no to 6-yr single term for president, govs— acf, afenifere

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61874

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013**

Mr & MrsDONUKOGBARA

COLUMNISTS:

•P.17

ADISAADELEYE

No to 6-yr single termfor president, govs

•It's in line with our desire — Ohanaeze•Minimum wage to be decentralised

Food forThought

Peeping intothe realm ofeconomicnationalism

—P.48

From right: Prof. Emevwo Biakolo, Dean, SMC, Pan-African University; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President; Dr Christopher Kolade,former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom; Mr Pascal Dozie, Chairman of the occasion and Dr Oba Otudeko, Chairman Honeywell NigPLC and book presenter, during the presentation of the book on Dr Christopher Kolade at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, VictoriaIsland, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

FARE DISPARITYBY FOREIGNAIRLINES:

Continues on page 5

— ACF, Afenifere

Why itpersists

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, EMEKAMAMAH, TONY

EDIKE & LUKA BIN-NIYAT

LAGOS—THE six-year single term for

President, Vice Presi-dent, governors andtheir deputies being pro-

posed by the SenateCommittee on Constitu-tion Review, has beenrejected by the ArewaConsultative Forum andthe Yoruba socio-culturalorganisation, Afenifere.They argued that it willnot only encourage cor-ruption but will also dis-courage good perform-

Sagay, Aturu

David-West, others

slam Rivers PDP

RIVERS LAWMAKERS:

•P.8

London courtdismissesIbori's appeal

•P.9

•P.42

BOOK PRESENTATION

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013 — 3

CMYK


CMYK

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 3, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

No to 6-yr single term forpresident, govs —ACF, Afenifere

AS unique as we all are, a lot of us want thesame things. We want to shake up our cur-

rent less-than-fulfilling lives. We want to be hap-pier, more loving, forgiving and connected withthe people around us. So, we make decisions (“I’mgoing to hang out with happy people!”) and westrive for markers of that accomplishment.)—BreneBrown

Brené Brown, speaker and author has spent thelast 12 years figuring out what keeps us from liv-ing—despite our best efforts—the kind of whole-hearted, fully involved existences that we’re tryingto lead. It turns out that a lot of the assumptions wehold so dear and we believe will turn around eve-rything are...well...just plain wrong.

She summarises aptly, for example, contrary towhat most of us think: “Belonging is not fitting in.In fact, fitting in is the greatest barrier to belong-ing. Fitting in, I’ve discovered during the past dec-ade of research, is assessing situations and groupsof people, then twisting yourself into a human pret-zel in order to get them to let you hang out withthem. Belongingis something else entirely — it’sshowing up and letting yourself be seen and knownas you really are”.

Many of us suffer from this split between who weare and who we present to the world in order to beaccepted. But we’re not letting ourselves be known,and this kind of incongruent living is soul drain-ing.

CONVENTION—Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State (M) reading relevant versesfrom the Holy Bible, during the 100th Session of the Nigerian Baptist Convention at the Holy GhostDominion Convention Centre, Osogbo, Osun State. He is assisted by President Nigeria Baptist Conven-tion, Rev. Supo Ayokunle(left) and Rev. Uche Enyioha.

You can lead at any level, leadership is about per-formance, not position. If you take people where theywould not have gone by themselves... you are lead-ing.

ance in public office.Their counterpart in theSouth-East, Ohanaeze,which articulates thesocio-cultural views ofNdigbo, is however infull support of the recom-

mendation, saying it is inline with the desire ofNdigbo.

In the committee’s rec-ommendations whichwould bar PresidentGoodluck Jonathan andincumbent first term gov-

ernors from re-contestingtheir positions in the2015 election, incum-bent Vice-President anddeputy governors arealso to be precluded fromelections to succeed theirprincipals under the six-year single term, Van-guard has learnt.

Details of the Senatecommittee’s recommen-dations obtained by Van-guard, yesterday, alsoshowed that the offices ofthe Minister of Justiceand that of the Attorney-General of the Federa-tion would be split to in-sulate the Attorney-Gen-eral from political influ-ence of the appointingpresident.

Also to be split is theoffice of the Accountant-General of the Federa-tion, from which wouldbe carved out a func-tional office of the Ac-countant-General of theFederation which wouldsee the latter restricted tohandling accounts of theFederal Government.

Besides, a number ofother constitutional itemsnow held as being on theexclusive legislative listincluding railways andminimum wage would becarved out to a concur-rent legislative list, Van-guard learnt.

The proposal to decen-tralize the present na-tional minimum wage isto allow different states

to fix wages in line withtheir endowments.

It was also gatheredthat members of the com-mittee have also agreedto give full autonomy tothe state houses of as-sembly and put the StateIndependent ElectoralCommissions on first linecharge, just as demo-cratically elected localgovernment councils.

However, the proposalfor a six-year single ten-ure for executive officeholders, yesterday, gen-erated strong emotionsamong the dominant cul-tural groups in the coun-try. The proposal, whichaccording to senators isaimed at stifling the of-ten cantankerous cam-paign for second term, itwas learnt, would alsostop the vice-presidentand deputy governorsfrom contesting electionto succeed their sittingprincipals.

“The only way a vice-president or deputy gov-ernor can succeed hisprincipal is throughdeath or removal fromoffice and once he or sheenters that office, he can-not run for election forthat office,” a source toldVanguard yesterday.

It was learnt that theproviso is directed at en-suring that presidentsand their vice-presidentsand governors and theirdeputies work harmoni-

ously without suspicionof the deputy plotting tosucceed his principal.

ACF rejectsproposal

ACF, in rejecting the six-year single tenure forpresidents and gover-nors, said the systemwould not only encour-age corruption, but alsodiscourages perform-ance in public office.

National Publicity Sec-retary of the ACF, MrAnthony Sani, made thisknown in a statement,yesterday, in which hepointed out that the sys-tem would not advancethe cause of good gov-ernance.

The statement read:"The attention of ACFhas been drawn to thereported recommenda-tions by the Senate forprovision in the constitu-tion for a single tenure ofsix years for presidentsand governors. Such aprovision would be coun-ter-productive, preciselybecause it cannot fur-ther the cause of goodgovernance that goeswith purposeful leader-ship, especially whenregard is paid to the factthat it lacks the basicelements of motivationand incentives neededin any management ofhuman affairs for per-formance.

"In the single tenuresystem, there are no in-centives, motivation andreward that can inspirefor excellent perform-ance. And this has to dowith the fact that thegood, the not-so-goodand the feckless lead-ers, are grouped to-gether in the same hallwithout any distinction.Such a practice cannotdeliver on good govern-ance. That may explainwhy most countries inthe world practice mul-tiple tenure systemswhich enable leaders toaspire for excellence inthe hope of reward byway of re-election."

It's not acceptable—Afenifere

Stating the objection ofAfenifere to the six-yearsingle tenure proposal,the Publicity Secretary ofthe socio-cultural group,Mr. Yinka Odumakinsaid:

"Afenifere rejects it andif you are talking of a sin-gle tenure, it should notbe more than four yearsand deputies need tosucceed their bossessince they are not theones on top of the ticket.

“But to say one tenureof six years and to ben-efit the incumbents, Ithink that is tenure elon-gation and it is not ac-ceptable to us and I thinksix years is too long toput up with a bad gov-ernment. If you have abad government, thehope of changing it infour years is better thanwaiting for six years. So,we are opposed to it, weobject to it, we are for thecurrent four year renew-able tenure but if they areinsisting on one term, itshould not be more thanfour years.”

It's in line withour desire —Ohanaeze

Ohanaeze, however,strongly expressed itssupport for the proposal.

Reacting to the pro-posal, Secretary Generalof Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr.Joe Nwaorgu said thatthe measure, if adopted,would ensure peace andprogress as well as elimi-nate inherent injusticesin the country.

He said: “This is inkeeping with the sub-mission of OhanaezeNdigbo to the ConstitutionReview Committee. Wewant a six-year single ten-ure for the president andit should be rotationalamong the six geopoliti-cal zones. That is our sub-mission to the Constitu-tion Review Committeeand we stand by that.”

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

Three die, as SUV plunges into riverBY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

& EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

YENAGOA — A SPORTSUtility Van, SUV,

Wednesday, plunged into theOrashi river, Mbiama at theRivers State end of the East-West road bordering Bayelsain the Ahoada West Local Gov-ernment Area, killing three ofits occupants.

Th sole survivor, Mrs JoyNnieh-Okunnu, National Co-ordinator of Hydrocarbon Pol-lution Restoration Project,HYPREP, sustained seriousinjuries and was rushed to anundisclosed hospital.

It was learnt that the blackMercedes Benz SUV, G55model with four occupantswas on a high speed and at-tempted to overtake a Mazda626 salon car when the disas-ter struck.

The vehicle, Vanguardlearnt, was heading to PortHarcourt.

The badly damaged SUVand deceased persons wereremoved from the river bysympathizers and sand dig-gers who rushed to the aid ofthe victims.

However, the three report-edly died before help couldreach them.

Men of the Federal RoadSafety Commission and Ni-

geria Security and Civil De-fence Corps had difficult timecontrolling the gridlockcaused by crash.

Mr. Peter Atama, one of thelocal divers who searched for

the victims said: “The accidenttook place in the morning onthe bridge. The victims had al-ready spent about 10 minutesin the water before we startedsearching. We were able to get

The mangled SUV.

one lady alive.“We recovered the lifeless

bodies of the remaining threewho were confirmed dead at anAhoada Hospital in RiversState.”

NAFDAC officials destroying fake products, in Makurdi,the Benue State, yesterday.

Police arrest chief, 5 others over murder in Ebonyi

BY PETER OKUTU

ABAKALIKI — EBONYIState Police Command,

yesterday, said it had arrestedsix suspects in connectionwith the murder of oneChikaudili Okrouga, 30, atOkposi Development Centrein Ohaozara Local Govern-ment Area of Ebonyi State.

Addressing newsmen at theCommand Headquarters inAbakaliki, the Ebonyi State

Police Public Relations Officer,PPRO, a Deputy Superin-tendent of Police, DSP,Sylvester Igbo, said the sus-pects were arrested on April30, 2013, two days after themurder, adding that the de-ceased was allegedly buriedafter being murdered.

The suspects are: ChiefOkoroafor Onu, 60; NnamdiChukwu, 24; Ikenta Samuel,38; Nwani Ogo, 68;

Nnaemeka Chukwu, 30 andGabriel Anu, 68.

According to the policespokesman, the commandwas able to establish the spotwhere the deceased was bur-ied in a village in Okposi com-munity, adding that effortswere on to exhume the corpsefor a post-mortem analysis.

“The suspects allegedly bur-ied the deceased in a bush inthe village and the spot has

been discovered. It was al-leged that the chief directedyouths of the area to beat upthe deceased which eventu-ally led to his death.

“Upon investigation, thechief said that he ordered theattack on the deceased be-cause he (Okrouga) was men-tally ill. However, we are stillinvestigating the matter andafter that the suspects will becharged to court.”

Directordocked forallegedN64m theft

BY ONOZURE DANIA

LAGOS— A DIRECTORwith the Kebbi State, Min-

istry of Finance, Yahyah SaiduAndarai, and one FaroukAbubarka Uduli, were yester-day, arraigned by the Eco-nomic and Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, beforean Ikeja High Court for alleg-edly stealing N64 million be-longing to Coscharis MotorsLtd.

The suspects and others atlarge who were charged be-fore Justice AdeniyiOnigbanjo, are facing a 27-count charge of conspiracy,fraud and stealing preferredagainst them by the EFCC.

The defendants were said tohave converted the said sumto their personal use being theproceed of AX motorcycles,property of Coscharis Motorsentrusted to them on behalf ofJega National Union of LocalGovernment Employees ofKebbi State.

While the second defendantwas only charged with a two-count charge, the first defend-ant was charged with a 27-count charge.

The defendants, however,pleaded not guilty to thecharges preferred againstthem.

Onigbanjo, howevergranted the two defendantsbail in the sum of N2million,with two sureties in like sum.

LWCapologisesoverunwholesomewater supply

LAGOS — LAGOS WaterCorporation, LWC, has

apologised to the general pub-lic, particularly the residentsof Ikate, Surulere in Lagosover the supply of colouredwater in the area recently.

In a statement by the Cor-poration’s Executive DirectorOperations, Mr. ‘DejiJohnson, the unwholesomewater was discharged duringthe test- running of the newlyconstructed two million gal-lons/day mini waterworkswhich is designed to increasewater supply to the people ofthe area.

While expressing regret overthe incident, Johnson assuredthe people of Ikate that LagosWater Corporation would en-sure that such occurrence isavoided in future.

Suspects' absence stalls GUO Transport boss’ kidnap case

BY NWABUEZEOKONKWO

ONITSHA — AN OnitshaHigh Court in Anambra

State, presided over by JusticeChudi Nwankwo has adjournedfurther hearing to Monday, in acharge preferred against sevensuspected kidnappers of anOnitsha-based transport magnetand Managing Director ofG.U.O. Transport Limited, ChiefG. U. Okeke.

The accused persons, EmekaEze, Chukwudi Agu, ChinonsoMaduka, Kelechi Okafor,Ndubuisi Ogbuji, AnthonyOkafor and AlexanderOnyinanya, were arraigned be-fore an Onitsha Chief MagistrateCourt in 2009 and remanded inprison custody for allegedly kid-napping Okeke in the premises

of the All Saints Cathedral An-glican Church, Onitsha on Au-gust 9, 2009 after a church serv-

ice.Before the case was called up,

Tuesday, none of the accused

persons was brought to the courtand on enquiry, the prison offi-cials told the complainant thatthere was no vehicle to conveythem.

When eventually the case wascalled up, the prosecution coun-sel, Mr Chris Ajugwe, informedthe court of what transpired be-tween the prison officials and thecomplainant in terms of bringingthe accused persons to the courtand the presiding Judge, JusticeNwankwo adjourned the matterto May 6, for hearing.

Another High Court inOnitsha, presided over by Jus-tice Pete Obiora had in October,last year, turned down an appli-cation for bail filed by AlexanderOnyinanya, the seventh accusedperson in the kidnap saga.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013—7

Pregnant women, nursing mothers among183 suspects arrested in Lagos

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

LAGOS — MEN of the LagosState Task Force on Environ-

mental and Special Offences, yes-terday, arrested 183 suspectedcriminals in two separate opera-tions.

The operation became necessaryfollowing increasing cases of rob-bery, rape, among other crimes.

The suspects who were said tohave been rounded up at Oshodiand Mafoluku areas of the state,are currently being detained atAlausa detention camp pendingtheir trial before a magistratecourt.

According to the source, 170suspected hoodlums, mostlyyouths, were arrested at Oshodi,13 were arrested at an aban-doned pit toilet building atMafoluku after a tip-off that thepublic toilet was being used bysuspected hoodlums as hideout.The toilet was later demolishedby the taskforce.

Also, of the 170 hoodlums ar-rested at Oshodi, 19 of them arefemales, including two pregnantteenagers and three nursingmothers.

The taskforce, fully armed andwith a Black Maria van, stormedOshodi around 1.00 am and ar-rested the suspects while somewere said to have escaped.

Chairman of the taskforce, ChiefSuperintendent of Police, BayoSulaiman, while confirming thearrests, said 46 of the suspects hadbeen arrested and jailed in the

past.According to him, their cases

will be treated differently, stress-ing that of the 170 hoodlums ar-rested, 20 were under-aged boysand eight girls.

Taskforce boss, however, ex-plained that the under-aged sus-pects would be taken to the state’sRemand Homes for re-orientationand change of attitude.

According to Sulaimon, “we

stormed an abandoned toilet atMafoluku area of the state after atip-off, in the process, 13 sus-pected criminals were arrestedwhile two had been set free afterthey were found to be innocentduring screening."

The suspects

BY NDAHI MARAMA

Terrorists destroy public buildings,telecom masts in Borno

MAIDUGURI — GUNMENin their hundreds in a con-

voy of 50 Hilux vans attacked

Marte Local Government Area ofBorno State, yesterday evening,where they succeeded in burn-ing down all public buildings likeschools, hospitals/clinics, policestations and all telecommunica-

tions masts in the council head-quarters.

Marte is about 150 kilometresfrom Maiduguri, the state capitalwhich also shares borders withBaga and Chad Republic. It isalso an epicentre of Boko Haramsect which had witnessed seriesof attacks and bombings.

A top police officer in Martesaid: “The gunmen invaded thetown at about 4p.m with over 50Hilux 4-wheel drive vehiclesarmed with sophisticated weap-ons, chanting Allahu Akbar,meaning (God is Great) andstarted throwing Improvised Ex-plosive Devices, IEDs, at all pub-lic structures without being chal-lenged by security operatives.”

Another reliable source said:“Apart from the Lake Chad De-velopment site, no other publicstructure remained standing inthe town as all of them have beendestroyed by the terrorists.”

Our correspondent gatheredthat the suspected terrorists hadafter the Baga carnage, issued awarning that Marte town wouldbe their next target of attack.

No life was, however, lost as theterrorists had warned those work-ing in the public buildings in thetown to vacate before they struck.

Contacted, the state Police Com-missioner, Mr. Yuguda Abdullahiand his image maker, DSPGideon Jubrin's phones rang sev-eral times without response, buta top security officer who did notwant his name mentioned con-firmed the incident.

9 kidnap suspects, alleged killers of DSSofficer paraded

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN CITY— THE Depart-ment of the State Security,

DSS, yesterday, paraded nine sus-pected kidnappers and robbersincluding those who killed oneof their staff in Benin City, lastyear.

The Director of the DSS in EdoState, Mr Bello Tukur Bakori, whoparaded the suspects before Gov-ernor Adams Oshiomhole de-scribed four of the suspected kid-nappers as dare-devil that haveterrorized the state since 2009.Among the robbers is one said tobe a specialist in demobilizing ve-hicles that have trackers.

He said: “They are the gangthat killed our staff and partici-pated in the kidnap of an NNPCstaff and a former Works Commis-sioner. Since their arrest, kidnap-ping has gone down in Edo State.”

The leader of the gang, FestusIdoro, who said he is from DeltaState, confessed to the crime, dis-closing how they made over N20million from ransom.

Governor Oshiomhole whocommended officers and men ofthe DSS who arrested the sus-pects expressed shock over theconfessions of the suspects, say-

ing: “Some of them have jobs sothey cannot say it was unemploy-ment that made them go into kid-napping or armed robbery.

“No matter what we may say,our law enforcement agents areworking and I want to urge the

media to give publicity to this kindof success.

“The challenge of security inthis nation is a serious one and Iwant all of us to keep politics apartand to tackle our security chal-lenges."

Attemptedmurder on Lagosjudge: Defencecounsel'sabsence stallstrial

BY BARTHOLOMEWMADUKWE

LAGOS — TRIAL of a commercial bus driver, Mr.

Kasali Quadri, for attemptingto kill a Lagos High Courtjudge, Justice E. Adebajo, wasstalled, yesterday, followingthe absence of his counsel.

The case which is before Jus-tice Christopher Balogun ofLagos High Court in Igbosere,which was adjourned for rul-ing on bail application and sub-stantive hearing of trial, couldnot go on but the complainant(Justice Adebajo) was presentin court.

Quadri is facing a one-countcharge of attempted murderproffered against him by thestate, but had pleaded notguilty to the charge.The de-fendant’s counsel, OludareFalana and SolomonKehinde, both of the Falanaand Falana’s Chambers, hadtold the court that the defend-ant had been in detention forthe past one year for a meretraffic offence.

Four suspects remanded overYahoo-Yahoo in Umuahia

BY ANAYO OKOLI

UMUAHIA — FOUR sus-pects were, yesterday, re-

manded at the Afara Prisons onthe orders of an Umuahia Mag-istrate Court for forging and us-ing the website of Federal Min-istry of Science and Technologyto defraud foreigners.

Their arrest and subsequentarraignment followed a petitionto the Department of State Secu-rity by the Federal Ministry ofScience and Technology that itswebsite was forged and beingused to defraud some foreignnationals.

The suspects are ChukwumaNwaogu, 30; Okechi NwaobiaMichael, 33; Ifeanyi DanNwaubani, 27 and Chigozie Ri-chard.

They were said to have de-frauded Polish, Slovak, Indian,Korean and Croatian citizens ofvarious sums of money.

According to the Abia State Di-rector of DSS, Mr. MatthewObodoechi, the suspects werearrested at 22, Nwaekwe Street,World Bank Housing Estate inAba.

The suspects were alleged to beworking in collaboration with oneFred Chigozie, based in Malay-sia who received the money fromthe victims and remitted theirshare of the fraudulent proceedsto them.

When they were arraigned be-fore the Magistrate court, theywere remanded in the prison be-cause the court has no jurisdic-tion over the matter.

Delta Policedemolishkidnappers'dens

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

ASABA— DELTA State Police Commissioner, Mr.

Ikechukwu Aduba, said thecommand had so far demol-ished five buildings used bykidnappers as their operationalbases and cells where their vic-tims were kept in unlawful cus-tody while demanding ran-som.

He also announced that 139suspected robbers/kidnapperswere arrested and 29 of suchsuspects killed during gun bat-tles, while 331 ammunitionwere recovered between Janu-ary and April this year.

The commissioner of Policewho stated this while briefingnewsmen in Asaba, yesterday,also paraded an army corpo-ral attached to 34 Artillery Bri-gade, Obinze at the state po-lice command, Asaba for al-leged gun-running, amongseveral suspects in their net.

According to him, “in fur-therance of its avowed inten-tion to take the battle to thedens of kidnappers, DeltaState police command with thefull backing of the state gov-ernment has commenceddemolitions of identified opera-tional bases and cells of kid-nappers."


BY EMMANUEL AZIK-EN, POLITICAL EDITOR

& DAPO AKINREFON

Sagay, David-West, Aturu flay PDP'sdeclaration of Rivers House seats vacant

PROMINENT civil rights activists, yesterday, described

as laughable and illegal the de-cision of the new executive ofthe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in Rivers State to declarethe seats of 27 members of theHouse of Assembly vacant.

Besides, the combatants inRivers State were warned thattheir actions could pose a dan-ger to the nation’s democracygiven what was described as thereckless abuse of due proce-dure.

Among those who spoke wereleading constitutional lawyer,Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN, erstwhileMinister of Petroleum Affairs,Prof. Tam David-West, leadingcivil rights activist, BamideleAturu and member of the Houseof Representatives, PetersideDakuku.

They were in agreement thatthe PDP state executive lackedthe power to declare the seatsof the 27 members in the Houseof Assembly vacant

Responding, Prof. Sagay saidthe suspension by the party inthe state did not bar the law-makers from carrying out theirlegislative functions, describingthe action as an act of intimida-tion on those perceived to beagainst the president’s re-elec-tion plans.

He said: “It does not affecttheir status as legislators. It hasabsolutely no effect at all. All thathappened is that, if the suspen-sion remains, they cannot besponsored in any election by thePDP.”

Affirming that the memberswere not in any way threatenedby the suspension, he said:“The whole thing is part of theintimidation to terrorise anyonewho is seen not to support thepresident’s second term ambi-tion. I don’t think this sort of tac-tics is going to get us any-where”.

Speaking on the develop-ment, Prof. David-West said: “Ihave been following this issuefor some time and what is hap-pening in Rivers State shoulddistress any responsible Riversperson or Nigerian. GovernorAmaechi has not done anywrong that we know, if he hasdone any wrong, let them comeup with it.

"He is doing very well in Riv-ers State and he is popular. Now,the question is: Can the stateexecutive suspend electedmembers and declare their seatsvacant? That should be done bythe Central Working Commit-tee of the party after proper in-vestigation. This is causing un-necessary destabilization in Riv-

ers State because Amaechi isdoing well.”

Continuing, he said “If youhave any party problem, musteverybody in the state suffer be-cause not everybody in the stateis a member of the PDP. Do theyhave the power to declare seatsof lawmakers vacant? These areelected members, they do nothave the power to do that.

Though they are suspendedfrom the party, but they are stillmembers of the House of As-sembly. The party cannot re-move them. They are still law-makers of Rivers state. It is justthat, they are no longer mem-bers of the party. The wholeepisode is disturbing to me. Theseats were given to them by theelectorate who elected them.”

Civil rights activist and law-yer, Aturu on his part describedthe assertion credited to Obuahas laughable even as hewarned the political class notto destroy the nation’s democ-racy.

“That is a huge joke, the par-ty cannot declare the seat of alawmaker vacant under the con-stitution, that is a huge and verylaughable development and Idon’t think anyone should takethat seriously because the pro-cedure for declaring a seat va-cant does not include a politi-cal party waking up and thendeclaring the seat of its mem-bers vacant.

“They have no role to play asfar as I am concerned, I thinkthat is something that shouldbe ignored.”

Warning on the threat to thenation’s democracy from thepolitical class, he said: “But Ithink that these politicians aretrying to overheat the systemand I think we need to warnthem to desist from these care-

less behaviour, these recklessacts because if they bring downthis democracy they will havethemselves to blame because thiskind of development is really

worrisome. Some people justwake up and they begin to be-have as if they are a law untothemselves. I think this culture ofimpunity is becoming too much.”

PIB takes front burner at 2013OTC in Houston

Alison-Madueke to deliver keynote address

THE proposed oil industry reform law currently before the

National Assembly for legislativeaction would form the focal pointof global discourse at the forthcoming 2013 Offshore Technol-ogy Conference, OTC, billed forHouston, Texas, United Statesfrom May 6 to 9, 2013.

The Minister of Petroleum Re-sources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, is billed to deliver thekeynote address at the global oiland gas conference.

Receiving a delegation of topmanagement of ExxonMobil Ni-geria, led by its Managing Di-rector/Chairman, Mr. MarkWard, Alison-Madueke notedthat apart from offering a plat-form for the propagation of thecentral objective of the PIB, theOTC serves as platform for in-digenous operators to up theante on technology trends in theindustry.

The minister said: “The OTCbeing one of the world’s foremostgatherings in technology as faras the oil and gas industry is con-cerned, clearly sets the pace inwhat happens on the technolo-gy front and this is a highly tech-nology driven industry.

"Participation in the OTC givesus a lot of understanding, pro-vide platform for knowledge

transfer and above all exposurefor our indigenous operators".

The minister stated that the ex-perience garnered over the yearshad impacted positively on theproductivity and general outputof indigenous operators and serv-ice providers.

Presenting her with the mantleto deliver the keynote address,Ward showered encomiums onthe minister for her sterling lead-ership of the industry in Nigeria.This year’s OTC keynote addressis being sponsored by ExxonMo-bil.

Ward said: “We are here to for-mally present the minister withthe keynote address at the Off-shore Technology Conference.The OTC is one of the most re-nowned conferences in the World.As a company we are looking forwho can describe some of the op-portunities that exist in the world,especially in the African Conti-nent".

Founded in 1969, the OTC isheld annually in Houston’s Reli-ant Centre and it is the offshoreoil and gas industry’s foremostevent for the development of hy-drocarbon resources in the areasof drilling, environmental protec-tion, exploration, production de-velopment, innovation and tech-nology.

Bagamassacre:ACN rejectspreliminaryreports

BY EMEKA MAMAH

THE Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has rejected

preliminary reports submittedby both the military high com-mand and NEMA on the Bagatragedy, saying that availableand verifiable evidence had"shown that investigation thatproduced the reports was eve-rything but thorough.’’ In a statement signed by thethe National Publicity Secre-tary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,the party called for urgent andindependent investigation intothe incident which occurred onApril 16, 2013 ‘’to establish thetruth, instead of an apparentlyshoddy investigation.’’Mohammed said, ‘’those whocarried out that investigationapparently discountenancedthe fact that in today’s world,nothing is hidden. Thanks tothe satellite imagery releasedby Human Rights Watch,HRW, on Wednesday, theworld is now aware of the mas-sive devastation that occurredin Baga. It is actually worsethan what has been reported! ’’The satellite images supportthe conclusion by the rightsgroup that 2,275 buildingswere destroyed in the clashes.They also seem to support thestatements credited to the Sen-ator representing the area, La-wan Maina, who put the deathtoll at 220. "Contrast this to NEMA’s con-clusion that far less than 1,000homes were destroyed, or themilitary high command’s find-ing that only 36 people werekilled, and it becomes glaringthat something is wrong some-where. ’The Nigerian media, nowthe whipping boy of an in-creasingly edgy administra-tion, has come under fire forreporting the massive killingsand devastation. But those crit-icizing the Nigerian mediashould endeavour to follow theinternational media’s report-age of the events in Baga tosee that the local media is notjust crying wolf.’’ According to the ACN, ‘’Ni-geria would have been sparedthe global opprobrium result-ing from the Baga tragedy, hadthe government and the mili-tary carried out a more diligentinvestigation of the incidentsinstead of acting in a defensivemanner and trivializing the de-struction wrought in Baga bysaying most of the destroyedhouses were made of thatchedroofs anyway, as if it was a sinto live in such structures.’’

VISIT—President, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Dr. KanayoNwanze (left); and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, during hisvisit in Abuja, yesterday.


CONFAB—From left: Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga; Vice-Pres-ident Namadi Sambo; and PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur at the opening ofCanada-Nigeria investment conference in Toronto, Canada, yesterday.

Obasanjo, Kolade bicker over SURE-PBY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA

BUREAU CHIEF & DAPOAKINREFON

As Okonjo-Iweala orders payment of stipend to internsFORMER President Chief

Olusegun Obasanjo andchairman of the Subsidy Reinvest-ment and Empowerment Pro-gramme, SURE-P, Dr ChristopherKolade, yesterday, bickered overthe SURE-P initiative of the Fed-eral Government.

While Chief Obasanjo said he didnot believe in the SURE-P, Dr Ko-lade, said he believed in it.

They spoke at the presentationof lectures delivered over the yearsby Dr Christopher Kolade titled‘Kolade’s Canons’, at the NigeriaInstitute of International Affairs,NIIA, Lagos.

Obasanjo, who was special guestat the book launch, lampooned theSURE-P, saying it was an initiativehe did not understand.

The former president said thoughhe did not have an inkling on whatthe SURE-P was all about, thechairman of the programme hasgiven satisfactory explanationabout why he took up the appoint-ment.

Said he: “I have said it publiclyand I will never stop saying it thathis service as the High Commis-sioner to Britain at the time heagreed to be exported, made tre-mendous impact and helped meand my administration. I don’tknow about SURE-P. People cometo me but I have not sent anybodyto you. I have got many people whohave come to me and said ‘sendme to Christopher Kolade, he is incharge of the SURE-P’. I don’tknow what is SURE-P.

"When he (Kolade) was celebrat-ing his 80th birthday, those whohad misgivings about him takingup that assignment challengedhim and he gave satisfactory ex-planation. If he does not give it,those of us who have complaints,won’t understand.

"I am a complainant about the sit-uation in my country. If we don’tfeel concerned about what is bad,you would not have brought aboutwhat is good. You have to be ableto identify what is not right andcomplain about it and speak aboutit. Don’t just complain and speak,try and prescribe the alternative.You know whatsoever you do in thiscountry, I will support you".

Commending the former Nige-rian High Commissioner to Eng-land for assisting his administra-tion, Obasanjo described him as agift not only to Nigeria but also tohumanity.

He said: “I will never be tired ofshowing up on anything that con-cerns Christopher Kolade. Koladesaid I cannot be here and not beheard and I said well, I won’t saymuch but I will just concur withwhat everybody has said. But whenI told him that ‘you may not likewhat I would say’, then he warnedme that he would speak after me.

I believe in SURE-P— Kolade

In his defence, Dr Kolade disa-greed with the former presidentjust as he expressed optimism thatthe SURE-P initiative was a pro-gramme he believed in.

Kolade said “The SURE-P mat-ter is not a matter for today. If Iam still in SURE-P, it means Ibelieve in SURE-P, which meansI don’t agree with the person youare quoting.

"All the lectures I have deliv-ered all points to the directionof how we can improve ourcountry. How can we do betterwith what we have, Nigeria hasa lot of resources and a lot of po-tentials, but we don’t seem to bedoing too well.

"In all my career, I noticed thatI was driven by this passion tosee what we can do to better thesituation in our country. All thespeeches and lectures I havegiven, have the same objectiveson how we can improve.”

Roll call at the occasion

Notable personalities presentat the book presentation includechairman of the HoneywellGroup, Mr Oba Otudeko; formerChairman/Chief Executive Of-ficer of Diamond Bank Plc, MrPascal Dozie, Vice Chancellor ofthe Pan-African University, Pro-fessor Juan Elegido; BishopGeorge Bako; Mr Fola Adeola,Professor Emevwo Biakolo andOwo born business magnate,Otunba Johnson Fasawe amongothers.

Meanwhile, the CoordinatingMinister for the Economy andMinister of Finance, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, has ordered im-mediate payment of stipends tointerns under the Graduate In-ternship Scheme, GIS, of theSubsidy Re-investment Pro-gramme, SURE-P.

She gave the directive whenshe co-launched the GIS of theSURE-P with its Chairman, Dr.Christopher Kolade, in Abuja,

The directive came on the hillsof complaints by some internswho said they were not beingpaid their monthly stipend ofN18, 600.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had calledfor a frank discussion on all is-sues with a view to ensuring thatinterns received full benefits ofthe programme in terms of theirwelfare, as well as, skill acqui-sition and mentoring to makethem either better employable bythe private sector or opt out forentrepreneurial endeavours.

She said: “I am happy that youhave spoken up. This is why weare holding this stakeholders in-teraction to enable us have afeedback upon which necessaryactions can be taken to ensurethat the programme achieves thepurpose for which it was intend-ed.

“All those who have not re-ceived their stipends should listtheir names and their firms toenable the secretariat follow-up

immediately. Latest within a weekall such interns must be paid”.

The minister noted that about 1.8million employable individualswere entering the nation’s labourmarket annually and that withyouth unemployment put at about37 per cent, the figure as unac-ceptable and required concertedefforts by both public and privatesector operators to address thechallenge.

According to her, the GIS wastargeting 50, 000 youths of ages18-40 and that the group which

formed a critical mass for the de-sired accelerated economic de-velopment of the nation couldnot be ignored.

She appealed to private sec-tor operators to collaborate withthe Federal Government with aview to making a successes ofeach of the programmes target-ing employment generation inall sectors.

Also speaking, Dr. Koladeurged all well-meaning Nigeri-an individuals and corporateorganisations, to borrow a leaf

from the employment generationprogrammes of the Federal Gov-ernment to save the youths fromthe streets in the overall inter-ests of the society and the futureof the nation.

He challenged corporate or-ganisations to see the scheme asa new window to broaden theirCorporate Social Responsibili-ties, CSRs, by accepting as manyinterns as they can and provid-ing regular jobs or mentoringthem enough to become entre-preneurs.

Money laundering: London court dismissesIbori's appeal over reduced sentence

BY MICHAEL EBOH

FORMER Delta State Governor, James Ibori’s attempt to

have his sentence reduced wasdismissed by a London court, yes-terday, saying that Ibori’s appeallacked merit.

Two justices of the Royal Courtsof Justice on the Strand in Lon-don dismissed Ibori’s appeal,thereby affirming the 13 yearprison term handed the formergovernor for money laundering,stealing and embezzling of $250million belonging to Delta Statebetween 1999 and 2007.

Ibori who was not present at thecourt, was April last year sen-tenced to 13 years in prison bythe Southwark Crown Court inLondon for his role in the embez-zlement of about $250 million ofDelta State’s funds. His support-ers, however, thronged the courtpremises, calling for his freedom.

Scotland Yard declared that dur-ing his two terms as governor,Ibori “systematically stole funds

from the public purse, secretingthem in bank accounts across theworld"

Ibori had in February last year,pleaded guilty to conspiracy tomoney laundering and obtain-ing a property transfer by decep-tion.

He also admitted to conspira-cy to defraud, conspiracy to makefalse instruments, and one countof money laundering linked to a$37 million share fraud sur-rounding the sale of shares inNigerian company, V-Mobile.

“Ibori deliberately and system-atically defrauded the peoplewhose interests he had beenelected to represent”, said SuePatten, head of Britain’s CrownProsecution Service central fraudgroup.

Also speaking, Britain’s Inter-national Development Secretary,Andrew Mitchell, said, “Corrup-tion was a cancer in the devel-oping world and the sentencesent a strong message to peopleeying Britain as a refuge for theircrimes.

“We are committed to rootingout corruption wherever it is un-dermining development, and wewill help bring its perpetratorslike Ibori to justice and return sto-len funds to help the world’spoorest.”

He was arrested in 2010 in Du-bai and then extradited to Lon-don for trial but as his trial at Lon-don’s Southwark Crown Courtwas about to begin, Chief Iborichanged his plea to guilty andadmitted stealing money fromDelta State and laundering it inLondon through a number of off-shore companies.

Following Mr Ibori’s plea, theMetropolitan Police spokesman,Paul Whatmore told the courtthat: “We will now be activelyseeking the confiscation of all ofhis stolen assets so they can berepatriated for the benefit of thepeople of Delta State.”

Prosecutor Sasha Wass de-scribed Ibori’s tenure as gover-nor of Delta State as a time ofwide-scale theft, fraud and cor-ruption.


Late Mama Falana.

Transition

VISIT: From left— Rt. Hon. Alderman Roger Gifford, Lord Mayor of the City of London; Governor Babatunde Fasholaof Lagos State and Mr. Peter Carter, Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, during the Lord Mayor's visit to GovernorFashola in Lagos. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

Lagos begins prosecution of kidnappers

MAMA ElizabethFalana, 82, is

dead. Wake keep willhold on Friday, May 3,at her residence inItunmolipa Quarters,Eyindi, Ijebu-Ife.

Interment is next dayat the church burialground after a Churchservice at Louis CatholicChurch Ijebu-Ife at10a.m.

She is survived by chil-dren and grand children.

LEKE Alder Founda-tion, LAF, has dedicated

Leke Alder’s latest book,Novus, to charity. Novus isthe Latin word for new.

The novel, an e-Book,which was released, yester-day, is a business develop-ment story about a youngentrepreneur named Don,who is desirous of startinga business but has no ideahow to go about it.

LAF's founder, Mr. LekeAlder, said the book wasborne out of his desire tomake business knowledgeavailable to everyone.

DEPUTY Governor of Lagos State, Princess

Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire,has cautioned against subject-ing autistic children to anyform of discrimination.

She spoke in Lagos at anevent organised by PatrickSpeech & Languages Centre,aimed at demystifying theneuro-developmental disor-der, whose cause remains un-known.

Adefulire, who spokethrough the State Director,Child Development, Mrs.Alaba Fadairo, said with ad-equate love, support and con-sistent therapy, children withautism could regain normalcyand be relevant to society.

Proprietress of the centre,Mrs. Dotun Akande, enjoinedorganisations and well-mean-ing Nigerians to join in the

campaign towards increasingawareness on autism to en-sure better understanding ofthe disorder and, therefore,reduce discrimination.

Lagos Dep Gov makescase for autistic children

PCHN debunks report of electrocuted man

MANAGEMENT ofPower Holding Com-

pany of Nigeria, PHCN,Ikeja Distribution Company,has debunked media reportsthat an electricity polecaused the death of an un-named individual in Lagosduring a recent downpour,saying the report “is not thetrue representation of thesituation.”

It was reported that duringthe downpour, no fewer than

five electric poles belongingto PHCN collapsed aroundCentral Business District,CBD, in Ikeja, Acme Road,one of which allegedly causedthe death of unnamed person.

Management of IkejaDISCO, in a statement by theAssistant General Manager,Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, admit-ted that there was a heavyrainfall accompanied bythunderstorm and lightningwithin Lagos metropolis onApril 18 that led to the de-struction of 34 power instal-

lations and houses, but de-nied any death caused by theelectric poles.

Adeyanju said: “Rehabilita-tion work was completed andpower was restored to the areaon Wednesday, April 24.

"The photograph attached tothe story must have beentaken within 24 hours of thecollapse of the poles, as flash-flood and bare conductor, longremoved, could still be seenin the photograph, which isnot the true reflection of thepresent situation.”

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

LAGOS State Attorney-General and Commis-

sioner for Justice, Mr. AdeIpaye, yesterday, said that thestate would begin the pros-ecution of cases of suspectedkidnappers arrested in thestate from May 16.

Lamenting the upsurge inkidnapping cases in thestate, Ipaye said the govern-ment would leave no stoneunturned to send a strongsignal to would-be kidnap-pers that Lagos State hadzero tolerance for criminals.

He spoke at the monthlybriefing by his ministry oncriminal justice administra-tion in the state.

Ipaye, who did not disclose

the names of those so far ar-rested, said he would per-sonally take charge of theprosecution of the suspectsdue to the concern govern-ment had for the security ofresidents.

He also said although thegovernment was not happyover the spate of kidnap casesin the state, he was happy thatthe suspects were usually ap-prehended on each occasion.

He said Lagosians must becautious on the type of com-pany they usually keep, toavoid unwarranted cases ofkidnap.

He said: “I want to assurethe public that Lagos State isone place where kidnappersare actually arrested.

"We are giving the police andall the other security agenciesfull support and this is yield-ing results.

"In the next few days, youwill see me in court with thefirst set of persons accused ofkidnapping and this will be acontinuous exercise.”

On the activities of his min-istry in the last few months,Ipaye said the office of theDirector for Public Prosecu-tion, DPP, concluded and ob-tained judgments in 13 casesbetween January and Marchthis year.

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

NIGERIAN Medical As-sociation, NMA, yester-

NMA tells govs to end doctors'casualisation day, appealed to government

at all levels to endcasualisation of doctors’semployment in the country.

Speaking in Lagos, Presi-dent of NMA, Dr. OsahonEnabulele, specifically,urged Governor BabatundeFashola of Lagos State tostop the casualisation of doc-tors in the state.

It would be recalled thatLagos State Government hadin 2012 employed about 373medical doctors as locumdoctors (casual workers).

The state explained thenthat the locum doctors were

engaged to put an end to doc-tors' strike in the state.

However, Enabulele, whospoke at the opening cer-emony of the 53rd AnnualGeneral Conference/Del-egates Meeting of NMA,urged all state governmentsyet to implement the Consoli-dated Medical Salary Struc-ture, CONMESS, especiallyLagos, to do so without fur-ther delay.

He described the ongoingwar on professionalism and hi-erarchical order in the country’shealth sector as “Pull The Doc-tor Down Syndrome, PTDDS.

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

ABUJA—UNITEDStates Government

has denied reports thatit has withdrawn its mili-tary assistance to Nigeriaover various humanrights violations by Ni-gerian security forces,particularly the militarywhich is currently en-gulfed in a controversyover the killing of dozensand destruction of hun-dreds of residences inBaga, Borno State, duringa clash with members ofthe Boko Haram.

US Ambassador to Ni-geria, Mr. TerenceMcCulley, was said tohave made the an-nouncement at a privatemeeting with about 10members of the humanrights community in Ni-geria, yesterday.

US still inpartnershipwith NA

LAFdedicatesnew book tocharity


LECTURE: From left— Otunba Bimbola Ashiru, Ogun State Commissioner forCommerce and Indusry; Mr. Mike Omeri, DG, National Orientation Agency, NOA, and Dr.Ausbeth Ajagu, President, Governing Council, AES Excellence Club, at the club's businesslecture and luncheon in Lagos. PHOTO: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

NSCDCnabs 6 withadulteratedfuel in Ondo

BY DAYO JOHNSON

Security beefed up, tension risesas tribunal rules on Ondo guber

AKURE—SECURITY hasbeen beefed up in Akure,

Ondo State capital, ahead oftoday’s delivery of judgment bythe Election Petition Tribunalsitting over the October 20 gov-ernorship election in the state.

The Justice Andovar Kaka-ledthree-member tribunal had,Wednesday, communicated tothe three parties— Labour Party,LP; Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, and Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN— that the judg-ment will be delivered today.

Security operatives were no-ticed in strategic places acrossthe Akure metropolis, while thetribunal venue, the High Courtin Akure, is being manned byboth plain clothe policemenand members of the State Se-curity Service SSS.

Speaking with newsmen inAkure, police authorities saidthat they had deployed a size-able number of policemen tostrategic areas in the state capi-tal ahead of the judgment.

Police image-maker in thestate, Wole Ogodo, said inAkure that the Police Commandwas not going to take anychance, hence the beefing upof security in case of any even-tualities from politicians.

Ogodo said that the police areup to the task and would nottolerate any break down of lawand order.

He appealed to the people ofthe state to go about their nor-

mal businesses and that therewas not cause for alarm.

Police statementThe state Police Command,

in a statement in Akure, en-titled The need to maintainpeace during and after theelection tribunal judgment,

said: “Ondo State PoliceCommand wishes to use thismedium to assure the goodand peace-loving people ofOndo State of adequate pro-tection during and after theelection tribunal jugdmentcoming up today.

“The command enjoins the

political class to take thejudgment with the spirit ofsportsmanship.

“However, in discharge ofour lawful duties, the policewill not hesitate to ruthlesslydeal with anybody who fo-ments trouble in any guiseon account of the judgment.”

6 SANs, 180days, 101 witness

Meantime, palpable fearand anxiety have grippedACN and the PDP, the peti-tioners, and the respondent,the ruling LP, as to where thependulum will finally swing.

During the 180 days legalgymnastics, the petitionersand the respondents sluggedit out with the PDP candi-date, Olusola Oke, calling 45witnesses; ACN candidate,Rotimi Akeredolu, calling 42,while the first respondent,Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, in-vited 14 witnesses.

Six Senior Advocate of Ni-geria, SANs, led by theformer NBA President, ChiefOluwole Olanipekun, stoodin for Dr. Mimiko, whileAkeredolu had Chief AkinOlujimi and Oke had Mr.Patrick Ikueto.

BY DAYO JOHNSON

Border war looms between Ogun,Oyo villages

... as Babcock debunks report of fees increment

Students shut Ekiti varsity over new fee policy

AKURE—SIX personshave been arrested by

Ondo State Command ofthe Nigeria Security andCivil Defence Corps,NSCDC, with threetrucks containing adulter-ated fuel along Benin-Oreroad in Odigbo LocalGovernment Area of thestate.

A Volvo saloon car,loaded with 45 kegs of 30litres of adulterated fuelwas equally impoundedby men of the command.

Speaking while parad-ing the suspects, stateCommandant of theCorps, Mr. WaheedPoopola, said the threetrucks, each of which con-tained 33,000 litres ofadulterated fuel, wereimpounded.

Poopola said: “Our boysarrested the trucks andone other car along Benin-Ore road.

“They initially said thefuel was genuine but welater discovered that theywere adulterated.”

Amosunpetitionedover judicialappointment

PRESIDENT and Vice-Chancellor of Babcock

University, BU, Ilishan-Remo,Ogun State, Prof. JamesMakinde, has dismissed re-ports that the school manage-ment has increased tuitionfees.

He said that the misinfor-mation about increment hadbeen traced to an unsignedand unofficial notice posted on

some notice boards in the uni-versity campus, which leakedto one of the online media.

While drawing attention tothe institution’s 11th convoca-tion billed for June 2, yester-day, Makinde said: “Our at-tention has been drawn tosome misinformation and mis-representation of the univer-sity’s fees as posted on someblogs.

“For the avoidance of doubt,the average fee at BU is

N630,500 and this covers tui-tion, accommodation, feedingand medical insurance.

“Law is N763,000 as againstthe reported N2 million postedon the blogs. Accounting isN763,000 as against the re-ported N1.5 million reported.

“Medicine is N2 million, asagainst the reported N3 mil-lion, while Nursing isN763,000, as against the re-ported N1 million. There are nohidden charges outside these.”

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

ADO-EKITI—WITH the introduction of a no-fee no-lec-

ture policy by the managementof Ekiti State University, EKSU,the students in their hundreds,yesterday, staged a protest thatparalysed activities at the 31-year-old state university.

The aggrieved students, whowere, however, not violent dur-ing the protest, gathered as earlyas 6.30am, shutting down theuniversity’s main gate, while thestaff had to turn back to preventbeing embarrassed by them.

During the protest, the ViceChancellor of the university, Prof.Dipo Aina, and other principalofficers, who had resumed forduty in their respective offices,were said to have been smug-gled out of the campus by the

university security officials ina Toyota Hiace Hilux bus.

The timely intervention ofstern-looking policemen andofficials of the Civil DefenceCorps, who arrived the cam-

pus in about 10 Hilux vans,saved the situation.

The students made bon-fires and used sarcasticsongs to deride the state gov-ernment.

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

ABEOKUTA—CHAIRMAN,Odeda Local Government

Area of Ogun State, SulaimanAdebayo, has raised an alarmover incessant attacks on somevillages in the local governmentby unidentified people fromneighbouring Oyo State.

The council boss, who spokeduring a courtesy visit by thestate Commandant of NigeriaSecurity and Civil DefenceCorps, Aboluwoye Ebenezer,to his local government, yes-terday, disclosed that thecouncil had just got a courtverdict ceding some villagesfrom Oyo State to Odeda Lo-cal Government.

Vanguard checks revealedthat there had been controver-

sies over some portions of landin Bakatari, a border area be-tween Ogun and Oyo states,which was resolved in favourof Ogun State.

Adebayo said: “Some of thevillagers are threatened by thepeople from Oyo State. Ourpeople are being molested,threatened and even lostproperty. I want the securityagencies to take necessarysteps towards resolving that.”

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

RELIGIOUS groups,under the aegis of

Ogun State MuslimYouths Joint Action Com-mittee, in a petition ad-dressed to GovernorIbikunle Amosun, allegedthat Muslim lawyers inthe state Ministry of Jus-tice were being frustratedout of service, when theywere due to be appointedas judge.

The petition, signed byNational Council of Mus-lim Youth Organisation,NACOMYO; Muslim Stu-dents Society of Nigeria,MSSN, and IslamicFoundation Academy,IFA, said: “It has been ob-served that since the in-ception of the Ogun StateJudiciary after the crea-tion of the state in 1976,except Gabsiu DemolaBakre, a Muslim, whowas appointed a Judgearound 1988, all thejudges and Chief Judgesof the state High Courtare Christians.”

BY DAUD OLATUNJI


Rivers students pledge support for Amaechi

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

Ikwerre leaders to wade into Amaechi,Wike feud

Labour Day in Edo: Oshiomhole pardons 20sacked teachers

Onicha-UgboPatrioticUnion electsexco

PA Kojo Vincent Un-uafomakpo, Marine

Engineer and music pro-moter, who died on No-vember 10, 2012, aged 82,will be buried on May 11,2013 at Pa Kojo’s Com-pound, Ator Quarters,Okwagbe. Funeral service will takeplace at Baptist Church,St. Vincent College,Okwagbe. Reception willhold at St. Vincent Col-lege Okwagbe, with out-ing service at BaptistChurch next day.

He is survived by wid-ows, 27 children, 37grandchildren and 9great-grandchildren,among whom are Mrs.Akpobevughe Tiyoyo, SirHenry Aphurhi Kojo,Group Managing Direc-tor, Qualiseve Ltd., La-gos; Chief S. E. Jovi,brother, Chairman, JoviGarden Hotels, Udu.

Pa KojoUnuafomakpofor burial May11

Late Pa Unuafomakpo

Delta LGs urgedto key intogovt'sinvestmentprogrammes

AN 18-member ex-ecutive has been

elected to run the affairsof Onicha-Ugbo PatrioticUnion, OPU, for the nexttwo years.

The election, which hadin attendance delegatesfrom the various branch-es and affiliate organisa-tions of the union world-wide, was held at the pal-ace of the traditional rul-er of the community,HRM Obi Victor Chuk-wumalieze I , with ChiefAzuka Monye emergingas the new President Gen-eral of the union.

Others elected unop-posed were Mr. Tony Bi-oseh, Vice-President;Jerry Ilugo, SecretaryGeneral; Mrs. IjeomaUdomi, Assistant Secre-tary; Jude Kifordu, 2ndAssistant Secretary. Oth-ers were Mr. Emma Fe-jokwu, Publicity Secre-tary; Mr. Frank Asimo-nye, Assistant Publicity Secretary; ProtuceOkwechime, Treasurerand Ufoh Nwawolo, Fi-nancial Secretary.

BRIEFING: Pastor Olawale Dada, Light House Assembly; Pastor Paul Ogedengbe, RegionalCoordinator, West Africa, Congress WBN; Pastor Faith Praiz, Resource Centre and PastorYinka Olugbodi, The Fortress Church, at a media interactive session on the forth comingCongress WBN Nigeria Apostolic Reformation Conference,in Lagos.

PORT HARCOURT—LEADERS in Ikwerre

ethnic nationality have prom-ised to wade into the differ-ences between two promi-nent Ikwerre sons, GovernorChibuike Amaechi and hiserstwhile, Chief of Staff,now Minister of State forEducation, Mr. NyesomWike.

Speaking shortly after hewas elected, National Presi-dent, Ekere Ikwerre, a panIkwerre non-political organ-isation, Engr. Dacoster Orlu-Akwu, who was a formerCommissioner of Works andTransport in the state, saidthe new leadership of thebody would wade into thecrisis between the two polit-ical leaders of Ikwerre eth-nic nationality with a view toresolving their differences.

Ahead of a meeting of thebody, Orlu-Akwu pleadedwith Governor Amaechi andWike to sheath their swords,adding that those fuellingthe embers of disunity be-tween the two should desist

forthwith.He urged all Ikwerre sons and

daughters to unite and work forthe interest of Ikwerre and theentire state.

Others in the executive are the

National Vice President, PortHarcourt, ArthurKalagbor,Chief Sunny Dike;National Vice President,Obio Akpor Local Govern-ment Area and Prince

Charles Beke, National VicePresident, Emohua LocalGovernment Area.

It will be recalled that Gov-ernor Amaechi, during hisundergraduate days, was apresident of the body.

SENIOR Special Advis-er to Delta State Gover-

nor, Mr. Goerge Orogun, hascalled on local governmentareas in the state, to key intothe state government’s invest-ment programmes in order tobenefit people at the grass-roots.

Orogun gave the charge atAniocha-North Local Govern-ment Area secretariat, Iseele-Uku, during his ongoing fa-miliarisation visits to the 25councils of the state.

Represented by his SpecialAssistant, Mr. Israel Kwode,Orogun informed the councilchairman that the visit was toacquaint him with the invest-ment potentials of the coun-cil, as a way towards a betterDelta beyond oil.

He noted that the govern-ment of Dr. Emmanuel Udua-ghan, was keen on ensuringthat its citizens, particularlythose in the rural areas wereassisted with investments, inthe areas of agriculture, tour-ism and oil and gas.

Responding, the councilchairman, represented by theSecretary to the Council, MrTheophilus Onwuka, thankedthe visiting team for the initi-ative to find viable invest-ments potentials in the coun-cils.

BY HUGO ODIOGORPORT HARCOURT—

NATIONAL Union ofRivers State Students,NURSS, has urged Gover-nor Chibuike Amaechi to dis-regard efforts by some mis-chievous politicians to dis-tract his administration fromdelivering the dividends de-mocracy to the people of thestate.

Speaking during a solidar-ity rally to GovernmentHouse, Port Harcourt, presi-dent of the body, WarmeteAwoloye, said students of thestate would not cordon any

act of injustice against the ad-ministration of Governor Amae-chi.

The students, who spokeagainst the backdrop of politi-cal developments within PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in thestate, said they would continueto identify with the governmentof the day for its visionary lead-ership.

They harped on the achieve-ments of the Amaechi adminis-tration in the areas of education,health and other sectors of thestate.

“Rivers State students will notallow injustice in the state, wewill not allow detractors. We areappealing to Governor Amaechi

not to be distracted, but befocused on his developmentstrides. We are giving thegovernor our unflinchingsupport. I want to vouch thatstudents will remain peace-ful in Rivers State,” Awoloyesaid.

Incoming NURSS Presi-dent, Lucky Chukwuladiand Leader, Joint Campus-es Committee of NationalAssociation of Nigerian Stu-dents, NANS, Rivers StateChapter, Lar Amabu,pledged the loyalty of Riv-ers students to GovernorAmaechi's administration.

Chukwuladi said, “Wecame out to say we are intotal support of Amaechi'sgovernment."

...vow to stand against injustice

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

BENIN—EDO Stategovernor, Mr. Adams

Oshiomhole, has recalled 20teachers, who were sackedOctober last year for absen-teeism. He also announcedthe recall of Education Sec-retaries in the local govern-ments, who were also re-lieved of their duties due tonegligence.

The governor said that hewas granting the sackedworkers pardon in the spirit

of the worker’s day celebration.He said that he had no regretappointing a Permanent Secre-tary in the Ministry of Environ-ment outside the civil service,noting that the decision wasmade in the interest of the peo-ple of the state and the ministryin particular.

Oshiomhole, who addressedthe workers, said: “In the spiritof our 101 years of organisedlabour, in the spirit of our move-ment, in the spirit of our labourancestors and in the spirit ofMay Day, I will order the com-missioner to recall all the teach-

ers and they will resume bynext week. I should be wor-ried about the children ofEdo people just as I shouldbe worried about my chil-dren.

“In my second term, we aregoing to rebuild moreschools, recruit more teach-ers, so that for every subjectin our schools, we havequalified teachers.”

On his decision to appointMajor Loye as PermanentSecretary, the governor ,said “I am not a cheap poli-tician. I want to be a leader,who is conscious of tomor-row."


GOVERNOR MIMIKO'S VISIT TO LATE CHIEF BAYO AKINNOLA'S FAMILY

Press Freedom Day: Editors want govts to correctmisconception of media

Court upholds powers of N'Assembly to legislateon political parties' nomination of candidates

BY INNOCENTANABA

Senatehearing onpetitionagainsttransfer of oilblocks failsto hold

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (4th right); his wife, Olukemi(3rd right); widow of Late Lisa of Ondo Kingdom, Chief Mrs OlufunmbiAkinnola (6th left); daughter of the deceased/Minister of CommunicationsandTechnology, Omobola Johnson (5th left) and other children, during thegovernor’s condolence visit to the family of the late Lisa of Ondo Kingdom,High Chief Bayo Akinnola, in Ondo town, Tuesday.

From right: Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Mrs Olufunmbi Akinnola(widow), and Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. OmobolaJohnson (daughter).

Governor Olusegun Mimiko (middle); Dr DayoAdeyanju, former Commissioner for Health, andothers.

From left, Minister of Communications and Tech-nology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson; Chief Mrs Olu-funmbi Akinnola (widow); Governor OlusegunMimiko, his wife, Olukemi; Akinyinka Akinnolaand Akinkunmi Akinnola, sons of the deceased.

From right, Akinyinka Akinnola; GovernorOlusegun Mimiko, his wife, Olukemi, and Minis-ter of Communications and Technology, Mrs.Omobola Johnson.

A FEDERAL HighCourt sitting in Lagos,

yesterday, upheld the pow-ers of the National Assemblyto legislate on how politicalparties nominate candidatesfor elections.

The court declined to inval-idate Section 87 of the Elec-toral Act 2010 (as amended).

The section states procedurefor the conduct of primaries bypolitical parties seeking tonominate candidates for elec-tions.

Trial judge, Justice Oke-chukwu Okeke, held that the

exercise of the National Assem-bly’s regulatory powers as con-tained in Section 228 of the 1999Constitution gave rise to the en-actment of the Electoral Act, add-ing that all the sections/provisionsof the Electoral Act apply to allpolitical parties in Nigeria equallyand without any discrimination.

Delivering judgment in a suitby Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN, which had sued the Nation-al Assembly and IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, seeking a declaration thatthe provisions of Section 87 of theElectoral Act 2010 (as amended)were inconsistent with the provi-sions of section 4 and 228 of the1999 Constitution (as amended),

the court held that the conductof election into political officeswas INEC’s exclusive duty.

“In doing so, there must beorder. Section 87 is to ensurethat there is a level-playingground for all Nigerians. It isnot targeted at the plaintiffonly. There is no merit in thisapplication and it is hereby dis-missed. There shall be no or-der as to cost,” the court said.

ACN had argued that the pro-vision, being inconsistent, itwas therefore “ultra vires (be-yond the powers of) the Nation-al Assembly, null and void tothe extent of their inconsisten-cy.”

THE Nigerian Guild ofEditors, NGE, yester-

day called on the FederalGovernment to correct itsmisconception about themass media as the world cel-ebrates the 2013 Press Free-dom Day today.

The United Nations setaside every May 3 as WorldPress Freedom Day to raiseawareness on the impor-tance of freedom of expres-sion.

In a statement in Lagos,the NGE said that succes-

sive administrations in Nigeriahad treated the media with sus-picion, instead of regarding itas an ally in national develop-ment.

The statement by the Presidentof the guild, Mr Femi Adesina,noted that Nigeria’s robust andvibrant media had a history ofcommitment to noble causes,and played key roles in thestruggle for independence,democratic rule, social justiceand human rights.

“Today, the media is still in thevanguard of upholding all that

is noble, just, fair and wouldrebound to the progress of thenation,” it stated.

It regretted that recent de-velopments had reinforcedthe uneasy relationship thatoften existed between theFederal Government and themedia.

“We urge the government toresist anything that mightbear the slightest semblanceto a curtailment of the free-dom of the press. The mediaparades professionals, whoare passionate and committed

to the growth and develop-ment of the country on allfronts, and they do not de-serve to be hounded, re-pressed or harassed.

“If there are inadvertentinfractions of the rules, weexpect nothing but the strict-est form of conformity to dueprocess and the rule of lawin addressing such,” it said.

The guild also said that theNigerian media was groan-ing under high cost of pro-duction inputs, and appealedto the government to use theopportunity of the Day toappraise how it could makelife easier for the media.

It pledged that Nigerianeditors would continue togive their best to engendercohesion and harmony in thepolity.

“We will always uphold so-cially responsible acts andpractices, and play to thehilt, our roles as partners inprogress toward building acountry where no man is op-pressed, intimidated or har-assed. Free press means freeexpression, and our countryneeds such to develop andhold its own in the comity ofnations.

“The line between pressfreedom and repression isquite thin, and eternal vigi-lance is needed at all times,"it added.

THE hearing on apetition against the

alleged transfer of four oilblocs reportedly valued atN58.9 trillion to a privatecompany scheduled tohold in the Senate yester-day, failed to hold.

The scheduled hearingwas on a petition by fourDelta State communitiesagainst the alleged cov-ert transfer of productionrights in four oil blocsOML 26. 30, 34 and 42 toa private company, Atlan-tic Energy Drilling Con-cept Limited.

The hearing to haveheld under the aegis ofthe Senate Committee onPetroleum, Upstream,however, failed to hold,following the absence ofthe petitioners.

The petitioners in a let-ter to the Senator PaulkerEmmanuel-led Commit-tee on Petroleum, Up-stream said yesterday wasnot convenient for themgiven what they said wereengagements earlierfixed.

CMYK


From left: Mr. Eugene Odo, Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly; Dr.Theo Okonkwo,Chairman, Enugu Coalition of Business and Professional Associations (ECOBPA), and Mr.Ozo Onyia, Vice Chairman, during the visit of ECOBPA to the House, yesterday.

Enugu denies rumour of Chime’s deathBY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU—ENUGU Stategovernment, yesterday,

denied the rumoured death ofGovernor Sullivan Chime,saying he was in good health.

State Commissioner forInformation, Mr. Chuks

Ugwuoke, told Vanguard whencontacted on the widespreadrumour that Governor Chimepassed on in India onWednesday, that the rumourwhich he described asbaseless, was the handiwork ofmischief makers.

Fresh anxiety mounted in the

state, yesterday, on account ofthe speculation as manyconcerned citizens put callsacross to media houses toconfirm if what they werehearing about the governorwas true.

They cited the reports postedon the social media network,

Facebook, by some unnamedpersons which triggered therumour and sought toauthenticate the reports.

Vanguard learnt thatpeddlers of the rumour werenow being sought by securityoperatives who have alreadyobtained the PersonalIdentification Number (PIN)of the perpetrator on Facebookwebsite.

The governor, who was seenin Enugu, Wednesday, wassaid to have travelled to Abujasame day on an undisclosedmission.

Ugwuoke described thenews of the death of thegovernor as unfounded as the“governor was hale andhearty.”

He said the governor had nobusiness, health issue or anyreason whatsoever to travel toIndia, vowing that thegovernment would get to theroot of the rumour to unmaskthose behind the incessantposts of such baseless reportson the Internet.

A member of the oppositionSave Enugu Group (SEG),Ray Nnaji, in sharp reactionto the rumour, asked thepublic to ignore it as it wasposted by mischief makers.

Obi betrayed my late father — Ojukwu JrBY ENYIM ENYIM

ONITSHA — EMEKA, firstson of late Biafran leader,

Dim ChukwuemekaOdumegwu Ojukwu, yester-day, accused Governor PeterObi of betraying his father,following the continued crisisin All Progressive Grand Alli-ance, APGA.

Emeka, who spoke atNnewi, Anambra State, fur-ther alleged that while pock-ets of crises in APGA lingeredwhen his father was alive, hedid all he could to resolve theproblem only for the governorto upturn the ideologies andambitions of the party as pro-nounced by his father indeath.

Emeka, who spoke with re-porters while addressingNnewi North chapter ofAPGA, noted that the gover-nor chose to personalise the

party and annihilate the realgrass-roots members of theparty only to bring in strangerswho he wanted to do his bid-ding.

“I resigned as commission-er in Governor Peter Obi’sgovernment and some peoplefelt that I should not do that.

“Today, those people havegot me vindicated. There areseveral irregularities that Isaw then that made me leavethe government of Peter Obi.

“What my father had in mindfor APGA is not what is hap-pening now. Ezeigbo had avision of a party like APGAwhich is poised towards ac-commodating all and sundryand giving Ndigbo a voice inthe comity of states.

“But when my father died,Governor Peter Obi chose tocarry out his own agenda tothe detriment of the party.

“May be he was waiting formy father to die so that he cantake APGA to where he want-ed and do whatever he want-ed with it.

“Today, we have crisis thatis man made and it all boilsdown to who will succeedhim. But he is not fit to carrythe members along and thatis why we are in this situa-tion.”

He condemned the crisisbetween national chairman ofAPGA, Chief Victor Umeh andObi, saying Victor Umeh hadcontinued to fight and protectall that his late father plannedand anticipated for APGA.

“Victor Umeh has been asteadfast fighter for APGAand for this Igbo cause. Herisked his life, spent his mon-ey and invested his time forAPGA.

$3m bribery scam: Court decides Farouk, Emenalo’s fate May 10BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

ABUJA — JUSTICEMudashiru Oniyangi of

an Abuja High Court atMaitama, yesterday, slatedMay 10 to rule on anapplication that was filed

before him by former Chairmanand Secretary of the House ofRepresentatives Ad-hocCommittee on Fuel Subsidyprobe, Farouk Lawal and Mr.Boniface Emenalo, seeking toquash the corruption chargeagainst them.

The embattled lawmakers,who are answering to a seven-count criminal charge that wasentered against them by theIndependent Corrupt Practicesand other Related OffencesCommission, ICPC, in their

consolidated application,begged the court to terminatetheir trial.

The duo contended that theanti-graft agency failed toadduce any credible evidenceto warrant their prosecution.

ICPC had alleged that theydemanded and collected bribefrom the Chairman of ZenonPetroleum and Gas Ltd, FemiOtedola, as an inducement toremove the name of hiscompany from the report of theHouse of Reps' Ad-hoc

committee on Monitoring offuel subsidy regime.

However, the accusedpersons had on February 1,pleaded not guilty to thecharge and subsequentlyspent seven days at KujePrison where the courtremanded them till their bailapplication was granted.

Meanwhile, the case couldnot hold yesterday as plannedowing to the absence of thetrial Judge who is bereaved.

Stoplamenting,confrontinsecurity,El - Rufai tellsJonathan

BY SONI DANIEL,Regional Editor, North &

CHRIS OCHAIYI

ABUJA — FORMERminister of the

Federal CapitalTerritory, Mallam Nasirel-Rufai, yesterdayasked PresidentGoodluck Jonathan tostop lamenting over thedeteriorating securitysituation in the country,but to take appropriatesteps to tackle themenace.

El-Rufai spoke withV a n g u a r dcorrespondents inresponse to thelamentation by Jonathanthat Nigeria was passingthrough a challengingsecurity phase in itsnationhood.

The President spoke atthe grand finale of the2013 Police Weekcelebrations at theEagle Square, Abuja.

Jonathan had noted,“This is quite a tryingmoment for this countryin terms of security. Anumber of our policeofficers have lost theirlives while serving theirfatherland. We havechallenges from theSouth to the North andfrom the East to theWest."

…as Judge transfers him back to SSS custody

Church bombing: Release me fromdetention, Kabiru Sokoto begs court

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

ABUJA — ALLEGEDmastermind of the

Christmas Day bomb blast thatkilled about 44 persons andwounded 75 others at St.Theresa’s Catholic Church atMadalla, Niger State, in2011, Kabiru Umar, a.k.aKabiru Sokoto, yesterday,begged a Federal High Courtin Abuja to release him on bailpending the determination ofthe charge against him.

Sokoto made the plea on aday he accused authorities ofthe Kuje Prison where he wasremanded on April 19, byJustice Adeniyi Ademola, ofdenying him access to hislawyer.

The accused person, who isanswering to a two-countterrorism charge that waspreferred against him by theFederal Government, told thecourt that he was kept

incommunicado at the prison,a situation, he said, hashampered his ability topackage his defence.

Consequently, JusticeAdemola, yesterday, orderedhis immediate transfer to thecustody of the Department ofState Security, DSS, pendinghearing on his bail applicationwhich was fixed for May 6.

It will be recalled thatthough the alleged kingpin ofthe Boko Haram Islamic sectwas initially docked before thehigh court on May 20, hecould not take his plea on thatday owing to his inability tosecure a lawyer to stand in hisdefence.

However, on April 19, hepleaded not guilty to thecharge, even as the lawyer heeventually contracted, Mr.Adamu Ibrahim, urged thecourt to grant him bail, arequest that was refused bythe trial judge who orderedhim to file a formal application.

CMYK


From left: Sen. Alkali Fajere, representative of Senate President; Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC National Chairman, and Mr.Simon Arabo, representative of the Speaker, House of Representatives, at INEC national retreat on the review of constituencies,in Enugu, yesterday

Abuja land dispute: Turai floors Patiencein court …as First Lady vows to go on appeal

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

ABUJA — THE cold warbetween two Nigerian

“first-ladies”, Dame PatienceGoodluck Jonathan and wife oflate President Umar MusaYar ’Adua, Turai, over a juicyplot of land in the FederalCapital Territory, FCT, Abuja,reached its feverish heightsyesterday.

Their uncanny rivalry, whichhas exposed the country topublic ridicule within theinternational circles, deepened after an Abuja High Court,presided over by Justice PeterAffen, declared that thedisputed land where theincumbent “first-lady ”,Patience, recently hosted her

counterparts from otherAfrican countries, belonged toTurai Yar’Adua.

In his judgment, JusticeAffen maintained that theMinister of FCT, Senator BalaMohammed, acted illegallywhen he revoked theCertificate of Occupancy forthe land originally allocated toa Non-GovernmentalOrganization, NGO, “TheRegistered Trustee of Womenand Youth EmpowermentFoundation, WYEF”, a petproject initiated by Turai, andre-awarded it to PatienceJonathan for the constructionof a secretariat of the “FirstLadies Peace Mission.”

According to the judge, “the

said plot No. 1347 CadastralZone AOO, Central BusinessDistrict, Abuja, was originallyallocated to the plaintiff(WYEF) for the building of apublic institution, a vocationaltraining center, in-line withthe provision of section 28(1)of the Land Use Act.

“The vocational center is forpublic purpose and the titledeed of the disputed landcannot just be revoked on thepremise of over-riding publicinterest.

“Public interest is notlimited to the purpose ofgovernment alone, thepurported revocation standsprecariously, if at all it stands.

“Any revocation in the

exercise of the power of theMinister under the Land UseAct must be within the confineor tenets of section 28(1) of theAct. More so, the defendantwoefully failed to adduceevidence to support its claimsof overriding public interest.

“Consequently, I uphold thesubmissions of the plaintiffscounsel and declare that thesaid revocation was done inbad-faith and is herebynullified,” the judge added.

Reacting through her lawyer,Mrs Ima Okpongete , Mrs.Jonathan, contended that thepresiding judge erred in lawby returning the land to theformer first lady, contrary tooverriding public interest.

She said: “We are notsatisfied with this judgmentand we are going to appealagainst it immediately.”

It will be recalled that in abid to save the country fromembarrassment over thelingering land dispute,Attorney General of theFederation and Minister ofJustice, Mohammed BelloAdoke, SAN, earlier beggedthe court to allow him brokeran out-of-court settlementdeal for the warring “first-ladies”.

Strip Oshiomhole of CON honour— PDP to Jonathan

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — THE PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP

yesterday urged PresidentGoodluck to strip GovernorAdams Oshiomhole of the na-tional honour of Commanderof the Order of the Niger,CON, he gave to him in 2011.

Addressing journalists inAbuja yesterday, Chairman,Edo State chapter of PDP,

Chief Dan Orbih, said themove had become imperativeagainst the backdrop of al-leged age falsification by thegovernor on year of birth, add-ing that Oshiomhole was 61years old and not 60 as cele-brated.

The PDP also said it had pe-titioned the Inspector-Gener-al of Police, Mohammed Abu-bakar, to investigate the mat-

ter to establish whether or nota case of alleged perjury hadbeen committed by the gov-ernor.

“In a similar event at his in-auguration for his secondterm in 2012, his citation withApril 4, 1953, as date of birth,was also read in hispresence and thepresence of EdoState chief judge.”

But reacting, Gov-ernor Oshiomhole,who described thecall by Orbih thatPresident Jonathanshould de-robe himof the CON honouras laughable, saidOrbih was only try-ing to be relevantand get board ap-pointment from thePresident.

.I find it laughable — Oshiomhole

CSOs petition Reps over Rivers aircraft,want NAMA, NCAA investigated

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU

ABUJA —A coalition of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in

the country has petitioned the Houseof Representatives over the recentgrounding of the aircraft belongingto Rivers State government by theNigerian Airspace ManagementAgency, NAMA.

It also faulted alleged claims by

the Nigerian Civil Aviation Author-ity, NCAA, that the clearance ap-proval given for the aircraft had ex-pired, asking the nation’s lower leg-islative house to investigate the twofederal agencies.

The CSOs specifically called onthe House of Representatives to setup an adhoc committee to investi-gate NAMA and NCAA, allegingthat the action taken by the two fed-eral agencies was political.

FG withdrawsfelony chargeagainstLeadershipreporters

ABUJA — BARELY72-hours after the

Abuja Division of theFederal High Courtreleased two LeadershipNewspaper reporters,Tony Amokeodo andChibuzor Ukaibe,accused of forging adocument purported tohave emanated from thePresidency, the FederalGovernment, yesterday,withdrew the charge itentered against them.

Justice AdemolaAdeniyi had, Tuesday,released the accusedpersons on bail shortlyafter they pleaded notguilty to the six-countcharge that waspreferred against them,though he compelledthem to deposit N500,000 each as well asprovide two sureties.

Though the court fixedMay 16 to begin hearingon the substantive case,the Attorney General ofthe Federation andMinister of Justice,Mohammed BelloAdoke, SAN, yesterday,applied to terminate thecase.

The application cameeven as counsel to theLeadership Grouplimited, Mr. FemiFalana, SAN, filed apreliminary objection,contending that the courtwas bereft of thejurisdiction to adjudicateon the matter as it wasconstituted, arguing thatthe charge only borderedon forgery and not to anyloss of revenue by theFederal Government,saying such matter oughtnot to have been filedbefore the federal highcourt.

BY IKECHUKWUNNOCHIRI

MADAM COMFORTFolake Aragbaiye, 90,

is dead.She died on Sunday, April

28, 2013, in Owo, Ondo State.She is survived by children

and grandchildren, amongwhom, is Mr. Bola Aragbaiye,former Press Secretary to thelate Ondo State governor,Chief Adekunle Ajasin.

Aragbaiye dies at 90

Late Comfort Aragbaiye

CMYK


No going back on strike, ASUP declares

ABUJA—THE AcademicStaff Union of

Polytechnics, ASUP, yesterday,said it would not go back onits indefinite strike until thefederal and stategovernments meet itsdemands.

Mr Chibuzor Asomugha,the National President ofASUP, who reiterated theunion’s stand on the issue,while briefing newsmen inAbuja, said the action hadbecome inevitable becauseonly one of its demands hadbeen partially met.

The union which issued a21-day ultimatum on March25, is asking the governmentto look into many of itsdemands. Among other thingsthe union is calling for therelease of white paper on thevisitation panel to federalpolytechnics.

The ultimatum expired onApril 22, with the subsequentdeclaration of a one-weekwarning strike and anindefinite strike on April 29.Asomugha said thepolytechnic sector in thecountry’s educational systemhad groaned under a myriad

of problems for long, addingthat this had hampered thecreation of “a viable platformfor the sector to grow”.

He said: “We are faced withfeeble and moribundinfrastructure on ourcampuses, with no seriouschallenge to motivateresearch and learning.Government’s budgetaryprovisions for the polytechnic

KADUNA —AHMADUBello University, ABU,

Zaria, plans to raise the num-ber of students being admit-ted into the institution from6,000 to 50,000 over the next10 years, the Vice Chancellor,Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha,has said.

A statement signed by AlhajiGarba Kumo, PrincipalAssistant Registrar, PublicAffairs, and made available tothe News Agency of Nigeria,NAN, in Zaria, yesterday, saidpart of the plan was theintroduction of distancelearning programme.

sector in Nigeria reflect adeep neglect of the sector. Theindicators of this abysmalneglect are as strong asreflected in the 2012 budget.

“As I address you today, onlyone of our demands, that is,the constitution of GoverningCouncils has been partiallymet. There is no genuine efforttowards addressing the rest,

beyond bureaucratic rhetoric.”Asomugha said it had become

very difficult for the union toappreciate government’ssincere commitment inhandling the problems in spiteof repeated notices andappeals, adding thatgovernment could have tackledthe issues involved before “weembarked on indefinite strike”.

It quoted the vice chancelloras having disclosed thisduring the Annual PublicLecture of the Faculty ofEducation held at the Samarumain campus of the university.The statement said: “The onlysolution to the limitedadmission spaces in ABU isthrough embarking ondistance learningprogramme.”

It also listed other measuresto include the provision ofinfrastructure and ICTfacilities, adding: “In the nextfive to ten years, ABU will beable to increase its admissionspace from 6,000 to 50,000

students annually.”The statement also said that theguest speaker at the lecture,Prof. Aminu Mohammed-Dorayi, had in a paper entitled“Open and Distance Educationin Nigeria: An overview andprospects,” enumerated thesuccesses recorded in distancelearning programmes indeveloped countries.

According to him, it hasbrought about speedydevelopment in variouscounties, adding that it willprovide practical solution tothe problem of accessingquality tertiary education inthe country.

ABU to admit 50,000 students in 10 years

VICE PresidentNamadi Sambo,

yesterday, in Ottawa urgedthe Canadian Governmentto support Nigeria’s drivefor economic prosperity.The Senior SpecialAssistant on Media andPublicity to Vice PresidentNamadi Sambo, AlhajiUmar Sani, said this in astatement in Abuja.Sambo is in Canada for theC a n a d a - N i g e r i aInvestment Conferenceholding in Toronto fromyesterday to Saturday,May 4.According to thestatement, Sambo madethe appeal at a meeting heheld with the CanadianMinister of InternationalTrade, Mr Ed Fast, at theCanadian Parliamentarybuilding in Ottawa.The Vice President alsoreportedly used theopportunity to inform theCanadian minister ofdetails of “Nigeria’sjourney to prosperity.”

VP Sambo inCanada, seekssupport forNigeria

CMYK

CMYK


Responses to:[email protected] to 0802 747 6458 (textsonly). PLEASE KINDLYNOTE THAT UNLESS YOUSPECIFICALLY REQUESTANONYMITY, YOURCOMMENTS MAY BEPUBLISHED INVANGUARD, WITH YOURNAMES AND NUMBERSOR EMAIL ADDRESSESATTACHED.

Food for thought

UCHE Igwe is adoctoral researcher at

Sussex University in the UK.He is attached to theuniversity’s Centre For TheStudy of Corruption and hasjust sent me an article that herecently wrote, partly as aresponse to the Presidency’sclaim that widespreadspeculations about Dr.Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015plans are not only riddled withfalsehoods but areunnecessary distractions.

Igwe’s article is titled “2015and Jonathan’s OstrichGame” and its contents wereso thought-provoking that I’mreproducing some excerpts onthis page.

“…When exposed todanger, the ostrich usuallyescapes by burying its headunder the sand whileexposing its hugebody….[and] those who playthe ostrich game refuse to facepainful facts and unpleasanttruths…

“…As a citizen of theFederal Republic of Nigeria,

strategists should seek anNGF that is more open to theviews and aspirations of theNigerian people. He needs anobjective channel to feel thepulse of the people….[andshould not] intrude into theright of free association of thegovernors…

“…One other blunder comesfrom the alleged interferenceof the Presidency in theaffairs of the Rivers Statechapter of the PeoplesDemocratic Party. Since thecontroversial ruling thatousted the executive membersof the state chapter…fingershave been pointing at thePresidency. Although some of

avoidable political battles…“… Can the Presidency

sustain the current onslaughtof harassing and houndingany person with contraryviews until all Nigerians areinstilled with fear? How longwill Nigeria survive under the

A lot of people havecontacted me to express

surprise or disapproval aboutthe fact that I have not madeany comments about thisburning issue in this column.

“You are a known supporterof Governor Amaechi and havenever come across as someonewho is afraid of speaking hermind, so why aren’t youdefending Amaechi in his hourof need?” asked one puzzledAnambrarian gentleman, who

My take on the Rivers State drama

apparent cowardice and fence-sitting have been echoed by somany other onlookers that I feelobliged to explain myuncharacteristic silence.

The truth is that I am in avery difficult position becauseI am close to Amaechi ANDsome of his opponents. And Ifeel like a pig in the middle.

I keep hoping that I will wakeup and discover that theterrible bitterness that has

current democraticauthoritarianism?...

“…Someone should tell thePresident that…he may bethe one distracting himself bychasing shadows….[and]that what Nigerians want tosee are new jobs created,

President Goodluck Jonathan Governor Amaechi

turned various senior NigerDeltan brothers and sisters intoimplacable enemies – and ismaking our region lookembarrassingly divided andpolitically immature - was justa bad dream. And thateverything is, in fact, hunkydory.

But I must say that I honestlybelieve that even thoughAmaechi isn’t perfect, he ismuch nicer and much morecapable than most of thoseguys in the Villa and has beentreated very shoddily for nogood reason. And I will expandon this theme at a later date ifno reconciliation materialisesin the near future.

e-mailed melast weekendto say that heis extremelyc o n c e r n e dabout them u c h -p u b l i c i s e dt e n s i o n sbetween myGovernor, MrPresident ands o m edisgruntledR i v e r si n d i g e n e s ,including theMinister ofState forEducation.

Q u e r i e sabout my

it is the constitutional right ofthe President to vie foranother term in office…Butwhat many people areworried about are the tacticsthat he is deploying…

“…One of these deplorabletactics can be seen in hisinterference in the NigerianGovernors’ Forum, NGF. Inthe absence of a viableopposition and constructivedissent, the NGF is seen bymany observers to haveprovided Nigerians with analternative platform to debatenational issues…

“…Instead of stampedingthe governors [and trying to]“select” a leader on theirbehalf, Jonathan and his

these remain at the level ofspeculations, such ‘rumours’are very unhealthy for aPresident who is posturingthat he is not yet thinkingabout 2015…

“…The hasty inaugurationof the new executive by thenational secretariat makesmany observers tilt to thesuspicion that it was inobedience to the orders fromthe ‘Oga at the top’…to whittledown the state governor’sinfluence at home. One willthink that President Jonathancurrently should enjoy somegoodwill in Rivers State. Suchgoodwill could diminish if he(or his proxy) is seen to bemeddling unnecessarily in

security improvements, stablepower supply, infrastructuralexpansion and enhancementof their livelihoods…not justpromises…”.

Vanguard readers’ reactionsto these comments will bemuch-appreciated. Pleasekindly tell me whether youagree or disagree with someor all of Igwe’s remarks.

As a citizen of the Federal Republic ofNigeria, it is the constitutional right of thePresident to vie for another term in office

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,

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 3, 2013

BY ABDULLAHI GARBA

*Mr. Garba, a public affairs commentator,wrote from Abuja.

Leave the President aloneIN the typical Nigerian fashion, the politicalscene gets more charged with

desperation and desperadoes as the electionyear approaches and there are all the signsthat general elections fever has sincegripped the nation. It is, however, mostunfortunate to observe that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is being literally ropedinto the feverish frenzy despite his bestefforts to insulate himself from the plaguelest he gets distracted from the onerous taskof leadership and fulfilment of his all-important Transformation Agenda.

From mischievous tales about his“interest” in the 2015 elections to thefabrication of ridiculous schemes and plotsto associate the President with the so-calledcampaigns of desperate politicians withgreedy eyes on 2015 elective offices, peoplejust won’t leave the President alone to keephis attention focussed on his on-goingcommitment to the development andprogress of Nigeria. If the President shoulddecide to concern himself with his futurepolitical agenda which he has every rightand opportunity to do, I can bet my lastnaira that there will be even more hullabalooabout how he is less interested in theprevailing challenges facing the country!

The President must, however, maintain hisposition of placing greater priority onsteering the ship of state through theturbulent seas of security challenges,

political provocation and indeed attainmentof the laudable objectives of his muchwelcomed Transformation Agenda,especially in the power and other vitalinfrastructural sectors. There is justificationto associate the propaganda targeting MrPresident’s 2015 prospects with thedesperation of the so-called oppositionparties to literally jump over the Aso Villafence and occupy the Presidency by hook,crook and subterfuge.

There is after all no denying that thepolitical opposition in Nigeria has neverbeen as desperate and diabolical as theyhave been since the breath-takingemergence of President Jonathan who theyhad been casually under-rating. It must beadmitted that President Jonathan deliveredthe dreaded uppercut of boxing championsto the seemingly towering contenders andleft them rattled and dazed as he confidentlyand popularly consolidated hisunambiguous election mandate. He wasable to successfully secure the reins ofpower and steady the nation on the path ofpositive transformation before theopposition politicians regained the capacityfor mischief.

The fact that none of the existing politicalparties in Nigeria considered themselvescapable of challenging the Goodluck

Phenomenon on their own speaks volumesof the intimidating political clout that MrPresident has mustered by deliveringsincere, sober but sound and successfulleadership acumen. The so-called APCalliance of dalliance is nothing but a ricketycontraption temporarily carrying strangebedfellows to their imaginary rendezvouswith political power. The same inordinateambition that brought them together willeventually trash their agenda because noneof their leaders can really afford to dropnaked ambition when the chips are down.

This notwithstanding, the desperadoesof the APC continue to come up with

all sorts of schemes and plots designed tocreate the false impression that everyoneelse is as desperate as they are aboutgrabbing power and that PresidentJonathan cannot keep his eye on theleadership ball because he too is pre-occupied with 2015. Nothing could befurther from the truth! As all patrioticNigerians can testify, with the prevailingsituation of the country and the transparentgenuineness of President GoodluckJonathan’s oft-stated determination to bringthe nation out of its quandary into a newdawn of transformed progressive outlook,there is simply no time for thinking of an

election that is two years away.That apart, President Jonathan is too

politically intelligent to abandon the task ofsuperintending over the affairs of thenation, ensuring the successful attainmentof the acclaimed Transformation Agendaand going the extra mile to maintain theinternal security and peaceful coexistenceof Nigerians. These are the very potentingredients of any meaningful investmentin the future which no other politician inNigeria, least of all in the rusted ranks of theopposition, can ever lay claim to withoutactually being in power. In other words, it isdesperate opposition politicians who havea problem of presenting a credible track-record and an impressive score-sheet thatNigerian voters can rely on in deciding whothe best candidate is.

Yes, we should leave President Jonathanalone to remain focussed on his on-goingnational assignment for which he has apopular mandate to pursue for an initial four-year tenure that takes him triumphantly to2015. As he has promised, we are alreadywitnessing remarkable progress in severalmoribund sectors of the economy, whetherwe mean the resuscitation of the railways,the revitalization of the power sector or thepositive response to the nagging problemsof leadership Nigeria has faced before hisdivine emergence.

Missing the Baga point

MANY discussions about the killings in Baga, Borno State totally miss the

point. The contentions are more about thenumber of people killed, rather than won-dering if soldiers complied with rules ofengagements for such operations.

Initial figures of 185 people causedenough outrage. Senator Maina Ma’ajiLawan, who represents Borno North Sen-atorial District, where Baga, a fishing set-tlement on the shores of Lake Chad is, saidhis visit revealed 228 fresh graves, 4,000houses destroyed.

Government figures are less than 35 peo-ple killed. Nigeria doubtlessly has to pro-tect itself from terrorists, within the law.

The indisputable facts are that a joint mil-itary operation of Nigeria, Niger andChad took place in Baga. People died,properties were destroyed. The details arein dispute. The central explanation is thatsecurity agencies took the fight against ter-rorists to Baga, 200 kilometres outsideMaiduguri.

“I visited the four grave sites before ar-riving at the number of residents killed in

Baga. At Wayah graveyard, I counted 130fresh graves, while at the Arewa Ceme-tery, 60 people were buried by relations.The Magumeri graveyard had 60 freshgraves,” Lawan explained his figures. Themilitary insists its enquiries did not revealmass graves in Baga.

None of the presentations is conclusive.Fresh graves do not conclusively provebodies are buried in them. The military’sclaim that it did not find mass graves doesnot mean there is none. The truth liessomewhere.

Government’s lax attitudes to massacresand genocides have endured through theyears. Odi, in Bayelsa State, was reducedto rubbles in November 1999 as soldiersbombarded the place after 12 policemenwere killed. When former Senate Presi-

dent Chuba Okadigbo visited Odi he said,“I am shocked. There is nothing to say, asthere is nobody to speak with." Zaki Biamin Benue State followed two years later.

In his widely published valedictory, Ma-jor Paul Okutimo, who led the InternalTask Force on Security in Ogoniland, in1994 boasted to journalists that he was aspecialist trained in over 200 ways of elim-ination.

His Ogoni account: “We surround thetown at night. The machine gun with 500rounds will open up. When four or five likethat open up and then we are throwinggrenades, what do you think people aregoing to do? And we have already putroadblock on the main road; we drive thepeople into the bush with nothing exceptpants and wrappers they are using thatnight.”

He, like others at Umuchem, where pro-testing youth were killed in 1990, has notbeen made to account. Security agenciesoperate above the law. Until they becomeaccountable, Baga would be another foot-note in a long list of abuses.

CMYK


*Mr. Igboanugo, a journalist,wrote fromLagos.

,

,

BY SUNNY IGBOANUGO

,BY PADDY EZEALA

*Mr. Ezeala is RegionalSanyaolu Communication &Campaign Coordinator for aninternational relief agency inDakar, Senegal.

,

Hurricane Nebo: Power sector's newspirit

Resilience building as panaceafor food insecurity

THERE is a particular local saying thatwhen a child is crying and pointing in a

particular direction, it is either the motheror father is there.

When the Minister of Power, ProfessorChinedu Ositadimma Nebo, stood beforethe Senate earlier this year to declare thathe was going to exorcise the demons in thepower sector, it immediately madeheadlines in the media.

Of course, it had to, because this line ofthought was completely new. Nobody beforehim had openly pursued it. If theycontemplated it, they never brought it to thepublic space. That Nebo has blazed this trailis not surprising.

He possesses what many of his ilks lack,or overlook. It is strange that many peoplewho have gone through the academic millsand acquired the first-grade credentials hehas, soon abandon the most essential andcrucial part – God. Many of them even beginto delude themselves and commit the mostatrocious infamy and sacrilege of declaringwith their mouth that there is no God, whileothers, at best, pay half-hearted heed to Hisexistence and dictates.

That, of course, is one of the majorfundamentals the former Vice Chancellorof two federal universities, is bringing to thetable, which, rather than serving as afootnote, is likely to define his era in hispresent job and from there create thetemplate for Nigeria to leapfrog into thefuture of greatness that has become soelusive in the past, but which everybody,including its enemies, believe is waitingright at the next bend.

It was the same talisman that Nebo usedto end the many years of rot at the Universityof Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, which, before hisarrival, was already gaining notoriety forits version of being a theatre of war andbloodshed that many of the nation’s tertiary

institutions have become in recent years, dueto students’ cultism. Who didn’t hear thatthe menace grew so high that Nebo’spredecessor, Prof. Ginigeme Mbanefo, wasactually kidnapped and for some days,became game for the unconscionableelements? Who didn’t hear of the killing of15 students in the university in 2003 or howa former dean was butchered thereafter?

What magic did Nebo apply to ensure thathis five-year tenure, from June 2004 to June2009, led to a totally different story in theuniversity, not only in infrastructuraldevelopment but total eradication ofcultism?

Of course, his story at the FederalUniversity, Oye Ekiti, evokes a similarsentiment. There, he practically squeezedwater out of stone in his attempt to build afirst class institution that would train thebody and mind of Nigerians constantly insearch of quality education, such as the likesof the Minister had. Needless to say that hewas still at this project when his newappointment came.

This streak of successes, where many havefailed, can only mean one thing – that Nebodoes not only possess the credentials toachieve his goals, but applies them with arare single-mindedness.

That is why, he must therefore, be takenseriously when he said that he is going tosucceed in the power sector and deliver onPresident Goodluck Jonathan’s promise ofmaking Nigerians enjoy constant electricityduring his tenure. That is why those he hasbeen pointing at since his coming on boardas the spoilers, must not only think seriouslyabout their options, but become wiser andmore prudent with their ideas of doing thingsthe old way.

In fact, he has recently restated what hesaid at the Senate screening again and againthat it has become a kind of peculiar mantra.Reading the riot act for the umpteenth time,in a television programme, the Minister

accentuated the fresh impetus thus: "We aresetting up a very robust monitoring device.One thing I can assure you is that allleakages will be plugged. It's not going tobe business as usual. The legacy that we havenow will not tolerate the so-called Nigerianfactor and leakages. It is time for everybodyto know that it is no longer business as usual.If anyone wants to continue in the old games,then we will hold them accountable. I canassure you that we have put in place a solidmechanism to ensure that when governmentputs in funds somewhere, government getsa concomitant, good, quality work that ithas paid for.”

Nebo lamented how a cabal had grownout of some people seized by evil

forces. These people, who he described aspowerful, would not want the Nigerianpower sector to heal because of theirproclivity to benefit from the suffering ofthe people by absconding with funds theyobtained for specific power projects.

“I mean, it is all too obvious that lots offunds have gone into the sector but in someareas, you don’t see a concomitantdevelopment in the sector; so there areproblems within and without. There is theissue of Nigerian factor, cartels that feel thatonce there is power, they lose their ownbusinesses,” he added.

Reiterating his resolve to solve theproblem, Nebo, who said he was equally

troubled, vowed to do everything requiredto ensure that the present crisis is resolvedin favour of Nigerians.

And this resolution, according to himwould mean a robust economy, where thegiant will wake up again; where virtuallythe about 70 per cent or more of all theSmall and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, thathave died in Nigeria would wake up again;where barbing, hairdressing, vulcanising,welding businesses and the likes, would bealive and well; where Nigerians would goback to work earn their living honestly andas a result, reduce all the vices currentlyplaguing the nation as a due to idleness andabsence of alternatives; where the bigbusinesses like the telecommunicationcompanies would cut down operation costsby half, because they would no longer relyon diesel, thus producing competitive goodsand services.

It is a common saying in Nigeria that onlya tree will hear that it would be cut downand still stand in one place. A human beingwould shift grounds. Is it not time for thiscabal to rethink its position? Indeed, manypeople have actually argued that cabals arenot necessarily bad by their name, but inwhat they do. They insist that most developedeconomies have their own versions of cabals,which corner all the big contracts andbusinesses, make huge profits, but stilldeliver.

Perhaps, Nebo may not be as virulent inhis resolve to end their reign if the Nigerianversion would try this option. But toobdurately remain a clog in the wheel ofprogress, could become a recipe for theirdoom.

Most of the big empires in America today,which have established foundations to helphumanity, according to some history, wereactually bandits, involved in all manner ofcrimes. They had to give up, do a rethinkand turn a new leaf when the time was upfor them.

A similar wind is blowing in Nigeria today.The momentum is so fierce it will certainlydestroy all obstacles on the way.

It is hurricane Nebo.

’ RESILIENCE’ has become thebuzzword in international

development circles in recenttimes. The ability to withstandadversity and bounce back is asimple definition of this word. Themeaning in internationaldevelopment parlance is notdifferent, but it is only a little bitprofound and amenable to wideapplication. It is currently a subjectof high profile debate in severalinstitutions.

This ubiquitous word resonatedagain in a recent report on theinternational humanitarianresponse to the 2012 West AfricaSahel food crisis. This report is inform of a briefing paper by theinternational relief anddevelopment agency, Oxfam, onthe assessment of the response tothe food crisis. The report has EliseFord, Oxfam’s SahelHumanitarian Policy & AdvocacyLead as the author. Entitled:‘Learning the Lessons? Assessingthe response to the 2012 food crisisin the Sahel to build resilience forthe future’, the report in the mainunderscores the imperative for “allactors to seek to develop a deeperunderstanding of what makes poorpeople more vulnerable to shocksand stresses and what builds theirresilience”. Before the crisis, manyfamilies had not recovered from

the previous crises. A situation, thereport says, contributes torelatively small shocks havinghuge impact.

The Sahel region of West Africa,which includes the northernfringes of Nigeria, is known for itsecosystem fragility. The extremearidity of this zone, includingdesertification, exacerbated andcomplicated by climatevariability, necessitates the searchfor coping and adaptationmechanisms to reduce thevulnerability of the inhabitantcommunities. It is also noteworthythat behind this adversity lies greatpotentials to drive development ifonly ingenious strategies aredeveloped.

The report acknowledged thatthe response in 2012 was betterthan the previous ones in 2005,2008 and 2010 but there were stillsome ‘critical shortcomings’.There were some overlooked deep-seated inequalities that madesome families more vulnerablethan others. “We must learn fromthe 2012 experience to betterprevent and manage future crises,”the report said. It recommendedthat agencies and institutionsshould profit from the momentumaround the concept of resilience tofurther understand how to makeresponses more effective.

An assessment of the interventionof governments, donors and

agencies showed what the reportcalled ‘mixed performance’. Whileearly warning signs were there, thevarious bodies were not inagreement as to the severity of thecrisis. Several meetings held bydevelopment agencies in thebeginning of 2012 simplyacknowledged that the indicatorswere there but the extent andgravity of the impending crisiswere hazy. The only thing that wascommon knowledge was thathumanitarian and developmentagencies were to brace up forincreased activity owing toenvisaged critical foodinsufficiency in the region. Theprevious year had witnessed erraticand insufficient rainfalls andharvests were poor as aconsequence. Agriculture islargely, if not totally, rain-fed inthe region.

Apart from the weakenedcapacity of actors, especially

the governments as a result of

inadequate and untimely funding,there were political factors thatmilitated against effectiveresponse. The presidential electionin Senegal overshadowed the onsetof the crisis in the first quarter ofthe year 2012. The governmentcould not acknowledge the uglysituation for fear of losing politicalgrounds. The ruling party lost inthe election anyway and the newgovernment was quick toacknowledge the crisis in April.But disaster had already set in. InMali serious political instabilityeven complicated the crisis.

Despite the fact that the responsein 2012 was better than theprevious ones, there were stillmany families that did not receiveassistance. While many out of the18 million people affected acrossnine countries in the regionreceived nutritional assistance insome way, it is on record that morethan five million people did notreceive the seeds, tools andfertilizer needed to plant for thenext harvest.

To get things right, there is needto recognise that the crisis is notover. According to the report, thereare over 10 million people that stillneed help. In other words, foodcrisis is simply a momentaryescalation of a perennial situationof food insufficiency. Communitiesshould be assisted to build theirresilience effectively and be in aposition to withstand future crises.There is need for investment insmallholder agriculture, local andnational food reserves and socialprotection programmes. Thereshould be proper understanding ofdegrees of vulnerability so thatsupport is targeted at the poorestor weakest. Capacity of local

actors should be strengthened andregional bodies made to live up totheir responsibilities with regardto the prevention and managementof future crises.

West Africa is bedeviled by masspoverty and the situation in theSahel part of the region iscompounded by the fragileecosystem. Amazingly the map ofpolitical instability and weakgovernance structures in WestAfrica is almost the same as thatof the Sahel. There is need for moreserious actions to tackle the issueof recurrent food crises in theregion.

The report, therefore,recommends that all actors should,as it were, be riding on the crest ofthe current wave of resilience. TheUnited Nations should bemobilised to render more supportto programmes aimed at buildingthe resilience of vulnerablecommunities. All actors shoulddevelop a deeper understanding ofwhat makes poor people morevulnerable to shocks and stresses.There should be more effectivefood crisis analyses to guidemeasures aimed at addressing itsroot causes within a context wherethe dividing line betweenhumanitarianism anddevelopment is blurred.Governments and regionalorganisations must be committedto delivering pro-poordevelopment strategies whiledonors should fast-track thedevelopment of resiliencestrategies.

The UnitedNations shouldbe mobilised torender moresupport toprogrammesaimed at buildingthe resilience ofvulnerablecommunities

Nebo may not be asvirulent in hisresolve to end their(cabals) reign; but toobdurately remain aclog in the wheel ofprogress, couldbecome a recipe fortheir doom

20—Vanguard20—Vanguard20—Vanguard20—Vanguard20—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, MAY 3, MAY 3, MAY 3, MAY 3, MAY 3 , , , , , 20132013201320132013

centre, Lekki, Lagos.The graduands, she explained, were

brought as victims of sexual and emo-tional abuse, with some of them ad-dicted to liquor and hard drugs.

But through consistent care and re-habilitation, as well as education andempowerment activities, she said theywould be leaving the centre equippedto begin a new life as productive mem-bers of society.

Explaining that the organisationwas established with the mandate ofsystematically transforming the livesof women through a series of rehabil-itation, education and empowermentprogrammes, she said: “Freedom

For eight despairing women, a life-line from Freedom

BY BOSE ADELAJA

IT began as a minor face-off which soon turned vio-

lent, leaving four people, in-cluding a policeman, severelyinjured. The fracas which oc-curred on Friday April 12, 2013involved some policemen at-tached to Ijede Division andsome sand dealers in Aguraarea of Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The incident led to the arrestof a couple and the chairmanof the sand dealers associationwho was later granted bail af-ter paying an undisclosedamount of money. The couple,on their part, were charged tothe court while the four victimsare presently receivingtreatment in various hospitals.

Problem started around 11amwhen a fully loaded tipper wasflagged down by somepolicemen at Ebute area ofAgura.

Identity ofpassengers

The police men, all in muftiexcept one, were said to be in-side a private car heading to-wards a local dredging sitewhen they met the tipper whichapart from the driver had eightpassengers on board.

When queried by the policemen on the identity of passen-gers, the tipper driver was saidto have informed that theywere mostly youths in the areawho were going for their break-fast at a nearby bus-stop.Vanguard Metro gathered thatthe driver of the vehicle wasarrested and put in the privatecar. This infuriated the youthswho swooped on the car andforcefully tried to prevent the

Sand dealers,Police clash: Manyquestions, fewanswers

officers from driving off. The re-sultant clash soon turned vio-lent, with the police men shoot-ing sporadically, ostensibly toward off further attacks.

At the end of the day, threeyouths were injured by gun-

Foundation has, since inception,touched many lives through commu-nity transformation. At the end of theirvocational training, each of the wom-en gets an opportunity to practise hercraft with a local partner organisationeither in an internship or in perma-nent job.

“Our target populations are the so-cially and economically-disadvan-taged and vulnerable men, womenand children within our society, all ofwhom have the right to be protectedagainst poverty and the right to ac-cess basic social services, such as ed-ucation and health. We believe that allindividuals have the right to partici-

*Some family members of the slain corps members at the remembrance event

The driver of the intercepted tipper. INSET: One of the victims on his hospital bed

shots and one policeman wasbeaten into coma. It took sometime before peace returned tothe area.

A house wife (names with-held) whose husband was amember of the sand dealers

association was also beaten bythe policemen for taking sideswith the youths and she waslater taken into custody whenshe went in company of thechairman of the sand dealersto incident the matter at Ijededivision. However, both of themwere arrested by the Police whoalso went in search of her hus-band. The chairman wasgranted bail a couple of dayslater but the couple has beentaken to court.

When VM visited the UnitedSand Dealers Association, Agu-ra branch, it discovered that theparent body had not identifiedwith it over the crisis as thebranch was said not to havebeen remitting its monthlydues. VM also visited two ofthe hospitals where the victimswere receiving treatment butthe doctors prevented them

from granting an interview onthe account that they were se-verely injured and this couldincrease their pains.

When VM visited Agura tip-per garage, there was little orno activities there. A sourcehinted that some executivemembers of the associationhave been arrested by thePolice, while the driver of theintercepted vehicle was still re-ceiving treatment in a privatehospital.

Also, the incident has affect-ed activities among the sanddealers as some of their mem-bers have fled the area for fearof being arrested by the Police.

When VM visited Area NCommand, a Police officer whopleaded anonymity said thepolicemen were on illegal dutyas the dredging area was un-der Imota division.

Graduands brandish their certificates

pate fully in the process of governance,the right to equal development, as wellas the right to enjoy access to vital re-sources and the basic necessities oflife”.

She, therefore, admonished thegraduands to remember all they learntwhile at the centre, with a view to pro-jecting themselves as good ambassa-dors anywhere they find themselves.

She expressed the organisation’shope to expand its reach to at least1000 girls in the next two years. To ac-tualize her vision, Nwabuoku called ongovernment and eminent Nigerians tocome to their aid through financial sup-ports, volunteers and mentoring.

By UJU MBANUSI

FREEDOM Foundation, a non-govern-

mental organisation witha mandate of pioneeringsocial reformation ondrug addicted victimsand commercial sex work-ers across the nation, hasexpressed hope of estab-lishing at least 1000 la-dies by next year.

The Organisation’sprogramme director, MrsHelen Nwabuoku, madethe disclosure during thegraduation ceremony ofeight despairing womenin different vocationalskills at the organisa-tion’s skills acquisition


CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 02/05/2013

102.34 -1.47

93.38 -1.12

134.75 1.15

2,322.00 -13.00

17.7 0.21

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 155.75POUNDS 239.6923 240.4667 241.2412EURO 202.3975 203.0515 203.7054FRANC 165.3489 165.8831 166.4174YEN 1.5878 1.593 1.5981CFA 0.2896 0.2996 0.3096WAUA 232.367 233.1178 233.8686RENMINBI 25.0993 25.1808 25.2624RIYA 41.2623 41.3956 41.5289KRONA 27.141 27.2287 27.3164SDR 233.5178 234.2723 235.0268

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

THE Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, said that it

is considering an upward re-view of the fees required forregistration of Limited Liabil-ity companies in the country.

The Commission will also inthe course of time enforce reg-istration of business names forowners of small businessesscattered across the country.

The newly appointed Chair-man of the Commission,Otunba Funso Lawal, gavethe hint when he paid a cour-tesy visit to the managementof the Nigerian Stock Ex-change, NSE, and to also ringthe closing bell, as part of hisfamiliarisation tour of somekey institutions and ministriesin the country.

He said that the incrementbecame necessary due to theneed to rake in more revenueto pursue the Commission’sdrive of providing its custom-ers with better and efficientservices.

He said, “We are improvingour services; we are trying toprovide more services and wewant to ensure that we aremore efficient. All these thingscome at a cost. So, eventhough with the Small andMedium Enterprises, SMEs,we will continue to encouragethem, with some other compa-nies like Limited Liabilitycompanies, they might see aslight increase, but it shouldnot be significant.”

“We are part of the federalgovernment’s transformationagenda to ensure that we en-courage small and mediumscale enterprises, and wewant to ensure that we en-courage such companies to dobusiness in Nigeria and at

CAC to increase registration feefor limited liability companies

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange,NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Chiefof Staff/Head, Corporate Division, NSE, Mr. Bola Adeeko; Chairman, Corporate AffairsCommission, CAC, Otunba Funso Lawal and Executive Director, Business Development,NSE, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri at the bell ringing ceremony of the commission at the NSE.

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

THE Federal Government isset to tighten its regulatory

frameworks aimed atminimising illegal mining ac-tivities in the country.

Permanent Secretary, Minis-try of Mines and Steel Devel-opment, Mr. Linus Awute,who stated this in an interviewwith Vanguard, asserted thatthe government is strengthen-ing regulatory instruments toencourage diversification ofthe economy through the sec-tor.

“The diversification of theeconomy is aimed at movingaway from oil resource depen-dence, and the minerals andmetals sector have been iden-tified as one of the key sec-tors through which theeconomy can be diversified.And we, as a ministry beingthe custodian of that sector,have considered it worthy tostrengthen our regulatory in-struments, and to also see theextent to which we caninternalise the legal frame-work that has been developedto back the activities of thesector,” he said.

Awute noted that what hasbeen promoting illegal min-ing is the granting of licencesto those who lack the capacityto survive in the business.“The only thing that has pro-moted illegal mining in recenttimes is where some peoplewho have acquired licences todo business in a particularcadastral unit, at the end ofthe day, didn’t prove to havethe capacity to do that busi-ness. So, that creates a loop-hole for the encroachment ofthose who can go in, scratchthe ground and do otherthings and then get some-thing out of it and then at thecost of the environment with-out any royalty accruing togovernment.

“But what we are doing nowis to ensure that those withmineral titles and are not do-ing anything with them arebrought to face the full wrathof the law, which is nothingother than the revocation oftheir licences and when thathappens, the licences will beissued to anyone who has thecapacity, the financial capac-ity as well as a minimum workplan with a given timeline todo what he is supposed todo,” he said.

The permanent secretary fur-ther noted that governmenthas established a special in-tervention fund to address thefinancial needs of investors inthe mining sector.

FG tightensregulation todiscourageillegal miningsuch, we will ensure that we

do the necessary things tomake sure that the cost of do-ing business is reduced,” headded.

On the Commission’splanned enforcement of reg-istration for informal busi-

nesses, Lawal said, “Our Pub-lic Affairs Department will togo out and appeal to them onthe registration of their busi-nesses. But the fact remainsthat they don’t have to regis-ter as limited liability compa-nies, they can register just

their business names. Allaround here, Idumonta,Oyingbo and Lagos Island,there are a lot of companies,but people are not ready toregister, they just put theirname and we are going out totalk to them and try to ensurethat they are registered.”

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU,SAINTJERRY NJOKU &VERA SAM-ANYAGAFU

THE Federal Ministry ofTrade and Investment and

Sanshui District Bureau of

Nigeria signs MoU with China on skills, technology transfer

Economy, Science andTechnology Develop-ment Promotion inChina have signed aMemorandum of Un-derstanding, MoU tofacilitate the transfer ofskills andtechnologies.

The MoU includes atrade cooperationagreement betweenmany of the factoriessited at the industrialpark within theSanshui Economic De-velopment Zones andNigeria with a prom-ise by many of theprocessing industriesto open offices inNigeria before the endof the year.The Minister of Statefor Trade and Invest-ment, Dr. SamuelOrtom, signed theMoU when he led atrade delegation to theShanghai province inChina.

“We are looking at

areas where we have com-parative and competitive ad-vantage and the areas wherewe have the raw materials inabundance and lack the tech-nology,” he said.

The minister, who noted thatplans to achieve technologi-cally sound industrialised Ni-geria remained unwaveringled other Nigerian industrial-ists including representativesfrom one of Nigeria’s foremostindigenous companies,DOYIN Groups, Padson In-dustries Ltd and membersfrom Nigeria Trade Office inShanghai to attend the busi-ness meeting, which wasorganised by a group knownas “Africa Investment Net.”

Chinese delegation was onthe other hand led by Mr.William Wang, a former direc-tor in the Chinese Ministry ofCommerce to discuss partner-ship and business collabora-tions with leading Chinesecompanies covering construc-tions, processing, utilities andagricultural technologiesamong others.

Dr. Ortom, who was accom-panied by Nigerianambassador to China, H.E.Aminu Wali, said that thecountry is willing to accept asmany investors coming toinvest in Nigeria as possible.

He said: “I believe a lot ofgood things will come out ofthis, more especially at a timethe Nigerian government islooking forward forinvestment in all sectors of theeconomy and we are willingto accept all investors comingfrom China for investmentpurposes.

“This is what my ministry isdoing, to provide for an en-abling and conducive environ-ment for investments. This, Ibelieve will go a long way instrengthening the Nigeria-China relationship.”

In response, the chief facili-tator of the business meeting,Mr. Williams Wang said: “Thisevent is just the beginning ofactivities which will be heldby Africa Investment Net thisyear to promote investment inNigeria.

“We want to provide aplatform for the matchmakingof projects between Nigeriaand China so that Chineseinvestors will get more infor-mation about the investmentenvironment in Nigeria.

“Through years of study andinvestigation, we think thatNigeria is one of the Africancountries which has the great-est potentials of development,and also has biggestcomparatives of economy withChina.”

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 201 3

E-dividend: Shareholders threatenlegal action against registrars, coys

BY BABAJIDE KOMA-LAFE & PETER EGWUATU

SHAREHOLDERS ofDiamond Bank Plc have

endorsed the Board ofDirectors’ proposal to raise$750,000,000 additionalcapital in order to enhancethe bank’s working capitaland finance business devel-opment initiatives.

The shareholders also ap-proved the bank’s proposalto raise its authorised sharecapital from N10 billion toN15 billion by the creationof additional 10 billion ordi-nary shares of 50 kobo each,ranking paripasu in all re-spects with its existing ordi-nary shares.

Addressing shareholdersat the 22nd Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM), Chairmanof the bank, Obi of Onitsha,Nnaemeka Achebe, said “Di-amond Bank has bouncedback to profitability follow-ing the significant write-offswe had to do in 2011 to cleanup our books and repositionthe bank.”

In his comment at themeeting, the GroupManaging Director of the

Diamond Bank shareholdersendorse $ 750m capital raising… Increases share capital to N15bn

Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, commend-ed the shareholders for theirloyalty and support.

According to him, “It wouldnot be better to declare divi-dend and still come back toseek more capital from ourshareholders. Our focus is tooptimise balance sheet effi-ciency while increasing re-turns and minimise risks, allwithin the context of financialintermediation, which is ourprimary mandate.”

He further explained thatthe bank has divested fromfive of its subsidiariesaccording to the Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN)’s directives,but noted that step has beentaken to recapitalise few of thesubsidiaries like DiamondBank Benin and the PensionFund firm.

He said: “We will open morebranches in many newlocations this year especiallyin under –representedmarkets with strong economicfundamentals and where ourservices will be a strong agentfor growth. Internationally, onMarch 26, 2013, we conclud-ed the acquisition and tookover control of a niche bankin UK. This underscores our

intention for a two prongedapproach, acquisition and or-ganic growth, to expansion.”In their comments at theAGM, shareholders unani-mously tasked the Board ofthe Bank to ensure that div-idend is declared next year.

Sir Sunny Nwosu, NationalCoordinator, IndependentShareholders Association ofNigeria (ISAN), who spokethe minds of members at themeeting, commended thebank for bouncing back toprofitability. According tohim, “We shareholders ex-pect that you will give us div-idend next year having re-turned to profitability. Wethank the Staff, managementand Board for the improvedperformance.

Dr. Farouk Umar, Chair-man, Advancement for theRights of NigerianShareholders, equallycommended the bank for itsimpressive performance as itposted profit before tax (PBT)of N27.5billion and profitafter tax (PAT) of N22.1billion from a loss position ofN18billion and N13 billion in2011 respectively.

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM& CHINEDU IBEABUCHI

FBN Holdings Plc said itsprofit after tax increased

by 306 percent to N75.7 bil-lion in its financial year end-ed 31st December 2012 fromN18.6 billion recorded in2011.

Its 2012 financial results re-leased within the week to theNigerian Stock Exchange,NSE, showed that the profitbefore tax increased by 158.5percent year-on-year to N92.7billion from N35.8 billion in2011, benefiting from revenuegrowth, lower impairmentcharges and income from dis-continued operations.

FBN Holdings proposedpayment of N1.00 per sharedividend to its shareholders.

The Group’s tax expensecame in at N17.0 billion, mar-ginally lower by1.1 percentfrom the prior year. This trans-lated into an effective tax rateof 18.4 percent, which is sig-nificantly lower than the 48percent recorded in 2011.

Its total assets increased by11.4 percent to N3.2 trillionfrom N2.9 trillion in 2011,largely on the back of growthin deposits and, to lesser ex-tent, retained earnings.

Its gross earnings grew year-on-year by 31.4 percent toN359.8 billion and was prima-rily driven by interest incomefrom loans and advances of 32percent, as well as investmentsecurities growth of 92 per-cent.

FBN Group’s net interestincome grew by 27.8 percentto N225.2 billion as againstN176.2 billion in 2011, bene-fiting from healthy growth ininterest income given thehigher interest rate environ-ment. However, this growthwas tempered by a significantrise of 69 percent in interestexpense over the period.

Its operating expenses roseby 31.6 percent to close atN192.2 billion year-on-yearfrom N146.1 billion in 2011.This was on the back of growthin personnel costs by 19.6 per-cent, regulatory costs in rela-tion to AMCON and NDICgrowth by 33.7 percent as wellas business maintenance andexpansion costs rising by 25per cent, which represented35.8 per cent, 8.6 per cent and24.3 per cent respectively oftotal operating expenses.

Commenting on the results,Bello Maccido, Chief Execu-tive officer of FBN Holdingssaid: “I am pleased to presentthe maiden results of FBNHoldings following its restruc-turing as non-operationalholding company with over-sight of four major businessgroups, namely: CommercialBanking, Investment Bankingand Asset Management, In-surance and Other FinancialServices.

FBN Holdingsrecords 306%profit growthin 2012*Proposes N1dividend

BRIEF

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

AS criticisms continue tomount over the Securities

and Exchange Commission(SEC)’s decision to direct regis-trars to stop forwarding dividendwarrants to shareholders that failto give their bank details to them,some shareholders have saidthat they will take legal actionagainst any registrar or quotedcompany that dares to implementthe directive.

They noted that SEC needs tostep up its enlightenmentcampaign to encourage thosethat are still foot-dragging toembrace e-dividend, instead oftaking a pound of flesh off inno-cent shareholders over her fracaswith the National Assemblymembers.

Reacting, Mr. Boniface Okez-ie, President, Progressive Share-holders Association of Nigeria,PSAN, told Vanguard that someinstitutional investors still preferto have their dividend posted tothem in hard copies.

Though he said that the impor-tance of e-dividend cannot beunderestimated, he stated thatthe SEC does not have the powerto direct companies to stoppaying dividend to shareholders.

“That directive is better throwninto the dust bin. Nobody shouldlisten to the SEC as far thisdirective is concerned. In fact,SEC has no power under CAMAto give such order. Any registrarthat listens to SEC in this regardis putting itself into trouble, be-cause they are gong to face a lotof litigation from us,” he said.

“The law of CAMA clearlystated that dividends should besent to shareholders throughwarrants and that act of CAMAhas not been amended. So, untilthat law is amended, SEC hasno right to direct that sharehold-ers should not be paid their div-idend. If the SEC Dg wants toamend that section of CAMA,she should go through theNational Assembly,” he empha-sised.

Also speaking, Sir SunnyNwosu, National Coordinator,Independent Shareholders Asso-ciation of Nigeria, ISAN, said, “Ifthat directive is implemented, itwill elicit a lot of legal issues fromshareholders. Let me say that ifthat happens, I will sue the com-pany that fails to pay my divi-dend because I don’t have anybusiness with SEC.

We didn’t buy shares from SEC;we bought shares fromcompanies, so SEC does nothave the right to stop dividendsfrom being paid. SEC has noright to make such law.”

“If you go through the calen-dar of quoted companies, you findout that their annual generalmeetings fall within May and

June, and June 3rd is barely onemonth from now and SEC iscoming out with this directivenow. So, whose interest is SECreally protecting,” he queried.

He regretted that all attempts

by shareholders to make the apexregulator and the CBN start ac-cepting dividends into savingsaccount has not yielded anyresult, adding that unless the lawthat stated that unclaimed divi-

dends becomes status barredafter 12 years, is amended, share-holders would resist impositionof sanctions over non-compliance with e-dividendpayment requirement.

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Dr. DemolaSogunle; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Akwa Ibom State Mr. Offiong Udoffe;Head, Benefits Administration, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Mrs. Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, and Head, Business Development, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Mrs.Nike Bajomo, at the official opening of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited’s office inUyo, Akwa Ibom State.


FINANCING CASHEW — From left: Mr. Charles Polet (AIMS Ltd), A. B.Mohammed, Mr. Judson Welsh (AIMS Ltd), Ayeka Olarotimi (NCAN),Mrs. Adaeze Ebegbulem (Snr. Mgr. NEXIM Bank),Mr. Sotonye Anga (Chair-man, Local Organising Committee, NEXIM & NCAN Cashew Finance Fo-rum 2013), Rev. Ifeanyi C. Nwade (representing the MD, NEXIM Bank), Mr.Tola Faseru (President, NCAN), Mr. Olowo Sunkanmi (Ecobank), Mr. AbelAjala (Ecobank), Mr. Saliu Alasa (Vice President, NCAN), and Mr. John Ol-ota (Vice President, NCAN).

Exporters urge US to make success of AGOA in Nigeria

‘Reserve retail trade for Nigerians’

THE National Presi- dent of Council of

Managing Directors ofLicensed CustomsAgents (CMDLCA), Mr.Lucky Amiwero hasurged the Federal Gov-ernment to reserve thesmall scale retail activi-ty, petty trading andhawking, exclusively forNigerian indigenousoperator.

By so doing, Nigeriawill create wealth andboost domestic inves-ment, he noted.

The CMDLCA bossexplained that the Nige-rian small scale and re-tail trade “is seriouslyexperiencing foreigndominance through thetotal control of the man-ufacturing, distribution,retailing and hawking oftrade goods in Nigerianmarket.”

Amiwero said that for-eign nationals now con-trolled the total tradingchain including retail

and hawking, “whichportents great danger tothe economy on the do-mestic retail front, em-ployment and wealthcreation.”

“The foreign nation-als, who are moving intoour retail trade andhawking business, areexposed to foreign capi-tals and better economicclimate, whose activitiesare creating serious im-pact in our trading en-vironment by reducingthe active involvementof Nigerians in retailand hawking that shouldbe reserved for Nigeriaindigenous operators.”

He advised the Nige-rian authorities to bor-row a leaf from the Gha-naian Investment Pro-motion Act 478 of 1994which protects the do-mestic investment envi-ronment.

The objective, accord-ing to Amiwero, is to pro-mote investment in the

economy and initiatemeasures that will en-hance the investmentclimate for both Ghana-ian and non-Ghanaianscompanies.

Section 18 of the actspecifically states: “Theenterprises specified inthe schedule are re-served for citizens andshall not be undertakenby a person who is not acitizen

1.The sale of anythingwhatsoever in a market,petty trading, hawkingor selling from kiosk.

2. Operation of taxiservice and car hireservice. (A non-Ghana-ian may undertake thisservice where there is aminimum fleet of 10 newvehicles).

3. All aspect of poolbetting business and lot-teries, except footballpools.

4. Operation of beau-ty saloons and barbershops.

THE New Face of Agriculture in Ni-

geria will be unfoldedsoon as the Communityof Agricultural Stakehold-ers of Nigeria, CASON,will be he date for the con-ference would soon be an-nounced to hold within themonths of June to August2013 annoucd a major pro-gramme for the youth thatwould involve making agri-business attractive, real, ap-pealing and practical to Ni-gerian youths.

The event, exclusivelypackaged for Nigerianyouths to include confer-ence, expert training,field trip, exhibition ofagric businesses andtechnologies.

About 1,500 Nigerianyouths will be attendingthe conference, whichmakes it about the larg-est gathering of youthsfor agriculture.

The Federal Ministry ofAgriculture and RuralDevelopment is doing a

STORIESBY DANIEL GUMM

VISIT — From left: Mrs. Evelyn Obidike, Acting Zonal Controller, NigerianExport Promotion Council, NEPC, Lagos, making her remarks and NilminiRubin, Senior Adviser, United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, andleader of delegation.

NIGERIAN exporters have urged

the United States ofAmerica, USA to makethe African Growth Op-portunity Act, AGOA, asuccess by coming toNigeria to invest.

At an interactive meet-ing with the US HouseForeign Affairs Commit-tee, in Lagos, Nigerianexporters categoricallytold the visiting USCommittee membersthat that there weresome limitations on Ni-gerian exporters export-ing to the US market,insisting that the chal-lenges faced by Nigeri-ans while exploring theUS market had beenenormous.

The US delegationmade up of both the Re-publicans and Demo-crats explained that

their committee was inNigeria to acquaintthemselves with chal-lenges and constraintsfaced by Nigerian ex-porters that was pre-venting black Africa’smost populous nationfrom taking advantageof AGOA and reportback tothe US House.

Stakeholders listedhigh cost of freight fromNigeria to the US aswell as the US non-rec-ognition of NAFDAC asa very unfair decision ofthe American govern-ment, a decision whichautomatically makes Ni-gerian products to theUS uncompetitive intheir market.

They explained thatthey were unhappy overthe situation, wherebyNigerian products aresubjected to double in-spection in the U S, af-ter such products had

been inspected here inNigeria, adding that itshould henceforth becorrected immediately.

A cross-section ofstakeholders was of theview that in order for Ni-geria to benefit from theAGOA, the US shouldcome and invest in Ni-geria and “show us theStandard.”

Stakeholders told theUS delegates that whatthey doing by recom-mending standards forNigerian products isnothing but change informulation since thoseproducts did not origi-nate from the US in thefirst place.

The leader of dele-gates, Nilmini Rubin,Senior Adviser, UnitedStates House Committeeon Foreign Affairs, madea commitment that shewould be going back withNigerian complaints.

Nigerian youths for agribusiness conference 2013

Nigeria needs international shipping code for maritimetrade — UMARTHE Minister of

Transport, IdrisUmar, has said that safenavigation is required inline with InternationalShipping and Ports Se-curity Code (ISPS) forefficient maritime tradein the country.

Mr. Umar made thisknown on Tuesday inAbuja at the inaugura-tion of the newly-recon-stituted competent Pilot-age Boards within thefour compulsory PilotageDistricts of the NigerianPorts Authority (NPA).

The ISPS is an amend-ment to the Safety of Lifeat Sea (SOLAS) Conven-

tion (1974/1988) on min-imum security arrange-ments for ships, portsand government agen-cies.

Having come intoforce in 2004, it pre-scribes responsibilitiesto governments, ship-ping companies andport/facility personnel to"detect security threatsand take preventivemeasures against secu-rity incidents affectingships or port facilitiesused in internationaltrade.

Umar explained thatsafe navigation was re-quired in line with the

ISPS because a greatervolume of imports andexports was conveyedthrough the ports.

He said that due to theimportance of the portsto the development ofthe Nigerian economy,international maritimetrade could not be over-emphasised.

He recalled that thetenure of the former pi-lotage board of the fourpilotage districts ap-pointed in 2006 by hispredecessor had lapsedand there was a need toreconstitute anotherone.

whole lot to revive agri-business in Nigeria un-der the AgriculturalTransformation agenda(ATA), including the re-capitaliation of the Bankof Agriculture for betterfunding to unlock fi-nancing to the agricul-tural sector in Nigeria,said Mr. SontonyeAnga, CASONCoordi-nator.

He said that CASONis currently developinga national data base forNigerian youths inter-ested in agriculture.

This database wouldbe made available topolicy makers, donoragencies and govern-ment at all levels as itmakes for easy access toyouths interested inagribusiness nation-wide and the databasewould reach the onemillion target by end of2013.

The CASON youth

empowerment databaseis designed to help theNigerian youths. He il-lustrated with the nameof the first person on thedatabase: a female, fromOsun State aged 21years, the database hasall her details includingphone number andemail, thereby makingaccess to her very simple.

The database was borneout of the need for a cen-tralised resource that cap-tures Nigerian youths in-terested in, or already inagriculture and help themaccess agribusiness solu-tions, opportunities, infor-mation and support.

He acknowledged theUniversity of Lagos as themost prestigious universi-ty located in Lagos State,where the youth confer-ence would hold and thatthe collaboration andsupport of UNILAGwould be most appreci-ated.

LATELATELATELATELATETIPSTIPSTIPSTIPSTIPS

TREBLE CHANCE

PAIR19X20

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WEEK 42WEEK 42WEEK 42WEEK 42WEEK 42

1 v Reading 1X2 Liverpool v Everton XX3 Man Utd. v Chelsea 14 Norwich v Aston V. X15 Q.P.R. v Arsenal 26 Sunderland v Stoke XX7 Swansea v Man City 28 Tottenham v South'pton 19 West Brom v Wigan 110 West Ham v Newcastle XX

11Birmingham v Blackburn 112 Bolton v Blackpool 113 Brighton v Wolves 114 Burnley v Ipswich XX15 Charlton v Bristol C 116 Crystal P. v Peterboro 117 Derby v Millwall 1X18 Huddersfield v Barnsley XX19 Hull v Cardiff XX20 Nottm For v Leicester XX21 Sheff Wed v Middlesbro 2X22 Watford v Leeds 1

23 Dumbarton v Partick 224 Dunfermline v Airdrie 125 Falkirk v Morton X126 Hamilton v Cowdenb'th 127 Livingston v Raith X1

28 Albion R. v Queen O' Sth 229 Arbroath v Alloa 230 East Fife v Brechin . 231 Forfar v Ayr Utd. 132 Stenhus'muir v Stranraer 1

33 Annan v Montrose 2X34 Clyde v Stirling A. XX35 Elgin v E Stirling A. 136 Queens Pk v Peterhead XX37 Rangers . v Berwick 1

38 Barcelona v R. Betis. 139 Celta Vigo v Ath Bilbao X240 Deportivo v Ath Madrid 241 Getafe v R. Sociedad 242 Granada v Malaga 243 Mallorca v Levante 244 R.Madrid v Valladolid 145 Sevilla v Espanyol XX46 Valencia v Osasuna 1X47 Zaragoza v R. Vollecano2X

48 Flerintina v Roma 149 Napoli v Inter Milan 1

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS

FOUR HOMES

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.

Liverpool v Everton

Nottm For v Leicester Hull v Cardiff

Spanish La LigaSpanish La LigaSpanish La LigaSpanish La LigaSpanish La Liga

FulhamHuddersfield v Barnsley

FFFFF.A.A.A.A.A. Bar. Bar. Bar. Bar. Barclaclaclaclaclays Premierys Premierys Premierys Premierys Premiershipshipshipshipship

NPower FootballNPower FootballNPower FootballNPower FootballNPower Football Championship Championship Championship Championship Championship

Sunderland v Stoke

Clyde v Stirling A. Queens Pk v Peterhead Burnley v IpswichSevilla v Espanyol

West Ham v Newcastle

Scottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueDivisionTDivisionTDivisionTDivisionTDivisionTwwwwwooooo

Scottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League Division Three Three Three Three Three

Italian Serie AItalian Serie AItalian Serie AItalian Serie AItalian Serie A

Scottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionScottish League DivisionOnOnOnOnOn

THE Real Madrid boss admitted he is hated inSpain and insisted: “I want to be where people loveme to be.

“I know in England I am loved by the fans, themedia, some clubs and especially one. In Spain thesituation is different because some people hateme.”

Mourinho spoke out following his side’s Cham-pions League semi-final exit to Borussia Dortmund.

The Special One has been linked with a return toStamford Bridge next season. And when asked ifhe will remain in Madrid he replied: “Maybe not.”

Mourinho, who has one year left on his Real con-tract, insisted he will make a decision on his futureafter speaking with president Florentino Perez atthe end of this season.

He added: “It’s difficult to make a decision be-cause I like this club.

“I like the president and we have built a team thatis ready to do big things.

“I haven’t made a decision yet because I have acontract and I respect the club and the president.

“It’s why I want to win the Copa del Rey final andfinish second in the league.

“I want to sit down with my president, my friend,and decide the best for me. At the end of the sea-son I will speak.”

Mourinho, 50, managed Chelsea from June 2004until September 2007, when he left after falling outwith Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

He remains Chelsea’s most successful manager

Jose Mourinho hasJose Mourinho hasJose Mourinho hasJose Mourinho hasJose Mourinho hasdropped a hint that hedropped a hint that hedropped a hint that hedropped a hint that hedropped a hint that heis on his way back tois on his way back tois on his way back tois on his way back tois on his way back to

EnglandEnglandEnglandEnglandEngland

with two Premier League titles and threedomestic cup triumphs.

But Mourinho’s comments will almostcertainly put more than one PremierLeague club on alert.

Manchester City are another possibledestination for him.

Real’s 2-0 semi-final second-leg triumphat the Bernabeu could not stop Dortmundbooking their place in the Wembley finalwith a 4-3 aggregate win.

Late goals from Karim Benzema andSergio Ramos were not enough — thenMourinho blasted English ref HowardWebb for not sending off Dortmund’sMats Hummels.

The ball hit the Borussia star’s hand ashe slipped on the edge of the area andMourinho insisted: “I am very disap-pointed with one of my favourite refs.

“In that moment he was not a referee,he was a human being.

“He thought, ‘If I give a red card toHummels, he will miss the final’.”

THE Real Madrid director of footballbelieves that suitors will be willing topay 60 million pounds for the Welsh-man, whom he feels can make the dif-ference for a club.

Zidane: Bale priceZidane: Bale priceZidane: Bale priceZidane: Bale priceZidane: Bale pricewon't deter bidderswon't deter bidderswon't deter bidderswon't deter bidderswon't deter bidders


CMYK

Ex-fEx-fEx-fEx-fEx-fiancée, Kiancée, Kiancée, Kiancée, Kiancée, Keeeeeturturturturturah claims ‘Jimah claims ‘Jimah claims ‘Jimah claims ‘Jimah claims ‘JimIyke Unscripted’ show is fakeIyke Unscripted’ show is fakeIyke Unscripted’ show is fakeIyke Unscripted’ show is fakeIyke Unscripted’ show is fake

BY CHARLES MGBOLU

The credibility of “JimIyke Unscripted” realityTV show may soon

fade into oblivion if the newsmaking the rounds gets anybigger than this as a JennyGarcia who claims to beKeturah Hamilton (Jim Iyke’ssupposed Fiancée) publicisthas come out to claim that herclient’s involvement in theshow had been a fake allalong.Jim Iyke’s Unscriptedreality show had openedin the first week of it’sairing with a bang asviewing ratings jumpedimmediately followingthe smoking hot episodewhich saw Keturahreally mad at Jim Iykewhom she accused ofconsistently flirting withgirls to her ownembarrassment.

Critics of the show hadquickly switched sidesimmediately after seeingthe episode; calling it aburst of fresh air comingstraight from Nollywood.

However, Jenny via astatement circulating likewild fire online says,Keturah only acted out awell written script like agood Nollywood actress.

The statement reads inpart, “Keturah Hamilton,Model, Actress, and Ex-Fiancée of Jim Iyke isready to tell the real storyafter the Jim IykeUnscripted show that wasaired on April 17, 2013.”

“In a world where realityshows are the “In-thing” andbad behaviour becomes theA.M. topic to cover, leave itto Jim Iyke Unscripted orbetter said the “Scripted”show to deliver real lifedrama. The episode that airedon April 17, 2013, did notdisappoint the viewers whowere glued to their TV’swatching Keturah Hamilton’srole that was nonethelessexcellent! She was really ableto bring her character to thenext level of entertainment.”

Keturah had acted out anedgy script of jealousy andrage towards Jim Iyke, that

and KeturahHamilton are no longertogether because in reality,Jim’s bad boy behaviour wasjust too overwhelming for thereality show star. Keturah hasdecided to move on to thebigger and better things thather heart has long beenlooking to do. She quotes, “Iwish Jim well on his show andhope that he matures into theman I always wanted him tobe!”

I N S I D E:

was delivered as well as anyactress in Hollywood. Shewas so good that even her fanswere astonished to see howwell she acted and was ableto challenge Jim on his badbehaviour. Boldly, Jim gaveKeturah the opportunity toexit the reality show based onthe controversial episode.Even though a pre-recordedversion of “Kiss and Make-up” is yet to be aired, Keturahalready had made herdecision.

In the meantime, Jim Iyke

•Jim Iyke & Keturah

Terry G deniesfighting with

AY.com

AMAA: Whatcelebrities woreto the event

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I won’t mindbecoming aPastor

Gordons

Parental guideBalancingBalancingBalancingBalancingBalancinglove betweenlove betweenlove betweenlove betweenlove betweenkids andkids andkids andkids andkids andmobilesmobilesmobilesmobilesmobiles


BY BENJAMIN NJOKU ANDLAJUARENYEKA

‘Moving the ministry to the permanentsite’ is a joke known by all and sundry.It implies a shift, an improvement, achange of level. It is a phrase thatexplains Gordons’ 13 years journeyfrom grass to grace, from beingrelatively unknown to being an ace-comedian that cracks jokes to Headsof States. At the peak of his career atthe Vanguard Personality of the YearAwards,which held last month,Weekend Groove caught up with thisrenowned comedian. In this interview,Gordons speaks on comedy, music andthe woman in his life.

It seems like all your jokes have aChristian background?

It is not like all my jokes have aChristian background, but I always tryto keep them clean. When you bringreligion into it, it checks you. It’s notjust because I’m a Christian, but Ibelieve that any opportunity given tome to speak should be an opportunityto bless others. By cracking Christianjokes, people already know that I am aChristian, since I am aware of that,when I want to misfire, it acts as adeterrent to me.

Getting inspiration on Moving theministry to the permanent site?

It has been a common saying inchurches, For example when a churchwants to move from the hotel or tentwhere they are staying to their ownproperty. I like that phrase a lot becauseit signals progress, a movement fromone stage of life to the other. It isprophetically moving from where youare to where you ought to be.

Are you thinking about going intothe ministry?

I cannot say for now. Anything can

happen. If God gives me a call, I won’treject it, because rejecting the call ofGod is to kill yourself. So, if God tellsme now that he wants me to be a pastor,I cannot reject it. If I reject the call ofGod, where will I run to?

Many people first knew you as amusician, have you abandoned music?

I still do music. I actually havesomething I’m working on in the studionow. Music will always be a part of me.Even now, I can’t pick what I love morebetween music and comedy; I havepassion for both. It’s just that God inhis infinite mercy has a way of opening

When did you have yourbreakthrough?

My big break came in 2005, eventhough I started entertainment in1992.This interview cannot contain all thestruggles I went through during thattime. But what I will say is that it wasnot funny at all. When I was goingthrough all my struggles, it neveroccurred to me that I would one daystand before the crème de la crème ofsociety. It was in 2005, I came intoLagos. I came in to do an album, andwhen I finished the album, it attracteda lot of attention. A lot of people likedmy songs. It was around that time that

Pastor Paul Adefarasincalled me to anchor theexperience programme.I anchored theexperience which hadan audience of about500,000 people. It wasan explosion. I was alsoasked to do comedywhich I did, that washow God lifted me.

Tell us about yourfailures?

It is impossible to seea man who is successfulthat has never failedbefore. Sometimes, youcrack a joke and youexpect people to laugh,but it doesn’t turn outthat way. For exampleI’ve cracked a jokeabout Dana airwaysbefore, and themanagement was veryangry with me. I’ve alsocracked a joke about ourelectricity problem, andI did not know that theMinister of Mines andPower was in thatmeeting. He collectedthe microphone from my

hand. It was an open embarrassment. Ionce cracked a joke in Port Harcourt andI was booed out of stage. When youencounter that kind of thing, you goback home and get back to work. Suchthings don’t really happen as much asthey used to because I’m a bit older inthe game now. When you mature insome things, you know what to avoid.

What about Gordon’s comedy clinic?I still do Gordon’s comedy clinic. I did

one in Asaba recently. From Asaba, we’llmove on to Port Harcout, Uyo andCalabar. It is about entertaining theunentertained. It seems like everybodyis looking up to Lagos for entertainment,but it is the same people that areentertaining people everywhere.

We don’t hear much about yourfamily life

I have been married for eleven yearsand I have four children. I got marriedon the 23rd of March, 2002. My familyis not in the public eye because I haveto separate them from my job. Wheneveryou’re doing something good, womenwill always follow you. But your abilityto say “This thing seems good, butsomething bad might come out of it.”Saying no to women has become aneveryday thing. For people like us, weprepared before we came. We preparedagainst what we were going to face, wewere not surprised, because we hadhandled them spiritually, so to handlesuch things physically was not aproblem at all.

Where do you get your inspiration? I read a lot. I would hardly gothrough any airport without buying abook. I read to broaden my horizons. Iwatch other comedians too, especiallyforeign ones such as Steve Harvey andChris Rock. I also pray because God isthe giver of inspiration.

What are things people don’t knowabout you?

A lot of people don’t know that I’mmarried and some people don’t believethat I have travelled abroad.

I won’t mindI won’t mindI won’t mindI won’t mindI won’t mindbecoming abecoming abecoming abecoming abecoming aPPPPPasasasasastttttororororor —Gordons

,

,

doors for people in places that he deemsfit. And I have had a lot of open doorsin comedy. When you have open doorslike that, you get to follow that path fora while and that is what I am doing now.One thing about comedy is that I cansay what I want to say, and reach asmany people as possible. But I do notthink music is like that. when I domusic, it is gospel or natural songs.

What is your take on the comedyindustry?

We are still growing. We are not wherewe should be, we do not have agoverning body yet, and I think that isvery essential. The industry is becomingmore lucrative and challenging. Themoney is good, but there is still a lot ofroom for improvement.

I once cracked a joke in PortHarcourt and I was booed out ofstage. When you encounter thatkind of thing, you go back homeand get back to work

Gordons

CMYK


TTTTTerrerrerrerrerry G deniesy G deniesy G deniesy G deniesy G deniesfffffighting withighting withighting withighting withighting with

AAAAAYYYYY.com.com.com.com.comPlease disregard the storybecause it’s the work of myenemies and bloggers whowant to feast on innocentpeople like me.”

Earlier in the week, theinternet was awash with gistthat AY.Com who went tocelebrate with Terry G on hisrecently celebrated birthday,landed in hot water whenTerry G suddenly pounced onhim. According to the story,because of the age-long battlebetween the two on copyrightissue, where AY.Com accusedTerry G of stealing his song,upon sighting AY.Com at hisresidence, the Ginger Masterdecided to take his pound offlesh by throwing caution tothe wind on his birthday. Andas a man to the core, AY alsoput up a tough front but the‘fire’ was quenched by friendswho immediately dragged AYout of Terry’s compound.

BY OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

Contrary to rumoursmaking the rounds that

Terry G and AY.com recentlyhad a fight during Terry ’sbirthday party where blowswere exchanged; severalbottles broken and peopleinjured while trying toseparate the fight , Terry G hasrefuted the rumour, sayingthat such incident neverhappened.

Terry made the clarificationwhile speaking with WG onthe matter. According to TerryG, “although there wasindeed a birthday party at myhouse, nothing like that everhappened.”

According to him, AY.Comwas not at his party. Hestressed the story was thehandiwork of his detractorsand jobless bloggers.

“AY didn’t come to mybirthday party and he doesn’teven know where I live.

Prince Orjidrops “DivineTouch”By Olayinka Ajayi

The ever green gospelartiste, Prince Obina

Orji has released a newalbum titled, “DivineTouch.” The 9-track albumis an anointing lacedsongs that will inspireChristians to staycommitted to their faith inJesus.

In a chat with WG duringthe week, the soloist said,“my main purpose ofreleasing this album is tolift the souls of thosedistracted by worldlythings, and get theminspired by listening tomind blowing spiritualsongs that will keep themin faith.”

He however, admo-nished emerging artistesto remain focused asNigerian gospel music iscurrently making wavesabroad. Some of the trackscontained in the albuminclude, Olu Oma,Umuchineke, Nime Jesus,Jehovah Jireh, Chimekelaamong others.

Str8 Up Hip-hop honours Sasha P, Weird MCBY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

The just concluded Apriledition of Str8 Up Hip-hop

was not only a gathering offemale Hip-hop acts and theirfans, but also a convergenceof their male counterparts whocame out to support thehardworking femalemusicians.

The event which was hostedby the amazing Toni Paynewas exciting from start tofinish as the attendees weretreated to a sumptuous andunadulterated hip-hop mealconsisting of B-Girl showcase,graffiti, freestyle sessions andbattle emcee sessions won bythe defending champion,Yung Soss.

Outstanding performancesby Butafly, Splash, Thelmaand Kiss, captivating spokenword by Dolapo, impressiveDJing by DJ Lambogini andDJ OZ all contributed to theunforgettable Ladies Firstexperience. The large

turnout no doubt indicatedthat women in the Hip-hopscene are truly appreciatedand loved by the mencounterparts.

Str8 Up Hip-hop honouredveteran rappers, Sasha P andWeird MC for their selfless

contributions to the growth ofhip-hop in Nigeria. It is safeto say that the veteransearned more respect by theirunmatched performances atthe event. Sasha P performedsome of her classic songsincluding her timeless hit‘Adara’ while Weird MC gavean electrifying performance ofher smashing hit song remix“Ijo Ya’ amongst other classictunes,

In her appreciation speech,Weird MC said, “When Istarted out, we were very fewfemale artists compared towhat we have now. The effortof upcoming female artistes inNigeria is commendable andI encourage them to keeppressing forward in their

pursuits even with moredetermination and resilience.”Also, the first ever Nigerianfemale DJ, Late DJ Lokshai washonoured in recognition of herstatus as a bonafide hip-hoppioneer. A financial donationwas presented to her daughter,Jadesola. A very touchingdocumentary which was puttogether by Buckwyld MediaProduction chronicled theexploits of the late DJ and herunwavering determination toput female DJs in the limelight.

Celebrities who were presentto celebrate the Hip-hop ladiesincluded 2face Idibia, EvaAlordiah, Cynthia Morgan, MrRaw, M-Thrill, DJ Humilityamong others.

Wizkid returnsto EMEWizkid returnsto EMEAfter a renegotiation of contracts, pop star

Ayo ‘ Wizkid ‘ Balogun and Empire MatesEntertainment (EME) are back in business.

Wizkid has been seen with label mates, Shaydee andDJ Xclusive in Benin Republic where they all performedat a show early last month and then, Banky W had beencalled on stage by Wizkid at a recently held Five StarMusic Festival put together by another pop singerKCEE

WG gathered that Wizkid will go on with his Star Boylabel as he has announced the signing of two differentproduction units – UK based Nigerian Maleek Berryand Lagos based duo Legendary Beatz.

Banky & Wizkid

Sasha p

Weird MC

Terry G

CMYK


LAST Saturday, the Banquet Hall of the Eko Ho-tel& Suites was filled to capacity as the first lady

joined other prominent women to celeberate 100 yearsof Nigerian women.The event which was largely spon-spred by Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija’s Famafa Oil hadthe who is who in Nigeria present.

Below is the speech by Mrs. Folorunsho AlakijaCongratulations for a once in a lifetime opportunity

to celebrate 100 years of our nation’s existence!Congratulations to our womenfolk who are here to-

day to celebrate Nigerian Women.As a woman, I feel deeply privileged to have the

opportunity to be a part of it all. As sponsors, ourcompany FAMFA Oil Ltd, is highly honoured to beable to lend its support to this 2-day National Confer-ence and Special Dinner. Through the leadership ofour Chairman, Mr. Modupe Alakija, I and our fourExecutive Directors, we decided to seize this rare op-portunity to identify with our nation and most espe-cially, the celebration of our womenfolk.

It is pertinent for us to congratulate our President,His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for hisvision and wisdom in recognizing the need for Nige-rians to celebrate this special milestone in our history.One hundred years of our existence is an ideal pointin time to look back and reflect on how we are doing.

Some may say why are we celebrating and what isthere to celebrate? But, I tell you it is only those whocelebrate the Lord, our Creator, for what He has donein the past that can be blessed with more. Our coun-try is a land of many opportunities and one flowingwith milk and honey.

Nigeria cannot be where it is today or where it willget to in another 100 years without US: the WOMEN!My fellow women, am I right or wrong? Let’s facefacts, it is said that ‘it takes two to tango’ so, we ask forthe support of our men. We seek their support to ac-complish much more in the next one hundred years.Over these past years, our women have achieved land-mark successes which I ask that you allow me to takeyou through some for just a few minutes:

•The first female PHD holder in Nigeria, ProfessorGrace Alele Williams, emerged 50 years ago in 1963and went on to become the first woman to head a Uni-versity in Nigeria. She became the first female ViceChancellor in the University of Benin)

•It was yet a woman, Chief (Mrs.) Stella Okoli whoset up one of our nation’s largest indigenous pharma-ceutical industries.

•In sports and in every decade, our womenfolk madetheir mark and even earned Nigeria its very first Olym-pic gold medal in 1999. Our female football team wonthe African Championship more times than any otherAfrican team and continue to out-perform all the othermale national teams put together.

•In the field of Information Technology, Mrs. Flo-rence Seriki of Omatek Computers Limited, pioneereda computer assembly plant.

•Today a woman, Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktarheads the judiciary as Chief Justice of Nigeria for thefirst time.

•Our first female Rear Admiral, Itunu Hotonu, anEngineer who was rejected by the Army but celebrat-ed by the Navy has emerged not just in Nigeria butAfrica as a whole.

•The late Dr. (Mrs.) Maryam Babangida in 1987instituted, through her husband’s support, the BetterLife Programme for Rural Women. Many locally madegoods by these rural women found their way into ex-port afterwards. It was also through her initiative thatthe Office of the First Lady was constituted and wivesof Governors initiated and developed pet projects forthe increased development and productivity of theNigerian woman.

•Also, our current First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) PatienceGoodluck Jonathan, has, through the support of herhusband, achieved a feat never to be forgotten in thehistory of Nigeria through the 35% affirmative actionfor women. Her Women for Change Initiative therebyenabled women take their place in key positions ofGovernment.

By YEMISI SULEIMAN

Africa’s biggest movie night brought out some ofthe brightest stars and fashion. The event was the

9th edition of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA2013) held at the Glory Hall Cultural Centre YenagoaBayelsa State. It was an evening that celebrated thebrightest talents in Africa and the Diaspora.

High points of the event was the Lifetime Achieve-ment Awards segment, given to Nollywood’s veterans;Tunde Kelani, Chief Eddi Ugbomah, Sir OsitadinmaOkeke Oguno (Ossy Affason), Ayuko Badu and ChiefPete Edochie, for their role in the growth of the movieindustry. Also, Special Recognition of Pillars of Nolly-wood went to Emem Isong, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Ken-neth Okonkwo and Film/Video Producers and Market-ers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN). While the Spe-cial Jury Award went to Ninah’s Dairy (Cameroon).

The event was punctuated with musical performanc-es by the likes of Waje, Timi Dakolo, South African dancetroupe, the Bayelsa State cultural troupe and Mr. Fla-vor. See some of the stylish women and men that gracedthe evening, and the dresses they wore.

AMAA: Whatcelebrities woreto the event

Nigerian women havecause to celeberate— Folorunsho Alakija

CMYK


Fellow parents, please remind me if there is any-

where in the world where thelove for your gadgets out-weighs that you have on yourwards. Yet, it doesn’t take fromthe fact that our devices par-ticularly the mobile phoneshave become so intimate andmore or less a confidant. Wefeel safer now to have impor-

tant and confidential informa-tion about us on the mobilephones now than any otherplace and I doubt if anyonewould want such informationmistakenly deleted.

However, that is what hap-pens when the kids have un-limited access to your mobilephones. The dilemma howev-er is that you can’t totally keepyour wards away from yourgadgets in this informationage, else you make them tim-

id and pay for it later in life.So, the wisest thing is to bal-

ance the love. Check the in-fluence of your gadgets onyour wards and control howyour kids access your mobiles.If you have an iPhone, it’s alot easier to do this.

There’s a feature in the newiOS 6 software update for iP-hone, iPad, and iPod Touchwhich can temporarily lockdown an app, freezing all thehardware buttons includingthe Home button. The softwarelets you draw zones on thescreen that won’t react to tapsor swipes.

It is known as the GuidedAccess. The feature works onany iPhone or iPad that has

been updated to iOS 6. Onceupdated, the user can turn iton from the Settings menu.

Here’s how to baby proofyour phone using the GuidedAccess

*On your iPhone or iPad homescreen, tap Settings, General,then scroll down to the bottomof the page and tap Accessi-bility.

*Scroll down from this pageagain to the Learning section,tap Guided Access and thenswitch it on.

*Now, open the app that youwant to babyproof and clickthree times on the Home key.Immediately, the app willfreeze and a frame of Guided

Access controls should appear.Here, draw a circle anywhere

on the screen to disable tapsor swipes in a specific area.Once you’ve drawn your cir-cles, you can drag or resizethem with your fingertips.

* At the bottom of the screen,you can switch off touch andmotion input altogether, or tapthe Options button on the iP-hone to reveal those settings.

After all these, tap the blueStart button in the top-rightcorner of the screen and yourwards can never get access toyour secured applications.then let your tyke loose.

Meanwhile, you can turn offGuided Access mode by triple-clicking the Home key again.

Norton, the AntiVirus armof internet security giants,

Symantec has just released anew report based on the studyit conducted on mobile usersin the Middle East and Africa,revealing that almost two outof five online adults in the re-gions suffer mobile cybercrime

The report said that consum-ers in these regions rely ontheir mobiles to surf the net andcarry out activities rangingfrom downloading apps, shop-

Be warned!YYYYYour phone can giveour phone can giveour phone can giveour phone can giveour phone can giveyou awayyou awayyou awayyou awayyou away

Incidentally, many consum-ers know how important it isto protect their computerfrom the wide range ofthreats they can encounterwhen online and off, yet for-get that same provisions alsoneed to be taken to secureInternet-connected mobiledevices that are just as vul-nerable to cybercriminals.By installing mobile securi-ty software which protectsagainst malicious onlinethreats and enables you tolock, locate and wipe yourdevice remotely, you can se-cure your personal life frompotential intruders.

ping, to making payments.Norton however claimed to

find out that nearly nine out often online adults or approxi-mately 87 percent adults in theMiddle East and Africa aremobile device users, of which,78 percent are using them toaccess the Internet.

Looking at it from all ramifi-cations, the report is statingthe obvious. In this constantlyconnected world, people arerelying more and more on

their mobile phones and tab-lets to navigate, share, social-ize and shop.

But the worrying aspect ofthe report is the realisation,according to Norton’s KaraRawden, that this lot go onwithout either caution or pre-caution, thereby exposingmany to danger. Rawden not-ed that “what many consum-ers may not realise is exactlyhow much of their personaland private information is upfor grabs should these devic-es be compromised, lost or sto-len”.

Considering the sensitivenature of data that is accessi-ble from personal mobile de-vices, Norton advised thatconsumers need to take somebasic, yet easy, precautions toprotect their data it from fall-ing into the wrong hands.

Downlaod apps from securesources only

As people expand their on-line lives through mobile de-vices, many are not takingsteps to secure their deviceand the content it contains.

Nearly one in four mobiledevice users in the MiddleEast and Africa admit to notalways downloading applica-tions from trustworthy sourc-es while close to three in tenindicated that they do not usesecure payment methods

when making purchases fromtheir mobiled e v i c e ,l e a v i n gtheir sen-sitive in-formationsuch ascredit carddetails vul-n e r a b l e .This is dan-gerous andto forestallthe implica-tions mobileusers must en-sure that appli- c a -tions are downloaded fromsources they can trust.

Password your personaldata

More than one-quarter ofadult respondents, admitted tonot using a password to helpprotect their personal data. Inthe event of theft or loss, a trea-sure trove of personal informa-tion stored on the device canpotentially be accessed includ-ing personal emails, a possi-ble gateway to other sensitiveinformation such as work cor-respondence and documents,passwords for other online ac-counts and bank statements.

It is always advisable to takeprecautionary measures, in-cluding always pass- wordingyour data.

Install mobilesecurity

Parental guide

Balancing love betweenBalancing love betweenBalancing love betweenBalancing love betweenBalancing love between

kids and mobile gadgetskids and mobile gadgetskids and mobile gadgetskids and mobile gadgetskids and mobile gadgets

With PRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE [email protected]

Baby playing with iPhone

Baby using iPad

CMYK


GUINEA worm disease, alsoknown as dracunculiasis, is

a parasitic infection caused by thenematode roundworm parasiteDracunculus medenisis.Guinea worm disease is con-tracted when people ingestdrinking water from stagnantsources containing copepods(commonly referred to as waterfleas) that harbor infective Guineaworm larvae.

What every Nigerian must know aboutGuinea worm

Pfizer, FMOH, WHO confront

hypertension

THE National Agency forFood and Drugs Admin-

istration and Control,NAFDAC, has denied mediareports alleging that its Di-rector General, Dr. Paul Orhiiwas mobbed by irate youthsin Makurdi over location ofdump site for destruction ofseized fake and substandarddrugs.

A statement by the ActingDirector Special Duties,Abubakar Jimoh, assertedthat Orhii, who is beingtipped to succeed GovernorGabriel Suswam of BenueState, was never attacked asalleged. He described the re-port as “a figment of imagi-nation of the reporter” and“a fabrication which neverhappened” in the first place.In the statement, Jimoh said:“The attention of NAFDAChas been drawn to a politi-cally motivated story that theNAFDAC DG was attackedin Benue State over protestson the destruction of coun-terfeit drugs in their area.NAFDAC categorically re-futes the story of the attackand the smashing of cars astissues of lies and figment ofthe reporter’s imagination.

“The false report couldhave been a politically pre-meditated by disgruntled el-ements to attack Dr Orhiiwho is being pressurized torun for the Benue State Gu-bernatorial seat in 2015.

“NAFDAC is deeplyshocked that its harmless ef-forts to rid the country ofcounterfeit drugs throughroutine seizure and destruc-tion of spurious medicineshave been hijacked by un-scrupulous elements to settlecheap political plans.

“The Agency will not treatthe false report with kidgloves as the appropriate lawenforcement agency is beingapproached to investigatethe motive behind the devel-opment,” Jimoh argued.

“Our assertion is predi-cated on the fact that the DGand the members of thenewly inauguratedNAFDAC Governing Boardand other top managementstaff who were headed to thedestruction site had a tip offof the protesting youths andnever got to the destructionsite not to talk of being at-tacked,” he remarked.

rently doing so through its Cardiovascular,CV, portfolio and cardiovascular screeningsof thousands of people over the past fiveyears.

“More importantly, Pfizer partners withmedical stakeholders through our cardiovas-cular summits. The summit is an educationalplatform for healthcare practitioners to engagein a robust discussion on latest trends in car-diovascular diseases and its management.

“It is part of Pfizer’s contribution to the ad-vancement of medical knowledge and patientcare in Nigeria and the East Africa Regionby keeping healthcare professionals aware ofthe new trends in medicine.

Earlier in the year, a cardiovascular Sum-mit Scientific Advisory board meeting washeld with the purpose of overseeing the planfor the cardiovascular Summit coming up laterin the year in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

•As ofMay 1, 2013, the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis hadcertified 192 countries and territories, free of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm) transmission.Nigeria, a former Guinea worm endemic country is next in line for certification

Nigeria is on the verge of attain-ing recognition as a World HealthOrganisation, WHO, certifiedguinea worm-free country.Over the last couple of decades,the Nigeria Guineaworm Eradi-cation Programme, NIGEP, hasbeen pushing eradication effortsto the extent that over the last 52weeks, no verifiable case of thedisease has been reported.Following a series of effectivehealth education, water purifica-tion and carrier controlprogrammes, no recurrence ofthe disease has been recordedsince the last reported guineaworm case in November 2008.In 1988, there were 21 guineaworm endemic countries. To datejust three countries are guineaworm endemic in the entireworld. They are Ethiopia (leastendemic), Mali and South Sudan(most endemic).

Thirteen countries have com-pletely stopped transmission.They include Benin Republic -2004, Burkina Faso - 2006; Chad- 1998 (isolated outbreak 2010/2011); Cote d'lvoire - 2006 andGhana - 2010.Others are Kenya - 1994;

Mauritania - 2004; Niger -2008;Nigeria - 2008; Sudan - 2002;Togo - 2006 and Uganda -2003.Countries already certified byWHO as guinea worm free na-tions are Cameroon - 2007;Central African Republic -2007; India - 2000; Pakistan -1996; Senegal - 2004 andYemen - 2004.In June, the InternationalCommission for the Certifica-tion of Dracunculiasis Eradi-cation is visiting Nigeria toassess the surveillance andreporting efforts, as well asverify and confirm the claim ofthe absence of indigenous dra-cunculiasis transmission, priorto certification. As of 1 May 2013, the Com-mission had certified 192countries and territories, in-cluding 180 WHO MemberStates, as free of dracunculia-sis transmission. Dependingon the outcome of the assess-ment, the commission recom-mends to WHO which formerlyendemic countries should bedeclared free of transmission,i.e., certified as free of the dis-ease.

THE prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria and its impact on the workforcesegment came to the fore recently when PfizerNigeria partnered the Federal Ministry ofHealth, the World Health Organization, WHO,and other stakeholders to raise awarenessagainst the menace on this year’s World HealthDay with the theme “Hypertension”.

While the FMOH leveraged on the day withactivities to raise awareness on hypertensionand to encourage citizens and other stakehold-ers to prevent and control the modern epi-demic, the WHO emphasised on regular bloodpressure screenings to detect and treat theemergency

Emphasising Pfizer’s commitment to thecampaign against hypertension, Director, Pub-lic Affairs and Communications, Pfizer Nige-ria and East Africa region, NEAR Mrs. Mar-garet Olele, said the company remains com-mitted in reducing the prevalence and is cur-

THE Lagos UniversityTeaching Hospital, LUTH

has graduated 316 medicalstudents from eight schools. Theschools are school of nursing,Midwifery, medical laboratorysciences, health informationmanagement, medical andpsychiatry social work, post-basic nursing, community healthofficers’ training programme andbasic dental nursing.

Presenting the graduandsduring the 2012 Joint Graduationceremony of the Hospital’sSchools and TrainingProgramme, the Chief MedicalDirector, Professor AkinOsibogun said they have beenequipped with skills andprofessional knowledge toenable them deliver qualityprofessional services.

Guest of Honour, Professor B.Akande noted that the newsystem of care is graduallyemphasizing on prevention andoutpatient care as opposed tohospitalization, adding that alllevels of care will eventually leadto community based nursing.

LUTHgraduates316

NAFDACrefutesallegedattack onDG


Why he came intohospitality sector

From my childhood I havealways happy to serve and please peo-ple, and happy to work in the hospital-ity industry. I would have gone to thetourism industry or hospitality industrylike hotel or restaurant and finally Iended up in hotel which could affordme to realize my dreams of servingpeople and travel around.

I have wide experience travellingaround as I worked for internationalbranded hotels , I worked in Europe,Africa, Middle East and South Ameri-ca as well as working on Cruise shipsin far East , Caribbean , Northern Eu-rope , middle East . I travelled a lot

On training he hadWhen I finished my Baccalaureate ,

I joined an hotel school in Switzer-land where I got my diploma after twoand half years and later Centre Inter-national de Glion Diploma (MBA),Hospitality Administration/Manage-ment .

On his experience in the sectorGreat. I always say that if I have to

choose again, I will choose the samejob. I love my job, I like it, I am pas-sionate about it .

You meet different people, you meetdifferent customers , you deal with dif-ferent staff, you need to train the staff .what I love in the sector is that you canuse your abilities to train people aboutdifferent brands.

Each brand is different, but I don•ftbelieve in the fact that to smile you mustbelong to a five star or two star. Anystar you need to smile, you need to

New visa policy will boost Nigeriatourism—Robaix

welcome customers.On the hospitality sector in NigeriaThere are lots of potentials in the hos-

pitality and tourism sector in Nigeria ,lots of hotels just opened recently andmore will open soon, but there are alsomuch more potentials as many airlinesare coming into Nigeria.

These airlines will bring in new cus-tomers. I heard that the country is en-tering new era in terms of visa, as vis-itor can apply online for Nigeria visaand the visa will be delivered at the air-port to you.

This will be very good for tourism andit will encourage the tourism industryas well as hospitality sector in Nigeria.

On tourist destinations in the coun-try

I will say that I travelled more when Iwas here between 1992 and 1994 thannow.

Touristattractions

I have been to tourist attractions inIbadan, Abeokuta, Badagry , but un-fortunately, I have not been to ObuduCattle Ranch, Tinapa in Cross Riversas well Yankari Games park which Ilearnt are nice destinations.

I am in the process of visiting thesetourist destinations soon.

On if the hotel is business or leisureWe are more business oriented hotel

than leisure, despite we having beau-tiful swimming pool in a quiet environ-ment and other leisure facilities. Thehotel provides a restaurant that is open24hrs a day , we have a bar that is

opened 24 hours.We have all the features a business trav-

eller needs and to crown it, we are in aconvenient location as the hotel is located5 minutes away from the International Air-port. All the rooms and Public areas areequipped with WIFI internet access. Thebuffet breakfast is served daily in our res-taurant. Our restaurant will serve exquis-ite international and local cuisine delica-cies.

On the patronage of the hotel in thelast two years

We have enjoyed good patronage, firstwe have to be known, because Ibis Airportin Nigeria is the first of its kind.

We are Ibis in Nigeria, but we are as anyIbis Hotel anywhere in the world. Ibis has1600 hotels worldwide and we are proudto say that customers are not disappoint-ed in coming to us. We have a name and

well known for that, so when guestscome to us at Ibis, we offer friendli-ness and value for money.

On the challenges running thehotel

The greatest challenge was train-ing of the staff in the sense that weneeded to employ green horns asstaff as most of them are new in theindustry, those who are not new theyneeded to adapt to the Ibis prod-uct. At Ibis we are multi computer,multi task as a receptionist can workin the restaurant, a restaurant staffcan go to the house keeping to makeup rooms. We are proud to say thatour staff are well trained, very welladapted and multi task, which isgood advantage compared to otherhotels.

Our style is very simple, but heresimplicity does not mean mediocri-ty. Simplicity also means to be effi-cient. So, training of the staff andthe turnover of the staff has been amajor challenge. To keep our staffhas been a challenge.

On the productsWe are rated three stars, we have

rooms with some facilities, we pro-vide what will make our customersand guests comfortable.

We are in the process of changingour beds now. Ibis worldwide hasdecided to change all the hotels•fbed to what is called sweet beds byIbis, which is a comfortable bed bythe end of June. We have started theprocess here as 50% of our roomshave been changed and we willmeet up before June ending for theentire change. Like, I said the prod-uct is all the time moving up.

He has kept faith with his childhood dreams of being an hotelier,today, Mr Richard ROBAIX, is the General Manager of the First IbisHotel in Nigeria, Ibis Lagos Airport.

Robaix has over 30years experience in the hospitality industryworking in different parts of the world. He has spent seven of thoseyears here in Nigeria working for major hotels.

In this interview with JIMOH BABATUNDE, he talks about thehospitality industry, the tourism industry and concluding that the newvisa policy will boost the country’s tourism.

Here is an excerpt .

TTTTTsogo insogo insogo insogo insogo invvvvvests US$1ests US$1ests US$1ests US$1ests US$100 million in Mozambique, Nigeria00 million in Mozambique, Nigeria00 million in Mozambique, Nigeria00 million in Mozambique, Nigeria00 million in Mozambique, Nigeria

TSOGO Sun Group has revealedthat US$100 million will be

injected into two hotel projects inMozambique and Nigeria as part ofits growth strategy.

The group CEO, Marcel vonAulock, said the project in Nigeriainvolves the acquisition of anapproximate 75% stake in IkoyiHotels Limited, the holding companyof the Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel inLagos.

He explained that the groupinvestment, including loan funding,will be approximately US$70 million.

The acquisition is subject to severalconditions precedent including

regulatory approvals. Shareholderswill be notified once these have beenfulfilled and the Acquisition becomeseffective.

Von Aulock added This acquisitionwill cement our presence within thefast growing and progressiveNigerian economy as well as providea base from which to expand ouroperations in Nigeria.

While noting that the investmentstotaling US$100 million for bothprojects in Africa will be fundedthrough a combination of existingoffshore cash and new US$?basedborrowing facilities, he said the groupwill spend US$30 million to expand

its hotel in Mozambique, the SouthernSun Maputo.

The investment in Mozambique willinvolve a complete refurbishment of theexisting 158 room hotel, including thebedrooms and public areas as well as anexpansion of the restaurant, the additionof 110 new hotel rooms as well as newconferencing facilities.

The Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel iscentrally located with convenient accessto prime business nodes in Lagos andcomprises 195 guest rooms and suites, arestaurant, business centre as well asmeeting room facilities. The hotel alsohas additional land available for futureexpansion.

•Robaix

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

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

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard,,,,, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, MAY 3,MAY 3,MAY 3,MAY 3,MAY 3, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 — 35 — 35 — 35 — 35 — 35

By Richard EromoseleGEMINI; Good luck will knock at your door. Al-though it is good to plan ahead, you have to take ad-vantage of now that presented good opportunities.

CANCER; Keeping both your personal and other peo-ple secrets will do you lots of good today. Then tomor-row is your big day; prepare yourself accordingly.

LEO; Here is a day when your closeness to the influ-ential people can be source of assistance to both your-self in particular and your group in general. And thenyour love life is getting better. Exhibit maturity.

VIRGO; Take your health more seriously than before.However that is not to say you have to ignore yourresponsibilities at work. Respect your senior colleagues.

LIBRA; The influence looks more favourable to younow. You will certainly become more enterprising tothe betterment of your cause. Right now nobody canignore you.

SCORPIO; Those of you who are more observantwithin your base of operation will have more to gain.Prepare to take good advice from the veterans withinyour base.

SAGITTARIUS; Although your personal ideas are veryreliable and capable of bringing success, you will needto be as co-operative as possible to achieve your desire.

CAPRICORN; It is important you take your sourcesof making money very seriously. Both hard work andelement of luck will work favourably for you.

AQUARIUS; Influence of the Moon will encourageyou to become a little bit aggressive; here is a day whenyour leadership ability will assist many.

PISCES; The Moon placement can force agitationon the minds of some of you but if keep your head abovethe cloudy atmosphere you will not have anything tofear.

ARIES; Young-at-heart Librans may be greatly excit-ed today and for the next few weeks; if you take gooddecision on your love life you will enjoy it.

TAURUS; Here is an ambitious day for many of you.The more practical you are about your reasonable de-sire the better for your cause. Be more family minded.

Good health for me?

Dear Joshua,I have never gone through any major sickness since I

was born but it is always good to know, especially as peo-ple are saying that those that do not fall-sick often can diethe very first time such happen. Can they be right? Pleasetell me about my financial prospects.

Jumai Sokoto.

Dear Jumai,They are wrong. And you have no cause to fear. Actually

my findings here pointed to your hard beginning-healthwise. If you ask your parents they would tell you muchthan you think you know about yourself

YOUR HEALTHLeo and Scorpio that hosted your natal Sun and Moon

are members of few strongest Star signs available (whentalking of health/life and death). Thus you are well en-dowed.

Although as both the Sun and Moon were at logger-heads when you were born you must have gone throughsome tough times health-wise, especially when you wereyounger, very great ability of Scorpio to survive and goodaspects the planets enjoyed during your birth hour areindications of good health for you. And as your age ad-vances so also your health will continue to improve.

Then concentration of many heavenly bodies in healthrelated Virgo is another pointers to good health. Howeverthat is not to say you will go through adulthood life with-out any health related challenges but when they comeyou have what it takes to survive and be back on the roadto sound health.

What to watch out for include TOOTHACHE, the chest/back, stomach and at very advanced age may come circu-latory system related challenge. Being a female Scorpioborn person always pay good attention to gynaecologicalrelated ailments and fever is common in this part of theworld.

But then all ailments mentioned here are mere warn-ings (although to be taken seriously) nothing fatalisticplease!!!!

YOUR FINANCEAlthough you can be generous, kind and loving you are

not the extravagant type. Thus you are reliable and canmake success of your family purse. You are practical ana-lyst with respect for your family dignity, therefore puttingaside money for raining days comes natural to you

Occasionally you think that money don’t come as fasteras desired by you but it comes eventually after a few les-son. Luckily for you Libra that hosted your natal planet ofdesire (Mars) is money and partnership/marrige related.Thus money will find it way into your life either personallyor via joint efforts between you and your husband

Talking to peopleA great thinkeronce wrote

that words are theforerunner of our ac-tion. People first hearus talk before theysee us act our talk. Itis what we say thatfirst captures their at-tention and ensurethat they give us au-

dience.You may be a great

actor but if you arenot able to marketyour skill you willhave a scanty audi-ence. And if you area leader, if you can’tcommunicate your

intention, chancesare that you willhave a very low fol-lowership. This iswhere ability tospeak and commu-nicate appropriatelycomes in. It is notenough to know it,

the question is canyou convince peoplethat you know it?

Talking to people isa skill everyone of usshould develop. Theleader, the marketer,the politician, themanager etc. we allneed the skill.

Think about it!


What's your take on rotational presidency?(6)

08102479985 By Bartholomew Madukwe([email protected])PEOPLE SPEAK

Uduaghanabsorbs1,072casualworkers

BY AUSTINOGWUDA

‘DPP's suspension of Ewherido, othersa ruse'

I think it should be ro-tated because Ni-geria has various

tribes and ethnic groups.If you take a look at theNiger Delta, you will seethat they are the minor-ity group. But thankGod, today the Presidentis from there.— Mr.Kazeem Ogunyinka,Teacher.

R O TAT I O N A Lpresidency is notworth the trouble

in Nigeria. Amongwhom will it be rotated?What the parties are do-ing with democracy todayis still what we are go-ing to have if we rotatethe office of the presi-dent.— Miss IjeborMary, Trader.

IT is not in our con-stitution and samewill not favour our

politics. I believe that eli-gible candidates shouldcome out and contest forelective posts. The peo-ple can then cast theirvotes. That is what de-mocracy is all about.—Mr. Olayeye Olusegun,Teacher.

I will support rota-tional presidency be-cause the office

should not be for the ma-jority ethnic groups alone.Let the minority also begiven a chance. I believethat it is not just the Igbo,Yoruba and Hausa thatshould become presidentin this country.— MissDiji Bukola, Student.

I am not in support ofrotational presidencybecause it will not

produce the best personto rule this country.Someone may bebrought in from a zoneand that person may notpossess what it takes torule a country such asours.— Mr. AdeshinaAdegoke, Teacher.

ROTATION of thatoffice will give usthe chance to know

the mindset of the variouszones. I think it is rightfor us to understand whatwe want for this country,then decide how we wantit ruled. That is my rea-son of supporting rota-tional presidency.— MissGrace Kpossu, Teacher.

G O V E R N O RE m m a n u e l

Uduaghan of Delta Statehas announced the ab-sorption of 1,072 casualworkers into the stateworkforce in fulfillment ofhis promise made to work-ers at last May Day rally,which has been hailed asa special May Day gift.

The absorption of thecasual workers came fewhours to this year’s MayDay celebration, whichwas announced by theDirector of Information,Mr. Paul Osahor.

He said: “The regulari-sation of appointments isin fulfillment of the gov-ernor’s earlier promise toworkers and this has putan end to the issue ofcasualisation in DeltaState public service.

“With this gesture,workers in the state areadvised to be more dedi-cated to duty, productiveand innovative.”

FUPRE MoU splitsDelta community

THE Unuevworo of Ugbomrocommunity in Delta State,

Chief Ambrose Olughor, has in-sisted that the Federal Universityof Petroleum Resources, FUPRE,will sign a Memorandum of Un-derstanding, MoU, with its imme-diate host, Ugbomro community,and not the entire Uvwie Kingdom.

Olughor, who spoke at his pal-ace in Ugbomro, said that FederalGovernment sited FUPRE inUgbomro because the community

voluntarily gave almost all theirfarmlands for the establishmentof the university.

The monarch said: “FUPRE islocated in Ugbomro. The uni-versity will sign an MoU withUgbomro.

“The people of Ugbomro shallresist any plot by the traditionalinstitution of Uvwie kingdom tolure the management of FUPREto sign MoU with the entireUvwie Kingdom.”

UGHELLI—THE leadership of Democratic Peoples

Party, DPP, in Delta CentralSenatorial District, yesterday,described the purported suspen-sion of Senator Pius Ewherido,acting National Chairman of the

party, Chief OlisaemekaAkamukali and others, from theparty as a ruse and completesham.

It will be recalled that after itsemergency meeting in Asaba,Wednesday, the state chapterof DPP announced the suspen-sion of Ewherido, Akamukaliand other top party membersfor alleged anti-party activities.

In a statement by its Chair-man, Chief Tony Ezeagwu and

two others, the suspendedmembers were accused of hold-ing what they described as “kan-garoo” national convention ofthe party in Abuja, Monday, ina bid to cement alliance with AllProgressives Congress, APC.

However, Ewheriodo, in a tel-ephone interview, said: “Thesuspension is a huge joke. It isa torn party. There are factions.We agreed to join APC butsome of them started to renege.

“So why are they fuming thatwe have gone to APC? Those ofus who want to join APC havejoined them.”

Addressing newsmen, yester-day, Vice Chairmen of the partyin the state, Chief Henry Olori,described those behind the sus-pension as those opposed to themerger with other opposition par-ties under APC.

Olori said: “Let us make it clearthat from the onset, the purportedsuspension is a nullity as eventshad already overtaken the actionsof these inconsequential ele-ments within our great party.

“In March, the National Execu-tive Committee of the party metin Abuja and took a decision tojoin the merger.”

He said series of meetingswere held with leaders of APC,which culminated in the specialconvention of the party held onApril 30 in Abuja.

Olori added: “DPP has neverwon a councillorship position inDelta State until SenatorEwherido joined the party in2010.

“At the end of the 2011 polls,DPP had a Senator, two Houseof Representatives members,nine state House of Assemblymembers and there was no limitas regards the prospect of DPPtaking over Delta State.”

ANEEJ seeksworkers' partnership

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA &FESTUS AHON

No militant camp 'll be allowed in N/Delta— JTF

WARRI—MILITANTcamps will not be al-

lowed again anywhere in theNiger Delta region, just as theleadership of any community,where illegal bunkering is be-ing carried out, will suffer thefull wrath of the military.

Commander, 4 BrigadeHeadquarters, Benin City, EdoState, Brig. Gen. Pat Akem,made these disclosure, yester-day, at the 3 Battalion Barracks,Effurun, Delta State, during thelaunching of 12 Toyota Hiluxpatrol vans, donated by DeltaState Government to assist thearmy in combating kidnap-pings, robberies and othercrimes in the state.

He said that the deploymentof the Quick Response Group,

to flash points in parts of thestate was part of the resolutiontaken at a security meeting withthe state governor.

He appealed to Deltans andpersons of goodwill to volun-teer credible information thatwill lead to the arrest of crimi-nals in their neighbourhood tomake the state peaceful for resi-

dents, businesses and investorsalike.

He said: “Security is everybodies’ business. We expect thehost communities to co-operatewith the soldiers by divulgingcredible intelligence to us, sothat we can tackle cases beforethey degenerate into securityproblem for all of us.”

BY EMMA ARUBI

BENIN—EXECUTIVE Di-rector, Africa Network for

Environment and EconomicJustice, ANEEJ, Rev. DavidUgolor, has called on Nige-rian workers to collaboratewith civil society groups witha view to accessing what Ni-gerian political parties weredoing as the country movesforward democratically.

Ugolor, in Benin as part of

activities to mark this year’sworkers day, noted that Nige-rian workers must not wait un-til they were paid their salaries.

He said they should be ableto know where there are threatsto democracy and the rule oflaw in the country.

He said: “It is our businessto know what happens in anyof these political parties be-cause if the political parties arenot healthy and are not ruledproperly, it is a threat to thecountry's democracy."

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

Labour faults Dicksonon workers' sack

YENAGOA—LABOURleaders in Bayelsa State

have faulted the state govern-ment's dismissal, demotion andsuspension of teachers, describ-ing the action as arbitrary.

Bayelsa chapters of NigerianLabour Congress, NLC, andTrade Union Congress, TUC,said though the administrationhad put in place a functionaleducational system in the state,the wrongful dismissal, demo-tion and suspension of teach-ers by the State Universal Ba-sic Education Board, SUBEB,should be stopped.

Chairperson of the state NLC,Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, inYenagoa during the May Daycelebration, describedSUBEB’s action as arbitrary,warning that same could im-pede the functional educationsystem in the state.

Koko-Obiyai lamented themassive and gross under-de-velopment of the state NigerDelta University, Amassoma,with no capital project beingembarked upon by government.

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA


CMYK

EmmanuelSifo is dead

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

Delta to phaseout lay menfrom DistrictCustomaryCourts

Monarchtaskspoliticians oncommunityhealthinsurance

Youths lock out Auchi Poly Rector, othersBY SIMON

EBEGBULEM

Families of fallen heroes to be rewardedBY EVELYN USMAN

BY VICTORIA OJEME

BENIN—YOUTHS inAuchi, Etsako West Local

Government Area of EdoState, under the aegis ofAuchi Youths for Initiative,AYI, yesterday, locked outstaff of Federal Polytechnic,Auchi, for several hours inprotest over alleged margin-alisation of indigenes of thehost community by the man-agement of the institution inemployment opportunities.

The youths were demand-ing that out of the 200 posi-tions available, they shouldbe given 80 slots in the on-going employment exercisein the polytechnic, notingthat the 15 slots allocated tothe host community was in-adequate.

Reacting to the allegation,the management of the Poly-technic, said no particularnumber of slots had been al-lotted to the community, ex-plaining that due processwas being followed in theemployment exercise.

The youths, who stormedthe polytechnic at 6am,locked the Central Adminis-trative Building of the poly-technic, thereby, prevent-ing the Rector and other key

officials of the polytechnicfrom gaining access to theiroffices.

Spokesman and secretaryof the group, Mr. MathiasBraimah, alleged that themanagement of the polytech-nic had marginalised thehost community in the pastfive years, adding that they

had also been denied con-tracts in the institution.

But spokesman of the Poly-technic, Mr. Mustapha, saidthat the youths were eitherignorant of the employmentprocedures or were beingused by detractors, who arenot happy with the prevail-ing peace in the Polytechnic.

He said: “This is a federalinstitution. While we followprocedures, we also acknowl-edge the fact that federal char-acter exits when carrying outemployment. For one to workhere, he has to be qualified.we have no particular indi-vidual or interest group to sat-isfy.”

PLANS have been concluded to reward fam-

ilies of security agents, wholost their lives in the courseof carrying out their consti-tutional duties. This is witha view to encouraging oth-ers, especially now that thecountry is faced with securi-ty challenges to put in theirbest.

The initiative is being un-dertaken by Crown MediaLimited in collaboration withSoundz and Meknitz Limit-ed, with support from TVE,a subsidiary of Nigerian Tel-evision Authority, NTA, Van-

guard Media Limited andThe Nation newspapers.

Briefing journalists duringthe unveiling of the maidenaward in Lagos, ManagingDirector, Crown Media Lim-ited, Mr. EmmanuelNwabuokwu, explained thataside recognising efforts ofthe fallen heroes, the awardwas also to acknowledge se-curity agencies, corporateorganisation, state govern-ments and individuals thathad shown exceptional com-mitment to security of livesand property in Nigeria.

He noted that often times,while citizens are busy withtheir legitimate duties, secu-rity operatives, though

trained to fight crime, wereout there providing securityto the nation by either fight-ing or chasing criminals atthe risks of their lives.

Many of them, he lament-ed, are killed in the processwhile others are maimed,without their gallantry giv-en due recognition like theircounterparts in other coun-tries. He explained that theobjective of the award,tagged ‘Nigerian Securitymerit Award’ slated for July17, in Abuja, “ is to inspirebravery and diligenceamong officers, as this willmake them go the extra mileand to put in their best whileperforming their jobs."

Delta destroys illegal structures to check flood

BY EMMA ARUBI &FESTUS AHON

U G H E L L I — D E LTAState Government has

embarked on the destructionof illegal structures blockingwater channels in Warri andEffurun. It also vowed not tospare any illegal structure onwater channels in the state.

State Commissioner forEnvironment, Chief FrankOmare, yesterday, said thedecision was part of the stategovernment's effort to guardagainst serious flooding inthe state, with the coming of

the rainy season.Noting that the decision

was in line with the predic-tion of Nigerian Meteoro-logical Agency, NIMET, thatthere would be more rainfallthis year, he said over eightbuildings, including achurch and a shopping pla-za, had been demolished inthe exercise, which com-menced on April 21, in War-ri and its environs.

Omare said: “Six buildingswere, weekend, demolishedon the water channel thatruns from Igbudu Market

through Lower Erejuwa inWarri, in the ongoing open-ing up of natural waterwaysand drainages. No fewerthan 40 houses will go downby the time the exercise isconcluded across the state.

“One of the six buildingswith more than six lock upstalls, at the Spare PartsMarket on Lower ErejuwaRoad was brought downwhile the remaining five suf-fered serious damages.”

He vowed that any build-ing on water channels wouldbe brought down.

ASABA—A BILL seekingto outlaw the appoint-

ment of laymen as presidentsof District Customary Courtsin State, is underway andwhen passed into law, theover 44 laymen, who sit aspresidents of the courts in thestate will be replaced withqualified legal practitioners.

The Bill, known as DeltaState Customary Courts(Amendment Bill 2013), haspassed through second read-ing and sent to the HouseCommittee on Rules, Busi-ness, Legal and Judicial Mat-ters, for more legislative in-put.

The committee was giventwo weeks to submit its reportto the House for further con-sideration.

The Bill, when passed, willmake it mandatory for lawyersto be appointed as presidentof District Customary Courts,whose position “shall be sim-ilar to and not less favourablethan, the terms and conditionsof service of a Magistrategrade II employed in the serv-ice of the state.”

THE Sifo family ofAgbasa, Warri, and

the Mkpodu family ofUgbuwangwe, Warri,Delta State, have an-nounced the passage oftheir son, brother, neph-ew, husband, father,grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle andcousin, Mr. EmmanuelOgbu Sifo, at the age of79.

He passed away in hissleep on April 27, 2013,at the Bristol Hospital,Hartford, Connecticut,USA.

Funeral arrangementswill be announced later.

Late Mr. Emmanuel Sifo

THE Otaru of AuchiKingdom, Edo

State, HRH Aliru Mo-moh, has tasked politi-cians to invest more incommunity health care.

Speaking at the launchof Community Based So-cial Health InsuranceScheme, CBSHIP, inAuchi, Momoh said: “In-surance scheme forhealth is a primary dutyfor everybody, especial-ly politicians, and it is apriority for advancingthe country. This schemewill prevent cases ofcommunicable diseases,and reduce maternal andchild mortality.”

He called on Auchicommunity to take ad-vantage of the scheme,in order to prevent com-municable and non-com-municable diseases.

The monarch describedthe scheme as a symbolof excellence in govern-ance, as it was people-oriented.

“What the NHIS is do-ing is laudable. Meetingthe health needs of apeople is paramount toall. This scheme is com-mendable,” he added.

INAUGURATION: From left: Governors Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; EmmanuelUduaghan of Delta State; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Vice President NamadiSambo; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe; Country Representative,UNDP and Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Arch. Dahiru Ishaku, at the recentinauguration of National Council on Niger Delta, in Akwa Ibom State.


From left: Justice Alpha Belgore, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN); Justice AminaAugie, Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Lagos; Mr. John Cross, guest lecturer/First VicePresident of Mirabaud Private Bank, Geneva, and Director in-Charge of Africa, and ChiefAnthony Idigbe (SAN), Managing Partner, Punuka Attorneys and Solicitors, during the2013 Punuka Annual Lecture with the theme: 'Wealth Management and Succession Planning,Best Practice, Anti-Corruption Compliance and Red Flags,' at Civic Centre, Victoria Island,Lagos.

Govt not anti-labour— Anambra SSG

Workers protest sack by Abia govtat May Day rally in Enugu

...as Imo indigenes sacked by same govtparade in Owerri

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA — THE governmentof Anambra State is not anti-labour and would continue todo everything posible to giveworkers a sense of belonging,Secretary to the StateGovernment, SSG, Mr.Oseloka Obaze, has said.

Obaze, who representedGovernor Peter Obi at Workers’Day rally in Awka, describedas disconcerting, a situationwhere some members oforganised labour showed cleardisregard for courtesy and dueprocess to governmentleadership.

Obaze said: “Labour createswealth and wealth sustainsthe nation. We salute andhonour all workers in our state,our nation and indeed,worldwide.

“Acceptably, governmentand labour may not have aperfect relationship, but it is aworking and cordial relation-ship, which underlines thesymbiotic relations.

“Nonetheless, there are clearobligations on the part ofgovernment and on the part oflabour. Both sides must dotheir parts, thus ensuringcooperation and sustainingthe bond of performancebetween them. This govern-ment is not anti-labour.

”Addressing the multi-dimensional challenges weface requires a studied andevolving process, for theresponses to be concrete andsustainable.

“Accordingly, the AnambraState government is payingthe prescribed minimum wageand has made N70 millionavailable for therecapitalisation of theworkers."

BY TONY EDIKE/CHIDINKWOPARA

ENUGU—SOME civil ser-vants disengaged by AbiaState government last year forbeing non-indigenes of thestate, Wednesday, took theirprotest to Enugu State govern-ment during the May Day rallywith a plea to get them reab-sorbed without further delay.

This came on a day scores ofindividuals who witnessedthis year’s May Day in Ower-ri, virtually fought back tearsas over 100 persons recentlysacked by Abia State govern-ment took their case to publicdormain.

Two of the affected Enugu

BY LAIDE AKINBOADE

FCTAsuspendsappointmentof 15 districtheads byAbaji AreaCouncil

ABUJA — THEFederal Capital TerritoryAdministration, FCTA,has ordered thesuspension of theappointment of 15district heads by AbajiArea Council over non-approval from FCTA.

Minister of State forFCT, OlajumokeAkinjide, in a letter tothe Executive Chairmanof Abaji Area Council,Yahaya Mohammed,stated that the 15 districtheads were createdwithout recourse toapproval of FCTAdministration.

She, therefore, directedthe Abaji Area Councilchairman to suspendforthwith theappointment of thedistrict heads untilfurther notice.

The letter read in part:“The FCT Administrationhas equally recognised...such appointmentswithin the jurisdiction ofarea council asenshrined in their byelaws."

“However, in allmatters of appointmentof district/communityheads, the FCTA d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ sapproval must be soughtbefore suchappointments are madeby any area council.

NULGE urges Ebonyi govt to revisit minimum wage issue

ABAKALIKI—EBONYIState chapter of National Un-ion of Local Government Em-ployees, NULGE, yesterday,urged the state government torevisit the minimum wage is-sue for the state’s workers.

Chief Leonard Nkah, thestate Chairman of the union,made the appeal inAbakaliki while speaking tothe News Agency of Nigeria(NAN).

“The government should

implement the full payment ofthe wage in the spirit of theMinimum Wage Act and notthe technical letter attached toit.

“The government shouldstop its present implementa-tion mode that only increasesthe wage of the least paidworker and not other levels ofthe workforce.

“This would greatly boost themorale of the workers and en-hance their productivity,” he

said.According to him, the gov-

ernment should also addressthe issue of council workerswhose Consolidated HealthSalary Structure, CONHESS,wages were recently stopped.

“It is our belief that anybodyworking in health institutionsand related departments in thecouncils, should enjoy CON-HESS on the basis of the workthey do and the certificatesthey possess.

Women in Oil Initiative debunks scamallegation

indigenes dressed in black at-tire participated in the marchpast in a dramatic style atMichael Okpara Square, Enu-gu, and were cheered by hun-dreds of participants who ex-pressed sympathy with themfor losing their jobs in thestates they had resided formany years.

…fires Abati, seeks apology

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

WOMEN IN OilInitiative (WIO),

yesterday, debunked allega-tions from the Special Adviserto the President on Media andPublicity, Dr. Reuben Abati,portraying it as scam.

The group has called for anapology, therefore saying theissue of gender inequality wasone of the cardinal points ofthe millennium developmentgoals, MDGs.

Speaking at a pressconference in Lagos,Chairman, New Nation andfounder, WIO Initiative, Mr.Charles Dukwe, said theinitiative was borne out of thePresident’s call for privatesector and Nigerians inDiaspora to complementgovernment policies withinnovative solutions as theway forward for the country.

Dukwe described theallegations to be shocking,saying, “I was appalled as Iwatched you talk about thisinitiative. Should you havemade the least of enquiries,you would have known that wehave never presented thisinitiative as speaking for the

President, but always as aprivate sector response to hispolicy.

"Should you have exerciseda few minutes due diligence,you would have known that wehave brought more publicawareness to the 35 per centaffirmative policy than allgovernment efforts combined.”

Mr. Dukwe, who left Nigeriafor university education in theUnited States of America,said: “I brought in so manyinnovative private sector ideasthat can bridge thedevelopment divide betweenour dear country and theUnited States of America andbegan to take these ideas tothe most important segmentsof the society for the massesat the grassroots.”

Meanwhile, WIO with avision to empower women toimpact on their immediatesocieties, curbing prostitutionand need for gender equalityin Nigeria, has staff strengthof about 5,000 and over 40,000women subscribed to itsinitiative.

It would be recalled thatAbati had said in a statement:“There are probably athousand of one of such scams

because that is precisely whatit is. It is a scam and they maybe lessons put there like thisparticular case, using thePresident’s name in vain,duping people and claimingthat they have the President’sapproval.”

NYCN expressesconcern over polls

THE CONTROVERSIESsurrounding the election ofnew national officers tooversee activities of theNational Youth Council ofNigeria may be far from overif information at our disposalis anything to go by.

An official of the Lagos StateMinistry of Works who isbelieved to be working for astalwart of PDP in South-Westand is bent on installing aparticular candidate loyal tothe party at the forth-comingcongress disclosed this toVanguard.

Concerned youths andstakeholders said the glitch inholding their congress andthe politicking wereunnecessary and against thewishes of millions of youths.


BRIEFING—From left: Dr. Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to Governor Fasholaon Public Health; Dr. Jide Idris, Commissioner for Health; Mr. Lateef Ibirogba,Commissioner for Information and Strategy; and Mrs. Ronke Osho, Director Pressand Public Relations, during the 2013 annual ministerial briefing by the LagosState Ministry of Health, at the Press Centre Alausa, Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos.Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

BRIEFING—From right: Mr Mark Bickerton, Director, London Met-ropolitan University U.K; Mrs Lebari Edo-Ukpong, Director, LondonMetropolitan University Nigeria Office; and Mr Seun Adeniyi, Execu-tive Admin Officer, London Metropolitan University Nigeria Office,during a briefing by the university in Ikoyi, Lagos. Photo: KehindeGbadamosi.

COMMISSIONING—Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology,Akure, FUTA, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola; Registrar, Mrs Modupe Ajayi withpupils and teachers of FUTA staff school at the commissioning of a brandnew bus purchased for the use of the staff school by the University.

WORKSHOP—From left: Recruitment Administrative Manager, Mrs. AliceAmeobi; Company Learning Manager, Mr. Niyi Alabi, both of NigerianBreweries Plc and Managing Director, Vision and Talent International, Mr.Paul Uduk during a workshop organized by Vision and Talent Internationalin Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

ENDOWMENT—From left: Mr Samuel Bassey, Chairman, Education Com-mittee, Akwa Ibom State Community in Lagos, AKISCOM; Prince Elijah Ifot,AKISCOM President, Lagos; and Mr Blessed Ekpenyong, Public RelationsOfficer during a briefing on the forth-coming launch of Education Endow-ment Fund by AKISCOM, in Lagos.

WORKERS' DAY—Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Lady Valerie Ebe(middle); Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Comrade UdoKierian Akpan (left); and State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,Comrade Unyime Usoro (right), during the 2013 Workers’ Day celebrationat the Uyo Township Stadium.

FORUM—From left: Funmi Ajayi, Head,Scholastica; Ademola Adeshina, Head, Face of Test-ing, FOT; Nkechi Enechukwu, Head, MarketingCommunication, all of Dragnet Solutions Limited,at the Dragnet exhibition stand during the 5th Spe-cial Human Resources Forum organized by theChartered Institute of Personnel Management ofNigeria, CIPM, in Lagos.

DONATION—From left: General Manager, AirConditioning and Energy Solutions, LG Electron-ics West Africa operations, Mr Junhwa Jeong; Cor-porate Marketing Manager, LG Electronics WestAfrica operations, Mr Rajesh Agnihotri; and Man-aging Director, Fouani Nigeria Limited, Mr Mo-hammed Fouani, during donation of anti-mosquitoair conditioners and treated mosquito nets to Idi-Ayunre Community Health Centre in Ibadan, OyoState.

Executive Secretary, Delta State Bursary and Schol-arship Board, Mr Peter Amromanoh (left); andMr Dele Martins, during presentation of award.

CMYK


NAFDAC destroys N400m fakeproducts in Makurdi

Kebbi NLC lauds govt overN18,000 minimum wage

FUTA urgesNGOs topartnervarsities oneducationaladvancement

Medical Guildcounsels govton healthcare deliveryservice

DECAMPED—Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed (2nd left)and SenatorBukola Saraki (3rd left) welcoming decampees of the Action Congress of Nigeria fromIlorin South Local Government Area of the state led by the Secretary, Mohammed DeleBelgore Forum, Abdulazeez Kazim to the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in Ilorin.

LAGOS—THE Federal University of

Technology, Akure, hascalled on non-govern-mental organizations topartner with universitiesto advance education inAfrica. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic),Professor AdedayoFasakin who addresseda team from ComputerAid International, aUnited Kingdom-basednon-governmental or-ganization with regionalheadquarters in Nairobi,Kenya, expressed theneed for partnership be-tween educational insti-tutions and local and in-ternational companies ofrelevance in the drivefor equitable global de-velopment.

Professor Fasakin whoreceived the RegionalProgramme Coordinator,Martha Gatheru on be-half of the Vice-Chancel-lor, noted that the worldhad long become a glo-bal village in which In-formation Communica-tion Technology (ICT)and computers are inevi-table.

LAGOS—THE LagosState chapter of

Medical Guild hascharged governments atall levels to invest posi-tively in the health caredelivery service to ad-equately acceleratesocio-economic and po-litical stability.

The group made thecharge during healthscreening mission exer-cise, sponsored by theGuild at the Igando-Ikotun Local CouncilDevelopment Area ofLagos State.

The Guild urged thestate government to up-date health care facilitiesin the state with a viewto surmounting the glo-bal challenges to allevi-ate the problems of themasses.

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI—THE National Agency for

Food and Drug Administra-tion and Control, NAFDAC,yesterday in Makurdi, theBenue State capital, de-stroyed substandard, fakeand adulterated medicines,food and other regulatedproducts valued at overN400million.

In his speech during theexercise, the Director-Gen-eral of NAFDAC, Dr. PaulOrhii said that the materialsdestroyed were seized byvarious NAFDAC establish-ments in the North centralzone of the country, even asthe expired drugs were vol-untarily handed over toNAFDAC by state Ministriesof Health and otherstakeholders in the zone.

He, however, lamented that“drug faking is an act of eco-nomic sabotage and terrorismagainst public health, henceI urge Nigerians, religiousand community leaders aswell as traditional rulers toall stand up and lend sup-port to the fight against thecanker worm.”

Orhii further said that themanagement of NAFDACwould continue to beproactive in taking measuresthat would ensure the eradi-cation of the menace of sub-standard, counterfeit, spuri-ous and fake regulated prod-ucts in the country.

According to him,NAFDAC would continue tosustain the onslaughtagainst fakers of food anddrugs in the country through

“collaboration with otherregulatory agencies andstakeholders, increased sur-veillance and enforcementoperations in our ports, bor-ders and identified routesused by smugglers.

“Our Cutting Edge Tech-nology, deployed in the fightagainst counterfeiters areyielding tremendous results;we can boldly say that weare the first Medicine Regu-

latory Authority in the worldto deploy the use of theTRUSCAN equipment toidentify counterfeit medi-cines in the field.

“The deployment of MobileAuthentication System,Minilab and Black Eye havealso greatly contributed to asignificant drop in the per-centage of fake and counter-feit medicines in circulationin the country."

BY SAAWUA TERZUNG-WE

BIRNIN-KEBBI— THEKebbi State chapter of

the Nigeria Labour Con-gress, NLC, has praised thestate government for imple-menting the N18,000 mini-mum wage for workers in thestate.

The NLC, however, regret-ted the non-payment of an-nual increment of workers inthe last three consecutiveyears.

Speaking on the occasionof workers day celebration inBirnin Kebbi Wednesday,the state Chairman of thecongress, Sadiq Ka’oje, saidthat annual increment wassupposed to be carried outat the beginning of everyyear and appealed to thestate government to reviewits pension scheme from 12per cent to 15 per cent as wellas pay the three years ar-rears of the annual salary in-

crement.Ka’oje also appealed to the

government to pay the ar-rears of minimum wage fromMarch 2012 to March, 2013to local government staff andprimary school teachers inthe state.

He also called on the stategovernment to provide op-erational vehicles and powergenerating sets for the stateTV and radio stations just ashe emphasized the need forthe government to look intothe issue of National Hous-ing fund for workers in thestate.

Furthermore, the NLCChairman asked the stategovernment to expedite ac-tion towards the building ofthe state NLC secretariat toenhance performance. Heexpressed delight with thegovernment for putting inplace key infrastructural fa-cilities that would improvethe living condition of themasses.

Don't eatdead birds,Kogi govwarnscitizens

By BOLUWAJIOBAHOPO

....Teachersto enjoyN18,000minimumwage inSokoto

BY ABDALLAH EL-KUREBE

LOKOJA—KOGIState Governor,

Captain Idris Wada hasadvised indigenes of thestate to avoid eatingdead birds within thenext few months, warn-ing that such dead birdswould have been killedby the dangerous chemi-cals emanating from pes-ticides sprayed by thegovernment on rice farmsacross the state.

Wada who gave theadvice yesterday whileflagging off the aerialcontrol of quiller birds,grasshoppers and pestsfor the accelerated ricefarm scattered in ninelocal governments of thestate said a lot of deadbirds will surface withingthe next few monthswhich the people shouldnot wash for eating.”I urge my people to re-sist from eating fallenbirds. Actually therewould be many of themand they may look goodto the eyes, but thechemical used in killingthem can cause cancerand other types of dis-eases that are harmful tohumans health.”

SOKOTO —PRIMARY school

teachers across the 23local governments ofSokoto State are to enjoythe new national mini-mum wage of N18,000,Governor AliyuMagatakarda Wamakkohas announced.

Wamakko said inSokoto Wednesday thatthe state government hadconcluded arrangementsto effect payment of thenew wage.

”The delay in imple-menting the new wage ,is regrettable but thepayment will commencesoon as the verificationexercise had been con-cluded.”


Why it persists

•British Airways: Why do they charge higher fares ?

,

,

Continues on page 43

Our prices are competitive. Our con-cern is customer’s satisfaction. We tryto give our customers best servicesand at the end of each flight, we wantthem to say: thank you

THE issue of fare disparityby foreign airline operating

in Nigeria has once again cometo the front burner as Nigerianswho travelled recently on theseforeign airlines complained bit-terly about paying higher faresthan their fellow passengers fromGhana, for instance, on the sameflight.

Investigation by Vanguardrevealed that as at April 19th,2013, passengers travelling onFirst Class of British Airways fromAbuja, Nigeria, to London,Heathrow Airport pay 9,548.25US Dollars, while anotherpassenger travelling from Ghanaon the same First Class, sameplane to London HeathrowAirport will pay 4,970.55 US Dol-lars. Similarly, passenger on Busi-ness Class on the same BritishAirways from Abuja , Nigeria, toLondon Heathrow pays 4,708.80,US Dollars while another passen-ger from Ghana on the same Busi-ness Class, will pay 2,920.55 USDollars.

This fares disparity is practicedby other foreign airline like KLM-Air France, Lufthansa, EmirateAirline, amongst others. Whatcould be responsible for thesehigher fares paid by passengerstravelling from Nigeria ? Van-guard findings show that despitecry by Nigerians and NigerianAviation agencies this fare dispar-ity persist because some of thecauses are still there and notproperly addressed. And most im-portantly, the issue has not berevisited since the last publicsitting by Senate committee onAviation.

FARE DISPARITY BY FOREIGN AIRLINES:

By LAWANI MIKAIRU It will be recalled that NigeriaGovernment, through theAviation Ministry, had on March25, 2012, issued the offendingairlines a 30-day ultimatum toaddress this disparity or facebeen ban from operating inNigeria. The ultimatum expiredand after Senate Committee onAviation public sitting on the is-sue, the airlines still stuck to theoffensive fares..

While the storm on fare dispar-ity raged, some of the affectedforeign airlines were silent onthe issue. But the British Airwayswas quite vocal, saying its faresare determined by the forces ofdemand and supply.

British Airways Countrymanager for Nigeria, Mr Kola-wole Olayinka, had said at thepublic sitting that it was unfortu-nate and sad that the issue of air-fare disparity and profitability was

airlines come in. Let more airlinesfly into Nigeria many more times.Our skies are closed. Open upthe skies and let more airlinescome in.”

British Airways position on thisissue has not changed. In atelephone interview, MrOlayinka, told Vanguard that thedisparity in fares between passen-gers going to London from Accra, Ghana and those travelling fromLagos to London is now minimal. He said since market forces de-termine the prices of goods andservices, British Airways placesthe interest and satisfaction of itscustomers first. That is why itsfares are competitive. He furthersaid the operating environmentmust be taken into considerationwhen discussing fare disparity.Other factors like market size, de-mand for premium and economytickets must also be considered.

flight, we want them to say: thankyou “.

Last year, when the controver-sy was on and the SenateCommittee on Aviation wassitting, Senate President, DavidMark, had said the return of thenation’s national carrier wouldcreate employment opportunitiesfor Nigerians as well as restore some level of competition whichwill eventually reduce prices.

Ultimatum toforeign airlines

An Aviation Consultant, MrChris Aligbe also contributed tothe debate when the AviationMinister gave the foreign airlinesultimatum to address the faredisparity. He said the “ Minis-ter was now speaking the mindsof Nigeria-based passengers whowere usually extorted wheneverthey flew in foreign airlines. Withthe ultimatum given by theminister, the Federal Governmentis taking the issue of disparity infares paid by passengers fromNigeria seriously. The FederalGovernment is now showing con-cern about the plight of Nigeri-ans and others who opt to fly withforeign airlines,”

Reacting also to the Minister’s30-day ultimatum to foreignairlines to cut down fares or faceban, British Airways had said itwas wrong for the Nigerian gov-ernment to have based its con-clusion only on distance and ge-ographical location in itsassessment of fares charged inNigeria and Ghana. Explainingthe reasons for fare disparity be-tween Nigeria and Ghana, theairline told the Senate aviation

being discussed. He told thesenators that prices aredetermined by market forces ofdemand and supply and not bylegislation.

He said: “But that aside, youdid not actually tell us which lawswere violated. I am a Nigerianand as a Nigerian, I will doeverything possible where pric-es can come down, but we onlyneed to do one thing. Prices aredetermined by the forces ofdemand and supply; let more

Mr Olayinka said “ It is marketforces that determine prices. Weare in a free market economy.Government do not and cannotfix fares. Our fares change withthe seasons. You cannot expectairfares for summer, when thereis rush by holiday makers, to bethe same like during winter. Theseseasons determine prices. Ourprices are competitive. Our con-cern is customer’s satisfaction. Wetry to give our customers bestservices and at the end of each

committee that : “Nigeria andGhana differ substantially interms of demand mix. The marketin Ghana is smaller than Nigeriaand has lower premium traffic asa proportion of total traffic.

“Premium passengers inNigeria tend to book closer to thedate of travel which results inhigher fares, and once revenuemanagement principles are ap-plied, British Airways allocates anumber of seats to each fare classand cheaper fares are availablefor bookings made in advance ofthe travel date but these will nec-essarily be limited to ensure thatthere are still seats available forpurchase closer to the date oftravel.

“ This will, therefore, have animpact on prices, as it would doin any high demand/capacityrestricted market .The capacitystipulated under the ASA forGhana, unlike for Nigeria, has notbeen reached and in any case, thegovernment of Ghana has alreadyshown a willingness to movetowards an ‘open skies’ policywith no restrictions on frequen-cies in order for the economy ofGhana to benefit from the fastgrowing aviation market.

Open skiespolicy

“ An open skies policy will alsoattract other airlines to operatenew services to Ghana, in theknowledge they will be able toincrease services to match de-mand in the future, helping Accrato develop an aviation hub forWest Africa.”

British Airways said also that itnot true that all of its fares onthe Lagos/London and/or Abuja/London routes were higher thanthose on the Accra/London route,adding that it offers 40 differentfares on Lagos- London route.The airline said “Our fare offer-ing on the Nigeria-London routesis extensive. In total, on the

•Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation •President Goodluck Jonathan

,

,Continues from page 42

Why foreign airlines faredisparity persists


To book British Airways as opposed tothe other available carriers, Nigerianpassengers have concluded thatBritish Airways represents the mostcompetitive and/or suitable option fortheir journey

Lagos-London route, BritishAirways offers up to 40 differentfares across all classes of travel atany one time, each with differentconditions such as dates for travel,pre-booking periods and lengthof stay, which are designed tomeet the needs of different pas-sengers. In addition, we havemany special offers throughoutthe year.

Cheapesteconomy fare

“ Our cheapest Lagos-LondonClub class fare is currently $3507($3147 ex Abuja) which comparesto the cheapest Accra -LondonClub fare of $2956, a differenceof only $551 ($191 for Abuja), ofwhich $227 is made up of higherNigerian tax compared to Ghana.So the relative fare from Abuja isactually cheaper than Accra, andonly $324 more expensive fromLagos once additional Nigeriantax is taken into account.

“ The cheapest economy farefrom Lagos to London is $1051and $999 from Abuja comparedto the cheapest economy fare of$1,164 from Accra to London. Inshort, many of our Lagos andAbuja economy fares are eithercheaper or only marginallyhigher than fares from Accra de-spite the problems of constrainedcapacity out of Nigeria.

“ The main reason premiumfares from Nigeria are higher thanthose comparable fares fromGhana is attributable to capacityrestrictions, brought about bycurrent frequency restrictions onair services under the terms of theUK/Nigeria Bilateral Air ServicesAgreement, BASA. Under theBASA, UK designated airlines areunable to operate more than 21services per week between theUK and Nigeria. UK airlines have

always operated the full numberof services allowed under the bi-lateral ASA. On the other hand,Nigerian carriers, which are alsopermitted to operate up to 21 serv-ices per week between Nigeriaand the UK have not taken uptheir permitted frequencies.

“ It should be noted in thiscontext that in the period from1999 to date, the frequencyrestriction has only been in-creased by four services per weekfor each side, which has not metthe growth of passengers in thesame period. As a consequence,there is excess demand forpremium seats on British Airways,resulting in very high load factorsand, inevitably higher prices asBA seeks to ration seats in orderto ensure that seats are availablefor our Nigerian late-bookingpremium passengers.

Premiumpassengers

“As Premium capacity inparticular is so constrained, ifBritish Airways were to artificial-ly suppress premium fares,important customer benefits, in theform of (1) late availability ofseats; and (2) fully flexible tickets,would effectively be removed fromthe market and passengers wouldbe unable to travel in their cabinof choice or make changes as maybe required by their businessneeds.

“ By contrast, pursuant to theterms of the UK/Ghana AirServices Agreement, there is stillavailable capacity and frequen-cies in order to grow services fur-ther to meet market demand.

“British Airways is thus able tooffer lower premium fares tostimulate the premium market, infull knowledge that we will near-ly always be able to offer late-available premium seats for sale.

This is not the case in the con-strained Nigerian market.

“All passengers travelling fromNigeria to the UK have a choiceof both direct and indirectservices. Passengers wishing totravel on direct services betweenLagos and London have a choiceof three airlines, namely BritishAirways, Arik Air and Virgin At-lantic.

“Passengers have further choiceof indirect services with manyEuropean carriers such as AirFrance, KLM and Lufthansa, aswell as other African and MiddleEastern airlines. British Airwayscompetes fairly with all these car-riers, and in choosing to bookBritish Airways as opposed to theother available carriers, Nigerianpassengers have concluded thatBritish Airways represents at thattime the most competitive and/orsuitable option for their journey.

Olayinka, who represented theairline, said passengers have afree choice “Similarly, passengershave a free choice as to whetherthey pay more to travel in ourpremium cabins rather than in oureconomy cabin.

Competitiveindustry

Each premium cabin offers anincreased level of enhancedservice which British Airwaysprices accordingly.

“We emphase that it is thepassenger who must have thechoice of which airline he or shetravels on and at which level ofservice he or she wishes to payfor, which can only be achievedby a competitive industry. Ratherthan artificially suppressing fares,which have already been setaccording to a fair and competi-tive market in a deregulated en-vironment like Nigeria, theAviation Committee will do

ernment was yet to respond to thedemand. The airline said it hadoperated air services between Ni-geria and the UK in full conformitywith the BASA between bothcountries.

It said: “As mutually agreed bythe UK and the Nigeriangovernments at bilateral talks inNovember 2011, the UK CAA isalready undertaking an inde-pendent study of fares betweenthe UK and Nigeria, and both gov-ernments agreed to await theoutcome of that study in mid 2012.This is the correct procedure tofollow under international law,which pertains to the BASA as it

is an international treaty betweenthe UK and Nigeria. BritishAirways remains committed toNigeria and continues to servethe country and its people withdaily flights to Lagos and Abuja.

“The comfort of our customersis of utmost importance to us, theyare the very reason we remain inbusiness, we are proud anddelighted that we are able to offera choice of different competitivefares, a choice of products andconnections to our Nigerian cus-tomers.”

The British government hasalso reacted to the controversy.British High Commissionspokesman said any ban on British carriers would erode thebilateral relations betweenNigeria and Britain. This wasfollowed by a declaration by theDeputy High Commissioner,Giles Lever, that the federal gov-

ernment has no rights to ban for-eign airlines, arguing that theairlines were private enterprises,whose operations were deter-mined by market forces.

“It is not correct to state thatall of BA’s fares on the Lagos/London and/or Abuja/Londonroutes are higher than those onthe Accra/London route.

In reaching this conclusion itappears that the highestpremium fares from Lagos havebeen directly compared to the low-est premium fares from Accra.Furthermore, no analysis hasbeen given to economy fares,which account for by far the largerportion of our sales in Nigeria.”

The airline said: “British Air-ways is fully legally compliantwith the requirements of the AirServices Agreement between theUK and Nigeria.

Commercialdispute

We remain committed to Niger-ia and continue to serve thecountry with daily flights to Lagosand Abuja. We have been flyingthere for more than 75 years andpride ourselves on offering com-petitive fares, a choice of productsand connections to our Nigeriancustomers. All of our fares are seton a sound commercial basis andremain fully competitive withother carriers in the regionincluding Arik Air.”

The advise of the Minister ofForeign Affairs, AmbassadorOlugbenga Ashiru might sufficeat this point. He told thecommittee that they should notallow what he described as com-mercial dispute degenerate intodiplomatic row.

He said: “It should be a com-mercial discussion and not

dispute. What we have is acommercial dispute and what wesee happening now is a failure ofregulatory agencies to do theirjobs. If the regulatory agencieshad done their job very well, wewould not have got to this stage.There is no justification for the ripoff that Nigerians are goingthrough.”

Although Minister of Avia-tion, Stella Oduah, in herremarks also described thedisparity as exploitative and bad after the public sitting, nothinghas been heard again about faredisparity. She had said then :“Nigeria supports profitableoperations when the profits arereasonable but rejects exploitationand unreasonable excessive prof-iteering by exploiting her people.We are still on this issue and yourvoice from the Senate is wel-come.”

Nigerian aviation aworld of good byensuring the fast-growing market inNigeria is betterserved by sufficientcapacity to meetdemand by greatlyincreasing permittedfrequencies underthe terms of theBASA.

“This would be thebest way to ensurethat fares remaincompetitive, that Ni-gerian passengers’demand for seatsare met and that theNigerian economy isnot disadvantagedby lack of aviationconnectivity with therest of the world.”

It was alsorevealed during thesitting that the UKgovernment hadbeen asking for in-creased capacity forits carriers operatingin Nigeria, addingthat the Federal Gov-


CMYK

WHAT are the challengesyou are being

confronted with?The challenges are enormous

and we knew in this state thatthings are not right but Iunderestimated the magnitude– the absence of governmentalstructures, the absence, if youlike, even of core values.

What is your position on theissue of amnesty for BokoHaram insurgent group?

On the issue of amnesty, Iwant to commend the Presidentfor his large heartedness inproposing amnesty, even forBoko Haram members. Ofcourse we all know that BokoHaram, whatever is drivingthem is very different from thefactors that gave rise to thesituation that we had here inthe Niger Delta.

Insurgency in theNiger Delta

Whereas the insurgency inthe Niger Delta was foundedon economic issues – issuesthat had to do with rights anddeprivation of rights, the onein Boko Haram is religiousfundamentalist, so there is aclear distinction and even withthat the President has come upwith amnesty, I think as a resultof the calls by some leaders inthe affected areas so thatamnesty can be given and theywant to see whether that canmake the difference, so we haveto encourage that. I think weshould give it a chance.

Though those who sayamnesty should not beextended to Boko Harammembers also have a verystrong point on account of themindless and criminal,despicable and wantondestruction of properties andlives.

And even now, from what weare reading, they seem to saythey have not done anythingwrong and they are rejectingamnesty but on the part of theleader of a country, I think the

forward to an opposition party.Instead of rumours, blackmailand propaganda, I look

for the PDP; I don’t see anyreason why anybody in the PDPis supposed to be scared of theAPC. We just need to focus onwhat we are doing and at theend of the day, if the electoralprocess is free and fair; Mr.President has always promisedNigerians that, Nigerians willdecide who occupies the power.

Why do you think the PDPcame up with the PDPGovernors’ Forum?

Look, let me also make itclear; governors’ forum isprimarily a mechanism for peerreview of governors who areequal. You do not have to be amember of the NigeriaGovernors’ Forum to be agovernor, is it?

The Governors’ is not andshould not be a platform forcontrol of national politics,because we are not elected torun the country. I don’t howmany of you agree with me?We, as governors are elected tomanage our states. So theGovernors’ Forum cannot beallowed to go on as a tradeunion.

Of course, that is wrong! Whathas happened is that peopleare taking advantage of thedevelopment and discontent inour system to manipulate it tosuit their individual whims andcaprices.

Politicalleadership

But what is wrong is wrong!Look at the United StatesGovernors’ Forum where weeven copied it from, you don’tsee Governors’ Forum therecoming to tell Obama what heshould and what he should notdo.

We are provincial players,governors because ourmandate is to lead our states,not to run the federation. Those

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

Continues on page 47

•Dickson: Governors should govern their states and leave the President alone

,

,GOVERNOR Serikae Dickson’s ascent to the governorship of Bayelsa State on the platform of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP was a remarkable journey in ideological transformation. The pioneer state chairman of the BayelsaState chapter of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, he had the unique distinction of being the only AD chairman in the South-South to produce federal legislators in 1999, which was a reflection of his grasp of the political dynamics of his state. Dicksonwas, however, to change parties to the PDP following the enthronement of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as governor in 2005 andeventually turning into one of the most steadfast loyalists of Dr. Jonathan. It was no surprise that he was in late 2011 calledupon to be the frontman in the onslaught against the Timipire Sylva tendency that at that time held sway in Bayelsa. Followinghis victory in the gubernatorial elections, Governor Dickson has made a show of flaunting his socialist credentials andinclinations in the sphere of governance. In this interview with newsmen, he asserts that his new home in the PDP is not averseto progressive thinking. Excerpts:

President has done well byproposing amnesty. Let that notbe the excuse for not gettingall hands on deck to addressthat issue.

What is your position on thebrewing crisis within yourparty, the PDP, especially in theface of the ongoing merger ofopposition and birth of theAPC?

What you are seeing astension at the end of the day,will resolve itself. On the APC,I want use this opportunity tourge the leaders of theopposition to work hard to bringabout a virile, effective andviable opposition; anopposition that will play by therule, an opposition that will bein a position to confront theruling party in a market placeof ideas and vision.

We are looking look forwardto virile debates on various

issues; on economy, onnational security. If they areviable as a party we want toengage then and let us see thealternative viewpoints that arecontending for the minds andhearts of our people beyondissues of religion, ethnicity andzoning – that’s the wholedebate. The whole politicalengagement is all aboutgrandstanding, manipulation,positioning and it sickens me,really. So, for me, and I’m notspeaking for my party, for me,I’d be very happy to see a veryvirile, effective and wellorganised opposition becausea democracy without anopposition is dictatorship -democracy must have viableopposition.

In this state, with what we aredoing, I cannot for example bescared of strong oppositionparty; in fact, I had looked

Governors should not challenge thepresident — Dickson

The President of the Federal Republicof Nigeria cannot havemisunderstanding with a provincialplayer as a governor of Rivers State

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 3 2013—45

forward to an engagement – anorganised opposition that canconfront us and then presentan alternative vision. We haveto develop that tradition in thiscountry. It is not there now.

With all due respect, even ifyou not careful, we willdescend to a situation thateven respected nationalnewspaper will just be like apolitical pamphlet. Let us havevirile political parties that willcontest ideas. But for me as aperson; I’m not a spokesman

who have a mandate to run thefederation are the President,Vice President, the electedmembers of our nationalassembly and the politicalleadership of the parties.

Those are the people whohave a platform. And if as agovernor, I have any strongview on things that go on at thefederal level, we haveavenues; informal, formal – wehave the National EconomicCouncil. Over the years, I think


,

,

IN the period between 1999 and 2003 when Aremo

Olusegun Osoba was governorof Ogun State the chairmen of the20 local government areas wereallowed relative liberty in theiraffairs.

Osoba who governed on theplatform of the Alliance forDemocracy, AD ensured that hisparty won all the localgovernments in the electionconducted during hisgovernorship.

It was further observed that,many of the local governmentsexecuted big projects such asbuilding of shopping complexes,construction of roads, provisionof social amenities among others.

In fact, there was no strike actionin any of the localgovernments for the four- yeartenure of Chief Osoba.

However, Otunba GbengaDaniel’s emergence introduced anew style into the governance ofthe local governments, whichaccording to him was to changethe face of governance as he tookmore interest in the affairs of thelocal governments.

Using the Joint AllocationCommittee, JAC the Danieladministration made provisionsfor redistribution of localgovernment funds in a way thatall the local governments received

Ogun LGAs: Cat and mouseLOCAL governments were at one time autonomous in Ogun State,but not so anymore as they have become platforms for politicaldomination by successive governors

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

the same amount irrespective ofsize or other consideration.

Like his predecessor, Danielalso ensured his party won allthe seats. He, however, wentmore, as his administration insome cases brought localgovernment sovereignty directlyunder the whims of the governor.

For instance, he at separatetimes removed the Chairmen ofAbeokuta South, Ijebu North-East and Ijebu East for allegedlydisloyalty.

Local governments in thatperiod completely lost theirautonomy during following theoverbearing influence the stategovernment wielded on the thirdtier of government.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun whosucceeded Daniel in 2011 on theplatform of the Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN rubbished thepolicy of his predecessor

especially on the re-distributionof Federal allocation.

While it retained JAC changedthe policy of equal allocation,but, the policy of suppressionwhich incapacitated thegovernments at the grassrootsmay not have abated.

Once Amosun came on boardin 2011, he inauguratedcaretaker committees into thelocal governments whichgoverned the councils for ninemonths before he conducted acontroversial election whichbrought mostly his loyalists to thecouncils.

The governor did not onlyensure that his party, ACN wonall the seats, but also played afast one on some ACN leadersas it emerged that mostly coreloyalists of the governor werepicked for the election. Theaction helped to balance thepower equilibrium given thatnone of Amosun’s loyalists whocame with him into the ACN gotthe party’s ticket for the statelegislative election in 2011.

Few months after the localgovernment election, it wascommon tale that the chairmen

Inevitably, the state governmentintervened by organising a oneday workshop for all the 236Councillors where they werecautioned on their excesses.

Speaking at the workshopAmosun cautioned the councillorsto operate within their bounds.

“I want you to challenge withinyour power not outside yourpower. It is not within your powerto now say you are querying yourchairman, how? It is not. It is justlike one commissioner now saysthey want to query me, to dowhat?

“Your responsibility, when thechairman brings the budget,makes sure this is what he saidhe want to do. You can’t allocatethe money. It is the responsibilityof the local government chairmanand not yours now say where you

want to go and do this.It is not surprising that the

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, inthe State would describe the localgovernments as an extension ofthe governor’s office.

Speaking on the rot in the localgovernments in the state, said thelocal governments underAmosun lack vibrancy andperformance.

“Local governmentadministration is nothing to writehome about,” the PDP’s Directorof Organisation, Mr. SegunSowunmi said in an interview.

“The Chairmen appear to beoperating as caretaker Chairmenand Ogun State never had it sobad like this,” he added.

Damningverdict

The People’s Party of NigeriaPPN, in the state also gave adamming verdict on theperformance of the localgovernments under Amosun.

The party’s director oforganization, Mr. Deji Kalejaiyesaid “the present localgovernment system is nothingbut an extension of governor’ssatellite office. “Not onlyfinancially crippled to patchpotholes in the localgovernments, they are alsofinancially incapacitated to doany projects.”

“We don’t have localgovernments, the Chairmen

government in the state.“You will not expect anything

short of that from opposition. Nota penny out of what comes fromFederal Government is deducted by GovernorAmosun,” he said.

“The system we met on groundwas that all the allocations weretaken by the government. But,when Governor Amosun came onboard, he stopped it. He insistedthat the sharing formula shouldbe based on ratio”, he said.

President of Nigeria Union ofLocal Government Employees,NULGE in the State, Mr.OluseyiTajudeen said “ the distributableallocation to local governmentsfrom JAC is not enough to paysalaries , let alone for the runningcost and projects.

and councillors were playingcat and mouse as the councillorswere reported to be fond ofissuing queries to the chairmenand sometimes threatening tooust the chairmen from office.

Once Amosun came on board in 2011, heinaugurated caretaker committees into thelocal governments which governed thecouncils for nine months before heconducted a controversial election whichbrought mostly his loyalists to the councils

were appointedby the governor,” thePPN official said.

But, the StateChairman of AllL o c a lGovernments ofN i g e r i a ,ALGON, Mr.Rotimi Rahmane x o n e r a t e dG o v e r n o rAmosun from thewoes of the thirdtier of

•Amosun: Having the last laugh

Ogun state


•Dakingari: In full control

WHEN Gov. Saidu Dankigari came topower in 2007 he was expected to sustainthe political structure handed over to himby his predecessor and political benefactor,Senator Adamu Aliero.

But, however, as the new governor settleddown, so did the taste of politicalindependence grow in him. It was as suchnot surprising that the structure and systemin the 21 local governments he inheritedfrom Aliero became a sacrificial lamb.

The first local government electionconducted by the Dankigari administrationwas on the 23rd of February, 2008.

Following that, the Kebbi StateIndependent Electoral Commission,KESIEC announced 5th of June, 2010, forthe conduct of elections to replace thoseelected in 2008 following the earlydissolution of the LG councils. Thedissolution was upon perceived politicaldifferences that emerged following thepolitical combat between Dakingari andAliero, given that a number of Aliero’s menwere among those elected in the 2008election.

The elections, however, did not hold asscheduled by KESIEC due to politicalturbulence and crisis within the twofactions in the People’s Democratic Party,PDP, and also because of a court injunctionrestraining KESIEC from conducting theelections.

Sole administrators as such guided theconduct of the until the 15th of September,2012, when KESIEC under the leadershipof Hajiya Ada Sani Ka’oje conducted theelection for a new set of Chairmen andcouncilors. All 21 local governmentchairmanship seats were won by the PDPwhich also took 221 council wards. The

Kebbi: Central controlTHE local governments in Kebbi State are virtually run asappendages of the state government with the party in control atthe state government dictating the pace and policy at thegrassroots.

BY SAAWUA TERZUNGWE

main opposition at that time, the Congressfor Progressive Change, CPC won controlof four wards -one in Birnin Kebbi localgovernment, two in Augie and one inAliero. The State Chairman of Accord,Alhaji Mohammed Sani Abdullahi and theState Secretary of the CPC, BarristerShehu Mashal in separate remarks flayedwhat they described as themarginalization of opposition parties at thethird tier.

With the above results of theelections announced by the KESIEC bossHajiya Ada Sani Ka’oje, the oppostion

have continued to criticise the way democracyis being operated in the state and especiallyat the local government level describing theelection as not being free and fair.

Despite varied accounts of infrastructuredevelopment by the Dakingari administration,it is generally known that there is no equivalent

Governors should not challenge the president — Dickson

Continues from page 45what has happened, particularly inthe PDP and it is very unfortunate,that the focus on the Governors’Forum is as a result of somedevelopments in the PDP. It isunfortunate that it is rubbing off onthe governors from the opposition

growth int h epoliticalmaturityof thedemocraticstructuresat thel o c a lgovernmentl e v e l .Indeed ,the stategovernmentis knownto haved i r e c tc o n t r o lover allt h edemocraticstructuresa n d

institutions at the local government levels anddetermines to a large extent, which projectsshould be executed by the local authorities andwho becomes the chairman or councilor at anytime.

Comrade Ahmed Bunza, director of Centrefor Development of Democracy, Birnin Kebbicondemns the system of local governmentadministration as warped.

“We have a very warped view of democracyas it relates to local government administration.The issue of joint account is just one out ofseveral other issues tormenting localgovernment administration in Nigeria

parties.What has happened over the

years is that governors of the PDPwho became chairmen of theGovernors’ Forum all attempted touse it as a platform for playingnational politics – a platform foroccupying national political space.It is wrong! It shouldn’t be allowed!That’s why the idea of the PDPGovernors’ Forum becamenecessary. But you see, because fornow there is manipulation of factsand our institutions are not yetstrong enough, including the media– you are doing a very good job butnot yet strong enough.

You see things being manipulatedas if anybody is disturbing anybody,instead of saying no, this thing youguys are doing is wrong. People aresaying as if “there is a crisis andsomebody does not want somebody,no!

The Governors’ Forum is simplya peer review mechanism; no more,no less! PDP governors have theright to have their own groupbecause the associative right is afirst love in a democracy! ACN

including Kebbi State.Others are; the issue ofpolitical interference,economic strangulationand democraticliberalization. There isneed for localgovernment autonomyin terms of finance,politics, sociology andeven the economy”.

Former deputygovernor of the stateand nationalorganizing secretary ofthe All NigeriaPeople’s Party, ANPP,Alhaji SuleimanMohammed Argungualso debunked thesituation. “It is in theinterest of the governorthat determines whobecomes the Chairmanof a particular localgovernment andCouncillor for aparticular ward inKebbi. The stateg o v e r n m e n tdetermines projects tobe awarded andexecuted at the localgovernment level.”

governors and others, evencouncilors have associations.

What is your stance on thefaceoff between the president andGovernor Amaechi?

You press people should notequate a provincial player withelected President of the FederalRepublic.

The President of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria cannot havemisunderstanding with aprovincial player as a governor ofRivers State or any other governorfor that matter. I don’t know howyou came by that – that is why wemust be careful because you arealso very important players in ourdemocracy. As governors, we areelected to run our states, no more– no less. If you want the mandateto run Nigeria, you contest anelection for it. Don’t do it throughthe back door. If you want to be aleader of oppositions, you go theopposition. What is happening isthat people are taking advantageof our weak institutions and ourfledgling democracy.

Bayelsa state

Kebbi state

THE other day a friend gave me asEaster gift, a Chinese made

Electric/Solar Lantern. After charging,the magical lantern could provide anuninterrupted brightness for at leasteight hours.

I carefully examined this wonderfulobject but found little or no differencefrom the crude kerosene lamps whichmy late father and his late friend, PiusChukwu were bringing from Onitsha inthe 1940s and 1950s to Jos.

There was a thriving trade inmanufactured items, though in crudeform, between the Northern and theEastern parts of the country before thecivil war (1967 – 70), of which the ‘locallantern’ formed a significant part. If themanufacturing epic has continued to thepresent time, those crude manufactureditems of the past by Awka Smiths couldhave been refined into admirableconsumer commodities now importedinto the country.

This brings me into the cleverness ofthe Chinese who have now dominatedthe Nigerian markets in all itsramifications. It is no exaggeration tosay that there is no Nigerian homewithout the presence of Chinese items,either as kitchen appliances orelectronic equipment. China has totallyreplaced Britain, Japan or Taiwan asNigeria’s exporter of consumer goods.Unfortunately, those commodities couldeasily be provided locally under afavorable atmosphere.

It was at the point of crying ‘havoc’on the onslaught of Chinesemanufactured goods on our domesticmarket that I came upon an article in‘African Spotlight’ by our own, MallamSanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Central BankGovernor, (son of a former Ambassadorto China and grandson of a former Emirof Kano).

In his ‘Africa Must Get Real AboutChinese Ties’, Mallam Sanusi notesthat “Nigeria, a country with a largedomestic market of more than 160mpeople spends huge resources importingconsumer goods from China that shouldbe produced locally.

We buy textile, fabric, barter goods,

It should also to be remembered thatmany economists have reminded us ofeconomic exploitation embedded incolonialism and imperialism and havesuggested forms of self-sufficiency incertain aspects of our economic life. Theplaintive cries of many economicreformers have been drowned in thesorrows of neglect and irresponsibilityof various governments.

However, it looks as things mightchange for the better if those thought tobe at the corridors of power seem to beseeing clearer those things blockingavenues to development. But this wasnot the first time that Mallam SanusiLamido Sanusi would speak his mindon many issues of economic andpolitical developments. His address atthe 2nd General Dr. Yakubu GowonDistinguished Annual Lecture, was anexhaustive examination of Leadershipand its impact on economicdevelopment of the people.

In that Gowon Lecture, the CentralBank Governor, perhaps in the mood ofhis real personality – brave andoutspoken – noted that, ‘you will agreewith me that it is appalling to observethat five decades after Nigeria’sindependence, our nation has remainedbeleaguered with the challenges of

leadership, particularly those involvedwith selfless and unflinching desire tosteer the course of development andnational unity’ .

Mallam Sanusi examined the impactof leaders of China, Malaysia,Singapore on the development ofeconomic fortunes of their countries.They were able to introduce pro-poor,pro-growth and pro-employmentpolicies and at the same time,maintained macro-economic stabilitywhich impacted positively on improvedliving standard of their people.

Mallam Sanusi was also unhappy thatthe huge inflows from oil have not beeneffectively harnessed to ensure acompressive diversification of theeconomy. Apart from the endemicdisease of corruption which has notshown any cure, the other problem is,‘abuse and manipulation of ethnic relationship by leaders in authority byway of nepotism, tribalism and religiousbigotry’ .

Whatever opinion one may have onthe Central Bank Governor, one is boundto respect his courage and his attitudeto bare his mind on crucial issues of thetime. Most of his views on the Nigerianeconomy, though not strange to someof us, seem radical though his mind-set may be conservative. His radicalmind seems to be cast in the conservativemould of ‘classical economics’.

Nigeria needs to be able to feedherself, the country should be able toproduce those gods whose comparativenatural advantages are noted; thecountry should utilize its oil resourcesto grow its economy. Nigeria shouldstart to think seriously about economicsurvival by adopting principles ofeconomic nationalism, called commonsense economics.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi calledfor ‘leadership that should beinspiringly creative and resolutelycourageous’.

But such leadership should know thatthe growth of the economy could not besustained in an atmosphere of tightenedmonetary policy of the Central Bank.

07059197616

tomato paste, starch, furniture,electronics, building materials andplastic goods. I could go on. TheChinese, on the other hand, buyNigeria’s crude oil. In much of Africa,they have set up huge miningoperations. They have also builtinfrastructure. But with exceptions, theyhave done so using equipment andlabour imported from home, withouttransferring skills to local communities.So China takes her primary goods andsells us manufactured ones. This wasalso the essence of colonialism”. Manyanalysts will agree, this is also anotherform of imperialism.

But having known the facts, what isthe solution? You can trust our bold butcontroversial Central Bank Governor.He notes that, ‘Africa must recognizethat China – like the US, Russia, Britain,Brazil and the rest – is in Africa not forAfrican interest but its own’. Theromance must be replaced by hard –nosed economic thinking’.

He advised also that ‘we must not onlyproduce locally goods in which we canbuild comparative advantage, but alsoactively fight off Chinese importspromoted by predatory policies’. Itshould be agreed that Lamido Sanusi’slogic is flawless on its face value.

Peeping into the realm ofeconomic nationalism


Don Etim: Accomplishing Akpabio’s transformation agendaAccomplishing Akpabio’s transformation agendaAccomplishing Akpabio’s transformation agendaAccomplishing Akpabio’s transformation agendaAccomplishing Akpabio’s transformation agendaBY TONY NYONG

•Akpabio

GOVERNOR GodswillAkpabio has

understandably won severalawards on account of what isnow dubbed the uncommontouch he has brought to thetransformation of the roadnetwork in the state and thecapital city, Uyo in particular.When Akwa Ibom State wascreated on September 23, 1987by General Ibrahim Babangida,Uyo was just a small township,and it was possible to count thenumber of roads within theancient town on your fingertips.

The few major roads weresingle lanes and includedamong others Oron road, Akaroad, Aka-Etinan road, IkotEkpene road, Nnwaniba road,Aka-Itiam road, Barracks road,Old Itu road, and Ikpa road.Some of the streets that weretarred were Nepa Line, NyongEssien Street, Gibbs Street,Iboko, Udo Otung Ubo, UdoUmana, Enwe, Nsit Street,Nsetip, Paul Bassey, andUtang among others. The roadnetwork continued to have thesame outlook though with

some little touches here andthere under previousadministrations until thelaunch of the uncommontransformation by the Akpabioadministration.

Akpabio has been aided inhis efforts by several aides, butone of them, Chief Don Etim isworth pointing out.

Chief Don Etim has been able

to aggregate both theaspirations of the governor andthat of the people in such a waythat bears meaning and valueto the ordinary people of thestate, following very strictly, theprogrammes and policies of thegovernor, clinically diagnosingthe functions of the WorksMinistry that there is no stoneleft unturned in changing theprevious pitiable roadinfrastructure of the State toquality and standard roads,that the citizenry were onlyprivileged to see on televisions,and when they travelled out ofthe country.

While Uyo was the mostimportant town as at 1987,other places that hadsemblance of infrastructurewere Ikot Ekpene, Abak, Oron,Ikot Abasi, Eket and Etinan.Apart from the few roads thatpassed through these smalltowns, today, 26 years later,Uyo has become one of the bestcities in Nigeria. Althoughthere are still villagers, thereis no longer a village, as thereare neat roads with traffic lightsall over.

The sheer spate of completion

of the roads in most cases havebeen so shocking, that thepublic cannot fail to notice thecontrast between the officialsluggishness of the previousWorks Commissioners, and theemboldened efforts of Mr. DonEtim in delivering the servicesto the State.

Source ofattraction

From Etim Ekpo to Abak, Ikato Oruk Anam, Ikot Ekpene toIni, Eket to Oron, Ikot Abasi toEtinan, Ibesikpo Asutan to NsitUbium, Nsit Ibom to Onna, andEssien Udim to Obot Akara,and all over the State, it is alla reminder of a lost world, andan almost vanishedcommunities, until its glory andsource of attraction wasrestored by the WorksCommissioner. He hasprovided a test of how AkwaIbom State can change, and therest of the world has continuedto marvel at the roadtransformation.

Although Akpabio has beencriticized for paying high billsfor the development of

infrastructure in the State, theconsolation is that there aretangible proofs that the fundshave been utilized for thepurposes for which they weremeant. Some State governorspay billions for projects that donot get executed and nobodyquestions them.

A salute to the StateCommissioner for Works, Mr.Don Etim, is, therefore, a fittingtestimony of his dogged pursuitof his transparency and service,and is reflective of his strengthof character which has rubbedoff positively on theadministration of GovernorGodswill Akpabio.

The qualities are also the veryhallmarks that have made himto be an acceptable advocate ofthe masses within and outsidethe State.

As a change agentpersonified, Etim has presidedover the Ministry of Works thatdwells extensively on physicalprojects and as one imbuedwith insight and as a sticklerfor excellence, he has set forhimself the task of interpretingthe dream of GovernorGodswill Akpabio.


Chadian coup attempt claims 4 livesAT least three peoplewere killed in a

foiled coup attempt inChad, the foreignminister said yesterday,and several arrested overthe plot in the chronicallyunstable former Frenchcolony.

Security services had formonths been monitoring“a group of individualswho were preparing a plotagainst the state’sinstitutions” and swoopedon one of their meetingsin the capital onWednesday, Moussa Fakisaid.

Some of them“responded by firing onthe security forces. Oneofficer was shot dead andin response two membersof the group weregunned down. The others

were arrested,” Faki saidon the sidelines of ameeting in Brazzaville.

A police source told AFPearlier on Thursday that“several” people had beenkilled and around 15others injured in ashootout between securityforces and the allegedconspirators on theoutskirts of N’Djamena aday earlier.

Speaking before theforeign ministry update,some police sources spokeof six deaths, while othersclaimed eight were killedin the incident, “three ofwhom were securityforces”.

The government serving

under President IdrissDeby Itno, who himselfcame to power in a 1990coup, on Wednesday saida “small group” had beenplanning “adestabilisation plot”while police andopposition sources saidone of the detainees wasan opposition lawmaker.

A police source saidsoldiers and civiliansalso took part in thealleged plot.

The situation appearedcalm in the Chadiancapital on Thursday, withresidents going abouttheir usual day-to-dayactivities.

“A small group of ill-

intentioned individualsattempted to carry out adestabilisation plotagainst the institutions ofthe republic,” the

government said in astatement Wednesday.

It added that the armyhad “neutralised” thegroup and that the

arrested ringleaders hadbeen handed over toprosecutors forinvestigation.

‘Somali famine killed 260,000 people’

NEARLY 260,000people died

during the famine thathit Somalia from 2010 to2012, a study hasshowed, as half of themwere children under theage of five, says thereport by the UN foodagency and the US-

worsened by conflictbetween rival groupsfighting for power.

UN Food andA g r i c u l t u r eOrganisation (FAO)senior economist MarkSmulders said the “trueenormity of this humantragedy” had emergedfor the first time from thestudy, done jointly withthe Famine EarlyWarning SystemsNetwork (Fews Net).

“By nature, estimatingmortality inemergencies is animprecise science, butgiven the quantity andquality of data that wereavailable, we areconfident in thestrength of the study,”said Fews Net officialChris Hillbruner.

BY EMEKA AGINAM

GLOBAL youthunemployment will

be tops on the agenda ofthe One Young WorldSummit taking place inSouth Africa later thisyear.

Other issues to bediscussed, according tothe African Director of OneYoung World CatherinePeter who was in Nigeriarecently will includeeducation, globalbusiness, human rights,leadership, governance,sustainable developmentand transparency.

Peter has said withoptimism that Nigeria isa powerhouse on theAfrican continent, sayingthat young leaders fromNigeria have an

Global youth unemployment topsdiscussion at OYW summit in S/Africa

funded Famine EarlyWarning SystemsNetwork.

The number of deathswas higher than theestimated 220,000people who died duringthe 1992 famine.

The crisis was causedby a severe drought,

important role to play atOne Young Worldsummit.

Running in its fourthyear, One Young World isa charity that hosts anannual summit, bringingtogether 1,300exceptional youngpeople to find solutionsto local, regional andglobal challenges. While2013 marks the first timeAfrica plays host to aOne Young Worldsummit, Peter who was inNigeria recently to meetpartners said that,“Nigeria is a powerhouseon the African continent,therefore it’s crucial thecountry sends a strongdelegation to the first everAfrican-hosted OneYoung World summit.

“One Young World is all

about impact andencouraging leaders ofthe future from allindustries to drivetangible change whenthey return home from thesummit”.

Delegates from 190countries, she said are setto attend the 2013summit, giving OneYoung World its widestglobal representation todate.

It would be recalled that183 countries wererepresented at the 2012Summit in Pittsburgh,USA, including adelegation from Nigeria.

One Young World is acharity that stages anannual Summit, bringingtogether the brightestyoung people fromaround the world.

NORTH Koreay e s t e r d a y

sentenced U.S. citizenKenneth Bae to 15 yearshard labor for what it saidwere crimes against thestate, a move that willlikely see him used as abargaining chip in talkswith Washington.

Bae, 44, was born inSouth Korea but is anaturalized Americancitizen and attended theUniversity of Oregon.

According to U.S.media, he most recently

American gets 15 years sentencefor espionage in N/Korea

lived in the Seattlesuburb of Lynnwood.

A North Koreandefector said Bae willlikely serve his sentencein a special facility forforeigners, not in one ofthe repressive state’sforced labor camps. Morethan 200,000 people areincarcerated in thesecamps, beaten andstarved, sometimes todeath, according tohuman rights groups.

Bae’s sentencingcomes after two months of

sabre-rattling byPyongyang that sawNorth Korea threatenboth the United Statesand South Korea withnuclear war.

Former U.N.Ambassador BillRichardson, who hasmade numerous trips toNorth Korea that includedefforts to free detainedAmericans, in a statementsaid Bae’s case should notbecome entangled in thecurrent U.S.-North Koreaimpasse.

FORCES loyal toPresident Bashar al-

Assad retook a centraldistrict in the city of Homsyesterday , driving awedge between twoisolated pockets of rebelresistance in Syria’s thirdlargest city, fighters andactivists said.

The recapture of Wadi al-Sayeh, which links thebesieged rebel strongholdin Khalidiyah to theopposition-held old city,appears to be part of a seriesof carefully focusedcounter-offensives thatmark a shift from theindiscriminate campaignsearlier in the two-year-oldconflict.

Homs is a link in thecorridor connecting Assad’sDamascus powerbase withthe traditionalMediterranean heartland ofhis minority Alawitecommunity. It was an earlycenter of the mainly SunniMuslim uprising againstfour decades of Assadfamily rule.

Following recent gains inrural areas around Homs,Assad’s forces surroundedthe towns of Baida andMaqreb on the road to thecoastal city of Banias onThursday, activists said, thelatest stage in a campaign

Assad forces recaptureHoms

to secure the corridor.They also seized Qaysa

town on the eastern edgeof Damascus, part of asteady move north fromairport on the city’s south-eastern edge which wouldcreate a line of controllocking down the easternapproaches to the city andclose off weapons suppliesfrom the Jordanian border.

A laptop, some emptyfireworks and a jar

of Vaseline landed threefriends of BostonMarathon bomb suspectDzhokhar Tsarnaev in jailWednesday, charged withtrying to throwinvestigators off theirbuddy’s trail.

Those were the itemsfederal prosecutors saidAzamat Tazhayakov, DiasKadyrbayev and RobelPhillipos took fromTsarnaev’s dorm room atthe University ofM a s s a c h u s e t t s -Dartmouth in the hoursafter the FBI releasedphotos of Tsarnaev andhis brother Tamerlan, the

Bomb suspect’s buddiescovered for him, say federalprosecutors

suspects in the marathonbombings. According toFBI affidavits, theyquickly recognized theirfriend from the pictures.

When Kadyrbayevtexted his friend to tellhim “he looked like thesuspect on television,”Tsarnaev texted back “lol”and added, “come to myroom and take whateveryou want,” the affidavitstates. Phillipos,Tazhayakov andKadyrbayev went to theroom, where Kadyrbayevnoticed a backpackcontaining fireworks thathad been “opened andemptied of powder,”according to the affidavit.

•Chadians besiege the Parliament building in N’Djamena.


CMYK


voice market is not effectively competitiveand is still highly concentrated with anHHI (Herfindahl Hirschman Index) of3063.

MTN has a 44 per cent market share ofsubscribers within this market. There is alsoa wide differential (of about 300 per cent)between on net and off net calls and this isindicative of the likely establishment of acalling club for MTN subscribers.”

Further, the regulator also designatedboth MTN Nigeria and Glo as joint dom-inant operators in the wholesales leasedlines and transmission capacity sub-seg-ment of the upstream market. Both MTNand Glo have substantial investments inbroadband; MTN has WACS while Glo hasGlo 1.

Issue ofcompetition

To address the issue of competition, theNCC resolved that the Dominant Opera-tor in the Mobile Voice market, in this case,MTN Nigeria, shall be required to adhereto the following obligations:

a) Accounting separation: The Commis-sion will immediately enforce and imple-ment accounting separation on the domi-nant operator;

b) Collapse of on-net and off-net retailtariffs: The differential between the on-net and off-net retail tariffs will be imme-diately collapsed. The tariff for on-net andoff-net will be the same, and subject toperiodic review; and

c) Submission of required details: TheCommission may require the dominant op-erator to submit details on specific aspectsof its operations from time to time as theneed arises in the upstream segment ofthe market (comprising spectrum, towersites, network equipment, wholesale

Telecoms market: Theshape of things to come

BY ADEKUNLE ADEKOYAANALYSIS broadband/ internet access, and wholesale

leased lines and transmission capacity).The regulator noted that “MTN and Glojointly control about 62 per cent of the publicterrestrial transmission infrastructure whichis a bottleneck resource in the provision ofvoice and data services. There are con-cerns that operators playing in the whole-sale and retail sub segments of these mar-kets have the leverage to “squeeze” themargins of their competitors who are alsotheir customers.”As a result, NCC designated GLO andMTN “as joint dominant operators in thewholesale leased lines and transmissioncapacity sub segment of this market.”

In respect of this, both GLO and MTNshall be required to comply with the fol-lowing:

a) Price cap//price floor: The Commis-sion will come up with a price cap forwholesale services and price floor for re-tail services, and subject to periodic re-view.

b) Accounting separation: The Commis-sion will immediately enforce and imple-ment Accounting Separation on the jointdominant operators.

c) Submission of required details: TheCommission may require any of the jointdominant operators to submit details onspecific aspects of its operations from timeto time ass the need arises. The implica-tions of these resolutions by the regulatorare not far-fetched.One, it becomes clear that the telecomsregulator is moving into management reg-ulation of the telecoms firms concerned.By demanding and enforcing accountingseparation, the books of the telcos will nowbe subject to scrutiny by the regulator, andpertinent questions raised, where theyarise.

This will have the positive effect of deep-ening good corporate governance practicewhere it already exists, and instituting itwhere it is presently lacking. It is a redcard for telcos where decision making pro-cesses are vertical and centralised.On the other hand, the price cap and pricefloor for wholesale services and retail of-ferings that the regulator plans to intro-duce will have a salutory effect on the pric-ing of services in the industry. More im-portantly, it signifies a new regime wheremarket forces only will no longer deter-mine prices. In other words, price controlwill become part of the regulatory activi-ties and hopefully, exploitative tariffs willdisappear.

2003 (NCA 2003) “as a re-sult of which in June 2012 itembarked on a Study of theAssessment of the Level ofCompetition in NigerianTelecommunications Indus-try.”

The outcome of the studyis the document cited above.The document identified sixmajor segments - Mobilevoice, Fixed voice, Fixeddata, Mobile data, Up-stream, and Downstream. Inits assessment of competi-tion in these segments,NCC designated MTN Ni-geria a dominant operatorin the Mobile Voice seg-ment with 44 per cent mar-ket share of subscribers.NCC said: “The mobile

ON Sunday, the telecommunicationsregulator, Nigerian Communica-

tions Commission, posted a document onits portal entitled Determination of Domi-nance in Selected Communications Mar-kets. In the document, it established thebasis for the determination of dominancein the communication market, which it saidis in line with exercise of its regulatoryfunction “to ensure fair competition in allsectors of the Nigerian communications in-dustry” (Nigerian Communications Act

NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Eugene Juwah


O Y E D E L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOyebisi DeborahOyedele, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Oyebisi DeborahAdewale. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

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known and addressed

as Miss Agatha Nzei,

now wish to be known

and addressed as Mrs.

Agatha Ogwu. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

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Barca: End of an eraNEWSPAPERS in

Madrid yesterdayproclaimed the end of theroad for Barcelona’simperious era afterBayern Munichcompleted a ruthless 7-0aggregate ChampionsLeague semifinal victoryat the Camp Nou.

“The tie may alreadyhave been resolved afterthe 4-0 thrashing Bayernhanded out in the firstleg, but the Barca fans atleast hoped for adignified exit fromEurope that in the endwas only visible on theimpressive mosaic heldup by supporters beforethe game began,” ASwrote.

“Barca have reachedthe end of a path that wasglorious. They have livedthe best era of theirhistory. They will win theleague, they willcontinue to win titles andtheir current modelshould remain, but if whathappened on Wednesdaywas a casting to decidewho is and who is notworth keeping for thefuture, the club will need

to hire every removalcompany in Barcelona tohelp with the clearout.”

Madrid’s El País isequally brutal:“Barcelona is now anunrecognisable team invictory or defeat. Theworst symptom wasultimately not to playLionel Messi, but Messiknows that Bayern wouldhave won anyway. Theperformance yesterdaywas unforgivable from aclub of the greatness ofBarcelona.”

Only the Barcelona-based Sport, the CampNou’s closest media ally,attempts to defend theperformance: “Barça,martyred by injuries and

very, very fair of forces inthis final stretch of theseason, were not just alittle tired at this point.The symptoms of physicaland mental exhaustionshown against rivals likeMadrid in the Copa delRey have been shown ina much more stark wayagainst an energeticBayern.”

The verdict on Bayern’sperformance and what itmeans for Germanfootball is clearly evident.“At Wembley, we will seethe first all-German finalin Champions Leaguehistory,” Marca said.“Borussia Dortmund andBayern Munich havefired Germany back to thetop of the Europeanfootball pyramid.”

The German tabloidHamburger Morgenpostagrees and is in no doubtabout the significance ofthe week’s results: “TheSpaniards weredisenchanted in thesemifinals. The two bestteams in Europe comefrom the Bundesliga in its50th anniversary year – itis a changing of theguard.”

Yekini was Nigeria's greatest — Siasia

FORMER Nigeriacoach Samson

Siasia has describedRashidi Yekini as thecountry ’s greatestfootball star ever.

Yekini died on May 42012 and at a memoriallecture and book launchin Ibadan on Thursday,Siasia paid a glowingtribute to Nigeria’s all-time record goals scorer.”Rashidi Yekini was thebest player Nigeria everproduced,” remarkedSiasia.

“He was the playerwho qualified Nigeria toour first-ever World Cup,scored Nigeria’s first-ever goal in the WorldCup and won thehighest goal scorer atthe Nations Cup, he willalways be there in myheart.

“I was not there whenhe was buried, but whenI got a call from hislawyer, I said to myselfthat this is anopportunity to pay mylast respect to him.

“The Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF) needto do something for himbecause this was theplayer who made historyfor our country and heneeds to be honoured.We need to honour ourheroes who have donethe country proud in oneway or the other.”

However, Siasia, whoplayed alongside thelegendary star forseveral years in theSuper Eagles, expresseddisappointment with thepoor attendance at thememorial lecture inhonour of the prolificstriker with many of hiscolleagues cons-picuously absent. He said, “Most of ourcolleagues are not hereto honour the lateRashidi Yekini whoserved his fatherland.

”I learnt about thisprogramme some weeksago and I found my wayhere to honour myfriend, who always madethings happen on thefield. This was anavenue to honour theplayer I playedalongside 10 years ago.

“I didn’t know muchabout him because wewere not very closeexcept we are on thefield or inside bus,where he used to crackjokes and make peoplelaugh.''

'This is wh'This is wh'This is wh'This is wh'This is why Py Py Py Py Pep lefep lefep lefep lefep left't't't't'DECISIONS need

to be made,” saidGerard Piqué after thematch ended, withoutletting his pulse of 180affect his ability to reflectas he stood in front ofthe ‘Canal Plus’microphone, as if he hadbeen coming to the

conclusion for a while. Itwas the same conclusionthat Pep Guardiolareached when hedecided to bid farewellto a club and a group ofplayers who had givenhim everything.

The Spanish coach leftbecause he could see

that what happenedagainst Bayern Munichwas going to happensooner or later, whetheragainst the Germans oragainst an inferioropponent like PSG.Guardiola was sure of it,as long as the team wasnot given a face-lift.

•Late Yekini

“

CMYK

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YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT SAT OU R

L 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 K

4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE


Patrick Ekeji and thefuture of the NSC

Two weeks before he retired Ihad the opportunity to spend aweek with him in Abuja tolearn more about the challengesfacing sports development inNigeria. ,

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SINCE Dr. (Chief) Patrick Ekeji’s retirement wasannounced two weeks ago, there have been

mixed reactions from many people on how he ran theNational Sports Commission (NSC) in his capacity asdirector-general which began in 2009 and ended inApril 2013.

The Director General, normally should be the engineroom of sports in the country, the sports minister beinga political appointee. The Presidency, however takescritical decisions on matters relating to funding andleaves administration of sports for NSC.

The recent comments and interviews published inthe Vangaurd Online (April 24 & April 26, 2013)respectively especially from the former Rivers StateAttorney-General Adokiye Amiesimaka and formerNFA Chairman Kojo Williams, both harsh critics ofEkeji and the National Sports Commission (NSC),have caught my attention. As a consequence, I wascompelled to share my views on some of the salientpoints raised by Amiesimaka and Williams. Sportsdevelopment, administration and coaching arecomplex and complicated undertakings in Nigeria.

To begin with, I agree with Amiesimaka that “Nigeriawill continue to fail under the sports ministry” system.We can learn one or two things from the NationalUniversities Commission’s structure and framework.Amiesimaka believed strongly that the National SportsCommission as it is now has no legal, moral andlegislative authority to function effectively.

I also agree with Williams that “the standard ofAfrican football is low” and that we have a “mediocreleague.” To rebuild our sports infrastructure includingcoaching and administration, Williams argues that weneed “a philosophy of football development, aphilosophy that takes us from youth U-10, U-15, U-17, U-20 to the senior nation team.” Since MinisterBolaji Abdullahi took over before the LondonOlympics, he has made pronouncements aboutchanges and adjustments that offer promise butoffendS seasoned stakeholders because of lack of stiffaction. One of such announcements is the newlyformed NASCOM designed to address the concernsraised by Amiesimaka and Williams.

BY DR. SADIG ABDULLAHI, Florida, USA

Amiesimaka said that Ekeji failed to develop sports.He said “look at the various sports federations, seethe way they were set up, see the way they are run,see the way they are funded.” Furthermore, he saidthat “I am disappointed that he [Ekeji] had anopportunity, a golden opportunity to make a mark forhimself but he failed to do so because he was tooconscious of the interests of those around him.”

Williams is reserving judgment on Ekeji. BothAmiesmaka and Williams have interacted extensivelywith Ekeji and can pass judgment. For example, sincethe London 2012 Olympics debacle, the Nigeria sportscommunity including the federal government, hasbeen attempting to find lasting solutions to theproblems facing sports especially the problems facingelite athletes in international competitions. In October2012, the Federal Government organized the firstNational Sport Retreat 2012. Before the retreat,Chairmen of both the Senate and House Committeeson Sports organized hearing and workshops to signala new thinking and a new commitment to sports. Eventhe Senate President David Mark, who now has astadium in his name in his state, made strongstatements in support of a new direction.

For me, Chief Ekeji is not the problem of sportsdevelopment. In America where individualism thrives,one person can make a big impact. In Nigeria, the

success of a team is shared by the whole. Ask Siasiaand now Keshi. The problem may well be in ourpolitical, socio-cultural, and the lack of a middleclass to provide the financial base for sportsdevelopment, as seen in developed nations. Ekeji’sprimary responsibility was not to develop sports butto administer and provide enabling policies andguidelines, focus and direction. He seemed to haveachieved that. The main problems remains the overlypoliticized, overly corrupt, overly ineptitude of thetechnical team including coaches, and overlyinsensitive sports administrators, who paradethemselves as “know it all and do it all.”

But I am encouraged when the NSC announcedthe creation of the High Performance SportsDirectorate. This will perhaps be one of the legaciesof Chief Ekeji. If done well the directorate may bethe catalyst needed to begin the true transformationof sports in Nigeria. To have a lasting positive effect,the directorate must create a system, structure,framework, and process that should be holistic,qualitative, and integrative. NSC has alsoannounced that six elite sports will be properlydeveloped and funded, and will be run throughthe directorate. NSC has begun the process ofidentifying high and performance directors to helpprepare young and talented athletes competeexceptionally in regional and internationalcompetitions.

Since 2009, I have been in contact with Chief Ekejiand we have been sharing ideas, information anddiscussing how Nigerians in Diaspora cancontribute to national sports development. Twoweeks before he retired I had the opportunity tospend a week with him in Abuja to learn more aboutthe challenges facing sports development in Nigeria.

The High Performance Sports Directorate, anotherpronouncement of the minister Abdullahi, may wellbe a game changing strategy. This is the creation ofChief Ekeji. If all goes well, Chief Ekeji will bepositioned to make substantial contribution in realterms in his retirement. I am expected to be part ofthe new vision.

THE Warri City Sta-dium will wear a

carnival-like atmosphereas football and musicwill hold sway, comeSunday 5th May, duringthe final of the DeltaState Federations Cup.

The Federations Cupwhich before now wasknown as the ChallengeCup, is the most glam-orous and protectedtournament in the calen-dar of the Delta StateFootball Association.

The Delta State FA un-der Amaju Melvin Pin-nick, reputed for herprowess in organiza-tion, showmanship andprivate – sector initia-tives, has the longestfootball sponsorshipdeal in Nigeria withEcobank (formerly Oce-anic Bank), as this edi-tion marks the 14th yearof their relationship.

According to Pinnick, thisyear’s edition would witnessthe presentation of awardsto individuals who havecontributed immensely tothe development of Sports

Delta State Federation Cup finalwill be a carnival — Amaju

in Delta State and Nigeria. The recipients include vet-eran sports columnist, Mr.Paul Bassey (Football Per-sonality Award), Pa JohnOjidoh (Evergreen Award),Dr. John Oganwu (LifetimeAchievement Award) Igna-tius Ajuonoma (Sports Jour-nalist of the year) and JibrilAku, MD of Ecobank (DFAPlatinum Award)

Others include SenforceInsurance Brokers (DFABrand Award), Hon. VictorOchei (DFA Selfless ServiceAward), and Dr. EmmanuelUduaghan, CON (DFA Di-amond Award).

The afternoon would bespiced with live musicalperformance by Nigerianknown artistes, Tiwa Sav-age and Davido.

Information gathered ongood authority has indicat-ed that the grand finale ofthe federations cup whichwould feature a match be-tween Warri Wolves, a pre-mier clubside locking hornswith an amateur side, J.Atete will be beamed live onDSTV Supersports Channelbeginning from 3pm.

BY EVELYN USMAN

WIFE of the Chiefof Naval Staff and

President of Naval Offic-ers Wives Association,NOWA, Vivian Ezeoba,yesterday in Lagos,called on Nigerian wom-en to engage themselvesin regular exercises.

Ezeoba made the callwhile briefing journalistson the 1st NOWA PresentGolf Tournament whichbegan yesterday at theDolphin Golf club, NavyTown, Lagos.

She described golf as agame associated with dis-cipline, explaining thatthe initiative to stage agolf tournament was tak-en in order to bring to-

NOWA president urgeswomen to engage in exercise

gether professional golf-ers from all over the coun-try, as well as afford mem-bers of NOWA the oppor-tunity to become profes-sional golfers like theircounterparts in othercountries.

According to Ezeoba,the tournament which isthe first of its kind in thehistory of the NigerianNavy, was aimed amongother things, “to keepmembers of the associa-tion fit and healthy.” Shetherefore called on Nige-rian women to alwaysexercise themselves, re-minding them that “ if wemake exercise part of ourlife style, our families willbe better for it.”

CROATIAN goalkeeper Ivan Turina

has died of suspectedheart failure, aged just 32.

The stopper was first-choice at Swedish clubAIK, for whom he had

Goalkeeper dies in his sleepplayed 89 times, havingsigned from DinamoZagreb in 2010.

Turina was found in hishome near Stockholmhaving apparently diedin his sleep. No foul playis suspected at this time.

CMYK

•Warri Wolves players celebrating a goal in aleague match.


08053068728

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The little thingsThe little thingsThe little thingsThe little thingsThe little thingsthat matterthat matterthat matterthat matterthat matter

FEBRUARY 2013: Seigha Porbeni called me fromPort Harcourt where he was watching the last

Secondary School Games and lamented this way:‘’Onochie, more than 40 years ago I competed as a

student in this country wearing puma spike shoes.Today, our students are running barefooted. What’shappening?’’

I think that most readers of this column can answerPorbeni, a veteran in track and field.

Porbeni himself knew what the problem was but Iguess that he just wanted to share his sad experiencewith me.

I may be repeating myself if I say that what ishappening in our sports is a reflection of the state ofour polity – rot in many areas. Porbeni knew that 40years ago, athletes could not have protested againsthigh standards set to make them improve as they didlast week in Benin. Porbeni could as well say that morethan 20 years ago, he drove from Lagos to Benin inthree hours, the same distance that takes more thanfive hours today due to the poor state of the road. 40years ago, pipe born water flowed where we have wellsand boreholes now. 40 years ago, you got a job onleaving school. 40 years ago the standard of educationwas higher than what it is today. Standards have fallenin almost all sectors, not only sports.

At the time Porbeni was talking about, Nigeria couldboast of many competitions among schools. The systemto develop athletes was there. Porbeni enjoyed sportsscholarship from secondary school to the universitylevel at the time. Which schools in Nigeria now offerscholarship to worthy athletes? Last year, StephenKeshi visited his former Primary School in Lagos anddiscovered that a building now stood on the field thatproduced him. It is so in many schools today. I wouldalways refer to my beloved Government CollegeUmuahia. We had four soccer fields with a hockeypitch, two tennis courts, a standard track and fieldground (different from the soccer pitches), a cricketoval, basketball court and a golf course at the mastersquarters. That was one secondary school in Nigeriathen. The madness extended beyond sports. The landhousing the zoo in Enugu where, as kids, we visited,has been sold out and houses now occupy our oncefamous Enugu zoo. It’s same with so many estates inNigeria where the original plan accommodatedgardens or parks for recreational activities. FESTACin Lagos is one. I was among those who played footballat Polo Park in Enugu. That’s where you have ShopriteMall now. The madness is everywhere. No respectfor nature, recreation or GREEN life. Madness has

taken over reason.But do we continue to celebrate our past and continue

to lament about our present conditions without doingsomething about it? We know that one of our majorproblems is lack of merit in appointments, otherwise,the man in charge of secondary school games would

have insisted on some standards. Many who haveserved as sports commissioners and ministers of sportswould have never been so appointed.

Leadership has always failed Nigeria in all areasincluding sports. We returned from the London

Olympics and made so much noise about our failurethat the Federal Government held a sports retreat inAbuja. But as I write today, there’s no programme toelicit hope. No action to match their words. My advisetoday is for us to begin to do some little things thatmay help us. Let’s not rely on our leaders and thosewho run our sports at the national level. Let’s forget

the federal government and begin to do a few littlethings on our own. When we get it right, they maykey in. Let’s begin to provide little services and dothings that may breath life into our sports in ourcommunities and see if our leaders could be influencedto think positively.

Can a school principal insist on some standards fortheir Inter House Sports Competitions?

Can all states organise Secondary School Gamesfrom Local Government to State level? Can our

schools hire coaches to train their athletes? Canparents take note of the huge money in sports andencourage their children who have talents in sportsto take to sports? Can the ministry of education inevery state insist on schools having play groundsbefore they can be registered? Can we have sportsdepartments in ministries of education for the purposesof keeping data on student athletes and otherprofessional services that can boost sports programmesin schools? How can we read about athletes earningover a $100,000 for a 100m race with all other expensespaid and we don’t want to develop sports? How canwe read about footballers earning up to $200,000 aweek and we sit down here waiting for government tolead the way? Why are we denying our children ashare of the billions sports stakes every year? Ourgovernments have been failing us and I don’t see anylight at the end of the tunnel. Those ogas at the topwon’t do much for us. Government was not in chargeof sports at the time Porbeni ran in secondary schoolwith a puma spike shoe and earned scholarship hereand there more than 40 years ago. I paid N5,000 formy last son to partake in their inter house sports lastterm. Can we hold Inter House Sports every term andif all students pay N5,000 for that, the schools mayhire coaches and run good sports programmes thatmay produce worthy athletes. So, can we begin to dothe little things that may matter? The scholarships arestill there in America if we can produce the talents?American universities are still ready to offerscholarships to student athletes but they can’t findqualified ones any more. Let Parents/ TeachersAssociations begin to do some little things in theschools. Even suggesting ideas is enough contribution.Let’s help ourselves because government officials willcontinue to fail us.

Self interest will continue to take the better part ofthem. I believe we can begin to change and lead theway for our children to partake in sharing the billionsof money sports throws up every year. Let’s invest insports. It will pay us to do so.

EmenaloEmenaloEmenaloEmenaloEmenaloContinues from B/P

adamant the midfielder,who was expected toequal or break BobbyTambling’s Blues goalsrecord of 202 againstBasel last night will notbe offered a new deal.

Lampard had beenhoping to hear from hisformer boss Mourinho,but there has been nocontact.

It’s thought Lampard,34, who is mulling overoffers from ManchesterUnited and LA Galaxy,will wait to see ifMourinho can changeAbramovich’s mind.

But it seems Mourinhodoes not want to get onthe wrong side ofAbramovich by makingtoo many early demands.

Incoming players – andZenit St Petersburg strikerHulk is top of his list – areof more immediateconcern to thePortuguese.

Interim boss RafaBenitez was askedyesterday how he feltabout his rival’s constanthints at returning toChelsea this summer.

“Each one has his way,”said Benitez. “My way isto concentrate on the nextgame. That’s it.”

MbaMbaMbaMbaMbaContinues from B/P

from well meaningNigerians, especially,the Nigeria FootballFederation we wish tostate, for the avoidanceof doubt, that SundayMba remains a player ofWarri Wolves and allfinancial and federatingrights remain with WarriWolves.”

The club went furtherto say that what it wasdoing was “in theinterest of the nationand also, not to put the

Chelsea must pay £12m to free Mourinho fromReal Madrid

ROMAN Abramovichwill have to pay as

much as £12million tobring Jose Mourinhoback to Chelsea.

The Real Madrid coachinserted a break clausein the four-year contracthe signed at theBernabeu last summerafter he won La Liga.

Mourinho’s contractruns until 2016, but

Chelsea may have topay Madrid up to a yearof that to bring him backto Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho claimed hewill be leaving theSpanish club after theywere beaten in theChampions Leaguesemi-final for the thirdsuccessive year.

He had a gentleman’s

agreement with Madridpresident FlorentinoPerez that he could walkaway from his contractwithout financialcompensation if theywent on to win their 10thEuropean Cup.

Instead Chelsea willhave to negotiateMourinho’s release fromthe world’s biggestfootball club if

Abramovich decides toappoint him.

Chelsea, who wereturned down byMourinho when theymade an approach lastsummer, have thePortuguese coach intheir sights, eventhough Abramovichpaid £18m to get rid ofhim and his staff in2007.

Can the ministry ofeducation in everystate insist on schoolshaving play groundsbefore they can beregistered?

•Mourinho

Man U post arecord turnoverof £91.7 million

M A N C H E S T E RUnited posted a

record third-quarterturnover of £91.7million infigures released to the NewYork Stock Exchange today.

United also outlined anincrease of 52.2 per cent insponsorship revenue andhave adjusted expectationsof overall annual income to£360million. United’sexecutive vice-chairmanEd Woodward said: “Eachof our three primary sectors- commercial, broadcastingand matchday - deliveredstrong top-line gains.

career of Mba injeopardy.”

The release letter wassigned by the Secreataryof the club, LawrenceOmowho and sent to theNigeria FootballFederation.

However, Rangers flewout to Angola for aChampions League tieThursday without SuperEagles Afcon star SundayMba and Emeka Ezehdue to a passport hassle.

Both players were on

the final 18-man squadfor this Saturday ’sChampions leaguethird round second legmatch againstRecreativo Libolo, butthey were dropped atthe MurtalaMohammed Airport inLagos Thursdayafternoon after theGerman embassy couldnot release theirpassports submittedearlier by the NFF forEagles training tour ofGermany.

CMYK

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470;Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

e-mail: [email protected] to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

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.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

In Emenalo I trusIn Emenalo I trusIn Emenalo I trusIn Emenalo I trusIn Emenalo I trusttttt— — — — — Abramovich

WWWWWolvolvolvolvolves free Mba fes free Mba fes free Mba fes free Mba fes free Mba for Cor Cor Cor Cor CAFAFAFAFAFChampions LeagueChampions LeagueChampions LeagueChampions LeagueChampions League...But Rangers travel without him

ROMAN Abramovichhas shown Chelseamanager-in-waiting JoseMourinho who’s the bossby refusing to axe one ofhis key men at StamfordBridge.

Mourinho wanted theBlues’ technical directorMichael Emenalo – theeyes and ears ofAbramovich – to bedismissed prior to hisreturn.

But Starsport canreveal the 47-year-oldNigerian ex-international has beentold his job is safe, evenwhen the departing RealMadrid boss returns toLondon this summer.

In another develop-ment that shows the

power of Abramovich,Mourinho has made noattempt to contact Bluesstar Frank Lampard.

Russian billionaireAbramovich seems

AFTER a crucialmeeting which

ended at about 11amThursday, theManagement of WarriWolves Football Clubdecided to giveembattled NigerianAfcon 2013 hero, SundayMba a provisionalrelease to RangersInternational Football

Club so he can play thisweekend’s CAFChampions Leaguematch against Angola.

In a statement signedby the Media officer ofthe club, Moses Etu, TheManagement said,“having actuallylistened to the pleas

ACROSS: 4, Speak 7, Absorb 9, For 10, Bed12, Minor 13, Tour 15, Ailed 17, Refuse 19,Edam 20, Steer 22, Pep 24, Debased 27, Tor28, React 31, Mess 33, Rising 35, Teeth 37,Team 38, Shred 39, Yet 41, Rig 42, Dulcet 43,Grant.

DOWN: 1, Cactus 2, Assure 3, Orb 4, Some5, Pride 6, Aromatic 8, Beau 11, Disparity14, Reed 16, Leas 18, Fret 21, Together 23,Peri 25. Bore 26. Dent 29, Agency 30, Tomato32, Stern 34, Shed 36, Edit 40, Tun.

ACROSS1 Niche (6)5 Jumped (6)9 Drug (5)10 Mutilate (6)11 Torn (6)12 Liability (5)14 Tender (4)17 Defective (3)18 Present (4)20 Javelin (5)22 Assessed (5)23 Undershirt (7)24 Heaped (5)26 Danger (5)29 Tart (4)30 Limb (3)32 Fruit (4)33 Foot-lever (5)35 Twisted (6)36 Liking (6)37 Heron (5)38 Entertain (6)39 Guard (6)

DOWN1 Careless (6)2 Middle (6)3 Peddled (4)4 Rate (5)5 Sensational (5)6 Discharge (4)7 Marionette (6)8 Evaded (6)13 Botched (7)15 Eye-related (5)16 Relaxed (5)18 Loathed (5)19 Send (5)21 Free (3)22 Material (3)24 Clergyman (6)25 Alive (6)27 Devastate (6)28 Myth (6)30 Shelf (5)31 Yawned (5)33 Rind (4)34 Tardy (4)

I-N-S-I-D-E

OnochieAnibeze

P.55

•Emenalo

•Mba

SadiqAbdullahi

defends Ekeji— P.54 Continues on Page 55

Continues on Page 55

CMYK

no to 6-yr single term for president, govs— acf, afenifere

Documents

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nigerian baptist convention

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