BOKO HARAM: It's now fire for fire —JONATHAN

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62105

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ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Immigration deaths: 4 applicants sue FG, Moro, 3 others P. 16

BOKO HARAM: It's now

fire for fire —JONATHAN •Says we'll no longer treat terror group with kid gloves •Solicits support in fight against terrorism •Calls for restructuring of UN Security Council

BY BEN AGANDE

A

BUJA — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has sent a strong message to the Boko Haram terror group that the Nigerian government would no longer treat it with kid gloves.

Speaking in Windhoek, Namibia during bilateral Continues on page 5

COLUMNIST:

DONU KOGBARA

•P.17

Mr & Mrs

LECTURE: From left: Chief Chukwuma Azikiwe; Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Masari; former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); All Progressives Congress, APC, Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, UNIBADAN, Prof. Isaac Adewole at the airport in Ibadan for the 50th Memorial Lecture of Zik Hall, at the University of Ibadan, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

Reps fault Okonjo-Iweala on missing Confab: Secretariat releases draft N24bn Police pension fund P. 8 rules, to be adopted Monday P. 9

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POCKET CARTOON

Vice President Namadi Sambo (7th left) and other officials with student panelists at the close of the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

Boko Haram: It's now fire for fire —Jonathan Continues from page 1 talks with President Hifikepunye Pohamba at the Conference Hall of the Namibia State House, President Jonathan solicited the support of other countries in the fight against terrorism, saying a terror attack on one country is an attack on all countries.

He said: “The issue of global terror is worrisome and in Nigeria, we believe that a terror attack anywhere in the world is a terror attack on everyone.

“It may be more in one country compared to the other. For instance, in the North Eastern part of Nigeria, we are having inci-

dence of terror in three states out of 36 states.

“Initially, we handled it with kid gloves but now we have decided to be a little more forceful because we must thrash out these terror groups. We must not allow them to continue to slow down economic growth in that part of the country.

“With the terror attacks in that part of the country, the rest of the country feel it because Nigerians live everywhere. In these other parts, there is always the fear that if you do not tackle it, it will spread to other parts. We will work together to ensure that terror attack is

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. —Oscar Wilde.

Always have a way to look ahead.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it — Alexander Graham Bell.

Alexander Graham Bell is an exemplary inspiration to emulate in pursuing goals and aspirations that are uplifting to humanity and despite his many failed attempts, Alexander Bell made up his mind to find that for which he was searching even if it required the remainder of his life. He finally uncovered the principle for which he was searching and was astounded at its simplicity.

Even more astounded to discover this same principle is not only beneficial in the construction of a mechanical hearing aid, but it served as well as means of sending the sound of the voice over a wire.

This invention gave birth to the telephone, which of course gave way for trend in technology and the much improved telecommunication in today’s standard.

Another discovery which came out of his investigation was the fact that when a man gives his order to produce a definite result and stands by that order, it seems to have the effect of giving him what might be termed a second sight which enables him to see right through ordinary problems. We can apply this principle in all that we try to achieve, you keep working at it until you succeed.

stamped out globally and in Nigeria we are committed.”

Restructuring of UN Security Council While thanking the Namibian President for his country’s support of Nigeria’s election as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, President Jonathan called for the restructuring of the UN Security Council to make it more democratic, adding that Africa should be given at least two seats in the UN Security Council.

He said: “I also believe in your philosophy that if

by God’s grace, the UN Security Council will be restructured, that is, if the super powers will allow it to be restructured, Africa should be considered at least for two positions to represent the interest of African people.

“I always say that we cannot talk of democracy when the strongest institutions globally are not democratic but dictated to by one country alone.

“If we must practice democracy and emphasise that all countries must be democratic, we need to start from these powerful UN institutions that all parts of the globe must have a say there.”

Economic integration While calling on African leaders to promote intra-African trade for job creation and the development of the continent, the President emphasised that the continent must consolidate the regional economic blocs for economic integration.

He said: “If we can consolidate the regional eco-

nomic blocs to become solid, then, we can integrate the economic blocs before going to political integration. I always believe that our founding fathers in the days of OAU, their vision was for Africa to become a single big continent.

“I remember the late President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, his dream was that political boundaries should collapse in Africa. But we believe that it is good to envision that kind of development, but first, we must consolidate the regional economic blocs.”

While congratulating the Namibian President on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the country, President Jonathan said considering the circumstances Namibia attained independence, the event is worth celebrating.

Pohamba calls for

Nigeria, Namibia collaboration Earlier, Pohamba had said that his country would forever remain grateful to Nigeria for the contribution and sacrifice towards the attainment of the country's independence.

He stressed the need for the two countries to focus on industrialisation and economic sustenance particularly in the area of agriculture, mining and tourism.

Pohamba specifically underscored the need for both countries to jointly exploit their marine resources and water transportation for import and export.

He said Namibia is the third most populous nation in Southern Africa and her mining sector is the second largest contributor to its GDP. After the bilateral talks, the two leaders entered a closed door session which lasted for about an hour before coming out to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs).

11 MoUs signed

Eleven MoUs were jointly signed by relevant ministers of both countries.

The MoUs included training of Namibian Foreign Relations Officers at the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy, agreements on youth development and on the waiver of visa requirements for citizens of both parties holding diplomatic and official passports.

Others are Bilateral Air Service Agreement, cooperations in the legal field, extradition treaty, treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and technical cooperation agreement for the provision of volunteer health professionals in Namibia under the Technical Aid Corps were signed.

The MoUs also include cooperation in the fields of geology, mining, mineral processing and metallurgy; trade, investment and cconomic cooperation and MoU in the field of tourism.

Corruption: Exaggerated reports have stigmatised Nigerians —Jonathan

BY BEN AGANDE

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BUJA— PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has said that the exaggerated reports on corruption in Nigeria have taken a toll on the image of the country.

Speaking at a meeting with the Nigerian community in Namibia, the president noted that the sensationalisation of corruption in the country has stigmatised its people.

He said though his administration would not condone the menace, using big stick will not be a solution to ending corruption.

Rather, he said government would continue to strengthen relevant institu-

tions in nipping the menace in the bud.

He called on every Nigerian to resolve to do the right thing and support the government in its efforts at building a new Nigeria.

According to the president, if the citizens extend their cooperation to government in the fight against corruption, the nation would be completely transformed in the next ten years.

He said: “The green passport should be a symbol of honour, respect and dignity, not humiliation.”

He stressed that Nigeria is a great country and with certain definite steps the administration is taking, it would take its rightful position in the globe.

He assured the Nigerian community in Namibia that with all the political tension being created by the opposition in the country, he would not play politics with the development of the nation.

He said that government had taken pragmatic steps to end the challenges of oil theft and piracy before 2015.

Earlier, the Minister of Trade and Investments, Dr Olusegun Aganga, had told the Nigerian community in the Southern African country that a lot of opportunities were available for them in Nigeria and they could key into the transformation agenda of the government even from their countries of residence.

6 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

2 policemen jailed over N800,000 bribe

BY CALEB AYANSINA

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BUJA— TWO Police Officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force, Kwara State Command, Ilorin, have been sentenced to imprisonment without an option of fine over corruption related matter.

Police Sergeant Alih Tenimu and Police Corporal Salawooden Abubakar were sentenced to three and two years imprisonment, respectively, for demanding and collecting N800,000 as bribe from a suspect involved in a criminal matter.

They were arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, before Justice A. Mohammed of Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin, on a four-count charge in 2013.

Housewife cites beating in divorce suit

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BUJA— A housewife, Charity Ojemu, yesterday pleaded with a Customary Court sitting in Jikwoyi, Abuja, to dissolve her nine-yearold marriage on grounds of alleged frequent beating.

Charity, 36, filed a divorce suit against her husband, Sunday Ojemu, accusing him of frequent beating, adultery, lack of proper care for the children and lack of rest of mind.

She told the court that her husband was in the habit of boasting about his girlfriends whenever he was angry with her.

The Judge, Malam Jemilu Jega, in his ruling, asked that the couple come to court with their witnesses to testify to their claims.

He also told the parties to try and settle their differences and he adjourned the matter until April 25.

Woman accused of stealing husband's N2.8m SUV

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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AGOS— A 29-year-old woman Ngozi Obi was, yesterday, arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stealing a Sports Utility Van, SUV, from her husband, one Aloy Chibuzor Obi, worth N2.8 million.

The defendant, who is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing preferred against her, was docked before Magistrate

Abimbola Komolafe.

The Police prosecutor, ASP Iranus Nnamonu, told the court that the defendant and others at large, conspired together to commit the alleged offence.

He said that the incident happened at 8p.m., on September 22, 2013, at Agege area of the state.

Nnamonu said the accused stole a Toyota Highlander jeep number plate JJJ 184 AJ, valued N2.8 million, belonging to one Aloy Obi.

The prosecutor said that the offence committed is punishable under Sections 409 and 285 of the criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Magistrate Komolafe granted the defendant bail in the sum of N300,000, with two responsible sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the matter to May 15 for mention.

Midnight fire wreaks havoc at AOCOED

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA & BOSE ADELAJA

T

HE theater arts building of Adeniran Ogunsaya College of Education, AOCOED, located along Badagry Expressway has been razed by a midnight fire. There was no casualty recorded in the fire incident.

The building affected housed the Dean of the

department’s office, senior lecturers’ offices, audio and visual studio, hall for presentation, costumes, props and others.

Although investigation is still ongoing, Vanguard gathered that the fire incident may have been caused by electrical surge in one of the several offices.

Dean School of Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Femi Adedina, said: “I was called at 5:30am. By the time we got

there, officials of the fire service from Ojo and Badagry divisions were still struggling to put off the fire.

By the time they were through, the whole place was in ruins.”

One of the lecturers, whose office was affected, Mr. Afeez Oyetoro, popularly called Saka, said “we cannot categorically say what caused the fire incident as investigation is still ongoing.”

Telecom mast collapses, kills 2, injures 3 in C'River

BY EMMA UNA

C

ALABAR— TWO persons, an old man, Adindu Fynecountry, and an 11-year-old girl were, Wednesday, evening killed in Odukpani, a Calabar suburb when a telecommunications mast collapsed following a rainstorm.

An eyewitness, Mr. Asuquo Okon, who is a staff of Cross River State Water Board, said the

incident happened at 6p.m. when strong winds that preceded a downpour pulled down the mast. He said many others were injured.

The dead and those wounded were taken to the General Hospital, Calabar.

Another eyewitness, Mr. Nnasia Isoni, said the spot on Ntoe Edet Oqua Street where the mast was erected used to be a refuse dump site, which was converted to a pit toilet by residents of the area.

Isoni said the collapsed

mast destroyed his house including certificates and personal effects worth over N6 million.

Secretary of Odukpani Local Government Area, Mr. Edet Eyibio, described the incident as unfortunate and traumatising, especially the loss of lives and property.

According to Eyibio, remedial measures will be taken by the council to ameliorate the impact of the incident on the victims.

CRASH: The telecommunication mast that collapsed and killed two people and injured three at Odukpani, Cross River State, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.

GRIDLOCK: Heavy traffic on

3 docked for robbery

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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A G O S — MAGISTRATE Eniola Fabamwo of an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, yesterday, remanded three men, in Kirikiri Prison custody pending the legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, over alleged armed robbery.

The defendants are Donatus Ekpunobi, 50; Solomon Nwibo, 40 and Victor Jacob, 30. The defendants are facing a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery preferred against them.

The police prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emuerhi, told the court that the defendants and others at large, committed the alleged armed robbery on August 20, 2013, at 11pm.

Fabamwo adjourned the matter to March 30 for mention.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 7

10-yr-old beaten to coma over bed-wetting

BY CHINYERE ABIAZIEM

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AGOS— FOR alleged beating, unlawful assault and causing grievous bodily harm to a 10-year-old cousin over bed-wetting, an aunt, Joy Amadu, was docked in an Ebute Metta court.

The Kogi State-born Amadu, who works as a security guard reportedly hit her cousin with a wooden object and inserted ointment, Aboniki, in her eyes and private part and the girl became unconscious.

Amadu rushed her to a hospital at Ajah, where the girl was rejected and referred to a military hospital on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.

She was given April 25 to be in court when the matter will be mentioned and was admitted to a bail of N50,000 with a surety.

Abuja-Zuba Expressway, Abuja, Wednesday evening. NAN PHOTO.

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

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NITSHA— A new twist emerged, yesterday, in the ongoing trial of some accused persons suspected to have kidnapped the Chairman of G. U. O. Motors Limited, Chief Godwin Okeke in Onitsha, Anambra State on August 23, 2009.

At the resumed hearing of the case at an Onitsha High Court presided over by Justice Chudi Nwankwo, the third defendant, Alexander Onyinanya, denied ever making the statement to the police, which was tendered in the court by the prosecution counsel and admitted as evidence.

In his evidence-in-chief, guided by the prosecution counsel, Chris Ajugwe, the second prosecution witness, PW2, Inspector Johnson Owah, a police officer formerly serving under the Anambra State Police Command at Onitsha at the time of the kidnap incident in 2009 and time of arrest of accused person in 2011, told the court that the defendant was arrested and brought to the police in 2011 by Anambra State vigilant group, led by Mr. Chinenye Ihenko (A.K.A. Okpompi).

Owah further told the court that when the vigilant group

GUO MOTORS' BOSS KIDNAP:

Witness denies statement brought Onyinanya to the police, he was detailed to investigate the matter.

He said that he re-arrested and cautioned him and he volunteered the statement which he (Owah) took down in writing, read over to him before he (Onyinanya) signed and he (Owah) counter-signed by writing his name on the statement.

Giving a graphic account of his findings, during the course of investigation, the PW2 stated that the defendant

was assigned to work as a member of vigilant group at AdaziAni, Okeke’s hometown.

In a cross-examination, one of the defence counsels, O. U. Oduma, asked Owah if he knew the first accused person before now and he answered “No”.

He asked again if Owah heard the name of the first accused during his investigation and he answered “No”, before Oduma rested his case.

D. U. Nwafor, counsel to one of the accused persons, sought a permission of the court to give

Owah a plain sheet to sign his specimen signature to contradict him with all the signatures he signed in the police extracts already tendered before the court.

The court turned down the request on the ground that there was no genuine reason for the signing of such a specimen signature.

At this stage, Justice Nwankwo adjourned the matter till March 24, 25 and April 1, 3 and 9 for further hearing.

... as Bayelsa commissioner's sister regains freedom kidnapped at her residence at women on March 10 by five

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA— TEN days after her abduction, Mrs. Joyce Ebua, elder sister to the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports, Mitema Obodor, has been released.

Ebua, aged 60, regained her freedom at 12.30am.

The victim, who was

the riverside Oloibiri town in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, it was learnt, was released somewhere at Odual/Abua in Rivers State.

It could not be ascertained if ransom was paid by the family as the police was not directly involved in the negotiation that led to her release.

Ebua was reportedly abducted with only a wrapper tied around her and in the midst of other

armed men.

A family source said officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, were involved in the effort to secure the release of Mrs. Ebua.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Alex Akhigbe, confirmed the release but said the police were not involved in the process.

Gunmen shoot policeman at Lagos airport

BY DANIEL ETEGHE

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WO gunmen, yesterday, shot a policeman along the Murtala Muahmmed International Airport access toll plaza, Lagos.

The gunmen men, who were on a power bike, drove speedily towards Ikeja axis of the airport leaving the policeman attached to Hajj Camp Police Station in the pool of his blood.

At press time it could not be ascertained what led to the action of the gunmen.

An eyewitness, Dr. Alex-Okoh, said the policeman was identified as one Mr. Abayo who was walking towards the access gate at 3pm, when he was shot.

Okoh said she was inside an ambulance when she saw people running helter-skelter.

She said: “I ordered the driver of the ambulance to take the shot policeman to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.”

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Local content: Nigeria loses N61trn to capital flight

BY SEBASTINE OBASI & MICHAEL EBOH

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BUJA—The Federal Government, yesterday, disclosed that the country has lost $380 billion, about N60.8 trillion, in capital flight over the years, due to failure of companies in the oil and gas sector to develop local capacity, in line with the local content initiative.

Speaking at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, noted, however, that the major challenge is not in the amount lost, but the continued lack of opportunity to develop the capacity of individual players.

He also lamented the slow pace of development of the manufacturing capacity of indigenous players, stating that if the manufacturing capacity of the companies is not developed, all the achievements recorded in the area of Local Content will fizzle out.

According to Nwapa, the current performance level of indigenous operators, in the area of engineering is 90 per cent; fabrication – 60 per cent, while manufacturing is 10 per cent.

“If the manufacturing capacity of the indigenous players is not raised, we will not get the much needed growth of Nigerian content,” he said.

He said the unfortunate situation of the Nigerian Immigration Service’s employment exercise has underpinned the need for job creation through support of indigenous companies, noting that manufacturing is key to long term job creation.

He disclosed that in 2014 and beyond, NCDMB will ensure that firms that flout its directives are sanctioned, while work stoppage fines will be applied strategically.

He maintained that the NCDMB will insist that the requirements of the law are complied with, noting that it has given operators adequate opportunity to fully comply with the law.

He said between 2010 and 2012, the NCDMB initiated Capacity Development Intervention, CDIs, concentrated on creating awareness on the Nigerian Content requirements and commenced change in the management processes of opetrators.

NIS tragedy: 4 applicants sue FG, Moro, 3 others

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

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BUJA—FOUR survivors of the recent recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, that resulted in the death of eighteen persons nationwide, yesterday, dragged the Federal Government to court.

In an originating summons they entered before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, the plaintiffs, Charles Ugwuonye, Friday Danlami, Chinedu Onwuka and Samson Ojo urged the court to declare that the conduct of the recruitment exercise was illegal, unwarranted and amounted to a gross violation of the applicants’ fundamental rights to life.

Those they prayed the court to summon before it yesterday included the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, Nigerian Immigration Service and its Comptroller General, Mr. David Shikfu Parradang.

The plaintiffs, who filed the matter on behalf of themselves and other applicants that participated in the NIS ‘killer job’, urged the high court to restrain the NIS from spending the money realised from the recruitment exercise.

Besides, in the case which they entered under sections 33, 34 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the equivalent articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right Act, the plaintiffs, equally want the court to order the respondents to refund the recruitment money back to the applicants, as well as, pay the sum of N1million to each applicant that took part in the unfortunate exercise.

More so, the plaintiffs, prayed the court to award the sum of N50m to families of the deceased applicants as general damages and also declare that the federal government, violated the applicants right to protection from inhuman and degrading treatment, right to dignity of the human person, right against discrimination on the basis of the circumstances of birth, and right against unlawful taking of the property of a person; under Sections 33, 34, 42 and 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Moreover, the plaintiffs, prayed the court for an order declaring that the respondents, particularly the Minister of Interior and Comptroller General of the NIS, owed the duty of honesty and candor to the applicants regarding the true purpose and intention behind the recruitment exercise.

They further sought a declaration that the respondents, particularly the Minister of Interior and the Controller General of the NIS, had a duty to superintend the recruitment exercise in a safe and healthy manner with due consideration to lives and well being of those who applied for or participated

in the exercise.

“An order declaring that the Nigerian Immigration 2014 Recruitment Exercise was carried out in a manner that was motivated by greed and corrupt intentions and without any realistic plan to offer the applicants employments.

“An order declaring that the respondents do not have the power to appropriate any funds raised by them from the recruitment exercise, even if not otherwise illegal, but must remit such funds to the Federation Account”.

The applicants further want the court to grant an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents from spending any of the funds raised from the exercise and an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from spending any of the funds raised from the

recruitment exercise.

Likewise, to direct the respondents to refund each applicant the sum of N1,000 which he or she paid to participate in the recruitment exercise and also an order directing the respondents to pay general damages in the amount of N1m to each living applicant for the violation of their rights.

In addition, they prayed the court to make an order directing the respondents to issue a written apology to the applicants, which shall be published in five Nigerian newspapers and on the main website by the 5th respondent and which shall remain posted on the said site for three years in memory of those who died during the recruitment exercise. The case has not been assigned to any judge for hearing.

Meanwhile, Niger State government has said that the corpse of one of the prospective applicants who died at the Minna centre during the recruitment

exercise stampede is yet to be claimed at the Minna General hospital mortuary. The deceased has been identified as Ibrahim Isah Mohammed.

Secretary to the Niger state government, Alhaji Isah Ndako who made this known when Minister of State on Agriculture, Hajiya Asabe Asmau Ahmed paid a condolence visit to the state also said that the name of the other deceased identified to be a female could not be ascertained because she was not registered at the hospital when she was brought.

He, however, said that steps have been taken by the state government to locate the family for proper documentation.

Alhaji Ndako confirmed that a female and a male died in the stampede while 14 people were injured, adding that from the official report sent to the state government from office of the immigration in the state, over 14,000 persons reported for the exercise.

VISITS: From left: First Lady of Namibia, Madam Penehupifo Pohamba; President Goodluck Jonathan; President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia and First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan during the arrival of President Jonathan in Namibia's State House for a state visit yesterday.

Alleged missing N24bn Police pension fund: Reps committee faults Okonjo-Iweala

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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BUJA—THE House of Representatives committee on Public Accounts yesterday faulted the claim by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi OkonjoIweala that N24billion pension fund was not missing and challenged her to a public debate on the matter. At the resumed hearing of the missing money yesterday the Public Account Committee Chaired by Rep Solomon Adeola Olamilekan insisted that the N24bilion was actually missing accusing the Finance Minister of either being ignorant of the facts of the transactions or trying to mislead the country.

The hearing was attended by the Director General of Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD) Mrs Nellie

Mayshak and her team, as well as the representatives of the office of the Accountant General of the federation and others.

According to Adeola “ we invited you people to appear before this honourable Committee on this serious transactions involving Tax payers’ money running into billions of naira and the new DG of Pension Transitional Arrangement Department was honest enough to say that she just took over and that there was no document to back up the disbursement of the N24bllion.

“We further requested for more documentation in order to get to the root of the matter only for the Minister to come up with a press statement that the money was not missing” “We challenge her to a Public debate where all the media houses will be present and will be on live on all Television

stations, so Nigerians will know whether or not the N24billion was missing”,he declared.

Olamilekan noted that ,”all these documents being brandished around in defence of the missing N24billion are fraudulent, forged and fake which can not stand the test of the time, they have nothing to do with the missing money. The minister claimed that the money was kept in an account, but which bank and how much was the interest since it was kept in the bank?

She also claimed that the money had been paid into the treasury, where is the official receipt issued to that effect ?.

The committee then requested for the statements of bank account detailing how the account was operated at the First Bank Plc, between 2009 and 2012 which must be duly signed by the bank as its officials might be invited by the Committee to give evidence.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 9

Confab: Draft rules of proceedings out

BY SONI DANIEL & HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—THE Secretariat of the National Conference, yesterday, released the Draft Rules of Proceedings to guide its deliberations throughout the duration of the confab.

Already, copies of the draft rules have been given out to delegates, most of who were still finalising their preparations for effective participation in the proceedings.

Also handed out to the delegates were copies of the 1999 Constitution apparently to guide them in deciding certain sections of the law, which they feel should be amended or expunged from the books.

The Conference Assistant Secretary in charge of Media and Communications, Mr. Akpandem James, confirmed the distribution of the documents to the delegates and explained that it was only the delegates who could ratify the rules for use.

James said: “What has been given out to the delegates is the draft rule of proceedings, which the members are to study and prepare for subsequent adoption when they resume for plenary on Monday.

“It is only after the adoption/ratification of the draft rules of proceedings by the delegates that we can have a set of rules to guide the proceedings of the conference,” the spokesman explained.

“If they (delegates) adopt it, then it becomes the rules guiding the conference.

But if there is any clause they feel should be amended or rejected, then they will decide at the plenary on Monday. “What we are trying to do as a secretariat is to make the delegates as comfortable as possible to ensure smooth proceedings throughout the conference,” Mr. James said.

One of our correspondents, who visited the confab secretariat at the National Judicial Institute, along the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Way, noted that many of the delegates, who could not collect their conference bags before the inauguration by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, took turns to collect theirs on Thursday.

Tiv/Fulani herdsmen clash: Senate calls for decentralisation of Police zWants FG to declare state of emergency on security

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAK-

WURU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

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BUJA—THE Senate yesterday canvassed for the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police and the recruitment of many police personnel so as to tackle the problems of insecurity, especially the recent killings of innocent people by suspected cattle rustlers in the north central part of the country.

The position taken by the senate was sequel to the motion on matter of urgent importance on recent attacks and killings in many parts of north central zone sponsored by Senator Barnabas Gemade and five other senators.

The senate observed that the recent security challenges in the country, with particular reference to the activities of Boko Haram and the Fulani cattle rustlers were pointers to the prediction by the Intelligence department of the United States that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015.

The senate presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu mandated the Senate Committees on Security and Intelligence, Defence, Army, Police Affairs and Interior to undertake a fact finding mission and report back to the senate.

The Red Chambers noted that the principal purpose of government both as established by the Constitution and in political science was for the protection of lives and property of citizens, adding that it was part of the social contract.

“If we have devoted the whole day as we have done now to dealing with the issue of insecurity in Nigeria, we are living up to the expectation of the ordinary people of Nigeria, for us

to show concern for the general insecurity in the country.

“Many years ago, as traditional people, we had our own internal mechanism of dealing with this same situations, but with civilisation and interaction with other people and the general criminality pervading the whole world we are now infested with this virus of criminality in our country.

“And that calls for prompt action for us to do what other countries are doing in order to combat this menace. So I do believe that a country as big as Nigeria needs to effect its security. And just as have been mentioned, it would be difficult for us to afford effective security if we continue to use the type of policing we are having in Nigeria presently.

“We run a federal system of government and it’s completely unacceptable in a federal system

for us to have a federal system and for us to also have a centralised Police. Policemen are not magicians. There is no way a policeman can stay in one kilometre and know when a crime is being committed in another kilometre.

“We must be able to provide sufficient Police personnel that should be at least one policeman per hundred metres away. And this can only be achieved if we decentralise our Police, ensuring that we have state Police and possibly local Police that is well coordinated and regulated.

“We had problem in the past in this area because they were not well regulated and they were not coordinated. I think time has come for us to reflect on this and see how we can provide efficient security for our people.

“And our Police as it is now need to be more trained and then they will be able to ensure that the

laws are enforced no matter who is involved. So if we do some of these and all that we have said here, I am sure that we would be able to recover our country from the doomsday that is being predicted,” Ekweremadu stated.

Senator George Sekibo, PDP, Rivers East noted that there were signs that the country was heading for disintegration, even as he blamed senators for not doing enough to talk to their constituents on some of these security challenges.

He said, “I have the fears, the fears I have are these, that Nigeria today as we are, we are at war, this country is at war against itself, who is bringing the war, I don’t know, either it is because of political activities and power is not in their hands and then they encourage people to cause disturbance and then to shake up the country.

WORLD ORALHEALTH DAY: From left: Minister of health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; Director-General, National Orientation Agency, Mr Mike Omeri and Executive Secretary, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Ado Mohammed, at the National Oral Health Conference/World Oral Health Day in Abuja yesterday.

Reps probe Allison-Madueke over alleged spending of N3.1bn in 2 yrs

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE & LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

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BUJA—MEMBERS of the House of Representatives yesterday mandated the Public Accounts Committee, PAC to probe an alleged reckless spending of N3.120billion in two years by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Allison-Madueke for air charter services.

The House in session also directed the committee to conclude the investigative hearing within two weeks and report back.

This move was initiated by Rep Adejare Samuel, APC, Agege Federal Constituency, Lagos in a motion entitled: ’Urgent Need to Investigate the

Waste of Resources on the Arbitrary Charter and Maintenance of a Challenger 850 Aircraft for Non-Official Use’.

Adejare had in his submission argued that the minister allegedly frittered away over N10bn in the maintenance of the Challenger 850 Aircraft and its crew in the last two years.

He noted that” in these days of scarce National Resources where public finance is shrinking in the face of ever increasing national needs such as roads, health, education and power, amongst others an official of government could waste public funds on such luxury as chartering a Challenger 850 Aircraft for extra official use.

Adejare further said that “in recent times, most States of the Federation have been facing

acute shortage of allocations due to the dwindling National Revenue which has reduced the quality of governance and deprived the people of dividends of democracy”.

He told the House that his submission on the issue “is based on reliable evidence, that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke has been committing the sum of 500,000 Euros (N130 million Naira) monthly to maintain the Aircraft, thus in two (2) years, the Minister had committed at least N3.120 billion in maintaining the Private Jet which is used solely for her personal needs and those of her immediate family, which is an appalling act”.

He also explained that “there are strong indications that the

above expenditure is only a tip of the iceberg as several other billions of Naira have been allegedly wasted on flying the Jet all over the World obviously for the leisure of the Minister and her immediate family on trips that were of no benefit to the country. “ This colossal waste is currently estimated at N10 billion which include the payment of allowances to the crew for the trips, hanger parking and rent based on the lease agreement.

“If government could be bankrolling this waste in the face of ever dwindling public resources which amounts to a misplacement of priority, impudence and breach of public trust, this is an action that offends the Fiscal Responsibility Act and all other Laws on fiscal discipline in Nigeria.

10 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

APC chieftains re-live memories of Azikiwe in Ibadan zContribute over N5m for Zik Hall, UI I

BY OLAAJAYI

BADAN—THE memories of late Nnamdi Azikiwe, the ceremonial President under parliamentary system in 1960 came to life yesterday as chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, assembled at the University of Ibadan to mark the 50th anniversary memorial of the former nationalist.

In attendance were the acting National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, former Speaker, House of Representatives, son of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Bamidele Azikiwe, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister, FCT, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, former Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, acting Publicity Secretary, APC, Dr. Shettima Mustafa, former Minister of Agriculture, Chief Akin Oke, Oyo State Chairman, APC, Mr. Wasiu Olatunbosun, Caretaker Chairman, Ibadan North West Local Government and many others.

Gen. Buhari spoke glowingly of the late elder statesman, “Azikiwe was the most outspoken and internationally recognised Nigerian nationalist.

He was a true Nigerian and his vision extended beyond Nigeria or West Africa. He dreamt of Continental Union, similar to what Europe is trying to do now.

He deserves all the honour and accolades we can heap on him albeit posthumously,” he said.

While speaking on a topic entitled, “Youths and the Future of Nigerian Politics and Governance”, the lecturer, Dr. Mustafa said the topic of the lecture was an attempt to draw from the experiences of Great Zik in particular, but also from other contemporary Nigerian leaders and juxtapose them to the needs and struggles of latter day politicians especially the younger ones.

He stated further that the attitudes of both young and old in politics, the culture of

politicking and electioneering, the degree to which partisan politics has been corrupted and basterdised, crowned by unwarranted violence, the need for cleaner and more development oriented politicking and governance.”

Governor Ajimobi said: “Enough is enough of the system that makes the youth political touts and bouncers. They must be effectively included in general party decision-making and leadership structure of all political

parties.

“If the youth of this country must indeed be leaders of tomorrow, we must stop recycling grey-haired leaders in this country. There is no gainsaying the fact that the same set of people who had been ruling the country in the last 30-40 years are still the recurrent factors in rulership today.

“The present scheme of things where the youth are jobless, cannot boast of a

today, is such that it would be very difficult to articulate a concise tomorrow for them.

“All efforts must thus be made to ensure that the youth are leaders of their stomachs today before we can consider them for leadership of the nation tomorrow,” the governor said.

Meanwhile, a total donation of over N5 million was realisedto give face-lift to facilities at Zik Hall, University of Ibadan.

LAUNCHING: From left: Programme Coordinator, Eko Free Health Mission, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, Baby Gbemisola and Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, at the launch of Eko Free Health Mission, at Ojodu in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

APC ‘ll tackle unemployment —OKOROCHA

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA—CHAIRMAN of the Progressives Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha has disclosed that the All Progressives Congress, has embarked on Policy Design Sessions to tackle unemployment.

Okorocha while speaking during the inauguration of the policy design session in Abeokuta described

unemployment as one of the major economic and security challenges confronting Nigeria today.

He, however, asked the panel which comprises economists, policy development experts, commissioners of economic planning from APC states and other technocrats to develop workable and easily

implementable solutions to mitigate the problem of unemployment plaguing our society.

The governor who was represented by the Imo State Commissioner for Planning, Ms. Adaora Ijezie, said that the policy design sessions were part of the APC’s approach to win the confidence of Nigerians.

Lagos identifies power need for agric, transport, housing

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AGOS—LAGOS State government has said the desire for improved food production, achieve an integrated public transportation system and increase the availability of affordable houses are among key considerations it is seeking more investors to participate in the power sector of the state economy.

To this end, it said it was opening the investment window across various segments of the power sector to prospective investors and financiers at the forthcoming 7th Lagos Economic Summit holding from April 8 to 10 under the theme, “Powering the Lagos Economy: Real

Opportunities, Endless Possibilities.”

Speaking at the media flag-off for the summit, on Wednesday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mr. Ben Akabueze, who was supported by three other commissioners, said power was the main focus of the summit because of its multiplier effect on the three other key sectors namely agriculture, transportation and housing.

The other commissioners were Prince Gbolahan Lawal (Agriculture and Cooperatives); Mr. Bosun Jeje (Housing); and Mr. Kayode Opeifa (Transportation).

Court rules on Ajudua’s bail application

BY ABDULWAHAB

ABDULAH

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AGOS—JUSTICE Kudirat Jose of an Ikeja High Court yesterday fixed March 31 to rule on the bail application filed by Lagos lawyer and socialite, Fred Ajudua, charged over alleged defrauding of two Dutch businessmen of $1.69 million.

Ajudua was arraigned alongside Charles Orie by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Already, Ajudua's coaccused, Orie is already granted bail by the court.

Arguing his bail, his lawyer, Chief Charles Edosomwan, SAN, submitted that there was no proof before the court that his client had interfered with any witness.

The counsel argued further that there was an overwhelming medical evidence that Ajudua was suffering from a lifethreatening ailment which needed proper treatment.

He added that Ajudua was ready to face trial contrary to the claim being made by the EFCC that he may not wait to answer his charges.

Climate change: Stakeholders raise alarm

BY OLASUNKANMI

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AKONI A G O S —

STAKEHOLDERS have observed that people and buildings along Lagos coast will be more adversely affected by effect of climate change in the future, hence, the need to adapt to the impacts of climate.

This was part of the communiqué issued yesterday, at the end of the three-day 6th Lagos State Climate Change Summit, organised by the state Ministry of the Environment, with the theme: ‘Exploring Business Opportunities in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Lagos State in Focus.’

The stakeholders in their observations stated: “Cities with high concentrations of people and buildings, particularly those along the coast, including Lagos, will be more adversely affected by climate change in the future."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 —11

Amosun orders payment of OOU lecturers salary arrears

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BEOKUTA—OGUN State governor, Senator Ibikunlle Amosun has ordered the management of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, to effect the immediate payment of the outstanding one month salary arrears owed lecturers of the institution.

Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, in a statement issued in Abeokuta also said the governor has promised that all other outstanding arrears would be paid without delay.

He stated that Amosunled administration inherited a backlog of arrears from the immediate past administration, adding, however, that it had prioritised payment of wages, cleared the backlog and restored normalcy to wages administration.

Adeoluwa stated that inspite of significant lifechanging infrastructure development initiatives going on across the state, the 32-month-old government does not owe workers’ salaries and noted that the State is one of the very first to show commitment to paying the new minimum wage in 2011.

NEMA reports pipeline explosion behind RCCG Camp

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AGOS—THE National E m e r g e n c y Management Agency, NEMA, said yesterday, that there has been a pipeline explosion at OgijoIlara, behind the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

In a statement by NEMA made available in Lagos, the agency said that the explosion occurred around 3.25 a.m. when suspected vandals broke the pipelines and installed two valves which they used in siphoning fuel into tankers.

The statement said that the fire was brought under control around 10.30 a.m. by the Ogun State Fire Service, NNPC’s safety agents and NEMA’s safety officials.

Lagos Assembly restructures political office holders’ pay

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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AGOS—LAGOS State House of Assembly yesterday, ordered the payment of outstanding salaries and allowances of former political office holders and allowances on the financial positions of the Local Government Areas LGAs and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, in the state.

It also directed that subsequent administrations in councils deductions from the monthly allocations of LGAs and LCDAs be domiciled in a special vote in the Ministry of Finance for the payment of severance allowance of political office holders, while the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs should forward to the House a monthly report on the payments of all outstanding salaries and allowances of former political office holders in LGs and LCDAs. This was part of the recommendations of the 7man Ad-Hoc Committee on

outstanding salaries and allowances of former political office holders in LGs and LCDAs at its plenary session.

Presenting the committee’s report on the floor of the House, Ajibayo Adeyeye recommended that monies be deducted and sourced from the monthly allocations of

Local Governments and LCDAs for the payment of outstanding salaries and allowances of former political office holders.

The report of the committee, after thorough debate by members, was subsequently adopted as a resolution of the House.

The committee recommended that the payment of outstanding salaries allowances of former political office holders in LGs and LCDAs between 1999 and 2000 should be implanted between the months of April and July, 2014.

SEMINAR: From left: Taofik Adegbite,CEO, Marine Platforms, Samuel Egube, Director, Corporate Banking, Diamond Bank Plc, and Chief Tunde Afolabi, President, Nigerian Association of Indigenous Petroleum Explorers and Producers, at the Oil & Gas Finance Seminar hosted by Diamond Bank, during the Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference in Abuja.

LP spokesman declares Daniel’s planned congresses illegal zHe's a confusionist—Daniel

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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B E O K U TA — T H E National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Ikpe Etokudo, yesterday, declared the planned congresses of the party in Ogun State by the immediate past governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel as illegal.

Etokudo also warned the state Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, the state resident of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and Directorate of State Services to steer clear of the congresses slated for Saturday.

But in a swift reaction, Daniel accused the national Publicity Secretary of feeding the public with wrong information and creating confusion among members of the Ogun State Labour Party.

The National Publicity Secretary in a release in Abeokuta, described Daniel as a hijacker of the party, saying the National Working Committee of the party was not organising any congress in the state pending the determination of an outstanding court case.

He said: “The national working committee hereby

reiterates its earlier position that Ogun State Labour Party is not organising any congress on Saturday and that Ogun State INEC, Police, and Directorate of State Service should steer clear of the illegal congresses proposed by Otunba Gbenga Daniel whose intention is to hijack the party structures at all levels by all means.”

Daniel in a statement by the factional Secretary, Michael Adegbola said: “As a disciplined political party, it is absurd to

create unnecessary confusion within the party and make things look as if there is crisis.”

“We should also ask, is the National Publicity Secretary speaking in his personal capacity in this regard as a member or executive of the Labour Party or speaking on behalf of the National Executive Committee or National Working Committee of the party? If so, when was he given the mandate to do so, and where is the party resolution to that effect.

“We think the National Legal Adviser is well positioned to advise on matters of this nature, and not the Publicity Secretary who seems to have relocated his office to Ogun State for pecuniary advantages.

“It is crystal clear that the purported statement by the estranged National Publicity Secretary was meant to feed the public with wrong information and create confusion among members of the Ogun State Labour Party.

Arise, police disagree over handling of INEC’s exercise

BY GBENGAARIYIBI DO EKITI—FORMER member of the National Assembly, Senator Ayo Arise, has accused Ekiti State police command of bias, saying the command is under the control of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, government.

Arise also alleged that the police clamped down on members of opposition in the state.

The former lawmaker who was representing Ekiti North Senatorial District in the Senate

A

accused the police of bias in the way they handled incidents that marred the conduct of the just concluded Voters Continuous Registration exercise organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission preparatory to the June 21 Governorship election.

Given details of what had transpired between him and the police, Arise said two of his aides were detained and charged to court by the police over what he described as spurious allegation from a state government official

that they attacked the INEC office in Oye Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State last Sunday during the exercise.

In his reaction, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr. Victor Babayemi, defended the police of any accusation of bias, stressing that the arrest and prosecution of the ex-Senator’s aides were part of their professional callings.

The police image maker, advised politicians to refrain from reading political meanings to whatever action taken by the Police.

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Nat'l confab: Oritsejafor gives condition for success zAs Al-Mustapha calls for institutional revolution

BY CALEB AYANSINA

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BUJA—PRESIDENT, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has said that the ongoing national conference in Abuja will usher in lasting peace in Nigeria, if the delegates keep faith together and work for its success.

Meanwhile, former Chief Security Officer to late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major-General Hamza Al-Mustapha, has attributed the current unrest in Nigeria to institutional decay, calling for institutional revolution to restore sanity in the country.

The duo spoke at the second Christian/Muslim Interactive Conference on Peace, Unity and Justice, in Abuja.

Pastor Oritsejafor noted that Christians and Muslims had misunderstood each other, saying that it was important that the people of the two faiths come together, to tell themselves the bitter truth with a view of ironing out their differences.

He said: “Nigeria can be great if the over 160 million of us resolve to be one another ’s keeper, and ready at all times to tell each other the truth in love under any circumstance. This means that, we, Muslims and Christians, will overcome the obstacles on Nigeria’s path to justice, unity and peace, if we are deter-

mined, united, courageous and consistent in our search for the truth.

“In this meeting, it is expected that we shall explore further ways for better relationships between the two religious faiths (Muslim/Christians). This means that our Muslim brothers will tell their Christian brothers, offensive things Christians do or say, and the Christian brothers will also tell their Muslim brothers things they do or

say that they do not like, so as to iron out their differences.”

On his part, Al-Mustapha said: “Nigeria is indeed sick and it did not start today.

Our faith speaks and that is the anchor point. Our problem is that of mutual suspicion, lack of understanding and in a way, greed.

“Whether we like it or not, Nigeria deserves an institutional revolution. Revolution

in what sense? Tolerance, knowledge, understanding, statesmanship, commitment and honesty, irrespective of who and where. We must learn to speak the truth, it does not matter who is involved.”

He added that the forum was an eye opener to all Nigerians that both the Christians and Muslims have more things in common than they have differences.

POLIO ERADICATION CAMPAIGN: Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, administering the Polio vaccine on a child during the first quarter of the 2014 Polio Eradication Campaign, in Sapele, yesterday.

2015: A-Ibom guber zoned to South senatorial district

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N a bid to redress the po litical imbalance between the three senatorial zones of Akwa Ibom State, the governorship has been zoned to Southern senatorial zone, which has not produced a governor since the creation of the state.

Meanwhile, to ensure that one of their own becomes the next governor of the state, the Elders Forum of the Akwa Ibom South (Eket) senatorial zone, has resolved to present a common political front in the 2015 governorship election in the state.

Rising from its meeting in Uyo, the elders, drawn from 12 local government areas, led by Chief Nduese Essien, applauded the decision of Governor Akpabio to zone the position of governor to the Southern senatorial zone, saying that the move will bring about justice and peace in the state.

The group resolved to shortlist Larry Esin, Nsima Ekere and Effiong Abia, to contest

the 2015 governorship election on behalf of the zone.

"The seeming conviction by Akpabio, that Eket senatorial district is where to shop for the governorship candidate in 2015 is not a loss to the Oro people, who make up the third majority tribe in the state," a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in

the state has said.

Akwa Ibom stands on a tripod of three ethnicities: the Ibibios being the largest, followed by the Anangs and then the Oro. Only the Oro have not governed the state since its creation. So, Oro people have since taken pragmatic steps to put their

house in order before the election proper.

If the wishes of Governor Akpabio, as well as the principle of zoning in the PDP constitution is anything to go by, then, the Akwa Ibom South senatorial district is poised to produce the next governor of the state.

Boko Haram, threat to eradication of polio —Uduaghan

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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SABA—DELTA State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said that the activities of Boko Haram members were potential threat to the eradication of polio in Nigeria and called for vigilance from states where there are no incidences of polio virus.

He spoke, yesterday, at the 2014 first quarter polio eradication sensitisation campaign in Sapele, Delta State.

The governor noted that Nigeria ranks alongside Afghanistan and Pakistan as countries that still have cases of polio in the world, stating that while the other two countries have crises related to war, the activities of Boko Haram members in Nigeria were hampering the eradication of the polio virus and forcing Nigerians to migrate to safer states.

He said: “Today, there is crisis in some parts of the North,

so there is the tendency that people might migrate to other parts of the country, this is why we must be vigilant. Crisis does not help anybody, we must avoid trouble and anywhere there is war, there is displacement.”

He said that though no incident of polio had been witnessed in Delta State in the last five years, people should be vigilant, so as to ensure that their children were immunized against the dreaded disease.

Former SSS DG warns Rivers youths against violence

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARC O U R T — FORMER Director General, State Security Service, SSS, Chief Albert Horsefall, has cautioned youths in Rivers State to be wary of politicians who may want to use them to cause crisis during the forth coming general elections.

Speaking, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a peace and security conference organised by the A.K Horsefall Foundation in partnership with the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Horsfall said youths should demand from the political class quality education and empowerment programmes.

Speaking in the same vein, Assistant Secretary General of National Association of Nigerian students, NANS, Ledogo Amabu, appealed to youths to shun offers from the political class to indulge in violence in the next general elections.

Tompolo Foundation boosts schools with N50m

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU, EDIRI EJOH & JULIET EBIRIM

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OMPOLO Foundation has said that it had empowered no fewer than 15 primary schools and five secondary schools in Gbaramatu Kingdom and Warri environs, Delta State, by donating educational materials worth N50 million to them.

Tompolo Foundation was founded by Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, aka Tompolo, to help the people.

Executive Secretary of the foundation, Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, when he led a delegation of the foundation on a courtesy visit to the Vanguard Newspapers corporate head office in Lagos, said: “We have two projects, health and education. We have started by distributing learning and teaching materials to schools in Gbaramatu Kingdom."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—13

Reps to probe NLNG's nonremittance of funds to Federation Acct

Gov’t won’t bow to blackmail by oil facility saboteurs —Uduaghan

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE & LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

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UJA—THE House of Representatives, yesterday, directed the Committee on Gas to investigate the non-remittance of funds accruing from the Nigerian Liquidfied Natural Gas, NLNG, to the Federation Account, from 2004 till date.

This was sequel to a motion on the floor of the House by Mr. Aminu Suleiman (APC, Kano), on urgent matters of national importance during plenary.

Suleiman had observed that Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, makes it mandatory for all “revenue” collected by the Government of the Federation to be remitted into the Federation Account.

According to him, the provisions of section 162 Sub-section 10 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, revenue means any income or return accruing to or derived by the government of the federation from any source and includes any receipt, however described, arising from the operation of any law.

He said that the NLNG Bonny, in flagrant disobedience and breach of Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution, has not remitted funds accruing to it to the Federation Account from 2004 till date, noting that the non- remittance of funds accruing to NLNG Bonny from 2004 till date had adversely affected the Federation Account to the detriment of federal, states and local governments.

“The unpatriotic action of those in charge of NLNG Bonny from 2004 till date has resulted in loss of huge revenue that ought to be shared to all tiers of the government from the Federation Accounts for both recurrent and capital development," he said.

VISIT: From left: Mr. Emeka Mamah, Deputy News Editor, Vanguard Newspapers; Mr. Victor Omoregie, Corporate Affairs Manager, receiving a plaque from Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, Executive Secretary, Tompolo Foundation; Dr. Clarkson Agagha, Director of Health Projects; Okolie Geoffrey, Project Officer and Sunday Okoh, Accountant, during a courtesy visit by Tompolo Foundation to Vanguard Media Head Office, in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

Alleged N19.2bn fraud: You can’t try me in Abuja, Sylva tells EFCC

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

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BUJA—FORMER governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, yesterday, challenged the jurisdiction of a Federal High Court, Abuja, to try him on a fresh 42-count charge, preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. In the objection by his lawyer, Mr. Isreal Olorundare, SAN, Sylva insisted that the anti-graft agency ought to have filed the charge in Bayelsa State where the alleged offence was commit-

ted.

He was accused in the charge of using three separate companies to siphon the sum of N19.2 billion from the state treasury.

He maintained that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the charge, since none of the particulars of the crime levelled against him took place within the Federal Capital Territory.

Sequel to the preliminary objection, the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, could not take the plea of the

former governor.

Consequently, the matter was adjourned to May 16, to determine Sylva’s contention, as well as another preliminary objection that was filed by one of the accused persons in the matter.

Others the EFCC accused of complicity in the alleged fraud were Mr. Francis Okokuro, Mr. Gbenga Balogun, Samuel Ogbuku and the three companies, Marlin Maritime Ltd, Eat Catering Services Ltd, and HaloweenBlue Construction & Logistics Ltd.

Oshiomhole blames rot in education sector on poor leadership G OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, yesterday, blamed the rot in the Nigerian education sector on poor leadership over the years, saying Nigerian leaders must act with courage, conviction and be decisive to stem the rot in the sector.

Oshiomhole, at the 20th National Economic Summit in Abuja, said: “Leadership is about courage, conviction and being able to act. We need our political leadership to go back to the basics and not the symbolism we currently witness.

“At the heart of the question is the issue of leadership. From the 1950s to 60s, Nigeria produced the best brains. I think as the quality of the Nigerian leadership deteriorated from the days of the military up to the moment that we got our priorities wrong that we began to see the kind of rot that characterised our schools.

“The way forward is for us, the

leaders to go back to the basics and ask ourselves what the issues are.

“There was a time in this country when students threatened to shut down their schools and the authorities had to engage them not to boycott classes. We have moved from that era to one in which our universities were shut for over six months and it was not an issue. The response of the Nigerian elite is to find privatised solution to the problem.

“If we don’t have fuel in the country for six months, Abuja will not be at peace and Edo State will not be at peace, but Polytechnics have been shut for over six months and it is not featuring in this discussion.”

The governor said that returning to the basics would mean checking the quality of the teachers, who are to

impart knowledge, saying: “In Edo State, we have built beautiful schools far more attractive than the private schools, but the missing link is the quality of teachers.

“And to know who is a teacher, we must do assessment test for everybody who is a tutor in t h e classroom.

A n d there a r e challenges a n d that is where leadership comes in."

OVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, yesterday, said that his government will not take kindly to destruction of oil installations by anyone or group under any guise.

The governor, who addressed traditional rulers in Warri on the renewed destruction of oil facility and sundry security challenges in the state, after the Egbema Radical Group, allegedly blew up Dibi Pipeline in Warri North Local Government Area of the state, said: “Oil theft and kidnapping have been substantially reduced, but some persons have renewed the habit of sabotaging oil and gas facilities in the state. There has been a repeat of this in the last two weeks.

“Neither the Delta State Government nor the Federal Government will be blackmailed through these acts. Anyone with genuine grievance should channel such through the appropriate avenues and get them addressed. Government is ready to go after those using any reason to sabotage oil facilities.”

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

APC accuses FG of plot to unseat Bukola Saraki

BY DEMOLAAKINYEMI

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LORIN — THE battle between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for political control of Kwara State has taken a new twist.

The state chapter of the APC, yesterday, raised an alarm that it had uncovered a grand plot by the Presidency in collaboration with the PDP to unseat the senator, representing Kwara Central Senatorial district, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at all costs.

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State (middle), flanked (right) by his deputy, Sir Emeka Ananaba, In a statement by the party’s Interim and Mrs. Victoria Okakwu, state co-odinator, National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and (left), Mr. Publicity Secretary in the state, Alhaji Gordon Bozimo, National Governing Board Chairman, NYSC, and Mrs. Ngozi Orji, Abia State Com- Sulyman Buhari, the APC said: “Informissioner for Youth, during the visit of National Governing Board of NYSC to the governor, in mation gathered from close associates Umuahia. and a reliable source in the Presidency, is to the effect that, the Presidency is desperately in search of a judge who will be heavily induced to compromise and remove

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO rely on the exhibits tendered by Senator The tribunal also admit- Dr. Saraki from the NaNgige and APC and the prayers were ted in evidence, 443 exhib- tional Assembly as a senaits made up of Forms ‘EC25 tor.

HE ANAMBRA State Gubernatorial granted in absence of any objection.

Documentary exhibits admitted, yester- A’ described Receipt of ”Further to this, we learnt Elections Petitions Tribunal has so far admitted 10,000 certified documents as ex- day, included voters’ registers and poll- Electoral materials and 26 that few of those contacted hibits from Senator Chris Ngige and All ing booth results for the eight local gov- copies of Forms EC25 B have declined to go with Progressives Congress, APC, in the sec- ernment areas of Anambra State outstand- described as the ‘Receipt this illegal bidding. ing as at yesterday. for Electoral Materials by "The general public ond of four petitions before it.

They included those of Nnewi North, presiding officers in the 21 would recall that the Abuja About 5,984 election related documents division of Appeal Court were admitted, yesterday, and marked as Nnewi South, Ogbaru, Onitsha North, LGAs’ Eight certified copies of had upheld the judgement exhibits bringing the total materials so far Onitsha South, Orumba North, Orumba South and Oyi. newspaper reports on the of the federal high court deadmitted from the petitioners to 10,234.

Others included the summary of polling election became a bone of livered by Justice Ibrahim The PDP legal team represented by Clement Ezira, prayed the tribunal to adopt and booth results at ward levels (Forms EC8B) contention between the law- Auta, which confirmed the across all 326 wards in the yers on the respective sides election of Senator Bukola state, except Ward 10, Og- of the consolidated matter Saraki as senator and disbaru; summary of local gov- before Chairman of the tri- missed the case filed by ernment results at the state bunal, Hon. Justice Ishaq Alhaji L.A.K. Jimoh. level (Form EC8D); forms Bello ruled in favour of adfor declaration of results mission.

(Form EC8E) and 355 as However, polling booth well as those for Oath of results for the entire Neutrality by INEC staff Otuocha Ward I, Anambra handling the elections.

East Local Government Also tendered were, 813 Area, where Governor WillBY ABEL DANIEL ‘Forms EC 40A’ described ie Obiano, who is the deas Ballot Paper Verification fendant hails from, were AFIA — THE NasaStatement, 116 certified said to be missing from the rawa State Indepencopies of ‘Forms EC 40 B’, pack as petitioners said dent Electoral Commisdescribed as Statement of they were not supplied by sion, NASIEC, has said Invalid Ballot Papers; as INEC. that it had deployed 4,010 well as 152 certified ‘Forms The lead counsel for ad-hoc staff with other EC 40 C’, described as Ngige and APC, Rotimi necessary logistics to enstatement of unused ballot Akeredolu, also tendered sure free and fair election papers. for the admission of the during tomorrow’s local 356-page document enlist- government poll in the ing all INEC ad-hoc staff state.

The Chairman of that worked during the November 16, 17, and 30, NASIEC, Dr. Aliyu Mod2013 gubernatorial elec- ibo who made this known, said that the commission tions.

Anambra election tribunal admits 10,000 exhibits from Ngige, APC T

”Justice Moshood Adumein ruled that Saraki’s nomination in the 2011 primary election was in total compliance with Section 33 of the Electoral Act. "The question now is, what is the Presidency’s interest in the matter before the apex court, if not an act of impunity and lawlessness. Our legal system and jurisprudences are not different - when a case is bad, it is bad. The two lower courts could not have erred. ”In confirmation of our assertion, no other personality than President Goodluck Jonathan himself gave credence to our evidences when he said, “we will even test our strengths before 2015 elections,” when the said L.A.K. Jimoh and other members of Kwara PDP visited him, Tuesday at Presidential Villa.

"This was an event openly broadcast to Nigerians by many television stations and reported in many print media. ”We are aware of efforts by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Muktah to cleanse the judiciary and she should be given all necessary support by all concerned to achieve this feat by not allowing the evil counsel of PDP to stand as perfected."

We've deployed 4,010 staff to ensure fair poll — NASIEC

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believed that to have a credible election, you need credible electoral officers that were well trained.

“I am pleased to state that we have trained 4, 010 adhoc staff with all local government returning officers recruited from the academia.

“The 13 local government returning officers are all university teachers, not below the rank of senior lecturers. They are all Nasarawa State indigenes and highly respected among their peers from various universities in the country.”

Modibo said.

He reiterated that all results of the elections will be declared at the polling units, wards and local governments in compliance with the state electoral laws.

Meanwhile the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, who spoke on behalf of the joint security committee in the state, said that adequate security had been put in place to ensure a free and fair elections.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—15

Join govt to address education deficiencies, Sambo tells stakeholders

BY EMEKA MAMAH

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ICE PRESIDENT, Nama di Sambo has urged stakeholders to collaborate with government in its bid to address deficiencies in the education sector.

Sambo made this call, yesterday, in Abuja, at the closing ceremony of the 20th Nigeria Economic Summit, organised by Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, in conjunction with the National Planning Commission.

“It is a known fact that the foundation of all successful modern nation-states is a well-articulated educational system which engenders in society, a modern mindset and a culture of learning that produces the right sets of functional skills and values that propel people to achieve their highest potentials,” he said.

He noted that the task of transforming the educational sector was enormous and should not be left to government alone, and asked the “leadership of the states, the private sector, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, development partners, and parents to join hands with the government in actualising this noble objective.”

Sambo stressed that the Federal Government was determined to transform the education sector, being a key factor to the aspiration of Nigeria to be among the 20 strongest economies by 2020.

According to him: “Several policy initiatives are being implemented to facilitate and improve adult literacy and school enrolment at all levels of our educational institutions. ’’We intend to develop a skilled workforce which will be able to drive the development of the Nigerian economy, drive change and innovation and ensure that Nigeria attains her rightful place in the comity of nations.

"This is consistent with our aspiration of becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world by year 2020.”

LAUNCH: From left, Mr. Ojewole Tomiwa, Brand Communication Manager, Oral-B; Dr. Mary Traore-Shumbushos, Dentist/Orthodontist and Initiator of Project Smile 2014, a corporate social responsibility initiative, sponsored by Oral-B, during the media launch, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, photo editor

Reps want military, police deployed to Benue to curb killings

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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BUJA — MEMBERS of the House of Representatives, yesterday, urged the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen Tobia

Minimah and the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar to deploy both the military and police to Benue to help curb the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen in the state.

The legislators noted that the state of insecurity in the state had reached a stage where both the military and the police should join forces to stop the activities of herdsmen.

This was sequel to a motion by the member representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, Benue State, Benjamin Aboho.

Aboho, who described the killings as disturbing, called on the National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd), to investigate the continuous armed attacks by the nomadic herdsmen, particularly in Benue and Plateau states.

Moving his motion, Aboho, claimed that the violent activities of the nomadic herdsmen had in recent times spread to many parts of Benue State, and other states of Nasarawa and Plateau, thereby compounding the nation’s security challenges.

According to him, since April 14, 2013, some villages in the Moon council ward of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue had been under consistent attacks by herdsmen leading to loss of lives and property worth millions of Naira.

Aboho noted that ever since then, the herdsmen had virtually occupied the land and succeeded in sending families of the natives away, expressing concern that the continuous forceful occupation of the land would force a reprisal attack from the citizens.

“Mr. Speaker, I am worried like any other Nigerian that the continuous occupation of the land will make citizens to attempt to fight back, which may worsen the security situation in the country.

“The armed herdsmen easily invade Moon ward because the only police post located at Anyiase is manned by four unarmed men, despite the fact that Moon has international border with Cameroun; there has been no efforts to cover the area with security agencies.”

The motion was unanimously adopted and the House then mandated the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to establish a refugee camp and provide relief materials to the victims in the affected communities.

US Trade Agency partners Honeywell Group on $3bn petrochemicals industry

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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HE UNITED States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, and the Honeywell Group have partnered to fund a study for the development of a world-class gas-based industrial complex.

The initiative, which could exceed $3 billion in capital costs when completed, will lead to the construction of a world-scale petrochemicals industrial complex.

The project is also expected to create significant employment opportunities and contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth, especially through import substitution.

According to Dr. Teddy Ngu, Head, Corporate Development & Investments, Honeywell Group: “The Honeywell Group welcomes the opportunity to partner with USTDA to fund a study to assess opportunities in the petrochemicals sector.

"The Group’s plan to move into this sector is premised on our strong track record of building successful and sustainable Nigerian businesses that are known for their excellence and best practices.”

16 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

MEMORIAL THANKSGIVING SERVICE FOR AKINNOLA, LISA OF ONDO

From left, High Chief Simeon Oguntimehin, Lisa-Elect, and other High Chiefs of Ondo Kingdom, during memorial thanksgiving service, at All Saints Anglican Church, From left, Chief Olufunbi Akinnola, widow; Mrs. Yewande Zaccheus, Mr. Ogbonkowo, Ondo, yesterday, to mark the one year anniversary of the death of Teni Zaccheus, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, and Mr. Seyi Johnson - children High Chief Ilemobayo Akinnola, Lisa of Ondo Kingdom. Photos: Dare Fasube

From left, Akinyinka Akinnola, Ibiwunmi Akinnola, Biodun Kola Daisi, Arinola Kola Daisi, Akinkunmi Akinnola, and Omorinsojo - children.

Gen Mobolaji Johnson (rtd, left), and Dr. Tunji Olaopa, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication and Technology.

From left, Professor Oladipupo Akinkugbe, Oba Victor Kiladejo, Osemawe of Ondo and his Olori.

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MARCH 21, 2014 —17

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AST week, I outlined three different perspectives on the National Conference: 1.My personal view, which is that the National Conference is likely to be an expensive waste of time for various reasons, 2.The view of a distinguished delegate – Atedo Peterside, Founder & Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC – who opposes the status quo and feels that the National Conference can lead to positive change and 3.The view of a PDP Senator who is convinced that the National Conference will embarrass President Jonathan by highlighting his shortcomings.

I asked Vanguard readers which viewpoint they favoured.

Here are some of the responses I received. *From: Ifeka Okonkwo <ifekaokonkwo@yahoo.com> My thoughts on the forthcoming National Conference Donu, it is very disheartening and annoying that almost all those Nigerians who fed fat on our resources since the ’70s till date, either through the barrel of the gun, ballot box or appointments, have been nominated to represent us at the National Conference.

,

Atedo Peterside

President Jonathan

National Conference Responses hand over the baton of governance to their chosen successors who will cover their tracks by not probing them and the vicious cycle continues, as our votes do not really count? Will they bring about a Constitution where no one will be above the laws of our country or be treated as sacred cows that are untouchable by our laws? Finally, will they be patriotic to change our expensive system of government where 74% of the federal budget goes into recurrent expenditure, bulk of which is expended as salaries and allowances of our overbloated political class and part of the remaining 26%, is regrettably pounced upon as vultures by unscrupulous Nigerians to

The honest truth about Nigeria is that the Nigerian establishment is depraved and intellectually lazy. How can any serious Nigerian tell the President to remove PMS subsidy now?

How could they change a system of government that made them to be richer than our country to a less expensive system of government, how could they make laws that would hang treasury looters? How could they change an unjust society where our prisons, police cells and police detention centers, are full of only poor people, while on the other hand those Nigerians who stole our country blind, are free as the air flaunting and enjoying their ill-gotten wealth unabashedly before our very eyes? Will they change our system of governance that has been turned into a relay race, whereby those who came to power through rigged elections

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enrich themselves all the more, thereby leaving our country to be in such a quagmire, stunted growth and still crawling like a baby?

It is quite unfair that the Anambra State House of Assembly, has approved a monthly pension of N9 million for Mr. Peter Obi who never enhanced our pension, despite the fact that aged, sick and dying pensioners were subjected to several excruciating verification processes that did not yield any dividends for the hapless pensioners, throughout his eight-year tenure! Our new colonisers and oppressors have indeed turned our richly blessed country into a big “Animal Farm”

to their tremendous benefit, period! That is the tragedy of our country!

From: Alao Alex A <alexalao@yahoo.co.uk> Dear Donu, the conference is necessary and urgent but very badly timed and organised.

President G.E. Jonathan was reported earlier as saying the national issues were resolved in 1914!

Unfortunately what we are having now is a GEJ conference not a national conference. No law backing it and government is paying the bill. A correct national conference the NASS will not rubbish is that fully funded by the represented groups. Its sovereignty is therefore derived and cannot be debated.

Truly the government will be shocked at the turn of events despite the above. GEJ is not showing enough statesmanship to give Nigeria the right conference. A golden opportunity to be a founder of a New Nigeria had been wasted.

Thus, the three viewpoints are correct to some extent.

Best regards. * F r o m “alfredogunli@yahoo.com” <alfredogunli@yahoo.com> I’m pessimistic about the National Conference. Even though there are some credible persons among the delegates, the sheer multitude of the noncredible will drown their voices.

Like you said, we all know what our problems are; another purposeless talk-shop will do us no good; even more so is the fact that some of the delegates contributed to our being where we are today. They are mostly all “have-beens” who are fighting for what little relevance they can garner and at the cost of N7billion!

What in hell are they buying?!

Justice Idris Kutigi, Conference Chairman

My view has always been that leadership is sacrifice and responsibility, so if these nominees really care, they will work at minimum wage! No fancy hotels or chauffeured vehicles! Cut cost from every angle, it’s about time we started running Nigeria like a business and not like a charity.

The national and state houses of assembly should follow this model as well; they should get jobs and buy fuel like other citizens; no more bleeding the nation and tax payers. +2348062322295 Mikefe Tanno Donu, certainly we need to fix up our country, but there is no quick-fix option via a so-called national conference of three months?

Conference institute

calling for the national conference. It is obvious that the prevailing challenging national issues cannot be effectively handled by the National Assembly due to existing ethnic loyalty and sentiments.

No personal agenda For Mr. President to have taken the bold step of allowing different ethnic, professional and religious groups to freely choose their own delegates to the National Conference is an indication that he has no personal agenda to protect. Hence, I see it as character assassination for anyone to speculate or claim that the outcome of the national conference will be tailored to fulfill the perceived personal agenda of the President. People are only going there to discuss Nigeria’s future and not that of Mr President. +234703291954 Anonymous Dear Donu, I want to use this opportunity to agree with viewpoint Number 3. The reasons are as follows: 1, Nigeria needs restructuring as regards the enthronement of real fiscal federalism, devolution of power and regional autonomy. With these in place the systemic corruption in the country would be highly reduced, the concept of oil subsidy will totally be phased out as some of the states or regions will invest in the establishment of refineries and thus, reduce the importation of refined oil products and finally all cases of illegal mining of solid minerals’ will be a thing of the past as the states or regions will look deeper on how to be independent economically.

The timing is patently dishonest. I propose we set up a National Conference Institute, a think-tank for the ethnic nationalities, professional groups, labour and civil societies, etc, to have a collegiate forum where the many dysfuctionalities of our country can be discussed and realistic solutions proffered.

Has the government issued a white paper on the report Atedo Peterside talked about? However, I am of the opinion that Mr. Peterside is absolutely being ridiculous in his hackneyed criticisms of the President’s kitchen cabinet. The honest truth about Nigeria is that the Nigerian establishment is depraved and intellectually lazy. How can any serious Nigerian tell the President to remove PMS subsidy now? What kind of solution would that create? +2348159707270 Responses to: I am Ernest Obi from donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 Okapi community, in 747 6458 OR 0811 675 9752 (texts Ndokwa East LGA of only). PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT YOU REQUEST Delta State. President UNLESS Goodluck Jonathan took ANONYMITY, YOUR COMMENTS a very bold and MAY BE PUBLISHED, WITH YOUR democratic step by NAMES AND CONTACT DETAILS ATTACHED.

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 ANYII is the village of Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, one of the many some marauders have appropriated.

Suswam’s entourage was attacked during inspection of villages the marauders had sacked, killing many. By some accounts, more than 200 villages have been attacked.

Some say the attackers were Fulani herdsmen.

Suswam was travelling with a powerful team, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Terhile Ayua, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Adams Audu, soldiers, and other security personnel. The convoy was attacked and the presence of armed herdsmen with thousands of cattle that had taken over the villages, grazing on farmlands was evident. An exchange of gunfire lasted over an hour before the convoy could pass. These were herdsmen.

Does their profession place them above the law? Is being a herdsman the latest cover for criminality? Why have security agencies ignored the attacks that have been going on for years in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau and other States?

From Imo, Rivers to Delta and from Ogun

Alw ays Ex cuses FFor or Alwa Excuses Insecurity to Oyo, the story is almost the same. The only difference is the intensity of the attacks in Benue and the apparent attempt to occupy the attacked settlements. They are consistent with attacks on Benue villages since 1989 that focus on taking over the settlements.

Elsewhere, cattle minders simply run their livestock through farmlands. All year round, they graze on them and destroy what they cannot eat, consigning farmers and host communities to starvation and poverty. Attempts by these farmers to protest the activities of these rampaging vandals often end in bloodshed because the

cattle rearers are armed with sophisticated assault rifles such as AK 47. They have moved from bows, arrows and daggers of a few decades back.

Damages to farmlands apart, they also invade villages, kill and steal as well as rape women. Reports to law enforcement agencies are ignored, and villagers and their traditional rulers are forced to cry out to state governors for protection with little succour. Suswam was on such rescue mission when he was attacked.

Environmental factors that have left cattle rearers in search of fresh grazing grounds, and cattle rustlings are only excuses for the attacks. Unless a different law operates for cattle rearers, they\should be charged for the weapons they illegally bear and their proclivity to destroy others’ farmlands.

The insecurity the attacks generate is at a level close to terrorism. If the villagers arm themselves and retaliate, Nigeria could become a huge war field. Every effort should be made to stop the dire possibilities.

We ask governments to tackle these attacks with more urgency. If they are unchecked, they could degenerate to more serious security breaches.

OPINION

BY NEVILLE OBAKHEDO

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HE 2010 Electoral Act in Section 53 subsection (1) states that: “No voter shall vote for more than one candidate or record more than one vote”. Succinctly put, the supposed legal and electoral meaning of that provision is “one-man, one-vote”. Before the 2010 electoral law was passed, there were other electoral laws that point to the same fact. The “one-man, one-vote” phenomenon is a standard that has been set which all politicians and the electoral body are expected to comply with.

But in reality, over the years, the Nigerian politicians and the expected impartial umpire have refused to conform to this rule of the game with many becoming victims of electoral processes that are fundamentally manipulated and flawed. Any victim of such a process would normally seek for redress within the confines of the law. Within the context of fighting to reclaim a stolen mandate and lay a foundation for preventing future occurrences by way of encouraging the electorate to vote and defend their votes within the confines of the enabling law and the launching of the one-man, onevote campaign at Ogbemudia Stadium in 2009, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole can be said to be an apostle of “one-man, one-vote”.

In particular, between 1999 and 2007 Edo State was a victim of mandates theft some of which were retrieved through the judiciary, including the 2007 Governorship mandate.

On Sunday, February 23, 2014 Dr. Tonnie Iredia wrote an article in his Nigeria Today’s column in the Vanguard newspaper entitled “One-Man, One -Vote: Edo’s futile slogan”. As a student of political history, I read through the write-up and wish to refer Dr. Iredia back to

The one-man-one-vote controversy what led Comrade Oshiomhole into becoming the apostle of “One-man One-vote”. In that article, Dr. Iredia argued that the philosophy of One-man, One-vote was a mere diversionary slogan that was not brought to bear on the 2012 election and the Esan North-East Local Government Council election in 2014.

It is better to place on record why Comrade Oshiomhole wanted to be governor of Edo State. Number one reason was the issue of godfatherism which like a cankerworm had eaten deep into the fabric of our state. Other reasons rest on the above reason. In the said 2007, after the election while reflecting on the non-performance of the PDP leadership in Edo State, Chief Anthony Anenih himself had this to say: “The people of Edo State suffered most tragically from poor governance, bad leadership in government and lack of development, resulting in acute shortage of infrastructural facilities, good roads, potable water, electricity, housing, health and educational facilities. Our cities are polluted with constant threats of floods and erosion.

There is no security of life and property, while poverty and unemployment are at their peak.

One is tempted to ask if indeed, there had been government in Edo State in these eight years.

The …government must have totally ignored Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution which states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.

In my response, I chose to use the word “Point Blank” as the anchor-name of Dr. Iredia’s erstwhile programme on the Nigerian

Television Authority, NTA, to explain away my reaction to the said write-up on the basis of facts.

Dr. Iredia must know point blank that Comrade Oshiomhole was the Action Congress governorship candidate in the April 14, 2007 Edo State governorship election who overwhelming won the election but had his mandate stolen by the combined forces of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, a mandate that was later retrieved through the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal, EDSEPT and the Court of Appeal. It was not only the Edo State governorship mandate that was stolen by these forces. Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states were equally victims of mandate theft in that same election.

Dr Iredia must remember point blank that in what seems to be admitting the obvious about the massive rigging of the 2007 elections by the ruling PDP, and while telling “defeated candidates” to head for the elections tribunal, then President Olusegun Obasanjo described the said 2007 elections this way in his nationwide broadcast: “On my part, I am disappointed in the conduct of the political parties and their candidates that employed thugs and violent means to secure what they consider ‘electoral victory’“. But shamefully too, this was how AFROBAROMETER as reported by Washington Post on April 20, 2007 described the same 2007 elections: “The faith of Nigerians in democracy plummeted from 84% during the early years of Obasanjo’s first term

to a miserable 25% in 2005. Neither military President Babangida’s cancellation of the June 1993 presidential election, nor President Shehu Shagari’s flawed 1983 elections, nor even General Sani Abacha’s terrible tyranny between 1993 and 1998 come near the damage Obasanjo has done to Nigeria’s democracy since 1999”.

In the same vein, Dr. Iredia must remember point blank that this was also the verdict of local and international observers on the outcomes of the 2007 elections through the Chief Observer of the European Election Observation Mission, EUEOM, Mr. Max van den Berg: “The 2007 state and federal elections have fallen far short of international standards for democratic elections….They were marred by poor organisation, lack of essential transparency, widespread procedural irregularities, significant evidence of fraud, particularly during the election collation process, voter disenfranchisement at different stages of the process, lack of equal condition for the contestants and numerous incidents of violence”.

In that same general elections so described, the ‘PDP won landslide’. Such was the scenario that threw-up Comrade Oshiomhole as the apostle of One-man One vote. It is true as duly acknowledged by Dr. Iredia that Edo State is virtually the originator of the 'one man-one vote' scheme because of the shame of election chicanery that involved the PDP and INEC from 1999 till date. These are facts, not lies!

*Mr. Obakhedo, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014— —19

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HE good people of Imo State decided to change their leadership, rejecting Chief Ikedi Ohakim and his party, the PDP, in the 2011 elections. They chose and gave their mandate for four years to Owelle Rochas Okorocha , who was preferred to others, for keeping a good record of philanthropy across the nation, and for belonging to the right party, the APGA. God rewarded philanthropy, confirming His word that those who lend to the poor and society lend to Him and that He is a good rewarder. Owelle Okorocha thus ascended the office amid great expectations from the people. He must deliver on his numerous electoral promises, turn Imo around for good, never lie to the people and must not antagonise the Church in the State.

Many who expected, and quite rightly too, that APGA should remain the key political party in the South East, became very happy that at last Imo would work together with Anambra State, the bed rock of APGA, to win more states of the South East for APGA, to make it the Igbo party. If the ACN could metamorphose from an essentially Yoruba party to the APC,the opposition party of today,

the future of Ndigbo can best be secured in one party and APGA remained the best choice after the unfortunate demise of the PPA. These men hoped, therefore, that Governors Obi and Okorocha would work closely together beyond politics of their individual survival to that of lifting the banners of Igbo politics higher. Obi delivered on that score, and have just handed over to Obiano under APGA, while Okorocha is yet to do same, thereby posing a big challenge to both the people of Imo State and Okorocha himself.

Early last year, a twist in the affairs of Okorocha and his Deputy, Jude Agbaso, led to the unceremonious removal of the latter on grounds of financial impropriety. Agbaso is a direct relation to the APGA leader, and that caused a big fight as accusations and counteraccusations of betrayal filled the air waves, culminating in the departure of Okorocha from APGA to join the APC. Later in the same year, the EFCC issued a letter and cleared Agbaso of any financial impropriety, providing what could be the platform for reconciliation in the best interest of APGA and Imo people.

While the misunderstanding has helped Okorocha to start building a

APGA is a more acceptable and marketable name than APC in Imo, and it is left for Owelle Okorocha to consider a reconciliation option with his former political partners and friends in APGA

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massive grass roots followership under APC, the difference still looms large in the minds of the people. The disagreeing parties must accept the facts that: First, Imo is a predominantly PDP state, with the party having ruled for 12 years. Second, APGA was the opposition party till Okorocha came along in 2011, and things may turn against them come 2015.

The continued festering of the quarrel has created a big challenge for the average Imo voter because there is something about APGA which will never be in APC, and that is the role of the late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu. And finally, the PDP is not resting, and may pull the rug from the feet of the quarrelsome duo come 2015.

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APC and the roadmap to nowhere

BY JOHN AINOFENOKHAI

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HE other week, the leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, took its predilection for obfuscation to another level by engaging in self-serving opinion poll. For those who have followed the politics of Jonathan bashing and antiPDP propaganda by the APC leadership, the result of the self-commissioned public opinion survey on the approval rating of President Goodluck Jonathan does not leave anything to guess. Add the fact that the purported survey is part of the process of unveiling the party’s manifesto, which it calls “Roadmap to a New Nigeria”, the picture of an unreliable opinion poll is complete.

It seems that APC is now replying critics who have taunted them with the fact that nobody really knows what the party believes in or stands for other than criticising everything under the sun with the imprimatur of President Jonathan. For the most part, what the party does is to wait for Jonathan to drink water and then issue a statement that it was inappropriate for the Nigerian President to take fluid by that time of the day. That is how infantile the APC has become in its role as the opposition party. It was therefore reassuring to hear from the leadership of APC that the party was ready with its agenda document or manifesto. At least, this would help citizens in making up their minds between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the APC. It is rather unfortunate that APC has characteristically destroyed the roadmap before its unveiling by muddling it up with a questionable opinion poll with predetermined conclusions. Why is APC making the mistake of thinking that the only way to market its manifesto is by wrapping it in the dirty shroud of an opinion poll,

he question remains, where does the best interest of the

which only those who do not live in this country can see as objective? Since the APC emerged as a political party with the loss of the identity of its parent political parties like Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, the new party has been in a frantic search of its own identity and soul different from that of the strange bedfellows that fused rather inchoately to upset the ruling PDP. The desperate strategy of membership drive adopted by APC defined by the poaching of discredited PDP members of yesterday now adorned in APC’s saintly, if hypocritical robes, has caught the attention of the Nigerian public. And questions upon questions are now being raised over the identity and the ideological trajectory of the new party with all its messianic claims and pretensions. Yes, the antics of the Tinubus of this world need no further introduction and so is Buhari’s high-handedness, rigidity, self-righteousness and even a tinge of ethnocentrism. But what was not fathomable to the people was the emerging trend that the holier-than-thou APC would fall back on those they categorically labelled as “a murderous gang” yesterday, as the spine of the party.

Today, Atiku Abubakar is a progressive and so is Governor Rotimi Amaechi. Another Governor whom even journalists covering the PDP saw loading electoral materials into a vehicle with the Chairman of his state’s gubernatorial primaries committee the morning before the PDP election that handed him the party ticket is now a progressive advocating free and fair election in 2015! In fact, if General Abacha wakes up from the grave today and joins the APC, he would be shown off as a progressive politician. Such is the identity crisis of the main opposition party, APC. It is this self-inflicted identity crisis that has led the APC unwittingly to compound

,

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

,

Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Imo and 2015

Imo people lie in all these political permutations?

Owelle Okorocha is making good his electoral promises, and has characteristically plunged into gargantuan projects of massive investments in the State since he was sworn in as Governor in 2011.First, is his passion for making education available and affordable in the State. He remains the first to ever introduce free education in this blessed State, where his predecessors told us that there was no money for free education; he started it and is pushing through. Imo teachers now get paid promptly which was never the case in the past. He remains the best we have ever seen in the education sector. In fact, the challenge he has is that many people who are not from Imo State are trooping in to benefit from this good programme, and he needs just to block that leakage.

Second, is the massive improvement in provision of good roads network in the state, touching on almost every local government area. All major link roads between Owerri and the satellite towns around are under serious reconstruction and expansion. This is one area that touches most communities and that is where his disappointment will come from. Those who neither want him to succeed, nor the communities to benefit, are masquerading as contractors and frustrating the programme through delays. They start off with the work, build roads without adequate provision for drainage, thereby compounding the

It is rather unfortunate that APC has characteristically destroyed the roadmap before its unveiling by muddling it up with a questionable opinion poll with predetermined conclusions

,

its problem by engaging the American firm AKPD Message and Media, a public relations shop, to fix its image problem.

This is without the vehement protests from the national body, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria, PRCAN, who insist that the APC move is scandalous and without regards for the competency of the Nigeria professionals.

Yet, this is the same APC that is claiming that Jonathan has done nothing in the area of job creation!

T

he Chido Nwakamma group raised a more fundamental issue away from trade union concerns, which is the unique nature of local nuances that seem to affect political behaviour here and yet very difficult for any foreign pollster to comprehend. In a simple language, it is not enough for the APC to quote us the “Obama example” or other incredible feats of its consultants in helping democratic movements elsewhere.

The question remains, what is the experience of AKPD in a multi-ethnic and largely illiterate country like Nigeria?

The lack of understanding of the political climate and the character of the population, which the APC consultants “researched” on,

problems of flood control for erosion prone areas of the state.

Roads without adequate water/ flood gutters are the biggest night mare of communities in the leeward or valley side of any topography like my community in Uhualla Obibi-Ochasi, in Orlu. In the health sector, standard hospitals are under construction in all local government areas, and if well-equipped when completed, will constitute a good standard for health care delivery in our world.

Third, the scourge of kidnapping and robbery is relatively reduced, and people are beginning to move about freely once again without caring for the car following behind. These carry huge costs and only time will make it all fine. What any good leader needs is time, and whether Imolites will give him that time to complete the good work is the concern of this writer. APGA is a more acceptable and marketable name than APC in Imo, and it is left for Owelle Okorocha to consider a reconciliation option with his former political partners and friends in APGA, or just push through on his own. He should remember that as Owelle Ndigbo, APGA is the place to be, and easier to sell, than APC. If Ndigbo could join other Nigerians after the killings during the war, all warring factions of APGA in Imo can still come together in the interest of Imo and Ndigbo, and this will provide a better stand with the FG to the advantage of Imo.

*Mr. Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.

more than invalidates the outcome of the survey. And there are, indeed, other methodological issues which, when put together, tend to suggest that the Presidency is apt in describing the APC opinion polling as an exercise in quackery. First, which population was being studied? Is it the educated alone or urban resident? What kind of sampling method was adopted?

How representative of the population were the samples? How sure are we that respondents understood the questions put to them?

Some of the purported outcomes of the inquiry can only validate the methodological flaws in the APC polling, and nothing more. How can a social researcher claim that Nigerians prefer to vote for APC candidate against Jonathan when APC has no candidate? Does it also imply that even if APC fields a dog against Jonathan, Nigerians will vote the dog? This is another APC sleight of the hand. When APC and its consultants set about collecting data to suit a predetermined answer, which in academics is roguery anyway, they forgot that voting behaviour is not only determined by partisan identification.

Other factors that influence vote choice in the literature include issues, personality and ethnicity. To pretend that these factors are not important in a highly divided society like ours by a “public opinion consultant” and a political party angling for power is the height of deceit. Moreover, even in terms of partisan identification, PDP is far ahead of the APC and any polling that seems to suggest otherwise is patently unreliable.

For some weeks now, APC has been staking its claim of popularity against the PDP to its own detriment. They tried it in the House of Representatives and were out-numbered by the PDP. They tried it in the Senate and the ruling party left it with a black eye. The latest attempt at exaggerating its popular acceptability by hiring a largely public relations company and mistaking it for a research organisation only confirms that the party is embarking on a journey to nowhere.

Or perhaps they are headed for the Red Sea as Dr Doyin Okupe had earlier predicted.

*Mr. Ainofenokhai, a public analyst, wrote from Lagos.

20 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

GUY MAURICE:

Plaudits for Egi-speaking White man

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME, Port Harcourt

several residents and destroyed farmlands.

“Mr. Guy Maurice will not go OR the people of Egi com munity in Ogba Egbema without being blessed. History is Ndoni Local Government Area of made today as he is the first ManRivers State, there is no better aging Director and Chief Execuway to express appreciation to Mr tive Officer of Total E & P Nigeria Guy Maurice, the out-going limited to be coronated with a Managing Director and Chief chieftaincy title of Uhwo ka Egi, Executive officer of Total E& P signifying ‘the great light of Egi Nigeria limited for his Land’. This is in recognition of contribution to their well-being: his excellent services that have That is to honour him with their touched lives in the operational presence on the day he was con- areas,” he said.

The traditional ruler further ferred with the coveted traditional title, Uhwo ka Egi, meaning appealed to his successor Mrs. *Guy Maurice(r), after he was conferred with the traditional title, Uhwo ka Egi Proust who was at the event to “the Light of Egi land”.

The event was at the palace of improve on the success of her pany and Egi community over- my last visit to the Egi communi- our usual robust discussions on the traditional ruler of the king- predecessor in terms of Corpo- came challenges with solutions ty as the Managing director of issues mutually affecting us,” he dom, His Royal Majesty Dr rate Social Responsibility. He re- mutually provided.

Total E& P Nigeria limited. My said in a soft tone.

Kingdom Elemuchukwu Elen- minded her that some sons and His voice suddenly dropped assignment in Nigeria has come Continuing, he said: ”I now daughters of the area had been while reading his address. “It is to an end. On one hand, it is a count myself as an Egi man in wa, the Eze Egi of Ogbaland. casual staff of the oil indeed with mixed feelings that very emotional time for me as I Diaspora”, a statement that drew Mr. Guy Maurice will not go giant for decades, I speak to you on this occasion of will indeed miss all of you and applause from the gathering. adding that effort without being blessed; this is should be made to in recognition of his excellent regularise their employment. Among services that have touched other things, he also lives in the operational areas appealed to the firm to ensure hundred The chiefs, women, youths and percent execution of MoUs cal Government Secretariat Hall, try and beyond and the four vilBY NWABUEZE elders of the community were on projects in the area.

OKONKWO, Onitsha Atani, was witnessed by the local lages that made up Ogwu-Anground. Traditional masquerades Mr. Maurice before formally government chairman, Chief Vicand dancers were also present to presenting his successor, Mrs. EARS of joy rolled down the tor Nwachukwu Agolue; his dep- iocha are unianimously in supspice up the event. Those present Proust to the community, thanked cheeks of natives of Ogwu- uty, Ogbuefi Arinze and head of port of Nnaji’s ascendancy to the also could not help but laugh and them for the honour done to him.

Aniocha community in Ogbaru local government departments royal throne. applaud when Mr Maurice, the He recalled that the firm was votThey therefore urged the counLocal Government Area of and security agencies. man of the moment, addressed ed the best in the area of Corpocil officials not to listen to any othAnambra State as they presentSpeaking at the colourful cere- er side talk that might come up them in their Egi dialect, some- rate Social Responsibility at the ed their newly selected traditional mony, the President-General of thing no White man had ever 2013 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conruler, His Royal Highness, HRH, Ogwu-Aniocha town union, Mr. from any quarter as the entire done before. community are behind the new ference by the assembly of oil and Chief Nathaniel Nwajeli Nnaji, Innocent Udom; the Secretary- Eze-elect.

Before decorating Mr. Maurice, gas industry companies because a traditional medical practitioner General, Christopher Obitube the monarch, His Royal Majesty of the strong partnership that exIn his brief speech, the Igweto the local council authorities for and two other community leaders, Sir Elenwa, the Eze Egi of Ogba- isted between the firm and its host elect, Nnaji assured the recognition as their Igwe-elect.

Chidi Ekpendu and Ikenna gathering that he would bring land, cleared his throat, while communities.

The presentation ceremony Nnabugwu, told the council boss clutching an address he was set lasting peace and unity in the He also recalled how the com- which took place at Ogbaru Lothat the entire community met and area, adding that he would use to read to the gathering of top carefully semanagement staff of the oil giant his wealth of experience in life to lected Nnaji and community folks. The tradiattract government presence in among other tional ruler made it clear that his terms of infrastructural developcontestants to kingdom only confers its chiefment. become their taincy titles on those who truly Responding, the council chairparamount merit them, stressing that Mr. man, Agolue commended them ruler.

Maurice was the first Managing for the peaceful manner they comAccording to Director and Chief Executive ofported themselves throughout U d o m , ficer to bag a chieftaincy title of the selection process and promObitube, Ekthe community. ised to forward their request for pendu and He said the people of the area recognition and staff of office to Nnabugwu, were satisfied with the robust rethe state government for considunlike some lationship that existed between eration. other commuthem and the oil giant during his He disclosed that the council nities where reign. He also lauded Mr. Mauwould partner with all the comthere are facrice for the way he handled a gas munities in the council area in tions and tuseruption incident from the facilirealising its developmental stratsles, all the 15 ties of the oil giant in the area. egies, such as environmental sanbranches of He also praised him for the interitation, educational advancement, the town union ventionist’s role the firm played provision of potable water and scattered all during the flood that displaced The Eze-elect, His Royal Highness, HRH, Chief Nathaniel Nwajeli Nnaji(R) health facilities. over the coun-

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At last, Anambra community selects new royal father without rancour

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 21

PAAR: Bankers lament backlog of cargo clearance document

BY GODWIN ORITSE B ANKS in the country have decried the backlog of cargo clearance document (Pre Arrival Assessment Report, PAAR) yet to be delivered by the Nigeria Customs Service, a development that has led to high number of un-cleared cargoes at the ports.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the management of the Customs Service, which was also attended by some officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Managing Director of Web Fontaine, Mr. Muktar Ahmed, called on the banks to avail themselves with the training of the new PAAR enhanced system with a view of getting out of the current crisis rocking the port industry.

The banks have said that there is a near crisis situation at the port following the inability of the Customs Service to deliver processed PAAR back to the banks for onward transmission to their importers.

At the meeting tagged ‘CBNNCS Sensitisation Meeting: Launching of the Enhanced

From left— Secretary General of the West and Central Africa Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Abuja MoU), Mfon Ekong Usoro; Chairman of Nigerian Shipowners Association, NISA, Isaac Jolapamo and Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi at the opening ceremony of NIMAREX in Lagos. PHOTO: Godfrey Bivbere.

PAAR System’, in Lagos, the bankers noted that banks have become very apprehensive following the unpleasant remarks and treatment they receive from their customers (importers).

Some of the bankers, who spoke to Vanguard, noted that

the newly introduced PAAR has put the banks under pressure as more hands had to be employed to meet up with the current challenges they are facing. They were also of the opinion that with the enhanced PAAR being introduced by the Customs, it

means that more people will be engaged.

Moses Omotayo of Wema Bank called on Customs to stop running the newspaper advertisements and Television commercials as they are misleading.

He explained that the notion that cargo can be delivered in 48 hours is very misleading when in actual fact, document leading to the release of these cargoes are stacked for up to two and sometimes four months.

According to Michael Onwujika of Citi Bank, more than 2,000 PAAR documents belonging to various importers are yet to be delivered by the Customs.

Taiwo Egbeyemi of Access Bank stated that there is a crisis situation in the port industry that needs immediate attention, adding that the payment of import duty has become a major challenge occasioned by the current situation.

Ogazi Achiko of Diamond Bank noted that until Customs Service and CBN put their acts together, the current crisis will linger on for a long time.

Dickson Simeon of United Bank for Africa (UBA) said that the process of amending cargo clearance document by Customs takes too long, adding that some of these documents could have as much as 70 items waiting to be amended.

INVENTION: FG spends N24m on 16 inventors, innovators

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

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HE Federal Government has presented cheques worth N24 million to 16 beneficiaries of the 2013 Presidential Standing Committee on Inventions and Innovations, PSCII grant.

The cheque presentation to beneficiaries was a continuation of nine years support by the Presidential Standing Committee on Invention and Innovation, PSCII. Presenting the cheques, the Supervising Minister of Science and Technology Ministry, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, while congratulating the beneficiaries on their achievements, described innovation as the lifeblood of any business, any country regardless of social, demographic or economic standing.

She encouraged them to apply the grant towards the next step to their ultimate goal, which is patenting and writing a business plan. ‘‘While the grants that are given to you today are far cry

from what you require to take your innovation forward to the next stage which is commercialisation and industrialisation, I want to encourage you to apply this grant towards that potentially small but important next step to this ultimate goalpatenting, writing a business plan to present to institute that can make substantial funds available to you, making an application to one of our many Technology Incubation Centres in different parts of the country ’s capacity building,’’ she said. ‘‘This is how businesses are created and how they thrive and grow. From one innovation or invention, from one bright young mind, a viable business is born, jobs are created, people are employed and wealth for nation and for individuals is created. ‘‘Let me congratulate each and everyone of you on this achievement. By receiving this grant, you have in a sense received both an endorsement and a validation of all your efforts. We look forward to

hearing about your transition from an innovation to a business. ‘‘For those of you whose innovations and inventions are still in the preliminary or middle stage, we urge you to put in additional effort towards completion in order to provide opportunities to other Nigerians to commercialise and reap the desired benefits from your products,’’ said the minister.

According to her, vigorous efforts are on-going to improve the Federal Government’s funding of the PSCII, but added that collaborations with relevant stakeholders such as Education Trust Fund, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education, Raw Material Research and Development Council and the National Planning Commission, are underway to facilitate the achievement of the ultimate goal of the PSCII Programme, which is to provide a solid foundation for

a technological breakthrough in Nigeria.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Rabi Jimetta, said right from creation, man has always searched for better ways of doing things in order to ease and improve his standard of living and socio-economic wellbeing by using things that are available at his disposal.

According to her, the desire to encourage Nigerians, particularly those in the informal sector of the economy that have outstanding i n d i g e n o u s technologies was based on their inventions that could impact positively on Nigerians and the economy.

She listed some of the objectives of the scheme as encouraging invention and innovation in technology, to

examining research claims and assessing what could be done to take such claims to prototype and commercial level and to suggest how funds could be sourced to finance the various stages of development from inception to prototype and commercialisation.

191.00

+1.10

3,021.00

-9.00

17.16

+0.11

106.58 +1.50

+0.34 99.58

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING DOLLAR 154.74 155.24 155.74 STERLING 257.2398 258.071 258.9022 EURO 215.5064 216.2027 216.8991 FRANC 177.0886 177.6608 178.233 YEN 1.5212 1.5262 1.5311 CFA 0.3091 0.3191 0.3291 WAUA 239.1881 239.9609 240.7338 RENMINBI 249882 25.0694 25.1506 RIYAL 41.2585 41.3918 41.5251 KRONA 28.8689 28.9621 28.0554 SDR 239.9553 240.7307 241.506

CBN Exchange rate as at 20/03/2014

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

FMDQ, Bloomberg trading platform to boost Nigeria’s fixed income market

By PETER EGWUATU

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for-quote (RFQ) and order trading, straight-throughprocessing (STP) functionality and integrated trade capture and reporting tools. In addition, market oversight entities and regulators can use the system to review market activity and audit transactions.

“A well-functioning debt market needs an efficient

technical infrastructure, bespoke trading rules, market surveillance and straightthrough processing,” says David Tamburelli, Bloomberg’s Head of Emerging Markets Product.

“Bloomberg’s e-Bond system responds to those needs and we are delighted to collaborate with FMDQ to build a more

loomberg and FMDQ ’s Over the Counter, OTC, eBond trading and market surveillance system, a new electronic trading system for Nigerian government bonds that commenced operation recently is expected to boost Nigeria’s fixed income market.

Jointly developed by Bloomberg, FMDQ and the local market-maker community, the Bloomberg eBond system provides electronic trading and market surveillance tools for participants in Nigeria’s N12 trillion (US $73 billion) fixed income market.

“As a newly established OTC market securities exchange, our goal is to empower the Nigerian OTC financial markets to be efficient, credible and globally competitive. With its potential to drive transparency and liquidity, we believe the introduction of the Bloomberg E-Bond system will help us to achieve those aims and we are pleased to work with Bloomberg to bring it to the Nigerian fixed income market,” says Dipo Odeyemi, Divisional Head, Operations and Technology, FMDQ OTC Plc. The Bloomberg e-Bond system provides a complete, consolidated marketplace for Nigerian government bonds, offering market participants a robust and flexible set of tools supporting the full trade Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, workflow. This includes preMr. Nnamdi Okonkwo teaching students of Girls Secondary trade price discovery and School, Awka at an event to mark this year’s Financial Literacy analytical tools, the ability to Day. handle multi-dealer request-

transparent, liquid and efficient bond market in Nigeria “ he added.

Available to subscribers of the Bloomberg Professional service at EBND<GO>, the trading system is fully

Improved regulatory framework impacts market indicators — NSE BOSS

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

I

mproved regulatory environment and performance of quoted companies from 2012 till date have positively impacted share prices and overall indices in the stock market, says the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema.

Onyema made the declaration at the Retail Investors’ Clinic organised by the Exchange for registered shareholders’ associations in Lagos.

He also reiterated the Exchange’s commitment to work with the Board of Trustee of the Investors’ Protection Fund to sustain and promote investors’ confidence in the stock market.

He stated that in pursuit of the its desire to ensure investors’ protection, the NSE has proposed several rules to codify the accepted mode of engagement in our market, as well as adopted a zerotolerance stance on dealing member firms and listed companies violations.

“We have also started building a robust financial literacy

Berger Paints targets N1.52bn turnover in Q2, 2014

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

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erger Paints Nigeria Plc has said that it is projecting a turnover of N1.52 billion for the second quarter ending June 30, 2014.

The Managing Director, Tor Nygard, made the disclosure at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, while presenting the ‘Facts behind Figures’ of the company to the stockbroking community and the NSE’ management.

He said that the company equally targets profit before tax of N193.749 million and post tax profit of N131.849 million within the period.

Nygard stated that the company has concluded plans to build a fully automated paint manufacturing plant at its Oba Akran premises, saying that the factory modernization is aimed at regaining its dominance in Nigeria and to also reach out to other West African markets.

According to him, a fully automated paint manufacturing plant, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria and entire West African countries, would produce the same high quality paints being imported into Nigeria, even as he said that the plant would be ready for commissioning towards the end of the year.

He explained that Berger Paints entered into commercial arrangement with KCC Corporation, the biggest heavy duty coating manufacturing company in South Korea, to jointly serve the Nigerian and West African marine and protective coating market.

The arrangement, he said, complies with the provisions of the local content act and the requirements of the Local Content Registration Board of Nigeria, adding, “This partnership creates an opportunity for transfer of much needed knowledge and training in the marine coating sector

integrated with Bloomberg’s data, news, analytics and communications tools to provide clients active in the Nigerian debt market with a single, comprehensive solution.

to Nigerians, improving local knowledge in the onshore, off shore and shiiping.”

Nygard stressed that with the investments in a state-of-the-art modern factory and partnership with KCC Corporation, the company is poised to bring cutting edge yet environmentally friendly products to beautify homes and support project investments.

He stated better rationalization and improved product mix contributed to its performance in 2013 where it has already announced 33 percent growth in operating income to N205 million from N154 million in 2012.

A peep into its unaudited 2013 financials also showed that sales turnover rose to N2.709 billion as against n2.691 billion in 2012. The profit before tax for the period grew by 33 percent from N285 million to N379 million; gross profit ratio was up 44 percent from 36 percent in 2012.

program. Back in February 2012, we kicked off our financial literacy program as a first step in protecting investors. This program aims to enhance investors’ understanding of the basics of investing around portfolio construction, asset allocation and risk diversification.

“The “Investor Clinic” aspect of the program, which is a flag ship product for our financial literacy efforts, has been delivered in partnership with stellar organisations such as Morgan Stanley, Stanbic IBTC, Greenwich Trust and FBN Capital, just to name a few.

These have primarily been focused on particular segments of the investing community to discuss the finer details of investing and to shed more light on the capital market eco system,” he said.

He continued, “On the Technology front, we rolled out X-Gen, which is our new generation trading platform that supports our effort to drive our market to a higher level. X-Gen opens an unprecedented level of innovative trading capabilities for the Nigerian capital market, providing direct market access for both the buy and sell sides, and mobile access through smartphones to the retail investors,” saying that therein lies an opportunity for engagement with the 120 million mobile phone owners across the country.

Reviewing the performance of the stock market so far, the NSE boss noted that all vital performance metrics in the market have bounced back from the critical low in 2008 and have generally remained upbeat with the market capitalization of listed equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) increasing by over 47.33 percent in the past year alone.

“Also, the average daily value of shares traded went up by 57.36 percent from the N2.65 billion recorded in 2012 to N4.17billion in 2013,” he added.

“Year to date, local investors’ participation in our market stands at over 50 percent compared to the 49.28 percent foreign participation.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 23

Jordan targets Nigeria’s religious tourists •plans easy visa process

By JIMOH BABATUNDE

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HE Managing Director, Jordan Tourism Board, Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, has disclosed that they are working hard to ease visa processing for Nigerians as they intend marketing the religious sites in Jordan.

He said the tourism board is working hard to minimize the time for visa processing from 30 days to 15 days.

Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat added “ we are working on getting visa on arrival for Nigerians as the Jordanian government has realized the importance of the Nigerian market.

Speaking with selected Nigerian journalists during the week in Amman, he said Jordan is blessed with historical, cultural and religious sites.

Cultural and religious sites Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat said the country before now has been marketing the cultural and historical sites in the country, “but we are now changing strategy as we have decided on marketing religious tourism.”

He explained that the Vatican has approved four places in the country as pilgrim sites, “ two millennia ago, the

Jesus Christ was baptised here by John the Baptist in Jordan. area opposite Jericho has been identified as the place where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, making it one of the focal Christian pilgrim sites.”

Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat added that the area known as Bethany beyond Jordan has been discovered between the Jordan River and St.Elijah’s hill.

He said they are working on having 15000 religious leaders

around the world to see how pilgrimage can start from Jordan as approved by the Vatican.

The Jordan Tourism Board disclosed that they will soon be having a road show in Nigeria for tour operators as part of their marketing strategy, noting that the direct flight of Royal Jordanian Airways to Lagos will boost tourism.

Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat noted that about 3.8 million tourists

visit the country with most of them from the Gulf countries, Europe and South Africa “but we coming to Nigeria for tourists as one of the emerging markets in Africa.”

He explained that the Jordanian government has invested more in tourism in recent years, saying “tourism is our oil here in Jordan.”

Lagos is a business destination, not leisure —LOXLEY

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he General Manager of the Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel, Mark Loxley, has said that the challenge for most hotels in Lagos is how to have full occupancy weekends and various public holidays as the state is more of business destination.

Speaking with tourism journalists recently, he said “Generally, weekends have always been a challenge for hotels operating in Lagos because Lagos is a business destination. Typically, guests arrive at the beginning of the week and leave just before the weekend. It isn’t just during weekends that hotels in Lagos struggle to fill rooms though.

“With the amount of public holidays we have in Nigeria which recognises both Christian and Islamic holidays – the big challenge for hotels is finding occupancy during the valley periods.”

Speaking further on the valley period, Loxley said “If for example Wednesday was a public holiday, then few people will fly to Lagos for just two days.

They usually need the whole week. So if a public holiday falls during the week, a lot of people will postpone their travel to a period when they can have a full week. “Don’t forget there is the December – January period which is always quiet because of the Christmas holidays. Another quiet period is the European summer around July - August.

He said if you throw in the public holidays, suddenly you have about a third of the year sitting on the valley period. “So the challenge is to fill the hotel during these periods,” he explained.

To meet this challenge of getting customers during the weekends, the hotel’s management according to him

has come up with different programs, some of them very ingenious. “We have seafood Fridays, an excellent Sunday brunch, we also have birthday promotional packages, and we have just recently launched a weekend jumbo package. The added value is really fantastic,” Loxley said.

Historical reputation Outlining the efforts of the hotel built in 1928 as the British colonial government’s guest house before evolving into the Ikoyi Hotel before being privatized, Mark Loxley disclosed that they have benefited from the historical reputation of the hotel as well as a good location in Ikoyi.

Apparently Loxley is enamored by the natural beauty of Lagos, he said there are some beautiful beaches here, “…we (Southern

Sun) are saying even if Lagos is a business destination, everybody deserves to take a break. It’s all about creating added value that appeals to the market. Unfortunately a lot of people come into Lagos on business. Some of them come once a month, some six times a year, seven times a year…some have been coming for seven, eight years and all they’ve seen are the airports, the traffic and hotels.

That’s their experience of Nigeria. And that’s why I think hotels need to do a lot more to promote the tourist facilities in their surroundings.

In truth, it is not too surprising the new direction that the Ikoyi hotel is taking in its attempt to attract more guests through the outdoors.

Intercontinental Hotel partners banks on loyalty programme FOR the first time in the history of the Nigeria’s hospitality reward programs, the Intercontinental Hotel Lagos is partnering with two banks for its loyalty program.

The Intercontinental Lagos Rewards Club is a points-based booker’s incentive programme open to individuals and corporate organisations with a range of exclusive privileges and benefits which will enable members’ book locally and spend globally.

Speaking at the launch of the program with two banks with Wema and Skye Banks recently in Lagos, the hotel’s Director, Sales and Marketing, Mr. KrishmaKunar, said corporate bodies and individuals who book rooms, meetings, banquets with the Intercontinental, Lagos, get every dollar back by way of points which will be remitted to each booker’s Wema and Skye Banks Intercontinental Rewards Prepaid Card when due, which will enable the holder use the card and spend the money anywhere in the world.

Reward points Kunar, who disclosed that the rewards points never expires, said any client that make a group booking for 20 and above between 21st and 28th of March would get between two and three percent of the money paid back into the credit card.

Speaking at the launch, the CEO, Wema Bank, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, said the desire to continuously partner with prestigious organisations like the Intercontinental Hotel Group to create high-value initiatives and experiences for their teaming clients formed the basis for the partnership.

For him, the partnership is another step in the relationship between both organisations after the successful partfinancing of the development of the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos, by his bank.

According to the Wema Bank boss, that the prepaid card rewards programme being pioneered by Intercontinental Hotel is a first worldwide for any hotel reward scheme and is expected to be replicated by other hotels across the world.

The Head, Cards Wema Bank, Mr. Demola Bolodeoku, said the usage of the card, which is issued and renewed free of charge, is restricted to Point of Service (POS) and the Web.

24 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—25

I N S I D E

I didn't leave APC because of Bukola Saraki — Belgore PAGE 26

•Fayemi: APC presumptive nominee

Ekiti 2014:

Towards the national conference of hope

PAGE 28

Who is persecuting the president?

PAGE 27

•Bamidele: Labour Party presumptive nominee

•PDP logo

The die is cast

WITH the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his one time buddy, Rep. Opeyemi Bamidele emerging as the presumptive nominees of the APC and Labour in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, respectively, intrigues continue to shadow the process for the emergence of the nominee of the PDP

A

NY contest that involved the participation of Mr. Ayodele Fayose was bound to sparkle.

Hence the sparks that are emanating in the quest to pick the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti State.

Mr. Fayose is pitched in battle against 13 other aspirants who have indicated interest in picking the party ’s ticket for the governorship election due on June 21.

Mr. Fayose who governed the state, albeit tempestuously 10 years ago, wants another term.

However, unlike when he governed the state and had his way in almost all things –until President Olusegun Obasanjo uprooted him- he is now faced with mountainous challenges.

Nearly all the other candidates want him out of the contest and had canvassed the adoption of a consensus candidate as a way of sieving him out, but Mr. Fayose has steadfastly objected to that, and rightly so, because the consensus approach is another form of imposition.

Remarkably, Mr. Fayose is

backed by a number of party enthusiasts at the grassroots who want him to go into the primaries believing that he is the only one with enough muscle to match the incumbent governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who is also seeking a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. After several meetings in Abuja with the party’s hierarchy the consensus option for picking the PDP candidate was jettisoned mainly because Mr. Fayose objected to it.

Consensus option The consensus option had been recommended by President Goodluck Jonathan and accepted by most of the candidates, primarily because of concerns that a primary could make the party enter the general election as a divided house.

Many of the aspirants who had been steadfastly lobbying party grandees in Abuja for favour were also supportive of the consensus option as they believed that that was the only route for them to fly the PDP ticket.

But Mr. Fayose whose turbulent record in office has not

been totally forgotten by some party elders and as such did not have their ears had resorted to massive mobilization on the ground.

Given Fayose’s objections, the party was forced to move into primaries which commenced last Wednesday with ward congresses across the state.

As expected the congresses were trailed by violence in some local government areas of the state. Supporters of some candidates opposed to the primaries and those supportive of the primaries clashed in about five local government areas.

The political thugs who had laid siege on the party secretariat as early as 24 hours before the commencement of the congresses unfolded on Wednesday when some thugs pounced on them. The chairman of the PDP in Ado Local Government Area, Kola Lawal disclosed that party officials were about distributing the election materials to the wards when the thugs swooped on the officials and carted away the election materials.

Each of the 177 wards in the state is expected to produce three delegates that are expected to decide vote in the primary

coming up tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the process was earlier this week ensnared when one of the candidates, Mr. Deji Ajayi, went to the courts to remove Fayose from the contest. His contention is that Fayose is not a valid member of the party and as such is not entitled to participate in the primaries.

In a petition addressed to the party’s national chairman, Alhaji

,

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

“Sir, the subject person was the Governor of Ekiti State between 2003 and 2006 when he was impeached by the State House of Assembly and went on a selfimposed exile.

“Upon his return, he left the party and joined the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and campaigned across the State for that party’s candidate in the 2007 Gubernatorial election”.

“In 2013, he did not only join the Labour Party, he was also the candidate of that Party for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat

Mr. Fayose is pitched in battle against 13 other aspirants who have indicated interest in picking the party’s ticket for the governorship election due on June 21

Adamu Mu‘azu, Ajayi through his counsel, Mr Olasoji Olowolafe, acknowledged that though Fayose commenced the process of readmission into the party after his impeachment, he affirmed that the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC had as at now not deliberated on it.

“Sir, the subject person, Mr. Ayo Fayose who is not a party member has been parading himself as an aspirant on the platform of the Party for some time without going through and/or fulfilling the Constitutional prerequisites to becoming a member of the Party”.

,

which he lost with a wide margin to the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria. Sir, it is a notorious fact that cannot be denied that the subject person, with these antecedents lost his membership of the party.

“It is conceded that the subject person has, to the general knowledge and to the personal knowledge of our client, taken the initial steps towards becoming a member of the party in line with the provision of section 8(17) of the Constitution of the party, however, no recommendation has been made Continues on page 27

26—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Saraki is not the issue in Kwara

means that a forum of a National Conference might not be the best to articulate such an issue.

Does that mean that a National Conference should not lead to disintegration of the country?

It should not. Now, put yourself in the position of the President of this country. Would you like to preside over the disintegration of your country? Would you set about a process that would lead to the disintegration of the country? I don’t think any responsible leader would want that.

How can we deal with the issue of Boko Haram?

Well, it would appear to be an intractable problem. And it is sad for what we see in the daily loss of lives. It is sad and regrettable, that perhaps these losses were avoidable. But, when you get to a situation such as this, you put the security of the nation, the security of the people and the security of the innocent lives at the top of your priority.

— Belgore

MR Mohammed Dele Belgore, SAN, contested the Kwara State governorship election on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the 2011 general elections. In this interview, Belgore explains why he left the All Progressives Congress, APC for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Excerpts:

BY DAPO AKINREFON

W

HAT informed your decision to leave APC for

PDP? Well, we have said it repeatedly that APC failed to meet the aspirations we had. And when I say ‘we’, I mean our supporters for democracy. APC decided that we would need to follow certain people for reasons best known to them, which we felt has to be vested with control of the affairs of the party.

Ordinarily, we would have not had any problem with that if it were to be just for transitional arrangement. But in a situation where they were undemocratically given the control of the affairs of the party and that control is maintained at all events, was contrary to the expectations that we had.

And in the circumstance, having tried and tried hard to fight it within, without success, we were not left with a choice but just to leave.

Was it true that you ran away

a change from the ways things were being run. And that change had to come externally outside the PDP. That is why we were in the ACN. And now that the APC cannot meet our aspiration as it happened that the forces against our aspirations are now, essentially on the other side, that was why we took our decision. It is not because of anything personal, but it is because of the ways things were being conducted.

What are we expecting from you in 2015?

It is too early to say. If God spares our lives, things would be revealed in the folders of time.

Our priority, my priority and those of my supporters, is to build a strong platform under the PDP with which we will be in a position to try to effect a change in the affairs of the state at all levels.

So, the role that I play, the role that anybody plays in that time would be determined in the fullest of time.

With Senator Saraki , the

,

The APC cannot meet our aspiration as it happened that the forces against our aspirations are now, essentially on the other side, that was why we took our decision

from the APC because of Dr. Bukola Saraki?

No. That is clearly not true. I have said it repeatedly that it is not an issue of Belgore against Saraki. I have nothing against Senator Saraki personally. So, there is no reason why I should leave APC because of Senator Saraki. I left APC for the reason that I have just given you.

Was there any gubernatorial negotiation before moving into the PDP? Well, that is also not true. I don’t know where that information came from.

Then, what is now the attraction that has just lured you into the party?

Well, PDP at the initial stage, we had a cause for change. And the change, of course, is the change in the way the affairs of Kwara State would be run. And we felt that ACN at that time shared our aspirations. And that was why we chose ACN. It was

,

acclaimed strong man of Kwara politics now in APC, do you think that the PDP can turn the table against him electorally in 2015?

I would rather not engage in personalities. What I believe is that, a strong PDP in Kwara backed by the people, with the commitment together to change the guard of government would succeed in that objective regardless of who may be in the other side.

What is your take on the National Conference?

Well, for me, there are two aspects for it. One is the Conference and the second is the outcome of the Conference itself.

The outcome of the National Conference, I cannot predict and nobody can really predict it. So don’t let us second-guess the outcome. But the mere fact that we are coming to talk, must be a positive step. It can never be anything wrong with people of a

Minimising casualties

•Belgore: I did not leave APC becasue of Saraki? different ethnic groups, different religions, different cultures, different ages, different professions, different vocations in life with different perspective in this common entity we call Nigeria, coming together under one umbrella to talk, I mean, that is a good thing. And it is commendable. And I think the President has been praised for that good and commendable step. So, let us talk. We can then deal with the outcome later.

Do you buy the idea of subjecting the outcome of the conference to a referendum or to be referred to the National Assembly, bearing in mind that there is no referendum in our constitution?

A constitution is the wish of the people. It is a piece of paper. The people own the constitution, the constitution doesn’t own the people.

Serving interest of the people So, it then emerges that a broad consensus is that, maybe we should go by a referendum, yes by all means, we change our constitution to accommodate it.

But the constitution should not be an impediment towards making progress.

The document was prepared by the people, I mean, was prepared for the people rather to serve the interest of the people. So, I don’t think there is any argument as to constitutionality or stop the exercise. Let us get it done and then bring the constitution

around it.

What then is your take on the so called ‘no-go-areas’?

Every government, somebody elected, in my opinion, should have some no-go-areas, because there certain issues you cannot subject to public debate.

Such as…?

Such as certain matters of security. For instance, certain matters that may affect the corporate entity of the country.

Its unity as a whole. Open discussion on them may actually cause more harm than good. It does not mean that we have a perfect arrangement. And it does not mean that that arrangement cannot be changed. It only

And every means open to you, both force-reasonable force, minimizing casualties, dialogue, diplomacy, all of the mixed bag, then become viable options to use. While nobody is happy with the situation and nobody wants it for it to go any day longer, I believe that it is not an intractable problem. And in due course, hopefully soon, the issue will be dealt with.

What are the challenges your pedigree as a Belgore put on you as a burden?

Well, to me, what my pedigree means is that I did not create that name. The good name I enjoy was not created by me.

And therefore, I should, in all that I do, if I cannot, at the very least, improve it. I should not do anything that can tarnish it in any way. I must try to improve it. But if I cannot improve it, I must not tarnish it. And that has been the guiding principle in all of the things that I do.

It’s wicked to politicise insurgency—Okubor Boko Haram:

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

A

CHIEFTAIN of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Chief of Staff, Delta State Government House, Dr. Festus Okubor, has flayed those who are politicising the raging Boko Haram insurgency in some northern parts of the country.

Describing politicization of the insurgency, which has claimed about 5000 lives since 2009, rendered many Nigerians homeless and destroyed properties worth billions of Naira, as wicked, Okubor said what is needed now is for all Nigerians to face the challenge as nation

and come to the aid of those affected.

“Instead of apportioning blames, criticizing President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing the military of being weaker than the Boko Haram insurgents, what we need now is to join hands to address the problem. After Boko Haram, there will be Nigeria. It is time for other parts of the country to contribute money, food, clothes, medicines, etc for the victims. We must show them that we truly care for them as our brothers and sisters and we are one country. All Nigerians must speak with one voice. Enough of

Continues on Page 28

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—27

Who is persecuting the president?

THE ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC are pitched in battle over claims that the troubles of the country are because the president is from a minority ethnic group.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

I

The PDP which had about two weeks ago accused the APC of fanning a Janjeweed ideology that it claimed was bent towards anarchy therefore urged Nigerians to “rise against this brute ideology of violence from which a tiny clique of the political class intends to benefit ultimately. It is the climax of wickedness only heard of the Lucifer in the distant bosom of hell fire.”

The thrust of the PDP statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh was that even though the administration is performing, that some bigots who believe that Jonathan or someone from the minority should not govern the country should not be given credit. For about 24 hours after the statement was issued on Tuesday, no word was heard from the APC which was obviously the target of the statement.

There were, however, mutters here and there that the minority status of the president’s ethnic group could not have accounted

PDP

APC

,

Janjaweed ideology

•Jonathan: Who is after him?

We must rise against this brute ideology of violence from which a tiny clique of the political class intends to benefit ultimately. It is the climax of wickedness only heard of the Lucifer in the distant bosom of hell fire

,

for some slips made by the administration. But then, still no word from the APC. So, on Wednesday Metuh again took his pen to reiterate his assertions saying the party stood by its allegation.

Metuh claimed that the party “noted spirited moves to politicise the content and direction of the last statement issued by the party wherein it alerted Nigerians on attempts by some unpatriotic elements to frustrate President Goodluck Jonathan using the promotion of insurgency in the country.”

“We wish to state categorically that we stand by our statement and restate our commendation to President Goodluck Jonathan for remaining undaunted and posting unprecedented achievements for the benefit of all Nigerians against all odds.”

“We challenge the opposition to a debate on the achievements

,

T was probably a move by the highly recharged publicity machinery of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to make the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC look bad in the eyes of minority ethnic groups in the country. The PDP had three days ago accused oppositionists in the country of entangling President Goodluck Jonathan simply because he is from minority ethnic stock.

Noting the unending orgy of violence across some sections of the country and the ‘pledge’ by some opposition leaders ahead of the 2011 presidential election to make the country ungovernable if they lost the poll, the PDP said last Tuesday that nothing else could have explained the problems the country has found itself in.

“We accept the reality of terrorism as a global phenomenon, however, the peculiar trend of the Nigerian version which subsists on a welter of nebulous demands and masked identities, hacking down innocent Nigerians -women, children and the elderly in an awful scorch earth fashion, and in an obstinate ridicule of dialogue, defies all reason and logic and only summarizes a well considered agenda of national destabilization for a purely selfish political cause. We pointedly finger the opposition.”

President Jonathan’s woes have nothing to do with his minority ethnicity, but the manifestation of his incompetence, cluelessness and inferiority complex, and the fact that he is backed by a greedy, visionless and crooked cabal

,

of the PDP-led administration on zone by zone and sector by sector basis. The facts are there and the achievements are visible.”

This time, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC

was sufficiently roused to come into the fray, and within 24, hours he was firing from all cylinders.

In a statement, yesterday, the APC said that Jonathan was not the first ethnic minority to rule the country as it flayed the PDP for stirring ethnic sentiments to cover up what it claimed as the alleged incompetence of the present administration.

The APC said the PDP’s claim that the Boko Haram insurgency and other internecine crises in the country were being sponsored by the opposition because the President hails from a minority group is totally irresponsible and absolutely not grounded in fact.

The party listed First Republic Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa (Sayewa) and military heads of state Yakubu Gowon (Angas) and Sani Abacha (Kanuri) as also being from minority ethnic groups.

By what parameter the party used in classifying minority and majority ethnic groups it, however, did not say.

Jonathan’s Ijaw ethnic group which is spread around all of the South-South states and the riverine areas of the Southwest is believed to be the fourth or fifth largest ethnic group in the country.

In its response the APC said: "The PDP has recently been making outlandish statements and accusations that are capable of destabilizing Nigeria. In its new found proclivity for issuing frivolous press statements, the party has forgotten that facts are sacred and cannot be manipulated. But even by its low standard, the PDP has plumbed the depth of irresponsibility with its latest claim. ‘’President Jonathan’s woes have nothing to do with his minority ethnicity, but the manifestation of his incompetence, cluelessness and inferiority complex, and the fact that he is backed by a greedy, visionless and crooked cabal, both within his government and his party,’’ APC said.

The party said if indeed the PDP believes the opposition is sponsoring Boko Haram to stop

President Jonathan from realizing his so-called Transformation Agenda, what prevents the PDPled Federal Government from instituting a probe into all the incidences so far, and to unravel the sources of the sect’s weapons, as demanded recently by Gov. Murtala Nyako?

While noting that religious and ethnic violence predated the Jonathan administration and the fact that the present insurgency started after the spat between security forces and the Islamic preacher, Mohammed Yusuf, the APC said:“Even then, the insurgency that could have been quickly curtailed has worsened under President Jonathan because of his ineffectual leadership. Instead of tackling the insurgency decisively as a well-honed leader would have done, the clueless President and his equally feckless party have resorted to blaming the opposition and everyone but themselves for the worsening of the crisis,’’ it said.

Feckless party APC said the usual recourse to President Jonathan’s ethnic origin to cover his glaring nonperformance does not impress Nigerians, who are aware that as a minority, Jonathan could not have become President without the votes of the country’s majority ethnic groups- Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. ‘’In any case, if the PDP is arguing that President Jonathan is being ‘persecuted’ because he hails from a minority ethnic group, is it the majority ethnic groups that supposedly voted massively for him that are now persecuting him? And what will be their reasons for persecuting the same man they voted into office? ‘’The truth is that President Jonathan is overwhelmed by the demands of his office, and his party is more interested in looting the public treasury than assisting him to succeed,’’ the party said. ‘’The President and his party should admit their failure to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigeria and give way to those who are willing and able to perform.’’

Ekiti 2014: The die is cast Continues from page to the National Working Committee for his readmission to the party”.

“Sir, assuming without conceding that such recommendation has been made to the National Working Committee of the Party, such readmission has not been ratified by the National Executive Committee of the Party.

With some plotting against Fayose, the other major parties

in the contest, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Labour Party, LP this week also took significant steps.

As the PDP ward congress was going on in the state, about 400 kilometers away in Abuja, Governor Fayemi and a large entourage of APC stakeholders including National Assembly and State House of Assembly members followed him to pick the party’s nomination form at the party’s national secretariat.

While Fayemi the APC’s presumptive gubernatorial nominee was picking his form, the governor’s one time buddy, Rep. Opeyemi Bamidele was himself returning his own nomination form at the Labour Party, LP national secretariat in Abuja.

Bamidele is the presumptive nominee of the Labour Party in the unfolding contest that is bound to excite the political firmament.

28—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

T

HERE is no doubt that many Nigerians would express profound satisfaction that the awaited National Conference has begun in spite of negative attitude of certain notable politicians. The hope is that the spirit of give-and-take would prevail during the serious discussions.

Even before President Jonathan said it, the mood of the country is for unity in diversity so that causes of rancor could be eliminated. Nigerians would see the National Conference as a vehicle for proclaiming the principles of peace and the gospel of prosperity. The problem is how to bring many Nigerians together and how to manage the difficult situation arising out of what looked like a forced marriage of over one hundred years.

Though it might be too late to advise the delegates to the Conference because they might have made up their minds, but it might be necessary again to harp on some specific but strategic issues that had undermined and continue to affect the security of the nation. The country, as it has been noted, is deficient in structure and has affected the edifice.

The first aspect of the structure to be examined is the 36-State system – economically non-viable. Except in some States like those in the South-Western, South Eastern zones and Bayelsa (which contain people of same language and culture), others are made up of majority tribes and minority of other tribes. A State like Benue consists of the dominating Tiv tribe and other smaller tribes, with Idoma, an outstanding example. In politics, unless understanding prevails, it could be Tiv Governors forever.

The Delta State looks like a cauldron – a mixture of divergent and cultural distinct groups of Ibo, Urhobo, Isoko, Itsekiri and Ijaw. It is also the home of ethnic warlords. The Conference would look into how the dominating majorities and restless minorities could live side-by-side without any rancor or militancy. An example could be Counties (of the same

Towards the national conference of hope tribe) within a state or zone.

Another problem is the inadequacy of a centralized Police formation which negates any aspect of a Federal system. The most likely approach would be through decentralized police and judicial systems.

Each federating unit should support its police and security outfits (subject to general security provided by the federal authority.

A more challenging problem is that of crude-oil. The Federal Government has been vague but often ambivalent on the oil industry. There is often the vague description of crude oil as belonging to the “people of Nigeria” as opposed to “our oil” being claimed by the oil producing states. If crude oil being produced in Nigeria belongs sincerely to the people of Nigeria, what is the percentage of ownership?

I have suggested before a reasonable share of ownership of Nigerian oil. The oil producing states should be entitled to 60 per cent, federal government, 20 per cent and all other states, 20 per cent.

The production and other costs and profits should be shared accordingly. The volume of crude oil allocated to our Joint Venture partners belongs to their shareholders and not their governments.

It is absolutely necessary that the ambiguity surrounding the ownership of Nigerian oil should be laid to rest. The phrases “Nigerian oil” and “our oil” are worn-out phrases that do not make economic sense. The oil thieves and oil pipeline destroyers should know that the evil being perpetrated is against their own economic interests.

The right of every Nigerian to vote and be voted for should be thoroughly examined. The present electoral laws recognize only the candidates‘ of political parties and not individual candidate. Any individual candidate should be given right to contest for any position without hindrance. Also, voting procedure should be modified so there is no delay in voting once screening exercise has been completed. The composition of the Electoral Body should be re-examined in a federation, while the roles of security outfits should be clearly defined.

While the cry of “true federalism” is on the lips of all, the fiscal responsibilities of every federating unit should be clearly spelt out to avoid the monthly share-out by the Federal Government in Abuja.

What sort of Federal Government is required in a multi-national society? To

some analysts, the Federal Government should reflect the interest of all Nigerians expressed through votes in the States.

The Federal Cabinet should reflect genuine representatives from different states (zones) instead of the present party representatives under “winner-takeeverything” mentality. That has caused major problem with the present federal government being run only by the ruling party.

THE CRIMEAN CRISIS To European historians and world leaders, the present Crimean madness could not be a separate tragic political melo-drama from the 19th century‘s maintenance of ‘Balance of Power‘ by the European Powers of the decade. The Crimean crisis (1853) was a futile attempt

by Britain and France as members of the Holy Alliance to restrict Russian influence in the Balkans. Russia had failed to subdue Turkey (the sick baby of Europe) and disband its shaky empire.

Even if the 19th Century Crimean war was adjudged to be an act of aggression against Russia, the present crisis would be interpreted to be aggression by Russia against Ukraine and its new found friend Western Powers in NATO. Ukraine has been in political turmoil which led to the sack of its President who was pro-Russia and who was believed to have sought Russian help for his country. Ukraine was believed to be seeking admission into European Union, dominated by Western Powers.

Naturally, the Russian President Putin and the Russian people would not want the Western Powers extended over its neighbours. It should be remembered that the Cuba crisis was a direct result of President Kennedy‘s refusal to allow Russia to place missiles in Cuba. Thus, the Russian political offensive in the Crimea is nothing short of Russia paying back the Western Powers in their own coin – no enemy around Russian territories and neighbours (though through illegal land grabbing).

Boko Haram: It’s wicked to politicise insurgency — Okubor Continues from page 26 politicising of Boko Haram,” he said. He took exceptions to comments that our military is weak and hardly responds to Boko Haram attacks, saying: “Our military is not weak. People don’t know the terrain. The area is a place where you can drive for four hours in full speed without meeting vehicles from the opposite direction.”

Okubor, a Delta State governorship hopeful, who was recently endorsed for the job by the Delta Central Political Movement (DCPM), decried criticisms of President Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram insurgency, describing the critics as mischievous and uninformed.

Wondering what the critics, especially the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) expected Jonathan to do, which he had not done apart from declaring an outright war, he said the fact that the enemy is not defined makes it inadvisable to declare a full-blown war.

His words: “The enemy is undefined so you cannot declare an outright war. You may want to declare war, seal and lock down the whole place; anybody who is not a soldier you ask him to evacuate the area. If you are not carrying arms leave the town; let’s face the insurgents. That is an

option. Is that what they want?

The people in Borno are our brothers. I lived in Borno State; my first clinic was in Biu in Borno State. My first daughter was born in Biu. So, I feel what they feel.

War is not a good thing. It is only people who have never witnessed war that would be calling for war frivolously.”

On the opposition’s comments that President Jonathan had performed poorly since he came to power, Okubor said: “Jonathan’s achievements are understated. Nigeria is in a state of war.

Developmental achievements In a war situation, development is arrested world wide, not only in Nigeria. But in spite of that, Jonathan’s developmental achievements are understated.

The railways have been revamped and are working now but Jonathan is not making noise about it. The airports have been remodeled and are more beautiful; visitors coming to the country are surprised at the quality of our arrival halls because of the transformation that has taken place under Jonathan. But he is not shouting about it. Roads are being built and reconstructed across the

in the history of this country, Jonathan remains the most successful and exemplary liberal democrat.”

Besides, he said the APC is partly to blame for the murderous dimension Boko Haram has taken. Why? “When Boko Haram started, we had all manner of comments. Some said they were thugs, religious extremists or fundamentalists.

But whatever it is, they were mismanaged by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) government in Borno. That is why I say APC should keep quiet because those who mismanaged •Okubor: Jonathan’s achievements Boko Haram are in their midst.” are understated On Delta and Uduaghan country while the number of On the performance of hours of electricity supply is Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan increasing, having taken the bull of Delta State since 2007, he said by the horns and privatised the the governor was doing Power Holding Company of everything to make Delta have Nigeria (PHCN). How these “a healthy people and a healthy achievements have been successor generation” and leave submerged in the flow of APC’s lasting structures “that will make media campaign is surprising. It us less dependent on income shows that the President has to from oil and gas.” overhaul his information To achieve this, he said dissemination structure even Uduaghan, whom he described though the APC has advantage as a good example in leadership and leverage in terms of media has elected to carry out eternal control because as far as I know projects instead of bread and

butter projects.

“Uduaghan decided, ab initio, to take up projects of eternal significance; projects that will affect the economy of not only Delta State but also the neigbouring states. And not only affect them on the short run but affect them as a stimulant for long run, sustainable growth and development.

If he wants to do road, he thinks about a functional economic road.

What purpose is this road going to serve? So he built the a Federal Government road, Ughelli to Asaba because there was need to link it up with the Warri-Port Harcourt road and put the state within a ring of very good road so that people from Onitsha, which is the biggest market in West Africa can take their goods from Onitsha and move them to Warri.”

According to him, apart from the roads, there is also the Asaba airport that ambushing Lagos airport, which we call ambush economy as alternative airport for cargo.

He listed some of the developmental projects to include the Asaba International Airport, Asaba Ughelli road dualization, the zero to five (0-5) years free medical care and the scholarship programmes among others.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013 — 29

30 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 31

32 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

I get tired seeing guys trying to woo me — Florence Johnson

marketable? Hell no! There are lots of good movies out there now that don’t even involve sex scenes and they are breaking grounds and box offices.

,

By AYO ONIKOYI

F

lorence Johnson might have hit the big screen late when she took up her first big role in Finding Goodluck but as a theatre arts graduate of the University of Ibadan, Flo-Joh as she is fondly called by friends has been part of several productions both on stage and screen.

Her stage exploits include Kongi Harvest, by Wole Soyinka, No More Wasted Breed by Ola Rotimi, among many others but her pigeon is Tv series where she has

featured in popular ones like, So Wrong, So Wright, Papa Ajasco, Eldorado, to mention a few. Here, she bares it all on her career, marriage plans and other things that make her tick. Excerpts: What has been happening to you lately. It seems you have dumped acting?

No, I haven’t dumped acting, we are two inseparable lovers. Though, I’ve been busy doing other things and planning to float my own production.

You mean like producing your own films? It seems that is the trend

INSIDE Cynthia Morgan goes raunchy

nowadays?

(Laughs) I don’t know about the trend but yes, I’m planning to produce my own movie.

You know they say its all about sex and violence these days: do you subscribe to injection of soft-porn or sensual scenes into your films. Some say it makes it real and more marketable?

Well, as much as I believe in making a film real, I don’t believe in porn movies, it’s not in our culture. There are so many ways to make a film believable without having to go all porno. Do you have to do a porn film to make it

Olumaintain flaunts $60 000 wristwatch

I can be sexy in a movie but going nude or exposing my boobs to cameras.

That’s not the only thing I have

,

Nigeria SMILEs into affordable 4G/LTE service?

As a sexy actress, you must have used your sexuality in movies before.

You are well known for your sexy bust: haven’t you used this gift to good effect in movies before?

(Laughs) I get you now.... I don’t believe in nudity, it’s not my thing. Of course, I can be sexy in a movie but going nude or exposing my boobs to cameras, that’s not the only thing I have. I’m not one of the actresses that you see their body (nude), to get famous, my talent is enough for me.

My sexy body is secondary.

Are you married? I don’t think I have heard of your being married?

No, I am still very much single.

Most Nollywood women are guilty of marrying late or not marrying at all. Why is this?

I don’t know about that, it’s an individual thing and I don’t think it’s a Nollywood thing. Marriage to me, is not a rush-rush thing or a trend to follow, it’s an institution you must enter and pass. I don’t believe in divorce, so, I have to take my time for the right man who believes in my own policy to come along.

But seriously, is it that the guys don’t come or you have set high standards for yourself?

(Laughs) Would you see me like this and say guys don’t come my way? It’s not a brag, I get tired sometimes seeing guys trying to woo me, even though, I know most of them might not be with good intentions. But of course, I have my own standards when it comes to men. The man Continues on page 33

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—33

Synopsis RIDE ALONG: Ǧ

Ǧ

Continues on page 33 ǡ

Ǥ

Ǧ ʹͶǦ

ǡ ǯ

What are your views of marriage: isn’t all about sacrifice?

ǯ Ǥ ǡ

ǡ

Ǥ I know what works for most women: maybe the right rich guy hasn’t come along. You wouldn’t want to marry a poor man, would you?

ǯ Ǥ ǯ

ǡ ǯ ǡ

Ǥ Have you ever had a relationship within the industry and would you consider marrying a fellow entertainer? ǡ ǯ Ǥ

Ǥ

Ǥ

TOP MOVIES OF THE WEEK ABOUT LAST NIGHT BESTMAN HOLIDAY DEEP INSIDE

ROBOCOP BROTHER’S KEEPER

Exhibition Schedule from MAR, 20 — MAR, 27, 2014

A poor man is a violent man

Ǥ What was your first movie and how did you get it?

Finding Goodluck.

Ǥ

,

Have you ever been embarrassed by your big boobs or would you say it has helped in your career? ǡ ǯ

ǯ Ǥ

Finding Goodluck

ǡ

ǯ Ǧ Ǥ

ǡ

Ǥ

Ǥ ǯ

ǡ ǣ Ǯ ǡ

ǯǤ

Ǥ Finding Goodluck

Ǥ

Ǥ

Ǥ

Ǥ

Ǥ

No, I haven’t dated anybody in the industry.

It will be a bit difficult to marry a fellow entertainer because the stress will be too much on us

What do you first consider before you take up a job and have you ever had to reject a role because of the script?

Ǥ Ǥ ǡ

Ǥ What has been your most challenging role ever and why was it so challenging?

ǯ Finding GoodluckǤ

Ǥ ǡ

ǡ ǡ Ǥ Ǧ

Ǥ

Ǥ ǡ Ǥ

,

How would you compare shooting TV series to home videos; compare the experiences Ǥ ǯ ǯ ǡ Ǥ Ǥ

Ǥ ǯ

Please tell me how you came into acting and what influenced your decision ?

ǯ Ǥ

Ǥ

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, VICTORIA ISLAND ǣ ʹǣʹͲ ǡ͸ǣ͵Ͳ ǡͺǣ͵Ͳ ǣ ͳʹǣͲͲ ǡ͵ǣͶͷ ǣ ͺǣʹͲ ǣ ͳʹǣʹͲ ǡͶǣʹͷ ǡ͸ǣͲͷ ǣ ͵ǣͶͷ SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, IKEJA ǣͳͳǣͷͲ ǡͶǣ͵Ͳ ǡ͸ǣ͵Ͳ ǣ ͳͲǣ͵Ͳ ǡͷǣͲͷ ǣ ͳͲǣ͵Ͳ ǡͶǣͳͲ ǣ ͺǣ͵Ͳ ǣ ͳͳǣͶͷ ʹ ǣ ͸ǣͳͲ ǣ ͺǣ͵Ͳ ǣ ͳǣʹͷ ǡ͸ǣͲͷ ǣ ͳǣͶͷ Ͷ͹ ǣͳǣͷͲ SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, SEC ǣ ͶǣͷͲ ǡͻǣʹͲ ǣ ͳʹǣͲͲ ǡ͵ǣͶͲ ǣ ʹǣͳͲ ǡ͸ǣͳͲ ǡͺǣͳͲ ǣ ͸ǣͲͲ ǡͺǣͲͲ ǣ ͳʹǣʹͲ ǡʹǣ͵Ͳ ǡͶǣͷͲ ǡ͹ǣͳͲ ǡͻǣʹͷ

ǣ ͳʹǣͳͲ ǡͶǣͳͲ ǡ ǣ ͳͳǣͶͲ ǡʹǣͲͲ ǡͶǣʹͲ ǡ͸ǣͶͲ ǡͻǣͲͲ ǣ ͳǣͳͲ ǡ͵ǣ͵Ͳ ǡͷǣͷͲ ǡͺǣ͵Ͳ SILVERBIRD CINEMAS CEDDI PLAZA , ABUJA ͶǣͷͲ ǡͺǣͷͲ Ǣ ͳʹǣͷͲ ǡ͸ǣͷͲ ǣ ͳʹǣ͵Ͳ ǡʹǣ͵Ͳ ǡͶǣͶͲ ǡ͸ǣͶͲ ǡͺǣͶͲ ǣ ͳͳǣͳͲ ǡͳǣ͵Ͳ ǡ͵ǣͷͲ ǡ͸ǣͳͲ ǡͺǣ͵Ͳ ǯ ǣ ʹǣͷͲ SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, PORT HARCOURT ǣ ͳʹǣʹͲ ǡͶǣͶͲ ǡͺǣͷͲ ǣ ͳʹǣͷͲ ǡͶǣͷͲ ǡ ǣ ͳͳǣͶͷ ǡʹǣͲͲ ǡͶǣͳͲ ǡ͸ǣʹͷ ǡͺǣͶͲ ǣ ͶǣͲͲ ǡͺǣͶͲ

ǣ ʹǣͷͲ ǡ͸ǣͷͷ ǣ ͳͳǣ͵ͷ ǡͳǣͷͷ ǡͶǣͳͷ ǡ͸ǣ͵ͷ ǡͺǣͷͷ ǯ ǣ ͺǣͷͲ ǣ ͺǣʹͲ SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, UYO ǣͳʹǣͳͲ ǡʹǣͳͲ ͶǣͳͲ ǣ ͳͳǣ͵Ͳ ǡ͵ǣͲͲ ǡ͹ǣͲͲ ǣ ͳʹǣͲͷ ǡʹǣʹͷ ǡͶǣͶͲ ǡ͸ǣͷͷ ǣ ͸ǣͳͷ

ǣ ͳǣͲͲ ǡͷǣͲͲ ǣ ͳͳǣͶͷ ǡ ʹǣͲͷ ǡͶǣʹͷ ǡ͸ǣͶͷ ǯ ǣ ʹǣͳͷ ǡ͸ǣͷͲ ǣ ͳͳǣͷͲ ǡͶǣ͵Ͳ ǣ ͳǣͶͲ ǡͶǣͳͲ ǡ͸ǣͶͲ OZONE CINEMAS LAGOS ǣ ʹǣͳͲ ǡͶǣͲͷ ǡ͸ǣͲͲ ǡ͹ǣͷͲ ǣ ͳͲǣͲͲ ǡͳͳǣͶͷ ǡ ǣ ͳǣ͵ͷ ǡ͵ǣͳͷ ʹ ǣ ͳͳǣ͵Ͳ ǡ

34—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Olumaintain flaunts $60 000

Cynthia Morgan goes raunchy

wristwatch

By IYABO AINA

L

atest news going viral online stated that Yahoose crooner Olumide Adegbolu popularly known as Olumaintain has said that he spent $60 000 on just a wristwatch.

The Nigerian actor said this when E Rave reporter asked him what his most priced item is and he said it’s his $60, 000 wristwatch.

“I have a diamond wristwatch I got for $20,000 in 2009 and another gold plated Rolex wristwatch I bought recently which gulped $26,000. The diamond wristwatch is far ahead every other fashion item I have because the carat is quite heavy and the cheapest line of the watch you can get from the jeweller who customized mine presently costs about $60,000.

By KEHINDE AJOSE

C

ynthia Morgan is a dancehall artiste who is enjoying rave reviews from her hit song ’Don’t break my heart’.

She is signed on to Jude Okoye’s of Psquare label, Northside Entertainment label. One of the new changes in Cynthia’s music career is that she is playing up the sexy diva card just like the likes of Maheeda.

The Edo State-born songstress recently released some pictures from her new photo shoots where she unveiled her sexiness and undeniable alluring sex appeal in almost all the pictures.

Dr Frabz unveiled as music director on Nigerian Idol

By AYO ONIKOYI

A

frica’s biggest music reality show, Nigerian Idol has announced a new music director for its fourth season as the competition heats up for the Top 30 rounds.

Acting as the music director this season is, Award winning producer/singer Ayo Faboro, who is well known as Dr Frabz. He started his own music production company called N’sayne Entertainment and has produced smashing hit songs like Chuddy K’s ‘Slow Slow’, Shank’s ‘Too late’ and Weird MC’s ‘Riranwo’ among others. ”I expect that this season we will be able to help the best of the contestants to shine,” said Dr. Frabz.

Nigerian Idol airs on Saturday and Sunday’s on HIP TV, STV, Various Startimes Channels, DRTV Warri and CRBC Calabar.

The “Lekki Wives” take Manchester by Storm

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

B

lessing Effiom Egbe and her “Lekki wives” cast decided to go on a tour of U.K in order to première the hit show and also to generate buzz for the flick. After several media appearances in London , Adaora Ukoh, Keira Hewatch, Kiki Omeili arrived Manchester première of the show looking all glammed up.

With an enviable acceptance from their Manchester fans who waited patiently at the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate,

Manchester, it was indeed a night that will remain indelible.

The Baddest Boy Ever Liveth, Olamide added spice to the event by performing some of his hit songs.

2Face Joins BlackRealvolution Movement

By AYO ONIKOYI

M

ultiple award winning artiste, 2Face Idibia, popularly known for his exploits in music has pitched his tent with the #Blackrealvolution movement. The talented artiste, who is regarded as one of Nigeria’s veritable musical exports, said the Blackrealvolution movement represents peace, love and unity, values which he has strongly promoted through his award winning songs.

He said: “The #Blackrealvolution is about stirring up the spirit of consciousness and good tidings in Nigerians. The movement represents positivity, being our brother’s keeper and forming a united front against negative forces. I preach the message of love, peace and unity through many of my songs. And I have also written songs advocating for better leadership.”

He stated that the movement would be formally launched on Friday, March 28; asking that interested Nigerians should join the #Blackrealvolution.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—35

Entertainers’ mega endorsement deals and what they are worth

By JULIET EBIRIM

A

good number of Nigerian brands, especially in the telecommunications and banking sectors are now associating with creative personages in music and acting, to make their brands more endearing to their targeted audiences.

The trend which started a little over five years ago, has gained more relevance as a result of increasing exposure to television. The popularity of the entertainment industry is also giving fillip to brand ambassadorship.

Top celebrities in the Nigerian creative industry have, in the last five years, found this growing business a new way of making huge earnings. Some Nigerian top stars who have bagged major endorsement deals include;

2face

Born Innocent Idibia, the former member of the band, Plantashun Boyz, is said to be among the richest artistes in the industry. With two platinum records in his kitty, Tuface is speculated to be worth about N550m.

It comes as no surprise as he has had endorsement deals with brands like Guinness, which earned him N20m and Airtel, which earned him N22m.

He was also said to have earned N30m from the producers of Phat Girls movie, and charges between N4m and N5m for shows.

Omotola Jalade

As one of the most decorated actresses in Africa, Omotola scored a bygone when she made it to TIME magazine’s 2013 edition of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”.

Her TV reality series, “Omotola: The Real Me” generated a landmark viewership on M-NET’s Africa Magic when it debuted, and the mother-offour is now warming up for international break. The star actress and UN ambassador recently sealed a

multi-million naira deal. The singer is now the face of BO-16, a hair relaxer and hair care companyGhandour Cosmetics Limited.

Nobody knows what Ghandour is paying Omotola but with her gleeful declaration online “ Then I saw them, they will be my hair’s only companion for a couple of years- yeah, they paid that much” said so much. She was also the Face of Hollandia Milk.

Geneveive Nnaji

Nollywood queen Genevieve Nnaji is smiling all the way to the bank with her latest endorsement deal with telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria. The actress was unveiled as the company’s newest brand ambassador alongside actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim. Genevieve’s deal is alleged to be worth N100 Million and she will be the face of Etisalat’s brand new mobile package “Easy Flex”.This isn’t Genevieve’s first endorsement deal, although it’s her first major deal. In the past she had been the face of cosmetics brand MUD Cosmetics & Coscharis Motors as the face of luxury SUV “Range Rover Evoque” in Nigeria. She was also recently endorsed by Amstel alongside Chelsea footballer, Mikel Obi.

Banky W

Also known as Mr. Capable, Banky W has proved to Nigerians that he is capable of being among the richest entertainers in the industry. He makes the bulk of his wealth from gigs. He is said to charge between N2.5m and N3m per show and performs three to four times in a week. He is a brand ambassador of Etisalat, one of Nigeria’s telecommunications giants, where he featured in their popular commercial, 0809ja for life.

He also featured in Coca Cola-

Nigeria’s World Cup theme song and Microsoft’s Anti-cyber Crime Initiative. He is also hooked up with Samsung Mobile.

D’banj

Former Mo’Hits artiste, Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’Banj, signed a new endorsement deal with Globacom Nigeria. This is D’Banj’s second endorsement deal with the telecommunications company; the first ended in 2010 with the artiste’s refusal to extend his 2008 two-year contract. Although the exact amount agreed on was not made public, there is speculation that it is a jaw dropping sum and that it is most likely the priciest endorsement signing in 2013. The singer who has a penchant for making money, has a deal running into millions with Chris Aire, as the face of his watches and another one with UAC Foods. He collects between N5m and N7m as performance fee for local gigs. His first deal with Glo was said to have worth more than N70m while speculations are rife that his current deal with the telecom giant is in the region of N120m.

P-Square

The singing and dancing duo, Peter and Paul Okoye, are unarguably among the richest in the industry. They won the KORA award for Best Africa Artiste 2010. The award came with $1m (N150m).

Shortly after, the duo got an endorsement deal with Globacom telecommunications worth about N240m for four years. Their American tour of seven cities earned them a whopping $1m (N150m).

Their new deal is worth much more.

Kate Henshaw

Star actress, Kate Henshaw landed a major endorsement deal with Samsung Mobile Nigeria. By

this deal,the actress who is also a Nigeria’s Got Talent Judge, replaced Nigerian hip-hop artiste, Sasha, as the female brand ambassador for the company.The actress is also a brand ambassador for Blessings Perfume in the UK. She has also been a brand ambassador for telecommunications company, Globacom Limited. There are whispers that the actress pocketed scores of millions of naira.

Iyanya

Since his highly successful 2012 monster hit single ‘Kukere’, it has been one hit after another, one award after another and one endorsement contract after another for the once impoverished singer.

The pop singer recently closed a deal reportedly worth N35 million with mobile phone manufacturing company, SOLO Mobile. According to his publicist, Wildflower PR, the deal was iced with a brand new 2014 Prado SUV. Earlier in May 2013, the 27 year-old singer was lucky enough to have been included in MTN’s swoop of some of the major players in the music industry, becoming one of the company’s highest paid brand ambassadors in a N40 million deal. Zinox Technologies Limited, manufacturer of Nigeria’s first internationally certified branded computers was looking for a face to represent its brand, guess who quickly came to mind? None other than the rave of the moment, Iyanya. The Leo Stan-Ekeh owned techcompany put pen to paper, inked a deal and made Iyanya N56milion richer.

Others who have put pens to paper include Rita Dominic who was snapped up a couple of weeks ago by Keystone Bank Plc; Tiwa Savage has a mouthwatering deal with Forte Oil and Gas, MTN, Pepsi, among others; Wizkid, Hafiz Oyetoro, Mike Ezuruonye, Stephanie Okereke and a host of others are enjoying a new lease of life as brand ambassadors with millions of naira to the good.

36—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

BY EBELE ORAKPO

M

s. Oye Atilade is the Executive Director of Lagos-based Freedom Foundation, a faith-based NonGovernmental Organisation started in 2001 with the mission to reach out, give hope, rehabilitate, educate and empower impoverished persons in Nigeria through community-based programmes and initiatives in order to achieve individual and community transformation.

In this chat with Vanguard, Atilade speaks on the various programmes of the organisation, the sources of funding and the successes so far. Excerpts: Our programmes: Since 2001, we have initiated four programmes that are focused on children’s education, rehabilitation and empowerment.

Bethesda Child Support Agency: This provides quality healthcare, education, welfare and nutrition for orphaned and vulnerable children.

Under Bethesda we have four schools (from nursery to Form six) providing free education for about 415 children right now and over 200 children in partner schools. We still go out into the communities and reach out to other children so it’s not just the schools; we do provide education but there is also healthcare and welfare of the children and their families – guardians and parents - and then nutrition. We have reached out to about 3,000 orphaned and vulnerable children. That is the children’s education aspect.

Genesis House: This is a rehabilitation centre, young girls/young women between ages 13 to 35 that have been trafficked and sexually abused and exploited. We have girls that have run to us; we have girls that were referred to us; we’ve had situations where we have gone into communities and actually purchased these girls from their owners. The sources vary but the main thing is to bring them into the home. It is a nine to 18 months programme, individually tailored to each of the girls depending on their needs but covering spiritual development and education.

At 10 – 15 years of age, some of them do not even know how to read and write or their education was cut short so we try to get them to a point where they can read and write, process, do their math and can become independent somewhat.

We also teach them vocational skills like beadmaking and craft work in the home. Then we get some of these kids, who are willing and of age, into schools. In the house now, we have six students in partner schools – four day students and one in boarding house. Then we have one lady in the university. We also have girls who graduated from the

From Left: Ms. Oye Atilade,Executive Director, Freedom Foundation with Jacklyn Arigbe, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director and Sanya Olufemi, IT and Marketing. Inset is an Empowerment session going on at Freedom Foundation. PHOTO BY AKEEM SALAU.

We are always working to help the less privileged — Oye Atilade house and have started their own businesses or they are working or have been reunited with their families because that is the goal. The endgame is to get them on their feet and reunited with their families.

House of Refuge: This is the drug rehabilitation centre.

People challenged with drug abuse and drug addicts; we try to rehabilitate them, get them off the drugs and back on their feet.

Freedom Empowerment: In Freedom Empowerment, we work with young men and women who have little or no education. We teach them a vocational skill or business so they can start their own small businesses. We get them into jobs, provide career counseling, mentoring and sponsorship for them.

How do you get these children?

The visionaries are Pastor Tony Rapu and his wife, Mrs Nkoyo Rapu. They had the calling to help the less privileged; people that are challenged with social and

economic disadvantages. So that is where it came from.

They are the founders.

Bethesda is run by Mrs Nkoyo Rapu. She has a calling for children. So when they go into communities and see children on the streets instead of in schools during the day time, that is usually where she starts working with the children. She visits their families and then try to get

In Bethesda we have reached out to up to 3,000 orphaned and vulnerable children and currently, we have 600 in school

them into schools. She then started building schools. She goes into a community where there are a lot of children that are not going to school, and she decides that there is a need to have a school in such community.

How do you fund these programmes?

That is the key thing. We reach out to partners and sponsors. That is why exposure is good because the more people know what we are doing, the more we can reach out to them to sponsor us. Sponsorship is in cash and kind. You can give us money, you can partner with us, you can work with the organisation to create training programmes for Freedom Empowerment.

We currently have a programme with Barclays Bank where we are training 1,500 people. We just graduated about 200 of them.

We also hold fundraising events, marketing events and reaching out to partners and donors to help with the work.

How successful has it been and what are the challenges?

It has been immensely

successful. For every life we save, it is a success and every month, quarter or year, we still keep doing things, trying to help as much as we can.

Right now in Genesis House, we have 21 girls but since it came into operation, which is seven years now, we have graduated close to 200 girls and we have helped much more than that. In House of Refuge, we have rehabilitated over 60 boys and young men.

In Freedom Empowerment, we have trained over 1,000 young men and women. Like I said, in Bethesda we have reached out to up to 3,000 orphaned and vulnerable children and currently, we have 600 in school.

After the rehabilitation programme, what do you do with those who are not reunited with their families?

Well, it depends on the age.

Some of them are over 18 and 21 years so they can start their own businesses, they can have a career of their own and start working so that is success too.

What if they decide to stay back and help?

Again, it is a set programme, we are trying to get them on their feet so in the house now, we do have a couple of young ladies that have graduated from the programme but they have been hired back to help. Then we have a hostel that is

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—37

Oye Atilade highly subsidized but the point is actually when some of these girls graduate, they are working, they have money but you know the cost of housing in Lagos State and to get two years rent and the fees and everything, it’s hard so we help them and put them in the hostel until they are able to get something together and go. The point is that we don’t throw anybody away and say ‘your time is up so go’. No, we are always working to help them. From the time they get to us, we develop the programme for them. We also try to reach out to their families to judge the situation.

Let’s be honest here, sometimes some of their family members are the ones that put them in their situation by either marrying them off at an tender age or selling them off in some cases so that the money gets sent back to them; so we are very careful with reuniting our beneficiaries with their families because they may end up worse off.

They may even end up running away.

How can people and organizations help?

We need all the help we can get. The work is plenty but the workers are few. We need donors, sponsors and partners.

It costs about N90,000 per annum to sponsor a child in school at Bethesda and we work to sponsor them from nursery through primary, secondary and then university until they are on their feet and economically independent. It costs about N60,000 per month to sponsor a girl in Genesis House; N20,000 for business and vocational skills training per individual.

Obiageli Ezekwesili, Waje, Hon. Funmi Tejuosho celebrate womanhood at The 100 Unsung Heroines Project launch in Lagos

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

T

HE Unsung Heroine project dedicated to the celebration and appreciation of the achievements of women in our society was launched recently in Lagos.

The project will according to the coordinators will provide the opportunity for women in the society who have constantly been ignored and neglected to gain recognition for their achievements and strides. The project which is yearlong campaign will witness organizers visit various states of the Federation through villages and communities in search of women doing exceptionally well in their various communities.

Visionary and project coordinator of the project; Bayo Omoboriowo said “Nigeria women have exceptional stories.

These women are fabric of society today, without whom we won’t be seated here today. I was amazed when I met a woman whom from the little profits she makes from the sale of bottled drinks, has been able to train her kids in schools outside the country.”

“Somewhere down the road in the archives of history, the events of today will be referred to as one of the events of our

I

N an age where women’s economic development forms the crux of most gender debates, only an insignificant number of women seem to have come to terms with the vast possibilities that technology, especially social media platforms such as Google Plus to Flickr, MySpace, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, hi5, Ning and Friendster, hold for personal growth and business enhancement.

“Social media, and more generally information technology, holds a lot of potentials for showcasing a brand, identifying prospects and converting them to customers and supporters, increase digital exposure, enhancing company trustworthiness and cut

time that shaped womanhood.” Dr Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili speaking at the event said “Quality education for the girl child is not just as a tool for transforming them into human capital, but as a means of making them very effective decision makers.When women are able to make decisions effectively it has a very high collateral positive effect in the society and community she belongs to”.

Mama Makoko as she is popularly called, has sent over 5,000 children to school in Makoko, a slum located in Lagos, Nigeria.

Women advised to use social media wisely

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

•Obiageli Ezekwesili

marketing.

“This is not surprising when one considers that the number of online Nigerians is estimated to be 48 million (about 28% of the entire population), which represents significant business opportunities”, said Oreoluwa Somolu, Founder/Executive Director, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre, W.TEC, while speaking recently at an event organised in Lagos by W.TEC on how women could do business the social way.

Reeling out clues on how women could strategically engage the various platforms, Nkem Begho, Managing Director, Future Software Resources Nigeria Limited and Adenike Ogunlana, CEO/Founder, Exodus Stores, two women entrepreneurs that have notably built their businesses by

employing social media, said: “Update your profile and post consistently and innovatively. If for instance you’re selling poor water, you don’t just go about posting “I sell pure water; buy my pure water” every hour. Your followers will get bored and eventually unlike or stop following you! Instead, you can say “Do you know 50% of the human body is made up of water? So, you should drink water because your body needs it”.

Later, you can say: “Do you know water can clear your skin and get rid of pimples and acne?” Later you can add other posts that would interest followers in your product”.

•Waje Guest at the event include Princess Funmi Tejuosho, Chairman Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Finance, Benni Uche, Public Affairs Unit US Embassy, Ace Photographer, Aisha Augie –Kuta, Waje, Wana Udoabang, Osayi OrueneChairperson WIMBIZ, Pamela Schwoll - Wife of the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Adebola Williams, Founding Partner Red Media Africa- amongst many others.

Bayo Omoboriowo added “Until we start celebrating these women who are doing great things we will be limiting the possibility of building other role models and upcoming heroines. We are doing this project to celebrate these women, let the world see and appreciate them. In doing so, we can thereby build more role models that will be contributing to National Development.”

The event also witnessed many of the unsung heroines in our society who have been neglected, part of whom was the popular Mama Makoko of the Makoko community in Lagos.

38 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

With PRINCE OSUAGWU princeosuagwu@gmail.com 08050498513

Five major attractions for the Samsung Galaxy S5

BY LAJU ARENYEKA

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SHOCKING!

All iPhones in Nigeria not authorized for the market

W

ait a minute! Could this be true-That all the iPhones in Nigeria have no official record? Does that mean that all the iPhones used by Nigerians came from either the back door or are at best not authorized?

If you ask Rutgers-Jan Van Spaandonk of Core Group Africa, authorized Apple distributors in Africa, he wouldn’t mince words to say yes.

He tactically underscored this fact Monday, when he announced to a select ICT journalists that for the first time, Apple was going to officially make iPhone available in Nigeria by April.

It means that if you are currently using the iPhone, there is no known record of your phone in this region and as a result, accessing the warranty may be quite difficult should the phone go faulty.

But from April, according to Spaandonk, any Nigerian who purchases any brand of iPhone, from authorized dealers, would not only get and enjoy the warranty on his phone, but would have such phones recorded against his name.

What that means is that anywhere in the world that particular iPhone is spotted, it could be easily traced back to the rightful owner.

But a major attraction of this new development is that like its iPad devices in Nigeria here, potential users who have salary accounts in Stanbic IBTC can acquire their iPhones at zero balance and pay in 12 months.Core

Africa Group is Official distributors of Apple in 13 countries of the world.

It is adopting this vendor financing collaboration with the bank, taking a cue from America where not only banks but mobile operators sign pact with device makers with the aim of getting users have them at affordable, comfortable platform.

He warned those who acquire devices from outside the country at a very cheap rate not to gloat because certain factors brought about it.

Spaandonk said that unfortunately, majority of those phones are either sub standard or fake advising that people should always go for authorized resellers when making purchases of devices.

Justifying the price differentiation, he noted that Import duties are heavy here even as other expenses are also made before bringing in goods into the country.

Nigeria SMILEs into af dable 4G/L TE afffor ordable 4G/LTE ser vice? service?

T he story of internet data bundle in Nigeria always comes with a frown. Whether that is why a new service provider in that genre, Smile Communications chose its name, is to be seen in weeks and months to come when its services have gained ground.

Launching its 4G/LTE services in Lagos at the weekend, Smile said its mission was to bring smile to the faces of Nigerians whose experiences of subscribing to broadband services are near unsavoury.

To express its seriousness, the company rolled out services in Ibadan and Lagos, promising to hit Abuja, Port Harcourt and other major cities shortly.

Smile’s services, according to Group Chief Operating Officer, Tom Allen, would offer an improved mobile broadband experience based on LTE technologies to subscribers.

Meanwhile, the company said it was talking tough because renowned network infrastructure vendors Ericsson, is its primary vendor for the LTE radio network. The services are leveraging on the multi-standard RBS 6000 family of base stations and

•Smile 4G dungle

the compact and fully integrated AIR (Antenna Integrated Radio) Antennas, deployed in West Africa for the first time.

Ericsson will also provide a complete Evolved Packet Core network including Evolved Packet Gateway and Mobility Management Entity.

Allen, said that “at Smile Communications, we seek to deliver affordable, high-quality and easy-touse broadband internet access and communications services to our customers and in Nigeria, Ericsson is helping us do this. With successful commercial operations since 2013, we are very excited to formally announce today the commencement of our services and the beginning of a crosscountry roll-out. We are starting in Lagos and will lay our footprints in other major cities across the country shortly.’’

Smile Communications and Ericsson have a 3-year network deployment agreement to develop over 1,100 LTE sites across the country.

one are the days when humans bought devices ‘simply because.’ Today, more than ever before, people around the globe want to buy a device that meets their needs. The Nigerian consumer is no different. In actual fact, he wants a phone that is an extension of himself; one that can withstand the harmattan dust and the unwanted rain. He would like to spend his money on a phone that is forgiving of the country’s erratic power supply and still take as many pictures as possible. He wants a device that can keep him fit and help him have fun in the process. Experts say that the Galaxy S5 set to be released in April is such a phone.

Its outdoor ruggedness is unequivocal.

With an IP 67 rating, manufacturers say the S5 can be soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and will resurrect unscathed.

Its power saver mode also shuts down applications that are not in use, making the battery life span for up to 24 hours.

The phone also comes with a finger print scanner that not only ensures phone security, but can be used to connect to third party payment systems like paypal. The S5 is also a fun phone, with a faster autofocus camera than its predecessors.

For health watchers, the phone comes with an in-built heart rate monitor can read your heart rate by simply scanning your finger print. With its outdoor, power, security, fun and fit qualities, the Galaxy S5 sure seems like one to look forward to.

Samsung’s new range of devices seems to have these qualities in common. The wearable Galaxy Gear 2 now also has an inbuilt heart rate monitor. With the microphone, speaker and camera away from the strap of the wrist-watch like device, and now in the main gear, users can change their straps as many times as they want. The Gear 2, as well as the Gear Fit which focuses on fitness are also IP67 rated. Samsung’s Galaxy Note PRO tempts users to do away with the PC altogether.

With a 12.2 inch screen, a detachable keyboard and a multi window quad view, the Note PRO comes with freebies worth over 700 dollars. Kids aren’t left out as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids with its kid-friendly user interface also has child centric pre-loaded freebies.

•Samsung Galaxy S5

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 39

Who says the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable? (3) This is the concluding part of this discourse. The second part was published yesterday

Map of Nigeria

BY LOUIS ODION

er-in-chief, now better known as the prayer-warrior-inchief, harped on unity as a critical resource for national growth and development. Perhaps, his most memorable line was: “Whatever is wrong, whatever is negative with 1914, it is now the duty of all Nigerians today to make it positive and better.”

Also on hand to market Nigeria today were Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, as well as representatives of the governors of Osun and Plateau States. Uduaghan imagined “Delta Beyond Oil”. Yuguda unveiled the fortune awaiting tourists at Yankari Games Reserve. Once invited to speak on a presentation made by Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, the usually frank Edo governor did not disappoint. “I think we have done enough talking back at home,” Governor Oshiomhole began. “Talk is cheap. Let us abandon rhetoric and start action now. I share Professor Nebo’s optimism that Nigeria is world’s next economic miracle waiting to happen. For me, the good news is that there is greater awareness among the political leadership today that there is no way we can become a truly great economy if we don’t do away with the culture of consumption without production.”

On why Edo offers investors more incentives, Oshiomhole revealed that his state is the custodian of vast gas deposit and equally vast fertile land stock to drive agro-allied industries. Just as the state was described as the nation’s true gateway, linking South-west with the Southsouth and North: “From Lagos, you can connect Benin in thirty minutes. From Abuja, you also get to Benin in less than forty minutes.”

I am happy Delta is building a port. They To Uduaghan who had are building it for Edo investors proudly declared that Delta was building a state-of-the-art seaport, rade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State governor, Oshiomhole teased, “I am happy Delta is buildit was an opportunity to share some bitter truths. ing a port. They are building it for Edo invesBefore then, humour had momentarily swept tors”, eliciting rapturous laughter from the authrough the high-ceilinged hall in the chilly dience. Oshiomhole ended by illustrating with London morning. On arrival at the venue in the parable of an elephant on its knees: “With Central London, the former labour president, our abundant resources, Nigeria today is like bedecked in an unusual suit and tie, was natu- an elephant on its knees that is struggling to rally the cynosure of delegates from Nigerians get up. Once it manages to rise, it will shake the used to seeing him in khaki safari or casual shirt entire forest.” and trousers. One guy was heard saying: “This With that, Oshiomhole no doubt speaks to centenary wonder shall not end o, see Com- Nigeria’s contemporary riddle: oil price stabirade in sharp suit!” lizing at a relatively high mark years on end Earlier in the hotel room, close aides had would suggest rising national prosperity, yet the teased that the Comrade came to London in his living condition of the majority of the people ‘Sunday’s best’ probably to impress the Queen. only confirms mounting poverty. Official growth Ever a humour bag himself, Oshiomhole at- statistics churned out in Abuja continue to protempted to explain the sartorial aberration away: claim rising tide. For 2012, we are told 6.3 per“At the freezing level of today, you cannot call cent economic growth was recorded. Our GDP the British weather a comrade. Unfortunately, would soar above 7 percent in 2013. They say there is no room for people like us to protest this foreign portfolio inflows continue to overtake dictatorship of nature. Otherwise, if you go out foreign direct investment (FDI) with more than in ordinary shirt and trousers, people are likely 76 percent share of capital inflows between Janto mistake you for someone trying to commit uary and June 2013. suicide.”

But against the backcloth of these rosy figAfter the moderator’s opening remarks, the ures, ordinary Nigerians are only left wondertone for the conversation was set by Nigeria’s ing why the stated rising tide has not lifted their former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. individual economic boats.

Predictably, the Nigeria’s war-time commandTo be concluded

T

HE debate stirred by Nigeria’s centenary is not about to end. Amid the week-long commemorative dancing and feasting in Abuja penultimate week, it was clear the nation’s presence of mind was acutely impaired. The few rousing oratories at the Abuja garden would hardly temper the feelings of depression and anger nationwide. Public outrage over the callous murder of dozens of innocent Yobe students

by Boko Haram insurgents was just as intense as the affray over the ‘pollution’ of the centenary’s honour list with some names considered unworthy.

Now, with the Abuja marque long deserted by revelers and freeloaders, questions are bound to be posed in the times ahead: exactly what central message was sent to Nigerians? Doubtless, Abuja drew some of the nation’s best and brightest that day. But also gathered there were some of the very demons and principalities whose sundry deeds of omission and commission account for the nation’s enduring paradox: hunger amid plenty.

But, beyond those colourful costumes, the songs and dance, what would now be remembered the day after? Perhaps the most elementary lesson history teaches is the power of moment. It refers to that unusual convergence of opportunity and talent. The defining hour, that is. Nations lucky enough to be led by visionary leaders and were sober and skillful enough to leverage communal resource at such historic crossroads had always transited thereafter to greatness. France would, for instance, forever romanticize 1789; Britain 1066; post-Communist Russia 1991; Turkey 1483; America 1776; Turkey 1483...

So, when is Nigeria’s? Wither Nigeria in another century? Such weighty questions would again resonate on the side of the Atlantic in London penultimate Monday. The occasion was an investment round-table at the Institute of Directors (IOD) to mark the Commonwealth Day and Nigeria’s Centenary celebration. For Com-

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BY PETER AWELEWA ADEBIYI

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HE Western Nigeria used to be in good shape when Nigeria was administered through three and later four Regions. This fact must be considered by the National Conference.

The country is now divided into six geopolitical zones. These zones can go ahead to govern themselves. I am of the opinion that the Yorubas, of whom I am a part, are more than ready to go back home and work hard to bring our children out of the mess the New lease present system of governance has of life thrown them into.

Let each zone decide its own Nigeria in a way is like the fate and take care of itself. Our prodigal son who squandered all main problem stems from inter- that God freely gave him. Let each fering into the affairs of other prodigal son from six geo-politizones. The rich forests for farm- cal zones of Nigeria go back home ing, was given to the Western to God! What happened to the zone by ‘Olodumare’ (God). He biblical prodigal son in the Bible planted them there to work, farm when he had a re-think of his and make a living. He gave the ways, will repeat itself and Nigebig waters - the sea to the South- ria will surely be well again. Then, ern zone and gave magnificent from the emerging abundance of stones, rocks and valuable solid their wealth, they will donate freeminerals to the Northern part. ly of their resources to the FederGod also endowed the West with al Government in Abuja. By that other minerals such as, gold, bi- time, whoever is the President will tumen etc. which are embedded no longer bother anybody else in the earth all over Yoruba land. because he will reap from the The eastern zone is generously abundance of all the geo-politiblessed with coal and abundant cal zones. He will be happy and agricultural products. All these comfortable in his “Aso Rock”. z o n e s surely Nigeria in a way is like the prodigal have more son who squandered all that God freet h a n e n o u g h ly gave him. Let each prodigal son gifts from from six geo-political zones of NigeGod. G o d ria go back home to God! gave those The geo-political zones will also in the South-South zone of Nigeria fish, water, rubber, crude oil be comfortable because they have etc. Indeed, God made available the capacity to feed themselves, adequate natural resources for educate their children and give every geo-political zone, sufficient their people a good lease of life. enough to cater for the needs of At that time, it will be the Regions the inhabitants and their children that will feed the leaders of fain their generations. Why then are therland (Nigeria) at the centre we not content with these provi- (the Federal Government). It will sions freely given by God in our no longer be the father sitting specific areas and work hard to somewhere, eating fat and burstearn a decent living with which ing from the seams while the chilto take care of our children, wives dren go hungry!

When this happens, we will all and relations?

The other five geo-political have a better country where all zones of Nigeria have since ig- citizens will be happy and connored or abandoned what God tented except the lazy ones. It is had given them and are all inter- only then that it would be said ested in the resources of the with joy and gladness, that the South-South zone. They have not unity of Nigeria is non-negotiaonly coveted the crude oil of that ble. Anything short of the above zone, but have gone ahead to is a mirage and will not hold wasteal it, thereby impoverishing the ter. As at today, the unity of Nirightful owners. In the process, geria is highly negotiable. Let all these intruders have polluted the compatriots be up and doing, and waters of the South-South zone, make hay while the sun is yet destroyed their valuable fishes shining. Tomorrow may be too and water animals and have late. gradually turned their arable •The Rt. Revd. Dr Peter Awelefarms to waste! God is certainly not happy about these covetous wa Adebiyi is the former Bishacts being perpetrated by the rest op of the Diocese of Lagos West, of Nigeria against the people of Church of Nigeria (Anglican the South-South Region. He is not Communion)

,

Nigeria’s centenary: To make parts truly whole

happy that other Nigerians are also enriching themselves at the detriment of the legitimate owners of these resources.

In the South West today, cocoa plantations have almost been depleted. Kolanuts are no longer available in their quantities; the palm trees have grown wild and our children have abandoned our farms for life in the popular cities where there are no job opportunities presently. They have turned themselves into prodigal children. In the story of the prodigal son in the Holy Bible, we are told that when the prodigal son came back to his senses, he returned home and there was a warm reception for him. He was given new clothes, shoes and rings to wear. Above all, he had enough food and got a new lease of life.

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40— VANGUARD,

FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 the topic. However, we had previous lectures based on general topic and this is the first one peculiar to a particular gender. Women are so important that if we guide them aright and if men are also guided aright to understand how best to relate with our women, it will be for the overall improvement of the practice of Islam.

S

Women are bridge builders — TAOFEEQ

A

lhaji Taofeeq Adeseun is the zonal Chairman of Lagos Zone 1 of Nasru-Lahi-lFatih Society of Nigeria, NASFAT. In this interview, he expresses the importance of women in the development of society and in Islam among other issues. Excerpts.

By ADERONKE ADEYERI

M

eeting together to learn the teachings of Allah and Prophet Muhammad is quintessential in Islam, why did you make this important aspect a quarterly arrangement?

Organizing this conference firstly, is in fulfilment with our constitutional responsibility as a zonal headquarters. The constitution makes it clear that all the organs popularly known as branches under the NasruLahi-l- Fatih Society of Nigeria NASFAT meets periodically to have a progressive review of the objectives and how to achieve them. Also, to share practice in keeping with that objectives stated in the constitution and therefore we have chose to meet every three months. The conference is also a platform to educate, inform and enlighten one another about the teachings of Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) and to also work on how the zone progresses and getting to understand and tackle every challenge that comes our way as an organ in this noble society. Essentially, the conference is set with the objective to propagate and promote Islam.

If the conference is of the objective of propagating and promoting Islam, why is it restricted among members of NASFAT only?

Well, this is one of our next objectives which I believe the coming administration will work on. Although, there is a program known as Dawah which is not an insular program . Dawah is a program for those

•Taofeeq

outside because it is like speaking to the converted when you are inside . So taking such a program outside will assist in drawing more people to Islam.

But organizing such program would be more challenging. We will have to get an appropriate and befitting venue, create awareness, more publicity and many other things . But I believe very soon, insha Allah, when I am asked such question again, I will be able to answer in the affirmative but our zonal conference is taken the shape of a Dawah program that is extended to the general public.

So, why the choice of the

topic at a time like this when the country is facing the challenges of insecurity and corruption?

If you look at the teachings of Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w), you will agree with me that when you teach one person, you have only educated an individual but when you teach a woman, you educate the whole community. Women are the cements that bind the blocks in the family. Also, when a woman gets it right in the house, that entire household will be more in line with the tenets of Islam. So, it is with this knowledge we came about

o, are you doing anything on the issue of insecurity and corruption?

I agree that security and safety is of key value to Islam and humanity. But I will come again to the central role of women. If you look at a woman who has control over her household, we will not have children matured into young men who wreak havoc. My mother use to say something when I was growing up “Remember the child of who you are” and I had this phrase to the point of irritation. But every time, even as an undergraduate I cannot count the number of times this inspirational phrase has stopped me from misbehaving or getting me into trouble. I had this fear that how will I face my mother if she hears any evil report about me. A woman who knows the clothes her child has is the one who would know when the child has started stealing. A woman who can tongue lash her child to the extent of telling the child to kill her first before misbehaving is the woman who gets it right.

B

eyond all these, NASFAT as a leading and organized society had a security focused conference at a national level that the Sultan attended, some Christian folks were also in attendance in Abuja which was well publicized in 2012 at the heat of this Boko Haram crisis. One point I will like to stress is that the belief that Muslims are

involved in the trouble in the north is erroneous. You cannot find somebody who call himself a true Muslim involved in the killing of innocent people.

Hence, that somebody claims to be something does not mean he is. These are people who do not have proper understanding of Islam and are going about doing whatever they like in a way Allah forbids and has promised he will punish them for.

As the zonal chairman of Lagos Zone 1, what are those things you have put together to push the zone forward?

As the chairman of this zone, the first thing we did is to have a sense of purpose and unity.

At the last general conference held in Ilorin, Kwara State, our assessment was very clear that in all parameters, Lagos Zone 1 came first which means that we have pushed this Zone forward. This is based on team spirit that we have put in every one and a sense of been guided by what Allah instructs us to do through the teachings of his prophets. Anyone who is guided by what Allah dictates is bound to come out as number one. We are guided in this Zone strictly by what the Qu’ran hadiths and constitution of NASFAT say, we behave in way that is uniform and seeks to improve on things we have done in the past.

Any project in place under your leadership?

Before any administration can achieve any of its set objectives, the administration would have to build a good structure. If we embark on projects without having a good structure, the projects will be short lived and that is why what we concentrated on. We have some projects that we want to embark on like the library, health and social responsibilities to our community. I mean reaching out to our neighborhood. So, we believe with Allah by our side we will get there.

NSCIA mourns death of 20 NIS applicants *Blames tragedy on corruption

T

he Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, has blamed the stampede and death of over 20 Nigeria Immigration Service applicant last weekend on the scourge of corruption at all levels of government in the country.

In a statement signed by the Chairman of Media Committe of the body, Alhaji Femi Abass, it stated that despite its continued call on government to nip the scourge in the bud, the monster continued unchecked.

He said: “The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) is once again nonplussed by last weekend’s tragedy occasioned by the unfortunate recruitment exercise organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on behalf of Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) causing the sudden death of over 20 applicants.” “The unwarranted precipitated tragedy has further confirmed that the root cause of the multi dimensional problems of the country is corruption.” “It is unbelievably amazing that the same youths who had been compelled to serve their fatherland

through the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) could be lured to premature death so cheaply in a country where employment ought to be a right rather than a privilege.”

“On many occasions in the recent and remote past, the NSCIA had called on the authorities at federal and state levels to work towards elimination of corruption in the land as a way of ventilating security and peace. But rather than doing this, the evil monster called corruption keeps rearing its ugly head as it spreads its tentacle to the detriment of the nation and the future of our youths through the evil machination of those who should be responsible for its elimination.”

“With or without any investigation, into the immediate and remote causes of that tragedy, it is apparent that corruption played a prominent role as usual. The real tragedy in this is not the incident alone but also in the inconsequential lip service that would be emotionally paid to it through the passing of buck while the families of the victims keep mourning in endless agony. Such has happened

again and again even as the nation groans painfully under the spell of the ruining phenomenon called corruption and there is no hope that it may end in a foreseeable future.” “As we mourn, some vital questions become pertinent to ask if the teeming jobless youths were charged N1000 each as form fee as reported in some quarters and if it was true that the recruitment exercise had earlier been put on hold by the National Assembly on suspicion of irregularities?

Again, we would like to ask if it was true that over six million job seekers applied for less than five thousand vacancies out of which about half a million were shortlisted and invited for screening and if all the invited candidates were scheduled for screening on one and the same day without adequate security arrangement for their safety?

The statement further surmised that over 80% of the advertised vacancies had been secretly allotted to some influential Nigerians thereby leaving only 20% of about 5000 vacancies to over half a million applicants at the expense of merit.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 —

41

News & Events

Boko Haram: It's a delibrate attempt to misrepresent Islam — Capt Joji (2)

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

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aptain Mohammed Joji, a former Managing Director of the defunct Nigerian Airways, is one of the Arewa Consultative Forum leaders. At his home in Kaduna, Joji expresses concerns over politicisation of security challenges suggesting ways out of the doldrums. Excerpts: But why do you think that some people could go the extent of using religious dimension as a tool to fight political cause?

This is a Christian from the western world where probably only ten percent of their population believing in God, anyway. But the guy went up and said he wanted the centre of Islamic banking to be in the United Kingdom. Cameron, the current Prime Minister, is now going to borrow money from Islamic banking system and has adopted Islamic financing.

He said it is the best place to go and borrow money.

During the time of Obasanjo, what happened? He looked at our currency and saw that there is Arabic inscription on N10 note. They wrote ‘ten naira’ in English; and ‘naira goma’ in

comes from a supernatural being other than Allah? But about our own religious sensibility they must make noise, shout and fight. These are the kind of people that are creating problems in this country.

How can we grow this way?

Some people infer that most countries in crises are Muslim countries, what relationship does Islam has with crises?

Who instituted the crises? Arab Springs. The best standard of living in Egypt was during Hosni Mubarak. Then they would mention Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia. Those countries used to have the best standards of living. What is happening there now? These are the people that grew up in the West. They have been brainwashed in the way of dictatorship. Saudi Arabia is monarchy, the same with Kuwait and Bahrain. Why don’t you ask them to demolish their monarch systems?

So, the crises you see in those countries are creation of the West. What is happening there is war against Islam You called

,

I am a Muslim and I am proud to be, to label Muslims criminals in the light of the Boko Haram is unacceptable and on that I stand

Arabic letters.

They are not against ‘naira goma’ being Hausa Language but they wanted it changed because of it is Arabic. Now, what do we have here is insincerity. English is a biblical and Christian Language. Are we Muslims saying ‘ten naira’ must be canceled from N10 note?

We don’t rule by religion.

Shamelessly our national Language is English but English is the language of the Bible. We accepted it even as Muslims and we don’t complain about it. Instead, we take our time to, on our individual level, learn to know the language of our own religion and the Qur’an. Why should we complain in the first place? Are Christians or Christianity not creatures of Allah? Is there anybody who can beat his chest and say he

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Gaddafi a dictator but what is happening in Libya now? Libya is finished. In Syria, the people were proud of themselves; they never went hungry. But now, they are in sorry situation. Iran put down its foot and that is why they are surviving because they knew that they couldn’t touch Iran in any circumstances.

So, let us be careful when they say Muslim, Muslim, Muslim!

They allow it to happen by instituting weak leaderships.

You cannot install a weak leader and still remain the same. That is the problem you have in those places.

You see, democracy is relative.

Britain’s democracy is over 500 years ago. America’s democracy is over 300 years ago. If you read some Asian stories, you will discover that even the Greeks who invented democracy regretted it once upon a time. Is this really a

Abubakar Rasheedat (Zonal Welfare Coordinator), Alhaja Somade-Idowu Faoziat Olusola(Zonal Women Secretary), Oladoje Faoziat Adewunmi (Member, National Council of Elders and former National Women Affairs Secretary), Mrs Muinat Kareem(zonal Secretary); Alhaji AbdulAzeez Onike, Dep National Chief Missioner; Alhaji Taofeeq Adeseun, Chairman Lagos Zone 1 and Alhaji Abdul Wasiu Bolade Vice President II during the quarterly conference held in Owutu recently.

•Capt. Joji

civilized institution where you are saying a man can marry a man or a woman can marry a woman under the disguise of human rights? Was any of them born out of homosexuality?

Like I said, if there is no law and order, a man is worse than an animal. An animal can kill for two reasons: it can kill to defend itself and it can kill for food. It does not kill for pleasure. How many people were maimed and how many people have been killed?

What solution for the Boko Haram insurgency?

This is the major problem we have at our hands at the moment. But why don’t you go to the root of it especially now that all military actions appear to have failed?. Any problem that has a cause is no longer a problem. You simply have to go to the cause and remove it. For God’s sake, we never had this kind of problem before. You go and find out, what is their agenda? Why are they troubling the nation? How can you say a small group of people is stronger than the government? The government that has the powers to stop the Boko Haram insurgency people is saying the insurgents are more powerful than them, so, they now bash the Muslims.

That is unfair to us. I am a Muslim and I am proud to be.

To label Muslims criminals in the light of the Boko Haram is unacceptable and on that I stand. If you think because you want to destroy Islam because you are following this Western ideology, I want tell you that, you cannot achieve it. What we need to do here in Nigeria is for us to come to our senses and do things normally and we will be okay as a people and as a nation. God, Himself created Muslims, He created Christians and He created pagans. If you know that you cannot change it, and of a surety you cannot, why don’t you just accept it the way God has made it and work with it?

From left: Alhaji AbdulRasheed Alabi, Chairman Igbogbo branch; Alhaji Hamzat (Homat) Chairman Ikorodu branch; Alhaji Osoala, Chairman, Elders Council, Ikorodu and a member of the Elders Council, Owutu during the quarterly conference held in Owutu recently.

Make your family your priority, Onike charges Muslim women

By ADERONKE ADEYERI

T

he deputy Chief Missioner of NasruLahi-l-Fatih Society of Nigeria, NASFAT, Alhaji Abdulazeez Onike has enjoined Muslim women to make their families their priority as instructed by Allah through the teachings of Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w).

Onike gave the charge while delivering lecture at a conference organized by Lagos Zone 1 of the association and co-hosted by Owutu, Ikorodu, OwodeAjegunle, Igbogbo and Imota branches.

In his words: “Women are the bedrock of not only an ideal family but the bedrock of a better and sustainable Society. Women has a mother, a wife and a daughter must understand the responsibilities attached to each role as ordained by Almighty Allah and must work towards fulfilling each role religiously to obtain favor from Allah.” He continued:

“Your family should be your priority as Allah as commanded. This will make you, the family and the society a better one at large”.

“Considering the nature of man, there are some things a man would appreciate from his wife but will never ask for; but the woman would have to study and understand her God-given assignment and discharge the responsibilities freely.”

Also speaking at the conference was the former National Women Affairs Secretary, Alhaja Oladoje Faoziat who admonished women to imbibe the habit of hijab and Islamic dressing adding that ‘Aso ebi’ will cut their pockets more. “God has blessed us in Nasfat with our unique color of white and blue. Uniformity is something we should imbibe and avoid spending money unnecessarily to look different for every occasion. This will give us the opportunity to support our husbands and not cut our pockets”.

42 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

TREBLE CHANCE Hull Norwich Newcastle

v West Brom v Sunderland v Crystal P.

Norwich

v Sunderland

Barnsley Blackpool Brighton Doncaster

v Bournemouth v Huddersfield v Ipswich v Sheff Wed

Guest Forecaster BAYO AKINWAMIDE BET ON – 19, 23, 25 EXCLUSIVE VANGUARD Newspapers Friday March14,2014. > HIBERNIAN 49 AWAY - STAR: Scotland and HIBEES 2013/201, guaranteed perfection for 4-times ! By simple appearance of Hibernian on away game Coupon No.49 made Jackpot. Simply have its opponents 2nd letter by left-angle and 3rd letter by right-angle subtracted, as fraction made multiply ‘4’ ,and that multiplication made subtracted “49” for a sure draw automatically. Research and presentation by Bayo Akinwamide. 0803317164. Facebook: bayodusports@yahoo.com WEEK06-2013/2014- Fixtures Saturday August24,2014 appeared Hibernian at an away game Coupon No.49 with Kilmarnock as a match. That’s I-O 9-1=6x4=24-49=2banker. [ Void though, Colchester (1) Carlisle (1) ].

WEEK35-2013/2014- Fixtures Saturday March15,2014 appeared Hibernian at an away game Coupon No.49 with Partick as a match.

That’s A-I=1-9=8x4=32-49=17banker. Checked for Week35 matches played Saturday Match15,2014, NAPPED-17,35.

WEEK36-2013/2014 – Fixtur es Saturday March22,2014 appeared Hibernian at an away game Coupon No.49 with Saint Johnstone as a match. That’s A-O =1-15=14x4=56-49=7banker. Checked for Week36 matches to be played Saturday March22,2014 to NAP-7.

Bountifully done, as fans celebrated a win: Millwall (0) Charlton (0), Nottingham (0) Doncaster (0), Burton (1) AFC Wimbledon (1) – [17,18,35 NAPPED]. And considering British Football Pools Saturday March15,2014, that good, ENCOURAGING. And up for draws Saturday March22,2014 are Tottenham vs Southampton, Blackburn vs Leicester, Doncaster vs Sheffield Wednesday. TIPS *** NAP:1,2,3,. NAP:7,8,11. NAP:19,23,25. NAP:9,13,17.

NAP:7,21,39. NAP:2,8,12.

ELEVEN-WEEKS INTERVALS English Football 2013/2014 Season and the celebrated mathematics. Eleven-Weeks Intervals, guaranteed for 3-times. And that by Fixtures Saturday August3,2013 against Fixtures Saturday October19,2013; Fixtures Saturday October19,2013 against Fixtures Saturday January4,2014; Fixtures Saturday LATE January4,2014 against Fixtures Saturday That with the multiplication of TIPS March22,2014.

6,4,2 used respectively. KEY/COUPON NOS: 11,22,33 used respectively. At KEY, separately added home and away teams 6th,5th letters, and made subtracted, and subtraction made subtracted action-week Date-Matches-Played, and finally, that fraction made multiplied for a sure draw automatically, action-week. [4th,3rd and 2nd,1st letters home and away teams be used respectively]. Research match. presentation by Bayo Akinwamide. 08035317164. Facebook: bayodusports@yahoo.com

FOUR HOMES

6X7X 9 X18 FOUR AWAYS PAIR 23 13 X 29 X X 35 X 43 PERMUTATION 26 5X 8X11X 14 AVOID X 17 X 23 13 TIPS RISKY 30X34X 36 22 CREDIT

EXCELLENT

St. Johnstone 2 Hearts 2 Wycombe 2 Torquay 3 Portsmouth 3 Exeter 3 Bury 3 AFC Wimbl'd 3

Hull 7 Norwich 7 Barnsley 7 Blackpool 5 Doncaster 5 Colchester 5 Oldham 5 Shrewsbury 5

WK03/WK14. Fixtures Saturday August3,2013 with Coupon No.11 being Queens Park Rangers vs Sheffield Wednesday as match. That’s NS/FI =14+19=33 and 6+9=15. Therefore, 33-15=1819=1x6=6banker. Checked for Week14 matches played Saturday October19,2014, Napped-6.

WK14/WK25. Fixtures Saturday October192013 with Coupon No.22 being Crewe vs Bristol City as match. That’s EW/IS =5+23=28 and 9+19=28.Therefore, 28-28=0-4=4x4=16banker.

Checked for Week25 matches played Saturday January4,2014, Napped-16.

WK25/WK36. Fixtures Saturday January4,2014 with Coupon No.33 being Workington vs Histon as match. That’s WO/HI =23+15=38 and 8+9=17.

Therefore, 38-17=21-22=1x2=2banker. Checked for Week36 matches to be played Saturday March22,2014 to NAP-2.

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS WEEK 36 Barclays Premier League 1 Aston V. 2 Cardiff 3 Chelsea 4 Everton 5 Hull 6 Man City.

7 Newcastle 8 Norwich 9 Tottenham 10 West Ham

.

v Stoke 1X v Liverpool X2 v Arsenal X1 v Swansea 1X v West BromXX v Fulham 1 v Crystal P. 1 v SunderlandXX v South'Pton 1 v Man Utd. X2

Sky Bet Championship 11 Barnsley v Bournemouth XX 12 Birmingham v Reading X2 13 Blackburn v Leicester 2 14 Blackpool v Huddersfield XX 15 Brighton v Ipswich 1X 16 Charlton v Burnley X2 17 Doncaster v Sheff Wed XX 18 Leeds v Millwall 1 19 Middlesbro v Q.P. R. 1 20 Wigan v Watford X1 21 Yeovil v Bolton X2

Sky Bet League One 22 Brentford 23 Colchester 24 Gillingham 25 Notts Co 26 Oldham 27 Peterboro 28 Port Vale 29 Sheff Utd. 30 Shrewsbury 31 Stevenage 32 Swindon 33 Walsall

v Coventry 1 v Bristol C. XX v Crewe 1 v Carlisle 1 v Crawley XX v Rotherham 2X v Tranmere 1 v Wolves 2 v Bradford C XX v Milton KD X2 v Preston 2X v Leyton O. X2

Sky Bet League TTw wo 34 AFC Wimbl'dn v Cheltenham XX 35 Accrington S v Plymouth 2 36 Bury v Dagenham XX 37 Exeter v Fleetwood X2 38 Morecambe v North'pton 1 39 Oxford v Hartlepool 1 40 Portsmouth v York X2 41Scunthorpe v Burton A. 1 42 Torquay v Newport Co X2 43 Wycombe v Rochdale X 2

Scottish Premier 44 Aberdeen 45 Celtic 46 Hearts 47 Inverness CT 48 Motherwell 49 St. J'stone

v Kilmarnock 1 v St. Mirren 1 v Dundee Utd.X2 v Partick 1 v Ross County 1 v Hibernian XX

8 14 23 36 Revised Pairs 5 x 8, 11 x14 17 x 23,36 x 49

V anguard Vanguard anguard,, YOUR LUCK TODAY

LIBRA: You’ll tend to become both creative and persuasive to the administration of others. Then those who’ve been resisting secret love may slip suddenly and become excited.

SCORPIO: Even if opposition persists, supports you are getting from the influential people will be enough to see you through. Yet, the more cooperative you are the better.

SAGITTARIUS: Your creativity quotient within your working arena will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed if you keep official issues secrets from your challenges at work.

CAPRICORN: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll have the needed opportunity to look through windows of the world and have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magic days is predicted for lovers today.

— 43

LEISURE

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 VIRGO: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument or discussion. And if you allow your ability to be diplomatic come to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy your love life.

FRID AY, MARCH 21, 2014 FRIDA

Speak Your Expectation

By Richard Eromosele

W

HAT is the situ ation with you now? Have you allowed your present situation to consume you? Have you given up on your situation? As you stand now, what is the na-

ture of the words that comes out of your mouth? Are the words coming out of your mouth capable of lifting your spirit?

TERROR MUDA

Are you speaking of your present situation or you are projecting more what you expect to happen to your life?

in “Never say goodbye”

Do not allow what is happening to you now drain you of your hope. No matter what you are going through now, speak your expectation. Even in pain, dwell on paean.

By Lanre Kehinde

AQUARIUS: Even if you continue to work under pressure via increased workload, you will have good results to show for your efforts today. Be steadfast.

PISCES: Better than yesterday. And the more co-operative you are today the better for you. Those of you travelling for love are in for an exciting day.

ARIES: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings at work are for a progressive day to the betterment of your finances. Let go yesterday, move ahead.

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

GEMINI: You can make it a successful day with positive approach on your part. You will be in a better position to defuse tension within your working arena. Try to be more ambitious.

CANCER Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when opposition and/or competition come your way but, if you give in to diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Pretty Lunatic’

By Andy Akman

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

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

About day I was born?

Dear Joshua, Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born and the day of the week I was born but don’t publish my date of birth.

David, Kano Dear David, With the Moon in Libra when you were born influence of Libra be pronounced in your characteristics build up but, you are mainly a Scorpio born person YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA Day of Birth = Sunday Sun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of Scorpio Moon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of Libra Mercury in 12th Degree of Scorpio Venus in Zero Degree of Sagittarius Mars in 1st Degree of Aquarius Jupiter in 29th Degree of Cancer Saturn in 10th Degree of Scorpio Uranus in 27th Degree of Cancer Neptune in 25th Degree of Libra Pluto in 26th Degree of Leo North Node in 8th Degree of Capricorn South Node in 8th Degree of Cancer No planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in fire, three in air, four in cardinal, fixed and water star signs hosted five planets each.

PHYSICAL INFLUENCE = 50% NON-PHYSICAL INFLUENCE =50% PLANET AT HOME = NONE ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA You are both an intelligent and emotional person. And as there was planet at home when you were born, too many ideas will always struggle for prominent place in your mind, thus decision making is difficult but most times, your intelligence comes to the rescue.

Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person who can be mistaken for soft fellow but your inner-self is the personality with a steel like will power.

You are the consistent type who may find it difficult to change once you have made up your mind as indicated by distribution of the planets as written out in paragraph two of this exercise.

One major challenge you have been battling for a very long time is constant worries, some times, necessarily and the other time, uncalled for, as indicated by conjunction Mercury and Saturn formed when you were born.

Placement of your natal Sun (basic self head) and Moon (your sub-conscious self) in Scorpio and Libra respectively are indications of your being mainly Scorpio born person and partly in Libran.

VIRGINIA

HOME & ABROAD

dadadekola@yahoo.com

By Lawrence Akapa

44 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Youth group holds conference

T

HE socio-cultural and development union of Okpara community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Okpara Patriotic Union, OPU, will hold its annual general conference and election this weekend.

Spokesperson of the Planning Committee, Roman Otite, said that the programme scheduled for two days include the annual general meeting today and keynote address, which will be delivered by Prof. James Obitaba of the Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, same day.

Otite added that the election will usher in a new executive to pilot the affairs of the union.

Meanwhile, the outgoing PresidentGeneral of OPU, Sir P. Obakponovwe, has enjoined all branches across the nation, sons and daughters of Okpara community to come home and participate actively in the tow-day programme.

Make Ikot Abasi a centenary city, Ekere tells Jonathan

I

N the wake of Nigeria’s celebration of 100 years of nationhood, the immediate past deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, has appealed to Governor Godswill Akpabio to call on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare Ikot Abasi a centenary city.

Speaking at the town hall meeting with the governor in Ikot Abasi federal constituency, Ekere explained that Ikot Abasi deserved such status because of its historic importance as the place where Lord Lugard signed the proclamation on the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates into a unified Nigeria.

He lauded Governor Akpabio for his special affinity with Ikot Abasi federal constituency and urged him to support the constituency's bid for the governorship seat in 2015.

Uduaghan laments NIS recruitment deaths …as Delta approves N600m for bursary, scholarships

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN CITY— G O V E R N O R Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has lamented the deaths of some job seekers last weekend, during the recruitment exercise of the Nigeria Immigration Services, NIS, across the country.

He, meanwhile noted that the challenge of unemployment was not only peculiar in Nigeria, but all over the world, saying “many leaders in Europe are losing out due to unemployment. What we saw last week Saturday is a big challenge, but we are doing a lot to ensure that there is employment, even the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC is also doing a lot and at the end of the day you will be gainfully employment.”

Uduaghan also said the state government had approved the disbursement of N600 million for payment of bursary and scholarship to students of the state origin in tertiary institutions across the country.

He spoke while commissioning the 174-room hostel with 696 bed space built

by NDDC at the University of Benin, UNIBEN. He reiterated his commitment to sponsoring first class graduates from the state to foreign universities of their choice.

Uduaghan also restated his support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s determination to tackle unemployment problem among graduates.

Addressing the students, Uduaghan commended the NDDC for embarking on the hostel projects, which according to him, will help solve the accommodation problem encountered by students, adding: “I want you to know that government is

doing everything possible to ensure that when you graduate, you don’t gather at stadia in search of jobs. In Delta State, we built stadia not for job, but for sports and that is why we

P

ORT HARCOURT— PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP in Rivers State, has been warned not to field the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, as its candidate in year ’s governorship poll.

Some members of the party, under the aegis of Rivers PDP Third Force Movement, in a statement in Port Harcourt, said since Wike hails from the same Ikwerre ethnic nationality with Governor Chibuike Amaechi, other ethnic groups in the state will not want to support another Ikwerre man to take over from Amaechi.

commission had embarked upon across the nine states of the Niger Delta, adding that the hostel will go a long way to address accommodation problem in the institutions.

BURIAL CEREMONY: From left—Former Minister of Establishment, Chief Innocent Nwoga; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; Chairman, FWE Construction Company Limited, Mr. Henry Chidi Ojinere; Chairman, House Committee on FERMA, Mr. Ofor Chukwuegbo, and Deputy Chairman, House Committee on FCT, Mr. Raphael Igbokwe, at the final burial of Late Pa. Athanasius Ojinere Odom, at Ahiazu, Mbaise, Imo State.

Provide security for us, Mile 2 residents, workers send SOS to govt

BY INNOCENTANABA

L

AGOS—RESIDENTS and people working around Mile 2 area of Lagos State, have called on the Lagos State Government and the state Police Commissioner, to provide adequate security for the area.

In the last two weeks, many motorists and passers-by on the route between Berger-Yard and Mile 2, have been attacked and robbed by a gang, which specialises in vandalising cars of unsuspecting motorists before dispossessing them of their valuables, while

Don't field Wike as guber candidate, group warns PDP Mr Oprite Amachree,

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

are looking beyond oil.”

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of NDDC, Mr Bassey Dan Abia, explained that the hostel was one of the 19 university hostel projects the

Secretary of the group, also called on the national leadership of the party to help rescue the party at the state level from what it termed the overbearing influence of Wike.

“The attention of the Rivers PDP Third Force Movement has been drawn to a purported endorsement of Wike to be the governorship candidate of PDP in Rivers State for the 2015 general elections.

"The purported endorsement is highly condemnable by us, it makes a caricature of the principle of equity, justice, fairness and adequate representation practised by our highly esteemed party,” the group said.

pedestrians are also not spared.

One of the latest victims, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, blamed the state government and Police for not doing anything about the situation, despite several complaints by people, who were either robbed or have their vehicles damaged by the hoodlums during such attacks between Mile 2 and Berger-Yard on the Oshodi-Apapa expressway.

Narrating his ordeal, one of the victims, said “Around 10.30p.m., Monday night, I was heading to Apapa to see some friends. On getting to Mile 2, I had to do a de-tour to Orile Road, because there was serious traffic caused by the infamous tanker drivers, so I decided to take Berger-Yard Road to make a turn on the bridge in-between Forte Oil station at Berger Yard and under the bridge at Berger. From nowhere, eight boys accosted me and one of them smashed the right front door glass, as if that was not enough, another boy by my side, the driver’s side, hit the window with an iron and before I knew it, another boy joined him to drag the steering with me.

“I was terribly alarmed and had to quickly manouver among the trucks and other cars in the hold-up and eventually escaped. While trying to get out of the traffic, the boys caused more damage on my car.

The Toyota Camry was badly damaged by the boys.

“When they realised I had escaped, they descended on other cars in the hold-up, robbing them of their valuables, while some others left their cars and ran away for the fear of being attacked. I witnessed the robbing from the top of the Kirikiri Bridge, as if you are driving to Wilmer. You can imagine how dangerous it has become to drive within that axis now,” he added.

Similarly, three staff of Vanguard Newspapers were attacked the previous week within the same area, in between Forte Oil atation and Auto Wharf around 8.30p.m.

They were beaten and dispossessed of their valuables, while one was hit with the butt of a gun and had to be rushed to a hospital.

Narrating his ordeal, one of them said “Four armed youths appeared from behind tankers on the expressway and ordered us to stop, else we will be shot. At first, we thought it was a joke until one of them, who appeared to be the leader attempted to pull the trigger of the gun.

“One of them placed his gun on my back, while their leader threatened to shot me. At that point, I knew there was no way of escaping. One of them hit me on the head with butt of his gun. I bled profusely and was later taken to a hospital.

The robbers stripped me of everything valuable on me.

My right hand and rib were badly wounded,” he added.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 — 45

NPA MD urges Belgium to invest in Nigeria’s shipping sector

PDP guber primaries: Elumelu makes case for ward chai rmen's participation as delegates

BY IFEYINWA OBI

M

ANAGING Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has called on Belgium to explore more areas of cooperation, especially in the shipping sector, in Nigeria.

Abdullahi made the call in Lagos, while receiving the Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Diru Verheyen, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

He said the port reforms embarked upon by the Federal Government some years ago have opened many investment opportunities for investors and urged the Belgium government to explore areas of interest in the country's maritime industry.

He informed the Ambassador that deep sea ports were being developed in Lekki and Badagry (both in Lagos State), Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State and Olokola along Ogun/ Ondo States maritime boundary, adding that all ports in Nigeria are under the control of NPA.

2015: Ndokwa PDP leaders back Oyibode for Delta guber

T

HE people of Ndokwa in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State have expressed support for Mr. Gabriel Oyibode to succeed the incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, come 2015 general elections.

Chairman of Delta North Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State, Mr. Eric Anigala, and Mr. Monday Ossai, Chairman of PDP in Ukwuani, led other party faithful to receive Oyibode in separate meetings during his tour of Ukwuani.

According to Anigala, since it was God that sent Oyibode, nothing will prevent him, as he prayed to God Almighty to place him in Government House, Asaba as the next governor of Delta State.

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

NIGERIA OIL AND GAS CONFERENCE: From left: Jeffrey Hartman,Vice President, Business Development and Global Strategy, Taleveras Petroleum Trading UK; Scott Aitken, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Energy; Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc and Mr Emeka Ene, Chairman, PETAN, during the 2014 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference, in Abuja. Photo: Akeem Salau.

JRC okays Edo teachers' assessment test ...says Oshiomhole complied with ILO,UNESCO recommendations

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—THE Justice Research Center, a non-governmental organisation, said yesterday that Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State met the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, with the calibre of professors government assembled to conduct the assessment test for teachers in the state scheduled for this weekend.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Mr. Donald Inwalomhe, the group admonished the teachers to participate in the exercise, saying that

the governor complied with relevant laws as regards teaching practices, when setting up the committee that will conduct the test.

The statement said that according to UNESCO and ILO recommendations, “Where any kind of direct assessment of the teacher ’s work is required, such assessment should be objective and made known to the teacher. "In the case of Edo State, he said, the six Professors of Education appointed

by Oshiomhole to conduct the competency test complied with UNESCO and ILO recommendations on teachers' competency test.

“The professors are from Fac-

ulty of Education, University of Benin. They are members of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and they are external assessors to Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. The professors will participate in the development of new courses, textbooks and teaching aids in line with UNESCO recommendations. The law guiding Teachers' Registration Council of Nigeria says graduates from Colleges of Education, Institutes of Education, National Teachers Institute and Faculties of Education, are automatic members of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.”

Delta doles out N426m scholarships to first class, physically challenged students

BY FESTUS AHON

A

SABA—DELTA State Government, yesterday, disbursed over N426 million to 84 first class students and 85 physically challenged pupils and students of the state origin with a promise to continue to give financial support and provide sound education programmes for students in the state.

Speaking during the presentation of cheques to beneficiaries of the scheme, the state Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Hope Eghagha, said: “Virtually all primary and secondary schools in the state have full facilities to support the needs of students with

physical disabilities.

“This scholarship programme is a very meaningful one. It empowers students with disabilities by allowing them to pursue their education with the aim of promoting independence and self-reliance.

The scholarship also frees them from financial worries with regard to their education and gives them and their families’ peace of mind.”

Also speaking, chairman of Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Rt. Rev. Buchi Aninye, explained that N420 million was disbursed to 84 existing beneficiaries of the first class scheme as 2nd, 3rd and 4th tranches payment.

Aninye said the physically challenged scheme was to as-

sist students with disabilities, adding: “It has been a practice of the state government since the creation of the state.

In 2012, we witnessed the award of this scholarship scheme to 101 physically challenged students.

“Today, the scholarship will be awarded to 85 physically challenged students at N20,000 for students in primary schools, N30,000 for students in secondary schools and N50,000 for studentsgin higher institutions.

“I am delighted to inform you that our governor, Dr. Emmanuel Udughan, has approved and released the sum of N6,584,310 for this purpose, hence the ceremony today (yesterday).”

SABA—A House of Representatives member, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, has said that he will work towards an amendment to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, constitution, to pave way for party ward chairmen to become delegates in the governorship primaries of the party.

Speaking in Asaba, Delta State, when he met with ward chairmen from Aniocha and Oshimili constituency, Elumelu assured them that he believes in change, adding that though they are not yet delegates, he will bring up the issue with the leadership in order for the party’s constitution to be amended to accommodate them.

Delta women, youths support Mrakpor for Senate

H

UNDREDS of women and youths from different communities in Delta North, have joined stakeholders in the area to support the senatorial aspiration of Mrs. Joan Mrakpor, the member representing Aniocha-South in Delta State House of Assembly.

Speaking during a consultative meeting with the senatorial aspirant, a woman leader, Mrs. Rosemary Adikankwu and a youth leader, Michael Okonkwo, said that their joint support for Mrs. Mrakpor to contest the senatorial seat in 2015 election was because of her past contributions to the development of the area.

They described Mrakpor as a grassroots politician and servant of God, whose tenure as representative of Aniocha South in the state House of Assembly recorded monumental achievements, as she carried everyone along.

46 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

'No compensation for illegal structure owners in Imo'

O

WERRI — THE General Manager of Owerri Capital Development Authority, Mr Chima Anozie, yesterday, said the government would not compensate owners of illegal structures demolished in the Imo capital.

Anozie told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Owerri that there was a need for developers to make relevant consultations before erecting any building in the state capital.

He said such developers should submit building plans to the agency before embarking on such building.

The general manager added that the government would soon move against houses built on demarcated open spaces and drainage channels.

He said the agency followed the due process in demolition of houses by serving their owners with an order through a court bailiff.

Anozie further said the agency would continue to obtain court orders before demolishing illegal structures, adding that the owners of such structures would not get any compensation from the government.

TomTom to take loyal consumers to Brazil

T

OMTOM HAS flagged off a consumer loyalty reward promo with an all-expense paid trip to Brazil.

In a company statement, Head, Corporate & Government Affairs of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mr. Bala Yesufu stated that ‘’if a consumer presents one TomTom candy to the roving TomTom promo crew from March 15 to April 30, 2014, he or she will collect a raffle ticket in exchange for the empty TomTom pillow wrapper which qualifies him or her for a draw.”

Yesufu stated that ‘’digital raffle draws would hold in three major cities – Abuja, Lagos and Calabar – where winners would emerge and proceed on an all-expense paid trip to Brazil.”

Yesufu expressed the company’s delight in taking loyal consumers on this lifetime memorable trip.

Nkanu Peoples Forum endorses Nweke Jnr for Senate Okoh, stated that the group after thorough examination of Nkanu sons and daughters, zeroed in on Nweke Jnr for his experience in national and international affairs, economic sagacity and cultural values of Nkanu clan.

Okoh said that the group is of the opinion that the zone in the

past six and a half years had had ineffective representation in the Senate and could no longer field representatives that lack grasp of NUGU — THE Nkanu what the people desire from their Peoples Forum, NPF, has legislators. endorsed the Director General of He maintained that Nweke Jnr Nigeria Economic Summit fitted into the shoes of a modern Group, NESG, and former Minlegislator, adding that from hindister for Information, Mr. Frank sight, the former minister did Nkanu people proud in all his national assignments, especially in his present job as DG of NESG where he said Nweke had effectively spurred Nigeria’s economic policies with landmark propositions to the Federal Government.

Okoh, therefore, opined that if Nweke Jnr was allowed to go to the Senate, he would make articulate contributions in the National Assembly that would further enhance the nation’s economic and political growth.

His words: “After the general meeting of Nkanu Peoples Forum in the first quarter, the house resolved to endorse the former minister for Information, Mr. Frank VISIT: From left, Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State; Dr. Nkem Okeke, Deputy Nweke Jnr for the position of a Governor; Justice Peter Umeadi, Chief Judge, and Mr. Oseloka Obaze, Secretary to the State senator come 2015 general elections."

Government, during the governor's visit to the State Judicial Complex in Awka, yesterday.

BY TONY EDIKE

E

Nweke Jnr, to represent Enugu East Senatorial district in 2015.

Rising from its 2014 first quarter meeting in Agbani, the group said that Nweke Jnr met their criteria for the calibre of a senator required to represent the zone in the next dispensation.

President of NPF, Chief Jerry

Chinese businessmen in Owerri for multi-sectoral investments

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

WERRI — A team of Chinese investors, accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pro-

fessor Viola Onwuliri, arrived Owerri, yesterday, to conclude arrangements for the establishment of multi-billion Naira factories in Imo State.

Addressing newsmen short-

Confab: Group commends Jonathan for successful inauguration

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HE CENTRE for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, a Non-Governmental Organisation, which focuses on peace building and environmental advocacy, has commended President Goodluck Jonathan for the successful inauguration of the national confab in Abuja.

Speaking through its National Coordinator, Mr. Sheriff Mulade in Warri, the NGO expressed optimism that the national conference will help in solving the numerous challenges facing our

nation. He charged all delegates to consider the nation’s interest above ethnic, religious and political interests.

According to Sheriff, if the delegates attending the conference will be focused and patriotic, they can help in sustaining the unity of the country, advising the delegates not to give in to any form of pressure that will ruin the effort of President Jonathan’s administration in ensuring that Nigeria remains strong and indivisible.

ly on arrival at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, SMICA, Owerri, the leader of the Chinese team, Mr. Gao Zhaoting, explained that their interest was multisectoral. ”The investments, expected to be multi-sectoral in approach, are expected to cover areas of oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and power, among others,” Mr. Zhaoting said.

Zhaoting, who is the President of China in Africa Investment Forum, explained that more than 20 Chinese companies had already indicated interest in assisting Nigeria to tackle unemployment through small and medium scale business ventures. ”Nigeria has huge investment potentials. If carefully

Nnoko Ndigbo to discuss' Igbo Nation in present Nigeria...' tomorrow

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HE IGBO speaking community in Lagos will be holding a meeting tagged, 'Nnoko Ndigbo, 2014,' tomorrow, March 22, 2014, at National Institute for Sports, NIS, National Stadium, Lagos, with the topic: 'The Igbo Nation in the present Nigerian political dispensation.'

Nnoko Ndigbo, according to the President General, Chief Ebere Ubani, is an annual gath-

ering of Ndigbo in Lagos, organised to "showcase our rich cultural heritage and conferment of chieftaincy titles and awards to deserving sons, daughters, as well as friends of Ndigbo."

The event under the distinguished chairmanship of Chief Anthony Ughagwu (FIPM, Odirachukwunma), will host guest speaker, Professor Charles Ogbulogo, Dean, School of Post-Graduate Stud-

ies, Covenant University; Very distinguished guest of honour, Dr. Patience Jonathan; special guest of of honour, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and chief guest of honour, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, among others.

“Nnoko Ndigbo is a platform for reviewing our journey so far, interface among ourselves and articulate the best possible means of repositioning the Igbo and their interests in Lagos,” Ubani said.

tapped, it will position her as one of the strongest economies in the world. ”With the Minister and the assistance of the state governor, there would be a lot of exchange of investments between China and Imo State. ”A great number of people will definitely benefit from the joint efforts in the next one year,” he added.

Zhaoting, did not, however, want to be drawn into making too many promises, but stressed that his team would offer scholarships in postgraduate programmes for Imo indigenes, who engage in agriculture.

In her comments, Onwuliri, who was piloting the investment drive, explained that the measure was part of the Federal Government’s effort towards enhancing wealth creation.

She then appealed to the government and people of Imo State, to collaborate with the investors to tackle unemployment and poverty. ”This arrangement is part of the Federal Government’s plan to transform our land.

How many companies, industries or factories do we have here? These are things that create jobs,” Onwuliri said, even as she added that Nigeria had opened a Consulate in Gwandou, China, to further strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 - 47

EKITI GUBER ELECTION: From left: National Organising Secretary, Osita Isunazo, Interim National Secretary, All Progressives Congress, APC, Tijjani Tumsal, Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi , his Deputy, Professor Modupe Adelabu, during the presentation of nomination form to the Governor, in Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

VISIT: MD, Bank Of Industry, BoI, Ms. Evelyn Oputu (middle), GM, Operations, BoI, Mr. Joseph Babatunde (2nd left), ED, Corporate Services, Mr. Kenneth Effah (left), 1st Vice President, Risk Managers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Magnus Nnoka (2nd right) and 2nd Vice President, Mrs. Omotayo Adeola, during a visit to BoI headquarters.

From left: Chairperson, Women in Business, Management and Public Service, WIMBIZ, Osayi Alilie, guest speaker, D-G, Securities and Exchange Commission, Arunma Oteh and Head of Litigation & Intellectual Property, British American Tobacco West Africa, Odiri Erewa-Meggison, at the 2014 annual lecture of WIMBIZ in Lagos.

Head, Communications, Fred Oriunuebho (left), Head, Marketing, Debbie Shepard (right), both of Nokia West and Central Africa, receiving a framed photograph taken with a Nokia Lumia smartphone during the Ovie Brume Foundation/Nokia Secondary School Photo Project, Miss Atinuke Rotimi of Victoria Island Senior Secondary School (2nd right) and Special Project Manager, Ovie Brume Foundation, Mrs. Christal Ogene, at the Nokia office in Lagos.

From left: Mr. Larry Annetts, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN, presenting Thirteen Million Naira Cheque to Miss Esther Anyaogu, winner, MTN Cash Smash Promo, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, GM, Consumer Marketing, MTN, and Mr. Bimbo Emmanuel, veteran actor, lookon during the presentation in Lagos: Photo: Diran Oshe.

From left: Veteran Nollywood Actor, Olu Jacobs, Owner, Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, Joke Silva and Chief Executive Officer/Founder, Public Vine, Nam Mokwunye, during the Public Vine Nigerian Video Vendor Registration, in Lagos.

LAUNCHING: From left: Mr. Justus Wariya, Director, Air Transport Regulation, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Mrs. Biyi Olugbodi, MD, Bytol Travelling Agency and Mrs. Sodieni Osei-Bonsu, Commercial Manager, Gambia Bird Airline, at the official launch of the new airline in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

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UNVEILING: From left: Mrs. Omolara Elemide, MD, CAP Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah, GMD, UACN Plc, Mr. Joe Dada, ED, Corporate Services and Mrs. Adeline Ogunfidodo, Finance Director, both of UACN Plc, at the unveilling of Dulux Colour of the Year 2014, in Lagos. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

Mrs. Wurat Yusuf, Deputy Director, National Library of Nigeria, cutting the tape with the Students of Lagos City Senior College, Sabo, Lagos, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Junior High School and Olufilade Comprehensive College, Papa Ajao, Mushin Lagos, during the National Library of Nigeria Lagos State branch centenary celebration with exhibition to show case the past leaders to the students in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Price of petrol hits N130 per litre in Jigawa

Confab outcome: Groups urge Nigerians to demand referendum

BY ALIYU DANGIDA

BY OLAYINKA AJAYI

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UTSE — A LITRE of petrol now sells for between N120 and N130 per litre in Jigawa State.

This was despite directive by the state government that the commodity be sold at the official pump price of N97 per litre.

Governor Sule Lamido had warned petroleum marketers against selling petrol above N97 to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Investigations by Vanguard in Dutse, the state capital showed that the marketers threatened to shut down their fuel stations if the government forced them to sell petrol below their cost price.

One of the marketers who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: "We met and deliberated on the governor ’s directive. We agreed that it was better for us to shut down our filling stations rather than dispose our products at the official pump price.

"We wanted them to dispense fuel through the only NNPC mega station, which sells at N97 per litre to motorists after long hours on the queue."

A visit to some filling stations belonging to independent marketers within Dutse metropolis showed, however, that a litre of fuel sells at between N120 and N130 as motorists preferred to buy at higher price instead spending several hours on the queues without getting the product at the NNPC mega station.

A motorist, who spoke to Vanguard, said the situation was terrible and unbearable, calling on the authorities concerned to take adequate measures that would curtail the untold hardship.

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From left: Steve Elusope, Executive Director, Operations, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers; Mrs Taiwo Adebiyi, Director of Contributory Pension, Ogun State Bureau of State Pension and Mr Aderemi Adebayo, Pension Desk Officer, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, at the commissioning of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ Abeokuta office, Wednesday.

Terror attack: Kwara evacuates students from UNIMAID

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

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LORIN — FOLLOWING inces sant killings of innocent people

by Boko Haram terrorists, the Kwara State government has dispatched a delegation to evacuate its students from the University of Maiduguri, UNIMAID, Borno State.

Kwara State Commissioner for Information, Prince Tunji Moronfoye, made this known in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital, yesterday.

Moronfoye said the delegation left Ilorin for Maiduguri, yesterday morning, adding that the delegation was provided with enough logistics to enable it evacuate the students at once.

He said the delegation and the students would arrive Ilorin any time from today.

Vanguard gathered that students from the state studying at UNIMAID had earlier made distressed appeals through text messages to government officials, expressing fears over their safety.

One of such text messages read: “Maiduguri is under attack. 15 explosions this morning. We are picking bullets (shells) in the hostel. Please, we need your immedi-

ate help. We need to be evacuated. We, Kwara State students are waiting for the rescue team.

Please, help do all you can to save our lives.”

The commissioner then explained that the evacuation of the students was informed by their distress calls to the government to save their lives.

Moronfoye said it was the responsibility of the government

LG polls: Nasarawa dep gov warns against rigging

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BY ABEL DANIEL

AFIA — AS Nasarawa local government election holds tomorrow, the state Deputy Governor, Damishi Luka has advised the state Independent Electoral Commission, NASIEC, to announce the results at the various polling units in accordance with the 2013 Local Government Electoral law passed by the state House of Assembly.

Luka warned that any attempt

by Governor Tanko Almakura and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, to

Immigration deaths: CIPM boss flays ‘money for job’ recruitment policy

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RESIDENT/CHAIRMAN, Council of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, CIPM, Mr. Victor Famuyibo, has condemned the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, over what he described as “money for job” policy.

Famuyibo who demanded a criminal investigation be conducted by appropriate government agencies on the recruitment exercise, for the unnecessary loss of lives of applicants in Abuja, Lagos and other centres across the country, declared that

the exercise was unacceptably wicked.

He said: “The fleecing of young and unemployed graduates who paid N1000 each for the recruitment was very unprofessional and contradictory to the position of government as a responsible employer.”

Admonishing government and even private sector organisations to desist from collecting money from job seekers as such acts was hindering the growth of the nation, Famuyibo said: “When applicants are subjected to this kind of exploi-

to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its people wherever they might be, pointing out that the present administration would always come to the rescue of its people irrespective of their religion or political affiliation.

He said: ”The people of Kwara State voted us into power, so we have the responsibility to ensure their well-being at all times.”

tation and they eventually get employed, they talk about the cost of getting the job and say we must recoup that cost. A badly run recruitment exercise might be an initiation into corruption.

“As the professional body that regulates the practice of human resource management in Nigeria, CIPM believes that upholding professionalism in all facets of our endeavours in Nigeria is the way we can usher in the type of progress we all expect in our country.”

rig the election would be vehemently resisted by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, insisting that the game must be played according to the rules to avoid further crisis in the state.

He spoke while receiving 10 aggrieved APC chairmanship candidates who were allegedly short-changed by the party during the APC primaries and then consequently defected to the PDP at the party’s secretariat in Lafia.

The deputy governor also enjoined PDP supporters to ignore what he described as propaganda by the governor and his party in the state.

He said: “I call on all PDP supporters to ignore insinuations in some quarters that results of the local government election will be announced in Lafia. Let me assure you that anybody who attempts to announce results elsewhere rather than the rightful places will only be inviting anarchy to the state and we shall not allow that to happen because we are tired of crisis.”

Luka however, urged the people to support the PDP so as to place the state in its rightful place for the overall good of the people.

IGERIANS have been advised to demand that the outcome of the ongoing national conference be subjected to a referendum.

Speaking in a symposium organised by Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in collaboration with the Nigeria Civil Society Coalition Against Coup and Militarization of Politics, Mr Malachy Ugwummadu said the need for a referendum was in line with people having their say on how they are being governed.

He said: “The Sovereign National Conference outcome should be on a referendum at the public interest because is not the brain child of the Jonathan’s administration."

On his part, President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, Mr. Sunny Enenuwedia, faulted the method of recruiting delegates for the conference.

Kogi HIV prevalent rate drops to 1.4%

By BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

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OKOJA — HIV preva lence rate has dropped from 5.8 per cent in 2009 to 1.4 per cent in 2013 in Kogi State, a new survey on HIV in the country has shown.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Idris Omede, made this known during the inauguration of the state management team for the implementation of the Presidential Comprehensive Response Plan for HIV/AIDS-PCRP, by Governor Idris Wada.

Omede, who is also the chairman of the team, pledged to work towards zero discrimination and zero death due to HIV/ AIDS in the state.

Also speaking, Governor Wada said the inauguration of the team was informed by the desire for developing a home grown response plan that would enable the state take greater responsibility on the fight against HIV through the State Agency for Control of AIDS, SACA.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013 — 49

50 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—51

CONFAB: Coomassie, Gana to lead Northern delegates — ACF • Sets up Northern Delegates Forum, to woo other Zones of the country

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—AHEAD of Monday's sitting by delegates to the national conference, the socio-cultural umbrella body of the North, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, yesterday, settled for former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie and erstwhile Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, as co-chairmen of all the Northern delegates.

The ACF also resolved to set up what it called Northern Delegates Forum that will harness and present positions of the North, just as delegates with the new body will work in collaboration with one another also for the common good of the North and the nation at large.

While urging all delegates from each of the northern states and the Federal Capital Territory to constitute themselves into state fora and designate its leadership, the ACF stressed that the NDF will reach out to other groups with common aspirations with a view to solidifying the northern

stand.

In a communique signed by Coomassie and Gana, yesterday, at the end of a seven hour retreat by the Arewa Consultative Forum for northern delegates in the Conference, the Forum said that other officials of the NDF would be appointed to reflect the diversity of the North as well as put into consideration, gender sensitivity and youth participation.

The communique stated, “The NDF, in collaboration with the appointed members of the think tank will harmonize position papers, working documents and research work already adopted or carried out by the various stakeholders who have come together to form the NDF. This will assist in adopting a common agenda for the north for presentation at the conference. “

••as CNPP cautions on religious discord

BY PETER DURU

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AKURDI—THE Benue State Chairman of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Mr. Baba Agan, yesterday, cautioned that the disagreement on religious lines by delegates to the ongoing National Conference was a potential time bomb.

Agan who spoke to newsmen against the backdrop of the concerns raised by some delegates that Muslims were underrepresented at the conference, said “ what they are doing clearly

shows that even our leaders are bugged by primordial sentiments. In fact, it is a shame that when other nations are forging ahead and making progress irrespective of the religious inclination of their leaders, Nigerian leaders are still divided along religious lines and creating problems for everyone.

“The argument of some of the delegates on the under-representation of religious groups shouldn’t be an issue, it is to say the least diversionary and a danger signal. The truth of the matter is that our so called leaders are fanning the embers of disunity in this country and their actions and inactions are responsible for the security challenges we are facing in this country.

“The issue of religion is a potential time bomb that should be completely avoided in the interests of the generality of all Nigerians, because we all know that religion largely accounts for the current security challenges we are facing in Nigeria at the moment. We ought to have grown beyond this level, we must be serious in this nation if we truly want to make progress as an indivisible country, our leaders must learn to shun those issues that threaten the unity of the country in the interest of the suffering masses.

“What we see happening at the conference is the reason why I still insist that the conference is a jamboree that will serve no useful purpose because the outcome of previous conferences that have been confined to the dustbin and this will not be different.”

52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY , MARCH 21, 2014—53

What to eat when sickness knocks

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

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NDOUBTEDLY, eating healthy meals is not easy when you don’t feel well, especially if you have a serious or chronic illness. Apart from being tired to prepare food for yourself, medicines may even make food taste strange or unpleasant to you. Mouth sores or swallowing problems can make eating difficult. Or nausea, which is a common symptom and a common side effect of some medications, may make food the last thing you want to think about.

However, experts say there is a lot you can do, even when you are not feeling well, to get the nutrition you need.

For lack of appetite during this period, eating smaller meals more frequently through the day than you do when you are healthy will help. Again, sitting down for a big a meal can be overwhelming if you don’t have much of an appetite. This is because human beings tend to eat with their eyes first.

To overcome this, there is need to make a list of comfort foods that you love and have one or two on hand for when you feel like eating. Also keep nutritious snacks handy, such as nuts, carrot sticks, or yogurt.

Mouth sores: Avoid foods that require a lot of chewing. Puree or grind foods like meat and vegetables to make them easier to eat. Liquid foods such as soups and smoothies are also good options. Real foods are always the best choice.

But if you are having serious problems eating and swallowing, talk to your doctor about liquid meal replacements.

For dry mouth, try chewing gum or sucking on hard candies like lemon drops, which stimulates saliva production.

Nausea: Choose bland foods (foods that are not spicy). Eat smaller meals more often during the day than you would when you are healthy. Eat slowly. Hard candy,

peppermint, and ginger may ease nausea. If nausea persists, talk to your doctor.

An anti-nausea medicine may help.

Fatigue: When you are sick, you may feel too tired to make a meal. Stock up on prepared foods that you can easily pop in the microwave. Keep nutritious snacks on hand such as nuts, sliced vegetables, hardboiled eggs, whole grain breakfast cereal, or yogurt. Eat your biggest meal at a time when you have the most energy.

Diarrhea: Diarrhea is a common symptom and a side effect of some medicines.

Eating soft, bland foods and avoiding greasy foods can help. Drink plenty of water or other fluids, since diarrhea can quickly dehydrate you. One way to replace electrolytes is to drink a sports beverage diluted with water.

Constipation: Opioid pain medicines and certain other treatments often cause

constipation. To help prevent and treat constipation, eat foods high in fiber, such as apricots, prunes, applesauce, and whole grain breakfast cereals. Getting up and walking can also help get your digestive tract moving.

Unwanted weight loss: If you are losing weight when you shouldn’t, your top priority is taking in more calories. Help yourself to foods you love. Eat as often as you can throughout the day. Snack on highenergy foods such as nuts, seeds, cheese slices, and hardboiled eggs.

Short on nutrients: If you are having real trouble eating a balanced diet, you may benefit from taking a vitamin and mineral supplement. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian before taking dietary supplements, especially if you take medicines for a serious health condition. Some supplements can impact the effectiveness of medicines.

• Liquid foods such as soups are also good options when you are sick.

Mouka harps on quality sleep at World Sleep Day

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OUKA Limited has emphasized the benefits of healthy sleep. Enlightening the public on the benefits of sleep on live radio interviews during the 2014 World Sleep Day in Lagos, the message was streamed live on Twitter (@Mouka-Lifestyle), initiated by Mouka as part of activities to mark the event.

Njideka Okubadejo, an associate professor at the College of Medicine, the University of Lagos, said “people should focus on sleep apnea, an obstructive condition of the upper respiratory tract which reduces the quality of sleep, diminishes the amount of oxygen in blood and puts a heavy burden on heart.”

Okubadejo pointed out that a restful sleep, leads to a healthy life. “For every one hour of sleep you lose, you need one day to recover, so thinking you can pick up sleep later in the week may leave you more deprived than you think” Encouraging Nigerians to get quality sleep, the Managing Director, Mouka Limited, Peju Adebajo, said “We are not just part of this year’s celebration, it has become our culture. We chose therefore to enlighten the public during our various live radio interviews on taking good sleep to enhance chances of long life.”

She harped that “being well rested can make one more alert , while lack of sleep can leave you feeling lethargic and too tired to function properly. Studies have shown that lack of sleep for just a few days dis-

rupts hormone and metabolism levels, resulting in increased appetite and calorie intake.” She also announced the launch of Mouka’s SleepWell Nigeria Campaign, a social enlightenment series aimed to provide life-saving and useful information on

sleep to Nigerians. The campaign has commenced with weekly articles from Professor Okubadejo, which are available on the Mouka facebook Page (facebook/ MoukaLifestyle) and website , www.mouka.com.

• Youth Director, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pastor J. Okorie donating blood while Mr Solomon Eka, LSBTC member, Team Leader, Elder Babalola and Youth President, Pastor Emmanuel Adeniyi look on during the church Global Youth Day organised by Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Lagos Mainland Conference recently in Lagos.

LSBTC, Church partner to tackle shortage of blood in hospitals

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S part of activities to celebrate its Annual Global Youth Day, youth members of the Seventh - day Adventist Church weekend came out enmasse to voluntarily donate blood to the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC. The blood donation drive which held at the church premises in Lagos, according to the organisers of the programme was part of efforts by the Church to help those in need of blood as well as express God’s love for mankind.

Speaking during a blood donor drive exercise organised in collaboration with Seventh- Day Adventists Church to mark its Global Youth Day; tagged: “One in Compassion”, a Committee member of Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC, Mrs. Sherifat Lawal encouraged Lagosians to embrace voluntary blood donation, adding that the state is targeting 100 percent voluntary blood donation in the state.

Lawal said: “We are targeting 100 percent voluntary blood donors because that is WHO standard. By the time we achieve that, we would not need to ask people to donate because their wife is pregnant or when their relative is on admission.”

“People should embrace this programme and to know that the blood they are giving is to save life and the blood they are given today may save their lives. We are not going to collect blood from people that are not eligible to donate if there is any medical reason; we would not collect blood from them,” she added.

Screening exercise Speaking during the blood donation, free screening exercise on the theme: “Act of Kindness” Youth President, Pastor Emmanuel Adeniyi urged the youths that they can be the sermon by being a source of blessings to others.

Explaining that act of kindness can only be traced to Jesus Christ; he explained that by donating a pint of blood, you are saving a life.

He identified shortage of blood, availability of donors as major problems patients who need blood in the hospitals face.

“Sometimes, a particular blood group may not be found in a blood bank. So when blood is provided like this it solves the problem of scarcity. Voluntary blood donation will eliminate shortage of blood in hospitals.”

Team Leader, Adventist Medical Practitioners, Dr. Babalola stressed that since blood cannot be manufactured there is need for people to donate blood to save lives. “Since the red blood cells only last for 120 days, it will be more beneficial if individuals donate blood as the cells will also die whether they are used or not,” he explained.

Also speaking, Member of LSBTC, Mr. Solomon Eka explained the importance of regular voluntary blood donation, adding that, “Those that donate three times a year stand the chances of living longer and looking younger.” He said excess blood in the body could lead to conditions such as heart attack and even death.

54—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Methodist prelate lauds Amaechi

APC to PDP: Jonathan not the first minority to rule Nigeria •APC Plans Violent Overthrow Of Government— PDP

BY HENRY UMORU

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HE Prelate of Meth odist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche, has applauded Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for the uncommon transformation in the state.

Uche who spoke when he led a delegation of officials and members of the church on a courtesy call to Governor Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, said the state had witnessed a massive expansion of projects under the current administration.

He said,“God has created you (Amaechi) specially. We’ve been watching. If you were a common man, you would have died, we’ve been watching. It’s God that has given you the grace to weather the storm and in every respect God has ruled that He is on your side. You may not know that some people are praying for you but definitely people are praying for you because we don’t think that you committed a crime. We knew what happened but politics is not church and in the church when you count the votes and somebody wins, he has won but in politics, I don’t know, there are other interests but that is just the simple matter but we thank God that you have a very strong heart and that hasn’t prevented you from your uncommon transformation of Rivers State."

Responding, Governor Amaechi acknowledged God’s role in his life and thanked the Prelate and those who came with him for the visit.

He said: “I was talking to somebody this morning and I told the person that the worry I have over the worship of God is that I cannot afford to play with it because 99.9 per cent of my achievements in life are not because I’m a hardworking person but that where I gather strength is when I pray and God answers my prayer and then people begin to see me as somebody who has achieved something.

“They don’t know that God on His own decided to achieve whatever He wants to achieve through me and all I did was pray to God to help me achieve those things. ”

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HE All Progressives Con gress, APC, yesterday, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of attempting to cover up President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged cluelessness in solving the nation’s problems by insinuating that the president was being attacked because he was from a minority ethnic group.

The PDP on its part accused the opposition party of trying to violently overthrow the government of Goodluck Jonathan In a statement issued in Ibadan by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the PDP’s claim that the Boko Haram insurgency and other internecine crises in the country were being sponsored by the opposition because the President hails from a minority group is not grounded in fact.

It said the First Republic Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa (Sayewa) and military heads of state Yakubu Gowon (Angas) and Sani Abacha (Kanuri) were also from minority ethnic groups, a fact that is lost on the trifling PDP, adding, "the PDP has recently been making outlandish statements and accusations that are capable of destabilizing Nigeria.

In its new found proclivity for issuing frivolous press statements, the party has forgotten that facts are sacred and cannot be manipulated. But even by its low standard, the PDP has plumbed the depth of irresponsibility with its latest claim.

"President Jonathan’s woes have nothing to do with his minority ethnicity, but the manifestation of his incompetence, cluelessness and inferiority complex, and the fact that he is backed by a greedy, visionless and crooked cabal, both within his government and his party.".

The party said if indeed the PDP believes the opposition is sponsoring Boko Haram to stop President Jonathan from realizing his so-called Transformation Agenda, what prevents the PDPled Federal Government from instituting a probe into all the incidences so far, and to unravel the sources of the sect’s weapons, as demanded recently by Gov. Murtala Nyako?

APC said just like ethno-religious crises in Nigeria predate President Jonathan’s assumption of office, the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2002 during the Obasanjo regime, even though it became aggravated in 2009 when then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua ordered a joint security operation, following the killing of over a dozen policemen, and the failure of police action to curb the crisis.

The party said it is public knowledge that the operation led to the killing of an estimated 1,000 alleged Boko Haram mem-

bers, including the extra-judicial murder of sect leader Muhammed Yusuf, and set the stage for the insurgency that Nigeria is witnessing today. "Even then, the insurgency that could have been quickly curtailed has worsened under President Jonathan because of his ineffectual leadership. Instead of tackling the insurgency decisively as a wellhoned leader would have done, the clueless President and his equally feckless party have resorted to blaming the opposition and everyone but themselves for the worsening of the crisis," it said.

APC said the usual recourse to President Jonathan’s ethnic origin to cover his glaring non-performance does not impress Nigerians, who are aware that as a minority, Jonathan could not have become President without the votes of the country’s majority ethnic groups- Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. "In any case, if the PDP is arguing that President Jonathan is being ‘persecuted’ because he hails from a minority ethnic group, is it the majority ethnic groups that supposedly voted massively for him that are now persecuting him? And what will be their reasons for persecuting the same man they voted into office?

"The truth is that President Jonathan is overwhelmed by the demands of his office, and his

party is more interested in looting the public treasury than assisting him to succeed. The President and his party should admit their failure to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigeria and give way to those who are willing and able to perform."

APC said a country that has no discernible counter-terrorism strategy that will clearly identify the multiple means for preventing, responding and defeating terrorist groups, including the alignment of political, military, social and economic instruments and objectives, cannot expect to successfully battle any insurgency.

APC plans violent overthrow of govt— PDP Meanwhile, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, took a swipe at the All Progressives Congress, APC, alleging that the leadership of the party and members have concluded plans to violently overthrow the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP noted that the unfortunate comparison by the APC was a tacit acknowledgment that the opposition party was planning to take Nigeria back to

dictatorship.

Metuh’s statement read, “The Peoples Democratic Party has punctured an attempt by the All Progressives Congress APC to dismiss its complicity in the rising wave of insurgency and its concomitant adverse effects on national governance by drawing an incongruent comparison between a democratically elected presidency with proven fidelity to democratic tenets and defunct military dictatorships. The unfortunate comparison by the APC was a tacit acknowledgment that this opposition party was planning to take Nigeria back to dictatorship.

“The APC has never left the nation in doubt of its preference.

It wants a return to barefaced tyranny, to dictatorship as previously unleashed on the nation by a hue in its top leadership. But Nigerians have handed the party a shocker - we have crossed the red sea and shall never go back to Egypt. It was a preposterous distortion of facts and history to compare the Jonathan presidency to either Gen. Gowon’s or Gen. Abacha’s even though the three of them come from minority ethnic groups because the two former heads of State were unelected and operated a purely undiluted military dictatorship that brooked no opposition."

L-r: Minister of National Planning, Mr Isa Yuguda; DG, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr Frank Nweke Jr; GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza ; and Chairman, UBA Plc, Amb. Joe Keshi, at the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja

UNIBEN honours Jim Adun

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HE member representing Egor/Ikpoba-Okha Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Jim Adun, has been described as a worthy representative of the people.

Comrade Osasere Osifo, President of the Students’ Union Government, University of Benin who made the assertion while presenting an award of excellence to the legislator at the annual Students’ Lecture Series of

the Ivory Tower, noted that Adun was a true grassroot politician who has positively impacted the lives of the people by his quality representation and patriotic legislative functions in advancing the course of national development.

Osifo listed some of the projects facilitated by Adun as the construction of the S&T Road, Uselu; Construction of motorized borehole projects in Ward 6, 8 & 10, Egor L.G.A; Solar-Powered Street

Lights at Adolor College Road; amongst others severally located also at Ikpoba Okha L.G.A. The award ceremony which held at the Banquet Hall of the University, Sunday, March 16, 2014, attracted dignitaries from all walks of life including representatives of the Benin monarch; the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Osayuki Oshodi and members of the University’s Governing Council.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—55

I enjoy arguments and my arguments are for the progress of Nigeria —Odia Ofeimun If I disagree with you on a matter, I hardly pull back and I enjoy having arguments but my arguments don't lead to malice rather, they are for the progress of Nigeria

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OET and social critic, Odia Ofeimun turned 64 on March16, 2014 and as usual, a birthday ceremony nay, symposium was held at the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Centre, Lagos, in his honour.

Odia who had hinted few days ago at the presentation of the 2013 winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, Tade Ipadeola, in Lagos, that he was going to do something strange on his birthday, lived up to his words. Just very few friends were invited and the occasion was devoid of either the features of a birthday celebration or the usual dance drama presentation. Rather, the renowned writer, launched yet another book entitled, "This Conference Must be Different" and did a relaunch of "Taking Nigeria Seriously" and "When Does A Civil War Come To an End?", which he said are three important books that are speaking to issues to be discussed at the National Conference.

The birthday symposium featured Comrade Albert Uduehi (RTD) and Elder John Akhabue while iconic poet, Professor Kole Omotosho was the speaker. * Odia Ofeimun While giving an overview of "This Conference Must be Different" , Odia said "It is no accident that this "This conference” according to book, is launched a day before Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the inauguration of the National Governor of Edo state and Conference by President Good- former President of the Nigeriluck Jonathan. It is possible for an Labour Congress, “will not us to change Nigeria instead be different from any previous of expecting a possible disin- conference.” I strongly distegration...if vital issues affect- agree. I wish to assert the coning the country are addressed, trary: that this conference will be different; it will provide deNigeria can change. fining moments beyond all the shenanigans of the past; it will Defining buttress ideas that were injumoments diciously outlawed from previous conferences; and it will enIt is laudable enough that the large the room for creativity existing government has acbeyond and above what was cepted its inability to change possible before..." things and has asked the rest Odia also disagreed with of the country to join hands, so, some individuals who are this conference must be differclaiming that President Goodent" luck convened the National Reading from the first chapConference to deceive people. ter of the new book, Odia said, The National Assembly he said,

"is doing a great job although I disagree with some issues in the constitution, the country needs the conference to solidify the good work I am going to make sure that of the National Assembly. The the book gets to all the conferconference may not provide what ence delegates and beyond we want but it will provide the basics for the Nigeria and every delegate next step. The first two chap- needs at least a copy. Odia's writters of the book according to ing experience is linked to the Odia, contains everything birth of Nigeria and hopefully, about the National Conference Nigeria will listen to you Odia." and "I am going to make sure Elder John Akhabue described that the book gets to all the del- Odia as a "forthright person who egates and beyond. All my life, does things that people who go I have always dreamt of doing to church do not do. I know that something to help Nigeria and most Nigerians do not read books that is why it was necessary for but because of how important this me to stop the presentation of a particular book is at this crucial dance drama so that these books period, people will pick it up and would be finished." he said read."

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By PRISCA SAM DURU

Preserving Ukwuani traditional political system PRISCA SAM-DURU

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KWUANI Traditional Administrative System, is a 161-page book written by Ozah Michael Ozah, author and solicitor who has remained resilient in his struggle through literary works, to aide the continued existence and sustenance of the cultural heritage of his people, Ukwuani, a community in Delta State.

With 8 inspiring chapters, and a foreword written by Roseline Adejare Ph.D, Ozah’s latest offering into the world of literature, is loaded with issues and reasons for the need to retain the traditional political system of the Ukwuani.The book chronicles an enthralling and un-put-down-able analysis of the structure, organs and aims of Ukwuani traditional system of government and how their coordination yielded good governance.

In the book, Ozah flaunts his rich knowledge of history as well as passion to aide the preser-

vation of the traditional mode of governance of his people, by documenting the Ukwuani sociopolitical antecedents, experience through pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era inaddition to modern day relevance.

Pre-colonial system The book opens with discussions on the pre-colonial system of government of the Ukwuani.

In this first chapter, the author identifies the 15 clans of Ukwuani and attempts to draw a distinction between Ndosimili and Ukwuani.

He raises a number of reasons the Ukwuani regarded British colonial administration as alien to the people which the book notes, was designed to undermine the people’s way of life. Issues relating to village administration as regards head of the clan known as the Okpala-Uku, his functions as well as advantages of having him at the helm of affairs, are also documented.

stressing that "I'm not trying to do politics or media mind bending with the book."

Praising Odia's amazing optimism about project Nigeria, Prof Kole Omotosho stated that, "I usually call Odia's attention to the negatives about Nigeria while Odia calls my attention to the positives. Really, things are changing. On the occasion one needs to mark Odia, one marks the march of Nigeria and issues that affect her."

"Odia takes time to confidentially and optimistically say that this conference must be different. I disagree a lot with Odia.

Right now, we have a National Assembly which is doing so much on the constitution, why also have a National Conference? Crucial for us to know is that like in other countries, people have their backs on the wall before they had a national conference but here in Nigeria, our backs are not on the wall, we are managing and tolerating and when you tolerate something, you can't change it.", Prof Omotosho said. The book according to him, "is crucial to

Under the headings, “Clanship and Colonialism”, “Colonial Rule & Ukwuani’s Gerontocracy”, etc. Ozah dedicates time and space from chapter 3 to 6 to examine the effect of British colonial rule on the clanship system in Ukwuani.

The book progresses to chapter 7, “Okpala-uku Clanhead: To be or not” which takes a critical look at several arguments on whether or not the Okpala-uku clan head system should be retained. Here, the Ukwuani Traditional author examines the tradi- Administrative System ; tional political system, its de- Ozah Michael Ozah; velopment as well as the ad- Proudly Ukwuani Ventures, ministrative structure of Ukwuani, right from the precolonial era till date and identi- government, only exploited the fies the clan as the largest politi- merits of the clanship system to achieve their imperialistic goal. cal and administrative unit.

The book most importantly, inContrary to widely held view that clanship system was intro- terrogates the clamour for duced by the Bristish, Ozah installment of an Onochi-eze; a points out that clanship system much younger person, to work is indigenous to the Ukwuani. in place of the Okpala-uku at the He explains that the colonial Local Government Council, due masters who led a dictatorship to the Okpala-uku’s age.

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The author at this juncture, dismisses the view by some individuals that age is a major factor undermining the Okpalauku clan-head in modern society but puts the blame on illiteracy or lack of education.

Ozah however, suggests that in the interest of preservation of Ukwuani cultural heritage, the problem of illiteracy which is prevalent among its people, should be dealt with rather than settling for the choice of an Onochi-eze. He concludes that “Okpala-uku clan head system is the most prized political heritage of the Ukwuani and should be retained.”

“Ukwuani Traditional Administrative System”, is another insightful and priceless masterpiece by Barrister Ozah Michael Ozah whose consistent and concerted efforts toward the preservation and promotion of the Ukwuani traditions especially with regard to governance, have remained highly commendable.

The book is sure to make the desired impact and I recommend it to research students and lovers of history.

56 — V anguard Vanguard anguard,, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 NEWS ON BRIEFS

Syria closes Lebanon border amid clashes

Crimea: Russia imposes retaliatory sanctions on US M

OSCOW yesterday responded by announcing its own sanctions against senior US politicians in retaliation against visa bans and asset freezes imposed by Washington on its citizens.

The Russian foreign ministry said US action against Moscow would “hit the United States like a boomerang” and warned it would respond to “every hostile thrust”.

US President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against

•Russian President Putin prominent Russians, including close allies of

President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow raced to complete its annexation of Crimea.

With Obama also clearing the way for possible sanctions on vital sectors of the Russian economy, Putin told Russian company bosses to bring their assets home to help the nation survive the sanctions and an economic downturn.

Obama said the action would also target a Russian bank, named by a senior administration

•••Another region seeks union with Russia

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S Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Tuesday making Crimea part of Russia, a little-known region in neighboring Moldova has also pleaded to join the country. Russian loyalists in the breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, which shares a border with Ukraine, asked the parliament in Russia to write new laws that would allow them to join the country.

The Trans-Dniester region split from Moldova around 1990 and made a failed attempt at independence in 2006, when it held a referendum that was u n r e c o g n i z e d internationally. The region did not want to split from the Soviet Union at the time of its collapse and has now requested unity with Russia.

Otilia Dhand, vice president at advisory and intelligence firm Teneo Intelligence said TransDniester has been asking

to join the Russian Federation for two decades, so now is an opportune moment to ask again.

Dhand said up until now the Kremlin had shown little interest in absorbing the region as it offers little strategic and economic benefits.

“There are 550,000

citizens of citizens of TransDniester who mostly also claim other citizenships.

There are about 150,000 of them that claim dual citizenship with Russia and many others claim Ukrainian citizenship or Romanian so it is kind of a mixed picture,” Dhand told CNBC.

FLIGHT 370: Australia resumes search for clue today

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day that began with high hopes ended with uncertainty yesterday in Australia as darkness put an end to the search for two objects captured on satellite and described as possible debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the United States will resume the search Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

Sailors aboard a

massive Norwegian cargo ship summoned to join the search will continue to work throughout the night, said Erik Gierchsky, a spokesman for the Norwegian Shipowners Association.

“All men are on deck to continue the search,” he told CNN. “They are using lights and binoculars.”

Hindered by poor weather in a wild, remote area of the southern

Denmark to open embassy in Nigeria

BY VICTORIA OJEME

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HAIRPERSON of the Foreign Affairs Parliament and member of Social Democratic Party of Danish Parliament, Gjerskov Mette has said it would open its embassy in Nigeria in order to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries. Gjerskov Mette, made this known yesterday, during a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Danish delegation.

Mette, who said that the embassy would be

official as Bank Rossiya, which is partly owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, a St. Petersburg banker whose association with Putin dates back to the early 1990s.

Speaking at the White House, Obama said Russia’s threats to southern and eastern areas of Ukraine - which like Crimea have large Ru s s i a n - s p e a k i n g populations - posed a serious risk of escalating the crisis in the region.

“We’re imposing sanctions on more senior officials of the Russian government,” he said.

“In addition, we are today sanctioning a number of other individuals with substantial resources and influence who provide material support to the Russian leadership, as well as a bank that provides material support to these individuals.”

opened in Abuja in a couple of months, noted that though Nigeria and Denmark have good relationship, there is the need to reinforce this for the betterment of the two countries, through improved trade relations, etc.

She said the delegation was also in Nigeria to remind the country of its responsibility on the protection of human rights and to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.

On the issue of fight against terrorism, Mette caution the Federal

Government against combating terrorism by violating human rights.

Indian Ocean, neither the surveillance planes nor the Norwegian ship had managed to spot the debris photographed Sunday by a commercial satellite.

News that possible plane parts had been found marked a new phase in the emotional roller coaster for distraught relatives of the passengers, who have criticized Malaysia harshly for not releasing timely information about the plane.

While they still hope their loved ones will somehow be found, they acknowledged that news of the debris could mean the plane plunged into the ocean.

An elderly woman, one of the relatives of Chinese passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight …

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YRIAN troops have closed a border crossing into Lebanon amid heavy clashes with rebels in the area, according to Lebanese media.

The state-run National News Agency said the fighting around the Bqaiaa crossing in the Wadi Khaled region in Syria on Thursday was so intense that stray bullets and rockets landed in Lebanon.

Syrian troops had ambushed the rebels as they tried to flee the besieged area.

Lebanese medical sources said 41 wounded Syrian rebels had crossed a river into Lebanon as they attempted to flee the fighting. Another eight rebels had either been carried in dead or succumbed to their wounds after escaping Syria.

The rebels were driven from al-Hosn in Homs province which the Syrian army surrounded, the m e d i c a l sources, who did not wish to be named, said. Syrian state television, meanwhile, reported its army had killed 11 “terrorists” trying to escape al-Hosn. Earlier this week, Syrian troops seized control of Yabroud, another strategically important Lebanese border town, in the Qalamoun area.

Fast-food protests shift focus to ‘wage theft’

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RGANIZERS of the fast-food protests for higher pay have shifted their attention to another issue: “wage theft.”

Protesters planned to rally outside McDonald’s restaurants in cities including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami to call attention to the denial of overtime pay and other violations they say deprive workers of the money they’re owed.

McDonald’s Corp. said in a statement that its restaurants remain open “today — and every day — thanks to the teams of dedicated employees serving our customers.””

The actions are part of an ongoing campaign by union organizers to build public support for pay of $15 an hour. The Service Employees International Union has been providing financial and organizational backing for the push, which began in late 2012. Since then, a series of protests around the country has captured national media attention and served as a backdrop for President Obama’s call to raise the federal minimum wage.

Anti fast food protesters in US

Turkey’s Erdogan threatens to ban Twitter

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URKEY’s prime minister has warned that he would eradicate Twitter after a number of audio recordings anonymously posted on social media purportedly exposed corruption in his inner circle.

“We will wipe out Twitter. I don’t care what the international community says,” premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an election rally in the western province of Bursa on Thursday.

“They will see the Turkish republic’s strength,” he added, according to the AFP news agency.

Early this month, Erdogan warned that his government could ban popular social media networks Youtube and Facebook after the crucial March 30 local election, triggering US concern.

Erdogan, Turkey’s leader since 2003, has been under mounting pressure after audio recordings allegedly showed his involvement in corruption, and others portraying him interfering in business deals, court cases and media coverage.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—57

Why Edo PDP must let Oshiomhole be HEN Dan Orbih, insisted that his party had written a petition to Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, I knew that Edo PDP was embarking on a campaign of calumny against the state government in order to divert the attention of the people of the state on their years of misrule beffore being kicked out by the peoples’ Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

PDP stated categorically that the fraud involved the diversion of the sum of N320 million of the N600 million made available by the Federal Government for payment of State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, staff salary in the state by officials of the ministry into an account in Sterling Bank, allegedly to fund some phoney projects. EFCC has carried out its investigation and established that money was not missing but the money was spent on the execution of projects.

Edo PDP has resorted to cheap propaganda and deliberate blackmail in a quest to gain political relevance from the people of Edo State over Edo SUBEB. The Party in their usual habit launched a diabolical campaign of calumny against the state government and Edo people who have put in their best to develop Edo since their defeat in the state in 2007 election.

With all the planks of their campaign pointing to the fact that they said money was missing in Edo SUBEB even when the Governor and EFFC have said at different fora that money is not missing.

What happened in Edo SUBEB is about

money being spent in another project rather than the project budgeted for it and not that the money was missing. It is now clear that no money was traced by EFCC to an account in Sterling Bank, allegedly to fund some phony projects as alleged by PDP. After investigation, EFCC came up with charges of N77 million that was spent on projects and not missing. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has filed an-eight count charge against officials of the state’s Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, over how they spent N77 million funds of the Board.

It is now clear to Edo PDP that no money is missing in Edo SUBEB because PDP alleged that N320 million was missing in Edo SUBEB. Edo SUBEB is an autonomous body empowered by law to prioritise its projects and finances. Let me put the records straight. The allegation made by Edo PDP that money was missing is false. The outcome of investigation by EFCC shows that no money was missing and that the money was spent on projects.

There was doubt over whether the projects were executed or over-priced.

What the people were charged for was virements and money was not traced to their personal bank accounts. PDP should stop false allegation to damage the image of people who have worked hard for the development of Edo State. Virement is an administrative language and it is allowed in public accounting but due process must be followed and people should allow a competent court to do it work.

INWALOMHE DONALD Benin City

NIS applicants death: Govt is culpable Dear Editor, HE Education Rights Campaign, ERC is outraged at the avoidable wastage of the lives of scores of unemployed Nigerian youths during Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment test. The promising youths had gone for the test to seek means of keeping body and soul together only for them to be forced into their early graves by the irresponsibility and callousness of Nigerian government.

At some centres where the tests were conducted, deaths and grave injuries were recorded.

Official sources have explained this to be a product of the impatience of the candidates to gain entry into the venues of the test.

As usual victimblaming and armswriggling is the default response of the Federal Government to any national calamity including those caused by its gross incompetence and the abject failure of its policies and projects.

In Abuja and many other centres, reports show that more applicants beyond what

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the centres could accommodate were invited to write the tests.

For instance at the Abuja National Stadium which has a maximum seating capacity of 60,000, over 65,000 applicants were invited. To make matters worse, only a few of the about 30 entry points into the stadium were opened. The same stories exist in many other centres.

As far as we are concerned in the ERC, the blame for the death rests primarily on the shoulders of the Federal Government and particularly the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Ministry of Interior which appear to have turned the recruitment test to an opportunity to make quick money.

According to reports, only 4,556 vacancies were advertised but the NIS accepted application fee of N1,000 each from over 500,000 applicants making a clean return of over N500 million! This is unconscionable! This is unacceptable!! The NIS and the President Jonathan’s capitalist government are preying on the misery of hapless Nigerian youths especially graduates who suffer years without

gainful employment.

The ERC believes it is the social responsibility of the government as the custodian of society ’s commonwealth to provide a decent job for every citizen.

All talks about young graduates becoming employers of labour is nonsense especially in a society where public infrastructures like electricity supply, water supply and transportation infrastructures needed to support self employment are lacking.

Actually, the crisis of chronic unemployment which plagues the nation is a product of the inherent unjust nature of the capitalist system which prioritises profit and privilege of a few over people’s needs. As a result of capitalism, Nigeria is locked in an absurd contradiction of such magnitude that even the Finance Minister Okonjo Iweala for all her famed qualifications as a foremost economist. is left in a quandary.

Hassan Taiwo Soweto Michael Ogundele National Coordinator National Secretary, Education Rights Campaign (ERC).

Presidency vs CBN

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T last the CBN governor has been asked to step aside to save the nation from serious embarrassment.

A CBN Governor that lacks simple accounting knowledge is a disgrace to the nation. After staying on the saddle for almost five years, he did not know the various accounts to which oil income is paid into! He was busy playing APC politics with Tambuwal and OBJ . May God not give this nation another ignorant CBN Governor.

Dedemo 08074490347

President Jonathan’s lopsided appointments

The recent appointments made by the president shows that he is favouring South West and Northern regions of the country. The reason for this is

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ideals if he means well for the state and prove to be true leader. He should also remember that Osun state is presently hosting several institutions in different parts of the state. He should understand the level of literacy in Osun state which was one of the seven or eight states under the former western region ruled by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Finally, Osun state is not one of the backward states in the field of education as he thought. So the classification of the educational system by his government is a great insult to the people of Osun, particularly to the founding father of education in old western region, Pa Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory.

Bisi Taiwo. 2348037606756

If the People’s Democratic Party is really bad, why is APC happy receiving governors, senators and representatives decamping to it from PDP? Is it the alphabet PDP that is bad or these defectors that made up the party? This shows that APC is just after numerical strength to wrest power from Jonathan

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to get their support come 2015. But one who has no home support can hardly win an election of such magnitude!

The south -south and south-eastern regions voted massively for Mr. President and deserve to benefit from both appointments and developmental projects like other regions. State like Edo for instance can hardly point to one benefit from this administration both in appointments and projects.

The recent appointment of Chief of Staff from Ondo is a case study. 2015 is around the corner and people are wiser now. There’s still time for the president and his team to remedy the situation in Edo state and other states in these regions before the general election. Those he is banking on may as well disappoint him.

Clara +2348038761506

Osun state and good governance

If Governor Rauf Aregbesola is truly sincere in the governance of Osun state, he should try and copy his counterparts in other APC states. To me, l can see all his programmes as totally different from his colleagues and my appeal to him is to stop all his satanic

Defection of PDP members to APC

If the People’s Democratic Party is really bad, why is APC happy receiving governors, senators and representatives decamping to it from PDP? Is it the alphabet PDP that is bad or these defectors that made up the party? This shows that APC is just after numerical strength to wrest power from Jonathan. APC has nothing to offer Nigerians.

Chukwuyenum Osaezue InamAbbi 07067442140

Sanusi’s suspension

After 100 years, it is amazing that Nigerian leaders have not yet faced the task of true governance. A country where leaders incline to lip service payers and double their portfolio, while critics and true patriots are seen as enemies not good enough for the nation.

Nigeria will drown if politicians fail to desist from their happy- golucky attitude and shun dishonesty, the mother of corruption. I pray that God will honour his word in Psalm 52: 3-6 and deal with deceitful Nigerian politicians.

Elvis Obire 08079018001

SAYINGS OF OUR ELDERS The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deed and words return back to us sooner or later. Be kind to get kindness back in return.

Simon Adewale08056180103, Send us your Sayings of Our Elders. They must be African sayings or proverbs. Biblical or English proverbs are unacceptable. You will be paid N100.00 for every saying published. Address your sayings to: The Co-ordinator, Sayings of Our Elders,Vanguard Media Ltd., PMB 1007, Apapa,

58 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

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General public please take note.

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014—59

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Power is key to Industrial revolution — Nebo

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE & EDIRI EJOR

M

INISTER of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has reiterated government’s effort at revolutionizing the nation’s industrial sector through advancing the power sector.

The minister who spoke yesterday in Lagos at a power summit with the theme ‘Maintaining momentum in Nigeria’s Power sector’ said that before the coming of the present administration the industrial sector was almost dead even while admitting that there are still challenges.

He said “In 1996, there were about 47 industries in the industrial cluster in Nnewi but by 2013 they have come down to only six industries, as the others died because of power problems. One of these industries was spending a minimum of one tanker load of diesel, which is about 33,000 litres every day to power its plant, and when you multiply this, it translates into billions of naira just to power the industries using diesel.

“So these are the problems we had in the past and which we are still grappling with today. But in all these problems, there is a huge opportunity; that spans across the economic horizon in Nigeria. We can say that 50 percent of the 170 million people are veritable consumers waiting for products to consume and one way to get this product available to them is massive availability of power supply that will drive industry, manufacturing firms, small and medium scale enterprises.”

Rector lists bottlenecks to upgrading of maritime institute

U

YO—PART of the reasons for the delay in upgrading the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN, Oron, Akwa Ibom State to a degree awarding institution has been offered by the Rector of the institution, Mr. Joshua Okpo.

The rector who disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the Academy said the school was set up, among others, to train merchant navies to complement combatant naval officers in their marine activity.

In this regard, he said the organisations that see to the accreditation of the academy include the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, and the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE.

60 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

Sports Minister in first official assignment •As Calabar unveils Sports Festival logo, mascot

T

HE new Sports Minister, Chairman National Sports Commission, Dr Tamuno Danagogo will today in Calabar perform what is believed to be his first official assignment since he was sworn into office, as Cross River State launches the Festival Theme Song and unveils the Logo and Mascot of the 19th National Sports Festival tagged “ Paradise Games” The Minister who is the Special Guest of honour at the event that will be held inside the impressive Venetian Arena, will also take time out to see some of the facilities earmarked for the Festival.

He will be accompanied to Calabar by a powerful NSC delegation led by the Director General Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who is the Chairman of the Main Organising Committee (MOC ) of the Festival.

Continues from BP chance. Football is an interesting and dicey game. We have to go out with the belief that we can do it,” he said.

The Eagles are in same first round group with Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina, do you see Eagles going through?

Eagles are in same first round group with Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the youthful midfielder said

SANDWICHED . . .

Nigeria’s Under -17 Women players (Flamengoes) sandwich a C o l u m b i a n opponent during their FIFA Women U-17 W/Cup match.

Nigeria won 2-1

•Danagogo

•Imoke

Nollywood Continues from BP

Edo Sports Forum hails Okpekpe Race

S

PORTS in Edo State is about to witness a revolution following the resolution of the nascent Edo Sports Media Practitioners Forum in Lagos on Thursday.

The body consists of such eminent sports journalists

Onazi there was nothing to worry about for now, pointing out that only tune up matches lined up for the team before the World Cup should require the players’ attention.

“We are going to take it one game at a time. For now, we have some preparatory matches to look forward to before the World Cup. When we get to Brazil, we will worry about Iran, Bosnia and Argentina.”

Nigeria have met

Continues from BP

Flamingoes

hour mark, Uchenna Kanu stole the opportunity from the Colombian’s defense error to net Nigeria’s second goal, while third goal failed to arrive as Ihuoma Onyebuchi’s effort came off the woodwork.

Head coach Nikyu Bala described the Nigeria’s encounter with Colombia as tough; however he commended his players’ response to ensure victory.

“It was a great match.

Normally, in tournaments like this, everyone’s aim is simply to survive. And

that’s what that game was like, a battle for survival. I must commend the players’ response,” he said during the post match press conference.

Nikyu, restated the Flamingoes’ desire to reach their first ever final at the U17 Women’s World Cup, while admitting that his players were overwhelmed by the victory against China.

“We’re hoping to keep going; the competition doesn’t end in the next round. We would like to reach the final, and why not lift the trophy? I don’t

as Frank Ilaboya, Ben Alaiya, Mike Maiyaki, Henry Okoduwa, Cecilia Omorogbe, Osaretin Emuzie, Patrick Omorodion and other eminent journalists from Edo state said they have resolved to partner the state government in the drive to

Argentina thice at World Cup and lost all three matches. But the Italybased star refused to yield when asked if the Eagles could stop Argentina’s winning streak in Brazil.

“Like I said, we won’t play Argentina until we are done with both Iran and Bosnia. We have to avoid concentrating on one team alone and forget others that we will even face before Argentina. No doubt, Argentina are a big team and they are favourites, but that’s where it ends.” think we gave them enough respect at the start - we were still thinking about our win over China, and we paid for it by letting in an early goal. Fortunately we woke up in time and managed to get the victory.”

The Flamingoes have now gained 6 points and levelled with Group D leaders, Mexico who tops on goal difference.

Nigeria will face Mexico in a battle for the top spot of Group D by 3am on Monday morning, at the 34,453 capacity-size La Sabana stadium in the capital city of Costa Rica, San Jose.

reposition sports in Edo State. In a communiqué signed by the body’s Protem Chairman Osaretin Emuzie and Secretary Smarts Ebodaghe, the body hailed the initiative of the second edition of the Okpekpe Road Race scheduled for May 3 in Etsako area of Edo State.

Continues from BP has written to inform the NFF which seems ready to defend itself with the appointment of two legal counsels.

In acknowledging NFF’s letter dated March 11, 2014, Legal Counsel to the CAS, Mr. Brent J. Nowicki wrote that “I note that (sic) the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF’s) appointment of Mr. A.U. Mustapha and Mr. Okey Sylvanus Obi as its legal representatives in this matter.”

The body of Arbitration, the source said, however, requested the NFF to clarify within three days of the receipt of its (CAS) letter by email whether the lawyers it appointed “will also represent the individually named Mr. Alhaji (sic) Aminu Maigari and Barrister Musa Amadu, as well as the Nigeria Football Association.”

CAS, it was gathered, is seeking an out of court settlement of the dispute, an action Okpala’s camp, through his lawyers have accented to provided the

FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Nollywood stars are currently lobbying to be selected, reports Afrikansoccer.com In the financial plan presented to the National Assembly, the NFF had revealed its decision to invite the duo of Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, popularly called Aki and Pawpaw and eight other Nigerians in the entertainment industry

for the world football fiesta in June.

But the General Secretary, Musa Amadu debunked it all yesterday saying, “ we are not taking any Nollywood star to Brazil.

There’s no truth in the agency report that you are telling me about. A Nollywood star visited me but he is my friend and it had nothing to do with the World Cup in Brazil.”

Okpala NFF accepts it too, failure of which CAS will begin proceedings under the Ordinary Arbitration rules to resolve the dispute.

Towards this end, CAS informed the NFF that Okpala was open to resolving the dispute through “mediation procedure” and therefore requested both sides to advise the CAS Court office on or before March 15, 2014 “whether they jointly consent to the submission of the present dispute to CAS mediation.”

It however, added that “the parties are reminded that if they do not JOINTLY (with emphasis) agree within the time limit to submit the present dispute to mediation, the proceedings will continue under the Ordinary Arbitration rules.”

Efforts to reach top officials of the NFF, Alhaji Maigari, the NFF president who along the federation’s Secretary General, Barrister Musa Amadu who Okpala dragged to CAS, Chief Mike Umeh, First Vice President of the NFF,

Barrister Chris Green, Chairman of the Technical Committee and Ademola Olajire, Assistant Director, Media to speak on the development were futile as their telephone lines were switched off.

It was not clear as at press time yesterday whether the NFF met with the three days deadline of receipt of CAS letter to clarify the positions of its two lawyers with regards to Maigari and Amadu and the March 15, 2014 deadline given it to consent whether it agrees on mediation by CAS of the dispute with Okpala.

A source close to the ex international disclosed that Okpala decided to take the matter to CAS after the NFF failed to reply to letters from his lawyer that he (Okpala) be reinstated or be paid off.

It would be recalled that Okpala was disengaged from the Eagles technical crew in April last year by the NFF which cited poor financial standing which has made it difficult for the federation to maintain a 17-man backroom staff.

Vanguard, FRIDAY MARCH 21, 2014 — 61

T

Summit Uduaghan himself initiated in Asaba after the London Olympics failure. Bertland Cameroun, a former world champion from Jamaica presented a paper and 08053068728 hinted on mentoring the young athletes. And Delta had that in mind with the introduction of Awoturo Eleya Cup. While analysing Okagbare’s feat that day, Uduaghan immediately felt that the interest of Nigeria was more important and immediately told Amaju Pinnick to call Okagbare to stop her from returning to Nigeria to compete in Sapele, the venue for the Eleya Cup. Said he: “Blessing ran well today. She started off from the blocks well and finished well. I think the World Championship is important for Nigeria. Nothing should distract her. Call her immediately and tell her to remain in Europe until after the World Championship in Russia.

Russia must not be like London. She is in good shape to win a medal and that’s more important for Nigeria now.”

Blessing won silver in the Long Jump and a bronze in the 100m, ending Nigeria’s 13 years of drought in the think it would be nice for World Championships. us to meet Dr. Uduaghan Okagbare dedicated her to tell him, Sir, you lived medals first to Uduaghan up to your words. You did who actually sponsored not disappoint us and we her training and then to are proud of you?”

Nigerians. Uduaghan has Salami was referring to now provided training the group of journalists grants for her to prepare for Uduaghan first disclosed the Rio Olympics. Regina his interest in running for George, a 400m great the office of governor in potential is also on the Delta State. Yes, the very card. This is Uduaghan for first time Uduaghan you in sports. Discussing opened up to the media sports in that hall that day on his governorship was no achievement but it ambition was not to showed the passion political or news editors Uduaghan has for sports. but sports editors. Yes, That won my heart.

Uduaghan made sports •Uduaghan getting ready for •Displaying soccer skills.

When Nigeria failed at •Playing the game his first constituency and tennis the London Olympics, he today the world of sports has a place for him in the history the other two otherwise you will be courting trouble. Sorry initiated a sports summit to help out. Under him, Delta books. has won two out of the last three sports festivals. The Salami, Ben Memuletiwon, then of the Sun, Tony Ubani for the digression. state employs athletes more than any other state. Gold Interestingly, Uduaghan was not discussing the Zik’s of Vanguard, late Emeka Enechi of Thisday and my medal winners in festivals earn automatic employment awards in that hall.

Rather, he was discussing the Blessing humble self gathered to hear the sports epistle according aside cash as huge as N2m. Delta runs competitions more Okagbare outing just less than two hours before he arrived to Emmanuel Uduaghan. He spoke about sports as than any other state. The Governor’s Cup, a soccer the hall.

He watched it and was analysing the race with employer of labour, about sports as an instrument of peace competition among secondary schools is on. They plan his aides when I walked up to his table to greet him.

I and a great unifier. He spoke on facilities and how to to develop players from the event. Ex footballers are sent have always known this man as sports-loving and a develop sports potentials to elite athletes who could earn to schools to train footballers. A soccer holiday programme motivator for sports excellence.

But I never expected him foreign exchange and in turn contribute to the well being for outstanding players holds this summer. The man is to be discussing such an issue in that hall that day.

Rabiu of their families and that of the country. He spoke with so still building sports facilities. Delta has up to six stadia.

Kwakwanso, the governor of Kano State and his Ekiti much passion that we left the interview with hope that Delta is the number one state in sports development. counterpart, Kayode Fayemi were all in the hall to receive he would win and change the face of our sports at least The legacies are there for all to see. And as he steps on awards too.

And so was Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker from Delta. Tony Ubani joked that as a former Mafoluku stage to receive Vanguard’s Personality Of The Year of the House of Representatives.

As expected, it was all chemist, he would fit in as Uduaghan’s physician, if he Award, I on behalf of the sports family, can only say, Take politics.

But Uduaghan chose to discuss sports. emerged governor. The laughter was hilarious. This was a bow! Congratulations to this man of sports who plays Okagbare was to fly down to Nigeria to compete in the before the 2007 elections. Uduaghan leaves office next squash, football and tennis. His tennis is good.

Awoturo Eleya Cup in Sapele after the London feat.

The year as governor of Delta State after two terms of office.

But just before you leave office sir, remember your plan Awoturo Eleya Cup is a grassroots programme for athletes And how has he fared in sports? Why was Salami insisting to construct tartan tracks in few secondary schools in Delta in Delta.

But stars are also asked to compete with the that we meet him to tell him how proud of him we are? local and budding ones just for the sake of motivating and like you have done with football, engage few ex Take this scene: athletes to run programmes in those schools. It will be a Blessing Okagbare had run 10.79 seconds in the them and possibly inspiring special interest among the lasting legacy for which you will always be remembered potentials to achieve stardom.

A local athlete from one London Olympics Anniversary Games to set a new African for stars will surely emerge from such a programme. local government on the blocks with a world star like record on July 27 in London, last year.

Congrats again and may God be with you.

Okagbare may inspire such an athlete tremendously.

It It was less than two weeks to the beginning of the was one way to implement an aspect of a 2012 Sports World Championships in Russia.

There was a similar setting before the 2012 London Olympics when she was sensational in beating a crowd of top athletes including Shelly Ann Pryce just one week to the Olympics. Nigerians celebrated her feat and hoped LLAH, December 16, sports... scored two goals. We beat for the best at the Olympics. But all is now history as 2013.

Ojidoh touched many Ghana 3-0 on our own Blessing placed last in the final, dashing the hopes of I had just visited Pa Ojidoh areas that day.

Of those Independence Day. I’m the whole country, which depended on her for a medal in Illah just to say hello. who set records, he said “I dying disappointed that at the games. For a long time now, Nigeria has been a He was a father to many was officiating when Nigerian government one- athlete -nation. That disappointment ended of us in the sports industry.

Amanze Njoku jumped 6.8 failed to honour Nigeria’s dream for a medal.

An interesting chat before Fela Shobande from Emmanuel Ifeajuna And when she was to appear in the World followed. With ease, he was •Late Pa Ojidoh because he fought on the Championships where track and field standard is higher recalling great events of Hutsi College jumped 6.10.

Then Ekweti from St. side of Biafra during the was a time in the 50s four than that of the Olympics, she was again sensational in the past, giving out names Gregs held Nigeria record Civil War. Ifeajuna won Nigerians jumped 6.6 in setting two African records in one event, running 10.86 and dates in a manner that with 12 feet.

Tony Urhobo gold in the High Jump in one seconds in the heats and 10.79 in the final. compelled me to share the Commonwealth Games in Minutes after the race, track and field followers were information with you in my and Elili later took it beyond afternoon. I remember J 13 with Policeman Majekundimi, Bello Vancouver with 6.8 in 1954. already analysing the feat and many feared that the two columns.

Okundaye.

Dr. Garick held The war started in 1967.

Osagie and BAA Gobadia.

London incident may recur in Russia.

It was from Pa Ojidoh sway in the High Jump You can’t defend that.”

In soccer, Ghana beat Less than two hours after the race, Dr. Uduaghan was that I knew that Tony Today in Illah, Delta Nigeria 7-0 in 1955 in at the Civic Centre in Lagos to receive the Zik’s Award Mmoh, the veteran with 6.3.”

Ojidoh recalled the State, Pa Ojidoh will be Ghana.

I was there.

They for good governance, just one of the many awards he journalist who was once the military in sports: lowered to mother earth. treated us lavishly and beat has won as governor of Delta State, arguably, the most Minister of Information was “Yara’Adua, TY Danjuma, He was 88 us silly.

Then came 1957. difficult state to govern in Nigeria. What with the Itsekiris, a fine athlete. “Tony Mmoh Sports will miss him Urhobos, Ijaws, the Igbos and and other nations in the was a fine athlete but he Jerry Useni, Raphael Nigeria flew into Ghana Agbaje, Sani Abacha sorely.

May his soul and on the day of the match as same state? Which other Nigerian state can boast of was too academic, coming played hockey very well those of the faithful Debby Alen, the NFA developed cities like Asaba, Warri, Sapele, Agbor, Ughelli, first in every subject when and at one time even departed, through the scribe arranged on the day Oghara, Ogwashi-Uku, Abraka and Oleh? Citing any I taught him that I knew mercy of Christ, rest in of their Independence. It project in one senatorial zone will mean replicating it in he would not last in played for Nigeria.”

He continued: “There ended 3-3. Nkuokpor peace.

OMORROW, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan will step on the stage at the Prestigious Oriental Hotel along Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos to receive Vanguard Newspapers’ Personality of the year award.

International business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, will be crowned Africa’s Personality of the year and Chief Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma will also be on the podium for the Most Innovative Industrialist of the Year award.

My colleagues have done a lot on these award winners and tomorrow’s Vanguard is a package you can’t afford to miss. Book your copies in time. I want to concentrate on sports, my brief. And how do I begin the Uduaghan story?

Two months ago, when The Sun Newspapers and The Leadership among others announced Uduaghan as Governor of the year, Adekunle Salami, formerly of the Punch Newspapers and now with the Telegraph, called and said the following in a telephone chat: “Don’t you

As Uduaghan mounts the stage tomorrow...

Adieu Pa Ojidoh

I

62 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2013 — 63

C M Y K

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014

FIFA U-17 W/World Cup: Nikyu wants Flamingoes in final Women’s World Cup,

H

EAD coach Bala Nikyu has expressed optimism that the Flamingoes will make the finals of the ongoing Fifa Under-17

Okpala takes NFF to court •Over sack from Eagles •Maigari, Amadu joined in suit D

•We don’t have hand in it — Musa Amadu

•Amadu, NFF sc ribe

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has allegedly set aside $800,000 (about N138.4 million) to sponsor 10 Nollywood stars to cheer the Super Eagles during the 2014 FIFA Continues on Page 60

•Okpala

World Cup: We'll go far, says Onazi

S

UPER Eagles and Lazio of Italy midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi believes the Super Eagles can go far in next June’s World Cup in Brazil if only the players believe in

themselves.

Speaking in an interview with MTNFootball.com, Onazi said apart from self belief, the Eagles must accord equal respect to their

Sudoku TODAY'S

Continues on Page 60

Brazil 2014: N138.4m in NFF budget for Nollywood stars

BY PATRICK OMORODION ISENGAGED Assistant Coach of the Super Eagles, Sylvanus Okpala OON, has taken his dispute with the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS based in Lausanne, Switzerland to seek redress and possible reinstatement or compensation with Aminu Maigari, president and Musa Amadu, secretary general joined in suit.

Sources close to the NFF told Vanguard Sports that the ex international filed his case with CAS in February and the body Continues on Page 60

after coming from behind to defeat South Americans, Colombia 2 -1 and book their place in the last eight on Thursday morning.

Nigeria started on the back foot after Angie Rodriguez scored the game’s opening goal in the 3rd minute through a header before Joy Bokiri’s sublime freekick restored balance for the African giants.

Luckily before the

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

opponents in the tournament. “We have to accept the fact that all the countries who have qualified to play at the World Cup do have a

•Iheme

•Ikedieze

Eight pages of Sports Vanguard inside

Continues on Page 60

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Dangerous (6) 5 Box (4) 8 Rustic (5) 9 Shelter (3) 10 So be it (4) 11 Price (4) 12 Begin (5) 13 Overseas (6) 16 Observed (4) 18 Snare (4) 20 Individual (3) 22 Posed (3) 23 Fish (3) 24 Trace (4) 25 Detail (4) 28 Infer (6) 30 Intended (5) 32 Penniless (4) 33 Parched (4) 34 Expert (3) 35 Trivial (5) 36 Action (4) 37 Coming (6)

DOWN 1 Discharge (6) 2 Cursing (8) 3 Brawl (6) 4 Satisfied (9) 5 Hide (7) 6 Scheme (4) 7 Ceremony (4) 8 Aye (3) 14 Specify (9) 15 Friend (3) 17 Consume (3) 19 Adjust (8) 20 Lubricate (3) 21 Penetrated (7) 26 Repaired (6) 27 Dislike (6) 29 Rushed (4) 30 Be gloomy (4) 31 Attempt (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 3, Asked 9, Thrush 10, Distil 11, Pride 12, Erne 15, Have 17, Reading 20, Set 21, Kudos 23, Even 25, Tart 26, Dense 28, Use 30, Salvage 33, Need 35, Ever 36, Abate 38, Icicle 39, Efface 40, Exert.

DOWN: 1, Steer 2, Arena 3, Asp 4, Shrink 5, Eddy 6, Die 7, Atlas 8, Fleet 13, Reverse 14, Edged 16, Vestige 18, Guess 19, Sot 22, Salve 24, New 27, Easter 28, Undid 29, Eerie 31, Avian 32, Erred 34, Ibex 36, Ale 37, Eft.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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