sallah tragedy: taraba gov, suntai in plane crash

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61740

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

**

Mr & Mrs

•To be flown abroadfor treatment•Security tightensaround hospital•His many politicalbattles•Suntai, an aviation freak

Continues on Page 5

Taraba Gov, Suntai inplane crash

DONU

KOGBARA:

Readers’

reactions•P..17

The trouble

with

Achebe•P.19

SALLAH TRAGEDY:

Jonathan onSallah, restatescommitment topeace•Mark, Tambuwal, Oritsejafor,others task Nigerians onpeace, selflesness

Army blocks move byBoko Haram to hoist flag

•P. 6

Olu of Warri inauguratestrustees of ItsekiriEducation Trust •P.8

•P.7

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, POLITICAL

EDITOR & UMARYUSUF

LAGOS—THE Governor of Taraba

State, Dambaba Suntaiand five of his aides

were, yesterday, in-volved in an air crashafter their private plane,Cessna 208 aircraftmarked 5N-BMJ,crashed in Yola,Adamawa State capital.Governor Suntai, who isnow in a critical conditionat the German SpecialistHospital in Yola, wassaid to be piloting thesmall aircraft at the timeof the incident. Theplane hit the ground be-hind the NNPC depot,along Yola-Numan Road

CRASHED—The wreckage of the plane: Inset: Gov. Suntai andparts of the crashed plane.

•P.8Save us fromhoodlums, floodvictims beg Uduaghan

•P.15

The Road to

President

Jonathan's home

2— Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

SSSSSwwwwweeteeteeteeteet & & & & & SOURSOURSOURSOURSOUR

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 — 3

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

Taraba Gov, Suntai in plane crash

WHATEVER the mind of man can conceiveand believe, it can achieve – Napoleon Hill.

Develop your mind, take time to think.

Faith is confidence of the divine presence in one’slife, it is also learning to recognise someone whowould take undue interest in our lives, someonewho accepts you as you are, and is willing to giveyou that chance to discover your purpose in life.We are always just one person away from greatlife’s outcomes and are constantly being guided tobe in the right place at the right time — Ella Randle

ALYSHA Speer says it beautifully: “Laugh, evenwhen you feel down and low. Smile, even

when you’re trying not to cry and the tears are blur-ring your vision”. For me, I sing, and let my heartfind its own rhythm and dance to the tune of life.Trust; learn to trust your heart to find your purpose.“And, always, remember, even when the memoriespinch your heart. Because the pain of all your ex-perience is what makes you the person you arenow.” Life will teach you beautifully and your heartwill open to sing a new song. It is your experiencethat makes you look at life from a higher perspec-tive. What makes you brave is your willingness tolive through life and hold your head up high thenext day. So don’t live life in fear. Because you arestronger now, after all the said and done, it is abeautiful life after all.

Suntai, an aviation freak

GO V E R N O R

Danbaba Suntaiwas an aviation freak.Although he trained asa pharmacist, the gover-nor enrolled at the Ni-geria College of AviationTechnology, NCAT,Zaria, in 2009 andpassed out six monthslater. He undertook fly-ing test for about sixmonths during the ten-ure of Capt. AdebayoAraba as rector. Ongraduation, he acquiredthe Private Pilot Licence,PPL

Capt. Araba, who per-sonally supervised thegovernor ’s flying test,often spoke of how the

governor would fly intoZaria in the evening forhis flying test.

In one of his interac-tions with aviation jour-nalists at the aviationcollege in Zaria somefour years ago, Suntaisaid he loved flying,which was the reason heenrolled at NCAT. Jour-nalists who were atNCAT for the annualtraining in aviation mat-ters at the time, wit-nessed his last solo fly-ing test, which he con-ducted successfully.

The late governor saidhis love for aviation pro-pelled him to nurse theambition of expandingthe airstrip in Jalingo toa full airport.

at about 7 pm.The secretary to the

Taraba StateG o v e r n m e n t , A m b .Emmanuel Njiwah, in areaction, confirmed thatthe governor survivedthe crash, but was incritical condition. TheSecretary stated that theinjured governor hadbeen conveyed to a hos-pital in Yola.

Security tightensaround hospital

Security was tight atthe hospital as all thegates were locked whileonly few medical staffwho were on duty andofficials of Yola Interna-tional Airport were al-lowed into the hospital.

At the hospital wereGovernor MurtalaNyako of Adamawa, Bri-gade Commander of 23rd

Armoured Brigade, Yola,Director of SSS, the stateCommissioner of Policeand other governmentofficials.

As at last night ar-rangements were beingmade to fly him abroadeither, yesterday, or to-day for further treat-ment.

His manypolitical battles

Governor DanbabaSuntai, aged 51, is a sur-vivor of many critical po-litical battles.

His first casualty washis one time godfatherand predecessor in of-fice, Rev. Jolly Nyame,a three time governor ofthe state.

Nyame, like many out-going governors in 2007,had shopped and gottena candidate he believedwould safeguard hislegacy.

However, not long af-ter he succeededNyame, Suntai andNyame fell out. Nyamewho was at one time thefather figure of the Peo-ples Democratic Party,PDP, in the state wasforced to leave the partyto the Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN. He be-came a rallying point forthose that were es-tranged from Suntai inthe run up to the 2011general elections.

It was not surprisingthat the Suntai adminis-tration collaborated verywell with the anti-graftagencies in the ongoingprosecution of Nyame inthe courts.

Besides Nyame,Suntai also fought, to astandstill, the formerMinister of Water Re-sources, Dr. ObadiahAndo. Though he wasnominated to the cabinetby Suntai, but for onereason or the other, thetwo fell out.

Ando was accused bySuntai’s associates ofcampaigning against thePDP in Taraba ahead of

the 2011 elections essen-tially because a relationof his was a leadingmember of the ACN inTaraba State.

When against Suntai’sobjections, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan for-warded Ando’s name tothe senate for confirma-tion as a minister inJune 2011, Suntai wasbelieved to have mobi-lized the three senatorsfrom the state to stop thenomination.

It was not surprisingthat Ando was stopped

from confirmation fol-lowing the senate rulewhich requires nomi-nees for executive posi-tions to get the approvalof the majority of sena-tors from their states.

In Obadiah’s case, thethree senators stoodtheir groundson the al-leged instruction ofSuntai and despite whatwas reported to havebeen a personal pleafrom President Jonathanto the governor.

Suntai was to later fallout with two of the sena-tors from the state. At the

Aviation Ministry denies Suntai’s death

BY SONI DANIEL &

LAIDE AKINBOADE

ABUJA—AT 9.30pm last night, the

Special Assistant to theAviation Minister, Mr.Joe Obi, issued a tersestatement on the inci-dent claiming that no-body died in the aircrash.

According to Obi, theincident involved aCessna 208 aircraftmarked 5N-BMJ with sixpersons on board.

The aircraft, which waspiloted by the TarabaState Governor, DanbabaSuntai, reportedly leftJalingo, the Taraba Statecapital at about 5: 20pm, but lost contact withthe Yola Control Tower38 miles to landing.

The spokesman saidthe pilot’s attempt toraise the aircraft, failed.

Obi said search andrescue was immediately

activated and the site ofthe incident located withall the victims alive butwith various degrees ofinjuries.

He stated that the vic-tims were immediatelyevacuated to the hospi-tal for treatment pend-ing further investiga-tion.

Part of the statementread: “An aircraft,Cessna 208 with 6 soulson board including crew,operated by the TarabaState Government de-parted Jalingo, TarabaState for Yola thisevening and reportedcontact with the YolaControl Tower (1720Z)and field in sight at 38miles estimating land-ing at 1730Z.

“The pilot subse-quently lost contact withYola Control Tower andsubsequent effort toraise the aircraft failed.

Search and rescue wasimmediately activatedand site of incident lo-cated with all victimsalive with various de-gree of injuries.

“The victims havebeen evacuated to thehospital for treatmentpending further investi-gation of the incident.

“This is the correct ver-sion of the incident,every other one that iscontrary to this is incor-rect,” Obi insisted.

PDP reacts

In a text message byPDP National PublicitySecretary, Chief OlisaMetuh, the party said:“We received the newsof the plane crash withshock. We are officiallyawaiting news of the trueposition right now andwe urge all our mem-bers in Taraba State andNigeria in general topray for him.”

Ohu asks Lagos govt tocreate programme for

widows

By BARTHOLOMEWMADUKWE

LAGOS—THE Lagos State Govern-

ment has been urged tocreate programmes andconducive policies toimprove the lives ofwidows.

Founder of the BayoOhu Foundation andwidow of the lateGuardian journalist,Bayo Ohu, Mrs. Bless-ing Bayo Ohu, said thisin Lagos, yesterday, onthe occasion markingthe third anniversary ofthe death of her hus-band.

Grinding machines,books and other pack-ages were given out towidows in attendanceat the anniversary,where the Deputy Gov-ernor of Lagos State,Mrs. Adejoke AdefulireOrelope, called on wid-ows to look beyond thehelp of man unto God.

“I know that the Gov-ernor of Ondo State, Dr.Olusegun Mimiko, isdoing something forwidows. I want to en-join the Lagos Stategovernment to look atthe direction of widows.I know that there aresome widows who arebetter of, but there arestill some that are look-ing for help. I want thegovernment to look atthe direction of widowsand create a programfor them,” Mrs. Ohusaid.

She said: “Our visionin Bayo Ohu Founda-tion is to attract help forwidows because thereare so many widows outthere that do not knowwhere to go. But I wantto help them by goingto meet people, corpo-rate bodies and indi-viduals to come to theaid of the widows sothat they can smile”Ohu added.

BY KENNETH

EHIGIATOR

time of the crash yester-day, only SenatorEmmanuel Bwacha of

the three senators fromthe state was known tobe still close to him.

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

From left: Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State; former Kwara State governor, SenatorAbubakar Bukola Saraki and Senator Muhammed Sha'aba Lafiagi and Speaker, Kwara State House ofAssembly, Hon. Razaq Atunwa at the monthly Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, meeting, in Ilorin,yesterday.

SALLAH:

�Outlines ingredients to make faster progress towards devt

�As Mark, Oritsejafor, Martins, others preach peace

Jonathan restates commitment torestore peace

BY SAM EYOBOKA,HENRY UMORU, BEN

AGANDE, EMMANOVUAKPORIE &

OLAYINKA LATONA

ABUJA—PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan,

yesterday, restated thecommitment of hisadministration to therestoration andmaintenance of peace in allparts of the country even ashe outlined the essentialingredients that will makeus have faster progresstowards development as anation.

In his message to markthis year’s Eid-el-Kabircelebration, Jonathanassured that the FederalGovernment wouldcontinue to haveconstructive engagementand dialogue with allNigerians.

This came as the NationalPresident of the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria(CAN), Pastor AyoOritsejafor; CatholicArchbishop of Lagos, MostRev. Alfred AdewaleMartins; Senate President,David Mark and Speakerof the House ofRepresentatives, AminuTambuwal enjoined allMuslims to pray fornational peace.

In his message, thepresident urged Nigeriansto “seize the opportunity ofthe Sallah season and thepublic holidays to reflect onhow we can bring the idealsand virtues of our religiousbeliefs to bear on the

positive resolution of themany challenges facing usas a nation.

“Nigerians remain apeople of great faith withthe vast majority of ourpeople professing belief inGod either as Muslims orChristians.

“There can be no doubtthat we will make fasterprogress towards theattainment ofdevelopmental objectivesas a nation if we all resolveto do more to live up to thehighest ideals of ourreligious beliefs includingthe fear of God, willingnessto make personal sacrificesfor the collective good,selfless service, respect forlaws and constitutedauthorities, honesty, justice,equity, fairness,dutifulness, peace andharmonious co-existencewith others.”

Jonathan ordersprobe of hajj crisis

Speaking on thechallenge faced by someMuslim Pilgrims in theHoly land, Jonathan notedthat though “the problemwas eventually resolvedwith the positiveintervention of the FederalGovernment, I haveordered a thorough postmortem of the incident witha view to ensuring that ourHajj airlift operations arenever disrupted by suchproblems in future and thatno Nigerian pilgrim is ever

subjected to such traumaticexperience in the HolyLand again.”

He expressed thecommitment of hisadministration to givededicated, committed,focused and purposefulleadership towardsovercoming old andemerging challenges beforethe nation.

He enjoined all Muslimsto remember the plight ofthe many thousands ofNigerians who have beendisplaced by the floodswhich recently devastatedmany communities acrossthe nation and resolve tocontribute whatever we canto ameliorate theirsuffering.

Oritsejafor, Martinspreaches peace

Pastor Oritsejafor andRev. Martins in theirmessages urged Muslimleaders to embrace the faithof Abraham by makingmore sacrifices to preservethe peace and unity of thecountry.

In his goodwill messagesigned by Mr. KennyAshaka, Special Assistant toCAN President on Mediaand Public Affairs,Oritsejafor urged theMuslim Ummah to use theadvantage presented bythis Sallah celebration topray fervently for peace,security, good governanceand development of thecountry.

In his Sallah messagesigned by the Director ofSocial Communications,Very Rev. Msgr. GabrielOsu, the CatholicArchbishop also called forpeace and unity in thecountry even as hecondemned the violencemeted out against innocentpeople, especially in thenorthern part of the country.

In his words: “Nothingcan justify the act ofviolence. We mustencourage tolerance andreconciliation. We mustrespect one another andseek peace, realising thatwhat binds us togethersurpasses what drives usapart. There can be nopeace without sacrifice.”

...Mark too

The Senate PresidentMark in his message urgedMuslim faithful across thecountry to pray for Nigeriain the spirit of this year’sEid el-Kabir.

In a goodwill messagesigned by his Chief PressSecretary, Mr. PaulMumeh, the SenatePresident imploredreligious leaders to teachtheir followers the rightthing to do so that they donot deviate or depart fromthe truth.

Tambuwal urgesNigerians to makesacrifices

Also in his own message,

Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, HonAminu Tambuwal, urgedNigerians to restore thevirtues of goodneighbourliness and striveto maintain law and orderat all times.

According to him, allNigerians must showcommitment and be readyto make sacrifice towardsthe development of thenation

In a message signed byhis Special Adviser onMedia and Public Affairs,Malam Imam Imam, theSpeaker said for thecountry to make thenecessary progress itdesires, the citizenry at alllevels must be theirbrother’s keepers and bemore sensitive to the well-being of one another.

Ekweremadu calls forpeace

Deputy Senate PresidentIke Ekweremadu in hisown Sallah message calledon Muslims across thecountry to embrace peace inall its ramifications.

In his message by hisSpecial Adviser, Media,Uche Anichukwu,Ekweremadu whoattributed the nation’sproblems to corruption,greed and willfuldisobedience to Allah andthe teachings of theprophets, stressed that suchvirtues of selflessness,justice and total submissionto the will of Allahepitomised by ProphetIbrahim would restore thenation on the path of speedygrowth and transformation.

Mark, Oritsejaforcongratulate Onaiyekan

BY SAM EYOBOKA &HENRY UMORU

LAGOS — NATIONALPresident of the

Christian Association ofNigeria, CAN, Pastor AyoOritsejafor, hascongratulated hispredecessor in office andCatholic Archbishop ofAbuja, Most ReverendJohn Onaiyekan, who wasrecently called to theCatholic College ofCardinals.

Pope Benedict XVIannounced the elevationof the 68-year-oldArchbishop of AbujaDiocese to the Vatican’sCollege of Cardinals on

Wednesday during hisweekly general audience.He said the new cardinalswould be formallyelevated at a consistory onNovember 24.

Onaiyekan was one ofsix non-Europeanprelates nominated bythe Pope to the elite bodythat remains heavilyweighted in favour ofEurope.

In a personal letter tothe former CANpresident, Oritsejaforexpressed delight at thenews of his elevation,saying the appointmenthas placed Nigeria onthe world map ofChristendom.

The letter reads: “It iswith joy that I received thenews of your appointmentas a cardinal of the RomanCatholic Church by HisHoliness, Pope BenedictXVI.

“I am happy that thisappointment has placedNigeria on the world mapof Christendom and thatyour fame now spans theglobe. I am particularlyhappy because of yourcurrent status as one ofthe 'cardinal electors,'' aposition which qualifiesyou to be among those tochoose Pope Benedict’ssuccessor.”

A great honour toNigeria —Mark

Senate President DavidMark has alsocongratulated Onaiyekan,urging him to continue hiscrusade for peace to reignin Nigeria, saying “ thiselevation should spur himfor greater services to Godand humanity”.

In a congratulatorymessage signed by hisChief Press Secretary, Mr.Paul Mumeh, the SenatePresident said Onaiyekanremains a dependable,diligent and anunshakable soldier ofChrist who stood to becounted when it matters,adding, ‘’ I am pleasedthat your hardwork,dedication andsteadfastness is beingrecognized andrewarded. I have implicitconfidence that you will asalways do Nigeria proudat the Vatican.

"As a personal friend,my joy knew no bound onhearing your elevation.This is a blessing and agreat honour to Nigeria. Ican only wish that youcontinue the good workthat characterised yourtenure as the CatholicArchbishop of Abujadiocese.”


Army blocks move by BokoHaram to hoist flag in Damaturu�Why Policemen, other security agents are targets

BY KINGSLEYOMONOBI

ABUJA — SECURITYoperatives of the

Joint Task Force havethwarted an attempt bythe Boko Haram Islamicsect to hoist what they saidwould have been theirnational flag, "a yellow,white and red stripes"with weapons of massdestruction inscribed, atthe centre in Damaturu,Yobe State capital which

sources said is scheduledto be the headquarters ofthe Boko Haram nation.

The disclosure wasmade just as securitysources said indigenes ofBorno, Bauchi, Yobe andother states harbouringthe sect’s ‘cells’ are underimmense pressure andfear owing to threats onthem to support the groupwith funds by apercentage of theirsalaries or profits made

from their businesses,which is said to be nonnegotiable.

Failure to remit suchmoney is most times metwith the killing of a lovedmember of that family orthe family is wiped out.That is why the sources offunding for the Islamicsect have been difficult totrace, the source said.

Why Policemen,other securityagents are targets

Another mode offunding for the sect,according to the securitysources, is the dailykilling of security agentsparticularly the police,soldiers of the JTF, armedCustoms andImmigration officials.

Vanguard was told thatthere was a reward ofN5,000 for each securitypersonnel killed and ifsuch a security agentkilled has a rifle and thekiller or killers succeedin collecting his rifle forthe sect, the reward isN10, 000. Hence, thekilling of security agentsby members of the groupis seen as a source ofgenerating funds andacquiring arms andammunition for thegroup.

According to thesource, the source ofarms for the sectmembers has also beentraced to the porosity ofthe nation’s bordersespecially those of Niger,Chad and Cameroonthrough which most ofthe weapons used in theArab Spring crises find

their way to the country.The source noted that

allegation of killing ofinnocent indigenes,especially duringcrossfire with the sect bythe JTF was ‘politicaltalk’ especially sincegreat efforts throughintelligence andsurveillance are carriedout by the JTF beforethey strike.

The source added thatsuch efforts had alwaysyielded unquantifiablediscoveries in largestockpile of IEDs, AK 47rifles, GPMGs andhundreds of thousands oflive ammunition.

Vanguard has,consequently, learnt thatit was this mode ofkilling for financialbenefits by Boko Haramadherents that has beenthe stumbling block toofficers of securityagencies, who when theyare deployed toMaiduguri, Damaturu,Potiskum, Mubi, Bauchi,Jos and parts of Kadunaamong others protestvehemently and embarkon all sorts of lobbying toprevent their beingposted to areasconsidered Boko Haramstates.

It would be recalledthat recent mass transferof Police officersespecially those from theSouth-East and South-South to parts of theNorth recently,experienced suchprotestations as most ofthe officers threatened toresign than allowthemselves to be used asguinea pigs.

Why Nigeria is yet towin graft war — SAN

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH

ABUJA — A SENIORmember of the inner

bar, Chief Chris Uche(SAN) said, yesterday, thatit would be difficult forNigeria to win the currentwar against corruptiongiven intrinsic relationshipbetween politics and graft.

Uche said in an exclusiveinterview with Vanguardthat neither theestablishment of a specialcourt to try corrupt personsnor the change of type ofgovernment in Nigeriacould halt the menace ofgraft.

According to him,corruption and politicscannot be easily separatedand it will amount to a wasteof efforts and resources byestablishing a special courtto try suspected corruptpersons without firstaddressing the forces thatpromote graft in the country.

The legal practitionersaid: “We cannot solve theproblem of corruptionwithout adopting a holisticapproach towards itselimination. Corruption haseaten deeply into the fabricof the nation’s life and itrequires correspondingtough measures andpolitical will to uproot itfrom the foundation.

“If you look at the waycorruption is practised inNigeria and the waypolitics is practised in thecountry, you will come tothe inescapable conclusionthat corruption is the oil thatlubricates the machinery ofpolitics in Nigeria.

“So, it is a siamese twinwith politics in Nigeria. Itis extremely difficult toseparate corruption frompolitics in Nigeria. It isdifficult to practice politicswithout corruption inNigeria and it is verydifficult to separate onefrom the other.

“We must remove all thosethings that make people tosee public office as a do ordie matter. We have todeliberately restructurepublic office to really be aplatform for renderingservice to the people.

“We have to restructurepolitical offices in such away that the capacity to stealpublic funds is limited,monitored and scrutinised.Until that is done everybodywill continue to see politicsas a goldmine."

On plea bargain

Although he supports theuse of plea bargain in theNigerian judicial system as

a means of preventingprolonged and expensivelegal prosecution, Uchelamented that the concepthad also been largelyabused in Nigerian to theextent that it had turnedfrom "plea bargain to moneybargain."

Constitutionamendment

On the current efforts toamend the NigerianConstitution, the legalpractitioner described themove as a distraction bypoliticians to buy time andget Nigerian busy whilethey prepare for theirpolitical interest in 2015.

Uche noted: “To me,constitution amendment isnot necessary. That is notfundamental. That is notthe cause of our problem. Idon’t support constitutionamendment at all.

“I see it as a distractionand something to keep usbusy between now and2015. We have no problemwith the constitution theway it is. What we haveproblem with is the mannerin which it is operated.

On the way forward

On how to move Nigeriaforward, he appealed toPresident GoodluckJonathan to do all within hispowers to improveinfrastructure in the countryso that other sectors couldstrive.

He admonished thePresident to thinkpassionately abouttransforming the nation toleave a legacy forgenerations yet unborn.

Uche cautioned: “Onething we must recognise,though, is that governanceis not about an individual.We cannot lay on the feet ofPresident Jonathan theblames for all we aresuffering now.

“Understandably, most ofthese problems did notbegin with him. But then,he is our figure-head andthe buck stops on his table.So, he has to thinkpassionately abouttransforming this country.This is a very uniqueopportunity he has to dosomething about changingthings between now and2015.

“Let him not allow thosearound him to keep himbusy thinking about the nextelection and the opposition.Let him think of how tomake sure that we havegood roads and steadyelectricity, goodeducational and healthfacilities."

From left: Chinese Counsellor for Economic and Commercial, Chinese Embassy, Abuja, Mr RongYansong; Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr Li Jinzaqs and Vice President Namadi Sambo duringthe Chinese Vice Minister's visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

Benue Speaker asks FGto probeTiv/Fulani crisis

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI —SPEAKER of the

Benue State House ofAssembly, Mr. DavidIorhemba, has urged theFederal Government to setup a panel of inquiry intothe lingering Tiv farmersand Fulani herdsmen crisisthat had in recent timeclaimed over 300 lives withover 15 communitiessacked.

He also pleaded with thegovernment to take decisivesteps to disarm mercenarieswhom he claimed had beendeployed by the herdsmenalong the Benue-Nasarawaborders.

The Speaker whoaddressed newsmen,yesterday, in Makurdi onthe recent conflict in hisconstituency between Tivfarmers and herdsmen atYogbo in Guma LocalGovernment Area thatclaimed over 30 lives statedthat the conflicts had taken

a dangerous dimensionresulting in persistentkillings.

Iorhemba stressed thatthe persistent conflict hadin the last one yearsubjected his constituents tountold hardship withoutany source of livelihood withmost of their farmlandsdestroyed by the invaders.

He said: “We aredisappointed that theNasarawa stategovernment has alsorepeatedly failed to checkthe influx of mercenarieswho camp in theircommunities to unleashhavoc on my people,despite several moves bythe Benue Stategovernment to arrest thetrend.

“The unfortunatedevelopment hasnecessitated the need forthe Federal Government toset up a panel of inquiryinto the persistent bloodbaththat has left most of the Tivcommunities ravaged anddesolated.”


Olu of Warri inaugurates trusteesof Itsekiri Education Trust

BY ALIYU DANGIDA

Flood: Food prices soarin Jigawa

Delta govt official removed for allegedembezzlement of flood victims' funds

BY AUSTIN

OGWUDA

Save us from hoodlums, floodvictims beg Uduaghan

BY EMMA AMAIZE

WARRI—FLOODvictims in Boma-

di Local GovernmentArea of Delta State havecalled on the state gov-ernment to deploy moresecurity operatives intheir camps to forestallpossible attacks by hood-lums.

They, however, com-mended the governor,Dr. Emmanuel Udua-ghan, for providing ameasure of security forthem, lamenting that inthe past few days, hood-lums had been harassingthem.

Nevertheless, succorcame their way when aWarri-based church,Christ Mercyland Min-istry, stormed the Boma-di main town camp with60 bags of rice andN100,000 cash to cush-ion the hardship of theinternally displaced per-sons, IDPs.

The church also donat-ed 40 and 50 bags of ricerespectively to floodcamps at Bomadi Overside and Kpakiama, re-spectively.

In Bayelsa State, theministry donated 300bags of rice and N200,000 to IDPs in Ekeremorand Sagbama local gov-ernment areas of thestate.

Presenting the items tothe Bomadi flood victims,General Overseer of thechurch, Prophet Jeremi-ah Fufeyin, sympathisedwith the victims andcounseled that all hope

was not lost.His words: “We thank

God for His mercy be-cause He said we shouldthank Him in everythingthat is happening to us.We should rememberthat we did not createourselves, hence weshould always be thank-ful to Him”.

Fufeyin, accompaniedby pastors and membersof the church, however,commended the federaland state governmentsfor responding swiftly tothe needs of the dis-

placed persons andcalled on concerned Del-tans and organisations,as well as churches, tocome to the aid of the vic-tims.

“We must not forsakethe displaced personsbecause this type ofthing could happen toanybody,” ProphetFufeyin said and prayedthat such incident shouldnot happen again.

He declared that theflood would end in thefirst week of November,adding, “This is the

word of God."Governor Seriake Dick-

son of Bayelsa, repre-sented by the Commis-sioner for Housing andUrban Development, Mr.Paul Oyarede, said hewas impressed with thesympathy showed by thechurch towards the floodvictims.

Oyarede described thedonation as one of thebiggest assistance of-fered the victims, andprayed God to replenishthe pocket from whichthe money came from.

THE Olu of Warri,

His MajestyOgiame Atuwatse II, willon Saturday, October 27,inaugurate the Regis-tered Trustees of the It-sekiri Education Trust. The event, which willtake place at the Olu’sPalace in Warri, will com-mence at 12 noon with

the Speaker of DeltaState House of Assemblyas chairman, while Del-ta State governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan, isthe Guest of Honour. All sons and daugh-ters of Itsekiri as well asfriends of Itsekiri havebeen invited to the inau-guration.

Group donates to flood victimsin Delta

BY TOMMY

ANADUAKA

Alile donates to flood victims

ASABA—A STAFFof Bureau for Spe-

cial Duties in Delta Statehas been removed fromthe Illah Camp for floodvictims in Delta State forallegedly embezzlingfunds meant for the vic-tims. The order for hisremoval was given byGovernor EmmanuelUduaghan who also di-rected that the suspectrefunds such fund with-out further delay.

The governor gave theorder during a routinemeeting aimed at re-viewing the manage-ment of the flood situa-tion with political officeholders at GovernmentHouse Asaba. The exact

amount embezzled was,however, not immediate-ly known.

The governor, who wasvisibly angry, rained in-vectives on the said offi-cial saying, “Any officialmisappropriating moneyfor flood victims was do-ing so at his/her ownperil.

“It is inhuman and un-fair for anyone to deprivethe victims of food andpeople doing this willreap the reward. If itdoes not affect you now,it will certainly happensomehow, someday. Youcannot short-change theflood victims to makemoney for yourself be-cause such money willnever be useful to you.You can never use it wellfor yourself.”

The state Commission-

er, Bureau for SpecialDuties, Dr. Tony Nwaka,was thereafter directedby the governor to en-force the order withoutdelay.

BY VICTOR

AHIUMA-YOUNG

SPIRITUAL Leader

of St. Joseph's Cho-sen Church of God Inter-national, Apostle Hay-ford Alile, has donatedN675,000.00 to flood vic-tims in Edo, Delta, An-ambra and Rivers states.

Personal Assistant toApostle Alile, Pastor Vic-tor Mukwuzi, said of thesum, Edo State victimsreceived N250,000, whileDelta, Anambra and Riv-

ers State victims receivedN100,000 each.

He said: “As part of itscorporate social respon-sibility, St. Joseph’s Cho-sen Church of God Inter-national, under the spir-itual leadership of Apos-tle Hayford Alile, OFR,has donated the sum ofN675,000.00 to flood vic-tims in Edo, Delta, An-ambra and Rivers States.

“The donations weremade through the ReliefAgencies set up by thestate governments, while

the balance N125,000.00was sent directly to oth-er flood victims. The ges-ture was made known bythe Spiritual Leader ofthe Church, Apostle Ali-le, at the just concludedWomen Fellowship Con-vention 2012 of theChurch, tagged ‘DivineVisitation’. St. Joseph’sChosen Church of Godwas founded in 1937through the late ApostleJoseph Ikechiuku as alove platform for the sonsand daughters of God.”

IN response to the

call by Delta StateGovernment for assist-ance to flood victims inthe state, members of DeSaints InternationalClub, a socio-philan-thropic organization inDelta State, has donatedvarious food items to in-ternally displaced per-sons at the St.Patrick’sCollege Camp in Asaba.

Making the presenta-tion, Mayor of the club,Mr. Andy Uwejeyan, saidhis members weretouched by the disastercaused by the flood to

people in the state.Mayor Uwejeyan said

the club decided to haveas its target, children inthe refugee camp whomight easily suffer frommalnutrition. He saidthat plans had alreadybeen concluded to makesimilar donations to oth-er camps in the state.

Receiving the items onbehalf of the state gov-ernment, Director, StateEmergency Manage-ment Agency, Mr. An-thony Nwanti, thankedthe members of the clubfor the gesture and as-sured that the items do-nated would be judi-ciously used.

DUTSE—AS victims

of the recent dev-astating flood count theirlosses in Jigawa State,prices of food stuffs andother essential commod-ities have continued torise across the state. A market survey con-ducted by Vanguard inKazaure and Dutsetowns showed that ameasure of localrice which is mainly con-sumed by the low incomeearners that was earliersold for N250 had risento between N350 andN370, while foreign ricewhich sold at N450 nowgoes for N550.

A measure of beanswhich sold for N300 nowsells at N500 while thatof millet and guinea cornsell for N120 and N180as against N100 andN120 respectively. Also a measure ofmaize which went forN90 now goes for N150just as three mediumsized tubers of yam nowgo for N800 against theearlier price of N350.Prices of provisions suchas milk, sugar and cof-fee have equally skyrock-eted. A tin of milk whichcost N100 before, nowcosts N130 while a tin ofcoffee and a packet ofsugar which were sold atN200 each now go forN250 respectively.

PRESENTATION: Alhaji Muhammed Goni Abubakar, Government and Community Relations Officer,MTN (middle); Alhaji Jinjiri Dutse, Chairman, Jigawa State Relief Committee and Commissioner forRural Infrastructure and Community Development (right) during the presentation of relief materials toflood victims by MTN in Dutse, Jigawa State.


CBAN national book fair kicksoff Oct 30

THE ANNUAL

Christian book fairnational conventionwith the theme 'Tell TheNews,' organized bythe ChristianBooksellers AssociationNigeria (CBAN), will beheld at Shepherdhill

Baptist Church Hall,Ikorodu Road, ObanikoroBRT Bus stop,Palmgroove, Lagos.Starting from Tuesday,October 30, theprogramme would berounded off on Saturday,November 3, 2012.

According to astatement by the CBANmedia consultant, Mr.Daniel Badru, the five-day fair would be gracedby eminent Bible schol-ars and authors, whilethere will be exhibition ofdiscounted books on bus-iness and leadership,Bibles, Christian gifts,Christian music messageon CDs, DVDs, Audio,among others.

THE MONTHLY

anointing serviceof the Manna PrayerMountain Ministry, a. k.a ODM, for the monthof October will hold at7.30a.m. on October 28,at 8-10, OmotayoBanwo Street, Orioke-Ogudu, Lagos.

The theme for theservice is: “TALITHACUMI- MY

Anointing serviceTESTIMONY MUSTARISE.”

Manna MountainAnoint- ing Service hasbecome a fertile huntingground for miracleseekers from around theworld, a source said.

Rev. Dr. Chris.Kwakpovwe, the GeneralOverseer of the MannaMountain will ministerat the service.

ABRIBA WOMEN'S

Cultural Organisation(AWCO) holds itsannual dinner onSaturday, October 27,2012 at Dover Hotel, Plot10, Olabunmi OwaStreet, Off AdmiralityWay, Lekki Phase 1 at5p.m. prompt.

Meeting

12 suspects remanded for robbingSterling Bank

NDLEA arrests 8 drug suspects with10.635kg of narcotics

BY DANIEL ETEGHE

OPERATIVES OF

the National DrugLaw EnforcementAgency, NDLEA,yesterday, arrested eightsuspected drugtraffickers for allegedlysmuggling about 10.635kilogrammes of narcotics

at the MurtalaM u h a m m e dInternational Airport,MMIA, Lagos.

Speaking on the arrest,NDLEA Commander atthe Lagos Airport, Mr.Hamza Umar, explainedthat the suspects werearrested with various

types of drugs rangingfrom cocaine,me thamphe tamine ,heroin and so on.

Mr. Umar said: “Thebreakdown of drugsrecovered includes4.460kilogrammes ofme thamphe tamine ,4.030kilogrammes of

heroin and2.145kilogrammes ofcocaine.

"Apart from one of thesuspects caughtattempting to smuggle3.455kilogrammes ofheroin from India,others were goingoutside the country withdifferent quantities ofdrugs.”

The agency named thesuspects as OnyekwereWisdom Chinedu, 26years; Obinna ChristianChigbo, 37 years;Muogbo UchechukwuSixtius, 25years; TemboGideon, a.k.a BensonOkechukwu, 25years andOrabusinze ChukwukaJoseph, 28 years.

Others are OgbonnayaKalu Robert, 54 years;Obiorah CelestineNonso, 31years andUdeh Lazarus Makwe,44 years, Alhaji Giadestressed that all thesuspects would becharged to court for drugtrafficking.

'Partial diversion of traffic on Ijora/Apapa Expressway Saturday, Sunday'

announced thedevelopment in his officeat Alausa, Ikeja, after ameeting with thestakeholders.

According to thestatement: “Opeifa, whosaid that the diversion /partial closure of theroad will take place onIjora/Apapa Expressway,just before IganmuBridge and on IganmuBridge, added thatvehicles from FunshoWilliams Avenue, ApapaRoad and Costain area aswell as those from OrileIganmu approachingIjora should use EkoBridge to link Ijora andApapa.

"He added thatmovement from Apapaand Ijora towardsCostain will not beaffected.

“The Commissionerenjoined motorists to bearwith the StateGovernment during thediversion."

He urged motorists todrive carefully, morecautiously to ensure thesafety of others.

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

LAGOS STATE

G o v e r n m e n tyesterday said due to on-going construction ofLagos Rail System, therewould be partialdiversion of traffic onIjora, ApapaExpressway on Saturdayand Sunday, October 27and 28, 2012 from8.00a.m. to 11a.m..

The Governmentwhich spoke through theMinistry ofTransport, said thediversion was to enablethe Lagos MetropolitanArea Transport Authority(LAMATA) commencethe erection of pre -stressed beams acrossI jora/Apapa-OshodiExpressway by IganmuBridge.

A statement byAdeyinka Gbemibade,Press & Public RelationsOfficer, Ministry ofTransportation, said theCommissioner forTransportation, ComradeKayode Opeifa,

BY ONOZURE DANIA

TWELVE SUSPEC-ted armed robbers,

have been remanded in

prison custody forallegedly robbingSterling Bank ofN8million.

The accused; Taiwo

Ikuforiji urges Muslims toemulate Prophet Ibrahim

BY EBUN SESSOU

AS MUSLIMS celebrate Eid-El-Ka-

bir, Speaker of LagosState House of Assem-bly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikufor-iji, has admonishedMuslims to be more obe-dient and dedicated inserving the AlmightyGod and humanity.

Ikuforiji, through hisChief Press Secretary,Mr. Rotimi Adebayo,also congratulated Nige-

rian Muslims and otherMuslims around theworld, and urged themto emulate Prophet Mo-hammed in serving man-kind.

According him, “Mus-lims must continue to dis-play selflessness, bravery,commitment and unpar-alled obedience, as dem-onstrated by Prophet Ib-rahim when he agreed tooffer his only son, Proph-et Ismail, as a sacrifice tothe Almighty Allah.

From left: Mr. Segun Aina, President/ Chairman of Chartered Institute ofBankers of Nigeria(CIBN), Mr. Stephen Olabisi Onasanya,MD, First BankPLc and Otunba (Mrs.)Debola Osibogun, 1st Vice President, CIBN, duringpresentation of honorary fellowship of CIBN to Mr. Onasanya, at the 2012fellowship investiture organised CIBN at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

Aremu, 26; MuktarEleduwe, 42; LukemanAdekunle, 26; KolaAdenuga, 26; AhmedAjofoba, 24; SaheedOlawunmi, 24; IdowuAdesola, 32; Waheedshuiab, 38; RasheedAnifowose, 22; AhmedAdelakun, 28;Abdullahi Abdulkareem,24 and Adedokun Yusuf,24, were docked beforean Ikeja MagistratesCourt.

The police prosecutor,Mr. Chinalu Uwadione,told the court that thesuspects had on May 25,at about 6:30p.m. robbeda Sterling Bank branchat Fatai Atere Way,Matori, in Lagos, ofN8million.

Delta North PDP chairmandonates reliefs to flood victims

CHAIRMAN OF

the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,in Delta North, OgbuefiEzenwa Oboduku-Anigala, has visited theflood victims in variouscamps in the area wherehe donated reliefmaterials to them.

Some of the campsvisited included KwaleStadium, Ossissa,Adege, Illah, ICE andEwulu camps where the

flood victims in the DeltaNorth area are camped.

Some of the reliefmaterials donatedincluded bags of rice,garri, plantain, beans,oil, tomatoes, clothings,among others.

He said PDP shared intheir pains and loss offarmlands, houses, andso on, assuring that theparty would continue toassist them.

He implored road usersto take cognisance ofinformative signs whichhad been strategicallyerected at Orile Iganmu,Eric Moore junction,Doyin junction, Costain,Breweries and ApapaRoad.

He advised motorists tofollow diversion signsand instructions frommen of the Lagos StateTraffic ManagementAuthority (LASTMA)


THE CHRIST FaithAltar Church will holdits 2nd Anniversary andThanksgiving service onSunday, October 28.

The programme wouldtake place at the churchauditorium at AlabaAkintunde Close, behindFocus Private School,Abule Iroko, Ogun State.The time is 10 a.m.

According to thepresiding pastor, DavidOjoola, the service willoffer abundant blessingand divine deliverancefor attendees.

Faith AltarChurch holds2nd anniversary

Eid-el Kabir: South-West governorsexhort Muslims

DAYO JOHNSON,GBENGA OLARINOYE,

GBENGA ARIYIBI &DAUD OLATUNJI

FOUR SOUTH Westgovernors of

Ondo, Ogun, Osun andEkiti states, yesterday inEid-el-kabir messagescalled on Muslims intheir respective statesand Nigerias at large, to

imbibe the spirit oftolerance, love and goodneighbourliness asexemplified by HolyProphet Mohammed.

They equally spoke of

Aregbesola harps on good governance

FOR GOVERNOR

Rauf Aregbesola ofOsun State, he hasidentified goodgovernance, purposefulleadership and prudentmanagement of resourcesas necessary pre-cond-itions for Nigerianleaders to curb the worr-isome trend of deter-ioration in all spheres ofthe nation’s life.

Aregbesola, said the

nation needed sincereleaders driven by thedesire to halt the countryfrom gradual slide intothe abyss at this period oftime.

In the statement by hisDirector, Bureau ofCommunications andStrategy, Mr. SemiuOkanlawon, Aregbesolaidentified corruption inhigh places and divisivetendencies among ethnic

groups in the country asdiseases that must becured completely for thecountry to get herdevelopment bearingright.

He said politicalleaders and followers,religious leaders andtheir adherents mustcome together and forgea harmonious relation-ship for the love of theircountry.

Fayemi urgestotalsubmission

ON HIS part,Governor Kayode

Fayemi of Ekiti State, ina statement by his ChiefPress Secretary, Mr.Yinka Oyebode, urgedMuslims in the state toimbibe the lessons ofsacrifice and totalsubmission to the will ofAlmighty Allah.

The Governor chargedMuslims to use theperiod to pray for thepeace, stability andprosperity of Ekiti Statewhich he noted was onthe path of rapiddevelopment in allsectors.

Describing Sallah as aperiod for soberreflection, Fayemi said,“This has lent credenceto one of my oft-repeatedmaxims which says thatthere can be no gainwithout pain. "Taking astep to sacrifice one’sonly son in obedience tothe wish of Allah couldbe very painful andtraumatic but the Prophetgained a lot by choosingto obey Allah and damnthe consequences.

“We should always beready to make sacrificeswhich may beunpalatable at presentbut very gainful andsweet in the nearestfuture.

Amosun on obedience...

SIMILARLY, OGUN

State governor,Senator IbikunleAmosun, called onMuslims in Nigeria toobey all the teachings ofProphet Muhammed,noting that “obediencealways attracts immensereward from theAlmighty Allah.” In a message by hisSenior Special Assistanton Media, Mrs. Funmi

the need to better theNigerian nation wheregood governance,equality, justice, rule oflaw, fair play and othertenets of democracywould reign rupreme.

Mimiko reiterates belief in Nigeria

GO V E R N O R

O L U S E G U N

Mimiko of Ondo State,in his messagereiterated his belief inthe Nigerian project andpleaded with Nigeriansto join hands to make itw o r k , s a y i n gthe successful conduct

of the recent gubern-atorial elections in Edoand Ondo states werefurther proofs of theworkability of theNigeria project.

He called for morededication “so that thenation can be the best forits numerous deposits of

potentials.”Mimiko urged

Nigerians totake advantage of thesincerity of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan inensuring an enduringdemocracy for thenation.

Wakama,, GovernorAmosun said “the importof Eid-el-Kabir shouldnot be lost on us asMuslims even as wecount our blessings andcelebrate the goodness ofAllah in our lives duringthis season.”

He implored thefaithful to imbibe thelessons of obedience,selflessness and sacrificeas demonstrated by

Prophet Ibrahim,“especially at this timewhen our country isfaced with manychallenges.

"The challengesconfronting our nationare not insurmountable.Through total obedienceto the commands of theAlmighty Allah, we canovercome them all.”

Pray to save Nigeria fromcollapse —ACN

OSOGBO — OSUN

State chapter ofthe Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, hasdeclared that Nigerianeeds prayers now thanany other time in its 52years of existence,urging Nigerians tovehemently pray to savethe country fromcollapse.

In a statement inOsogbo to felicitate withMuslims on the occasionof this year ’s Eid-el-Kabir festival, the party’sDirector of Publicity,Research and Strategy,Mr. Kunle Oyatomi,urged citizens of thestate to join otherMuslims in the countryto pray for peace in thecountry.

According to him “ thepeople of Osun Stateshould give praise andthanks to God forproviding a leader of the

calibre of Mr. RaufAregbesola, who is doingeverything possible tobring joy and hope tohomes and familiesthrough hisunprecedented deliveryof services that areimpacting on thepeople’s life.”

He recalled that in thelast couple of months,the massive investmentsin agriculture andinfrastructure by thegovernment ofAregbesola had broughtrelief to people andprevented deaths.

He added: "Any leaderwho alleviates thesuffering of his or herpeople needs all theprayers the people cansay for the continuationof the good works suchleader is doing.

"This is why we shouldintensify our efforts atpraying and working forthe progress of the ACNgovernment in Osun."

By DAUD OLATUNJI

Gov warns warring Muslimfactions in Odogbolu LGA

ABEOKUTA —

OGUN Stategovernor, SenatorIbikunle Amosunyesterday warnedtroublemakers especially,the two warring factionsin the Ososa MuslimCommunity in OdogboluLocal Government Areaof Ogun Stateagainst breaching peaceduring the Eid prayers.

The governor said hisgovernment would notcondone any act oflawlessness andindiscipline before,during and after theSallah celebration in thetown.

Addressing leaders ofthe warring groups in thearea at a peace meetingin his office, thegovernor represented bythe Secretary to the StateGovernment, Mr. TaiwoAdeoluwa, assured thatgovernment would nottake side as all issuesrelating to their disputewould soon be resolved.

The warring groups inthe community have beenembroiled in asupremacy battle leadingto breach of peace at itsCentral Mosque duringthe last Eid-el Fitriprayer, forcing thegovernment to close theMosque.

Amosun, however,affirmed that thecommunity ’s Central

Mosque remainedclosed and directed thetwo factions to look foralternative venues forthe sallah prayers.

He warned that in theevent of any breakdownof law and order duringand after the celebration,Government would holdthe factions responsible.

He said “the messageis very simple. It is thatwe must embrace peaceduring and after theSallah period. In theinterest of peace, allparties should stay awayfrom the prayer groundto avert problem.

"All of you will be heldresponsible if there isbreach of peace.

From left: Ven. Obioma Onwuzurumba, Chaplain, Aso Villa Chapel; one of the children of the firstfamily, Mama Eunice Jonathan, the President's mother, another child with President Jonathan behind,Dame Patience Jonathan, First Lady; yet another child, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State governorand Kemi Mimiko, the governor's wife, during Mrs. Jonathan's birthday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

BY GBENGA OLARI-NOYE


Delta House urged to suspendappropriation of 13% derivation fund

BY GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE

Soldier’s stray bullet leaves girlbattling for life

BY EGUFE

YAFUGBORHI

Oba of Benin tasks Edo NUJ interimc'ttee on credible poll

BY SIMON

EBEGBULEM

N-Delta monarch, youthleader call for Orubebe’s sack

BY EMMA AMAIZE

Jonathan visits A-Ibom Oct 27

PORT HAR-

COURT— THIR-TEEN-YEAR-OLD Jen-nifer Innocent is battlingto save her life at Uni-versity of Port HarcourtTeaching Hospital,UPTH, after being alleg-edly hit in the head bystray bullet from an armyrifle.

The incident happenedWednesday at the Mile4 neighbourhood ofObio/Akpor locality inPort Harcourt, RiversState, following a scufflebetween an unidentifiedsoldier and a commercialbus driver.

Confirming the inci-dent, Precious Innocent,younger sister to thestray bullet victim whowas with her at the time,said: “I bent down dur-ing the fight between the

soldier and the bus man.I told my sister to benddown, she refused. Sud-denly the army gun wentoff and she was hit onher head.”

Shattered by the inci-dent, Mrs. Kate Inno-cent, mother of the af-fected girl, has called onpolice and army author-ities to fish out the trig-

ger happy soldier whoserife fired the stray bullet

She also solicited forassistance for propertreatment to save herdaughter's life.

BENIN—FIVE oil

and gas producingethnic nationalities of Del-ta State, Ijaw, Isoko, It-sekiri, Urhobo andNdokwa, have requestedthe state's House of As-sembly to suspend appro-priation of their 13 percent derivation fund bythe state government.

The communities, in aletter to Delta State Houseof Assembly, jointly

signed by Pa J. O. S Ayo-mike, Senator F. S. Okpo-zo, Chief W. Okrika CON,Dr. K. O. Nwachukwu,Chief P. E. Asagba and 20others, insisted that thefund should be paid intoan escrow account pend-ing the resolution of someweighty issues.

The ethnic nationalities,in a letter to the Speakerand members of theHouse and made availa-ble to journalists in Ben-in, yesterday, insistedthat, in line with consti-

tutional provisions, thefund was not part of theconsolidated revenue ofthe state.

They argued that thefund was created by theFederal Government asrestitution for the loss andinjurious impact of oil ex-ploitation on the farm-lands, streams and lakesof oil producing commu-nities.

They said: “It is ourview that one kobo of theaforesaid fund ought notto be spent outside oil andgas producing communi-ties.

“We are not unmindfulof the fact that the DeltaState Government estab-lished the Delta State OilProducing Areas Devel-opment Commissionwhose function includethe infrastructural devel-opment of oil and gas pro-ducing communities.

“Our position, however,is that 50 per cent of the13 percent of the deriva-tion fund allocated toDESOPADEC as well asthe remaining 50 per centwhich the state govern-ment has appropriated forits use amounts to an ab-erration and improperuse.”

BENIN—THE Oba

of Benin, Oba Ere-diauwa, yesterday, ex-pressed shock over thecrisis that bedeviled theNigeria Union of Journal-ists, NUJ, in Edo Stateand urged members of theinterim committee to en-sure the conduct of a freeand fair election.

The revered monarch,who regretted the failureof members of the union

to conduct election as atwhen due, broke his si-lence on the matter whenmembers of the Caretak-er Committee of the NUJin the state, led by itschairman, Tunde Eigbi-remolen, paid him a cour-tesy visit at his palace.

The Oba, however, gavehis blessings to the No-vember 7, election in thestate council of the NUJ,just as he commendedmembers of the caretakercommittee for their effortsso far in restoring peace

to the council.The monarch further as-

sured members of thecouncil that the palacewould soon commencethe usual quarterly brief-ing and urged membersof the union to embracepeace in the state.

Speaking earlier, Eigbi-remolen and a formerchairman of the NUJ inthe state, Comrade MikeAladenika, explained thatthe national leadership ofthe NUJ decided to put inplace a Caretaker Com-mittee due to the crisisthat rocked the council.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will,

on Saturday, October 27,pay a one-day workingvisit to Akwa Ibom State. A statement by theCommissioner for Infor-mation and Communica-tions, Mr. AniekanUmanah, said duringthe visit, the Presidentwill perform the ground-breaking ceremony of thenew International Stadi-um in Uyo and also in-spect and commissionthe new Governor’s Of-fice. The new Governor ’sOffice, which the com-missioner said was an ar-

chitectural master piece,consists of conferenceroom, lounge, multi-me-dia studio, a press roomand Executive Councilc h a m b e r swith video conferencingfacilities, among others. The statement said thestadium, among otherfeatures, is equippedwith classic multi-pur-pose layout with runningtracks, two-tiered seatingarrangement, excellentviewing conditions, are-na with football pitchand 8-lane 400m stand-ard track, including com-plete athletic facilities inthe segment of the field.

WARRI—THE traditional ruler of

Beinmogbene communi-ty in Burutu Local Gov-ernment Area of DeltaState, HRH BrawaideOgokeme, has called forthe removal of the Min-ister of Niger Delta Af-fairs, Elder GodsdayOrubebe, for allegednon-performance.

Also, ex-vice president,National Association ofNigerian Students,NANS, Prince AfokeOkporua, said the min-ister should be removedfrom office, as he hadfailed the people of Ni-ger Delta.

The royal father saidretaining Orubebe in of-fice would be injurious tothe development of theregion, as it would meansacrificing developmentand welfare of the peo-ple on the altar of politi-cal ambition.

The monarch and youthleader in separate state-ments, said the develop-ment of the Niger Delta,comprising over sixstates, was too importantfor one to expropriateresources for personalpolitical ambition.

They said a Niger Del-ta Minister needed to befocused in translatingMr. President’s avowedvision for the region.

FUNERAL: Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole (left) and Cross River Governor, Sena-tor Liyel Imoke, during the funeral of the late Pa Jeremiah Ighodalo, at Ewhohinmi, Edo State.


Contractors allege swindleby NDDC officialsBY GODWIN OGHRE

Court to commence contemptcharge against Imoke’s aide

BY JOHNBOSCO

AGBAKWURU

Bayelsa earmarks N1bn forforeign scholarships

BY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

Early childhood education, key tospeedy devt —Jonathan

Police urged to prosecute corruptcommunity leaders

CALABAR—A CALABAR High Court

has issued a notice ofconsequences of disobe-dience of order of courton the Special Adviser toGovernor Liyel Imoke ofCross River State onChieftaincy Affairs, Mr.John Eyikaje, over al-leged disobedience ofcourt’s judgment.

The judgment was inrespect of rulings on thetraditional tussle of MuriMunene of Efuts nationof Calabar South LocalGovernment Area.

The Court had, in ajudgment on September21, 2011, recognised theembattled EffiongMbukpa as the MuriMunene of Efut nation,as he was said to havecompleted the tradition-al rites and funeral ob-sequies of the late MuriMunene and was select-ed by the Efut CombinedAssembly, a body said tohave been saddled with

the responsibility of theselection.

The court also on Oc-tober 16, 2012, in a mo-tion ex-parte, had grant-ed leave to applicationby Muri Munene Mbuk-pa, Ndabu Obo E. Obo,Chairman of Efut Com-bined Assembly and theSecretary, Ndabu God-win Bassey, to file an Or-der of Certiorari quash-ing the decision of CrossRiver State Governmentto conduct selection into

the office of the MuriMunene.

In the order made byJustice Edem Ita Koof-freh, the leave grantedshould serve as stay ofaction in the said pur-ported selection.

The Special Adviserwas accused of defyingthe court order, havingallegedly invited faction-al members opposing theembattled Muri Munenethrough Muri OkokonAmbo who was said to

have been suspended bythe Efut Combined As-sembly during the reignof the late Muri MuneneIta Okokon Ekpenyongand which suspensionwas allegedly upheld ina High Court judgmentin 2011.

He was also accused ofgoing contrary to a sub-sisting court judgmentthat recognized MuriMunene Mbukpa in2011, an action viewed tobe contemptuous.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan,

former Vice President ofWorld Bank, Dr. ObyEzekwesili, Cross RiverState Governor, LiyelImoke, Chairman Em-powerment Support Ini-tiative (ESI), DakukuAdol Peterside, andwives of state governorshave joined founder ofESI, Dame Judith Amae-

chi, to champion thecause for proper legisla-tion and implementationof investment in earlychildhood education inthe country.

Declaring open theThird National Confer-ence on KindergartenEducation, in Port Har-court, yesterday, Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathansaid sound education,

application of knowledgeand policy implementa-tion of early childhoodeducation, were key inpromoting speedy devel-opment in Nigeria.

President Jonathan,represented by the Min-ister of Youth Develop-ment, Alhaji Inumo Ab-dul Kadir, said: “Educa-tion is not a privilege,but an inalienable rightof every child. We mustmake appropriate invest-ments in early childhoodeducation to achieve ourlofty goals.”

In her lead paper pres-entation, former WorldBank Vice-President,Oby Ezekwesili, listedsix core areas of devel-opment that can enhancethe educational systemin the country. They areearly childhood educa-tion, basic education,secondary education, ter-tiary education, specialeducation, as well as in-formal or adult educa-tion.

BENIN—A SOCIO-

POLITICAL groupin Edo State, under theaegis of Edo Youths forTrue Democracy, has ac-cused members of theState House of Assemblyof impeding develop-ment in the 18 local gov-ernment areas of thestate and ministriesthrough alleged extor-tion of council chairmenand commissioners inthe state.

Group warns Edo lawmakers againstextortion of commissioners

BY SIMON

EBEGBULEM

The group, in a state-ment by Jimoh Luqman,alleged that commis-sioners were being ex-torted by the lawmakersbefore giving approvalfor their budgets, whileTransition Chairmenwere also intimidatedinto doling out millionsof naira for spurious rea-sons.

Efforts made to get thereaction of the MajorityLeader of the House, Mr.Philip Shuaibu, provedabortive as his phonewas switched off.

WARRI—POLITICAL office hold-

ers have been advised todesist from imposing oncommunities those to oc-cupy leadership positionsin the management of theaffairs of such communi-ties.

Addressing the Ugboro-do League of Friends,who paid him a courtesy

visit recently in Warri, amember of Ugborodo Gov-erning Board, Mr. Ben-jamin Cole, noted that “assoon as politicians andpolitical office holdersdesist from their penchantfor imposing those to oc-cupy offices in our com-munities, these leader-ship crises that character-ise our communities will

stop.”Referring to the present

leadership crises in Ug-borodo, in Warri South-West Local GovernmentCouncil area of DeltaState, Mr. Cole wonderedwhy the office of the In-spector General of Policeis unable to complete in-vestigation on a petitionit received about a yearnow over series of allega-tions.

YE N A G O A —

BAYELSA StateMinistry of Educationand its ScholarshipBoard, yesterday, saidthe state government hadearmarked N1 billion forits foreign scholarshipscheme. Currently, the stategovernment, under itsscholarship scheme, hasa total 466 studentsspread across 100 insti-tutions in 30 countries. Speaking at a jointmedia briefing inYenagoa, the Commis-sioner for Education,Chief Salo Adikumo,said the students wereundertaking studies invarious disciplines rele-vant to the immediateand future manpowerneeds of the state. He said: "The state

government is spendingabout N1 billion on thescheme.” He said 100 of the 141beneficiaries under thefresh admission post-graduate scholarshipprogramme had begunlectures. According to him, ef-forts to enable the otherscomplete their documen-tation, affected by theconditional admissionprocess of the UnitedKingdom, have been re-scheduled for admissionin January next year. He also explained thatthe present administra-tion inherited two under-graduate and post-grad-uate schemes in Russia,Belarus, Ukraine andMalaysia, with all tuitionfees settled for those inthe Russian federationand allowances for Sep-tember, October and No-vember paid for those inMalaysia.

SAPELE—TWELVEsub-contractors of

Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission,NDDC, have petitionedthe Secretary to the Gov-ernment of the Federa-tion, Senator Anyim PiusAnyim, over alleged con-nivance by some officialsof the commission tofleece them of N100 mil-lion between April andAugust 2011.

They also notified Sen-ators James Manager,Pius Ewherido and Sen-ator Ifeanyi ArthurOkowa, of the develop-ment.

In the petition, datedOctober, 2, 2012, the pe-titioners also allegedthat within the said pe-riod, they were contract-

ed by the commission’sconsultants to train over1,000 personnel withinand outside the commis-sion in computer skill ac-quisition.

They said that havingsuccessfully completedthe task, officials of thecommission in charge ofthe training refused topay them.

The contractors includeEsigbemi ComputerCentre, Decision Sup-port System Ltd, Zit Ni-geria Ltd, Stella OmuResources InformationTech. Ltd, Hezvillah Cy-berworld, NIIT WarriCentre, TopNotch Re-sources Ltd, Choice In-formation Academy Ltd,IT Works Ventures,Ozone CorporateNig.Ltd, Olu-Williamsand Co and Ken DoubraNig. Ltd.

CONFERENCE: From left: Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai; Governor ChibuikeAmaechi of Rivers State and his wife, and founder of Empowerment Support Initiative(ESI) Judith atthe opening of the 3rd National Conference on Kindergarten Education organised by ESI in PortHarcourt.


Community petitions Chime overmurder of monarch

Abia govt, MTN partner onhealth-care delivery

Globalisation may affectNigeria negatively —Anyanwu

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

Stakeholders, NGO raise alarm overrising cases of rape in Ebonyi community

BY PETER OKUTU

BY TONY EDIKE

Court reserves ruling onairport land dispute

NEXIM Bank disburses N85bnin support of export projects

BY TONY EDIKE

Crisis: Court adjourns Abia NUJ's suit

AB A K A L I K I —STAKEHOLDERS

in Afikpo North LocalGovernment Area ofEbonyi State, including aNon Governmental Or-ganization, NGO,CLEEN Foundation, yes-terday, expressed shockover incidences of unre-ported rape cases andsecurity challengesplaguing communities inthe area. The stakeholders, whospoke with Vanguard,believed that the reason

OWERRI—THE member representing

Owerri senatorial districtin the National Assem-bly, Senator ChrisAnyanwu, has warnedthat Nigeria will suffernegative outcomes ofglobalisation if the na-tional economy wasopened up at high speedwithout the required eco-nomic and social policiesto provide adequatesafety nets.

Anyanwu gave thewarning yesterday in her

UMUAHIA—THE legal battle in the cri-

sis-ridden Abia StateCouncil of Nigeria Unionof Journalists was yester-day adjourned sine die,

UMUAHIA—ABIAState government

has, in conjunction withMobile Telecommunica-tions Company, MTN Ni-geria, entered into a de-velopment programme ofrural mobile clinic acrossthe 17 local governmentareas of the state.

The Commissioner forHealth, Dr. OkechukwuOgah, who disclosed thiswhile declaring open theNigerian Medical Asso-ciation, NMA, 2012 Phy-sician Week, said Gover-

ENUGU—THE Federal High Court sitting

in Enugu, yesterday, ad-journed ruling in the mat-ter involving Enugu Stategovernment and formerlandowners at AirportHillview and Layout overthe acquisition and demo-lition of their houses by theFederal Airports Authorityof Nigeria and state gov-ernment.

Presiding judge, JusticeD. V. Agishi, adjourned thematter to November 19,2012, when counsel to the

ENUGU—THE Nigerian Export Import

Bank, NEXIM, has dis-bursed over N85 billionto support 900 exportprojects in the real sec-tor. Managing Director andChief Executive Officerof the bank, Mr. RobertsOrya, disclosed this dur-ing the Exporter Enlight-enment Forum organ-

keynote address duringan international confer-ence on Gender, Educa-tion and Globalisation,held in Federal Univer-sity of Technology,Owerri, FUTO.

She said: “Globalisationhas negative flipside andthe worst casualties arewomen, especially ruralwomen. The confusion ofhaving access to toomuch alien ideas, mate-rials and products all ofa sudden is causing usto develop new taste,new attitudes and behav-iours.”

BY ANAYO OKOLIrape cases and insecuritywere on the increase inthe area was because oflack of good parental up-bringing, high-level un-employment amongyouths, peer group influ-ence, and bad govern-ance, among others. Chairman of Afikpo NorthLocal government area,Tony Ekoh, stated that itwas too alarming the wayyoung ladies were beingraped on a daily basis inAfikpo as the victims werein the attitude of concealingsuch ugly episodes to them-

ENUGU—THE peopleof Umuode have pe-

titioned GovernorSullivan Chime ofEnugu State over the as-sassination of their tra-ditional ruler and Ode 1of Umuode, Igwe MosesUgwu, by some individu-als allegedly, fromOruku community.

This is even as six per-sons, including theformer Minister of Power,Prof Barth Nnaji, andJustice Anthony Onovohave reportedly goneinto hiding followingunconfirmed reports thatthey were among otherprominent indigenes ofUmuode earmarked forelimination, following

BY ANAYO OKOLI

ised by the bank at NikeLake Hotel, Enugu.

He explained that themoney was used mostlyin Small and MediumScale Enterprises, notingthat apart from creatingand sustaining over300,000 direct and indi-rect jobs, the bank wouldalso help in generatingover US$1.2 billion inforeign exchange earn-ings for the country.

state government failed toappear in court.

The move to upgradeEnugu Airport to interna-tional standards led to theacquisition of the land bythe government in 2009,through the state Ministryof Lands, with a promise tocompensate the landown-ers.

But when the state gov-ernment failed to pay thecompensation, the land-owners, under the auspicesof Airport Hillview and Lay-out NeighbouurhoodWatch, dragged the govern-ment to court in 2010.

nor Theodore Orji wouldlaunch the programmebefore the end of theyear.

“Under the scheme,MTN would take up 18Model PHC in the 6 Lo-cal Government Areasand run them efficientlyfor us for a given periodof time.

“We are alsopartnering with nationalhealth insurance in thedevelopment of commu-nity health insurancescheme,” Ogah an-nounced.

•Alleges threat to life of prominent indigenes

selves for fear of being scan-dalized by the public whileonly few shared their ex-periences. Ekoh made this known onthe occasion of AfikpoNorth Local Governanceand Security Forum organ-ized by Owerri office ofCLEEN Foundation in col-laboration with CitizensCentre for Integrated De-velopment and SocialRights, with support fromFord Foundation at the Sec-r e t a r i a tHall of Afikpo North LGAof the state.

following a request ofcounsel to one of the par-ties that the matter betransferred from the courtof the present presidingJudge, Justice LillianAbai, citing bias as the

reason.Crisis erupted in the

council when the elec-tion of CorrespondentChapel was botched bychairman of the council,Mr. Hyacinth Okoli, who

without any electionswore-in in one EmmaUgwu as the purportedchairman of the chapeland has been using hisemployer Abia State ra-dio, BCA, to promote theactivities of the illegalgroup.

The Independent Cre-dential Screening Com-mittee which was set upfor the election hadcleared, in liaison withthe council, two candi-dates, Mr. Emma Ugwuand Mr. Emma Acha forthe botched election.

But few minutes to com-mencement of voting,chairman of the council,Mr. Hyacinth Okoli,stormed the venue andrejected the report of thescreening committee,and without any form ofelection swore-in Ugwuas chairman of thechapel.

the Oruku and Umodecrises which had led tothe death of about 2,000people, among them, thetraditional ruler ofUmode, His Royal High-ness, Igwe Moses Ugwu,in the last 25 years.

The crises revolvesaround who were the trueowners or settlers in thearea.

The petition jointlysigned by Chairman ofUmuode Town Union,Emmanuel Omaba, andSecretary, PaulChukwudi was entitled‘’Assasination of HRHIgwe Moses Ugwu, rob-bery, brigandage, warand plan to exterminateUmuode leaders.’’

The petitioners who fin-gered some prominentOruku indigenes, in-cluding a retired federalPermanent Secretary(names withheld), as be-ing behind their woesstated: ‘’We have themandate of our peaceloving people of Umuodecommunity in NkanuEast Local GovernmentArea of the State to com-plain to you, once more,about the killing of IgweUgwu at Akpuoga Nikein Enugu East Local Gov-ernment Area of theState.

"This atrocious act wascommitted by two per-sons riding on a motor-cycle and who, by all in-

formation available, wereidentified as individualswho hail from Oruku com-munity. It is unfortunatethat the traditional rulerwho had made a lot ofsacrifices, including at-tending meetings calledby the Police, Local Gov-ernment and state in abid to ensure that the crisesbetween Umuode andOruku is brought to apeaceful end, had to meethis end this way.

‘’Umuode is over-whelmed with grief – griefthat the people of Orukuhave been allowed to com-mit a lot of crimes and goscot free."

LAUNCHING: From left: Chief Operations Officer, Visafone Communications Limited, Mr. SrinivasaK.V; Founder, Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia and Regional Director, Research In Motion, RIM, Waldi Wepener,at the launch of the first Code Division and Multiple Access, CDMA, BlackBerry smartphones in Africain Lagos, Wednesday.

CMYK


Media practitioner seeks return of education inspectors

BY TONY EDIKE

BY LAJU ARENYEKA

LA G O S —

STAKEHOLDERS inthe education sector havedescribed the late widowof renowned education-ist, Tai Solarin, as an ar-dent supporter of Nige-rian education. SheilaSolarin, a British whowas the Proprietress ofMayflower college,Ikenne in OgunState, died last weekendat the age of 88.

The Director, Press andPublic Relations of theNational UniversitiesCommission, MallamIbrahim Yakassai, toldVanguard in a phone in-terview that “theachievements of the lateMrs. Tai Solarin in theeducation sector are wellknown and cannot bedenied. Both she andher husband have con-tributed immensely toquality education. It isunfortunate, but we praythat God will give herfamily the fortitude tobear the loss.”

In the words of Dr.Obong Ikpe, the secre-tary general, NationalUnion of Teachers,“Sheila Solarin contrib-uted immensely to thedevelopment of educa-tion. When her husbandpassed on, she steppedinto his shoes as a greatacademic. It is importantthat people emulate suchas it is the good thingsthat we do that will liveafter us when we die.”

Meanwhile, the Chair-man, Academic Staff Un-ion of Universities, Lagos

Stakeholders laud Sheila Solarin as ardent supporterof education

From left: Mr. Olisa Metu, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Public-ity Secretary; Governor.. Theodore Orji receiving the award from Presidentof Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ambassador Ralph Uwachue and Chairman, South-EastCouncil of Traditional rulers, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, at the ChampionLaedership Award. Photo: Hill Ezeugwu.

From left: Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Edo State Gov-ernor, Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, at abriefing to reject BPE's position on bid for power distribution in Abuja. Photo:Gbemiga Olamikan.

LAGOS—THE DeputyEditor of ThisDay

Newspaper, Mr EddyOdivwri has called forthe return of educationinspectors to check un-ethical practices by someschools and to ensurethat set standards in edu-cational institutions arestrictly adhered to.

Odivwri who was theguest speaker at the 2012Humanities/BusinessWeek of Loral Interna-tional School, Festac,Lagos, said the call hasbecome imperative inview of continuous fall-ing standard of educa-tion in the country.

He said: “In thosedays, there used to be in-spectors. There is need tohave them now. Peopleshould come and inspect

OWERRI—ROTARYInternational has

concluded plans to com-mence free surgeries torepair the limbs of per-sons disfigured by wildpolio in Nigeria.

The African Coordina-tor, End Polio Now,Yinka Babalola, who dis-closed this during apress conference inOwerri, also said thatRotary International hadinvested over $1 billiondollars as part of the glo-bal investment of over$9.5 billion in polioeradication.

Noting that wild poliowas currently at its low-est level, Babalola la-

Rotary to conduct freesurgeries for polio victims

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

State University Chapter,Dr. Jamiyu Oluwatokieulogised the octogenar-ian with these words:“She belong to a genera-tion of people whowanted the best for this

country. I was very muchin correspondence withTai Solarin while he wasa columnist for the Trib-une. Even then, her sup-port for him was obvious.She saw Nigeria as home

and was an ardent sup-porter of Nigerian edu-cation. She continued toremind us of the greatwork and success of TaiSolarin.”

mented that “a criticalfunding gap threatensthis progress as we workto reach the most vulner-able children in the mostchallenging places.”

Babalola, who is thepast District Governor ofDistrict 9140 of Rotary In-ternational, was particu-larly irked that Nigeriaremained one of thethree polio endemiccountries of the world.

He warned that no Ni-gerian child was safefrom polio infection un-til the last child had beenproperly immunized,stressing that only 110local council areas out ofthe 774 in the countryhave cases of wild polio.

Chevron donates N20m tophysically-challenged persons

BY EMMA ARUBI

WA R R I — C H E VRON Nigeria Lim-

ited, CNL, has donated 20motorised wheelchairs andclutches to the physically-challenged in Warri, DeltaState.

The oil giant also madedonation of N20 million tothe group to help them payfor their training pro-grammes.

Making the donation atthe Chevron dockyard inWarri, General Manager,Policy, Government andPublic Affair, PGPA, Mr.Deji Haastrap, representedby Mr. Tunji Idowu, saidthe items would go a long

way in assisting the physi-cally-challenged in theirdaily lives and chargedthem to make judicious useof the items.

He said the gesture waspart of Chevron’s corporatesocial responsibility, CSR,and charged them to main-tain same.

Receiving the items andcheque of N20 million onbehalf of the physicallychallenged, the state presi-dent of Joint National As-sociation of Persons withDisability, Delta State chap-ter, Mr. Eyefiujirin Ishmaelcommended Chevron forthe gesture and urged otheroil multinationals to emu-late same.

the standard, monitorteachers as they teachand enure that necessaryfacilities are in place.With this, we will havecommitted teachers andachieve standardizationin the system.”

Speaking on “Rel-evance of Humanities in

the Present Dispensa-tion,” the veteran jour-nalist defined humani-ties as a study that is re-lated to mankind like lit-erature, history amongothers which he saidwould help young peo-ple to develop the abil-ity to make informed and

reasoned decision for thepublic good.

He said exposure tohumanities will makepeople acquire knowl-edge and share experi-ence that would givethem better and richerunderstanding of theworld. He noted that so-cial vices such as ritualkillings, crude/mob kill-ings were a manifesta-tion of what he called‘humanitiesiosis’, that is,deficiency of humanitiesin people.

The editor stressed thatno course of study wasless important as everyprofession has a role toplay towards the growthand development of man-kind. He charged the stu-dents to work hard tomake good grades so thatthey could be employ-able.

IKOLE-EKITI—THEManaging Director of

Great Source InvestmentLtd, Sir Emeka Okonkwo,and his wife, RoseUgochi Okonkwo havebeen honoured withchieftaincy titles by the Obaof Ikole-Ekiti, His RoyalMajesty Adewumi FasikuAladesekole 1. Okonkwo, an Abuja-basedbusiness man, and his wifewere invested with the ti-tles of Aniyikalu and Yeye

Okonkwo bags titleAniyikalu of Ikole-Ekiti re-spectively during the Ikole-Ekiti 2012 National DayCelebration and Fund Rais-ing for the development ofIkole-Ekiti kingdom, at theElekole palace ground inIkole-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Conferring the title onOkonkwo, Oba Fasiku de-scribed the awardee as afriend of the Ikole kingdomwho has contributed im-mensely to the growth anddevelopment of the king-dom.

Oshiomhole congratulatesCardinal Onaiyekan

BENIN CITY—GOVERNOR Adams

Oshiomhole of Edo Statehas congratulated theArchbishop of AbujaCatholic Diocese, JohnOnaiyekan, on his eleva-tion to the position ofCardinal by His Holi-ness, Pope Benedict XVI.

In a congratulatorymessage, ComradeOshiomhole said: “Onbehalf of the governmentand good people of EdoState, I congratulate HisGrace on his elevation tothe exalted position ofCardinal by His Holi-ness, Pope Benedict XVI.

“The elevation is aclear testament to yourpriestly life of selflessservice which has been achannel of blessing to allmen and women who

have come in contactwith you.

“Your contributions toNigeria’s growth anddevelopment as a Priestwho speaks the truth toauthority and as a de-fender of the oppressedare immeasurable.

“This elevation defi-nitely calls for more serv-ice in the Lord’s vine-yard, but I have no doubtin my mind that you areeminently qualified andprepared for the chal-lenges ahead.

“On a personal note,my children and I willnever forget the rolesyou played during sev-eral chapters in our lives.

“I pray God to grantyou the wisdom neededto excel in His service.”


Okada to the rescue.

A panoramic view of the East-West road. PHOTOS: Akpokona Omafuaire.

Partially submerged vehicles.

THE ROAD TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN'S HOME

Hectic crossing the waters.

Travellers crossing waist level water to go home.

Quick businesses going onshore at Ohoror.

A woman and her kids stranded at Ohoror shore.

Residents staying on the road side.

Submerged East-West road with trapped vehicles.

CMYK


Eschew corruption, Jonathantells Nigerians

BY UMAR YUSUFSuswam's wife pays N500,000 to free 29 prison inmates

Kogi, Anambra oil well face-off:No cause for alarm —Rep

BY EMMAN OVUAK-PORIE

AB U J A — P R E S IDENT Goodluck

Jonathan, yesterday, en-joined Nigerians to es-chew corruption and workhard to build Nigeria.

Jonathan spoke at the 3rdNational Prayer Breakfastorganised by members ofthe National Assembly.

This year’s theme is:“Sacrifice with Righteous-ness, a Necessary Ingredi-ent for National Transfor-mation.”

Represented by MrCaleb Olubolade, Ministerof Police Affairs, Jonathan

BY EMMAN OVUAKPO-RIE A

BUJA—A member ofthe House of Repre-

sentatives, ChriscatoAmeke, yesterday, saidthere was no cause foralarm as the map of Ni-geria had demarcatedthe area of discord overthe oil well in disputebetween Anambra andKogi states.

Ameke, who representsAnambra East-West Fed-eral Constituency, loca-tion of the disputed oilwell, in a chat with Van-guard, said: ”We have

YOLA—NATIONALChairman of the Peo-

ple’s Democratic Party, PDP,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, wasyesterday accorded a warmreception by the two fac-tions of the party inAdamawa State in spite oftheir political differences.

The Yola InternationalAirport was jam-packedwith various party support-ers, including the state Gov-ernor, Vice AdmiralMurtala Nyako, members

YOLA—THE spreadof HIV/ AIDS in

Adamawa State hasdropped to 3.8 per cent,from the previous 6.8 percent, placing the state thirdin the North-East geo-po-litical zone.

The Executive Secretaryfor Adamawa State AgencyFor the Control of HIV/AIDS, ADSACA, SulemanBanu, who made thisknown said the statisticsfollowed the tests conductedbetween January to June

MAKURDI—NOfewer than 29 in-

mates of the MakurdiMedium Prisons, yester-day, regained their free-dom following the pay-ment of their variousfines by the Benue StateGovernor’s wife, Mrs.Yemisi Suswam paidtheir fines totalling overN500,000 that led totheir incarceration.

Mrs. Suswam whopaid a surprise visit tothe prisons, told the in-mates that the gesturewas in fulfillment of herearlier promise to inter-vene on behalf of someof them who were con-victed for minor of-fences.

She, however, urgedthose freed to turn newleaves by becoming bet-ter citizens and alsoshun acts that could leadto their being re- arrestedand prosecuted in fu-ture.

She said: ”I am doing

THE VICE President,Namadi Sambo has

congratulated the FirstLady, Dame PatienceJonathan, on her birth-day.

In a ststement by hisSpecial Assistant, Me-dia, Alhaji Umar Sani,the Vice Presidentprayed that God will con-tinue to grant MrsJonathan long life andprosperity.

urged Nigerians to remainsteadfast in prayers. The president said thatinsecurity was one of thegreatest challenges con-fronting the country cur-rently. Mr Labaran Maku, Minis-ter of Information and Na-tional Orientation, in hisremark, said that Nigeriahad all it takes to developas a nation, saying that thepresent challenges wouldbe a blessing at the end.

Maku noted that if Nige-rians keyed into the trans-formation agenda ofJonathan, the countrywould develop as a nation.

In his address, Prof. Vin-

cent Anigbogu, the Direc-tor-General, Institute forNational Transformation,stressed the need to put inplace quality leadership forthe development of thecountry. He identified the provisionof basic infrastructure as abasis for sustainable devel-opment. “We must create an envi-ronment where every Ni-gerian will be allowed togive his best,” he noted. Anigbogu decried the de-plorable state of the coun-try’s education system af-ter 52 years of independ-ence. According to him, all handsmust be on deck to build avirile nation devoid of pov-

erty and insecurity. In his remark, Senator

Uche Chukwumerije, Presi-dent, National PrayerBreakfast, said the occasionafforded them the opportu-nity to pray for the country.

He said that the prayerwas to seek divine grace,solution and intervention insolving intractable nationalchallenges. Gen. Yakubu Gowon, aformer head of state, MrsSarah Ochepke, Minister ofWater Resources, lawmak-ers and clergymen at-tended the prayers session.

The National PrayerBreakfast started in 2010was aimed at creating anenvironment of dialogueand lasting relationships.

more than enough docu-mentary evidence toprove the ownership ofthe oil well.”

According to him, acourt as far back as 1973had given a judgementin favour of his constitu-ency in the disputedarea where oil wasfound.

He explained further:“As far back as 1932, thisissue of ownership wasresolved in our favour bythe colonial administra-tors in the Eastern regionand the court judgementis another testimony."

HIV/AIDS prevalence dropsto 3% in Adamawa

2012.Banu, spoke at a news

conference, preparatory tothe HIV/AIDS programmedevelopment project II,HPDP II, launch at the NUJPress center yesterday,stressed that the state’sprevalence rate is graduallydropping.

He said within the periodunder review, 38, 251 peo-ple were counseled andtested for HIV (HCT), outof which only 3,429 werepositive, just as 10,753 pa-tients were on ARV acrossthe state.

BY PETER DURU

WA R R I — U B E J IGrammar School,

Ubeji has emerged win-ner of the maiden sec-ondary school quiz com-petition organised by theNational Association ofItsekiri Graduates, NAIG forstudents in secondaryschools in Warri South lo-cal government.

According to chairman ofEducation Committee ofNAIG, Mr. Bibi EllisEjuoghanranmokelesan,the one-day competitionwhich was attended bythree participants each fromDore Numa College,Erejuwa Grammar School,Nana College, Hussey Col-lege, Ubeji GrammarSchool and Yonwuren Col-lege all in Warri is to en-

Ubeji Grammar Sch wins NAIG quiz competition

this in fulfillment of thepromise I made to you allthe last time I visited thisprison to donate fooditems to you in com-memoration of the Na-tion’s 52nd Independ-

ence anniversary cel-ebrations. As you regainyour freedom today, Iurge you all to be of goodcheer and also be goodand proud citizens ofyour country. You must

reintegrate yourselves withthe society and make thebest out of life because youcannot afford to fall back tothose acts that led to yourincarceration in the firstplace."

courage the students intheir academic pursuit aswell as learning of their cul-tural language.

Our correspondent re-ports that the keenly con-tested quiz saw UbejiGrammar School scoring93 points to emerge tops,with a twenty thousandprize and 3 school bags con-taining notebooks, whileHussey College emergedfirst runner-up with a fif-teen thousand naira prizeplus 3 school bags contain-ing notebooks and NanaCollege came out third,thus going home with 10thousand naira and text-books. Nana College de-feated Yonwuren College ina re-contest by a point afterthey tied 79 points in the

first round.Subjects contested for are

Biology, Physics, Chemis-try, Mathematics, English,Commerce, Economics andItsekiri language.

Congratulations

Adamawa PDP factionswelcome Tukur

BY UMAR YUSUF of the State ExecutiveCouncil, SEC, members ofthe dissolved PDP stateworking committee, thenewly inaugurated care-taker committee of the partyin the state, stakeholders,among others.

Others at the airport in-clude political heavy-weights, led by the gover-nor of the defunct Gongolastate, Mr. Wilberforce Juta,former PDP state chairman,Chief Joel Madaki, amongothers.

Cross section of participants during the Run-for- Cure, a 5 kilometre char-ity walk to raise awareness for breast and cervical cancer organised by MrsOnari Duke’s Child Survival and Development Organisation of Nigeria,CS-DON. Mrs. Lucy Savage (right) presenting a trophy to a participant.

CMYK

Donu Kogbara SSSSSwwwwweeteeteeteeteet & & & & & SOURSOURSOURSOURSOUR

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.

,

,L

AST week, I said I wastotally bored with writing

about Nigerian issuesbecause “for me as a journalistwho comments on currentaffairs for a living, it isbecoming increasinglydifficult to keep churning outcolumns - week in, week out- about the same old, sameold, never-fundamentally-changing status quo…and Ifrequently feel like dozing offbefore I’ve completed the firstparagraph!...”

I said that a friend hadurged me to keephighlighting the ills of oursociety but that I didn’t seewhat value one added byconstantly repeating myself.

Readers responded asfollows:

Readers’ reactions

+2347053895259 AnonymousMy dear sister, l am writingfrom Delta State. l read yourcolumn in Vanguard Sweetand Sour and you soundfrustrated with Nigeria. You

are right but you don’tunderstand it is a cursedcountry because it wasn’tapproved by God Almighty!How will you explain the rateat which so-called men of Godacquire wealth, build schoolswhich poor children can’tattend?Or buy private jets, becomebankers for politicians’ stolenmoney? They preach gospel ofprosperity instead of salvationand showing exemplary lifeof Jesus helping yourneighbour. What do youexpect politicians to do? Don’tget tired of writing the truth?It’s just the role you aredestined to play. Jonathanwill only do his part andleave. Nigeria will remain thesame till one day it will splitto what God wants it to be.So keep writing.

Remiguis Emeka<[email protected]>I once said in my response toyour write-ups (articles) thatsomething must taste sweeteven where there is bitternessor sourness. That is what

“Total Tedium”, I observedthat you are really bored withall the goings-on in thiscountry. Indeed, I have alwaysdesired to send out myreactions each time I readyour articles. Though one canstill see some good thingshappening, but the questionis: What is the motive behind

work with wrong motives.Bags of rice would be shared,mammon would also beshared to people to buy theirconscience and other similaractivities, all in a bid to winelections. May God help us.

But let’s hope that the grossirresponsibility of our leaderswhich is the citadel of these

chronic disadvantages will beaddressed some day, Godhelping us. I still believe inNigeria. And I want to believeyou do too. I say this becausenone of our so-called leadersactually believes in Nigeria.They only have a businessperspective of Nigeria, whichexplains why they are eagerto occupy the seat of power toamass wealth for themselvesinstead of using the wealthfor the good of the people.God bless you and blessNigeria.

"cyri ledor@gmail .com"<[email protected]>

Most columnists,commentators and

activists are just earning aliving and not making anyimpact on the society. Nobodylistens. Their views,expressed to point the rightway, fall on deaf ears. Thebiggest culprits are our

leaders. All they care aboutis bulldozing their way to thenation's treasury and cartingaway our national wealth. Ipity you, Sobowale andothers. But as your friendsaid: "...My duty is to riseabove my disillusionment andcontinue...". Remain blessed.Edor Cyril.

Finally, a response to myarticle about the four Uniportstudents who were murdered:

Ifeka Okonkwo<[email protected]>Donu, I sincerely sympathisewith the families of thestudents of University of Port-Harcourt who were brutallymurdered by some Aluuvillagers after accusing themof stealing computers andsmart phones, even though noincriminating evidence wasfound on them.

The full weight of the lawshould be visited on thosewho killed the four studentsto deter people from takingthe laws into their hands bycarrying out jungle justice ontheir fellow human beings.Once the shout of thief! thief!!rent the air, the person(s) arepursued like a rat by a mobwith stones, big sticks andeven rods, and killed in abarbaric and horrifyingmanner, as if we are still

living in the dark ages.

mostly endeared me to thecolumn, Sweet & Sour, the firsttime I came across it in the

Vanguard Newspapers. Ibelieve whatever has anadvantage equally has adisadvantage but theimbroglio begins when thedisadvantage takes the upperhand, edging out merit as isthe case with Nigeria thesedays.

Reading your article titled

these? I am told in the lightof Christianity that the motivebehind every work is not inconsonance with the workitself. No wonder the Bible inEccl. 12:14, says that everywork, whether good or bad,shall be brought tojudgement.

This is the problem with the

leadership of this country.2015 is ahead. We shallwitness yet another good

HIS citation drew tears andproduced a sense of pride

among his compatriots at theShehu Musa Yar’Adua Inter-national Conference Center onFebruary 10 when the AfricanChild Foundation unveiled anexhibition of the 1349 bookswritten by AnthonyUgochukwu Aliche, a professorof philosophy and recipient ofnumerous academic and liter-ary awards at the internationalarena.

The packed audience was toldthat Anthony Aliche was beinghonoured as Nigerian authorof the year and recognised asone of 20 distinguished Nige-rians who had through hardwork “put Nigeria on the worldmap”. But as the eruditescholar was born 41 days afterNigeria’s independence fromcolonial hegemony, I prefer theterm “under-line Nigeria’splace in the world map”.

That is no news. But whatprovides food for thought is thatthe career of Aliche has sincehad a quantum leap: Two of his

OPINIONAnthony Aliche: A role model unsung

BY JACOB AGUOMBA seminal books have clinchedthe world bestseller list. Thethird, Have You DiscoveredYour Assignment With Destiny?published in New York by Uni-verse Incorporated, a 108 yearsoutfit, is currently number fouron the best ten list in the USA.

Thus, it is not by accident thatAliche has achieved a heroicstatus abroad even if he re-mains largely unsung at home.His revelatory treatment of theconcept of destiny, man’s pur-pose in this life cycle and lifeafter death has reopened theage-old debate on reincarna-tion. It is not a surprise that thebook debunks many age-oldbeliefs and thoughts on thecritical subject of destiny.

For Aliche, it is simply a ral-lying point where a childhoodcuriosity finds intellectual ex-pression in over two decadesof devotion to research work.The initial scenario is one inwhich a curious student at IhieSecondary School, Ihie, inpresent day Abia State isbrooding and agonising overwhat purpose he had come tofulfill in a fast-changing globalvillage, while his class mates

are enmeshed in the fun andgist of local Gbedu and the fabu-lous fun and pop culture of the1970s. It is notable that altarboys are usually a curious lot.Aliche was one and he had amind for the priesthood but thismindset also met with stiff com-petition from the innate desireto unravel the essence of God,the dynamic force of creativityand the cosmic block. He wouldsoon come in contact with LaoRussell whose late husband,Walter, was founder of the Uni-versity of Science and Philoso-phy. It is this proximity with aworld leading authority in natu-ral law that helped shape hisinterest and devotion to illu-mined thinking; he had to avoidthe “myopia of the academicphilosophy as opposed to liv-ing philosophy.

Aliche studied natural law,science and philosophy

and made first class in threeyears at the University of Sci-ence and Philosophy, Virginia,USA. He worked for a mastersand also earned a doctorate de-gree at the Institute of ConceptTherapy, Texas. More doctor-

ates followed in managementfrom Columbus InternationalUniversity, Virgin, Island, En-gland. An already festoonedcap was finally decorated witha Doctor of Science Degree,DSC and Aliche has since de-livered a prodigious shelf ofstudy and research results inabout 1,349 books on variousdisciplines, including math-ematics, engineering technol-ogy, health and the humani-ties.

He has worldwidebestsellers, notable amongstwhich include The FirstPrinciple of Science, TheAnatomy of MarineEngineering, The Nature,Powers and Functions ofEnergy and TheDemystifkation of OccultEngineering Technology. Hisexploration of the discipline ofmetaphysics and astral physicshas yielded such books as TheWisdom of the Unseen Forces,Adventure in Wisdom, TheMystical Life and Priesthood ofMelchizedek and Why theWorld is in Need of Balanceand Illumined Thinkers.

*Mr. Aguomba, a journalist,wrote from Port-Harcourt,Rivers State.

None of our so-called leadersactually believe in Nigeria;which explains why theyoccupy the seat of power toamass wealth for themselvesinstead of using the wealth forthe good of the people

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

•Mr. Maidabara, a journalist, wrotefrom Abuja.

BY BABA-DANLAMI MAIDABARA Haji 2012: Despite hitches, still some cheering news

SINCE the establishment of the NationalHajj Commission of Nigeria,

NAHCON, about six years ago, the bodyhas been striving hard not only to prove tothe Nigerian Muslims and the governmentthat it has the capacity to make thingswork, but also ensure that the unnecessaryand avoidable hardship experienced bypilgrims become a thing of the past.

And one of the ways the Commission,under the leadership of Mallam MusaBello, does this is through the introductionof new ways of doing things, during everyhajj operation, thus making a subsequenthajj operation better than the precedingone.

For instance, during the 2011 hajjoperation, several committees were put inplace to beef up the services rendered topilgrims. The committees include, but notlimited to: National Reception –whichwelcome all Nigerian pilgrims,irrespective of states as they arrived theholy land; Command and Control Centre-which monitored aircraft movement;Consumer Rights-which policed what wasgiven to pilgrims in terms of food anddrink on board and in the holy land; andthe National Feeding Committee- whichensured that pilgrims get food at Mina andArafat, timely. Ironically, the feedingcommittee was only effective in the areasof feeding to NAHCON officials and theFederal Government delegation, a thingthat was pointed out at the post-Arafatmeeting by the Consumer Rights

Committee.The Feeding Committee’s shortcoming

notwithstanding, it did not substantiallytake the shine off the successes recorded.The gains recorded may, perhaps, be thereason the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’adAbubakar 111, who is the Amir-ul-Hajj andleader of the Federal Government’sdelegation, described the 2011 hajjoperation as being “far better” than the2010 operation, while expressing the hopethat the 2012 operation would also beatthe 2011 operation in terms of gainsrecorded.

And the Commission was set to achieveit in spite of the hullabaloo that greetedthe untimely return (not deportation) offemale pilgrims from the holy land overthe contentious issue of Mahram(guardian for the female pilgrim) toNigeria, less than a week after their initialdeparture. Since this piece is not about theappropriateness and inappropriateness ofwhat transpired, I shall leave the issue ofMahram for now, and return to it at a laterdate. But the point is, were the femalepilgrims to be deported, as erroneouslycaptured by some ill-formed officials ofthe Commission, and which was picked upby my constituency, the media, thosepilgrims would not be allowed entry intoanywhere near the Kingdom of SaudiArabia, until after five years. But this isnot the case here.

What then is the cheering news about the

2012 hajj operation? It is about Tent C.What the hell is Tent C? Now, while it istrue that as pilgrims, we spend between 14to 40 days, depending on the arrangement,in holy land, the most significant aspect ofthe entire hajj exercise takes place withinfive days. And these days are spent in Minaand Arafat.

Incidentally, these are places wheremost Nigerian pilgrims suffer the most.

They sleep on bare floor, they catch cold,eat all kinds of filth in the name of food,and sleep amidst all kinds of heaps ofrefuse generated by food vendors, most ofwhom are illegal migrants. It was this kindof filthy environment that led to theoutbreak of cholera at the Kaduna camplast year, while in Mina.

However, the Tent C, which is anadditional service arrangement for the fivedays in Mina and Arafat, will eliminateall that this year. This arrangement wasconceptualised and brokered by theNAHCON commissioner in charge ofPolicy, Personnel, Management andFinance, PPMF, Yusuf Ibrahim Adebayo.

With just additional 600SAR, equivalentof just N24, 000, which has now beenfactored into the total package eachpilgrim paid, every Nigerian pilgrim willbe entitled to a mattress, a blanket, a pillowand three square meal, for these five days,with adequate security. This arrangementtotally eliminates the presence of any food

vendor, a thing that will add to thehygienic nature of the surroundingsaround the tent.

But there is a caveat. Once any pilgrimgives out his/her tag, which allows him/her entry into such a tent, he/she willneither be allowed entry into the tent, norenjoy the rights and privileges that comewith it. As such, pilgrims are advised toask for their rights from their respectivestate officials. State officials too, who arein the habit of short-changing pilgrims,especially those pilgrims who can neitherread nor write, must fear Allah anddischarge their duties with utmostresponsibility. They must desist fromdenying these village men and womentheir rights and privileges, and bear inmind that any act of assisting any pilgrimbefore and during hajj, is in itself an act ofibadah (worship.)

For those who are reading this piece, doa Jihad by interpreting this piece into yourlocal language for the benefit of those oldmen and women who are usually subjectedto unnecessary and avoidable hardshipwhile in holy land. Adebayo has played hispart. It is left for all us to ensure thatpilgrims who pay for these services enjoythem. May Allah take us to the holy landsafely and bring us back in peace and inone piece. Amin.

THE Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in AfricanLeadership — the world’s biggest individual prize— was not awarded for a third time in four years asno suitable candidates were found, it was announcedMonday.At a press conference in London, the Mo Ibrahim

Foundation said it was not going to compromise onits standard of excellence in a leader.The award, set up by Sudan-born telecoms tycoon

Mo Ibrahim in 2006, carries a $5 million prize paidover 10 years and $200,000 annually for life fromthen on, with a further $200,000 per year availablefor 10 years for good causes backed by the winner.The award goes to a democratically-elected Afri-

can leader who has served their mandated term andleft office in the last three years.“You make your bed, you have to lie on it. If we

said we’re going to have a prize for exceptional lead-ership, we have to stick to that. We are not going tocompromise,” Ibrahim said.“We are not just in the business of positive mes-

sages — we would lose our credibility.”The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has awarded the an-

nual prize only three times since it was established,plus two special awards given to South Africa’s Nel-son Mandela and South African former ArchbishopDesmond Tutu.The prize committee said they reviewed a number

of eligible candidates “but none met the criteria need-ed to win this award”.“The award is about excellence in leadership. In

the first six years the prize committee has selectedthree very worthy laureates who continue to be aninspiration and whose examples, we hope, will beemulated.”The inaugural prize went to former president

Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 2007 and Bot-swana’s ex-president Festus Mogae won in 2008.The prize was not awarded in the following two

years. Former Cape Verde president Pedro Pires wonthe 2011 prize.The London-based foundation also publishes the

Ibrahim Index, ranking 52 African countries accord-ing to 88 indicators grouped under safety and therule of law, participation and human rights, sustain-able economic opportunity and human development.There has been no change in its top five this year —

with Mauritius topping the index with a score of 83out of 100, ahead of Cape Verde (78), Botswana (77),Seychelles (73) and South Africa (71).

Somalia remained at the bottom with a score ofseven, behind Democratic Republic of Congo (33),Chad (33), Eritrea (33) and the Central African Re-public (34).Ibrahim said that while there had been major im-

provements in some sectors, the continent’s mainplayers were lagging behind.“Between 2000 and 2011 there is a marked improve-

ment in governance across Africa,” he said.“The major improvements were in health, the ru-

ral sector, the economy. The interesting developmentwas in gender. Gender has improved amazingly overthe last 10-11 years. The highest improvement in anycategory in the index.”However across the data, “the four main power-

houses in Africa — Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa andKenya — appear to be really stuttering. They are notshowing really convincing progress.“East Africa is not doing that well. It has been over

taken by west Africa in the category of sustainableeconomic development.“In general, we see positive development in Afri-

ca. The economy is moving forward relentlessly.Education and health is improving, there is greatdevelopment there. Gender issues are improving.“We see, unfortunately, a little bit of decline in the

issues of human rights and participation. Economicdevelopment does not give us a reason to be com-placent about that.

Dearth OfLeadership In Africa


,

BY EJIKE ANYADUBA

*Mr Anyaduba, a public affairs analyst,wrote from Abatete, Anambra State.

,

WHEN will an end come to theprogressive decay of federal

roads in the South East? How longmore will the people endure thebumpy ride? These questions are whateverybody in the zone is askingnobody in particular, and whichanswer no one has vouchsafed.

The deterioration has now reachedcritical mass where people may nolonger be compliant. Their patience,like a taut muscle, has been stretchedto its limit. What is more, everybodyin authority is now an accursed of thepeople. Even the sane of mind,blinded by anger and frustration, findsit rather difficult to make a cleardistinction on who to blame on thematter. The pertinent authority, whichis the Federal Government,communicates no serious intention toarrest the ugly development. To furtherthe pains of the people, where roadconstruction is going on in the zone,it is handled by unserious constructioncompanies which comfortably spendeternity on a stretch.

Some of the companies engaged inthis parody of road construction haveunwittingly encouraged erosionthrough indiscriminate excavations.Because of the nature of the soil in thearea, which is essentially tenuous, anyabandoned work necessarily provokeserosion. But it is the perception ofofficial conspiracy to deny the zonenecessary infrastructure for itseconomic development that stirs verystrong emotions among the people.This view is made evident by thesnail’s pace of work in the zone asagainst speedy road constructiongoing on elsewhere.

Notwithstanding the number ofpetitions to pertinent authorities inAbuja by the South East Governors led

Still on federal roads in the Southeast

by Mr. Peter Obi, the pace of work isstill not encouraging. If anybody stillbelieves in the charade of roadconstructions in the zone, it must bethe Federal Government itself. No timein the history of the people have theybeen this frustrated. Movement withinthe zone has become an ordeal, forcingcommuters to contrive schemes to easethe burden of travel. Every journeynow is a session for prayer, turningeven professed agnostics into somekind of prayer warriors.

Besides frequent accidentswitnessed on the roads which once had70 people charred in death aroundUmunya in Anambra State, thegreatest losers are the governors of theSouth East zone for obvious reasons.The roads, some of which pass throughmajor towns, detract from the beautyof their states. Coupled with this, thepains of travelling have made even theinformed to blame everybody,including the governors for the decay.Though it is wrong to blame them forwhat is obviously the failure of theFederal Government, the burgeoningdecay has made even the complacentto react with some frenzy. It is a factthat a good number of the governors,with the resources available to them,have done well for their states.Anambra, for example, has one of thebest road networks in the country today.But on occasion, people expressedreservations after having a bumpy rideon the Onitsha-Enugu road.

The story is not significantly differentin other portions of federal roads inthe zone. Abia State for example, hasLagos-like traffic at Ugba junction onAba-Port Harcourt road. But whetherit is a bumpy ride on Enugu-Onitshaor Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Owerri,Aba-Port Harcourt, Aba-Umuahia, etc,truth is that no federal road in the zoneis in good condition. Efforts made to

,

,effect some changes have not yieldedthe desired result. But it seems theharder the push, the more adamantthose who are to grant the favour.Daily, the people struggle to maintainsome level of sanity on the highlyaccident-prone roads. Reports show anaccident rate of between five and sevendaily on these roads. And most of thishappens when drivers attempt tododge potholes on the expressway.

Apart from the attention drawn tothe scourge by the Governor Obi-

led South East Governors Forum, someof the governors are already involvedin rehabilitation. Several other peoplehave, either through writings orinterviews, advocated a new lease offederal roads in the zone. With theoutcry, it is expected that the pertinentauthorities would have made someredress. Since 2009 verdict of theSenate Ad hoc Committee on Transportled by Heineken Lokpobiri (that thezone is the worst in terms of federalroad), not much has been done. At anyrate, stirring those who manage theaffairs of Nigeria from decided inertiahas not been known to be easy. At best,the people’s cry might have becomeanother prickly subject that tried toneedle the insouciant to action.

As much as the issue of bad roads inthe South East has put everybodyunder intolerable strain, otherproblems associated with the zone areyet to be addressed. Notwithstandingthe opening of the Onitsha inland port,the zone has no sea port, nointernational airport and disparity instate distribution. The latest effort atcorrecting these, especially statedistribution, was almost stultified by aGovernor Kwankwanso of Kano State.This further stokes the notion of officialconspiracy to deny the zone basicinfrastructure with which to leverageon economic development.

It is a fact that at separate borderswith the states of Delta and Rivers, thetwo bridges linking the South East withthese states are in dire need of urgentrepairs. The Imo River Bridge, forexample, has worn so thin thatvehicles now ply on almost bare iron,forcing motorists to detour at Obigbo.The Niger Bridge, the only veritablelink with the West and Mid-West, isthreatened with possible collapse as aresult of excessive traffic. The volumeof disinvestment as well as lull incommercial activities in the zone issuch that, to ensure survival, a goodnumber of the traders are forced torelocate to hostile environments. Thenthe question: Why is the FederalGovernment not bothered about theplight of folks in this section of thecountry? Is erosion menace, which issubmerging buildings and ravagingcommunities, not enough wahala forthe zone? What political capital, if any,is the Federal Government going togain with this blatant neglect?

Two reasons may suffice. One, eitherthe Federal Government has otherchallenges that pale the pressingneeds of the zone in importance, orthe zone has a weak political base thathas failed to advance its cause, andwhich successive governments havetolerated rather than wooed.

Why is the FederalGovernment notbothered about theplight of folks in thissection of the country?Is erosion menace,which is ravagingcommunities, notenough wahala for thezone?

IF there is nothing to say,

there are some peoplewho would say, one shouldshut up. But, for writers, whenthere is nothing to say, is whenthey are at their best in sayingnothing new. A harvest of thereviews and responses toChinua Achebe’s There was acountry across the globe makesmore interesting reading thanthe book itself. The responsescan be divided into threecategories. There are thosefrom writers of Igbo origin,Achebe’s nationality, whichcannot even pretend to beanything but praise singers oftheir idol. There are those fromwriters of Yoruba origin, thenationality of Achebe’s bêtenoir, Obafemi Awolowo.Achebe blames all the woes ofthe Igbo in Nigeria on ObafemiAwolowo. The third group ofresponses comes from outsiderssimply interested in the healthof Achebe’s writing.

Achebe’s book makes thepoint that Awolowo preventedNnamdi Azikiwe from

The trouble with Achebe

becoming the Premier of theWestern Region in 1951 byencouraging some membersof Azikiwe’s party to cross overto Awolowo’s party. My verypersonal response to thispiece of misreading of historyis that it was a good thing, infact a great thing, that Azikiwedid not become the Premier ofWestern Region. This ismainly because Azikiwe couldnever have done for theWestern Region what Awolowodid for the region.

The second point that Achebemakes is that Awolowoorganised the genocide of theIgbo people by insisting thathunger was a legitimateweapon of war. As the Ndigboin Lagos, Achebe’s ownpeople have pointed out intheir response to thecontroversy that their kinsman’s book has generated,Awolowo explained thingsback in 1983 and hisexplanation should have closedthe issue but not for Achebe.

The Yoruba responses have

been simply to point out, asNdigbo in Lagos have pointedout, that Awolowo hadresponded to this particularaccusation and others yearsago and Achebe is simplyflogging a dead horse.

A reviewer in the South

African Mail andGuardian wondered if it wasright for an elder to notrepresent the truth as it is. Hepraises Achebe’s pioneering

novel, Things Fall Apart.Everybody does. But whywould he want to publish thisnow, especially when most ofthe material is already availablein his other publications? It ispossible to say that just asmany of the essays of Achebehave been published indifferent collections withdifferent titles, perhaps hisother writings are to berepackaged in differentcollections under differenttitles.

The review that appears inthe London Financial Times,written by William Wallis, FT’sAfrica editor, is, for me, one ofthe most interesting. It isworth quoting at length fromthis review. Here goes:“Achebe’s prognosis for hiscountry is grim. ‘Corruption inNigeria has passed thealarming and entered the fatalstage, and Nigeria will die ifwe continue to pretend thatshe is only slightly indisposed,’he writes. Before arriving atthat bleak conclusion,however, he stitches his storytogether joltingly, movingfrom the autobiographical tothe historical and ending withsomething of a rant. There isan eclectic range of insightsand fascinating anecdotesburied here and there, but thisis not a book that will addmuch to the understanding ofthe war, nor one that will godown among Achebe’s greatworks.”

Personally, two things botherme about this book. The first isits timing. The second has todo with the issue of mediocrity.

Why is Achebe publishing thisbook now, after the death ofOjukwu the leader andpresident of Biafra? Ojukwu isnot the hero of the book as onewould have expected. Afterall, he was the driving forceand the face of Biafra. Ojukwuhimself wrote nothing duringhis life time to state therationale for his declaration ofBiafra. Achebe does notprovide any intellectualarguments that placed Biafraover Nigeria in terms ofsuperiority of intention,compactness of developmentalternative agenda and clarityof national vision for thepeople of Biafra, of Nigeriaand of Africa. For me this is thegreat failure of this book.There was a country, but otherthan the temporary angerabout the killings in the North,there was no justification fordeclaring a state of Biafra thathad nothing over the Nigeriathat Achebe left behind towork for Biafra.

Mediocrity is one of theproblems which Achebeidentifies as bedevillingNigeria. Was Biafra devoid ofmediocrity? One of the sins ofNigerian intellectuals,including Achebe, is theirreadiness to toleratemediocrity in the politics oftheir country, be the countryNigeria or Biafra. Whatsuperior argument did ChinuaAchebe provide to justify or tocounter the secession ofBiafra? We live with theconsequences of mediocritytoday and nobody wants toknow!

Achebe does notprovide anyintellectualarguments thatplaced Biafra overNigeria in termsof superiority ofintention,compactness ofdevelopmentalternative agendaand clarity ofnational vision forthe people ofBiafra, of Nigeriaand of Africa; forme this is thegreat failure ofthis book

CMYK


SUICIDE IN RUKPOKWU:

Police, neighbours battle tounravel puzzle over man’s death

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI,Port -Harcourt

IT is about 6.30 am in Rukpokwu, Obio/Akpor local gov-

ernment suburb of Port Harcourt,capital of Rivers State. Date isFriday, October 19. Dawn is fastgiving way to a bright new day.Some late risers were, however,still locked in the confines of theirhomes, either still enjoying sooth-ing early morning sleep or round-ing off wake-up prayers.Fromone of a line of one-room apart-ments in the twin bungalows (notvisibly numbered) beginningNmecha Street, offAgalaba Streetin Elipokwu-Odi Layout, Ruk-pokwu Community, little Chin-ma, popular to neighbours as thehumble eldest and only son ofthree children of his parentsscampered out.

The youngster, presumed un-der seven, together with the twoyounger sisters have just beenrattled by a dramatic scene, per-haps, hitherto only familiar to himas a recurring Nollywood makebelief. But this was not a Nigeri-an home video. They had barelywoken up. No member of thehouse had bothered to tune onthe TV. Neither was he dream-ing.

In his confused mind, Chinmahad rushed out hoping to ap-proach any adult neighbour tosolve the puzzle over the horrorhe just saw. At the door post ofthe first neighbour to offer listen-ing ears, fear-stricken Chinma

uttered: “Brother come, come un-cle. Come and see what our fanhas done to Daddy”.

The concerned neighbour, jolt-ed by the terrifying alarm rushedto the house, Chinma fasterahead. And there he was. Chin-ma’s father stretched erect, stand-ing dead in the middle of hisapartment. Harin, as he was sim-ply known to neighbours, hung,sagging from a hangman’s noosemade of a chord of shreddedclothes tied in-between the bladesof the ceiling fan in the middle ofhis room and strapped to his neckat the lower end. The first neigh-bour to arrive soon raised the sui-cide alarm, unsettling the neigh-bourhood as residents and sym-pathisers thronged the scene tocatch a glimpse of the horror.

Suicidemotive

When Vanguard Metro, VM, gotto the scene of the suspected sui-cide before dusk, Harin, betterknown as Nyewuna in his nativeRumuola community, was stillhanging dead by the rope tiedfrom his ceiling fan to his neck.The burglar’s proof of his apart-ment under lock, onlookers peer-ing through the slightly openeddoor could manage to see hismotionless body dead standing.

VM learnt that the communityleaders have alerted the police ofthe tragedy, but repeated calls togain confirmation and insightsfrom CSP Ben Ugwuegbula, the

Rivers State Police Public Rela-tion Officer, PPRO, proved abor-tive as he would not respond.Neither would he reply a textalert. Among the bemusedneighbours, no one is sure thatthe father of three could take hisown life.

A close neighbour said: “Thisis out of the ordinary. I can’timagine Harin committing sui-cide. He may not be rich, but heowns a personal building inRumuola where he hails from. Iam also aware he has up to threeland titles to his personal assetsas well. So why would he killhimself. He is not in such a diresituation from the much I knowof him. I can’t say I know every-thing about him either, but onlyGod knows what pushed himinto this abomination”.

It was, however, indicated thatthe suspected suicide victim hasbeen having regular exchangeswith the wife. Incidentally, thewife was said to have run out oftheir home the night before hewas found hanging. Anotherneighbour said: “Harin is fondof beating the wife. Neighbourshave been warning him to de-sist from the frequent batteringbut he hardly listened. Last nighthe was all charged up for an-other bout of assault on the wife.Agitated at another impendingbeating, the woman had run forher dear life, leaving the kidsand the husband in the house.No one knew the direction shehad bolted till news of the hus-

band’s suspected suicide thismorning”.

Not an isolated Port Harcourt

case of recent: Harin’s suspect-ed suicide makes two of suchmysterious deaths in Port Har-court within the past couple ofweeks. On October 9, four daysafter the heart breaking execu-tion of the Uniport Four in Aluu,one Goodluck Amehule, identi-fied staff of an international oilfirm, had died in similar suicidefashion at the Federal Secretari-at in Port Harcourt.

Rivers PPRO, Ugwuegbulamhad in a statement on that casewarned against the public jump-ing to conclusion on the cause ofthe tragedy pending police in-vestigation. But an eye witness,Florence Harry had confirmedsighting Amehule taking off hisshoes before taking a plunge ofdeath from the peak of the eighth

University of Port Harcourt Teach-ing Hospital annex within thesecretariat complex arrived thescene.

Over the celebration of the 10thWorld Suicide Prevention Weekin September and the WorldMental Health Day, October 10this year, a day before Amehu-le’s plunge of death, experts hadharped on mental imbalance asa cause of the increasing casesof suicide. Psychiatrists stressedthat severe emotional strains re-sulting from a number of stressfactors –poverty, marital trauma,joblessness, bad health, insecu-rity, violence and more result indepression for many. At theheight of depression, victims areprone to mental imbalance with-out knowing it.

Personalexperience

Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr.Rahman Lawal, situated a per-sonal experience. “In our localenvironment, a man jumped intothe well and I overheard peoplesaying that it was caused by somespirits or spell. I said this manhad been showing some signsthat he was not happy, fed upwith life. This man had been de-pressed, rather than send him fortreatment the children did notrecognise that.

“So committing suicide is likean end point to depression.…When people feel consistentlylow; like life is not worth living;they feel sad; sometimes they feelthat something crawling undertheir skin or they feel peppery orpricking sensations. Sometimes,they feel usually warm, theyshould seek treatment, theyshould see their doctor and whenthey are referred for treatment atpsychiatry hospital they shouldnot shy away,” he added.

*House where Harin was found hanging from a ceiling fan

,

,The first neighbour to arrive soon

raised the suicide alarm, unsettlingthe neighbourhood as residents andsympathisers thronged the scene tocatch a glimpse of the horror

floor of the Federal Secretariatand dropping dead instantly toground zero.

Like Harin, emerging reportshad made it difficult to pin-pointhow Amehule could possibly takehis own life. In his script of deathas alleged, the oil worker hadfirst allegedly gone to a Port Har-court morgue to inquire about thecost of depositing a corpse. Hereturned home and drew acheque to that amount, gotdressed and headed for the Fed-eral Secretariat. Of his own voli-tion, he had taken the stairs tothe peak of the high-rise. Takingoff his shoes, he allegedlyplunged from that height, dyingalmost immediately with his bodymangled before officials of the

At the Rukpokwu suspectedsuicide, the community leaderswasted no time in summoningparents of Harin for talks. VMwas not present at the meeting,but a witness explained that deathas in the mood Harin was foundis abominable in the area. “Un-der the circumstance, no Rukpok-wu born resident can removethat corpse. So we summonedthe relatives this morning and re-solved the necessary rites theymust undergo to cleanse the landbefore they can remove thebody,” he said.

The family did not take too long.They reportedly did what wasneeded and removed Harin’sremains hours into the night ofthe day he was found hanged.

CMYK


FROM LEFT: Arthur Mamvura, Procurement Director, Guinness Nigeria, Ashlin Ramlochan, SustainableSourcing Manager, Mondolez International and Seni Adetu, Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc atthe AIM-PROGRESS Responsible Sourcing Forum sponsored by Guinness Nigeria Plc in Lagos recently .

THE Southern ElectricityDistribution Company

(SEDC) has refuted theallegation of fraudulent activityin its participation in thebidding process of the BeninElectricity DistributionCompany (BEDC).

Specifically, the companydenied that it cheated bysubmitting two differentcommercial bid proposals.

According to the SEDC,“These allegations, which are

SEDC refutes allegation offraudulent bid

By PETER EGWUATU inaccurate, as contained in therecent statement made by theChairman of the TechnicalCommittee, who was quoted assaying that SEDC’s submissionwas a contravention of theRequest for Proposal (RFP)requirements.”

A statement made availableto Vanguard said, “SEDCwould like to state categoricallythat at no time did we submittwo different bids. Incompliance with theinvestment scheduleguidelines from the Requestfor Proposal (RFP) fromBureau of Public Enterprises

“The second scenario, as statedin our proposal, would allowus invest more onstrengthening the core networkin the first two years and thusenable us reduce the ATC&Closses in the third year, whilestill keeping the total five yearCAPEX the same as MYTO, aswell as adhering to the NERCmetering rollout plan.

“This alternative model,which injected more capital inthe initial years, we believed,

was in line with the objectivesof BPE and NERC to provideoptimal services and benefitsto the Nation, BEDC andconsumers.”

The company argued that thealternative would allow moreeffective utilisation of funds,reduce losses faster and givemore benefit to the consumeras the total injected capital infive years would be less thanwhat MYTO had anticipated.

within the next few years dueto enhanced confidence in theNigerian economy.

Cooter noted that as part ofefforts to strengthen trade andinvestment relationship be-tween the two countries, moreCanadian companies had al-ready indicated their willing-ness to invest in infrastructur-al projects across Nigeria.

“Two weeks ago, the Niger-ia –Canada Bi-National Com-mission met in Abuja and thecenterpiece of that Bi-Nation-al Commission was howto build and strengthen eco-nomic relationships betweenNigeria and Canada. This isone of the reasons we havebrought the Senior Executivesof SNC Lavalin, one of theleading engineering and Con-struction Company in Canadaand one of the top five in theworld to invest in key infra-structural projects in Nigeria. Responding, Aganga said:“The Federal Governmentwould partner genuine inves-tors who are willing to investin critical sectors of the Nige-rian economy such as infra-structure, mining, petrochem-ical and agri-business in orderto create jobs for the Nigerianpeople.

“ We have a big infrastruc-ture deficit in Nigeria and thatis why the Federal Governmentis very concerned to bridgethe gap by developing the crit-ical infrastructure required todrive our industrial develop-ment, especially in those are-as where we have comparativeand competitive advantagesuch as mining, petrochemical,agri-business and even theSmall and Medium Enterpris-es sector.

Nigeria investmentclimate more friendly– Canadian High Commissioner

CANADIAN investorsnow consider Nigeria a

friendly environment to dobusiness compared to 25 yearsago when they held a differ-ent view, says the CanadianHigh Commissioner to Niger-ia, Mr. Chris Cooter.

Cooter who revealed thisduring a meeting with Niger-ia’s Minister of Trade and In-vestment, Mr. Olusegun Agan-ga, recalled that they were inNigeria 25 years ago and con-cluded it was not the best placeto invest.

He said that Canada is cur-rently working on strategiesaimed at increasing its foreigndirect investment in Nigeria

(BPE) and the NigerianElectricity RegulatoryCommission (NERC)directive on meteringrollout, we submittedone technical andcommercial bid, but withtwo scenarios laying outdifferent capitalinvestment schedules.The scenarios wereclearly laid out in theExecutive summary,with additional detailson pages 52 and 53 ofour technical bid(business plan). Thetechnical bid, which wascarefully studied andevaluated by the Bureauof Public Enterprise(BPE) was adjudgedfirst with a score of 898,without anycomplaints.”

Continuing, it said,

Financial inclusion:

FG plans N220bn fund for womenBy EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

THE Federal Government has said that itis working on a N220 billion fund to

guarantee financial inclusion for women.Speaking during a chat with journalists after

the inauguration of the National FinancialInclusion Strategy in Abuja, the Governor,Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), MallamSanusi Lamido Sanusi’ said that the fund“specifically provides that 60 per cent of theamount will be targeted at businesses ownedand managed by women.”

The fund which will be launched before endof the year, according to him, has the objectiveof helping Nigerian women get long termfunding at single digit interest rate, adding thatthere are specific incentives in it for women.

The CBN governor lamented that there werealso cultural issues and other practicalchallenges in the field, which he said neededto be addressed to get the policy to work.

The N220 billion funds will involve the CBNand government ministries and women. “At thispoint, the stakeholders are looking at it, makinginput with regards to its structure and once it isthrough, we will take it to the EconomicManagement implementation team, in order tohave their input from all parties and then launchit” Sanusi said.

When launched, the Fund will provide longterm, low interest, stable funds to the Microfinance Banks so that they can then lend to theirborrowers. Sanusi noted that “there can neverbe enough inclusion, that is why everybody isworking, we are in implementation mode and havecome a very long way for this.”

The CBN governor identified the constraintsfacing financial inclusion to include “demandside, supply side and regulatory constraints. Thedemand side deals with income, employment, jobcreation. Some are excluded by virtue of theirincome level, because of where they leave, andthe distance to access points in the rural areas.”

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 26/10/2012

107.57 -0.68

85.66 -1.01

159.85 -1.00

2,408.00 -90.00

19.75 0.10

DOLLAR 154.76 155.26 155.76

STERLING 247.8946 248.6955 249.4964

EURO 200.3678 201.0151 201.6625

FRANC 165.6073 166.1423 166.6774

YEN 1.9384 1.9446 1.9509

CFA 0.2878 0.2978 0.3078

WAUA 237.4157 238.1828 238.9498

RENMINBI 24.7686 24.8483 24.9288

RIYAL 41.2638 41.3971 41.5305KRONA 26.8541 26.9408 27.0276SDR 237.7887 238.557 239.3252

By FRANKLIN ALLI


CMYK

By PETER EGWUATU

The listed banks on theNigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) and unlisted banks

operating in the country havebeen encouraged to implementthe Basel II Accord in order toensure their soundness andprevent future collapse of thefinancial system.

Speaking at the Risk ManagersAssociation of Nigeria (RIMAN),quarterly roundtable with thetheme: “Implementation of BaselII in the Nigerian FinancialSector”, Professor GianfrancoVento, a consultant to the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN), advisedbanks to embrace a global basedapproach to risk managementthat goes beyond ensuring thesoundness of individual financial

Expert tasks banks onimplementation of Basel II Accord

institutions.According to him, “Risk

based capital standardsrequire banks to hold capitalin relation to their riskexposure. The Basel Irequires that banks maintainsufficient capital to absorbunforeseen losses.

It should be noted thatBasel I, that is, the 1988 BaselAccord, primarily focused oncredit risk. Assets of bankswere classified and groupedin five categories accordingto credit risk, carrying riskweights of zero (for examplehome country sovereigndebt), ten, twenty, fifty, andup to one hundred percent(this category has, as anexample, most corporatedebt). Banks with

international presence arerequired to hold capital equalto 8 per cent of the risk-weighted assets. The creationof the credit default swap afterthe Exxon Valdez incidenthelped large banks hedgelending risk and allowed banksto lower their own risk to lessenthe burden of these onerousrestrictions.

While recommending the wayforward for the implementationprocess of Basel II in Nigeria,he said, “The preparation of acomprehensive and detailedregulatory framework isrequired to clarify and criticallyadopt the basel II and IIIprinciples of the local context”

Vento, noted that Basel IIuses a “three pillars” concept –(1) minimum capital

requirements (addressingrisk), (2) supervisory reviewand (3) market discipline.

According to him, “The BaselI accord dealt with only partsof each of these pillars. Forexample: with respect to thefirst Basel II pillar, only onerisk, credit risk, was dealt within a simple manner whilemarket risk was anafterthought; operational riskwas not dealt with at all.

The first pillar deals withmaintenance of regulatorycapital calculated for threemajor components of risk thata bank faces: credit risk,operational risk, and marketrisk. Other risks are notconsidered fully quantifiableat this stage.”

By PETER EGWUATU

May & Baker NigeriaPlc said it has donewell in the last seven

years given its financialperformance for that period.

The Managing Director of thecompany, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor,who disclosed this during afactory visit by capital marketoperators and newsmen in Ota,Ogun State, said, “Ourcompany has done well in thepast seven years. We haveposted decent revenue, profitand dividend.”

According to him, “When weconsider the seven year trendanalysis of the company ’s

Our company has done well in thepast 7yrs — May & Baker boss

performance, you will seethat we post N1.9 billionturnover in 2005; N2.9billion in 2006 ; N3.9billionin 2007; N5.4billion in 2008;N4.6 billion in 2009; N4.63billion in 2010, and N4.84billion in 2011. On sevenyear profit trend, werecorded N155 million ProfitBefore Tax (PBT) in 2005;N266 million in 2006; N398million in 2007; 708 millionin 2008; N344 million in2009; N308 in 2010 and N340 million in 2011. Ondividend payment, we paid:N30 million in 2005; N30million in 2006; N30 million

in 2007; N40 million in 2008;

and in 2011 we paid N10

million. We did not pay

dividend in 2009 and 2010

due to unfavourable business

environment which affected

our profitability and turnover.”

He further disclosed that the

company had undergone

rapid diversifications drive

and is on the path of sustained

profit.

According to him, “We did

bold fixed assets investments

and it appeared that the

revenue growth has been

losing steam, with profitability

trend showing a decline and

investments negatively

impacted liquidity, working

capital and profitability, but,

we are now moving on the

path of sustained profitability.

By the time we consolidate on

our collaboration/partnership

with other foreign partners and

also go into vaccine production, we

would be making more revenue.”

Continuing, he said,”We are

heading to be a mega company

fully diversified. We have a

healthcare company, not just

pharmaceuticals; a strong West

African brand and a national pride.

Our core values include: customer

delight, integrity, performance

excellence, faith in God, innovation

and teamwork.

DANGOTE SugarRefinery Plc hasr e c o r d e d

N15.36billion profit for thenine months (third quarter)ended September 30, 2012indicating an increase ofN5.19 billion recorded in thecorresponding period of 2011.

According to the financialstatements released on thefloor of the Nigerian StockExchange(NSE), allperformance parameters wereon the upswing with profitbefore tax(PBT) soaring byN5.53 billion, from N6.49billion to N12.01 billion.

Profit after tax (PAT) surgedfrom N4.41 billion to N8.17billion, representing a growthof N3.76 billion. Within theperiod under review, theforemost sugar refineryrecorded improvements inefficiencies as cost of salesdipped from N69.44 billion toN65.96, depicting a N3.48billion gain.

It should be recalled thatDangote Sugar Refineryrecorded a profit after tax ofN5.728 billion in the secondquarter ended June 30, 2012,showing an increase of 91 percent above N2.999 billionrecorded in the correspondingperiod of 2011.

The company ended theperiod with a turnover ofN53.698 billion, up by 10 percent from the N48.597 billionposted in 2011. However, profitbefore tax rose from N4.41billion to N8.493 billion, whileprofit after tax went up by 91per cent to hit N5.728 billion in2012.

The Sugar Refinery in the firstquarter ended March 31, 2012reported a profit before tax(PBT) of N4.12 billioncompared to N2.05 billion in thecorresponding period in 2011.

Gross profit rose to N5.34billion in the period in contrastto gross profit of N3.24 billionat the preceding year, whileprofit after tax rose to N2.80billion from N1.39billion andrevenue grew from N21.54billion to N26.73 billion.

DSR performance was buoyedby the introduction of theCompany’s new retail DangoteVitamin A fortified sugarpackages in one kilogram, 500grams and 250 grams packs.

It would be recalled that theDangote Sugar Refinery hadembarked on strategicintroduction of the DangoteVitamin A fortified refinedwhite sugar, in a moreconsumer friendly packagesinto the market.

DangoteSugarrecordsN15.36bngross profitin thirdquarter

From left: Dr Martin Ikpehai, Director, Ernst and Young Nig Ltd; Mrs Ukinebo Dare, Head, PGFS; Mr Michael Callen, BiddleConsulting USA; Mr Victor Muh, Biddle Consulting USA; Mrs Mavi Isibor, MD Poise Nigeria; Mr G.O Isibor, MD BUASugar; Mrs Ayodele Jaiyesimi, Group HR, First Bank Nig.; Mrs Modupe Marc-Dawodu, GM Poise Nigeria; and Prof. Mac-Donald Idu, VC, Benson Idahosa University at the unveiling of PSENSE by Poise Nigeria.

Flood: Agric Ministry embarks on doubleup farming to forestall food crisis

THE Federal Ministry of

Agriculture and RuralDevelopment has commencedfast-track measures toincrease food productionthrough dry season plantingduring the coming dry seasonthis year to forestall foodshortage following the flooddisaster in many states of thecountry. The measuresbecame evident last week ina meeting of directors andheads of departments, heldwith the minister.

Stocks were taken andplans were outlined on howto obtain farm inputs,including certified seeds,fertilisers, herbicides andpesticides needed to aid dryseason production. To ensureearly responses and propertargeting, messages havegone to the state directors ofthe federal ministry ofagriculture to get us the listof farmers affected in variousstates. In addition, food itemsin strategic grains reservewould be deployed to cushionthe effects of food shortage.

Directors ofagriculture

For the production, theregional and state officedirectors of the ministry willbe working with the states’commissioners and directorsof agriculture on how to goabout the intervention ofemergency GrowthEnhancement Support (GES)platform. Stressing theurgency, the Minister, Dr.Akin Adesina, said the moredelays we have, the lesssuccessful the interventionswill be. He thereforeannounced that, “where theGSM system is notfunctioning, we can use thevoucher system. We don’twant a situation in whichseeds and fertliser are givenand they disappear. We wanta system that we can accountfor.”

In some states, the dryseason intervention willinvolve a double-upapproach. For the double-upapproach, the regionaldirectors have been directedto register farmers andharness those alreadyregistered on the platform ofGES for the purpose ofadditional food production.Dr. Adesina added that, for“those who have already lostcrops to flood, we will use ourstrategic grains reserve tosupport. Mr. President hasreleased money to the states:they can buy.”

As a part of preparation forthe dry season, the ministerpromised to give free seedsand fertliser to those affectedareas. “The emphasis shouldbe that, what is being donehere is a one-timeintervention strategy inresponse to the presentemergency,” Adesinastressed.

Among the various inputs,36,000 litres of herbicides,22,000 litres of insecticideshave been estimated asurgently needed.

For fertiliser, although atotal of 610,000 MT isexpected by December,records from the ministryshow that 167,540 MT isavailable now, going byfeelers from “those that haveresponded to our inquiries onavailability. We wrote to about12 of those fertilisercompanies – those thatperformed well. Six of themhave sent their stock positionto us, on what they canproduce between now andDecember.”

Efforts are already beingmade to import173,000 MTand produce 260,000 MTlocally by December. Theministry has said it would nolonger purchase genericfertiliser as done in the pastbut would determine what topurchase henceforth on thebasis of commodity-by-commodity requirement.

In addition to staples,horticultural crops will beinvolved as they aretraditionally grown during dryseasons, for example, onions.

L-R: Communication Channel Manager, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr. Chris Adigwe; Market-ing Director, Mr. David Okeme and Category Manager (Savoury), Mrs. Oiza Giyan,during the Unilever Nig. Plc inaugural press conference on Knorr Taste Quest in Lagos...on Tuesday. Px Biodun Ogunleye

THE FederalGovernment has

reiterated its committedto strengthening valuechains of fisheries,livestock and crops asparts of strategies toreposition agriculturalsector of the economywith a view to makingthe sector economicallyviable rather than adevelopment program.

The PermanentSecretary, in the FederalMinistry of Agricultureand Rural Development,Dr Ezekiel Oyeyomistated this yesterday inAbuja at a meeting tooutline Nigeria’sposition for the fish andfisheries product slatedfor Bali, Indonesia.

He said the ministryhas strengthened itsquality assurance unitto support industrial fishtrawling and recentlyembarked oncertification foraquaculture industry.”

The PermanentSecretary said that theNigeria’s food safetysystems have beenreceiving substantialinternational attentionlately specially withrespect to theestablishment of anational food safetycommittee.

“As part of the FederalGovernment of Nigeria’seffort to growagriculture, ensure foodsecurity, alleviatepoverty, diversify theeconomy and generateforeign exchange, theFederal Ministry ofAgriculture and RuralDevelopment hasembarked on theimplementation ofprograms to transformthe Nigerian agricultureby repositioningagriculture as businessrather than developmentprogramme.

THE Lagos StateA g r i c u l t u r e

Youth Empowerment Scheme,popularly known as “Agric-YES” aimed at empowering youths, has so farempowered over threehundred youths with anadditional one hundredparticipants undergoingtraining at the moment.

Course Officer for Vegetable, Mr. Hakeem Anjolaiya, who disclosed this at theinstitute training centre atEpe, said that the overall aimof the scheme is to breed anew generation of agro-entrepreneurs in poultry, fishfarming, bee-keeping and allseason vegetable farming.

Anjolaiya said the studentsof the institute normally gothrough six months intensive

training and also a period ofinternship before they are lefton their own as full fledgedf a r m e r s .He explained that after thetraining, the government gives the participantsmoney and some plots of landto assist them to go intomechanized agriculture.”Since this programme startedin 2009, we have trainedabout 300 youths and we arein the fourth batch of training100 of them. We train them inpoultry farming, crop farmers,fish farmers meat productionand so on”We get our students throughadvertisement in the mediaafter that we conduct a test forthem, we usually collect 36female and 64 males for eachbatch of student to sum up

100 participants for a session”he said.He further noted that after thetraining that the participantswould be divided into co-operatives and each co-operative would be given thesum of N100million to carryout their agricultural venture.According to him, “apart fromthe N100million, theparticipants were also givenaccommodation where theycan live with their ownfamilies. We also have a fullyautomated layer pen wherewe generate 500 crates ofeggs per day, people arecoming to buy them and wemove out as much that we canproduce. We can’t even meetthe demand of the market

Agric Yes programme: Over 300youths empowered in Lagos

Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 —23

•Assures Nigerians of rapid response and enhanced productivity

FG to setagenda onfisheries atIndonesia

•Strengthensvalue chains infisheries,livestock

CMYK


CMYK

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND:

Task before the Rasheed

led board

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

The leadership ofthe Nigeria SovereignInvestment Authority

(NSIA) established to managethe nation’s Sovereign WealthFund (SWF) faces a Herculeantask given the controversysurrounding the establishmentof the fund.

The eight member board to beled by former director of FirstBank Plc, Mahey Rasheed, asthe Chairman, with Uche Orji,a former Managing Director ofJP Morgan, as the ChiefExecutive Officer was unveiledrecently by the Minister ofFinance and CoordinatingMinister of the Economy, Dr.Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Other board members are JideZeitlin, Bili Awosika, ArnoldAkpe, Hassan Usman, BisiSoyebo and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli.

The first task before the boardis to prove that the Fund isindeed independent asenshrined in its enabling actnamely the Nigeria SovereignInvestment Authority (NSIA)Act 2011.

A Sovereign Wealth Fund(SWF) is a state ownedinvestment fund with themandate to invest globally infinancial assets such as stocks,bonds, property, precious metalsor other financial instruments..They are used to managerevenues in excess of budgetestimate or what the countrypresently needs. Among otherthings, SWFs are used tomazimise returns on a country’sreserve, save for futuregeneration, and help to smoothfluctuations in revenue, thereby,protecting the economy from thesevere impact of suchfluctuations. Consequently,SWFs have becomes anacceptable and popularphenomenon across the world,with more countries, especiallyemerging countries, andcountries that rely solely onexport of commodities forincome. These include Norway,which has the largest SWF,Kuwait, Singapore, China andUnited Arab Emirate. The SWFscontrols about $20 trillions worthof investment in stocks, bonds,hedge funds and in manyglobal companies such asCitibank, and Merrill Lynch.

When the former Minister for Finance and

presently Minister for Trade andInvestment, Mr. OlusegunAganga initiated theestablishment of SWF to replacethe Excess Crude Account(ECA), it was greeted with a lotof criticism. The state governorsopposed it, arguing it wasunconstitutional, and in fact, hadinstituted a legal action to thateffect. Some economic playersand eminent Nigerians alsoopposed it on the grounds that anation like Nigeria bedeviledwith high unemployment,inadequate and inefficientinfrastructure is not ripe for suchFund. But beneath thisopposition is fear that such fund

UBA leads

discussions

on African

Infrastructure

United Bank forAfrica (UBA) Plc

recently took a frontlineposition in Washington ,DC , USA, ins t a k e h o l d e r s ’discussions on bridgingthe gap betweenopportunity andi n f r a s t r u c t u r einvestment in Nigeriaand Africa .

At a two-day U.S./Africa InfrastructureConference, themed‘Building theInfrastructure forNigeria ’s Vision 20:20,’which was organized bythe Corporate Council onAfrica (CCA) inconjunction with theEmbassy of Nigeria andco-sponsored by UBAPlc, participantsbrainstormed on the needto foster and grow the U.S.-Nigeria bilateralrelationship. Theconference was attendedby close to 600 top U.S. andAfrican private sectorrepresentatives andgovernment officials,including NigerianMinisters, Governors andcabinet members.

The conferenceshowcased vast investmentand contractingopportunities available inNigeria ’s infrastructuresector through specificproject examples anddevelopment requirementoutlines. Speakers andpanelists, made up ofsenior US and Nigerianprivate sector andgovernment officialsdiscussed real partnershipopportunities in alignmentwith the Nigeriangovernment’s economicblueprint.

CEO, UBA Capital,Africa , Mr. WaleShonibare, who spoke at apanel session titled“Financing it All”commended the FederalGovernment’s renewedfocus on developinginfrastructure to stimulateeconomic growth.According to him, “Policydecisions such as therecently announced taxincentives to encourageprivate sector investmentin infrastructure areessential to acceleratinginvestment in the sector.

He reiterated that UBACapital is well positionedto assist American andother overseas investorswith interest in exploringthe abundantopportunities presented bythe rapid growth in theNigerian economy.

might be monopolized by thefederal government andmanipulated for politicalpurposes.

The Aganga initiativebecame a reality May lastyear, when PresidentGoodluck Jonathan signedinto law the NigeriaSovereign InvestmentAuthority (NSIA) Act 2011into law.

The Act creates threevehicles for investmentnamely: Future GenerationsFund, Infrastructure Fundand the Stabilization Fund.The NSIA is to developinvestment plans pursuant tothe most effective policiesand guidance targeted atachieving the aim of suchinvestments. Furthermore,the NSIA is empowered toreinvest all realizedproceeds and dividendsfrom and interest on portfolioinvestments of Funds intonew or existing assets of theFunds

The Act makes NSIA anindependent body capableof holding, acquiring anddisposing assets and suing

in its corporate name. Thisimplies NSIA will not besubject to the direction andcontrol of any person orauthority in Nigeria.

The Act provides for theestablishment of a GoverningCouncil headed by thePresident. Other members ofthe Governing Council includeGovernors of the 36 states, theMinisters of Finance, Justiceand Planning, the Governor ofthe Central Bank, the ChiefEconomic Adviser to thePresident, Chairman of therevenue, mobilization,allocation and fiscalcommission, tworepresentatives of the civilsociety, four eminentacademics, tworepresentatives of theNigerian youths and tworepresentatives of the privatesector. According to the Act,the Council shall in thedischarge of its duties observethe independence of the Boardand officers of the Authority.The Board of Directors ofNSIA to be headed by theManaging Director shall beindependent in the exercise of

its responsibilities under the Act.No doubt the first test the

management of the NSIAwould have to pass is the testof independence. Theopponents of the creation ofthe Fund will watch andscrutinize every move anddecisions of the team todiscern any sign of theinvolvement of the federalgovernment in the running ofthe Fund.

Such suspicion is howevernot unique to Nigeria.

Globally, investors, regulatorsand academics haveexpressed concerns about thetransparency and statecontrol of the operations ofSWF. There are also concernsabout the size and source oftheir funds, investment goals,internal checks and balances,disclosure of relationships,and holdings in private equityfunds.

The need to address theseconcerns led to thedevelopment of the SantiagoPrinciples, a set of GenerallyAccepted Principles andPractices (GAPP) for SWFs.For example the fourth GAAPPrinciple requires clear andpublic disclosure of policies,rules, procedures orarrangements in relation toSWF’s general approach tofunding, withdrawal, andspending operations. On itspart, the sixth GAAP Principleproposes clear division ofroles and responsibilitiesunder the SWF’s governanceframework to facilitateaccountability and operationalindependence.

,,

The opponents of the creation ofthe Fund will watch andscrutinize every move anddecisions of the team to discernany sign of the involvement ofthe federal government in therunning of the Fund

•Okonjo-Iweala•Olusegun Aganga


CMYK


THE Holy City of Makkah,which lies inland 73

kilometers east of Jeddah, is theplace where the ProphetMuhammad, peace be upon him,was born - the place where God'smessage was first revealed to himand the city to which he returnedafter the migration to Madinah in622 CE.

Makkah is the holiest city onearth to Muslims. It is variouslyknown as Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Umm Al-Qura (theorigin of the Cities), Al Balad Al-Ameen (the Secure City), and Al-Balad Al-Haram (the SacredCity).

Five times each day more thana billion Muslims around theworld turn to face the direction ofthe Kaaba to offer their prayers tothe one true God. It is also, ofcourse, the focal point of the Hajjwhen, once each year, some twomillion pilgrims converge on theHoly City of Makkah.

Startingpoint

Thus each year the Holy City ofMakkah is host to some twomillion hajjis (pilgrims) from allover the world. The Holy Mosquein Makkah houses the Kaaba, inthe corner of which is set the BlackStone which marks the startingpoint for the sevencircumambulations of the HolyMosque which every hajji must

Holy City of MakkahAs the Muslims celebrate Eid-el-Kabir today, over two million muslims

from all over the world have been in the two Holy cities of Makkah and

Medinah in the last one month preparatory for the ascension of Arafat

yesterday. Jimoh Babatunde , who is in Saudi Arabia for this year’s hajj,

takes a look at the historical cities which today which have become top

tourism destinations in the world

complete. The Holy City is servedby the seaport and internationalairport of Jeddah.

Kaaba: The Kaaba, a large stonestructure constituting a singleroom with a marble floor, lies atthe heart of the Holy Mosque (alMasjid al Haram) in the Holy Cityof Makkah. The Kaaba is Islam'sholiest building. It now standssome 60 feet high and each sideis approximately 60 feet inlength. The Kaaba is the focalpoint around which the HolyMosque is built.

The four walls of the Kaaba arecovered with a black curtain (theKiswah) which reaches to theground and is fastened to theShadharwan with copper rings.The door of the Kaaba is set inthe south-east wall, about sevenfeet from the ground. Inside, thereare pillars, which support the roof.

The interior is furnished withmany gold and silver lamps. Onthe inner walls, there are severalbands of inscriptions whichrecord the many repairs done tothe Kaaba.

The Holy Qur'an makes it clearthat Ibrahim (Abraham) and hisson Ishmael were the truefounders of the Kaaba, togetherbuilding the holy sanctuarydedicated to the worship of theone true God. Set in the easterncorner of the Kaaba is the BlackStone (al-Hajar al-Aswad). TheBlack Stone predates the birth ofIslam but now, set in gold, forms

an integral part of the Kaaba.In the course of the pilgrimage,

the Hajjis will kiss or touch theBlack Stone, not because theBlack Stone is holy in itself butbecause it was kissed by theProphet Muhammad (peace beupon him).

On the roof of the Kaaba is agilt water spout (al-Masabb)which projects out from the north-west wall. Opposite the north-west wall of the Kaaba, but notjoined to it, is a semi-circular wall(Al-Hateem) which is 5ft high and

an integral part of the Kaaba. Itwas brought from Paradise by theArchangel Gabriel and was setinto one corner of the Kaaba.

Maqam Ibrahim: In order tocomplete the upper part of thewalls of the Kaaba, Ibrahim stoodupon a large stone block whichhe moved along when eachsection was completed. When theKaaba was finished, the largestone block was left outside theKaaba, close to the eastern wallof the sanctuary.

It became known as the MaqamIbrahim (the station of Ibrahim).Today, the Maqam Ibrahim, withthe stone within, is located in frontof the door of the Kaaba. Theboulder is about 2 x 3 feet. Whereit stands today is the place whereIbrahim offered up his prayers.

Holy City of Makkah: The HolyCity of Madinah, which lies inthe central Hijaz 447 kilometersnorth of the Holy City of Makkah,

invitation taken to mean theirrejection of polytheism andsubmission to the will of the oneGod, Allah), it was in Madinahthat the Islamic era began.

Madinah is then the city of theProphet. As the place in whichthe Holy Qur'an was compiledand from which the Prophet'scompanions administered theaffairs of the Muslim community,it was the seat of the first Islamicstate.

From Madinah, armies,spreading the word of theProphet, were dispatched toEgypt, Persia and Syria.Madinah is also the place inwhich the Prophet, peace be uponhim, was buried. Madinah is theArabic for "city".

Intimateconnection

The full name of Al-MadinahAl-Munawwarah means"Enlightened City". A visit toMadinah is not part of Umrah orHajj but the deep affection inwhich the Prophet held the cityand its intimate connection withthe birth of Islam puts it on theitinerary of most pilgrimsperforming Hajj.

The Hijra (the Prophet'smigration to Madinah) is the datefrom which the Islamic calendarruns (commonly transliteratedHegira), marks the beginning ofthe Muslim calendar. For a briefperiod, the city became theadministrative capital of thesteadily growing Muslim stateuntil, in 661 CE, the seat ofMuslim power moved toDamascus, the capital of theUmayyad caliphs. ThereafterMadinah's primary significancehas been its position as the secondmost holy city in the Muslimworld.

Makkah

,

,The Holy Mosque in Makkah houses theKaaba, in the corner of which is set theBlack Stone which marks the startingpoint for the seven circumambulations ofthe Holy Mosque

3ft thick.This area is also known as Hijr

Ishmael. To the north-east side ofthe Kaaba is the Maqam Ibrahim,a small kiosk of glass and metaltopped by a small dome. In it iskept the stone on which Ibrahimstood while building the Kaaba.Nearly opposite the Black Stone,near the Maqam Ibrahim, is thewell of Zamzam.

Black Stone: Set in the easterncorner of the Kaaba is the BlackStone (al-Hajar al-Aswad). TheBlack Stone predates the birth ofIslam but now, set in gold, forms

is 625 meters (2,050 feet) abovesea level. Sited on a fertile oasis,it is bounded on three sides byhills which form part of the Hijazmountain range.

Madinah is the second holiestcity in Islam. It was to Madinahthat the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) and hisfollowers, faced by the hostilityand persecution of the Makkanmerchants, departed in 622 CE -and, when the citizens ofMadinah asked the Prophet tolive amongst them and toarbitrate in their affairs (an

CMYK


CMYK

LEADING female vocalist,Omawumi was at her best last

Wednesday, when she thrilled the highand the mighty in the African footballfamily. The event was the ceremonypreceding the 2013 Africa Cup of Na-tions draw held in Durban, South Afri-ca.

The singer who looked stunning inher evening gown, mounted the stagelike a nightgale and left the elatedaudience with a memorable night to re-member. Electrifying as her perfor-mance was, Omawunmi got a stand-ing ovation, when she sang her latestsong “Bottom Belle Ft Flavour”, andother songs. It was a perfect outingfor Omawunmi who since the releaseof her debut album, “Wonder Woman”in 2009,has never looked back in herdesire to conquer the world throughher music.

*We have no reason to murder our mum*Illuminati allegation against us is trash

P-Square opens up!

Omawunmi

By MUKOSOLU NZOM

Our journey into themusic world

It started like a dream but to-day, we thank God for all theglory because it has become areality.

When we started, we had lateMichael Jackson as our men-tor. That was why in one ofour songs titled, Busy Bodywhich we released about 12years ago, we tried to copyMichael Jackson’s dancesteps.

Then, our fans used to callus, Paul and Peter. Heinfluenced our musical career.We were challenged byMichael Jackson’s hugeachievements in the world ofmusic.

We said to ourselves, ifMichael Jackson could do allof these, we could equally dobetter. So, we tried our bestand by the grace of God andour fans, we have realise ourdreams.

Deal with Konvict musicThe only thing we can say,

is that we have been signedunder Konvict. And to provethis new deal which mostpeople are still doubting, wefeatured Akon in our ‘’Chopmy Money” remix.

Our private life!You call it private and that’s

why, most times we don’t like

to discuss it for personal reasons.

Handling your female fans!My dear, it is not easy. However, we han-

dle everybody with love and care. One thingis to be a celebrity, and another is knowinghow to handle all that comes with it. Some-times, they will call on us just to hear ourvoices and to wish us well.

Few months after the rumour made therounds that they sacrificed their mum at theChurch of Satan and Illuminati for fame, P-Square, the music duo, have come out to putthe records straight. They also addressedother burning issues surrounding theirmusical career.

Alleged murder of mum:

I N S I D E

Continues on page 28

•Paw Paw lands N11.2m

endorsement deal

•Dramatic shoes

•How Wi-Fi rules subscribers’

mobile lives

How Omawunmi thrilledfans at Afcon 2013

draw ceremony

How Omawunmi thrilledfans at Afcon 2013

draw ceremony


Movie of the week

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, ABUJAThe Meeting: 12:20pm, 2:40pm,6:20pm, 9:00pm.

Ted: 6:20pm, 8:40pm.

Resident Evil: Retribution 12:10pm, 4;45pm, 9:20pm.

Savages 12:45pm, 3:20pm, 5:55pm, 8:30pm.

Total Recall: 11:50am, 4:15pm, 8:45pm,

Bourne legacy: 1:00pm, 3:40pm,6:25pm, 9:10pm

The Dictator: 1:10pm, 3:10pm,5:10pm, 7:10pm, 8:55pm .

Single & married: 2:05pm, 6:40pm

Step up4: 2;10pm, 6:35pm.

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS CEDDI PLAZA , ABUJASafe: 12:10pm, 4:20pm, 6:20pm.

Resident Evil: Retribution 2:20pm.

Total Recall: 8:20pm.

Single& married: 11:30am, 2;10pm,6:50pm, 9:10pm.

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS PORT HARCOURTResident Evil Retribution: 12:00pm, 2:00pm, 4:20pm, 6:20pm, 8:40pm.

Savages 12:10Pm,2:50pm,5:30pm,8:20pm

Bourne legacy: 12:40pm, 3:30pm, 6:10pm, 8:50pm

The Dictator: 1:10pm, 3:10pm, 5:00pm, 7:05pm, 9:00pm.

Single & Married: 12:20pm, 2:30pm, 4:40pm,6:50pm, 8:00pm.

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS UYOStepup4: 12:30pm, 2:40pm, 4:55pm, 6:55pm

Resident Evil: Retribution: 11:40am, 1:50pm

Udeme Mmi: 1:30pm, 5:20pm.

Total recall: 3:55pm, 6:40pm.

Single& Married: 11:30am, 3:20pm, 7:10pm

Continues from page 27Savages is a 2012

American crime thriller

film directed by Oliver

Stone. It is based on the

novel of the same name

by Don Winslow. The

screenplay was written

by Shane Salerno,

Winslow and Stone The

film was released on

July 6, 2012, and

features an ensemble

cast including Taylor

Kitsch, Blake Lively,

and Aaron Taylor-

Johnson.

SYNOPSIS

SavagesWhat do you do during your

leisure time?Sometimes, we swim or play

basketball with our friends.Why did J. Martins not fea-

tured in your latest album, “In-vasion”?

We have no problem with JMartins. He was not in thecountry when we released thealbum. You know as we are busyso also others are too. And youdon’t expect them to displeasethemselves in order to pleaseyou. But we are in good terms.

Challenges in the industry sofar....

A lot of challenges.Sometimesafter releasing an album ourmarketers will want to give uscondition that it will be 50/50.It’s very difficult to compromisewith them. Sometimes, if youenter the studio to record yousong, they will compel you todo what you wouldn’t want todo.

The craziest thing you haveever done!

Laughs.. that was when wewent for a night party someyears ago. Some desperategirls were all over all us andbefore we knew what washappening, they were kissingand romancing us openly. Wehad to run for our dear lives.

Most embarrassing momentIt was when we were coming

up. Some of our kinsmenwalked up to us and told usthat its high time we join themin the village and stop roamingabout as if we are notconversant with the tradition ofour people. We feltembarrassed. Butunfortunately, we later adheredto their advice.

How do you feel about yourmum’ s death?

We feel so bad to know that our mum is no more.But who are we to question the Almighty God.Traditionally, we are supposed to bury her and notthe other way round. It is just that it happened sosoon.. Indeed, her death was a big blow to us.

It was rumoured that you people knew whathappened to her?

Then, it is too bad to hear that people are accusingus of being responsible for our mum’s death. Weare not blaming anybody. People are free to saywhat they want to say. We begin to wonder whetherthere is anything that will ever make us to go forthe life of our beloved mother.

Her life cannot be quantified in terms of moneyor fame. So, our answer to this question is that wehave no hand in our mum’s death. We only blamedthe death that snatched her away from us if not so,people won’t be pointing accusing fingers at us.She died after a brief illness.

Aside your mum’s death, there was anotherrumour that you guys have joined Illuminati?

We are short of words. Why would anybody saysuch things about us? Well, the fact remains thatwe do not belong to any secret cult, whetherIlluminati or anything you call it. We owe ourachievements and everything that is happeningto us to Almighty God.

Illuminati allegation againstus is trash— P-Square

By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

Organizers of the Lagos Jazz Serieshave indicated their readiness to cool

down the hectic city life with a staple jazzfestival holding next month.

Ahead of the commencement of the festival,founder of Lagos Jazz Series (LJZ), Mr OtiBazunu told newsmen during the week thatthe jazz festival which started over three yearsago has put Lagos on the map of choicedestination city for Jazz lovers.“Lagos Jazz Series is the staple and foremostJazz and popular music festival in Nigeria.Also, we have created a clearly marked Jazzseason in Lagos. This season spans fromsmaller, intimate events from early Octoberand leads up to the Lagos Jazz Series properin late November”, he added.

Bazunu stressed that the 2012 jazz musicfestival, with collaborations from Nigerian pop

music artistes such as 9ice, Kaline, Wajeand others who at the event would repre-sent their music in a Jazz style, is targetedat subjecting Lagos under the Influence ofJazz.

He said, “this year we are inviting Four-play ft. Bob James, Roy Hargrove, Lura andother fantastic international artistes

Over three years ago, the likes of HughMasakela, Morrie Louden, Jimmy BluBlu,Sésu Tilley-Gyado have graced our stagesat venues such as Federal Palace Hotel,Oriental and the Muri Okunola Park.”

The festival will kick-off on the 16th ofNovember and will run till 18. LJZ foundernoted that despite the aim to promote Lagosinternationally, charity begins at home,adding that they are making Jazz moreaccessible to fans of Nigerian popular musicbecause musicians like Tiwa Savage,Omawumi and Bez were last year hostedon the Lagos Jazz Series stage.

Lagos Jazz Series 2012 Music fiesta holdsC O N C E R T

Movie Schedule Oct 26th – Nov 1st

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Paw Paw lands N11.2m

endorsement deal

NOLLYWOOD Actor, Osita Iheme a.k.a Pawpaw isthe new face of an entertainment Television sta-

tion in South Africacalled VUZU TV.

Pawpaw as he is fondlycalled happens to be bigin South Africa.

WG gathered that theendorsement deal whichworth $70, 000 (N11.2m)will initially run for sixmonths. The actor wasrecently in South Africato finalise the contractand shoot campaign com-mercials.

Burna Boy’s embarrassingmoment at The Headies 2012

THOSE who were privileged to attend this year’s edition of The Headies held at the Expo hall of the Eko

Hotels and Suits last Saturday surely went home talkingabout one incident that later became the highpoint of theevent.

The incident centred on the Dancehall act, Burna Boywho fell off the stage while performing with DammyKrane.

He was selected as one of the two rookie acts to gracethe stage.

But rather than giving the audience a fantastic perform-ance, Burna recorded what many described as “a tragedyon stage.”

The Dancehall act had just told the guests how excitedhe was to be on stage. Obviously not looking at thespaced skirting at the edge of the stage, Burna tumbledoff the stage with such a might fall. But within secondshe was back on stage as if nothing happened. The guestsgot on their feet and cheered as Burna performed hisinfectious ‘Like to party‘ single while Dammy Krane joinedhim later on. Dammy Krane also performed his ‘My dear‘single with support from Burna Boy too.

Lydia Forson goes live on birthday

BEAUTIFUL Ghanaian Actress, Lydia Forson wholooked stunning at last Friday’s premiere of Rita

Dominic’s “The Meeting”, added another year to her lifelast Wednesday, October 24.

The actress celebrated the day with a lot of activities,including hanging out with closepals.

She also launched her website,www.missforson.com as she interact-ed live with her fans.

The bubbly Actress was born on Oc-tober 24, 1984 to Rev. Dr. M. K. For-son and Janet Forson.

Currently, she is one of Ghana’s topActors who has managed to be visi-ble among most of her pals with moremovie credits. In her birthday mes-sage, Forson writes on her facebookwall, “Thank you all for all your kindwords and wishes today. You’ve mademe feel so special!! And today, for thefirst time I’m opening my site for youto check out and see my special birth-day message.”

Other prominent Igbo leaders present wereObigbo leader, Chief Charles Ahize, Igbo so-cialite, Chief Austin Ndigwe, star actress,Shan George, Barrister Ziggy Azike, Barris-ter Emeka Ngige, SAN, Prince ChukwudiAgwuna, Chief Chika Okafor of A-Z Oil, ChiefHilary Unachukwu of Hiuna, among others.

THE Special Fraud Uniton Milverton Road,

Ikoyi, Lagos was a mecca ofsort since October 9, 2012,when Dr. Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah,the MD/CEO of Capital OilIndustries Nigeria Limited,was detained upon turninghimself in. Ubah, now freedon bail, was being detainedover allegations bordering onfuel subsidy palaver.

WG gathered that many ce-lebrities and Igbo leadersstormed the office of SFU toshow solidarity and also tolet Ubah know that they werepraying for him.

Nigeria’s king of comedy,Ali Baba, who enjoys achummy relationship withUbah, was sighted at SFUpenultimate Friday. Just asbillionaire businessmogul and chairman ofEkulo Group of compa-nies, Chief EmmanuelBishop Okonkwo visitedlast week.

Another business moguland chairman of ChiscoTransport Company, ChiefChidi Anyaegbu was alsopresent .

Day Igbo leaders, celebrities

stormed SFU for Ifeanyi Ubah

Lydia

•Burna Boy

Pawpaw

WEEKEND PEOPLE OFF-CAMERA

The songstress, Tiwa Savagewho was recently alleged to

be dating her manager,Tee Billzhas vehemently denied having anyaffair with him.

The songstress made thisclarification,while in a chat withWG at the premiere of Rita Domin-ic’s big-budget movie” The Meet-ing”, last Friday.

Although, Savage came to theevent with Billz, she tells whoeverthat cares to listen that Tee Billz isher manager.”No, he is my manag-er.” she said.

Tongues have been wagging inrecent times concerning the song-stress’ closeness to her manager.According to several sources, theywere spotted at events togetherand the chemistry was very obvi-ous. Meanwhile, Tiwa Savage iscurrently in the studio recordingher new album which she hopes torelease soon.

Tiwa Savagedenies dating

manager!

Pawpaw

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CMYK


GROOVE EXTRA

TWO female contendershave been evicted from

the on-going Gulder UltimateSearch 9 which started lastweekend.

They were Kofya Brown, a25 year-old mother of one anda Computer Science under-graduate of the University ofBenin and Ayo Ojueromi, a 22year-old student of the Nige-rian Institute of Journalism,Lagos.

Kofya Brown was evicted inEpisode 5 after failing theMental Endurance Chal-lenge.

The Mental EnduranceChallenge was one of theGatekeeper’s tasks. The firstGatekeeper for GulderUltimate Search 9 is Christo-pher Okagbue.

He is the current UltimateMan after winning thecompetition in 2011.

For the game, the contend-ers were to cross a lake, us-ing a canoe as a bridge. Theywould come across a set ofsymbols which they wouldmemorise.

They were then to get threewooden stacks comprising areplica of the symbols, placedat different locations on thetask ground.

They were to arrange thesymbols on a work stationprovided for them in the sameformat the original symbolswere arranged.

After putting the puzzlestogether, they would call theattention of ChristopherOkagbue, the Gatekeeper,who told them if they had ar-ranged it correctly or wrong-ly. If the symbol arrangementwas inaccurate, they were togo back to the spot where thesymbols were correctly ar-ranged and try to rectify theirerrors. Kofya Brown could notcomplete the task, markingthe end of her journey in Gul-der Ultimate Search 9.

Ayo Ojuoremi’s eviction waseither a case of ill luck or care-lessness. She was shown theway out of Gulder Ultimate

GUS 9 update:

Two female

contestants

evicted

Search 9 not because shefailed a task, but because shecould not find the Golden Keyentrusted in her care.

All the 12 contenders werehanded Golden Keys by Chi-di Mokeme, Gulder UltimateSearch 9 anchor man. He in-structed that they should bein possession of their GoldenKeys at all times. They wereto keep the keys on a totemwhile in their camp and wearit on their necks when com-ing to engage in tasks andThe Place of The TalkingDrum. He warned them of the

consequences of losing theirkeys.

“The keys represent yourparticipation in the jungle.You are individually respon-sible for the safety of yourkeys. So, you must keep themsafe, you must keep them pro-tected. If you lose your key,you can’t lock or unlock. Thatmeans we may have to ferryyou all the way home. Theseare the Gatekeeper ’s keys.They are the keys that willunlock the gates that will leadyou to the treasure. Keep themsafe. Do not losethem.”Mokeme warned.

Wale Rubber,Attitude thrillaudience at Tropikaunveiling

WALE Rubber, a celebrity choreographer, alongside a female

sensational rapper, Rita Ubi, popular-ly called “Attitude” presentedperformance at Tropika Juice drinkunveiling party last weekend.

Both celebrities were thecynosure of all eyes at event heldat 360, Elegushi Private Beach,Lekki, Lagos.

It had lots of mediapersonalities participating inmany game shows which madethe event scintillating from thebeginning till the end.

Wale Rubber who is also a T Vpresenter welcomed the guestswho were privileged to be partof the event.

He later introduced the drinkto the 4th realm of the govern-ment with the ingredients.

As he revealed in his speech, anew uniquely smooth tastingdrink, Tropika, has made its wayinto the nation’s ever dynamicand invigorating fruit drinks’market. The juice market is onethat enjoys a high number ofbrands that offers consumersnutritional values.

With Wale’s dexterity on stage,he added that Tropika is madefrom real dairy skimmed milkand fruit juice and is available inorange, pine apple, mango peach,coco pine and apple variants.

Meanwhile, the GeneralManager, Clover West Africa,Johan Voigt at the unveiling ofthe event told the gathering that,“Clover Industries, hasintroduced Tropika into theNigeria beverage market toshare this really unique drinkingexperience unlike any other in themarket.

The event witnessed quiz, LimboDance and Volley Ball game.

The talented rapper dished outwhat she knows how to do bestfrom her new single.

Rita Ubi performing on stage

GUS anchorman, Chidi Mokeme and some contestants

CMYK

34—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

With PRINCE OSUAGWU

[email protected]

FOR industrial and military workers whoneed to keep their hands free onthe job while viewing documentsand schematics or getting helpfrom far afield specialists,Motorola seems to be a good ally.

This is as the device makers justdebuted with a head set computer that canbe controlled via voice recognition andgesture controls.

tagged Motorola HC1 Headset Computer,the device places an 800 x 600 (SVGA) fullcolor TFT micro-display at a viewing distancethat provides a virtual image size of 15 inches.

DO you know that mobiledevices are now

increasingly used forentertainment? In fact, almosthalf of mobile users areconsuming all forms of video,music, books, and games ontheir devices on a regular basis.

This is no farce. Thedevelopment has someempirical facts behind it.

For instance, Cisco’s Inter-net Business solution Grouprecently carried out a survey tofind out how consumers areaddressing access on theirmobile and found out thatincreased global demand formobile devices and networkconnectivity sees Wi-Fi andtraditional mobile networksplaying critical roles to meetthe needs of consumers.

The Cisco researchhighlighted that the majority ofmobile devices now have Wi-Fi Internet access capabilities.In fact, with the exception ofsmartphones, the report saidthat Wi-Fi is now thepredominant access technologyfor mobile devices.

Meanwhile, it also noticedincrease in devices like laptops,tablets, and eReaders thatalmost exclusively connect tothe Internet through Wi-Fi.

The trend, according to thereport is expected to increaseas devices become morepowerful and networks becomefaster. Interestingly, mobileaccess no longer exclusivelymeans using devices while onthe road.

According to the survey,consumers use their

mobile devices for more than2.5 hours at home on a typicalday. People are expecting toincrease their home use ofmobile devices even more. Thisshift in where people use theirmobile devices has seen anincrease in the connectionthrough Wi-Fi. Even themajority of smartphone usersare supplementing their mobileconnectivity with Wi-Fi. Withthe exception of coverage,people prefer Wi-Fi over mobileto connect their devices. WhileWi-Fi is not able to compete

with the ubiquity of cellularnetwork coverage,respondents consider Wi-Fieasier to use and more reliablethan mobile.

The survey also discoveredthat a third of mobile users aretaking advantage of public Wi-Fi hotspots on a weekly basis.The most popular locations arepublic outdoors, coffee shops,restaurants, and retail stores.With publicly accessible Wi-Fievolving so quickly, people areexpecting free Wi-Fi access.The rapidly evolving public Wi-Fi business has significantlychanged consumers’expectations. As a result, todayvery few of the users surveyedare actually paying for publicWi-Fi.

If given a choice betweenaccess networks, the surveyhighlighted that mobile userschoose Wi-Fi over mobileacross all network attributes,with the obvious exception ofcoverage. Also worth noting isthat across most attributes, one-quarter of consumers see nodifference between the twonetworks.

How Wi-Fi rules subscribers’

mobile lives

Chart showing subscribers’ desire level for Wi-fi

Running on Windows CE Professional,the unit is powered by a TI OMAP 3dual-core processor running at 800MHz, with a 3D graphics accelerator and512 MB of RAM. There’s 512 MB ononboard Flash storage with the ability toexpand by up to 32 GB via Micro SDcard. It boasts of Bluetooth and Wi-Ficonnectivity and can stream video backto base using an optional two-megapixelcamera accessory that can capture 1080pvideo at 30 frames per second.

Audio is handled by two bi-directionalnoise-canceling microphones located on

the display pod and an adjustable “nearear” speaker that can be replaced byearbuds if so desired. The unit also sportsa mini-USB port and two USB 2.0 portsfor the connection of the camera accessoryor other peripherals. Data entry can alsobe done via Bluetooth-connected devicesor by using a virtual onscreen keyboard.

A gyroscope, accelerometer and digitalcompass provide head-trackingcapabilities that allow the scrolling,panning, tilting, zooming, rotation andfreezing of onscreen documents andschematics, as well as the ability toperform application functions with theturn of the head.

LAST week, we reported that Apple may debut with amini iPad this week. Yes, it came to pass. Last Tuesday,

the device maker debuted took the wraps off the anticipatednew smaller-screen iPad atan event in California.

However, the biggestsurprise is that Apple alsosystematically introduced afourth-generation versionof the larger-screen iPad,just six months after thenew iPad, popularly knownas iPad 3 was launched.

Apple also shockedexpectant and potentialbuyers of the new miniproduct with a price that istwice higher than similar-sized devices in the market.

Prior to Tuesday, potentialbuyers had predicted thatthe device maker wouldcrush its competitors witha price slash to its mini iPad which may see flood of interestfor the new product against competition.

However, with the price of about $329 as announced byApple for the mini product, similarly-sized devices likeNexus-7 from Google which sells at US$199 and Amazon’sKindle Fire which sells US$159 are still in contention withoutlosing sleep.

The new 7.9-inch ‘iPad mini’ is said to be 23 percent thinnerand 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, butboasts the same number of pixels as the original iPad andiPad 2.

Meanwhile, the new version of the 9.7-inch iPad includesa new self-made A6X chip that claims to deliver up to twicethe CPU performance and up to twice the graphicsperformance of the A5X, and a new LTE baseband chip thatsupports a greater number of 4G networks worldwide. Thebase model (16GB) will retail for US$499.

The Wi-Fi only versions of both the iPad mini and the newiPad will begin shipping on Friday 2 November.

iPad 4 makes surprisedebut alongside mini iPad

Motorola releases Headset computer with voicerecognition, gesture control

•Motoroladigital head

gear

• iPad 4

•Mini iPad


L-r: Divisional head, Product and Channels, Unity Bank,Mr. Felix Ezeh; Regional Head, Ikeja, Mrs. Yemi Adeyinka;and independent auditor PKF Professional Services, Mr.Abayomi Oshun Makinde at the Unity Bank plc, promoplay and win draw in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

L- R: Mr. Lolu Akinyemi, Finance Director; Mr. Alex Goma, MD, Family Care; MrsGloria Youny, Celebrity Quest; Mr. Adewale Raji, MD Distribution Services; and Mr.Edward Bamidele, Customer Marketing Director, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc at theunveiling of the new Morning Fresh and introduction of Zest Lemon Variant in Lagos.Photo: Diran Oshe

L-r: Prof. DougBlackmur, ExecutiveDirector, IndependentQuality AssuranceAgency; Dr. FemiOgunsanya, Chairman,Association of PrivateEducation in Nigeria,APEN; Mr. MarkBrooks, Director, MarkBrooks EducationConsultant, UK; Mr.Colin Bell, ExecutiveDirector, Council ofBritish InternationalSchool, UK; and Mrs.Olufunke Fowler-Amba, Director VivianFowler MemorialCollege, during theAPEN 4th AnnualConference in Lagos.Photo: Bunmi Azeez

L-r: Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya, Director of Agric Services,Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Lagos State;Miss Aminat Agodi, Agric 'Yes' Songhai participant; Dr.Yaqub Bashorun, Permanent Secretary; and Mrs AyoAwokulehin, Director of Cooperative Services at areception and presentation of certificates for Agric 'Yes'Songhai participants on arrival from training abroad.Photo: Lamidi Bamidele

Obinna UzohFoundationgives succorto Onitshaprison inmates

RENOWNED philanthropist, politician and

lawyer, Dr. Obinna Uzoh,through his organization,Obinna Uzoh Foundation(OUF), weekend, swelledthe Archbishop of Onitsha,Most Rev. Valerian Okeke'sbirthday package for the in-mates with one million nairaduring the church service inthe prison chapel.

Archbishop Okeke, whose59th birthday anniversarywas devoid of fanfare thisyear, told reporters that ow-ing to the sad mood of thenation where flood has rav-aged many homes, he wouldprefer to celebrate a “drybirthday”, by identifyingwith the less privileged, thesick and the poor.

Uzoh whose ‘philanthropyand love boat’ literarily ber-thed briefly at the Onitshaprison to be part of the Arch-bishop’s 59th birthday insidethe prison chapel, told the in-mates and the prison staffthat he was toeing the foot-steps of the Archbishop inseeking the welfare of thepoor and the less privileged,describing him as his fatherand mentor he likes to emu-late.

Uzoh noted that prison ismeant to be a reformatory in-stitution, which the churchthrough the able leadershipof Archbishop Okeke havedone so much to make theOnitsha prison reasonablycomfortable for the inmates.

Dr. Obinna Uzoh with Archbishop Valerian Okeke withsome prison staff and inmates during the visit to Onitshaprison, weekend.


By SOLA OGUNDIPE

Kidney transplant: An effectivemedical treatment

•Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Aliyu Pate (right) withUNFPA Executive Director, Professor Babatunde Oshotimehin duringthe conference on UN Commission on Life-saving Commodities forWomen and Children held in Abuja last week.

KIDNEY transplant is aprocedure wherein a person

whose own kidneys have failed,receives a new kidney to performits regular functioning. Thefailure of both kidneys is knownas End Stage Kidney Disease,ESKD or End Stage RenalDisease, ESRD.

At least five percent of the adultpopulation in Nigeria have someform of kidney damage, andevery year millions dieprematurely of cardiovasculardiseases linked to chronic kidneydiseases.Common causes

Common causes includeinflammatory diseases of thekidney, infections, obstruction inthe urinary tract and inheriteddisorders like polycystic kidneydisease.

The first consequence ofundetected chronic kidneydiseases is the risk of developingprogressive loss of kidneyfunction leading to kidney failureand the need for dialysistreatment or a kidney transplantwhich is very expensive.

Most forms of kidney diseaseare treatable. Early detection andtreatment can often keep chronickidney disease from gettingworse, and can prevent the needfor dialysis or transplant.Living Donor Transplant

Since an individual needs onlyone healthy kidney to live, aperson with two healthy kidneyscan donate one kidney tosomeone whose kidneys havefailed. This is called a livingdonor transplant.

A living donor can be a familymember, a friend, or a near one.Before the transplant, bothrecipient and the living donorneed to make sure there is a goodmatch and that both are healthyenough for the surgery.Deceased Donor Transplant

One can also receive a kidneyfrom someone who has just died.This is called a deceased donor

(or cadaveric) transplant. Beforebeing there in waiting list for adeceased donor transplant,recipient has to go through sometests. These tests help make surethat the deceased’s kidney is agood match for the recipient andthat the recipient is healthyenough for the surgery.Candidates for kidneytransplant

People with 90-95 percentkidney failure are eligible forESRD treatment, of whichkidney transplant is suggestedto those who suffer fromdiabetes and other alliedconditions. People with seriousheart disease and who havesuffered from cancer are notusually considered for kidneytransplantation. There is norestriction on age but it isdependent on the overallhealth of the patient.

High cost, shortage of kidneysand perennially long waiting listscompel doctors to advisetransplantation selectively.How it is doneLike any other surgery thepatient is administered generalanesthesia,in some cases it may

be local anesthesia as well, tolessen the impact and pain of thesurgery. The surgeon makes a cutin the lower belly and places thenew kidney and the artery andveins are connected. As soon asthe blood starts passing throughthe kidney, urine productionstarts.

Kidney transplant surgeryusually takes 4-5 hours and therehabilitation time is normally 7-10 days in a hospital after whichthe patient is discharged and puton a follow up plan with thedoctor. Usually, the recoveryperiod is close to six months.Risks: Kidney transplantationentails risks similar to any othermajor procedure / surgery. Theyinclude development of bloodclots, excessive bleeding,infection, failure or rejection ofdonated kidney and side effectsof anti-rejection medicationamong others. After successfultransplantation both donor andthe recipient need special careand monitoring, posttransplantation.Side effects of medication

High Blood Pressure, diabetes,bone thinning, increased risk ofskin cancer and non-HodgkinLymphoma, infection, puffinessand weight gain.

• Kidney transplant in progress. Most forms of kidney disease aretreatable. Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidneydisease from getting worse, and can prevent the need for dialysis ortransplant.

AS Nigerians joined the rest

of the world to mark thisyear’s World Stuttering Day,Health professionals have calledfor the integration of speechtherapy into the nation’s healthsystem as a major strategy tocheck the rising number ofstutterers in the country.

Stuttering is a communicationdisorder characterised byexcessive involuntarydisruptions or blockings in theflow of speech, particularly whensuch disruptions consist ofrepetitions accompanied byavoidance or struggle behaviour.

At a public lecture organisedby the Speech TherapyDepartment of NationalOrthopaedic Hospital Igbobi,Lagos, NOHIL, to mark the Daywith the theme: “A voice andSomething to Say” they noted

Health professionals seekintegration of speech therapyinto health system

Department of SpecialEducation, University ofIbadan, called on the FederalGovernment to urgentlyestablish a Speech Unit in allgovernment hospitals acrossthe 36 states of the country.

Giving details of thefrustrations of stutterers,Ademokoya lamented that “thefrustrations of havingsomething to say but have novoice to say could be betterimagined than experienced.“This is often the dailyexperience of stutters who areintelligent, who have ides orneeds to express or requests tomake but are often helplessand frustrated to say it, becausethey lack good voice to say it.”

He further urgedgovernment to pay moreattention to stutteringchallenge by making speechand listening part of theirgeneral studies, compulsoryfor all students.

On his part, the ChiefMedical Director of thehospital, Dr. Yinusa Wahab whowas represented by HeadClinical Services, Dr. OlurotimiOdunubi, noting that 1 percentof the population are stutterersadvised that people shouldonly empathised with sufferersand not sympathise with them.

The Head of Department,Speech Therapy, NOHIL,Mrs. Grace Shokoya regrettedthat despite the burden of thedisorder, little or no attentionis paid to the condition.

Shokoya noted that moststutterers suffer serious neglectand discrimination in schoolsand in the society at large.

She announced that to ensurethat all stutterers achieve theirpotentials, the department isestablishing help and supportgroup in the communities toassist people with thechallenge.

Speaking, Lagos StateCommissioner for Education,Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoyewho was represented by Mrs.Oluwa Toyin called for moreawareness campaign on thedisorder. partner.

•Participants during a walk organised by the National CancerPrevention Programme, NCPP, last week in Lagos.

that despite the challenges faceby Nigerian stutterers little ornothing is being done toalleviate their sufferings.

The Guest lecturer, ProfessorJulius Ademokoya,


CMYK

38—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

email: [email protected]: 08098097290

EID-IL-ADHA, the ritualof animal sacrifice has

remained a means of attainingnearness to Almighty Allah. Itis a sacrifice that we offer withfervour and enthusiasm on theoccasions of the Hajj, precicely10th of Zhul-Hijjah. While itsimport and essence is to showtaqwa, piety to the Creator, itcan also be viewed in the sameway with zakah because themeat of ram, goat, sheep, cowor camel is distributed foreating. Prophet Ibrahim andhis son (as) offered us greatlesson and a pathway forgenuine faith and submissionto Allah (SWT). We do not needto go into the historicalperspective of the sacrifice, youmay read Q37:100-110; what isimportant now is imbibing thelessons of the occasion andapplying it to our daily lives.And for those who have themeans to do the sacrifice, howdo we go about it to make itmore meaningful and affect thelives of others.

We must note that thissacrifice is merely symbolic.The blood of the animal can notextinguish our sins neither canit make make anyone morerighteous. Animals andhumans are not of equal value.So, almighty Allah does notneed the blood, neither does Hehave anything to do with themeat. The flesh and blood [ofyour sacrificed animals] doesnot reach God; it is only yourpiety that reaches Him. Thushas He subjected them to yourservice so that you may giveglory to God for guiding you.[This is the way of therighteous] and [O Prophet!]give glad tidings to theserighteous. Q22:37. What isabsolutely necessary is thepiety, and the will to alwayssubmit to His ordinances. Thatis why the killing of a ram isnot the ultimate on thisoccasion but the state of yourheart to Allah. It is laughablewhen people who rarely prayfive times daily or seldom fastregularly or not disposed toalms-giving, but in a show ofwealth, bought andslaughtered the biggest ram inthe market for sallah. That isnot part of the intents andpurposes of the feast. It is areflection of our faith, ourwillingness to submit to the willof Almighty Allah, to worship

Him at all times and care forothers.

We should also showgratitude to Allah forpreserving our lives. The ramwhich replaced Ibrahim’s sonwas an illustration of a rewardfor total submission to the willof Allah. It is also a symbol ofAllah’s love for us and that

He is capable of interveningat the critical moment andproviding solutions to ourproblems.

The absolute submissionexemplified by Ibrahim andIsmaeel to the Will of Allahand the true slave-hood mustbe emulated.

The sacrifice that we performon this occasion as a worshipto Allah should provoke us tothink about how we cancontinue to live in peace andharmony with non-Muslims.We should think about howwe can give Islam the rightimage through our actionsespecially in a country wherethe religion has been

misconstrued and givenunpleasant meaning as aresult of the Boko Haraminsurgency.

The food that we eat on thisday should remind us of thosewho are dying of hunger in ourcommunity, the deprived,widows and less privileged.

Today, let us begin to work

for the pleasure of Allah byproviding succour for thedowntrodden

Method of SacrificeThe animal for slaughter

should be laid on its left sidefacing Kaaba and say:

Ini wajhatu, wajihiyalliladhi fatora samawati walardi anifah, wamo ana minal-musheerikeen, ina salatiwanusikii, wa mahayaya,wamamati, lillahi rabilAlameen. Laasherika Llahu,wabizalika, umirtu, wa anaminal Muslimeen. Allahumalaka wa minka..

“Behold I have turned myface earnestly towards Him

Who originated the heavensand the earth and I am not ofpolytheists. Behold, my salat,mine offering, my living andmine dying are all for Allah,Lord of the worlds. Nopartners hath He, concerningthis I have been bidden and Iam of the Muslims O Allah! (Ioffer this) to you and You gaveit to me.”

After reciting this prayers,Say: Bismillahi RahmaniRaheem, then slaughter theram with a sharp-edged knife.Thereafter, you can say:‘Allahuma taqabal minee,kama taqabaltu min ahli

Ibraheema, wa habeebikaMuhamaddin alaihumasalatu-wa-salam.’ meaning: OAllah! Accept this sacrificeoffered by me as Thouaccepted the sacrifice offeredby Thy friend Abraham andthat offered by Thy love oneMuhammad. May Peace andblessings descend upon both.

Although it is permissible tolet someone else perform theslaughter of your sacrificialanimal, yet it is better if youperform this act with your ownhands. While you perform theslaughter, try to think and feelin the same way as youexpress through the wordsyou utter at the time ofsacrificing the animal.Everything we have gotbelongs to Allah and it is allto be spent in His way only.

Method of sharing:The meat which could be

ram, goat, sheep, cow andcamel should be skinned anddivided into three parts. Thefirst part should be for thefamily, the second part for theMuslims who do not have themeans to slaughter a ram;(there is no rationale in givingto those who slaughtered ram)and the last part is for nonMuslims, neighbours andwell-wishers. Eid Mubarak!

MA K K A H — K I N G

Abdullah BinAbdulaziz, of Saudi Arabia hassaid that the crises sweepingthrough some Muslimcountries and have resulted inmiserable consequencesremained unabated becausemany have not complied withthe Shariah, which can solve allproblems.

King Abdulaziz urgedMuslims to get rid of divisions,saying: “We are one nation andit is the duty of the wholeUmmah to put out the fires ofconflicts and division amongus."

In a speech delivered on hisbehalf by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah regionat the ongoing conferenceorganized by the Makkah-based Muslim World Leaguerecently, King Abdullah said theKingdom has dealt with thesecrises based on its establishedprinciples and policiesregarding the Arab and Muslimworlds.

The Kingdom said the Muslimworld should be regarded asone adding that it is incumbentupon every Muslim to preventand resolve any conflict thaterupts among Muslims.

In light of the above, theKingdom hosted the 4thExceptional Islamic Conferencelast Ramadan in Makkah toenhance Muslim solidarity. “Werely upon influential Muslimscholars and organizations to

Muslims urged tounite under Shariah

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE,

Reporting from Saudi Arabia

Eid Mubarak!•Lessons of the day•And the meat

warn Muslims against theconsequences of sectarianism,conflicts and differences,” hesaid.

“We have the same religion.We belong to the same nation.We have the same mission. Weare all targets. We should joinforces and hold dialogue toconfront and face all challenges,”the Emir said.

He called upon the MuslimWorld League (MWL) to draft apractical program to promotesolidarity. Senior scholars anddecision makers in the Ummahshould also participate in thepreparation of such a program.

Addressing the gathering at thetwo-day conference organized bythe Muslim World League(MWL), Sheikh Abdul Aziz AalAl-Sheikh, Grand Mufti andChairman of MWL SupremeLeague, called for the unity of theMuslim community and itsmembers. He said Islam calls forsolidarity and helping oneanother and it denounces allforms of corruption and baddeeds.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Tukri, MWLSecretary-General, said theMuslim community should beeducated about the establishedvalues of Islam and the changes.

He also said Islam is not againstany development and that, on thecontrary, it accommodates anydevelopment based on Shariahprinciples.

Dr. Essam Al-Bashir, Presidentof the Islamic Fiqh Academy, inhis own speech said it is importantto focus on the established valuesof Islam.

,

,

The blood of the animal cannot extinguish our sins neithercan it make make anyone morerighteous. Animals and humans

are not of equal value. So,Almighty Allah does not need

the blood, neither does He haveanything to do with the meat

Eid-el-Adha: Occasion to dedicate and be obedience to Allah

AS Muslims across theglobe celebrate Eid-el-

Adha after Millions of faithfulsconverged yesterday at MountArafat to glorify Allah, S.W.T.,Nigeria Muslims have beenurged to imbibe thesignificance of Eid-el-Adha bybeing dedicated and obedientto Allah.

The call was made by thePresident of The Companion,Alhaji Wale Sonaike who urgedMuslims across the globe touse the occasion of this year 'sEid to dedicate themselves toGod, loving and helpful to

By ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH fellow human being.In his lecture titled: “ Eid-

el-Adha: Origin andSignificance,” organised byThe Companion, a group ofMuslim professionals, aUniversity Don, Dr. LookmanAdedeji, said what revolvearound the celebration is astory of genuine love andunconditional obedience tothe command of Allah.

According to Adedeji, apartfrom the love the day fostersamong Muslims as a resultof giving out meat and othergift items among themselvesand members of their family,it reminds them of Ibrahim’sdedication and obedience to

his Lord and a period whenchildren must study the life ofIsmail and learn how to obeytheir parents.

The lecturer said the periodis one “ when we mustconstantly obey Allah in all thatHe has commanded, whileputting one’s trust in Him.

Dr. Adedeji observed thateating and drinking was partof the celebrations, however,“the occasion must be a periodwhen wives must re-evaluatetheir relationships with theirhusbands. He urged Muslimsto constantly obey Allah in allthat He has commanded, whileputting one’s trust in Him.

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY


VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

YOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING

Send your date and place of birth to the AstrologicalCounselling, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

LIBRA; If you back your financial plans with con-crete and positive actions things’ll go according toyour desire. If you fail to realise importance of yourspouse you would work your way into avoidabletrouble; aren’t you tired of crisis?

SCORPIO; Your intelligence, competence and levelof concentration may today bring you envy, which youdon’t deserve within your working arena in a nega-tive form but.

SAGITTARIUS; The Moon highlights your Solarsecond house of money which is good but, if you tryto buy true love with money, you’ll be disappointed

CAPRICORN; The. Moon in your Star sign’ll givesyou new confidence and with new supports from thepowers-that-be, it’s like you are now un-stop-able. Butbe cautious, especially with the veterans within yourbase of operation

AQUARIUS; Better days are ahead of you but, youwill today need to do away with non-productive ar-gument and/or agreement. Try to be more diplomaticnow.

PISCES; If what you’re doing today’ll depend ontomorrow’s event it’s better you’re more careful now.Even things may not go according to your personalplans today. Yet it’s important you plan both yourimmediate and far future carefully now

ARIES; If you take to aggression, your ego would bedeflated by your superior colleagues, but your beingco-operative in a civilised way’ll prevent trouble

TAURUS; Those willing to put you to shame one wayor the other’ll be disappointed with the turn of thingstoday. It’s good to secure support of your spouse.

GEMINI; You’ve had enough of fun in the recent timesand it’s now time you settle down for hard work inorder to prevent avoidable trouble. Be patient please.

CANCER; Your concentration level and determina-tion are the pillars of your success today. Yet you’llneed to respect your senior colleagues and protectyour image

LEO; It’s true you’re willing to work harder but youjust have to drop both aggression and mental arro-gance to allow things to roll accordingly. Then, you’reaccident prone within your working arena. Respectthe law and its agents today.

VIRGO; Serious thought may be giving to matters ofthe heart but it’s better you tarry a while. Joint ven-tures of short duration today may be an invitation toavoidable trouble

Dear Joshua,

I am interested in your Astrological counselling. Kindlytell me everything about myself, especially my financeand career; would I be rich eventually, if yes whatshould I do to make it happen quickly.

Ben, Enugu.

Dear Ben,

There are indications of financial success for you butyou can not change what Almighty God Has designedfor you talking about the timing (the quickness youtalked in your letter) Certainly however no failure foryouMercury –the planet of education and Accountancy,together with mighty Sun at positive angle to planetsin Virgo (another Accounting Star sign) attracted youto both Accountancy profession and the academicworld. Truly you did not make wrong choice of ca-reer.Money will eventually come along this line but it’llnot be as faster as if you take to OIL RELATED BUSI-NESS. Because Neptune (the planet of OIL) was verycomfortable when you were born. It will not be out ofplace if you have filling stations as time goes by, be-cause you are basically a GAS PERSON. Anothermoney spinning vocation for you include writing ei-ther along your line or for film making industry; it isimportant you exhibit the higher quotient of creativ-ity in your inner-self. Yes your dream of becoming AProfessor will come to reality. Politics is another areayou are not looking at now but will surely come. Doyou say why? Because Aquarius is equally political.

Success for me?

How is your morning?O

UR elders say ‘aman does not

wake up in the morn-ing and start pursuingrabbit’. In other wordsa man does not startthe day with somelevel of unseriousness.For a good morningportends a good day.

If I may ask you,how is your morninglike? What are yourprogramme for theday? Or do you justwake up as a matter ofcourse without a welllaid out goals for the

day? No objective, nodirection, whereverthe wind blows you,there you go? Haba!You can’t afford to liveyour life this way. Youcan’t be a victim ofanything goes.

Define your day. Youcan do this by chartinga programme of actionfor your day, daily. Thisyou can do a day be-fore the day of execu-tion. Some even planweeks and monthsahead. You can.

Think about it!


L-r: Chairman of the Union Bank of Nigeria plc, Mr. \Dick Kramer; deputy governorof Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere ; and the group managing director of thebank, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, during the commissioning of the Uyo main branchcomplex of the bank

L-R: Conference PRO, Methodist Church Nigeria and public relations practitioner, BroAramide Noibi with the Archbishop of Llagos, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Dr. AdebolaAdemowo at the 2012 golden jubilee synod of the Lagos Diocese, Methodist Church Nigeriaat the wesley Church, Ikoyi, LagosPoly rector threatens

contractors

Boko Haram: Sheriff's aide urges Sen Zanna to own up

Diokpa MathiasOtiono dies

SENATOR AhmedZanna was, yester-

day, has been urged to ownup and explain his allegedlinks with the Boko Haramrather than deny his rela-tionships with them.

Special assistant to theANPP B.O.T chairman,Comrade Umar Duhu, whomade the assertion, said itwas laughable that insteadof defending his obviousinvolvement with BokoHaram, given his past an-tecedence where peoplefinger him as illegal import-er of arms via his Hajj-by-road fame, Senator Zannawas desperately lookingsomebody to hang for hissins.

Duhu said: "It is on

record that shortly after theJTF announcement, Sena-tor Ahmed Zanna who rep-resents Borno Central cameout publicly in a BBCHausa service interview toown up that he is the onlysenator whose house isalong Damboa road; healso went ahead to admitthat the arrested suspectedis his nephew and liveswith him in his house.

"It is also on record thatthe State Security Servicehas invited Senator Zannato clarify his involvementwith the suspect and hislinks with Boko Haram.Senator Zanna in a comicu-turn, shortly after thesedevelopments, told journal-ists in a face-saving inter-

view that while he could notdeny his relationship withhis nephew, he disownedhis house where the JTF ar-rested the suspect, stress-ing that the house belongsto Senator Ali Modu Sher-iff the immediate formergovernor of the state."Given his recent politicalencounter with the imme-diate past governor, nowthe BOT chairman of ANPP,Senator Ali Modu Sheriff,he appears desperate to set-tle scores by dragging AliSheriff into the controver-sy."

Duhu said that SenatorZanna’s inconsistencies intrying to defend himselfwere clear indications of asinking man’s desperate at-

tempt to hang himself onanything available, addingthat there was no explana-tion for what would hisnephew be doing in the so-called house of Senator AliSheriff, the man he saidwas his political rival?

He added that contrary toSenator Zanna's claims inthe media that he had part-ed ways with the suspect,the nephew, Shuaibu, wasstill his associate up to thetime of his arrest, noting: "Itis an act in futility for himto try to name Ali Sheriff asan accomplice in his nefar-ious activity with BokoHaram, knowing fully wellthat the wild allegationsbeing levelled by him willnever amount to an acquit-tal of his guilt."

PARAMOUNT rulerof Ogulagha King-

dom, in Bururu localgovernment area of Del-ta State, HRM, Elder Jo-seph Timiyan, has beencommended for his qual-ity leadership and peace-ful reign throughout thekingdom.

Chief James Yeinanag-begha, who made thecommendation recently,also congratulated theOgulagha traditional rul-er on the occasion of hisseventh coronation anni-versary slated for No-vember 121, 2012 atObotobe I, Burutu.

Ogulaghamonarch getscommendation

DIOKPA MathiasOnyema Otiono,

the head of Idumu-OdafeQuarters, Ishiekpe vil-lage, Ogwashi-Uku, Del-ta State, has passed onat the age of 92 years.

A statement signed onbehalf of the family byDr. Andrew Itiono an-nouncing the demise de-scribed the late PapaOtiono LLB London, Bar-rister-at-Law of the Mid-dle Temple Inns as atransparent leader whowill be missed by all,adding that the burialarrangement will be an-nounced later.

Late Diokpa Otiono

ONITSHA —THERector of Federal

Polytechnic, Oko, AnambraState, Prof. Godwin Onu,has threatened to prosecutecontractors who failed tocomplete some of theFederal Governmentprojects in the institution.

Onu, who issued thethreat at a meeting with thecontractors handlingvarious projects in theschool, said it was not onlypainful that some of thecontractors abandonedtheir sites even aftercollecting money but that itwas criminal and vowed toprosecute defaulters.

He said the polytechnicwould not tolerate any formof delay by the contractorsbecause the institution wasin a hurry to develop thestructures alreadyapproved and awarded bythe management.

He hinted that a FederalGovernment delegationwould soon visit thepolytechnic to assess the

BY ENYIM ENYIM contracts and itscompliance in terms ofexecution, adding thatother delegations that hadearlier visited on the samemission were notdisappointed especially onthe judicious use ofresources.

Onu expressed

displeasure that some of theprojects which were slatedfor commissioning thisOctober had not beencompleted and advised thecontractors and consultantsto expedite action on theprojects to ensure itscompletion before the endof the capital year.

Eid el Kabir: Amaechi calls forcontinued prayers, oneness

AS Muslims mark thisyear’s Eid el Kabir,

Rivers State governor andchairman of the NigeriaGovernors’ Forum, Chi-buike Rotimi Amaechi, hascalled for continued prayersfor peace, security and de-velopment in the country,

and its people.Amaechi who stated this

in his Sallah message toMuslims and all Nigeri-ans, congratulated Mus-lims for the successful con-clusion of this year’s Hajjand urged them to contin-ue to pray for the peace andprogress of the nation andunity among its people.

The statement signed bythe governor’s Chief Presssecretary, Mr. David Iyofor,said: “As Nigerians, weshould not relent in pray-ing for our country, partic-ularly for our leaders tolead right and for our peo-ple to grow in love and one-ness to ultimately make ourcountry a better place for usall.

“Let the love and gener-osity exhibited during thefeast of sacrifice become partof our national life, as westrive to eschew violenceand all forms of inhumani-ty. On behalf of my family,the government and peo-ple of Rivers State, I wishyou happy sallah. And asyou celebrate, reflect on theideals and virtues of Proph-et Ibrahim.”

UGHELLI-URHOBOyouths, under the

aegis of Urhobo NationalYouth Council, UNYC,yesterday, urged theFederal Government tospecify the number of slotsto be allotted to the Urhoboex-militants in the thirdphase of the AmnestyProgramme.

Its National President,Comrade MondayOyeghe, told newsmen inUghelli that surreptitiousarrangements were beingmade by the amnesty

BY FESTUS AHON authorities to earmark 1,500of the 3,000 for the Ijaw ex-militants whom it saidbenefited so much from thefirst and second phases ofthe programme at theexpense of other ethnicgroups.

Alleging that 500 of theslots had been allotted tothe Itsekiri nation and 100for John Togo’s boys,Oyeghe urged the FederalGovernment to allot moreslots to Urhobo ex-militantsas they did not benefit atall from the other phases ofthe programme.

Urhobo youths seek more slotsin amnesty scheme

A 25-year-old unemployed man, Ade Ak-

indele, has been arraignedbefore Ojo MagistrateCourt in Lagos, for alleg-edly stealing a King JamesVersion of the Bible valuedat N1,000, from a shop.

Akindele, who had nofixed residence, was said tohave become dazed afterallegedly removing a blackpurse and a Bible from thetable of one Miss BlessingAwodita (complainant),while she was asleep.

It was gathered that theaccused, after allegedlystealing the Bible, stood in

Man, 25, charged forstealing Bible

the shop for a while withthe Bible in his hand, star-ing at the complainant whowas sleeping, before he wasnabbed.

The prosecutor, ASP Fri-day Eze, informed the courtthat when the complainantsuddenly woke up from herslumber, she did not find itfunny to see the strangergazing at her, with her Bi-ble and purse in his hands.He told the court that thefrightened woman shoutedfor help and two of her maleneighbours accosted theaccused who resisted butwas subdued by the men.

CMYK


Continues on page 42

WHAT happened lastSaturday between

Governor Rochas Okorochaand an unnamed aide ofGovernor Peter Obi of AnambraState remains a matter ofcontention.

A national newspaper claimsthe governor punched Obi’sprotocol officer over a seat atthe venue of the 80

th birthday

celebration of former Vice-President Dr. Alex Ekwueme,in Enugu.

Okorocha’s media office,however, disputes the claimdescribing it as irresponsiblejournalism. It alleged that thegovernor never physicallyengaged the aide saying thatengagement was only betweenthe ‘over zealous’ protocol aideof Governor Obi and protocolofficers of Governor Okorocha.

In his statement debunkingthe newspaper reportOkorocha's media aide furtherhighlighted the well knownhumility of the governor whohas enthralled many with hispopulist inclinations.

Claim topopularity

Okorocha’s claim topopularity was undoubtedlyhelped by the resentmentagainst the immediate pastPeoples Democratic Party, PDPadministration, which in theopinion of many played god.

The new administration’spopulist programmes includingthe payment of tokens to schoolpupils, the many roadconstruction projects that thegovernment embarked uponand other ambitious effortsmust have gladdened thehearts of many Imolites. Butwhere the governor has wonhearts with his projects andprogrammes, he has alsocaused heartaches with whatmany now consider as badpoliticking.

Remarkably, GovernorOkorocha started well with hisnotable feat in pulling the rugunder the feet of PDP when anumber of the PDP members ofthe House of Assemblydecamped to his AllProgressive Grand Alliance,

Winning some, losing heartsOKOROCHA’S FIGHTS:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

APGA, to transform APGA fromthe minority party to themajority party.

One of the defectors from the

PDP, Ben Uwajimogu wasenthroned as speaker of theImo State House of Assembly.Uwajimogu eventually became

a bedrock for Okrocha in thelegislative House and one ofhis closest advisers.

Given the bruising defeathanded over to the PDP it wasunderstandable that the newopposition party would turnout to fight the governor overthe defection of Mr. Uwajimoguand others.

But many in the state do notfind excuse for some otherfights that the governor has hadto engage since the advent ofhis administration penultimateMay.

Governor Okorocha is inbattle with PDP councilchairmen whose time in officehe unceremoniously cut short,he is allegedly engaged in acold war with his brothergovernor, Peter Obi in AnambraState over the shape andstructure of their party, APGA,he is also said to be engagedin a cold war with some of thosewho supported him in his fightagainst Ohakim, notablySenator Chris Anyanwu.

The governor has alsoengaged local governmentworkers in the state in abruising battle over theadministration’s controversialfourth tier administrativepolicy. The policy which aimsto establish a fourth tier ofadministration at thecommunity level has beenseriously opposed by workers

a member of the House ofAssembly who was elected onthe platform of the PDP.Speaker Uwajimogu had shiedaway from inaugurating ChiefEugene Dibiagwu, as themember representing OgutaConstituency despite acertificate of return from theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC.

The speaker, however, cavedin following a court orderobtained by Dibiagwu orderingthe speaker to swear inDibiagwu as a member of theHouse. The action of thespeaker is alleged to haveseriously angered top officialsin the Government House,Owerri who saw it as abetrayal. The speaker it waslearnt, was compelled to heedthe court order out of fear thatunlike the governor that hedoes not have immunity thatcould stop him from beingcommitted for contempt.

However, the StateCommissioner for InformationObinna Ofor disputes the claimof a rift between the governorand the speaker claiming thatsuch suggestions are fanned bymischief makers.

“It is absolute rubbish, nottrue,” he said in a textmessage, saying that the claimis fanned by “Political jobberswho are wishfully hoping tostir up trouble.”,

,who believe that it woulddislocate their careers.

The first battle of the governorwas with the local governmentchairmen he met in office all ofwhom were elected on theplatform of the PDP.

On assumption he sackedthem alleging irregularities inthe framework that guided theelection.

The action against the localgovernment chairmen wasconsidered in some quarters tohave been unnecessary.

“All that the governor shouldhave done was to have wooedthem and he would have seena large number of them defectto his party instead of theunnecessary battle of fightingthem,” one politicalstakeholder said.

The reported face off betweenthe governor and the speakerit is claimed arose from thespeaker’s decision to swear in

“The relationship betweenthe governor and speaker isvery cordial,” Ofor said as heclaimed that the duo are“united in moving Imo forwardand would not be deterred bythis ridiculous claim.”

One of the whispered fightsof the governor which hasshocked many is the allegedface-off between the governorand Senator Anyanwu, thesenator representing OwerriSenatorial zone in the senate.

Senator Anyanwu it would berecalled, was a pillar of supportin the governor’s entrenchedbattle with Ohakim. However,the duo it is alleged is havefallen out and have lost themutual confidence theyenjoyed at the inception of thenew administration.

Many, however, trace thecrisis between the senator andthe governor to the

•Okorocha: Is he fighting too many battles?

The governor has also engagedlocal government workers in thestate in a bruising battle over theadministration’s controversial fourthtier administrative policy

CMYK

FOR a man who has fought and overwhelmed many formidableopponents, including the once entrenched former governor of thestate, Ikedi Ohakim (Ikiri), the news that Governor Rochas Okorochafought the aide of Governor Peter Obi over a chair must have lookedsalacious. Is it the spice of the opposition?


IS it true that the governor

is engaged in anyactivity against you?

It is not true. It is all beingsponsored by the oppositionPDP and it is all a calculationto try to engender fear in theminds of his (governor ’s)supporters and to create crisiswithin government circles.

The truth is that I enjoy avery close relationship withthe governor and in fact, I amjust coming out from ameeting with the governorthat lasted over four hours.

We do have disagreementsas every other person, but ourdisagreements do not evercome out to the publicdomain. So, it is not true. Hehas also denied it.

The governor and I go backa long way, we were friendsfrom 1992, very close friends,even though I didn’t supporthim during the elections.

As human beings there areissues where we will neveragree, but it has never gottento the point where we willfight against each other.

The important thing is thatwe share the same passionabout development. The thingis that we don’t believe inblowing our trumpet like mostgovernments do and maybethat is why people aremisunderstanding theproblem.The thing is thatmonumental progress hasbeen recorded in Imo State.

But is it correct that thegovernor disagreed with youon the swearing in of the newPDP member of the House?

On the issue of the swearing

It's PDP mischief at work— Uwajimogu, Imo Speaker

in of the PDP member, therewere certain issues thatneeded to be addressed. Theconstitution requires you todeclare your assets before theCode of Conduct Bureaubefore you are sworn in andhe didn’t do it.

So, I asked him to complywith the Code of ConductBureau and unfortunately, bythe time he came in, we hadclosed for the day andadjourned for the next week.

Instead of him to have comefor consultation before thesitting day, he didn’t and wewould have told him and sowhen he came, I just referredhim to the legal departmentand when he went there, theytold him what he needed todo.

The PDP now addressed apress conference and raisedall sort of allegations insteadof addressing the issues thatwere pointed out. Whileraising those allegations andwhen we were going to sit, hemobilised well over 1,000youths and throughinformation, the securityagencies adviced us not to sitbecause as he was mobilisingthese youths, APGA membersstarted mobilisingthemselves.

So, we saw a situation wherethe two parties would comethere and there would be aclash and if any thinghappens, I would be blamedand it would be a stain on myrecord. So, we decided that

Continues from page 41

government’s earlier decisionto relocate the Imo StateUniversity from Owerri to thegovernor’s senatorial district.

Though Senator Anyanwudid not openly come out tocriticize the move, it is believedthat she would have been hurtover it.

Governor Okorocha, however,has recently rescinded thedecision and has constituted acommittee of eminent citizensincluding Senator Anyanwu tofind a new site for the universitywithin the Owerri senatorialzone. Another great fight thegovernor may contend withcould also be with his allegedpromise of doing a single termin office.

Not too long ago, Cpt. DavidMbara, a chieftain of the PDPhad a reception for him bywomen of Mbaise had charged

Winning some, losing hearts

the governor to respect what hesaid was the governor ’spromise of doing only one termin office.

Mbaise, which comprises asizeable proportion of thestate’s political elite,remarkably has not produced

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

the best thing to do would beto adjourn until these mattersare sorted out and the firsttime, I swore him in. Offcourse, governor neveropposed his being sworn in.

The governor was notopposed?

No…but initially, yesbecause of political reasons.Let me give you the reason.Last year, there was apublication in The Newsmagazine, a letter written byChief Arthur Nzeribe to

Ohakim and in that letter hestated that the judges had

collected money from him andthat he was sure that theywere willing to give judgmentin that Imo State House ofAssembly case.

This year, the candidate tookINEC to court andmeanwhile, there was nosingle election in Oguta, notone booth. Even the chairmanof INEC in a nationalbroadcast mentioned that inthe history of Oguta that therehas never been an election,that what they did was to writeresults and the whole results(2011) were cancelled.

Then, they now went tocourt and took INEC to courtwithout joining the APGA orthe ACN candidate and thecourt gave a ruling acceptingseven ward results out of 11and in those seven wards,they were now leading APGAby 10,500 votes.

In the first instance, suchmargin never arose in the lastelection and especially so thatthere was no election inOguta. So, how did theymanufacture that result?

Acceptanceof result

When they went on appeal,the APGA and ACNcandidates applied to bejoined because these werepeople who had interest in thecase. The court refused to jointhem and then gave a rulingaccepting that result andimmediately, INECconducted an election in fourwards.

Obviously, there was agame which was unfair. TheAPGA and ACN candidateswent to court to challenge thatappeal and did not participatein the election. A court of lawgranted an injunction againsthis swearing in, a validinjunction. The same courtalso granted an injunctionagainst the government fromdissolving local governments,and the government obeyedthat court.

But when it came to theHouse of Assembly, theywanted me to swear in theman against a subsisting courtjudgment. This is the mischiefof the PDP, because they haveaccess to the media, they blowup everything, forgetting thatit was the same court that alsogave a ruling which the stategovernment was required toobey.

But at the end of the daywhen the court injunction waslifted by the court, the nextsitting we swore him in.

The governor was notagainst it because he had nochoice. Even me, I had nochoice because there was novalid court injunction.

•Uwajimogu: At peace with Okorocha

•Ohakim: Overwhelmed by Okorocha •Anyanwu: Is she still with Okorocha?

,

,The governorand I go backa long way,we werefriends from1992, veryclose friends,even though Ididn’t supporthim duringthe elections

a governor for the state andmany stakeholders from theregion would be waiting totackle the governor on theissue when the time comes.

CMYK

THE Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Ben Uwajimogu in this tele-phone interview gives his response to reports of schism between him and GovernorRochas Okorocha, dismissing the stories as the spin of the opposition PDP in thestate. Excerpts:


AS Nigerians continue to

celebrate the success ofthe just-concludedgovernorship election inOndo State, it is important tonote that although thepresident would naturallyhave wanted his party, thePDP, to win the governorshipelection in the State, the factthat he has never abused theenormous powers of thepresidency to influence theoutcome of elections showsthat he is a man of his words,a committed democrat and aPresident who believes in therule of law and the supremacyof the will of the people.

Ahead of the Ondo State2012 Gubernatorial elections,here is what the Presidentsaid at the Democracy Park inAkure, Ondo State on October13, 2012: “What we canguarantee the people of Ondostate is that the commitmentof this present administrationto ensure that Nigeriacontinues to remain high inthe comity of nations in termsof how we select our leadersremains constant.

It is going to be one man,one vote, one woman, onevote, one youth, one vote.”

ONDO GUBER POLL:

Another proof of Jonathan’scommitment to democracy

BY REUBEN ABATI

While reacting to the newsthat some political partieswere mobilizing thugs for the

election, President Jonathanadded: “I was told that somepeople are mobilizing thugs

from everywhere, if they likethey can go to anywhere tobring thugs, the FederalGovernment will not allowany thug to come out that day,and if you know you are athug or your child is to beused as a thug, carry themaway from Ondo state,because government willnever tolerate any rubbish.

It will be free and fairelection and nobody willfrustrate the commitment ofgovernment to project Nigeriatruly and nobody will allowthuggery.”

The President made asimilar promise, mostrecently in Edo state. And hekept his words. He has kepthis words again.

Discerning Nigerians willreadily admit that Nigeria’selectoral process has beentruly transformed underPresident Jonathan’s watch.

Apart from ensuring freeand fair elections in Edo andOndo as in every other partof the country, PresidentJonathan was also the firstperson to congratulateGovernor Mimiko.

A man of his words! A true sportsman!

President Jonathan alsocommended the dutiful,patriotic and law-abidingelectorate of Ondo State aswell as the INEC personneland security agencies whoensured that the electionswere peacefully andsuccessfully conducted inkeeping with hisAdministration’s commitmentto making elections inNigeria progressively betterorganised and more credible.

As Governor Mimikoprepares for his second termin Office, the President hasurged him to rededicatehimself to work even harderto justify the trust andconfidence reposed in him bythe people of Ondo state whovoted overwhelmingly for hisre-election.

President Jonathan hasassured Dr. Mimiko that theFederal Government willcontinue to engageconstructively and positivelywith the Ondo StateGovernment in collaborativeefforts to achieve faster socio-economic development andbetter living conditions forpeople in the state and allother parts of Nigeria.

Ondo GubernatorialElection: Another brightmoment for Nigeria!

President Jonathan’stransformation agendaremains sure and steady.

*Abati is the Senior SpecialAssistant to the President onMedia Matters.

*Jonathan

CHIEF Alex Ekwueme is, inmany respects, Nigeria’s

version of Heracles in the Greekmythology. He is a paragon ofunusual courage, ingenuity, andstrength, whose battle with themilitary rule is synonymous withHeracles’ terrific and heroicencounter with the hydra-headedchthonic monsters. Whether it istoiling for King Augeas of Elis orgetting Atlas, the holder of thecelestial spheres to take back thesky on his shoulders or it is awrestling bout with Antaeus, thegiant and vicious son ofPoseidon, Chief Ekwueme surelyknows how to combine thetoughness of Heracles and witsof Odysseus and Nestor.

However, unlike these mythicalcharacters, Chief Alex Ekwuemeis a legend living among men.Though gentle by every stretchof the word, Chief Alex Ekwuemeknows when to be radical. Thus,when it was most convenientand, in fact, the order of the dayto frolic with the military to curryfavours and patronages, ChiefAlex Ekwueme rallied like-minded and “hot-headed”politicians and statesmen underthe auspices of G-34 to speak upfor democracy and serve themilitary a red card. Interestingly,like the mustard, the seed sownby these uncommon

CHIEF ALEX EKWUEME:

Living legend, father of PDP

BY IKE EKWEREMADU

progressives have today growninto the largest political party inAfrica, the Peoples DemocraticParty.

If Chief Ekwueme’s display ofraw courage marks him out as ahero of democracy, his strengthof conviction, undying belief inparty supremacy and theprinciple of politics withoutbitterness came to the fore at theJos Presidential Primary Election.Instead of playing the spoiler orjumping into another politicalcamp when he lost thepresidential ticket of a house hepractically helped to build, ChiefEkwueme displayed a rare senseof statesmanship andsportsmanship by robustlyworking for the massive victoryof PDP. Today, his roles in thefounding, success, andsustenance of the PDP standshim out as the unarguable fatherof the PDP.

Many Nigerians know ChiefAlex Ekwueme as an architect,accomplished intellectual, andprofessional per excellence withchains of academic Degreescutting across variousdisciplines. But not many knowthat Chief Alex Ekwueme pitched

his tent with his people in thedefunct Republic of Biafra as theHead of Planning of the BiafranAirports Board. By the timehostilities ended, Chief AlexEkwueme had to his credit twofunctional airports, namely theUlli and Uga Airports, while theairport projects at Mbaise, NtighaNgwa, Umuleri, and Arochukwuwere at various completionstages. All these he achieved ina short time in war situation andwith limited resources.

Yet importantly, his deft politicalcalculations in aligning with theNational Party of Nigeria (NPN)instead of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’sNigeria Peoples Party (NPP)remains an indisputable evidenceto the detribalised and pragmaticperson of Chief Ekwueme. Hisability to beat other better knownpolitical powerhouses of Igboextraction to the Vice Presidentialticket in a game he was clearly a“neophyte” at the time as well ashis subsequent role in facilitatingthe state pardon and eventualreturn from exile of the lateEzeigbo Gburugbu, DimChukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu to reunite with Ndigboand Nigeria showcase him as a

skilful player and agentof national reconciliationand unity.

It is imperative to notealso that many years outof office as Nigeria’s VicePresident, ChiefEkwueme has continuedto serve as a model ofstrength of character inleadership. It is to hiscredit that he is stillreputed to have left Officeas Vice President ofNigeria poorer than hecame. No one hascontradicted this till date.It is a clear testimony tothe probity, transparency,selflessness, commitmentto democracy and goodgovernance that havecharacterised his publiclife.

It is therefore heartwarming to see Nigerians defyall divisive tendencies andsentiments, from the political tothe religious and ethnic tocelebrate a living legend, a rareicon, and thoroughly detribalisedNigerian.

Yes, His Excellency, Dr. AlexIfeanyichukwu Ekwueme,

GCON is indeed a true hero anddeserves the seat and honour heenjoys today among real men,true democrats, selfless leaders,accomplished statesmen, totalpatriots and, father figures of thecurrent democratic dispensation.

*Ekwueme

*Ekweremadu is the DeputyPresident of the Senate.

CMYK


07059197616

THE past weeks havewitnessed the presentation of

the Budget by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to theNational Assembly, and also thesuccessful conduct of the OndoState gubernatorial election.

Therefore, it is necessary tocongratulate the President onsubmitting the budget on timeand also, for the display ofsportsmanship in congratulatingthe people of Ondo State forrejecting his party (PDP) and forchoosing a performing governorfor the second time. ThePresident has been able toperform a difficult task ofconsoling his own party membersin Edo and Ondo states for thesunset of a once glorious party. Perhaps, the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) is not dead in thetwo progressive states, but rathertaking a necessary rest, to beprepared for the golden morn.

Some vital factors in the ‘public‘disaffection or lack of trust in thegovernment’s performance havebeen attributed to apparentfailures of its economic andpolitical policies.

Many analysts have attributedfailures of governments to theinability to profit from theexecution of some of theirprogressive policies. It has beenobserved that many good policiesof various governments in thecountry have either been poorlyexecuted or when fairly executed,have suffered under poorcommunication.

At times, poor or lack of effectivecommunication has beenresponsible for lack of trustbetween the government and the

Economic andpolitical imperativesgoverned. Therefore, it isabsolutely necessary for thegovernment to feel the pulse ofthe people in the planning andexecution of its policies.

A visionary leader may beexpected to pick holes ifnecessary in the execution of apolicy if and when necessary. The Edo and Ondo electionshave been judged to be free andfair but not without the usualincidents of improper conduct bythe voters in the exercise of theircivil rights and also, the officialsof the INEC in the execution oftheir duties.

As there were cases of voterscheating, there were also storiesof ballot materials not reachingtheir destinations on time. Thehuman behavior (not animal) of

the electorate could not beseparated from the heavypresence of security forces. Itwas reported that about 11,000police personnel were deployedto Ondo State during theelections. The question to beasked is whether any election isfree with such heavy appearanceof security forces. It may beaverred that something is wrongwith an electoral process, whichrequires the presence of heavysecurity forces to conduct anelection.

One point which should notescape the mind of a good leaderand the progressive elements inNigeria is the apparent lethargyof registered voters to anyelection.

During the last election in

Ondo State, it was discoveredthat the far less the number ofregistered voters participated inthat election.

The result also showed that thevictorious party scored less thanthe combined votes of theopposition. For example,Labour Party scored 260,199votes; PDP scored 155,961 whileACN scored 143,512 votes. Theimplication is that if this wereinterpreted into legislative seats,the Labour Party would thusconstitute a minoritygovernment. To me, themessage is clear. Nigerians aretired of party politics and wouldprefer a form of participation byall in the construction of a goodgovernment. Under the presentsystem, the winner with thelargest votes forms thegovernment under the principleof”winners-take-all”. This callsinto question the rationale of aparty endorsed by less than 10per cent of the entire population,and less than 50 per cent of theeligible voters exercising politicalpower over a population of about2million people.

The Uwais Commissionrecommended proportionalrepresentation in its report whichwould mean that the formationof any government woulddepend on the votes recorded bythe participating parties in theelections.

Many stable countries inEurope are listening to thedictates of their voters in respectof administration by a singleparty with the mentality of the“winners-take-all”. In the lastelection in Britain, no single party

won an overall majority in theBritish Parliament and therefore,there is now a coalition of parties(Tory and Liberal Democrats)ruling Britain. while in Germany,the present Chancellor heads thegovernment formed by manyparties.

What Nigerians are saying bytheir votes is that the single partyrule is anomalous and that theprinciple of “winners-take-all”may not work for politicalstability. The same argumentgoes for the Federal Governmentwhich is headed by the President(a member of a single politicalparty (PDP) who scored about 22million votes (Presidentialelection).

The implication of past electoralevents is the call for a fresh lookat the Uwais Report on electoralmatters, for political stability ofthe country. This will include theright of the IndependentCandidate which was denied inthe present Constitution by thepast Military political there couldbe no political stability without itscomplement, economic stability.There is no doubt that the presentFederal Government under Dr.Ebele Jonathan has been tryingto make an impact on micro-economic equilibrium.

The effect so far has yieldedfruits of seemingly stableeconomic condition, but withlarge dose of unemployment. Atpresent, oil production isestimated at 2.5 million barrelsper day; inflation rate at about11.3 per cent ; GDP at about 6.68per cent; Foreign Exchangereserves, at about $40 billion. However, unemployment rate is

TOWARDS NATIONAL DEVT:

MANY Nigerians areworried that the

amnesty programme may havefailed following the recentkidnapping of foreigners inRivers and Bayelsa states by seapirates?

Well, you rightly said thekidnap was done by sea pirates.Criminal activities take place inevery society. The programme isworking but we have told thePresident what is required tomake it get to the promise land.The level of the success so far wasbecause someone who was partof the struggle is managing it.Hon. Kingsley Kuku has done agreat job especially his focus onhow education should be the bestlegacy we can use to transformour region and using allhisstrength to pursue it, evengoing ahead to locate youths thatcan be trained as licensed pilot.

Recently there was apublication (not in vanguard)where some people alleged thatyou operate a militant camp withbombs and sophisticated

No militant camp in Lagos — Evah

BY AZU AKANWA weapons in Lagos, calledBrebegha Militant Camp withover 400 armed men?

That is nonsense. I am not amilitant leader nor an ex-militantleader. If I am involved in such athing, people like Gani Adams,Alhaji Yerima Shettima and ourleader, Dr. Fredrick Fasheuncannot make me their bosomfriend. It is the nonsenseparaded by some confusedminds.

Recently there was apublication with the headline:“Good times for ex-militants in2013”, claimed to be quoting meand said, I told the paper thatAmnesty is a failure. What mademe happy about what the paperwrote was that many peoplecalled me to say mischief makerswere using your name to sell theirpaper because it is open secretthat all the benefits I usedamnesty to achieve over the yearsI have always publish suchbenefits in the newspapers asadverts. I gave out free GCE,JAMB forms for hundreds ofstudents, educational facilitiessuch as schools, construction of

buildings hiring extra teachersfor various schools,empowerment tools for youthsand many more. I remain the onlyNiger Delta outside governmentactivists that has used theamnesty to do the work ofministry of education, ministry ofsocial development, ministry oflabour and productivity andministry of power.

I remain the only Niger Deltaoutside government activists that

has used theamnesty to dothe work ofministry ofeducat ion ,ministry ofs o c i a ldevelopment,ministry oflabour andproductivityand ministry ofpower.

What of thecamp calledA k o d omilitant campat IbejuLekki? It isbelieved thatthousands ofm i l i t a n t sr e c e i v e dtraining there.That you areo p e r a t i n gAkodo campto defend

Jonathan in the 2015 election.That place is owned by the

Amnesty office. It is used todocument ex-agitators or ex-militants who want to further theireducation. It is like the Obubracamp in Cross River State thatwas given to the amnesty officeby the federal government; butthat Oburo centre was owned byNYSC. The Brebegha camp youtalked about has nothing to dowith Lagos. There is nothing like

Brebegha camp with guns andbomb in Lagos. During theamnesty process, someindividuals and communitieswere giving amnesty slots, justlike recently, President Jonathangave amnesty slots to theItsekiris, Urhobos and others. Itis left for them to organisethemselves and make sure theyuse it to help their people.

During the Niger Deltastruggle, all the tribes andcommunities were affected. Thatis why we are begging thePresident to approve morephases of the programme formore youths and communities tobenefit.

So some people will representthe community or organizationand acquire further education.Those who benefit from mycommunities but are living inLagos come from all Niger Deltatribes. In one of our communities,we have over 5,000 youths butonly 100 persons arerepresenting the community.They will give part of theirallowance to the organization orcommunity and the other youths.It is only Brebegha AmnestyBenefiting Communities thatyouths had to use their allowanceto build staff quarters (Teacherquarters), completed andcommissioned at Peretoru inBayelsa state. Some other thingsthey have done included a schoolprincipal's residencecommissioned at Ekogbene;NYSC quarters at Ekogbene,

•Evah: There is nothing like Brebegha camp

Continued on page 45

FORMER spokesman of Ijaw National Congress,INC, and Coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group,IMG, Comrade Joseph Evah in this interview withVanguard, denied allegations of the presence of amilitant camp in Lagos and spoke on issues arisingfrom the Amnesty programme for youths andcommunities in the Niger Delta. Excerpts:


13 men, who want to rule Ondo

Continued from page 44

classroom blocks in othercommunities.

Organizations like the IjawYouth Development Association,IYDA, are giving GCE andJAMB forms and youths areassisting Niger Delta widowswith funds to buy empowermenttools Niger Delta disabledperson’s forum and Niger DeltaBlind Students Association aswell as Ijaw women leadershipforum, Arogbo women groups arealso benefiting from the process.

Ekogbene, in Delta Statecommunity hired extra eight

teachers to improve the primaryand secondary school educationstandard.

The community electrificationproject is kicking off before theend of this month because theengineers completed theirassessment last week and theseare coming from the allowancesof the beneficiaries. The strategyis that if the few who went toObura contribute to physicaldevelopment, it means all thewhole community has benefitedbecause the classroom block willserve the whole community.Another community called

Enekorogha has almostcompleted six classroom blocksfrom foundation.

When the former speaker ofBayelsa House of Assembly,Hon. Debekeme, met me atGovernment House Yenagoa,recently he took the pain to tellpersons around the wonders Ihave used amnesty to do inPeretoru town. The formerSpeaker is from Peretoru like meespecially the empowerment ofyouths, staff quarters for teachersand construction of 500 capacitywomen conference hall withGuest House for commercial

purposes.How did you come up with this

model of self help projects? I was brought up in the South

West. I know the secret of theircommunity empowermentmethods. Although greedy andselfish youths will resist the movebut will be replaced because theslots were given to the communityor organization and not toindividuals. And individualswere not forced to represent thecommunity or organization.Apart from youths who carry gunand went to war, others representcommunities that recognize theirroles.

No militant camp in Lagos — Evah

New constitution shouldempower monarchs — Ezekwem

BY ANAYO OKOLI

EZE Henry Chinyereuba Ezekwem, JP, is a first classtraditional ruler in Abia state. He is the traditionalruler of Emede Ibeku in Umuahia North CouncilArea. He is also the Chairman of Ibeku TraditionalRulers Council. Excerpts:

DO you support theagitation for traditional

rulers to be given a role in theconstitution?

There are many areastraditional rulers can function.But most importantly, I will wishthe new constitution to givemonarchs, the power tonominate political appointeesfrom their areas. I say thisbecause traditional rulers livewith the people and they knowtheir subjects very well. Theyknow who is good and who isbad, they are in a better positionto know who will serve thepeople better. It is painful anddisappointing that some peoplewould be given politicalappointments to serve theirpeople and such people maynot even visit the communityfor one day. Some of them don’teven know the area they aremeant to represent let aloneknowing what the problems ofthe area are. They don’t knowtheir traditional rulers andother stakeholders of the areawhere they supposed to serve.

But if the traditional rulers aregiven the power to nominatepeople from their domain forpolitical appointments, theyknow who is who, they knowtheir background, they knowtheir lineage, therefore, theywill be in a better position tonominate humble and goodpeople from the area who willserve their people with sincerityand human face. A situationwhere somebody who does notknow anything about the areahe/she is appointed to serve

*Ezekwem

AHEAD of Edo State local

government elections,stakeholders of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in thestate have petitioned theNational Chairman of of theparty, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, tosack the state exceutivecpmmittee of the party.

According to the stakeholders,who are loyal to former governorSamuel Ogbemudia and Ex-Chief of General Staff, AdmiralMike Akhigbe, it has becomeimperative to dissolve the presentstate executive led by Chief DanOrbih, if the party must makepositive impact in the localgovernment polls.

However, the call wasimmediately dismissed by thePublicity Secretary of Edo PDP,Pharm. Matthew Urhoghide,who described the authors of thepetition as selfish, irresponsibleand desperadoes out to actualisetheir own agenda.

In a letter dated October 23,2012, to the PDP NationalChairman, the stakeholdersnoted that if the party must moveforward and endear itself to thepeople of the state, the present

The fresh crisis in Edo PDPBY HENRY UMORU structure must go.

They said it was handpicked byformer Chairman, Board ofTrustees, Chief Tony Anenih,without inputs from other elders,leaders and stakeholders fromthe three senatorial districts.

The letter, which was madeavailable to Vanguard andsigned on behalf of ConcernedEdo PDP stakeholders by Dr.Francis Omo-Osunde Iyasereand Omoba Solomon Ebuwa,read: “The present state, localgovernment and ward executivecommittees were handpicked byChief Tony Anenih, and, ofcourse, cannot be said to bejustifiable and a true reflection ofthe interest of wider membership,as members of the committeewere imposed.

“The time to act is now. Thezone where Dr. Ogbemudia hailsfrom, which is Edo SouthSenatorial district, accounts for 58per cent of the population of thestate, while Admiral Akhigbe’szone, Edo North senatorialdistrict, accounts for 27 per centand Chief Anenih, CentralSenatorial district, accounts for 15per cent.

“The question is, should a zonewhich accounts for just 15 per centcontinue to decide the fate of the

majority in a democracy? This isthe bane of PDP in Edo State.

“We request the suspensionand withdrawal of the list of boardappointees submitted earlier from

Edo State,with a view tosubmittingan allinclusive listfrom thep o l i t i c a lgladiators.

“This willc e r t a i n l yform thecritical part ofthe peacefulresolution ofthe factionalcrisis in theparty in EdoState. ForPDP to makeremarkableimpact in theforthcomingl o c a lgovernmentelection, theright thinghas to bedone.

“If the rightthing is done,

In his reaction, Pharm.Uroghide expressed shock at thecall saying that Iyasere inparticular was present at thecongress where the presentexecutive was chosen.

Also noting that Iyasere waselected through the sameprocess as Zonal Youth Leadercould not be turning around tocast aspersion on Chief Anenih,he said:“It is a selfish call and Ithink that they are aware of theconstitution of the party, so I thinkthis is a misplaced and selfishcall.”

“We have just come out of anelection and everyone wascharged by it and we need toallow our emotions to settle downand this is not the time to makeirresponsible calls.”

On Anenih’s allegeddominance, he said: “Is Iyaserenot zonal youth leader? Whichelection did he contest before hewas made youth leader? It is anirresponsible call or is he ChiefAnenih’s mate?

Was he not present at the statecongress when the executive wasput in place? So, I believe he hasa selfish agenda and ambitionand he should come out and sayso,” the publicity scribe said.

knows nothing about the placedoes not augur well for thepeople.

What is your reaction to thesecurity challenges facing thecountry?

The anger of God is alreadyagainst these people who go tochurches and kill Christiansand even Muslims in their

places of worship. God is nothappy with what is happening.Look at what is happening insome parts of the country,especially the Northern part,the massive floods that hasbeen devastating our country,killing and sacking peoplefrom their homes. This is as aresult of God’s anger. Those

who started Boko Haram andhad been bombing and killingpeople in their places ofworship have incurred thewrath of God, they are facingGod’s music.

What do you think should bedone to the oil marketersindicted in the subsidy fraud?

That is part of the corruptionwe are talking about. Thesepeople are not patriotic; theydon’t wish the nation and itspeople well. That is why theyembarked on cheating thenation and the people. I am infull support of giving them

adequate punishment, but theyshould first be made to repayall the money they defraudedthe Government.

*Anenih: Accused of imposing exco

indiscipline would have beentotally eliminated from the partybut if the right thing is not done,victory will again elude theparty.”

46 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

Syrian army declares conditional Eid ceasefireS

YRIA’S army command announced a

ceasefire on Thursday tomark the Muslim holi-day of Eid al Adha butsaid it reserved the rightto respond to any rebelattack or moves to rein-force President Basharal-Assad’s armed foes.

A Free Syrian Armycommander gave quali-fied backing to the truce,proposed by U.N.-ArabLeague envoy LakhdarBrahimi, but demandedAssad free detainees. AnIslamist group said itwas not committed to thetruce but may halt oper-ations if the army did.

Brahimi proposed thetemporary truce to stem,however briefly, thebloodshed in a conflictwhich erupted as popu-lar protests in Marchlast year and has esca-lated into a civil warwhich activists say haskilled more than 32,000people.

The fighting pits main-ly Sunni Muslim rebelsagainst Assad, from theAlawite faith which is

linked to Shi’ite Islam,and threatens to draw inregional Sunni Muslimand Shi’ite powers andengulf the whole Mid-dle East, Brahimi haswarned.

“On the occasion of theblessed Eid al-Adha, thegeneral command of the

army and armed forcesannounces a halt to mil-itary operations on theterritory of the SyrianArab Republic, from Fri-day morning ... untilMonday,” an army state-ment read on state tele-vision said.

It reserved the right to

respond if “the armedterrorist groups openfire on civilians and gov-ernment forces, attackpublic and private prop-erties, or use car bombsand explosives”. Itwould also respond toany reinforcement or re-supplying of rebel units,

or smuggling of fightersfrom neighboring coun-tries “in violation of theirinternational commit-ments to combat terror-ism”.

Qassem Saadeddine,head of the militarycouncil in Homs prov-ince and spokesman for

the FSA joint command,said his fighters werecommitted to the truce.“But we not allow theregime to reinforce itsposts. We demand therelease of the detainees,the regime should re-lease them by tomorrowmorning,” he said.

UK economy breaks out of recession

S/Africa govt, miners strike pay deal

SOUTH Africa’s goldmines have agreed a

wage deal with unionsas the majority of thegold sector ’s strikingminers returned to workunder threat of dismiss-al. Unions agreed thewage rise deal with minebosses worth between1.5 and 10.8 per cent fordifferent categories ofworkers. There are alsoreports that some work-ers will see raises of upto 20 per cent in Thurs-day ’s deal. HarmonyGold, South Africa’sthird-largest producer,said most of the 5,400strikers at its

Kusasalethu mine werenow back at work.Strikes at Gold Fields’three mines are also nowover.

“Stability in the goldmining industry hasbeen achieved at manyof the operations andthere are hopes that thistrend will continue,”said Chamber of Minesexecutive Elize Strydom.The returns markedsome success for a newtough approach by min-ing firms. AngloGoldAshanti, South Africa’sbiggest producer, saidon Wednesday it hadsacked around half of its24,000-strong localworkforce who had ig-nored an ultimatum toreturn to work or befired.

Workers there, many ofwhom had been paid$500 a month, had been

campaigning for a raisein their salaries. Theywithdrew their labour in

a bid to secure monthlywages of between $1,400and $2,100.

THE British economyhas made its way out

of recession, postingone per cent growth inthe third economic quar-ter of 2012, official datashows. The growth wasthe strongest quarterlyGDP performance in fiveyears, yesterday’s datashowed.

The jump in growthwas subject to a number

of temporary factors, in-cluding the Olympics,which may mask a weak-er underlying picture.But it was still much bet-ter than expected andmay mean Britain’s full2012 economy will notbe in the red. The Officefor National Statisticssaid Britain’s gross do-mestic product rose by1.0 per cent between

July and September,beating forecasts for a0.6 per cent gain, aftershrinking by 0.4 percent between April andJune.On the year, theeconomy was flat, alsobetter than expected.The return to growth af-ter three consecutivequarters of contractionwas welcome news for a

coalition governmentunder pressure to domore to revive the econ-omy.

However, the thirdquarter rise was boostedby ticket sales for theLondon Olympics -which the statistics officeestimated accounted fora fifth of the quarterlyincrease - and a reboundfrom an extra public hol-iday in the second quar-ter. Discounting thoseone-off effects, econo-mists said growth in theUK economy was weakand that headwinds fromthe eurozone were like-ly to act as a drag in thecoming months. “Over-all, it’s a very encourag-ing result. However, itdoes come with majorconcerns about what isgoing on in the globaleconomy, especially theslowdown in emergingmarket growth and theEuropean debt crisis,”said Ishaq Siddiqi, amarket strategist at ETXcapital,

Libyan govt captures last rebelsstronghold

LIBYA’S governmenthas declared that it

had taken control of oneof the last strongholds ofdeposed leader Muam-mar Gaddafi’s loyalists.The declaration was fol-lowed by celebratory gun-fire, with fighters in theheart of the city firingtheir guns into the air af-ter fierce battles that leftdozens dead and thou-sands displaced. The cap-ture of Bani Walid on

Wednesday, some 140kmsoutheast of the capitalTripoli, has been claimedas a triumph for the gov-ernment that replacedGaddafi’s regime.

But the length of time ittook the government tosecure the town - a fullyear - underlined the dif-ficulties faced by the newregime in imposing itsauthority over squabblingtribes and heavily armedmilitias. Youssef al-Man-

koush, the Libyan armychief of staff, said mili-tary operations in the citywere terminated but thatsome forces were stillchasing a few pockets ofGaddafi loyalists. Al-Mankoush said the clash-es resulted in a numberof casualties, injuries andsome were even kid-napped and held for along time against theirwill.

EU expresses concernover execution in Edo

THE European UnionDelegation has ex-

pressed concern over re-ports of execution of twopersons in Edo State. Ina statement issued yester-day in Abuja, the EUHeads of Mission in Ni-geria said the EU Dele-gation to Nigeria “is

deeply concerned aboutthe information it has re-ceived concerning thereported imminent execu-tion of two persons inEdo State.

The EU Delegationcalls on the Nigerian au-thorities and, in this case,the Governor of EdoState, to allow all legalappeals to be heard andto halt the execution ofthese two inmates. TheEU Delegation urges theNigerian authorities to re-spect the existing de fac-to moratorium on execu-tions, in place since 2006.It considers that such ex-ecution, if carried out,would represent a serioussetback in Nigeria’s rep-utation and records in thefield of human rights.

The EU Delegation re-iterates its calls on theNigerian authorities toaccede to the SecondOptional Protocol to theInternational Covenanton Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR), aimingat the complete abolitionof the death penalty. Inthe meantime, and as afirst step it urges the Gov-ernment of Nigeria to for-malise its moratorium ondeath penalty”.

Family blamesBBC overreporters suicide

THE popular reporterhad worked for BBC

Coventry and Warwick-shire since the mid-90s.

His devastated family to-day claimed he had beenharassed by a female col-league. His father, formerchief constable of Warwick-shire Police Peter Joslin, 78,who served for 44 yearsand was the UK’s longestserving police chief, calledfor an inquiry into Russell’sdeath.

Speaking from the fami-ly home in Kenilworth,Warwickshire, Mr Joslinsaid: ‘I do blame the BBCfor Russell’s death. ‘I be-lieve he was not listenedto when he flagged up hisconcerns and was repeat-edly ignored by his boss-es.

South African miners on th march.


US Poll: Minorities to make

differenceBY GBENGA OKEin Texas

WITH 13days to theUnited States Pres-

idential election, the bat-tle for the White House isstill hot and various eth-nic diversities could be agame changer at thepolls.

For President Obama,his support base amongAfrican American andHispanics is second tonone in this election and

a poll newly conductedby NBS/WSJ showed thatPresident Obama leads

Romney with 94% to 0%among the African Amer-

ican community, an asser-tion that Republic Presi-dential Candidate, MittRomney has no supportbase among the blacksbut he is popular amongthe whites.

The Hispanics in Ameri-ca according to Centerfor Immigration contrib-utes about 17.2percent ofthe United States popu-lation while both Hispan-ics/Latinos in key swingstates could have up to 60electoral votes.

According to the Unit-

ed States Census Bu-reau, the total number ofAfrican American by2010 is about 15.4per-cent. For many Nigerianswho will be voting in theUnited States electioncome November 6th, theyas well maintained thatObama needs their sup-port to win this eventhough the economy of

the United states is bas-tardized at present, theywill still go ahead to votefor President Obama.

When Vanguardsought their views on theelection, some said theybelieve President Obamacan do a good job if theUnited States NationalAssembly can avoid poli-tics and come together topass majority of the billsforwarded by the Presi-dent.

For Mr. Anthony Balo-gun, a resident of Dallas,he pointed out that Pres-ident Obama might nothave solutions to all prob-lems the United States ispassing through now, hemaintained that Romneydoes not have the fact andfigures about how he in-tends to change the econ-omy of the nation.His words, “Obama doesnot have the solution toevery problems but if youhave good policies andyou do not have the num-bers in the National As-sembly to push your case,there is a big problem andthat is what has hap-pened to some of the goodpolicies President Obamahas”.

On the economy, hesaid, “I believe it is easi-er to destroy somethingbut not easy to rebuild.The republicans causedthis problem of economyunder President Bushand it is not somethingPresident Obama can re-cover from under 4yearsbut I am sure Obamawould have learnt somelessons from the mistakeof the past”.

He stated further, “Yesit is believed Romney hasbeen in business for along time but he has notbeen able to explain to ushow he will create 12mil-lion jobs, he is never con-sistent on issues anddoes not break down hispolicies when neces-sary” “When Obamawas elected in 2008 andbrought the stimuluspackage, some of the Re-publicans saw the moveas a waste but today, ma-jority of the car makers inAmerica are still able toproduce today simply be-cause of that singularmove”.

Powell endorses Obama for second term

FORMER U.S. Secretary of State Colin Pow-

ell on Thursday endorsedBarack Obama’s bid for re-election, citing the Demo-cratic president’s efforts towind down the war in Af-ghanistan and tackle ter-rorism.

“I think we ought to keepon the track that we areon,” the Republican, whoalso backed Obama in2008, told “CBS ThisMorning,” adding, “I vot-ed for him in 2008 and I

plan to stick with him in2012.” The move comesjust days after Obama andRepublican challengerMitt Romney clashed overforeign policy in the third

and last presidential debateahead of the November 6election. Polls show Obamaand Romney neck andneck.. Obama’s campaignwas quick to promote the

endorsement in a videostatement released about30 minutes after Powell’sappearance.

The president called Pow-ell yesterday to thank him

for his endorsement, WhiteHouse spokesman Jay Car-ney later told reportersaboard Air Force Oneheading from Florida toVirginia.

Romney holds cash advantage over Obama

REPUBLICAN presidential candidate

Mitt Romney and his al-lies raised $111.8 millionOctober 1-17, his cam-paign said yesterday, ahigh-profile period that

included two of the threetelevised presidential de-bates. Romney’s strongperformance in the firstdebate with PresidentBarack Obama on Octo-ber 3 notably ticked up do-

nations, the campaignsaid. The two candidateshave been locked in adead-heat race sincethen.As of the end of Oc-tober 17 - just weeks be-fore the November 6 elec-

tion - Romney, the Repub-lican National Committeeand state parties had$169 million left in cashon hand, they said.“There are less than twoweeks left.

Third parties contesting poll

The Libertarian partyThe Libertarian party was

founded in 1971 and is thethird largest political partyin America. Over the years,Libertarian Party candi-dates have been elected tomany state and local offic-es.

Libertarians believe thefederal government shouldplay a minimal role in theday-to-day affairs of thepeople. They believe thatthe only appropriate role ofgovernment is to protect thecitizens from acts of physi-cal force or fraud. A liber-

tarian-style governmentwould therefore limit itselfto a police, court, prisonsystem and military. Mem-bers support free marketeconomy and are dedicat-ed to protection of civil lib-erties and individual free-dom.

Reform PartyIn 1992, Texan H. Ross

Perot spent over $60 mil-lion of his own money torun for president as an in-dependent. Perot’s nation-al organization, know as“United We Stand Ameri-ca” succeeded in getting

Perot on the ballot in all 50states. Perot won 19 percentof the vote in November, thebest result for a third partycandidate in 80 years. Fol-lowing the 1992 election,Perot and “United We StandAmerica” organized into theReform Party. As its nameimplies, Reform Party mem-bers are dedicated to re-forming the American po-litical system. They supportcandidates they feel will“re-establish trust” in gov-ernment by displaying highethical standards coupled

with fiscal responsibilityand accountability.

The Green PartyThe Green Party seeks to

restore balance throughrecognizing that our plan-et and all of life are uniqueaspects of an integratedwhole, and also throughaffirming the significantinherent values and contri-bution of each part of thatwhole. The AmericanGreen Party’s platform isbased on the following 10Key Values:

Justice Party

The Justice Party wasfirst organized in Novem-ber 2011 to place and theformer Mayor of Salt LakeCity Rocky Anderson be-came it flag bearer in 2012.In December 2011, it be-came a qualified party inMississippi, which was the first state to recognizethe party. From a small be-ginning, of 30 persons atthe launching event withno TV crew covering it, theparty has been able to putits founder, Rocky Ander-son, on the ballot.

Jill Stein, Green Party Gary Johnson, Anderson, Justice PartyGoode, Libertarian

Romney•Obama

VanguardCLASSIFIED

OSUNDANDE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissFelicia TitilayoOsundande, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Felicia TitilayoOmowumi Adekanmbi.All former documentsremain valid. Institute ofChartered Accountantof Nigeria and generalpublic please take note.

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ONWUEGBUZIE

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Confirmation of

N a m e

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L-R: American preacher, Dr. Mike Murdock; GeneralOverseer, Victorious Army Ministries International, Rev.Joseph Agboli and his wife, Pastor Mama BlessingsAgboli, during Dr. Murdock's arrival for Victorious ArmyMinistries, Victory Convention in Lagos...yesterday

R-l: Chairman Ejigbo LCDA, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetanand other principal officials of the council, cutting thetape to launch Ejigbo Refuse Truck acquired by the councilto tackle the problem of refuse disposal

L-r: Brand Building Director, David Okeme; AssistantCategory Manager, Dexter Adeola; Assistant BrandManager, Lifebuoy, Adedoyin Abanise; and On-AirPersonality, Lolo; pledging to defeat Diarrhoea at thecelebration of Global Handwashing Day in Lagos

L-r: Mrs. Omoyemi Akerele, Creative Director, StyleHouse Files; Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, General Manager,Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria; and Ms. NonnyUgboma; Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation at thecocktail event to formally open the MTN Lagos Fashionand Design Week 2012 in Lagos

L-r: CEO Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, receiving agift, a talking drum from motivational speaker NiyiAdesanya. The talking drum symbolizing the EtisalatPay-off, "now you're talking" at the Etisalat Merit Awardsat the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt

OKPALLA—I, former-ly known and Ad-dressed as Miss Ok-palla Ijeoma Jenny,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Chukwuma Ijeo-ma Jenny. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Anambra StateUniversity of Scienceand Technology, Ig-bariam Campus andgeneral public pleasetake note.

CLASSIFIEDVanguard

KUMDEM—I, for-merly known andAddressed as MissNantok Becky Ayu-ba Kumdem, nowwish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Nantok BeckyYusuf. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General pub-lic please take note.

Correction of Name

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From left: Hon. Akintunde Adegboye, Deputy Speaker, Osun State Houseof Assembly; Mrs. Titi Laoye Tomori, Deputy Governor/Osun StateCommissioner for Education and Hon. Nathaniel Agunbiade,member, Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency at the presentation of books to indigenousstudents of the local government during an education support programmein Obokun Local Government Area of the state.

From left: Mrs Yinka Ogunde, Mr John Ajayi, Publisher/Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Marketing Edge, Mr Enyi Odigbo, and Mr Biodun Shobanjo, duringthe 2011 Brand Personality of the Year Award, organised by Marketing EdgePublications, in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

ACF hails Onaiyekan overappointment as cardinal

BY EMEKA MAMAH

LAGOS—THE ArewaConsultative Forum,

ACF, has congratulatedDr John Onaiyekan, overhis appointment asCardinal and CatholicArchbishop of Abuja, byPope Benedict XV1.

The National PublicitySecretary of ACF,Anthony Sani who madethis known in astatement, yesterday,said: "Onaiyekan’selevation is an indicationthat his courageous andfearless service tohumanity hastranscended nationalboundaries.

"This is because the

new Cardinal has alwaysstood firmly for truth,justice, fairness and forsacred inviolability of theindividual, regardless ofsocio-economic status,ethnicity, region andfaith.

"It is against thisbackdrop that we praythat this be yet anotheropportunity that willinspire him the more tocontinue to help thosewho need their burdenslifted and those whowish barriers to realisingtheir rights broken.

’’ACF also prays God togrant the Cardinal longlife needed for service tohumanity through hiswell deserved position inthe Catholic Church.’’

Oganisu Ndokwa warnsagainst inciting publications

LAGOS — THEleadership of

Oganisu Ndokwa, one ofthe leading socio-cultural Ndokwa groups,has asked PresidentGoodluck Jonathan andGovernor EmmanuelUduaghan of Delta Stateto ignore the incitingpublication by a facelessgroup in an onlinemedia.

In a release by MessrsJude Onyeoma, PeterElemadi and MissEsther Onuoma,President, PublicitySecretary and womanleader of OganisuNdokwa respectively,the group said it wasappalled by thepublication by a facelessgroup, accusing Gov.Uduaghan of financialrecklessness.

The group warnedmischief makers to

refrain from any act thatcan cause stir in theland, noting: “The majorissue bothering Ndokwanation was how tocontend with the floodvictims.”

It equally advisedanybody or group ofpersons with issues tosettle with government,to do so with decorumrather than usingfaceless and fictitiousnames.

It said:“They canapproach the NdokwaNational Union (NNU) orUkwuani FoundationUnion (UFU) Presidentsand register theirprotests.

“We are very sure thatthe petition is not doneby Ndokwa people butmay have been made bysome mischief nonNdokwa indigenes justto give a wrongimpression.”

FIRST LADY @ 55:

You are the brightest star in my life,Jonathan tells wife

AB U J A —PRESIDENT

Goodluck Jonathan hasdescribed his wife,Patience, as the brighteststar in his life and hisjewel of inestimablevalue.

Jonathan was speakingat a ceremony to markthe 55th birthdayanniversary of the FirstLady at the State House,Abuja, yesterday.

Jonathan, afterpresenting a gift toPatience said: "I thank

God for her life and thatshe is not celebrating theday on a sick bed. She isthe brightest star in mylife, she is my jewel ofinestimable value and Ithank God for grantingher good health."

The First Lady praisedGod for keeping her aliveto mark her birthday,saying whatever mighthave happened to her, wasGod’s design for her life.

She said: "I thank Godfor the gift of life and Iwant to deeply appreciate

and thank my belovedhusband for his love andsupport. I also thank myfamily, staff andNigerians for praying forme."

The event was markedwith prayers andpresentation of gifts byfamily, well wishers andfriends, including theOndo State Governor, DrOlusegun Mimiko and hiswife, Olukemi, ministersof women affairs, finance,aviation, labour, foreignaffairs, among others.

Gov Ahmed assures Kwaransof dividends of democracy

ILORIN— AS Muslimsacross the world

celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir festival, theGovernor AbdulfatahAhmed of Kwara Statehas assured Kwarans thathis administration willstop at nothing towardsensuring that the peoplereap the dividends ofdemocracy, no mattertheir political or religiousinclinations.

To this end, accordingto the governor,government shallcontinue to embark onspecific projects onmonthly basis with a

view to reaching everycommunity in the state.

Ahmed gave thisassurance at the monthlyPeoples Democratic Party(PDP) meeting at theCharity Home in Ilorin.He said despite the leanfiscal resources in KwaraState, his administrationhad continued to deliveron its electoral promises,especially on roadconstruction andrehabilitation, water andelectricity suppliesamong others.

On the challenges overlocal governmentworkers’ salaries, Ahmedtold the PDP membersthat the impasse hadbeen resolved as overN700 million had beenreleased to clear backlogof salaries and overheadcosts.

According to him,commercial banks in thestate were implored tooperate yesterday, apublic holiday, so thatlocal government workersand other categories ofworkers could makewithdrawals ahead of thefestival.

The Governor assuredPDP faithful thatmodalities have beeninstituted to preventcircumstances that couldlead to backlog of salariesin the local governmentsareas.

Most robberies in Lagos are carriedout by Okada riders —Police

LAGOS — THE Policein Lagos have

indicted operators ofcommercial motorcyclesin the state, saying mostof the robbery operationsrecorded by the Policeover time were carriedout by the operators.

The Police also warnedthat the newlypromulgated road trafficlaw by the stategovernment had come tostay and would beenforced strictly even asthey assured Lagosiansthat adequatepreparations have beenmade to secure their lifeand property during theE i d - e l - K a b i rcelebrations.

The stateCommissioner of Police,Mr. Umar AbubakarManko, who made thepronouncement after theweekly State SecurityCouncil meeting chairedby the GovernorBabatunde Fashola(SAN) at the LagosHouse Marina,

places, restricted areas;that law is going to beenforced. The state hasabout 9,010 roads andonly 400 of these roadsare being restricted fornow, which may be about

25 per cent of the roadsin the state. So how cansomeone say it iswickedness?

“The law is there and Iwill enforce that law nomatter what happens.”

expressed dismay thatthe commercialmotorcycle operators hadcaused much damage inthe state, pointing outthat Police would notsuccumb to any blackmailfrom anywhere in theirtotal enforcement of thelaw.

Manko, who fieldedquestions from newsmenafter the meeting,declared: “Motorcyclistshave done so muchdamage in Lagos State. Iam the Commissioner ofPolice and I am tellingyou from the point ofknowledge that most ofthe armed robberies thatwe recorded were carriedout by thesemotorcyclists. People goto the banks to collectmoney, they will hangaround banks, they willhang around people's’houses, take theirbelongings, collect theirmoney, even in traffichold-ups.

“Now that we have alaw that says they shouldnot operate in certain

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CREDIT EXCELLENT

Hearts 2 Aston V 7

Wycombe 2 Everton 7

Bury 2 Newcastle 7

Southend 3 Reading 5

Dagenham 3 Stoke 5

Burton A. 3 Blackpool 5

Notts Co 3 Ipswich 5

Crewe 3 Middlesbro 5

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1 Arsenal v Q.P.R. 1

2 Aston V. v Norwich XX

3 v Man Utd. 1

4 Everton v Liverpool XX

5 Man City v Swansea 1

6 Newcastle v Westbrom XX

7Reading v Fulham XX

8 South'pton v Tottenham 2

9 Stoke v Sunderland XX

10 Wigan v West Ham 2X

11Barnsley v Nottm For. X1

12 Blackburn v Watford 1

13 Blackpool v Brighton XX

14 Bristol C. v Hull X2

15 Cardiff . v Burnley 1

16 Ipswich v Sheff Wed XX

17Leeds v Birmingham 1

18 Leicester v Crystal P. 1

19 Middlesbro v Bolton XX

20 Millwall v Huddersfld 2X

21Peterboro v Derby 2

22 Wolves v Charlton 1

23 Brentford v Hartlepool 1

24 Bury v Walsall 2X

25 Carlisle v Bournemouth 1

26 Crawley v Oldham 1

27 Crewe v Yeovil XX

28 Leyton O v Coventry. 1

29 Notts Co v Doncaster XX

30 Scunthorpe v Milton KD 2

31 Sheff Utd v Portsmouth. 1

32Shrewsbury v Colchster X1

33 Stevenage v Swindon 1

34 Tranmere v Preston 1

35 Accrington S v Bristol R 1

36AFC Wimbldn v Gillingham 2

37 Burton A v Bradford C XX

38 Cheltenham v Exeter X2

39 Chesterfield v Barnet 1

40Dagenham v Aldershot XX

41North'pton v Port Vale 2X

42 Rochdale v Fleetwood X2

43 Rotherham v Plymouth 1

44 Southend v York XX

45 Torquay v Morecambe 1

46 Wycombe v Oxford X1

47 Aberdeen v Dundee 1

48 Celtic v Kilmarnock 1

49 Hearts v Ross County XX

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS

FOUR HOMES

.Chelsea Reading v Fulham

Tottenham v ChelseaNewcastle v Westbrom

Week 15

Stoke v Sunderland

Blackpool v Brighton

Ipswich v Sheff Wed

Middlesbro v Bolton

Aston V. v Norwich

Everton v Liverpool

NPower Football League One

NPower Football League Two

F.A. Barclays Premiership

NPower Football Championship

Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier

COACH Manu Garba (MFR) has revealed that theGolden Eaglets would approach Sunday ’sConfederation of African Football (CAF) Under-17Championship second round-second leg qualifyingmatch against Guinea like a World Cup final match! Garba said the national Under-17 team is battle-

hardened for this particular encounter, adding thatthe team is in good form to preserve its streak of 16successive wins in both friendly and competitivematches. ”I’m sure we can beat Guinea in Conakry,” Garba

said with an unmistakably confidence before travellingout of the country. “Except the first practice match wedrew when we were just one week in camp, we havewon all other matches and Guinea is not going to bean exemption.“In fact, we are going to play against Guinea on

Sunday as if we’re playing a World Cup final matchand by the special grace of Almighty Allah, we aregoing to come back victorious.” Meanwhile, CAF has selected Moroccan referees

as officials of the match between Guinea and Nigeria.Thirty- Six-year-old Mounir Errahmani, an

International referee since 2011 would be at the centreand would be assisted by Mouhib Abdallah Filali andMohamed Lahmidi. The fourth referee is Hicham Tiaziwhile Leonal Vangente from Sao Tome & Principewould serve as the Match Commissioner.In a related development, Nigerian referees would

be on duty when Burkina Faso hosts Namibia this

U-17 CRACKER IN CONAKRY

Manu fires Guineawarning!

....As CAF appointsMoroccan referees

weekend. The first leg in Windhoek ended2-0 in favour of the boys from Ouagadougouand their reverse fixture at home would bedirectly supervised by Nigerian ShinaHenry Ogunyamodi as the centre referee.Isah Usman and Abel Baba would functionas Assistant Referee 1 and 2respectively.Benjamin Odey is the fourth referee whileIvorian Adriouma Kone would be the MatchCommissioner.

FootballROBERTO MANCINI holds his

hands up and takes fullresponsibility for Man City ’sChampions League woeCity must now beat Ajax, Real

Madrid and Borussia Dortmund intheir last three matches and thenkeep their fingers crossed.They are five points behind

second-placed Madrid, who cometo the Etihad in a month’s time.Mancini said: “It is very difficult.

If we win the three

Mancini: I’m to blame

for City’s failure in

Holland


Russians want RooM

EGA-RICH AnzhiM a k h a c h k a l a

would consider a sensa-tional swoop for WayneRooney.

Russian club Anzhi —bankrolled by billionaireowner Suleyman Kerimov— have been throwingmoney around in recentyears with big buys suchas Samuel Eto’o.

And now they could beeyeing up a move forManchester United strik-er Rooney in their questto sign the world’s bestplayers.

Rooney, 27, has comeclose to leaving Unitedbefore when he handedin a transfer request backin 2010.

Anzhi team director andBrazilian legend RobertoCarlos said: “He’s one ofthe best players in theworld and any teamwould be happy to havehim in their squad. He’sstill a very young player.

“Of course I could notsay when, and if, it willhappen. It’s not only An-zhi who can want to buyhim.

“There are plenty ofteams in Italy and Spain,all over the world, who areeager to have a player likeRooney.

“If the owner of Anzhihas a wish to buy some-body, he will go and doit. But we are trying tochange the image of theclub. It’s not just aboutmoney.

“Of course we are goingto buy good players butnot only internationalplayers. We want to signgood Russian players thatare not that expensive.”

Rio: I’ll shake hands with JT, Ashley

THE Ferdinand brothers are now ready to

shake hands with JohnTerry and Ashley Colebefore Premier Leaguegames.

Manchester United’sRio and QPR’s Anton lastnight said they weredrawing a line under thebitter war with Terry andCole.

The pre-match hand-shakes could start thisSunday with Rio due toface Cole as United playChelsea at StamfordBridge. The pair fell outover Cole’s support forTerry when the Blues

skipper was accused ofracially abusing Anton.

Although Terry wascleared in court, he waslater found guilty by anFA commission andbanned for four gamesand fined £220,000.

Rio was furious withTerry for dragging hisbrother through courtand also believed thepunishment from the FAwas too lenient. But Riowas also fined £45,000 forappearing to endorse atwitter comment that saidCole was a ‘choc ice’ —implying he was black on

the outside, white on theinside.

Meanwhile, Cole washeavily criticised by theFA commission as theyfelt he had altered hisevidence to strengthenTerry’s case. Anton re-fused to shake hands withboth Terry and Cole whenQPR played Chelsea re-cently.

Rio will not have to faceTerry this weekend as theBlues skipper is servingthe second game of hissuspension. Rio: I’llshake hands with JT andAshley

We need a

miracle

— Mancini

ROBERTO MANCINIholds his hands up

and takes full responsi-bility for Man City ’sChampions League woe

City must now beatAjax, Real Madrid andBorussia Dortmund intheir last three matchesand then keep their fin-gers crossed.

They are five pointsbehind second-placedMadrid, who come to theEtihad in a month’s time.

Mancini said: “It isvery difficult. If we winthe three games it will bevery close. We need it tobe a miracle.”

We win a trophyevery year — Wenger

ARSENE WENGERhas launched a stun-

ning defence of his Arse-nal record, claiming qual-ifying for the ChampionsLeague is like winning atrophy.

The Gunners have beenwithout silverware since2005 but are in Europe’stop competition for the15th consecutive year.

But speaking at theclub’s annunal generalmeeting today, the Arse-nal boss said: “For me,there are five ’trophies’.

“The first is to win thePremier League, the sec-ond is to win the Cham-pions League, the third isto qualify for the Cham-pions League, the fourth

is to win the FA Cup andthe fifth is to win theLeague Cup.

“I say that because ifyou want to attract the bestplayers, they do not ask‘did you win the LeagueCup?’, they ask you ’doyou play in the Champi-ons League?’.”

Chief executive IvanGazidis, chairman PeterHill-Wood and majorityshareholder Stan Kroen-ke were all heckled at theAGM over the club’s fi-nancial strategy.

Wenger, though, re-ceived a warm receptionafter his address, whichhad opened with an apol-ogy for the back-to-backdefeats against Norwichand Schalke. He said: “Ifeverybody is absolutelydevastated when we fin-ish third in the league, Ipromise you I will not behere if you finish 15th oneday.

“We did not produce agood performance lastnight, but let’s not forgetit was a first home defeatin the Champions Leaguefor 43 games — not manyteams do that.

“It is always difficult af-ter a defeat to take a dis-tance with the result andlook at the bigger picture.

“This team started in avery dynamic and prom-ising way. We hit the wallin the last two games,which was a bit inexpli-cable, but the attitude andfocus of the team everyday is fantastic.

“I believe this team candeliver and I am optimis-tic we will have a goodseason and the playerswill show I am right.”

Wenger, 63, also de-fended the club’s financialpolicy — but stressed thatfor him, it was alwaysabout the football.

The Frenchman said:“My job is to deliver ateam with the resourceswe have, and I have nev-er complained about that.

Rio

Delta FA coachingclinic ends in Asaba

IN a bid to raise thestandard of football

coaching in the state, theDelta State Football As-sociation, in conjunctionwith insurance giants,Senforce Insurance orga-nised a week-longcoaching clinic with 145

coaches in attendance.The coaches were

taught modern tech-niques and tactics as wellas updated with moderntrends in the game.

Speaking at the closeof events in Asaba, oneof the resource personsat the clinic, Mr MarkEllis, a former assistantcoach of Arsenal FootballClub of London, com-mended the Delta FAand assured of a newdawn for football in thestate where coaches

were given opportunitiesto acquire more skillsthat would be key to theempowerment as indi-viduals and for the goodof the state in general.

Ellis urged the DFA tocontinue with such initi-atives “as it will go a longway to change the per-ception of coaches in thestate.”

Responding on behalfof other coaches that at-tended the clinic, theDelta State chapter chair-man of the NigerianCoaches Association,Daniel Omoefe ex-pressed gratitude to theFA and assured that theywould use the skills ac-quired for the benefit ofthe game and the statein particular.

Ekpo wins WABU crownBY JACOB AJOM

NIGERIAN boxer,Isaac Ekpo has won

the West African BoxingUnion Super Middleweight crown. Ekpoachieved the feat afterdefeating Ghana’s JohnAmosu via an 11th roundknockout in Ghana.Speaking on the fight,Ekpo said the victory over

the dreaded Ghanianpugilist was a dreamcome true. “He had boast-ed before the fight that hewas going to stop me.They bought champagnewhich they intended touse at a post victory par-ty. But I listened to mymanager who told mehow to tackle him. “Ijoked with him in the ear-ly rounds, yet I remainedconscious because in box-

ing, one blow can end afight. At a point, I saidenough of the jokes andI knocked him out in the11th round. I made himkiss my canvass,” theCross River born pugilistsaid. Ekpo who is basedin Ghana is currently inNigeria to prepare for aWBO elimination boutagainst Hany Atiyo ofEgypt in December.

•Wenger

•Rooney

SSSSSwwwwweeteeteeteeteet & & & & & SOURSOURSOURSOURSOUR

CMYK



Continues from B/P

Eagles 'll deal withZambia

hampions will pose tothe title hope of Nigeriain the 2013 Africa Cupof Nations.

Nigeria were pitchedin Group C, comprisingZambia, Ethiopia andBurkina Faso at the fi-nals draw held Wednes-day in Durban, with thetop two teams progress-ing to the quarterfinal ofthe 16-nation tourna-ment holding from Jan-uary 19 to February 10in South Africa.

In their last two meet-ings at the Nations Cup,the Nigerians had thelast laugh, and as thetwo heavyweights pre-pare for their Group Cclash on January 25,Keshi told CCTV in Dur-ban that the Eaglesknow the Zambians alltoo well and can handlethem on the pitch.

While admitting thatthe African champions

would start as favourites,Keshi, who captainedNigeria to Nations Cupglory in 1994 in Tunisia,at the expense of theChipolopolo, said thatthe Eagles were going torely on good prepara-tions and unrivalledplayers’ commitment toget another victory overZambia.

“Zambia are the teamto beat. They are the de-fending champions, soall eyes would be onthem. Our eyes are al-ready on them. It is go-ing to be an interestingmatch and I know thatwith good preparationsand determination thatwe can deal with theirthreat.

“With our opponentsnow known, our journeyhas started and I hope toget the players in themood for this upcomingtask, a job, which wemust ensure we executeproperly and profession-ally”, added Keshi

Eagles no threat to usContinues from B/P

clash in the 2013 AfricaCup of Nations openeron Janaury 19 at the41,000 capacity Mbom-bela Stadium in Nels-pruit. The Stallions ofBurkina Faso werehoused in Group Calong with Zambia, thedefending champion,Nigeria and Ethiopia, atthe draws ceremony heldWednesday in Durban,South Africa.In the estimation of theStallions coach, PaulPut, who spoke to Sid-waya, a leading news-paper in Burkina Faso,his major source of wor-ry was Ethiopia, ratherthan Nigeria and Zam-bia.

“All groups are difficultas far as it is a competi-tion that brings togetherthe 16 best teams in thecontinent. We alreadyknow Zambia and Nige-ria, who are no threats tous. My concern remainsthe great unknown, Ethi-opia. We will conductresearch and prepare theteam properly to achieveour goal in this compe-tition which is to go asfar as possible, or at leastqualify for the secondround, “he said.

Also speaking, hisdeputy, Sidi Napon,indicated that they werenot scared of the foes,noting that the Burkin-abes were going to qual-ify firom the group.

“Football is boominggreatly in Burkina Fasowith players able tocompete with any oppo-nent. We must believe inourselves. I think wecan get out of thisgroup, “said Napon Forstriker Aristide Bance,the Stallions have agood chance of qualify-ing from the group.

“We have learnt fromthe past and we havethe chance to get out ofthis group. But we mustnot overlook a team likeEthiopia. “

The same view wasmade by the Minister ofSport and Recreation,Colonel Yacouba Oue-draogo, who insists thatthe Stallions shouldseize the opportunity ofplaying against a SuperEagles side, undergo-ing rebuilding.

“Nigeria is not a light-ning war, Ethiopia is ris-ing, Zambia, the de-fending champion,qualified hard. but wequalified easily, “

Yobo faces AFCON knockout

NIGERIA skipper Joseph Yobo risks

missing out on nextyear’s AFCON as a resultof a major knee injury, of-ficials said.

MTNFootball.com haslearnt that Yobo, who isset for his 90th interna-tional cap, has suffered acruciate ligament kneeinjury, which could rulehim out of action for atleast six months.The injury already meantthe experienced centraldefender missed the de-cisive Nations Cup qual-ifier against Liberia inCalabar earlier thismonth. He was also re-placed by Efe Ambrosedue to injury in the firstleg qualifier in Liberia inSeptember. “Yobo is nursing a veryserious knee injurywhich may stop him fromfeaturing at the NationsCup. He has a cruciateligament problem in theknee and such an injurycould keep out a playerfor as long as sixmonths,”a top source in-f o r m e d

M T N F o o t b a l l . c o m“The team officials arevery much aware of thisand have started workingon several options in theteam without Yobo.”However, Yobo said thathe will soon be back onhis feet and playingagain.

“I am still recuperatingand my club don’t wantto rush me back, butshould be back in a cou-ple of days,” said the play-er who has featured infive Nations Cup tourna-m e n t s .Should Yobo miss out onthe AFCON, Nigeria Pre-mier League (NPL) starsGodfrey Oboabona andAzubuike Egwuekwe willnow stand a good chanceof making the final cut toSouth Africa 2013.

That was the centraldefence combination thatKeshi played for the lastmatch against Liberia.

It would be recalled thatinjury also accounted forthe former Everton starshortened run at the 2010Nations Cup in Angola ashe had to leave the tour-nament to attend to thecomplaint.

Nations Cup Guide

Group A(Durban unless stated)Jan 19 At JohannesburgSouth Africa v Cape Verde 4pmAngola v Morocco 7pmJan 23South Africa v Angola 4pmMorocco v Cape Verde 6pmJan 27South Africa v Morocco 5pmAt Port ElizabethCape Verde v Angola 5pm

Group B(Port Elizabeth unless noted)Jan 20Ghana v DR Congo 3pmMali v Niger 6pmJan 24Ghana v Mali 3pmNiger v DR Congo 6pmJan 28Ghana v Niger 5pmAt DurbanDR Congo v Mali 5pm

Group CNelspruit unless noted)Jan 21Zambia v Ethiopia 3pmNigeria v Burkina Faso 6pmJan 25 Zambia v Nigeria 3pmBurkina Faso v Ethiopia 6pmJan 29Zambia v Burkina Faso 5pmAt RustenburgEthiopia v Nigeria 5pm

Group D(Rustenburg unless noted)Jan 22Ivory Coast v Togo 3pmTunisia v Algeria 6pmJan 26Ivory Coast v Tunisia 3pmAlgeria v Togo 6pm Jan 30Ivory Coast v Algeria 5pmAt NelspruitTogo v Tunisia 5pm

Quarter-finalsFeb 2At Port Elizabeth(1) Gp B winners v Gp A runners-up 3pmAt Durban(2) Gp A winners v Gp B runners-up 6:30pm Feb 3 At Rustenburg(3) Gp D winners v Gp C runners-up 3pmAt Nelspruit(4) Gp C winners v Gp D runners-up 6:30pm

Semi-finalsFeb 6At DurbanWinners quarter-final 2 v winners quarter-final 33pmAt NelspruitWinners quarter-final 4 v winners quarter-final 16:30pm

Third placeFeb 9At Port ElizabethSemi-finals losers 6pm

FinalFeb 10At JohannesburgSemi-finals winners 6pm

Gov”s Cup II ends tomorrowBY JOHNEGBOKHAN

THE final matches ofthe Governor’s Cup

Futures II hold tomor-row at the Lagos LawnTennis Club in Onikan.

After four days ofserve and volley action,the players who wouldplay in the men’s andwomen’s singles finalsare to emerge today

when the semifinalmatches hold today.

Capkovic Crashes,Nina Berths In Semi Fi-nals. Fighting for a placein the men’s final is En-rique Lopez-Perez ofSpain, who confrontsKento Takeuch of Japanin the first semifinal onthe Lord Rumens CentreCourt.

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]

How to Play SudokuTHE 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.

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, OCT0BER 26, 2012

TODAY'S PUZZLE

Eagles 'll deal withZambia — Keshi

•Page 54

We need a miracle

— Mancini • P.52

Complete fixtures — P.55—

Nations Cup

Yobo faces Nations Cup knockout — P.55

Rio: I’ll shake hands withJT, Ashley — P.54

Eagles nothreat tous—B/Faso

Continues on Page 55

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

BURKINA Faso havesaid that the Super

Eagles were no threat tothem when both teams

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

COACH StephenKeshi has said that

the Super Eagles werecapable of dealing withthe threat that Zambia,the reigning African c

Continues on Page 55

TWO PRESIDENTS: (L-r)Hayatou(CAF) andZuma(South Africa)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Withdraw (6)5 Stripped (6)9 Go in (5)10 Considered (6)11 Ascending (6)12 Drugged (5)14 Pitcher (4)17 Intelligence (3)18 Jeer (4)20 Deserve (5)22 Adjusted (5)23 Slandered (7)24 Tally (5)26 Anew (5)29 Ale (4)30 Heated (3)32 Sea-eagle (4)33 Peeled (5)35 Avoided (6)36 Liking (6)37 Send (5)38 Ball-game (6)39 Proper (6)

DOWN1 Save (6)2 See-saw (6)3 Rush (4)4 Bequeath (5)5 Cap (5)6 Parched (4)7 Fruit (6)8 Stubborn (6)13 Bullfighter (7)15 Jam (5)16 Jockey (5)18 Arbiter (5)19 Start (5)21 Golf-peg (3)22 Beverage (3)24 Servile (6)25 Recover (6)27 Colonnade (6)28 Freshest (6)30 Hell (5)31 Lukewarm (5)33 Fairy (4)34 Appointed (4)

ACROSS: 4, Stand 7, Packed, 9, For 10,Rid 12, Rebut 13, Onus 15, Vista 17, Attest19, Tied 20, Belie 22, Ten 24, Renew 27,Men 28, Wooed 31, Drab 33, Editor 35,Order 37, Ramp 38, Large 39, Dim 41, Use4, Savour 4, Whist.

DOWN: 1, Aplomb 2, Actual 3, Her 4, Sort 5,Treat 6, Nauseate 8, Dive 11, Distended 14,Stir 16, Stew 18, Teem 21, Encroach 23, Newt25, Need 26, Door 29, Orator 30, Depart 32,Bogus 34, Iris 36, Rest, 40 Mad.

CMYK

sallah tragedy: taraba gov, suntai in plane crash

Documents

tune of life

better life

abeautiful life

governor suntai

dont live life

suntai andparts

crashed plane

plane crashwhatever