NNPC, adding, “thissubsidy is not the money thatthe NNPC collected fromgovernment.”

FG to generate 10, 000mw of electricity by endof 2015

THE FederalGovernment, in

collaboration with the FederalEducation Ministry andSchneider Electric, hascommenced a collaborationaimed at boosting access toelectricity in the Niger Deltaregion, in particular and thecountry at large.

The Special Adviser to thePresident on Niger Delta andChairman of the PresidentialAmnesty Programme,Kingsley Kuku, flagged offthe initiative weekend withthe commissioning of theIsaac Boro Energy TrainingCollege in Grenoble, France.

This was contained in astatement signed by Mr DanielAlabrah, head, Media andCommunications, PresidentialAmnesty Programme. Kukusaid that under theprogramme, the Federal

Signs agreement with French govtBY DOTUN IBIWOYE Government would generate

and distribute between 8,000and 10,000 megawatts ofelectricity by the end of 2015.

“Several of the powerinstallations that would aidthe attainment of this goalare located in the Niger Delta.If we do not train persons inthe Niger Delta that would bedeeply and properly involvedin the generation anddistribution of electricity, wemay not attain this visionarygoal of President GoodluckJonathan. This collaborationwith the French Governmentand Schneider Electric ofFrance is geared towardsexpediting the ongoingtransformation in the powersector in the country.

“I am truly delighted at thiscollaboration between theFederal Government and theFrench Government. Nigeriais at the verge of a revolutionin the power sector.

‘’In fact, we are preparing fora revolution of sorts in thepower sector in Nigeria andthat is why we have decidedto massively developmanpower in that sector incollaboration with the FrenchGovernment and SchneiderElectric of France,” Kukuadded.

The training college, whichwas named after the NigerDelta freedom fighter, lateMajor Isaac Adaka Boro, is aninitiative between the FederalGovernment and SchneiderElectric Nigeria, drawing onthe expertise of both SchneiderElectric France and the FrenchEducation Ministry.

Alsp speaking at the eventalso, the NigerianAmbassador to France,Hakeem Suleiman, laudedSchneider and the FrenchGovernment for establishinga training institute purposelydesigned to help meet the

“Prior to today’s commissioningof the Isaac Boro TechnicalCollege, I had the honour oftouring and inspecting thefacilities here. The institute is firstclass and it is among the best ofits kind. Even more important,the establishment of thetechnical college in France is areflection of the strategicpartnership that exists betweenNigeria and France. It is truly ahuge milestone that we haveachieved today,” AmbassadorSuleiman said.

The Chairman/CEO ofSchneider Electric, Mr. Jean-Pascal Tricoire, reiterated thefirm’s commitment to thetotal transformation of thepower sector in Nigeria.

“The lack of trained engineersin the electrical and energy fieldsis a major obstacle to thesuccessful and sustainabledevelopment of a number ofregions in emerging economies.

2015: FGassures oncredibleelection

LAGOS —The FederalGovernment has

assured developmentpartners that the 2015general elections will becredible and transparent.

This assurance came as theUnited States and Britainraised concerns aboutprospects of logisticproblems and the securitychallenges in parts of thecountry tarnishing theoutcome of the election.

The new US Ambassadorto Nigeria, Mr. JamesEntwistle and the BritishDeputy HighCommissioner, Mr. PeterCarter, said in Lagos that thedevelopment partners andmembers of the EuropeanUnion, EU, are keenlywatching Nigeria’spreparation for the 2015general elections, which theyinsist must adhere to theguiding rules ofengagement.

But in a telephoneinterview with the SpecialAdviser to the President onPolitical Affairs, AlhajiAhmed Ali Gulak said“Nigeria welcomes theconcerns and support of itsinternational developmentpartners in the forthcomingelection, which is anexpression that democracyand development havebecome inseparable”,adding that ”we attach greatimportance to ourdemocratic process becausewe have seen theconsequences of militarydictatorship in our politicalhistory. We also respect thegenuine concerns of ourdevelopment partners as weadvance in our democraticexperience.” .

The US ambassador, whohosted a media round tablein Lagos said “the US isconcerned about the securitysituation in the North Eastas well as the logisticchallenges of conductingelections in Nigeria”.

On his part, British DeputyHigh Commissioner, Mr.Peter Carter, told membersof Nigeria-BritainAssociation (NBA) in Lagosthat ”the credibility of theelection matters to Britainand its partners in EU andUS because that will set thetone to attract the requiredinflow of capital fromoverseas investors.”

BY HUGO ODIOGOR

US, UKexpressconcerns

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

NPAN condemns wire-tap draft lawBy MARIAM EKO

A B U J A — T h eN e w s p a p e r s

Proprietors’ Association ofNigeria, NPAN, hascondemned the wire-tap draftlaw initiated by the FederalGovernment, saying that it isan invitation to arbitrarinessin the country.

This was contained in acommuniqué signed by thePresident of the NPAN,Nduka Obaigbena, after theassociation’s recent councilmeeting in Abuja.

The communiqué, whichwas released yesterday read,‘’At its executive councilmeeting in Abuja onFebruary 6, 2014, theNewspapers Proprietors’Association of Nigeriadeliberated on a range ofissues affecting the industry

and the nation andspecifically resolved asfollows, among other things:

‘’That the NPAN views withserious concern, the reportthat the Federal Governmenthas initiated a draft law thatempowers security agents tointercept and record electroniccommunications betweenindividuals and track data usefrom internet serviceproviders and mobilenetworks.

‘’That this bill is a dangerouspotent to the constitutionalguarantee of free speech andis therefore, an invitation toarbitrariness.

‘’That the FederalGovernment should withdrawthis obnoxious bill in line withits constitutional obligation toprotect the rights and libertiesof the citizens.’’

The Nigerian telecoms

regulatory authority, NCC,had earlier come up with theDraft Lawful Interception ofCommunications Regulation,which provides the legal andregulatory framework for thelawful interception ofcommunications in Nigeria.

Already, details of the billhave been submitted byPresident GoodluckJonathan to the NationalAssembly last week.

Reacting to the developmentearlier however, thePresident of Association ofTe l e c o m m u n i c a t i o nCompanies of Nigeria,ATCON, Mr Lanre Ajayi saidin an email message toVanguard that thegovernment had aresponsibility to providesecurity for its people andsometimes that maynecessitate monitoring the

communication activities of thebad actors.

He also said that thegovernment had aresponsibility to protect theprivacy of its citizens which is aright that is enshrined in theNigerian constitution.

For the former President ofInformation Technology ofNigeria, ITAN, Dr. JimsonOlufuye, what is key in the billwas court authorization forsurveillance and datainterception to be carried out bylaw enforcement agents.

But in his reaction, thePresident of Institute ofSoftware Practitioners ofNigeria, ISPON, Chris Uwaje,noted that the bill should notdirectly or indirectly empowertelecommunication companiesto conduct surveillance onindividuals, and release userdata to authorities.

Cementcrisis: Blockmoulders flayattack onMinister, SON

L A G O S — B l o c kM o u l d e r s

Association of Nigeria,yesterday, waded into thelingering crisis in thecement sector of theeconomy, condemningthe alleged attack on theMinister of Industry,Trade and Investment,Olusegun Aganga andthe Management ofStandards Organisationof Nigeria, SON, by thecoalition of civil societygroups, who sparked offthe crisis in the sector.

Briefing the press inLagos, National Presidentof the association, Mr.Rasheed Adebowale, said:“We in the Association ofBlock molders are somuch concerned about thedevelopment in the cementsector, which had been inthe front burner of themedia in the past oneweek. We resolved tointervene because thesector provides livelihoodfor our more than 50,000members nationwide.”

See more on Pg 17

BY FRANKLIN ALLI

VISIT: From left — First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan; His Eminence Cardinal John Onaiyekanand the representative of Sultan of Sokoto, Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, at the presentationof a book written by Cardinal Onaiyekan to mark his 70th birthday, in Abuja on Saturday.

BY HENRY UMORU

PDP wishes defectors well, says ‘wecan withstand the exodus'

YENAGOA—Twentypolicemen in three

escort gunboats escapeddeath weekend when un-identified youths en-gaged them in a shoot-outin the creeks of Bayelsa.

The policemen weresaid to be escorting an ex-militant leader, Mr ErisPaul, to Peremabiri inSouthern Ijaw Local Gov-ernment Area.

Paul, popularly calledOgunboss, said the attackwas carried out by com-munity youths involved inoil theft and illegal oilbunkering. “These areboys that I included theirnames in my amnesty listand prevailed on not togo back to crime.

“My continual attemptto stop them from thenoticeable acts of oil theftled to the attack,” he said. Paul denied the allega-tion that he was involvedin the community devel-opment committee poli-tics in the community.

A B U J A —N A T I O N A L

leadership of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP saidyesterday wished the formerVice President, Atiku Ababakarand other party men andwomen who had left the partyto the opposition AllProgressives Congress, APC,well saying that it had thecapacity to withstand the shockof the vacuum created in theparty.

Consequently, strongindications have emerged thatPDP may not embark onreconciliation missions to unitewith Atiku and others whodumped the PDP for the APC.

In a statement signedyesterday by PDP NationalPublicity Secretary, Chief OlisaMetuh, PDP also noted that itwas not prepared to join Atikuand the APC in what it termed,politics of mudslinging. “Whilewe concede to the inalienablerights of individuals toassociate with any politicalparty of their choice, we advicethat they should proffersolutions and alternativesrather than engage in constantcondemnation.

“The PDP wishes the formerVice President and others wellin their chosen enclave but wepray, that someday, they willfind it in their hearts space toaccord the PDP duerecognition for itscontributions not only to thedevelopment of the country,

May not reconcile with Atiku, othersbut also to their individualpolitical progress.

“While the PDP recognizesthe inalienable right ofcitizens to hold opinions andidentify with politicalplatforms of their choice, weindeed find it very difficultto understand this type ofbitterness towards the partyeven from persons such asAtiku who hugely benefitedfrom the PDP.

“However, as the solecustodian of the sacredmandate of over 160 millionNigerians, the PDP will

continue to maintain the highmoral ground of decencyand shall not in any waycheapen this sacred mandateby joining in politicalmudslinging.

“The people are solidlybehind President GoodluckJonathan and hisdevelopmental policies and foremphasis, we wish to draw theattention of Atiku and the APCwarlords to the achievementsof the PDP-led administration.

“It is common knowledgethat the private sector hasbeen immensely successful in

the last two years under the PDP-led administration owing to thecontinued implementation ofour manifesto and policiesincluding the continuation of thePDP ideology of transfer ofwealth from public institutions tothe private sector.

“This is the hallmark of thePDP-led Federal Governmentwherein hardworking privateindividuals are now thriving in.manufacturing, trade, commerceand other critical sectors of theeconomy with business namessuch as the Dangotes, theInnosons, the AITs, the Channelsas well as several others in thebanking, telecoms, foodprocessing, hospitality,transport, construction, oil andgas, estate businessesrecording huge successes.

Policemen,militantyouths clashin Bayelsa

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—9

BY BOSE ADELAJA

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

VeteranjournalistGbenga Aliudeclaredmissing

Mother &Child expoholds inLagos

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

BY INNOCENT ANABA

A VETERANjournalist, Mr. Felix

Olugbenga Aliu, aged 54has been declaredmissing.

Aliu who has workedwith various Newspaperswhich include thedefunct Lagos Weekend,New Star and VanguardNewspapers was lastseen in his residence,No. 150 Pipeline Street,Ojokoro, LCDA on thenight of December 31,2013.

Family sources saidreport has been filed atboth Ojokoro and IsokokoPolice Stations. Any onewho knows his whereabouts should report tothe nearest Police Station.

INAUGURATION: From left: Chairman, Governing Council, Olabisi Onabanjo UniversityTeaching Hospital, OOUTH, Professor Dipo Otolorin,Ogun State governor, Senator IbikunleAmosun, Chief Medical Director, OOUTH, Prof. Alfred Jaiyesimi and Health Commissioner,Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, after the inauguration of the OOUTH Governing Council in Abeokuta.Photo: Wumi Akinola.

LAGOS—TWO people werefeared dead while one was

critically injured, Saturday night,when a Sports Utility Van, SUV,and a staff bus belonging to aprivate company plunged into acanal.

According to an eye witness'account, the victims, all males,were occupants of the SUV withnumber plate FKJ 516 AL, whilethe injured person was the driverof the staff bus who was said tohave lost a hand and leg to theincident which took place around10pm at Pleasure/Iyana-Ipajaarea of Lagos.

General Manager, Lagos StateEmergency ManagementAuthority LASEMA, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed theincident to Vanguard said bothvictims were members of anIslamic organisation, SamsideenIslamiya who were said to becoming from Ikorodu when theincident occurred.

‘’At about 10pm Saturday nighta Pathfinder SUV collided witha bus at Pleasure bus-stop inwardAbule Egba and fell into a canal.

“Bodies of the two occupantswere recovered by LASEMA andhanded over to appropriateauthorities.

‘’The car driver, MuyideenTiamiyu, 50, and vehicle owner

Two feared dead, one injured as vehiclesplunge into canal

Alhaji Akinsola, were said tohave experienced a tyre blowoutwhen the staff bus which wasavoiding a sharp corner hit themand both landed in a canalleaving both occupants of thebus dead and the bus drivercritically injured.”

The victims were said to havebeen buried according to Muslim

rites; while Muyideen was buriedat Shasha area of Lagos, Akinsolawas said to have been buried atIlepa, Ifo Local Government Areaof Ogun State.

The LASEMA boss also said hewas not aware of the presentcondition of the bus driver as hewas not privy to the information.

He said: ‘’I cannot speak about

the condition of the bus driverbecause I did not witness theincident but the information athand said two occupants of theSUV did not survive theincident.’’

According to him, both vehiclesand victims were recoveredaround 3pm of yesterday andhanded over to appropriateauthorities.

ABEOKUTA—A faction ofthe Labour Party yesterday

said ‘fifth columnists’ were behindan injunction of the Federal HighCourt, Lagos which restrainedOgun State former governor,Gbenga Daniel and the otherchieftains from commencing

party’s membership registration.In a statement, the factional

chairman, John Olaleye, and 24other officials, vowed not to bedistracted in taking overgovernment in the state in 2015.

The Federal High Court sittingin Lagos had last week grantedan interim injunction restraining

LP faction blames Lagos court injunction on‘fifth columnists’

Daniel, five governorshipaspirants and others in the partyfrom commencing another partyregistration exercise until themotion ex-parte was heard anddetermined by the court.

Justice C.J. Anneke gave theorder of interim injunction uponthe suit filed by Olabode Simeon,Oginni Sunday and ArabambiAbayomi, who were earliersuspended by the nationalsecretariat of the LP.

Reacting to the court injunction,Olaleye pointed out that theapplicants in the case were not

representing the party.The acting chairman urged

party members to continue withthe registration exercise, which,according to him, had been verysuccessful.

He said: “Without prejudice, itis our considered opinion thatthe applicants in the case areunder suspension from the partygoing by letters from the NationalSecretariat in Abuja for their badconducts. On this note, we,hereby, dissociate ourselves fromthis development. They are notrepresenting us in any form."

LAGOS—THE NationalIndustrial Court, NIC, has

refused an application filed byTotal E&P Nigeria Limited,TEPNG, asking the court to stayproceedings in the N5 billion suitinstituted by a former staff, AraluSteve against the oil company.

Aralu worked with Total forabout 11 years and was injuredin a major work place accident in2011 which rendered himunemployable.

Ruling on the application,Justice Oyeyoju Oyewunmi held

Court refuses to stay hearingon N5bn suit against Total Oil

the oil company failed to complywith the Rules of the court whichrequire Total to transmit recordsof proceedings to the Court ofAppeal before seeking for stay.

The court also held that to grantstay of proceedings would domore harm than goodconsidering the health of theclaimant, (Steve Aralu).

Justice Oyewunmi, however,granted the request of theclaimant asking the court foraccelerated hearing of the suit.

The court thereafter adjournedthe suit till April 2 and 3 fordefinite hearing of the suit.

SERAP urges EFCC to probemissing $20bn oil fund

LAGOS—THE Economicand Financial Crimes

Commission, EFCC, has beenpetitioned to commence animmediate investigation intoallegations that $20 billion oilmoney is missing from theaccount of the Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation, NNPC.

In the petition by Socio-Economic Rights andAccountability Project, SERAP, itrequested the commission to“urgently begin a thorough,transparent and effectiveinvestigation into allegations that$20 billion oil money is missingfrom the account of the NigerianNational Petroleum Corporation,NNPC.”

The petition followed the last

week allegation by the CentralBank,CBN, Governor, LamidoSanusi, that “NNPC is operatinga racket through which thefederation has been losingbillions,” at the resumed Senatehearing on the matter.

The petition by its executivedirector, Adetokunbo Mumunistated: “We are concerned aboutthe lack of accountability of theNNPC, which is not consistentwith the attitude of a governmentestablishment funded with taxpayers’ money. This lack ofaccountability partly explainswhy ordinary Nigerians do nottrust the NNPC to deal withcorruption within its systems. TheNNPC will need to come cleanwith the Nigerian people if it isto enjoy their trust andconfidence."

THE MOTHER &Child expo, a family-

friendly event for newand expectant mothers,families and majorstakeholders will holdfrom 24-25 May, 2014 inLagos.

The annual expo isbilled to explore a mix oftop products and servicesfor maternity, babies andtoddlers, alongside withspeakers anddemonstrations fromvarious world experts inparenting andpregnancy.

According to thedirector of the expo, ToyinOjo, the exhibition wouldbe a large gathering ofover 100 exhibitors,including FMCGmanufacturers, baby andchildren productsm a n u f a c t u r e r s ,p h a r m a c e u t i c a lcompanies, hospitals,banks, schools, and toyshops.

Mr. Felix Olugbenga Aliu

10—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

ASUU accuses FG of reneging onrelease of N20bn

BY OLA AJAYI

OSUN SCHOOL CRISIS: Muslim students call for peace

AP faultsLadoja'splannedalliance withPDP

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

2 more days for APC membership registrationBY GBENGA OLARINOYE &

DAUD OLATUNJI

IBADAN – ACADEMIC StaffUnion of Universities, ASSU,

has accused the Federalgovernment of reneging on someof the agreements that led to thesuspension of a six-month strikethat grounded the universitysystem last year.

Specifically, the academicunion, through its NationalTreasurer, Dr. Ademola Aremu,lamented that the FederalGovernment was yet to honour theagreement that N20 billion wouldbe released at the beginning ofeach quarter to meet identifiedneeds in the universities.

Aremu, during a chat withnewsmen at the Post GraduateHall, University of Ibadan,weekend, said: “This is Februaryand the government is yet torelease the money for thequarter.”

He stressed that the call wasnecessary to avoid theembarrassment that the last strikecaused the nation.

His words: “All the strike ASUUhad embarked upon in thiscountry were basically becausethe Federal Government failedto honour agreements freely

entered with us.“It is also sad that each time

before we begin the strike, wewould give the governmentenough warnings and grace tomake them retrace their steps. Butthey always fail.

“We don’t know why the

government is always unwillingto implement the documentssigned by their representatives.However, we will continue tofight for the system because ifthe system collapses, we willcollapse with it.”

In his own comments, ASUUchairman, UI chapter, Dr.Olusegun Ajiboye, said it wasunfortunate that successive

governments in Nigeria failed tolearn from history as they alwayswait till major standoff with theirmembers before doing theneedful.

He expressed appreciation tothe Nigerian media for standingby ASUU during the struggle,adding that the support was notreally for the members, but for abetter Nigeria.

OSOGBO—AS Osun Stategovernment continues to

search for peace which wasrecently threatened as a result ofthe reforms in the education sector,the leadership of the MuslimsStudents Society of Nigeria,MSSN, in Osun State hasdirected all Muslim students inall the public secondary schoolsin the state to prevent breakdownof law and order by upholdingtheir religious belief in the face ofintimidation.

The directive was comingagainst the backdrop of crisisrocking some secondary schoolsin the state, especially the BaptistHigh School, Iwo over the use ofhijab by female Muslim studentsin the school.

Crisis had engulfed the BaptistHigh School, Iwo since lastMonday following theappearance of students of theschool in different religiousclothes that correlate with their

religions.However, the state President of

MSSN, Alhaji BashirOlasunkanmi, while speaking inOsogbo weekend urged all

Muslim students to allow peaceto reign in the state and theirvarious schools in particular.

He advised the Muslimstudents in all public secondary

schools in the state not tocontravene the law of the landeven in the face of provocation inan attempt to exercise theirfundamental rights.

LAGOS—NIGERIA’S mainopposition party, the All

Progressives Congress, APC,has extended its nation-widemembership registration by twodays to accommodate themillions of Nigerians who haveturned out to register but couldnot yet do so.

In a statement issued in Lagosyesterday by its Interim NationalPublicity Secretary, Alhaji LaiMohammed, the party said theregistration will now end onWednesday, February 12, insteadof today.

“While we are aware that thegood people of Nigeria haveaccepted our party, the APC, asthe agent of the much-neededchange that our countrydesperately needs at this time,we have apparently under-estimated the number of thosewho are eager and willing toparticipate actively in the changeprocess by joining the APC.

“Even with one day to go inthe original registrationschedule, we have exceeded thenumber of members we set outto register, and many more havereached out to us to give them

the opportunity to join the APCtrain of change, hence ourdecision to extend theregistration,” the statement said.

APC said it is also not unawareof the efforts by the PDP tosabotage the registration processin Abia, Delta, Gombe andRivers, among others, hence theneed to ensure that the peopleof the affected states are notdisenfranchised.

Senator averts crisisin Ogun

In Ogun State, the Senatorrepresenting Ogun CentralSenatorial District, GbengaObadara has cried foul overirregularities recorded in someparts of his constituency duringthe registration of members of theAPC in the state.

Obadara whose loyalists werereportedly barred fromparticipating in the registrationexercise, vowed to take the caseto the national leadership.

In Itesi-Ajegunle Osiele Ward6, Odeda Local GovernmentArea, Obadara’s intervention putpaid to an imminent outbreak ofviolence between rival membersof the ruling All ProgressivesCongress who were protesting

the alleged plan by theregistration officers to frustratethem from participating in theexercise.

In some other places, includingIdi-Aka in Osiele Ward, ourcorrespondent gathered that anunnamed government officialtook away the registration officerand the materials to an unknowndestination.

Also, another lawmakerrepresenting Ifo-Ewekoro federalconstituency, Adekunle Adeyemihas urged his people to maintainpeace during the exercise.

Osun APC commendsmembers

Meantime, the party hascommended its supporters inOsun State who turned outmassively in the last five days toformally register as members ofthe party.

The party’s Director of PublicityResearch and Strategy, Mr.Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement inOsogbo yesterday, told membersof the party that APC treasurestheir loyalty and support, and willcontinue to provide services andprogrammes that the people ofthe state needs to improve theirlives.

Osun gov, Omisore worship togetherat Catholic pilgrimage centre

A B E O K U TA — Abusinessman, Mr.

Adekoya Boladale hasdragged threecommissioners in OgunState to court over theirfailure to provide him thecertified true copies of debtrecords of the state betweenJanuary 2011 andDecember 2013.

The plaintiff who soughtthe leave of the Court tobring an application for anorder of mandamus againstCommissioner for FinanceKemi Adeosun and hiscounterpart in the Ministryof Works, Lekan Adegbite whoare second and third defendantsrespectively while theCommissioner for Justice wasjoined in the suit.

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

FoI Act:Bizman suesOguncommissioners

BENIN CITY—THENational leadership of

the Accord Party, AP, hasdisassociated itself from thestatement credited to theformer Governor of OyoState and candidate of theparty in the 2011governorship election inthe state, Alhaji RashidiLadoja, that the party willjoin forces with the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, andother political parties tofight the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, in the 2015general election.

The party in a statementby its National Secretary,Dr. Samson Isibor, madeavailable to Vanguard inBenin City, hailed theopposition being given tothe Executive by the APClawmakers.

The statement recalledthat Ladoja ran thegovernorship election in 2011with the party’s platform but wasdefeated, therefore wondered“who made him spokesman ofthe party when he was expelledfrom Accord Party in 2012.”

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

OSOGBO—Osun Stategovernor, Mr. Rauf

Aregbesola and his mainchallenger in the Augustgovernorship election, SenatorIyiola Omisore, weekend, despitetheir political differencesworshiped together at the annualOke-Maria Pilgrimage, at Otan-Ayegbaju, Boluwaduro Local

Government Area of the state.The Catholic Archbishop of

Ibadan and ApostolicAdministrator of Osogbo CatholicDiocese of Osogbo, Most Rev.Gabriel Abegunrin hadannounced the likely attendanceof the duo around 10.00pm onSaturday , urging devotees at the“Maria Shrine” (prayermountain), to shelve their politicaldifferences and embrace peace.

OPENING: From left: Oba Isaac Adesiyan, Olu of Ifanyintedo, Ipokia, Mr. Akin Adesokan,Director, Sales and Marketing, Dangote Cement Plc, Oba John Ojo, Oniko of Ikolade, Idiroko,Ogun State, Alhaji Jimi Azeez, MD, Jimmy Azeez Enterprises Ltd, and Mr. Sola Taiwo,Area Sales Manager, Ogun State, Dangote Cement Plc, during the opening of DangoteCement Depot, Idi Iroko Road, Ogun State. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 —11

I was shot, Abe insists

DeltaAssembly topartnerstakeholderson expansionof OsubiAirport

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

Delta 2015:APC shops forUrhobocandidate

Fed Poly stopssalaries ofmurdersuspects

VISIT: Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, (left);Chief Moses Odibo, Leader, Goodluck Support Group, Delta State (right); Dr. Njikokar,(2nd right); Alhaji Sanni, Senator Komo (in glasses), Senator Rowland Owie, (fromEdo State chapter), Dr. Omoraka, and others, during a visit to Alhaji Mu’azu by mem-bers of the Goodluck Support Group, in Abuja.

PORT HARCOURT—SENATOR Magnus

Abe has insisted that he wasshot by the Police during theaborted rally of the Save Riv-ers Movement, SRM, in PortHarcourt recently.

Abe, who spoke weekendin Port Harcourt, said hewas set to drag those behindthe alleged shooting to court,adding that about two hun-dred persons witnessed theugly development.

While thanking God forsparing his life, Abe said hewas in the state to partici-pate in the ongoing regis-tration of the All Progres-sives Congress, APC, in hishome town, Bera, in Gokha-na Local Government Area.

According to him, afterregistering as a formal mem-ber of the APC, he will ceaseto sit with the PDP in theHouse.

He said: “I was not alonethere. Therewere more than200 people whosaw what hap-pened. Thisyoung man wasthere with acamera. He wasbeaten up andhis camera de-stroyed. So, ifnothing hap-pened, whywere they eagerto make surethat no pictureof what hap-pened got out?

“They openedfire on us in

their midst; we were not inany crowd; they opened fireon us. To say that I was notshot is the largest under-statement or the biggest lieof the century. These peopleopened fire, teargas, every-thing was fired everywhere.

“People saw what hap-pened. I wasn’t killed, yes,but to say if they opened fireon me and I did not die,therefore, nothing hap-pened, is the height of false-hood. However, for me, I amgoing to court. I have askedmy lawyers to file my casein court against those whohave a hand in what hap-pened to me. I will meetthem in court.

“I am going home to reg-ister as a member of theAPC. So, whether a letter isread or not read, as I pickup my card today, I becomea member of the APC and Ican’t be a member of APCand be sitting with PDP be-cause in the Senate, we sitaccording to our parties.

“So, I will not sit there andwe must find a solution thatwill enable me be to sit withmy colleagues andcontribute to the floor. If thisis not done, if I talk, howwould it be recorded? Wouldyou say Magnus Abe, PDP,Rivers South-East when Iam not PDP?

“It has to be recorded asMagnus Abe, APC, RiversSouth-East. A solution thatwill solve this problem iswhat the Senate needs andthat is what we are workingfor. Nobody is against any-body and nobody is fightinganybody. We are politiciansand we will play politics.”

While hailing the SupremeCourt judgement against theapplications of deposed Gov-ernor Celestine Omehia,Senator Abe appealed forpeace in the state.

He urged opposition poli-ticians in the state to sheaththeir swords and work for thegrowth and development ofthe state.

...set to file suit against those allegedly responsible

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

BENIN—AHEAD ofthe 2015 governorship

poll in Delta State, the AllProgressives Congress,APC, is shopping for anUrhobo governorship candi-date from Delta Central sen-atorial district to fly its flagduring the election

The choice of an Urhobocandidate by the party, Van-guard gathered in Benin,followed a strong indicationthat the ruling Peoples Dem-ocratic Party, PDP, may fielda candidate from DeltaNorth senatorial zone for theplum job and the deputy gov-ernorship candidate fromDelta South, leaving thespeakership position to theCentral senatorial district.

A very reliable source whodid not want his name inprint and who attended ameeting in the house of aformer governor of Edo Statein Benin where the decisionto field an Urhobo candidatefor the election was taken,told Vanguard that thespeakership position givenUrhobo ethnic nationalitywas unacceptable to theUrhobos whose populationin the state dwarfs the othertwo senatorial zones com-bined.

He recalled that the APC,before the death of late Sen-ator Pius Ewherido, hadhoped that he would fly theparty’s governorship flag, inview of his popularity inUrhoboland and the entirestate, adding that it ex-plained the reason the par-ty ’s structure was builtaround him.

It was further leant thatfollowing recent develop-ments in the state, somestakeholders of the APC thatmet behind closed doors re-cently are working towardsreaching out to a popularUrhobo politician whosepopularity cut across thethree senatorial districts ofthe state.

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Y E N A G O A —THE management

of Federal Polytechnic,Ekowe, Bayelsa State, hasacceded to the request ofthe state police commandto stop the payment of sal-aries of seven of its em-ployees wanted for theiralleged involvement inlast year’s killing of a 37-year-old staff of the insti-tution, Mr. Frank Moses. Moses, a father of two,was shot dead on Novem-ber 8, 2013, some distanceaway from his home at theAgudama suburb ofYenagoa, the state capital,after seeing off his visitor.The late Moses, an indi-gene of Okiki in OgbiaLocal Government Area,was until his death, the Fi-nancial Secretary of theSenior Staff Association ofNigeria Polytechnics, SSA-NIP, of the institution. The Bayelsa PoliceCommand had, last year,written to the institutionrequesting that the salariesof the seven persons de-clared wanted for question-ing over the murder bestopped.

BY FESTUS AHON

UGHELLI—DELTAState House of As-

sembly Committee on Fi-nance and Appropriationhas promised to partner withall relevant stakeholders toensure adequate funding ofOsubi Airport expansionproject.

Chairman of the commit-tee, Mr. Daniel Mayuku,gave the assurance when heled other committee mem-bers on an on-the-spot as-sessment of work on theproject at Osubi.

The committee was re-ceived on arrival at theproject site by the Commis-sioner, Directorate of Spe-cial Infrastructure, Mrs.Orezi Esievo, the SpecialProject Director, Mr. ValArenyeka and top manage-ment of Consolidated Con-tractors Company Limited,CCC, the contractor han-dling the project for the stategovt.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

UGBORODO: Warring faction walks out onFG’s reconciliation c'ttee

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

Edo SUBEBlaudsOshiomhole’sinvestment ineducation

2015: Pressuremounts onUduaghan tocontest senateseat

Oil spill: Court awards N305m damages against Shell

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

Rivers dep gov registers as APC member

ASABA—ONE of the twowarring factions at Ugboro-

do in Warri South-West LocalGovernment Area of Delta Stateinvolved in leadership tussle,which predated the proposed $16billion EPZ Project to be sited atOgidigben, has walked out on theReconciliation Committee, head-ed by the Secretary to the StateGovernment, SSG, Mr. Ovuozou-rie Macaulay, accusing him andGovernor Emmanuel Uduaghanof alleged bias.

Consequently, the faction, ledby Dr. Elex Ideh, has sent a peti-tion to the Chief of Naval Staffand the Inspector-General of Po-lice outlining its reasons for back-ing out of the committee.

Recall that the inaugural meet-ing of the committee held on Jan-uary 19, 2014, and is expected toturn in its findings and recom-mendations today in Abuja.

However, the new twist unfold-ed last Friday in the office of theSSG when the two factions wereexpected to attend and submit 10names from each group to bemembers of the new committee,but only the faction led by ChiefThomas Ereyitomi attended themeeting.

Speaking at the meeting, theSSG told the gathering that theAlex Ideh group had actuallywalked out on the committee, con-firming that they meant everyword contained in the petitionthey sent to Abuja. He read the

petition in the presence ofthe faction present, securityagents who are members ofthe committee and the press.

The three-page petition,dated January 24, 2014, andsigned by six persons, in-cluding Dr. Alex Ideh, Mr.David Tonwe, Dr. Ayo Ayo-mike, Mr. Itse-Elijah Wilk-ie, Emmanuel Adun and

Femi Uwawah, read in part:“Our position: Our earlierfears that Mr. OvuozourieMacaulay, the Delta StateSSG, does not have the ca-pacity, independence andneutral disposition havebeen vindicated.

“That the unwholesomemeddlesomeness of the Gov-ernor of Delta State in the

affairs of Ugborodo commu-nity has again come to thefore.

“That unless this matter istaken out of the hands of theDelta State government, Dr.Uduaghan, the governor willcontinue to constitute a clogin the wheel of progress."

A pressure group, Stabilizing Factors Cam-

paign Organization, hasasked Governor EmmanuelUduaghan to contest DeltaSouth senatorial seat in the2015 general election.

At a press briefing in War-ri, weekend, members of thegroup, comprising VictorAgbateyiniro (General Coor-dinator), Mr. Jolone Ikomiand others, said after theextra-ordinary generalmeeting of the group on Jan-uary 30, 2014, in Warri, theydecided to back the gover-nor for the senatorial race.

The group said: “After athorough consideration ofthe performance of GovernorUduaghan, and his three-point agenda, a vote of con-fidence was passed on himfor performing creditablywell.

“The several awards andlaurels won by the governorare an eloquent testimony ofhow he has perfectly steeredthe ship of Delta State to theadmiration of all since as-sumption of office on May29, 2007.”

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B ENIN—FOLLOW-ING Edo State gov-

ernment’s resolve tostrengthen the teaching pro-fession, the State UniversalBasic Education Board,SUBEB, in conjunction withthe Universal Basic Educa-tion Commission, weekend,commenced training forteachers in the three sena-torial districts of the state.

Executive chairman ofSUBEB, Prince StephenAlao, said the training andadvocacy was put together toupdate the knowledge of theteachers for the good of stu-dents and pupils in the state.

While tasking participantsto be proactive on ways tomove the education sectorforward, Prince Alao point-ed out that Governor AdamsOshiomhole’s administra-tion had invested heavily inthe growth of education inthe state.

He added that the rapidtransformation of publicschools across the state bythe government could onlybe complemented by ensur-ing quality teaching in class-rooms.

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

THIRTEEN years after an ac-tion was instituted before a

Federal High Court in Asabaagainst Shell Petroleum Develop-ment Company of Nigeria Limit-ed, SPDC, the court has awardedN305.60 million as damagesagainst the company.

The trial judge, Justice I.N. Buba,entered judgment in favour of theplaintiffs, led by Mr Pius Gbenev-ei and four others for themselvesand on behalf of Okia Communityin Burutu Local Government Areaof Delta State.

Others who were plaintiffs in thesuit are Benson Barda, Chief Fran-cis Gold, Chief Ben Ekiokanganand Reuben Braboke.

The court in its judgment, heldthat “judgement is hereby enteredfor the plaintiffs in the sum ofN305.637 million only, being spe-cial and general damages causedby the defendant’s crude oil spill-age to the plaintiff ’s propertiesbeing capital value for temporaryloss of income in fishing rights tothe adult fishing population ofabout 400 people.”

The court awarded N232. 837million as income in fishing rightsfor about 400 people, N9.01 mil-

lion as open market value offishing nets for individuals,and N4.5 million as allowancefor fresh water supply to thepeople.

However, the court refusedto award cost against the de-fendant as requested by theplaintiffs.

The plaintiffs had claimedthat sometime in August 1998,there was a crude oil spill oroutflow from SPDC’s Forca-

dos offshore loading terminal/baseline in which some “bar-rels of crude oil spilled intothe Forcados and Ramos riv-ers and was subsequentlyand negligently allowed bythe defendant to be dispersedby tide, current and seawaves, thereby spreading tothe plaintiffs' Okia communi-ty, resulting in extensive dam-ages to fishing gears, ponds,farmlands, crops, fishing

channels and swamps.”They claimed that after a

complaint was lodged at thedefendant’s company througha letter by their lawyer, thecompany only replied that thetense atmosphere in the areadid not allow them to carry outinvestigation and assessmentof damages, but promised topay damages “as soon as nor-mal operations are resumed inthe area.”

PORT HARCOURT—DEPUTY governor of

Rivers State, Mr. Tele Iku-ru, has registered as a mem-ber of the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, at ward 5,Ikuru town, Andoni LocalGovernment Area, of thestate.

Ikuru, who performed theexercise with his wife, saidthe party was set to clinchpower in the state.

He urged people of his

area and the entire state tovote for the party in comingelections.

His words: “I am fully reg-istered, in case you are stillin doubt. For those who arestill in doubt as to where Istand, I have always said itthat I will stand with myboss, Governor RotimiAmaechi, wherever he goes.I have now registered for theAPC.

“APC is the party to votefor. We will encourage ourpeople to come this way. Wehave led our people in the

last six years, we have notled them wrongly, we havealways led them right and Iam sure that they will be-lieve and trust our judgment.APC is the party to beat.

“It’s a matter of freechoice. Some people willchoose to be in APC, somemay choose to be in someother party and every Nige-rian above the age of 18should be able to have a freechoice of which party to join,and who to vote for. No per-son has the right to stop an-yone.”

...says he's with Amaechi

THANKSGIVING: From left: Mrs. Eki Igbinedion, wife of former governor of EdoState, Chief Lucky Igbinedion; Ms Abby Oviasu-Humphrey; Governor Adams Oshiom-hole of Edo State; Rev Ogbe Oviasu and Prof. Efosa Oviasu, during the thanksgivingservice in honour of the late Deaconess Rebecca Oviasu, at the Church of God Mission,Benin City, yesterday.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—13

ANAMBRA STATE gov-ernment has decried the

continued dredging of sand,currently going on, under theRiver Niger bridge, a develop-ment that has become a sourceof worry for both the govern-ment and people of the state.

Disclosing this in Onitsha yes-terday, Commissioner for LocalGovernment affairs, Mrs. AzukaEnemuo said the State govern-ment has become very frus-trated in its bid to stop dredg-ing under the bridge.

Enemuo, who spoke at the2014 National Inland Water-ways Authority, NIWA,stakeholders conference to sen-sitise the economic use of theOnitsha River Port, noted thateach time Anambra State gov-ernment makes any move tostop the menace, the dredgersflash some permits obtainedfrom NIWA to dredge.

She, however, called on themanagement of NIWA to eitherwithdraw or stop issuance ofthis permit immediately so asto save the bridge from total col-lapse.

She disclosed that localdredgers are already dredgingat the foot of the bridge andthis will affect the integrity ofthe structure if urgent steps arenot taken to stop it.

Responding to the Commis-sioner’s fears, Managing Di-rector of the Authority, HajiaInna Ciroma said that NIWAwill investigate the develop-

ment and take necessary actionto stop it.

Ciroma explained thatNIWA will not give anybodypermit to go and dredge underany bridge, adding that dredg-ers must keep certain distancefrom bridges.

She said: “We issue licence forpeople to dredge, we do not is-sue licence for people to go and

undermine any bridge in thecountry.

"There is certain length of dis-tance that you must give beforeyou dredge, you cannot dredgenear the pillars of the bridge.

”We are going to investigateand if we find this to be true,we will take action and this willinclude withdrawal of dredgingpermit.

ABAKALIKI — TRADI-TIONAL rulers in

Ebonyi Central senatorialzone, weekend, endorsed Gov-

ernor Martin Elechi of EbonyiState for the senatorial posi-tion of the zone in the forth-coming 2015 general elec-tions.

The traditional rulers notedthat the decision was taken af-

ter due consultation with rel-evant stakeholders in the vari-ous autonomous communitiesthat make up the senatorialzone.

In a communiqué by them,the traditional rulers called on

the people of the zone to worktogether to ensure the accom-plishment of Chief Elechi’ssenatorial ambition in 2015.

It read in part: “That havingconscientiously taken deep as-sessment and scrutiny of thosewe could consider for thesenatorial position, we lack al-ternative option than to oncemore plead with Chief MartinNwancho Elechi, our servinggovernor, to accept and rep-resent Ebonyi Central senato-rial zone in the Senate of theFederal Republic of Nigeriacome 2015.

”That as we, the traditionalrulers, are not partisan politi-cians, we owe our subject theduty of providing them withimpartial guide as it concernsleadership in the zone, to en-sure that peace is sustained inour various communities.

”That the traditional rulers inEbonyi State central zone arepleading with the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in thestate to give Chief MartinElechi the ticket for EbonyiCentral senatorial seat come2015.

They commended the lead-ership of Ebonyi Youth Assem-bly for its grassroots mobilisa-tion and youth empowermentschemes which had drasticallyreduced the rate of crime inthe state.

ONITSHA — THE Con-ference of Nigeria Politi-

cal Parties, CNPP, has warnedpoliticians in the country tostop random cross-carpetingfrom one political party to an-

other in the interest of inter-nal democracy.

Anambra State chairman ofCNPP, Kate Okafor, who gavethe warning during the inau-gural ceremony of the newlyelected executive members ofthe state chapter in Awka,weekend, said CNPP wouldno longer condone the clan-destine activities of partymembers, who had no regardfor laws and their party mani-festoes.

Okafor, who is also the statechairman of Advanced Con-gress of Democrats, ACD,warned that such defectorsshould have a re-think ascross-carpeting to other politi-cal parties without justifiablereason, had led to inter andintra-party squabbles.

Insisting that such actionshad amounted to rape ofdemocratic principles, Okaforcontended that there was no

family that was devoid ofmisunderstanding.

She commended GovernorPeter Obi for providing ena-bling environment for somepolitical parties in the stateto win some council seats inthe just concluded councilelections in the state.

According to her, Obi didnot only accommodate the in-terest of other parties in thesaid election, but also showeda sense of leadership and ac-ceptance to other registeredparties by inviting them tosome important functions ofthe government.

She attributed the emer-gence of Obi as the leader ofthe All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, and itschairman, Board of Trustees,BoT, as a reward for his yearsof hard work in improvingparty politics.

Onyema Ugochukwu loses brother

PROMINENT LAWYER,businessman, politician and

philanthropist, Barr. UdechukwuUgochukwu, has passed on.

Barr. Ugochukwu, youngerbrother to one-time Editor of theDaily Times and pioneer Chair-man of the Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission, NDDC, ChiefOnyema Ugochukwu, CON,died on Sunday, February 2,2014, in a private medical facilityin Abuja, shortly after his arrivalfrom a two-month medical breakin the United States..

He is survived by wife, Mrs.Ngozi Ugochukwu, three sons;two brothers, and other relatives.

Late Barr. Ugochukwu

Traditional rulers in Ebonyi Central zone endorseElechi for Senate

BY PETER OKUTU

Anambra govt raises alarm overdredging under Niger Bridge

BY GODWIN ORITSE

CNPP warns against reckless defections...lauds Gov. Obi’s emergence as APGA leader, BoT chairman

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

NCAAcondemnspassengers'disruption ofAero airline'soperation atUyo

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

THE NIGERIAN CivilAviation Authority,

NCAA, yesterday, con-demned the alleged at-tempt to disrupt air opera-tion as well as the attack onAero airline officials at theIbom International Airport,Uyo, Cross River State bypassengers.

The NCAA General Man-ager, Public Affairs, Mr.Fan Ndubuoke, who madethis known said the con-demnation ‘’was necessi-tated by incoming reportsfrom our Consumer Protec-tion Officers at the airportwhich indicated an attemptby some passengers onAero Flight AJ 158, a B 737– 500 aircraft scheduledservice from Uyo – Abujato disallow the aircraft fromtaking off if they were de-nied boarding.

“The flight was sched-uled for 12.45 hours and inline with the company’spolicy, Aero check –in staffwere to close the counter at12.05 hours (40 minutes todeparture)

"However, at closuresome passengers were stillon the queue waiting to bechecked-in. On discretion,the Aero staff continued tocheck-in 20 more passen-gers and closed the proc-ess.

“At this point, some pas-sengers who came late, re-alising they could miss theflight, descended on theAero staff and demandedthat the flight must notleave without them.

’’The NCAA would like toreiterate that the Passenger’Bill of Rights which givesrights to assistance andcompensation to passen-gers, also clearly states pas-senger obligations, likechecking-in at least twohours prior to departure."

FORUM: From left, Mr. Maryanne Kuriuki, Partner, Vodacom Sales Executive, hosting Mi-crosoft's East & Southern Africa Managing Director, Business Connexion, Ian McAlpine,and Mr. Guy Clarke,Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, during Vodacom Cus-tomers' Forum, to introduce SaaS Enterprise Solutions to SMEs, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo:Joe Akintola, Photo editor

CMYK

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

MDGs' realisation: UNenvoy advises Nigeria

ABUJA — Special en-voy of United Nations

Secretary General to Niger-ia on Financing the HealthMillennium DevelopmentGoals, MDGs, and Malar-ia, Mr. Ray Chambers, hasadvised the Federal Gov-ernment to engage the pri-vate sector to accelerate re-alisation of the goals in Ni-geria.

Chambers, who made thecall when he visited theMinister of Health, Prof.Onyebuchi Chukwu, yes-terday, in Abuja, said it wasnecessary to co-opt the pri-vate sector into the projectbecause MDGs deadlinewould not be changed.

He said involvement ofthe private sector and in-ternational partners’ sup-port would significantly in-crease funding to scale upefforts at achieving theMDGs’ target.

Chambers noted that theprivate sector health alli-ance, led by Aliko Dangote,and other stakeholders,

BY VICTORIA OJEME would help the HealthMinistry to get more sup-port from other private com-panies, saying some ofthem had the means ofaccessing remotest of vil-lages.

“This potential, publicprivate partnership will beunique to Africa in terms ofthe quest to reach goalnumber four by the end of2015 as a result of workdone by a number of peo-ple led by the minister.

"We do think that therewill be significant addition-al funding coming from theWorld Bank, USAID, Unit-ed Kingdom, UNICEF andthe Government of Nor-way,” he said.

He advised the privatesector to get involved toassist Nigeria achieve theMDGs' target, adding thatthere was no time tochange plan.

The UN envoy expressedoptimism that Nigeria’sleadership would take thecountry to achieve theMDGs, and called on allmember states to bring inideas for the post-2015

Confab:Traditional worshippersprotest exclusion, want 3 slots

BY OKEY NDIRIBE

TRADITIONAL RELIGION worshippers in

the country have slammedthe Federal Government forallegedly excluding theirnominees from the plannednational conference.

Speaking in a media brief-ing, yesterday, in Abuja,President of the Interna-tional Conference For IFAReligion, Professor IdowuOdeyemi, regretted thatgovernment accorded re-spect and recognition to for-eign religions which cameto Nigeria long after the fullestablishment of traditionalreligions, to participate inthe conference.

He said the exclusion oftraditional religion worship-pers indicated that Nigeri-an forefathers had been ig-nored by their children and

Okorounmu’s advisorycommittee on national con-ference in Lagos, where itpresented a position paperand the way forward for thecountry.

He added that the reli-gion had millions of adher-ents in the various regionsand tribes of Nigeria, stress-ing that the fact that Niger-ia was a multi-religiouscountry was enough for theFederal Government tohave accorded traditionalworshippers the recogni-tion and honour to be partof the proposed confer-ence.

"What we ask for is thatwe should be given aminimum of three slotsto send representativesto this conference be-cause we represent alarge number of peoplein Nigeria. "

regarded as inconsequen-tial to the development ofthe country.

Odeyemi, who doubles asthe head of all traditionalreligious worshippers in thecountry, urged the FederalGovernment to have a re-think on its decisions to ex-clude the traditional wor-shippers from the proposedconference.

He noted that he had beenreceiving series of com-plaints from traditional re-ligion adherents from allover the world for explana-tions on reasons for govern-ment decision.

The IFA religion head,who is a professor of geolo-gy and dean of school ofearth and natural sciencesat the Federal University ofTechnology, Akure, notedthat his group appearedbefore the Senator Femi

CNPP appeals to PresidentJonathan over rot in NNPC

BY CHRIS OCHAYI of hand previous and cur-rent monumental disclosurefrom the governor of Cen-tral Bank, Malam SanisuLamido Sanusi.

The CNPP through itsNational Publicity Secretary,Mr. Osita Okechukwu,said: “To us the missinglink is the accuracy of Gov-ernor Sanusi Lamido Sanu-si’s figures, not the absenceof rot in the NNPC; whichthe independent inquirywill be mandated to unrav-el and cleanse for posterity.

“We are making this pa-triotic appeal not only to stopthe revenue leakages bleed-ing our country to stupor,but also to save our democ-racy and our dear countryfrom harm's way.

“It is our considered viewthat the 2015 general elec-tions will be free, fair andmore transparent, if Presi-dent Jonathan can musterthe political will to clean theAugean stable in theNNPC, since the inceptionof our democracy or evenhis regime.

“A transparent audit t byan independent inquiry,without prejudice to the PIBBill, which from all indica-tions has been kept in view,will ventilate the fouled at-mosphere in the industry.

“President Jonathanwould wittingly ink hisname in the hall of fame ofhistory, clear his name fromthis rot, sacrifice those whoare tainting his name andprotect our fledgling de-mocracy and our dear coun-try, if he honours this ap-peal."

ABUJA — THE Con-ference of Nigerian

Political Parties, CNPP, yes-terday, appealed to Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan toconvoke an independentinquiry into the account of

Nigerian National Petrole-um Corporation, NNPC,from 1999 to 2013, with aview to unraveling the al-leged rot in the corporation.

The CNPP, in an openappeal to Dr. Jonathan, ar-gued that no sane personcould dismiss with a wave

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—15

BY DEMOLA AK-INYEMI

Some Southern Kaduna indigenes out to foment trouble —Yero

BY MICHAEL EBOH &CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA— THE Nigerian Na-tional Petroleum Corpora-

tion, NNPC, said it has com-pleted repair works on the sec-tions of the sabotaged Escravos-Lagos Gas Pipeline network,ELPS, thereby re-injectingequivalent of 1,505 Megawattsof electricity into the nationalgrid

Acting Group General Man-ager, Public Affairs Division ofthe corporation, Dr. FaroukIbrahim, who said this in a state-ment in Abuja, added that therepair works had ended the al-most seven months of irregulargas supply occasioned by wilfulhacking of the pipeline in DeltaState.

He said the repairs would en-able the re-injection of about 200million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of gas into the grid, or anequivalent of about 700 mega-watts of electricity.

Last week the NNPC also com-pleted repair works on the pul-verized Trans-Forcados pipelinewhich accounts for 230 mmcf/dof gas or the equivalent of 805megawatts of electricity. With thelatest repair of the ELPS, theNNPC within the last one weekis injecting a total of 430 mmcf/dof gas into the grid which trans-lates to 1,505 megawatts of elec-

tricity every day.Ibrahim further stated that an

additional 60mmcf/d was ex-pected within three weeks whenongoing repair works at theUtorogu gas plant is projected forcompletion.

He said Nigerians should ex-pect steady improvement inpower availability through thecourse of the year, adding that de-

spite short term challenges be-ing experienced as a result ofdeliberate pipeline sabotage, thegas sector reform was ongoingand on course.

“The Minister of PetroleumResources, Mrs DiezaniAlison-Madueke directed an acceler-ated implementation of the Ni-gerian gas master-plan and this

has resulted in an aggressive in-frastructure development driveand major reforms of the commer-cial framework for gas in Nigeria.

“In the last three years alone,over 400 kilometres of new gaspipelines have been completedand we are expanding pipelinecapacity and enhancing connec-tivity between various gas sup-ply sources,” he added.

Executive Director, Northern Business, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Oladele Akinyemi (middle)presenting the keys to a brand new 32-seater bus to Director, Human Resources Manage-ment, National Youth Service Corps. (NYSC), Mrs. Kolajo (left) while Divisional Head, Pub-lic Sector, Diamond Bank, Mr. Sujiyanu Garba looks on during the presentation in Abuja,weekend. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

KADUNA — GOVERNORMukhtar Yero of Kaduna State,

yesterday, said the Southern KadunaIndigenes Progressive Forum, SKIPF,was bent on fomenting trouble in thestate.

Speaking through his Director Gen-eral, Media and Publicity, MallamAhmed Maiyaki, the governor de-scribed the threat by SKIPF to draghim to the International CriminalCourt, ICC, at The Hague over al-leged offences as empty, saying it wasaimed at inciting people to causebreach of peace in the state.

The statement entitled "False andmalicious report on attacks in South-ern Kaduna," read: "Our attention hasbeen drawn to another deliberate butfailed attempt by a group of personsbent on instigating crisis in the state,but masquerading as SouthernKaduna Indigenes Progress Forum.

"Ordinarily, we would have ignoredthem. But when lies are told repeat-edly, there is a tendency for the mem-bers of the public to want to believethe group, promoted by some journal-ists in the state, but which now oper-ates under different kinds of identi-ties, with their motive remaining con-stant (that is) to seek cheap attentionthrough deliberate exploitation ofethno-religious sentiments.

"Only last week, the same set of peo-ple, using a different platform, calledfor the declaration of a state of emer-gency in Kaduna State, on account of

an incident that occurred in PlateauState."

"Having failed to make any impactwith that infamous call, the group thistime came up with another wild andunfounded allegation that the stategovernment shared N564 billion tovictims of the 2011 post election crisisin the state.

"If those who claim to be journalistsamong them are well educated andwell informed about happenings inKaduna State, they should haveknown that the total annual budgetof Kaduna State was less than N200billion for 2013 when the funds weredisbursed.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the ac-tual amount realised and shared tovictims of the said crisis was N410million and the money was shared asassistance to affected churches,mosques and to victims in all the threezones of the state including Chris-tians and Muslims.

"We, therefore, view the recent re-sort to spreading fallacy in the mediaas a new display of the desperationof these selfish individuals, who willstop at nothing including the delib-erate use of ethnic and religious sen-timents to achieve personal gains.

"These people have no feelings thatendangering peace on the altar ofgreed will not augur well for our ex-istence as a people.

"On the issue of incessant attacksby unknown gunmen in the South-ern parts of the state, it is commonknowledge that Governor Yero has

made several efforts at addressing the security situations inthe area, especially along the boundary with Plateau State."

NNPC completes repair of Escravosgas pipeline ...injects 1,505mw into national grid

UNILORINASUUcompletesfirst phaseof N7.28mfemalehostel

ILORIN — THE Academic Staff Union of Uni-

versities, ASUU, Universityof Ilorin chapter, has single-handedly completed thefirst phase of a N7.28 mil-lion female hostel.

The building was com-missioned last week by theVice Chancellor, ProfessorAbdulganiyu Ambali.

Speaking at the commis-sioning ceremony, the out-going Chairman of ASUU,Professor Wahab Egbewole,said the need to embark onthe project”was informed bythe mantra of our executivewhich is unionism for de-velopment.

He said: ”We havewatched with consternationthe plights of our children,wards and students strug-gling and scrambling forthe limited number of roomson the campus.

”A number of them havefallen victims of Shylocklandlords and wickedneighbours while leavingoutside the campus.

”We, therefore, resolved tocontribute our quota to-wards alleviating thesufferings and challengesof these young and vulner-able minds by building an80-bed hostel for the femalestudents.”

However, speaking whilecommissioning the build-ing, the Vice Chancellor,Professor Ambalicommended the leadershipof the union under Prof.Egbewole for a pace-setter,saying the gesture was thefirst of its kind by any un-ion since the history of theuniversity.

He urged other branchesof the union nationwide toemulate the leadership ex-ample of UNILORIN byemarking on such projects.

Meanwhile, a new ex-ecutive has been elected bythe ASUU, UNILORINchapter, to run its affairs.

Dr. Abdlrasheed Adeoyeof the Department of Per-forming Arts, Faculty of Artsis the new chairman withAjibade Tajudeen of the De-partment of Geography andEnvironmental Manage-ment as his deputy amongothers.

OPINION

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

BY MATTHEW ADEJOH

*Mr. Adejoh, a commentator on nationalissues, wrote fromAbuja.

Change agents in APC and their chicaneryAT the last All Progressives Congress

(APC) rally held in Yola, AdamawaState, the popular refrain among most ofthe contributors was the fact that the partywas in place for change. The shout of“Change!” rented the air as each speakertried to work up the crowd, mostly hired, torespond loudly by chanting “Change!”

But a look at the so-called change agentsshowed a befuddling lot. Number one on thelist is former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar,who is more Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)than even President Goodluck Jonathan. Hehas admitted that he was one of the foundersof the party and when he was “pushed out”alongside his supporters in 2007, he couldbarely wait outside the door before rushing inagain after he lost out in the leadership tusslein the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Again, he has found his own way out thesecond time, and his former party, PDP’sDeputy National Chairman, Uche Secondusis confident this change agent will return.Change agent number two is reserved for suchpersons like Senators Bukola Saraki, AdamuAbdullahi, and Danjuma Goje who haveEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC) cases hanging aroundtheir necks, and find a safe haven in the APCwhere, if any attempt is made to touch them,they can always scream blue murder.

Incidentally, these men were staunch PDPmembers and built the party into themonster they now claim it is. Who knowswhat the APC will turn out to be within thenext few months because these were the menwho did not brook any challenge orquestions when they were in the saddle as

governors in their respective states?And then there is Nasir el-Rufai who made

the life miserable for residents of theFederal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, aslong as his political father, GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo, who appointed him asFCT minister, protected him. When he leftpower, he had sufficiently taken care ofmembers of his family with plots of landthat he even justified it that there wasnothing wrong in using public office to benefitfriends and family. He was to say somethinglike, “if you get there, you can take care ofyour enemies.” This one also claims to be achange agent.

From Ogun State to Borno, Kano to Sokoto,Kwara to Ekiti, Bayelsa to others, the in-fighting, over interim state executives, showsthat these change events are more monstrousthan those in the PDP, and will brook nochallenge within the house. So what willhappen if they have to slug it out with otherparties on Election Day? Please refer to el-Rufai for the consequences of losing theelection. In any case, he had already honouredthe invitation of the Department of StateServices (DSS) over his inciting and recklessstatements.

For more concrete evidence of what thechange agents are doing within, considerthese: the interim National Vice Chairmanfor the North East Zone, Umar Duhu, hasreportedly accused the party’s NationalSecretary, Tijani Tumsah, of taking over hisduties for “selfish reasons” following thelatter’s supervision of the inauguration ofthe interim leadership of the APC in Borno

state.“In my capacity as the Vice Chairman, I

am the only one empowered by the APC toinaugurate all APC State InterimCommittee members (in the zone),” Duhusaid in a statement he issued to the press inBorno, pointing out, “I had inauguratedBauchi, Gombe, Taraba and AdamawaStates. I only have Borno and Yobe toconclude my assignment in the zone

Duhu’s public vent came on the heels ofcrisis in Borno APC between the stategovernor, Kashim Shettima, and hispredecessor, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, overcontrol of the party. The executivecommittee inaugurated by Tumsah is loyalto Governor Shettima who attended theevent with his supporters, while SenatorSherrif and his supporters did not attendthe event. He continued: “For Borno State,I am on the last lap of discussions with theleaders of the Party in the State toinaugurate them. What I am doing is tocarry everyone along. I will be failing inmy responsibilities if I go ahead toinaugurate, and does not carry all membersof the Party along.

“...I am not sick, nor outside the shores ofthis country that anyone, no matter how bighis position is in the APC, that such personwill usurp my powers and do so for selfishreasons. As party leaders, we must beconcerned with uniting our leaders andmembers, not to concern ourselves withpersonal gains or to further sow seeds ofdiscord between them.

“I will be surprised and disappointed with

any National Officer of the Party, who willgo out of his way to go to Maiduguri toinaugurate the Borno State InterimCommittee, for any selfish reason knownto him. I never dabble into the affairs andworks of any National Officer of the APC.Respect is reciprocal and I do not also expectanyone of them to do any such thing to me.We all have our defined responsibilities andwe must remain sincere to ourresponsibilities, and the respect for oneanother should be our guide.”

It is generally believed that the executiveinaugurated by Tumsah leans towardGovernor Shettima, while Duhu is supportiveof former Governor Sheriff, who is at politicaldaggers drawn with Shettima. Supporters ofboth men have traded blame as to how theBoko Haram came about, accusing each otherof being responsible for the menace that haskept the country on edge for years. In anycase, these are the ones calling for change.Change from what? Change to what? In Borno,is the change to more anarchy? What of Lagos?Is it change to greater privatisation of thepeople’s commonwealth by some old and newpolitical godfathers who daily insult thesensibilities of Nigerians with their verbalexhortation about change whereas they arepermanently immersed in unimaginablyhumongous sleazy deals? Are the nation andits people not in bigger trouble with thesebuccaneers who masquerade as the newchange agents, the patron saints? God helpNigeria!

THE tragedy of the clash between the Policeand the Navy in Warri would soon beconsigned to a long list of similar incidents.Yet,no effort has been made to stop thedangerous re-occurence of such events.

Clashes among security agencies are notnew. They no longer bewilder the public asused to be the case. Why would those meantto secure us set on themselves with suchferocity that results in the types of injuriesnaval personnel inflicted on a policeman atthe Warri hotel?

Warri was only a part of it. Sometimes, thePolice and Air Force or Army clash. Differentarms of the military also fight over mattersthat are sometimes indiscernible. Each wantsto show its superiority, and the best way itseems, is by unleashing excessive force onthe other.

When the Air Force and Police clashed inLagos, both sides fought for days, takingturns to fight not only identifiable personnelfrom both sides, but anyone with a stickerthat aligned with either side.

Do the security agencies hate each otherso much? The answer could be distilled from

When Security FightWhen Security FightWhen Security FightWhen Security FightWhen Security FightThemselvesThemselvesThemselvesThemselvesThemselves

the incident in Warri, which by all accountscentred on the refusal of a naval officer topay bills for foods and drinks he consumedwith his party at the hotel. He said he hadpaid.

The intervention of a policeman whoworked for the hotel angered the navalpersonnel who returned with a vehicle loadof colleagues to brutalise the policeman andother staff of the hotel, including the owner.

All that seems to matter during suchincidents is that if a colleague is disgracedand the disgraced party fails to retaliate withmore excessiveness, then the arm of thesecurity agency he represents has also been

disgraced. The individual’s offence isunimportant in fighting for the group.

In Aba, the other week, the Army foughtthe Police over a minor traffic incident. Itled to soldiers invading a police stationbefore superior officers on both sidesintervened.

Each arm of the security agencies thinksit is superior to the other and never missesan opportunity to show it. Unfortunately,when these incidents occur, senior officerssupport their men. It is doubtful if thesecurity authorities punish their personnel,where they are the offending party.

These fights could be minimised withoutthe ease the ravaging parties accessassistance from their colleagues. Therealways appears to be troops on standby tocarry out these invasions, with an acumenthat suggest they are critical to their career.

It is important the authorities deal withthese matters thoroughly. If securityagencies fight themselves, we should notbe wondering why they are not cooperatingto manage national security.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—49

50—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—51

Udechukwu UgochukwuCurtain call for a quintessentialPort Harcourt boy

TRIBTRIBTRIBTRIBTRIBUTEUTEUTEUTEUTEBY TUNDE OLUSUNLE

PERHAPS, if the writer ofthe song “Port Harcourt

Boy”, the dance hall, sing-alongpopularised by the highflying Ni-gerian artiste, Duncan Mighty,had dug deeper into history ofthe socio-economy of the citycelebrated in that tune, and thebig names it has thrown up thusfar, the song might have encap-sulated some additionalplayers. To be sure, the hit songserenades a list of contemporaryplayers on Nigeria’s socio-polit-ical scene, whose foundations arerooted in the famous city. Ude-chukwu Ugochukwu, barrister-at-law, businessman, politicianand more, was a Port Harcourtboy in his own right who madeinvaluable contributions to thesocio-economy of the city andstate at large.

For the avoidance of doubt, helived and worked for most of hispost graduation adult life in PortHarcourt, the coastal oil rich cap-ital of Rivers State, which pridesitself as Nigeria’s Garden City.

Beginning his post-NationalYouth Service Corps, NYSC,working career with the revered

law firm of Abuka, Ajaegbo, Il-ogu and Nwaogu in Lagos in1982, he would subsequently bemandated to open the firm’s PortHarcourt Office, as its pioneerresident solicitor. He handled bigtime briefs for the firm, includ-ing overseeing the firm’s inter-ests in the erstwhile Eastern Re-gion (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi,Imo and Enugu States). He wasalso charged with the Chamber’sengagements with the erstwhileNational Fertilizer Company ofNigeria, NAFCON, which washeadquartered in Port Harcourt.

In 1984, he founded the lawfirm of Ude Ugochukwu and Co

the future. He was born in Umuahia in the

erstwhile Eastern Region, nowin Umuahia North Local Gov-ernment Area of contemporaryAbia Sate. His elementary edu-cation straddled Umuahia andthe cities of Kano and Jos in theold Northern Region, a situationengendered by the serial trans-fer and relocation of his eldestbrother, the Late Chief Ndubui-si Ugochukwu with whom helived, and who worked for mul-tinationals at the time.

He attended Methodist Col-lege, Uzuakoli, Abia State for hisWest African School Certificate O’

Legal Practitioners,which blossomed intoa thriving practice,whose services weresought by manyacross the South-South geo-politicalzone andbeyond. With friendslike Atedoghu RudolfRogers-Halliday, Engr.Okezie Iroegbu andOzo Oriaku, a pharma-cist, he made a boldstatement in the PortHarcourt and RiversState of yore, as a re-sourceful, visionaryand energetic person-ality, with a keen eye for

Levels and then the MethodistBoys High School, Lagos, for hisA’ Levels. An indomitable questerfor knowledge, he gained admis-sion into the University of Ife (nowObafemi Awolowo University),where he studied law. His class-mates include Donald Dewing-we, SAN, Kanyisola Ajayi, SAN;Babajide Koku, SAN; and JimohLasisi, SAN.

Very up-to-date on global af-fairs-politics, economy and inter-national relations, he was captainof the Fajuiyi Hall Team whichrouted the Post-Graduate HallTeam in the first ever Universityof Ife Inter-Hall Quiz Competi-tion in 1977. That was before thecontemporary degeneration inthe public education system. Hegraduated in 1980 and immedi-ately proceeded to the NigerianLaw School, Victoria Island, La-gos, where he was called to theNigerian Bar in 1981.

For his NYSC, he once againfound himself at the heart of theNorth of Nigeria, where he servedwith the primordial Sokoto StateMinistry of Justice, as a StateCounsel. He regularly foundhimself in courts across what hassince become Sokoto, Kebbi andJigawa States, defending the in-terest of the State. Consistent withhis characteristic of committinghimself wholly to everything inwhich he has involved, he guid-ed the remodelling and recon-struction of a new edifice to re-place the 1949 brick structure,from foundation to completion.

The programme of events of thecommissioning of the St. Charles

Methodist Church, Umulenso,on Friday, December 27, 2013,acknowledges Barr. Ugochuk-wu’s role thus: Under his chair-manship, the challenge of inad-equate land space was resolvedwith the design of a functionalchurch of unique architecturalbeauty. Because of the inextrica-ble biological bond between himand his eldest surviving brother,Chief Onyema Ugochukwu,CON, former Editor of the DailyTimes and pioneer Chairman ofthe Niger Delta DevelopmentCommission, NDDC, both broth-ers were regularly in the compa-ny of one another.

From Lagos, to Abuja andthenceforth to Port Harcourt wherethe older Ugochukwu served aspioneer Chairman of the NigerDelta Development Commission,NDDC between December 2000and April 2005, and Ude Ugo-chukwu was his “host” as it were,both brothers were vitual siamesetwins. At family functions inUmule, guests could take the dou-ble-barrelled hospitality of both ofthem in their individual homes,within the confines of the sametraditional family compound, forgranted.

Dr Farouk Omar Ibrahim, aGroup General Manager in thePublic Affairs Department of theNigerian National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC and long-time friend of the Ugochukwusinformed this writer that the rela-tionship between the older andyounger Ugochukwu was an en-viable example of how brothersshould relate.

Udechukwu Ugochukwu

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

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Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

dadadekola@yahoo.com

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

52 52 52 52 52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, — Vanguard, MONDAY, — Vanguard, MONDAY, — Vanguard, MONDAY, — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10,FEBRUARY 10,FEBRUARY 10,FEBRUARY 10,FEBRUARY 10, 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

AQUARIUS: You can make it a successful day with positiveapproach on your part. You will be in a better position todefuse tension within your working arena. Try to be moreambitious.

PISCES: Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when opposi-tion and/or competition come your way but, if you give in todiplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today.

ARIES: Pressure that came your way suddenly will giveway unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your course.The more financially ambitious you are today, the better foryou. Be steadfast.

TAURUS: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument ordiscussion. And if you allow your ability to be diplomaticcome to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy your lovelife.

GEMINI: You’ll tend to become both creative and persua-sive to the administration of others. Then those who’vebeen resisting secret love may slip suddenly and becomeexcited.

CANCER; Even if opposition persists, supports you aregetting from the influential people will be enough to seeyou through. Yet, the more cooperative you are the better.

LEO: Your creativity quotient within your working arenawill today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed if you keep officialissues secrets from your challenges at work.

VIRGO: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll have theneeded opportunity to look through windows of the worldand have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magic days ispredicted for lovers today..

LIBRA: Even if you continue to work under pressure viaincreased workload, you will have good results to show foryour efforts today. Be steadfast.

SCORPIO: Better than yesterday. And the more co-opera-tive you are today the better for you. Those of you travel-ling for love are in for an exciting day.

SAGITTARIUS: Those of you willing to let go hard feelingsat work are for a progressive day to the betterment of yourfinances. Let go yesterday, move ahead.

CAPRICORN: Once again, you’ll have the needed oppor-tunity to assert yourself to the administration of others.Both love and financial success can be yours with efforts.Reason with your tried and trusted friends.

What about Libra?Dear JoshuaI am interested in knowing character of Libra Star Signs.David, Ikeja.

Dear David,Here-under are the basic characteristics of Libra-the Star

of money, marriage and justice.

BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBRALibra is the 7th Zodiac sign related to public spirited-

ness partnership, marriage, rival, close associates, openopponents, justice, harmony and/or care for peace andconcord.

Through Venus - the ruler of Libra, Librans are artisticinclined and as Venus rules money, money, music and com-fort are truly important to all Librans and you are not anexception. Libra is a cardinal star sign which induces it’snatives to desire action and importance in a peaceful man-ner. Things ruled by Libra as stated above must be takenseriously by you.

You see, if a Libran makes mistake while trying to makea partnership choice either of business or emotional type, itwill profoundly affect many other areas of his/her life. Equal-ly, business rival and/or open opponents must not be treat-ed with levity.

Element of Libra is air. Natives of air Star signs are nat-urally intelligent and must think twice of their ideas beforetrying to discard them. Because their ideas are truly bril-liant and most of them can lead to success both for them-selves and others.

Libra is the social butterfly of the Zodiac and the issuesof justice, fair-play and equity are very important to thenatives of Venus ruled Libra. Some people who need toknow better erroneously believe that Librans’ love of peacemakes them a weak set of people but Librans can revolt, ifand when injustice is done to them.

Some other times however, the desire for peace in yourinner-self at times get the better off-you, to the point thatyou seek others’ approval before you do anything. Andthis your weak point can be taken advantage of by somedubious people who will not hesitate to do so.

But as peace loving as Librans are if a Libran discoversreal or imaginary injustice against self, he/she will feelcheated especially, if the matter at hand concerns RELA-TIONSHIP, few of them will then react violently but manywill sulk.

Yet, influence of Libra makes you a socially developedperson and if you care, you can commercialise your spar-kling personality. Social activities management coursesand/or workshop on such w ill help bring out your abilityalong this line.

All You Have...HOW manyseconds do

you think youhave in a day?How many min-utes do you havein a day? Andhow many hoursdo you have in a

year?You see, the

way some of usact is like; wehave eternity toexecute ourplans. But the re-

ality is that youand I do not havemore than twen-ty four hours in aday and threehundred and six-ty five days in a

year to think, toplan and to exe-cute our plans. Ifthis is so, then,why do we delayunnecessarily?All you have is

now. So whatev-er you can do to-day, do it now.

V V V V Vanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 — 53, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 — 53, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 — 53, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 — 53, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 — 53

CATHOLICS be-lieve Pope Francis

is doing a good job, butmany disagree withChurch doctrine on hot-button issues, especial-ly contraceptives, ac-cording to a global pollout yesterday.

The survey by the US-based Spanish-lan-guage network Univi-sion of Catholics in 12countries found thatthose most likely to sup-port Church teachingsare married men andwomen 55 years and old-er who attend mass fre-quently and live in ru-ral areas.

For the rest, opinionson issues such as gaymarriage, abortion, di-vorce and female priestsvary by region, age, geo-graphic location and in-come.

According to the poll,87 percent of Catholicsbelieve that Francis isdoing a good or excel-lent job as his papacyreaches its first anniver-sary in March. Yet 78percent favor using con-traceptives, a violationof Church doctrine.

On other issues thereare marked regional dif-ferences: for example 80percent of Catholics inAfrica and 76 percent inthe Philippines supportthe ban on female

Pope’s teachings: Catholics split along age line

SOUTH African Pre-sident Jacob

Zuma’s son, Duduzane,is being investigated forculpable homicide afterhis Porsche 911 sportscar ploughed into a min-ivan in Johannesburg,killing one person andcritically injuring two,media said yesterday.

The crash happenedlate on the evening ofFebruary 1 during heavyrain but was only linkedto Duduzane this week-end, just one day afterhis father announced ageneral election on May7. If Duduzane is foundto have been drivingrecklessly, the incidentwill be another embar-rassment to Zuma, whois already fighting ascandal over a 206 mil-lion rand state-fundedsecurity upgrade to hisprivate home.

Police confirmed thedetails of the accidentbut declined to name thedriver or victims, in linewith common practice in

Zuma’s son investigatedover car crash

•President Zuma

ISRAEL yesterdaydenounced an Irani-

an announcement that itwas sending naval shipstowards the UnitedStates as further evi-dence that looseningsanctions on Tehran wascounterproductive. Themove to send warshipsto the Atlantic was an-nounced by the com-mander of Iran’s north-ern naval fleet on Satur-day, who described it asa “message.”

The ships “have al-ready started their voy-age towards the AtlanticOcean via the watersnear South Africa,” saidAdmiral Afshin RezayeeHaddad, in remarksquoted by Iran’s semi-of-

Israel condemns Iran for sendingwarship to US

Swiss voters narrowlyendorse freeze on immigration

SWISS voters have narrowly backed proposals to reintroduce immigration quotas

with the European Union, a Swiss television hasreported.

The result on Sunday, which was backed by50.5 percent voters, calls into question bilateralaccords with the EU and could irk multinationalcompanies, Reuters news agency reported.

In a nail-biting vote, 50.5 percent backed theso-called “Stop mass immigration” initiative,which also won the required majority approvalin more than half of Swiss cantons or regions,Swiss television said. The vote, comes 12 yearsafter a free movement of people agreement withthe EU came into force.

•Pope Francis and his predecessor, Benedict who resigned last year.

priests, but only 30 per-cent in Europe and 36percent in the UnitedStates are in favor.

The most controversialsubject is gay marriage:opposition to suchunions is overwhelming

in Africa at 99 percent,compared with 40 per-cent in the UnitedStates.

A year after hisshock resignation,

Pope Emeritus Benedicthas no regrets and be-lieves history will vindi-cate his tumultuous andmuch-criticized papacy,the man closest to himtold Reuters in a rare in-terview.

Archbishop GeorgGanswein, who nowworks for the formerpope as well as beingthe head of Pope Fran-

...Emeritus Pope says no regret quittingcis’s household, shednew light on how Bene-dict spends his days, hishealth, his feelingsabout his momentousdecision and the rela-tionship between the twopopes.

“Pope Benedict is atpeace with himself andI think he is even atpeace with the Lord,”said Ganswein, whosetwin roles bring him intocontact with the currentand former pope daily.

Benedict announcedhis decision to resign,the first pope to do so in600 years, on February11, 2013, citing the phys-ical and psychological

strains of the papacy.He stepped down onFebruary 28 and Franciswas elected on March 13as the first non-Europe-an pope in 1,300 years.

His eight-year papacywas marked by mishapsand missteps, oftenblamed on a dysfunc-tional Vatican bureau-cracy, and intrigue befit-ting a Renaissancecourt.

The “Vatileaks” scan-dal, in which Benedict’sbutler was arrested forleaking the pope’s pri-vate papers to the media,alleged corruption in theHoly See, something theVatican denied.

South Africa. “One per-son died and two are stillin hospital. We are in-vestigating culpable ho-micide,” Johannesburgpolice spokesman Nev-ille Malila said.

The investigationmight take two to threeweeks to complete, headded.

The Sunday Timesnewspaper named thedead person as 30-year-old ZimbabweanPhumzile Dube. It quot-ed her husband, Them-ba, criticising Duduzanefor not contacting thefamily or offering to helppay for her funeral.

ficial Fars news agency.Iranian media reported

that two ships — a de-stroyer and a helicoptertransport vessel — hadbeen dispatched on Jan-uary 21.

It was not clear howclose the ships wouldtravel towards the USmaritime border or whenthey would arrive.

But Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netan-yahu said the dispatch ofthe warships was clearevidence of Iran’s “ag-gression” and proof ithad not moderated itspolicies following a land-mark deal with worldpowers to roll back its nu-clear programme in ex-change for sanctions re-lief.

NEWS BRIEFNEWS BRIEFNEWS BRIEFNEWS BRIEFNEWS BRIEF

WITH 17 of their 25 children still living athome, breakfast is a military operation for

the Dargers. As organized chaos unfolds at thefamily home in the Utah countryside outside SaltLake City, the parents come to help out.

Alina is the first, followed by her “sister wives”Vicki and Valerie, and finally their husband Joe.The Dargers are members of a polygamous mar-riage, a lifestyle they say is endorsed by theirfundamentalist Mormon beliefs.

US: Polygamy thrives in Utah

TURKISH riot police have used tear-gas grenades and water cannon to disperse more

than 2,000 people demonstrating against newinternet restrictions that have caused concernboth at home and abroad.

Large numbers of police with body armour andshields backed up by armoured water-cannonlorries deployed against the chanting, mostlyyoung crowd around Istanbul’s Taksim Squareon Saturday.

Police, internet activistsclash in Turkey

SYRIA’S government delegation arrived inGeneva yesterday for a fresh round of peace

talks with opposition representatives.Members of the opposition delegation also ar-

rived in the Swiss city, a source close to the Na-tional Coalition told AFP.

A source close to the government delegationtold AFP that representatives of the regime en-tered the Hotel de la Paix in Geneva from a backdoor and made no statements to reporters.

The government delegation is headed by For-eign Minister Walid Muallem, as was the casefor the first round of the so-called Geneva 2 pro-cess 10 days ago.

Syrians reconvene in Geneva

MOROCCAN authorities banned a sit-inon Saturday by hundreds of judges who

want greater independence for the judiciary, de-ploying dozens of riot police to central Rabat andclosing off streets around the Justice Ministry.

Nearly three years after protests inspired bythe Arab Spring prompted King Mohamed toundertake limited reforms and propelled an Is-lamist party to power, his government is now re-asserting its authority in what rights groups de-scribe as a step backwards.

Morocco bans judges’ protest

DEMOCRATS sought to turn the latest controversy over Obamacare and the econo-

my into a positive political message on Sundayby casting an expected decline in American workhours as a boom to worker freedom and familyvalues. In a new partisan tussle over electionmessaging that is likely to color this year’s con-gressional mid-term campaign, Democratic law-makers said a predicted drop in work hoursbrought about by Obamacare would mean morefamily time for mothers, more study opportuni-ties for college students and less job stress forolder workers.

Obamacare: Democrats turndebate to advantage

CMYK

54 —Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

OPINION

,

*Mr Isah, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.

BY MOSHOOD ISAH

‘Boko Haram' deportations

,

THE controversial issue of “deportation”of Nigerians to their states of origin

reared its ugly head once again in the pastcouple of weeks. This time, the venueshifted from Lagos in South West to Riversin the South-South and Imo in the SouthEast. Coincidentally, they are all statesunder the All Progressives Congress (APC)governors!

According to media accounts, onSaturday, 25th January 2014, some 84young Muslim men from Katsina Statewere rounded up in the premises of theImo College of Advanced ProfessionalStudies (ICAPS) in Owerri, where theywere reportedly undergoing skillsacquisition. They were forcefully sent backto their state on the suspicion that theywere members of the Boko Haram Islamicterror group. They were said to be mostlyilliterate and spoke only Hausa.

A couple of days later, a larger contingentof 320 people of Arewa North extraction,comprising men, women and children,who were being conveyed in a convoy of17 buses, was intercepted at the borderbetween Imo and Rivers en route to PortHarcourt. They were taken to the Rivers

to process them and escort them to theirstate with a combined team of policemenand agents of the Kick Against Indiscipline(KAI) brigade. Absolutely nothing was saidabout the processes involved in the Imorepatriation, which is typical of GovernorRochas Okorocha’s total disregard for dueprocess and decency.

The two contingents were said to havecome from Jigawa and Katsina,respectively; two states I am very familiar

Imo established in training its own youthin skills acquisition that will attract theinterest of 84 illiterate youth from the farNorth? With the recent confirmation thatthe Apo uncompleted buildings dwellerswere members of the Boko Haramplanning an attack on Abuja, added tothe recent boasting by “Abubakar Shekau”that he would soon attack the South, canyou blame anyone for taking proactive,self-preservation measures?

Again, is it normal for 320 people of thesame ethnic or cultural stock to travel in aconvoy of seventeen buses out of theircultural homeland unless they are refugeesfrom war or natural disaster? Do peoplemigrating to another part of the countryfor greener pastures usually go in suchlarge numbers or convoys? They shouldnot blame anybody for being alarmed andanxious in the light of things happeningin the North perpetrated by their ownpeople.

The Boko Haram terrorism has imposeda great burden on people of Arewa stockin Nigeria, sad to say. It is sad becausethe vast majority of these Nigerians arepeaceful and hardworking, contributingtheir quota to the economic, social andpolitical development of the country. Theyhave always been part and parcel of theNigerian social tapestry, and will alwaysbe, irrespective of whether Nigeria breaksinto a thousand pieces or remains oneunited entity. There are certain essentialeconomic goods and activities that onlythey can provide.

But unfortunately, they have allowedtheir misguided leaders, preachers

and foreign enemies of the Nigerian nationto get them mixed up with incendiarypolitical ideas and activities that have onlyserved to widen the gulf between themand their fellow countrymen, first in ArewaNorth and now (increasingly) in other partsof the country. This situation is likely to beexacerbated if (we sincerely pray not) BokoHaram makes good its threat and extendsits attacks to the South. This is why I haveshouted myself hoarse on this pagepleading with our fellow countrymen andwomen from Arewa North to disregard the

State Police Command Headquarters inPort Harcourt and an intensive inter-agency security debriefing orinterrogations commenced. Some havereportedly been sent back to Jigawa State,from where they were said to have takenoff in their southward journey.

At least, those caught in Rivers Statewere taken into custody for securityprocessing. At the end, those found to besecurity risks will be made to face the lawsof the land while those found to beinnocent travellers should be allowed tocontinue to their destination (not forcedback to their states of origin). Nigerianshave an inalienable constitutional right todecide where they want to live and earn aliving, provided they do so under the lawand with full regard to the sensibilities oftheir new host communities. This was notthe case with the bunch rounded up inImo and sent back to Katsina State, if mediareports were anything to go by. Nobodyexplained how these 84 illiterate youthcame to camp at ICAPS, who sponsoredthem, who their leader was. No effort wasmade to hear their side of the story. In fact,the law enforcement agencies did not seemto play any role in the whole matter.

At least, when Lagos State “deported”some indigent Igbos to Anambra State,there were some (if poorly done) attempts

evil machinations of some of their leaderswho seek to portray Boko Haram as soldiersof the Islamic religion or warriors fightingfor the forceful return of power to the North.That kind of mindset will only worsen thealready poor quality of national identitybetween Nigerians.

We must continue to insist on the sanctityof the citizenship rights of Nigerians,irrespective of whom they are or wherethey wish to settle and live their lives. Butsecurity of lives and property is paramount.An old Biafran saying has it that a personsurrounded by enemies must protect hislife at all times and must never fall asleep.We must continue to raise the alarmwhenever we see security threats aroundus, but we must report them to the securityagencies which have been empowered bythe constitution to tackle such matters. Wemust not indulge in abuse of fellow citizens’constitutional rights. We must leave thatto agencies of state to handle according tothe law.

I join President Goodluck Jonathan tourge the new Service Chief and allNigerians never to go to sleep until BokoHaram is crushed to pulp and the peopleof North Eastern Nigeria are able to sleeppeacefully at night and live normallyduring the day.

The Boko Haram terrorism has imposed a great burdenon people of Arewa stock in Nigeria, sad to say. It is sadbecause the vast majority of these Nigerians are peacefuland hardworking, contributing their quota to theeconomic, social and political development of the country IT was shocking to see Governor Murtala

Nyako, a retired Admiral of the NigerianNavy, warning his Abia State counterpart,Chief Theodore Orji not to poison him at thePresidential Villa Abuja last week.

“I am telling you, don’t poison me here. Iam not comfortable with you here. If anythinghappens to me here, wallahi, my people willtake you to court”, he was heard saying toOrji. The Abia Governor, like a father, tried tocalm him down, saying: “For how many yearshave we been sitting together? Is it this zerohour that I will poison you?”

“Who knows”, growled Nyako.Due to the alphabetical order of sitting at

the Council of State and other meetings at thePresidential Villa, Abuja, Abia is first andAdamawa is next. Orji and Nyako have alwayssat together. I do not know where thispoisonous jibe came from. Some say it wasbecause of Nyako’s defection from the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP) to the All ProgressivesCongress (APC). If that was correct, whatabout the Governor of Ebonyi State, who saton the other side of Nyako? Is he not from aPDP state?

From the serious countenance Nyako woreand his repeated swearing (wallahi) I did notsee it as a mere joke. Rather, it came across asa childish display of politics with bitternessfrom a septuagenarian elder statesman whoshould know better than to shout wolf wherethere is none. It is from the abundance of theheart that the mouth speaks. Governor Orjishould consider moving to another seat. Younever can tell…

with. On the one hand, Jigawa is about98% Muslim population. It is probably themost Islamised state in the country. It isalso one of the most peaceful, with onlyone recorded incident of Boko Haramattack in the home of former InspectorGeneral of Police, now self-exiled Mr. HafizRingim, who hails from Ringim town. Theformer IG is probably regarded by theJihadists as a personal enemy andorganised that attack from outside JigawaState. I can authoritatively report that BokoHaram has no base or footing in JigawaState. I have been there several times inthe past six months, travelling day andnight and sensing no evidence of fear oranxiety about terror attacks.

Katsina, on the other hand, is Jigawa’snext door neighbor to the West. It is theonly state in the North that has NEVERexperienced Boko Haram activities.

Be that as it may, it does not make themanner of influx of these harassedtravellers any easier to understand. Canyou really blame anybody for developingapprehension over the suddenconvergence of 84 young men from thesection of the country associated with theterrorists, suicide bombers and murderersof innocent school children in their hostelsat night, travellers and people worshipingGod in churches? What track record has

Nyako: Beware of poison!

FINALLY, seven senators on the platform ofthe All Progressives Congress (APC) may have ignored the

order by their party asking them to block the screening of servicechiefs recently appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan byfully participating in the screening exercise. The oppositionparty had initially issued a directive to its members in the houseto frustrate the passage of the 2014 budget and the screening ofministerial nominees, alongside the confirmation of the newservice chiefs. Questions that kept ringing through the mind ofpeople are why on earth the opposition will politicize somesensitive issues that have direct bearing on safety and welfareof the people.

The opposition claimed that their action borne on theperceived persecution of its member, Governor Rotimi Amaechiof Rivers state alongside other security issues in the state whichhave element of partisan ideology.

First and foremost, Rivers state is just a state out of the thirty-six states of the federation. Thus political issues within a stateshould not serve as yardstick in truncating major nationalissues. Just within the period of waiting for the confirmation ofthe new service chiefs many lives had been lost through insurgentattacks in the volatile North-east region of the country. So, whyon earth will a political party fighting for national interest tryto frustrate the confirmation of the new service chiefs justbecause of an issue affecting a state governed by their member.This action will not only jeopardize our ailing democracy butwill also compromise national security. The lawmakers shouldalways remember that they were elected to speak for the interest

The politics of Opposition par The politics of Opposition par The politics of Opposition par The politics of Opposition par The politics of Opposition partytytytytyof the people and country and not to protect parochial andmyopic interest.

Furthermore, the frustration and blackmailing of the passageof national bill like the 2014 budget is not only ill-timed andcounterproductive when the budget would determine theeconomic activities in the year. By their actions, many thingshave to wait, for only God know when. Such actions byoppositions send the wrong message that, the opposition isonly concerned about its own interest rather than nationalinterest.

The Lawmakers have the power to summon and interrogatethe commissioner of police alongside his boss, the inspectorgeneral of police for the misdemeanor in Rivers State ratherthan holding the nation and its citizens to ransom. Thecommissioner can be questioned about incessant disruptionof opposition gatherings and other partisan security activities.In this case, the party can use its numerical advantage and Ialso believe that well-meaning lawmakers will support theirdecision either to seek for the redeployment or the sack of thecommissioner.

The first month of the year has come to an end; there is nobetter time to pass the year’s budget than now. But it is sounfortunate that the major opposition who is supposed to putthe ruling party on its feet is trying to frustrate a sensitive issuelike the national budget. There is no gainsaying that this yearis a defining year for the present administration to finalize itstransformation agenda and the budget is the only way to

achieve that mission. In this vein, derailing the passage of thenational budget and hence its implementation is an act ofsabotage which will not only affect the economy butdehumanize the Nigerian populace.

According to the ACP’s spokesperson, the Governor of Rivershas faced a lot of serial unprovoked and unwarranted assaultson his person, his constitutional rights and those of theGovernment and People of Rivers State. They added that “Anycursory observer of events in Rivers State since February, 2013will be left in no doubt as to the culture of lawlessness andimpunity being promoted and supported by the Presidency,and executed by the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu,who has become the defacto military Governor of Rivers Stateand sole administrator of the PDP in the State.”

While every right thinking Nigerian is aware of the impunitygoing on in some states, especially Rivers State, there is need touse our discretion to ensure stability in the polity rather thanselfish ideas of promoting selfish party politics.

Meanwhile on a final note, I want to use this medium tocorrect an impression which may be gnawing through yourmind right now. I am not in any way against the oppositionparty or its leadership. As a matter of fact, a strong oppositionis very good for this polity as it will make the ruling party standon its toes and deliver good governance. My aim is to instigatethe fact that, frustrating national issues because of party interest

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—————5555555555

,

,

,

,

BY BUKAR MUSTAPHA

BY SUNNY IKHIOYA

*Mr. Ikhioya, a commentator onnational issues, wrote from Lagos.

*Mr. Mustapha, wrote from University ofMaiduguri, Borno State.

On the national confabrepresentations et al

IF the proposed nationalconference is to address

wholesale, the protractedchallenges of the Nigerian nationstate, it must begin by getting therepresentation to the conferenceright. Anything short, is failure -like they say - a building that is ona poor foundation will not stand.

Nigeria as a country, is labouringto become a nation state. Whatreally constitutes a nation state? Itis a country of two or more ethnicgroups, with shared boundaries,cultures and languages, that havedecided to come together, tosubordinate their sovereignty toone federal body. The webdefinition states that " The mostnoticeable characteristics, is thedegree to which nation states usethe state as an instrument ofnational unity in, economic, socialand cultural life". The key word is' unity'. The more unified we are, invarious aspect of our national life,the more we tend towards nationstate hood. They must agree on thegoverning arrangements, whichinclude: allocation of resources tothe different structures. They willalso agree on a power sharingformula between the federalgovernment and the individualstate. For this to be actualised,there must be willingness on thepart of the individual unit states toparticipate in a commonpatrimony. The key word is'willing '.

It is a fact that, the various ethnicgroupings in Nigeria, were forcedinto this marriage, their opinionsand consents were not sought andtherefore, complications arisingfrom the forced marriagedeveloped, which is still besettingthe nation till date.

For a truly genuine nation stateto emerge out of Nigeria, all thevarious ethnic tribes must befactored into the conferenceagenda. There must be noexception, if not, the cry ofmarginalisation and disunity willcontinue, no matter how sincerethe outcome of the conferenceturns out.

It is not too late for government,to constitute a research team, todetermine the actual number ofethnic nationalities in Nigeria,identify their representatives andbring them into the picture of thenational conference theme. Theymust be allowed into the debate,and their voices must be heard,that is the way to do it.

Government must be boldenough to face the situationsquarely. Every group that iscoming out has the agenda of itspeople, if you expunge some ethnicgroups from the list, how will issuesaffecting them be resolved.

I have said it before, the majoritytribes must not use numbers, todeprive the minorities of theirrights. We must always use theUnited Nations as our standard. Ifpopulation is key, China will nothave the same number of

representatives in the UN asNigeria. Nigeria will not have thesame number of representatives inthe African Union as Cape Verde.Why are proponents of populationdoing otherwise here in Nigeria?

If it is going to be unwieldy, topresent them at the national level,they should be allowed to voicetheir stands at the state andregional levels. Also,allow theirvotes to be counted in the selectionof persons to represent them at thefederal level. That way, their rightas guaranteed by the constitution,will be upheld.

Also, within the larger ethnictribes, there, are sub groups,

too numerous to mention. Theytoo, should be identified and givensame recognition.

In a true nation state, the interestof the nation supersedes all of theindividual states, all citizens areregarded as one and equal. That iswhy the people should criticallyexamine the indigene - settler issue.The new trend all over the world isto accord automatic citizenship,on the basis of, place of birth,or,for those who have taken residence

for a specified number ofyears.They enjoy all the benefitsand rights of true citizens. That iswhy, the man of Nigerian parentaldescent, could go to London andkill a white British citizen - amilitary officer at that - in full viewof TV viewers all over the worldand still be accorded all his rightsas a citizen. In Nigeria, he wouldhave been mobbed and burnt todeath instantly, without theopportunity to explore deep intohis mind, to reveal the motive forhis action.

The government should notdelay any further, a situation wherepeople are deported back tovillages, in some states of thefederation, should not beencouraged.

We should be growing towardsintegration and not the opposite.Today, Nigeria is more divided asa nation, than it was, on the eve ofthe Nigerian civil war. Our leadersmust take note. Indigeneship -settler dichotomy must beabolished now. The country willbenefit more from it, there will beless suspicion amongst andbetween tribal groups.

It will also breed development.When people perceive that a placeis safe, for them to do business, theyinvest their money andinfrastructure, without lookingback. If you take an over all viewof Nigeria, the cities that haveadvanced the most, are those thathave opened up to strangers. Wemust encourage love across tribalboundaries. Indigene - settler issuemust be tackled by the conference,once and for all times.

It is also very imperative for theconveners of the conference tofactor in, our various professionalbodies, every one that is duly

registered should haverepresentatives in the conference.There is a need for Nigerians to dothings in the proper manner.Professionalism breeds properorganisation, which in turn breedsdevelopment and focus. A focussedcitizenry, will move the country outof the doldrums. Let us have moreof professionals than politicians.Too many things are not doneproperly in Nigeria, either byomission or commission, rules areflouted, let the professionals comein, to show us proper ways totackle the diverse challengesfacing the nation.

Now that the tension has beencreated by politicians, let us fullyaddress the issues at hand. Thereis no better time than now. Thereshould not be any no go area inthe debate, if the whole exercise isto make any meaningful impact.What is it that the people of thedifferent ethnic bodies want? Theyshould be listed out. The issue ofhow to reach a decision, must bespelt out clearly to allrepresentatives- that is- everyonewill agree to abide by the decisionof the majority and having agreedon that, the decision, must not bediscredited by any member. Thatis why I harp on the point that everyethnic group must be allowed tohave their say, that will give theoutcome legitimacy andcredibility.

Let us sit down to talk and dousethe tension and palpableconflagration, that is building.

Let us talk, let the conferencehold.

THE Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) has just released the

timetable for the 2015 general elections.This means political activities will soon pickup and the atmosphere will once again becharged. The most important of all thepolitical horse-trading that will soon ensueis determining who occupies the presidencyby the year 2015. There is so much interestand calculations across a spectrum ofstakeholders on this all important position.Many political gladiators are jerking uptheir sleeves for a showdown in the contestof who grabs his party's ticket for presidency.

As it can be recalled, the North ought tohave taken over the presidency in 2007 for aperiod of eight years; that is after PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo had ruled for a stretchof eight years. It did take over. But fateconspired to deny the North of the eightyears. Expectedly, and as provided for bythe constitution, the then Vice PresidentGoodluck Jonathan took over from latePresident Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, first asacting president and later (on Yar'Adua'sdeath) as president. However, instead ofPresident Jonathan to complete whatremains of the Yar'Adua/Jonathan tenureand let the position go back to the North, hemanipulated his way to getting a freshmandate.

However, as the political mill begins toroll once again, there is a resoundingagitation to send President Jonathanparking. First, to most patriotic Nigerians,the man has only managed to hold thecountry in one place: stagnant, without anyprogress. On the extreme side, others areeven lamenting that the country onlywitnessed retrogression on many sides,under the watch of President Jonathan.

For the North-east, the six years or so of

2015: Imperative of a Northeastpresidency

the Jonathan presidency have been mostuneventful ones. For us, it has become whatthe Latin would call annus horriblis (year ofhorrors). The time-bomb planted by yearsof neglect of this area has suddenly gone offand to the chagrin of all, the governmentseems helpless on the two expecteddirections: containing the insurgency, andcushioning the impacts on the victims andthe affected towns. While the government’ssecurity forces daily avenge attacks on themby the insurgents on the hapless civilianpopulation, the civil government has shownno willingness to help victims recoverpsychologically and materially. The pointerto this is the paltry budgetary provision ofN2 billion for the entire North-east, afterall the promises.

For the average person from this region,our people are being treated as second-classcitizens in their own country. First andforemost, federal presence in this vast zoneis, for lack of better word, abysmal. Strategicand key institutions of governments havenot been sited here. There appeared to be nodeliberate industrialisation policies by theFederal government to develop the region.The scattered industries around have alsobeen left to rot in neglect.

It is the opinion of our people here thatthings have been allowed to degenerate overtime in this region because its capable andcompetent persons have been tactically shutout of power at the highest decision makinglevel. For a very long time, there seems to besilent but dangerous trend in the politics ofthe North, and Nigeria in general wherethere appears to be a sort of consensus orconspiracy against the North-eastgeopolitical zone. This dangerous trend,whose unfortunate manifest is now theinsurgency in parts of the area, which goeson unabated, is a direct result of neglect andmarginalisation.

Anytime opportunity presents itself for the

North to present head of government, it goesto the North-west or the North-central, as ifby act of commission – and omission for theNorth-east. Despite producing seniorthoroughbred military officers, the regionwas never for once accorded the honour ofproducing the head of state. Those fineofficers, therefore, were only used (or,expended) in military operations where,thank goodness, they proved themselves tobe brave, professionals and good managersof humans.

A quick rundown of the history ofNigeria’s military rule shows that

when General Ironsi was toppled in July,1966, the then Colonel Yakubu Gowon(from the North-central) was handed overthe mantle for eight years. From Gowon,the North-west took over via Murtala. Therethen came Buhari (from the North-west)who removed a fellow North-west person –Shehu Shagari. General Babangida, fromthe North-central succeeded Buhari and hein turn was followed by Abacha (from theNorth-west). The military era ended withGeneral AbdulSalami Abubakar, also fromthe North-central, succeeding Abacha. Thisshows North-central alone has spentnineteen years ruling this country whileNorth-west held sway for six years under themilitary, in addition to the Shagari andUmaru Yar’Adua years as civilian leaders.

Yes, it is true that late Sir Abubakar TafawaBalewa from the present day Bauchi state

was the first and only Nigeria's PrimeMinister. But it is also true that he was justthere as the errand boy of Sir Ahmadu Bello,the Sardauna, who was the leader of theruling Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)then. Obsessed with playing at the regionallevel, where he was working towards hisambition of becoming the Sultan of Sokoto,he 'sent' Balewa to the centre while retaininghis own role as the party leader. Meanwhile,there was a president in Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Therefore, as the calculations begin for2015, it is our prevent hope that this timearound, the larger North plays the fair cardfor the North-east in picking a presidentialcandidate. Yes, in 2011 something of thatnature was reflected but some of us who arekeen students of power knew that it was notgoing to work. This was because PresidentGoodluck Jonathan getting the PDP ticketat the time was a fait accompli. But this is2014 and all hopes for who produces thepresident lies with the All ProgressivesCongress (APC). Yet, North-east is notlacking in competent and vibrantpersonalities who have the qualities to bepresidents, from within the APC.

Having tried many options in the past, andbearing in mind the dynamism of the worldand diversity of Nigeria, key stakeholdersin APC should have a deep reflection of whothe party gives its ticket. The oppositioncoalition this time around is in a form ofmake or mar union which has the vibrancyof upstaging the present administration ofPDP. But to achieve that there is need to havea decent leader. Such a person should be aleader whom everybody will be comfortablewith for his decency, pan-Nigerian spirit,honesty and modernity. Needless to say, theNorth-east as a geopolitical zone have anarray of personalities who have passed thecredibility test and have the broad-mindedness to superintend over one unitedand stronger Nigeria. Moreover, we fromthe North-east will have the rest of mindthat the current disturbing challenges herewill be easily solved. The saying that onlythe owner of the room knows where it leaksis true in this case.

Let us sit down totalk and dousethe tension andpalpableconflagration,that isbuilding.Let ustalk, let theconference hold

But this is 2014 and allhopes for who producesthe president lies with theAll Progressives Congress(APC).Yet, North-east isnot lacking in competentand vibrant personalitieswho have the qualities tobe presidents

56—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

THE last time the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,

attempted a compilation of itsmembership register in 2005, itturned out to be an orchestratedfiasco. At that time, members,including foundation memberslike the then vice-president, AtikuAbubakar who were out of favourwith President OlusegunObasanjo were deregistered fromthe party.

At that time when Atiku arrivedat the registration centre in hisJada ward in Adamawa State,the chairman of the ward told himthat the register was missing andelected to register the vice-president on a notebook! Atikusensing that it was a farce as thenotebook would not be

Is PDP unsettled?APC’s membership registration:

THE Peoples Democratic Party, is set on a collision course with the AllProgressives Congress, APC over the latter’s ongoing membership registrationexercise. The ruling party which has yet to conduct a hitch free registration exercisehas accused the opposition party of deceit in the ongoing exercise. Is the rulingparty crying wolf ?

Continues on page 57

incorporated into the genuineregister rejected it and returnedto Abuja. The embarrassment ofAtiku being denied registrationin the full view of the nationalmedia in his ward became suchan embarrassment for the thennational chairman of the party,Col. Ahmadu Ali, who then senta member of the NationalWorking Committee, NWC toregister Atiku in the PresidentialVilla.

But it was not was not lost onAtiku that the registration inAbuja was void, given the party'sregulation that only the wardchairmen could register a partymember. That particular exercisethrew up the phrase linkmen inthe nation’s political lexicon.Linkmen like Senator JibrilAminu were made anchors of the

on what he claimed was adeliberate attempt by the newopposition party, the AllProgressives Congress, APC tomislead the public on itscapacities and content using theongoing party membershipregistration exercise.

“The APC is sadly andcurrently using every foul meansat its disposal to build a particular

registration exercise, includingallegations of the use ofstructures of the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, deliberate misinformationof the citizenry of the purposesof the registration andcompulsion on unwilling personsin states controlled by the APCto partake in the registrationexercise.

Traders and okada ridersaccording to critics of the APChave been compelled to registerfor the APC. But beyond hearsay,no concrete evidence of suchcompulsions have beenproduced.

Registrationexercise

True, the APC registrationexercise has not been withoutincidence. As the party’s whipin the House of Representatives,Rep. Samson Osagie toldVanguard last weekend that“there is no area where humanbeings are involved where therewould be no crisis, but there isnothing out of proportion in myconstituency.”

Osagie’s assertion of relativesuccess, if true in his constituencyhas, however, been rejected insome circles within and outsidethe party. There were claims thatthe membership cards allocatedto some registration points wereshortchanged by as much as 40percent by party chieftainsapparently aiming to get a headstart on rivals within the party.

In Rivers State, one person wasreportedly shot dead and insome other cases, violencemarred the membershipregistration exercise.

In Ebonyi State, tworegistration officials of the partyDonatus Omenyi and MosesAnyior were said to have beenkidnapped at the weekend intheir respective houses atNwekeisioffia and Umuezekohacommunities in Ezza Northcouncil area by their abductorsaround 2 am.

The APC was quick to blamethe PDP for orchestrating theviolence in Rivers and in otherplaces, especially where the PDP,

,registration exercise in states likeAdamawa and Edo States wherethe PDP state executives wereseen to be out of the direct controlof the president.

At the end of that controversialexercise, the PDP did notannounce it’s new membershipstrength, but what was generallyknown was that the party’smembership shrank on accountof the deliberate refusal toregister many party men whowere either connected to Atikuor were for one reason or theother not favoured by the powersat that time.

Given that deliberate effort infrustrating out its members, it wasas such remarkable that theNational Publicity Secretary of theparty, Chief Olisa Metuh lastFriday chose to address the press

membership figure, running intotens of millions, which it intendsto use as a justification to fault,dispute, reject and subsequentlytake to violence when it loses the2015 general elections,” Metuhtold newsmen last Friday.

Metuh also noted other allegedinfringements of the APC in itsongoing membership

Traders and okada riders, according tocritics of the APC, have been compelled toregister for the APC, but beyond hearsay,no concrete evidence of such compulsionshave been produced

is in control. But the thrust of thePDP's allegation as asserted byMetuh last Friday was of adeliberate attempt by the APC toclaim a membership strengthwith which it would use to claimsuperiority in votes in next year’sseries of elections.

At the onset, the APC was

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—57

apparently aiming for 15 millionmembers, but as the registrationprocess commenced and with it,the rush, party officials aimedhigher, pushing the projection to25 million.

It was as such not surprisingthat the PDP cried out as itclaimed that the opposition partywas preparing grounds to launcha protest after, in the words ofMetuh, the APC would have lostthe election.

“This fraudulent membershipfigure, meant to create an un-existing mass followership is tobe maniacally presented,projected and defended by theAPC, using its well knownunethically hypodermicpropaganda tools as ananticipated real voter strength,below which it will carry out itsthreat to unleash mayhem on thenation as contained in its allegoryof “ the monkey, the baboon andblood.”

Turnout forregistration

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, theinterim national publicitysecretary of the APC, however,quipped back in a telephoneinterview with Vanguardyesterday, saying the PDP wasclearly intimidated by the turnoutfor the registration by APCmembers. “Honestly, clearly thePDP is intimidated by the turnoutfor this our registration and evenwe in the APC we

underestimated the popularacceptance of our party by thepeople of Nigeria. We set out toregister 15 million but as of todaywe have been inundated withdemands that we had to extendthe registration by two moredays.”

On Metuh’s allegation that theAPC was deceiving the citizenryby using INEC polling centresas a way of luring unwary peopleto register with the party, he said:"What we are witnessing todayhas never been seen in thehistory of Nigeria and we werevery proactive and very creativein deciding to use INEC pollingcenters for the venues for ourregistration.”

“Don’t forget that our party ismade up of some parts of the PDP,the ANPP, CPC and ACN and if

we had used any other venueapart from the polling booths itwould have led to confusion. Ifyou say ward would it be the wardof the former ANPP, the formerCPC or the former ACN?”

“Secondly, we recognized thatall politics is local and at the endof the day everybody reports athis polling booth. So why don’tyou get registered in your pollingbooth?”. Further dismissing theassertions of the PDP, theopposition spokesman said:"What bothers one is the paranoiathat has ceased the PDP and theyhave become so paranoid thatthey have become so incoherentand they are getting very sillyand infantile. I have not seenanywhere in the world where youare going to preempt how manypeople we are going to register.

Even if we declare 50 millionvoters, does that translate into 50million INEC votes?”

The accusations and counteraccusations nonetheless, theattempt by the APC in openingup registration is an innovationthat even reformists in the PDPhad in the past attempted to dobut were shot down.

Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo, aschairman of the PDP in 2010made a bold attempt to open upthe membership through anonline registration exercise, butthe powerful governors in theparty frustrated him.

Iron grip ofthe governors

Nwodo, it was learnt, had toldPresident Goodluck Jonathanthat the only way he could takethe party away from the iron gripof the governors was by openingregistration through an onlineregister in which every memberwould make his own pay for therunning of the party, but thegovernors firmly resisted him.

It was simple logic for thegovernors to continuesponsoring the party and by thatway dictating the tune for theparty, Nwodo had reportedlypreached to the president.

Apparently taken in by thesuggestion, the presidentflagged off the online registration

exercise by registering himself,but the PDP governors quicklymoved to frustrate it and theexercise and it was abandoned.

It was as such no surprise thatthe governors moved withvengeance against Nwodo andsaw to his unceremonious exit atthe end of 2010. Alhaji BamangaTukur also parroted the idea ofonline registration but thegovernors never gave him spaceand it was no surprise that for allthe 21 months he spent in officehe never had respite.

Though the APC has openedup its registration to all andsundry, suggestions that theparty has been removed from thefirm grip of its own godfathersremains debatable.

The national chairman of theAPC, Chief Bisi Akande and thefive former PDP governors whoall opposed online registration inthe PDP, and in the past wereassociated with imposition ofcandidates, have been put on thespot where they have to show thatparty members count in theselection of candidates forelections.

The former ACN had wonnotoriety to itself in the pastwhen its national chairman,Chief Akande asserted in aninterview that imposition ofcandidates was its culture. Now,Chief Akande has to show theother leaf.

Is PDP unsettled?Continues from page 56

•Mohammed: PDP is fazed •Metuh: APC is tricking

WHAT would be the fate ofthe 2014 budget in the

House now that Mr. Joseph Mbuhas been removed as theCommissioner of Police inRivers State?

The position with the budgetright now is that we are awaitingthe advice the six wise men setup by the speaker will offer thepresiding officer before we takea decision on what to do.

On the removal of Mbu, it is awelcome development, it is amatter that was long overdue andit shows the triumph of reasonover impunity and we hope thatTunde Ogushakin who is takingover from Mbu will not tread thepartisan path of Mbu and thatpeace and normalcy, fairness,equity and justice would bebrought to the people of Rivers

Budget 2014: We're waitingfor the six wise men—Osagie, APC whip

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

•Osagie: People are struggling to have APC registration cards

MR. Samson Osagie is the All Progressives Congress, APCwhip in the House of Representatives. In this telephoneinterview he addresses issues relating to the fate of the2014 budget and other issues. Excerpts:

State.We as a party are very happy

with that development and itshows that our effort has paid offand that all the pressure webrought to bear has paid off.

Some are claiming that yourprotests in the House would stillturn out to be ineffective giventhat even in 2013 you didn’tapprove money for SEC, yet itwas not affected?

It is part of the impunity that isin the system. We are notsurprised, you are aware of thehuge sums of money that arebeing bandied about as missing,those funds were notappropriated and that is the kindof impunity we have in themanagement of the resources ofour country. It doesn’t reallymatter whether our action isineffectual, what it shows is thatthe principle of separation of

powers is not being adhered toand that one organ ofgovernment is lording it over theother organs.

We are not bothered, we are notsurprised that our actions andresolutions and that evenappropriation laws are not beingobeyed. Apart from SEC, eventhe monies that we approved

were they actually released? Aswe speak now, some ministries,departments and agencies havenot even received part of theircapital votes.

For us, it is not a big deal,because even allocations wemade through appropriationswere they really obeyed? Not totalk of where we did not

appropriate. So, they pick andchoose and it is part of the cultureof impunity and mismanagementthat goes on in our land. But wewill continue to try so long asdemocracy continues. We willcontinue to try, we will continueto provide the necessary checksand balances and until thepeople themselves emulatechange. It is only the peoplethemselves that can bring aboutchange and when that changecomes everybody will heed.

What is the exact number ofAPC members in the House?

Right now I cant provide youwith the record because PDP ona daily basis is busy poachingand using all means possible todeceive hoodwink and get ourmembers, especially from stateswhere there are PDP governors.So, at the risk of providinginsufficient and inadequatefigure, I will like to be excusedfrom naming any figure.

But which party has themajority in the House now?

It is unclear. As I speak to younow it is unclear.

How is the APC membershipregistration exercise in yourconstituency?

It was very successful, peopleare struggling to have APCregistration cards, you cantbelieve it especially in myconstituency.

58—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

L A G O S — C O NGLOMERATE giant

Chellarams Plc in conjunc-tion with Rotary Interna-tional, Lagos and LagosState Blood Transfusioncommittee, recently orga-nized a blood donationcamp where staff and mem-bers of Rotary Club volun-tarily donated blood to theLagos State Blood Bank aspart of activities to markChellarams 90th anniver-sary. More than one hun-dred donors took part in theexercise as a service to thehealth and well being ofsociety.

The week-long campwhich kicked off activitieslined up for the anniversa-ry started with a lecture onthe relevance of blood do-nation by the Lagos BloodTransfusion Committee, tosupport maternal healthcare and promote healthylivings in Nigeria.

Chief executive officer ofChellarams, Mr. AdityaChellaram, during an in-teraction with newsmen, re-iterated the company’scommitment towards sup-porting the society and theenvironment as part of itsnumerous corporate socialresponsibilities.

Interestingly some of thedonors expressed excite-ment in being part of theexercise to save a life andcontribute to the company’sefforts towards better healthand well being of society.At the end each partici-pants was given a certifi-cate of recognition, bever-age and fresh milk to helpreplenish.

Lagos, Rotary,Chellaramspartner onblooddonation

THE NigerianMeteorological

Agency, NIMET,yesterday, predicted cloudyconditions with chances offog and mist over thecoastal areas in thesouthern states during themorning hours today. Theforecast is contained in theweather report obtained bythe News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Lagos, yesterday.

According to the forecast,there are prospects oflocalised rain showers overPort-Harcourt, Calabar,Eket and Uyo duringafternoon and eveninghours. In the inland areas,hazy conditions areexpected over the regionduring the forecast period.However, there are chancesof localised thunderstormsover Osogbo, Akure andAdo-Ekiti during afternoonand evening hours.

NIMET predictsfog and mist insouthern areas

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MOKWE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss IjeomaImmaculata Mokwe,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Ijeoma ImmaculataEzeamama. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

FAUGA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Mrs. Yemisi IbiyemiFauga, now wish to beknown and addressedas Faridat YemisiIbiyemi Aberejo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

PAUL—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Emem PaulUdoh, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Emem UdohAlade. All formerdocuments remainvalid. University ofLagos, GT Bank,Access Bank andgeneral public pleasetake note.

OKAFOR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Okafor PeaceAmaka, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Ugezu PeaceAmaka. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O K E L E K E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAnthonia OguguaOkeleke, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Anthonia OguguaAdeola. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

B A S H O R U N — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOluwaseun OluseyiBashorun, now wish tobe known and addressedas Mrs. OluwaseunOluseyi Shenbote. Allformer documents remainvalid. Diamond BankPlc,Covenant University,Chartered Institute ofPersonnel Managementof Nigeria (CIPMN) andgeneral public please takenote.

E N A J E R O H — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissBlessing KevweEnajeroh, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Blessing KevweAshien. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

U W A K W E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissUwakwe Chinenye C.,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Guwo Chinenye C. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ONWUEGBUCHULAM—I, formerly knownand addressed as MissOgechi VivianOnwuegbuchulam,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Ogechi VivianAmaobi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU RL A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E ) K I O S K4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—59

60 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

but their inability to finda clue and adapt totechnical changesagainst Ghana andZimbabwe.

And after alsoanalysing thecircumstances that theyfelt contributedimmensely to Nigeria’squalification for the 2014World Cup, the NigeriaFootball FederationExecutive membershave concluded thatStephen Keshi, the headcoach of the Eaglesneeds some assistance tolead Nigeria well in theWorld Cup in Brazil.

And the technicalcommittee members, wegathered, were toformally present theirfindings to Keshi todaywhen the committeemeets but they gatheredlast night that Keshi hadtravelled to the UnitedStates to meet with hisfamily.

“We were not formallyinformed of his tripbecause we wanted tomeet him onMonday(today) and tellhim about our findingsfor the World Cup,”a topmember of the federationsaid last night.

“We want to do well inthe World Cup and westrongly feel that he

NFFContinues from BP

needs a technicalassistant,’’ the membersaid, adding, “it is aboutNigeria and notindividual aspirations.We want to break theAfrican record of aquarterfinal berth in theWorld Cup and from allindications we know thatKeshi needs a help. Hewill still lead thetechnical crew to Braziland will remain the headcoach. But we just wantto attach somebody tohim for the sake ofimproving Nigeria’s lotin the World Cup.”

Another top member ofthe Federation said that“a new hand could askquestions about certainthings that mayeventually help theteam. Chigozia Agbim,for example, kept onlytwo matches for his clubthroughout the seasonand has recently beendropped by his club,Enugu Rangers whoregistered four goalkeepers and found himnot good enough to beamong their keepers.That’s the keeper Keshiused in the CHANcompetition and heembarrassed thecountry. That cannothappen in football

nations. We don’t foldour arms whilesomebody leads usastray. If you closelywatch our league youwill find out that thosewho played CHAN inSouth Africa were notour best, some may noteven make the secondteam of the bests in ourleague. We want to besure that we make a truerepresentation of thecurrent best of Nigerianfootball in Brazil and anew hand may not givein to the kind ofsentiments that we havenoticed in the teamnow.”

Keshi, we gathered,had told the federationthat he did not need anew technical assistantand that SylvanusOkpala who wasdisengaged after theNations Cup victory inSouth Africa be recalled.Many Nigerians havesupported Keshi’sposition on Okpala evenif another assistant is tobe engaged for the bestinterest of the Eagles inBrazil. The technicalcommittee meeting willgo on today in spite ofKeshi’s absence whichmembers are alreadyfrowning at.

dence. The two-time Af-rican champions beganwell, creating chancesbut failing to convertthem to the dismay oftheir teeming fans. Afri-can Nations Champion-ship striker, Ifeanyi Edewas the worst culprit ashe frittered away nu-merous chances. Abdul-rahman Bashir was an-other profligate in frontof goal.

Seeing that Enyimbawere not taking theirchances, the Togoleseteam launched a sur-prise attack in the 37th

minute that resulted inthe opening goal of thematch scored by CheikAziz Camara. The goalsilenced the capacitycrowd.

Coach Zakary Barajesubstituted misfiringIfeanyi Ede with SibiGwar. Ede appeared toconfirm the position ofleague monitors that

EnyimbaContinues from BP those who represented

Nigeria in CHAN werenot the best from theleague.

However, refusing tobe outdone by their ri-vals, Enyimba supportersintensified their singingfrom the stands, hopingfor an equaliser. The firsthalf ended with the visi-tors leading 1-0.

Substitute Gwar lev-eled scores for Enyimbain the 80th minute. Hisfinish was sublime andthe fans who were al-ready getting tensed upsprang back to life.

Three minutes later,Kingsley Sokari scoredthe second goal for Eny-imba. Just when every-body thought the matchwas going to end 2-1,Gwar was on song againwhen he unleashed aterrific shot that beat goal-keeper Nouridine As-souna to give Enyimba acomfortable 3-1 win. Thesecond leg comes upnext weekend in Togo.

PillarsFirmin Mubele Ndombescored in the 11thminute.

It took Kano Pillars 20minutes to get back onlevel terms with theirhosts through Nigeriamidfielder, Rabiu Ali.

Just after Ali’s goal,Bello Kofarmata misseda glorious opponent togive Pillars the lead af-ter rounding the AS Vitagoalkeeper but failed tohit target.

But the Kano club’s joylasted only 14 minuteswhen Guy Lusadisu Ba-sisila restored AS Vita’slead and ensured theywent into the break themore comfortable.

The second half beganon a sour note for KanoPillars as Kofarmata sawred for a second booka-ble offence in the 54thminute.

Two minutes after theNigerians went one mandown, AS Vita scoredthrough Lema Mabidi togive themselves a two-goal lead with over 30minutes to play.

Kano Pillars howeverheld on to avoid conced-ing a fourth goal for theremaining 30 minutesand added time.

The return leg betweenKano Pillars and AS Vitawill take place at theSani Abacha Stadium inKano next weekend.

Continues from BP

BentContinues from BPby’s fine pass saw thePremier League’s bot-tom club lead at the endof a first half that Unit-ed had largely dominat-ed.

The second period waseven more one-sided,with the visitors oftenhaving 11 men behindthe ball, and the hoststurned around the score-line thanks to two goalsin two minutes, as Rob-in van Persie struck fromclose range and MichaelCarrick netted with adeflected strike.

However, half-timesubstitute Bent noddedin a rebound in thefourth minute of injurytime to earn Fulham apoint.

United remain seventhin the Premier League,with Fulham still at thefoot of the table.

The Red Devils start-ed Sunday’s game rela-tively well, but were un-able to create a genuine-ly decent chance to takethe lead.

The visitors shockedthe hosts in the 19thminute.

I want my Super Eagles shirt back, says YoboAFTER a confident

debut perform-ance in the 0-0 drawwith title-chasers Man-chester City on SaturdaySuper Eagles captainand Norwich City de-fender Joseph Yobo hasset his sights on a returnto the national team ashe looks set to force hisway into the squad forthe 2014 FIFA World Cupin Brazil.

The Super Eagles’most capped player re-turned to England tojoin the Canaries in Jan-uary after four years inTurkey with Fenerbahce.

The Eagles skipper islooking to claim back hisplace he lost after the2013 African Cup of Na-tions.

“It’s been a while sinceI was involved with Ni-geria. I haven’t playedfor the Super Eaglessince we became thechampions of Africa,”Yobo said after thisweekend’s PremierLeague match.

“I have spoken to

(Stephen Keshi) and Ithink we are on equalbasis now so I just haveto perform well for Nor-wich City now and getmy place back in the na-tional team.

“I have been in the

national team for solong. Captaining the na-tional team gives me aspecial feeling and go-ing to the World Cup forme will be an addition.

“I am here (in Eng-land) now and my pri-

ority now is NorwichCity. Hopefully if I dowell here, the nationalteam (call up) will just bean addition. It will be apleasure,” he added.

JUST like what theydid in Lagos,

Nestle Nigeria at theweekend celebrated thefeat achieved by

Nestle donates basketball uprights,jerseys to St Jude’s Angels

TWO goal hero inEnyimba’s 3-1 vic-

tory over Anges deNotse of Togo, SibiGwar has said that heknew he was going toscore in yesterday’stense CAF ChampionsLeague match in Aba.

Speaking after thematch, the mercurial

I knew I would score— Sibi Gwar finisher told Sports Van-

guard that he was happyto have scored the twogoals that helped Enyim-ba win 3-1.

“I am happy that Iscored today. I am evenhappier that the two goalsI scored were very impor-tant. I knew I would scorebecause each time I playfor Enyimba I score impor-tant goals,” he said.

Bayelsa’s St Jude’s Girls’Secondary School at theyearly Milo SecondarySchool BasketballChampionship.

At the colourful eventheld at the schoolpremise in Amarata,dignitaries from BayelsaState ministry ofeducation and sports ledby the Commissioner forEducation, SaloAdikumo were present atthe occasion includingparents and guardians ofthe celebrated team.

The atmosphere wasanimated with studentsgracing the event intheir hundreds, while thePrincipal of the 52 year-old school, Mrs. CeliaApreala could not hideher joy for the honouredbeing bestowed on theschool as well as allmembers of the team.

•Yobo

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—61

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62 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

,

,The extra time hasexpired, the Great

arbiter has blown hiswhistle

Blessed are the dead which die in the LordFrom henceforth . yeah said the spirit that theymay rest from their labours and their works do

follow them.Revelation 14 V 13

FRIDAY, January 31........four days before thedeath of Pa Ojidoh, I had for a guest, Linus

Mba, the hard working referees consultant of theNigeria Football Federation.

Whenever Linus came round, of course you cantrust that the topic will be football unlimited. ThisFriday, in the course of our discussion, Linus drewmy attention to my last column in the Vanguard,especially the one that had to do with Keshi wear-ing a suit on the bench during the world cup.

For him it does not matter what a coach wears, aslong as he performs. Then Linus remembered PaOjidoh and wondered what his opinion will be onissues like this.

Linus Mbah is one of those who benefits from theregular calls of Pa Ojidoh. The man who was con-stantly abreast of sports issues, especially footballwill always want to call you and contribute his quo-ta. His other medium of communication was throughtext messages, a platform he used frequently to sendout prayers and good will messages to his friendsand family.

So Linus put a call through to him and he quicklyresponded. After the initial greetings, Linus passedthe phone to me “….Paul talk to him, you are thejournalist…..” Before I could even say anything,he said he thought I was in South Africa that waswhy he had not called me. Was I in contact withAlhaji Maigari, I said “yes”. When next I speak tohim, I should extend his greetings…. “ ….Tell himhe is doing well, but he should not rest on his oars.There are bigger glories ahead of him.

“ It is not enough to qualify for the world cup. Weshould go there and do well. We have the playersand the resources and all we need is the propermentality to do better than we have been doing.The issue of African countries falling short is a psy-chological block that should be dislodged………

“ What about my son?” (Keshi) I said he was OK.That Keshi should remain focused. CHAN was near-ly a disaster, but that we should thank God we sur-vived. If the world cup team can put in the sameeffort and resilience put in by the team that over-came Morocco, then they will go far. He said.

When I had the opportunity to put in a word, Isaid to him that one of the reasons we called was to

Pa Ojidoh’s last interview

have his view on the dressing of coaches on thebench. He laughed……

“Before now, it would have been considered anabomination to take a suit near a football field. Howdare you come dressed with a suit and tie whereexcessive activity was needed?” He asked rhetori-cally.

“ But today, things have changed and we shouldendeavour to embrace positive changes. I am notfor a suit as a hard and fast rule. You must be com-fortable in what you put on. If you are not a suit andtie person, you cannot start now to strangulate your-self because you are a world cup coach. I am fordecent piece of dressing. Respectable. Some coacheswear something different from their staff. Be pre-sentable. A hood does not make a monk……” Heconcluded.

He then asked after Chief Jonathan Ogufere, Pres-ident of the Sports Veterans Association and hisdeputy Chief Peter Osugo. He said he had not heardfrom Emmanuel Obafemi for some time now………

He prayed for me and prayed for Linus. AskedGod to lengthen our lives and endow us with knowl-edge and wisdom to continue to serve sports faith-fully. “….We have passed the baton to you. We havedone our bit. I am living in injury time and canmove on any time.……”

We also prayed for him, told him he will not “leave”

until God’s appointed time.Tuesday morning “He” called me, and as usu-

al I rushed to the phone only to hear a voicesaying “Papa passed on yesterday evening….”

The extra time has expired, the Great arbiterhas blown his whistle, and retired to the dress-ing room a gladiator who had bestrode the Ni-gerian sports terrain like a colossus, a utility play-er who had fought a good fight. I join millions ofNigerians in bidding farewell to this icon of oursports organization .

Well done good and faithful servant of sport.Enter thou into the joy of your Lord.

At the Lagos Airport Hotel(LAHSA) sports week

COURTESY Idowu Oladunni I was invited asone of the guests at the closing ceremony of

the Lagos Airport Hotel sports festival 2013. Id-owu is the chairman of the sports Committee. Ihad said jokingly that this afforded me an op-portunity of eating good food for free, and thatsince the event was held in the Hotel sports fieldI will definitely not mind a complimentary roomshould we close too late for me to drive home!

It turned out to be more serious that I thought.I was definitely pleased to witness the physicalpresence of the MD and Chief Executive of theHotel Mr James Kayode Adenigba who was sup-ported by his top management staff includingExecutive Director Finance, Alhaji AdemolaAdetila and Controller Human Resources MrLawrence Omidiriona among others.

My attention was further captured when theMD revealed in his speech that the sports eventhad been run religiously for the past sixteenyears and it contributed a great deal in the uni-ty, bonding and camaraderie that existed be-tween the staff.

I sat through the very entertaining five a sidefootball final in which Maintenance beat House-keeping 1-0, just as the final of relays, table ten-nis, swimming, draught and snooker among oth-ers proved to be very exciting and competitive.

Departments that were on display includedHuman Resources, Food and Beverages, Train-ing and Accounts and Audit.

I thought this was commendable.I think it is very good and worth emulating.See you next week.

NIGERIA strikerO s a z e

Odemwingie has saidStoke City deserved thepoint they got at South-ampton.

Saturday’s EPL clashfinished in a 2-2 drawwith Osaze scoring in the38th minute to bring thegame to 1-1.

”We deserved a pointin the game because weshowed great organisa-tion and we defendedwell,” he said.

The former West Bromstriker, who made a win-ter switch from CardiffCity to Stoke, was de-lighted to get his firstgoal for his new club.”Very happy to get myfirst goal for the club.

Osaze says Stoke deservedSouthampton draw

Good team performance.Big thanks to our fans for

the support in this toughweather,” he tweeted.

FOOTBALL fanshankering for a

uniquely refreshing of-fering on the Super Ea-gles of Nigeria and theirpreparation for this sum-mer’s FIFA World Cup,Brazil 2014 are in for ex-citing times as the coun-try’s leading sports me-dia marketing and pro-duction company andthe Official Media Part-ner of the Nigeria Foot-ball Federation (NFF),HotSports Nigeria Lim-ited, has concludedplans to commencetransmission ofHotSports Locker RoomExtra: Super EaglesSamba Edition, on radioand television networksacross the land.

The programme whichis an upshot ofHotSports’ new partner-ship with the NFF offersa whole new window tofootball fans to becomeintegrated into the dailylives of Nigeria’s superstars in camp for the qua-

HotSports Locker Room ExtraHits Airwaves Marchdrennial tournament. It isconceived of as a one-hour package on televi-sion with an abridged15-minute radio versionspiced up with exclusivevisuals and sound bitesthat give detailed ac-count of the team’s prep-aration for the tourna-ment and is scheduled tobroadcast on major TVand radio networks inNigeria including NTA,AIT and Silverbird as wellas FRCN, Brila FM, CoolFM and Raypower FM.

According to Taye Ige,CEO of HotSports, be-ginning from the thirdweek of March, 2014, thecompany will commencebroadcast of exclusive,behind-the-scene visu-als from the camp of theSuper Eagles as theyprepare for the FIFAWorld Cup Brazil 2014

on HotSports LockerRoom Extra: Super Ea-gles Samba Edition. Heexplained thatHotSports’ crew wouldbe on ground in thecamp of the Super Ea-gles throughout theirpreparation for the tour-nament, including dur-ing friendly matches,training tours and duringthe tournament in Brazilto broadcast to millionsof football fans across Ni-geria and beyond back-room activities of theWorld Cup bound teamnot available on any oth-er programme.

“HotSports LockerRoom Extra: Super Ea-gles Samba Edition willstart as a weekly count-down programme onmajor TV and radio net-works in Nigeria in thethird week of March.

CONTROL . . . Stoke City’s Osaze Odemwingie(L) shields his challengers fr4om the ball

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014—63

CMYK

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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

VVVVVanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard,,,,, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Moist (4)4 Tune (3)6 Pant (4)8 Hue (6)9 Figurine (6)10 Serpent (3)12 Denude (5)14 Demise (5)15 Devil (5)18 Stick (6)20 Combined (6)24 Famous (5)26 Scanty (5)28 Breezy (5)30 Marry (3)32 Courteous (6)33 Shrewd (6)34 Intend (4)35 Equipment (3)36 Centre (4)

DOWN2 Assume (5)3 Undertake (7)4 Atmosphere (4)5 Grate (4)6 Class (5)7 Hod (7)11 Spring (3)12 Ocean (3)13 Equality (3)16 Number (3)17 Fruit (3)19 Lament (7)21 Novel (3)22 Foolish (7)23 Parched (3)25 Poem (3)27 Rule (5)29 Dissuade (5)30 Feeble (4)31 Dash (4)

ACROSS: 2, Rouse 7, Creep 8, Moral 10,Sewed 12, Low 13, Robin 15, Patient 17,Ironed 19, Pet 20, Despair 23, Item 25, Cite26, Damaged 30, Sat 31, Dealer 34, Holster37, Freed 38, Lea 39, Diver 40, Ledge 41,Cabin 42, Petty.

DOWN: 1, Prior 2, Resin 3, Opened 4, Step5, Politic 6, Tawny 9, Roe 11, Dappled 13,Rigid 14, Bored 16, Tea 18, Debated 21, Rifle22, Heard 24, Massage 27, Mat 28, Defect29, Holed 32, Array 33, Eerie 35, Led 36,Ripe.

Brazil: Why NFF insists on anew assistant for Keshi

BY ONOCHIEANIBEZE

GHANA werereduced to ten

men in the CHANsemifinal match withNigeria.

The Eagles could not

find an answer to theirpower game andeventually lost to them.

Zimbabwe had a redcard in the 17th minutein the 3rd place matchand Eagles could notfind a way to overwhelmthem and just scoredthree minutes to fulltime. Same thinghappened againstMexico in Houston lastyear when Eagles couldnot beat a ten manMexican team. The firsttwo matches of the lastNations Cup werebrought to question andthe circumstances thatled to the rejuvenation ofthe team reviewed. OnCHAN, a thoroughanalysis by the footballfederation did not frownat the inability of theEagles to overwhelm theopponents with goals

Continues on Page 60

HELPING HAND: A police officer comes over to help Wenger back onto hisfeet. Wenger fell at Lime Street station after Arsenal's 5-1 defeat to Liverpoolon Saturday.•Keshi

Enyimba survive Angesde Notse scare•Score 3 goals in the last 10 minutesBY JOHN EGBOKHAN

ENYIMBA FootballClub of Aba yes-

terday, at the EnyimbaInternational Stadium,Aba came back from thebrink of defeat to recorda remarkable 3-1 win

over Anges de Notse ofTogo in a preliminarygame of the CAF Cham-pions League.

Playing inside a jampacked stadium, Enyim-ba came into the matchbrimming with confiContinues on Page 60

Pillars collapse 1-3 in Congo

NIGERIAN champions, Kano Pil-

lars, began their cam-paign in the 2014 CAFChampions League on alosing note.

Kano Pillars lost 1-3 toDR Congo’s AS VitaClub at the Stade TataRaphael on Sunday.

Interestingly the firsthalf was an affair forplayers who took part atthe 2014 African NationsChampionship (Chan)to score goals.

The Congolese club gotthemselves in front whenContinues on Page 60

Late Bent headerdenies United

DARREN Bent’slate, late header

secured Fulham a 2-2draw against Manches-ter United at Old Traffordin the Barclays PremierLeague.

Steve Sidwell’s goodfinish from Lewis HoltContinues on Page 60

CMYK