Monday, December 15, 2014 Edition by Peoples Media Limited

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W’African Heads of State meet on security

Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (3rd right), displaying the Fellowship conferred on him by Shehu Shagari College of Education, during the institute’s convocation ceremony, at the weekend in Sokoto.

PDP ready to rig 2015 elections – Buhari l His running mate to emerge democratically – APC l A vote for Buhari is vote for Tinubu – PDP l We are yet to decide – ACF >> page 2

Jos Blast: Govt careless about Polio: Kaduna to immunise Boko Haram – Archbishop >> page 10 3.5m children >> page 10

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News News

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

CONTENTS

W’African Heads of State meet on security

News 2-11

By Lawrence Olaoye

Editorial 13 Op.Ed 14 Letters 15 Politics 16-18 Business Stockwatch

19-22 23

S/Report 24-25 M/Earth 26 Update 28 Feature

resident Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will today in Abuja host the 46th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government which will, among other things, deliberate on the current political and security situation in the sub-region. President Jonathan and other participating Heads of State and Government of the regional body will also receive a briefing on recent developments in Burkina Faso and review the report of the 33rd Meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council. Also on the agenda of the summit are the consideration and adoption of the 2014 annual report of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the consideration and adoption of the report of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the election of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for next year. President Jonathan, the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government,

President John Mahama of Ghana, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Mr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas will present statements to the one-day summit before it goes into a closed-door session. Some of the participating Heads of State and Government had already arrived in Abuja ahead of the opening of the summit today, according to a statement issued by Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) on Sunday in Abuja. A communiqué on the summit’s decisions is expected at the conclusion of their deliberations today The increasing attacks of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, on villages, towns, churches, mosques, schools and other public places are reasons for the focus of talks at the ECOWAS Summit on insecurity, as it poses a threat to the region with most countries’ borders said to be porous. Nigerian military personnel have continued to undertake counter terrorism operations

in the north-east region but the terrorist group has not retreated. The 33rd session of the Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had at the end of their meeting in Abuja, Friday made important recommendations relating to the political and security situation in the region, with a particular focus on Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau and Mali. The four-day meeting, which was held at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, also deliberated extensively on the renewal of the mandate of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB), the Ebola outbreak and Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) for compensation in case of death or disability in the context of support to peace operations. In the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the Council welcomed the consensus reached in Burkina Faso by all the stakeholders in the establishment of a transition government, urging all those concerned to adhere to the principle of inclusivity and consensus building and

work towards the holding of democratic elections in November 2015. On the situation in Guinea Bissau, the Council endorsed the decisions reached relating to the post-transition period as well as reforms of the defense and security sector. The Council recommended extension of the mandate of the ECOMIB beyond December 31, 2014 for a period of six months. On Mali, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its unitary character, calling on the various armed groups in northern Mali to shun terrorist activities. The Council welcomed the progress made in the Algiers peace talks and called on the parties concerned to try and reach a consensus as soon as possible. Regarding the elections scheduled to be held in some member states, namely Nigeria, Togo, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, in 2015, the Council urged all electoral commissions to update their electoral registers in order to make the process credible and transparent.

PDP ready to rig 2015 election says Buhari From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos, Femi Oyelola, Kaduna and Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

Time for Jonathan, PDP to leave the stage -Kwankwaso – Page 16

Metro

Int’l 39 S/World

Sports 41 Columnist 48

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he presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, ( APC), General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has planned to rig February 2015 general elections, calling on Nigerians to stand on their feet to protect their votes. Buhari, who made the allegation on the English Service of the Voice of America monitored in Jos, noted that it has been the habit of the PDP to manipulate elections, contending that this time around it would not make any difference except if people were conscious of the fact that their votes must count. He said: “The ruling party is planning to rig the 2015 election as it has been in their character and Nigerians should not allow that to happen. Let us protect our democracy by coming out to protect our votes. I am telling all Nigerians that the current insecurity challenges would not only affect one individual, house or one side of the country. “If it continues, it would affect all Nigerians. If people relax and say they would not vote or protect their votes, then they are satisfied with what the PDP is doing. People should not stay at home and be thinking that the election would be free and fair, “ he added. Asked who his running mate was, Buhari said, “our party is still

discussing about that. It is not a personal thing. We are deliberating on that with the party.” This is even as the APC has assured Nigerians that the choice of its presidential running mate will be made within the context of the best democratic ideals, just like that of its presidential candidate. In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party urged Nigerians to ignore the widespread and misleading reports in the traditional and social media about the choice of the APC presidential running mate, saying the party has yet to even meet, not to talk of picking a running mate. It described the reports that a running mate has been picked to run with the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as unnecessarily sensational, downright speculative and totally misleading. “We are using this opportunity to tell Nigerians to pray for us as we seek to pick a running mate for our presidential candidate. This is because this choice is not just for us but for all of Nigeria,’’ APC said. The party said everyone of the candidates who has been speculated as a running mate to Gen. Buhari is unquestionably competent to be a Vice President or even President, adding, however, that no choice has yet been made by the party. “We are glad with the feedback we have received from Nigerians on the transparent

and rancour-free manner in which our presidential primaries was organized. We are assuring Nigerians that the choice of our presidential running mate will also be guided by best democratic ideals. “We appreciate the nationwide interest that the choice of our presidential candidate and his running mate has generated. It is a mark of the confidence that Nigerians reposed in us. We assure that we will not disappoint our compatriots who have seen our party as the agent of the change they so much desire,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the PDP has said that its flag-bearer, President Goodluck Jonathan, is up for the presidential electoral contest on February 14, 2015 with the former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Bola Tinubu and not General Muhammadu Buhari. It said that the former Head of State was a mere political errand boy of Tinubu. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Sunday said the APC Presidential candidate, General Buhari is merely a front for Alhaji Tinubu to whom he has already surrendered his powers and first official assignment of choosing a running mate. PDP explained that Buhari has already surrendered the task of choosing his presidential running mate to Tinubu, whom it described as his political task master. Some members of the Northern socio- cultural organization,

Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF) appeared to be divided over the candidature of former Head of State and APC Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections. Chairman of the ACF and former Inspector-General of Police, Ahaji Ibrahim Coomasie was quoted to have said on Saturday that the northern body had adopted Buhari as the sole Northern candidate against President Jonathan. However, a member of the National Executive Council of the ACF, Alhaji Salisu Garba, who is also the Publicity Secretary of the Kaduna State Chapter of the Forum at a press conference yesterday in the state capital, said the Chairman of the Forum was on his own, as no member of the NEC had met to endorse the former Head of State. Garba insisted that until the ACF executive releases its official position, the issue of endorsement of any particular presidential candidate for the 2015 elections should be put to rest for the time being. He, therefore, cautioned that the ACF should tread softly, noting that “as a responsible body, ACF should summon courage to examine the merits or otherwise of each of the Northern candidates contesting for the presidency on the platforms of other political parties before pronouncing its stand. This will be seen to be fair and just; not only to the candidates but to the people of the North.”

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

News

Buhari, Atiku in secret meeting T

he presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC] on Sunday visited ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, days after defeating the later and three others to clinch the presidential ticket of the party. It is not clear what both politicians discussed at the closed-door meeting held at

Atiku’s Abuja residence. Mr. Buhari visited alone with just his orderly and driver while all Atiku’s aides were asked to stay away as the two leaders conversed behind closed-doors. A source in the former vicepresident’s camp however said “the APC presidential candidate came to seek the support and collaboration of Atiku in line

with the former VP’s pledge to work for the success of the APC in the general elections”. “It is also possible that they may have discussed the choice of Buhari’s VP consideration ahead of the meeting by the party tomorrow on the subject in Abuja,” the source said. According to PREMIUM TIMES before Mr. Buhari’s

visit, a chieftain of the party and former Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP], Ogbonnaya Onu, and Lawal Shuaibu, APC’s Deputy National Chairman (North), had visited Atiku. Their mission to the former vice-president’s residence is also unclear. But the Atiku Campaign Organisation had before the APC

presidential primary proposed Mr. Onu to head the party’s Negotiation Committee, which was expected to work towards ensuring that the party went into the 2015 election after its primaries with a united front. “I cannot confirm if that proposal was accepted by the party and if indeed Onu came visiting in that capacity to discuss the affairs of the party post-primaries and to chart a way forward,” our source in the Atiku camp said. Atiku had in his concession speech, after losing the primary, pledged to hand over his policy document to Mr. Buhari for possible review and implementation. Atiku lost the party’s primaries to Mr. Buhari but congratulated him minutes after the results were announced and since pledged his support.

scores injured as gas explodes in Ondo

S L-R: Former Vice-President and Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar and APC Presidential Candidate for the 2015 election, General Muhammadu Buhari, during the latter’s visit to the residence of the former Vice-President, yesterday in Abuja.

Why I am contesting Imo Governorship again - Okorocha From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

overnor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha believes that Nigeria’s main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has answers to the problems facing the country. Okorocha who came fourth in the APC presidential primary held at Teslim Balogun Stadium

in Lagos has since picked Imo governorship form to contest for a second term in office. Okorocha In a series of tweets on his twitter handle said he decided to contest for a second term because the people told him to do so. “The good people of Imo insist I return as their Governor, a request I accept with humility.” He then urged Nigerians to

support the APC presidential candidate. “We must join hands to bring change to our fatherland by supporting General Muhammadu Buhari our candidate. Victory is in sight. God is with us.” Adding that his party was positioned to take the country to greater height. “APC is a more democratic party than our rival. Our primaries have shown our

democratic credentials to the world. Change is coming.” “Nigeria is in a dire strait, APC is the party that has the answers to our national malaise. Embrace change,” he urged. “I am committed, I am resolute and I believe in a new Nigeria of peace, prosperity and brotherhood. Change is coming,” he added.

everal people including goods and properties estimated at several millions of naira were destroyed in Akure, Ondo state capital on Saturday evening following an explosion from a gas tank. The incident occurred at a market along Arakale road in Akure and resulted to serious fire that destroyed several shops including residential homes. Some residents in the area also sustained injuries. Several shops, houses and cars were burnt in the incident. Residents of the area are said to be in serious panic and were running helter-skelter for safety. It was learnt that help was not handy and the tank is said to still be in the area as at press time.

Fuel scarcity looms as oil workers threaten strike By Sunday Etuka with agency report

uel scarcity may spread across Nigeria from Monday as oil workers brace for showdown with the Federal Government over various unresolved labour issues. Authoritative sources told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday that the oil workers, under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association [PENGASSAN] and their counterparts in the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers [NUPENG], are set to commence nationwide strike Monday. The decision to strike is sequel

to the expiration of the notice to government for the resolution of some labour issues affecting their members as well as other national issues affecting the operation of the petroleum industry. A national official of PENGASSAN, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told PREMIUM TIMES that some of the contentious issues include the decision of the management of Total Nigeria to sack the PENGASSAN zonal Secretary in Port Harcourt and the lack of promotion for workers of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF). According to the official, the workers’ unions are concerned that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)

sent to the National Assembly for consideration and approval more than two years ago is yet to be passed. “We (the oil workers) have sufficient reasons, based on information available to us, to believe that the law makers are not prepared to pass the law, even as the state of the country’s petroleum industry has continued to deteriorate as a result of the absence of a regulatory and legal framework for the industry,” the official said. Part of the information available to the oil workers, he said, have to do with a plot by the Senate to move a motion on resumption this week to demand the setting aside of further considerations and

deliberations on the PIB till the next legislative session. The PIB was one of the key draft laws handed over by the previous legislative assembly for deliberation and approval by the incumbent legislators. “This does not augur well for the future of the country’s oil industry, as new investments would continue to elude the country, to the benefit of other oil producing nations around the continent, if the law is not passed. This is not acceptable,” the official said. Besides, the oil workers said they have uncovered plans by the government to go ahead with the sale of the country’s four refineries, which has always met stiff

resistance by Nigerians in recent past. For some time now, the oil workers said crude oil allocation to the refineries for local petroleum products refining have consistently reduced from 60 to 30 per cent and then to zero. The plan by government, the unions said, is to make the refineries appear unviable and their rehabilitation impossible as a way of making their eventual sale attractive to Nigerians. The unions are also protesting against alleged poor funding to the Petroleum Training Institute [PTI], which was established as the technology training institution for the country’s petroleum industry.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

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News T

he General Overseer of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Dr. Rev. Paul Enenche, on Sunday in Abuja called on Christians to always celebrate the Prince of Peace by embracing peaceful coexistence. Enenche made the call at the National Christian Center during the end-of-year Christmas Carols organised by the Radio Nigeria (FRCN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Voice of Nigeria (VON). The event had the theme: “Celebrating the Prince of Peace”. He said the prince of peace, who was the first born of human history, needed to be celebrated, adding that he was everything in the center of history. The clergy defined peace as “the triumph over confusion and uncertainty”, stressing that there

Clergy urges Christians to celebrate Prince of Peace could be no peace where there was confusion. “The absence of peace is the abundance of conflicts, all Christians should honor the Prince of Peace and peace will intervene. “The way of peace is the knowledge of God, there can be no peace where there is no God,’’ he said. In his remarks, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, Director of Special Duties, NAFDAC, said NAFDAC was a key partner in the support of the Christmas Carols. “As a Muslim, I am here to show and share in this religious

harmony and I am here in my official capacity to represent my Director-General “I am here to show an example toward promoting harmony, no religion should be involved in violence and tribulation because as a country we need peace,’’ he said. Jimoh said that religious harmony was the bedrock of national development and peace because no religion had any space for violence and discrimination. “The very first scripture commanded `love thy neighbor as thy self’ and the two major

religions tend to promote this,’’ he said. Speaking to newsmen, Mr Sunday Oyebola, who came to witness the event, said that Christmas carols was a landmark for Nigerians to come together, so as to experience peace in the country. He said in spite of all the killings, bombings and all that had happened, Nigerians still gathered to rejoice and thank God. (NAN) Similarly, Rev Isaac Emmanuel of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lokoja, has admonished Nigerians to pray for the success

of the 2015 general elections. Emmanuel made the call in his sermon entitled: “The Great Shepherd” in Lokoja on Sunday. He also called on Nigerians to pray for the nation to overcome the security challenges in the North-East. He said only God that could bring lasting peace to a nation and called on all Nigerians to continue to pray. “God, The Great Shepherd, will visit with fire everyone that has a hand in the death of innocent Nigerians,” he said. (NAN)

APC may today announce Ameachi as Buhari’s running mate

By Umar Muhammad Puma

fter intense meeting and negotiations, the leaders of Nigeria’s Opposition All Progressives Congress have agreed to settle for Rivers state Governor, Rotimi Ameachi as 2015 running of General Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari will be challenging incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan who on Thursday accepted his nomination as the PDP Presidential Candidate in the 2015 election with a pledge that he would not fail Nigerians. A source confirmed to Peoples Daily that the leadership of the party decided to zone the position of the Vice President to the members of the new PDP who joined the party lately in recognition of their sacrifice and contribution to the party, and have settled for Ameachi hence the position has been zoned to the south. “Ameachi is the only governor from the south that joined the APC from new PDP, and Buhari is said to favour him as his running mate, you know when this is done, it will unsettled the PDP chances in their only stronghold of south-south.” According to the source, the national leader of the party Bola Tinubu is not particularly disposed to Amaechi and prepares to have someone from the south west, but Buhari had insisted on having Ameachi as his running and have convinced Tinubu to accept his choice. Babatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos state, was highly favoured to be running mate, but because of the issue of MuslimMuslim ticket effectively threw him out of the equation. And most of the south-west APC governors are Muslims, making it politically complicated to pick any of them.

Members of FRSC Regular Marshals with the ‘safety mascot’ at the inauguration of the ‘Ember’ months road safety campaign, yesterday in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state. Photo: NAN

House deputy leader garners support for second term By Patrick Andrew

viara youths and other interest groups in the Isoko Federal Constituency in Delta state have thrown their weights behind the Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives Hon. Leo Ogor for a second term in the Green Chamber.

The groups said over the weekend that the member has done creditably well and therefore deserves to be returned to the House to continue with his good work for the people. Speaking at an issue-based rally in Aviara, ‘Governor’ youth President of Aviara, Mr. Oreri Cornelius, said Ogor

Photo chiefs decry lack of modern equipment at Information Ministry

By Ochiaka Ugwu

ack of modern equipment, lack of training of staff and inability to replace retired staff are the serious challenges militating against the operations of the photographic unit at the Ministry of Information described as the best in Africa, Peoples Daily has learnt. This was made known last weekend by Chief Jerome Akpan a retired chief photographer in the ministry at a party organised in honour of four retiring workers of the photographic unit of the Federal Ministry of Information. Many speakers also lamented

that the unit established by the colonial masters now is a shadow of its former self as most of the photographs of major occasions and landmarks can no longer be traced in the ministry’s library, noting however that the negatives of the photos were still available. The chairman of the occasion and a deputy director in the Ministry, Mr Lawrence Ojabor described the photographic unit of the ministry as the live-wire of the Ministry of Information adding that without it, everything written by the information officers would be regarded as propaganda.

has performed well in office to merit another term and will be supported to realize the ambition. The Governor called on Aviara electorate to throw their support behind the lawmaker who has brought massive development to Isoko federal constituency “Isoko people are honourable and won’t take nonsense”.

Ogor, who is seeking reelection on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), earlier on Saturday after he emerged PDP flag bearer, said he will take Isoko Federal constituency to the realms of amazing grace if given the opportunity to continue to serve his people.

60,000 Boko Haram victims enlisted for sweeping job in Adamawa

From Umar Dankano, Yola

he Adamawa State Government has enlisted 60,000 Boko Haram victims as beneficiaries in a poverty alleviation programme known as Social Welfare Economic Empowerment Programme (SWEEP) it’s established recently. Governor Bala James Nggilari dropped the hints weekend at the palace of the Emir of Mubi Alh. Abubakar Isa Ahmadu during an assessment visit to ascertain the level of damage done by the Boko

Haram insurgents who held the border town for over two months. Nggilari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff Alh Tijjani Chubado, commended the security for their braveness in maintaining and ensuring the sovereignty of the nation by dislodging the outlaw Boko Haram in Mubi. Chubado stated that the present administration is committed to work with all security operatives in restoring permanent Peace in all the recaptured towns of the state by the Nigerian troops.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

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News PDP Primaries: Senator Grace Bent protests, others abandon PDP for PDM

From Umar Dankano, Yola

he conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s primaries held in Abuja to nominate candidates of various political offices for Adamawa State that will represent the party for the 2015 general elections has been described as a total mess. Former Senator Grace Bent Jackson who is contesting for Adamawa Southern Senatorial seat under the PDP expressed disappointment and displeasure over the said exercise, decrying that she and delegates from her zone were disenfranchised from last primaries shifted to Abuja by National Working Committee

(NWC) without prior notice. Senator Bent lamented that on the day of the primaries, she and the delegates were waiting in Yola while the primaries was already going on in Abuja without any notice that the primaries have been shifted to Abuja.”Whereas we bought nomination forms like all other aspirants”

She noted that she has submitted her complains to the Appeal Committee of the party and wishes that something will be done or she will be forced to look for solace in another party. She called on President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into the issue, saying that the fallout of the primaries if not well handled could lead to total collapse of the

party in the state. Bent, who hinged her continued stay in the party on the outcome of the appeal filed by some of the disaffected aspirants over the conduct of the primaries outside the state, warned that the party was in danger of losing its electorate value in the state if the Adamawa primaries are not cancelled.

National summit on brain gain opens Wednesday

national summit to explore how Nigeria and other African countries can turn the woes of brain drain to brain gain opens in Abuja on Wednesday. The two-day summit is being organized by the North American Graduates Alumni Association, Nigeria (NAGAAN). The summit has as its theme “Africa Arise and Shine” with “Navigating the future of Africa’s socio-economic transformation through reversal of her brain drain to brain gain as the sub theme. Engr Ernesto Chukwukamma, Senior Coordinator, said participants to the summit will be drawn from the presidency, the diplomatic community, United Nations Agencies in Nigeria, state and local government officials as well as civil society organizations and other non-governmental organizations. Chukwukamma stated that the national summit on brain gain is being convened in order for African countries to develop a common approach the problem of brain drain and how to convert the problem to gain especially in view of dwindling price of oil in the international market and the emerging information society. He regretted that the lure of greener pastures abroad through the annual offer of H1-B visas popularly known as green card lotteries to Africans with extraordinary ability coupled with lack of enabling environment has led to Africa’s best brains to emigrate abroad. According to him, participants will at the end of the summit deepen their knowledge and appreciation of the need to reverse brain drain to brain gain and its implications on the future of Africa’s growth and development.

L-R: Former Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and Chief Tom Ikimi, after their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, recently at the State House, in Abuja. Photo: Joe Oroye

Netherlands unveils plan to develop Nigeria’s agric sector

he Head of Netherlands Representation in Lagos, Mr Michel Deelen, on Sunday said that his government planned to provide Nigerian farmers with technical assistance to increase their crops production. Deelen told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that it was imperative for Netherlands to support Nigeria because of the existing cordial relationship between both countries in different areas. The envoy, however, said that the agriculture sector was one major area of cooperation where Netherlands would sustain relationship with Nigeria in the years ahead. “Agriculture is one major area of Netherlands cooperation with Nigeria and this is expected to

grow in the years ahead. “Netherlands was actually the number one destination count for Nigerian agricultural products in 2013. “We are, therefore, going to be giving technical assistance to Nigerian farmer to boost their crops production in 2015,’’ he said. Deelen, also the deputy Ambassador of Netherlands to Nigeria, said that his country depended largely on Nigeria’s cocoa and other products. The envoy expressed optimism that the assistance would increase the farmers’ production in the year and beyond. According to him, Nigerian farmers can be made to grow from subsistence farmers to larger ones.

“We are, therefore, going to be sharing our experiences in products development with Nigerian farmers so that farmers can improve on their agricultural products in the years ahead. “We strongly believe that Nigerian farmers can grow from being subsistence into big mechanised farmers producing for local and international consumption,’’ he said. Deelen said that his government was committed to investing in Nigeria’s agriculture and development of animal feed companies. He said that the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria would continue to facilitate agricultural development services for Nigerian farmers. (NAN)

Why East/West road won’t be complete in 1qtr - FG

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

he federal government has explained that the long awaited East/West road would have to wait longer than the earlier projected completion date of first quarter of 2015, owing to the numerous bridges and culverts which are yet to be constructed on the section twotwo of the road. Speaking at the weekend in

Abuja during the 2014 ministerial press briefing, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Stephen Oru, who disclosed this to journalists, however said that section one of the 338 kilometres road, is now ready for road users. He said that there is need to sand-fill section two-two of the East/West road project, which is divided into five sub-sections, adding that inadequate funding explains why no project has been

commissioned since five years of setting up the ministry. Oru, who also disclosed that the current completion level of the East/West road is 81 per cent, said that N275.344 billion has so far been paid to the three construction companies handling the N373.352 billion road project. He pointed out that section five of the road is to be partly funded by a $500 million loan from the China Exim Bank.

However, investigation revealed that the fallout of the PDP primaries has recuperated the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in the state which until the PDP’s primary had no candidate vying for any post under its platform. Secretary of the PDM, Mr. Joshua Yohanna confirmed that many aspirants of PDP who were aggrieved over the outcome of the Abuja primaries have already bought nomination forms of the PDM. Yohanna added that Honorable Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (Binani) Member representing Yola North Yola South and Girei Federal constituency and the Alhaji Abdurahman Kwacham Mubi have bought nomination forms for Federal House of Representative seat at the cost of N350, 000.00

Buhari Presidency’ll restore investor confidence – Amosun

From James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

gun state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has commended the maturity and statesmanship displayed by aspirants and delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the just concluded Presidential primary of the party in Abuja. In a statement signed by Senior Special Assistant on Media to the governor, Mrs Olufunmilayo Wakama, Amosun also congratulated the flag bearer of the party in next year’s general elections, General Mohammadu Buhari on his overwhelming victory and the APC, for conducting free, fair and credible Presidential Primary, which was acceptable to all the contestants. He described the election of Buhari as most timely and well deserved, adding that the eventual election of the APC’s presidential flag bearer in the 2015 poll will restore investor confidence in Nigeria and also bring an end to the insurgency facing the nation. “With his experience and track record, I strongly believe that when elected come 2015, Mohammadu Buhari would tackle the spate of insurgency head long and restore investor confidence in our economy and indeed the nation. “I also commend the statesmanship of the other aspirants and the maturity displayed by all at the primary. Other contestants congratulated the winner and that is very worthy of emulation.” the governor said.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

News

Gunmen kill Odionwere community head in Edo

L-R: Mrs. Bilikisu Usman, President, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu, Mrs. Esther Baba, jointly presenting food Items to some of the widows, during the presentation by Helpline Foundation for the Needy to the widows and orphans, at the weekend in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Plateau: Task force returns N265,000 to owner From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

he Plateau State Special Task Force (STF) , keeping peace in the state has returned the sum of N265, 000 to a trader, stolen by armed robbers at gun point. The STF Commander, MajorGeneral David Enetie who handed

the money to Mrs. Caroline Agada, the owner of the money, said the armed robbers had since been apprehended and would soon be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution. Enetie said “the suspects will be handed over to the police, but we didn’t want to tie down her money by handing it over, since it is for her

business and the case may be taken to court.” Mrs. Agada who was apprehended by armed robbers around old airport Junction after she had withdrawn the money from a bank expressed happiness over the return of the money. Agaba in her words said, “I was in a tricycle and wanted to buy rice

around NASCO fibre when some people double crossed me, but I didn’t know that one of the STF officers was watching us and quickly went after them and arrested them. Today I am happy that my money has been returned to me. I just want to say thank you to the STF and I pray the Lord will give them more strength to do their job.”

Sixty-six-year old community head in Ugbowo area of Benin City in Edo was on Saturday night killed by gunmen who invaded his residence. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deceased, Mr John Asemota, was the Odionwere (Clan Head) of Powerline community at Ugbowo. The gunmen, seven in number, were said to have attacked the late Asemota’s residence at about9:30 p.m. and shot him in the head and back. The deceased’s son, Mr Osemudiamen Asemota, who narrated the incident to the NAN, also said three of his father’s tenants were also shot. He said his father died on the spot, while his tenants were rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) where they were receiving treatment. Osemudiamen said the incident was reported at the Ogbowo Divisional Police Headquarters which responded promptly by coming to the scene shortly after the incident occurred. ``It was the police that took my father’s body to the mortuary, while they also rushed those were shot to hospital for medical attention.” When the NAN called at the Ogbowo Divisional Police Headquarters, some officers confirmed the incident, but refused to comment on the incident. Pleading anonymity, one of the officers who was drafted to the scene of the incident, said the matter would be handled appropriately. (NAN)

Three year old baby drowns in basin of water in Delta From Osa Eresoyen, Asaba

three year old baby on Thursday last week who was reported to have been missing from the parent’s house has drowned in basin of water. Reports said that residents of a popular street in Asaba, Delta State capital have been living in fear of the unknown when a three year old male child walked into a basin of water and drowned in it. Eye witness said that the mother of the baby was said to be in the habit of carelessly leaving the baby with an outsider as she claims to be very busy at all times. Expectedly, on the day of the incident, the mother of baby was

said to be sleeping inside her room when the baby, apparently hungry for food, cried endlessly and eventually walked into a basin of water kept behind the house. Sources said that since there was nobody in the compound, as well as no help could be readily available, he got suffocated and died eventually. By the time the mother woke up, she began to look for the baby but every effort to locate the baby within the house proved abortive. Our informed sources said that, it was then she got troubled and went behind the house only to find the lifeless body of the baby in large basin full of water. Investigation revealed that

the single mother’s attitude towards her baby was as a result of her losing her husband who went to work and never came back alive, leading to her getting frustrated. Meanwhile, a middle aged man suspected to be ritualist is now in the police net for allegedly abducting two teenage girls for ritual purposes. It was reliably gathered that the two girls who sell sachet water in Onitsha, Anambra State, but hailed from Asaba, Delta State were lured by the suspect to Asaba with a promise to make them sales girl in his store and in a market in Onitsha, not knowing he had a hidden agenda to take

them to Okija. Speaking on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Celestina Kalu, confirmed the arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the victims. DSP Kalu disclosed that operatives from Storm Office in Asaba received information that two teenage girls, age 13 years from Onitsha, were seen as along DBS road in Asaba in a manner suggesting that they were in distress, adding that based on the information, operatives stormed the scene and on enquiry discovered that the victims were lured by the suspect to work in an uncompleted building in Asaba. DSP Kalu said that the

suspect was arrested, adding that upon interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the crime, disclosing that he abducted the teenage girls from Onitsha in Anambra State. The suspect further claimed that he intended taking the victims to Okija to help a woman who was involved in an accident and receiving treatment in Okija, adding that the woman has no one to stay with her. However, DSP Kalu said that the victims revealed that the suspect deceived them into believing that he was taking them to his provision store at Relief Market Onitsha to become his sale girls, only for him to bring them to Onitsha.

Police warns Ogun youths against extortion during yelutide

r Muyiwa Adejobi, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Ogun State, has warned youths to desist from extorting money from the people in the name of staging carnivals during the Yuletide.

Adejobi gave the warning in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday. He said that forcing the public to give money by blocking roads was other mode of robbery.

``The people should not be forced, at any point in time, to give money for carnivals, but it should be something coming from their minds voluntarily,’’ he said. Adejobi, however, advised the general public to be security

conscious and report any movement by strange persons in their areas to the police during the Yuletide. ``We need to be security conscious so that the nation’s insecurity challenges can be

collectively addressed by the government and the people,’’ he said. He also urged the people to support the police and others agencies to tackle corruption in the country. (NAN)

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Boko Haram: Emir of Mubi returns to palace amidst jubilation From Umar Dankano, Yola.

esidents of the ancient town of Mubi which was recently recaptured from the Boko Haram insurgence by the Nigerian troops have described the return of Emir of Mubi, Alh. Abubakar Isa Ahmadu on Friday back to his palace as a new beginning. It could be recalled that, the Emir who was the state Amirul Hajj this year (2014) was in Saudi

Arabia with the state delegation for this year holy pilgrimage when the outlawed sect overran his domain for over 40 days. Buba Ibrahim who was among those that trooped out to welcome the emir chanting “Baba yadawo, Baba yadawo” meaning in Hausa” Baba is back, Baba is back” said he was very happy to see the emir back. “This is one of the happiest day of my life and i pray things will normalize for the better”,

Ibrahim said. Hauwa Umar who was also excited with the return of the emir, said his return was symbolic. “This historic return symbolizes the fact that Mubi has been liberated”, Umar said. However, the Emir who joined other Muslim faithful to observe the Jummat prayer at the Mubi central Mosque, urged the residents to take what happened as something that happened with

the will of God. Abubakar called for sustained payers for God’s mercies for lasting peace in the emirate and nation in general. In an interview with journalists at his palace, he said that, he has fully moved back to Mubi to stay with his subjects, even though lamenting that all the doors to his rooms were boggled by the insurgents who invaded the palace. The royal father, however,

made a call to Nigerians to be hundred percent pious in their engagements (undertakings) for almighty God to heal the land. He explained that what is happening in the country should make us to re-examining ourselves that something has gone wrong somewhere. “We Nigerians need to rethink and search ourselves where we have gone astray. God can only help us when we are sincere to ourselves.” The Emir advised

the Kaduna State Permanent Secretary of the Directorate of Protocols, Alhaji Lawal Musa yesterday at Kabala Doki area of Kaduna state. The empowerment

programme, which include; 5,000 naira cash each to widows and other petty traders, GCE fees for students while others were awarded scholarship to further their education within

Kabala doki and surrounding areas. The presentation which took place at the Palace of Sarkin Kabala Doki Alhaji Aliyu Abdulrahman saw 35 beneficiaries from Kabala Costain, 20 persons from Kabala Doki, 14 persons from other areas within the district, 2 persons each from Police Training School and Mounted Troops Police Barracks. One of the beneficiaries a widow Zuwaira Usman who was emotional while speaking said she wept because she never thought in her life she would be remembered for any good thing. She said over 4 years now that her husband died and left behind 4 children for her to cater for, she has being struggling to sell bean cake (akara) to ensure her children are educated, she expressed her gratitude to the financier of the programme and prayed that Almighty Allah reward him richly. On his part the Permanent Secretary who was represented by Alhaji Haruna Bamali urged the beneficiaries to make judicious used of the kind gesture, in order to encourage him to do more for others to benefit.

Cleric urges Widows, orphans, others empowered in Kaduna Nigerians to always be O grateful to God From Bashir Bello Kaduna

ver 76 persons including widows and orphans benefitted from the empowerment programme of

avid Popoola, the Provincial Pastor of Living Faith Church, Lokoja, has urged Nigerians to be grateful to God in whatever situation they found themselves. He made the call in his sermon entitled “Shiloh 2014 Thanksgiving” on Sunday in Lokoja. Taking his lesson from the Book of Psalm 115 v 1-3, he said ``unto the name of the Lord we must give glory, for His mercy and truth endures forever. “When you give thanks to God, God is committed to bless you more in return. Every great achiever in the kingdom is an addicted thanksgiver.’’ He said ``one of the major reasons why we must appreciate God is that, it is a covenant responsibility to glorify God always. “God commanded thanksgiving for the preservation of our blessings, for the perfection of our souls, for massive salvation of souls and for the wonderful works that God has done in our lives. “We are thanking God for all the miracles he has performed and for the successful completion of SHILOH 2014,’’ Popoola said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Living Faith Church Worldwide (a.k.a Winners Chapel), held its annual Shiloh Convention from Dec. 9 to Dec.13, 2014 with the theme ``SHILOH 2014 - HEAVEN ON EARTH.’’ At the end of the programme, Bishop David Oyedepo, The President of Living Faith Church Worldwide, declared an end to all forms of insecurities and insurgencies ravaging the nation. He cursed all the evil perpetrators and their sponsors. (NAN)

L-R: Sarkin Kabala Costaine, Alhaji Musa Haruna, presenting five thousand naira to Hajiya Zuwaira Usman, one of the beneficiaries of the empowerment for the elderly women, youths and GCE scholarship programme organised by Kaduna state Permanent Secretary Directorate of Protocol, Alhaji Lawal Musa, during the presentation ceremony, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: Bashir Bello

Unite families to unite nation; group tells Nigerians

By Evelyn Okakwu

igerians have been enjoined to utilise the family as a tool for ensuring lasting peace and unity in the country. speaking at the program orgainsed by a nongovernmental orgainisation; the Universal peace Federal (UPF); with the team; ‘From amalgamation to Unification; strengthening marriages and building unified families’ the UPF Nigeria’s Secretary General, Dr Rapheal Oko said; “The family remains the building block of any society. So if you want to create a peaceful society; create a peaceful family”.

He said the program is aimed at educating Nigerians to marry across religious and ethnic lines, as a means to strengthen the bond that binds the people.” “This is why we call on the government to establish the ministry for family affairs that will concentrate on accessing family problems, as a means to solving the problems of the community in general”. Most of these people who caused harm in the country come from families. If Nigerians can learn to see themselves as a family, the problem of insecurity would be alleviated. He called on leaders of religious organisations to practice, as well as

preach peace. “Not just preaching peace, practicing it as well”. The UPF helms man charged political leaders across the country to maintain the current trend and ensure that the electoral season ends up peacefully. “Those in the PDP are working with Jonathan and those whom Buhari defeated are also working with him; in the same way, we would like to see a harmony of the various political parties at the end of the election. We should all work together, transcending our differences”. Also speaking at the event; Hon. Ogana Lukpata, representing the Yala 2 ward, in Cross River state house of Assembly, said

peace is pivotal to growth and development. “Nigeria is going through the trying period; Nigerians are not happy and it is evident that we would have a better nation if we come together”. “We need to move from the point of amalgamation to seeing ourselves as one united people. He called on politicians to use their positions in uniting; rather than dividing the people. “Politics should unite Nigeria, not divide us. Which is why I condemn in totality, those who say that if they don’t win elections they would divide the country; who employ various forms of antics in a bid to win elections”.

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‘Navy cannot fight crude oil theft alone’ From Femi Oyelola

Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar Isa (left) on arrival at his palace for the first time since the military dislodged insurgents from the town, in Mubi on Saturday. Photo: NAN

Family seeks Kwankwaso’s intervention in disputed property From Raji Bello, Sokoto

he family of late Abubakar Suleiman has dispassionately requested the intervention of Kano state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to prevail on Alhaji Muhammad Abacha to keep away from their inherited property. The late father was a former Director of United Africa Company (UAC). He wants the governor to intervene on the matter by stopping Abacha from any further claims on their

property at No 6A Gidado road. The family in a statement it signed and made available to newsmen by Ahmad Suleiman, said it deemed it necessary and fit to bring to the knowledge and notice of the governor whom they believe and is on the part of the principles of sincerity, justice and equity for his intervention. Suleiman in the statement said” Sir, the above property was left behind by our late father, and at the time he was alive, we had no cause of complain due to the fact that we the plaintiff have been living in peace up

until when we decided to sell the property due to the demise of our father.” According to the statement, the family of the deceased which further acknowledged that though Muhammad Abacha once showed interest in buying the property, however, said that there was no any formal transaction that took place between them. The statement explained that, the family have been living in the house for the past 30 years and has all documents to prove their case, adding “we have all the documents regarding the house

left by our late father, including the C of C of the property, proof of ownership and other relevant documents which include our father paying all ground.” In the same vein, the statement further said that it was after the demise of their father that they decided to sell the property upon which Abacha showed interest and thought of sending his representative to negotiate. However, when contacted for comment, Abacha could not respond to calls including text message sent to him.

Jos blasts: Reps Kwande task FG on ending insurgency From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

on. Suleiman Yahaya Kwande, representing Jos North/ Bassa constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, has tasked the Federal Government to fashion out means of tackling insurgency

in Nigeria. The law maker gave the task following the recent twin bomb blasts at the popular terminus market where scores were killed and many injured, condemning the act and called for swift action. In a release signed the law maker, “It is with highest sense of

Gbemi Saraki donates N1m to victims of fire disaster in Kwara From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

he first daughter of late Dr Olusola Saraki, Senator Gbemisola R. Saraki and former Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Governorship aspirant in Kwara State on Sunday donated the sum of N1 million to the victims of the November 3,2014 fire disaster in Bode Saadu, Moro local government area of Kwara State. It could be recalled that no fewer than 14 people died in the fire,when a patrol tanker in November 3,2014 caught fire in the community, killing no fewer than 14 people and destroyed properties worth millions of naira. While speaking with the families of the victims and the one survivor, Saraki, who was represented by

Engr Yinusa Afolabi condoled with the survivor and the families of the dead victims. Saraki explained that the she made the donation because she was moved by the ugly incidence and the present state of the families and urged the affected people to see the ugly experience as an act of God. “This is in fulfillment of my pledge to the victims of the fire disaster when i visited Oloru couple of weeks ago. I was shocked with the disaster and prayed against a recurrence of the ugly incident.” Shae said Earlier in his address of welcome, Alhaji Idowu Adekanbi, the Secretary of the Sabo community commended Saraki for her kind gesture, despite the outcome of the PDP governorship primaries in the state.

worries, sadness and compassion that I rise in condemnation of an inhuman act of barbaric killings, by ways of bomb explosions at Terminus Market.” “I am indeed saddened by the painful loss of lives, and I am using this medium to not only condemn the heinous acts of the

bombings, but to also regrettably and whole heartily commiserate with the families of the victims whose lives were taken, and those who sustained injuries.” He called on the federal government to fashion out all lawful possible means to end insurgency.

Kaduna NUJ holds 2014 press week

he Kaduna State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, will kick off its 2014 Press week, on Monday, December 15, 2014. This year’s press week will feature the 5th edition of the NUJ chairman’s Round Table, with the theme “Adding Value to Journalism through Distance Learning” to be delivered by the Vice- Chancellor National Open University of Nigeria Professor Vincent Ado Tenebe, who will serve as the guest speaker.” The lecture session will be chaired by the Managing Director of Nagarta Radio Kaduna Malam Lawal Yusuf Saulawa. The Round Table holds at Arewa House Auditorium, Kaduna. Kaduna State governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero is the chief Host while the Minister of Education

Malam Ibrahim Shekarau will be the Special Guest of Honour. Leaders of various Political parties in the State, NGOs, CSOs and other critical stakeholders are expected to take part in the Round Table. Other activities slated for the week includes visitation to hospitals and orphanages where commodities will be distributed to the sick and the orphans; and securing the release of prisoners from the Kaduna prison through the settlement of their fines. The one week long event will be crowned with a dinner and award night. Five individuals and one corporate organization have been slated for awards as a result of the transformation they brought in their various areas of assignments. All media chief executives based in Kaduna are expected to grace the Round-Table.

Nigerian Navy General, Rear Admiral Victor Adedipe has said, that the navy cannot independently fight crude oil theft and other crimes in the Nigeria’s maritime domain, hence the need for synergy between the force and other stakeholders. Admiral Adedipe who is also the Director, Department of Maritime Warfare in Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna State stated this during the Policing Seminar for Junior Course 78/2014 at the college. “The constitutional role of the Nigerian Navy to police the nation’s maritime domain and to ensure that, the maritime environment is conducive for economic activities is a continuous and often difficult one for the service to perform alone. This is particularly so due to the enormity of responsibility of the Nigerian Navy to the nation. “This poses a serious challenge to our force planners and calls for synergy between the service and other friendly key players in the sustenance and improvement of a secured maritime environment”. He said. According to him, “it is a fact that, the Nigerian maritime environment is richly endowed with living and non-living resources.. However, these resources and other commercial activities in the maritime environment have been subject of consistent threats which could jeopardize the revenue generating capacity and economic well being of the nation. Declaring the seminar open, the Commandant of AFCSC, Air Vice Marshal John Chris Ifemeje expressed optimism that, valuable contributions and suggestions would emanate from the seminar to add value to the security agencies’ policing efforts in Nigeria’s maritime domain. The theme of the biannual seminar was; “Multi Agency Cooperation in Nigeria’s Maritime Domain: a Panacea for Enhanced Maritime Security”.

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Ebola: Basic hygiene to contain virus dumped in some states- report From Osa Eresoyen, Asaba

he declaration of Nigeria as an Ebola-free country by the World Health Organization (WHO) in October has given many Nigerians the laxity to discontinue the practice of maintaining a good level of hygiene as a measure to curtail the spread of Ebola Virus. From schools to banks and other public places, the strict measures to screen for signs of the disease put in place while the outbreak lasted between July and October, have fizzled out in most places. Most

Kaduna to vaccinate 3.5m children against polio

Nigerians are now living a care- free life because, according to them, Nigeria has been certified Ebola-free by the WHO, as such there is no cause for alarm. Our investigation revealed that many corporate organizations including banks, hotels, as well as schools In Delta and Edo states have now relaxed in checking for Ebola, via the use of sanitizers and handwashing, many people are now indifferent to keeping good hygiene because there is no Ebola case in the country and as such, it is a license to live freely without fear of contacting the disease, forgetting that Nigeria can only account for those cases of Ebola that were reported in the Hospital. A visit revealed that many banks and schools no longer scan customers before entry, just as visitors to the premises

are no longer compelled to use soap or sanitisers placed at the entrance, as was the case some months ago. A banker, who works with one of the newgeneration banks in Benin, Edo State, said that it is only the hand sanitisers that are still in vogue. Although some schools still do the temperature checks using the infrared thermometers, the mandatory hand-washing has apparently been jettisoned. Even in markets, the precautionary measures are now dwindling, as people now work without any form of caution on the disease. In a survey carried out by our correspondent, a businessman in Asaba, Delta state capital (name withheld) said, “this Ebola issue has really disturbed my business and now that Nigeria has been declared Ebola free by the United Nations (UN) I don’t

want to hear anything about it. And now that Ebola is dead and buried in Nigeria, I am ready to regain all the money I have lost”. A trader, Mrs. Elizabeth Oliwe, who sells cloth in Ogbe-ogonogo market said customers patronage has increased drastically now without fear, compared to when the disease was in full blast. Speaking in the same vein, a bush meat seller in Abraka Mr. Henry Okoro said, “during the period the Ebola Virus was In Nigeria, people automatically stopped buying bush meat; as a result I was out of business, but as soon any customers heard that Nigeria had been cleared of the disease, they started calling to know when I will open my shop, and since I resumed the sale of bush meat the returns have been wonderful.” Also, a customer, who does not want his name in print, said, he

has really missed eating monkey and that God should bless the WHO for declaring Nigeria Ebolafree”. Also, speaking with a Pharmacist in Asaba (name withheld), he said, since Nigeria has been declared Ebola-free, people have stopped buying and sanitizers because of the declaration and this is affecting the sale of sanitizers and the health of Nigerians since people no longer take preventive measures seriously. According to him, “before Nigeria was cleared I bought about six cartons of sanitizers because the sale was booming, but as soon as people heard of the report most of our customers stopped buying sanitizers; and as am talking to you now, I have only been able to sell one carton of the product compared to when Ebola was In full blast”, he said.

From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

aduna state government is set to vaccinate over 3.5 million children against polio during the December immunization campaign which starts tomorrow. In a statement signed by the Secretary Journalists against polio ,JAP Kaduna state chapter, Lawal Dogara explained that a total of 3,714 teams have been recruited, trained and poised to start the campaign which will held between December 12 and 17,2014. The statement said Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Agency (SPHCA) Dr Sufiyan Mu’awuyya Babale has reiterated the readiness of the state to continue to be polio fee. The Executive Secretary said that all required machineries and logistics have been put in place to ensure that every eligible child is reached and vaccinated. “The problems we used to have are mainly at the border settlement with other states, we have conducted planning meetings with our brother statesKano, Katsina, Nasarawa Niger and FCT to ensure that children at the border settlement are not missed out,” he said. On fears that the vaccines may not go around, Dr Sufiyan assured that it will, saying the vaccines are enough to go round. According to him, they have issued out 3.951,361 dose of oval polio vaccine which is more than the projected requirements of 3,723,000 doses. Apart from striving to kick out polio from children, he said that 81 health camps have been put in place in 16 out of 23 LGAs in the state. He said the health camps are to attend to other health needs of the people. The statement then called for cooperation of the people, so that the state will continue to be polio free.

Plateau state Governor, Mr. Jonah Jang (left), sympathising with victims of bomb explosion during his visit to Plateau Specialist Hospital, on Saturday in Jos. Photo: NAN

Jos Blast: Govt careless about tackling Boko Haram- Archbishop From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

he Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashe has alleged that the incessant killings and attacks bedeviling the northern part of Nigeria was due to the nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian government to tackle insurgency in the country. The Anglican Archbishop was lamenting over the weekend in Jos on the Hausa Service of the BBC monitored in Jos, while being interviewed on last week Thursday’s twin bomb explosions

that killed about thirty two people, mostly roadside traders around popular terminus market area, in Jos, the Plateau state capital. He said the Nigerian government was very careful about the activities of Boko Haram since from its inception, the sect wouldn’t have acquired sophisticated weapons, training camp and other war facilities utilized to fighting innocent people, stressing that the sect’s activities should have been hindered before now. He said, “It is the nonchalant

attitude of the government to tackle the dreaded Boko Haram activities that have been causing the incessant killing and destructions in the north. It is the carelessness of the government that allowed the insurgents to own sophisticated weapons and be killing people. “Look at the victims of Thursday bomb blasts. They are poor people looking for what they would eat and suddenly for no reason they are killed”. Asking what to be done do to stop these kind of killings and

destructions, Kwashe said, “let the government provide adequate security to public places for safety of lives and property of Nigerians.” Kwashe, however, noted that so far both Christians and Muslims have understood that the five year insurgency had nothing to do with religion and therefore called on the people to continue to be wise in their reaction to any action, nothing that if it were before people would have fought themselves in the name of religion.

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2015: Gombe NOA urges youths to be law abiding

L-R: Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, exchanging pleasantries with Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, during the 50th anniversary of Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), on Saturday in Zaria, Kaduna state. Photo: NAN

From David Hassan, Gombe

he National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Gombe state has urged youths to be law abiding during and after the forth coming general elections in 2015. Speaking in an interview with newsmen at the weekend in Gombe, the state director of the agency Alhaji Yakubu Mato Dukku emphasized that as the forth coming general election draws nearer, youths should not be allowed to be used by politicians in order to foment trouble, so as to achieve their selfish interest. He called on parents to always advise their children in order to be good ambassadors in the society, even as he said youths are the future leaders that needed parental care to enable them strive in their endeavors. According to him, the agency had earlier met with the stakeholders, traditional and religious leaders on the need to sensitized communities on how to conduct a peaceful elections in their areas. He said they were able to visit three senatorial district in the state to ensure that the conduct of the forth coming general election in 2015 would be free, fair and credible. The NOA boss maintained that it is the responsibility of the electorates to vote candidates of their choice and called on them as matter of urgency, to collect their voter’s cards in order not to be disfranchised in the forth coming general election. Speaking further, he said people should be security conscious and report any suspicious movement within their vicinity, adding that security is everybody business, we should stand firm and defend our land he said. He called on women to participate fully in politics in order to occupy elective positions during elections even as he advise husbands to support them in order to partake so as to benefit the dividend of democracy that people had been enjoying in the country.

Ekiti govt pledges campaign against child trafficking From Tope Musowo, Ado-Ekiti

kiti state government has assured that it would take the sensitization campaign on the implications of trafficking in persons and child labour to all the nooks and crannies of the state, to protect the future of the children and ensure that the menace do not raise its ugly trend in the state. According to a press statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Friday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi, Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose gave the assurance in Ado Ekiti on Friday while declaring open a oneday sensitization campaign on “The implications of Trafficking in persons and child Labour on Sub-

Regional Integration and Human security” organized by the federal ministry of foreign affairs. The governor who was represented at the occasion by the deputy governor, Dr. Kolapo Olusola, described human trafficking as “the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation”, stressing that it was a serious crime and heavy human rights violation. He noted that over 8million children who managed to stay in school and work at their spare time could not break the jinx of poverty because they normally skipped classes which prevented them from having a better live and safer future.

Fayose said Ekiti was the first state to domesticate the child’s rights law during his first term in government in 2006 when the state’s child’s right law was establishment and the implementation and monitoring committee was set up to protect Ekiti children from being moved illegally for enslavement. The governor who called on all stakeholders to see themselves as watchdogs and tools through which trafficking will be reduced to the barest minimum in the state, charged them to report suspicious characters and locations of nefarious activities to the appropriate organs of government or law enforcement agencies for prompt actions. In his keynote address,

the Minister of State (II) for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Muhammad, who was represented by Ambassador Orevba Olusola said that trafficking in persons and child abuse are a menace that has dented the nation’s image across the globe. The Minister pointed out that about 2.4million Nigerians were victims of the dastardly act while 90% of the population was involved in sexual exploitation, ranging from prostitution to baby manufacturing” While tracing the cause of the menace to poverty, illiteracy, greed and over-ambition among our people, the Minister charged the people to be pro-active in checking the menace in the rural communities.

Speaking with Journalists in Asaba, Delta State, Comrade Obi assured commuters that there will be no hike in fares as a result of Christmas celebration. According to him, “this is Christmas, travelers will be apprehensive that transport fare will increase, but, we are not going to do that.” “Our President, Dr Goodluck

Jonathan has done very well for us, we can drive into any petrol station and fuel our vehicles without spending long hours on queue, we are also sure of the price of the products, no other President has achieved this for a long time, so, all of us will celebrate Christmas without fear of increase in transport fare,” he said.

Chief Obi observed that there will be rush by commuters and stated that the NURTW was prepared for such, disclosing that all vehicles that load passengers from the motor parks must be certified to be okay before they are allowed to embark on journeys. “The tyres must be okay, no driver will drink before driving and everything is being done to ensure the safety of passengers and their goods because for more than three years, we are recording accidentfree celebration and we want to retain that record,” the Chairman of the driver’s union said. He thanked Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration for providing vehicles for members of NURTW stating that such action contributed to reduction of transport fare in Delta State. Chief Obi also praised the leadership qualities of the national President of NURTW; Alhaji Nasim Usman which he observed has made the union to be peaceful.

Xmas: NURTW assures of steady fares

From Osa Eresoyen, Asaba

he Chairman of Delta State Council of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Chief Ifeanyi Obi has said the consistency in transport fare ahead of Christmas celebration was because of the stability in the price of petroleum products.

Islamic scholar, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi not dead-Family From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

he families of a renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi have dispelled speculations that the Islamic scholar had died in Madina, Saudi Arabia, they confirmed the Sheik Dahiru Bauchi is alive hale and hearty. A member of his family and one of his closest aide, Alhaji Sanusi Ahmad Dahiru Bauchi

stated this at the weekend, while speaking with newsmen in Bauchi, He said, “We received so many telephone calls seeking for clarification that it was pasted on the social media, Maulana Sheikh died in Medina, it’s not true, Sheikh is alive and is in good health, yesterday he led the Jummaat prayer, Friday dhikr, Wazifa in Bauchi and other daily prayers, even yesterday he led subh early morning prayer here in Bauchi”

Sanusi said since Sheikh returned from Hajj this year, he didn’t go outside the country, he is in Nigeria and in Bauchi, he only travels within the country for preaching and other religious activities, he didn’t go outside the country. He advised people pasting news on social media to always cross check their stories before pasting it on the social media and pray for God protection, long life and good health to the Sheikh.

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Money Sense

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

3 Things you should never tell an employer

show itself over time. 2. If you dislike your job or anyone there One of the worst things you can say to your employer is “I hate my job.” Generally, that’s a statement that’s loaded with anger and negative emotions. Plus, it won’t benefit you at all to reveal those types of negative feelings. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or frustrated with your current position, there are constructive ways in which you can tell your employer while remaining positive. It’s a good idea to create a list of the things that are causing your frustration. Again, be specific and try to think of viable solutions to some of these problems. No workplace is perfect, and if you bring these issues to your superiors’ attention in a constructive manner, you may be helping to promote improvement across the board. Odds are if you’re feeling this way, other employees may be frustrated with some of the same processes, as well. 3. Anything that could be filed under TMI

onesty is the best policy, but we still have to exercise caution and discretion, because there are some exceptions and limitations to that rule. For instance, if you’re staring at your coworker’s shirt and thinking to yourself, “Wow, that shirt is really ugly,” you’re probably not going to announce your opinion if someone asks you what you think. There are other rules of proper etiquette that supersede the honestly policy, and it’s better to tone it down and perhaps simply say, “I think you look much better in light colors” or something to that effect. In the workplace, there will be times when it’s not in your best interest to tell the brutally honest truth, especially when dealing with your superiors.

Not only do you have to refrain from coming across as coarse, but you also have to find the balance between revealing needto-know information, avoid revealing too much information, and remaining completely professional. Of course, you should first and foremost follow any and all rules set forth by your employer, as well as any applicable labor laws. But there are a lot of topics that fall into grey areas, remaining unanswered by most handbooks. Check out our list of some of the things you should never admit to your employer. 1. If you think another worker is “incompetent” If you are having trouble with a coworker who doesn’t complete

his or her work and frequently misses deadlines, this can be especially irritating — but it’s a common problem within the workplace. A Taskworld survey of workers found that “75 percent of respondents found themselves waiting on coworkers more than occasionally to complete a work related task.” It’s always best to try and resolve these problems as amicably as possible, without turning them into a major motion picture. But if you’ve tried over and over again to work things out to no avail, it may get so bad that you have to discuss it with management in some cases. In these situations, it’s never a good idea to go to your employer and say you feel “Jane is incompetent,” or “Jane is so lazy.” That’s not for you to

decide, and it sounds as though you’re bad-mouthing your coworker, instead of trying to solve the problem. It’s better to ask your superior for advice. Be specific, clear, and concise about the problem and any potential solutions. Instead, try: “Jane has brought her portion of the reports to me at least a day late over the past 12 weeks, and I have had to stay at work late some days as a result. I have discussed the matter with her, but it is not yet resolved. Can you offer me any guidance? Perhaps a team meeting could get us back on the same page.” This way, you avoid sounding like a drama queen (or king), and you get the actionable results you need in the process. Plus, if Jane is really is incompetent, this will

The office is a place where you want to be yourself. But on the same note, it’s best to refrain from sharing things about you that makes others around you uncomfortable — too much information (TMI). If you have any question as to whether your story, omen, or joke falls in the TMI category, it’s probably better to keep quiet. Salary.com discussed this issue a little while back, indicating things workers should never tell their bosses. According to the website, you should refrain from sharing your sexual orientation, your living situation, information about a second job, and even your spouse’s income. You should also shy away from topics like your night life, your personal or religious beliefs, and, of course, any mental health or personal issues you may face. So while you may be an open person who feels comfortable telling everyone about how you “stank up the bathroom,” for instance, you should remain mindful of your surroundings and keep in mind that everyone is different. www.wallstcheatsheet.com

...and 5 tips to avoid overspending during the holidays

othing can squelch the Christmas spirit more than worrying about how to pay the bills for purchases that come due in January. The good news is that it is possible to have a memorable, joyous holiday without overspending. In fact, some money saving tips can actually enhance your enjoyment, instead of detracting from it because they transfer focus from material goods to the aspects of the season that give depth and meaning. When we reflect back on our favourite Christmas memories, chances are they have more to do with giving and receiving love rather than on

material possessions. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind. 1. Make a list Make a list of every person you exchange gifts with and designate N500 amount to spend on each one. Stick to the budget no matter what. 2. For extended family, draw names from a hat Write down the names of everyone who will be at your family gathering. Each person selects a name of someone to buy a gift for, so instead of purchasing a separate gift for everyone, you only buy one gift. This can be a big

savings. 3. Consider homemade gifts for friends, neighbours and co-workers Gifts that you make yourself are not only money-saving, but they are also so much more meaningful than store bought ones. Food gifts that can be assembled in a jar, such as cocoa mixes or cookie mixes are appealing and can fit nicely within a limited budget. An alternative to the assembled jar gifts are the actual baked goods themselves. Spend an afternoon baking loaves of delectable bread, subtly spiced with cinnamon and

cloves. Unless someone is on a special diet, anything fresh and warm from the oven is always welcome. Moreover, it is likely that a gift of homemade cookies or specialty bread can warm the cockles of your recipient’s heart better than any item you could purchase from a store. 4. Give no-cost gifts of your time or service Think about the needs of those on your list and give a voucher for your time or services that they can redeem as needed. For example, you could give babysitting vouchers to a new mother.

5 Enjoy low-cost entertainment Instead of splurging on going to a movie together, engage in low cost entertainment alternatives. A time-honoured Christmastime activity is to pile into the car together and drive around town to look at Christmas lights. This can be followed with chocolate and a cozy family time of storytelling when you return home. Curtailing spending will in no way diminish the inner warmth experienced as we enjoy our holiday traditions. www.biblemoneymatters. com

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

EDITORIAL

Party primaries and internal democracy

operators of the system have oth the ruling Mr A. T. Shehu all chieftains of sold their birthrights could be PDP and the lead the party in the state, the Police gleaned from a statement made opposition party, Commissioner and Director of by former Minister of National the APC, have held State Security Services in the state Planning Sanusi Daggash who congresses to elect and some unnamed party thugs of came out of a meeting with their Presidential candidates. the crime. Based on this petition, President Jonathan to announce The PDP congress held in the PDP has decided to hold all gleefully to the media that he Abuja could be described as a primary elections of the state in came to give the President mere coronation exercise for Abuja – far away from Adamawa. the name of the consensus President Goodluck Jonathan This decision is fast becoming candidate arrived at to run for since for whatever reason, the fashion for the PDP. Yobe has the governorship contest in he had no other party man or Borno on the PDP ticket. woman to contest against him. To the minister, the issue of The APC on the other hand, primaries was irrelevant. What conducted a well organized matters is consensus, even and transparent primary when he did not tell us how the election in Lagos where consensus was arrived at. The five candidates vied to be second thing that mattered is president. At the end of the day, that the President, who is not General Muhammadu Buhari the state or national chairman of emerged winner and his four the party should bless the name. contestants graciously bowed It is very tragic that Daggash out of the ring promising their who parades himself as a former support. This was a fine day minister could display such for democracy in Nigeria. profound ignorance on how our A little down the ladder, system should work. Secondly, primaries for other political primary elections are meant to offices both at the state and create a sense of participation federal levels which are and education to the citizenry supposed to be held in the at the grassroots. By moving various states are proving followed and so has Taraba. everything to Abuja, we are now something of a nightmare. In This development is rather strange for saying the people who form Adamawa State, members of a the federal system of government the bedrock of our democratic committee raised by the PDP we pretend to be operating. In foundation no longer count. national secretariat to conduct this system, the federating units House of Assembly primaries are entitled to some measure It is our considered opinion that a house built on a shaky were “kidnapped.” A petition of autonomy. By moving party foundation cannot stand. signed by the Chairman and primaries to the headquarters The PDP and all other parties Secretary of the committee, of the central government, we must take the issue of internal Ambassador Tim Ihemadu are giving signals to the central democracy and primary elections and Mrs. Victoria Nyam-Isha government that the states have more seriously. A democracy respectively, pointedly accused succumbed even the peripheral that denies the people a voice is the Governor Bala James autonomy they currently enjoy. no democracy at all. Ngilari, Chief Joel Madaki and A perfect example that some

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To the minister, the issue of primaries was irrelevant. What matters is consensus, even when he did not tell us how the consensus was arrived at.

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PAGE 14

Opinion

That picture of Putin and Modi in tete-a-tete By Abdullahi Musa

t is apparent, or it is possible, that after a certain period in our maturity trajectory, we lose our ability to hero-worship. We are no longer swayed by rhetoric, we have heard it all. A fiery visionary, who may want us to bid farewell to our senses, in order to be laced with explosives, to face certain death, while he lives on to carry on the good works, finds in our mind, an immovable, granite wall, which he cannot penetrate. Not so with the young. Life to them is about daring, about vision, about achieving the impossible. Above all, about risk-taking. It is about heroism, about peer acclaim, about disregard of safety, about damning consequences. It is about never pausing, about series of explosions, the loudness of bangs, perpetual highs, if you so wish. There is something about Modi. I saw a picture of a hall where Modi was addressing Indians when he visited Australia. There was ecstasy in their faces. Arms were being thrown up in the air out of pure joy. A people in perfect harmony with their leader. I do not know for how long that honeymoon will last, nor do I care. After all I am not an Indian. What appeals to me from that scene is that for you to lead

properly, you must be connected to the people you are leading. As for Putin, I am intrigued by the West’s demonisation of him. One, Putin is not an Asian, like Modi or Xi or of China. He is of the same race as Cameron and Merkel. He is unlike Obama, who claims to be black while he cannot be; particularly in his actions. He cannot improve the lot of blacks in America, neither can he take black nations out of their quagmire. He is a slave, installed to do the bidding of white America: to act out its prejudices, however vile. Putin is reviled by the West because he stands between them and control of Russia and its former constituent parts. He refuses to

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be a Gorbachev. The thorny issue between them is Ukraine and Cremia. He is accused of annexing Cremia, of wanting to turn back the clock. Using lenses other than that of the West, you can see that he refuses to be dictated to by USA and Britain. It is just like a rapist being perplexed why his victim should not simply surrender her sovereignty over her body with equanimity. I looked at the two leaders in that picture as unique human beings: each standing up for something in relation to his country. There is an India, there is a Russia. There is no Nigeria in the context you define Russia or Nigeria. Russians are not lucky

though. They are being targeted, isolated. India is being wooed. Putin is resisting what he calls as the Iron Curtain that is being wound around him. How far he can escape it depends upon the will of his people, particularly the elites. Many would prefer to follow the new masters, safeguard their ways of life, even though their country would be the equivalent of a colony. That intimate discussion between Putin and Modi showed two leaders who have countries to govern. Russia is, to among other things, build sophisticated helicopters in India. There are also chain of nuclear reactors there. Such kind of talk cannot happen

Such kind of talk cannot happen between Modi and Jonathan of Nigeria. Jonathan has nothing to offer but oil. That oil is not the handiwork of any person living or dead.

between Modi and Jonathan of Nigeria. Jonathan has nothing to offer but oil. That oil is not the handiwork of any person living or dead. Is it luck that builds nations like Russia or India? Is it luck that shapes one to be a Modi or Putin? I learned that Modi does not have a wife. India is spared of the ridicule of unelected wife deciding who becomes the governor of which state. There are, I believe, genes at play in a person’s identity and actions. Inspite of numerous examples to emulate, many of us cannot achieve greatness. Puny mortals eking out a living on daily bases do not aspire to be great. But any person who finds themselves in power ought to. In the very least, try to be better than those they are leading. In our terrain, they choose to be more a based. Mere stealing, according to someone’s criminal procedure code, is not condemned, neither should it be tried in a court of law. Such a person therefore surrounds himself with mere thieves. We are doomed, apparently, because we cannot have as leaders those we can look up to. Our leaders are mere thieves! How can we be upright? Abdullahi Musa via kigongabas@gmail.com

‘Intelligence’ deficit of the war against terror (II) By Charles Onunaiju

ot quite a few perceptible observers were stunned when the raid of an opposition party’s data base facility by the department of state security (DSS) was widely reported in the media. The main State intelligence service agency (the DSS) has claimed that it raided the opposition party facility; because it received intelligence report that the opposition party was using the facility to allegedly clone the INEC permanent voters card (PVC) and hack into the data base of the electoral umpire. Many days and even weeks into the raid and after a second raid, the DSS has yet to process the intelligence report to prove the opposition party culpable of the alleged infraction and possibly prepare for prosecution. However, the lightning speed at which the opposition party was pounced is exactly what has been lacking in the prosecution of a more heinous crime committed in the broad day light and on a sustainable basis by a terror group that wantonly sows death, destruction and agony across the country but more devastatingly in the North East region where the federal authorities have implemented state of emergency, i.e. total assumption of security responsibilities. Even as in conventional warfare, intelligence gathering of the enemy is strategic to victory. The Chinese ancient

military general, strategist and philosopher, Sun Tzu in his classic commentary on the “Art of war” underscored that “what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer and achieve things beyond the reach of the ordinary men, is foreknowledge”. Sun Tzu’s compatriot and prolific poet, Mei Yaochen put it even more succinctly when he posited that “knowledge of the spirit world is to be obtained by divination, information in natural science may be sought by inductive reasoning; the laws of the universe can be verified by mathematical calculation but the dispositions of an enemy are ascertainable through spies and spies alone”. The Nigerian state has four main intelligence services or secret spy networks-namely, the department of State security service DSS otherwise called

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the SSS’ the directorate of military intelligence, (DMI) within the military, the criminal investigation department, (CID) within the police force and the Nigerian intelligence Agency, NIA, the external organ of the Nigerian espionage service. It befuddles common sense and assaults sensibilities of any observer that six years into a brutal war, wage by bloodsucking terrorists, there seems to be no intelligence trail into their activities, that have incrementally graduated from the deadly to a nightmare horror otherwise how would state intelligence networks exist without a trail to what seemed evidently an elaborate procurement by the terrorists of the deadly tools of their bloody trade. The Boko Haram terrorists who started their campaign with a string of motorcycles and even walk bare- footed’ now travel in a

convoy of Hilux trucks, departing from a base or bases within, Nigeria or in the neighborhoods and returning to the same without a trail, because they operate from the same base or bases to another day of their bloody mayhem. How and where the terrorists procure the Hilux trucks and constantly fuel it for their murderous operations’ wouldn’t have eluded an intelligence service that is worth of its name and even modestly alive to its responsibility. And how has it come that it was the terrorist who have learned the crucial lesson of war, which the immortal 17th century German general and strategist Carl Von Clausewitz taught that “the backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy”. since the Boko Haram terrorists unleashed their bloody campaign, they have retained the initiative to surprise, by effectively “fusing speed with

A group that is under the trail of a competent intelligence service could not have in the past few years grown from a ragtag, wandering under -nourished and illiterate band of bigoted extremists to a sophisticated and highly mobile strike force.

secrecy,” with the state security forces only responding and in most cases, very feebly too. The intelligence services of the state security have largely been dormant. The Boko Haram has evidently grown in sophistication, having now the use of advance military explosives that could be detonated with remote control, when they actually started with crudely made explosives using gas cylinders. A group that is under the trail of a competent intelligence service could not have in the past few years grown from a ragtag, wandering under -nourished and illiterate band of bigoted extremists to a sophisticated and highly mobile strike force. In the past few years, the state security services have announced the capture of high valued terrorist commanders, including the allegedly propaganda chief of the group, “Abu Qaqa” and yet none of these high valued commanders have provided any useful insight into the operations of the group. The key to decisive victory in a war and even more strategic, in asymmetric guerrilla war fare is cutting the supply line of the insurgents or the enemy. Only by securing the supply lines of the insurgents or the conventional enemy, would it possible to squeeze them to surrender or subject them to the siege of hunger. Charles Onunaiju is reachable on onunaiju2005@yahoo.com

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Comment

Romania’s Beretta family: A lesson in ingenuity (I) By Abayomi Akeremale

he Beretta family is renowned in Romania for the fabrication and production of small arms and light weapons. Beretta foundry which one can say is like the Nigeria Blacksmith HEARTH was founded by The Berretta family in 1526 when Gunsmith Maestro Batholomeo Beretta of Gardone Val Trompia (Bresica, Lombardy, Italy was paid 296 ducats for 185 arquebus barrels by the arsenal of Venice. Till today the bill of sale for the orders of those barrels are still in the firm’s archive. A tourist or visitor to Berretta Company in Romania is taken to the archive to see for himself the first locally manufactured gun by the fore-fathers of Berretta family. In 1918, The Berretta Model 1918 was the second Submachine gun the Italian army fielded. Beretta manufactured rifles, pistols for the Italian military until the 1943 Armistice between Italy and the Allied forces during World War II. The point being illustrated here is that Beretta is a Private company that the Government of Romania identified, recognized its integrity, family and incorporated into its system. The Romania Police Intelligence is at the factory to monitor and take inventory of all fabricated arms for its use, for export and revenue generation. No single manufactured arms can go out of the Beretta Company without the knowledge of the Government and the trajectory of

the arms and ammunition Beretta generates billions of Romania “LEU” plural “LEI” through foreign exchange into Romania economy. To Romania government it is not the possession of arms and ammunition that is a crime but the use to which these lethal weapons are put. So it it with many other aspect of human life, it is not the knowledge, scientific invention or power that matters but the end to which it is applied. It is important to note that the same Nigerian blacksmith that fabricates the hoe, matches, spade, iron rod also fabricates locally made guns, pistols, diggers etc, all the above can be put to both negative and positive use. They can become offensive weapons depending on situation and circumstances. It is not a crime if a Hausa or Fulani man, Nupe man or any Nigerian confronted by a lion in the forest uses his firearm to disable the lion or the snake. It is a positive application of lethal weapon. What does Nigeria do to the Nigerian blacksmith who uses his ingenuity to manufacture single barrels, double barrels, some of which are as effective as the imported arms that yield foreign exchange for other countries? We hound them, chase them into the thick forest, they become outlaws. Some are imprisoned. Either for manufacturing or for unlawful possession. We are yet to divest ourselves of that colonial coat of branding as negative most things that have

Nigerian originality. No wonder all the good fruits in a certain community are named after the white man. Any fine orange is Orombo-the fruit of the White man, OpeOyinbo the pineapple of the Whiteman. Any light complexion man is “Oyinbo” or ‘Bature’ in Hausa. Oyinbo or Oniocha in Igbo land. While Nigeria music is branded “Juju” music –Juju then meaning-What is magical and esoteric? We continue with this prejudice. The question is for how long? Thanks to Pa, Tai-solarin who salvaged the brewery of “hot drink” known then as Ogogoro from the claws of the police then and abrogated the label “illicit gin” the colonial masters tagged it. We now have whisky brewery at Otta sourcing its raw material from the so called “illicit gin” and yielding

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What does Nigeria do to the Nigerian blacksmith who uses his ingenuity to manufacture single barrels, double barrels, some of which are as effective as the imported arms that yield foreign exchange for other countries?

The charade called primaries By Godwin Onyeacholem

he primaries of the political parties which produced candidates for the 2015 elections have ended. But still, Nigeria is the poorer for it. As it was in 1999, so it is in 2014. In fact, rather than getting better, things have indeed taken a turn for the worse. Give it to Nigeria’s rotten political space. Everything that has changed remains shoddy. Suddenly, within a decade and a half, party politics, in the reckoning of genuinely fairminded observers, has earned its place as the unyielding reservoir of frightening national depression. And as this feeling intensifies among the citizenry, the inclination towards national disbelief would hardly be kept at bay. Every day, the urge to dismiss that animating dream of a vibrant democratic nation gets stronger as Nigerian politicians – especially the ones holding offices at all the levels of government – perpetually exhibit a brazen betrayal of the promise and optimism held out for democracy at the end of military dictatorship more than fifteen years ago. In their typical self-declared effort to ‘move the country forward,’ our politicians have systematically thrown it into

reverse gear and heedlessly guided it toward the precipice, thereby priming a hard-earned democracy for an annihilation of unimaginable consequences. And so in view of what is fast turning out to be a gradual replacement of hope with horror, one would not be exaggerating to say that this democracy is in full retreat. A clear indication of this dismal outlook is the primaries recently concluded by the various political parties. Except perhaps the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress which has a convincing trace of a transparently credible process, all other primary elections across the parties can only be summed up in one word: travesty. Should you ever attempt to look for what conspired to consummate the mockery that defined these events, look no further than the petty-minded state governors, the corrupt party organs and the dishonest ‘godfathers’ lurking around shamelessly in all the political parties and governments across Nigeria. In most cases, these agents of extraction already had ‘anointed’ aspirants including but not limited to governors themselves, party stalwarts and their spouses, their sons and daughters whom they imposed on others, thus forcing those willing to contest alongside the ‘anointed’ to back

hard-earned revenue to the nation. Most products of Nigerians ingenuity is branded and labeled. The inventors cowed into hiding and submission. The possibility of further investigation to improve on the product is thrown away with a wave of the hand. Every product of ingenuity from Aba is branded “Aba made” and therefore fit for the dustbin. There is this allegory in a local community in Nigeria which says, The owner of whiskey or hot gin taught his son the art of stealing .His son never knew there was whisky or hot drink at home as the father was about leaving the house he called his son and told him. “Make sure you don’t touch the hot drink”pointing at the direction it was kept. Immediately he stepped out, his son moved to

out by whatever detestable means including threats. Those who had the guts to defy such orders and insist on testing their popularity at the polls succumbed to the clout of the clique who ensured they were duly rigged out by the party machinery which easily denied them equal chance of success with the ‘anointed.’ In other words, there was a glaring absence of a level playing field all through – the same problem over which concerned Nigerians have been shouting themselves hoarse since the start of this democracy. One way in which blatant rigging was perfected in these primaries was through the delegates who voted at the elections. The list containing delegates’ names, which can be described as a micro voters’ register of elected ad hoc and statutory delegates that ought to be available to all stakeholders including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was hijacked and manipulated by some party chieftains. In a desperate move that bespeak pure fraud, governors, together with a few top shots in the parties, commandeered the list of delegates and ensured that only the names of those who will carry out their wish formed the majority. While the ‘anointed’ aspirants were helped with easy access to these delegates with

whom they mapped out strategies for dubious victories, disfavoured aspirants were effectively shut out, and thus forced to go into elections without the benefit seeing the list of delegates, let alone knowing who they were. On occasion, as many as three different lists of delegates were circulated for a particular election with only the ‘anointed’ aspirants knowing which one was authentic. Delegates themselves, shorn of any modicum of reliability, basked in their status as the ‘beautiful bride’ and purchasable commodities mainly available to the highest bidder. Even when delegates were identified, other aspirants who didn’t enjoy the favour of party bigwigs were unable to access them as did the preferred contestants as a result of the numerous stumbling blocks planted in their way. In many places, delegates were quarantined in government houses, rendered incommunicado and subsequently bussed to election venues with government vehicles. As a result, accreditation that ought to have begun at 8.00am did not start until well after midday. In addition, sensitive materials were not on display as required by law, and in what must qualify to be one of the worst forms of recklessness, non-delegates were accredited to take part in the

the direction he pointed. He said to himself “Oh! So hot drink is hidden here” He took it to his satisfaction till he went berserk. Oloti lo koomo e lole. The owner of hot drink taught his son how to steal and where the drink was.Men search desperately for whatever is shrouded in secrecy, taboo, and mystery. In such a situation openness and lawfulness are more valuable than enforcement and concealment most times. This is why The Rule of Law and Liberalism make some advanced countries more balanced and stable. The greatest percentage of law abiding citizens gets there not solely through enforcement. Re-orientation and enlightenment take them there and serve better purposes. This is without prejudice to law enforcement. Law enforcement is only relevant when it serves as a useful social control. As Finnis putit ,“While coercion and punishment are inevitable incidents of the operation of law in any human society”. Law is an aspect of practical reasonableness, while coercion and punishment are inevitable incidents of the operation of law in any human society. However the moral authority of the law depends on its justice or at least (on) its ability to secure justice. Finnis believes, “the lawyers’ major occupation is to ensure that justice and the moral authority of law are not only attained but preserved” Barr.AbayomiAkeremale is a former commissioner of police

exercise. There were also cases of intimidation, and violence broke out in many areas as rival supporters of aspirants engaged themselves with guns and other dangerous weapons. By and large, instead of real elections, what the people witnessed was simply selection and the emergence of ‘consensus’ candidates. This led to many parallel primaries at which with many contestants who felt cheated declared themselves winners, thus sending their enthusiastic supporters into long hours of wild jubilation. Those who found that cause less honourable simply dumped their parties and moved on to other welcoming parties to try their luck. This is the reason the gale of defections has intensified at this moment. Apart from the APC presidential primary none of the primaries just concluded passed the test of what elections should be in a democracy. And it comes down to one thing: lack of internal democracy across the political parties. It is a nagging subject that must be promptly resolved appropriately. Until that is done, the 2015 elections, and the ones that will come later, will be another charade. And the ultimate casualty?Nigeria’s democracy. Godwin Onyeacholem can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Time for Jonathan, PDP to leave the stage-Kwankwaso INTERVIEW

he All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries has just been concluded where you finished second, can you now confirm the rumour that your next line of action is to contest the Kano Central senatorial seat? Thank you very much. Let me welcome all of you to my office; and let me also take this opportunity to thank you all of you who are my friends; even including those who were not very positive—especially before the primary election. Many thought it was Buhari, Atiku and others. In any way, you have seen others now—and you have seen their capacity. We thank the Almighty God for given us that opportunity to participate in the primary election. It was very historic, we have done our best. I believe that our best was good enough and well articulated. Let me also at this point congratulate our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari for such a wonderful performance; and I also congratulate other aspirants, Atiku Abubakar (Turakin Adamawa); Rochas Okorocha; and of course, my friend, your friend, Sam Nda-Isaiah. Just as we predicted, the primary election was a family affair. It was done in such way that all of us are winners and all of us pledged to support the winner before the primaries and even after the primaries. I thank Almighty God and I also thank all the delegates and those who supported us through various means to achieve such a wonderful result. I started very late and I know up till this moment, it wasn’t up to two months that I started. Many people claimed that I wasn’t known in the South, and other parts of this country—despite all that, I became number two, after our candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. And I am happy that, at least, now I am known across the country; and that is a good story for me and a good story for all our supporters in this state and across the country. The result didn’t show delegates from Kano alone, it was delegates from across the country; because I have seen, even from the counting, from here Buhari. Buhari, Kwankwaso… and so on—which means that the support I got cut across the whole country, and I want to thank all the delegates. We will continue to build the party so that at the end of the day, APC can win election not only in Kano but across the nation. On the issue of senatorial seat, you know we just finish counting the votes (for APC

Former Presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Kano State Governor, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in this interview with newsmen over the weekend spoke on the outcome of the APC Presidential Primary election and some wide range of burning national issues, Edwin Olofu captured the interview.

Presidential Primaries) and the result was announced late yesterday (Thursday). I was just coming back and we had to go and settle the Kano North Senatorial primaries—we had to move straight because we had to do it before 12 midnight yesterday (Thursday 11 December); and that is done. Now, the next thing is to return and consult my friends and my colleagues here find political future for my humble self and, of course, other people who worked together with us here in Kano, for the next dispensation. How do you compare the issue of internal democracy between PDP and APC looking at the emergence of the presidential candidates of both parties? You see, the difference is very, very clear. APC is now the PDP in those days especially in 1999 and 2003. That is how we built PDP. We allowed aspirants to show their interest, the party will support and even encourage those who are interested to go out and campaign; and it has a lot of advantages, especially if you look at it from my own contest. When I declared, I had to go round the country and convince many of my friends, many of them in APC, many of them were in other parties. As a result of that, we have so many people who have now joined APC as a party not because they were APC or they wanted APC ordinarily, but because they knew that my leadership will be good for them and will be good for the country; and that was why they came and I can assure you none of them will go back to any other party. They will stay in APC and support it from bottom to the top; and so all so, other aspirants who have gone round, especially, Sam Nda-Isaiah. Many people didn’t understand the importance of those 10 votes that he got. You know you can lose or win with 10 votes, not only in the election like the one we had, even in general elections, you can lose or win election with 10 votes in this country. So, 10 votes are very critical and those 10 votes will certainly bring in so many people into our party. So, we are not even talking of the votes that were being recorded for Rochas, even Atiku himself and the ones that were scored by the winner, General Muhammadu Buhari. So, if you put the efforts of these five aspirants together, I am sure that will go a long way; and we have seen a lot of changes in the last

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso few months, especially, as it relates to even General Buhari himself. Ordinarily, General Buhari wouldn’t have taken so much time, so much effort to go round the country to convince people. Now, he is a full-fledged politician who has gone round to ask for support, to ask for understanding. He has worked like any other politician in this country, and that is what we want him to do. We don’t want to sit down in a room and look at him and say ‘let us dash him this ticket.’ Now, he has earned the ticket for himself and that has gone a long way in strengthening the party. It has gone a long way in strengthening and deepening democracy in this country. Looking at what he was saying yesterday (Thursday, 11 December), and even before yesterday, he was like any other polished and experienced politician; and that is how it should be, and I am sure even if by the grace of God, when he gets to the Villa, he will be a wiser politician, a more experienced politician, who will value every delegate, who will value every religion, who will value every other tribe, ethnicity and differences across the country. So, I am very happy and proud that our party decided to give us a level playing ground for everybody to contest. Considering the efforts you put in place before the primaries, do you feel betrayed by the result? No. You see when I was going into it, I thought I was going to win,

but I became number two; and if you look at the quality of people, their experiences, their wealth—I think everybody should congratulate me. And many people, especially, my friends, I am sure they have seen it on papers, …so what I believe is that anybody who voted for Buhari is my friend; and if they had known the relationship between me and him; even those who really didn’t like me, if they had known, they wouldn’t have voted for him because I am sure you must have known that he was telling the whole world when they ask him if you are not getting it who else would you support and he said, ‘Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso,’ and this was just few days to the primary election. Then what else do we want and what else do I want. This is somebody who said that voluntarily at his age and his standing in the society. He voluntarily passed out this information not to me but to the whole world. He said, ‘if it is not me, I will support Kwankwaso,’ so, to me, it is as good as I won the primary election. Would you now continue to be the strong voice of the opposition you have been known for in recent times and come 2019, are Nigerians expecting to see you in the presidential race or would you become the likes of Nuhu Ribadu and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau who after their failed attempt in 2011 were found missing in the race in

2015? Well, you see, I think there is a lot of difference between me and many other people. For me I have decided to go into politics as a politician. I didn’t go into politics just to get a position and enjoy myself. No! I am in politics to better the lives of our people. When I left service in 1991 to join politics, I wasn’t dismissed, or I didn’t go out as a result of frustration; in fact they have to give me two weeks to go and think—that was after I gave them my resignation letter. They wanted me to stay behind because they knew my worth—I was a professional by any standard, but I felt I would be more useful to myself and my country if I go into politics. So, I am a politician first and foremost—if anything comes in terms of elected position or appointed, I welcome it and I will keep on moving; and that is why for over 20 years, I have been in and out, in and out and I think I am one of the very few, if there is any politician today, who has been enjoying these experiences of going into various offices, both elective and appointed positions. And it is always good to have such experiences— now, I am in government, I know how sitting governors feel, and at the same time, I know the feelings of those who were in government and they are now outside the government, because before now, I was in government and outside the government. I know the feelings at the state level; I also know the feelings at the national level. So, first and foremost, I am a politician, I am still there. So, along the line, if I had won the primary election, it would have been a big challenge. Now, what we have is another challenge because I am now back on ground to make sure that PDP is defeated in this state and across the country. In other words, I want to deliver Kano one hundred per cent to APC. Then some of the people I met yesterday, after declaration, they were saying look you have to be on that ticket, you have to be in the Senate for Kano Central; with Buhari as the President, me as a contestant, it will be very difficult for anybody to mention any party other than APC on the Election Day here in Kano. So, now is an opportunity. In the last two months, I have been on and off, now I am fully on ground to complete all these ongoing projects

Continued on page 31

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Politics

Why our democracy isn’t working - Lawyer

Impeachment: Kebbi High Court restraints Speaker, deputy

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

he legal consultant for Nasco Ltd, Haruna Audu, has blamed the backwardness of Nigeria democracy on the inability of the elected political leaders to rise up to the challenges of democratic governance, even as he argued that there is nothing inherently wrong with the Nigerian constitution and Presidential democracy. Speaking at the weekend during an award receiving ceremony for the Company in Abuja, Audu lamented that greed and extravagant life of politicians have further worsened the poor living standard of Nigerians. He added that by the virtues of their quest to amass public wealth, the cost of running government has escalated in the country, saying that the resources in Nigeria is enough to take of the people. He said the impunity with which both appointed and elected leaders sit on the public fund and appropriate it like family wealth, does not speak well of Nigeria’s democracy, even as he indicted the National Assembly members for their outrageous salaries and allowances. “I am indicting the National Assembly because despite the hardship due to decline in the peoples’ living standards, the lifestyle of these elected leaders; the way they fly abroad for all kinds of irresponsible engagement does not show you that they are suffering what the poor masses are suffering today”, according to him. “This shows you that they are superintending the over the shearing of the country’s wealth for their own pleasure”, he added. Audu, who lamented that these fraction of our leaders are not punished, regretted that instead, ordinary people who still a chicken are allowed to rotten in jails, adding that these are signals that Nigeria’s democracy is heading for an implosion, except if something urgent is done by the political class.

L-R: Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, during wedding fati’ha of Alhaji Adamu’s daughter, on Saturday in Bauchi. Photo: NAN

Delegates to sue PDP in Taraba over imposition From Umar Dankano, Yola

he nomination of the immediate past Minister of State for Niger Delta, Mr. Darius Ishaku as the guber candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State by the National Working committee (NWC) of the party has generated serious tension and confusion in the party. Reports from the area revealed that over 400 ad hoc and special delegates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in state have resolved to sue PDP for allegedly imposing a candidate by the National Working Committee (NWC). The delegates regret that contrary to the Electoral Act, they (delegates) were asked to go to Abuja, instead of

Jalingo for the conduct of the party primaries which they hurriedly agreed upon. “But no election was held at the Wadata plaza, we waited hour hours till day break, and only to be told that a consensus was reached and Darius was nominated as consensus candidate, we will not agree to that,’’ said Sen. Mohammad Ibrahim Goje who was at the party national secretariat in Abuja. Also confirming the crisis, former Taraba State Deputy Governor ,Sen. Sale Danboyi said that, “ad hoc delegates from Taraba State met today and resolved to sue PDP for imposing a candidate by the PDP National Working Committee. “The Over 400 delegates elected from 168 electoral wards were not

allowed to participate in the process of electing a Governor, Senators, Reps and state assembly members that was organized outside the state capital,’’ Danboyi has said. It could be recalled that the primary election was delayed for about five days, following the controversy over the zoning of the governorship position and the list of delegates. Taraba PDP leaders led by the state acting Governor, Mr Sani Abubakar Danladi, had on December 8 informed the National Chairman of the party, Adamu Muazu, of an agreement signed in 2011. According to them, PDP leaders in the state agreed that Taraba South Senatorial District would produce the governorship candidate for the 2015 elections.

Election appeal tribunal: Delta receives 35 petitions From Osa Eresoyen, Asaba

n the recently inaugurated local government Appeal Tribunal, no fewer than 35 petitions have been received by the Delta State Local Government Appeal Tribunal. Speaking to our correspondent, the State Chief Judge, Justice ZaiLaye Abiodun Smith disclosed that a three man local government

appeal tribunal was set up for the state with Justice Marshall Umukoro as chairman. Other members of the appeal tribunal, the chief judge said, include Justice Michael Nduka Obi and Justice Tombra Tebekaemi, adding that three men and six members of three more local government election tribunals have been sworn in. Justice Abiodun Smith

explained that more tribunals were inaugurated following the receipt of many petitions arising from the just concluded elections in the state. According to him, “the tribunal has so far received 36 petitions from Delta North, South and Central, we don’t want to cause delay in the trail of the cases hence we have inaugurated the tribunal so that there will be quick dispensation of justice”.

ollowing the controversy that lead to the removal of the former State House of Assembly Speaker, Aminu Jega, yesterday a Kebbi High Court sitting in Birnin Kebbi has restrained the incumbent Speaker , Hassan Mohammed Shalla and his deputy , Jafar Mohammed to desist from parading themselves as speaker and deputy speaker until the final determination of the case filed against them. Justice Ismail Haruna gave the interim injunction granting the prayers of the claimant who were challenging their impeachment on 27th November, 2014, by Kebbi State House of Assembly, Hassan Mohammed Shalla and Jafar Mohammed, the incumbent speaker and his deputy. The court has also ordered the Kebbi State House of Assembly to stop recognizing Shalla and Mohammed as speaker and deputy speaker and also to stop using anything associated with the office of speaker and deputy speaker of Kebbi State pending the determination of the motion on notice and the originating summons pending before the court. Speaking to newsmen shortly after the verdict of the court, counsel to Hon Jega and Hon. Bena, Barr. Hussain Zakariya expressed his happiness over the judgment and explained that the court was right for granting the correct judgment against the defendants “On 25th of Nov. the House under Habib Jega sat and adjourned sitting to 2nd Dec. 2014.By the rules of Kebbi State House of Assembly nobody can reconvene the House except the Speaker. But on 27th Nov.2014, between 9:30 to 10:00pm, the defendants reconvened the House and announced that they have impeached Jega as the Speaker and his deputy. “By their sitting in the night, it’s not allowed by the law; the law says House can only sit between 10: 00 am to 6:00 pm (Rule 14 of Kebbi House of Assembly). The constitution Section 92 (2c) also says a Speaker of the House of Assembly can only be removed by two third of the House “he said. Jega and Bena have since dumped the PDP to join the opposition APC last month.

2015: Votes must count, says Shinkafi From Ibrahim Sidi, Gusau

he governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi has said the voters votes will count in the 2015 election and decides who will governed them, saying any attempt to go against the will of the people is an invitation to chaos. He stated this while speaking

to the media in his residence in Kaduna yesterday. Alhaji Shinkafi warned that any person or political party thinking of rigging the elections should have a re-think because the price for such action will be too much for the country to bear. “Let me say this for record purpose, that the 2015 elections are coming at the time when Nigerians are aware that their votes can make

or maimed them and they are the best judge to determine their future. “Whosoever tries to take that right from them can be assured of top resistance. Therefore there is nothing like rigging comes 2015. “Look at what happened at the APC Presidential primary, we are aware that some people have money to spread around but you and I know that General Muhammadu Buhari didn’t have such money but

he emerged the party presidential flag bearer because the majority trusted him. This is the trend of what will happen comes 2015. Nigerians would not only vote but will ensure that their votes count” he said The PDP governorship candidate warned that it is time that the country diversifies its economy especially in the face of dwindling price of oil at the international market.

“We have been depending on oil for long, but we know that oil cannot last forever but our land will always be there for cultivation. “In Zamfara State we are blessed with lots of solid minerals and when we take the leadership of the state in 2015 we are going to focus on developing the sectors not only for increasing our internally revenue but making Zamfara the industrial center of the north”.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Politics

I withdrew from Bauchi guber race in good faith- FCT minister From Ahmed Kaigama,Bauchi

he Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed has declared that he withdrew from the Bauchi State gubernatorial race in good faith, just as he urged his teaming supporters under over 1000 groups to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP at all levels The minister made the declaration at a press conference weekend in Bauchi, saying that

his withdrawal from the contest was in good faith without any sentiment, believing that “it is God that give power to whom he want and at any time he want.” Bala Mohammed explained that “I was the pioneer aspirant for the guber in Bauchi State, everybody knows with structures all over the state, but circumstances and faith could not allow my aspiration. I therefore call on all my supporters, loyalist and support groups that initially urged me to run not to

be discouraged and accord the same support to the party and the president”. He said he is confident that President Goodluck Jonathan would once again defeat the former military leader at the polls in 2015, describing Buhari as a “permanent presidential candidate” of the opposition who has contested three times and lost saying that Jonathan is not afraid of meeting him again at the polls. “We are not people who encourage people to violence

because they want to win elections. We are not going to join issues with anybody who is just a permanent aspirant just for running for the presidency. We have a template, we have a road map. We have a vision and we know where we want to be and certainly we are not afraid of anybody. We respect Nigerians and we respect leaders. We are not like the other parties who abuse leaders. But with all humility I assure that in 2015 we will be swearing in Dr Goodluck Jonathan as President” Bala

stated. The minister said that the incumbent president has done well and should be given another chance to consolidate on the gains recorded so far. “Mr President has come up with a transformation agenda and he is working hard to make sure that he brought major and tangible achievements to Nigeria. You have seen it in all the MDAs, even in agriculture he has done so well. In the economic we are today the biggest economy in Africa.”

2015: I have no grudges against Buhari - Kwankwaso From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

L-R: Minister of State for Education, Professor Viola Onwuliri, Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, and Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, during the meeting of the President

Why Buhari will defeat Jonathan in 2015-Kwari

By Etuka Sunday

he APC Presidential candidate Gen Muhammadu Buhari will defeat President Goodluck Jonathan in the upcoming 2015 presidential polls because Nigerians have been pushed to the wall by the present government. Coordinator of the Buhari Support Group (BSG) in Kaduna State and APC Senatorial aspirant, Hon Suleiman Kwari expressed optimism that with the election of the APC candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria’s security challenges will be a thing of the past. Hon Kwari who came second

with a 604 votes at the Kaduna North Senatorial District Zone during the just concluded primaries in Sabon Gari Zaria, said Gen Buhari is the messiah Nigerians have been waiting for. In the said Senatorial Primaries Suleiman Kwari, who is the main financier of the BSG secretariat located on the popular Ali Akilu Road, Angwan Shanu Bus stop in Kaduna overwhelmed other established names like: Dr Shehu Adamu Danfulani who got 386 votes, Senator Muhammad Lawal Aliyu(Silver) who polled 250, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, the immediate past interim Chairman of APC who got 209 votes and Idris Makama with 19 votes.

He described Gen Buhari as an objective, neutral and detribalized Nigerian, who believes in the unity of Nigerians. “Nigerians must not allow themselves to be cowed this time around. They must vote based on their conscience, in the collective interest of Nigerians and for the future of Nigeria,” Hon Kwari who was also a Commissioner for Finance and Administration at the Securities and Exchange Commission said in the statement. In a press statement, Hon Kwari, who was also a member of House of Representatives and as well the former chairman of Sabon Gari Local Government, called on Nigerians to vote Gen Buhari

in the February 15 Presidential election. He described the APC primaries as an example of a party with an internal democracy unlike the PDP that merely conducted a coronation for the president. He called on all Nigerians to join the Buhari train to deliver Nigeria from its current state of insecurity, economic woes, unemployment educational crisis and health sector challenge, among many other failures under the watch of the Jonathan government. On why Hon Kwari funded the BSG secretariat, he said: “I firmly believe that Buhari can deliver the desired good governance to move Nigeria forward.”

he Kano State governor and an aspirant of the just concluded presidential primaries of All Progressives Congress (APC), Eng. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said that he had no grudge against the elected presidential candidate of the APC , General Muhammadu Buhari. Kwankwaso made this known on the Hausa Service of the BBC monitored in Jos over the weekend following the rumour making the round that himself (Kwankwaso) and Buhari have hidden grudges, explaining that such insinuation was not true and should be discarded. Kwankwaso who completely dispelled any rumour of misunderstanding and disagreement between them also pledged to work and support Buhari with all he could to ensure that he (Buhari) succeeded in the upcoming February elections, saying that he was happy that Buhari emerged as the winner of the primaries. He said, “I have no grudge with General Muhammadu Buhari. So the rumour was not true and should be discarded. I am happy that he won the primaries and I will support him with I could like the way I will support myself if had happened to be the one in his shoe. “ Kwankwaso added that right from the start of his move to aspire for the presidential ticket of the APC, Buhari was aware of it and he (Buhari) has said it in various media that if delegates would not vote him they should vote Kwankwaso, stressing that whoever voted Buhari was as just like he voted him and it was both their victory. On whether he is going for the senate, the governor as usual said, “I am still consulting. Whatever I am doing I consult people to hear their advice. So it would be known later.”

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

business@peoplesdailyng.com 08142929046

Power: FG directs Discos to patronise local manufacturers From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

ederal Government has directed all the electricity distribution companies in the country to patronize local manufacturers in line with the policies put in place by government, designed to ensure the accelerated development of the industrial sector. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga disclosed this at a one day stakeholders’ forum on metre and transformer manufacturing in Nigeria organised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in collaboration with Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Aganga represented by the

Director Industrial Development and Inspectorate, Engr. (Mrs.) Awobokun Omotanwa, said that his Ministry has received series of complaints on non-patronage and the influx of meters and transformers into the country by local manufacturers of these items. He said the purpose of the meeting was to bring together Stakeholders to deliberate on the challenges confronting the subsector and to come up with ideas and workable plans for the formulation of appropriate strategies and policies to support the sector. In his words, “the misconception by Nigerians, that locally made products are of sub standard even when it is obvious that imported ones are inferior needs to be addressed

using procurement regime as a tool to develop local patronage. Let us collectively ensure that we use local patronage as anchor to improve standards of Nigerian goods and services” He added that for Nigerian Industry to thrive, we need to support a strong and growing local demand. It is essential to know that our local market provides a strong base, from which Nigerian products can refine their standards, build a strong base, and then subsequently proceed into the global export markets. Aganga stressed. He however commended the efforts of the local manufacturers for their commitment and resilience. He urged them not to relent in producing quality products as

government is all out to provide extensive infrastructure to ameliorate their challenges. Also speaking Secretary, Electricity Meters Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (EMMAN), Mr. Muideen Adebayo said that their members out of sheer patriotism and numerous challenges confronting manufacturers had undertaken undaunted risk with borrowed funds on high interest rate to established world class factories adding that local manufacturers has production capacity of 1.2 million meters per annum with room for future expansion. He urged government to create and make available at two per cent special intervention fund in form of soft loans to the local electricity

meter manufacturers in order to create more jobs for Nigerians, boost the annual revenue earnings of Nigeria and curb capital flight to their counterparts from China. In his contribution, the Managing Director Elsewedy Electric, Raed Hassaniel solicited the support of the federal government in ensuring that their businesses survive extremely harsh conditions by enacting protectionist law. “Every year, Nigeria import in excess of 10,000 transformers from different countries yet, the manufacturers of transformers in Nigeria are struggling to survive. Energy meters are also skewed in favour of foreign companies despite the fact that there are capable manufacturers in the country”. L-R: Board Member of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alhaji Zakari Lawal Gana; Managing Director/ CEO of NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim; Chairman, NDIC Board, Dr Hassan Adamu; former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar; Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and NDIC Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mrs. Lola AbiolaEdewor, cutting a cake during the NDIC 25th anniversary dinner/gala night, last Friday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Dangote Cement, other subsidiaries get SON quality, safety certification By Etuka Sunday

he Standard Organization of Nigeria (NSO) has approved the quality, environmental and safety measures put in place by the Dangote Cement and some business units of the Dangote Group and certified them accordingly. The business units were certified for quality management, Occupational, health and safety as well as environmental management system. A statement signed by the Group Managing Director of

Dangote Cement Plc, Devakumar Edwin indicated that Dangote Cement plants in Gboko, Ibese and Obajana have all been certified for ISO 9001, Quality management system, ISO 14001, Environmental Management system and BS OHSAS 18001, Occupational Health and Safety Management system. Edwin gave the names of other units which have been certified by SON as Agrosacks Nigeria Limited, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Dangote Salt (NASCON), Dangote Flour Mills Plc and Dangote Pasta Limited.

E-banking: UBA canvasses collaboration between banks, telecom coys >>Pg 20

The Dangote Cement boss explained that the Dangote Group subsidiaries have always been compliant to all regulations as a law abiding corporate citizen and take the issue of environment very seriously. He stated that the management of the Dangote Group and its subsidiaries would continue to put in place policies that will enhance it compliance with regulatory issues as leaders in their respective industry. According to him, the ISO certification touched on quality, health and safety and

environmental management pointing out that those are the areas the management Does not compromise on for quality products, and safety of the Environment within where it operates as well as the well being of its employees. Meanwhile, the Dangote Cement Plc has embarked on aggressive campaign to sensitize members of the public on the liberalization of its distributorship so that every eligible Nigerians could have access to be a distributor. The Company has also

Ecobank receives $200 million from Deutsche Bank >>Pg 21

embarked on the expansion of distribution network through commissioning of more depots across the country with the aim of bringing the product closer to the consumers The Dangote Cement GMD then assured the consumers and other customers that the era of cement scarcity has gone for good Given the volume being produced nationwide and the ongoing capacity expansion drive across Africa. Edwin said Dangote Cement had led the way in the backward integration in the cement industry and that availability of cement today even at a reasonable cost was due to Dangote Cement management willingness to assist the government in the onerous task of provision of affordable housing by making cement readily available.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Money Market

E-banking: UBA canvasses collaboration between banks, telecom coys Stories from Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

nited Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has called for strong collaboration between banks and telecommunication companies such that will faster speedy growth e- business across the country. The bank equally urged telecommunication operators to continue to upgrade their security monitoring system to enhance banking services and operations. Speaking at the 29th quarterly general meeting of the Committee of Chief Internal Auditors of Banks in Nigeria (CCIABN) held in Lagos at,

Group Managing Director, UBA, Phillips Oduoza emphasized that there was need for strong collaboration between banks and telecommunication companies, According to him telecomm companies have become an veritable channels of promoting financial inclusion as well as an integral part of the Nigerian financial services system in terms of product/services offering. Dwelling on the theme: ‘Exploring Better Relationship Between Banks and Telecoms Companies’ Oduoza explained that the operational efficiency of various banking services, such as ATMs, POS, mobile phones, internet, among others depends largely on sound telecomm

infrastructure. He maintained that innovations in technology in the areas of handset functionality, chip, mobile network technologies and upgrades to point of sale infrastructure have dramatically improved the environment for fulfilling the traditional financial intermediation role of banks. “It follows therefore that innovations in technology in the areas of handset functionality, chip, mobile network technologies and upgrades to point-of-sale infrastructure have dramatically improved the environment for fulfilling the traditional financial intermediation role of banks.” Oduoza, who was represented by Executive Director, Treasury

and International Banking of UBA, Femi Olalukun at the occasion, added that ubiquity of their networks and platform robustness has also made the sector a strategic partner for realization of the financial inclusion goals of the Nigerian Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020). According to him, Nigeria’s teledensity data was put at 95.20 per cent as at August 2014 with active subscriber lines at 133.28 million. “This sector holds the key to extension and development of quality financial services to the banked, the unbanked and under-banked across geographical divides and strata of society.”

L-R: Minister of Youth Development, Boni Haruna; Co-Founder, Cleanacwa, Ghana and Winner ‘Young Person of the Year’ Award endowed by UBA, Mr. Sangu Delle; Divisional Head, E-Banking, UBA Plc, Dr. Yinka Adedeji, and Co-Founder of The Future Awards Africa, Mr. Adebola Williams, during the Future Awards ceremony, recently in Lagos.

Expert urges government on SMEs support

he President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu, has called on government at all levels to promote an enabling environment for the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country. According to him, quick response to the call will assist in boosting the economic fortunes of the country, adding that adequate attention to SMEs will definitely eradicate unemployment, citing example from what is obtainable in the Western world. Speaking in a forum in

Lagos, he noted, “Globally every developed country had, at one point or the other, relied on the Small and Medium Enterprises. Even as we speak today, 60 per cent of the employment created in the West (advanced economies) come from the SME sector. “The multinationals of today started as small enterprises. Companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Samsung and Microsoft started as one-man business. The SME sector is a critical nerve of economic development. So, everybody should do whatever is

possible to encourage that sector of the economy.” The need to promote the growth of the SMEs, according to the ICAN president, has made the institute to organise the forum which is aimed at providing SMEs with a platforms for capacity building in financial reporting, auditing and quality control, among others. Ajaegbu also said the meeting would serve as a strategy for enhancing the technical capability of the SMEs. Underscoring the importance of the forum to the SMEs

growth, he explained, “It is not that banks do not want to fund SMEs. SME operators need to be encouraged to keep proper accounting records. That is part of this forum. Every bank wants business, they want profit – nobody wants to lose money. “And without proper record keeping, proper assurance services and attestation of those financial statements by qualified chartered accountants that are licensed to practice from our institute, the banks are unable to ascertain the viability of those SMEs.”, he said.

Fidelity Bank restates commitment to financing economy

idelity Bank Plc., has assured resolve for a continues lending to ensure financing to the economic growth of the country. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer who disclosed this noted that Small and Medium Enterprises were critical to the growth of the nation and, as such, the bank would continue to develop products aimed at putting more funds into the sector. Speaking in Lagos during the inauguration of the financial institution’s annual SME conference, he noted that there was need to focus on the development of the sector, adding that the strategic contribution of SMEs to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product could not be overemphasized The conference brought together entrepreneurs from various parts of the country to discuss critical issues relating to the growth of the SME segment. He said, “Our renewed focus on the segment is fundamentally driven by the increasing role of SMEs as critical agents of economic development and transformation in Nigeria. Therefore, this conference is intended to deepen the knowledge-sharing process.” The lender, according to Okonkwo, is excited about the opportunities in the small and medium businesses segment, as the renewed focused on the sector will help build Nigerian entrepreneurs. Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the conference, Mazi Sam Ohubuanwu, said SMEs could address the developmental challenges of the country, including poverty. He regretted that SMEs had not driven economic growth effectively, he said, “Nigeria, with business density of 0.91 as at 2012, is still basically behind such developing economies like Uganda that has a new business density of 1.17; Tunisia, 1.52; Malaysia, 2.28; South Africa 8.54 and Singapore, 8.04.” The conference which had the theme “Positioning Nigeria’s SMEs for growth”, had in attendance the founder of Zinox Technologies, Mr. Leo Ekeh; founder/CEO, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble, Nike Ogunlesi; and President, Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka, among others.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Capital Market NSE: indicators dip by 7.4% Stories from Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

ransaction on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange NSE last week closed on a bearish note as indicators ended flat. Specifically, the Market Capitalization of listed equities depreciated by 7.42% to close on Friday at N10.156 trillion from N10.970 trillion it opened with while the NSE All-Share Index ended with 30,763.38 basis points from 33,228.29 basis point recorded the previous week. Similarly, all the indices drifted lower during the week with exception of the NSE ASeM Index that rose by 2.05%. NSE 30 index shed 2,464.91 basis points to close at 1,397.45 basis points. NSE Banking index went down by 25.23 basis points to close at 323.95 basis points. NSE Consumer Goods index dropped by 88.38 basis points to close at 788.46 basis points. NSE Oil and Gas equally dipped by 31.67 basis points to close at 378.80 basis points. Review of activity in the market showed that a turnover of 1.810 billion shares worth N28.918 billion in 20,677 deals were traded by investors on the in contrast to a total of 1.526 billion shares valued at N24.992

Ecobank receives $200 million from Deutsche Bank

cobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) announced that it has received a one-year, senior unsecured loan facility of $200 million from Deutsche Bank AG. This is contained in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange that its appointed Deutsche Bank to be the initial mandated lead arranger, bookrunner and facility agent to arrange the facility. The noticed added that on Tuesday 9th December 2014, Deutsche Bank AG successfully closed primary syndication with an oversubscribed order book of USD 230,000,000. The final size of the facility was maintained at USD 200,000,000. This transaction according to the bank reflects Deutsche Bank’s strong distribution platform and rapid execution capabilities in challenging market conditions. The bank added that the facility will be used for general corporate purposes.

billion that exchanged hands in 21,344 deals the previous week. As usual the Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.370 billion shares valued at N13.783 billion traded in 11,742 deals; thus contributing 75.69% and 47.66% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Consumer goods Industry followed with a turnover of 137.115 million shares worth N9.368 million in 3,583 deals. The third place was occupied by the Conglomerates Industry with 93.133 million shares worth N567.167 million

in 1,256 deals. Trading in the Top Three Equities namely- Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Diamond Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 624.388 million shares worth N9.188 billion in 5,090 deals, contributing 34.50% and 31.77% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Also traded during the week were a total of 1,299 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N452,196.95 executed in 21 deals compared with a total of 10,886 units valued at N1.652 million

transacted last week in 24 deals. Similarly, a total of 800 units of FGN bonds valued at N825,011.67 were executed in 1 deal compared with a total of 9,250 units valued at N10.345 million transacted last week in 4 deals. Ten (10) equities appreciated in price during the week lower than twenty-six (26) equities of the preceding week. Sixtyeight (68) equities depreciated in price higher than forty-nine (49) equities of the preceding week, while one hundred and nineteen (119) equities remained unchanged lower than

one hundred and twenty-two (122) recorded in the preceding week. Top 10 Price Gainers E-Tranzact International Plc. led the gainers table in percentage term s gaining N0.34 or 15.38 per cent to close at N2.55 followed by Airline Services and Logistics Plc. N0.16 or 9.70’per cent to close at N1.81 and Wema Bank Plc N0.05 or,5.26 per cent to close at N1.00. On the other hand, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc. led the decliners chart losing N0.94 or 23.56 per cent to close at close at N3.05.

L-R: Head, Surveillance & Enforcement Department, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mr. Anyanwu Camillus, Vice-President, Brand & Marketing Communication, Airtel, Mr. Obinna Aniche; Airtel customer and winner of one million naira Airtel Red Hot promo, Mr. Kehinde Fasanya, and Head, High Value Segment, Airtel, Mr. Kenechukwu Okonkwo, during the Airtel Red Hot promo press conference/prize presentation to winners, at the weekend in Lagos.

NSE boss advocates for strong regulatory environment T he Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema has reiterated the need for strong regulatory environment such that will promote investors confidence in the nation’s capital market. According to him, strong regulation environment would protect investors against infractions and other market sharp practices. He said that sustainable investor protection framework would remain a key pillar in its transformation agenda. Onyema said that the focus of

the transformation programme was to strengthen the regulatory framework to ensure a safe investment destination for both local and foreign investors and establish a favourable business environment for companies to thrive in. According to him, with immense support from capital market participants and various agencies in Nigeria, the NSE has made great strides in its transformation journey which has brought about major review in market governance, structure and operations. “We have worked tirelessly

to revise key rules for dealing members and issuers, and developed several new rules to create the much needed order, equitable treatment, efficiency and protection for all participants in our market,” Onyema said. He stated that the exchange had reinvigorated its Investor Protection Fund to provide a statutorily backed solution for reducing losses investors might suffer due to bankruptcy, insolvency, negligence or wrongdoing of a dealing member. Onyema said that the exchange was committed to developing a more transparent, liquid and

accessible market with a modern market structure to support the delivery of a wider range of investment products. Onyema stated that the nations capital market has recorded huge recovery in the recent past. Onyema who was represented by the Head of Corporate Communications NSE, Bola Adeeko attributed the recovery to initiatives and recovery measures introduced in the market which include good corporate governance, regulations aimed at protecting investors, attraction of investors to the market and promoting investors’ confidence.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Business

NDIC justifies proposed Amendment Act

he Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, on Saturday said the amendment of the corporation’s Act would enable better supervision of the sector. Ibrahim said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja. He said that the NDIC wanted the removal of legal obstacles that tend to work against efforts to pay

depositors in case of liquidation. “We want the removal of legal obstacles placed against moves and efforts to pay depositors in case of liquidation by going to court to forestall that. “As much as they want to exercise whatever right they think they have, they should not do anything that will unnecessarily jeopardise depositors’ interest. “So we are seeking an

amendment whereby regardless of any subsisting court action, we should be able to go ahead and pay insured depositors who are languishing,” Ibrahim said. He said that the corporation also wanted to be able to sanction erring management or directors that contributed to the downfall of insured institutions in the country. Ibrahim added that in the next 25 years, the NDIC would

continue to strive to deliver on its mandate of depositor protection. “We will ensure the safety and soundness of our banking system through supervision and we will continue to partner with all stakeholders so as to achieve all our goals,” he said. Also speaking with NAN, The Minister of State for FCT, Mr Bashir Yuguda, said the NDIC had been a stabilising factor in

the financial sector and urged them to continue to do more. Yuguda noted that the idea for the reform in the Act was to look at areas where NDIC could meet up with the present challenges. He said that with an insurance deposit fund of over N500 billion, NDIC was doing the statutory job they were supposed to do and as the supervising minister, he was happy about NDIC’s achievements. (Punch)

By Evelyn Okakwu

the chamber in Abuja, Mr. Joe Wenegieme said the program is aimed at analising the challenges of SMEs towards accessing government funds and find out ways in which they can work with Government agencies, like the chamber of commerce to help solve the problem. Speaking also at the event, Investment Law and Taxation (ILT) consultant, Prince Ade Tokumbo Kayode noted that Government is willing to help, but lamented the fact that loopholes

exist which has prevented the efforts of government from yielding positive results. “Government has the intentions to do it. It has put in money; N200 billion. And that is just one item. I can tell you that there are other funds; like the NAC funds, Sugar funds, and even rice and industry funds, as well as that of Agriculture. All these moneys are in billions, but there is serious challenge on how to get these moneys. And the whole essence of government, bringing out the

money is to ensure that they are giving to those whom they were meant for”. “If An SME is a member of the A chamber of commerce, he should be able to ratify the membership and then through the ABUCIMA the SME can present its proposal to government and get the funds it desires”. Reiterating this point the ABUCIMA DG said the chamber hopes to do a representation on behalf of the SMEs to the government to facilitate the

process of accessing the said funds. Speaking also at the event, former president of the chamber Dele Oye said the round table was orgainised to bring makers and users of Nigerian products together, to access possible loopholes, or rooms for expansion and review of the products. He added that the program which includes the election into major positions in the industries is also meant to create a strong feedback mechanism for stake holders in the industry.

Private sector tasked on improved partnership

he organized private sector has been called upon to work closely with government agencies in ensuring proper distribution of funds for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the country. Speaking during this year’s annual business round table; with the team; accessing governmental and institutional support for SMEs, the Director General of

R-L: Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher; Dean, Lagos Business School, Dr. Enase Okonedo; Director, Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Mr. Peter Bamkole, and Deputy Director, EDC, Mrs. Nneka Okekearu during the graduation ceremony of the certificate in entrepreneurial management programme of the EDC, recently at Pan-Atlantic University, in Lekki, Lagos.

Computer Warehouse Group trains MSMEs operators on e-commerce

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

omputer Warehouse Group plc (CWG) organized the maiden free online technology workshop for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) owners in Lagos. The workshop with the Theme “Learn How to Set-up, operate and advertise your own store online” CWG Head Marketing Communications, Success Nmerife said the workshop is aimed at equipping business owners with the skills they require

to take their business to the online community by operating an online store and selling to people other than those in their immediate physical community. Nmerife told participants that the workshop was designed to introduce them to solutions and methods they can employ to maximize the benefits that the internet affords in growing their business. She observed that the shift in the global focus from traditional business model to online commerce has made the utilization of the electronic

media in business promotion and sales an indispensable tool for merchants. Introducing the Openshopen online platform CWG Head of Innovation, Tayo Oduwole, said its partnership with Openshopen to introduce the eCommerce platform is in line with its vision to enable Nigerian merchants acquire business enabling technology without incurring business killing owninfrastructure costs. He explained that Openshopen differs from other online shopping platforms, in that it

allows merchants sell directly to buyers and have the privilege of promoting their brands. Unlike other platforms that require merchants to submit their wares for sale. “With Openshopen, you can sell your brand alongside your products, such that people can look for you if they want your products again.” Also speaking at the workshop, Openshopen Business Manager, Adriana De la Cruz Duffo, said that Openshopen has been uniquely designed to respond to the challenges of online trading encountered by SMEs in the

Nigerian business environment. According to her, “Openshopen is easy to use, cheap and profitable. It addresses the fears of payment gateway security. It also takes care of the logistics of delivery. It is a platform you as merchants can adopt, if you want your business to grow”. CWG Chief Technology Officer, Mr. James Agada, pointed out that the workshop served as one of CWG’s ways of contributing towards the growth of SMEs in Nigeria, creating employment and contributing to the growth of the nation’s economy.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Stock Watch

Report as at Thursday, December 11 2014

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Peoples Daily, Monday, DecEMber 15, 2014

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Special Report

Could a simple stove save children’s lives?

nnere’s eyes are watering. Smoke from the fire she is cooking on is filling her tiny, one-room house in a small village in the district of Chikwawa in the south of Malawi. It is a traditional open fire on the floor of her hut, surrounded by three bricks to keep in the hot embers and on which to rest her cooking pot. She and her twoyear old daughter, who is gripping Ennere’s shoulder as she crouches over a warming pan of water, are breathing in the smoke. Most of the small houses here have no chimney. Some of the smoke escapes through the doorway, but there is no other ventilation. Smoke is filling the little girl’s lungs. This happens every time Ennere cooks. Like 95% of people in Malawi, her family belong to what the World Health Organization calls the “forgotten three billion”, people who have to breathe polluted air in their homes and are being poisoned by their own cooking fires. “Smoke basically clogs up children’s lungs making them more susceptible to infections like pneumonia, explains Dr Kevin Mortimer, one of the lead researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In Malawi, pneumonia is the number one killer of children under five. According to the WHO, throughout sub-Saharan Africa, almost one million children every year die from the disease. Worldwide that number could be more than four million. Redesigning the stove on which millions cook, the researchers believe, could be the solution to cutting this death toll. There are several different types of clean cook stove. The ones the team are testing use the same fuel as open fires, wood (or biomass) but they incorporate a battery-powered fan

An estimated three billion people breathe in poisonous smoke from open-fire cooking, killing more than four million every year. In Malawi, a research team is conducting the largest-ever study on children into the effects of indoor smoke and hopes its results will save millions of young lives, as our science reporter, Victoria Gill, discovered.

One in every hundred children in Malawi dies from pneumonia before the age of five

The stove being tested in this cooking-and-pneumonia trial has a battery-operated fan beneath the furnace

that blows air through a contained furnace. This produces a more efficient, less smoky fire. The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine team intends to distribute 16,000 stoves in the north of Malawi, and here in Chikwawa in the south. It will be the largest trial of its type ever undertaken anywhere in the world. Ennere and her daughter have been recruited to the control group, meaning they will continue to use conventional cooking methods over a traditional open fire. That might seem unfair, but it will allow researchers to compare their “stove intervention”

with routine, smoky cooking practices. At the end of the twoyear study, during which the researchers will monitor the health of each child, every family involved will receive two of the cleaner, “advancedburning” stoves. If this team finds that the stoves they are testing prevent pneumonia, Dr Mortimer says this will be a definitive message for Malawi’s government, and policymakers around the world, that this is a priority for their investment. The 9,000th child At the nearby Chikwawa District Hospital, the toll that lung disease takes here

becomes clear. Chifundo Ndamala is one of the clinical staff working for the research project, providing care

for children involved in the study, as well as recording and tracking every case of pneumonia. As Dr Mortimer puts

it: “We’re interested in counting cases of pneumonia, not dead children.” For that reason, the

team has employed health workers and invested in diagnostic tools and antibiotics, so every child in the study has access to the treatment they need if they do become ill.

Chifundo is attending to one of the children from the control group - a young boy of about two. He smiles warmly at the little boy as he examines him, but the toddler is

“

Mothers stay to care for their children at Chikwawa’s district hospital

wide-eyed and clings to his mother as they sit together on the bare mattress of the hospital bed. “He was diagnosed with severe pneumonia three

There are several different types of clean cook stove. The ones the team are testing use the same fuel as open fires, wood (or biomass) but they incorporate a battery-powered fan that blows air through a contained furnace

months ago,” Chifundo tells me. “But he’s doing well, he’s responding to treatment now.” This is a country where healthcare is basic - there are approximately 50,000 people for every doctor in Malawi. And staff here in the children’s ward have to work with the few resources they have to care for their young patients, some of whom are critically ill. But this project does mean that Chifundo is on hand to help. “This is not a place of comfort,” says Dr Mortimer, “but it is a place where people are doing their utmost to provide the best possible care with

the resources they have.” Chifundo is even more optimistic. “We’re able to treat children who will be the leaders of this nation one day,” he says. “It’s rewarding job; just seeing a child recover and go home, it’s good for the soul.” Dr Mortimer also hopes the study and the eventual publication of its findings will “raise the profile” of indoor smoke exposure. “People should know,” he says, “that this is a condition that causes millions of deaths every year”. Source: Com

BBCNews.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Feature

Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari in profile

igeria’s former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, 71, is not a quitter. Defeated in the last three elections, he has returned to contest the highest office. Mr Buhari will face incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta region, for a second time at the polls in February. It looks set to be a close race as on this occasion the Muslim northerner has been chosen as the candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, formed last year after four opposition parties merged. The APC has also been attracting heavyweight defectors from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which has dominated the political scene since the end of military rule in 1999. Mr Buhari has always been popular among the poor of the north (known as the “talakawa” in the north’s Hausa language). Now some feel his military background and his disciplinarian credentials are just what the whole country needs to get to grips with the Islamist insurgency in the north. A Muslim from Daura in Katsina State, who has given his support to Sharia in the north, Mr Buhari has previously had to deny allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda. This proved a problem for him in the 2003 polls - he failed to secure much support among Christians in the south, where he was viewed with some suspicion. But having escaped an attack on his convoy in Kaduna in July, which bore all the hallmarks of a Boko Haram assassination attempt, he has promised to end the insurgency within months if elected. He has blamed President Jonathan’s weakness for its escalation and has refused overtures to participate in talks with the radical militant group. His tough stance as a military commander in 1983 - when some Nigerian islands were annexed in Lake Chad by Chadian soldiers - is still remembered in the north-east, now the militants’ stronghold, after he blockaded the area and drove off the invaders. ‘War Against Indiscipline’ He ruled Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985, taking charge after a military coup in December 1983. It is a period remembered for a strict campaign against indiscipline and corruption, and for its human rights abuses. The verdict on Mr Buhari’s 20 months as Nigeria’s leader is mixed.

The opposition has united this time to back one candidate to challenge the PDP in the presidential poll

“

But having escaped an attack on his convoy in Kaduna in July, which bore all the hallmarks of a Boko Haram assassination attempt, he has promised to end the insurgency within months if elected.

About 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed as part of a campaign against waste and corruption. “ If you choose correct

leadership, there won’t be any need for the military regime” -Muhammadu Buhari, Oct 2005. Some saw this as the heavyhanded repression of military

Kiss of approval for a resilient leader

rule. But others remember it as a praiseworthy attempt to fight the endemic graft that prevented Nigeria’s development. He retains a rare reputation for honesty among Nigeria’s politicians, both military and civilian, largely because of this campaign. As part of his “War Against Indiscipline”, he ordered Nigerians to form neat queues at bus stops, under the sharp eyes of whip-wielding soldiers. Civil servants who were late for work were publicly humiliated by being forced to do frog jumps. He also introduced a notorious decree to restrict press freedom, under which two journalists were jailed. However, his attempts to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses. As part of anti-corruption measures, he also ordered that the currency be replaced - the

colour of the naira notes were changed - forcing all holders of old notes to exchange them at banks within a limited period. Prices rose while living standards fell, leading to a palace coup by Gen Ibrahim Babangida on 27 August 1985. Mr Buhari was imprisoned for 40 months. Mr Babangida wanted to speed up the restoration of civilian rule, which Mr Buhari did not see as a priority. ‘Up to the people’. Mr Buhari has continued to defend his military coup of 31 December 1983. “It is up to the people. If you choose correct leadership, there won’t be any need for the military regime. “The military came in when it was absolutely necessary and the elected people had failed the country,” he said in October 2005. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a military ruler in the 1970s, Mr Buhari held the key post of minister of petroleum affairs. But the relationship between the former colleagues cooled as Mr Buhari’s coup ousted a civilian government, led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who won elections organised by Mr Obasanjo. This led to continuing questions about Mr Buhari’s commitment to democracy. Relations between the two former generals may now thaw following what seems to be an endorsement for Mr Buhari from Mr Obasanjo in his recently released autobiography. Mr Buhari “would not be a good economic manager”, wrote the politician who won two presidential elections for the PDP after 1999, but “will be a strong, almost inflexible, and a courageous and firm leader”. Source-BBC

P A G E

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Education Stories from Ahmed Kaigama,Bauchi

he Bauchi state Married Women Secondary School, Jahun, in Bauchi Local Government Area have required N10 million lifelines to equip the schools. Mrs Rahila Munza, Principal of the schools made this known Friday in Bauchi when a team of Journalists visited the school. Munza said that the fund would

Tsangaya Education needs more funding

he Director General Bauchi state Tsangaya education system Sheik Sayyidi Ali Dahiru Bauchi has appealed to Federal and states Government for more funding of modern tsangaya schools in the country. Sayyidi Dahiru Bauchi made the appealed during graduation ceremony of three pupils who memories quran at Tsangaya’ model school in Buzaye village of Bauchi local government of the state at the weekend. According to him, considering the endemic challenges confronting the system that include child begging among the pupils and giving them a sense of belonging the system need more funding to be effective. Dahiru Bauchi pointed out that the schools would not only impart qur’anic knowledge in the pupils (almajiris), but would also introduce the elements of western education so that they could learn both the religious and modern knowledge at the same time. He said that the present predicament of the almajiris has brought about so many problems in the north, said the new system would provide decent learning environment and ensure the security and wellbeing of the pupils Sayyidi said that with the Tsangaya education system, Northern states would be highly educated, explained that “Bauchi State has more than 500,000 almajiris out of the 10 million across the country.” He commended the administration of Governor Isa Yuguda being the first to integrate almajiri system of education into the Universal Basic Education programme. The governor added that about 220 Tsangaya schools were currently under the state government with 35,531 almajiri students enrolled. He said since inception it have been giving priority attention to the transformation of the almajiri education, adding that the state government has been disbursing millions of naira monthly for the payment of N5, 000 salaries each to over 30, 000 almajiri teachers in the state. He however called on the pupils to paid attention while learning and commended the teachers for their doggedness during impacting knowledge to the pupils.

Bauchi: Women schools require N10 million lifeline

be expended on renovation and purchase of chairs and benches as well as working capital for the purchase instructural materials for the students undergoing Home Economic Studies. She said that the school established in 1987, currently have 71 students who were undergoing various trades and literacy classes while five instructors were manning the schools. “We also have over 25 Students from the College of Education Azare who on attachment while we have Nursery one and two, Primary one to six as well as married women who are in SSS one to three.

“We teach Basic Literacy, Post Literacy and it was designated to married women only, to enable them studies skills to make themselves reliance but we later created nursery for their children and now Primary school. “In spite of lack of conducive classrooms, the school lack equipment such as knitting and sewing machines while students learning such trades were forced to used cement papers and other improvised materials,” Munza stated. She said that “the State Government deploys teachers and instructors as well as pay our salaries and we

thank it for that, but the school was without subvention or running cost to enable us purchases some instructural materials. “You can see us sitting on the ground and we are forced to share classrooms due lack of classrooms while Children of these women were nrolled into nursery school, the graduates of the nursery school were enrolled into primary school initiated for these married women and some are now in SSS one. “The learn how to make Soup ingredients, spices, shampoo, pomade, Kazak, detol, moringa seeds, leaves and oil, pauses, Handbags, handset covers,

Dignitaries during the convocation of Shehu Shagari College of Education, on Saturday Sokoto.

necklaces, earrings, bating soap, knitting, sewing and other trades. “The centre offers free training to Gild-child and the women paid a token as school fees while the training is a two years course, Munza added. The principal said many have graduated from the school and some have established their business enterprises while others were manufacturing such products which were being sold to the members of the public. She called on husbands whose wives are whiling away times at home to send them to this centre to enable them learn trades that would improve their income.

Photo: NAN

2015: Vote for Selfless leaders- ASUU Boss From Seyi Ojelade, Ibadan

ice President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi has tasked Nigerians to use their votes in 2015 to elect selfless leaders with the true African spirit. Prof Ogunyemi said the greatest challenge facing Nigeria in this millennium was a deficit of good citizens. He argues that Nigeria’s search for good citizens would remain elusive until and unless “we take a critical look at the architecture and process of our curriculum; this must begin with the social studies education” Speaking on the topic “The Search for Good Citizens and The Curriculum as Compass”

at the 69th Inaugural lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University copies of which were made available to newsmen in Ibadan, Ogunyemi said “the coduct of our honourable men and women in the National Assembly, whom we expect to moderate our values through personal examples and lifestyles equally speaks volume”. “We are all human compasses that others read in their construction of the good citizen. Our ruling class must show the way or we force them to do so through our vote and other legitimate means. Nigerian elites should be models of change but this is only possible within a paradigm that rejects neo-liberalism and transcends westernisation. We need global knowledge but African spiri. The professor of Social Studies

and Citizenship Education noted that Nigerians must not use sentiments in voting but rather must elect good citizens who have sense of responsibility towards others, conscious about the welfare of others and wider community, tolerant of diverse views and values, posseses critical thinking, patriotism or love for Nigeria, obedience to laws and knowledge of political issues and operations of Government. While emphasizing the need to incorporate citizenship in teaching and decolonise the curriculum, the ASUU Leader observed that only a good person in the mantle of leadership can re-engineer the nation using global compass rather than those relying solely on western compass. “What this tells us is that

Nigeria, like many other countries in Africa, may currently be grappling with the aftermath of disarticulating experience of colonialism; an experience that has been compounded by the rise of global capitalism” Ogunyemi who said a person of good character must not be raised using western definition but indegnous epistemology adding that social studies or other strands of older school subjects constitute an integral part of Nigeria educational process which can be used in the production of ‘ideal citizens’ in Nigeria. “Citizenship education in Nigeria today is driven with the promotion of values at primary, secondary and tertiary levels by dominant forces of neoliberalism”

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Feature

Tackling human rights violations in Nigeria H By Naomi Sharang

uman rights activists maintain that `à right is a freedom of some kind; it is something, to which you are entitled by virtue of being human. ``Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the individual. The fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity.’’ Human rights advocates, however, lament that 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the preservation of human rights, all over the world, still appears to be more of an illusion than a reality. ``This is because violations still exist in every part of the world, even as Amnesty International’s 2009 World Report shows that individuals are tortured or abused in at least 81 countries. `Ìndividuals also face unfair trials in at least 54 countries and are restricted in their freedom of expression in at least 77 countries,” they add. Human rights activists say that the types of human rights violation include child trafficking, violence against women, sexual harassment, early marriage, child labour, rape, war crimes and insurgence, among others. For instance, Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2014 said that human rights abuses by insurgents in Northern Nigeria dominated Nigeria’s human rights landscape in 2013. `Ìn 2013, more than 400 people died from violent inter-communal conflicts in Nigeria’s Middle-Belt states, and scores were rendered homeless from the clashes,” the report added. To part of efforts to draw global attention to such human rights violations, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated Dec. 10 as the Human Rights Day. ``The Day is set aside to bring to the attention of the peoples of the world the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations,’’ the UN says. The theme for this year’s celebration, Human Rights 365, encapsulates the notion that every day of the year is Human Rights Day. `Ìt celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights. `Ìt also reminds us that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values,’’ the UN says. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, therefore, calls on states to honour their obligations to protect

By all standards, human rights violations are considered to be a crime against humanity.

Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu human rights every day of the year. ``I call on people to hold their governments to account and I call for special protections for the human rights defenders who courageously serve our collective cause,’’ Ban says. ``Let us respond to the cries of the exploited, and uphold the right to human dignity for all,’’ he adds. Going from the general to the specifics, observers say that human rights violations still exist in all countries of the world, including Nigeria. For instance, Mr Sule Tajudeen, an Abuja-based civil servant, insists that security personnel often infringe on the people’s rights.

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``On many occasions, the police have harassed me when I never committed any crime,’’ he says, calling for the reorientation of country’s security personnel, as part of efforts to protect the citizens’ rights. Speaking on the forms of human rights violation, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), says that rights violation includes the abuse of a person’s right to life. ``In Nigeria, the most disturbing human rights violation is the abuse of the right to life and the activities of terrorists, who wantonly waste the

Human rights activists say that the types of human rights violation include child trafficking, violence against women, sexual harassment, early marriage, child labour, rape, war crimes and insurgence, among others.

lives of innocent and law-abiding Nigerians,’’ he says. Onwubiko also considers the high rate of extra-judicial killing of suspects in police custody as a serious breach of the people’s fundamental human rights. ``Besides, the total lack of welfare packages for the poor in Nigeria can be described as human rights abuses, on the part of government at all levels,” he adds. Onwubiko claims that HURIWA was set up basically to enlighten Nigerians on their fundamental human rights. ``We organise lectures annually and carry out vigorous advocacy campaigns to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to cases of human rights abuse across the country,’’ he says. He also says that his association partners with relevant organisations in its crusade to sensitise Nigerians to their rights, privileges and duties as citizens. The national coordinator, however, calls on all human rights groups to redouble their efforts in the fight against ``gruesome human rights violations such as sexual violations and molestation of young girls’’. Nevertheless, Onwubiko underscores the need to retrain and reform the police, while equipping them with the wherewithal to establish functional anti-rape squads in all police formations and divisions across the country. ``Above all, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC) must be up and doing in efforts to protect and promote the human rights of Nigerians. ``The Freedom of Information Act and the amendments of the enabling Act setting up the NHRC should be used as tools in efforts to facilitate a holistic change in the human rights profile of Nigeria, which is currently low,” he said. Sharing similar sentiments, Mrs Aver Gavar, Deputy Director (Legal) and Head of Focal Areas Unit, NHRC, says the UN initiated the Human Rights Day, as part of the campaign to ensure the protection of the people’s rights. ``The Day is about knowing and living your rights every single day,” she adds. Gavar stresses that human rights violations include extra-judicial killings, displacement of people from their communities and places of abode, and loss of people’s right to education, shelter and health. ``As a commission, we have observed the huge burden of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have complained of being despondent. ``This situation could be viewed

as a gap in governance, even as Nigeria is a party to the Kampala Convention, which places the primary responsibility of the care of IDPs on the government,’’ she says. The NHRC official says that in instances of human rights abuse, the commission often intervenes by seeking redress. She says that the redress could be in the form of compensation or by way of restitution. She expatiates that the restitution ensures the reinstatement of the original status quo of people whose rights have been violated or trampled upon. Gavar, however, notes that the amendment of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission Act in 2012 has increased the citizens’ confidence in the commission’s ability to handle complaints about human rights abuses. ``The number of complaints brought before the commission, particularly from 2012 to date, has doubled. ``We count this as an indicator of increased public confidence in the commision,” she says. Gavar says that the commission regularly receives complaints on public rights issues such as forced evictions and other matters of public interest. She says that while some of the complaints are dealt with internally -- in the Protection and Investigation Department of NHRC -- others that are more sensitive in nature (matters of public interest) are handled by the commission’s tribunal. ``Decisions of the commission’s tribunal have a status that is akin to that of high court decisions. Appeals against the tribunal’s decisions can also be brought before the Court of Appeal,’’ she says. Gavar says that NHRC is collaborating with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), adding that a lot of the commission’s success can be attributed to such collaborative efforts. ``We have met with certain NGOs to set up an agenda for the new Inspector General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba,’’ she adds. The deputy director reiterates that the main mandate of NHRC is to create an enabling environment for the preservation of the citizens’ human rights. ``We are proactive, and not just reactive, in our approach to human rights issues. ``We create public awareness of human rights and we also embark on advocacy visits to decision-makers who are the people in government. ``Such visits are made on the implementation of some of the laws as well as the international and regional instruments which Nigeria has ratified,’’ she adds. Gava believes that sustained efforts should be made to encourage the government to protect the citizens’ human rights, as part of the strategies put in place to promote a better society. All the same, human rights activists underscore the need for all countries of the world to initiate pragmatic measures to promote the fundamental rights of their citizens and guard against human rights violations. Source: Features

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Healthy Living jaundice. Physical examination of patients before the development of jaundice usually shows no abnormality, although hepatomegaly (10% of patients), splenomegaly (5%), and lymphadenopathy (5%) may be present. Patients with an acute illness should not have signs of chronic liver disease. The presence of these signs suggests that the illness is either the direct result of chronic liver disease or that the patient has an acute event superimposed on a background of chronic liver disease—for example, hepatitis D virus super infection in a carrier of hepatitis B virus. Acute liver failure (fulminant hepatitis); Death from acute viral hepatitis is usually due to the development of fulminant hepatitis. This is usually defined as development of hepatic encephalopathy within eight weeks of symptoms or within two weeks of onset of jaundice. The risk of developing fulminant liver failure is generally low, but there are groups with higher risks. Pregnant women with acute hepatitis E infection have a risk of fulminant liver failure of around 15% with a mortality of 5%. Fulminant hepatitis B is seen in adult infection and is relatively rare. The primary clinical features of acute liver failure are encephalopathy and jaundice. Jaundice almost always precedes encephalopathy in acute liver failure. Prolonged coagulation is the biochemical hallmark of liver failure and is due to lack of synthesis of liver derived factors. The following are typical patterns by which hepatitis viruses are transmitted, with + symbols indicating the frequency of transmission (ie, more + symbols indicate increased frequency).

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epatitis, a general term referring to inflammation of the liver, may result from various causes, both infectious (ie, viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic organisms) and noninfectious (eg, alcohol, drugs, autoimmune diseases, and metabolic diseases); this article will focus on acute viral hepatitis. Acute hepatic injury is confirmed by a raised serum alanine transaminase activity. The activity may be 100 times normal and no other biochemical test has been shown to be a better indicator Acute viral hepatitis Hepatitis can be caused by the hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D, or E. The D and E forms are rare. A large proportion of infections with hepatitis viruses of all types are asymptomatic or result in anicteric illnesses that may not be diagnosed as hepatitis. Hepatitis A virus causes a typically minor illness in childhood, with more than 80% of cases being asymptomatic. In adult life infection is more likely to produce clinical symptoms, although only a third of patients with acute hepatitis A infections are jaundiced. Infections with hepatitis B and C viruses are also usually asymptomatic except in intravenous drug users, in whom 30% of hepatitis B infections are associated with jaundice. Before jaundice, patients often have nonspecific systemic symptoms together with discomfort in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. Some may present with maculopapular rash and joint pains typically affecting the wrist, knees, elbows, and ankles. It is due to formation of immune complexes, and patients often test positive for rheumatoid factor. It is almost always self limiting, and usually settles rapidly after the onset of

Fecal-oral transmission frequency is as follows: HAV (+++) HEV (+++) Parenteral transmission frequency is as follows: HBV (+++) HCV (+++) HDV (++) HGV (++) HAV (+) Sexual transmission frequency is as follows: HBV (+++) HDV (++) HCV (+) Perinatal transmission frequency is as follows: HBV (+++) HCV (+) HDV (+) Sporadic (unknown) transmission frequency is as follows: HBV (+) HCV (+) Diagnosis of acute hepatitis Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A infection can be reliably diagnosed by the presence of antihepatitis A IgM. This test has high sensitivity and specificity. Occasional false positive results occur in patients with liver disease due to other causes if high titres of immunoglobulin are present, but the clinical context usually makes this obvious. Hepatitis B infection is usually characterized by the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen. Other markers are used to determine if the virus is active and replicating, when it can cause serious liver damage. Because of the immune response attempting to eradicate hepatitis B virus, viral replication may already have ceased by the time a patient presents with acute hepatitis B, and the patient may be positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and negative for e antigen. It is difficult in this situation to be certain that the patient had acute hepatitis

Physical examination of patients before the development of jaundice usually shows no abnormality, although hepatomegaly (10% of patients), splenomegaly (5%), and lymphadenopathy (5%) may be present.

Health Matters Dr. Longwap AbdulAziz Saleh

e-mail: longwapabdul@yahoo.com, Text: 08039537913

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Acute viral hepatic

Acute liver failure (fulminant hepatitis); Death from acute viral hepatitis is usually due to the development of fulminant hepatitis. B and that the serology does not imply past infection unrelated to the current episode. To enable a clear diagnosis, most reference centres now report the titre of IgM antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (IgM anticore). As core antigen never appears in serum, its presence implies an immune response against hepatitis B virus within liver cells and is a sensitive and specific marker of acute hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis C. Screening tests for hepatitis C virus infection use enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) with recombinant viral antigens on patients’ serum. Acute hepatitis C cannot be reliably diagnosed by antibody tests as these often do not give positive results for up to three months. Hepatitis C virus was the cause of more than 90% of all post-transfusion hepatitis in Europe and the United States, but this has fallen since the introduction of routine serological screening of blood donors. Acute hepatitis C infection is therefore now seen commonly only in intravenous drug users. Antibodies to hepatitis C appear relatively late in the course of the infection, and if clinical suspicion is high, the patient’s serum should be tested for hepatitis C virus RNA to establish the diagnosis. Non-A-E viral hepatitis Epstein Barr virus causes rises in liver enzyme activities in almost all cases of acute infection, but it is uncommon for the liver injury to be sufficiently severe to cause jaundice. When jaundice does occur in patients with Epstein Barr virus infection, it can be prolonged with a large cholestatic element. Diagnosis is usually relatively easy because the typical symptoms of Epstein Barr infection are almost always

present and serological testing usually gives positive results. Cytomegalovirus can also cause acute hepatitis. This is unusual, rarely severe, and runs a chronic course only in immunosuppressed patients. The cause of about 7% of all episodes of acute presumed viral hepatitis remains unidentified. It seems certain that other viral agents will be identified that cause acute liver injury. Management of acute viral hepatitis Hepatitis A. Most patients with hepatitis A infection have a self limiting illness that will settle totally within a few weeks. Management is conservative, with tests being aimed at identifying the small group of patients at risk of developing fulminant liver failure. Hepatitis B. Acute hepatitis B is also usually self limiting, and most patients who contract the virus will clear it completely. All cases must be notified and sexual and close household contacts screened and vaccinated. Patients should be monitored to ensure fulminant liver failure does not develop and have serological testing three months after infection to check that the virus is cleared from the blood. About 5-10% of patients will remain positive for hepatitis B surface antigen at three months, and a smaller proportion will have ongoing viral replication (e antigen positive). All such patients require expert follow up. Hepatitis C. Early identification and referral of cases of acute hepatitis C infection is important because strong evidence exists that early treatment with interferon alpha reduces the risk of chronic infection. The rate of chronicity in untreated patients is about 80%; treatment with interferon reduces this to below 50%.

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Healthy Living

By Doyin Ojosipe

ell, many men will gasp at this question, simply because it sounds scary and unimaginable; however experts have repeatedly noted the term as, just another conducive name given it by reporters for the term ‘Andropause’; that is decline in androgen, which is also experienced by men who have diabetes. According to a report by a mayo clinic staff, “The term “male menopause” is sometimes used to describe decreasing testosterone levels or a reduction in the bioavailability of testosterone related to aging. This however is mostly recorded among older men, and may not have an overly troubling effect as the female menopause where everything about productivity comes to either a prolong pause or complete seizure. Mayo clinic staff noted that gradual decline of testosterone is only about 1 percent in a year and on the average, after the age of 30. Meanwhile, the law of nature is binding on every one, both female and male as each advance in age; men are reported to notice a change in sexual activities such as less sexual urge, erectile dysfunction, reduced continuous

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Does male menopause really exist? erection, even during sleep, while the testes may also grow smaller. They may also notice a reduced or increased urge for sleep; they may begin to accumulate much body fats, develop swollen or tender breasts, less strength, shrinking muscle, loss of body hair(in some cases). Certain changes might also lead to emotional imbalance, where there may feelings of sadness, loss of self confidence, depression, and memory problem. These changes have been affiliated to the drop in testosterone level, and a proof of an underlying sickness, which is needed to be taken seriously. Men have been advised to quickly seek medical help, should they notice such changes, and have also been warned not to go for a testosterone replacement as it may add negative health consequences cum at worst increase the risk of heart attack.

Do you have trouble sleeping? I nsomnia is the most common sleep complaint. It occurs when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep or do not feel refreshed in the morning even though you had the opportunity to get a full night of sleep. The causes, symptom and severity of insomnia vary from person to person. Insomnia may include: • Difficulty falling asleep

• Difficulty staying asleep throughout the night • Waking up too early in the morning • Poor quality of sleep, or feeling tired in the morning The effects of insomnia can impact nearly every aspect of your life. Studies show that insomnia negatively affects work performance, impairs decisionmaking and can damage

relationships. In most cases, people with insomnia report a worse overall quality of life. Anyone may have insomnia; in fact, as many as 30 percent of adults complain of insomnia. It is more common in groups such as older adults, women, people under stress and people with certain medical and mental health problems such as depression. There are two types of insomnia based on duration. Acute insomnia is more common than chronic insomnia: • Acute Insomnia: This type of insomnia lasts for a short time – from several nights up to three weeks – and goes away on its own without treatment. • Chronic Insomnia: Insomnia that lasts more than three weeks is classified as chronic insomnia. Nearly 1 in 10 people have chronic insomnia, which often requires some form of treatment to go away. Symptoms and causes of insomnia are different for every patient. Insomnia symptoms may include: • Daytime sleepiness • Frustration or worry about your sleep • Problems with attention, concentration or memory (cognitive impairment) • Extreme mood changes or irritability • Lack of energy or motivation • Poor performance at school or work

• Tension, headaches or stomach aches Insomnia is most often associated with something else. Insomnia that is not caused or worsened by other factors is rare. These factors may include: Stress This varies from relatively minor things like work or personal stress, to more severe changes such as death, divorce or job loss. Other sleep disorders Some sleep disorders can cause insomnia or make it worse. For instance, people with obstructive sleep apnea may wake up often and be unable to fall back asleep, or they may have trouble falling asleep. Restless legs syndrome may make it hard to go to sleep, because you feel like you have to move your legs and you may feel burning or itching inside your legs. Medical conditions Many physical illnesses can cause insomnia. People who experience pain, discomfort or limited mobility from medical problems may have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Insomnia due to medical conditions is most common in older adults because people tend to have more chronic health problems as they age. Conditions such as pregnancy, particularly the third trimester, and menopause can cause sleep problems. The severity and duration of insomnia often varies with the related health condition.

If you think you may have insomnia, ask yourself the following questions: • Do you wake up during the night and find that you cannot fall back asleep? • Do you lie in bed, tossing and turning for hours each night? • Do you dread going to bed because you feel like you never get a good night’s sleep? • Do you wake up feeling un-refreshed after sleeping? • Does the problem occur even though you have the opportunity and the time to get a good night’s sleep? If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you may have insomnia. If you’ve had insomnia for more than three weeks (chronic insomnia), consider booking an appointment with a board certified sleep physician. If you have had insomnia for fewer than three weeks, you may have acute or temporary insomnia. Try to follow good sleep hygiene, and if the problem does not go away before three weeks talk to a sleep physician. A board-certified sleep physician can help to diagnose and work with the sleep team to treat your insomnia. sleepeducation.com

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Politics Extra

PDP primary: We have learnt our lessons - Gbemisola Saraki

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

he first daughter of the late Dr Olusola Saraki, Senator Gbemisola Saraki has said that she and other governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have learnt some lessons from the concluded governorship primary which could strengthen democracy. Saraki, who stated this in a statement she personally signed at the weekend and made available to journalists in Ilorin, noted that “those lessons we learned can only strengthen our resolve to see a better leadership and to work even

harder for a glorious Kwara.” It could be recalled that on Thusrday, Kwara State chapter of PDP held it governorship primary after the Monday primary was shelved as a result of violence that erupted after the alleged entrance of about 1,500 as against the 709 delegates registered. On Saturday, our correspondent gathered that some aggrieved members of the party staged a peaceful protest to the party secretariat along Asa Dam over the emergence of Senator Simeon Ajibola as PDP governorship candidate in the 2015 general elections.

They alleged that election that brought Ajibola in was not transparent and he could not win Kwara State as governorship candidate that would face the ruling APC in the state. Speaking on her support, Senator Gbemisola Saraki said “after a keen contest, the wish of the majority of our delegates is that Senator S.S. Ajibola should be our governorship candidate in the 2015 general election. “I congratulate my brother as I also congratulate our party for success of our primaries. “I’m a firm believer that democracy is a journey and not a

destination. The appreciation of the lessons and our experience on that journey determine the value of our society as well as the quality of our leadership. “Democracy was at work at our primaries and those lessons we learned can only strengthen our resolve to see a better leadership and to work even harder for a glorious Kwara. The beauty of democracy is that an individual ambition cannot supersede the true wish of the majority. “If we are truly champions of the interests of our people as leaders, we cannot be a party to subversion of their legitimate

aspirations and/or a chance at their pursuit of happiness. Because I believe that we can build a glorious Kwara, where competence, true passion and transparent leadership mark the process of that rebirth, I was a candidate in the primaries. However, my passion for that rebirth isn’t for the sole direction of the voting at our primaries but the true interests of our people and our state. “As a team, we are going to work together with the choice of our party to rekindle the hope in our people of a government that can truly serve their true interests” she stated.

Time for Jonathan and the PDP to leave the stage-Kwankwaso Continued from page 16 So, even if there is a disadvantage there, on the other side, you have so many advantages. And even on the side of the disadvantage—if you take it like that, I am happy, somebody I respect a lot and somebody who believes that in this country if not him, it will be Kwankwaso, I don’t think anybody will doubt our relationship with Buhari because this is the information that he gave voluntarily. While the APC Presidential Primary Election was going on in Lagos, there was a bomb-blast in Kano, coming few days after the vicious attack on Kano Central Mosque. There have been a series of such attacks in parts of northern states. What is the lasting solution to these incessant terror attacks on Nigeria? I want to seize this opportunity once again to commiserate with the families of those who were involved in the last and even previous killings in this state and across the country. It is very sad, it is very unfortunate that Nigeria as a country is facing these challenges at this crucial time and we are looking for the answer—I believe that the answer is to have a committed, an honest, determined President and Commander-InChief; somebody who has the political will to stop the killings not only in Kano, but across the country. Every day, if it is not in Borno, it is in Yobe, it is in Adamawa, it is Bauchi, Gombe, Kano; just yesterday, we learnt they struck again in Plateau and so on. So, it is a national issue which must be addressed by the Commander-In-Chief. And I want to say that Buhari has a military background and that will go a long way in helping him and guiding him on what to do; and by the grace of God, whether from my own house in Kwankwaso town, or from Kano in Gandun Albasa or from anywhere, we will continue to support him, and by the grace of God, when he becomes President, we will succeed; because that is very important, he has his own version of

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso experience, I have my own version of experience, especially, experience in the area of security. And I will rally around him to help him to succeed because his success is not only his own, not only my success, it is not only your success, but the success of this country because even our friends elsewhere are very worried, especially those who have invested their money in this country, especially those who wants to invest; especially those who like or respect this country. People are wondering what is happening in Nigeria. So to answer that question is that we need a competent Commander-in -Chief and if Buhari goes there, I see no reason why all these rubbish will not stop in this country. You have said that with his military background, General Buhari can fix the problem of insecurity in this country. Are you saying that military Generals in politics are better than civilians in politics at this point in time? I didn’t say so! But you see, in this political era, a General who has gone through the system over the

years, under normal circumstances, is in a better position to handle the issue of security—this is very important. But that is not to say that civilians can’t do the job. Your Excellency, we want to take you back. If after due consultation, eventually and at the end, they say you should run for the Senate seat. Will you accept? I think you are just repeating what we have already discussed…I thought you would ask a different question! Well, I am consulting and this consultation will soon end because it is not an open-ended thing. We have to take decisions, but I don’t want anything that will appear tomorrow on papers or even on radio today or television without consulting with my friends here or elsewhere; because in politics, it is very important that before you make up your mind on something, at least, you have to meet your friends and ask them what they think should be done. It is just like before I contested for the seat of Mr. President, I had to consult widely and out of that consultation, so many people were

committed to the project to the extent that now we have seen the result and I think the result is good, not only good, very good, because the man who came first believe in me and of course, I am number two in the contest and this is somebody who showed interest just in the last two months. So, let me take the opportunity once again to thank all the delegates, even those who voted for me and those who had the intention to vote for me; but for whatever reason, either they were not allowed or they were asked to do another thing. Even those who went there with another candidate in mind, I think all of us added value to APC and we also added value to the democracy itself better than PDP that started very well in 1999, they were doing what we have done yesterday; but along the line, somebody hijacked the party, took over and coerce everybody— former governors, sitting governors, Senators, everybody who wanted to contest the Presidential seat was being forced to run away. And at the end of the day, they acted like any other small party or parties that we have seen in the past. They were just sitting in the room to give one man a ticket or one woman a ticket. Only one form was printed for Mr. President; and I can assure you that will not help him that will not help their party because that is a recipe for total failure of the party. I am happy that over the years, during when we were there, those of us who were in the party, were saying we will stay for sixteen years—but you press men, your ears were not good enough, and you thought we were saying 60 years! You have to know the difference between 16 and 60! In this term, PDP will be 16 and that was what we were saying! Sixteen is 16, please; don’t write 60 again, because there is that wide or big difference. Not only that, we have seen over the years, this issue of incapacity, to the extent that even the primary responsibility of government, this administration has no capacity to provide; and that is the issue of security. Any government in Nigeria, any government elsewhere, at all levels, that cannot protect

lives and properties of its people— that government is not even worth being there, talk less of looking for third-term. Any time I have this opportunity, I remind Nigerians that what we are seeing in Abuja is not second-term. It is just like when we were saying 16, people are saying 60! I don’t know why people are still talking about second-term! I don’t know why they think the term is the second one now because we are aware that in 2010, Umar Musa Yar’Adua died, this President was sworn in as a full-fledged President of this country. Before 2011, he spent well over one year; and he is having another four years, making it over five years in office. And I don’t know how we can add another four years to make it eight years because we have checked the Constitution of this country and we did not see anything which says more than eight years. So, eight years are eight years and we hope that they should be dusting their tables, because this is the time, I have started doing my own here in Kano. This is time to finish my projects, this is time to do what is necessary for the people to have peace; and therefore, let me also thank God that General Buhari has been elected by my party. I am sure you heard what he said yesterday, ‘the North and the South, make sure you come together and work as a family; Christians and Muslims, ethnic nationalities should come and work as Nigerians.’ And definitely General Buhari will work on the issue of corruption and other vices that are militating against the development of this our dear country. Now, I am sure you know the economy has collapsed. Government has close to nothing and these all have to do with the issue of having the capacity to protect our economy. That is why I believe General Buhari will work together with team of professionals across the country to make sure that our economy is revived and revamped so that all of us at the state level, at Local Government level and at the national level, people can secure jobs, people can go to school and so on and so forth.

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President, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu (in the middle), presenting assorted food items to the representatives of some of the beneficiaries of its 2014 out-reach programme held at the Diplomats Park and Garden, Garki, Abuja, on Saturday. Photo: Stanley Onyekwere

Yuletide: Helpline distributes foodstuff to 410 widows, orphans in Abuja

Stories by Stanley Onyekwere

n the spirit of this year’s Christmas and New Year celebrations, Helpline Foundation for the Needy has doled out assorted food items to 310 widows and 100 orphans, including other vulnerable groups in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs. Peoples Daily reports that the gesture by Helpline, a nongovernmental organization based in the nation’s capital, was the organisation’s 10th edition of bringing succor to the less privileged in the society.

For this year, assorted food items were distributed to all the beneficiaries, while three among the 100 orphans got scholarship to secondary school level. Speaking to newsmen during the out-reach programme held at the Diplomats Park and Garden, Garki, Abuja, on Saturday, the President of the Foundation, Jumai Ahmadu, who noted that the number of widows has increased, disclosed that the Foundation has concluded plans to establish food bank at the Park, for widows and other vulnerable

groups of the society. However reiterating that the reach-out programme is targeted at the less privileged, she appealed to other NGOs and government agencies to focus more on ameliorating the plight of the less privileged. “We are here today to reach out to widows and orphans in the FCT and its environs, which is a demonstration of God’s mercy upon our human efforts. “Though, the number of widows has increased but with God on our side and the help of friends we are coping; the increase in the number of widows

might not be unconnected with the insurgency in the country. “However, to tackle the increase in the number of widows, we are taking another step by establishing a food bank so that the reach-out programme will be carried out every month instead of annual event. “We have notified the leaders of the various associations about this new innovation because they will be the channel for distribution,” she said. Ahmadu revealed that besides the reach-out programme, Helpline Foundation for the

Needy had in the past embarked on capacity building in various vocational skills such as tailoring, hair dressing soap making among others. Many of the beneficiaries, who spoke to our correspondent, thanked the Foundation for sharing the joy of the season with them. One of the beneficiaries, Agatha Nwankwo, said that she has benefited from the scheme in the past five years. He therefore expressed her joy and prayed to God to replenish the initiator of the annual outreach programme.

Environment: NGO unveils first safety club for pupils in FCT

o promote the protection of the environment, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Sure Smiles Women and Children Initiative (SSWCAI), at the weekend launched the pioneer environmental health and safety club for pupils in LEA primary schools, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). According to the NGO, the unveiling of the environmental and health safety club advocacy programme tagged ‘My environment, my pride’, was in collaboration with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Parks and Recreation

Department of the FCTA and the Federal Ministry of Environment respectively. In her opening address at the formation and launch of the club held at the LEA Primary school, Iddo Sarki community, in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), in the FCT, the Founder and Coordinator of the Initiative, Mrs. Chioma Uzo-Udegbunam, said the organisation has gotten approval to establish a total of 100 clubs around the LEA primary schools in FCT. According to her, the formation of the club is part of its activities towards promoting the wellbeing of school children and

the residents of FCT at large. She added that the Initiative, since its inception in 2013, has been working towards tackling poverty among women and children in the nation’s capital. On her part, the immediate past acting director, AEPB, Mrs. Aishat Adebayo, who noted that environment plays critical role to human survival, said the formation of the club would serve as strong basis for building good hygiene practice among school children. Adebayo, delivered a key note address on behalf of the Director, FCTA Department of Parks And Recreation, also stressed the

need for all to imbibe the habit of good personal hygiene, starting from the level of children in the FCT. She therefore urged members of the newly found club, to take its message to their families and friends, who are not members of the club. Similarly, representative of the AEPB, Zainab Umar, described the programme as a good initiative that would empower children to adequately protect the environment. She however decried that the actions of human beings have continued to affect the environment negatively, hence

the need to check the trend through strong advocacy programme. Not left out, the Chief of Iddo Sarki, Alh. Bello Sarki, who expressed joy over the decision of the stakeholders to kick off the pioneer environmental advocacy initiative with children in the community, also assured them of his support, in order to achieve its objective. High point of the event was the investiture of the matrons of the club, flag-off of tree planting project as well as the unveiling of the club’s plague inside the premises of the LEA Primary School, Iddo Sarki.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Photo Splash

PAGE 33

Shoes on display for sale, at the Federal Secretariat, recently in Abuja.

Young man hawking electronics in Nyanya, Abuja, at weekend.

Scavengers searching for valuables at a refuse dump in Karu, Abuja.

An okada rider on the move along Karu road, at the weekend, in Abuja.

Wheel barrow pushers taking nap, recently in Mararaba. Photos: Mahmud Isa

PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

OSUN STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ILESA P.M.B 5089, ILESA

INVITATION FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TENDER The Osun State College of Education, Ilesa is inviting competent and interested Tenderers for pre-qualification to tender for theunderlistedTertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) 2013 Special Interventions projects LOT NOS LOT 1

PROJECT DESCRIPTION TENDER FEES Construction of ICT Centre including external work N50,000.00 LOT 2 Procurement and Installation of ICT Equipment for ICT Centre N20,000.00 The pre-qualification documents which must be well bounded and arranged in this order must contain the following; a. Evidence of Company Registration with Corporate Affairs Commission b. Company’s Tax Clearance for the last three (3) years with Evidence of payment (2011,2012 & 2013 c. Evidence of payment of Education Tax in the last three (3) years d. Evidence of Company Registration with the College e. Verifiable list of similar and the jobs successfully executed with their locations f. Verifiable list of plants/machinery with years of manufacture and locations of the equipment to be used for LOT 1 project.Please state whether the equipmentare on lease, hired or wholly owned by the company with evidence of purchase where applicable. g. List of key staff with their Curricula Vitae and relevant positions that will execute the project h. Company’s financial details and audited accounts for the three years (2011,2012&2013) i. Value Added Tax Certificate (VAT Certificate) with evidence of payment. j. Evidence of Pension Scheme for Company Staff with evidence of payment. k. Evidence of Compliancewith Industrial Training Fund Act 2001 (As Amended) l. An affidavit disclosing whether or not any officer of the relevant committees of the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa or the Bureau of Public Procurement is a former or present Director, shareholder or has any pecuniary interest in the bidding company. SUBMISSION OF PRE-QUALIFICATION/TENDER DOCUMENTS The relevant pre-qualification and tender documents should be neatly package in binders and sent in separate sealed envelopes for the project and clearly marked at the top left corner “PRE-QUALIFICATION” OR “TENDER” DOCUMENTFOR THE PROJECT ON THE YEAR 2013 TERTIARY EDUCATIONTRUST FUND (TETFUND) SPECIAL INTERVENTION with LOT No clearly indicated at the top right corner of the envelopes The companies submitting the Pre-qualification and Tender documents should write the names and mobile phone numbers of a contact person at the bottom left corner of the 2 envelopes for prompt communication. Bid document containing specifications on the project can be obtained from the Director of Works of the College upon payment of above listed non-refundable tender fee on Bank draft payable to “The Bursar, Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, Osun State’ The package should be delivered to the address given below not later than two(2) weeks from the date of this publication (4.00pm on the closing date) The Secretary Tenders Board Osun State College of Education P.M.B. 5089, Ilesa NOTE: i. The Pre-qualification and Tender documents will be opened by 10.00am at the College Board Room on 8th JANUARY, 2015 All those who had submitted their documents by the deadline are hereby invited to attend. Only the Tender documents of pre-qualified contractors will be opened. ii. Interested Contractors must note that Osun State College of Education and its Consultant reserve the right to verify claims made in the Pre-qualification document submitted to them.

SIGNED: BURSAR AND SECRETARY TO THE TENDER

ADAMAWA STATE POLYTECHNIC, YOLA

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, YOLA

INVITATION FOR PREQUALIFICATION FOR THE YEAR 2013 TETFUND PROJECTS (SPECIAL INTERVENTION)

(Office of the Registrar)

The Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola is by this advertorial inviting interested companies/ contractors to tender for the underlisted project in the institution.

The FederalCollegeofEducation, Yolais by this advertorial inviting interested companies/contractors to tender for the underlisted project in the institution.

Lot 1.Procurement of Plants and Equipment Furniture and Vehicle. Lot 2.Procurement of Plants and Equipment for Carpentry and plumbing workshops and Construction of Perimeter Fence. Pre-qualification documents to be submitted should contain, among other things the following; i. Certificate of incorporation in Nigeria as a limited liability company, ii. Tax clearance Certificate for the past three years issued by the FIRS iii. Evidence of registration as an engineering/equipment contractor with the Federal Ministry of works iv. List of similar projects executed in the last three years v. Evidence of financial capability to execute the job tendered for, vi. List of key personnel to be assigned to the project with professional qualifications vii. Evidence of compliance with PENCOM Act and Remittances. viii. Evidence of compliance with ITF and NSITF ix. Evidence of VAT registration

Lot 1;Construction of ICT Centre Lot 2; Procurement of Furniture and Equipment for ICT Centre Lot 3; Procurement of Pick-up Van (Toyota Hilux 4x4 Van) Pre-qualification documents to be submitted should contain, among other things the following; i. Certificate of incorporation in Nigeria as a limited liability company, ii. Tax clearance Certificate for the past three years issued by the FIRS iii. Evidence of registration as an engineering/equipment contractor with the Federal Ministry of works iv. List of similar projects executed in the last three years v. Evidence of financial capability to execute the job tendered for, vi. List of key personnel to be assigned to the project with professional qualifications vii. Evidence of compliance with PENCOM Act and Remittances. viii. Evidence of compliance with ITF and NSITF ix. Evidence of VAT registration

NON-REFUNDABLE PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TENDER DOCUMENTS Interested companies/contractors are to pay to the bursary department the sum of N 20,000.00 for prequalification registration.

NON-REFUNDABLE PRE-QUALIFICATION AND TENDER DOCUMENTS Interested companies/contractors are to pay to the Bursary department the sum of N 20,000.00 as tender fees

COLLECTION OF TENDER DOCUMENTS Tender documents containing detail of works can be obtained from the Directorate of Physical Planning and Works.

COLLECTION OF TENDER DOCUMENTS Tender documents containing detail of works can be obtained from the Directorate of Works and Services.

SUBMISSION OF PRE-QUALIFICATION DOCUMENTS All pre-qualification and tender documents shall be placed and sealed in SEPARATE ENVELOPES and clearly marked “Pre-qualification to Tender for the Desired job” the two documents shall then be placed in a single outer envelope for submission. The envelope containing the prequalification and tender documents is to be submitted to the Directorate of Physical Planning and Works not later than 10:00am on 29th December, 2014 and shall be opened on the same date. Late submission shall not be entertained. Pre-qualification documents shall be screened to determine those qualified to tender before opening of the bids. Only those qualified shall be invited for the tender opening. Those not qualified shall have their bids returned unopened.

SUBMISSION OF PRE-QUALIFICATION DOCUMENTS All pre-qualification and tender documents shall be placed and sealed in SEPARATE ENVELOPES and clearly marked “Per-qualification to Tender for the Desired job” the two documents shall then be placed in a single outer envelope for submission. The envelope containing the prequalification and tender documents is to be dropped in a Tender Box at the Directorate of Works& Services not later than 10:00am on 6th January, 2015 and shall be opened on the same date. Late submission shall not be accepted. Pre-qualification documents shall be screened to determine those qualified to tender before opening of the bids. Only those qualified shall be invited for the tender opening. Those not qualified shall have their bids returned unopened.

SIGNED: REGISTRAR

Page 35

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

International ANALYSIS

The situation in Tunisia remains perilous despite the smooth parliamentary and presidential elections.

he coincidence couldn’t be more striking. As Tunisians prepare for a run-off in their first full presidential elections, an Egyptian court has declared invalid all remaining murder and corruption charges against former President Hosni Mubarak, which stemmed from his three decades of misrule and the hundreds killed in the brutal crackdown he launched to preserve it. While denizens of Tunis debate whether interim President Moncef Marzouki or Ben Ali era veteran Beji Caid Essebsi can best move the country forward, security forces in Cairo fired on crowds who attempted to enter Tahrir Square, the erstwhile centre of the revolution, to protest the Mubarak decision, killing at least one person while arresting dozens. The untold thousands of peaceful protesters and activists rotting in Egypt’s jails and the cult of personality today surrounding President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi tell the story of how the reluctant decision by Tahrir’s revolutionaries to agree to a militaryled transition turned out. In Tunisia, the elements of the state, such as the interior ministry, remain bastions of the ancien regime. But the country has undeniably moved further than any Arab country towards a real and sustainable democracy. This should not surprise anyone familiar with Tunisia’s history, as the country boasts the Arab - indeed, Muslim world’s first modern constitution, from 1861, and has long been among the most cosmopolitan and open in the region. Central issue ut the central issue today is precisely how the country built its post-Ben Ali leadership. Whatever one wants to say about the Islamist Nahda Party, its spiritual and political leader Rachid Ghannoushi re-entered Tunisian politics with a long history of supporting pluralism and democracy. And when it was clear that the party could not govern effectively, it ceded power and agreed to new elections, while members have engaged in public self-criticism about its failings. Tunisians vote in landmark presidential poll qually if not more important, Marzouki is one of the Arab world’s most respected human rights figures, whose Congress for the Republic Party has brought together various opposition tendencies since its creation in 2001. His term in office has been far from a sterling success - it could not have been otherwise, given the Herculean task of building a new governing system on the still functioning body of Ben Ali’s mafia state. But despite political assassinations, flaring religious extremism, and deep-seated economic problems, the country has moved to solidify a new civil and democratic political system. The contrast with the Egyptian postrevolutionary leadership couldn’t be clearer. There are many structural

Why Tunisia succeeded where Egypt failed

In Tunisia, the elements of the state remain bastions of the ancien regime

reasons why Tunisia has progressed politically while Egypt has seemingly returned to its pharaonic roots (as many commentators like to describe its penchant for authoritarian leaders). The most prominent are the exponentially greater power of the Egyptian military vis-a-vis its North African counterpart and its far larger, and poorer, population. But I would argue that the centrality, at least politically, of human rights to the national discourse has been one of the unheralded heroes of the postrevolutionary period. Just compare Tunisia and its president with the situation in Egypt. As Abdel Basset Hassan, head of the Arab Institute for Human Rights in Tunis and a long-time resident of Cairo, explained to me when we met in September, human rights are clearly being institutionalised to a strong degree. The problem is that human rights is a frail political discourse. Whether in the most “advanced” democracies like the United States and UK, or developing

countries like Egypt and Tunisia, it’s easily swept aside by appeals to core national and/or religious identities and the creation of threats whose defeat inevitably requires watering down the protections afforded to all citizens. More broadly, human rights exists in a contradictory political framework: In most societies they both require revolutionary change to be fully implemented and yet are routinely violated in revolutionary situations where one form of power is, more or less violently, overpowering and superseding another. A Nida Tounes-Nahda alignment would provide a powerful ideological and political cover for retrenching the policies that brought Tunisia to the brink of revolution. Market fundamentalist liberalism s revolutions from Iran to Cuba have shown, its all too easy for revolutions fought in the name of human rights, justice and dignity to themselves produce violent and repressive systems.

“

What’s more, human rights is intimately tied to a notion of individual personhood that can all too easily be hijacked to a kind of market fundamentalist liberalism in which broad political freedom masks incredibly deep and destruction inequalities, exploitation, and repression - whether of colonised peoples “outremer” or of working classes at home. Yet, for anyone who’s experienced the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions in action, the power and importance of human rights is undeniable. It remains one of the most radical concepts of the modern era; first, because it demands recognising others as inherently equal to oneself regardless of their differences - ethnic, racial, gender, religion, class, or nation. Second, they demand strict limitation on state power which is inherently and, unless checked, normatively abusive of citizens. And this is where the situation in Tunisia remains perilous despite the smooth parliamentary and presidential

It’s about implementing a complete vision, and as important, getting it out to the widest public,” Hassan declared. “This is the only way to strengthen advances in areas such as women’s rights or constitutional reforms

elections of the last two months. While Marzouki’s Congress for the Republic party represents a poorer and more traditional (and southern) component of Tunisian society, Essebsi’s Nida Tounes Party is not merely tied to the old regime, but to the international financial interests to which it was beholden. Indeed, the main threat in Tunisia today, in this regard, is not a religioussecular divide but left-neoliberal, with the two powerful parties working together to suppress all opposition to once again making Tunisia the Arab world’s “poster child” for a “broken down” neoliberal reform model which has always produced - and masked the desperate inequalities that led to the revolution against Ben Ali in the first place. For decades, neoliberalism has produced the same results most everywhere it has been implemented: aggregate growth that mask growing inequality, increasing corruption, crime, environmental degradation and repression. The only check on such policies would be a strong and united left (the opposite of the present situation, by some accounts) centred broadly on labour rights, a fair distribution of wealth and resources and fighting against the corruption that fatally weakened the previous state. Neoliberal ideologies ut one of the signature strengths of neoliberal ideologies, from Kansas to Cairo, is precisely how efficiently they motivate people to support leaders and policies that are manifestly against their economic interests. A Nida TounesNahda alignment would provide a powerful ideological and political cover for retrenching the policies that brought Tunisia to the brink of revolution. On the other hand, there are more positive countervailing forces at work in Tunis that are cause for long-term hope. This process is exemplified by the establishment of Dar Essaida, or Saida House, a human rights centre located in and emerging from the local community in one of Tunis’ poorest quarters. As Hassan explained, encouraging the poor and working class to (re)define the political and cultural discourses of human rights in ways that reflect their struggles and desires marks an important moment in the evolution of human rights practice. “It’s about implementing a complete vision, and as important, getting it out to the widest public,” Hassan declared. “This is the only way to strengthen advances in areas such as women’s rights or constitutional reforms. But the culture is harder to change, and you can’t just root out all the networks of the former mafia state in one year, or even ten. It’s a long process and it’s not fruitful to use the angle of ‘better or worse’ to judge it now.” Courtesy;Aljazeera

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International

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Sudan President Bashir hails ‘victory’ over ICC charges

Libya clashes force oil port closure

he Ras Lanuf port, east of Es Sider, is still working, the official told Reuters news agency on Sunday, but al-Waha Oil Company which runs the Es Sider port had halted work. Armed groups on Saturday launched an attack against al-Hilal, a key oil region in the country. Fighters from Fajr Libya, an antigovernment coalition, attacked alHilal from three sides on Saturday but the air force repelled them, BrigadierGeneral Saqr Jarushi said. “Air force jets and helicopters struck the fighters as they advanced on Al-Sidra oil terminal,” he said, adding that the air raids had caused “a large number of casualties”. There was also fighting on the ground in which five government soldiers were reported wounded. Earlier Fajr Libya said it had launched an operation to “liberate oilfields and terminals” and that two of its fighters were killed and several wounded. Al-Hilal is the location not only of Al-Sidra but also of the Ras Lanuf and Brega terminals. The attack comes as rebel forces in the eastern town of Derna say they have formed a new coalition before an expected assault by pro-government forces. More than three years after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains awash with weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments. Self-declared Islamist groups have seized Tripoli and second city Benghazi in the east, and forces loyal to Abdullah al-Thinni, Libya’s international recognised prime Mmnister, are fighting to regain control of them.

he president of Sudan has claimed victory over the International Criminal Court after it ended its probe into allegations of war crimes in Darfur. The ICC charged Omar al-Bashir in 2009 for crimes in the region dating back to 2003, but he refused to recognise the authority of the court in The Hague. He said the court had failed in its attempts to “humiliate” Sudan. Announcing the suspension on Friday, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda blamed it on lack of action by the UN. She called for a “dramatic shift” in the UN Security Council’s approach, saying inaction was emboldening the perpetrators of war crimes in Darfur to continue their brutality, particularly against women and girls. Other Sudanese officials have also been charged by the ICC - but none have been arrested. Darfur has been riven by conflict since rebels took up arms in 2003. The UN says more than 300,000 lives have been lost, mostly from disease. The suspension of the Darfur investigation came just over a week after the ICC dropped charges against another head of state, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. He faced prosecution over ethnic violence in 2007-08 in the aftermath of Kenya’s election. That was the court’s most high-profile case. ‘It surrendered’ Mr Bashir said the Sudanese people had stood firm against

“colonial courts”. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said perpetrators of brutality would only be emboldened Rebels stand by as a Darfur village burns after allegedly being set alight by pro-government militia in September 2004 - one of many alleged crimes during the conflict “Last night the ICC raised its arms and surrendered,” he said in remarks on Saturday. “It is the people of Sudan who stood firm and said that no Sudanese

official shall surrender to colonial courts at The Hague or anywhere else.” Human Rights Watch said that Mr Bashir had got the wrong message from the decision to suspend the case. “Rather than the prosecutor (Fatou Bensouda) holding up her hands in defeat, I think she threw the challenge down to the Security Council itself, that they, the Council, need to step up to the plate and assist her in the arrest and surrender of Omar al-Bashir and other accused,

for fair trial at the ICC,” Human Rights Watch spokesman Richard Dicker told the BBC. Last month, Sudan asked the UN-African Union force in Darfur (Unamid) to close its human rights office in the capital, Khartoum. The move came amid tensions over the mission’s attempt to investigate claims of mass rape by Sudanese troops in the Darfur village of Tabit. Sudan says it has carried out its own investigation and has found no proof that anyone was raped.

The Sudanese president has faced the threat of ICC prosecution since 2009

Man faces deportation as UK wife’s salary too low

man faces deportation from the UK after a judge said his British wife’s salary was not high enough.

Michael Engel, from South Africa, said the “bizarre” immigration system rules were “attacking British citizens”.

Michael Engel, pictured with his wife Natalie and daughter Nyana, now has 14 days to appeal against the ruling

Mr Engel, a 31-year-old yacht engineer living in Cornwall, said he and wife Natalie plan to go back to South Africa with 18-month-old daughter Nyana. A Home Office spokesman said the rules were designed to stop foreign spouses becoming reliant on UK taxpayers. ‘I’m gobsmacked’ The couple were told of the immigration tribunal’s ruling after they had appealed on human rights grounds in a bid to protect their family life. But under rules introduced in 2012, British citizens who want to bring a foreign spouse to the UK must earn £18,600 a year and a further £3,800 - a total of £22,400 - if the couple have a child. Mrs Engel’s craft-making business made £19,786 in 2014

which was deemed not enough by the tribunal panel, which met on 3 December. She said the decision made her feel like her family was being “kicked out” of the country. She said: “I’m gobsmacked, lost for words, angry and deflated. I’m not so proud to be British right now.” Ruling appeal But Judge Michael Wilson, who heard the appeal, said UK taxpayers “should not be expected to have to financially support the appellant in the event of him not obtaining work”. The couple now have 14 days to seek permission to appeal against the ruling. Mr Engel said: “We did everything in our power to tick all the boxes.

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone bans Christmas celebrations

ierra Leone has banned public celebrations over Christmas and the New Year, because of the Ebola crisis. Soldiers are to be deployed on the streets throughout the festive period to keep people indoors, officials say. Christmas is widely celebrated in Sierra Leone, even though Islam is the largest religion.

Sierra Leone has the most cases of Ebola in the current outbreak. Some 6,580 have died, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. President Ernest Bai Koroma told traditional leaders to stop traditional practices as part of efforts to end Ebola in the country, Awoko newspaper reports. The president added that despite international aid, it seemed “as if

the cases are increasing”, especially in north-western areas such as Port Loko and the Bombali region. Meanwhile in Mali, the last person still to be treated for Ebola has been cured leaving no more cases in the country, the health ministry announced. The country recorded eight cases of Ebola - including six deaths - and is continuing to monitor a

number of people who were in contact with patients. Overtaking Liberia Sierra Leone has the highest number of Ebola cases in West Africa, with more than 8,000 cases and some 1,900 deaths since the start of the outbreak. It overtook Liberia as the country with the most cases earlier in December, according to World

Health Organization (WHO) figures. The West African outbreak of Ebola is the deadliest ever. The virus, which was first identified in 1976, causes vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding. People are infected through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has the virus or has died from Ebola.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

International Turkey police raid opposition media with Gulen links

Zaman’s editor-in-chief waves to staff while being arrested by counter-terror police

urkish police have made at least 23 arrests during raids on a newspaper and TV station with close ties to US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Those detained are accused of forming an illegal organisation and trying to seize control of the state.

Mr Gulen, the spiritual leader of the Hizmet movement, is a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The raids come days after Mr Erdogan pledged a fresh campaign against Mr Gulen’s supporters. Among those arrested

are journalists, producers, scriptwriters and a police chief in eastern Turkey. Police attempted to raid the offices of the Zaman newspaper, one of Turkey’s biggest, early on Sunday morning, but a crowd of protesters forced police to turn

back before they could make arrests. Staff at the paper also reported on the incident as it happened. The paper’s editor-in-chief, Ekrem Dumanli, tweeted a picture of himself at his desk, saying: “Officers [forced] back because of democratic reaction of my friends. I am at my place and wait.” But they returned and arrested him in a second raid in the afternoon. Staff and supporters of the paper held placards and chanted “free press cannot be silenced” as police raided the building. Mr Dumanli smiled and studied police documents before being led through the newspaper’s headquarters to applause from staff crowded onto balconies. “Let those who have committed a crime be scared,” Mr Dumanli said as he was led away, according to Reuters. “We are not scared.” ‘Disgrace’ The chairman of Samanyolu TV, which also has links to Mr Gulen, was detained in a separate raid in Istanbul. Hidayet Karaca told reporters the operation was “a disgrace for

‘Nut rage’: Former Korean Air executive visits air stewards

former Korean Air executive has tried to apologise in person to two flight attendants for the way she treated them over how she was served nuts. Heather Cho visited the homes of the pair - but both were out, so she left them a note instead. She had ordered the head steward be removed from a flight after being served nuts in a bag, not on a plate. The incident forced the flight to Seoul to be delayed. She resigned from her posts in the company afterwards. The head steward, Park Changjin, has alleged that Ms Cho forced him and a female attendant to kneel and beg forgiveness. However, she has denied this:

“I’ve never heard such thing. I don’t know anything about it,” AFP quoted her as saying. ‘Foolish’ Ms Cho told a news conference on Friday that she was sorry for her behaviour. Her father, Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-Ho, also apologised for what he called his daughter’s “foolish act”. Mr Cho said his daughter would step down from all her posts in companies under the Cho family-owned Hanjin Group, which also owns Korean Air. She had been head of in-flight service for the airline. The Hanjin Group is one of South Korea’s top family conglomerates, called chaebol. South Koreans seem to view

the events with both anger and amusement, says the BBC’s Korea correspondent, Steve Evans. They started a debate about

whether the country’s large family firms unduly favour the children of the owners, our correspondent adds.

Ms Cho has already made a public apology for her actions

Exit polls show big win for Japan’s Abe

edia exit polls in Japan point to a commanding victory for Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition in Sunday’s elections. The vote was dubbed a referendum on the incumbent prime minister’s reflationary recipe for reviving Japan’s economy. Notes from the field: Harry Fawcett in Tokyo There was a fairly steady stream doing their democratic duty on Sunday - but the sense was of a duty reluctantly performed, among supporters and opponents of Shinzo Abe’s government. One Abe voter told me he needed

to be given more time, but in almost the same breath she said she didn’t believe in Abenomics, and that it was a shame there was nobody else to vote for. The opposition is so weak and so atomised that Japan’s prime minister knows he can give them a pasting by going to the polls right now. His economic reforms Abenomics - have had mixed reviews. The first two phases - fiscal stimulus and monetary easing - do appear to have killed off deflation, even if growth has proved elusive. But it’s the third “arrow”, structural reform, that is proving

the most difficult to fashion. The industries that have long benefited from Japan’s regulated, protected economy, along with the vast constituency of elderly voters, stand to lose the most. And their friends in Abe’s own party, the LDP, are loath to back measures that will bring them pain. The polls show the coalition - Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito - winning a two-thirds majority in the 475-seat lower house, but with the LDP falling short of such a “supermajority” on its own. Abe, 60, called the election two

years early in order to obtain a fresh mandate for his “Abenomics” strategy of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms after his decision to put off an unpopular sales tax rise next year for fear it would derail a recovery already in doubt. Abe could use the big win - which appears to have come on the back of rock-bottom turnout - to push ahead with painful economic reforms, analysts say, but might instead turn more attention to his conservative agenda that includes revising Japan’s pacifist constitution to ease limits on the military.

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Asia & Middle East

CIA torture techniques spotlight Pakistani prisoners’plight

he CIA brutal interrogation techniques cited in a recent U.S. Senate report has attracted attention about the plight of Pakistani prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram detention center in Afghanistan. The U.S. forces had held dozens of Pakistani nationals in its infamous detention centers for years, who defense lawyers say have never received fair trial or legal rights. The 6,000-page report of the Senate Intelligence Committee published on Tuesday said the CIA had repeatedly misled the public, Congress and the White House about its aggressive questioning and torture on detainees after the Sept. 11, 2001. The report also found that the “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” program escaped effective scrutiny by outsiders long after its inception in 2002, with CIA records showing then President George W. Bush was never fully briefed by the agency on torturous interrogation techniques until 2006 Pakistan has officially denounced the CIA treatment of the prisoners and emphasized the need for transparency. “We deplore the systematic torture of the detainees at various locations by CIA. We have noted the assurances by the U.S. Administration, including at the highest level, that this behavior would never be repeated again,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said on Thursday. As the CIA is now under fire, some of the Pakistani prisoners recalled memories of the time then have spent at the American detention. Muhammad Sagheer, a Pakistani national spent nearly one year at the Guantanamo prison, recalled what mental agonies he has undergone in the U.S. custody. “I was kept in a six-foot cell and was not even allowed to pray in the early days at Guantanamo,” Sagheer told Xinhua on Sunday by phone from his Kohistan hometown in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Sagheer said he was arrested by the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance fighters in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province after the United States started airstrikes against the Taliban forces in late 2001. “The U.S. guards would not allow sleeping during long interrogation. Once they grabbed and beat me when I was praying at my cell,” he said. Ahmad Rabbani, another Pakistani national, who has been languishing at the Guantanamo for 12 years, said he is being held “without charge and trial” that forced him to opt for hunger strike.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Page 38

International

UN members agree deal at Lima climate talks U nited Nations members have reached an agreement on how countries should tackle climate change. Delegates have approved a framework for setting national pledges to be submitted to a summit next year. Differences over the draft text caused the talks in Lima, Peru, to overrun by two days. Environmental groups have criticised the deal as a weak and ineffectual compromise, saying it weakens international climate rules. The talks proved difficult because

of divisions between rich and poor countries over how to spread the burden of pledges to cut carbon emissions. ‘Not perfect’ The BBC’s Matt McGrath in Lima says none of the 194 countries attending the talks walked away with everything they wanted, but everybody got something. There was a great sense of relief among delegates when the announcement came in the early hours of Sunday morning, he adds, following 48 hours of talks without a break. Peru’s environment minister,

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who chaired the summit, told reporters: “As a text it’s not perfect, but it includes the positions of the parties.” The agreement was adopted hours after a previous draft was rejected by developing countries, who accused rich nations of shirking their responsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts. The final draft is said to have alleviated those concerns with by saying countries have “common but differentiated responsibilities”. “We’ve got what we wanted,”

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who chaired the talks, announced the agreement to cheers from delegates

Indian environment minister Prakash Javedekar told reporters, saying the document preserved the notion that richer nations had to lead the way in making cuts in emissions. It also restored a promise to poorer countries that a “loss and damage” scheme would be established to help them cope with the financial implications of rising temperatures. However, it weakened language on national pledges, saying countries “may” instead of “shall” include quantifiable information showing how they intend to meet their emissions targets. The agreed document calls for: • An “ambitious agreement” in 2015 that reflects “differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” of each nation • Developed countries to provide financial support to “vulnerable” developing nations • National pledges to be submitted by the first quarter of 2015 by those states “ready to do so” • Countries to set targets that go beyond their “current undertaking” • The UN climate change body to report back on the national pledges in November 2015 Environmental groups were scathing in their response to the document, saying the proposals were nowhere need drastic enough. Sam Smith, chief of climate policy for the environmental group WWF, said: “The text went from weak to weaker to weakest and it’s very weak indeed.”

Thousands march against US police

housands of demonstrators have marched in Washington and New York to protest against the killings of unarmed black men by police officers and to urge politcians to do more to protect African-Americans. Organisers said that Saturday’s marches in Washington DC and New York City would rank among the largest in the recent wave of protests against killings that have brought the treatment of minorities by police onto the national agenda. Decisions by grand juries to not indict the police officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York have sparked weeks of protests in major cities across the country. Al Sharpton, a leading civil rights activist, called for “legislative action that

will shift things both on the books and in the streets”. Sharpton, whose National Action Network organised the Washington rally, urged the US Congress to pass legislation that would allow federal prosecutors to take over cases involving police. He said local district attorneys often work with police regularly, raising the potential of conflicts of interest when prosecutors investigate incidents, he said. Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said there had been impassioned speeches and that the crowd seemed overwhelmingly positive. Families of Eric Garner and Akai Gurley, who were killed by New York police; Trayvon Martin, slain by a Florida neighbourhood watchman in 2012; and

Michael Brown, killed by an officer in Ferguson attended the protest. At a parallel march in New York

tens of thousands of people braved cold weather to join the protest, Al Jazeera’s Courtney Kealy reported.

Thousands rallied in Washington in what was dubbed a ‘Justice for All’ march

Europe and Americas

Haiti prime minister resigns amid protests

aurent Lamothe, Haiti’s prime minister, has announced he is resigning along with several ministers in the wake of violent anti-government protests and a commission’s call for him to step down. In a speech made early on Sunday morning, Lamothe said he was leaving “with a sense of accomplishment”. “This country has undergone a deep and dynamic transformation and a real change in benefit of its people,” he said. President Michel Martelly said earlier he accepted the findings of the commission that had recommended Lamothe’s replacement. Protesters have been seeking Lamothe’s resignation, but many also want Martelly to step down. Martelly has been accused by opposition groups of returning Haiti to dictatorial rule, after repeatedly delaying elections expected since 2011. Lamothe and Martelly have blamed six opposition senators for blocking the vote. The senators say the legislation is unconstitutional and favours the government. Martelly appointed Lamothe as prime minister in 2012, and there is now speculation that Lamothe might seek the presidency in upcoming elections. Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has endured a growing number of violent demonstrations in recent weeks during which protesters have demanded the holding of elections that were expected in 2011 and the resignations of Lamothe as well as Martelly. On Saturday, one man was found dead in a protest in Port-AuPrince during clashes with police who fired tear gas. It was not immediately clear how the man died, but he was shot at least once in the wrist. Demonstrations also spread to other towns, including Gonaives and Cap-Haitien.

‘US embargo delayed’ Cuban Ebola team’s pay

uba had to cover food and lodging expenses for dozens of its doctors fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone after the US embargo delayed payments from the World Health Organisation, according to an official at the UN agency. Jose Luis Di Fabio, the health agency’s representative for Cuba, told the Associated Press news agency on Friday it had to request special licences from the US Treasury Department to transfer

money to the doctors in Africa. The licences were eventually granted and the governmentemployed doctors only recently received payments dating as far back as October, he said. “The fact that they’re Cubans greatly limited the funds transfers and the payment,” Di Fabio said. “It’s not that the WHO didn’t want to pay, it’s that they weren’t able to.” The US State Department had

no immediate comment on Friday. Cuban officials in Havana did not respond to requests seeking comment either. US officials as high as John Kerry, the secretary of state, have praised the Cuban effort against Ebola. But the longstanding embargo affects virtually all dealings with Cubans, even for banks outside the US, because they depend on dollar transfers

through US institutions. Cuba has sent 256 medical workers to Africa, with 165 in Sierra Leone and the rest in Guinea and Liberia. Cuban doctors generally receive salaries of about $70 a month, with some specialists earning more, but the Cubans in Africa are receiving $250 a day in direct payments from WHO that are meant to cover their food and lodging and provide a margin of extra compensation.

Cuba has sent 256 medical workers to Africa, with 165 in Sierra Leone and the rest in Guinea and Liberia

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Strange World

Lack of Building Space Inspires Chinese School to Build Running Track on Its Roof safe. Surrounding the track at the very outer edge is a six-foot glass wall. The wall closest to the track is four foot tall, and there’s a green belt sandwiched between the two walls. Authorities have also installed surveillance cameras to constantly

n elementary school in Tiantai, in China’s Zhejiang Province, has a 200-meter running track built on its roof. It’s a strange place to have children running, but the school’s authorities didn’t have much of a choice. There wasn’t any construction land available on the campus grounds,

so they figured a track on the roof is better than no track at all. “Under the circumstances that limited land cannot provide enough space for students to exercise in, we chose to challenge the concept that playgrounds and tracks have to be on the ground,” said chief architect Ruan Hao. The unique design has

received worldwide recognition – it represented China at the 14th Venice Architecture Exhibition this year. The unusual roof-track is good enough to meet the physical education needs of the school’s 1,600 students. It is equipped with all sorts of safety measures – there are three protective layers to keep the kids

In the early 1990s, the marshes had become a refuge for people who were being persecuted by the government of Saddam Hussein. Following uprisings the uprisings of 1991, the government ordered the complete draining of the wetlands, in order to punish the Marsh Arabs who protected the rebels. Draining such vast areas of wetlands was no mean feat, but the Iraqi government managed to achieve this by reviving an irrigation project that had been abandoned precisely because it was disrupting the flow of water to the marshes. Soon, the Marsh Arabs began to suffer – their food source was eliminated, their villages were burnt, and their water home was converted into a barren wasteland. Whatever water remained was poisoned and became unfit for use. Families that had lived in the marshes through several generations were forced to flee from their settlements. They had to abandon their traditional lifestyle and move to other Iraqi towns or Iranian refugee camps. Currently, not more than 1,500 Marsh Arabs are estimated to be still living in the traditional housing. Things took a turn for the better in 2003, when local communities began to breach Saddam Hussein’s policies after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They worked on the restoration of

the marshes, and a four-year drought also came to an end in the same year. They destroyed the dams holding back the Tigres and Euphrates, and re-flooded at least a quarter of the original marsh area. The ecosystem of the Marsh Arabs, however, will take much longer to restore – several of them have moved on and have nothing to return to. Even if they do choose to return, they will have to face poor sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water, health care, or education facilities. Very few are willing to risk their lives to save the marsh and its dwindling community. There is a single ray of hope, however, in the form of ‘Nature Iraq’ – an organisation founded by an Iraqi-American hydraulic engineer. He is leading efforts to restore the Marsh Arabs to their homes with financial support from other countries. The organisation recently reconstructed a traditional reed mudhif, demonstrating that the ancient architectural method can still be used today. Nature Iraq is also attempting to honor the age-old tradition of the Ma’dan who have always offered refuge to those in need. The reed mudhif is now serving as a guest house, offering accommodation for locals, travelers, and anyone who wants to have a discussion about the future of the marshes.

monitor student activity. The unique rooftop running track was inaugurated in September and provides more than 3,000 square meters of space for students to play and exercise in complete safety.

Venice of the Middle-East: The Floating Basket Homes of Iraq

ittle is known to the world about Iraq’s TigrisEuphrates marshlands – an area that, at one time, covered over 9,000 square miles – bigger than Venice’s lagoon and Florida’s Everglades combined. The marshland was inhabited continuously for over 5,000 years and at its peak, it was home to half-a-million ‘Marsh Arabs’ or ‘Ma’dan’. The Ma’dan consisted of several tribes that had developed a beautiful, eco-friendly culture that centered on the marshes’ natural resources. One of the truly admirable aspects of their lifestyle was their beautifully elaborate dwellings – floating houses made entirely out of reeds that were harvested from the open water. These architectural wonders, strongly reminiscent of the ‘casoni’ of the Venetian fishermen, were called ‘mudhif’. They were temporary structures built of reeds in only three days, without the use of nails or wood. Even the islands that the houses would rest on were made of complicated arrangements of mud and rushes. For centuries, the area has been a refuge for slaves and serfs, which is what ultimately brought about the downfall of this unique Arab paradise. Although the Ma’dan construction methods are thousands of years old, the ancient architecture has sadly disappeared in recent years, and is at risk of being lost forever.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Digest

Could a lie in dramatically improve your life? By Mark Prigg

major new study of American workers and their sleep patterns has recommended later start times to improve on health. Experts said ‘delaying the morning start time of work,’ or making it flexible, could have a major effect. They found that for every hour that work was delayed, people got 20 minutes more sleep. After analyzing results from 124,517 American adults on their sleep and work habits, as recorded in the American Time Use Surveys from 2003 to 2011, lead author Dr. Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues found an association between earlier starting times for work or school and less time spent sleeping. ‘Results show that with every hour that work or educational training started later in the morning, sleep time increased by approximately 20 minutes,’ the researchers said. ‘Respondents slept an average of only 6 hours when starting work before or at 6 a.m. and 7:29 hours when starting work between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.’ The new study shows that paid work time is the primary waking activity exchanged for sleep and suggests that chronic sleep loss potentially could be prevented by strategies that make work start times more flexible.

Experts said ‘delaying the morning start time of work,’ or making it flexible, could have a major effect. Results show that work is the dominant activity exchanged for less sleep across practically all categories. Compared to normal sleepers, short sleepers who reported sleeping 6 hours or less worked 1.55 more hours on weekdays and 1.86 more hours on weekends or holidays, and they started working earlier in the morning and stopped working later at night. The highest odds of being a short sleeper were found among adults working multiple jobs, who were 61 percent more likely than others to report sleeping 6 hours or less on weekdays. Respondents who were unemployed, retired or absent

from the labour force also obtained significantly more sleep and were less likely to be short sleepers. ‘The evidence that time spent working was the most prominent sleep thief was overwhelming,’ said lead author Dr. Mathias Basner, assistant professor of sleep and chronobiology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Short sleepers also traveled more, started traveling earlier in the morning, and stopped later in the evening than normal sleepers. The travel pattern, with peaks at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., strongly suggests that the majority of travel time is associated with

commuting. According to Basner, the results point to several possible solutions for workers’ lack of sleep. ‘Potential intervention strategies to decrease the prevalence of chronic sleep loss in the population include greater flexibility in morning work and class start times, reducing the prevalence of multiple jobs, and shortening morning and evening commute times,’ he said. Results show that with every hour that work or educational training started later in the morning, sleep time increased by approximately 20 minutes. Self-employed respondents

with more flexible work times also obtained significantly more sleep than private sector employees and were 17 percent less likely to be a short sleeper. Study results are published in the December issue of the journal Sleep. ‘Getting at least seven hours of nightly sleep is essential to be at your mental, emotional and physical best for whatever you will pour yourself into, either at work or at home,’ said American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, who was not involved in the study. Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Short sleepers also traveled more, started traveling earlier in the morning, and stopped later in the evening than normal sleepers.

Tea breaks aren’t a waste of time at work, say scientists

By Sean Poulter

Bosses worried that staff are wasting time on tea breaks could not be more wrong, for a new study suggests drinking a cuppa could unlock their hidden potential. The research found the process of making and drinking a cup of tea boosts mood and tended to enhance creative problem solving. The work was carried out by researchers for the Unilever food giant, which makes the Lipton tea brand and is opening a string of tea shops under the T2 brand, however it has been independently reviewed and accepted by a scientific journal. Lead scientist Suzanne Einother said: ‘These findings appear to confirm what many of us suspect; that the close to sacred ritual of the tea break can effectively boost your mood, which in turn can lead to other benefits such as improved problem solving. ‘We suspect this effect is down to a combination of elements including aspects of tea preparation and the taste and aroma during consumption as well as simply taking a break from other activities.’

The presence of caffeine and theanine, which is an amino acid that has been linked to relaxation, may be factors in the positive results. The experiments were carried out by the company in Holland and involved a group of 150 people, including 116 women, who described themselves as regular tea drinkers. One group were asked to make and drink a cup of tea, using hot water, milk and sugar, as they normally would, a second was given some sweets and the third was given a glass of water. Participants were then tested to assess their mood, creativity and motivation to assess the impact. The tests asked people to recount a recent happy event, take part in word games, draw an alien creature, and solve anagram puzzles. The study found people who drank the tea had a greater desire for success in the tests than those given water, while they also had a faster response time when faced with difficult problems The team’s scientific paper said: ‘There was a significant effect of the condition on valence – pleasure - and arousal. Water consumption provoked

lower pleasantness than tea consumption.’ It said the simple process of getting up from a desk to take a break and have a cup of tea may lead to a longer improvement in mood and well-being. The paper stated: ‘With the ever-growing evidence on the role of positive emotions in short and long term well-being and success, it is viable that simple everyday activities generate small improvements in mood which may accumulate to greater benefits over time.’ However, significantly, the study found that giving a control group some sweets before they carried out the tests was just as effective in boosting mood, if not even more beneficial. The results are due to be published in the journal Food Quality and Preference and may well encourage a return of the tea break, which has come under pressure with staff reluctant to be seen as slackers. A host of other studies have found physical benefits from drinking tea to add to the improvements in mood. People who drink tea four times a day for six weeks were found to have lower levels of the

Having a tea break can significantly boost mood and increase workers’ productivity, scientists found stress hormone cortisol, which may play some part in the results seen by the Unilever team. Recent research in China found people who drink two or three cups of tea a day were 37 per cent less likely to suffer a

hip fracture. Another by a team in Paris suggested it is particular good for heart health because of the presence of beneficial flavonoids, which are a type of antioxidant. Other studies have claimed that drinking three to four cups of tea a day can cut the chance of a heart attack and help prevent certain types of diabetes.

SporT 41 Page

NFF crisis: staff declare fasting and prayers

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

NFF staff in prayer section

he personnel of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have agreed to go spiritual as they declared fasting and prayers to solve the persistent crises which have engulfed the football house for over seven months now. One of the personnel who plead-

ed anonymity said that the workers are worst hit by the crises, saying spiritual cleansing was the only way out to save Nigerian football. The source noted that the workers believed that it has become absolutely important that they seek the face of God in resolving the crisis permanently.

Mega veterans will bring back glory of Handball, Orji believes >>>Pg 42

“We have no choice but to declare this prayer session because we are getting tired of these troubles in our football. “We are the ones suffering more in this trouble and people outside may not know that. So, Christians and Muslims come together to organize the prayer session.

Eaglets begin training for U17 African Championship >>>Pg 43

“It is not only prayer session, we also declared fasting and we encourage our members to fast from morning to 6pm and those who are not able to make it till 6pm they were encouraged to break by 3pm. “The prayers were massive, the Christian prayed in their own way, the Muslims prayed and you could

see the manner the prayer went, you will know that members of staff were really concerned with what is going on in the NFF secretariat,” the source said. The troubles rocking NFF seem to be over as FIFA has upheld the majority report of the Appeals Committee.

Flying Eagles invite 9 foreign pros >>>Pg 42

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Sport Mega veterans will bring back glory of Handball, Orji believes

Analysis Peopes Daily Sports Assistant Editor, Albert Akota had

ir, may I meet you, Yes, my names are Saidu Jibril Orji.

What is your background in handball fraternity in Nigeria?

a chat with vice chairman of Mega Veterans Handball Association, Saidu Jibril Orji who spoke on his readiness to revamp handball in Nigeria as well as achievements of the body in 2014.

My background in handball started in 1980, I started playing handball from the grassroots under 12 in Kano, Then proceeded into senior category before playing at senior level, which is the senior category, if you look at the background on how I started, I can beat my chest to say that I can be call one of the most successful handballer in Nigeria because some of us who played this game are not more playing it and some are out of the game, many are not more alive and we that are alive, we give God the glory. How do you intense to revamp handball in Nigeria if you are given the opportunity. Thank you, the opportunity I will say indirectly has already been given to me, given to us in the sense that the life given to us by the almighty God is an indication that we have the whole opportunity and privilege to be able to advance the course of handball in Nigeria. If you see what we have gotten from the game of handball there is nothing we have not seen in handball industry because the privileges and the opportunity we have gotten and used judiciously will go a long way in the young ones life who have interest in the game. Presently we are on how to see we raise the younger ones, if you wish to know, there is a scholarship programme we are running for the young ones, we pay school fees for the young ones, we encouraged the young ones by providing kits, provide handball to some states in order to encouraged handball, I think that is the way forward to advance the cost of handball in Nigeria. Mega veterans has reawaken handball in Nigeria what is your comment on this? Thank you very much, I think is a wonderful and laudable aspect of game in Nigeria, mega veterans handball association has reawaken handball by organising

Saidu Jibril Orji various tournaments. We organised tournament

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

because of the epileptic level of the game, nobody is hearing

about the game, those who are used to the game are no more hearing it any longer and some of us who played the game realised the important of the game and came together to rewaken the lovely game. We will not allow the game to go down the drain, we have registered the association for the interest of handball in Nigeria with a legal body and the only way we can stand on our feet was to reduce the load on government. Things never go well in Nigeria especially when you are fighting for the interest of Nigerians, if you decide to depend solely on government to move handball forwards it may not seen the light of the day, I strongly believe government are not buoyant enough to advance sports alone in Nigeria, what is happening in Nigeria today is football, football has taken over the place of other games. We decide to encourage handball by beating our chest, we agreed to bring back handball to the fullest. We felt that the sustainers of handball or re-awaken of handball must abide by us and we stood on that. We are very happy and thank God almighty for making our tournament a huge success, many teams from states turn up for the competition, we

As of today, all the party including mega veterans are in one direction for the interest of handball in Nigeria. We cannot disassociate ourselves from the NSC or HFN any longer, and our dream now is to ensure how we can work together with various associations to see the game go beyond the way we think, personally, I believe the federation is on the drawing stage while we are in planning stage.

have nothing less than 20 teams both men and female respectively which shows that people are hungry for handball game. The youths are hungry to play the game, they were waiting and expecting the 2014 Mega Veterans Handball competition in Abuja, it became an eyes opener to so many coaches because it was unprecedented, they were pleased with what mega veterans are doing, if you listen to some of the interviews granted during the competition, they were pleased and proud to be associating with the re-awaken of handball in Nigeria. You are the vice chairman of mega veterans, what is the relationship between the veterans and the Handball Federation of Nigeria? In the past, it was a cat and rat relationship but today is coded relationship, yes is a coded relationship because we stand on our effort to advance the game. We brought the re-awaken of handball initiative, we organized coaches seminar recently, if you wish to know, we invited an international coach from Germany to inline our coaches and referees the latest techniques of the game because we want our referees and coaches to meet international standard which lasted from about a week in Abuja, we invited him in that regards, we paid all his bill. With that new development I think the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) deem their feats necessary to move the game forwards. As of today, all the party including mega veterans are in one direction for the interest of handball in Nigeria. We cannot disassociate ourselves from the NSC or HFN any longer, and our dream now is to ensure how we can work together with various associations to see the game go beyond the way we think, personally, I believe the federation is on the drawing stage while we are in planning stage.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

PAGE 43

Sport Eaglets begin training for U17 African Championship By Albert Akota

olden Eaglets camp re-opened in Abuja yesterday as they begin preparation for the 2015 CAF U-17 championship to be hosted in Niger from February 15. Eaglets coach Emmanuel Amuneke has therefore revealed that opportunities will be given to new players. Amuneke, who breezed into the country during the week from Spain said the next two weeks would be used to ascertain the fitness level and condition of the current squad, adding it was necessary to fortify the team in view of the challenges expected at the tournament. The Golden Eaglets finished runners up in the 2013 CAF

U17 Championship in Morocco losing 5-4 on penalties to Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire after a pulsating1-1 draw. “The peculiar nature of the U17 category means that we would continue to work with most of the players that have been with us for some time now,” said the 1994 African Footballer of the Year. “But that has not fore closed the chances for others to break into the team since we need to present a very good team because our objective first and foremost is to secure one of the tickets for the next FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile.” The team will begin training on Monday at the NFF/ FIFA Goal Project Pitch and officials hinted that only those who are invited would be taken care of while

Flying Eagles invite 9 foreign pros

Eaglet’s defender Anas Mohammed against Egypt

Hazard, Costa fire Chelsea to victory

iego Costa struck his 12th goal of the season as Chelsea maintained their three-point lead at the Premier League summit with a 2-0 victory over Hull City on Saturday. Eden Hazard put Jose Mourinho’s side ahead in the seventh minute at Stamford Bridge and Costa wrapped up the win shortly after Hull’s Tom Huddlestone had been dismissed for an ugly challenge on Filipe Luis on the hour. The victory helped Chelsea re-assert their status as league leaders after last weekend’s defeat at Newcastle United, while defeat means Hull, who slipped to second-bottom, have now gone nine games without a win. The mid-week Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon had helped Mourinho’s side put the Newcastle loss behind them. But having dropped five points

in their previous three league games, the meeting with Steve Bruce’s Hull had acquired added importance for the home side. Hull’s preparations were disturbed by growing uncertainty over the future of winger Hatem Ben Arfa, on loan from Newcastle, who has reportedly returned to

his native France after falling out of favour. Hull were convinced John Mikel Obi had fouled Sone Aluko in the build-up, but referee Chris Foy thought otherwise, allowing Nemanja Matic to pick out Oscar on the left wing with a threaded pass.

Chelsea

Dzeko, Kompany join City injury list

Isaac Success for Flying Eagles training camp in Kaduna By Albert Akota

he Flying Eagles have invited nine foreign-based professionals including Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success ahead of next year’s African Youth Championship in Senegal. Iheanacho is on the books of English Premier League champions Manchester City, while Success has already broken into the first team at Spanish La Liga side Granada CF. The other invited pros are Chidiebere Nwakali (Manchester City/England), Taiwo Awoniyi (Kalmar/Sweden), Chidera Eze

(FC Porto/Portugal), Daddy Moses, Kingsley Madu (AS Trencin/Slovakia), Musa Yahaya (Tottenham Hotspur/England) and Musa Muhammed. According to Coach Manu Garba, the players are expected to join up with the Flying Eagles when the team’s training camp reopens on December 27. He also said he has received assurances for the release of the players by their clubs.The AYC will kick off on March 8 in Dakar, Senegal. The eight-team tournament will produce Africa’s four representatives to the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Kompany

anchester City could be without Edin Dzeko and Vincent Kompany until the New Year. Striker Dzeko pulled a calf muscle in the warm-up of their win at Leicester City, while captain Kompany suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury. After the 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, manager Manuel Pellegrini feared the worst. Bosnian Dzeko, who looked set for a long run in the side following an injuries to fellow strikers Sergio Aguero and Stevan Jovetic, went down moments before kick-off. Central defender Kompany started after missing the last three matches with a hamstring strain but aggravated the injury with 14 minutes remaining. Pellegrini will step up his attempts to extend Frank Lampard’s stay with the champions following the expiration of his loan deal from sister club New York City.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Sport 1. Anthony Ujah scored his sixth goal of the season in FC Cologne’s 2-1 win over Schalke 04 in the German Bundesliga. 2.Great Britain will try to improve on last year’s five gold medals at Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships.

3. The African champions, Algeria’s Entente Setif, are beaten 1-0 by Auckland City FC at the Fifa Club World Cup in Morocco.

4. Joe Calzaghe says Nathan Cleverly can bounce back from his defeat by Tony Bellew to become a champion again. 5. Leinster end Harlequins’ 100% Champions Cup winning record as a late penalty gives them a 14-13 victory in Dublin.

PUBLIC NOTICE CRAYFISH DEALERS ASSOCIATION KADUNA

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[ AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSOCIATION 1.TO FOSTER AND PROMOTE UNITY, PEACE AND PROGRESS AMONG MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATIONS. 2.TO ENCOURAGE SELF ACTIVITIES AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRADING IN KADUNA AND NIGERIA AT LARGE. 3.TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SECURITY TO MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 4.TO IMPROVE BUSINESS BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. 5. TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF CRAYFISH DEALERS ASSOCIATION IN KADUNA METROPOLIS AND ITS ENVIRONS.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

PUBLIC NOTICE SEEDHOUSE CHRISTIAN CENTRE

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ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUINYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, GARKI, ABUJA WITHIN 28

PUBLIC NOTICE HUMAN DIGNITY ADVOCACY FOUNDATION

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ORGANISATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1990. THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. BARRISTER BABA LAWAL ALIYU,FCIArb,UK 2. GAMBO IBRAHIM GUJUNGU 3. BARRISTER GARBA SADIQ BALA THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. WORKING TO SAFEGUARD HUMAN RIGHTS, TEACH THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY AND ACHIEVING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN NIGERIA. ANY OBJECTION TO THE REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL OF THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, MAITAMA, ABUJA- NIGERIA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

PUBLIC NOTICE HELICOPTER LANDING OFFICERS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ORGANISATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1990.

TRUSTES: 1. Wilfred Agbejesi(Pesident) 2. Cyprian Egbe Obem 3. Samuel Ekugbawa 4. Owumi Jolomi 5. Tosan Boyo THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: 1.To promote unity among members. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION.

SIGNED: SECRETARY

SIGNED: Cyprian Egbe Obem. 08121138979.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Society for protective coatings (SSPC) Nigeria Chapter THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION SIGNED:TRUSTEES

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.Augustine Dick 2.Anoruo Maureen Chidinma 3.Madu George Chibuikem 4.Igwe Joshua Uchenna 5.Pius Daniel 6.Peter Enamah 7.Tonye Dango THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: 1.TO PROTECT THE INTEREST AND WELFARE OF MEMBERS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED: SECRETARY

PUBLIC NOTICE ABUNDANT PRAISE FAMILY CHURCH

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.PAST. JUDE CHUKWUDI VALENTINE - CHAIRMAN 2.PAST. (MRS) BLESSING ADAEZE VALENTINE 3.MR. PETER OLADELE AJAYI - SECRETARY THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF GOD. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Y. Z. DANGANA & ASSOCIATES

EDO 1st Empowerment initiative THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. Vincent aigbokhan 2. Daniel sado 3. Emmanuel ABULELE 4. Nicholas Ehikhuemen 5. Sophia Angel Khan 6. Helen AKhanlu 7. John Aigbokhan Aims and objectives. 1. To cater for the girl child. To award scholarship to the less privileged children from primary education to any higher institution of learning. 2. To discover young talents and encourage them. To run a variety of project to benefit the young people in less privileged communities to gain skills that enable them generate income. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM

AKAEZU SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE The general public is hereby notified that the above named INITIATIVE has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for Registration under part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. ELDER SAMUEL CHUKWUEMEKA NWANKWO 2. MRS. CYNTHIA NKEIRUKA NWANKWO 3. DR. BENJAMIN OKEY ODOEMENA 4. MR. STANLEY OBINNA UMEH 5. MR. EMMANUEL SUNDAY NWANKWO 6. MR. IGNATIUS MBAJEKWE THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

1. TO PROTECT THE INTEREST OF THE MEMBERS 2. TO RENDER SOCIO-ECONOMIC HELP TO THE POOR AND NEEDY IN THE SOCIETTY

SIGNED: SECRETARY

Any objection to this Registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General Corporate Affairs, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication. SIGNED: ONWU INNOCENT C 08035105079

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE DATE OF PUBLICATION.

WALKING TALL EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.AMADI CHIKODI ANTHONY 2.OKO WILLIAMS EZE THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: 1.TO ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE IN CIVIC EDUCATION. 2.TO ESTABLISH A FOUNDATION OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NEEDY IRRESPECTIVE OF CREED,GENDER OR CLIME. 3.TO ASSIST INDIGENT STUDENTS IN ACHIEVING AT LEAST,BASIC EDUCATION. 4.TO CREAT A FOUNDATION THAT ENTHRONES AN EFFECTIVE READING CULTURE THROUGH BOOK DONATIONS. 5.TO PARTNER WITH INDIVIDUALS/GROUPS TOWARDS RENDERING SOCIAL SERVICES TO COMMUNITIES. 6.TO REINVIGORATE THE SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERISM AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE. 7.ORGANISING EVENTS GEARED TOWARDS THE YOUTHS,SEMINARS,DEBATES,ACAD EMIC AND TALENT BASED EVENTS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE

REGISTRAR-GENERAL CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION.

SIGNED: SECRETARY

LINKING HANDS FOUNDATION

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. EFOMO TITILOPE FARINRE 2. OLAJIDE OLUSEGUN FARINRE 3. ESOHE TIWATOPE EDEBIRI THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1.TO CATER FOR THE WELFARE OF THE LESS PRIVILEDGE. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, GARKI, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. Signed TOBE LORDLY 08038563003

PUBLIC NOTICE

HOPEFUL AND CHARITY WORLD FOUNDATION

MICRO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT INITIATIVE THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED SOCIETY HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

TRUSTEE: Rev. Fr. Moses Benedict Okachi Dominic Otuji Ogbeche Syella Obiageli

TRUSTEES: Okoto Michael Ojegbamene Abubakar Ahmed Yakubu Okeke Celestine Anikweze Bosa Sunday Eremie Phillimeus Ifeyinwa

AIMS: To promote the interest of the less privileged in the society Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication

AIMS: To provide support services and structures for micro, small and medium enterprises

Signed: Barr. Okonache Ogar John 08061302126

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication SIGNED:SECRETARY

MUSLIM STUDENTS SOCIETY OF NIGERIA

Old Trustees: Sheihk Abdulqadir Orire Sheikh Ahmen Iemu Dr. Jubril Oyekan New Trustees: Dr. Usman Bugaje Yusuf Olaolu Ali (SAN) Barrister Misbaudeen Oyefeso Alh. Iahq Kunle Sanni Dr. Abdullahi Musa AIMS and Objective remain the same Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication Signed: Secretary

Page 46

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

PUBLIC NOTICE

JOINT MUSLIMS AWARENESS FOUNDATION

AMBASSADOR NANVEN LEADERSHIP AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990. TRUSTEES: Alh. (Chief) Uzamot Abdul-majeed Kolawole- Chairman Barr. Kasim Babatunde Odedeji - Secretary Alh. Adebajo Shittu Adekola Bldr. Olasunkanmi Bashir Alh. Olayiwola Miftah Alh. Isa Azeez Adesiji Alh. Afolabi Aliu Kajode AIMS: To Inculcate in Muslims, the spirit of Unity, Oneness, Cooperation and Understanding Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication SIGNED: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE OLD NAME: COALITION OF NIGERIA APOSTOLICS NEW NAME: COALITION OF NIGERIA APOSTOLIC LEADERS THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FORUMHAS APPLIED FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

TRUSTEES: Bishop Abraham Olaleye Pastor Wale Adefarasin Pastor Yomi Kasali AIMS: To preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

TRUSTEES: Amb. Nanven Mohammed Goselle Chief Manasseh Wakyil Barr. Nansok Clement Hajia Hauwa Mamuop Dabilong Barr. Susan Dung Solomon Ballanson Alh. Umar Farouk Satmak Dapar Mrs. Mwuese Joseph AIMS: To build a sustainable culture of peace through ethical leadership. To advocate for equality in society. To cater for the need of orphans, people living with disabilities.

PUBLIC NOTICE NORTHERN SISTERS DEVELOPMENT FORUM

This is to inform the general public that the above named Organization has applied for registration under part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: Senator Khairat Gwadabe Dr. Magdalene Dura Hajia Aisha Ismail Hawa Shekarau Dudu Poloma Manuga Ammuna Lawan Aims and Objectives: To promote peace and Unity of the north. To empower women and children through skills acquisition. To promote access to education.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: Secretary

SIGNED: Muhammad Faiz Abdulazeez Esq 08036243840

of this publication

WINDING UP

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACTS 2004 PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF OPTIMUM MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED RC NO 1103784 PURSUANT TO SECTION 234 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT C20 LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 2004 We, the undersigned, being the majority Directors Of Optimum Mineral Resources Limited (“the Company”), who at the date of this resolution are entitled to attend and vote at the General Meetings of the Company, signify our assent to the passing of the resolution set out below and agree that for all purposes, the said resolution shall be valid and effectual as if same had been passed by all the Directors at a General duly convened and held: SPECIAL RESOLUTION 1. IT WAS RESOLVED that the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 457 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004. 2. IT WAS RESOLVED that Mr Charles Abalaka of Abalaka & Co (Suite B3, Amsalco Plaza, Area 11, Garki, Abuja) be and is hereby appointed as the liquidator for the purposes of winding-up the Company.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACTS 2004 PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SA OIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION LIMITED RC NO 955417 PURSUANT TO SECTION 234 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT C20 LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 2004 We, the undersigned, being the majority Directors of SA Oil Exploration and Production Limited (“the Company”), who at the date of this resolution are entitled to attend and vote at the General Meetings of the Company, signify our assent to the passing of the resolution set out below and agree that for all purposes, the said resolution shall be valid and effectual as if same had been passed by all the Directors at a General duly convened and held: SPECIAL RESOLUTION 1. IT WAS RESOLVED that the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 457 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004. 2. IT WAS RESOLVED that Mr Charles Abalaka of Abalaka & Co (Suite B3, Amsalco Plaza, Area 11, Garki, Abuja) be and is hereby appointed as the liquidator for the purposes of winding-up the Company.

Signed: Secretary

WINDING UP

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACTS 2004 PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AVON 4 DEEP SEA MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED RC NO 952006 PURSUANT TO SECTION 234 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT C20 LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 2004 We, the undersigned, being the majority Directors Of Avon 4 Deep Sea Management Company Limited (“the Company”), who at the date of this resolution are entitled to attend and vote at the General Meetings of the Company, signify our assent to the passing of the resolution set out below and agree that for all purposes, the said resolution shall be valid and effectual as if same had been passed by all the Directors at a General duly convened and held: SPECIAL RESOLUTION 1. IT WAS RESOLVED that the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 457 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004. 2. IT WAS RESOLVED that Mr Charles Abalaka of Abalaka & Co (Suite B3, Amsalco Plaza, Area 11, Garki, Abuja) be and is hereby appointed as the liquidator for the purposes of winding-up the Company.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACTS 2004 PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS LAYDAM MINERALS LIMITED RC NO 1103785 PURSUANT TO SECTION 234 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT C20 LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 2004 We, the undersigned, being the majority Directors Of Laydam Minerals Limited (“the Company”), who at the date of this resolution are entitled to attend and vote at the General Meetings of the Company, signify our assent to the passing of the resolution set out below and agree that for all purposes, the said resolution shall be valid and effectual as if same had been passed by all the Directors at a General duly convened and held: SPECIAL RESOLUTION 1. IT WAS RESOLVED that the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 457 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004. 2. IT WAS RESOLVED that Mr Charles Abalaka of Abalaka & Co (Suite B3, Amsalco Plaza, Area 11, Garki, Abuja) be and is hereby appointed as the liquidator for the purposes of winding-up the Company.

LOSS OF DOCUMENT

PUBLIC NOTICE

This is to inform the general public of the loss of Tittle/R of O document belonging to EHIDIAMHEN EMMANUEL OKOYOMON with File No. ED 20956, Plot No. 202 of about 1000-00sqmtr. Cadastral zone B08 Jahi, Abuja. All efforts made to trace the said missing document proved abortive. If found please return to AGIS or the nearest Police Station. CHANGE OF NAME

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ZARA MOHAMMED SHUWA, NOW WISH TO BE ADDRESSED AS ZAHRA MUHAMMAD SHETTIMA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

the late most supreme apostle mathew omodayo owotuga foundation THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

1. TO PROTECT THE INTEREST OF THE MEMBERS

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication signed: secretary

WINDING UP FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACTS 2004 PRIVATE COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ADLAY MINING LIMITED RC NO 1103798 PURSUANT TO SECTION 234 OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT C20 LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA 2004 We, the undersigned, being the majority Directors of Adlay Mining Limited (“the Company”), who at the date of this resolution are entitled to attend and vote at the General Meetings of the Company, signify our assent to the passing of the resolution set out below and agree that for all purposes, the said resolution shall be valid and effectual as if same had been passed by all the Directors at a General duly convened and held: SPECIAL RESOLUTION 1. IT WAS RESOLVED that the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 457 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004. 2. IT WAS RESOLVED that Mr Charles Abalaka of Abalaka & Co (Suite B3, Amsalco Plaza, Area 11, Garki, Abuja) be and is hereby appointed as the liquidator for the purposes of winding-up the Company.

PUBLIC NOTICE

christiansing foundation THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART “C” OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT 1 OF 1990.

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

1. TO PROTECT THE INTEREST OF THE MEMBERS

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication signed: secretary

PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, DECEMber 15, 2014

Funny Jigsaw mystery

6. Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays. 17. Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour during World War II, left school at the age of eleven. 18. Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn’t in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with ‘S’, and so Truman’s mother didn’t want to disappoint either of them. 19. One of Queen Victoria’s wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese. 20. Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural. 21. Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman. 22. John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime. 23. John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion. 24. Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day. 25. Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill ‘if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee’. His reply …’ if you were my wife, I would drink it ! ‘. 26. The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte. 27. The only person who’s birthday is a legal holiday all across the U.S. is George Washington. 28. While at Havard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for

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Leisure

cheating on a Spanish exam. 29. King Solomon of Israel had about 700 wives as well as hundreds of mistresses. 30. Charles the Simple was the grandson of Charles the Bald, both were rulers of France. 31. Englands Queen Anne (1665-1714) outlived all 17 of her children. 32. In 1944, Fidel Castro was voted Cuba’s best schoolboy athlete. 33. Mozart never went to school.

Say what?

SUDOKU EASY 203

PHOTO OF THE DAY

SUDOKU EASY 202

This photo features Indonesian photographer Arief Siswandhono’s daughter, who has overcome her fear of the family’s pet cat. Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

QUOTABLE QUOTE What I’ve raised in my public pronouncements in recent times was not to castigate anybody, not to bad-mouth anybody, not to run anybody down but out of genuine concern for the situation of the country…

. . . putting the people first

monday, december 15, 2014

– Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

SPORTS Political corruption in Adamawa latest

ollowers of sports in Nigeria are mourning veteran Sports journalist Ramsey Ugele as he was laid to rest over the weekend. The experienced sports reporter died Wednesday, December 3rd in Abuja while seeking medical attention following a sudden illness. Ramsey an elder state man in Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN FCT chapter, a former civil servant also worked as a reporter for New Nigeria newspaper, Abuja Times among others became popular for his unwavering style of reportage and has been in the sports business for over 30 years. At his burial ceremony which was held on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Suleja, Niger state, friends and family paid their last respect to the fallen icon. The chairman National Sports Commission, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who was present at the wake keeping event said: “It is another dark day for sports journalism in Nigeria. We have lost a friend whose bylines will be greatly missed by millions of Nigerians who ardently followed his insightful writing.” SA to the minister of sports, Patrick Omorodion said: “We’ve lost a bright journalist. He was hardworking and humble. He never raised his voice.” “Ramsey was a professional journalist, he was a bold person and he is never angry, we’ll miss him, but I know he is in paradise. “Sports have lost an icon, we have lost one of the best commentators of our time, football in particular will miss him for his down to earth critical analysis of events and we have lost one whose life style is worth emulating,” Christian Omeruo who represented the NFF President, Amaju Pinick. The chairman FCT Coaches Association, Godwin Bamigboye, said: He really helped us in highlighting the successes recorded in football in the FCT over the past decade through world-class coverage.” The chairman SWAN FCT chapter, Kayode Adeniyi also thanked the Nigerian sports community for supporting the association during “this dark period:” “Our special thanks goes to the Chairman National Sports Commission, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye for personally attending Ramsey’s burial.

lmost all the national dailies in the first week of this month carried the incredible story of how members of the Election Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party mandated by the National Headquarters of the party to conduct House of Assembly primary elections in Adamawa State were “kidnapped.” The story reads like a script from a Nollywood drama. But it was in reality sourced from a petition signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the committee, Ambassador Tim Ihemadu and Mrs. Victoria Nyam-Isha respectively. Captioned “Forceful Abduction, Assault, Threat and Confiscation of Election Materials by Agents of the Adamawa State Government,” the petition gave details of the traumatic experiences of the committee members in Yola in their bid to conduct the primaries. From their account, it would appear as if the governor, Bala James Ngilari collaborated with some chieftains of the party in the state viz Chief Joel Madaki and Mr A. T. Shehu in this criminal act. The petition did not spare even the Police Commissioner and Director of Secret Service in the state. The Committee members complained that while they were held hostage, party thugs with the help of government officials freely rigged the elections and gave them the results which they announced to the media under duress. The panel disowned the results, and urged the party to do same. The Peoples Democratic Party subsequently ordered all Adamawa State primaries including state assembly, governorship and those of the national assembly moved to Abuja without giving any reason. This has since been done; the results of such primaries held in Abuja have been announced. Unfortunately this has not brought harmony to the fractured status of the party in the state. All the Governorship, Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates of the party in the state with the exception of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu attended a press conference addressed by their spokesman Professor Andrawus Sawa last week. They lamented that without

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Tributes as veteran sports writer Ugele laid to rest

By Albert Akota

8620 9705 9046 1969 0344

Monday Column Emmanuel Yawe royawe@yahoo.com 08024565402

Nuhu Ribadu

due recourse to the party’s constitution of a 7 days notice, the purported primaries took place in Abuja instead of Adamawa. “More to that, the purported election was conducted in contravention of a court order restraining the PDP and INEC from using any delegates list other than the one recognized by all the party executives at all levels”, they added. The current situation in the Adamawa branch of the party where primaries are held far away from where its grass root members reside raises a number of fundamental issues. Primary election for such offices as state houses of assembly and governorship are supposed to be held in the locale of such offices. To take them far way in distant lands denies the local folks the sense of participation and political education which are all essential ingredients of democracy. This abnormal practice has the potential of becoming the norm whereby all state primaries even for the Local Councils will be moved to Abuja. This will certainly raise questions about the federal system of government we are running. Already, following fast on the Adamawa example, the Yobe State gubernatorial primaries were held at the Legacy House in Abuja on the

9th December. Taraba state followed. In the case of Yobe, this attracted an immediate response from three out of the four gubernatorial contestants. In a Newspaper advertisement, the three politicians, Dr Yerima Ngama, Malam Ibrahim Talbe and Alhaji Hassan Kafayos argued that the act contravened section 50 of the PDP Constitution and the 2014 electoral guidelines of the party. In any case, if the PDP, the ruling party, cannot guarantee the credibility of its own party elections in a state like Adamawa, how can it guarantee the credibility of a general election in the state? Personally, I feel taken aback. Late In 1982, I took a flight from Kaduna to cover the NPN gubernatorial primaries in Yola, then the Gongola State capital for my newspaper, the New Nigerian. The major contestants were Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and Edward Aliyedeno. On the flight, a rumour started making the rounds that Edward had stepped down for Bamanga. In Yola, I drove straight from the Yola Airport to Lamido Cinema, the venue of the primaries. Initially it looked to me as if the in flight rumour was true. It was yellow, yellow everywhere. Yellow was the colour allocated to Bamanga. But it turned out that Edward was still very much in the race. Accreditation and voting soon began. It was an endless and boring but transparent process. At the end of the day, Bamanga won with a landslide. The loser, Edward stood up and made a stammering but moving speech, conceding defeat. Then Bamanga stood up to give his acceptance speech. It was all very moving. As a young graduate of political science and a reporter, I went to bed contented that I had just witnessed a practical example of what I had read in my political science text books. Tragically, thirty two years after that demonstration of

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political maturity, Adamawa which should have moved from there to the next level has degenerated to political rascality and suffocating corruption. The popular feeling in Adamawa political circles is that Abuja is trying to impose a governor on the state. Reference is frequently made of how Murtala Nyako was imposed on the state as a result of the Atiku/Obasanjo political shootout in Abuja. Nyako then turned out to be a curse and a comprehensive disaster on the state. Maybe the current happenings in Adamawa would not have been so significant to me if my brother Nuhu Ribadu were not involved. As the founding Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nuhu made global impact as a frightening thief catcher. It does appear to me now that his definition of corruption was rather limited to bribe taking, contract inflation and similar such acts of financial sleaze. If not, how could Nuhu not only be part of the conspiracy to deny the ordinary citizens of Adamawa the right to choose their own governor but be the chief beneficiary of this elaborate political heist? Bribe taking and contract inflation are corrupt acts and those involved in it should receive extreme chastisement. Worse still, politicians involved in swindling their less fortunate citizens of their rights to vote are corrupt people and should be punished even more severely because the ultimate consequences of political corruption on society are even more devastating than “direct stealing”; to use Nuhu Ribadu’s words at his dramatic 2006 appearance in the Senate.

DAN GAYE

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